DIY Wednesday: Cream Of Celery Soup

November 4, 2015November 4, 2015 / ktbuchs87

This might not seem like a DIY post at first glance, but trust me it’s a good one. Have you ever made a recipe that called for a can of whatever cream soup? Mushroom, chicken, celery, broccoli… They are used frequently in casseroles and other baked dishes to add a creamy flavor.

They’re also full of preservatives, MSG, artificial colors, and other not so good for you things. But they are SO convenient. Open a can, dump in, and go about your business. I get it, sometimes you need dinner to be fast and things like cans of cream of soup make the process smoother.

Which is why I made this DIY post. You can have the same convenience of the canned stuff but the nutrition benefits of homemade. Make a big batch of this cream of soup and freeze into batches. That way when you need to use it, you can pull out one serving and move on with your life. Simple right?

I made cream of celery for this version, but this formula will also work for mushroom and chicken. Just make sure if you do chicken, you cook the chicken before you add it to the soup. You also might want to add a carrot or two to the chicken version.

This soup is really easy to make, so whenever you meal prep for the week just add this into the mix. Another plus? This homemade version tastes WAY better than that red and white can. 🙂

Cream Of Celery Soup

2 1/2 cups celery, diced
1/2 cup onion, diced
1/2 cup leeks, sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 cups vegetable broth or water
1 cup full-fat coconut milk
1/2 tsp celery salt
and pepper, to taste

Heat a little olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Saute the onions and leeks for about 10 minutes, until they’re soft.
Add in the garlic and celery and stir to mix together. Cover the pot and cook for another 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Remove the lid and pour in the 3 cups of broth or water and season with celery salt. Bring the pot to a boil and then lower to a simmer. Cook until the liquid is reduced by about half, about 15 minutes.
Remove the pot from the heat and puree the soup until smooth. You can do this in batches in the blender or use an immersion blender. Return the puree to the pot and add in the 1/2 cup coconut milk. Stir to combine and heat over low heat, but don’t let the soup boil. Taste and add salt and pepper as needed.

You can use this soup right away, but it will thicken up even more once it cools. Let the soup cool completely before you freeze it into batches.

Spinach Artichoke Lasagna

October 30, 2015October 30, 2015 / ktbuchs87 / 1 Comment

Today is my last day of being 27 years old. 27 has been good to me, but I’m excited to see what 28 has in store. It’s weird to think that I only have two more years of being in my 20’s. I can remember the day I turned 20 and thinking, “Finally! I’m not a teenager anymore. I’m an adult and I’m important.”

While I’m important at any age, I was far from being an adult. 20 is barely not a teenager and I had so much I still needed to learn. In all honesty, I still have a lot to learn and I think that is true for any age. Except maybe 100. Once you hit 100, you can pretty much do whatever you want and your excuse is I made it this long I think I’m gonna be just fine.

I decided to make you a delicious dinner for my birthday, which now that I’m typing it out sounds backwards. You should be making me a delicious dinner for my birthday. Jeez, you’re lazy! Making me do all the work on my birthday!

You know how delicious spinach artichoke dip is? That was my inspiration for this lasagna. Instead of cheese, I used bechamel sauce and artichokes along with a layer of spinach to create a creamy and delicious filling. This meal can come together really fast if you use a jar of tomato sauce and a box of lasagna noodles. But if you want to make everything from scratch like I did, I promise you won’t regret the time you put in.

This is also one of those meals that is even better the next day and makes really great leftovers for lunches throughout the week.

See? I’m feeding you even beyond dinner. 28 is making me a giver!

Spinach Artichoke Lasagna

1 batch of my tomato sauce or a jar of your favorite store brand
1 box of gluten free lasagna noodles (I made these from Against All Grains)
3-4 cups spinach leaves
1 can artichoke hearts, drained and rinsed
1 can full-fat coconut milk
1/3 cup raw cashews
1 tsp Italian seasonings
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp celery salt
4 tbsp nutritional yeast
salt and pepper to taste

If you are making the tomato sauce and noodles get those ready and set aside. If you’re using boxed noodles make sure they are cooked and ready to go.
To make the bechamel sauce: In a blender or food processor, grind the cashews, Italian seasonings, 1/2 tsp salt, and 1/4 tsp celery salt into a fine powder. Set aside.
Heat a little olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add in 2 tablespoons of the cashew powder and stir to make a paste. Cook until the cashew powder turns golden brown.
Whisk in the can of coconut milk and keep whisking to combine the paste and milk. Whisk in the nutritional yeast and salt and pepper. Keep cooking and whisking the milk until it is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Taste and adjust the salt and pepper to your preference.
Pour the sauce into a blender and add in the drained artichoke hearts. Pulse a few times to break up the artichokes, but don’t make it completely smooth.
Now it’s time to build the lasagna. Preheat the oven to 350 and get out a 9 x 13 casserole dish. Put a thin layer of tomato sauce on the bottom, then a layer of noodles, a layer of artichoke sauce, a layer of spinach, and a layer of tomato sauce. Keep going until you run out of noodles and make sure you end on tomato sauce.
Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 25 minutes, until the sauce is bubbling. Remove from oven and uncover. Let the lasagna cool for 10 minutes before you slice and serve.

You can make this lasagna ahead of time and then just pop it in the oven at dinner time. I hope you have a Happy Halloween and a great weekend!

DIY Wednesday: Plantain Chips

October 28, 2015October 28, 2015 / ktbuchs87

Snack foods are one of the biggest things that people buy in the store rather than make themselves. It is just so easy to buy those prepackaged and prepared foods to grab and go rather than create a snack for yourself.

I’m not going to completely knock bought snacks, there are a few healthy options out there. But for the most part, they are full of sugar and other ingredients that have no need to be in food or your body.

That leaves us with making our own snacks and often people default to cut up fruit and vegetables, especially if they are trying to be healthier with their choices. While fruit and vegetables are a great snack option, they can get a little boring after awhile. Boredom with food can lead to unnecessary snacking or choosing something not quite as healthy.

So what do you do? You leave it to me! Well, don’t leave it to me to actually make your snacks because there is no way I could get snacks to you personally every day even if I wanted to. No, leave it to me to come up with some tasty snacks that you can make on your own and will fuel you through your day.

Plantains chips are kind of a trendy food/snack right now. Plantains have been around for a very long time and are usually grown in warmer climates like South America. They are part of the banana family and actually look like bananas, but they are much starchier. Which makes them amazing for baking and making things like chips.

These plantain chips are really easy to make and you can make a big batch to snack on throughout the week. You also probably have all the ingredients other than the plantain in your kitchen right now. Just one big note: Make sure you get a greener plantain rather than a yellow or yellow/brown plantain. The yellow variety is sweeter and while tasty, it won’t make the nice crispy savory chip that the green variety will.

Plantain Chips

1 to 2 large green plantains, peeled
half a lime
1/2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp salt, divided
olive oil

Slice the plantains very thinly. The thinner the slice, the crispier the chip!
Place the plantain slices in a large bowl and squeeze the lime juice over them. Sprinkle with the chili powder and 1/2 tsp of salt and then toss to coat them
Place a paper towel onto a large plate and set aside. Heat a little olive oil in a medium cast-iron or non-stick skillet and once the oil is hot layer the plantain chips in an even layer with plenty of room. You may have to work in batches.
Cook the chips until the bottom is golden brown and then flip over. Watch carefully so you don’t burn the chips. Once they are cooked move them to the plate. Take another paper towel and blot the top of the chips and while they are still hot sprinkle with the rest of the salt.

Simple and crispy chips that are a fun twist on regular chips but will still satisfy your snack craving! You can keep these in an airtight container for 2 to 3 days, if they last that long!

Apple-Banana Muffins

October 23, 2015October 23, 2015 / ktbuchs87

I like to eat, eat, eat, eeples and baneenees.

If you have no clue what I am talking about, you need to spend more time in pre-school.

Last week I went to the apple orchard with my dad and came home with a whole peck of apples. I’ve already made a huge batch of my squash apple butter, eaten as many raw as I can, and a tart is in the works.

I also wanted to try making a bread with my apples and I had a few over-ripe bananas sitting on my counter so I thought an apple/banana combo was in order. Two baked goods in a row on the blog… Lucky you!

While my baking is getting better, I still run into a few problems now and then. When I made my first batch of my bread concoction, the flavor and texture were right but it did not hold together very well. My second time around I tweaked a few things and decided to make them into muffins instead of one loaf.

Success!

I ended up with a yummy fall inspired muffin that also happens to be gluten free, dairy free, egg free, and refined sugar-free. Pretty impressive if I do say so myself!

Apple-Banana Muffin

1 cup almond meal
1/2 cup coconut flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
3 tbsp date sugar or coconut sugar
1/2 cup almond milk
2 large ripe bananas (the riper they are the sweeter the muffin will be)
1 tbsp molasses or maple syrup
2 tbsp macadamia nut butter or almond butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 large apple, shredded (more subtle apple flavor) or small diced
16-18 whole pecans, optional

Preheat the oven to 350 and line a muffin tin with paper liners
Combine all of the wet ingredients and mix well until you have a smooth batter.
Combine all of the dry ingredients into a large bowl and whisk together. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and stir to combine. The batter will be a little stiff, that is ok.
Add in the shredded or diced apple and stir to mix everything together
Spoon a little over a tablespoon of the batter into each muffin well and press down just a little. Press one pecan onto the top of each muffin.
Bake the muffins for 20 to 25 minutes, until the top is slightly brown and batter is set.
Let the muffins cool in the muffin tin for 5 minutes and then move to a wire rack to cool completely.

These are kind of like fall in a muffin wrapper and that isn’t a bad thing. You could also try making this into two mini loaves if you really wanted bread.

Anyone have fun plans for this weekend? Adam and I are planning on just hanging around our neighborhood and relaxing. Oh and if you’re keeping count, only 8 more days until my birthday. Delicious food presents welcome…

Happy weekend friends!

DIY Wednesday: Herbed Macadamia Butter

October 21, 2015October 21, 2015 / ktbuchs87

Have you ever seen a log of herbed butter? All cut into pretty round slices and full of delicious herbs like parsley, chives, basil, and oregano?

This is not like that.

Well, it’s sort of like it but not quite. I had the idea to try and come up with an alternative to those fancy herbed butters that are so delicious. I haven’t had dairy in years, and I wanted to see if I could make a dairy-free version.

Sure, there are tons of vegan specialty butters that you can buy. But many times those butters are full of processed ingredients that aren’t any better for me than regular butter.

So I decided to go the route of making a savory nut butter. First I had to decide which type of nut to use. Almonds and peanut butter have their own distinct taste and I wanted to use something a bit milder so that you could really taste the herbs.

Cashews are pretty mild, but they can be a little grainy in texture unless you have a high-powered blender. I settled on macadamia nuts. They are mild and have a slightly buttery taste to them and come out nice and smooth when blended into butter.

I was surprised how quickly this came together and I was pleased with the taste and the spreadability. The only thing that I couldn’t really change was the color. Yeah, it’s kind of an icky brown, but sometimes the ugliest concoctions taste the best. Just trust me on this one.

A few notes about the recipe. You don’t have to roast the nuts, but it adds a nice depth of flavor to the savory butter. Raw nuts will give you a lighter, more appealing color. Don’t worry about the coconut oil giving this butter a coconut-y flavor, it’s just to help the butter set in the fridge and spread nicely on things like bread.

Herbed Macadamia Butter

2 cups raw macadamia nuts
2 tsp roasted garlic
2 tsp coconut oil, melted
1 tsp salt
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried thyme

Preheat oven to 350 and spread the macadamia nuts on a large baking sheet in an even layer.
Roast the nuts for 10 minutes and then transfer to a blender or food processor immediately.
Blend the nuts, scraping down the sides as needed, until you have a smooth and drippy butter. It should be almost liquid like.
Add in the teaspoons of coconut oil and the 1 tsp of salt and blend until combined.
Add in the garlic and the rest of the seasonings and blend until completely combined. Taste and adjust any seasonings as needed.

This will obviously not act the same way as real butter, as in it won’t melt. But it does add a nice salty, herby, and fatty quality to whatever you use it on. And really, who doesn’t like things that are salty, herby, and fatty?

Keep this in an airtight container in your fridge and let it warm up a few minutes before you use it so it spreads easily. And there you have it! Your own savory spread that you didn’t have to pay top dollar for! Enjoy!