Potato Soup

    Looked online the other day for potato soup recipes, but I didn't find anything that interested me, so I made my own. Here it is. I'd also add celery, if there was any in the fridge. I did puree about 2 cups of soup after cooking for about 30 minutes-then added the puree back to the pot.
 It turned out great-husband loved it-but I think the next time, I might add some greek nonfat yogurt at the end to thicken it up a little more. 

Ingredients
2-3 potatoes, chopped
3-4 carrots, chopped
1 onion, chopped 
1 tsp. minced garlic
1 T. oil
4c. water
2 tsp. bouillon
1 t. savory
1/2  t. thyme
1 t. 2 brothers all-purpose seasonings
2-3 shakes of celery seed
1 bay leaf
salt and pepper to taste

Saute the vegetables in oil for about 5 -8 minutes, then add water, bouillon, and seasonings, Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and cook about 40-50 minutes-til potatoes and carrots are done. Then-enjoy!

Accidentally Eggless Peanut Butter Cookies

               

Last week my mouth was watering for peanut butter cookies. I took out the sugars, margarine, and peanut butter and started to cream them. When I was finished creaming, I opened the refrigerator to get out the eggbeaters-no eggbeaters. So I checked to see if I had any eggs-but no luck. This shows the importance of checking your ingredients before you start mixing things up. Since 1/4 cup of eggbeaters equals 1 egg, I figured I'd just add 1/4 cup of water instead. The cookies turned out to be the tastiest I've ever made!
Here's the recipe:
Ingredients
1/2c. of crunchy peanut butter-I like Smucker's brand the best
1 stick of margarine-I used Land of Lakes
1/2c. brown sugar
1/2c. granulated sugar
1/4c. water
1 tsp. vanilla 
1 and 1/4c flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt 

Cream peanut butter, margarine, and sugars. Then add water and vanilla. Mix in dry ingredients. Roll the dough into balls, then, lightly dipping the tines of a fork into some flour, push down slightly with the fork to make a criss-cross pattern. I made the balls pretty large-maybe the size of a tablespoon. Bake in 350 degree oven for 10 to 12 minutes. I usually remove from oven when they somewhat soft and let them cool on a rack.

Extra-Healthy and Delicious Oatmeal Cookies

           

                   
 Ingredients


1/2 c. oil                                                    1 t. baking soda
1 c. brown sugar                                       1 t. salt
2 eggs                                                        1 t. cinnamon
1/3 c. molasses                                         2 c. oatmeal
1 3/4 c. flour                                             1/2 c. walnuts
2 T. wheat germ                                       1 c. raisins
1 T. flaxseed, ground

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Cream sugar and oil. Add eggs, then molasses. Then add dry ingredients.
Bake at 375 for 8 to 10 minutes. They should not be crisp  when they are cooked.
Should make about  35 cookies.

You could use applesauce, margarine or butter in place of oil, if you prefer. Use the same measurement.
You can use eggbeaters in place of eggs, if you'd like.
I use natural wheat germ,

Cabbage, Bean and Wheat Berry Soup

Wanted to make split pea soup the other night, but after I sauteed all the vegetables, I opened the freezer to get out the split peas and found out I didn't have any! Oops! So I checked out the freezer and found some wheat berries. I used a cup of them instead of the split peas and at the end of the cooking  added a can of navy beans for a little extra protein. The soup turned out to be delicious. The wheat berries gave it an interesting texture as well as taste.
Ingredients
1 T. oil
2 c. chopped carrots
3 celery stalks, chopped
1 onion, chopped
1 t. minced garlic
6 c. cabbage chopped
Saute above ingredients until softened-about 20 to 30 minutes. Then add
10 c. water
1 c. wheat berries
4 t. of bouillon
(I like Better than Bouillon brand which comes as a thick paste.)
1 t. basil                                              1/8 t. sage
1 t. thyme                                           1/8 t. tarragon
1 t. marjoram                                     1/4 t.celery seed
1 t. cumin                                           1/4 t. coriander
1/2 t.oregano                                       pepper
1/2 t. savory                                       1 bay leaf
1/2 t. salt
Bring to a boil, reduce heat.Cover and simmer for 2 hours-til wheat berries are done. Add can of navy beans-heat until beans are warmed up.

Chicken and kale Soup

 Ingredients
I bunch of kale
1 medium chopped onion
1 T. oil
1 c. water
1 lb. chicken tenders
1 can chickpeas
1 can ready-cut Italian style tomatoes
4 carrots-thickly sliced
2-3 stalks of celery-thickly sliced
8 c. water
4 tsp. vegetable bouillon
1 bay leaf
1 tsp. all-purpose seasoning

   Remove stems from kale. Rinse and break into small pieces. Saute kale and chopped onion in 1 T. of oil for about 5 minutes. Add 1 cup of water and cook at medium heat for 40-50 minutes.
   While kale is cooking, cook 1 lb. of chicken tenders in frying pan for about 25 minutes. Then chop chicken into bite-size chunks and throw into soup mixture.
   Add 8 cans of water, 1 can of chickpeas(drained), 1 can of ready cut diced tomatoes( Italian style), chopped carrots, chopped celery,  and 4 tsp. of better than Bouillon vegetable bouillon, 1 bay leaf, and 1 tsp of Two Brothers all-purpose seasoning. Simmer for 60 -75 minutes

Easy Chicken and Vegetables

                                                                                                             
Ingredients
1 lb. of chicken breast tenderloins
1 can of cream of mushroom soup
chopped mushrooms
sweet peppers. chopped
1 onion, chopped

Total cooking time 40 minutes.

Put chicken pieces in the bottom of  a oven safe container. Spread  cream of mushroom soup over chicken. Throw in chopped onions, then mushrooms, and on the top, the peppers. I used Trader Joe's frozen pepper strips. I threw in 2-3 handfuls of mushrooms and peppers. If you use fresh peppers, you may need to add some water. Throw in as much of the vegetables as you'd like. If you hate mushrooms, you can add broccoli or some other vegetable or just add more peppers. Do whatever you feel like doing. Cover  the container. Cook at 350-375 for about 20 minutes. Remove from oven and stir  everything up. Put back in oven and cook an additional 20 minutes until chicken is finished cooking. I served it with bulgar, but you could use rice, barley, or pasta if you'd prefer.

Yummy Rice and Beans

                                                   

It's been so hot, I haven't felt like cooking, but this is a quick and easy dinner-and very tasty.
1 cup of brown rice
2 cups of water
1 tsp. vegetable bouillon( I like "Better than            Bouillon" brand the best)
1/4 to 1/2 cup green peppers
1/4 to 1/2 cup of red peppers
1/4 to 1/2 cup chopped carrots
or use celery if you don't have peppers on hand
1/4 to 1/2 cup chopped celery

Bring water, bouillon, and rice to a boil. Turn heat down to simmer and cook for about 15 minutes. Throw in the celery and carrots and cook another 15 to 20 minutes. I threw the vegetables into the food processor to chop them up. You could add any other vegetables you'd like.
-----------------------------------------------------
 1 15oz. can of black beans, drained
 1/4 cup water 
 1/4 tsp. of cumin
 1/4 tsp. of onion powder
 1/4 tsp. of salt
 garlic powder-to taste
 pepper-to taste

Mix beans and water. Smash beans a little with potato masher. Add seasonings. Bring mixture to a boil, reduce heat to simmer. Cook for 5 minutes. Add the beans to rice and enjoy your dinner.