Homemade Guacamole - Our Favorite!

We love this guacamole recipe so much so that I'm pretty sure it's been made about 5 times in our home within the last three weeks.  Now the great thing about guacamole is you can make adjustments very easily so if you want a little more of this or a little less of that let your creative juices go!  I do love the garlic powder in this recipe though, and do not skip out on the salt because I forgot to add it once and yep - definitely didn't taste as good.  But besides that this recipe is a keeper!

Homemade Guacamole - Our Favorite!

Ingredients
2 avocados, pitted, peeled and cut into small chunks
1/4 onion, finely diced (red or white)
1 roma tomato, finely chopped
1 tablespoon fresh cilantro, chopped
Juice from 1/2 a lime
1 teaspoon garlic powder
Salt and pepper, to taste

Directions
Mash avocados in a medium size serving bowl then add the diced onion, tomato, and fresh cilantro.  Drizzle the lime juice on top and gently stir.  Add the garlic powder, salt, and pepper and gently stir to combine once more.  Serve immediately.


Recipe Source: from Fantabulosity.

Double Chocolate Muffins

These muffins are more of an afternoon treat than a morning breakfast option.  They definitely have helped me make it through those afternoon slumps.  They're pretty much your own little personal cake, but hey - in no way, shape, or form am I saying you can't eat them for breakfast.  ;)

My little guy thinks they're pretty much so good that they deserve a full smile beforehand... 

...And eyes closed and full attention on the yumminess when you go in for a bite.  Love those chubby hands.

Double Chocolate Muffins
Yield: About 22 regular size muffins

Ingredients
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened just a little
1 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup sour cream
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour, unbleached
2 teaspoons baking powder
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips

Directions
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.  Line muffin tins with paper liners or spray with non-stick cooking spray.

Cream together the butter and sugar until very well combined.  Add the sour cream and vanilla and cream again until light and fluffy - about 2-3 minutes.  Add the eggs one at a time, beating until incorporated between each addition.

In a separate bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, cocoa powder, and salt.  Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture alternately with the milk, in 2-3 increments (1/3 of the flour, half the milk, another third of the flour, half the milk, end with the last 1/3 of the flour).  Stir in the chocolate chips.

Divide batter between the muffin cups and bake right around 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean (a little melted chocolate is fine - the toothpick may hit a melty chocolate chip).



Recipe Source: from The Dough Puncher

Millet Avocado Spinach Salad

Talk about one of my favorite salads!  I love this millet, avocado, spinach creation!  I love how simple this salad is to toss together, yet when I eat it, it has such a variety of textures and flavors that all come together so perfectly... sweet tomatoes, creamy avocados, grainy millet, etc.  Adding the millet also helps fill me up and leaves me feeling satisfied.  I also love how this salad is packed with nutritional value.  The fresh veggies and then the added health benefits of the millet really leave me smiling (literally) knowing I'm doing my body good by eating this.  (Now I just have to not give into the temptation of opening up the cookie tupperware when I put this bowl in the dishwasher.  Sometimes I'm successful, and sometimes not so much.)

Feel free to add beans for an extra protein punch or swap out the red wine vinegar for lemon juice if you'd like.  You can also swap out the millet for quinoa, and as always with most salads, you can add more of what you love and take away a little of what you don't.  Make it to your taste buds desire!  

Millet, Avocado, Spinach Salad

Ingredients
1/2 cup dry millet
1 avocado
2-3 cups baby spinach
10-15 cherry tomatoes
1 green onion

For the Dressing:
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
1 1/2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
salt, to taste

Directions
Cook the millet according to package, or if there's no package just cook it like you cook rice.  I sometimes like to saute it first with a little olive oil and garlic then add some lime juice into the water - like a lime millet (kind of like cilantro lime rice).

Meanwhile make the dressing: In a small bowl whisk together the ingredients and set aside.

Roughly chop the spinach and place in a large bowl.  Halve the cherry tomatoes, slice the green onions, and pit and dice the avocado.

When the millet is done cooking, add it to the spinach and toss.  The spinach may wilt slightly from the warm millet.  Add the tomatoes, onions, and dressing and toss to combine.  Then add the avocado and lightly toss it all together.  You can either serve immediately or refrigerate to allow the flavors to marry together more.

Recipe Source: adapted slightly from The Garden Grazer

Lentil Spinach Soup

Lately I have been enjoying making soups for dinner.  They're usually pretty easy to put together and you can make them ahead of time to try to avoid the crazy rush before dinner.  It's also nice with my kids because they normally don't eat a lot of it, even though I still make them eat a small bowl-full, so that means there are leftovers for Colby and I for lunch the next day, and then I just make easy grilled cheese sandwiches to serve alongside to make sure their tummies are filling up.

I really like this lentil soup because it's all of the above, plus very healthy for you.  Lentils are packed with fiber, protein, and iron, and not to mention inexpensive!  I found this soup filling (probably because of all the lentils) but not heavy which makes it a great soup to serve any time of the year.

Lentil Spinach Soup
Yield: 4-6 servings

Notes: You can also add a can of diced tomatoes (or fresh) and some diced up potatoes to this soup if you'd like!  If you do, I would add them when you add the broth, water, and lentils.

Ingredients
1 onion, diced
4 large carrots, diced
4 cloves minced garlic
2 cups dry lentils, rinsed and drained
4 cups vegetable broth
3 cups water
4 cups spinach
1 1/2 teaspoons cumin
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste

Directions
In a large pot over medium heat, saute onion and carrot for about 5 minutes.  Add garlic, cumin, paprika, and salt.  Continue to saute for another minute.  Add broth, water, and rinsed and drained lentils.  Increase the heat and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for about 25-30 minutes, until lentils are tender.  Towards the end of the cooking time roughly chop the spinach.  Once soup is done turn off the heat and add the spinach.  Cover again and allow the spinach to cook for just a few minutes, until it's wilted the way you like.  Add more salt to taste and enjoy.

Recipe Source: adapted slightly from The Garden Grazer