December 14, 2011- Brown Rice and Beans with Cheese

Brown Rice and Beans with Cheese

This is one of our favorite meals to make in the crock pot. It is really simple and doesn't require a lot of ingredients. It is brown rice, black beans, celery, cream of celery, vegetable stock, salt and pepper, and onion. You brown the onion and celery and add in the rice and salt and pepper and transfer everything to the crock pot. We typically only cook it for the directions for High so it doesn't burn. It says High for 4 hours, we found that about 3 and a half hours works best. We squeeze some it lime on top and top it with some cheddar cheese and also eat it with some flax seed tortilla chips. It is really a yummy and hearty meal.

December 13, 2011- Creamy Mushroom and Spinach Pasta

Creamy Mushroom and Spinach Pasta

This is a recipe I think we might have tried before but I don't remember. You sautee the mushrooms with some olive oil. We had some whole wheat penne as our pasta. You add some vegetable broth, lemon, and dried oregano to cook with the mushrooms. Then you add the spinach and some cream cheese. You then toss the pasta with some remaining pasta water and serve it. It was a pretty quick dinner (less than 30 minutes). It was also really good. You could taste the cheese, oregano, as well as the lemon flavor. The spinach and mushrooms were also good and the whole penne is a healthier option compared to normal pasta. Enjoy!

December 10, 2011- Leftovers (Lasagna and Polenta)

Leftovers (Lasagna and Polenta)

We were supposed to make cream of zucchini soup tonight but we realized we had leftovers to eat so we ate those instead. We had leftover lasagna that Nick made on Tuesday and the leftover polenta I made for class on Tuesday. It was a yummy dinner. We also made a salad which had kidney beans, peas, some cheddar cheese, and the ranch dressing we described in an earlier post.

December 11, 2011- Cheese and Mushroom Pizza

Cheese and Mushroom Pizza

This is a really yummy homemade pizza that we love to make. We buy a whole wheat pizza dough in the bag from Trader Joe's (the kind you have to roll out). They used to sell a pizza sauce on the shelves but have been out for a while. They have this other sauce in the refrigerator section and we have been using that. We then buy their shredded 2% mozzarella. We buy some white or cremini mushrooms. We always sautee the mushrooms in some olive oil and garlic for a little bit first. You bake the pizza crust for about 5 minutes first and then put everything on top and finishing baking it for about 6-7 minutes more and it is done! Yummyness! We already ate half the pizza...

December 12, 2011- Cream of Zucchini Soup

Cream of Zucchini Soup

This is our first time trying this soup today. Nick made it so it was extra special :) We were inspired to try this soup because we had some cream of zucchini soup with kale at Fresh Choice. This soup is a little different because it has rice in it. It is a rice and onion soup base. You can use water or broth or milk or a combination. Since Nick is lactose intolerant we did a sort of combination of milk and broth. The zucchini soup has zucchini and sour cream. The zucchini base is blended in batches to make it smooth. And then you mix it all together. We actually had the soup with the sour cream served on top which was good. We served the soup with some Parmiaggo rosemary rolls from Trader Joes. Yum!

December 9, 2011- Sweet Poato Patties with Applesauce (Vegan)

Sweet Potato Patties with Applesauce (Vegan)

This is a new recipe we are trying tonight. It is really simple to try. The recipe calls for more ingredients but we are substituting some things. It calls for eggs, feta, sweet potatoes, flour, mint, melted butter. Obviously we are not including the feta and egg. You can substitute some Earth Balance or margarine for the butter to make it vegan. We put applesauce in it to hold the mixture together better. You fry them in some canola oil for a little bit then bake them for longer. They remind me a little of latkes so we are going to eat them with applesauce. Voile!

December 8, 2011- Pancakes

Pancakes

We were supposed to go to K's Crepes again but they close at 3pm on Thursday, bummer. So we decided I would go and pick up some crepes for Nick and I to have at his school. I have been really sick all this week and was feeling particularly bad today (yesterday, sorry have been slacking on posting) so Nick decided to just make some pancakes for us for dinner. It is the buttermilk just add water ones from Target. Easy peasy. We add some special ingredients to the batter and serve it with some butter, syrup, and a little bit of whipped cream. Yum yum! No picture because we forgot and were tired. Hope you had a great night!