recipe

It’s Souptember- Soup Recipe Round up!

Abby H.

It’s September! Cooler weather is ahead- and while it’s still hot here, I’m ready for soup. To celebrate Souptember, here are just a few of my favorite soup recipes:

Family Recipe: Albondigas (Meatball Soup)
 Veggie Cheese Tortellini Soup
Crockpot Chili Recipe 
Chicken Gnocchi Soup
Broccoli Cheese Soup
Colonial Chowder
Veggie Soup 
Chicken Fajitas Soup 
Easy Broccoli Cheese Soup
Potato Cheese Soup
Hearty Veggie Soup
Chicken Tortellini Soup
Veggie Tuscan Soup
Homemade Chicken Soup
Zuppa Tuscana Soup CopyCat Recipe
Chicken Corn Chowder
Roasted Onion and Caramelized Onion Bisque
Butternut Squash Bisque
Beef Stew
Harvest Veggie Ravioli Soup

 

Recipe: Honey chipotle chicken thighs

Abby H.

This is a recipe I recently made. I wanted chipotle chicken but with veggies and sauce.

I looked online for a recipe, however, there was nothing that fit the bill. I headed to the kitchen and started cooking.

This meal turned out AMAZING.

Chipotle Chicken Thighs

Ingredients:

  • 2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken thighs
  • Chipotle sauce from a small tin of adobo pepper in chipotle sauce
  • 1 cup salsa
  • 3T. Hot honey
  • 1 medium onion, diced
  • 2 large bell peppers or 3 medium bell peppers, cleaned and sliced into bite-sized pieces 
  • Dash cumin
  • Dash salt and pepper
  • Juice of 2 limes
  • 2T. Corn starch
  • 1/3 cup water

Directions:

  1. In a crockpot, combine all ingredients but corn starch and water.
  2. Cook on low for 5 hours, or high for 3 hours.
  3. Strain sauce into a saucepan, and heat over medium until boiling. While sauce is heating, mix water and corn starch and slowly pour into boiling sauce. Stir until thickened, add back into meat and veggies.

Serve with rice, beans, and tortillas. 

If you want extra smokiness, chop 1-2 chipotle peppers and add to the sauce while it thickens on the stovetop. 

This freezes well as well- If you have leftovers.

May is National Salad Month!

Abby H.

May is National Salad Month and we are 100% here to celebrate.

Here are some of my family’s favorite salad recipes:

And if you are looking for an awesome salad bowl to take your creation to a potluck, this is my favorite bowl with a lid!

A few of my other salad must-haves are this lettuce knife, these salad tongs, and of course, this salad dressing bottle with recipes on the outside to help you stretch your creativity.

2 Ingredient Pizza Dough

Abby H.

My kids love pizza, but sometimes I don’t have time or energy to make a full-blown yeast-based pizza dough that takes 3-4 hours to fully rise and develop before it’s ready to top and bake.

Recently I stumbled across this recipe and it’s a definite keeper.

2 Ingredient Pizza Dough

Ingredients:

  • 1.5 cups self rising flour (plus extra for kneading)
  • 1 cup plain Greek yogurt

Directions:

  1. In a medium-sized bowl, combine both ingredients until a shaggy dough forms.
  2. Turn out onto a floured surface and knead for 8-10 minutes to activate the gluten in the flour.
  3. Roll the dough out  and parbake on a greased cookie sheet or flat baking dish for 5-7 minutes at 500 degrees.
  4. Remove from oven, top with preferred sauce (about 1/3-1/2 cup), cheese, and meat/veggies. 
  5. Return to oven for 7-9 minutes at 500 degrees.
  6. Allow the pizza to rest for about 5 minutes before serving.

This recipe makes 1 pizza crust.

4/17/2023 Weekly Meal Plan!

Abby H.

0a5e9dab796cea8a07eabe4eb4795b9e.jpgThis past week was PACKED. I finally sat down to write up my meal plan yesterday, and forgot to hit submit until right now!

Spring break is over and we are all back to school and work. Out-of-town guests have gone home, and we are back to our regular routine!

I did a little meal prep yesterday, including testing out a new pizza dough recipe, but the real prep will be this afternoon!

Our Yasukochi Family Farms  CSA box is delivered on Mondays, and that is a huge help when it comes to meal planning.

We’ve got a few Dream Dinners for the week, and I’m really looking forward to Somona Steaks!

We’ve been trying a lot of new foods lately, thanks to the really great freebies from Social Nature lately too. It’s fun to try new foods.

For those of you that are new to meal planning, I’ve got an easy 101-style post here with super easy tips and steps. After you get that down, here is info about batch or freezer cooking.

I’ve gotten a pretty good inventory of the pantry, freezer, and fridge (I try to update it after every shopping trip), so I’m able to plan meals and use up what we’ve got with little waste.

I only post our dinner plans for the week, because our other meals are usually the same each day.

Breakfast: Coffee with 1/2 and 1/2  for me, and pancakes or something along those lines for the kids. They are also into fruit and bagels for breakfast. Lately, the big kid has been digging protein shakes in the morning. This is his favorite kind. 

Lunch: I have a plastic tote in the cupboard full of self-serve snacks. I buy treats and snacks in bulk and fill up snack-sized zip-top bags. The big kid brings his lunch every day, and the little one buys her lunch about half the time. Dinner: I’m making sure to start our meals with lots of veggies. Now that I’m back in the gym and the kids are both in Martial Arts, we need to fuel our bodies properly.

  • Sunday: Clean out the Fridge Night!
  • Monday: Dream Dinner, Rice, Roasted Veggies

  • Tuesday:  Fritatta, Fruit Salad, toast

  • Wednesday: Nuggets, mac n’ cheese, fruit, cheese and crackers

  • Thursday: Dream Dinner (Steaks), Green Salad, Roasted Veggies

  • Friday: Takeout night!
  • Saturday: Homemade pizza, salad, veggie tray

Weekly Meal Plan: Spring Break Edition!

Abby H.

0a5e9dab796cea8a07eabe4eb4795b9e.jpgThis past weekend was PACKED. I finally sat down to write up my meal plan yesterday. This week and next are spring break for the kiddos and me. We are also having out-of-town guests, so I needed to plan out snacks and meals.

Thankfully our Yasukochi Family Farms  CSA box is delivered on Mondays, and that is a huge help when it comes to meal planning.

I prepped a bunch of veggies last night and this morning, including chopping veggies to roast, making a kale salad, and making a fruit salad.

I’ll be making some soups for the freezer this week as well, and I’ve got a new recipe to share.

We’ve been trying a lot of new foods lately, thanks to the really great freebies from Social Nature lately too. It’s fun to try new foods.

For those of you that are new to meal planning, I’ve got an easy 101-style post here with super easy tips and steps. After you get that down, here is info about batch or freezer cooking.

I’ve gotten a pretty good inventory of the pantry, freezer, and fridge (I try to update it after every shopping trip), so I’m able to plan meals and use up what we’ve got with little waste.

I only post our dinner plans for the week, because our other meals are usually the same each day.

Breakfast: Coffee with 1/2 and 1/2  for me, and pancakes or something along those lines for the kids. They are also into fruit and bagels for breakfast. Lately, the big kid has been digging protein shakes in the morning. This is his favorite kind. 

Lunch: I have a plastic tote in the cupboard full of self-serve snacks. I buy treats and snacks in bulk and fill up snack-sized zip-top bags. With Spring Break and lots of adventures out of the house, I’ll be packing snacks to take with us on the road. We’re definitely going to the free museum Tuesday at Balboa Park.

Dinner: I’m making sure to start our meals with lots of veggies. Now that I’m back in the gym and the kids are both in Martial Arts, we need to fuel our bodies properly.

  • Sunday: Soup and Salad
  • Monday: Mac and cheese, fruit, toast

  • Tuesday:  Salad with grilled chicken, roasted asparagus

  • Wednesday: Moosie’s Pot Roast, Roasted Veggies

  • Thursday: Fritatta, Corn Muffins, Fruit Salad

  • Friday: Takeout night!
  • Saturday: Leftovers

3/19/2023 Weekly Meal Plan

Abby H.

0a5e9dab796cea8a07eabe4eb4795b9e.jpgI’m back to Meal planning on Sundays. We receive an email on Saturdays from   Yasukochi Family Farms letting us know roughly what will be in our CSA box that is delivered on Monday afternoon.

Sunday I tend to prep proteins, make a batch of soup (incorporating a majority of the leftover veggies from that week’s CSA box), take stock of the pantry, fridge, and freezer, and lay out our basic meal plan for the week.

Today I’ll be making a few big batches of soup- half to go in the freezer, and half to serve this week. I may also make a batch of spaghetti sauce too.

We’ve been trying a lot of new foods lately, thanks to the really great freebies from Social Nature lately too. It’s fun to try new foods.

For those of you that are new to meal planning, I’ve got an easy 101-style post here with super easy tips and steps. After you get that down, here is info about batch or freezer cooking.

I’ve gotten a pretty good inventory of the pantry, freezer, and fridge done (I try to update it after every shopping trip), so I’m able to plan meals and use up what we’ve got with little waste.

I only post our dinner plans for the week, because our other meals are usually the same each day.

Breakfast: Coffee with 1/2 and 1/2  for me, and pancakes or something along those lines for the kids. They are also into fruit and bagels for breakfast. Lately, the big kid has been digging protein shakes in the morning. This is his favorite kind. 

Lunch: I have a plastic tote in the cupboard full of self-serve snacks. I buy treats and snacks in bulk and fill up snack-sized zip-top bags. The big kid brings his lunch from home every day and the littlest buys her lunch at school about half the time. In California, all public schools provide breakfast and lunch for free.

Dinner: Lots of veggies this week! We’re running low on meat, and with the price of it increasing, we’ll be enjoying plenty of vegetable-based meals this week.

  • Sunday: Chili on baked potatoes, roasted asparagus (kids will be having baked potatoes dressed to their preference)
  • Monday: Soup and salad (or protein shakes and salad)

  • Tuesday:  Vegetable Soup and Cheese Toast

  • Wednesday: Nuggets, fruit, crackers, and cheese (the typical Wednesday night dinner)

  • Thursday: Ramona’s Mess (Recipe coming up this week), fruit salad

  • Friday: Takeout night!
  • Saturday: Leftovers

3/5/2023 Weekly Meal Plan

Abby H.

0a5e9dab796cea8a07eabe4eb4795b9e.jpgI’m back to Meal planning on Sundays. We receive and email on Saturdays from   Yasukochi Family Farms letting us know roughly what will be in our CSA box that is delivered on Monday afternoon.

Sunday I tend to prep proteins, make a batch of soup (incorporating a majority of the leftover veggies from that week’s CSA box), take stock of the pantry, fridge, and freezer, and lay out our basic meal plan for the week.

We have a lot of soup in the freezer. Like… 6 different types. We’re having a lot of soup this week. Thankfully, it’s soup weather, and everyone enjoys soup.

I’m planning on a few batches of roasted veggies to be served throughout the week as well.

We’ve been trying a lot of new foods lately, thanks to the really great freebies from Social Nature lately too. It’s fun to try new foods.

For those of you that are new to meal planning, I’ve got an easy 101-style post here with super easy tips and steps. After you get that down, here is info about batch or freezer cooking.

I’ve gotten a pretty good inventory of the pantry, freezer, and fridge done (I try to update it after every shopping trip), so I’m able to plan meals and use up what we’ve got with little waste.

I only post our dinner plans for the week, because our other meals are usually the same each day.

Breakfast: Coffee with 1/2 and 1/2  for me, and pancakes or something along those lines for the kids. They are also into fruit and bagels for breakfast. Lately, the big kid has been digging protein shakes in the morning. This is his favorite kind. 

Lunch: I have a plastic tote in the cupboard full of self-serve snacks. I buy treats and snacks in bulk and fill up snack-sized zip-top bags. The big kid brings his lunch from home every day and the littlest buys her lunch at school about half the time. In California, all public schools provide breakfast and lunch for free.

Dinner: We’ve got Soup several times for dinner, which is great. All I have t0 do is take it out to defrost the morning of!  And I have one Dream Dinner remaining, so we’ll be having it this week as well.

  • Sunday:  Leftovers
  • Monday: Dream Dinner, roasted veggies

  • Tuesday:  Soup and Cheese Toast

  • Wednesday: Nuggets, fruit, crackers, and cheese (the typical Wednesday night dinner)

  • Thursday: Soup, roasted veggies, toast

  • Friday: Takeout night!
  • Saturday: Salad Bar Night

Recipe: Creamy Cajun Pasta

Abby H.

Last week, I was looking through the fridge, trying to figure out what to make with the chicken breasts that I had defrosted. None of the usual suspects sounded good, and then I remembered I has seen a video with a recipe for Cream Cajun pasta. I couldn’t find the video again, so I decided to wing it.

It’s super tasty, quick, and easy.

Creamy Cajun Pasta

Ingredients:

  • 2 T. AP Flour
  • 4 T. Cajun/Creole seasoning, divided
  • 2 large chicken breasts, slices in half (or 4 chicken breast tenders)
  • 2T. Olive or grapeseed oil, divided
  • 2T. butter, divided
  • 1 medium onion, chopped (I used a purple onion)
  • 2 bell peppers, chopped
  • 3 celery ribs, diced
  • 2 small zucchini or 1 large zucchini, cut into bite-sized pieces
  • 3 large tomatoes diced, or 1 can (about 15oz) diced tomatoes drained
  • 1 1/4 cups chicken stock
  • 1T. corn starch
  • 1/2 block cream cheese
  • 1 cup milk (I used whole milk if you want it extra thick and creamy use heavy cream)
  • 1/2 cup parmesan cheese
  • 1 lb. package of your choice of pasta, cooked per package instructions, reserve 1/4 cup cooked pasta water.

Directions:

  1. Mix flour and 2T of the Cajun seasoning in a shallow dish.
  2. Coat chicken breasts in flour/spice mixture.
  3. In a large skillet, heat half the butter and oil. Once the butter is melted, add chicken breasts. Cook for about 5-6 minutes on each side, allowing a light golden crust to form on each side of the breast.
  4. Once chicken breasts are golden brown on each side, remove from pan and set aside.
  5. Add remaining butter and oil.
  6. Saute onions, celery, and bell peppers in oil/butter until the onions are translucent, about 5-10 minutes.
  7. Add in the tomatoes and cook covered for about 5-10 minutes.
  8. While tomatoes are cooking mix stock and cornstarch to create a slurry. This mixture will thicken the sauce.
  9. Once the tomatoes have cooked and broken down, add the stock slurry, milk, and cream cheese. Stir and break down the cream cheese as it melts so there are no lumps. Add in the remaining Cajun Seasoning.
  10. Add back in the chicken breasts, and add in the zucchini, turn the heat down to low, and cook covered for about 5-10 minutes, or until the zucchini is tender.
  11. Mix in the remaining cheese, and taste. Add more Cajun Seasoning as desired. We added black pepper and red pepper flakes to taste (about 1 teaspoon each).
  12. Stir in reserved pasta water, and cooked pasta. Allow the entire dish to cook for about 3-5 minutes.

Serve topped with parmesan cheese if desired. This was an amazing dinner and it was done in less than an hour. I had prepped all the veggies ahead of time. I do about 2 hours worth of meal prep each week, including chopping veggies on Monday afternoons after the CSA box arrives.

Allergy variations:

  • To make this dish gluten-free, use Gluten Free AP flour, and gluten-free pasta.
  • To make this dish dairy free, use dairy-free milk, cream cheese, and parm.
  • This dish is not vegetarian or vegan. 

 

 

 

 

Recipe: Cold Peanut Noodles

Abby H.

I saw this on TikTok the other day, and while digging through the cupboard this morning, looking for ingredients for other meal prep stuff, I realized we had all the ingredients.

We had 2 bunches of scallions, and I wasn’t sure what to do with them, thankfully, this recipe is perfect for scallions. I also shelled the basket of peas we had from our CSA box and cut a carrot into matchstick size pieces.

The best part about this recipe is adding more sriracha if you love spicy noods. If you are a wuss like me, just a pinch will do.

Let’s get started!

Ingredients:

  • 1 package of spaghetti noodles, cooked per package directions
  • 1/2 cup fresh or frozen peas
  • 1 cup julienned carrots
  • 2 bunches of scallions/green onions
  • 1/2 cup soy sauce
  • 1/4 cup sesame oil
  • 1/4 cup olive or avocado oil
  • 1/4 cup peanut butter (I used smooth, but chunky is good too)
  • 1 Tablespoon sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon sriracha sauce (more if you like it spicy)
  • 1/2 teaspoon fish sauce
  • 2 Tablespoons sesame seeds

Directions:

  1. While the noodles are cooking, combine soy sauce, oils, peanut butter, sugar, sriracha, fish sauce, and sesame seeds in a mixing bowl. Whisk together and set aside.
  2. Dice/chop veggies and set aside.
  3. When the noodles are cooked to your liking, drain and rinse. Add to the sauce and coat.
  4. Add in the veggies, and toss to coat. Serve at room temperature or store them in a closed container for 4-6 hours to allow flavors to meld. This salad is good hot, cold, or at room temperature.

This is great as a side salad, or top it with grilled chicken breast and serve with a side of rice and green salad topped with miso dressing to make a tasty meal.

This salad will keep in the fridge for 3-5 days (if it will last that long).

If you need a crunch on your salad, top with a few teaspoons of diced peanuts.