veggie quinoa soup

Well, it's the second day of Spring here in Missouri, and this is what it looks like in my backyard:

I know, it's kind of depressing. Missouri, I moved south so I wouldn't have more Winter. Lame.

So this day called for some soup. It's packed with good for you veggies, and a touch of quinoa for some protein and goodness. I just kind of threw this together, so no real recipe, and I'm sadly lacking in pictures, but here goes.

I started with a small onion in a big pot with some olive oil. I added a giant sweet potato all diced up (and I do mean giant. If you can't find a giant sweet potato, I suggest using two smaller ones).

To this I added 3 carrots and 4 stalks of celery that I sliced. I put in one container of veggie broth (4 cups?). Then I threw in a head of broccoli florets. I added some cayenne, turmeric, curry powder, cumin, ground ginger (I was going to use fresh, but sadly mine had gone bad), cinnamon, crushed red pepper flakes, dried basil, and chili powder.

I added a large can of diced tomatoes and about half of a small can of tomato paste. Then I filled the diced tomato can with water and added that. Then I put in 1 cup of quinoa.

I let this boil and then simmer for a while, letting the quinoa cook and the veggies get softer. After letting this cook for a while, I tore up a bunch of kale and added it in. Let it cook a little longer and voila! Dinner!

I would serve this with biscuits or cornbread, but sadly I am out of milk, so I had to settle for some saltines instead. Enjoy!

Oh, and I was featured over at my friend Hannah Cole's blog because back in September I did the cupcakes for her wedding with a little help from my cupcake Elves: me mum and the lovely Stephanie Grace over at Gracie's Bakes.  

Stir Fry

I had a friend over for lunch the other day, and by the other day I mean it was probably 2 months ago now. My how time flies! When I asked if there was anything specific that she wanted to eat, she said that she had really enjoyed the curry I made, so maybe something like that. I decided to make stir fry, mostly because I hadn't made it in a rather long time, and it sounded good to me.

Stir fry is super easy to make and can be altered so easily to fit different dietary needs. It is also super healthy and delicious.

Start by setting your rice to cooking because that will take the longest. I made sushi rice with coconut milk.  Next cook a couple of chicken breasts that have been cut into chunks. I cooked these in a little coconut oil and seasoned with curry powder, turmeric, cayenne pepper, garlic salt, cinnamon, and pepper. When the chicken is finished cooking set aside and keep warm.

Add to the wok cut up veggies of your choice. I think I used onion, carrots, broccoli, mushrooms, asparagus. It is best to use fresh veggies. You can also use bell peppers, zucchini or yellow squash, green beans, peas, really any vegetables you like. Allow these to cook until they are a little soft, but not all the way cooked. This gives you a nice crunch. Add the chicken back in and cook just a little longer.

Serve with the rice and eat right away. You can also use some soy sauce if you want that flavor.

This is a really great meal to make because it is fast and easy, but can be easily modified to suit almost anyone's taste buds. It is also really easy to make this a vegetarian meal.

honey-dijon glazed grilled chicken

I saw this recipe when I was looking through my family cookbook to make meatloaf and thought it sounded so good. So I decide to try it with my own little spin on it.

Honey-Dijon Grilled Chicken
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2-4 Tbsp. butter
2-4 Tbsp. dijon mustard
about 1/4 cup honey
1/2 tsp. salt
2 ish tsp. curry powder
sprinkle chili powder, cinnamon and turmeric

Before you start on the chicken, you should start by placing a sweet potato or two in a pot of water and setting it to boil. This is a delicious accompaniment to the chicken, but takes much longer to cook than the chicken does. If you don't like sweet potatoes, you can skip this, but you will be missing out let me tell you.

Start by melting the butter.


Then add in the rest of the ingredients except for the chicken and allow to cook for a minute to combine the flavors and make a nice sauce. Now this is important. Stick your finger in the sauce and then lick it. To make sure the seasonings are correct. Repeat as many times as necessary to make sure that the sauce is perfect. Confession: I could take a bath in this sauce it is that delicious. Please, please love this bit of deliciousness.


Then pour the sauce over the chicken breasts. Allow this to marinate for a little while. If you want to make this ahead of time and allow it to marinate overnight or for several hours that would be okay as well.


Grill the chicken breasts basting with the glaze every time you turn the chicken over. Don't overcook the chicken as it can easily dry out if you cook it for too long. Then check on your sweet potato which should be done about now.


So delicious! Also if you are not starving as I was at this point you could make some green beans to go with this meal and it would be perfectly complete.