Pretty Little Apron

garlic

Sweet and Spicy Chili

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If you have seen any of my other posts you may have noticed I do serve sweet potatoes often! My kids love to eat them as fries, and I like to put them into many dishes. The hint of sweetness they provide compliment many other ingredients. I started putting sweet potatoes in my chili after my husband bought a butternut squash that I needed to use before it went bad. It worked so well I moved right on to sweet potatoes and now I rarely make chili without them. This is a staple recipe in my kitchen and I hope you enjoy it as much as we do!

I also serve this with whole wheat cornbread, and you can find that recipe here. I followed this recipe but instead of using cream I used milk and it came out perfect.

Also, here is a link to the tomato product I use. We do stay away from canned tomatoes because of the possibility of chemical leaching into the product.

Homestyle Chicken Noodle Soup

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chickensoup8 We invited some of our friends from church over so I decided to make a nice big pot of chicken noodle soup. I love this soup and make it often. I always think I will make extra and we will have a lot leftover to eat throughout the week but somehow it always disappears quickly! One thing I do not use in a soup like this is boxed chicken stock or bullion cubes. Although these products can make a soup taste good, they all contain MSG or some form of it (yeast extract, autolyzed yeast). I have not found a boxed product that does not contain these ingredients. Even stocks that are labeled as containing “No MSG” still contain the yeast extract and autolyzed yeast. I would stay away from these products especially because these companies are being deceitful about what is in their products, which is not the type of company I want to support. Not only is MSG linked to obesity, depression, eye damage, and fatigue, it also over-excites your brain cells and tells you that you want more.

This recipe does take some time to make, but 95% of that time is spent just simmering to create a tasty broth. I can put this on the stove and do a number of things before I go back to the soup for the next step. It is a great soup to make on a weekend when you cleaning the house or playing with the kiddos. I also use half regular potatoes, half sweet potatoes. The sweet potatoes give the broth a hint of sweetness that sets this soup apart from any other chicken noodle soup you have had!


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Stuffed Pepper Skillet

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peppers6 Making an entire meal in one pan has one huge benefit…. less dishes! Any dinner with easy clean up is on the top of my “to make” list and this Stuffed Pepper Skillet did not disappoint. My father-in-law picked up some beautiful peppers for us at the Gratz auction and when I was thinking about what to make for dinner stuffed peppers seemed like the obvious choice. The last time I made stuffed peppers I noticed that both my husband and I didn’t finish our entire pepper because there is too much bulk at the bottom with no stuffing. I hate to see food go to waste so I decided this time around I’d go the skillet meal route.  I can confidently say we will be sticking to the skillet version because it was so much more delicious! In this recipe I do use a strained tomato product in a glass jar. I am very untrusting of canned foods with the whole leaching aspect,  so when I found these tomatoes at the grocery store I was happy to have an alternative to canned. They also do not contain any added salt which I appreciate because then I can control the sodium content of my meals. Here is a link to the tomatoes. I also bake off two bone in chicken breasts at the beginning of each week to use in meals and in place of lunchmeat for my 1st grader’s lunch. For this reason I did not include cooking the chicken in the directions, however I simply season them with salt, pepper, and olive oil and bake at 350 degrees for about an hour. When they cool I pull the meat from the bones and store in the refrigerator until I need the chicken. It is so simple and saves me time throughout the week. If you want to use boneless chicken breasts, you can cut them into small chunks and sauté with the diced peppers and garlic. Alternatively, a half pound of ground beef or a can of black beans would be great in this recipe as well. stuffed pepper skillet


Easiest 5 Minute Flounder

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I often hear from busy families that they don’t have time to cook dinner every night. I understand this is a concern when trying to get homework done, change diapers, wipe faces, and get someone to baseball practice all at the same time! I use the phrase “I am only one person” a few times a day myself! On busy nights I know I can make this flounder quickly because there is very little prep time and it doesn’t take long to cook. I also know my kids will always eat it and I can leave one section unseasoned to give to the baby. You could also use other fish varieties as this recipe is pretty basic. Make sure when choosing fish you select a wild caught variety. Fresh or frozen work just the same so we usually buy them frozen because it is a bit cheaper.


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This recipe is also really helpful to people who have been purchasing pre-seasoned frozen fish. I was visiting my mom one day and I was going through her freezer to help her weed out the highly processed junk disguised as health food. When we came to the fish she said “Well that’s just Tilapia.” I thought the same thing but when I read the ingredients I realized you can never assume anything is healthy until you actually read what it contains. Here are the ingredients listed in the Gorton’s Signature Grilled Tilapia:

Ingredients: Tilapia, Water, Canola Oil, Salt, Dehydrated Garlic, Spices, Paprika, Red Bell Pepper, Modified Corn Starch, Dehydrated Onion, Yeast Extract, Hydroxypropyl Methylcellulose, Parsley, Xanthan Gum, Citric Acid, Maltodextrin, Natural Flavoring, Ascorbic Acid, Natural Smoke Flavor, Carrageenan, Yeast, Corn Syrup Solids, Onion Juice, Sodium Tripolyphosphate (to Retain Fish Moisture), Propyl Gallate and Tocopherol (to Protect Flavor).

I bolded anything that is a questionable or unknown. Here is what you should know about these ingredient:

  • Canola Oil is highly processed and not an oil I would be using on fish at home
  • Yeast extract is just another way to say Monosodium Glutamate (MSG)
  • Natural Flavoring could be literally anything, we have no idea what that means
  • Carrageenan is controversial because it may cause cancer
  • Corn Syrup Solids are very much like High Fructose Corn Syrup.. Highly processed and lacking any nutritional value

So it is clear that making your own is a much better option, and I promise it will only take a minute or two more then just taking something out of a box and putting it in the oven!

 

Greek Pasta Bolognese- Simple and Delicious!

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Bolognese sauce is traditionally a red sauce with beef. It is simple and common in the Italian cooking world and surely a comfort food for many people. This recipe takes traditional Bolognese sauce to a whole new level by adding just a few simple ingredients. If your trying this for the first time don’t be put off by the clam juice! It makes the sauce. This is great for entertaining and will leave your guests trying to put their finger on what made the sauce so delicious. If you like it with beef you can also try it with shrimp as the recipe that inspired this was originally paired with Shrimp.  I put this sauce over 100% whole wheat fettuccini or spinach pasta.

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