How many of you overate this Thanksgiving? I absolutely did. Carbs on carbs on carbs is my jam, and thats exactly what I ate. Mashed potatoes, stuffing, sweet potatoes, rolls, macaroni and cheese… the list goes on. Good thing that only happens one a year! So, with that said, I needed to start with something light this week. Something to get be back in my grove. Once I came across this White Bean French Onion Soup recipe, I just knew it was going to be a winner. I changed nothing, it needed nothing, and that was A-Ok with me. And since I changed nothing, I will just be providing a link to the original recipe for you to try. It is from a wonderful blog called “The Busy Baker”. Here is the link to this delicious soup.
*Note: The only thing I changed was the cooking time was a little broad in times. I started my onions in the late morning and cooked on high for 4 hours, and then had them “keep warm”, while I went grocery shopping. After adding the other ingredients, I only kept it on high for about 2 hours. The recipe does not specify what onions but I used 2 large sweet onions because that is what I had. Any other onion would work fine, except red onion.
0 Comments
Have you ever met someone who doesn't like stir fry? I haven’t yet, and I hope I never do. What’s not to love, right? Stir fry is such a filling and satisfying dish to me. But I’m sure there are a few out there who can disagree. Alright so what is in this healthy take on the ever so glorious stir fry? For starters, I really love adding sweet potato noodles to a lot of my dishes that contain higher amounts of sodium. It balances out nicely, and Im always trying to get that complex carb when I can. With that, I also found these organic edamame noodles from costco that go great with anything asian. They have a high amount of protein, a nice taste, and the texture really holds up. But I didn't stop there. Also in this dish is a organic brown rice ramen noodle that I also found from, can you guess? Yes, Costco. I swear, they answer all of my wishes. As you can see by the ingredients, I did not do all fresh vegetables. Not that it wouldn't be absolutely divine if you did, but sometimes you just don't have the time. This was one of those times. Although, I will say that I actually really like the stir fry frozen mix that Kroger carries. Its all of the right things and it tastes really good. If you don’t have a kroger, no worries, they carry frozen stir fry mixes no matter what grocery store you shop at. Pick up a bag, or two, on your next shopping trip. Now, lets talk about the sauce. This sauce is EVER so creamy. It is my creation in hopes to make a healthier, lower sodium, type of sauce. Stir fry sauces often ask for anywhere from 1/4 cup of soy sauce, to even 1/2 cup. Now let me blow your mind for a minute. 1 TBL of “low sodium” soy sauce still contains 575 mg of sodium. Times that by four, now we have 2,300 mg of sodium, which may get you 2 to 3 servings so lets say 3 to be generous. That is 760 mg of sodium in just the sauce for that one dish. Our daily allowance is 1,500mg. So with that one meal, we are halfway through our daily sodium intake. Did you know that America's average sodium intake is 3,400 mg per day? High sodium levels causes high blood pressure, which is the leading cause of cardiovascular disease. So the next time your out shopping, take a look at that processed hummus, or canned “light” soup. It may surprise you, because it sure as hell did me. Be sure to follow @heartfeltnourishment on both my Facebook page and instagram for more recipes and ideas! Vegetable Stir Fry ~ Healthy Version
Ingredients: servings: 2
Creamy Stir Fry Sauce
Directions:
The days are becoming shorter and the temperature is dropping, which to me means blankets, pumpkin everything, and SOUP. With this recipe I have combined over 2 or 3 different black bean soup recipes and in my opinion, this is where its at. Normally I always give credit to those who have inspired my recipes but I honestly lost track of which ones I was "picking and choosing” from. But that is what's so fun about cooking, you can customize each dish you make to be what YOU like. And same goes for here. Possibly you aren’t a fan of jalapeños (which is insane), so feel free to omit. My husband isn’t a fan of raw cilantro, so I usually skip that topping for him. Quite frankly, I’m not sure he even knows the difference between this soup and my chili. Either way, he crunches up about a pound of tortilla chips and heaps on the cheddar cheese. He is really grasping onto my healthy habits… This soup also freezes and reheats very well. It makes a whole crockpot so between the two of us, we couldn't possibly eat it all. I used my freezer/microwave safe glass containers bought from Ikea, and covered them with plastic wrap before locking on the lid. Im not sure if the plastic wrap plays any role in this, but what I do know is that there always seems to be a plastic covering on frozen meals, so I thought, what the hell. Freezing meals is a little newer to me, because for some reason I have not been doing that with left overs. And now, I see how crazy that is. Having home cooked, healthy frozen meals easily accessible in my freezer? Thats a no brainer. Be sure to follow @heartfeltnourishment on both my Facebook page and instagram for more recipes and ideas! Black Bean Soup ~ Crockpot
Ingredients Servings 6
Directions:
**Note- This is a NON-SOAK version of black bean soup, meaning you do not actually need to soak your beans overnight. IM BACK! I was a little MIA lately, a wedding will do that too you. Happily married and ready to make more delicious healthy dishes in the kitchen again! The next big step in life is looking for houses, and of course my two stipulations are a basement and a BIG KITCHEN. Sometimes I fantasize about endless counter space and massive amounts of organized cupboards, is that weird? Anyways, enough about me, lets talk about this dish! Not only are these great for dinner, but they can also be great for meal prep dishes, which I have been making more of lately. Normally, I just sort of prep my ingredients on the weekend and make enough dinner to cover our lunches, which I still do, but atleast this way its nice to have a few meals made for those nights I don't cook, or don’t have leftovers for lunch. Amy’s Frozen meals used to be my go to for a fast meal, and every once in a while I still buy these, but I realized the sodium content in these are off the charts! Sodium used to never be something I worried too much about, but once I realized how much I was consuming, cutting it back made a HUGE difference in the way I felt. By the end of the day I was no longer as bloated as before, and overall I just “feel” better.
Im sure you have heard of the ,oh so delightful, combination of “sweet and smoky” right? That is exactly what this dish gives you. Good ole stick to your ribs comfort food with NON of the bad stuff. Pretty great, right?
Good Morning Everyone! Fall is so close, I can feel it (and I’m not mad!). From the crisp air to the pumpkin spice, it just feels like home everywhere I go. Fall is my favorite season because its that much closer to thanksgiving and christmas, which then comes delicious food, family time, and gift giving; so much to look forward to! Anyways, back to why you are here. Often, I feel obligated to cook my fiancé’s favorite meals because he is such a good sport at eating my healthy creations. Not that he doesn't enjoy them, but he is just such a “pizza and wings” kind of guy. If I left for a week, he would live off of frozen pizza and Frickers wings with no hesitation. A trick I have learned is, most of the time anything he is craving, I can always make a healthier version of it. Still a little indulgent, but at least I know where the ingredients came from and exactly how much is in it. Buffalo Chicken Wraps are Demetrius’s all time favorite food, so I try to make them for him every now and then. So what do I do instead? I make a beautiful giant salad of course! I still feel like I’m getting a “cheat like” meal but on the other hand, I also know I’m getting some vegetables in there as well. Its my perfect weekend meal 😃. Healthy Buffalo Chicken Salad
INGREDIENTS:
DIRECTIONS:
Don't let the “three noodle” intimidate you. That is just my way of using up left over asian noodles I had lying around! You can easily make this with one type of noodle and whatever veggie noodle you choose. I spiralized butternut squash, and it tasted great. However, I also think zucchini noodles would work just as well. And I warn you, this does pack a little heat, however if you are not a “spicy” kind of person, you can always omit the Jalepeno. The one thing I wouldn’t omit, is the red chili sauce; it give this dish quite a bit of it's flavor. Red Chili Garlic Sauce may be hard for some of you to find, but in my grocery store it is located in the “Asian” aisle near the soy sauces. It is pretty versatile with other Asian dishes, so even though you only use a tiny bit, you can defiantly find other ways to use it up. One of my favorites is to make a sweet and spicy sauce by mixing it with honey, a little sesame seed oil, and soy sauce. Spicy Three Noodle Asian Bowl Ingredients: Servings 4
Directions:
This is sort of my take on a deconstructed Chile Relleno dish. I had come across several recipes for vegan stuffed poblano peppers, and while those also sound AMAZING, I didn’t really want to go through the hassle of cutting, stuffing, AND baking time. So with that said, I decided to take all the flavors, and put my own spine on it. Plus, the time seemed to fly by when I was making this dish. While the rice cooks, you construct everything else and before you know it, its finished! For those of you who have never heard of “El Pato Salsa de Jalapeno”, it is a canned “salsa” type mixture that adds a great flavor to Mexican dishes. The ingredients are very simple, which was also one of the reasons I bought it. When looking for it in your local grocery store, try the canned tomato section. That’s where mine was but if you cant locate it there, try your ethnic food section as well. Ingredients:
Serves 4
Directions:
For all of you who have planned a wedding before, how did you make it through? My mind keeps racing constantly on how that day will pan out. Did I give enough time for the ceremony? What if the speeches and cake cutting take to long and people get bored? How do I keep everyone entertained and make sure they wont loose interest? It is all I have been able to think about! Fun, is one thing I wouldn't associate to much with wedding planning, but it is definitely a experience. Getting to see it all come together will be much of a reward I am sure. Maybe I should take up yoga to help relax. Namaste? Wedding stress aside, lets talk about this dish which was inspired by the recipe from "Making Thyme for Health". I only changed a few things to my liking, and maintained most of its solid parts. It is a wonderful recipe, and if you have never tried indian cuisine before, this is a good one to start with. To me, this has more of a smokey tomato flavor then a indian type flavor profile, but the subtle hints of curry, cumin and garam masala really bring it home. Personally, I do not enjoy a strong ginger flavor, so I opted out of using fresh and just used a little ground ginger instead. In addition to that, I also added peas which gives it a good texture and a little bit of sweetness. The jalapeño also plays a big part in this so if you like things to be a bit spicy, you may want to use two. Chickpea Tiki Masala
Ingredients: Serves 4
Directions:
If you have never had the pleasure of eating a scape, then I definitely suggest you pay attention to your next farmers market. You will start seeing them for only a short period of time around the beginning of summer. What is a scape? They are the tops of garlic actually! The texture is sort of like a soft green bean with a mild garlic flavor. You can eat them sautéed, steamed, and/or in pesto! I discovered them a few years back and I fell in love. Normally they are one of the pricier items at the farmer market BUT, since I have the best Mother-In-Law EVER, she grew a crap load of garlic and gave me all the scapes! I have been living off those babies for 3 weeks! So, amongst sautéing them, I also decided to make a pesto out of them. They turned out great! Ingredients: For the Pesto:
After you have made your pesto, let the flavors marry as you prepare your pasta. Once the pasta is done, add in peas and pesto (I only used about half). Sprinkle each plate with more parmesan if desired and enjoy! I have been on a mission to mix up my morning routine lately. For some reason I find breakfast the hardest meal to be creative with. Mainly because the last thing I want to do in the morning, is mess with a bunch of ingredients and dirty dishes, right?! So along with my protein pancakes, this is my new favorite dish I have started to eat in the mornings. The last time I ate french toast was over 4 years ago! So keeping that in mind, this was perfect to me. However, to someone who may frequent the local IHOP, these may not be as good to you. But one thing I can guarantee, is that these will NOT leave you feeling bloated, hungry, or guilty. Made with my favorite bread that contains no added sugars, this is a perfect dish to start your healthy day! Ingredients:
Directions:
|
About MeHello everyone! My name is Ashlee Beach and five years ago I embarked on a life changing journey. Like most americans, I came from a household where food was cheap, fast and easy. Fresh produce just wasn't on the menu, which caused my relationship with food to be a very love-hate. Now at the age of 27, I am 60 lbs lighter, full of energy, and extremely passionate about my new lifestyle. From my own personal experiences I am here to share with you, delicious recipes, healthy living advice, and positive vibes! Categories
All
|