Yummy Potato Soup!

This is one of my absolute favorite things to make for dinner in the fall and winter, especially when it is cold and rainy like it has been here for weeks!

Potato Soup

bag of red potatoes
skim milk or almond/soy milk
butter/marg.
bundle of green onions-chopped
cup of carrots-sliced
1/2-cup of celery-quartered
garlic powder
rosemary
parsley
salt/pepper to taste

Optional:  sour cream, cheddar cheese, bacon bits or sausage (quartered)  All of these are very good added into this soup!  Or you can follow the recipe above for a dairy free (using soy/almond) and vegan friendly bowl of soup! :)

• Clean, peel, and dice your potatoes.  Boil the potatoes in water.  Leave some potatoes out to throw in at the last minute if you like your soup hearty/chunky.
• drain the potatoes, mash them up, add your butter and milk, stirring until you get it the consistency that you want.
• Add carrots, celery, and spices.
• Bring soup to a boil.
• Stir, turn down heat to low, put your lid on and let simmer for about 30-45 minutes or just long enough for carrots to become tender and spices to cook in.

• If you want to add in cheese and sour cream, do so right before adding in veggies. Or you can also top your bowl off with these instead!

ENJOY!
I always serve this with a delicious fresh spinach salad and some warm, toasted and buttered bread such as rosemary potato or a hearty grain.
Enjoy!

Dark Chocolate Cranberry Almond Oatmeal Cookies!

Now, that's a mouth full!
Trust me, once you taste these, you will have your mouth full!:)

A friend of mine made these once and when I tried them, I immediately had a new favorite healthy indulgence.  I took her base recipe and made a few adjustments to suit my own tastes and now I am going to share with you!  You'll thank me.....I think you will anyway...you'll definitely want to.....which, in that case, you should!  Leave me a comment and show some love people!  ;)

Dark Chocolate Cranberry Almond Oatmeal Cookies!!!

1 cup unbleached flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup quick cooking oats
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup sugar (you can actually 1/2 this if you so choose)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup butter/marg., softened or melted
2 egg whites or 1 egg
2 T 1%milk
1tsp vanilla
1 pkg (6oz) of Dark Chocolate chips
2 T wheat germ
2 T flax seeds
1/2 cup sliced or chopped almonds

Instructions:

• Preheat to 375 degrees.
• Mix flours, oats, baking soda, salt, wheat germ, and flax seeds.
• In another bowl, mix sugars, butter, egg, milk and vanilla. 
• Add flour mixture to wet ingredients and stir.
• Fold in chocolate, cranberries and almonds.
• Drop spoonfuls onto cookie sheet and bake 10-12 minutes.

ENJOY!  Very tasty with a tall glass of milk or my favorite, streaming mug full of Starbucks Gold Coast brew!

The World is His Canvas.....

I am always amazed at the beauty that we get to enjoy everyday....especially in the fall months.  I love the crisp air and the cool breeze, but most of all, I LOVE the colors of the leaves.
Just think about it for a second.  God, the Creator of the universe, created not just one or two different types of trees, but countless varieties of them!  And he created them in such a way that they too display His glory, beauty and workmanship....in so many ways.  The way I love the most is this.....

Isn't this tree beautiful!

....just makes me smile....

Halloween.....

...not so much.

Candy Corn.....
.....VERY MUCH!

Nothing fancy, but super fun and tasty!

We pop a big bowl of corn on the stove, melt a little butter, sprinkle a little sea salt and pour in the Candy Corn!!!!  Viola!  Fun and delicious fall treat- sweet and salty.......yummy! ;)

Happy Fall......

.....so let all things pumpkin begin baking in my oven!!!! ;)

I am about to share a wonderfully tasty and healthy pumpkin bread recipe with all of you!!!  I know....you are very welcome!

Pumpkin Flax Bread

2 T flax seed meal
6 T water
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup canned pumpkin
1/2 cup applesauce
1 1/3 cups all purpose flour
1/3 cup whole wheat pastry flour (i use just plain whole wheat flour)
1 t baking soda
1 t cinnamon
3/4 t salt
1/2 t baking powder
1/2 t ground nutmeg
1/4 t ground cloves

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease one 9x5 loaf pan.
2. Whisk together flax seed meal and water.  Mix in sugar, pumpkin, and applesauce.
3. In a large bowl, stir together all dry ingredients.  Add flour mixture to pumpkin mixture and stir until smooth.
4. Pour into pan and bake for 65-70 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into middle comes out clean.

Enjoy!!!!!  Very moist and delicious and healthy too!

doing just that...."Enjoying His Creation."

I love the way children remind us of all of the beautiful and amazing creation that surrounds us daily.  Sometimes, in our busy lives, it is, unfortunately, too easy to forget to stop, look, and praise God for His creation that we get to enjoy.

This particular day, we found these massive tomato caterpillars in our garden!  I have never seen anything like them before, except for on a cute little children's cartoon entitled "Hermie."
Our boys could not have been more thrilled to study them and play with them!  There were moments when "A" was not so thrilled.....let's just say that the caterpillars were taking part in nature. ;)

You'll see at the top that apparently, a grasshopper decided to join "hermie" to take out, of all people, Speed Racer!  Then, all is well, Hermie and friend are just hanging out.  "S" is showing off the coolness.  "A" is checking out his "hermie" that he has placed in his bucket..........and then, nature calls and "A" quickly throws "hermie" back into his bucket where, he decides, that he belongs!

On a different note- Fall is in the air.....literally teasing us lately! And with that, I am immediately tempted to begin baking pumpkin bread and sipping on nice cup of afternoon espresso!

Coming soon, one truly delicious and healthy pumpkin bread recipe!!!!!

Citrus Baked Tilapia

This is a delicious and very healthy dish that we enjoy quite often at our house, especially in the summer months.

Ingredients:
Tilapia Fillets (we buy a large box of frozen fillets-more affordable)
mandarin oranges
Fresh lemon and lime
minced garlic
tumeric
fresh cilantro
*butter/margarine (we use Smart Balance)
Salt and pepper to taste

Thaw your tilapia if frozen and then place them in a glass baking dish. You can line them, even overlapping them a bit to fit more fillets.
Pour the juice from the oranges over the fish and then add the oranges. Squeeze fresh lemon and lime juice over the fish. Add your minced garlic. Add your freshly chopped cilantro. Sprinkle fish with tumeric and salt and pepper and then place a dab of butter/margarine on each fillet.
Bake at 375 degrees for about 10-15 minutes depending on your oven.

YUMMY! I often serve this with quinoa or rice and freshly steamed carrots. Grilled corn on the cob is a nice side for this as well.
ENJOY!