Category: Recipes

I just made this soup tonight. It’s on the sweet side, but, it’s so filling! Totally vegan and gluten free.

 

Vegetable Soup Recipe

Ingredients:

Veggies:
1/2 Onion diced (1/2 cup)
1 stalk Celery chopped (1 cup)
1 large Carrot diced (1 cup)
1 small zucchini (sliced into 1/4-inch rounds)
1/4 lb. Cauliflower chopped (2 cups)
2 sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
5 cloves Garlic chopped
1/2 lb. Whole Tomatoes chopped (or 14oz can Diced Tomatoes with juice)

Liquid
2 Tbsp Olive Oil
8 cups vegetable broth

Herbs:
2 tsp dried basil (or sub 1 Tbsp fresh per 2 tsp dried)
2 tsp dried oregano (or sub 1 Tbsp fresh per 2 tsp dried)
1/4 tsp Italian Seasoning
1 tsp Kosher Salt

Optional
1 15-ounce can white beans or chickpeas (rinsed + drained)
1 cup kale or spinach (or other green // roughly chopped)

Directions:

Vegetable Soup (stove instructions)
Heat olive oil in a 4-quart soup pot on medium-high heat.
Add onion, celery, carrot, garlic; sauté until tender for about 5 minutes, stirring as needed.

To the pot, add broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, zucchini, tomatoes, sweet potatoes, vegetable broth and seasonings stir to combine.

Turn heat to high and heat the soup it starts to boil; then turn heat to medium-low and simmer for 20-30 minutes until all veggies are tender. I did this recipe on a gas stove for 20 minutes.

Vegetable Soup Serving and Storage Instructions:
Serve veggie soup warm. Garnish options: lemon zest, fresh parsley, croutons, or grated parmesan cheese.

Refrigerate veggie soup in an airtight container up to 5 days or in the freezer up to 3 months.

I wanted to try making this from scratch. I used this recipe and it turned out great! So good on vegetarian meatballs and burgers. I had a lot left over that I put in some jars in the fridge.

Ingredients

3 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup onion finely diced
1/3 cup carrot shredded
3 garlic cloves minced
1/4 cup fresh basil chopped
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
salt and pepper
28 oz whole tomatoes canned
28 oz crushed tomatoes canned
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1-2 teaspoons sugar (optional)
1/2 cup water

Directions

In a large pot, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add onion, carrot and garlic. Cook until soft, about 5 minutes.
Add whole tomatoes (with juice) and gently break apart with the spoon.  Stir in remaining ingredients.
Simmer uncovered on low heat for 20 minutes or until sauce reaches desired consistency.
Serve over spaghetti or enjoy in your favorite recipes. Freeze or refrigerate to store.

These Baked Meatballs are the BEST! The perfect addition to any meal or to eat right on their own. Bonus: they’re meal-prep friendly to stock up throughout the week!

INGREDIENTS
* 1 pound ground beef, chicken or turkey
* 1 egg
* 1/2 cup Gluten Free breadcrumbs
* 1/2 cup grated Parmesan (optional)
* 2 tablespoons olive oil (optional – makes meatballs more moist and yummy)
* I use Italian seasoning.

INSTRUCTIONS
Preheat the oven to 425℉ degrees. Line a baking sheet with foil and a little cooking spray.
Mix all the ingredients together in a mixing bowl.
Roll the mixture into about 30 small balls. Place on baking sheet.
Bake for 25-30 minutes.

My husband was raised in Ohio and well, the Buckeye candies are REALLY good!

Here’s the recipe I use. I’ve never had any issues with it at all. I do use a cake tester vs. a toothpick for the dipping part.

Enjoy!

Buckeyes
Makes 50
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar
6 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips
2 tablespoons shortening

Directions
Line a baking sheet with waxed paper; set aside.
In a medium bowl, mix peanut butter, butter, vanilla, and confectioners’ sugar with hands to form a smooth stiff dough.
Shape into balls using 2 teaspoons of dough for each ball. Place on prepared pan, and refrigerate.
Melt shortening and chocolate together in a metal bowl over a pan of lightly simmering water.
Stir occasionally until smooth, and remove from heat.
Remove balls from refrigerator. Insert a wooden toothpick into a ball, and dip into melted chocolate.
Return to wax paper, chocolate side down, and remove toothpick. Repeat with remaining balls.
Refrigerate for 30 minutes to set.

I created this seasoning to use on salmon specifically, although you can use it on any sort of fish.

2 tablespoons ground paprika

1 tablespoon ground cayenne pepper

1 tablespoon onion powder

2 teaspoons salt

1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper

1 tsp lemon pepper

1/4 teaspoon dried thyme

1/4 teaspoon dried basil

1/4 teaspoon dried oregano

My recipe came about 6 months ago when I needed to use it on chicken and I had to save some over for ribs later that week. I used a small jar and made a double batch. It’s great for anything.

Ingredients
2 tablespoons onion powder
2 tablespoons garlic powder
2 tablespoons dried oregano
2 tablespoons dried basil
1 tablespoon dried thyme
1 tablespoon black pepper
1 tablespoon white pepper
1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
5 tablespoons paprika
3 tablespoons salt

Vitamix Hummus

1 can chickpeas, drained
2 medium cloves garlic
Dash of paprika
2 tbsp of lemon juice
3 tbsp of tahini (optional)
1/4 cup olive oil. Add more if you need to loosen up the humus.
Pinch of salt.

 

 

I just made this today, but, instead of using my crock pot, I used my Instant Pot. I would strongly suggest you use a pinch of pepper vs. the 1/2 tsp. It was spicy! I changed the ingredients to what we eat and what we had in the house. I didn’t use the green beans, nor any parsley. I also recommend not using an entire onion unless it’s a small yellow onion. I used about 1/4 of the yellow onion I had, it was a large one.

This is what it looked like in my Instant Pot before I shut the lid:

Ingredients:

1 yellow onion, chopped
2 carrots, cut into ½-circles
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 medium sweet potato, peeled and cut into ¾-inch pieces
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 ½ cups frozen green beans
¾ cup pearl barley
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp dried oregano
¾ tsp dried thyme
½ tsp salt
½ tsp ground pepper
1 (14 oz.) can petite diced tomatoes
6 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
2 cups water
¼ cup minced flat-leaf parsley

All vegetarian ingredients and I believe this is vegan as well.

Directions:

Combine all of the ingredients, except for the parsley, in a large (6-quart) slow cooker.
Cook on LOW until the barley is tender, about 8 hours.

Instant Pot – Click the soup button. It’s about 15-20 minutes to get up to pressure, then 30 minutes until it’s done.

Stir in the parsley. Serve.

This makes 11 cups. I filled two large canning jars almost to the top and I had 3 adults eat as well. There’s some leftover for one or two people for lunch tomorrow.

This is what it looked like after it was finished cooking:

Yum! Put a piece of bread in the bottom of the bowl before you pour the soup and it makes it even more yummier.

A few months ago I purchased an Instant Pot. If you don’t know what this is, it’s like a pressure cooker and a crock pot combined. I can cook chili in 45 minutes and it tastes like I had it in the crock pot all day.

Today I made chicken soup for the first time.

I used this recipe, which is for the Instant Pot. I’m sure you could use it for a crockpot, but, I have no idea what settings or times you would need or even if you would have to adjust the water.

Ingredients
(for about 5 quarts of soup)
1 small whole chicken (4-5 lbs)
1 whole bulb of garlic
2 stalks celery
2 carrots
1 bunch parsley (about 5 stalks)
1 thumb-sized knob of ginger
2 tablespoons salt
6 cups water

Directions:

Place the chicken in the Instant Pot on the trivet.

Cut the carrots and celery diagonally into large pieces. Cut the parsley into 2 inch long sections, stems and all. Cut the ginger into thick slices. Separate the garlic bulb into cloves and peel the skins off each clove.

Add all the vegetables into the Instant Pot.

Add the salt and the water.

Place the lid on the Instant Pot, set the pressure valve to ‘seal’ and select ‘Poultry’, which will give 15 minutes of pressure cooking. (It will take about 15 minutes for the liquid inside to come to a boil and build up pressure, then it will pressure cook for 15 minutes. Total cook time 30 minutes).

After the Instant Pot has worked it magic on the ingredients you placed inside it, fish the chicken out and set it on a large plate to cool a bit. Then pull all the meat off the bones. Return the meat to the soup as large chunks, or after chopping into smaller pieces, depending on what you prefer).

I leave out the garlic and the ginger, but, I do use everything else.

I’m going to freeze this and heat it up when I want it vs. using canned soup!