Crock Pot French Onion Soup

I could eat french onion soup every single day. Seriously. I could. But sadly I don't. But when I make this recipe there is enough for me to eat a bowl everyday for about a week. That makes me super happy =) This can be made in the crock pot or stove. I prefer the crockpot, but that means I have to start it in the morning. I only forgot to once, so I made it on the stove. Tastes great either way, but I think with the crockpot the taste is bolder because it's cooked for so long. Try it, you'll love it!

Ingredients:
4 TB organic butter
3 large sweet onions
2 cartons organic beef broth (I use Pacific, unless I have homemade broth in the freezer, I use that. You need about 50-60 oz)
1 TB sugar, organic
1/2 cup cooking sherry
1 ts sea salt
1 ts Worcestershire sauce, organic if you can find it
1 slice of bread for each bowl (I just use plain 'ol sandwich bread because it's easy and I always have it, but feel free to french bread)
1 slice of provolone, preferably organic, for each bowl.


Directions:
Whether using the stove or crockpot the directions are the same, just cooking time will be different. Melt the butter in the bottom of crockpot (on high) or pot on medium. Slice onions into rings or half rings (I prefer half rings for some reason). Throw the onions in the pot with the butter and toss. Add the broth, sugar, sherry, salt, and worcestershire. For the crockpot, cook on low 10-12 hours, or on high 6-8 hours. On the stove you'll want to cook for atleast an hour (bring to boil and then simmer). If you can let it simmer longer than an hour please do. You'll know it's done when the onions are translucent.

Toast bread until hard but not burnt. Place bowls on a cookie sheet. Ladle soup into bowls. Lay a piece of bread in each bowl and top with a piece of cheese. Put under broiler for a few minutes. Stay close and keep an eye on it. You want it melted and bubbly....a little brown is good but don't let it burn. Very carefully remove from broiler and use potholders to serve. This recipe makes a lot of soup, I'm talking maybe 12 servings. So it'll feed a crowd, or you'll have tons of leftovers (smile). But you can also pretty easily cut the recipe in half. Make sure to taste every few hours in case it needs more flavor. Make this a staple, you'll love it!

Asian Chicken Salad

Want flavors that explode in your mouth? Try this delicious salad. It can be a low calorie meal itself or a great side dish to stir fry or other favorite Asian main dishes.

Ingredients: (organic is always recommended!)
3 TB rice vinegar
2 TB Braggs liguid aminos (or organic soy sauce, NEVER non-organic)
1 TB ground organic ginger (fresh can be used if you have it, add 2-3 TB)
2 ts wasabi powder
3 TB organic sugar (I prefer sucanat. Just never use white refined sugar for anything...except a craft project ;)
1 TB sesame seeds
1/2 cup organic sesame oil
1 bag pre-shredded red cabbage
6 cups chopped romaine, organic
1 cup shredded carrots, organic
1 cup diced pineapple
1 cup diced mango
2 cups diced cooked chicken, organic
1 cup cooked chow mein noodles

Whisk together vinegar, braggs or soy sauce, ginger, wasabi powder, sugar, and sesame seeds in a small bowl until well blended. While whisking, pour oil into bowl in a thin stream. Set aside.

In a large bowl, toss together cabbage, romaine,  carrots, pineapple, mango, chicken, and noodles. Pour dressing over mixture and toss gently. Serve.

Greek Salad Dressing

Ingredients:
1 cup red wine vinegar
1 cup extra virgin olive oil
Juice of one lemon
1 TB dried oregano
1 ts sea salt
4 cloves of organic garlic, chopped
Optional: 4 ounces feta, chopped (Separate directions below)

Place all ingredients in a bowl or large measuring cup and whisk. Slowly add the oil while whisking. Let sit for atleast 30 minutes before serving for flavors to mingle. Taste-too tangy for your taste, add some more olive oil, a little at a time. Store in fridge. Fresh garlic in olive oil at room temperature will grow botulism, not good.

Directions with feta. Place all ingredients except oil and feta in a blender. Add oil in a thin stream while mixing at a low speed. Add feta, blend for about 30 seconds. Again, let sit for flavors to mingle, and then store in fridge to avoid the whole botulism thing.

For a quick greek salad while flavors are mingling:
4 handfuls of mixed greens
2 tomatoes, chopped -  or one package of grape tomatoes
1-2 cucumbers,sliced
Half a jar of kalamata olives
1 onion, sliced

Toss all ingredients together with dressing and enjoy!

Cheese Enchiladas

I'm from California and my favorite food ever is enchiladas. Granted I like almost anything Mexican (or Mexi-Cali, since I guess I've never really had Mexican food in Mexico). I judge every single Mexican restaurant by their cheese enchiladas. If they aren't good, I don't go back. Harsh? Maybe, but enchiladas are super important to me =) So, since moving to NY there is a serious lack of Mexican restaurants so if I want enchiladas I have to make them myself. I came up with this recipe and in my opinion it's perfect. I've passed down my love of enchiladas to my kids. They always have seconds and sometimes thirds. So try this recipe, you'll be happy you did!!! And FYI I use small whole wheat tortillas for this. You by all means CAN use corn tortillas. I actually prefer corn, but the tortillas are a little trickier to roll. So warm them first. My husband prefers flour tortillas. I conceded since I've been unable to find organic corn tortillas. Since corn is highly GMO'd, I opt for the flour tortillas. I did make my own tortillas once, but that took a long time.

I make two pans at a time, cut in half if you only want one. But believe me, you'll want leftovers!

Cheese Enchiladas

18 small tortillas
16 oz. organic jack cheese

Sauce:
2 TB olive or coconut oil
1 TB organic chili powder
1 TB organic cumin
1 ts organic garlic powder
1 ts sea salt
36 oz organic tomato sauce

In a saucepan heat oil over medium heat. Toss in the chili powder. Cook for a few minutes. Pour in tomato sauce. I use bottled tomato sauce (which is actually pureed tomatoes) I then rinse down the sides of the bottles to get the last bits of tomatoes out, filling about halfway with water, then add to pot. You don't want  it too watery, but I find it a bit thick if I don't add any water. If you end of adding too much water and need to thicken it, it's easily fixed by adding a little tomato paste. Add cumin, salt, and garlic powder. Simmer on medium low for atleast ten minutes.

Let sauce cool for ten minutes (not totally necessary, but your fingers will thank you in a few minutes).
This is how I set up my work station:

Pour a spoonful of sauce in each pan and spread it around. Also pour a spoonful of sauce on the empty plate.

Take a tortilla, lay it on the plate, and rub it around in the sauce. Flip it over and do the other side so both sides are coated in sauce. Sprinkle cheese across the middle. (Now by all means you can add veggies, ground beef, chicken, etc...I'm just partial to just cheese)

Grab one end and roll up. Place in baking dish, seam side down.

Continue with all tortillas. Pour remaining sauce over the top and spread around. Sprinkle on remaining cheese.

Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes, until everything is hot and bubbly! I always serve them with a side of rice and beans, sour cream, and cholula hot sauce! Enjoy!

Three bean vegetarian chili

Three bean vegetarian chili

3 Bean Chili

couple tb oil, I use coconut oil
1 onion, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
6 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 (or more) jalapeno chopped (6 makes a spicy chili)
Drain all beans if using canned:
2 cups or 2 cans black beans
2 cups or 2 cans pinto beans
2 cups or 2 cans kidney beans
1 large can fire roasted diced tomatoes, or 4-5 fresh tomatoes diced
2 tb chili powder
2 tb cumin
2 ts salt, or to taste
1/2 cup veggie broth, beer, or liquid of choice (I use beer if we have it, otherwise I use veggie broth)
a couple dashes of hot sauce (I use Cholula)
Optional: If I add too much liquid I will add a can of refried beans to thicken it back up

Directions:
Heat oil in a big soup pot and then cook onion, bell pepper, jalapeno's, and garlic, until softened. Add the rest of the ingredients and simmer for atleast 15 minutes. Also works great in the crock pot....just throw in all the ingredients and cook until veggies are soft, maybe 4 hours. If you must, you can also add meat....but it doesn't need it. If serving chili to kids, I leave the jalapenos out, and add chopped fresh jalapenos as a topping option for adults.
Top with any of the following: Shredded cheese, chopped green or yellow onions, cilantro, sour cream, chopped jalapenos etc.

Lung Tonic

'Tis the season for colds and respiratory problems. Hitting them naturally is a HUGE thing. My kids LOVE this and ask for more and more. Try this for any lung issues.

4 organic garlic cloves, depending on size
2 organic large red onions
2 tb of raw honey (Manuka is the best choice)
Juice of 1 lemon

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
Peel and cut onion into strips
Put onion on a baking sheet
Bake 15 minutes
Peel garlic cloves
Put all ingredients into food processor or blender and liquify.
Keep in the refrigerator covered.
If very sick, take a tb every 2 hours. Minor sickness, take a tb at every meal.

Giveaway!!!!

Time for a giveaway! I am giving away 1 free lip balm of your choice. All you have to do is Like my page on facebook (if you  haven't already) and share this post on your wall. Then add a comment on my facebook page that you shared this. You have all week to do this. I will leave this contest open until Saturday, March 26. I will put all the names in a hat and pick one. If you want more chances to win, share it everyday! You can enter once everyday between now and Saturday. Thank you! And good luck!

Mold and Mildew remover from walls

Since moving to the northeast I have learned that humidity causes mold and mildew on bathrooms walls. Seriously, in Cali that never happened! But here, it's a fact of life. To safely remove from walls, spray the walls with white distilled vinegar or lemon juice and let it sit for 10 minutes or so. Then wipe away with a rag! I actually found it to be good practice as a preventive measure, while cleaning the bathroom I will spray the walls where I know mildew likes to grow with my homemade all purpose  cleaner. When I wash the floor at the end I wipe off the walls too. This will help the mildew from growing in the first place! Happy Safe Cleaning!

Rust remover

For mild rust remover, rub a lemon on the rust and scrub with a scrubby! So easy and safe! For serious rust...hmmm...haven't tackled that yet (maybe you should have tackled it before it got that bad hehe)

Blended Salad Meets Smoothie

So for the first time, a few weeks ago, I started adding greens to our smoothies. I was scared for a long time to try it, but now I'm so glad I did. You can barely taste it and it adds greens, vitamins,  nutrients, fiber, etc etc, to an already good for you smoothie! So go for it, try it! Oh...and after about a week, my husband wanders into the kitchen sipping on his smoothie, and says "Hmm, it's like blended salad meets smoothie, awesome!" hahaha!

Here's what we do, but you can vary this up a lot.. Different fruits, different greens, different seeds, etc.

In a blender add:
    -1 cup plain yogurt (you can totally use flavored, but I make my own yogurt and it starts out plain, so that's what I use)
    -1-2 cups spinach (I really just grab a huge handful)
    -1-2 cups kale (again, I use a really big handful)
    -1 cup frozen blueberries
    -6 strawberries
    -1 banana
    -2 tb honey
    -2 tb flax seed
    -2 tb hemp seed
    -2 tb chia seed
    -4-8 oz of milk or water to make it "smoothie" consitancy

Blend it up and serve!!! The recipe above makes approximately 3-4 adult size 12 oz servings. For us, we have 2 12 oz adult servings, and 3 kid size cup servings...and a little left over for whoever wants it. Enjoy this for breakfast and start your day off right. Great meal replacement!