Baked Beets

To make baked baby beets

• 2-3 small Beets per Person 
• a small dab of butter on each slice of beet
• Sea Salt to Taste
• Freshly Cracked Pepper to Taste

Instructions for roast baby beets:

1. Rinse the beets, remove any dirt or sludge from their skins.
2. If your beets are particularly large, cut them into bite-sized pieces.
3. Place the beets in an oven-safe dish and dot them with better, salt and coarsely ground black pepper.
4. Bake them at 375 ° F for about 30 minutes, or until they’re tender when pierced with a fork.

I put mine in the toaster oven at 300 degrees to save electricity. 

Salmon Patty Dinner

Here is a great idea for those of you looking for meal ideas.  

Fried Salmon patties with a salad and cauliflower.

Grilled Salmon patties with baked cauliflower, sauteed potato slices, and some texas toast. The texas toast was a splurge!

Dates as a Snack

Ok guys. This is an easy one. I love to snack but sometimes it is hard to find healthy snacks. I am adding this post just to give everyone a new idea for a great snack. If you haven't really given dates a try, you should! These are plain, no sugar added dates I got from bulknaturalfoods.com co-op.

lemon Squares

Some people also call these lemon bars.

You might want to make two pans of these because they will go fast!

Crust

• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup confectioners sugar
• 1 stick (8 Tbsp) butter, melted

Filling

• 2 large eggs
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 Tbsp all purpose flour
• 6 Tbsp juice (from 2 lemons)
• 2 Tbsp finely grated lemon zest

Preheat oven for 325 degrees. Use a 8x8 or similar pan.

Mix flour, salt, and confectioners sugar. Stir in butter to form dough. Press into pan and bake for about 20 minutes or lightly browned

Whisk eggs, sugar, flour, lemon juice, and lemon zest for filling. Add filling and bake for about 20 minutes longer.

Sprinkle with confectioners sugar after cooled.

Homemade Granola

What I love about making granola is that there is no one way that it has to be made. If there is something in the recipe you don't like, just replace it with something you do like!
Most of the ingredients for this recipe I just got the other day from an order I placed with bulk natural foods. If you are looking for a good co-op this one is great!

www.bulknaturalfoods.com

2 C of old fashioned oats
1/2 C of coconut, flaked unsweetened
1/4 C of sunflower seeds
1/2 C of walnut pieces
1/4 C of pecan pieces
3 tbsp sesame seeds
1/4 C of honey
3 tbsp coconut oil
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 C of dried cherries
1/2 C dates, chopped
3 tbsp of golden raisins

How to Make It:

Set the oven temperature to 300 and preheat.
In a large bowl toss together the oats and coconut.
Stir in the sunflower seeds, walnutss, pecan pieces and sesame seeds.
In a separate bowl whisk together the honey, oil, vanilla and salt.
Pour the mixture over the oat mixture and stir until well coated.
Spread the mixture out evenly into a 15X10 baking pan.
Bake 15 minutes or until golden brown, stirring occasionally.
Remove and cool completely.
Stir in the cherries, dates and raisins.
Store the granola in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.

Makes 7 cups

Fruit and nut 

Chocolate chip Granola

Coco Granola

To make coco version just add 1-2 tbsp of coco powder to mixture before baking. 

Cucumber Salad

Cucumber Salad

• 2 cucumbers, sliced very thin
• 1 sweet onion, sliced very thin

Marinade:

• 1/2 cup raw apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 cup water
• juice from 1/2 lemon
• 2 tablespoons of your sugar of choice
• salt and pepper
• 1 teaspoon chili flakes

1. Mix marinade ingredients together.

2. Toss in cucumbers and onions.

3. Let marinate overnight in refrigerator.

( Tip )-I used my food processor to chop the cucumbers and onions. It made the process very fast and easy.

Beef Ravioli

This is a simple meal option.

Frozen beef ravioli
tomato sauce
olives
I add a little basil pesto to my sauce to make it tastier!

Black Bean Lasagna

This is an easy and delicious dinner option. It took me about 15 minutes to prepare and 25 minutes to bake. It has a mexican style to it in flavor.

1 cup of pepper and onion mix
1 can of diced tomatoes
1 cup of salsa  ( I use mild )
1 can of black beans
1 can of pinto beans
one pack of corn tortillas ( 18 count pack is perfect)
some grated cheese for the top

1. Sautee onions and peppers with a little olive oil
2. Add tomatoes, salsa, beans and cook for a few minutes on medium heat
3. Layer tortillas and sauce like you would a lasagna. I placed a layer of tortillas on the bottom and had with three layers of both. 
4. Top it off with some grated cheese
5. Bake at 350 degrees for about 25 minute. If your oven tends to burn things, place foil over the top for first 15 minutes. 

Farmers Market

My husband and I went to our local Farmers Market the other day. I wanted to post this just as a reminder to people that local produce is available and to encourage people to utilize it.  Not only are you getting great produce but you are helping your local economy.

Here is the website for all the local producers in TN.

http://www.picktnproducts.org/

You can look up anything from fruits and vegetable to organics and wheat.

Cherry Pie

This was my first attempt at making a cherry pie. It turned out very good. I looked online to find a recipe but I didn't find one I liked so I just made one up ;-)

A big thank you goes to my husbands Aunt for inviting us to come to her house and pick cherries.

About 3 cups of pitted fresh tart cherries
1/2 cup of sugar
1/2 cup of all purpose flour
2 tbsp corn starch
1 tbsp vanilla flavor
one 8 inch pie crust ( I make mine homemade)

Sausage and Tomato Quiche

I am in Love with this Quiche. I like to make it for any occasion I can and sometimes for no occasion at all!

1 8 inch pie crust baked ( I make my own)
1 cup shredded cheese  (I use cheddar)
1 pack of beef sausage cooked and cut into pieces
2 egg yolks
1 egg
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp dried red pepper flakes
2 cups whipping cream ( I substitute rice milk or reg. milk sometimes)
1 large tomato ( deseeded) Make sure all liquid is removed before putting on quiche. Too much liquid        
                          will make quiche not firm up properly)
1 tsp dried oregano

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. 
2. Place cheese and sausage in pie  crust.
3. Beat egg yolks, egg, salt, and pepper flakes. Mix in cream. Pour into pie crust.
4. Place tomato slices in a circular pattern on top of quiche. Sprinkle with oregano.
5. Bake for 15 minutes at 425 degrees, reduce heat to 300 degrees and bake for another 40 minutes or until tester comes out clean. 
6. Let stand for 10 then serve. 

(Make sure all liquid is removed from tomato before putting on quiche. Too much liquid will make quiche not firm up properly)

Zucchini and Sweet Potato Latkes

These are a great side to a meal. I like mine kind of (well done) that's why they look kind of dark colored in the picture.

1 small onion
1 cup shredded zucchini
2 cups peeled shredded sweet potato
2 eggs, beaten
3 tbsp flour
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
coconut oil to sauté in

1. combine ingredients.
2. scoop into pan and flatten. saute for a couple of minutes on each side.