Another Pumpkin Recipe

This is another Spartan Race FOD.  They have awesome recipes!

Ginger Apple and Pumpkin Soup

by Rose-Marie Jarry

25 minutes
8 servings
98 calories per serving
Gluten-free, vegan

Ingredients:

• 2 cups of cooked pumpkin
• 2 cups of diced potatoes
• 5 cups of vegetable broth
• 1 onion
• 1 apple
• 1 tablespoon of fresh grated ginger roots
• 1 tablespoon of coconut oil

Directions

1. Combine all ingredients together in a big pot, except the coconut oil, which should be placed to the side.
2. Cook on medium heat for approximately 15-20 minutes.
3. Once everything is cooked through, add coconut oil and serve.

I haven't tried this yet, but the ingredients are on my grocery list so that I can make it next week!  If you try it, let me know how it is!!! 

Eggs

I signed up to receive emails from The Spartan Race.  They send a Workout Of The Day and a Food Of The Day.
Thursdays Food Of The Day (FOD) was Eggs.  Here's what they had to say about it...
 Eggs contain an abundance of choline (primarily in the yolk), which is a key nutrient for boosting brain function, as well as reducing fatty liver deposits. Eggs are a great source of protein, selenium, and vitamin A, an important nutrient for good vision. Contrary to popular belief, eating eggs does not contribute to heart disease! For the sake of happy chickens and healthy eggs, choose local, free-run eggs from a reputable farm.

We have ten chickens!  Therefore we eat a lot of eggs around here!  And people always say "What about the cholesterol?!?!"  Well, eggs have about 180mg of cholesterol in them, and healthy individuals should only have about 300mg of cholesterol a day.  If you are eating lots of other foods with cholesterol then maybe limit your egg intake.  I average about 250mg of cholesterol a day.  That includes a hard boiled or scrambled egg.  Moderation, right???
But, don't fall into the mentality that eggs are a terrible thing.  The yolks are really good for you!  Egg whites are great, and contain no cholesterol,  but don't always skip the yolk!

So

Pumpkin Turkey Chili

Some of you may have seen this on my Instagram feed last week.  It was a huge success around our table!  Recently someone asked for more pumpkin recipes since they will be roasting their pumpkins after Halloween.  I thought of this recipe right away!  I used one small pumpkin for this recipe.  Small like maybe three pounds.  

The recipe came from The Gracious Pantry, which is where I get most of my clean recipes from.

I did use some substitutions.  I used freshly roasted pumpkin.  A lot more than it calls for.  And I used tomato juice instead of  tomato sauce because I thought I had sauce, but it turns out I really just had juice.  That's why mine is wetter and less orange looking.  And I used 2 lbs of turkey.  Just because I have a big family and was trying to bulk it up!  It tasted amazing!!!  My husband thought I should have added beans, but the kids LOVED it just as it was!  And so did I!  Let me know if you make this!  

I'd love to hear about it!

Amazing Healthy Snack

Oh. Em. Gee.  These are seriously so delicious.  They feel like a total cheat!

Oatmeal Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars.  So good. For real.  You won't even know that they are healthy. I replaced the regular chocolate chips with organic, high cacao percentage chips.
Get the recipe here.  Her pictures are much prettier, too.  Mine was from my phone.  There was no time for a real camera.  They were being devoured at a very fast rate!

Clean Eating Dinners

After posting my grocery list in this post I decided to write a post with dinners and recipes that I made from that list.
Turkey Meatloaf
2 lbs pure ground turkey
Onion (as much as you like. I happen to love onion, but the rest of my family not so much.)
1 cup oats
2 whole tomatoes diced  
Mix together and shape into a loaf.
Bake at 350 for 50-55 minutes.

Salad with chicken, apples and almonds
Lots of organic spring mix
3 chicken breasts chopped into bite sized pieces
2 apples diced with the skin on
1/2 c whole almonds
Homemade dressing- 1/3 c lemon juice, 2/3 c coconut oil, 1 tbsp honey, 1 tsp salt and 1 tbsp chopped green onion, chives or red onion.  Pour it all into a jar and shake.

Filled Cabbage
2 lbs pure ground turkey
1 cup brown rice
2 tbsp olive oil
1 small onion 
1 head of cabbage
32 oz sauerkraut
4 or 5 cups tomato juice (no sugar added)
Heat the oil in a pan. Add onion and cook until tender.  Add the rice and heat for 3-5 minutes.  Let this cool.
Pull the cabbage leaves apart. Boil them until they are tender.
Add the onion/rice mixture to the turkey.  Stir.  
Place about 1/4 c of the turkey mixture on a cabbage leaf and roll tucking the sides in.  Do this until all the meat is used.
Place extra cabbage leaves in the bottom of a dutch oven (or crock pot) Top with half of the sauerkraut.  Place cabbage rolls on seam side down.  Repeat layers.  Pour the tomato juice over the top and cook about 2 hours on medium/low heat or longer if using the crock pot.  

This is before they cooked all the way through.  I made about 16 rolls.

Mediterranean Chicken Breasts

6 Chicken breasts

3 tbsp tomato paste

1/2 c feta cheese

onion to taste

chopped black olives  

Smear the paste on each breast.  Top with cheese, onions and olives.

Bake at 350 for about 40 minutes.

Bean Casserole

(This was not a huge hit at our dinner table)

Dried Pinto beans (soaked 6-8 hours and then simmered for 2 hours)

4 tomatoes plus a handful of cherry tomatoes. Pretty much every tomato I could grab from the yard!

1 c cheddar cheese

Add the tomatoes and cheese during the last 20 minutes that your beans are simmering.  Serve with organic tortilla chips.  2 out of the 6 of us went to bed hungry the night this was served.  I hate when that happens, but they were really being ridiculous!

The meatloaf and chicken breast were served with sweet potatoes and a veggie.  

Hope this helps you feel a little less intimidated by eating clean!  Really you can make most recipes clean by replacing any ingredient with sugar in it for one without sugar, or a sugar substitute.  My filled cabbage recipe calls for brown sugar.  I just didn't use any sugar.  No white potatoes, no regular pasta, no white flour, etc.  Here's to a dinner with no complaints tonight!

Snacks I Make

Snacks I Make:
-hard boiled eggs
-Lara Bar Balls
-granola
-yogurt
-cookies
-clean ice cream
-dried fruit
I make most of our snacks, as you can see from my grocery list.  I have the luxury of being a stay at home mom, so I have the time to spend in the kitchen.  I don't slave in the kitchen all day, though.
For the hard boiled eggs, I use Eggies.  We have our own chickens and I don't know if you knew this, but, you cannot successfully peel a hard boiled, fresh egg.  Trust me.  I've tried it.  So, I have to grease the eggies, crack the eggs into them, cook them and then clean them up.  It takes me maybe 40 minutes start to finish.  If you aren't using fresh eggs this should take about 20 minutes.
Everything else is easy.
The yogurt is super easy and I was so intimidated by the thought of making that on my own!  You put a half gallon milk into your crock pot.  Heat it on high until it reaches 180 degrees (about 2 hours). Turn it off and let it cool to 115 degrees or until your pinky can stay in it for 10 seconds without you screaming, blistering or losing it in the milk.  Then you stir in the starter (1 cup of plain yogurt) and let it sit for 8 - 12 hours.  Super easy and not a lot of time in the kitchen!

By the way, any planking going on yet?  I use the timer on my phone to get mine timed properly! 

My Weekly Grocery List

Okay.  I had a request for a post with information regarding my grocery list and menu.  Here is a list of items that I bought for this week.
Fruit
-1 cantaloupe
-4 pineapples
-6lbs apples
-2lbs green grapes
-14 bananas
-3lbs oranges
Veggies
-celery
-kale
-lettuce
-tomatoes
-baby carrots
-asparagus
-cabbage
-sweet potatoes
Pantry Items
-whole wheat flour
-raisins
-honey (raw, local)
-brown rice
-natural peanut butter
-tomato juice
-oats
-lite coconut milk
Snacks
-honey wheat pretzels
-organic blue corn tortilla chips
-hummus
Meats
-12 cage free, no hormone, no antibiotic chicken breasts (I don't remember how many lbs.  Maybe 3 or 4)
-4lbs 100% pure ground turkey
-1lb uncured bologna made with local, grass fed beef
Dairy
-raw milk (usually 3 gallons)
-all natural cheddar cheese
Splurges
-chocolate chips
-ice cream
Let me explain the "Splurges".
I make granola for the kids to eat, with milk in it, as a cold breakfast.  I add a handful of chocolate chips to that.  I also made clean chocolate chip oatmeal cookies one day for an after school snack.  I have a boy who hates raisins, so I can't make oatmeal raisin.  I only add a small amount of chocolate chips!  And the ice cream is for the kids as well.  Just because I want to eat clean doesn't mean that they can't have a few goodies every now and then.  It's not like I'm sending kool aid and Cheetos in their lunches.  I think they deserve treats!
Look for my next post about snacks!  I know you can't all spend the day in the kitchen!  My snacks are easy to make and take just a small amount of time in the kitchen!