Minestrone Soup

This one's a keeper! I find myself whipping a large pot of this soup up every time we have company for lunch. It's one of those recipes that always goes far...people always love...kids too!...and it's packed with lots of healthy goodness. As Jay would say...every time..."it tastes like I'm literally eating a bowl full of fresh vegetables, it's so good"...well honey, that's because you are! It's basically the only way I can get him to eat kale:) Hope your family enjoys it too! Why not have some company for lunch and try it out on them:) From start to finish this soup takes 30 minutes...gotta love that!

Minestrone Soup

I Tbsp olive oil
1 large onion, diced
4 large carrots, chopped
6 cloves garlic, minced
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can crushed tomatoes
1 can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
2 cups chicken or vegetable stock
2 cups water
4 cups kale or spinach, finely chopped
1/2 cup rotini (I use brown rice pasta rotini)
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp pepper
4 Tbsp basil
2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar (optional)
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese (optional)

Heat oil in large pot over medium heat. Add onion and saute until almost cooked, approximately 5 minutes, stirring often.

Add carrots and garlic, saute for 3 minutes, stirring often.

Add tomatoes, beans, stock and water. Bring to a boil.

Add kale, rotini, red pepper flakes, and pepper. Bring back to a boil, cover, reduce to simmer and cook for 10-12 minutes or until pasta is cooked.

Add basil and balsamic vinegar, if using, stir and serve. If desired, sprinkle bowls with Parmesan cheese.

Adding the balsamic sounds a little funny, I know, but it really gives the soup a nice zip...try it out!

Enjoy!

What would you do with an extra $1,200 next Christmas?

Happy New Year to all my favourite readers! I hope that your Christmas was as blessed as ours was:)

Every year at this time I find myself trying to figure out a strategy on how to cut back our grocery bill. It's not that we mind spending the amount of money that we do on our food....I mean we ALWAYS eat well...we ENJOY our food....we RARELY eat out - always eat at home...we don't have a lot of WASTE...we buy the BEST quality that we can find...but it feels like every year when we total it up it seems like A LOT for just 4 people (although Levi - 15 months, practically eats for two!). I've tried the obvious things in the past like giving myself a weekly budget...but I find that two weeks in, there ends up being exceptions because something is on sale that I want to stock up on, or we're having a party, or whatever! So my brilliant strategy for this year is going to be completely opposite. Let me explain myself...

Instead of limiting myself every week, which is tricky cause every week brings different events, or I end up doing a Costco run...which leaves me discouraged because I went over 'budget', I decided to focus on the 'budget' one month at a time. I thought, what if I could save $100 a month...that's basically $20 a week...I know that could be done with pretty little effort. Then my mind went right away to what that would like over a year's time...$1,200...wow! Who wouldn't want that in their pocket at the end of the year??!!

So how am I going to do this? For me, it means planning our meals and then only buying what I need for those meals once I get to the store...and not being swayed by displays at the ends of the isles!! Our whole family is lucky enough to eat all three meals at home everyday...awesome...but that means having the food for three meals everyday...that's a lot. Planning out lunches and suppers (breakfast in the winter is always just oatmeal...that's an easy one!), for us, will help eliminate buying extras at the store. Like I said before, we never waste what we buy...but I know there are always a few things every week that I pick up and don't really need. As well, I know there are always a few things I forget because I don't plan out the meals perfectly...and then I end up running to the store just to get those one or two things...and end up spending $20 on things that look good, instead of just the $2 on a can of tomatoes...sound familiar? Another strategy...plan one or two meals a week based on something I already have in the freezer or pantry...most of us could go quite a while before we ran out of freezer food!

So what will you do with your $1,200 next Christmas? Here's a few ideas!!
- Donate to Compassion!
- Sponsor an extra 2 or 3 kids a year through Compassion!
- Add the $ to your vacation fund!
- Replace that old couch in your living room that you've been talking about for the past 5 years!
- Get a family membership to the gym!
- Hire a house-keeper to come every other week!

...your options are endless!

Join me on my adventure! Send me any tips you have...and I'll pass along any others that I come up with!

This adventure isn't about 'going without', but rather just seeing how much more you can have!

Soft Chocolate Almond Quinoa Biscotti

Another fabulous recipe altered a wee bit from my new cookbook Quinoa. I'm always tempted by Biscotti...however they are not a favourite of Jay's...until about five minutes ago when he tried the first one! "These are great"...with a bit of a shocking tone to his voice...were the exact words I do believe! What makes Jay a fan of them is that they are a bit on the soft side and not rock hard like most...and that he dipped his in whip cream:)!!!

We are enjoying these in this very moment, with a lovely Americano coffee...and the boys are both in the toy room building towers together...I love this moment:)

I couldn't help but think how pretty these would look wrapped in a cello bag, tied with a ribbon...would make a lovely, neighbourly, wholesome Christmas gift!

ENJOY!

Soft Chocolate Almond Quinoa Biscotti

1 1/2 cups slivered almonds, lightly toasted
1 1/2 cups quinoa flour
1/2 cup flour (I used spelt)
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips (optional...I used a chopped up dark chocolate bar we had laying around)
1/4 cup softened butter
1/2 cup cane sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp almond extract (I didn't use)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Toast the almonds on a baking sheet on the top rack for 6-8 minutes, until golden and fragrant. Remove from the oven and let cool.

Combine the quinoa and spelt flours, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt in a large bowl. Gently stir in the cooled almonds and chocolate chips.

Cream together the butter and sugar in a medium bowl. Add the eggs, vanilla and almond extract and blend both mixtures together well.

Lightly spray a baking sheet (or line with parchment...that's what I do). Divide the dough in half and roll it into long logs that are the same length as the baking sheet. Dampen your hands and lightly pat the dough to flatten it to 3/4 inch thickness. Repeat with the other half of the dough. Place both pieces of dough on the baking sheet and bake on the center oven rack for 20 minutes.

Remove from the oven and let sit until cool enough to touch. Slice each log into 1 inch pieces. Place the slices on the same baking sheet and bake an additional 5 minutes on each side. Remove from the oven and cool. Store in a sealed bag or container for up to 8 weeks.

***Remember that blissful moment about 5 minutes ago that I described with my boys playing nicely on their own???!! Ya...far gone...just found them both in the powder room brushing their hair with the toilet brush...yuck yuck yuck...time to hit the tub!

Leek and Potato Soup

AHHHHHH-mazing!! Another new recipe this week from my beautiful new cookbook. It's hard to believe that this yummy and flavourful soup only has 5 ingredients! (Six if you make it the way the recipe calls for.) Another bonus is that you can make this soup in under 30 minutes!

Made this for lunch yesterday, and it was a hit with all four of us! I was thankful I had made a double batch! Levi (13mths) had already had his lunch...and then saw us having our soup...so I decided to give him a taste and he cried when I didn't give him more! Needless to say he ate an entire bowl of this filling soup, AFTER he already had eaten lunch! Those of you who have met Levi...or have tried to pick him up...are not surprised by that:)

Why didn't I add the milk at the very end? We were so hungry and excited to try the soup that I just full on forgot! I realized half way through eating mine what I had done. Jay and I both agreed it doesn't need the milk added at the end, but possibly a bit extra broth...this soup thickens a lot as it sits. Like most things we eat in our home, we sprinkled the soup with fresh parmesean right before eating...and a little pepper too:)

ENJOY!

Leek and Potato Soup

3 Tbsp butter
2 cups sliced leeks, white parts only
3 cups chicken or vegetable broth
2 1/2 cups peeled and diced Yukon gold potatoes
1/2 cup quinoa
1/2 cup milk of choice (we skipped this step)
salt to taste (we didn't add any)

Melt the butter in a large pot and saute the leeks until tender, about 8 minutes. Add the broth, potatoes and quinoa to the pot, bring to a boil. Cover, reduce to a simmer and cook until the potatoes and quinoa are tender, about 15 minutes. Puree the cooked mixture with a hand blender or cool slightly and puree in 2 batches in a blender or food processor. Return the puree to the pot and stir in the milk. Heat on medium but do not boil. Remove and serve!

Decadent Chocolate Quinoa Pudding

This past weekend we celebrated Christmas in Calgary with the Wiebe clan! One of my lovely gifts from Mom and Dad Wiebe was this beautiful new cookbook called "Quinoa 365"! The book itself is just so pretty to look at, let alone the recipes! So here marks the start of trying each recipe out. This one got thumbs up all around in our house!

Many recipes in this book call for Quinoa Flour...a type of flour I've never used before, but had no trouble finding at our local health food store. In fact, they carried 4 or 5 different brands of it!

Of course this would look MUCH prettier topped with some fresh whip and maybe a few berries too? I wish I would have had some fresh whipping cream on hand so I could have tried out my other fabulous Christmas gift!



This recipe takes about 5 minutes to make, and yields 6 portions...gotta love that! Like many things in our home, all were gone in less than 24 hours! I should let you know though that you definitely taste the quinoa in this pudding...perhaps adding extra chocolate would mask that more?...so if you're not a fan of that taste, then this recipe may not be for you. For the rest of us though, you'll find this to be a rich decadent dessert filled with protein! Jay topped his second helping with a dollop of peanut butter....GREAT idea!

Decadent Chocolate Quinoa Pudding

1/2 cup quinoa flour
1 1/2 cups water
1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup ricotta cheese (I used mediterranean plain yogurt, cause that's what I had on had...totally worked, yet I think the ricotta would taste a little better)

Combine the flour and water in a pot on medium heat. Stir constantly until the mixture thickens and the water has been absorbed, 3 to 5 minutes. Don't worry if lumps form, these will disappear later. Remove from the heat, immediately add the chocolate chips and stir until melted. Stir in the ricotta cheese. Use a food processor or blender to puree the mixture until smooth. (I skipped this step since I used smooth yogurt rather than the ricotta) Poor into desert bowls and refrigerate until chilled.

I think next time I may even add a pinch of cinnamon or instant coffee?!

Jay asked me on the way out the door this afternoon if I could make this again today...I think I may give the Chocolate Almond Biscotti on page 139 a try instead! I'll let you know how it turns out!

*made this recipe again tonight....added 1/2 tsp of cinnamon and about 3 or 4 tbsp of peanut butter right after the chocolate chips...AMAZING...and kills the quinoa taste a little for those wondering how to do that:)

Soft & Chewy Ginger Sticks

Hands down the most requested recipe of mine!! Jay is my number one fan when it comes to these guys. When we were first married I would sometimes surprise him and bake them in the middle of the summer...he LOVED that! This past year we held off and waited until the Christmas season...and for one very valid reason. Jay and I did a 'homemade Christmas' last year...I highly recommend it....it was his idea actually! My brilliant gift to him was 365 Soft & Chewy Ginger Sticks!!! One for every day of the year!! Won wife of the year for that gift...only problem was that they were gone after about 6 weeks!! I will vouch for him and say that he did share some of them:)

So here it is...a very simple, one bowl, cookie recipe...gotta love that!! Always a hit...I even had a friend who despises molasses give them a try and she was left speechless!

These are very pretty sprinkled with a little light sugar right before baking..and even with a little crystallized ginger and white chocolate drizzle too! In the Wiebe house we prefer them plain...who's kidding who...they don't last long enough to cool and drizzle!!

Today marked the first double-batch of the season...we're heading to Calgary tomorrow to celebrate an early Christmas with the Wiebe's!...thought they'd make for a nice Christmas treat to share...and I'll be sure to pack a separate little container for Jay to enjoy in the truck while driving!

Soft & Chewy Ginger Sticks

1/2 cup raw cane sugar...or sugar of choice
1/2 cup olive or coconut oil (coconut is much better)
1/4 cup molasses
1 tablespoon almond milk
1 egg
2 cups flour (I use whole wheat or spelt)
1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ginger
1/8 teaspoon cloves
4 teaspoon sugar (for garnishing on top)

1. Heat oven to 375 F. In large bowl, mix 1/2 cup sugar, the oil,
molasses, milk and egg with spoon. Stir in remaining ingredients
except 4 teaspoon sugar.



2. Divide dough. On ungreased cookie sheet, I use parchment to keep my pans clean, lightly spread out dough like photo shows. Score tops with fork.



3. Bake for 8 minutes or until edges are light brown and tops
appear cracked; cool 5 minutes. Cut each strip crosswise into 1 inch
slices.

4. Let cool for a few more minutes before removing from pan.

Do not let them over bake, unless you prefer a more crispy ginger stick!

For those of you now wondering what Jay made me for our homemade Christmas...he bought a beautiful apothecary jar and filled it with homemade body scrub...epsom salts mixed with coconut oil...still working my way through it and loving it! Looks beautiful beside my sink in the bathroom! A great gift idea for anyone:)

Starbucks "Christmas" Gingerbread Loaf

Alright...no photo yet of this one since it gets gobbled up WAY too quickly! However, I can guarantee that the majority of you know exactly what loaf I am talking about that Starbucks carries this glorious time of year! It's amazing. I tweaked with this recipe last Christmas season when the loaf was reintroduced to me through Starbucks.

I knew that I could not fully enjoy their version of it for two reasons. One, I had my baby weight from Levi to deal with. Two, I knew theirs had zero nutritional value in it!

It's wonderful and amazing, with tea or coffee or steamed milk...and makes a wonderful hostess gift (especially when topped with a thin layer of cream cheese frosting and chunks of candied ginger!)

This is one of those Christmas recipes that I limit myself to making only during November and December to keep it special...it's that good!

Starbucks "Christmas" Gingerbread Loaf

1 1/2 cups spelt or whole wheat flour
2 tsps ground cinnamon
3/4 tsp ground cloves
2 tsps ginger
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter, or coconut oil, softened
1/2 cup maple syrup or agave
1 cup applesauce
1 tsp baking soda

FROSTING (OPTIONAL)
1 (8 oz.) pkg. cream cheese, softened
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups confectioner’s sugar

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a loaf pan.
In a medium bowl, mix together flour, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, and salt.
Then set aside.

In a large bowl, cream butter and syrup until fluffy.

Mix baking soda into applesauce and stir into creamed butter mixture.
Add flour mixture. Mix until smooth.

Pour batter into prepared loaf pan.

Bake at 350 degrees F for 35-40 minutes or until a
toothpick inserted into center of cake comes out clean.

FROSTING:
Beat cream cheese until fluffy. Beat in vanilla. Slowly beat in confectioner’s sugar.

Once the cake has cooled, evenly spread the frosting on top. Decorate with chopped candied orange peel or candied ginger .