EASIEST CROCK POT STEW

5 Qt. Crock Pot for Easiest Crock Pot Stew

Here's the easiest crock pot stew you will ever make and it's great for any night of the week. Did you see this on Twinformation on YouTube? Let us know in the comments if you did. 
This crock pot recipe makes A LOT of food so you'll be able to freeze it, pull it out, defrost it and eat it whenever you don't have time to make something.

You can make this stew with things you probably already have in your pantry and fridge.

WHAT YOU'LL NEED (TOOLS):
CROCK POT - 3 OR 5 QT. VOLUME
CUTTING BOARD, KNIVES, OR FOOD PROCESSOR

Packages of lentils & brown rice will cost about $1 a pop

INGREDIENTS:
(all of these are really up to your discretion - what you like, what you have lying around, you get the idea)
4 carrots (peeled & diced)
4 celery stalks (diced)
1 onion (chopped finely)
4 garlic cloves (chopped finely)
1 red bell pepper (seeded & diced)
1 cup uncooked lentils (rinsed & sorted)
1/2 cup brown uncooked brown rice
Water
Vegetable or chicken boullion
Spices to taste (sage, rosemary, bay leaf, thyme, salt and pepper are all nice choices with this stew)

For the "meat" of the meal:
1 pkg tofu (drained & pressed and cut into cubes)
OR
1 lb chicken (cut into bite size pieces)
OR
1 lb ground beef

METHOD:
Put all veggie, meat, starch & legume ingredients into crock pot. Fill nearly to top with cool water and put in a few teaspoons or cubes of boullion. Add other spices to taste.

Turn crock pot on high and let stew cook for at least 6 hours. Mix crock pot contents thoroughly following cooking. You can add spices such as salt, pepper, sage, thyme, or anything else you may like to taste at this point.... or, you can allow stew to cool and package it into single-serving, freezable containers. Freeze the containers and the contents and thaw when you need a quick go-to meal.

Single Serving Container of Crock Pot Stew Ready to Freeze

You can spice the stew up to your desire after thawing and heating. Blend the stew for a creamy consistency or keep it as is to enjoy all the ingredients and the wonderful flavors.

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Fast Udon Soup

You get home from work, take care of bills, play with the kids (if you have them), say hi to the dog or cat and before you know it, it's 7pm. Oh no! What to do for dinner?

Udon noodle soup is very tasty and, yes, it's healthy. This recipe adds diced tofu. You don't have to put tofu in it. Chicken or beef works, too. This recipe literally only takes about 10 minutes from start to eat. This soup provides a hearty meal and warms you up on a cold day.

Tofu Udon Soup

Ingredients:

• 6 ounces udon noodles
• 6 cups chicken or vegetable broth 14 ounces firm tofu, diced
• Salt 
• 4 handfuls baby spinach leaves 
• 5 scallions, thinly sliced 
• 1 teaspoon hot sesame oil, plus more for serving

Cook udon noodles in salted boiling water until tender, about 5 minutes. Drain and rinse under cold water until cool. (You can find udon in the Asian section of most grocery stores.)
Bring vegetable or chicken broth to a boil. Add tofu and udon. Bring broth back to a boil. Stir in spinach and cook just until heated through. Add scallions and sesame oil.
Add a few pinches of salt and/or drops of sesame oil to taste.

This recipe is courtesy of Whole Foods. Serves 4.

Awesome Asian Slaw

When you think of cole slaw, what comes to mind? Mayonnaise? Oil? Fast food chicken restaurants?
All of those may be the case...BUT...there are lots of other ways to make slaw. Slaw that won't give you your entire daily calorie intake in one sitting.

I got the latest issue of Vegetarian Times magazine in the mail, found this recipe for Asian slaw and decided to try it. It is delicious...AND...healthy. Yay!

Asian Slaw

Here's what your finished product will look like.

Prep only takes a few minutes and this recipe uses ingredients you probably have in your pantry. If you don't have some of these items, buy them and you'll find yourself using them again and again.





Ingredients:

• 3 Tbs. low-sodium soy sauce
• 2 Tbs. no-salt-added creamy natural peanut butter (I only had chunky PB and it was fine)
• 5 tsp. natural cane sugar (most dark brown sugar is this)
• 2 Tbs. rice vinegar (you'll use this a lot if you make sushi rice)
• 2 tsp. toasted sesame oil 
• 1 clove garlic minced
• pinch of black pepper
• pinch of cayenne pepper
• 4 medium carrots, julienned (mandolin slicer with julienne attachment works amazing for this)
• 2 medium zucchini, julienned (use mandolin slicer if you have one)
• 1/4 cup chopped dry roasted peanuts (these are totally optional)

Natural Peanut Butter going into soy sauce mixture

Whisk together soy sauce, peanut butter (warm it for a few secs in the microwave if it's too tough to mix), sugar, vinegar, oil, garlic, pepper and cayenne in a bowl. Stir in carrots, zucchini and peanuts. Chill in fridge for about 1 hr.

This tasty slaw makes a wonderful and delectable side dish, or an alternative to your traditional salad.

The EASIEST Burgers Ever!

Ever tried Portobello Mushroom burgers? They're savory, a little sweet, juicy and delicious. So what if they're meatless burgers?! It's easy to dress them up with sauteed onions and garlic, avocado and tomatoes.

All you need to do to make these is less than 1/2 hour, a grill pan (remember the one from a couple previous posts?) or barbeque, and shallow bowls or plates with an edge that curve up.

Ingredients:

• Large Portobello Mushroom Caps (one for each person)
• 1/4 cup Low Sodium Soy Sauce for each mushroom
• 1 Tbsp honey for each mushroom
• 1 Tbsp water for each mushroom
• (optional) 1 tsp minced ginger for each mushroom
• (optional) 1 tsp chopped garlic for each mushroom

You can marinate the mushrooms in separate bowls or one large baking dish or similar container.
Mix soy sauce, honey, water, ginger and garlic together in the separate bowls or in the one container. Mix thoroughly so that honey is completely absorbed. Place clean, washed mushroom caps into the mixture. Coat on both sides. Leave on one side in marinade for 10 minutes. Flip and leave in mixture another 10 minutes. 7 minutes from now, heat up your grill or grill pan (on med-low). If using a charcoal grill, allot for the amount of time it takes coals to get hot.

Now you're ready to grill up your portobello burgers. Place each over direct heat on the grill or grill pan. Cook for 5-6 mins on the first side. Flip and cook another 3 minutes on the second side.

 Add fresh tomatoes, grilled onions, avocado, cucumbers, pickles or any other garnish you like...or just leave the mushrooms as they are. They will be juicy so watch your clothes!



Lastly, don't forget the whole wheat hamburger buns! Buying hamburger buns and other bread products evokes one of my biggest pet peeves when grocery shopping. If your goal is to buy completely whole wheat bread products, PLEASE be wary when perusing the baked goods section at the store.
Manufacturers get away with a lot of sneaky labeling in this category so turn the package over and read the list of ingredients.

They can print "Whole Wheat" on their packaging even if the product only contains a small amount of the natural wheat. They also can say that if they're using enriched whole wheat, where some of the wheat has been stripped out so they can replace it with their own modifiers instead. Basically it's taste engineering. I've literally been to grocery stores where there are no suitable whole wheat breads containing 100% whole wheat. You might also want to watch out for products containing high fructose corn syrup - a cheap and highly processed sweetner food makers use instead of sugar. Sugar in moderation is not that bad for you and doesn't contain weird chemicals that do who knows what to you.

Nature's Own 100% Whole Wheat Buns

This is the ONLY brand I've found that uses 100% Whole Wheat and uses no high fructose corn syrup. It's sold at a very reasonable price, about $2.50 per pkg at a store called Winco Foods.

Grilled Flatbread Pizza

If you like pizza, this is a sure bet. As far as pizza goes, it's healthy as it uses a flatbread, whole wheat crust, lots of veggies, not an overwhelming amount of cheese and no oil. This is nothing like pizza from a delivery restaurant. This pizza is light, crispy and may leave you wanting more. Make two if you and the people you're sharing it with are really hungry!

Here's a picture of all the ingredients I used for the flatbread pizza. 

• Flat, whole wheat lavash bread - got these from Trader Joe's. They come in a pkg of 6 for about $2.49
• 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese - not from a can - grated
• 1/4 cup Feta cheese - regular or flavored is fine
• Veggies - I used green bell pepper, garlic, yellow onion, zuchinni, mushrooms and tomatoes. Slice all of them. 
• 5 oz. Marinara sauce - Fresh & Easy has some in jars for $1.79 that do not have any chemicals or preservatives 

I used one flatbread for two people. First, lay your flatbread on your grilling pan or surface. It's much easier than having to transport the flatbread with all your pizza ingredients later.

 Spread marinara sauce on the flatbread very sparingly, leaving about a 1/4" around the edges for a crust. Too much sauce will make the flatbread soggy and you won't get a nice, crisp crust. (see photo on the left) Then evenly sprinkle the parmesan cheese over the sauce.

Flatbread Pizza Before Going Under Grill

Sprinkle on the chopped garlic. Place slices of onion, bell pepper, zuchinni, mushrooms and lastly tomatoes. Finally, sprinke on the feta cheese.





Grill for about 5 to 6 mins at medium, then check the bottom of the crust. It should not be darkening too quickly. Grill for about 2 more minutes. To give the veggies on top of the pizza a nice, grilled look, put grill pan under the broiler for no more than 2 minutes.

Flatbread Pizza Just Off the Grill

These slices don't stay on the plate very long!

Use a big spatula to remove the pizza from the grill pan. If you have fresh basil, wash about 10 leaves, rip them up and spread the pieces over the cooked pizza. Slice, serve and enjoy!

Summer Nectarines with Crispy Oatmeal Crumble

Look no further for a satisfying summer dessert, or maybe just a sweet snack. Only 4 ingredients!
Stone fruits - nectarines, peaches, plums, etc. are in season and they're delicious when fully ripe.
Make this easy and healthy dessert in LESS than 15 minutes. Mmmmm!

I picked up a bag of nectarines - 6 of them - at Fresh & Easy for 98-cents. Score! They weren't quite soft enough to eat so they were left on the counter and in 2 days they were ready. I made this for 2 people. You can increase the amounts of ingredients (all 4 of them) depending on how many you're serving.

Here's what you'll need: 

• 4 ripe nectarines (or peaches if you prefer. No need to peel them)
• 1/2 cup rolled oats (Quaker oatmeal or similar)
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 tsp. olive oil

So to make this dessert, heat your oven (or toaster oven with a door) to 400-degrees F. Cut nectarines into slices, discarding the pits. Line the bottom of an ovenproof dish with the fruit. Mix thoroughly the oats, brown sugar and olive oil in a bowl. Sprinkle the mixture over the nectarine slices and drizzle a few drops of water over the mixture.

Bake at 400-degrees for 10 minutes, or until the oats/sugar mixture starts to turn dark brown.

If you really want to treat yourself, you could serve it with some vanilla ice cream (Haagen Dasz makes a good one called 'Five' - only five ingredients, no chemicals) or frozen yogurt.

Super Easy (and Cheap) Fish Stew

When searching the fridge and pantry for something with a little protein I could put with the leftovers of the Garden Risotto (see previous post), I decided to experiment. My fish stew turned out awesome!
It's quick (under 30 mins), flavorful and very inexpensive to make.

Here's what I did. Recreate it and you and your family will be happy.

• 1 onion - chopped small
• 3 cloves garlic - minced
• 1/2 head green cabbage - chopped
• 1 zucchini - chopped small
• 3 roma tomatoes - chopped
• 1/2 cup dry white wine - seperated into 1/4 cups
• 1/2 lb. white fish (up to you which kind - can be frozen but make sure to thaw it before adding to pan)

Start with a large frying pan with high edges. Heat about a teaspoon of olive oil. Add in whatever vegetables you have lying around. I used a chopped onion, a few cloved of chopped garlic, chopped cabbage, a few chopped roma tomatoes and some zucchini. Sautee all the vegetables under slightly tender. Then put in about 1/4 cup dry white wine and 1/2 cup vegetable broth. Simmer this for about 5 to 7 minutes. Add in about 1/2 lb. of whatever white fish (I used frozen white fish you can get at the grocery store for about $7 for 10 lbs. Just make sure it's thawed before adding it to the pan.)
Cook on med-high heat for about 5 minutes. The fish will fall apart in the pan as you stir it. Add salt and pepper to taste. Another great flavor addition is Old Bay seasoning. I used about 1 Tbsp. You can also add about 1 tsp. corn starch completely dissolved in an additional 1/4 cup of white wine, then added to the fish mixture to thicken the sauce. Continue stirring until you reach the desired thickness.

Served this with Garden Risotto on the side. Yum!