Left over Ramen soup

I have been working towards simple whole foods that do not cost a lot. This was more of a left over meal recreated to something delicious.

Start with a broth.
I started with chicken stock and infused it with garlic, cilantro, and ginger. You can even add lemon grass stalks and star anise turn it into anything you want. Use beef broth or veg broth. Try mixing it up. This dish is very versatile and the broth is the base.

I used left over rice noodles from my Vietnamese meals. But Ramen noodles are amazing in this dish. Feel free to try udon or soba noodles.

Next are the toppings. I love baby bok choy with onions, garlic and ginger. I plan on adding more veggies next time. We added a small amount of our left over Ropa Vieja and a touch of soy sauce.( I plan on showing a step by step guide to my Ropa Vieja so keep an eye out because that meal can feed a small army and still have left overs. ) Serve with lime wedges, sprouts and Thai Basil for an extra WOW factor. This is my left over version of Pho.

Moorish crunch salad

I love Jamie Oliver and really started learning about him when he started the food revolution with our food in schools (Pilot). He talks about the process food industry and what is in the food. You really should take the time to watch it might make you think twice about the theory "we all have to die sometime".  His shows are part of the reason I started taking a close look at what we were eating. The more we looked at our health the more I decided it was time for a change. Recently I started running out of ideas for ways to feed my children and picky husband. I love almost any vegetable but I seem to be the only one in the house. I decided to look up Jamie Oliver cook books to see if I liked it. I started with the library and found Jamie's Kitchen. Best cook book ever!!! We love it so much that I may buy it soon. Well the first recipe we tried was the moorish crunch salad and served it with roasted chicken and homemade orange soda.

Dinner family style

My thoughts : minus the raisins (I have a thing with raisins, they are way to sweet and weird) This was delicious.
Yasser did not like the dressing but loved the salad.
Little Man loved the dressing and would not stop dipping things in the jar.
Hulk Man could not get enough of it.
Justin like everything else it was just okay.

Salad stuff before tossing

Moorish Crunch Salad

My pretty purple and white carrots next to the normal orange we are use too. 

4 carrots
3 radishes
1 large or 2 medium apples
rasins
( The recipe calls for 1 handful for fresh chopped parsley and mint. I only used parsley but I put it in my dressing jar.)
4 tablespoons sherry or red wine vinegar (I used white wine vinegar)
8 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon tahini
salt and pepper
2 tablespoon sesame seeds.

Close up

I found a really cool bag of organic multi color carrots and Trader Joe's (you would think they pay me but they do not I just love them). I then peeled and thinly sliced the carrots. Thinly slice the radish and quartered and chopped the apples. Toss together and set aside.

This is a great fall mix

In a small mason jar I made my dressing. I put the vinegar and tahini in a jar and shook it. Then I added the parsley and salt and pepper. After shaking it really well ( okay that was a kid job so they would leave me alone) I added the oil. You can just add it all at once and shake but this entertained the kids for a longer time period.

Dressing

I kept the raisin and dressing out and let everyone add what they wanted. This also means I can save the salad and make a left over green salad the next day. 

I think this dinner is a total win and plan on making it in the fall but maybe with pork.

Dinner time!!

Peanut Butter

Math lesson of the day was measuring and we got yummy peanut butter out of it. All you need is a food processor and dry roasted peanuts. 

We use the Ninja Master Prep (QB900B) and I spent maybe $3 on peanuts at Trader Joe's. 

We only did 1 cup but if you want a larger amount on hand feel free to use more. 

Yasser measured the nuts out and poured it in. Then she put every thing together and went for it. 

Just keep going

Just keep going

going 

going 

Now is when you start to see a change but its not peanut butter yet

It's closer

At this point I thought it was done but Justin feels it could have used more its not super smooth.

But it is gorgeous and the best part is it is process free and low amount of salt. 

I recommend having a food processor if you want to live an all natural life and you can do so much with it. Soon we will be making pesto so it will be getting pulled out a lot more. Another food processor to look at is Black & Decker FP1600B 8-Cup Food Processor, Black. The space capacity is bigger than what I have for my ninja. 

Simple Harvest Salad

It is spring oh wonderful spring. When all of the vegetables are coming in and then I realize I am in upstate New York where winter ended a few weeks ago. I have greens and that pretty much sums it up. So what should I do with my beautiful greens? 

 So for my greens I used romaine hearts, baby arugula, and kale.  

I tossed it with pea shoots, sunflower seeds, sun dried tomatoes and blue cheese.

 Now for the dressing. Sorry this is not vegan ( Okay blue cheese was the big hint on that one)

My husband and children like cream based dressing. 

Funky Caesar 

1 6oz. plain greek yogurt

1 lemon juiced

1/4 teaspoon grated ginger

1 clove garlic (grated)

salt and pepper

olive oil or sunflower oil ( as needed)

1 teaspoon anchovy paste

Mix everything but oil until well blended. Then slowly add oil until the desired consistency. 

Oh yea this is a funky twist on Cesar dressing. 

It taste yummy and was great for being so simple. 

I would love to pair this with a game type meat and roasted potatoes for a complete meal served with red wine. 

But this worked great as a simple lunch nothing else. My kids even happily ate it. 

Popeye's Pasta dinner

Everyone remembers Popeye's muscle growing from eating spinach to save Olive right? Or am I just dating my self now? I always want to be super strong like Popeye and ate tons of spinach but my kids well they are a different story. My kids are not overly fond of the fresh and all natural. Okay just one hates it my boys are willing to give it a try so any way to sneak fresh vegetables into Yasser's dish and get her to eat is a win. Since trying process free we stopped buying pasta. It was also rare for us to even want to make pasta because for the longest time all I had was a hand crank pasta machine. I am telling you the up front to a KitchenAid KSM75WH Classic Plus Tilt-Head 4-1/2-Quart Stand Mixer, White is crazy expensive but it pays off quickly. To make this pasta you will need the KitchenAid KPRA Pasta Roller Attachment for Stand Mixers . 

Green Vegan Pasta 

2 3/4 cup semolina flour

3/4 cup water ( you may need more or less depending on the weather)

1/2 tsp turmeric 

1/2 tsp garlic sea salt ( I love seasoned salt) 

1/8 cup olive oil

 1/2 cup spinach finely chopped

I used fresh spinach and chopped it up. You should really cook it and get the extra water out or it will be hard for the pasta to cook and not turn into mush. 

The easiest part in making to dough is just dumping it all together and let the mixer do most of the work.

Your dough will be a little soft and will take extra kneading to pull together. 

This dough was a little dry which is why it is crumbling just a touch more water and it turned in to a beautiful dough. Let it rest for about 15 minutes before working it.

Now it is time for working it. (This part was hard to take a ton of step by step pictures since I needed my hand to catch the dough.) 

It is easier to divid the dough to have small easy to handle dough chunks because the more to roll it and the more it thins the longer pieces get. 

 You need to be on the smallest setting and there will be a lot of tears but just fold it in half and keep working it until the dough is nice and smooth. Once your dough looks great on setting 1 go to the next size until the dough is as thin as you want. 

I decided I wanted it a tad thicker ( accidentally did it way to thick chasing hulk man ) to cut in a nice fettuccine. 

If you dough is a tad sticky just add more flour or it will stick to the cutter. 

Now for the best part: The Cooking!! 

You need a nice hot pot of salted water boiling and just toss it in. They will sink towards the bottom and then float once cooked. Fresh pasta takes less time to cook than dried store bought. I do not suggest walking away because it will quickly turn into mush if it is left to long. I may have made a huge chunk of mush trying to keep hulk out of trouble. 

 Tada!! it is done and looks yummy. 

So in order for me to make this more of a meal I decided to sauté  some carrots, onion, garlic, chopped sun dried tomatoes, mushrooms and peas. I used some olive oil and then when everything was cooked I added "butter" and severed. Now this is my not so vegan part but I can not live with out it.  Add some Cheese!!

Enjoy!