Spring is in the air!

The temp on Sunday was above 60 degrees!  I had the windows open in the house and it felt amazing to finally air out the stuffy house from the winter.  Now I know here in Nebraska we still have a while to really be out of the woods for snow.  But it was a great reprieve from the dreary gray days of winter.

We started some seedlings this past weekend in anticipation for spring.  We have our first round of seeds for tomatoes and peppers started.  Our plant date is not until May and this allows for the plants to be big and ready for the outside when the chance of a late frost is gone.  We also started Yarrow and Lavender, we plan on planting this throughout the garden this year to help with pests and bunnies.

We also order new baby chicks this past week.  They will be here the week of March 24th.  I still cant believe we ordered 15!  Eeekkk....but so excited!  We got several different kinds including an Easter Egger that lays colored eggs.  We got about 7 different kinds of chickens so our flock will have lots of color and our eggs will too!  The current chickens we have now will be butchered.  Their meat won't be good for just baking and eating since they are 2 years old, their meat will be tough and its best for soups and stews.

Look for future posts for when the chicks get here.

Sliced Apples Fresher, Longer

I love apples! But I hate to bite into them as the skins get stuck in between my teeth.  I used to cut them in the morning and put lemon juice on them to keep them from turning brown.  However, that left a sour taste on the apples.  Which is ok sometimes...when you want something sweet yet tart.  I found a pin on Pinterest that just seemed too good to be true so I thought, why not...I'll give it a try.  And guess what the slices kept from turning brown, even a week later!  They were still crisp to bite into too!  The trick is soaking them in lemon-lime soda.  The lemon lime soda acts like an anti-oxident that keeps them from turning brown.  Yes the slices may absorb some of the sugars from the soda, but it makes it 100 times easier when packing a lunch in the morning.  Just grab from the fridge and your set.

How to keep apples fresher, longer.
From One Good Thing by Jillee

Directions:

1.  Pour lemon-lime soda in a large bowl.

2.  Cut apples using an apple slicer.

3.  Place cut apples in a bowl with the soda.

4.  Allow to soak for 10 - 15 minutes.

5.  Place slices in sandwich bags and store in fridge.

Yes, it is that easy!

Menu Plan 2/17 - 2/21

Dinners:

Monday -  Black Bean and Quinoa

Tuesday - Baked Spaghetti Squash and Cheese

Wednesday - Madras Lentil Soup and Brown Rice Burritos

Thursday - Falafel

Friday - Flatbread Pizza

Lunches:

- Chicken salad with crackers
- Black Bean and Quinoa burritos
- Baked Spaghetti Squash and Cheese

Snacks:

- Granola bars
- Grapes
- Apples
- Halos (mandarin oranges)

Breakfast:

Shake, Oatmeal and banana

Baked Spaghetti Squash and Cheese

Sometimes we all just need a little comfort food.  This is a great healthy spin to the Mac N Cheese we all love.

When I first had spaghetti squash, I wasn't not so sure about it.  I mean I love pasta and all its carb glory (my waist line doesn't hehe).  I've made this dish a few times and I love it more and more.  We even once tried the dish with rice cheese.  It still tasted great, however we still prefer to use regular cheddar cheese (my husband the cheese snob).

Baked Spaghetti Squash and Cheese

Ingredients:

5 1/2 cups cooked spaghetti squash (2 small or 1 large)
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1/4 cup minced onion
1/4 cup flour
2 cups Almond Milk
1 cup vegetable broth
8 oz mild cheddar cheese
salt and pepper, to taste
1/8 cup grated parmesan

Optional Add-in:
Baby spinach

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2.  Cut squash lengthwise and remove and discard seeds.  Place squash face up on a baking sheet.  Bake until tender, about 1 hour.  Keep oven on at same temp when done.

3.  Separate the strands of squash with a fork and place in a medium bowl and discard the shells.  Be careful it will be very hot.

4.  Heat butter and oil in a large saucepan over medium heat.  Add onions and cook about 2 minutes.

5.  Stir in flour.  Reduce heat to low and cook, stirring continually 3-4 minutes.

6.  Add milk and vegetable broth and continue whisking, raising heat to medium/high until is comes to a boil and becomes smooth and thick, about 2 minutes.  You can season here with salt and pepper.

7.  Remove from heat once thick and add the cheddar cheese.  Mix well until cheese is melted.

8.  Pour cheese mix over the spaghetti squash and mix together.  Pour into prepared baking dish (11x7) and sprinkle with Parmesan on top.

9.  Bake until bubbly and golden, about 25-30 minutes.  I like to broil the top for about a minute.

* For an easy clean up, line the baking dish with foil and spray with non stick spray.

This can also be frozen as well after baking.

Grown up Tacos (aka Chickpea tacos)

We all love Taco Tuesdays!  This is a dish that brings back Taco Tuesday as a vegetarian option and you don't miss the meat.

Since we are vegetarian at home, I had to find ways to incorporate our favorite food and still be healthy and meatless.  Yes, there are ground meatless meat options that have "mexican" spices.  However, those options often have soy and I am trying to cut back on my soy intake for health reasons.  I found this great recipe and have adapted it to our liking.

Some tips regarding the recipe:

- When you sauté the chickpeas, you are only heating them through, not cooking them.  Be careful as you only want to evaporate the liquid, not dry out the chickpeas.

- Top them with something moist, such as guacamole or plain greek yogurt (sour cream works too).

Recipe:
Adapted from: Coffee and Quinoa

1 tsp vegetable oil
1 garlic clove, minced
1/4 red onion, minced
2 cups cooked chickpeas (aka Garbanzo beans), drained and rinsed
4 tsp taco seasoning or 1/2 packet of your favorite taco seasoning mix
1/4 cup water
2 Tablespoons cilantro

Instructions:

1.  In a small bowl, combine taco seasoning and water.
2. In a large pan, heat oil over medium heat.  Once heated, add garlic and onion and sauté until onion is soft, 3-4 minutes.
3. Pour in chickpeas and taco seasoning, stir to combine.  Sauté, stirring occasionally, until the chickpeas are heated through and some water is evaporated, 2-3 minutes.
4.  Serve in taco shells, with guacamole, plain yogurt, lime wedge, chopped lettuce and cheese.
* We baked the taco shells with some shredded cheese inside until it was melted so the cheese won't fall out.

Homemade Taco Seasoning

Do you ever need something that you forgot at the store and then search online to find out if you can make it yourself?  Well I did that with taco seasoning and I've never gone back.  I keep this on hand at all times.  The best part, I know what is going inside and I can control the level of spice.  As some of you may know, I do not do much heat or spice with many foods.  My husband doesn't mind, thankfully.  He will usually add more spice to the dish after its been cooked.

Yes, spices can be expensive.  However, in the bulk sections they can be much cheaper.  For example, at our local Natural Grocers we got almost a half pound of chili powder for $3.43, it almost felt like I was stealing it.  Of course this will last us for awhile, but at least we got it for a decent price and anything not going in our spice drawer, will be refrigerated for future use.

Ingredients:

6 teaspoons chili powder
5 teaspoons paprika
4 1/2 teaspoons cumin
2 1/2 teaspoons onion powder
1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (I will go 1/8 for a little less heat)
1 teaspoon salt
1/5 teaspoon black pepper

Directions:

1. Whisk all ingredients together in a small bowl.
2.  Store in a glass jar.  I use a small jelly jar and label with the details.

Use 7 teaspoons of mix for 1 packet of store bought package.

Black Bean and Quinoa

This is a dish can be served many different ways.  I like this recipe as it is a one skillet dish and it is easy to make if you need to serve something in a snap.  This dish has a ton of protein with the quinoa and the black beans.

A quote from a co worker of mine "I would not miss meat with this dish".

Ingredients

1 teaspoon vegetable oil
1 onion, chopped
1 1/2 teaspoons minced garlic
3/4 cup uncooked rinsed quinoa
1 teaspoon cumin
1 1/12 cups vegetable broth
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper (if you want spicier increase to 1/4 tsp)
1 tablespoon lime juice
1 cup frozen corn
2 cans of black beans (15 ounce each) drained and rinsed
1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped

Toppings
Shredded Cheese
Guacamole
Plain yogurt, or sour cream
Salsa
Tomatoes

Directions:

1. Rinse the quinoa in a strainer.  This helps to take out the bitter taste on the outside of the seed.  (Quinoa is a seed, not a grain.  Ill leave that for another post). 

2. Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat.  Stir in the onion and garlic.  Saute until the onion is soft and almost opaque.  Maybe about 5 minutes.

3. Add the quinoa and vegetable broth to the pan.  Add the cumin and cayanne pepper.  Bring mixture to a boil and then cover, reduce heat, and simmer for 20 minutes.

4. Stir in lime juice and frozen corn into the pan and simmer for 5 minutes or until the corn is heated through.

5.  Transfer the quinoa mixture into a big mixing bowl and combine the black beans and cilantro.

Makes at least 5 servings.  If making as tostadas makes about 10 servings.

This can be served as tostadas (pictured above), burritos, tacos or you can just enjoy it the way it is.

About Me

Hi! Welcome to Ingredients to Dishes! My name is Nicole and am currently living in Omaha, Nebraska.  I started this blog to share recipes with friends and family.  We try and live a healthy and green lifestyle.  My husband is vegetarian and...I am not.  When cooking at home, I am vegetarian.  If we go out to dinner I will have meat.  Most of the recipes that I will share are recipes that myself and my husband prepare for our family.

I grew up with very little home cooking and it has taken me a long time to learn to cook for myself and husband.  I have made some really bad meals and more recently some very good meals.  You know the ones that make you want to do a happy dance because you realize "Maybe I really can cook after all!"  I am excited to share this journey with you.

We currently have 5 laying hens and we have a large organic garden with herbs and veggies.  No, we are not on a farm, we live in the middle of the city!  We are planning on building a greenhouse soon with hydroponics to allow us to grow veggies year round.