Delicious homemade soup - allergen free!

I found this recipe in a magazine from the health food store.  The total time to make this soup is nearly an hour... but it's worth it.  A very healthy and delicious soup the entire family can enjoy.  

Jasmine Rice Soup with Cannellini and Rosemary
http://deliciousliving.com/recipes/jasmine-rice-soup-cannellini-and-rosemary

A few notes on this recipe.  I omit the olive oil and cook the onions in a thin layer of water (a fat free cooking tip!)   The half teaspoon of red pepper flakes called for gives the soup a bit of heat.  If your little ones are sensitive to this, you might want to omit or just use a quarter teaspoon.

Great Northern Beans make an excellent substitution for the Cannellini beans if you find those in your pantry instead.

I like to make a loaf of homemade bread while the soup is cooking and serve it with the soup for dinner.

What's your smoothie recipe?

I often get asked for my smoothie recipe.  The problem is... there is no recipe!  I just use whatever I have on hand in my fridge/freezer!

This is what my blender looked like before I turned it on this morning

I start with enough liquid to cover the blades - usually Silk Fruit + Protein or fruit juice... but you can use water too.   Then I like to cover the liquid with a thin layer of chia seeds (you can get a big bag of these at Costco now).   Next I add a green - either kale or spinach.  Then the fun part - add a few extra fruits and veggies.  Today I added half a carrot, an entire orange (I used the knife to peel off the outer skin), some frozen cherries, and half a frozen banana.  I almost always add at least half a frozen banana for delicious natural sweetness.    I always recommend using a deep colored berry/cherry (raspberries are my favorite) especially if the green is a bit tough/bitter like kale.     I either stock up on organic frozen berries when they're on BOGO sale at the grocery store or buy the big 3lb bag of organic mixed berries at BJs for $9.99.

My smallest customer enjoying his smoothie and an apple for breakfast

I should note that usually my smoothies are not pretty.   When you blend bright greens with deep colored berries, the result is usually brown.   But don't let your eyes fool you - the result is delicious and so healthy too!

Healthy Homemade Baked Beans

We had this for dinner last night.  It was delicious!   This recipe makes a lot, so we enjoyed the beans for leftovers again today for lunch.

Smoky Apple Baked Beans
http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2013/02/smoky-apple-baked-beans.html
I was not sure at first if I was going to recommend this dish here (since I'm trying to only post recipes the entire family enjoys).   My boys ate it without complaining, but needed to drink a lot of water since it had a kick to it.  I did make one substitution when I prepared it... I used Cayenne Red Pepper powder instead of the Chipotle Pepper powder called for in the recipe because that's what I had on hand.    Today I looked up the difference and found out that Cayenne is almost 3x as hot as Chipotle!   So I think I'm going to have to buy some Chipotle powder or only use a pinch of Cayenne as a substitution next time (not a 1:1 substitution) to make it more kid friendly.

I served these beans over the collard greens I'd made the night before along with some herb bread to make it a complete meal.  

Black Bean Soup

I have found a couple of great tasting black bean soup recipes from the forksoverknives.com site. 

Mexican Black Bean and Corn Soup
I've used regular tomatoes and salt and bottled lime juice and it turns out great.
http://www.forksoverknives.com/mexican-black-bean-corn-soup/

Black Bean and Salsa Soup
This recipe is so quick, simple, & delicious!
Be sure to use a good quality salsa.   I omit the extra hot sauce as the salsa I use is spicy enough.  I have been using canned no salt added corn (drained) for convenience.
http://happyherbivore.com/recipe/salsa-soup/

Mexican Chowder
Finally, this one isn't a traditional black bean soup... but rather a Mexican chowder, but also really tasty.   Again, for convenience, I use bottled lime juice. 
http://www.forksoverknives.com/mexican-chowder/

Vegan style comfort food

Chickpea Noodle Soup
http://www.forksoverknives.com/chickpea-noodle-soup/

This soup is pretty easy to make once you have the ingredients on hand.  I had the hardest time finding the miso (check the ethnic foods or Japanese section of your grocery store).   I also don't have tamari on hand, but after a little research discovered that it's close to soy sauce, so I use that instead.  The soup is yummy and one everyone enjoys.

Delicious and simple soup

Provencal Red Lentil Soup
http://www.fatfreevegan.com/pressure/provencal.htm

I had a bunch of leeks and a lot of carrots from our CSA sitting in my vegetable drawer.  I'm so glad I found this recipe.  It was easy to make and tasted delicious (even my pickiest eater loved it!) 

Right before finishing, I scooped out a few cups of the soup (tried not to get too many carrots in there) and pureed it in the blender and then added it back into the pot.  I recommend this step!