Kale and Quinoa Minestrone Soup

The weather is finally cooling down and I am ready to make soup!  I've been wanting to start eating kale and quinoa so I was excited to find this soup recipe on Pinterest.   I made a few changes to the recipe and it turned out amazing!  John and I have been trying to eat healthy and this soup is so good for you. 

1 tbsp olive oil
1-1/4 cups chopped onion (about 1 medium-large onion)
1-1/4 cups chopped carrots (about 2 medium carrots—no need to peel)
1 cup chopped celery (about 2 large stalks)
4 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
8 cups prewashed and cut kale
1 14.5-oz can diced tomatoes, undrained
2/3 cup quinoa (I used Bob's Red Mill Organic Whole Grain Quinoa.  It's high in protein and fiber and sooo healthy for you.  I found it at Sprout's but I know Whole Foods also carries this brand).
8 cups reduced-sodium vegetable broth (I used chicken broth)
1-1/2 tbsp Italian herb seasoning
1 19-oz can cannellini beans, rinsed and drained (I used black beans)
I also added 2 links of Italian chicken sausage, 1 sweet and 1 hot (for the husband)!

1. Heat oil in a large heavy pot over medium-high heat until hot. Add onion, carrots, celery and garlic. Cook and stir 5 minutes. Add kale and cook and stir 1 minute.
2. Add the tomatoes with juice, quinoa, broth, and herbs and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until quinoa is cooked, about 20 minutes.
3. Brown sausage separately then add to pot.

I served this soup with whole grain cornbread muffins.

Crockpot chili with lots of veggies and Cornbread muffins

I am a big fan of chili and I've been wanting to use my crockpot lately.  I've "liked" 2 crockpot pages on Facebook that post only crockpot recipes.  How genius is that?  The bulk of this recipe I got from Bethenny Frankel but switched it up just a bit.  This is how I modified the recipe and I LOVED it!

½ medium sized onion, chopped
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon cumin
salt and pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cans crushed tomatoes
1 pound ground turkey breast (omit if vegetarian)
1 can red pinto beans, drained
1 can black beans, drained
1 can corn, drained
1 1/2 cup carrots, diced
1 zucchini, diced
Throw everything into a crockpot and cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4 hours.  *My crockpot cooks super fast so I cooked mine on low for 5 1/2 hours.  This recipe makes a huge pot so it's ideal to freeze some.

In an earlier post, I introduced Bob's Red Mill Cornbread Mix.   You can find it at Sprout's or Whole Foods.  It's made of whole grain corn and whole wheat flour and other all natural ingredients.  I followed the directions on the packaging to make cornbread muffins.  I also added a small can of cream corn and 1 cup of sharp cheddar cheese.  These muffins turned out SO GOOD!!!!  Love them.

Cowboy Casserole

I found a fattening version of this meal on www.allrecipes.com.  The recipe called for ground beef, bacon, and biscuits.  It sounded like good comfort food but way too heavy for me so I tweeked the recipe. 

Here's my healthier version I made for dinner tonight:
6 strips turkey bacon
2 t. olive oil
1 lb ground turkey
1/4 c. chopped onion
2 (15oz.) baked beans
1/4 c. barbeque sauce
cornbread prepared as per directions
preheat oven to 350
cook bacon in large pan over medium until browned.  set aside & cut into bite size pieces.  in the same pan add olive oil, turkey and onion until turkey is no longer pink.  drain then pour back into pan.  add in bacon, beans and barbeque sauce.  bring to a boil then simmer for 5 min.  pour into 8 x 13 pan.  prepare cornbread as per instruction and pour over meat mixture.  bake for 30 min.
prep time: 25 min.

A couple notes:  I've made this recipe twice now and the whole family loves it. The only thing I'd recommend is don't pour all the cornbread mixture over the meat. I'd only use about 1/2 or 2/3 of it.  Otherwise it's a lot of cornbread!
I buy applegate organic turkey bacon.  You can actually read all the ingredients on their packages which I love.  (I also buy their turkey hot dogs for Jack Henry).  I love cornbread but many of the mixes are high in sugar.  I found Bob's Red Mill Stone Ground Cornbread Mix at Whole Foods.  It's made from whole grain corn and whole wheat flour.

TIP:  Read the ingredients on food packages.  My goal is to be able to pronounce all the ingredients and know what they are.  If you can't pronounce them, they are most likely preservatives and dyes.

healthy cornbread!