Hummus Delight ~ Recipe Wednesday

Ok...so forgive me with the cheesy name for this weeks recipe...
With a 2 month old baby boy and a 6 year girl I am lucky to get anything posted during the week! But I LOVE to cook and share and when you are a mom I truly believe that you have to step back...breathe and find time to do what you love.....as long as the household is sorted! So here we go...Hummus is pretty much a staple in our home. It is fast and easy to make and a great snack on some bread...crackers or you can dip some veggies in it. It is healthy too! What more could you ask for?

In a food processor or a blender...food processor is easier...mix the following

1 box, can or cup of garbanzo beans...depending on if you pressure cook your own beans or buy your beans
6 sundried tomatoes....I use ones that are in a jar of olive oil...they are soft and easy to mix up
6-8 pitted kalamata olives
2 tablespoons of plain greek yogurt
1 tablespoon of olive oil
1/2 teaspoon of salt
Splash of water
And as much feta cheese as you like....I like lots!

Mix this all in your food processor till it becomes smooth...adding bits of water as you go to smooth it all out.

Serve at parties or grab at anytime of the day for a quick snack.

Enjoy!

Coconut Brownies ~ Holiday Bonus Recipe

A bonus recipe this week for Valentine's Day! This is a recipe from the back of the coconut flour bag, so it is not my recipe, but I wanted to share.
These are gluten free because I used coconut flour...don't let "gluten free" scare you away....these are very yummy brownies.

Ingredients & Directions

Peheat oven at 350F (180C)

1/3 cup of butter
1/2 cup of cocoa powder

Put butter and cocoa powder in a pan and blend over low heat. Remove from heat and let it cool.

In a bowl.... mix
1cup of sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
6 eggs

When butter/cocoa mixture is cool put the sugar mixture into the pot and mix. (Do not turn stove on....it is just easier to mix everything in the pot)

Add 1/2 cup of sifted coconut flour ...to the mixture and mix well... till there are no lumps. I used my hand mixer. I added chocolate chips and mixed them in with a spoon.

Use an oiled baking pan ( I used coconut butter to oil mine)
Put the brownie mixture into the pan and bake for 30 minutes. I covered mine with foil halfway through so the top would not burn.
You can check the brownies with a toothpick to see if they are done.

Enjoy! Happy Valentine's Day!

Potato Cheese Soup ~ Recipe Wednesday

This week we are having potato cheese soup! It is my daughter's favorite winter meal.

Ingredients:

5-6 medium sized peeled potatoes

1 chopped stalk of celery

1 chopped small onion

1 cube of chicken stock or a cup of homemade chicken stock ( vegetable stock can be used also)

1 cup of water ( if using homemade stock or a liquid stock from a can/carton, do not use this extra cup of water)

1/2 tsp salt

ground pepper to taste

2 tsp flour

1 1/2 cups of milk

1 1/2 cups of shredded cheddar cheese ( I used a white cheddar that I shredded)

About 2 tbsp of chopped chives...add more if you want

In a large pot add potatoes, onion, celery, boullion and water. Season with salt and pepper and simmer till everything is soft.

In a bowl mix the flour and milk. When pot of vegetables are soft add the milk mixture and cook till soup becomes thick...stir so it does not burn.

After soup has thickened add the cheese and chives, stir till cheese has melted. I mashed some of the potatoes a bit with a potato masher, to make the soup a bit more creamy, but if you like a chunky soup, no need to mash.

Enjoy this weeks soup! Hope you and your kids ( if you have kids) like it!

Be Bold ~ Monday's Mantra

This morning a good friend reminded me to be bold about something I mentioned in an email. This advice stuck with me all day...therefore I decided it was the perfect mantra for the week.  So as you walk through your week walk with confidence...be fearless ...go out into the world and get what you want. Have a wonderful week!

Simple Herb Soup ~ Recipe Wednesday

So recently I discovered a show about a woman from England that has been living in Japan for 30 years! It's called Venetia's Diary. It is on NHK channel 2 on Sunday's at 6pm and it repeats on Tuesday's at 10:30am...if you do not live in Japan I believe there is way to watch the show online, just google Venetia's Diary.  She lives in a 100 year old farmhouse in Kyoto and shares her herbal knowledge and travels around Japan visiting artists. I LOVE THIS SHOW....even though 90% of this 30 minute show is in Japanese I love it! Venetia is a simple woman and she inspires me....living in Japan has not been the easiest transition for me over the last (almost) 7 years. I have fallen into depression, bitterness, negativity...basically everything I do not want to be. But...the last year of my life has brought great changes...I got pregnant, stopped teaching english, started meditating everyday, creating mandalas more, loving my time with my 6 year old daughter, learning more and more about compromise in marriage (probably the most challenging lesson) and I had a baby boy that I simply adore! BIG changes and change is not always easy...especially for me and my Capricorn ways. My point....this tv program has given me more hope and inspires me to want to stay in Japan...Venetia speaks simple Japanese that I understand and it is helping me learn this difficult language. What I love most is when she cooks....and this week she made a simple vegetable soup. I am going to share it with you...I have made a few changes since I did not have all the same herbs as Venetia, but my soup came out tasting delicious.

Ingredients

Diakon radish
Carrot
Chives ( I used にら a chinese chive)
1 celery stalk
A can of white beans ( or you can soak and cook your own)
Green beans
Thick bacon ( optional....I used it for flavoring)

Herbs: I bundled in cheesecloth a slice of lemon, some fresh thyme and some fresh lemon grass.

Fill a pot with water... put cut up carrots, diakon and celery in the pot with the bundled up herbs and simmer for 45 minutes.
I cooked my bacon up and put it in the simmering pot after the veggies simmered for about 30 minutes....the last 5 minutes I threw in the green beans and white beans. They both do not need to cook for long. Having a little crunch in your green bean is good....

At the end of cooking I added some salt and pepper to taste...topped with chives and took out the bundle of herbs.

It ended up snowing in our city ( happens once or twice in winter) so this soup was perfect for a snowy day. I also made some cheddar and chive biscuits that were a perfect match!

I hope you like this soup. Enjoy!

Drown Out The Noise And Trust Your Instincts ~ Monday's Mantra

There is not much to say about this weeks mantra. Let us all quiet our minds and listen to our truth....shall we? I know I need to practice this much more to ground myself during the short but oh so long month of February.