Recipe: Chocolate cherry ice cream

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We love this dessert! Great with banana or berries instead of cherries too.

Serves 2

INGREDIENTS:
1/2 cup vanilla soy, hemp, or almond milk
1 tablespoon natural cocoa powder
4 dates, pitted
1 1/2 cups dark sweet frozen cherries
[We added 1/2 cup of ice for extra creamy goodness]

DIRECTIONS:
Blend all ingredients in a high-powered blender until smooth and creamy. If using a regular blender, add only half the cherries and blend until smooth, then add the remaining cherries and continue to blend.

Variation: Use berries or banana instead of cherries. Freeze ripe bananas at least 24 hours in advance. To freeze, peel, cut into thirds, and wrap tightly in plastic wrap.

Recipe: Eat To Live: Black Bean Lettuce Bundles

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These bean lettuce wraps from Eat To Live are pretty easy to prepare and are very tasty!

Serves 4

Ingredients:
2 cups cooked or canned no-salt-added or low-sodium black beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 large, ripe avocado, peeled, pitted, and mashed [we used whole avocado]
1/2 medium green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
3 green onions, chopped [we used 1 onion]
1/3 cup chopped cilantro
1/3 cup mild no-salt-added or low-sodium salsa [we used a spicy homemade mango salsa]
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 clove garlic, minced
1 teaspoon ground cumin
8 large romaine lettuce leaves

Directions:
In a bowl, mash the beans and avocado together with a fork until well blended and only slightly chunky. Add all the remaining ingredients except the lettuce and mix.

Place approximately 1/4 cup of mixture in the center of each lettuce leaf and roll up like burrito.

Notes:
We added extra salsa on top before eating, but we LOVE salsa!

Recipe: Eat To Live: Triple Treat Cabbage Salad

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We found this recipe on Dr. Fuhrman’s website. The crunch and snap of the cabbage is really refreshing and fresh. We added a little extra red wine vinegar because we like slaw that is a little on the tart side. Really great recipe!
Serves: 4
Preparation Time: 15 minutes
INGREDIENTS:

SALAD

  • 2 cups green cabbage, grated
  • 1 cup red cabbage, grated
  • 1 cup savoy cabbage, grated
  • 1 carrot, peeled and grated
  • 1 red pepper, thinly sliced
  • 4 tablespoons currants
  • 2 tablespoons raw pumpkin seeds
  • 2 tablespoons raw sunflower seeds
  • 1 tablespoon unhulled sesame seeds

DRESSING

  • 1/3 cup soy, almond or hemp milk
  • 1 apple, peeled and sliced
  • 1/2 cup raw cashews or 1/4 cup raw cashew butter
  • 1 tablespoon Dr. Fuhrman’s Spicy Pecan Vinegar [we used red wine vinegar]
  • 1 tablespoon currants
  • 1 tablespoon unhulled sesame seeds, lightly toasted*
INSTRUCTIONS:
Mix all salad ingredients together.
In a high-powered blender, blend soy milk, apple, cashews and vinegar and toss with salad.
Garnish with currants and lightly toasted sesame seeds.

Recipe: Eat To Live: Black Forest Cream of Mushroom Soup

This soup is AMAZING. We will undoubtedly make this recipe again. The Eat To Live recipes leave us full, satisfied and the soups last for at least a week in the fridge. That’s if we don’t eat it all immediately!

Serves 6

INGREDIENTS:
2 tablespoons water
2 pounds mixed fresh mushrooms (button, shiitake, cremini), sliced 1/4 inch thick
2 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
2 teaspoons herbes de Provence [we used Italian seasonings]
5 cups carrot juice
3 cups unsweetened soy, hemp, or almond mild
2 carrots, coarsely chopped
2 medium onions, chopped
3/4 cup fresh or frozen corn kernels [we used 1-15 ounce can corn]
1 cup chopped celery
3 leeks, cut into 1/2-inch thick rounds
1/4 cup Dr. Fuhrman’s VegiZest or other no-salt seasoning
1/4 cup raw cashews
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme [we used dried]
2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary [we used dried]
2 (15-ounce) cans no-salt-added or low-sodium white beans (northern, navy, cannellini), drained and rinsed [we used northern]
5 ounces baby spinach
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley, for garnish (optional)

DIRECTIONS:

Heat the water in a large saute’ pan. Saute’ the mushrooms, garlic, and herbes de Provence for about 5 minutes, or until tender, adding more water if necessary to prevent from sticking. Set aside.

In a large soup pot, bring the carrot juice, 2 1/2 cups of the milk, the carrots, onion, corn, celery, leeks, and VegiZest to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer until the vegetables are tender, about 30 minutes.

In a food processor or high-powered blender, purée the cashews and remaining 1/2 cup milk. Add half of the soup liquid and vegetables, the lemon juice, thyme and rosemary. Blend until smooth and creamy.

Return the pureed soup mixture to the pot. Add the beans, spinach and sautéed mushrooms. Heat until the spinach is wilted. Garnish with parsley, if desired.

Additional cooking notes:

We cooked the soup and let it rest for a couple of hours on the stove. When we were ready to eat, the blending of the soup was easy because it was room temperature and much cooler to handle. Then, we reheated the soup, added the beans and spinach. We didn’t add the mushrooms to the final cooking because Jen doesn’t like mushrooms. Instead, Klint put mushrooms on the bottom of the bowl and added the soup to the top – he loved it! Jen loved it without the mushrooms!

Recipe: Eat To Live: Bean Enchiladas

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These enchiladas were really tasty! We made a few embellishments, of course. We’ll make this Eat To Live recipe again!

Serves 4

INGREDIENTS:
1 medium green bell pepper, seeded and chopped [we used 1 orange bell]
1/2 cup sliced onion [we diced the onion]
1 (8-ounce) can tomato sauce, divided, no-salt-added or low-sodium
2 cups cooked or canned no-salt-added or low-sodium pinto or black beans, drained and rinsed [we used 1 15 ounce can of black beans and 1/2 can of white beans]
1 cup frozen corn, thawed, or fresh corn off the cob [we used 1 can corn]
1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro [we used 1/4 cup in the cooked mixture; added fresh on top]
1 tablespoon chili power [we used 1 teaspoon chayene pepper]
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon onion powder
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)
6-8 corn tortillas

DIRECTIONS:
Saute the bell pepper and onion in 2 tablespoons of tomato sauce until tender. Stir in the remaining tomatoe sauce, beans, corn, cilantro, chili powder, cumin, onion powder, and cayenne (if using); simmer 5 minutes. Spoon about 1/4 cup of the bean mixture on each tortilla and roll up. Serve as is or bake 15 minutes in a 375-degree oven. [We put 3 tablespoons of tomato sauce on the bottom of the baking dish, put in the enchiladas, then added about 1 tablespoon of tomato sauce on top of each enchilada. We added lime juice, cilantro and avocado, would’ve added fresh salsa, but didn’t have tomatoes to make the fresh salsa.]

Next time:

  • Dice the bell pepper
  • Use pinto beans

Recipe: Eat To Live: Tomato Bisque Soup

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We really enjoyed this Eat To Live soup recipe and will definitely have again!

Serves 6

INGREDIENTS
3 cups carrot juice
1 1/2 pounds tomatoes, chopped, or 1 (28-ounce) can whole tomatoes, no-salt-added or low-sodium (San Marzano variety is best; lower acid and sweeter)
1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes, chopped (omitted)
2 celery stalks, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
1 leek, chopped (omitted)
1 large shallot, chopped (we used green onion)
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 small bay leaf
Pinch saffron
1 teaspoon dried thyme, crumbled
2 tablespoons Dr. Fuhrman’s MatoZest or other no-salt seasoning
1/2 cup raw cashews
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil (1 tablespoon dried basil)
5 ounces baby spinach

DIRECTIONS:

In a large saucepan, combine all the ingredients except the cashews, basil, and spinach. Simmer for 30 minutes. Discard the bay leaf. Remove 2 cups of the vegetables with a slotted spoon and set aside. Puree the remaining soup and cashews in a food processor or high-powered blender until smooth. Return the reserved vegetables to the pot. Stir in the basil and spinach and let the spinach wilt.

Recipe: Quinoa and black bean salad

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This lovely salad found on food.com, originally called for couscous, but I wanted to use the high protein option of quinoa instead. Super flavorful and we’ll definitely make again!

Quinoa and black bean salad

Ingredients:
1 cup uncooked couscous (we used quinoa)
1 3/4 cups chicken broth (water)
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (none)
2 tablespoons lime juice (4 tablespoons)
1 teaspoon red wine vinegar (1 tablespoon)
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
8 green onions, chopped (3 onions)
1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped (variety of yellow, red and orange)
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 cup frozen corn kernels, thawed
2 (15 ounce) cans black beans, drained (1 can)
Salt and pepper to taste (very little salt)

Additional ingredients:
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 roma tomatoes, small dice

Directions… what we actually did:
Bring 2 cups of water and 1 cup of quinoa to boil. Cover and simmer until water gone – about 11 minutes. Uncover, fluff with fork and remove from heat for 5 minutes.

In a large bowl, whisk together lime juice, vinegar, cayenne and cumin.

Add green onions, peppers, cilantro, corn and beans, tomatoesand toss to coat.

Add the quinoa to vegetables and mix well.

Add salt and black pepper to taste. Eat immediately, or refrigerate until ready to serve.

Serving size:
We didn’t have any other dish with this, so we ate it all. By the end of dish, we felt really full but satisfied with taste and full stomachs!

Next time:

  • Add other veggies, like blanched green beans, chopped snow peas.
  • Try other beans, like kidney, pinto, or garbonzo beans.
  • Remove onion and add diced mango for sweetness with the spice.
  • Serve in lettuce wrap style.

Recipe: Family Italian dinner

My mother-in-law hosts family dinner nearly every Sunday. That’s a lot of effort! To take the pressure off her, we hosted Sunday dinner… Italian style!

Easy-peezy chicken parmesan. Instead of breading the chicken breasts, we put two layers of croutons and cheese on top of the chicken. Surprisingly good!

Klint tried a new recipe of cheese tortellini, brocoli, bacon, raisins, and sunflower seeds.

No dinner is complete without my signature green salad. Roasted walnuts, tomatoes and blue cheese.

Klint even made some crème Brule from scratch. I usually don’t eat sugar, so I had him just put cinnamon on the top instead of the customary sugar. I really liked it with only the cinnamon. Give it a try some time!

It’s a lot of fun preparing and cooking with Klint. It’s a labor of love, but we enjoy it! OK, family, manga-manga!

Recipe: Chef Salad

chef saladHome from a week of vacation and eating out, so our first dinner is naturally a chef salad. Light, healthy and tasty.

The key to a great salad is the ingredients:
Rosemary sun dried tomato ham cubed
Salsalito turkey cubed
Red leaf lettuce
Diced tomatoes
Avocado
Black olives
Diced pepper jack
Balsamic and blue cheese dressing.

Great to be home and eat something on the lighter side.