Chinese Chicken and Broccoli

I'm going to do my best to guess-timate my measuring for this recipe, since you might know that I rarely measure my ingredients when cooking. (Baking is another story).

I made this for dinner again the other night, and it comes out a little better each time I make it. (Practice makes perfect?)

It's definitely cheaper and healthier than getting take-out, but has a similar flavor. I obviously like it way more than take-out now too.

Ingredients: (serves 2)
-1lb. organic chicken breast or tenders, cut into bite-sized pieces
-1 bag of frozen organic broccoli 
-1 1/2 cups cooked rice

-Secret Sauce: (here's where the measurement guessing comes in)
  - about 1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce
  - 1/4 cup warm water mixed with a 1/2 teaspoon of cornstarch
  - about a tablespoon of ginger (I buy a jar to keep in the fridge)
  - a teaspoon of sugar
  - a teaspoon of ketchup
  - 1/2 tsp. mustard
  - 1 large clove of garlic (minced)
  - a dash of cayenne pepper

Directions:
Cook the chicken in sesame or coconut oil. Add the broccoli to the pan once the chicken is browned. 
Combine all sauce ingredients in a small bowl. 
When chicken and broccoli is done cooking, turn heat to low and add the sauce. Let it mingle for a few minutes before removing from heat and serving with rice. 
Top with sesame seeds if you're feeling fancy, and definitely use chopsticks. 

Enjoy!

Veggie Wrap Delight

Sometimes I open the fridge and groan that there's nothing to eat. However, when we remember to stock the fridge with fresh organic veggies (usually whatever's on sale), I don't get a chance to groan. 

Veggies + tortilla = delicious healthy lunch, every time. 

I made this one today with:

Organic Carrots

Organic Kale

Organic White Onion

Organic Fresh Cilantro and

Leftover homemade steak sauce. 

Of course you can use any veggies and sauce that you like, the point is, a yummy, quick, healthy lunch is easy to make with the right ingredients. And if you buy too many veggies, just freeze extra to use later in soups or stir fry. 

Side note: we just recently realized how awesome buying fresh organic herbs is! The cilantro was about $2 for a huge bunch that we will probably end up freezing part of, and makes everything we cook just a little more special. 

I hope this post reminds a few people that it's not too hard to eat healthy, inexpensively, organically, and quickly. 

Bon appetite! 😊🍴

Phenomenal Coconut Brownies

I don't use that word lightly - these brownies are indeed phenomenal. 

If anyone still reads this, they may have noticed that I don't blog quite so often as I had hoped and planned. Alas, they don't pay me to do this so I have to work 8+ hours a day elsewhere. However, I am happy that it has been 8 months and I am still blogging away, whenever I get the chance.

These brownies came out so amazingly perfect that I couldn't not blog about them. 
I found the original recipe on Pinterest, which brought me to this lovely blog: http://simonesmith.hubpages.com/hub/Simple-Homemade-Brownie-Recipe. Her recipe is coconut-free, so if you're into that sort of thing, by all means, use her recipe instead. 
I, on the other hand, am definitely pro coconut. In almost anything really, but especially in desserts with chocolate. 

Here is my adapted recipe: 
Ingredients: 

• 1/2 cup of organic coconut oil
• 1 cup of organic sugar
• 2 large organic eggs 
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup of cocoa powder 
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour 
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon 
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• Coconut flakes (optional topping)

Directions:

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Oil brownie pan and dust with cocoa powder. 

2) Mix together the coconut oil (melted)*, sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Then add the cocoa powder, flour, salt, cinnamon, and baking powder.

3) Pour batter into a brownie pan (about 8x8). Top with coconut flakes, if desired. (I did half and half just in case the BF didn't like the idea). Bake for 25 minutes. VOILA! Brownies :) 

*(Mine is always melted because we live in Florida.....)

I didn't pre-plan and take many photos, but here's one of the finished product! Hope you like them as much as we did! 

Pea Soup

Pea Soup isn't the prettiest of foods. 

But it is quite delicious. Especially in the spring or fall, and especially when you have leftover Easter ham and you're tired of ham sandwiches. 

So here is my recipe for pea soup in the Crockpot, which is VERY easy to make, and can easily be made vegetarian by leaving out the ham and replacing the chicken stock with vegetable stock (if you're into that sort of thing). 

Ingredients:

1 bag (16 oz.) dried split peas

4-5 celery stalks, diced

4-5 carrots, diced

1/2 a white onion, diced

~6 cups of warm water, mixed with 

4 heaping teaspoons of Organic Better Than Bouillon Chicken Base (or any other stock you want to use)

2 Bay Leaves

1/2 tsp. dried thyme

~1 cup diced leftover ham, or however much you have left (optional)

salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Place all ingredients in the Crockpot (in the order listed). Cook for 8-10 hours on low or 4-5 hours on high. You can use an immersion blender to mix it a little if you want, or leave as is. I blended mine for about 20 seconds, just to make it a little smoother. ENJOY! 

The BF gave it 2 thumbs up :) so I hope you try it! Please leave a comment if you do! THANK YOU! 

Balsamic Veggie Wraps

With (optional) chicken and rice! 

Sometimes, the simplest meals can be the most satisfying. This weekend, I had a craving for a grilled veggie wrap, mostly because I'm longing for summer hardcore. There was another snowstorm here today (which I had to drive to work in) and I was beyond angry about it. For me, cooking and baking have become more and more of a de-stresser. I like that I'm able to do something I like, while also feeding my family (aka my lovely boyfriend), and of course it's nice that he's always so appreciative (even when I mess up..oops!).

Ready to wrap! 

Finished veggie/chicken mixture

ANYHOO! Here's the recipe! It's perfect for a quick weeknight meal or even a weekend lunch. Enjoy! :)
Ingredients:
*Note* - This will cook faster if you use frozen veggies (ironically enough), but fresh are of course good too. And you can use basically any mix, these are just the veggies that I had on hand. And the measurements are approximate, depending on how many people you are cooking for (and how big their appetites are....). I also "eye-ball" measurements a lot when cooking, so use your own judgement for this.
~1/2 cup bell peppers, thin sliced
~1/2 cup thin cut carrots sticks (see photos)
~ 1/4 cup leeks, sliced
~1/4 chopped spinach
~ 4-5 button mushrooms, sliced
lettuce (for garnish)
~1 tomato (for garnish)
~1 tablespoon olive oil
~ 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
a few shakes of salt, pepper, and garlic powder
1 chicken breast (if you want - still really good without it!), cut into thin strips
brown (or any other kind) rice, to eat on the side
tortillas


Directions:
1. First I start making the rice, since it takes the longest to cook. I made brown rice on the stove top.
2. I cut up any veggies that need to be cut (some were frozen and pre-cut), into small, longish pieces.
3. I cut up the chicken into small, longish slices. Then I cooked the chicken in olive oil, a large skillet on the stove.
4. When the chicken is cooked, I take it out ( or move to the sides of the pan), add a little more oil, and cook the veggies. Add the salt, pepper and garlic now too. It took about 15 minutes total.
5. I add the chicken back and the balsamic vinegar when the veggies are almost done. Cook until the veggies are as crisp or not-so-crisp, as you'd like them.
6. Scoop mixture onto a tortilla. Add tomato and lettuce if you want. Attempt to wrap it up. (This part never works out for me). Serve rice on the side.
7. EAT! :)

I hope you try and like this recipe! Please sign up for email updates if you like what you see! You can also follow my blog on Google+ if you have a Gmail account!

All wrapped up with a side of rice! 

~Mallory~

Homemade Cinnamon Raisin Granola Bars

I have been wanting to try to make my own granola bars for a while now, but haven't been able to find a recipe I liked. This one is a mix of a few I found on the interwebs.

Forgot to take a "before" picture, but here they are in the oven! 

Ingredients: 
2 tablespoons (softened) unsalted butter
1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons unsweetened applesauce
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. honey
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 cup white whole wheat flour (or all-purpose)
2-1/4 cups rolled oats
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup raisins (or other dried fruit of your choosing)

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Spray a 13x9 (or similar size) pan with olive oil or cooking spray.
Combine the butter, applesauce, brown sugar, honey, vanilla and flour by hand or with a hand mixer (I have a lovely purple hand mixer I use every chance I get).
Add the baking soda, rolled oats and cinnamon. Mix again.
Stir in the raisin with a wooden spoon.
Pour mixture into the pan and spread evenly with the  wooden spoon.
Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until edges are brown and top is golden. (see photos).

How freaking delicious do these look!? This is right out of the oven, pre-cutting. 

I'm glad I finally got around to making these! They came out so good and we're ridiculously easy to make. The whole thing probably took about 10 minutes, including clean up (but not baking time). I let them cool for about 30 minutes before I cut them into bars, and wrapped them up for easy breakfast grabbing.

Give them a try and let me know what you think!

Mallory :)