Delicious and Zesty Carrot Soup

Fall means soup – here’s another great soup recipe that the kids will enjoy!

Ingredients:
1 ¼ cups of water
3 cups carrots, peeled and sliced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
grated zest of 1 orange
juice of 1 lemon
1 ¼ cups orange juice
For thinning: 1 ¼ cups of water or milk

Instructions:
In a large saucepan, bring water to a boil. Add garlic, orange zest, orange juice and carrots and simmer for about 20 minutes or until the carrots are tender. Then add the lemon juice and turn off the heat. When the mixture has cooled off a bit, blend until mixture is creamy. Reheat, but don’t bring to a boil, and mix in another 1 ¼ of either water or milk.

Your kids will love the color of this fruity soup. Serve with nice crusty bread.

Orange Vinaigrette

A lovely sweet dressing sure to help encourage all your kids to eat their veggies!

Yields: ½ cup
Ingredients:
1 clove garlic, chopped
2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
2 tbsp white vinegar
1 tsp sugar
½ tsp salt
Freshly ground pepper
¼ cup orange juice
2 tbsp vegetable oil

Instructions:
Using a food processor, firstly mix and chop garlic and parsley, then add the vinegar, sugar, salt and pepper. Slowly add the vegetable oil and orange juice with running motor.

This dressing is delicious poured over steamed green vegetables, as a dressing for tossed salads or as a marinade.

Three Super-Easy Slow Cooking Recipes

Slow cookers, or crock pots, are wonderful tools in any home kitchen. Not only do they allow you to make a wonderful meal, you don’t even have to be present the entire time it’s cooking! You may want to try one of these three super-easy slow cooking recipes if you’ve never used a slow cooker before.

One meal commonly prepared in a slow cooker is pot roast. While this meal is often traditionally prepared in a cast iron Dutch oven or in the stove, there’s nothing quite like how moist and tender a slow cooker makes the meat.

Slow Cooker Pot Roast

1 rump roast or shoulder roast
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
1 can water
2 cloves minced garlic
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon basil
1 teaspoon oregano
6 small potatoes cut into quarters (red or golden)
1/2 onion, diced (or 1 teaspoon onion powder)
3 cups chopped carrots
3 cups mushrooms, whole or chopped

Begin by removing any large pieces of fat from the roast and put it into a slow cooker set on low. Chop the vegetables so they’re ready when needed. Add the soup, water, herbs, spices, and onions with the roast and let this simmer. When the roast has cooked 3-5 hours, add the rest of the vegetables and allow this to simmer for another 1-2 hours.

Perhaps your family is vegetarian. You can still use the slow cooker for making Vegetarian Chili.

1 – 16 ounce tomato sauce
1 – 32 ounce kidney beans, drained
1 – 16 ounce canned corn
1 onion, chopped
1 crushed clove of garlic
1 sliced green pepper
1 chopped tomato
2 teaspoons of chili powder
1 teaspoon of cumin
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon of salt

Add all ingredients into the slow cooker and stir them. Put the cover on the slow cooker and cook on high for 3 to 4 hours. This will make 6 to 8 servings and is great for leftovers, if you have any.

For those who like dessert with their meals, you can use your slow cooker for that, too. Here’s a recipe for Blueberry Cobbler:

1/2 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar – divided
1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
1 pinch each salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg
1 beaten egg
1 tablespoon of milk
1 tablespoon of vegetable oil
2 cups of blueberries
1/4 cup of water

In a small bowl, combine flour, half of the sugar, baking powder, and spices. Combine eggs, milk, and oil in another small bowl then pour this mixture into the dry ingredients until it’s moistened. Grease the slow cooker on the bottom and sides and then spread the batter on the bottom of the cooker.

On the stove, over medium heat, combine the blueberries, water and the other half of the sugar. Bring this mixture to a boil and then remove it from the heat. Pour the berries into the slow cooker and cook on high for two hours. Turn off the cooker after the two hours, uncover it, and then allow it to set for at least 30 minutes before serving. You may want to serve with vanilla ice cream, home-made or store-bought.

Slow cookers are great for those days you want to have dinner waiting for you due to time constraints, but they’re also good for making dessert. If you try one of these three super-easy slow cooking recipes, you may find the slow cooker is one tool you’ll want to have in your kitchen.

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Ham Fried Rice

Another simple and fast meal to serve with many ingredients that you probably already have on hand! Enjoy!

Ingredients:
4 cups of cooked rice
1/2 cup cooked ham, cubed
1/2 cup green onions, chopped
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
1 clove of garlic, minced
Dash of Tabasco sauce
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup fresh parsley, snipped
1/2 snap peas
1/2 cup carrots, chopped

Method:
In a wok, melt butter and sauté onions, carrots and parsley for about 2 minutes. Vegetables should be tender, but still be crunchy. Add the remaining ingredients and stir until well combined. Cook until the rice is hot.

Enjoy this delicious meal with the whole family!

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Cauliflower Bake

Make this wonderful and easy dish – super healthy too!

Ingredients:
2 tbsp butter, unsalted
4 cloves garlic, minced or mashed
2 eggs, beaten
2 cups cauliflower, chopped
1/2 yellow onion
1 cup parmesan cheese
5 slices bacon, crisp and crumbled

Method:
Preheat oven to 350F. Grease oven baking dish

In a skillet, heat butter and sauté onions and garlic until onions are tender and slightly golden. Add cauliflower and cook for another minute. Transfer to grease baking dish

Combine eggs, parmesan cheese and crumbled bacon in separate bowl. Spoon into the greased baking dish, then bake for 1 hour.

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