Pesto Egg Salad

Chop the eggs, pickles, onions then combine everything in a medium size bowl.

3 jumbo hard boiled eggs
2-3 German style pickles (sweet dills)
1/2 med.-lg. Vidalia onion
2-3 big spoonfuls of basil pesto
a tablespoon or two of seedy brown mustard
enough mayonnaise to hold everything together
salt and lots of fresh ground black pepper

This can be spread on flatbread crackers - like I did for lunch today, in pita pocket bread, on plain-smushey white, rye, or sprouted grain bread, or used to stuff a hollowed out tomato.  Mmmmm. . .it's really good! . .Lin

Another Take on my 5 Ingredient Salad

Salads should be a year-'round part of our diets. My original 5 Ingredient Salad is made with tomato, cucumber, avocado, onion and a lettuce mix usually containing romaine, cabbage and spinach. Today I skipped the lettuce but added fresh mushrooms and some peanuts.

This was lunch today, a late lunch, after grocery shopping, voting and a few other stops in town. I found a new tea at Aldi's today.  Pomegranate, Blueberry, Acai berry. I added lemon juice, zest and honey. That was really good with the salad and a ciabatta I made a while ago and froze. I heated up a big piece of that and spread it with Swiss almond cheese spread. Today's salad dressing was Lemon-Olive Oil Dressing. . .Lin

Poached Cod, Potato, Broccoli

I'm not big on traditional waffles, pancakes, cereal, orange juice type breakfasts. Not that I don't like them, I was raised on that sort of breakfast, but once I start eating like that, it's all I crave, and in no time I'd be gaining horrible amounts of weight!

I need less bad carbs and more protein in my diet. The closest I come to that is when I chop frozen berries and cherries then warm them a little and add plain Greek Yogurt and some really good, grainy-nutty granola. Some mornings I'll have dinner leftovers or scrambled eggs with steamed green beans and crumbled bacon. Today I woke up knowing just what I wanted. . .

• 4oz. frozen cod
• 1 sm.-med. red potato
• 1-2c fresh broccoli florets
• Old Bay Seasoning
• 1T butter

In a medium non-stick pan, steam-poach the cod with peeled potato cubes, in about a half-inch of seasoned water, for 4 minutes. Add the broccoli, turn the fish over, cover, and simmer-poach another 4 minutes. Plate the fish, add butter to the vegetables, stir to coat them with the remaining seasoned water and butter and add them to the plate. This came together in about 15 minutes, and contains 310 calories. It's great for a healthy, quick breakfast, lunch or dinner!

Think outside your parameters!  Make your menus healthier! . .Lin

Grilled Cheese and Vegetable Sandwich

1 Sandwich Skinny

1 slice American Cheese

finely chopped:

pickle, carrot, onion

1T butter

mayonnise

Fix the sandwich as shown in the first photo, spreading one half with mayonnaise and pressing the cut vegetables into it.  The other side with the cheese.  Put the halves together, butter the top and place the bottom into a heated non-stick pan with melted butter.  Flip when it's sizzling, cover, remove from heat and let the other side 'cook' this way for a couple minutes.  Slice and serve.

What's better than this sandwich made with chopped spicy dill pickles?

MORE pickles to eat with it!!  Sweet and Dill. . .Mmmm. . .Lin

Another Vegetable & Protein Breakfast (Lunch or Dinner) Plate

frozen skinny green beans

1 med. Vidalia onion - chopped

a little water

1T butter

2 hard-boiled eggs - chopped

2t champagne-dill mustard

seasoned salt

Put a big handful of the beans with the next 3 ingredients, together in a medium non-stick pan.  Cover and steam-simmer 5 minutes.  Uncover, add the eggs, mustard and salt.

Stir gently and it's ready in no time!!  Add another couple vegetables, Kimchi, carrot chutney, etc., and you're good to go for several hours.  Have I mentioned lately how much I LOVE VEGETABLES!!  Combine with any good quality protein:  a small chicken breast, some slices of marinated beef, turkey jerky, eggs, a fish filet. . .for breakfast, lunch and dinner and it's always an energy-producing winning combination! . . . Lin

Stirred Eggs with Beans, Sprouts and More Beans

These are a combination of 'fancy' French Lentils I bought at our local Whole Foods Co-Op, here in Duluth, MN and plain brown ones from the grocery store.  I liked that the French Lentils were small and such an interesting teal color.  Are they better than the brown ones you buy in the dried bean section of your grocery store?  I don't think so, but it was fun mixing them together to sprout.

I can't say enough good things about Sprouted Lentils!!  They're very high in protein, fiber, they add so much freshness and crunch to everything you serve them in or with!  Their mild, Peppery Flavor is my favorite of all the sprouts.  I put them in tossed salads, vegetable casseroles, mix them into scrambled eggs, a little ground meat-egg-seasoned bread crumbs-cream and spices to make an interesting burger.  SO many ways to use them!

This is another quick, easy high-protein, breakfast-lunch-or-dinner with lots of vegetables.  The red beans, tomatoes and sprouts were first on the plate and warmed in the microwave.  I simmered the frozen, skinny green beans. (then drained the cooking liquid into a bowl to combine with dry food for my dogs later today)  A little butter, salt, pepper and they're ready.  



The eggs were cracked into some hot butter in a pan, stirred, seasoned with Trader Joe's Chili Lime Seasoning, flipped and plated.  All ready within 10 minutes.  Be Creative!  Do a little kitchen prep, and you'll always have ingredients for Quick Healthy Meals anytime you want them 😉. . .Lin

Coconut-Lime-Wild-Rice-Chicken Soup

2 lg skinless boneless chicken breasts

2-3T coconut oil (melted in the pot)

3 carrots

2c celery with tops

1 med. onion

1 lg. elephant garlic clove

½c organic wild rice

1 lg. lime - juice and zest

6c water

2-3T powdered chicken soup base

Chop-slice then combine the first 7 ingredients in a big soup pot with 1 cup of the water. Simmer over medium heat for 10 minutes. Add remaining ingredients and simmer another 10 minutes. Check, stir and continue to simmer another 45 minutes or longer. This soup is a gentle, clear broth soup, unlike that where a browning and deglazing technique is employed. This is an especially nice, simple recipe for when you're really feeling sick with the flu or a cold. . .Lin

Chunky Chicken Soup-Stew

2# boneless skinless chicken breasts

2T extra virgin olive oil

2T Balsamic vinegar

1lg. onion

3 big ribs of celery

4 big carrots

8-10 baby Yukon gold potatoes

Cut the chicken in large pieces and brown in the olive oil and vinegar with a little finely chopped onion. Cut the remaining piece of onion and all the other vegetables in big pieces. Once the chicken is browned a little add all the vegetables, 5-6 or more cups of chicken broth. Simmer several hours and serve with warm crusty bread. . .Lin

Beef Minestrone

1# stew meat cut in small pieces

2T extra virgin olive oil

½ med. onion – chopped

3 stalks celery – chopped

2 carrots – cut in oblique shapes

28oz. petite diced tomatoes

1T powdered rosemary

1T Old Bay Seasoning

1T beef soup base

12oz. frozen green beans

2 15oz. cans cannellini beans

Brown the meat and onion in olive oil, deglazing pan with water, beef broth, beer or red wine. Do this several times until meat is well browned. Add celery, carrots, tomatoes seasonings and 4-6c water. Simmer on low for about an hour. Add green and white beans and continue to simmer another half hour. Goes well with biscuits, cornbread or crusty bread sticks. . .Lin

Aromatic, Colorful Cabbage Soup

½ a head each of purple and green cabbage

2 lg. carrots – chopped

3 stalks celery – chopped

1 med. onion – chopped or sliced

1 lg. clove elephant garlic – chopped

2T extra virgin olive oil

2T white balsamic vinegar

1 14.5oz. can diced tomatoes and juice

2t Rosemary Seasoning

Chop-slice the cabbage and combine with all the other ingredients in a 4 quart covered kettle. Add half a tomato can of water and Rosemary Seasoning. Stir to combine, cover then and simmer 30 minutes stirring occasionally. At this point add several more cans of water. If you'd rather not use the Rosemary Seasoning, you can substitute chicken or vegetable stock for all the water and seasonings. Simmer covered another 30-60 minutes, stirring occasionally. Check the flavor of the broth and add whatever is needed. Makes enough for 4 hungry people. This is also a great “sick” soup when someone's battling a cold or the flu. . .Lin

Quinoa, Red Beans and Sausage

12oz. venison sausage, kielbasa, etc.

1 sm. onion

½c tri-colored quinoa

1 can red kidney beans

In a 2 quart pan combine cut up sausage, chopped onion and a little butter. Saute' and stir for a few minutes then add the quinoa and 1 – 1½c water. Bring to a low simmer, cover and cook for about 45 minutes. Add drained-rinsed beans just before water evaporates. Cover and simmer another 15 minutes until the quinoa has sprouted little tails indicating it's cooked. Makes about 3 servings. . .Lin

Chicken Soup For A Rainy Day

4 6oz. pieces of boneless, skinless chicken

4c chicken or vegetable broth

3 stalks of celery

1 med. onion

4 lg. cloves of garlic

½# frozen green beans

4-6 pieces of roasted red pepper

Simmer the chicken in chicken broth for half an hour. Cut all the vegetables into chunky pieces and add to the pot. Simmer another hour. Makes 4 servings.
This would be wonderful with some crusty French bread. . .Lin

Talipia, Quinoa and Peas

1c quinoa red or white

2c water, chicken, or vegetable broth

2c frozen peas

Talipia filets

Today I initiated the little rice cooker my daughter bought for me. It's a smart little thing. It took longer than I thought it would, but as soon as it was cooked properly it just shut itself off! All together about 40 minutes, start to finish. If you don't have a rice cooker, just put the water quinoa and peas into a pan. Bring it to a boil, reduce to a simmer, cover and cook until the water has asorbed.

Sprinkle the fish with your favorite seasonings while the quinoa and peas cook. Add the filets to a non-stick pan with a little water or butter. Cook just a few minutes on each side, plate and serve. Makes a nice dinner for 2. . .Lin

Game Day Lunch

This was super easy.

Starting at the top, clockwise; Lemony Red Bean Hummus, raw cauliflower, tomatoes and pickle-ham roll-ups. It was a good lunch and a great game – (Green Bay won.) :-D . . .Lin

Tilapia and Broccoli

4oz. Tilapia filet - thawed

2/3c chicken broth

1 sm. crown of broccoli

Basil-Lime seasoning

fresh ground pepper

fresh ground pink Himalayan salt

Cover the tilapia with seasonings and place in a non-stick pan with the chicken broth. Simmer 5 minutes turning once. Meanwhile, separate the broccoli into florets and slice the stems into a 2qt. pan with about ½” of water in the bottom. Simmer on low-medium 5 minutes. Drain and add seasonings and a little butter. Pour pan drippings over the fish and serve. This recipe is for 1 and can easily be expanded for 2-4. . .Lin

Quick Chicken Salad

1 12.5oz. canned chicken - drained

2 dill pickles - chopped

1 med. onion - chopped

mayonnaise

~ ½c craisins or raisins - optional

~ ½-1t curry powder - optional

~ ½c sunflower kernels - optional

Combine the first 4 ingredients and any of those you want that are optional, in a small-medium bowl.

Serve as is or with a rice cake or pita chips.  Don't forget some vegetables. . .Lin

Carrots, Hummus and a Simple Salad

1 lg. carrot cut into thirds and sliced

½c roasted red pepper hummus

a small simple salad

Cut carrots, rinse and wrap in a double paper towel. Cook in the microwave for one minute. Rinse with cold water, dry and plate next to a mound of hummus. The salad is just a handful of my greens and onion lettuce mix I always have in the 'fridge. Top with tomatoes and your favorite dressing. This idea is great for a quick vegan lunch. Hummus is an excellent source of vegetable protein and healthy fat. . .Lin

Spicy Beans and Sausage

8oz. precooked breakfast sausages

1 lg. onion – finely chopped

1 15.5oz can cannellini beans – rinse and drain

1 28oz. can baked beans with juice

a pinch of cayenne pepper

Chop the sausages up a little and brown them with part of the onion and a little butter in a non-stick pan. Add water when browned, let evaporate and repeat to develop the flavors. After following this procedure 5-10 minutes, add rest of the onion and the beans. Simmer on low 30-90 minutes. The longer it cooks the thicker it will be. Serve with cornbread. . .Lin  

Quick Kale-y Bean Soup

1 bunch of kale, broken up,

~ ~washed and dried well

2 large elephant garlic cloves minced

1 large onion – ½ minced and ½ rough chopped

2T bacon drippings

4oz. smoked turkey lunchmeat, slice-cube

5c± chicken broth

2t cumin powder

salt and pepper if needed

2 cans drained-rinsed white beans

*1c sour cream – optional

Saute' the kale, onion and garlic in bacon drippings. Add meat and stir-fry for 5 minutes or so until kale wilts and everything is well blended and sauted. Add chicken broth, seasonings, white beans and simmer 45 minutes. Add *sour cream at the very end, rewarm and serve. Would be great with crusty Italian bread. . .Lin

Pepper-Garlic Tomato Cream Pasta Sauce

4 mini peppers – seed and slice

1 very large clove of elephant garlic – chop-slice

1t-1T Rosemary Seasoning

1-2T extra virgin olive oil

1-2T white balsamic vinegar

1 can diced tomatoes

1 8oz. can tomato sauce

1-2t sugar

1/2-3/4c sour cream

Combine sliced peppers, garlic, Rosemary Seasoning, olive oil and vinegar in a 2 quart pan. Saute over medium high heat for several minutes. Add tomatoes, tomato sauce and sugar. Stir together, cover and simmer for a half hour. Cool to room temperature then stir in sour cream.  Heat again then serve over al dente cooked pasta. Add a salad and/or some crusty Italian bread. Dinner for two :-) . . .Lin