Cauliflower/Broccoli Mashed Potatoes

This last Saturday we received two heads of cauliflower in our Bountiful Basket. Lately, we've been receiving one and in all honesty, they've gone bad because I can't come up with creative and delicious ways to make it. I did make panko breaded cauliflower but it seemed to be a one-time serve dish that didn't hold up well for leftovers- and one head seemed too much for the two of us! So this time I was determined to use it. I remembered seeing cauliflower mashed potatoes once, and just recently I came across this super rad kids blog Super Healthy Kids, and found a similar recipe! I decided to give it a try and other than saying that they needed more salt, Geoff didn't realize it was mainly cauliflower, haha! Until he say the description under my uploaded picture! Oops!

I edited the recipe to include double the amount of cauliflower since that it how much I got from one head.

INGREDIENTS

• 4 cups cauliflower, washed and roughly chopped


• 2 cups potatoes, peeled and roughly chopped into small pieces


• 1 cup broccoli heads


• 1/2- 3/4 cup fat free milk or soy milk, depending on how moist you want yours


• Salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS

1. Boil cauliflower & potatoes. Salt when boiling.

*Meanwhile cook your broccoli in a separate pot since they take a lot less time- make sure not to overcook or you'll lose all the nutrients! Give it a rough chop when you're done or if you prefer chunky broccoli, leave as is.

2. Drain water and place back into pot. Mix with your mixer.

3.  Add milk/soy milk & pepper.

4. Gently stir in your broccoli! & voila!

You can choose to not add broccoli if you tend to not enjoy the combination of the two!

This recipe yields about 6 servings! Great for leftovers! They taste great, just a different kind of mashed potatoes- although the smell of the cooked cauliflower will give it away! haha!

I have another head of cauliflower. Any awesome recipes out there?

Versatile Veggie Lasagna

One of Geoff's favorite meals is lasagna! I am constantly trying to come up with fun and easy ways to create the dish! This particular recipe came about from having too many ingredients one Saturday after picking up my fruit/veggie basket. It took me a few tries to get it just right but the more I make it, the more I realize you really can't go wrong with it! It's soo delicious ALL the time! & you make enough for leftovers that taste even better the next day! One time I did add too much broccoli and it completely overpowered the spinach, just fyi! Last month, we had a potluck at work and I signed up for lasagna since no one had really signed up for any entrees. Then it dawned on me that I lasagna isn't very versatile with waiting hours before being served, eek! That morning, I decided to attempt it in my crockpot. By 2pm I had the most amazing lasagna ever! & as proof, I didn't even manage a proper picture as it was devoured right away! This post is for Rainey, who has been asking me for this recipe forever! <3

Ingredients:

1 1/2 quarts spaghetti sauce (your favorite homemade or jar spaghetti sauce)

1/2 cup grated carrot

1/2 teaspoon oregano

lasagna noodles OR if you don't want to use noodles, you can use thick cuts of eggplant as your noodles!

1 (15.5 ounce) container ricotta cheese (low fat)

1 (16 ounce) package frozen spinach, thawed and well drained OR fresh

1-2 eggs

1 1/2 cups thinly sliced zucchini

1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms

3 cups shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese

1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

Optional: 1 cup chopped broccoli & 1 eggplant

3 garlic cloves, minced

Directions:

This recipe can be made oven-baked OR in a crockpot! 

The pre-arrangement in my crockpot!

1. Mix carrots, oregano, and spaghetti sauce together.


2. Mix Ricotta, spinach, garlic, and eggs together in separate bowl.


3. Spread ½ cup spaghetti sauce in bottom of 9 x 13 inch baking dish or bottom of your crock pot


4. Layer 3 lasagna noodles, ½ remaining sauce, ½ Ricotta mixture, ½ sliced zucchini, ½ sliced mushrooms, ½ Mozzarella, and ½ Parmesan, & optional eggplant/broccoli. If cooking in crock pot, do 1/3 of each ingredient because you'll have less space.


5. Repeat layers with remaining ingredients. Make sure you end up with sauce on top! Top with remaining cheese!


6. *if you are using a crockpot, pour about 1/4 cup of water in your tomato sauce bowl/jar. Then pour your tomato juice/water all over the pile of food!


7. Bake in 350 degrees oven for about 45 minutes. OR if in Crockpot, cook on low for about 6 hours- this time varies so start checking at 5 hours. Check noodles at hour five, and push the top ones down into the liquid if they are getting too hard or are curling up.

Who woulda thought Brussels Sprouts?!

I had never ever tried Brussels Sprouts in mi vida loca. The round little miniature cabbage-looking veggies didn't appeal to me and xenophobia kicked in a bit. But there they were. About a pound of them included in my basket a couple of weeks ago. When we were brainstorming our Thanksgiving meal options I volunteered to give it a whirl. The worst that would happen is that we wouldn't like 'em! I decided to do some research and found out that they can be bitter and raw is a definite don't. However, if seasoned properly and cooked at the right temperature, my oh my. These are a definite healthy & scrumptious treat.

To quote, this was a text I received from Geoff today as he had lunch today: "I never thought I'd be saying this, but I'm dissapointed we didn't have any brussels sprouts leftover!"

Ingredients

1- 1.5 pounds Brussels sprouts, ends trimmed, yellow leaves removed, cut in half

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

3 cloves of garlic, minced

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

2. Place trimmed Brussels sprouts, olive oil, kosher salt, and pepper in a large resealable plastic bag. Seal tightly, and shake to coat.

3. Pour onto a baking sheet, and place on center oven rack. Roast in the preheated oven for 30 to 45 minutes, shaking pan every 5 to 7 minutes for even browning. Reduce heat when necessary to prevent burning.

4. Brussels sprouts should be darkest brown, almost black, when done. Serve immediately.

These are great as a side dish or atop pasta! I'd imagine even on a fresh salad! Enjoy! :)

Spicy & Sweet [Sweet] Potatoes

For Thanksgiving this year, I had all the veggie side dishes, since well, turning vegetarian doesn't deem me the best turkey cook! I wanted to use all the veggies I had readily available and one was sweet potatoes. I don't like mushy sweet potatoes with marshmallows on top so I did some research and modified what I found to suit our tastes and the spices I can tell go well together. Here's what I came up with. & just to vouch for their amazingness, Geoff's dad despises sweet potatoes- he had seconds and even asked the recipe! Weee, here's to you, Poppa!

Ingredients

• Enough sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed, to fill your baking sheet.


• 3 tablespoons olive oil


• 2 tablespoons of packed brown sugar


• 1 tablespoons paprika


• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper


• 1/2 teaspoon onion powder


• 2-3 cloves of minced garlic


• 2 teaspoons cinnamon


• 1 pinch cayenne pepper

You can add more/less depending on your taste!

Directions

1. Preheat an oven to 425 degrees F


2. Place the sweet potato chunks into a large mixing bowl. Drizzle with the olive oil, then sprinkle the brown sugar, paprika, black pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, cinnamon and cayenne pepper over them. Toss until the potatoes are evenly coated with the seasoning. They should look dark and seasoned now. Spread onto a baking sheet.


3. Bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes, then turn the potatoes over with a spatula, and continue baking until the sweet potatoes are golden and tender, 10 to 15 minutes more.

Twice-Baked Potato Scoops

Oh boy! If you have the time, a few potatoes and some veggies, you are in for an absolutely delicious and versatile treat! In my basket this last Saturday (which my future MIL picked up for me- Thanks Momma!), we got another bag of potatoes. I absolutely ADORE potatoes! Baked, fried (a la french, haha), mashed, etc! Ah, amazing vegetable! Hearty & a total comfort food of mine!

I wanted to make something new, that incorporated mashed potatoes (since they're my fave and I've been making them from scratch for my family every holiday since I was little)! I remembered the last time we went to a sit-down restaurant they had what appeared to be little potato "boats" with mashed potatoes inside topped with bacon, cheddar cheese and sour cream..Mmmmmm! Now, although that looked amazing, I'm sure I went for a veggie dish instead. So tonight, I bring you a very versatile recipe that is healthier and can accommodate any taste buds. I literally just looked in my fridge and pantry for whatever I had available and went with that. The possibilities for this recipe are endless! It's almost like deviled eggs, but with potatoes! & with Thanksgiving around the corner, this may be a good side dish to change things up a bit!

Ingredients- basically, however you like mashed potatoes!

• As many large baking potatoes as you want to make- I made 6 because ours were small and I always make extra for lunch or in case we get company


• Any veggies you want to add: I added small chops of the following: broccoli florets, red and yellow peppers, and carrots.


• I didn't have any cheese and my beau is a cheeser so I added a teaspoon of cream cheese


• soy milk (or regular) until desired consistency


• 1 tablespoon of butter


• 2 minced garlic cloves


• salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.


2. Bake potatoes for 1 hour or until soft. You can wrap them in aluminum foil, spray a tiny bit of EVOO and sprinkle sea salt and pepper for crispier skin You can also take a fork and poke each potato a few times to allow heat to get in and cook a bit faster (thoroughly).


3. Cut each potato in half. If yours are small, cut only enough to be able to scoop out the inside.


4. Let potatoes cool because you'll be handling them (haha)! I am not patient and used a clean kitchen towel to get going on them.


5. Scoop out the potato from the skin leaving about 1/4 of the potato so you have a sturdy base. I cupped each potato in my palm and used a tablespoon starting from the center out. Put all the potatoes in a mixing bowl or food processor.


6. Add all of your ingredients. Pulse or mash until desired consistency/taste.


7. Fill the potato skins/scoops with your mashed potatoes (I sprinkled a bit of nutritional yeast on each since I didn't have cheese).


8. Bake for 10-20 minutes (depending on how crunchy you want your toppings). Broil the last minute.


9. VOILA! Enjoy! :)