Carrot and Ginger Soup with Coconut Milk

Had this for dinner tonight along with a side of oven roasted broccoli. Very good! :)

It's a bit labor intensive because you have to puree it after the carrots have simmered a while. If you have a hand immersion blender, that would be recommended. I couldn't find mine so I had to put it in the blender so that took a while and made a mess. But it makes a lot of soup so we have four serving leftover for later!

I couldn't tell exactly how much coconut milk they said to add, so I just added a regular sized can of it. I think that is what they meant to say. :)

I added a couple tablespoons of parmesan to the top of it. Yum!

http://www.thedailymeal.com/carrot-and-ginger-soup-coconut-milk

Black Bean and Sweet Potato Flautas

I used the link below as inspiration for this recipe. I just basically used fewer ingredients in mine and didn't bake them. So mine were really more like burritos than flautas, I guess. :)  This is a great 15 minute meal to throw together that you can feel good about eating!

Ingredients:
1 medium sweet potato
3 ears of corn, shucked
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
6 Mission Artisan wheat tortillas
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
2 tablespoons freeze dried cilantro (in the produce section-cheaper than fresh)
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese

Either bake the sweet potato or microwave it with a wet paper towel around it for 7-8 minutes on high.

Scoop out cooked sweet potato and add to a large skillet. Add corn, black beans, tomatoes, spices and oil. Warm through for about 7 minutes.
Serve mixture on wheat tortillas with a sprinkle of feta cheese. Enjoy :)

http://www.peasandcrayons.com/2012/09/baked-black-bean-sweet-potato-flautas.html

Shrimp Caesar Salad

This is super simple and yummy!

Ingredients:
1 small bag raw, deveined frozen shrimp with no tail
2 tablespoons butter
salt and pepper to taste
Italian seasoning
1 clove garic, minced
2 tablespoons lemon juice


Mixed greens
Tomatoes, chopped
Carrots, chopped or shredded
Ken's Lite Caesar dressing

Thaw and rinse shrimp thoroughly with water. Combine the top section of ingredients on a cookie sheet. I just put small pieces of butter on top of the shrimp. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes.

Let shrimp cool and add to salad. I served it with pieces of toasted whole grain bread.

Mushroom Ravioli and Veggies

I threw this together the other day and it came out so good! It was the perfect amount for two servings!

Ingredients:
1 package mushroom ravioli (I think it was Buitoni)
1 can diced tomatoes with garlic and herbs
2 cups loosely packed fresh spinach
1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese

Directions:
Rinse spinach in a colinder and put in the sink. Boil ravioli and drain on top of spinach so that it wilts partially. Put everything back in the pot and add canned tomatoes. Stir together and warm everything through.

Serve hot with feta sprinkled on top!

Blueberry Banana Breakfast Bars

*Another* Pinterest recipe! It's my new cookbook :)

Easy, fast dish! I made this the night before and it was ready the next morning. I just microwaved it for 20 seconds for each serving. 

My changes/suggestions:

I added some brown sugar to this because personally, I thought it needed some more sweetness. You could also use agave syrup or more honey than the 1/4 cup that is called for.

Next time, I will use TWO mashed bananas instead of one. I thought it needed more moisture.

I used frozen blueberries. Because they were still frozen when I added them, I added 5 minutes to the cooking time.


http://www.greensnchocolate.com/2012/07/blueberry-banana-breakfast-bars.html

Green Lentil Soup with Coconut Milk

Found this recipe on Pinterest (where I find most of my recipes), and thought it looked so easy and perfect for our dietary restrictions right now. (Chris doesn't do well with dairy and we're trying to limit our meat right now.)

The coconut milk adds a nice creaminess without any dairy and if you get the light version, it is less calories. I put this recipe into My Fitness Pal's recipes and it said it was only 297 calories for one serving and this recipe makes four servings. Pretty good if you ask me! :)

Also, I love how cheap and nutritious lentils are! A bag of these at Kroger was 99 cents. Can't beat that! It was ready in about 35-40 minutes total.

My changes to this recipe:
Used three small shallots instead of an onion.
I had some leftover pureed sweet potato soup (about 2 cups worth) that was in a carton that I added to this so it wouldn't go to waste. Fit the flavor profile perfectly!
Added a tablespoon of parmesan to the top.

http://bigflavors.blogspot.com/2011/11/green-lentil-soup-with-coconut-milk-and.html?m=1

Banana Peanut Butter "Ice Cream"

OK, this one's a keeper, y'all! :) This is super-duper easy and delicious!

Directions:
Peel and roughly chop 2 bananas.
Put the pieces in a ziplock and freeze for a few hours.
Add frozen chopped bananas to the food processor an pulse until it becomes creamy.
Add 2 tablespoons of peanut butter and process.

Voila! Sweet, creamy ice cream! This really satisfied my sweet tooth after dinner tonight. This made about 2 cups of ice cream. Good amount to split with one other person for dessert! :)

Asian Noodle Salad

I made this for dinner tonight and we both really enjoyed this! Light but filling dinner. And enough for leftovers tomorrow :) This is one of the few healthy Pioneer Woman recipes I have seen. As much as I *love* her and her show, most of her recipes are pretty fattening, although I'm sure they are out of this world yummy!

Here is the link-  http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2008/03/my_most_favorite_salad_ever_ever_ever_ever/

Here are my changes:
Omitted jalepenos, scallions, purple cabbage, orange and red bell pepper, sprouts (couldn't find them at Kroger)

Suggestions:
Next time, I think I will add shredded carrots, snow peas and maybe broccoli. The more veggies, the better! :)

Veggie Pasta Toss

If you're looking for an easy vegetarian meal, look no further! :)

I used the veggies I had on hand tonight and although the brussel sprouts were a bit random in this dish, it still was pretty tasty. Next time, I would probably go with broccoli instead. This was very filling, despite not having any meat or cheese in it.

Ingredients:
1 package brussel sprouts, rinsed, ends cut off and outer layer peeled off
small package baby carrots
1 large zucchini, chopped
.5 lb. whole grain pasta, any variety
Store bought pesto, 4 ounces
Balsamic vinegar, 1/4 cup

Directions:
On a large cookie sheet, arrange chopped zucchini, baby carrots and brussel sprouts. Drizzle with small amount of olive oil, salt and pepper. Roast in 400 degree oven for around 25-30 minutes. Halfway through, shake cookie sheet to move the veggies around.

Boil whole grain pasta as directed and drain.

In a large pot, pour in balsamic, bring to a simmer and reduce heat for 3 minutes or so. Add pesto and stir. Toss pasta and veggies in the sauce and serve! :)

Tuscan Bean Soup with Garlic Bread

This recipe is a keeper, friends!!! I *will* make this again! Since we are limiting our meat and dairy at our house, this was the perfect recipe and will feed us for a couple days too! That's one of the things I love about soup- it lasts a long time. :)

The recipe link is below-- here are my changes:

Omitted the onion, fennel seeds and potato

Used one yellow and one green squash (zucchini)

Added one can of diced tomatoes

Used canned cannelini beans (two cans, drained and rinsed)

Added two small cans of vegetable broth

This was very flavorful and filling. After chopping the veggies and  adding them to the pot, this soup can be ready in about 30 minutes! :)
I bought a loaf of tuscan bread from Kroger and used half the loaf with this meal.

http://www.saveur.com/article/Recipes/Tuscan-Bean-Soup