Red Enchilada Sauce

I'm not really a red enchilada sauce kind of person. I've always liked the green sauce better, until now. I really liked this recipe, of course I did change some things to it, and it turned out so delicious. Not too sweet. Not too spicy. A perfect taste, just like out of the can but I got to control what went into it. And the best part is, it really didn't take that long to make.

Red Enchilada Sauce

Ingredients

1 tablespoon butter or olive oil

4 cloves garlic, minced

2 teaspoons minced onion

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano leaves

1/4 teaspoons chili powder

1/2 teaspoon dried basil leaves

1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon dried parsley leaves

1/4 cup salsa, blended smooth in food processor

1 6oz can tomato paste

1 1/4 cup water

3 teaspoons better than bullion

Directions

Heat the butter/oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the garlic and onion and saute for 1 to 2 minutes. Add the oregano, chili powder, basil, ground pepper, salt, cumin, parsley, salsa and tomato sauce. Mix together well. Add the better than bullion to the water until completely dissolved. Then add bullion mixture to tomato mixture. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes or until consistency. Enjoy!!

Fun Food Find Friday!!

Our Fun Food Find for today is a drink, Zevia Natural Diet Sodas. They are naturally a diet soda because they are sweetened with stevia. I liked the taste it was nice. My kids loved it! I'm not a huge soda fan, I don't like the carbonation. So I liked it better flat. :] If you are a huge soda drinking person this is a great substitute for the ones that are chuck full of stuff that is not good for you.

I found these at the health food store.

Turkey Casserole

Here is another wonderful recipe you can use with your leftover turkey from the holidays. I froze a ton and as you may have noticed I've been pulling in out of the freezer to use lately. :] This recipe is delicious! I love slightly toasted bread on top. It goes perfect with the sauce. Another reason I like this dish is because it uses chopped celery. For some reason my kids do not like celery, but they didn't even notice it in this casserole! This recipe calls for a lot of cheese. If you want to cut down on the fat and calories only use 1/2 cup in the sauce. It will still taste wonderful! Happy eating.

Turkey Casserole

Ingredients

3 cups cubed cooked turkey breast

1 package (10 oz) frozen peas, thawed

1 cup chopped celery, about 2 stocks

1 8 oz can sliced water chestnuts, drained

2 tablespoon chopped green pepper, about 1/4 of a medium sized pepper

1 tablespoon chopped onion, about one slice from the middle of an onion

1 10 oz can reduced fat condensed cream of chicken soup, undiluted

1/4 cup rice milk

1 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

2 tablespoons chicken broth

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 slices whole wheat bread, or spelt bread, cubed

Directions

Preheat oven to 375*F. Spray a 2-qt baking dish with non stick cooking spray; set aside. In a large bowl, combine the first six ingredients; set aside. In a small sauce pan, combine the soup, milk, 1 cup of the cheese, chicken broth, lemon juice and salt. Cook and stir over low heat until smooth and heated through. Pour over turkey mixture; toss to coat. Transfer to the 2-qt. baking dish. Top with bread cubes. Bake uncovered for 25 minutes. Then sprinkle with remaining cheese; bake 5 minutes longer or until cheese is melted. Serve warm and enjoy!

Wisdom Wednesday!!

Supplements

No matter how healthy you are eating there is a good chance you are not getting the vitamins, minerals, and nutrients your body needs. I've talked before about how our soil today is depleted, so our vegetables and food do not contain the amounts of nutrients they used to have. But that is not what I wanted to talk about today. Today I wanted to talk about Supplements.
I came across this article that talks about a new program that Dr. Well has set up. If you go here, to his web site it has a test you can take. Then depending on your answers it tells you what supplements your body needs the most. I've taken the test and though I do like that something is out there to help, I felt that it was missing some key questions. It never asked me my weight or my height. It didn't ask me what I eat on a regular basis beside how many servings of fruits and veggies and dairy I consume a day. For example it didn't ask me about any grains I eat. It did how ever suggest some supplements that I already take and I know that I need to take. It is a great way to start if you have never taken supplements before. It's a free test, and of course they want you to buy their products, which is completely up to you. I am not giving you this information so that you go and buy their products. I'm simply trying to help you be aware of what is out there and what your body needs to be healthy. After you take the test then you can decide on what supplements to take. I do, however, recommend that you do not buy your supplements from the grocery store. The supplements at the Health Food stores, such as Good Earth which is located near me, are better than grocery store supplements. But my suggestion to you is to do some research on other companies and buy from them. I get some of my supplements from a Doctor that I have to buy from him at his office. I buy some of my supplements from another Doctor, Dr. Klassen, that you can buy online. You can find his products here. I also buy some from Dr. Young, here. Again I am not saying to go and buy from them. This is just some information that I thought would be helpful for you and your quest to become more healthy. The rest is up to you. Just remember that it is important to take supplements and when you do remember to tell your Doctor about them and what you are taking when you go visit him or her. Also, if you are taking any medications, ask your pharmacist if there are any herbs that shouldn't be taken with your medication. Then make sure there isn't any of that herb in your supplement. Knowledge is power!

Crock Pot Turkey and Rice Casserole

Here is our first recipe made with the homemade poultry seasoning. To be honest I was a little worried because I don't like the flavor of rosemary that much. The flavor of this dish is very nice. You can taste the turkey and veggies and the seasoning was just perfect, not too much, just enough. I usually don't cook rice in the crock pot/slow cooker. I liked how this turned out. The rice was sticky kind of like Oriental sticky rice, just not as sweet as sticky rice. It's nice to have everything cooked and ready for dinner, just add a salad!

Crock pot Turkey and Rice Casserole

Ingredients

2 cans cream of mushroom soup

3 cups rice

2 to 3 cups cubed cooked turkey

1 teaspoon homemade poultry seasoning

3 cups water

3 cups frozen mixed vegetables

1 tablespoon dried minced onion

1 3/4 cup water

1 1/2 teaspoons 'better than bullion'

Directions

Combine soup and 3 cups water in crock pot/slow cooker. Add rice, turkey, seasoning, onion, and vegetables. Cover and cook on high for 4 hours. Add better than bullion to 1 3/4 cups water, then add to rice in crock pot/slow cooker and stir. Cover and cook for another 2 to 3 hours or until rice is tender. This serves a ton of people! We had so many leftovers I started giving it away. :] Serve warm and enjoy!

original recipe found here.

Poultry Seasoning

I had never even heard of Poultry Seasoning before. So when I wanted to make a recipe that called for it, what did I do? I went to the Internet to see if I could make some of my own. I found tons of recipes, but none of them sounded good, and I didn't have all of the ingredients that some were calling for. So I made up my own version. I like it, and I think it turned out just wonderful! I can't wait to use it in other recipes.

Poultry Seasoning

Ingredients

2 teaspoons dried parsley leaves

1 tablespoon dried sage

1 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme leaves

1/4 teaspoon dried rosemary

1/2 teaspoon onion powder

1/2 teaspoon lemon pepper

1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil leaves

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano leaves

Directions

Mix all ingredients in a small air tight container, and store.

Fun Food Find Friday!!

A few months ago, while running some arrands, I need to eat some protein. So I started to look around the store. I found this, Mojo Bar by Clif. They are very good and not like some protein bars that are dry.

You can find these at most grocery stores and health food stores. Happy Healthier Snacking!

Squash Quinoa Stew

Here is another recipe that you can use your winter squash for. I really liked this stew, I say stew because it was very thick like a stew is supposed to be. It didn't have a lot of broth like a soup has. I love the quinoa in it, so it is very filling. It has a very nice, almost sweet flavor to it. I used some left over butternut squash that I had already cooked. So I pureed it into the broth, which is why it is more like a stew than a soup. If you want to, you can follow the original recipe and use chunks of butternut squash. Add it at the same point you would the other squash, just not pureed with broth before hand. Then add more cooking time before you add the rest of the veggies. I personally liked it better more thick and it cooked much more quickly this way. I hope you enjoy it as much as we did.

Squash Quinoa Stew

Ingredients

3 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1 inch pieces

1/3 cup finely chopped onion

3 1/2 cups water

3 1/2 teaspoons 'better than bullion'

2/3 cup apricot nectar

1 lb. cooked and smashed butternut squash

3/4 cup quinoa, rinsed and drained

1 teaspoon ground cumin

2 small zucchini, halved lengthwise and cut into 1 inch pieces

1 small yellow squash, halved lengthwise and cut into 1 inch pieces

1 teaspoon salt, then to taste

Directions

In a small bowl mix water and better than bullion until dissolved to make a broth. Then pour into blender or food processor and add butternut squash. Puree until smooth.

In saucepan cook chicken and onion over medium heat until chicken is cooked completely, stirring occasionally. Add broth with squash, apricot nectar, quinoa, and cumin. Bring to boil; reduce heat. Simmer, covered, 5 minutes. Add zucchini and yellow squash. Cover and cook 10 minutes more or until squash and quinoa are tender. Add salt and black pepper to taste. As it cools the quinoa will soak up most of the liquid. Can top with Parmesan cheese, my kids did and loved it. Serve warm and enjoy!

Wisdom Wednesday!!

Okay I'm going to talk about it. I didn't think that I would, but I found this article, and I wanted to talk a little bit about it and.... Losing Weight.
It's January, the month where people make their New Years resolutions. Most people make a resolution to loose weight. I'll admit I have, in years past, and by that I mean the last time I made a goal to loose weight was about 5 years ago. Since then it's been more about being healthy and making healthy decisions. If you do that then the weight will come off. This year I've heard a lot of different people talk about eating the same things that you are already eating, just eat 1/3 less then you usually do. It's a good idea, but if you are eating fast food all of the time and then only eat 3/4 of the bacon cheese burger, then it's really not going to help you loose weight. Your body is still getting a large amount of fat and not the vitamins and minerals it needs. I truly believe that you first have to be eating the right foods, then start looking at how much you are eating. I think that is enough on that topic.
So now back to the article. It is entitled, "What does a 1,500 Calorie Day look like?" It has a picture of three meals and some snacks that all add up to 1,500 calories. The foods are not empty calories, they are healthy foods rich with vitamins and minerals. The thing that I found the most interesting about this article, something I didn't know, was actually setting your goals based on a specific calorie count. For example did you know that if you want to maintain your current weight, you multiply your current weight by 12 and that is the calorie intake you should be eating every day? I didn't know that. I did the math for my own weight just to see what it would be, and to be honest, most days I don't know if I get that many calories. I'm going to start counting them. But I also don't work out as much as I should. At the end of the article it talks a little bit about adjusting calories if you are very active or not. If you are active and exercise, which is very healthy and good for your body, then you need to bump up the calories a little at a time until you are satisfied, not starving. I do like this article because it gives some good suggestions on breakfast, lunch, dinner, and some snacks. Of course you can also take some of the things away such as cheese and add more fruits or vegetables to help fill you up and take away some of the calories, if you're not feeling like you're getting enough food.
So there you go. That is my little 10 cents on dieting. Go check out the article for more helpful information and remember Happier Healthier Eating!!

Yeast Free Spelt Bread

I don't like to eat a lot of things with yeast in them. In fact before I made this bread, I can't remember the last time I even had a sandwich or a piece of toast. So you can imagine my excitement to find a bread recipe that didn't call for any yeast! Besides all of that the best part about this bread is that it gets better tasting everyday. It has a nutty flavor from the spelt and it is a little more dense than your normal whole wheat bread. It is packet with nutrition not only from the spelt, but tons of iron from the molasses, and lots of protein from the quinoa. I've used this bread in recipes to come and loved it! I've used it eating sloppy joes, and loved it! If you are gluten intolerant and trying to stay away from yeast or not, this is the bread for you!

Yeast Free Spelt Bread

Ingredients

4 cups spelt flour

1/4 cup quinoa seeds

1/4 teaspoon salt, or to taste

1/2 tablespoon blackstrap molasses

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

2 cups rice milk

2 tablespoon honey

1 teaspoon xanthan gum

1 teaspoon gluten free dough enhancer (optional)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350*F. Grease one 9x5 inch loaf pan. (This recipe can be double very easily. I only make this much because I don't go through it that fast. I store it in my fridge)

In a large bowl, mix together the spelt flour, quinoa seeds, salt, baking soda, xanthan gum, and dough enhancer. Then add molasses, milk, honey and mix well. Pour into prepared pan. Bake for 1 hour 10 minutes or until golden, let cool and enjoy! Remember it gets better each day. :]

Creamy Butternut Squash Soup

All I have to say is where was this recipe when I was experimenting with all of the other butternut squash soups that were horrible?! This one takes the cake by far! I like it better than the last butternut squash soup I posted. My children loved it and even asked for seconds. My daughter ate it for lunch for three days in a row after we had it for dinner. Then when it was gone my youngest cried because he wanted the "smooth" soup. I laughed at that. :]

This soup is very creamy, has a very nice texture, and the flavor is a nice comforting flavor just like soup should be.

Creamy Butternut Squash Soup

Ingredients

1 tablespoon butter

1 medium onion, chopped

1 pound butternut squash, either precooked about 2 1/2 cups; or peeled, seeded and cubed
5 cups water with 5 teaspoons 'better than bullion' or 5 cups chicken stock

4 small red potatoes, cubed

1/2 teaspoon paprika

1/2 cup almond milk

1 1/2 tablespoons chopped chives

1 teaspoon salt, then to taste

pepper to taste

Directions

In a large pot on your stove top on medium heat, melt the butter add the onions and cook for 5 minutes, until onions have softened. Add potatoes, squash, chicken stock and paprika. Bring to boil. Reduce heat to low, cover the pan and simmer gently for 25 to 35 minutes, until all the vegetables are soft. Using either a drink blender or an immersions tick blender, process until smooth. Return soup to the pan and stir in the almond milk and salt. Season with pepper and more salt if you need. Reheat gently. Stir in chopped chives or add separately to each bowl, and enjoy!

Fun Food Find Friday!!

Back in December when I found the Organic Candy Canes, I also ordered these. Organic Mint Swirls Candy. As you can see they are a little off white in color because they are made with evaporated cane juice. The red ones taste just like candy canes and the green ones, spearmint, are so delicious! My kids were so excited to get something a little different from Santa. It was great fun.

To order them go here. Or just go to www.naturalcandystore.com.

Whole Wheat Cinnamon Rolls

Growing up my mother used to make homemade rolls and cinnamon rolls every Sunday. I know we were spoiled! We also had hot breakfast every morning. We only got to eat cereal on the weekends!! I thought my friends were lucky being able to eat cereal so much. Now that I am older I truly see how I really was the lucky one.

So any who, last Sunday I decided that I should make some Cinnamon rolls for my kids. They were so excited! Cinnamon Rolls are really easy to make. So if you haven't ever tried to make them, now is the time to start.

*I use the same dough as I do when making whole wheat bread. I'll give you that recipe here again.

Ingredients

2 cups warm water

1/3 cup honey

1/3 cup vegetable oil

2 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoon yeast

5 to 6 cups whole wheat flour

1 teaspoon vital wheat gluten

1 teaspoon dough enhancer

Directions

Put yeast in a small glass bowl. Pour 1 cup of the warm water over yeast. Pour remaining cup of water in mixer. Add honey to water and stir until dissolved. Then add oil and salt. When the yeast has doubled in size and when you can slightly tip the bowl and nothing sticks to the bottom, add to the mixer. Start mixer on low speed and add one cup of flour. When mixed in well add another cup of flour along with the gluten and dough enhancer. Then add one more cup of flour. After it is mixed in well, change mixing blade to kneading blade. Continue adding flour a little at a time until the dough no longer sticks to the sides. Kneed for 10 minutes.

Whole Wheat Cinnamon Rolls

Ingredients

Take 1/4 to 1/3 of the dough from the recipe above.

2-3 tablespoon of melted butter

1/4- 1/2 cup organic brown sugar

Ground cinnamon

Directions

On a floured surface, roll dough out to 1/4 inch thick rectangle. Pick up dough and place back on counter making sure it relaxes and will not stick to counter. Spread melted butter all over rolled out dough. Sprinkle organic brown sugar to cover entire surface of dough. Then sprinkle with cinnamon, making sure to cover. Then roll dough up like a jelly roll and cut into 1 inch slices, using a serrated knife to make clean cuts. Place on a greased cookie sheet or pie pan. Let raise until doubled in size. Bake in a 400* F preheated oven for 15 minutes or until golden brown.

**If you don't want to use all of the dough for cinnamon rolls. Simply shape into ball for rolls, let raise to double in size, then bake in a 400* F preheated oven for 15-20 minutes. Or, put in greased bread pans, let raise to double in size, then bake in a 400*F preheated oven for 20 minutes.

Wisdom Wednesday!!

Melting Carob Chips

During the Christmas break I did a lot of browsing on the Internet about food and things I might be able to help people with. Well I found there were a lot of people who have had problems melting carob chips. So for today's Wisdom I thought I could help you understand what I have learned about Melting Carob Chips.

The first thing you should know about carob chips is that they are very sensitive. They can go from a smooth consistency to a thick paste very quickly if you are not careful.

Second, there are two ways to melt carob chips. You can do in a double broiler or in the microwave. If you choose to do it in a double broiler you have to be very very careful about the heat. Just like you would with melting chocolate you don't want the top of the double broiler to touch the water. And the water should not come to a boil. You just need a little steam. When I use a double broiler I usually add a little coconut oil to help stabilize the carob so it doesn't transform into the paste. I like to use the double broiler method if I am doing something with the carob that takes a little longer such as the peanut butter cups. If you don't want to add oil then I suggest you use the microwave method. I will demonstrate with pictures.

Here you can see that I am using a glass bowl. Never put plastic in the microwave! I started with about 1/3 cup of chips, but these same rules apply if melting more than that.

I put the chips in the microwave for 25 seconds on full power. You can see that they really did not melt very much, but if you feel the bowl you should be able to feel that it is a little warm.
I then returned the bowl to the microwave for another 15 seconds, again on full power. You can see that they are starting to melt more and the glass bowl should be warmer.

I then returned the bowl to the microwave for only 11 seconds, on full power. When stirring you can see that not all of the chips are melted. At this point you might think you need to put it back in for more heat, well... DON'T! The glass bowl should be plenty warm by now. If you were to return it to the microwave for more heat the bowl would get too hot and the chips would turn into paste while stirring them.

As you can see all I had to do was keep stirring and the chips melted just perfectly. The consistency turned out just like if they were chocolate chips.

After that you can do what you want with the melted carob chips. You can dip cookies in it like I did here, you can add it to batter like I did here, or you can dip gluten free pretzels in it like I did today. :]

So just remember, don't get the carob chips too hot. They will melt with just a little heat.

If you ever have any questions feel free to ask me, and Happy Healthier Eating!!

Crock Pot Sloppy Joes

These sloppy joes are unique as far as sloppy joes go. The flavor is a little different than normal sloppy joes, much much better if you ask me. They are a little more sweet and slightly tangy. They are very addicting! I could just eat the mixture one it's own by the spoonful!! Because they are a little different I found that they go great on baked potatoes, and make delicious meatier nachos! This recipe makes a lot so you can use it for leftovers, once on bread, once on baked potatoes, and then nachos!

Crock pot Sloppy Joes

Ingredients

3 pounds uncooked ground turkey or uncooked ground chicken

4 8oz cans tomato sauce

2 teaspoons dried basil leaves

2 teaspoons dried parsley leaves

6 teaspoons dried onion flakes

1 teaspoon dried oregano leaves

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon salt

6 teaspoon evaporated cane juice

2 cans diced tomatoes with garlic and onions

2 cups (yellow, green, red) sweet peppers chopped small

Directions

In a skillet over medium-high heat; cook ground turkey or chicken until no longer pink, stirring to break apart. In a 3 1/2 or 4 quart slow cooker add tomato sauce, basil, parsley, onion, oregano, garlic, salt, evaporated cane juice and stir. Then add diced tomatoes, and peppers. Add cooked chicken or turkey and stir well. Cover and cook on low-heat setting for 8-9 hours. Serve on whole wheat bread or buns with mozzarella, provolone, or Cheddar cheese.

original recipe found here.

Butternut Squash Breakfast Muffins

Since I suggested that you go out and take advantage of the great sales on winter squash, I thought it would be good for me to share with you some more recipes containing squash. :]

I love these muffins!! I didn't have to change very much from the original recipe. They are delicious, surprisingly sweet but not too sweet, and they are packed with great nutrition! They are the perfect quick breakfast to start your day off on the right foot. And the best part is my kids love these and will eat tons if I'm not watching.

Butternut Squash Breakfast Muffins

Ingredients

1 cup spelt flour

1 1/2 cups oats (I used gluten free oats)

3/4 cups organic brown sugar

1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

1 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon xanthan gum

1 1/4 cup roasted butternut squash, mashed

2 eggs

1/2 cup all natural applesauce

1/4 cup orange juice

Directions

Preheat oven to 350*F. Grease muffin pans. Run 1 cup of the oats in a food processor or blender until it's ground to a coarse cornmeal consistency.

In a large mixing bowl, combine all of the dry ingredients. Mix well. In a small bowl, combine all the wet ingredients using a hand held blender. Add wet ingredients to the dry ingredients. Make sure all of the flour has a chance to absorb some of the moisture. Use either a 2 inch scooper or a large spoon to fill the muffin pan. Fill close to the top. These are dense muffins and don't raise as high as cupcakes do. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the spring back if slightly pushed on. If baking small muffins only bake for 15 minutes. Serve warm or let cool, place in a bag and have them for breakfast the next day. The become more moist each day. Enjoy!

Fun Food Find Friday!!

Today our Fun Food Find was given to me over Christmas, World Table Zesty Chipotle Cheese Tortilla Chips. They are so delicious! Packed with lots of flavor and a little kick, but not too much. When I looked at the package I couldn't believe that not only are they gluten free but you can find these at Wal-Mart! To be complete honest I don't do hardly any of my food shopping at Wal-Mart. I guess I need to take a little stroll down the isles to see what they have. Try these they are yummy!

Cornmeal Blueberry Scones

These scones were absolutely delicious. When I first saw the recipe here, I just had to try them. You bake them instead of frying them. Always a plus in my book. :]

The blueberries I used were huge! So when my 7 year old saw them he really didn't want to try them. Of course I made him have at least one bite. Then he ate three!! I really like the blueberries with the hint of lime, it really make these.

Cornmeal Blueberry Scones

Ingredients

1 1/3 cups spelt flour

2/3 cup yellow cornmeal

2 tablespoons evaporated cane juice

2 tablespoons organic brown sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon xantham gum

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup coconut oil, solid form

1/2 cup sour cream

2 eggs

1 1/2 teaspoon finely shredded lime peel

1 cup frozen blueberries*

1 teaspoon cornstarch

3 to 4 teaspoons lime juice

1 cup organic powdered sugar

Directions

Preheat oven to 450*F. Coat a cookie sheet with non stick cooking spray.

In a large bowl combine flour, cornmeal, evaporated cane juice, organic brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Cut in coconut oil until flour mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Make a well in center. In a separate small bowl combine sour cream, egg, and lime peel. Add all at once to flour mixture. Stir with a fork just until moistened.

Toss berries with cornstarch to coat; add to flour mixture. Stir gently 3 to 5 turns, just until berries are incorporated. Do not over mix. Using a large spoon, drop dough into mounds on baking sheets, leaving 1 inch between mounds. They don't spread very much. Bake 11 to 13 minutes or until tops are golden.

For icing, in a small bowl whisk enough lime juice into powdered sugar until drizzling consistency. Drizzle over warm scones. Serve warm and enjoy! Makes 12-15 scones.

*Leave berries in the freezer until ready to toss with cornstarch.

Wisdom Wednesday!!

Winter Squash

Did you know that winter squash can last through March?! Because they have such thick skins they can last several months in a cold dark place. These are the winter squash that I've stocked up on: spaghetti squash, acorn squash, and butternut squash. I just love them! Some other winter squash are: banana squash, buttercup squash, Cushaw squash, and really the list goes on and on. There are several different types.
The good thing is right now, in most grocery stores, they are on really good sales. I didn't get very many butternut squash in my garden so I've purchased more, and I didn't grow any acorn squash this year so I've bought a bunch of them too. There is one very important thing to remember when buying a winter squash. If you are planning on storing it in your basement or garage make sure there are no nicks or cuts into the shell of the squash. If there are, they can go rotten. Winter squash is a great way to still get fresh vegetables and those amazing vitamins through the winter months. So go and get some, then come back and look up some of my delicious recipes on how to cook them. Happy Healthier Eating!!

Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies

Well, FINALLY here is my version of this recipe. I say finally because it has taken me a few tries to get them right. The flavor was always so delicious, but the cookie it self struggled just a bit. So here is the final recipe that did, and has worked.

I love this recipe not only because it is very tasty, especially if you like peanut butter, but it is also so easy to make and you can do extra things* to them to make them look like it took you hours to do. You can keep it a secret that it only took 5 minutes to mix up and then bake them. :] Have fun with them and enjoy this gluten free goodness of a cookie.

Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies

Ingredients

1 cup organic peanut butter (make sure it is mixed up well, if separated)

1/2 cup evaporated cane juice

1/4 cup organic brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

2 eggs

Directions

Preheat oven to 350*F. In a medium sized bowl combine all ingredients, the dough will be firm. Drop balls by spoon on cookie sheet. Form balls a little with your hands and then with the back side of a fork slightly press into ball making little squares. Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool on cookie sheet. Once cool remove from cookie sheet and enjoy! Makes just over 2 dozen cookies

*You can also melt carob and dip half of the cookie in melted carob. Place cookie on wax paper to cool after dipping.

* You can also drizzle melted carob over cookies while they are on wax paper for this affect.

Herb Roasted Vegetables

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season filled with happiness, joy, and of course good healthier food. :]

I've made these herb roasted vegetables several times. They are so yummy! The best part is that the herbs that I used seem to go with so many different vegetables. So if you don't have something from the recipe, just use what you have at home. I'll give you the recipe I used when I took this pictures. But it really is so good with a variety of squash too. :] Enjoy!

Herb Roasted Vegetables

Ingredients

2 teaspoons garlic powder, divided

2 teaspoons onion powder, divided

1 teaspoon dried basil leaves, divided

1 teaspoon dried parsley leaves, divided

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme, divided

1/4 teaspoon dried dill seeds, divided

1 1/2 teaspoons salt, divided

1/4 teaspoons pepper, divided

7 small/medium potatoes, quarted

1 small onion, cut into wedges

1 medium crooked neck squash, sliced

2 Roma tomatoes, quarted

1 red sweet pepper

1 orange sweet pepper

Directions

Preheat oven to 425*F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. In a gallon sized Ziploc baggie put half of all of the herbs. Then add potatoes and onions. Close the bag and shake until all of the potatoes and onions are covered evenly with the herbs. Spread them on parchment lined cookie sheet and put in preheated oven. Bake for 10-15 minutes or until potatoes are fork tender but still firm.

While potatoes are cooking; Add the second half of the herbs to your Ziploc baggie. Put all of the remaining vegetables into baggie, close and shake to coat evenly.

When the potatoes are soft but not complete cooked, remove from oven and stir. Add the remaining vegetables to the cookies sheet with the potatoes and return to the oven. Cook for another 10-15 minutes or until potatoes and other vegetables are cooked to desired doneness, stirring them once. Serve warm and enjoy!