Ingredients:

• 2-3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 2.5-3lbs spicy Italian turkey sausage
• 2 extra large onions, diced
• 4-6 cloves garlic, minced
• 3-5 medium carrots, diced
• 2-3 stalks celery, diced
• 1 28oz can diced tomatoes + 1 28oz can water
• 1 14oz can diced tomatoes
• 1 14.5 oz can tomato sauce
• 2 quarts  (8 cups) chicken broth
• 2 cups blackish green french or brown lentils (brown are my fav)
• salt and pepper to taste.

Method:

1.   In an extra large pot (6-8 quarts), add 2 tbsp of olive oil and turn your burner to medium/medium high and allow the pan to warm up.

2. If your family likes medium to large chucky bits of italian turkey sausage in their soup then just slice it into rounds and cut in half. I love taking it out of the casing and breaking it into crumbles like you would any ground meat. Removing it from the casing also disperses the spices into the  soup better, making it stronger flavored.

3. Brown your sausage chunks or crumbles until golden brown and remove from the pot and set aside.

4. Add onions, celery and carrots to pot and scrap up all the browned bits (fond) on the pan. Later add the garlic and keep cooking until garlic is       fragrant and onions and celery are translucent.

5. Once the onions, celery, carrots and garlic have become fragrant and translucent, add the diced tomatoes. water, tomato sauce, chicken broth and lentils. Bring the pot to a boil.

6. Once soup is boiling, skim off the scum that sits on the surface of the soup. Reduce your burner to medium/medium low so that the pot keeps a slow soft simmer where the bubbles are bearly breaking the surface. Leave it uncovered for 30-45 minutes, keep testing and tasting until the lentils are soft to the bite. Enjoy!

Meal Planning Ideas: Serve wtih crusty whole grain peasent bread, salad and fruit w/ creamy ricotta cheese and cinnamon sprinkled on top.

This spicy peanut sauce with crazy veggie slaw is a great way to clean out your crisper,  eat more healthful cruciferous veggies, colorful vitamin packed bell peppers, carrots, and green onions. And the BEST part about this is all you need is a knife or food processor, a sauce pan a little heat melt and meld the ingredients and toss with the shredded ingredients.

Ingredients:

Sauce Ingredients:

• 3/4-1 cup peanut butter (natural, no sugar added kind)
• 3 tablespoon low sodium soy sauce
• 2 Tablespoon unsulfered molasses
• 1 Tablespoon fresh lemon or lime juice
• 1-1.25 cup coconut milk (light is fine, if you prefer or substitute water or any kind of milk (dairy, soy or rice. etc)
• 1 cup water
• red chili flake to taste
• 3-4 clove crushed garlic

Optional Sauce additions:

sesame oil
curry paste
rice wine vinegar
fish sauce
grated ginger
shallots sauteed till brown in oil
Worcestershire sauce

Veggies for slaw:

• 1 large head cabbage, thingly sliced/shredded or 1 10oz pkg pre-shredded cabbage (organic is best any variety green, red or napa cabbage)
• 1-½-2 cups shredded carrots ( however much you have on hand) or half a package of pre-shredded carrots (about 3oz)
• 1-½ cup red bell pepper, seeded, sliced thin (from freezer, thaw)
• ½-1 cup grated zucchini
• ½-1 cup grated/julianned fresh broccoli stalks or 1 pkg broccoli slaw
• 2-3 green or spring onions (green and white parts), finely chopped.

Optional Additional proteins:

Left over grilled chicken, baked/marinated tofu, left over grilled salmon burger, shrimp or anything else you might have left over you need to use up.

Procedure:

For Sauce:

1. Combine all ingredients with a whisk in a small bowl or small sauce pan- save on clean up, adding the water last.

2.Pour into a small saucepan and heat over medium heat until sauce begins to bubble and thicken.

3. Experiment with this sauce adding a teaspoon at a time of one the optional additions and tasting as you go. Serve hot or cold.

For Slaw:

1. Defrost sliced bell pepper from freezer under running water. Drain. Or if using fresh bell pepper slice into bite sized pieces.

2. In a separate bowl while red peppers are draining combine shredded cabbage, carrots, zucchini and broccoli stalks.

3. Once red pepper has drained cut into bit sized pieces and add to shredded veggies.

4. Add the additional proteins, if using to veggie slaw mix. If using plain firm tofu, marinade some of the tofu in the peanut sauce for about ½
an hour minimum or more.

5. Add spicy peanut sauce and mix well to cover all the veggies starting with 1 cup and slowing adding more as needed so the veggies are
moisten but not drowning. Reserve remaining peanut sauce on the side incase anyone at the table wants more sauce on their salad.

Serve on the side: Whole grain bread, fresh sliced stone fruit/strawberries

I have so much on hand I have come to realize I cannot use it all up  before it goes bad. So I went in search of recipes and ways to preserve  this harvest so that I can use it later to make zucchini breads, muffins and casseroles during the winter months.

According to pickyourown.org there are two ways to store and or preserve  zucchini summer squash:

If you want to store/preserve grated zucchini for chocolate zucchini muffins, zucchini carrot cinnamon yogurt muffins, zucchini bread,
zucchini pancakes or anything recipe that you would use grated zucchini here’s how you would preserve it:

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil with a steamer insert that can sit inside the pot
2. Grate the amount of zucchini you would like to preserve. Just enough to drop into the steamer basket.
3. Once the pot is steaming drop the zucchini into the steam basket for 1-2 minutes, until translucent.
4. Pack the steamed and grated zucchini into containers or zipper plastic bag in the sizes that you might use most in baking ( 1-2 cup per container/bag).
5. Cool by placing them in containers of cold ice water.
6. Once cool, label, date, seal and freeze.

For sliced zucchini/summer squash for casseroles or simple steamed veggies as a side dish:

1. Get a large pot of boiling water ready ( about 2/3 filled). And get a large bowl of ice and water ready to recieve the squash after blanching. To stop the cooking
2. Wash the squash, cut it into 1/4-1/8th inch rounds and drop it into the boiling water. only slice as much zucchini/summer squash that would fit into your bowl. Zucchini/Summer squash oxidizes if its left out too long. Set your timer for 3 minutes.
3. Once three minutes has passed using a slotted spoon grab the zucchini/summer squash and plung it into the ice water bath in the bowl.  Add more ice as needed to keep the squash cool.
4. Repeat steps 2 and 3. Once you have started your next batch of zucchini/summer squash. You can do this up to 5 times for each with the same water. Refill water as needed to keep pot 2/3 full.
5. Once the zucchini in your ice water bath as cooled your squash (about 5 minutes ) drain the squash in a strainer for 2-3 minutes to dry them as much as possible.
6. Once the squash is thoroughly drained pack these babys in  ziploc bags or a vaccum sealer bags. For ziploc bags get as much air out as you can and seal until almost closed then using a straw to suck the remaining air out and then seal closed.

Zucchini Carrot Cinnamon Yogurt Muffins

I was inspired by about.com’s Zucchini Muffins I created my own whole grain, low fat intesly delish muffins perfect for breakfast, lunch or
dinner.

Ingredients:

• 2/3 cup organic coconut oil or grassfed butter or organic applesauce
• 2 large pasture raised/free range organic eggs
• 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1/2 cup dark brown sugar, packed
• 3 tbsp  vanilla or plain yogurt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1-1/2 cups whole wheat organic pastry flour or
  KA’s organic white whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup rolled oats
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 1/2 cups finely shredded unpeeled zucchini
• 1/2 cup finely shredded carrot
• 1/2 cup toasted, finely chopped walnuts or pecans

Topping:
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 tbsp organic sugar

Preparation:

1. Grease and flour 12 muffin cups. Heat oven to 375°.

2. In a mixing bowl, beat the oil with eggs, sugar, yogurt, and vanilla extract.

3. Combine the flour, soda, baking powder, salt, nutmeg and  cinnamon; add to the wet ingredients; stirring until blended. Fold in the shredded
zucchini,  carrots and nuts.

4. Fill muffin cups about 3/4 full; sprinkle with cinnamon sugar or granulated sugar, if desired. Bake for 20 minutes.

Makes 12.

Thanks for stopping by to get more tips join us at Tammy’s Recipe’s , Tempt my tummy tuesday !

Well its been a long long long time since I have participated in menu plan Mondays, but I’m getting back on track and so here is the list of what we have coming up with week plus an excellent recipe for a simple cold gazpacho clean out the fridge soup! And the best part is you just need a blender ( stick or regular) and a knife! Since I have TWO toddlers now my menus have had to simplify A LOT.

So here’s this week’s menu:

Breakfast

• organic oatmeal w/ dried fruit (dried organinc cranberries, blueberries, raisins or cherries)  & hard boiled egg
• organic whole grain pancakes with fruit, maple syrup and or yogurt
• toasted peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with milk
• poached eggs w/ sprouted grain toasted bread & grass feed butter & fresh sliced fruit
• mixed left over veggie fritatia w/ herbed feta cheese, sprouted whole grain bread and fruit
• carrot zucchini yogurt muffins, fruit and morning star sausage patties

Lunch:

• Dried organic ravioli w/ organic vodka tomato sauce w/ grated pecorino and steamed veggies
• Gazpacho clean out the fridge soup, crackers/bread , cheese & fruit
• peanut butter and jelly sandwitches, carrot sticks and apple sauce
• fingerfood feast (bite sized fruits, veggies and cheese w/ crackers or bread
• wild salmon or turkey burgers (from freezer), sprouted grain whole wheat buns w/ cucumber sticks and fresh sliced fruit
• leftover’s

Dinner:

• Red wine Beef stew w/ sprouted grain bread, cheese and fruit
• No peak chicken w/ brown rice, mushrooms and green beans
• Spicy peanut sauce with crazy veggie slaw w/ sprouted grain bread and fruit
• chicken creole over brown rice and mixed steamed veggies
• Leftover’s
• Spicy sausage lentil soup

Desserts/Snacks:

• homemade strawberry yogurt
• popcorn and mixed nuts
• string cheese and fruit

Gazpacho  clean out the fridge w/ white beans  soup

Equipment:

• Hand held blender or regular blender
• kitchen knife for slicing and dicing
• clean cutting board

Ingredients:

• 3 cloves garlic, minced/smashed
• 1 onion, coursley chopped
• 1-2 cucumbers
  
• 1-2 green bell peppers
• 1 28oz can crushed or diced tomatoes in juice
• 1 sliced zucchini or summer squash
• 3 tbsp olive oil (organic extra virgin is best)
• 1/4 cup organic balsamic vinegar
• 1-2 bunches fresh parsley or basil
• salt and pepper to taste
• 12oz v8 tomato juice
• 8oz beef or veggie broth
• 1  14.5oz can white or black beans (optional) or equal amount dried beans, soaked and cooked.
  

Method/Directions:

1. Slice and diced all veggies if you have not already done so.
2. Toss all veggies, paprika, vinegar, v8 juice, beef broth in a tall soup pot, extra large bowl or into your blender’s container.
3. Puree until desired texture is achieved.
4. If using beans for added protien drain and rinse beans and toss into soup
5. Add salt and pepper to taste and enjoy!

For more great meal ideas visit Organized Junkies site

Ingredients:

• 2.5- 3lbs beef chuck pot roast, cut into 1 inch cubes
• Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
• 3-4 tbsp butter
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 4-6 medium carrots, halved, quartered and cut into 1″ dice pieces
• 3-4 small onions, diced
• 2 tbsp All-purpose flour (AP flour)
• 4 C beef broth
• 2 C. dry red wine**
• 1 can (28oz)Crushed or diced tomatoes
• 3 springs of fresh rosemary
• 2-3 medium russet or Yukon gold potatoes,peeled*, cut into 1″ dice/chunks
• 2 handfuls of green beans

Method:

1. This soup was originally created in a heavy bottomed non-reactive 8 quart pot. A 6 quart pot should be sufficient though. If you have a stovetop safe metal crockpot insert you can use that instead.
2. Cut the large chuck pot roast into 1-inch pieces, trim any extra thick areas of fat that may be on the beef pieces. Season well with kosher salt and freshly ground pepper. Toss to coat all 4 sides of the cubed beef pieces.
3. Heat 2 tbsp of butter and 1 tbsp of olive oil in the pot on the stove over medium-high heat. As soon as the butter starts to turn brown, add half the beef and raise the heat to high. At first, the beef will give off some liquid, but once it evaporates the beef will start to brown. Cook turning the beef will start to brown.
4. Cook turning the beef cubes on all sides until the pieces are as evenly brown as possible, about 5-6 minutes after the water has boiled off. If the pan starts to get too brown at any point, just turn down the heat a little.
5. Scoop the beef out of the beef and brown the remaining beef the same way using the remaining butter and olive oil. You may need to do this in 2 to 3 batches at a time. Set cooked beef onto a separate plate or hard sided container to cool
6. Store the cooked, cooled beef in a hard sided container w/ lid. Once its filled with all of the cooled beef, seal it and place it in the refrigerator.
7. Add the onions and carrots to the pan and cook them until they have softened. The liquid they extract should bring up most the yummy brown bits left in the pan from the beef. Add the AP flour to the pan and keep cooking and stiring until you don’t see it any more.
8. Once the onions and carrots have softened, add the canned diced tomatoes and broth, bring it to a boil. Scraping with a wooden spoon as you go to bring up the remaining browned bits in the pan.
9. Allow this soup mixture to cool so that it is easy to handle and if your crockpot has a ceramic insert, fill it up using a soup ladel.
10. Once filled the crock insert, cover it with the lid and clean the soup pot you are done for the night! Put the beef container and crock insert in your fridge, until the next day or when you are ready to cook it.
11. On cooking day put the stoneware crock inside the crock pot appliance; add the beef and remaining ingredients except the potatoes and green beans as listed into the crock insert and cover it with the lid. Put it on your counter and plug it in; put the cook setting on low and if you have a timer set it for 6-8 hours.
12. Come back in 6 hours and check the meat..if it is tender enough to shred with two forks, then dice the potatoes and add them in, if not cook for another hour or up to 2 hours more total until the meat is tender; then add the potatoes.
13. Allow the stew to cook on low for another hour and check them..if they are fork tender add the fresh green beans and allow it to warm through just until it turns bright green and open the crock and make sure it is still tender crisp when you break the bean in half.
14. Once the green beans are cooked through unplug the appliance, using hot pads or mitts remove the inner crock and let it rest on a heat safe surface.

I did not specify times because every crock pot is different so make adjustments as needed. Also add liquids if needed too. Please be sure to use at least a 5.5-6 quart crock pot or divide the recipe in half if you have a smaller crock pot.

Sandra at Diary of a Stay At Home Mom hosts Slow Cooker Thursdays. Go on over for more recipes or to add your own.

Welcome to the chicken edition of menu plan Mondays! We have chicken coming out of our ears this week!

Breakfast:

Kale and Feta Fritatta
homemade instant oatmeal packets (maple & brown sugar/Blueberries & cream)
Slow Cooker Oatmeal
Egg and Cheese breakfast sandwich
Whole Grain Pancakes w/ mixed berries

Lunch:

Roasted Chicken Salad w/ whole grain roll and strawberries w/ greek yogurt
Grilled Salmon Burgers, Carrot Cumin Chips, sliced mixed fruit w/ greek yogurt
Chicken Salad Sandwich with Roasted tomato garlic soup and cucumber spears
Spinach and Cheese Sandwich with roasted garlic tomato soup and carrot cumin chip
Roasted Chicken with spicy spinach pesto pasta salad w/ mixed sliced fruit

Dinner:

Roasted Chicken w/ roasted mixed veggies, steamed brown rice
Panko Breaded Fish w/garlicky green beans and mushrooms w/ rosemary, steamed brown rice
Chicken Veggie Soup, whole wheat roll, spinach salad, sliced oranges
leftover roasted chicken, braised bok choy w/ garlic & soy, smashed cheesy roasted turnips, sliced oranges
Flatbread pizza, strawberry spinach salad w/ balsamic vinegrette
Grilled salmon burgers on whole wheat rolls, saute’ spinach and garlic, fruit

Desserts/Snacks:
frozen cherry chocolate chip walnut yogurt
nutty oatmeal chocolate chip cookies
homemade strawberry yogurt
popcorn and mixed nuts
string cheese and fruit

For more great meal ideas visit Organized Junkies site

Ingredients:

• 10-12oz frozen or 3/4 lb of fresh organic green beans
• 1 tbsp organic extra virgin olive oil
• 4 clove of garlic, minced or grated, divded
• 6oz pkg whole organic crimini mushrooms, sliced
• 1-2 tsp dried and crushed or one whole fresh sprig of rosemary, chopped
• Kosher salt and pepper to taste

Method:

1. Prepare the green beans by steaming or defrosting frozen..See note1 below on preparation methods
2. Add olive oil to a medium or large skillet (depending on how many green beans you are using); heat oil until shimmering but not smoking in the pan.
3. Add sliced mushrooms and one clove of garlic; saute’ until lightly golden brown.
4. Add green beans, crushed dried or fresh chopped rosemary leaves, salt and remaining garlic and heat until just warmed through.
5. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Note 1:

For fresh green beans:

If you are using fresh green beans de-string them, wash and gently steam them until they are just turning bright green and plunge them into a bowl of cold water with ice cubes (aka ice water bath) to stop the cooking. Once beans are cool, drain water and set aside.

For frozen green beans:

Gently rinse the beans in cold water to defrost, drain water and set aside.

Well last week I did not do so great with my completely following my meal plan but we did use up a lot of the ingredients we got from our CSA box. This week I will be using up the last bits of last week’s box and living out of the freezer for protein/veggies and pantry this week. To create a weeks worth of healthy, affordable organic meals.

Breakfast:

• Oatmeal w/ soymilk and hard boiled egg
• Mixed veggie frittata, toast, fruit
• scrambled eggs, whole grain mixed berry yogurt pancakes, maple syrup
• Egg and cheese sandwich
• Slow cooker overnight oatmeal

Lunch:

• grilled cheese, roasted tomato garlic soup, sliced apples
• Arugula salad w/ grilled salmon or chicken breasts, toasted whole grain bread w/butter, sliced fruit
• leftover veggie egg frittata, toast w/ mixed salad greens, sliced fruit
• left over 3 onion soup w/ bread and mixed salad greens, sliced fruit w/ plain greek yogurt & honey
• Turkey Cheese sandwich w/ mixed raw veggies
• hummus w/ mixed raw veggies, toasted pita bread and sliced mangos

Dinner

• Breaded fish w/ green beans, mushrooms and roasted russest potatoes
• 3 onion soup w/ homemade french bread (bread machine) and mixed green salad
• grilled chicken breasts w/ brown rice and garlic broccoli
• buffalo burgers on whole wheat buns w/ braised baby bok choy w/ garlic, sliced apples
• lemon pepper chicken w/ brown rice and lemony shallot green beans
• homemade flat bread pizzas (see below for recipe), spinach salad, fruit

Homemade flat bread pizzas (makes 4 individual pizzas, plus extra sauce leftover)

This is a family favorite that gets served often, its a quick easy and inexpensive way to make homemade pizza without the fuss and using simply what you have on hand in your pantry.

Ingredients:

• Cooking spray or olive oil
• 4 multigrain flatout wrap bread, whole wheat flour tortillas or large pita bread circles
• kosher salt – to taste
• 1 8oz can tomato sauce or 1 8oz can diced tomatoes
• 4 tbsp italian seasoning herb mix
• 2-4 tsp granulated sugar (optional – to taste)
• 4-8 cloves garlic, grated or minced/press with garlic press (optional)
• 4oz shredded mozerella
• 4oz shredded hard cheese (ie parmesan, grana padano, pecorino romano)
• diced bell pepper strips
• mushrooms
• turkey pepperoni

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit
2. Spray your pizza stone/cookie sheet with cooking spray or brush the flat out wraps with olive oil on both sides and place on stone or cookie sheet. Sprinkle with kosher salt if desired. Bake pizza crust for 7-9 minutes until lightly golden brown and slight crisp.
3. While crusts are parbaking created the tomatoe sauce. If using diced tomatoes puree them in the blender or food processor until smooth. Mix pureed tomatoes or tomato sauce with italian herb mix and taste. Sometimes canned tomatoes are not very sweet, so add some sugar to the sauce to balance out the sauce to your family’s taste, if needed. Set aside.
4. Once the bread has browned. Allow it to cool for a few moments then put about 1-2 tablespoons of tomato sauce on each pizza crust.
5. If you want to add garlic to your this is when i usually do so the garlic does not burn and turn bitter. This is optional..but in our family we love love love garlic so i add a lot of it under the cheese.
6. Add the mozzerlla cheese then the toppings of your choice. For veggies we love mushrooms, red onions and bell peppers. For meats we add in turkey peperoni and sometimes ham and pinapple too. It just depends on what we have one hand when we make it.
7. Now give it a final dust of the second hard cheese like parmesan and put the pizzas back in the oven to back for 12-15 minutes until the cheese is melted and bubbly.
8. Allow it to cool and enjoy!

For more great meal ideas visit Organized Junkies site

Ingredients:

• 1 28oz can crushed or diced fire roasted tomatoes or plain diced tomatoes
• 6-8 large cloves of garlic
• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 small onion, diced
• 2 carrots, finely diced
• 2-4 cups chicken or vegetable stock

Directions

1. If you don’t have fire roasted tomatoes on hand preheat your oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit, dump the tin of tomatoes on a rimmed cookie sheet and bake until just golden brown and the liquid is slightly evaporated. Remove from the oven and let it cool so that it is easy to handle.**
2. Dump the roasted diced tomatoes into a blender or food processor until mostly smooth and set aside.* *
3. In a medium sized sauce pan add olive oil and heat until it is shimmering but not smoking in the pan. Next dump in the diced onions and carrots and sweat until transulcent, soft and fragrant.
4. Once the onions and carrots are cooked until soft then add the broth, tomatoes and minced/grated garlic and cook the soup until it is just warmed up.
5. At this point you can eat it as is warm or allow it to cool for a little while and store it in hard sided containers for preserving in the fridge or to keep in the freezer for a future meal.

** If you have crushed roasted tomatoes skip steps 1-2. Start on step 3.

Variation: Instead of raw garlic use roasted garlic to add a sweet, smooth, mellow flavor

Just a friendly reminder that going local and organic through a local co-op or csa really is budget friendly!!

Ingredients:

• 1 15oz can organic garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained or 2 cups soaked garbanzo beans, drained
• 2-4 tbsp roasted tahini paste (start with 2 tablespoons add more to taste)
• 4-6 cloves garlic, peeled (start with 2 cloves add more to personal taste – we like lots of garlic)
• 1/4 c lemon juice (start with 2 tablespoons, add more to taste, we love lemon juice), from one whole lemon
• kosher salt to taste

Method:

Pour drained beans into bowl of food processor, add tahini paste and garlic cloves. Pulse to create a course meal, add lemon juice and salt if desired.

If you don’t have a food processor you can mash the beans with a fork or potatoe masher, until it reaches the texture you desire.

Variations: Add roasted garlic for a sweet deep mellow flavor, or add roasted sweet peppers for another dip or spread.

So I went in search of recipes and preservation methods as I knew our family of four could in no way consume these three massive stalks of rhubarb equal to about 1.25 lbs in one single sitting. Rhurbarb freezes beautifully, so I diced it up into 1/4″ pieces like the way most of us diced up celery for chicken salads and tossed them into a ziplock freezer bag to preserve it and make rhubarb pies, compote, cakes, muffins and rhurbarb pecan sweet bread anytime I wanted. In my search I found this quick, easy and delicious recipe for rhubarb cinnamon muffins that would work great for my husband to take to work for breakfast or a mid afternoon snack! I modified the recipe I found to fit our healthy whole grain and lower fat, flavorful lifestyle.

Here’s my version of the recipe:

CINNAMON RHUBARB MUFFINS

Preparation time: 20 min Baking time: 25 min

Heat oven to 375°F. Combine brown sugar and butter in large bowl. Beat at medium speed until mixture is creamy. Add yogurt and eggs; continue beating until well mixed.

Stir together flour, baking soda and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon in medium bowl. Stir flour mixture into yogurt mixture just until moistened. Gently stir in rhubarb. Spoon into greased or paper-lined 12-cup muffin pan.

Stir together 1 tablespoon sugar and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon in small bowl. Sprinkle about 1/4 teaspoon mixture on top of each muffin. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until lightly browned. Let stand 5 minutes; remove from pans.

Thanks for stopping by to get more tips join us at Tammy’s Recipe’s !

Ingredients:

• 4-6 cups or 4-6 heaping handfuls of organic spinach
• 4-6 cloves of organic garlic, peeled
• about 2oz of fresh organic basil or 2 tsp dried basil (optional)
• 1/4-1/2 C raw walnuts ( depends on how thick and creamy you want it, add more nuts for a thicker texture)
• 1 whole lemon juiced ( about 1/4 c fresh lemon juice)
• 1/4-1/2 C Organic Extra Virgin Olive oil, plus more to store it.
• 1/4-1/2 C grated hard cheese ( Parmesan, Romano, Grana Padano)

Method

1. Add spinach, garlic and basil to the bowl of your food processor and pulse until it resembles a course mealy texture.
2. Using a 1/4 cup measure dump the raw walnuts and lemon juice into the feeding chute of your food processor and pulse to combine with spinach garlic mixture. Add the last 1/4 cup of walnuts to processor if desired.
3. Slowly stream in extra virgin olive oil into the chute of the food proccor 1/4 cup at a time, pulsing to combine with spinach garlic mixture. Add remaining extra virgin olive oil if desired and grated hard cheese. Pulse just enough to combine mixture. *
4. When storing pesto in a container, pour a little extra virgin olive oil over the top to seal in the moisture so the pesto does not dry out.

* For a thinner sauce add low sodium/low fat chicken or veggie broth until desired texture is created.

Yield: 2.5-3 cups thick pesto sauce or 5-6 cups thin pesto sauce

Monday:

Breakfast: Oatmeal w/ soymilk and blueberries, Hard boiled egg

Lunch: Grilled ham, spinach and Cheese sandwich, Celery/carrot sticks and sliced strawberries

Dinner: Chicken ceaser salad, mixed fresh cut fruit, whole wheat crackers

Snacks: popcorn, string cheese, fresh fruit, whole wheat crackers, granola bars, hummus, veggies

Tuesday:

Breakfast: sunburst squash, spinach, feta scrambled eggs, Whole Wheat toast and fruit

Lunch: Turkey sandwitch, carrot sticks, sliced strawberries

Dinner: Crockpot chicken cacciatore, whole wheat pasta, saute’ sunburst squash, feta and herbs

Snacks: popcorn, string cheese, fresh fruit, whole wheat crackers, granola bars, hummus, veggies

Wednesday:

Breakfast: Oatmeal w/ soymilk and blueberries, hard boiled egg

Lunch: grilled spinach, ham, cheese, red onion sandwitch, cucumber, tomato, feta salad, orange slices

Dinner: Chicken curry, brown rice, braised baby bok choy with garlic

Snacks: popcorn, string cheese, fresh fruit, whole wheat crackers, granola bars, hummus, veggies

Thursday:

Breakfast: Quick and easy pouched egg sandwitch on whole grain english muffin with cheese

Lunch: hummus, pita bread, mixed raw veggies and sliced apples

Dinner: Roasted Pork, Garlic smashed potatoes, lemony garlic green beans and mushrooms w/ rosemary

Snacks: popcorn, string cheese, fresh fruit, whole wheat crackers, granola bars, hummus, veggies

Friday

Breakfast: Oatmeal w/ soymilk and blueberries, hard boiled egg

Lunch: leftover pork sandwitch, coleslaw, sliced apples

Dinner: DIY flat bread pizzas, spinach salad w/ strawberries and balsamic vinaigrette

Snacks: popcorn, string cheese, fresh fruit, whole wheat crackers, granola bars, hummus, veggies

Saturday

Breakfast: Whole grain waffles, maple syrup, sliced mixed fruit, scrambled eggs

Lunch: Crockpot 3 onion soup, homemade french bread, salad, cheese, fruit

Dinner: old fashioned whole wheat chicken pot pie, salad

Snacks: popcorn, string cheese, fresh fruit, whole wheat crackers, granola bars, hummus, veggies

Sunday:

Breakfast: Fritata w/ leftover mixed fresh veggies saute’ with onions and topped with feta cheese, toast w/ butter

Lunch: Italian chicken breasts w/ spicy spinach walnut pesto and whole wheat pasta, sliced apples

Dinner: Roasted Chicken, creamed mixed greens, garlic smashed potatoes, salad, sliced strawberries or oranges.

Snacks: popcorn, string cheese, fresh fruit, whole wheat crackers, granola bars, hummus, veggies

Please come back later in the week when I will have some of the actual recipes I used to create these meals!

For more great meal ideas visit Organized Junkies site.