Carrot Cayenne Soup with Sourdough Grilled Cheese

This Cozy Cayenne Carrot Soup is PERFECT for a chilly day!

For those of you who do not know me, my love language is quality time. Have you heard of “love languages”? It’s an amazing book that helps you speak love in a language that your partner best understands. Brilliant! Anyway, my husband has gotten a lot better at taking me out on dates, and I really really have enjoyed it! My parents recently sold their home in NC, and moved in with us while they look for land in the area here, near us. Since Papa and Grandma are HERE, and they TELL us to go out on dates… we certainly can’t say no, can we!? HA! So, the other night, we went to this cute local cafe and they had a spicy carrot soup on the menu… and my husband LOVED it. He told me that he just knew I could make it, and that the next week he wanted me to see if I could recreate it. So, this is my version of spicy carrot soup… AND, I paired it with a sourdough grilled cheese…because, why have grilled cheese if it isn’t on sourdough?

Ingredients:

2 TB olive oil
2 TB butter
1 sweet yellow onion
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1/8 tsp ground black pepper
1/8 tsp turmeric
1 lb organic (doesn’t have to be, that’s what I used) carrots, peeled and cut in large pieces
6 cups vegetable broth
1-2 tsp madras curry powder
dash of coriander
1/8 tsp cayenne (I am very weak when it comes to spice… add to your desired spiciness)
1 tsp minced fresh garlic
1/4 cup half and half
You will also need an immersion blender, high powered blender like a vitamix that can handle hot soups, or a food processor for this recipe.
Sandwich Ingredients:

1 loaf of sourdough bread (I bought mine from Publix)
1 block of sharp cheddar cheese
Butter

Directions:

Drizzle the olive oil into a large soup pot, and heat over medium heat (5 out of 10 on my stove). Add the onions, and saute until translucent and then add the cut up carrots and minced garlic. Let the carrots and onions simmer for about 2 to 3 minutes and add all of the seasonings, and add the 2 TB of butter. Stir until nicely combine and let simmer for about 3 minutes. After the 3 minutes, add the vegetable broth and turn the heat to high until it comes to a boil. Once it’s’ at a boil, bring back down to medium of medium low (3 to 4) and let simmer about 15 minutes or so, or until the carrots are SOFT.
Now, I poured the whole pot into my Vitamix and put it on the hot soup setting, and blended it until it was the texture I liked. I only had to blend for about 25 seconds. A food processor would have it be a bit more textured, the Vitamix makes it very velvety and smooth. An immersion blender would be good as well, and then you wouldn’t have to transfer it back and forth.
Once the soup is blended, if you have to, transfer it back to your soup pot and put on low heat to bring back up to desired temperature and add the half and half** and stir.
While your soup is reheating, make your grilled cheese if you want to add it to this meal.
Slice your sourdough bread to the desired slice thickness. I made mine on the larger size, but you don’t have to. Slather some butter on the outside of each slice of sourdough, 2 slices per sandwich you are making. Slice your cheddar cheese, about 5 to 6 thin slices of cheese per sandwich. Heat your small skillet over medium heat on your stove. Put the first slice of bread down on the pan, butter side down. Place the slices of cheese on the plain side up and then top with the next slice of bread, butter side up. Cook on medium heat until golden brown, and flip… doing the same on the other side. Should take about 4 minutes per side or so, depending on your pan and stove top.

Once your sandwiches are done, and the soup is nice and warm, serve! I sprinkled a tiny bit of cayenne and fresh ground pepper on top of the soup and served. This was so delicious!!! Cozy and warm, and not too spicy at all.
**Fyi, the half and half is completely optional, and not at all necessary.

Enjoy!

Just cuz this song is awesome, and so is Kelly Clarkson.
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Chicken Teriyaki with Pineapple!

After we found out about the plethora of allergies my son had, one of the very first sauces I learned to make from scratch was teriyaki. I had been craving it, but didn’t know how it was made, and didn’t trust oils and different things at restaurants to keep any cross contamination of allergens getting into the sauce or food. So… I pulled up some recipes and made teriyaki sauce! SO easy!! I couldn’t believe that I had all of the ingredients just in my house! Now, if you don’t cook often, you may not… but the ingredients last for a long time, so if you like teriyaki… run out and get these ingredients and MAKE some!! It’s so delicious!

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Ingredients
  1. 6 boneless skinless chicken tenderloins
  2. 1 zucchini, sliced and quartered
  3. 4 mini sweet bell peppers, any color, sliced thin
  4. 1/2 to 3/4 of a can of pineapple (or fresh!, whichever kind you like best)
  5. 1/2 small yellow sweet onion sliced
  6. 2 carrots diced
  7. 1 cup frozen broccoli cut into smaller pieces
  8. 1 1/2 cups cooked rice (1/2 cup uncooked… cook as per directions)
  9. salt and pepper to taste

For the Teriyaki Sauce

  1. ½ cup soy sauce
  2. 2 Tbsp rice vinegar
  3. 1 Tbsp sesame oil
  4. ¼ cup light brown sugar
  5. 1 Tbsp honey
  6. 1 tsp fresh ginger (I buy it like this)
  7. 1 tsp minced garlic (I buy my garlic like this)
  8. 2 tsp cornstarch+ 1 tsp water, mixed together

 

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Directions:

Start off by making the teriyaki sauce by adding all of the sauce ingredients to a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly, and boil for about 1 minute. The sauce should be thick enough to coat the back of the spoon.

Cook your rice. I just put water and rice into my rice cooker and hit a button. Either way, start it now.

Prepare your skillet and heat it to medium and coat with 1 TB olive oil. Salt and pepper both sides of your chicken. Add 1/4 cup of the teriyaki sauce to the chicken in the skillet to help cook. Brown both sides of your chicken, remove and dice into bite sized pieces and then add the diced chicken back to the skillet.

While your chicken is browning, chop your zucchini and carrots and slice your onions and peppers. Put 1/4 cup more of the teriyaki sauce into the skillet with the chicken and then add the carrots and onions. Cook until the carrots start to soften, and then add the broccoli, peppers and zucchini and the rest of the teriyaki sauce.

To serve, add rice to each bowl. Top with grilled veggies, pineapple and chicken. ENJOY!

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And now, for the song of the day:

Just because I love Adele and carpool karaoke! 🙂

 

Chop, Dump and Sautee…

I like the kind of dishes that you can make over and over again without a lot of effort or thought. The kinds that you can make with different ingredients, but it’s the same idea. This meal is like that. I’ve made it lots of different ways, but it’s the same main idea… like hash.Days like yesterday where it RAINS ALL DAY, the kids are restless and trying to break everything in your house, just to keep their hands preoccupied (seriously, me finding my little boy every few minutes, with his hands busy doing something he SHOULD NOT) and it takes everything in me to just MAKE DINNER. That was last night. But… I made dinner! I grabbed a bunch of ingredients out of my fridge, chopped them up, dumped them all in the skillet, added some seasonings, and SERVED. That’s it. Done. And Delicious. There’s a few ways to do it too, depending on what meats and ingredients you have! I’ll give you the alternatives in the ingredients list. Get creative with it!

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Ingredients

  • 4-6 chicken tenderloins chopped (You can also use kielbasa, or leftover rotisserie chicken)
  • 2 large carrots diced (you can also use frozen, even mixed veggies if you want!)
  • 1-2 small to medium zucchini cut however you’d like
  • 4 small red potatoes diced (I partially peel them)OR you can use sweet potatoes
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 TB butter
  • 1/4 cup white wine for deglazing pan and helping to soften carrots and potatoes (can use chicken broth instead!)
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon black pepper
  • 1 teaspoon herbs de provence (or Italian seasoning… herbs de provence recipe)
  • 1/2 small yellow onion diced
  • 1/2 tsp minced garlic (or use garlic powder)
  • You can garnish with Parmesan cheese, parsley, dried pepper flakes, basil, whatever!!

 

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Instructions

Chicken:
    1. Preheat skillet with the olive oil
    2. Add onions, carrots and potatoes
    3. Then add chicken, sprinkle with sea salt and pepper to taste and herbs de provence (or seasonings of your choice!).
    4. After everything has browned (turn chicken over when browned on 1 side) add the white wine (or chicken broth) and butter.
    5. Cook for 8-10 minutes uncovered, stirring occasionally.
    6. Add the chopped zucchini towards the end so it’s not too mushy.
    7. Transfer to a plate and garnish and EAT!

 

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And now, for the song of the day:

 

Leftovers Skillet MishMash Meal

One thing that I have found since I have started this food blog, is that every time I go to a restaurant… I become very… weird about food. I like, want to dissect it. I want to know the ingredients to see if I can re-create it. I want to see if I can figure out what spices they use… if I could make it better! Any other food blogger out there experience this? What happens after that, is that you go BACK after you’ve re-made the dish… and you like YOURS better. That’s what happens when you re-make a dish to suite your specific likes. I’ll have to do this with a dish soon and post it. I love restaurant make-over dishes, OR copy cats!!!!

By the end of the week do you have a fridge and freezer of very little vegetables, a couple pieces of chicken that didn’t quite get eaten and half of a jar of spaghetti sauce? Do you ever wonder WHAT DO I DO WITH THEM??? Well… you do THIS!

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Depending on how many leftovers you have: mine served 4 people

Ingredients

1 TB olive oil
1 TB butter (optional)
1/2 cup low sodium FF organic chicken broth (or water)
1 zucchini sliced and halved
2 chicken tenderloins cooked and chopped into bite size pieces
1/2 onion chopped
3 yukon gold potatoes – washed, sliced and cut into bite size pieces
3 carrots peeled and washed and chopped
1/4 tsp garlic powder
salt and pepper to taste
1 TB shredded parmesan cheese
1/2 jar (or more if you have it) of Vodka Sauce (or any leftover spaghetti sauce)
1 large handful of organic spinach

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Directions:

Thaw and chop your chicken from previous meals. You can even use whatever leftover rotisserie chicken or turkey that you have! Heat the 1 TB olive oil in a large skillet. Add the onions and carrots. Sautee until the onions become translucent. Add the diced potatoes and the chicken broth (or water). Stir around and add the lid and let simmer until the potatoes become soft (test with a fork). Remove the lid and add the zucchini, chicken, butter, and spaghettis cause. Stir until well incorporated and has started to simmer again. Let this simmer until the zucchini is cooked to your liking. I like mine still a bit crunchy, but some like their’s almost to mush… Up to you! Then, right before you serve, add the spinach and the parmesan, toss and SERVE!

This was SOO good, so easy, and really great to empty out my fridge of the last few items of things right before I went grocery shopping. Then you don’t have a mixture of old with new!

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And now, for the quote of the day:

“Naked” Egg Rolls

Do your kids ever try to tell you jokes? Mine LOVE to tell jokes. Most of them are pretty much the same thing in like 100 different versions. It starts to get hard to give a “realistic” sounding laugh! So, we’ve been looking up kids jokes online and have been telling each other jokes here and there. Just for fun, I’m going to share with you a few of my favorites:

Why did the boy throw the butter out the window? To see the butter-fly ……

My daughter’s personal favorite: How do you make a tissue dance? You put a little boogie in it!

Why do cows wear bells? Because their horns don’t work.

What do you call a cow with no legs? Ground Beef

What do you call a blind dinosaur? A Do-you-think-he-saur-us

Want to hear a pizza joke? Never mind… it’s too cheesy!

HAHAHA… my little girl just GIGGLES at these jokes, which, in turn, makes them quite funny to me!! 🙂

Anywho…. on to food blogging… 🙂

Ok, so, have you ever CRAVED Chinese food… like, eggs rolls, but didn’t want the deep fried fattiness of it, but you DID want the food and flavor? I made egg rolls… “Naked”..!!! No wrapper, no frying, but ALL OF THE FLAVA! Yeah! Seriously, this completely satisfied my craving for Chinese food the other night! DELISH! Give this one a try some night when you’re craving Chinese food, but not the deep fried aspects of it. There is a little bit of chopping vegetables involved… but it’s WORTH IT!

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Serves 3-4 people, depending on serving size

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 lb breakfast sausage (NOT maple flavored, or anything crazy)
  • 1/2 head cabbage, chopped/shredded
  • 1 cup shredded carrots
  • 1/4 cup chopped sweet yellow onion
  • 1 teaspoon toasted sesame seed oil
  • 1/2 cup soy aminos (or coconut aminos) OR low sodium soy sauce
  • 1 teaspoon seasoned rice vinegar
  • 1 TB olive oil
  • 1/2 cup of chicken broth (or water)
  • 1 tsp minced garlic
  • 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
  • sliced green onion
  • 1/2 cup UN-Cooked rice, rinsed and set aside

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Cooking Instructions

  1. Put the rinsed rice into a rice cooker and put the water suggested on packaging into the rice cooker and close lid and turn on. (OR follow cooking instructions for stove top on the rice packaging.)
  2. Start by shredding and chopping your cabbage into thin, bite size pieces.
  3. In a large skillet, cook and brown the breakfast sausage. (Do NOT use links, unless they are un-cooked and you remove them from the casing BEFORE you cook them.)
  4. Start julienning your carrots. You can either use a cheese shredder, knife or mandolin.
  5. Add the olive oil, carrots and onion to the skillet and toss to combine. Let onions start to brown. Stir in the soy sauce, sesame oil, seasoned rice vinegar, chicken broth (or water), garlic, and fresh ginger.
  6. Cover and cook until the vegetables are soft, about 15 minutes. Toss in the cabbage during the last 3-5 minutes so it will soften, but not become mushy.
  7. Serve over the cooked rice, and garnish with green onion.

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ENJOY!

You’ll really like this one, I promise!

And now, for the quote of the day:

Quick Turkey Kielbasa and Pepper Skillet

When I was first married, I did a LOT of the quick skillet meals. The ones that are frozen, you dump in your skillet and a few minutes later it’s all done?! Well… look at the ingredients sometime. It’s not just whats on the front picture. It has a LOT of things that if you made something similar at home, you wouldn’t add. You won’t even understand what all of the ingredients are!

So, if you want a dinner that’s PARTIALLY homemade, that’s done in around 20 minutes… try this one!

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Servings: 4

Ingredients:

1 whole turkey keilbasa sliced and halved
2 TB butter
4-5 sweet mini peppers sliced thin and seeded
1/4 sweet yellow onion sliced thin
1/2 cup chicken broth (low sodium, free range organic)
1/2 tsp garlic powder
salt and pepper to taste
2 large organic carrots sliced
1/4 tsp  dried oregano
dash cayenne pepper

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Directions:

Melt butter in a large skillet on medium heat. Add the diced potatoes and carrots. Add the chicken broth and all of the seasonings and cover and let simmer for 8-10 minutes, or until they are softening. Remove lid and add the onions, peppers and kielbasa and cook until heated through and the onions start to become translucent.

Serve and ENJOY!

See, Quick and easy!!

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And now, for the quote of the day:

50 Inspirational Quotes to Live By in Daily Life | http://blog.piktureplanet.com/inspirational-quotes-to-live-by-in-daily-life/

Slow Cooker Short Ribs and Carrots with Creamy Rosemary Mashed Sweet potatoes

For those of you with little boys… how do you keep clothing on them? And… if you can keep clothing on them, how do you keep shoes on them!?!?!?! It’s CRAZY! Every time I turn around, there is a trail of my son’s clothing from one room to another… and there he is, NAKED. Sometimes he’s in his underwear… but often naked. The other option is that he will use the restroom, and put on everything BUT his underwear… so I’ll go into the bathroom and find at least 1 pair of underwear on the floor by the toilet. WHY?! Girls are just a completely different species than boys! I’m so grateful for my little sister who has little boys… I can call her and tell her the crazy things my little boy is doing, she’ll laugh and say “oh, mine did that the other day too… completely normal!”. Ha! Thank goodness for other people to relate to!

So, chasing after my little boy and putting his clothes on seems to take up more time than it should… and so the other night, I put THIS in the crockpot on a yucky and RAINY day.

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Slow-Cooker Short Ribs with Carrots and Mashed Rosemary Sweet Potato Mash

Ingredients

Short Ribs

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
4 to 6 beef short ribs (about 3 1/4 pounds)
Salt and pepper
1 small yellow onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
1 TB fresh chopped rosemary
3/4 cup dry red wine, such as Cabernet Sauvignon
1 cup beef broth
5 carrots diced

Mashed Sweet Potatoes

4 Sweet Potatoes
2 TB butter
1/4 cup cream
salt and pepper to taste
1 TB chopped fresh rosemary

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Directions

In a large skillet, place 1 TB butter and heat to med-high heat until butter is melted. In the mean-time season beef with salt and pepper. Add beef to skillet and brown all sides, trying to render most of the fat off of the side of the short ribs, about 8 minutes. (Brown beef in batches, if necessary.) Transfer to the crock pot. Add red wine and beef broth, onions and carrots and all seasonings. Turn crockpot to high for 4-6 hours and LOW for 8-10 hours..

When you are about 30-45 minutes from serving your meal, wash, peel and dice the sweet potatoes. Boil in a pan with the water JUST covering the potatoes. Boil for 10-15 minutes, or until soft and then drain. Place softened and cooked potatoes into a large bowl and whip in the remaining potato ingredients (cream, butter, etc) with a hand mixer until mashed and creamy.

Once everything is done and put together, SERVE AND ENJOY!

This is comfort food, delicious… and strangely… low carb!

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And now, for the quote of the day:

"A fear of the unknown keeps a lot of people from leaving bad situations." - Kathie Lee Gifford

Chicken Tacos… All “Thai’d” Up!!!

In my hiatus from this blog, I HAVE been cooking. I usually take 1-2 days per week where I do not do a lot of cooking… we eat leftovers, or eat at a Chipotle or Zoe’s or something… or MOES! 🙂 But… I definitely have been cooking. I have so many pictures of meals that I have made over the past couple of months, I’m trying to organize them and figure out which recipe that I wrote down, the pictures correspond to. Oops! It’s been a bit overwhelming around here lately, but in a definitely good way! I’m BACK though! I may take a hiatus here and there, but I will always return to share some new, fun, FRESH and whole ingredient recipes!!

So, I found a great Thai Chicken taco recipe, but they used a lot of peanut butter and peanuts in the recipe. I personally do not use either in my home… so this is my “re-vamped” peanut-free version. And… it’s DELICIOUS!!!! It has SO much flavor… seriously… BURSTING.

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Chicken Tacos – Thai’d Up

Serving Size – 3-4

Ingredients:
For Marinade:
1/2 cup orange juice – I juice some clementines I had in my fridge that worked PERFECTLY
1/4 cup Liquid Aminos OR Soy Sauce (low sodium)
2 tablespoons local honey
1 tablespoons grated FRESH ginger
1/2 lime, juiced
1/8 tsp cayenne powder
s&p to taste or preference

For Dipping Sauce:
2 tablespoon Sunflower Seed Butter (Or any nut butter of your choice)
2 tablespoon liquid aminos (as referenced above… you can also use soy sauce)
2 tablespoons grated fresh ginger
1 tablespoon sesame oil
2 tablespoons honey
1/8 tsp cayenne powder

For Thai’d Tacos:
4 large organic carrots, julienned
2 sweet mini red peppers, deseeded and sliced  thin
1 head of cabbage, pull 6-10 whole leaves, thinly slice or shred rest
5-6 chicken tenderloins
2 TB coconut oil
1 tsp minced garlic
salt and pepper
Cilantro, limes wedges, sriracha sauce for topping

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Directions:
For marinade, combine all marinade ingredients in a large bowl, whisk, and add chicken tenderloins.  Cover and marinate as long as you can. I marinated for 30 minutes because I was a bit more rushed. You can even marinate overnight for even better results!! If needed, just marinate while you chop and julienne all of the veggies.

When ready to cook, heat the coconut oil in medium to large size skillet. Combine all ingredients for dipping sauce in a bowl and mix well.  Refrigerate sauce until ready to serve.  Remove chicken from marinade and cut into 1 inch cubes. Put chicken into the heated oil, along with the remaining marinade. Cook chicken until no longer pink (8-10 minutes) and when the chicken is about done, toss in the julienne carrots and the peppers and slightly toss until they are heated, but not soft. Assemble your Thai tacos with chicken, red pepper slices, shredded cabbage, dipping sauce, cilantro,and any other condiments of your choosing.  Enjoy!
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And now, for the quote of the day:

Creamy Ranch-Style Chicken and Potatoes with Carrots

I’ve tried a similar dish like this before… and I’m getting even closer to the ranch taste without using that packet of seasoning that’s full of MSG, etc… this is getting closer! I used cream in this dish to give it that yummy creamy texture… I may use buttermilk next time!! That would definitely put that ranch flavor just over the top to where it should be!

This one, I just chopped all the ingredients, and cooked it all in one pan! It does take a while if you leave the potatoes large… they take a while to soften… but this dish was nice, fresh, and filling. And… if you’re like me… you always have these ingredients in your fridge and/or pantry! WIN!! Especially since I am due to go grocery shopping in 2 days, so I’m running low on recipe ingredients! Especially since I’ve gone “off my meal plan” a lot this week! Oops!

So, here’s the Creamy Ranch Style Chicken and Potatoes

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3-4 servings

Ingredients:

4-6 chicken tenderloins cut into 1 inch pieces
1 TB butter
2 TB extra virgin Olive oil
2 large yukon gold potatoes
1/2 SMALL sweet onion – diced
2 TB lemon juice – fresh squeezed
1/2 cup low sodium free range chicken broth
5 peeled and rinsed carrots
1/4 tsp dried dill
2 TB fresh chopped parsley
1/8 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp garlic powder
sprinkle of smoked paprika
salt and pepper to taste
2-3 TB heavy cream (OR buttermilk!)
garnish with shaved parmesan cheese

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Directions:

Start by chopping all of your veggies. (I did not peel my potatoes, but you may if you prefer). Then, melt your butter in a large skillet. Add the potatoes, onions, carrots and the chicken broth. Put a lid on and let simmer for 10-15 minutes, or until the potatoes start to soften. Remove the lid and add the chicken and the salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, olive oil, and dill. Replace the lid and let simmer until chicken is cooked through. This will take 5-8 minutes. Remove the lid and stir. Add the chopped parsley and remove from heat. Slowly stir in the heavy cream until everything is well coated with the seasonings and cream, and serve in immediately. Top with a bit of extra parsley and some parmesan cheese!

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This is such a light and fresh dish. I just love the fresh parsley and that dill… it just adds a “clean-ness” to a dish.

Try this one for sure!

And now, for the quote of the day:

GPS-Grace Power Strength: Divorce: 6 Things To Never Tell Your Children

Chicken and Summer Vegetable Coconut Curry Over Whole Grain Quinoa

Curry…. I honestly never thought I liked curry. It’s not always the prettiest dish honestly. I also always thought that it had to be spicy… I never knew that it could be quite mild! This is now my 3rd posted curry recipe on my blog! I have found that I just love it! (Mainly when I can control the spiciness that is!) I even will put turmeric in my veggies for lunch sometimes… it adds that pretty yellow color and just the right amount of taste!

This dish cooked up quite quickly! Like usual, I used my rice cooker to make my quinoa… so if you don’t have one yet… you know you want one! 🙂

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This will make 4 medium sized servings

INGREDIENTS

1/4 cup chopped onion
3 tsp curry powder
1/8 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp minced garlic
1/4 tsp smoked paprika
2 carrots, peeled and diced
1 large yukon gold potato peeled and cubed into bite size pieces
2 medium zucchini squash, diced
1 small yellow summer squash
Small handful of green beans chopped into bite size pieces
1 15oz can of unsweetened premium coconut milk (NOT Light!!!)
3/4 cup chicken broth
1 large bunch of kale (or spinach) rinsed and chopped (remove center vein from the kale)
Salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 TB butter

Quinoa:

1 cup quinoa
2 cups water
1 TB olive oil
dash of salt

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INSTRUCTIONS:

Start by starting the quinoa. RINSE your quinoa in a metal mesh colander, or SOMEHOW. But definitely rinse it. Then, either measure and place into a rice cooker and press “cook”, or follow directions on the package and cook in a small sauce pan with a lid.

Then, cook your chicken. I used 3 chicken tenderloins so that the dish would vegetable heavy with a hint of chicken… not the other way around! I placed butter in the bottom of the skillet, and turned it onto medium to melt the butter. Then, I put my chicken tenderloins into the skillet onto the melted butter. I added the 1/2 of the onion and 1 tsp of the curry powder and salt and pepper. While it’s cooking, I took the spatula and cut the chicken into bite sized pieces. (I cook my chicken from frozen, so if you cook from raw, feel free to cut into bit sized pieces first.) Once the chicken is cooked through, remove the chicken from the skillet and place in a bowl and set aside. Add the olive oil into the still warm skillet still at medium heat. Add the potatoes and carrots first with the chicken broth. Add the rest of the curry powder, paprika, minced garlic and turmeric. Once they have cooked for 5-7 minutes and veggies start to soften (as well as the chicken broth cooking down and reducing a bit) add the zucchini, summer squash, green beans. Shake the can of coconut milk well to mix. Open the can and stir coconut milk in slowly to the vegetable mixture. I only ended up using 3/4 of the can of coconut milk, but you may want to use all of it. Just depends on how you like it. Add the chicken back into the mixture and stir to incorporate it. Let it simmer a couple of minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste. Just before you are ready to serve it, add the rinsed and chopped kale. Stir, combine, and SERVE over the cooked quinoa. DELICIOUS!!!

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Even the leftovers of this dish was AMAZING! If you like curry, try it! You can even add a bit more spice if you’d like, throw a bit of cayenne powder for a bit more spice! 🙂

And now, for the quote of the day: