I have lived my life over-thinking, worrying, and fearing every thing. Join my journey as I try to unravel the complicated and just enjoy life as I am, yet still growing into a better me. I hope you'll find encouragement and better overall health and well being along the way.
Tracy's Hemp Seed Chicken Salad
2 cans chicken in broth, drained
1/2 onion (I prefer red, but only had sweet) chopped
1 stalk celery finely chopped
15 grapes, halved (If I don't have grapes, I use apples)
2 tbsp hemp seeds (hemp hearts)
4 tbsp Hellman's Olive Oil mayo
Pink salt & pepper to taste
Here's the fun part.
Drain the chicken, then place in large dish (with room for mixing). Shred the chicken with a fork. Add the onion, celery, grapes, hemp seeds, and mayo.
Mix well.
Yum! Makes like 6 servings.
We enjoyed ours with fresh veggies today and a pita.
Okay, we hardly ever eat ketchup so I've not really stressed about the ingredients of what I'm buying, but we've been exercising 30 minutes a day and watching our carbs and sugar. The result... 2 lb weight gain. Thanks!
So I am looking at everything! Sugar is in almost everything and sugar is evil. I think I've mentioned before that I don't have a huge sweet tooth, so cutting sweets is not a big deal for me, but finding out it's in almost everything I buy, just sucks.
So I'm trying to cut it out in places I know where it is. Ketchup is one of those places. I've searched pinterest and this recipe is very common out there. I've made my own tweaks but that's how I "own it' You need to do the same! "Own it!".
Homemade Ketchup Ingredients
2 6oz cans of tomato paste
1/4 cup honey (use your local honey)
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1 packet stevia (optional - I might leave it out of the next batch)
1/2 cup of water
Pink salt, garlic powder, onion powder, and pepper to taste. Start with a 1/4 tsp of each. You will need to add more to "own it!".
Additional Tracy "own it" ingredient was white wine. Yum! - We usually have chardonnay and cabernet sauvignon on hand which make great cooking add in!
Put all of the ingredients in a saucepan and simmer for 2 hours. Taste and add more seasoning. Mine was way too sweet when I tasted it but adding a few more shakes of the garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and pepper made it pretty awesome!
Use a funnel and slowly pour your ketchup in a container (preferably glass) and store in the fridge.
I had saved our last ketchup bottle to store my homemade ketchup.
I'll be on the lookout for a glass bottle or 2 for the next batch of ketchup. I must note that the brand on the bottle that you see, is the the best store bought ketchup we have ever had!
This is a keeper recipe per hubby, so I'll give this the labels of super easy and hubby approved!
This was made a bit easier this go as I had 2 already leftover baked chicken breasts in the freezer. They had been seasoned with garlic and rosemary but I think if you want to add chicken, you can decide how you want to do this. Or... you can go vegetarian and leave off the meat or add roasted chickpeas. I bet they would be awesome on this salad!
Chicken Caesar Pasta Salad
Ingredients:
Cooled Cooked Pasta (I used bowtie)
Chopped Romaine Lettuce
2 Cubed Chicken breasts
Shredded Parmesan Cheese
Caesar Dressing of Choice
Seasonings of choice for Pasta (water is usually salted for boiling so I choose unsalted seasonings like garlic and pepper)
EVOO
croutons (optional) I served hubby's with 1/2 pita.
Cook Pasta and drain. Put pasta back in pan and toss a little EVOO, garlic, pepper, and parsley for flavor. Let cool.
If you need to cook your chicken breasts. Bake or pan fry as preferred. Do this along with the pasta so both can set aside to cool a bit. When cool, cube chicken breasts.
While everything is cooking, you can begin chopping your lettuce.
Now that everything is done... it's time to plate!
I put a pasta fork full of pasta on the plate first.
Then I topped with a ton of Romaine
Then I added about a handful (I have small hands) of chicken.
Top with the shredded parmesan
Drizzle with your Caesar dressing
Enjoy!
I made my pasta ahead of time so it had time to cool a lot so my lettuce didn't get soggy. It was also helpful having the chicken only warm rather than hot for the same reason. I'm guessing this dinner, from "scratch" wouldn't take but 30 minutes to prepare (depending on your chicken and pasta cooking times and allowing to cool a bit.
I had enough left to make a 3rd salad for lunch the next day.
First of all... I'm obsessed with the flavor combination of goat cheese and arugula AND their versatility for add-in, toppings, and meals!
I'm the only one eating the arugula and goat cheese so I've enjoyed them in a salad for lunch with added pear chunks and a balsamic vinaigrette. Actually mixed with any fruit would be lovely. A simple but nutritious lunch on the go or a side to compliment a toasted sandwich.
Okay... back to reality from goat cheese and arugula dream land. These pitas are super easy and make a great weekend breakfast for those who prefer savory to sweet or even for lunch. They are filling and oh so satisfying.
Ingredients: 2 - 3 tbsps of Goat Cheese crumbled 3/4 to 1 cup Organic Arugula 1 Pita Balsamic Vinaigrette for drizzle 1/2 tsp (or less) of Organic EVOO
You know I'm a dumper from way back so these measurements are my best guess. My mom and grandma are the guilty parties for teaching me how to prepare meals this way. Ha ha. I miss them so much.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Place Pita on cookie sheet and brush the EVOO on one side and then flip over
Place your arugula in the center of the pita and flatten a little, top with the goat cheese crumbles, then drizzle the balsamic vinaigrette on top.
Place in the 350 degrees oven and then bake for 10 minutes for a crunchy and savory breakfast, lunch, or snack!
I cut mine in thirds with a pizza cutter and served it with a side of organic whole cranberry sauce.
Oh my delish... was that nice topped on part of my pita. I saved it for the last piece as sort of making it the sweet tart finish.
These go hand-in-hand in the EASY category with Easy Lentil Sloppy Joes (which has been a pretty big Pinterest hit and even got shared on someone else's blog!)
I'm all about the easy. I've been working my normal job, I started a 2nd stay at home job for another ministry, I have a home based health and wellness business, and I help my hubby with his handmade business. So easy and leftovers are a must at the moment. But we still like tasty and try to stay on as healthy a track as possible. I'll admit these aren't the super healthiest b/c the seasoning is a mix, but we do use the lower sodium in a pinch. I haven't had the ambition to make my own taco seasoning... but feel free to sub your own preference of taco seasoning.
I love lentils. They are super easy to cook (I hear you can buy them canned in a bigger city!), they taste great, and are so versatile! They are a great substitute for ground meat but so far I've only used them, instead of meat, for sloppy joes, tacos, and in chili.
Easy Taco Lentils Ingredients:
Cooked Lentils
1 Packet Old El Paso low sodium Taco Seasoning
2/3 cup water
If you need to cook your lentils. I cook about 1 cup of lentils in 2 cups of water. This is about the equivalent of 1 lb and a half of ground meat. (I always make too much for 2 people with left overs) Instructions to cook lentils:
Sort 1 cup of lentils in a strainer to remove any stones or bad pieces
rinse the lentils
Add the lentils to 2 cups of water and bring to gentle boil on medium heat. Lower heat to a simmer for 20 minutes or until desired texture. If adding salt, wait until about 5 minutes left and lightly salt lentils.
When they are done, put back in strainer to drain excess water
Taco Lentils
Put the cooked lentils to a frying pan
Add the seasoning mix and 2/3 cup of water
Follow the instructions on the seasoning packet. (gently mix ingredients, bring to a boil, then turn temperature down to simmer for 3-5 minutes)
Serve however you normally would with taco meat.
We can't stand store bought taco shells. So last night, I put tortillas on a cookie sheet, added shredded cheese to half of the tortilla and melted the cheese in a 350 degree oven for about 5 minutes. This put a light crunch on the tortilla to make it more solid for holding the fillings... (i.e. shredded lettuce, chopped tomatoes, onions, salsa, roasted pepper slices, sour cream). I don't have pictures of our tacos from last night because we were starving and just dug in!
I serve with either spanish rice or chips and salsa
Leftovers always make a great taco salad or nachos (pictured above)!
There are tons of variations of this recipe on Pinterest. This is not an original recipe, but I don't know who to tell you who should get the credit. Also, I read the ingredients on a recipe then did my own thing. But this is a recipe share that I think you'll LOVE!
I love that this basically takes about 14 - 20 minutes to make and although the tortellini absorbs a ton of broth, this soup is still fabs as leftovers. BONUS: This yummy soup freezes too! I put the extra leftovers in single serve containers and freeze for work lunches. Did I mention this is a BONUS?
I hope you'll love this. Feel free to make this your own and then let me know how you varied the recipe!
Easy Creamy Tomato Tortellini Soup
Ingredients
6 cups chicken or vegetable broth
1 20 oz. package of Cheese Tortellini. I use Buitoni from the refrigerated section
1 pint grape tomatoes (halved)
1/2 cup heavy cream
2/3 cup sun dried tomato or tomato basil pesto
1 pinch of red pepper flakes
salt & pepper (optional)
Directions
Bring your broth to a boil (TIP: I halved the tomatoes while the broth came to a boil)
Add the tortellini and simmer on low/med for 7 minutes
Add the tomatoes and simmer for 2 more minutes
Add the cream, pesto, and red pepper flakes. I did add a tad of pink salt and pepper
Let simmer for about 5 more minutes to reheat.
Enjoy!
A few variations, off the top of my head, would be to add spinach or other veggies or maybe change up the pesto!
This recipe is how I learned to like sweet potatoes. I'm not much of a sweets eater and when I was ever at a dinner with sweet potatoes, they were served as a marshmallow goo or with cinnamon and sugar. Not my thing. I'm a savory girl. Maybe a bit salty too. ha ha. Now I love sweet potatoes, but still not sweetened!
Only 1 picture for this recipe. I thought about sharing the recipe after they were almost done.
Southwestern Sweet Potatoes Ingredients: 2 sweet potatoes 1 large pepper or equivalent in sliced multi color peppers 1/2 large sweet onion EVOO Seasonings of garlic powder, pepper, onion pepper
Bake your sweet potatoes in the microwave (firm)or use leftover baked sweet potatoes
Slice your peppers and onions while potatoes cook.
Cut the cooked potatoes lengthwise in half, then slice through to make half circle cuts.
Heat pan to medium heat with the EVOO
Add all to heated oil, season.
Stir and cook to desired texture
I like my veggies and potatoes browned. This photo was while they were 5 minutes away from done for me.
I never thought of roasting tomatoes and adding them to a meal or even making them the main attraction of a dish. But I had a pint that got dried out a tad from being forgotten a few days. They were fine, they were just slightly wrinkly in places. So I decided I'd roast them and add them to pasta with pesto for an easy supper.
The hardest part of roasting the tomatoes is halving them. And that's not even hard. It's just tedious cuz, you know... short attention span Tracy was handling it. ha ha.
These were lightly seasoned but the roasting infused the seasons and really brought out the sweetness of the tomatoes. Wow, were they delicious!
In case you are like me, and didn't really know what to add to your tomatoes or how long and what temperature to bake your tomatoes, this recipe is for YOU! I even measured this time and if you've read any of my recipes, you know this is like miraculous.
Easy Roasted Grape Tomatoes
Ingredients: 1 Pint Grape Tomatoes halved 1 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil 1/4 tsp salt (I use pink Himalayan) 1/4 tsp pepper 4 cloves minced garlic ( I buy the jars of minced garlic and use the equivalent - this is a great short cut for any busy cook that's also wanting to visit with the family and have a bit of time for their side business)
Preheat your oven to 375 degrees and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
Add your halved tomatoes to a small mixing bowl.
Add the EVOO, salt & pepper, and garlic.
Gently fold the ingredients to keep the tomatoes intact.
Place the tomatoes on the parchment paper lined cookie sheet.
Bake for 30 minutes.
Now add them to tonight's supper! I added them to freshly cooked pasta, pesto, and some pre-cooked grilled chicken pieces. Easy peasy yummy in the tummy supper!
Enjoy!
Your turn! What do you plan to add your tomatoes to?
Our attempts at eating mostly vegetarian continue after an all meat Sunday left me feeling like poo!
I will reiterate, that we have not gone 100% vegetarian... We actually enjoy eating meat. I love a good burger, a yummy steak, and messy chicken wings. But goodness! I feel so much better eating plant protein over animal protein and that's my personal fact!
So where was I... oh! yes, vegetarian adventures. As I am still not well since January, our vegetarian adventures are on the easy side. So tonight even has crummy pictures... this extreme fatigue is REAL y'all. Ugh.
But let's start with a little fun. Does anyone know where Sloppy Joes originated? I didn't! But being naturally curious and a constant learner... I googled it! I came across this great little article on the history of sloppy joes. Check it out... The History of Sloppy Joes by ionnutrition.com
So here's the super easy lentil sloppy joes. If you prefer to make this meaty style, I've made these with ground chicken or as lean as possible ground beef (but ground chicken is very, very lean and tastes pretty good as a sloppy joe)
Easy Lentil Sloppy Joes Ingredients:
Cooked Lentils
1 packet McCormick Sloppy Joes seasoning mix
1 1/4 cup water
6 oz. tomato paste
1/4 or 1/2 cup brown sugar (optional)
If you need to cook your lentils. I cook about 1 cup of lentils in 2 cups of water. This is about the equivalent of 1 lb and a half of ground meat. (I always make too much for 2 people with left overs) Instructions to cook lentils:
Sort 1 cup of lentils in a strainer to remove any stones or bad pieces
rinse the lentils
Add the lentils to 2 cups of water and bring to gentle boil on medium heat. Lower heat to a simmer for 20 minutes or until desired texture. If adding salt, wait until about 5 minutes left and lightly salt lentils.
When they are done, put back in strainer to drain excess water
Lentil Sloppy Joes
Put the cooked lentils to a frying pan
Add the seasoning mix, 1 1/4 cup of water, 6 oz of tomato paste, and brown sugar if adding it.
Follow the instructions on the seasoning packet. (gently mix ingredients, bring to a boil, then turn temperature down to simmer for 10 minutes)
Serve on your favorite bun and yum!
Hubby even had seconds and said this was a keeper!
This was super easy and yummy! It's actually a good base for a camping dinner recipe!
You can also own and vary this recipe however you want. This made about 6 servings
Veggie Skillet Pasta 1 box of pasta (I had 1/2 a box of Dreamfield's penne and threw in come whole wheat elbows) 1 jar of sauce (I used Bertolli Rustic Cut pasta sauce with garden vegetables - Roasted Garlic) 1 pepper (I had an orange one on hand) - coarsely chopped 1 small sweet onion - coarsely chopped 1 zucchini - sliced 2 cups of water 1 tbsp EVOO 1 tsp minced garlic salt and pepper (optional)
You could save time and dishes and maybe cook your veggies in with the pasta, but I used my good ole frying pan and sauteed my veggies in EVOO and garlic.
In a deep skillet, empty your jar of sauce and 2 cups of water and put on medium to heat sauce to a simmer.
While the sauce heats, place your EVOO and garlic in your frying pan, heat up for a minute or so and then add your chopped veggies. Sautee to your liking.
Your sauce will be a good heat while your veggies are cooking. As it lightly bubbles, turn heat down to medium low and add your pasta. Time 10 minutes.
Finish your veggies and remove from heat.
After 10 minutes, reduce heat on the pasta to low, add your veggies, then wait another 5 minutes.
The pasta will be wonderful, the veggies re-heated, and the sauce thickened and absorbed into the pasta.
Enjoy!
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Roasted chickpea pita with sliced cucumber, red onion, tomato, lettuce, and homemade tzatziki sauce
I mentioned in my Veggie Enchilada Lasagna recipe that we are trying to eat more "plant based" and less meat. In an effort to maintain proper protein levels but incorporate great flavor and satiety, I found chickpeas and black beans may be our go-to protein during the week as we get started.
Roasted chickpeas are super easy and very versatile. This recipe is for a Garlic Parmesan flavor but you could totally get creative with this on your seasonings, double the batch for a larger family, and the kids can help you mix the chickpeas and decide on the seasonings.
I don't have great pictures as putting these on a blog was a thought part way through. We ate these with pitas, veggies, and homemade tzatziki sauce the first night. I ate leftovers on a baked potato the next day.
Leftover roasted chickpeas on a baked potato with tzatziki sauce. YUM!
This recipe is super easy, has minimal ingredients, fairly easy clean up, and minimal time.
Roasted Garlic Parmesan Chickpeas
Ingredients:
Chickpeas - 1 Can (I used organic no salt added)
Olive Oil - 2 tbsp
Garlic Powder - 1 tsp
Onion Powder - 1 tsp
Grated Parmesan - 2 tbsp
Salt & Pepper to taste (optional) I only used pepper as the Parmesan is salty to me
Preheat oven to 400 degrees and prepare a 9x13 glass baking dish or lipped baking tray. Maybe lightly coat with spray oil to prevent some of the sticking I had or use more Olive Oil.
Drain and rinse the chickpeas and wrap them in paper towels to dry some. After they are ready, put them in a small mixing bowl and add the olive oil, garlic powder, onion powder, grated parmesan, and salt and pepper if desired.
Mix gently and then put in your baking dish.
Place them in the 400 degree oven and time 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, give them a gentle stir and then let them bake 10 more minutes.
Enjoy!
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I usually try to plan our next week's menus the day before I grocery. That way, we stick to a budget and a healthier eating plan. Are we flexible enough to deviate? Well... when you find a sack of potatoes that you forgot you had purchased (and they're still in excellent shape)... you deviate from your planned side dishes and plan ahead a little.
So this week, we had chicken breasts for 2 nights and then I had a package of pollack in the freezer for tonight. I had planned long grain rice for both chicken nights. As I went into my fabulous new kitchen cabinet that honey restored and refurbished for me (OMG! I need to do a post on the cabinet!), I noticed a sack of small potatoes. As I thought to myself, "when did I buy those?". I also thought, "dang, I better use those before they go bad!".
So we had rice one night and then I baked potatoes last night. Thinking ahead, I baked 2 extra potatoes for fried potatoes tonight.
So here's the simplest way to make yummy fried potatoes for 2: (of course do your potato count and onions based on family size)
Ingredients:
Leftover baked potatoes chopped (you could also quick bake your potatoes in the microwave prior to making these but they are easier to handle cold out of the fridge rather than hot out the microwave)
1/2 large sweet onion chopped
1 tbsp EVOO
Seasonings:
onion powder
garlic powder
pepper
pink Himalayan sea salt
That's it!
Put your EVOO in your frying pan and heat on medium. Add your potatoes and onions to warm pan, season, then stir up on the warm EVOO.
Periodically mix the potatoes around to brown them nicely (about 15 minutes or so)
Enjoy as a side dish for any meal and also as yummy extra with weekend breakfast!
My sweet grandma, Trudy, was a wonderful, wonderful woman. I miss her so much. She was a pretty good cook and had a few dishes that everyone loved and one of those dishes was her potato salad. Which then was handed down to my mom, which was then handed down to us girls.
It's a very simple style of potato salad, but ended up being one of my mom's most requested dishes for potlucks, besides her brownies.
It has now become my husband's favorite potato salad and this is trying every store bought (Publix, Kroger, Walmart) variety.
You'll die at how easy it is too!
Trudy's Potato Salad
Ingredients
Potatoes (about 5-6 medium sized, of any variety potatoes. This recipe used Klondike Rose)
1/2 Vidalia onion chopped
2 hard boiled eggs
2 celery heart stalks finely chopped
1/2 Hellmann's Mayonnaise
Seasoning Salt
Wash then chop up potatoes. I did not peel the Klondike Rose potatoes. But if you use brown skinned potato, you might want to peel them before you chop them.
Place them in a medium sized pan and cover with water
Bring potatoes to a boil and then let them boil for about 10 minutes.
While potatoes are boiling, chop your onion, eggs, and celery
After 10 minutes, drain your potatoes and let them cool for about 30 minutes.
While your potatoes cool, have a glass of wine and listen to some music (Relax!)
After your potatoes have cooled, pour them into a large serving bowl or casserole. I used my mom's vintage cornflower corning ware casserole.
Add about 1/2 of your ingredients and mix... then combine the rest of your ingredients and mix.
Season to taste. I'm guessing I used about 1 teaspoon of seasoning salt. You may like less or more.
Enjoy!!!
We enjoyed ours with burgers and corn on the cobb!
