You're on the same page as me if this was one of your favourite meals as a kid!  I had totally forgotten about this soup until I stumbled upon this recipe on good-ole Pinterest:)  It was a HUGE hit with our boys...and I have to admit I still loved eating it too!  Healthier for your kids on many many levels than the $0.59 can of it that you can pick up at the grocery store...SO simple to make...and VERY affordable!  I remember buying Amy's Organic's version of this soup when Noah was younger...on sale I would pay $2.99 for one can...and he would eat the whole can at one sitting...not the most affordable meal for a 2 year old!  I used all organic ingredients for this recipe and the massive pot that it made probably cost me about $10-$12.  I divided the soup up into little boy portions (which in our house means a large bowl full!) before freezing it and got 15 servings...you do the math...that's less than $1 per serving...not bad!

Enjoy this soup on it's own...with a grilled cheese!...or an entire sleeve of saltines like I'm sure my brother still does! Ha!

*side-note....remember this long posting I did a while back on savings a Costco?!  I mentioned Pacific Foods Organic Chicken Broth.  Huge thanks to the "M" family for letting me know that they have changed their ingredients and now use Autolyzed Yeast Extract...aka. MSG:(  Major disappointment there!  Good news...Costco now also carries the same brand Vegetable Broth...totally 'clean' broth...you will recognize every ingredient in it!  Just shows once again how important it is to read labels...and unfortunately to KEEP reading labels...companies are always making changes!

Now back to the soup...

Alphabet Vegetable Soup
original recipe found here

2 Tbsp olive oil
1 onion, diced
3 carrots, diced
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1 russet potato, diced (I didn't use)
1 sweet potato, diced (I didn't use)
8 cups chicken or vegetable broth
2 (14 oz) cans diced tomatoes, not drained (use crushed if your kids are picky about tomatoes)
4 cups water
2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 Tbsp dried basil
2 Tbsp tomato paste
2 cups alphabet pasta
2 cups frozen green peas
2 cups frozen sweet corn

In your favourite large soup pot, heat olive oil over medium heat.  Add the onion, carrots, potatoes, garlic and cook about 5 minutes, stirring a few times during that time.  Add the broth, diced tomatoes, water, tomato paste, salt, and pepper.  Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat, cover the soup, and cook another 20 minutes.  Stir in the pasta and cook 5 more minutes.  Stir in the peas and corn and cook about five more minutes, until the peas and corn are heated thoroughly.  Add more salt and pepper to taste, if desired.

Enjoy!  Your kids will have a blast eating this soup!

So on our trip out to Covert Farms two weeks ago we didn't just stop at strawberries...we picked peaches too!  See our little boys working away??!! They LOVED it!  Taking home the fruit that day was just a bonus for us...being there together as a family was an event in itself.  So much fun!

We came home with 30lbs of peaches that we nicely laid out...waiting for them to ripen!  While most were just eaten fresh...and some peeled & sliced for the freezer...I decided last Saturday night to bake a dessert to go with out Farmer's Market supper.  Tons of fresh veggies on the grill with steak...that practically begged for a Rustic Peach Galette (really just a fancy word for pie or tart in my books!).  Thanks to Pinterest I already had something in mind...and we were all VERY pleased with the results!  I switched a few of the ingredients up...but for the most part the original recipe can be found here!  There's something about the rustic look to this dessert that just feels like summer to me...I love it!

RUSTIC PEACH GALETTE
feeds 6 people

INGREDIENTS

PASTRY:
1 1/4 cup spelt flour
1/2 cup cold butter, cut into small chunks
1/8 cup ice water, more if needed

FILLING:
4 peaches, peeled and sliced
2 or 3 Tbsp coconut sugar or sweetener of choice
juice of half a lemon
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1 Tbsp spelt flour
2 tbs almond milk, or milk of choice
extra sugar for sprinkling, optional

DIRECTIONS

PASTRY: 
In a food processor, combine flour and salt; pulse to combine. Add butter, and pulse until mixture resembles coarse crumbs with some larger pieces remaining, about 10 seconds. (To mix by hand, combine dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl, then cut in butter with a pastry blender.)

With machine running, add ice water through feed tube in a slow, steady stream, just until dough holds together without being wet or sticky. Do not process more than 30 seconds. Test by squeezing a small amount of dough together; if it is still too crumbly, add a bit more water, 1 tablespoon at a time.

Turn out dough onto a clean work surface and shape into a flat disk. Wrap in plastic, and refrigerate at least 1 hour.

FILLING:
Preheat oven to 375º.

Roll out dough to a 14″ circle.  Doing this on parchment paper helps a ton. Place dough back in refrigerator.

Mix all FILLING ingredients together until combined.

Remove dough from refrigerator and place peach mixture in the middle of the circle, leaving a two-inch wide rim. Fold edges in over peaches, allowing the dough to overlap as required.

Brush the edges of the dough with milk, and sprinkle with sugar, if desired.

Bake for 45-50 minutes or until the edges are golden brown and the peach juices are bubbling.

Remove from oven and allow to cool on a baking rack. Serve warm....with vanilla icecream, of course!?

 

Strawberry Chia Freezer Jam

Today I'd like to welcome guest blogger Noah Wiebe (age 4), our son!  This past weekend after great friends' recommendation we took a little drive up to Oliver to pay a visit to Covert Farms.  An amazing organic u-pick farm!  We had a blast.   They grow practically everything there...it's amazing and completely worth the drive.  We filled our truck with many amazing things.  One thing we were most excited about was the fact that they still have strawberries!  We completely missed that season in Kelowna this year.  We're pretty sure that next summer we will be making multiple trips to Oliver to visit the farm:)

Our boys LOVED all the picking they got to do!  Strawberries definitely were the hit though...Levi would scream everytime he moved the leaves out of the way and spotted a large strawberry...I laughed so hard!  Noah was a very focused picker and little did I know that he had plans to not only pick the berries himself...but to come home and make the jam from start to finish by himself!  This recipe was a bit of an experiment, but we were very pleased with the results!  Super simple and very quick.  Involves no cooking of the berries so it's safe and easy for kids to help out with...and also helps keep that fresh berry taste that we all love.  If you've never worked with Chia seeds before, you'll see that they act as a thickener.  The seeds loose their crunch once they are put in liquid for about an hour or so, and they thicken everything around them...very handy!  As a bonus, they have huge nutritional value too!  You can buy white or black chia seeds.  I used white for the jam, it's what I had in our pantry, but either would work.  The bonus of the white seeds is that they end up looking like strawberry seeds and blend right in.

The reason why this works best as a freezer jam is that it eliminates the canning part...makes it easier for kids to help...AND...it lets you control the amount of sweetener that you add.  Canned jam has to have a certain amount of sugar in order for the jam to seal properly and not spoil...you don't have that issue with freezer jam.  Any sweetener will work for this!  We sprinkled a bit of coconut sugar in ours...like only 2 or 3 spoon fulls...and then tasted it once it set.  We found it wasn't quite enough so I added 1 teaspoon of honey to each jar and stirred it in before moving the jars to the freezer.

Tip: Using small jars is best since this jam will only keep for about 1 week once it's taken out of the freezer!

This recipe would work great for any berry...or any combination of berries!  We're off to pick up some more chia seeds so we can continue our jam making!

And now...I officially welcome my first guest blogger, Noah Wiebe!

STRAWBERRY CHIA FREEZER JAM
inspired by source
makes one small batch...multiply as much as you desire!

1 cup fresh berries
1 Tbsp chia seeds
1 Tbsp water

sweetener of choice, to taste

We first drove to Oliver to pick lots of berries and stuff.

You put on your 'maker' (aka...apron!) so that you don't get red on your shirt.  Then you measure out the right about of strawberries.  Wash them and pull all the green tops off.

Next was my favourite part.  You get out your masher and squish all the berries.  I let my brother try too.  Add your seeds and water...stir lots.

Then get your green thing out of the pantry.  Put it on the jar and scoop the jam in.

Leave a little space at the top.

Put your lids on.

All done!

 (Put your jars in the fridge for about 2 hours.  This lets the chia finish up the thickening process. Then move the jars to your freezer!)

Eat for lunch with a fresh bun!  ( I think they liked it!)

Thank you Noah!  We look forward to featuring many more of your recipes in the future!

xo, mom!

Almond Flour Zucchini Loaf

You will have a hard time convincing your friends that this zucchini loaf isn't DRIPPING in butter...I'm serious.  There is no butter in these...or oil...none...yet that's all you taste...it's amazing.  Jay was a HUGE fan of this loaf...as were the boys.  Super moist from the almond flour, and just amazing.  No better way to use up all the zucchini that's growing these days!

Photo look a little blurry?  I had a husband and two boys drooling over that last chunk while I quickly took a photo!  Most good things don't last long enough in this kitchen to get a good photo!!

Enjoy!

Almond Flour Zucchini Loaf
original recipe found here

1 1/2 cups almond flour
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp nutmeg
3 eggs
1/4 cup honey, maple syrup...or sweetener of choice
1 ripe banana
1 cup shredded zucchini

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine the dry ingredients in a small bowl.

Place the wet ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer, then beat on medium for 1-2 minutes until frothy and fully combined. Add the zucchini and beat again just enough to incorporate.

Slowly add the dry ingredients with the mixer running, until all combined.

Spoon the batter into 2 mini loaf pans, or one large loaf pan.  A muffin tin would also work!

Bake for 30-35 (longer for a large pan...shorter for muffins) minutes until the middle is set and a toothpick comes out clean.

Enjoy!

Summer Salad Rolls

These guys have definitely been the favourite lunch in our house this summer!  Surprisingly quick and easy to make...VERY low cost...and you can change the ingredients easily for each person's serving based on their taste buds or diet!  If you let your little boys make their own I promise they will gobble them up too!  Great for entertaining, or for enjoying alone in your backyard:)

I've tried many many different dipping sauces...here's links to the last 3 that I've tried.  My favourite green salad dressing is also AMAZING with these rolls!

The rice paper rounds can be found in the Asian section of your grocery  store.  They are usually around $2 a pack and you get about 20....that's a steal!  Follow the directions on the package for soaking.  If you haven't tried them before...you literally soak them in hot water for about 5 seconds and then let them sit for about 30 seconds...then stuff them and roll them...that's it!

You can totally make these ahead of time...or pack them for the beach...just lay a damp paper towel over them to prevent them from turning back into crunchy rice papers:)


SUMMER SALAD ROLLS

INGREDIENTS

Rice paper rounds (about 3-4 per person)
*Brown Rice noodles...prepared according to directions, drained very well (noodles...NOT pasta)

any or all of the following, sliced thinly...options are endless!
spinach
lettuce
avacodo
sprouts
red peppers
mango
carrots
red cabbage
cucumber
basil
cilantro
green onions
tuna
salmon
shrimp
quinoa

*totally optional...including them makes for more of a 'meal'...but they taste great without too!


SAUCE
Mustard Soy-Sauce
Easy Thai Peanut Sauce
Favourite Green Dressing

Alright....it's high time I got OFF Pinterest...and actually updated my blog with one of the many fabulous recipes that I try from there!!

Sorry I've been a little MIA this past month:)  Had a wonderful long trip to Ontario to visit family...ate lots of yummy food...did a little detour to Atlanta to hang out with some amazing people and eat local organic peaches...I still think about them daily.  Now we're home and back into the swing of things...picking from our garden daily and shopping at the Farmer's Market as much as we can!  I love summer in the Okanagan!!

Last Friday morning I made a HUGE batch of quinoa...just plain.  I love the versatility of this super grain.  These cookies were the result of the first few servings of the quinoa.  Then I used some more to make a salad for great friends who just had a sweet baby girl.  THEN there was still enough left to make one of these!  There are not many foods that you can be that creative with!  My bag of quinoa is now currently gone....so to Costco we must go!

These cookies are an amazing and healthy treat to whip up...and are super quick if you're already cooking quinoa for something else anyhow!  Our boys loved them...they are super high in protein...so they held them over until a late dinner that night.  We brought them to a friend's house to share while we hung out together in their backyard on a Friday afternoon...I recommend you do the same:)

Nut Butter Chocolate Quinoa Cookies
original recipe found here

sidenote:  You can choose to make these with warm quinoa (I did) and the result will be an actual chocolate-looking-cookie...or you can used cooled quinoa and the result will be a chocolate-chip-looking-cookie.  
 
Ingredients:
2 cups cooked quinoa
1/2 cup nut butter (I used almond...I think peanut would taste better!)
3 tablespoons pure maple syrup
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
3/4 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup unsweetened, shredded coconut (optional...I used it!)
1/2 cup chocolate chips
 
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine quinoa, peanut butter, maple syrup, salt, and oats in a large mixing bowl.   Mix with spoon or mixer...I found a spoon to work no problem.

Stir in coconut and chocolate chips.

Roll small balls of dough between hands and flatten on cookie sheet.

Place cookies on parchment-paper-lined baking sheets and bake for approximately 10-12 minutes, until bottoms are nicely browned.

ENJOY!...nice cold almond milk is a GREAT partner to these:)

Quinoa Chocolate Cake

It's about time I made this cake!!  I've had it three times already...always made by someone else...and conveniently found in one of my favourite cookbooks that I've promoted on here many times...Quinoa 365!

The first thing I love about this cake is that it doesn't take quinoa flour, or any other inconvenient ingredients...you actually use quinoa that's already cooked...leftover from another meal...just waiting to be used for cake:)  I made it for a BBQ we had on the weekend...and also made a quinoa salad to add to the table...which is actually a great idea cause you just make an extra big batch of quinoa, take enough out for the cake...and turn the rest into salad!

The second thing I love is how simple it is!  I actually did the entire thing in my food processor!  A high speed blender will work great too...just dump all the ingredients in and go.  Make sure you really really puree it...you want the texture of the quinoa gone.

The cookbook suggests making the cake into two separate pans so you can layer the middle with jam or something.  This works, but will result in two very thin layers.  I made mine all in one pan.  If you were wanting the two layers I would recommend making a double batch, baking them in separate pans that way.  I decided last minute to swirl melted peanut butter into mine right before baking...HIGHLY recommend this!  I wish I would have taken the time to also make a fresh strawberry sauce to drizzle over top...oh well, next time!

(I have since made it many times with pure peanut butter frosted on the top...always a hit!)

This cake is amazing...moist...rich...not too sweet...and incredibly healthy!  Make it this weekend for some special friends:)

Like so often...I completely forgot to take a picture of the cake...so here's what the very last sliver looked like that I stashed into our freezer...you can kinda tell that it's frozen in the photo...oops!  I think it just might be dessert for me tonight!

Disclaimer...serve this cake in much larger slices than the photo shows!

QUINOA CHOCOLATE CAKE

2 cups cooked quinoa
1/3 cup milk...I used almond
4 large eggs
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
3/4 cup melted butter or melted coconut oil
1 1/2 cups maple syrup or coconut sugar (syrup will make it more moist which is great...and make it easier to blend...the batter will be very very thick if you're using a dry sugar)
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Lightly grease an 8 inch round or square pan.

Combine the milk, eggs and vanilla in a blender or food processor.  Add the quinoa and butter and continue to blend until smooth.

Whisk the remaining ingredients together in a large bowl.  Add the contents of the blender and mix well.  Pour into the pan...don't be alarmed by how thick it is.  I tried using only 1 cup of coconut sugar...and found it a little bitter...so I'd recommend the full 1 1/2 cups of sugar, unless you're making a sweet sauce to drizzle over top.

Bake for 50-60 minutes...checking often.  Cake is cooked when inserted toothpick comes out clean.   This won't taste good under or over baked:)