Broccoli Cheddar Soup

I'm so freaking excited for lunches this week because I made up a batch of Cheddar Broccoli soup and divided it up into Mason Jars for my lunches all week.  Usually I like to have variety through the week and I don't tend to eat the same thing day after day BUT this is a hectic week for us AND this soup is AMAZING!  

I have always loved a nice thick cheddar and broccoli soup but it can be so hit and miss and it's often over salted or not too cheesy in restaurants.  I've made it before and it always turns out just OK but this batch was pretty darned close to the best I've ever had and that's saying a lot!  

We have a very busy week ahead of us with the Christmas Musical Theater shows starting and dress Rehearsals at the beginning of the week.  Asher has been in PACE Musical Theater for 3 years now and I volunteer in the wings helping to get the kids on stage in time and in the right spots.  During "PACE week" I'll be working all day, coming home at 5pm, at the theater by 5:45, and then home anywhere between 10pm and 11pm. 

PACE rehearsals

That doesn't leave a lot of time for making meals or packing lunches for the next day. Therefore on Sunday morning my game plan was to make a batch of Peanut Butter Apple Baked oatmeal for Breakfast and pre-portion them out to grab and go through the week as well as a batch of Cheddar Broccoli Soup for my lunches.  Now I've just got to figure out a bunch of quick dinners.... 

On Sunday morning before PACE rehearsal I got to work on this soup.  I even had time for a quick bowl of it before I left and dang I was so impressed with myself tehehe really I was surprised and how simple the recipe was and how flavorful the soup was too! 

Soup for the week!

If you love a good Cheddar Broccoli Soup this is a must try!

Best Ever Broccoli Cheddar Soup 

Ingredients

1 tablespoon melted butter

½ medium chopped onion

¼ cup melted butter

¼ cup flour

2 cups half-and-half cream

2 cups homemade chicken stock

1-2 cups fresh broccoli chopped into small pieces

1 cup carrot, julienned

¼ teaspoon nutmeg

2 cups grated sharp white cheddar cheese

sea salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Saute the onion in 1 tablespoon melted butter and set aside. 

In a large pot whisk together the melted butter and flour over medium heat for about 3-4 minutes.

Slowly whisk in the half and half and chicken stock. Let it simmer for about 20 minutes, stirring regularly.

Add the broccoli, carrots, and onions. Let them simmer on medium low for about 25 minutes until the broccoli and carrots are tender.

Add nutmeg, salt and pepper and sharp white cheddar cheese. Let the cheese melt and then serve. 

Modified from the Recipe Critic Copycat Panera Broccoli Cheese Soup.

Apple Cinnamon Whole Wheat Pancakes

Anyone else love breakfast for dinner?  Our family loves it and it's a great quick dinner during a busy weeknight too!  

Fraser has been asking for pancakes since lunch time today so I decided to make a batch of whole wheat pancakes for dinner.  I threw in some chopped apple to spice things up since plain pancakes are a bit boring!  

Here is the recipe I used for our pancakes!  I love having a go to healthy whole wheat pancake recipe base that I can use to add fruit or other tasty things to it to mix things up.  Here is my Basic Whole Wheat Pancake Recipe that you can change up, add any type of fruit or even chocolate chips too!  You can also swap out the apple sauce for banana too!  

Apple Cinnamon Whole Wheat Pancakes

Ingredients

2 Cups Whole Wheat Flour

1 Tbsp Baking Powder
1 Tsp Cinnamon

2 Eggs

1 Tbsp Maple Syrup

1 3/4 Cups Almond Milk (or regular milk)

1/4 Cup Olive Oil

1/4 Cup Apple Sauce

1 Tsp Pure Vanilla
1 Apple Chopped

Directions

• Mix together Whole wheat Flour, Baking Powder, Cinnamon and chopped apple. Set Aside
• In medium mixing bowl, whisk eggs with Almond Milk, Maple Syrup, Olive oil, Apple Sauce and Vanilla.  
• Add wet mixture into the dry mixture and stir to combine. 
• Spoon batter onto pan and cook first side until you see bubbles then flip and cook on the other side until golden brown. 

Pictured above is 2 Whole wheat pancakes topped with 1/2 banana, sliced strawberries and homemade peanut butter. 

You can top them with any fruit you have. Yogurt is also delicious on pancakes! 

Sesame Sauce

Several years ago I fell in love with the "Japanese village steak sauce" but boy it it expensive to even just get a simple bowl of rice and Steak sauce there now... plus who should really just be having a bowl of rice and sauce anyways!  It's a guilty pleasure for sure to have a bowl if I'm going there for sushi or a special dinner out.  But last night I was seriously craving a hearty bowl with a savory sauce not sweet like teriyaki so I threw together this Sesame Sauce recipe that I found years ago and modified to make it just right! 

We had Chicken with Organic Wild Rice, Broccoli and Carrots topped with Sesame Sauce and man was it GOOD!!

It's certainly not the healthiest choice as it's a high salt high fat sauce but at least all the ingredients are real food, no preservatives or strange ingredients!  And it hits the spot too!!

Sesame Sauce Recipe

Ingredients

¾ cup low sodium Soy Sauce

½ cup Toasted Sesame Seeds 

1 Clove Garlic, large (Minced) 

½ cup Chopped Onion (One small Onion)

1 cup Olive Oil 

1 Egg yolk 

 ½ cup Cream 

Directions

• Place soy sauce, sesame seeds, onion and garlic in a blender and mix on high for 30 seconds. 
• Add remaining ingredients and blend until fine. 
• Pour into small sauce pan and cook until thickened and hot.  
• Drizzle over top stir-fry, rice or any dish you like. 

Overnight Oats Tutorial

I've posted a few Oatmeal recipes on the blog; from baked oatmeal to oatmeal bowls but I haven't touched on Overnight oats much. I've shared a few recipes on my social media sites (Instagram and facebook) but I've been holding off on a blog post because I really wanted to do a tutorial.  Here's the thing, it took me FOREVER to get on the overnight oats train because somewhere in my mind I assumed that you ate them COLD.... Yuck!  

I don't like eating many cold foods, especially if they are usually hot or were once hot. That's right, I don't like cold pizza!  So cold oatmeal hasn't been on the top of my must try list.  But somewhere along the line I figured out that after they sit in the fridge over night you can warm them up and then top them with delicious toppings!  So I figured I'd give it a try and now I make overnight oats for work almost every night before I go to bed.  

I did a little digging around about how to make over night oats and I found that almost every recipe is different and some don't turn out well at all.  The first couple I made worked beautifully and then a few turned out really runny and the oats didn't really a thicken all the liquid.  But my trial and error can be your asset as I learned how much milk to use based on the type of oats you use!

Below I have provided a very basic over night oats Tutorial for those who want to keep it simple.  I have personally taken to adding additional ingredients the night before including cinnamon and chia seeds as my go to dry ingredients.  My husband likes to have raisins or dried cranberries added into his as well so that's often a staple ingredient in ours.  With adding additional dry ingredients, the almond milk measurements might be slightly off so you will just want to make sure that the almond milk covers the oats but is not "Soupy".  

At the end of the Basic tutorial I will include my go to Overnight oats recipe. 

Basic Over night Oats tutorial 

Ingredients 

Old-Fashioned Oats:

• ½ cup old-fashioned oats

• ¾ cup almond milk
• 
  

Quick-Cooking Oats:

• ½ quick-cooking oats

• ¾ cup almond milk
• 
  

Steel-Cut Oats:

• ¼ cup steel-cut oats

• ¾ cup almond milk

Instructions

Old-Fashioned Oats

1. In a mason Jar with a lid, mix oats with almond milk. Refrigerator overnight.

1. In the morning, stir the oats, add toppings of your choice or warm up the oats in the microwave before adding toppings.

Quick-Cooking Oats

1. In a mason Jar with a lid, mix oats with almond milk. Refrigerate overnight.

1. In the morning, stir the oats, add toppings of your choice or warm up the oats in the microwave before adding toppings.

Steel-Cut Oats

1. In a microwave safe bowl, mix oats with almond milk. Microwave on HIGH for 3 minutes, keeping an eye on the oats so the milk does not boil over. You may have to stop and stir couple times.

1. Immediately, transfer the oats to a mason jar with a lid, close it shut, and refrigerate overnight.

1. In the morning, stir the oats, add toppings of your choice or warm up the oats in the microwave before adding toppings.

Topping Ideas

1. fresh berries (strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries); brown sugar; coconut chips; almond butter; peanut butter; raisins; almonds; fruit preserves; walnuts; cinnamon; dry fruit; maple syrup; honey

My Go to Overnight Oats Recipe

Dry mixture

1/2 cup Organic Whole Oats
1 Tbsp Chia seeds
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup dried cranberries
1/8 cup pumpkin seeds

Wet Mixture

3/4 cup almond milk (just enough to coat the dry mixture but not too much that it's soupy)
1/2 Tbsp Maple Syrup
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 Tbsp homemade peanut butter

Directions

Mix dry ingredients together in a mason jar.  Stir just to mix cinnamon into the mixture so that it doesn't clump together when the wet ingredients are added.

Add in Almond milk, stirring to make sure that it covers dry ingredients without being too soupy.  Is should just be coating all the oats.

Add in maple syrup and vanilla extract and stir to combine.

If you like, add in a table spoon of natural peanut butter and stir just slightly so that it does not full mix into the oats.  You kinda want it chunky through out the mixture.

Refrigerate overnight.

In the morning, warm up the oats in the microwave for 1-2 minutes then stir and enjoy!

Note: If you want to prep these ahead you can add all the dry ingredients into your jars at the beginning of the week and just add in your liquids the night before.  You could also make ahead a few days in advance as the oats will say fresh for 2-3 days in the fridge. 

Pumpkin Spice Cream Cheese Muffins

Pumpkin baking and thanksgiving just seem to go together so I decided to make a batch of pumpkin muffins for breakfast. And knowing my boys, if it has even a smudge of icing on it they will eat it right up!  So pumpkin cream cheese muffins happened! 

I really do love baking on the weekend mornings especially when I can try out a new recipe! This long weekend was full of trips to the pool for family swimming, long walks, family dinners and family time!  It was lovely to have a weekend where we didn't have a bunch of activities to run in between, but next weekend is going to be back to the usual... 2 birthday parties, PACE begins, Halloween potluck, swimming lessons and the usual family fun mixed in there!  

But back to the muffins.... Asher gobbled back two muffins faster than I ate mine and Fraser (the sweet tooth) basically clicked all the icing out of his, asked for a "dip spot"; you know a puddle of icing to dip it into and then ate it. 

The recipe itself was quick and easy to make, Fraser and Daddy cracked the eggs for me and mixed up the wet mixture while I started on the icing and the whole recipe came together quite quickly.  I do feel like I NEED to have at least two cans of Pumpkin Puree in the pantry at all times through the fall and winter just in case inspiration strikes!  

Once baked, I dug little holes out of the muffins to make way for the frosting because I never find it works to "inject" them with it but do what works for you. 

My icing wasn't very thick so the holes kept it all together and as everything cooled it thickened up more!  

Pumpkin Spice Cream Cheese Muffins

For the Muffins:

• 1-3/4 cups whole wheat flour
• 3/4 cup coconut palm sugar
• 1-1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1/4 tsp ground cloves
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg 
• 1/2 cup pumpkin seeds or walnuts
• 2 eggs
• 3/4 cup organic canned pumpkin puree
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/4 cup almond milk

Cream Cheese Frosting

• 1/2 package cream cheese, at room temperature
• 4 tbsp organic confectioner’s sugar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375°F and line a 12 cup muffin tin with muffin papers or silicon cups.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, coconut sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, ginger, cloves and nutmeg.  Then mix in 1/4 cup of the pumpkin seeds or walnuts. 
3. In separate bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients: eggs, pumpkin puree, olive oil, almond milk, and vanilla.  Pour over dry ingredients and stir just until dry ingredients are moistened.
4. Spoon into prepared muffin cups. Sprinkle with remaining pumpkin seeds or walnuts. Bake in center of a 375°F oven about 20 to 25 minutes or until muffins are golden and tops are firm to the touch. Let cool in pan on rack for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool.
5. While the muffins are baking, whisk together the cream cheese, confectioner’s sugar and vanilla.  (If the frosting is too thick, add a bit of Greek yogurt.  If too runny, add more confectioner’s sugar.)  Set aside.
6. When muffins are cooled completely, inject each muffin with a generous amount of cream cheese frosting and enjoy! 

TIP: I dug out a little hole in each muffin with a chop stick so it made it easier to add the frosting. 

Original Recipe source Chris in Canada

Pumpkin Pie Smoothie

I blended up this tasty Pumpkin Pie Smoothie to kick off Thanksgiving weekend! 🍂

I don't totally love the texture of a regular pumpkin pie but my mom makes an amazing cream cheese pumpkin pie and it's the best! It's surely not "clean" but it's all about balance, you can't be perfect all the time and there is no point depriving yourself either.  I firmly believe in the 80/20 rule and I do try to make treats in our house as "Real" as possible but sometimes it can't be avoided.  I'm pretty sure her pie calls for vanilla pudding mix and possibly cool whip although when I've make it I make real whip cream for it.  Those are two ingredients you wont find in my house but one slice of pie isn't gonna kill me!  

Ingredients:

¼ cup water

¾ cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk

1 scoop Vanilla protein power (I used vanilla Shakeology)

½ cup canned pumpkin puree

1 tsp. pure maple syrup (or raw honey)

1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

1 cup ice

Preparation:

1. Place water, almond milk, Shakeology, pumpkin puree, maple syrup, pumpkin pie spice, and ice in blender; cover. Blend until smooth.

This is a great time to make your own Pumpkin Pie Spice Mix too.  I'm sure there will be a few other opportunities to use it over the coming months anyways!!

Creamy Tomato Soup

It's a damp and rainy evening here in Victoria so we decided to make grilled cheese for dinner.  Nothing goes better with grilled cheese than tomato soup so I whipped up a quick batch of creamy tomato soup in less time than it took my husband to make the grilled cheese.  

This recipe uses a healthy tomato sauce recipe that I have been making for a little over a year now.  I tend to make a few big batches of it and preserve it in the pressure cooker so that we are stocked up all year long!  You can find the recipe for that sauce below. 

Creamy Tomato Soup

Serves 4 (1 Cup each)

Ingredients

3 Cups Grandma's Tomato Sauce

1 Cup Organic Vegetable Broth

1/2 Cup Greek Yogurt

4 tsp Shredded Parmesan Cheese

Directions

Combine Grandma's Tomato Sauce and broth in a large saucepan; cook, over medium-low heat, stirring frequently for 5-8 minutes.  Reduce Heat to low

Add greek yogurt. Mix well; cook, stirring frequently for 1 minute or until heated.  

Top each serving with 1tsp cheese. 

Portion Fix Container Count:  2.5 Green 1 Blue 1 Spoon 

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Grandma's Tomato Sauce

I made a few of big batches of this tomato sauce a over the last few weeks with the tomatoes from the garden.  I canned them to preserve for the winter months as I did last year so I just opened up a Jar to use for this tomato soup to go with out grilled cheese dinner tonight! Here is the Recipe.  Grandma's Tomato Sauce Recipe Prep Time: 40 min Cooking Time: 1 hr  15 min Ingredients 2 Tbsp olive oil 1 med onion, chopped 4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped 1 (6 oz can) tomato paste, no salt added 1/4 cup red wine 2 cans (28 oz each) whole peeled tomatoes [like San Marzano or Cento} crushed or pureed in a blender 2 Tbsp Honey 1 tsp sea salt 1/4  tsp ground black pepper 1 (3 oz) Parmesan (or parmigiano) cheese rind 3 Tbsp finely chopped fresh basil  Directions

1.  Heat oil in large saucepan over me-high heat
2.  Add onion; cook, stirring frequently, for 5-6 min or until onion is translucent
3.  Add garlic and tomato paste; cook, stirring constantly for 2-3 min.  Do not let tomato paste burn.
4.  Add wine;  stirring constantly for 2-3 min. 
5.  Add tomatoes, agave, salt, and pepper.  Bring to boil,  stirring frequently.  Reduce heat to low; gently boil, stirring occasionally, for 3 min.
6.  Add cheese rind; cook, stirring occasionally, for 1 hour.
7.  add basil, mix well.

*The parmigiano rind is not totally necessary, but it is a great way to add depth to the sauce without much by way of extra calories. 
* You can sub the can of tomatoes for fresh tomatoes by chopping and blending them up in the food processor. I used about 6-8 cups of tomatoes but really it doesn't matter, the more the merrier!