Sausage & Kale Soup

I just made this and had to share - it is so yummy, I could have eaten the whole whole pot myself.

Sausage & Kale Soup*
2 tablespoons of olive oil
4 carrots, peeled and chopped
4 stalks of celery, chopped
1 red onion, chopped
5 cloves of garlic, minced
4 cups of chicken stock
1 tablespoon of garlic powder
1 tablespoon of basic
1 tablespoon of oregano
1 teaspoon of rosemary
1 teaspoon of thyme
1 teaspoon of red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon of salt
A few healthy grinds on the pepper mill
A 13.5 oz can of coconut milk
2 cups of chopped kale
2 cups of italian sausage

*I eyeball all of my measurements- these don't need to be exact

Brown the italian sausage in a skillet and drain the fat. Heat the olive oil on medium in a large pot and add the carrots, red onion and celery. Saute for about 5 minutes, then add the garlic and saute for another couple minutes.

Add the chicken stock and that long list of spices, plus the can of coconut milk. Bring the concoction to a simmer and then lower the heat. Add the cooked sausage and kale, stir, then cover and simmer for about 15 minutes.

kale time

While you're waiting for the soup to finish cooking and before you clean up, break out your juicer and throw in some of that kale, a couple carrots, and celery, and toss in an apple and some ginger.

appetizer!

About the time you wrap up your healthy green juice, your soup should be ready for the bowl! Did I mention I loved this soup? Loved it. Husband too. That recipe will feed a family for a night or two folks like us for a couple of days.

As much as I enjoyed this dish, I'm thinking about ways I can lighten it up a bit. The coconut milk and sausage aren't exactly lean, so I may swap in turkey sausage and replace half the can of coconut milk with more chicken stock. And maybe even MORE kale!

I <3 kale. 

Healthy-ish Ramen

I was a walking zombie when I finally got home last night after work and Zumba at 9. A starving, walking zombie. I had zero energy to spend more than a few minutes preparing a dinner, and chips and salsa and a spoonful of PB wasn't going to cut it.

I tried something new instead.

Healthy-ish Ramen

• Package of stovetop ramen (I used the "Oriental" flavor)
• 1 egg
• 2 cups of fresh spinach
• 2 green onions, chopped
• 2-3 mushrooms, sliced
• garlic chili paste
• cilantro
• 4 cups of water

Put the egg (in the shell!) and 2 cups of water in a small pot over high heat. When the water comes to a boil, throw your ramen noodles in there too. 

After 3 mins of boiling, use a slotted spoon to take the egg out and rinse it under cold water. Pour out the water in the pot (to get rid of some of the starch and fat in the noodles) and replace it with 2 fresh cups of water. Put it back on the stove with the heat on medium until the water is hot again.

When the noodles look just about done, stir in HALF of the seasoning packet, the spinach, mushrooms, and green onions and turn the heat off. Peel the soft-boiled egg while all that goodness is hanging out. 

Pour the contents of the pot into your soup bowl and top with the soft-boiled egg, about a teaspoon of the garlic chili paste, and a bit of fresh cilantro. Enjoy!

This ended up being waaaaaay yummier than than the plain old ramen I had as a broke college student. Next time I might try adding some thinly sliced pork or beef to make it heartier. And I probably could have gotten away with using even less of the seasoning packet - this is the unhealthiest part of stovetop ramen because it's full sodium. The additions to the soup make up more than enough in terms of flavor.

I still wouldn't call this a health food, or something I would eat every day, but in a pinch, it's better than a run through a drive-thru.

Super Orange

I HAVE to have something sweet after dinner. It's just a weird thing about me - I don't feel "done" unless I've had my treat. Preferably something in the ice cream or pastry family. 

The husband and I had baked cookies today; something that we very rarely do. And though we had enough extra dough to make for another batch that would satisfy my treat craving, that little healthy person inside me that's trying to break out reminded me that I'd already had three, and another three more probably undue my hard work on the treadmill earlier in the day.

What is something sweet and easy and healthy?....

Juice!

I wanted something more dessert-ey than my usual green stuff. We had grapefruit on hand, which I wasn't entirely sure about.

Sam is not entirely sure about the grapefruit

Super Orange: Grapefruit, Carrot & Apple Juice

• 1 grapefruit (peeled obviously)
• 2 apples
• 4 carrots
• Smidge of ginger

Wash it. Peel it. Juice it. Bam.

This juice was orange. Like really orange. I wasn't sure it was love at first sip. The grapefruit gave it a bite that makes you go "hmmm," but by sip #2, I was really digging it. It was sweet and refreshing and totally satisfied my need for a treat. 

I could also see this as a unique base for a mimosa. Or with vanilla ice cream. 

But for now I'll just stick with the healthy version.

Make it now, eat it later

The morning was dreamy as clouds enveloped the house. I had the morning to myself, and despite being confined here for the past couple days, the thought of being cozy at home sounded wonderful. I'd had my fill of lounging about, so with a few hours until Lars returned from his ride, decided to take a stab at a goal I have for the new year: weekly meal prepping to improve our health and finances. Four hours, a trip to the grocery store with Sam, and five recipes later, our fridge is stocked with - *GASP* - homemade food!

This is NOT normal for me. I typically do not enjoy cooking, especially after a long day of work, so everything I picked was designed to be nuked within a few minutes or thrown in the crockpot in the morning. I'm worried that after we go back to work, my domestic side will go back in hiding and I'll never do this again. I hope that's not the case!

You guys. You guys. I cooked. You guys, lookie. I cooked something.

A food blog, this ain't, and anything I make up myself isn't going to be nearly as delicious as a recipe by someone who knows what they're doing. I'll leave it to the pros - everything that I made today came from:

• Chicken Tortilla Soup - Damn Delicious (Lars and I agree, this is damn delicious)
• Spinach Tortellini Soup - Budget Bytes
• Greek Marinated Chicken - Budget Bytes
• Freezer to Crock Pot - Pork Green Chile - A View at Five-Two
• Unstuffed Cabbage - Easy to be Gluten Free

Now, back to my book and quiet afternoon.

-M

This ain't so bad

Other than slight chipmunk cheeks earlier in the day, this whole wisdom teeth removal business hasn't been half bad. Husband has made a wonderful nurse, and I've enjoyed not feeling guilty about lying on the couch all day watching my favorite Studio Ghibli movies. The pain has been minimal to non-existent, and I'm almost regretting having the pain med prescriptions refilled today after Lars mistakenly threw them out before my surgery.

I thought this whole process would be worse, but I think that keeping the hard drugs and bad food to a minimum during recovery has really helped a lot. While a real vanilla shake sounds perfect about now, and something I rarely treat myself to, I'm glad I went with a chocolate protein shake with almond milk instead for my first meal of the day.

Now its time to pick out movie number four, and enjoy a glass of fresh juice. Since Lars is my chef at the moment and he has a tendency to throw in whatever he can find in the fridge (sound familiar?), this recipe is going to be super rough.

Lars' Recovery Juice
Beets
Carrots
Celery
Kale
Cucumber
Ginger
Apple

Wash it. Juice it. Bam.

This one is tasty and a bit gingery. Sweet, pretty and a good dessert thanks to the beets. I don't even know why I'm throwing these up on the blog. I have the cooking skills of a toddler. I promise that these will get more interesting when I'm back at it!

-M

Doug's 3 C's (and an A and a G and a smidge of L)

Home alone days are rare for me, and when they roll around, my lazy habits come out in full force. It's Christmas eve and I have a giant, holiday-related to do list, but I'm still in my PJs at 10 AM and I still have no idea what my husband and mom are getting tomorrow. I have a tendency to push things off by making up other dumb things I need to do instead. On home alone days, it's usually "Welp! 10 AM that is close eee-nough to lunch!" and then I proceed to consume something ridiculous because I can and my husband isn't around to tell me that waffles and popcorn are not appropriate lunch options. 

Fortunately Doug was around to remind me that there are healthy mid-morning snack alternatives.

Doug: Needs more bacon
Me: You can't juice bacon, Doug
Doug: Have you tried?

I initially started perusing my juicing recipe book, but I was too impatient to find something that would have all of the ingredients in my kitchen. Into the fridge I went, and out came the pile of goodness you see above. I guesstimated that I would get a me-sized glass of juice out of that, but I ended up throwing in a couple extra celery stalks and a carrot to up the yield to this full glass of tastiness here:

Go team!

With a greenish, brownish, reddish hue, it's not as pretty as yesterday's concoction, but it was quite delicious. I shall call it..

Doug's 3 C's (and an A and a G and a smidge of L)

4-5 red chard leaves

2 carrots

3 stalks of celery

1 apple

A nugget of ginger (so precise!)

A squeeze of lemon

Wash your stuff. Start with the chard in the juicer chute. Turn your juicer on and add the rest, except for the lemon. Add the lemon, give it a stir and add a straw. Thank your dog for encouraging you to make good choices.

Bon appetite!

-M

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Beets 'n things

I woke up feeling sick this morning, again, for the 20th some odd day in a row. Instead of my usual cup or two of coffee and coconut creamer ('cause I'm fake healthy, remember guys?!) I decided to whip up some juice!

I'm too impatient to spend any time on cooking, so in about 1 minute I had raided my fridge and came up with a pile of this:

And 30 seconds after taking this picture, turned it into two glasses of this:

I suppose I should post a recipe.. I shall call it..

Beets 'n things

2 small beets

1 carrot

1 cucumber

1 1/2 apples

1 handful of kale 

3 red chard leaves

1 small squeeze of lemon

Wash your stuff. Cut up anything that doesn't quite fit in the juicer chute. Throw away the kale that you realize you purchased a month ago because at the time, kale salads sounded great. Turn on your juicer. Ask your husband why the juicer isn't working. Flip up the safety bar. Turn on juicer. Shmoosh fruits and veggies into juicer and pour into glasses. Sip and feel like you've somewhat made up for all the junk you consumed over the weekend

That was way too many steps. But you get the idea. I used to juice more often, and my general rule is to mix up the sweet stuff, like root vegetables and fruits, with the really good for you stuff, like dark, leafy greens. This particular juice was heavy on sugary veggies, which is still better than juicing a chocolate bar, but it tasted delicious and is a good start to get back into the habit. 

In hindsight, I should have thrown some ginger in there to help with the stomach ache, but 10 minutes into my juice and I'm feeling better. Ooooh the power of juice! I say that half sarcastically, but I do know that long term, by body on clean foods and juice is much, much happier.

-M