HAM DINNER on the HALF PEEL

2 large sweet potatoes
1/4 cup pecan halves
1 Tbl. maple syrup
2 Tbl. butter
1/4 cup sour cream
1 cup ham, cooked and diced
1/2 cup peas, fresh or frozen

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Wash potatoes and cut off ends; do not dry. Place potatoes in a 10" cast-iron skillet and bake for 1 hour.
3. In a small cast-iron skillet, combine pecans and maple syrup. Simmer for 5 minutes or until syrup becomes candied; set aside.
4. Carefully cut potatoes in half lengthwise. Scoop out insides and put in a medium bowl; set skins aside. Add butter, sour cream, ham, and peas; mix well.
5. Place potato skins in the 10" cast-iron skillet and fill with potato mixture. Arrange candied pecans on top. Continue baking for 15 minutes.
Makes 4 servings

-mama Vinton

STUFFED ACORN SQUASH with SWEET POTATO, POLENTA & SAUSAGE

2 acorn squash, halved and seeded
2 small sweet potatoes
1/2 lg. ground sweet Italian sausage
2 cups water
1 cup polenta (corn meal)
1 1/4 cups milk
2 Tbl. brown sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
2 Tbl. butter
4 tsp. maple syrup

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Place squash halves face down in a large glass baking dish with 1" of water in the bottom. Pierce potatoes in several places with fork and wrap in foil. Bake squash for 45 minutes and potatoes for 1 hour. Peel potatoes and mash with fork.
3. Meanwhile, cook sausage in a small cast-iron skillet; set aside.
4. In a large saucepan, bring water to a boil. Add polenta, whisking continuously. Cook for 5 minutes; reduce heat to low. Add milk; stir and cook for 5 minutes. Add potatoes, sausage, brown sugar, and salt to polenta; mix well.
5. Place squash halves in a 10" cast-iron skillet and add 1/2 Tbl. butter and 1 tsp. maple syrup to each one; spoon in polenta mixture and sprinkle cinnamon on top. Return to oven and bake for 15 minutes.
Makes 4 servings.
Yummy ... enjoy.
-mama Vinton

Edie's salad

This is a salad brought to us by Edie (in our ward) when I had Holden...delicious. No set amount of ingredients..just whatever amount you like. I just made up the amounts I like..so adjust to taste. It makes alot, but stores great for a couple days even.

-Spinach (whole clump)
-green onions (3-4)
-mandarin slices
-snow peas or sugar snap
-1 can of artichoke hearts
-red grapes
-chicken (i cook it in a fry pan w/a little olive oil and lemon juice)
-cooked spiral pasta (however much you add makes it a green salad or a pasta salad..your call :))
-sliced cucumbers

Dressing:
1-2 T dried Parsley
1/2 C canola oil
1/4 c sugar (probably can add alot less, since most of it doesn't dissolve and sits in the bottom of jar)
2 T white wine vinegar
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp onion (diced very small)
1 tsp. lemon

Not so low fat Tomato Soup

Tuscan Tomato Soup
3 T Olive Oil
2 Large Onions, diced small
5 cups diced, seeded (optional) Tomatoes
3 C Chicken broth
1 1/2 C whipping cream
1 C. Basil pesto
TT Salt and Pepper

Heat Oil in a large soup pot, add onions and cook over moderately low heat until completely translucent. Add tomatoes and allow to simmer. Add chicken stock and simmer for at least 15 minutes. Add whipping cream and pesto. Blend to desired consistency in a blender (I use one of those hand milkshake blender things right in the pot and it works awesome). Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper.

So its not super healthy, but its veggies and it is sooooooo delicious :)

-Emily

Easy Peazy Lemon Squeezy Ideas (thanks Joshua)

Hello all. Sometimes we use a lot of fruits and veggies in our meals, and as I've been thinking about this blog, I hope it may be valuable to someone if I share how we do it ... really easy.

First, we go to Sunflower Market or Costco or Walmart or the local grocery store and stock up on fruits, vegetables, and nuts. (We already have grains and legumes in food storage). Then, we determine not to let anything fresh go to waste.

Breakfast: On our hot, or cold, cereal we add frozen berries, or bananas, or chopped apple, and chopped nuts. Sometimes we even add avacado and/or tomatoe. Agave nectar or Costco's maple syrup makes a delicious sweetener. Often we add yogurt when we like. We just add fresh, living food to our breakfast. We top it off with orange juice, and a piece of toast if desired.

Lunch: Veggie sticks (carrots, celery, radishes, peppers, jicama, etc.) are a part of almost every lunch. Also, a piece of fruit can be eaten between breakfast and lunch, or between lunch and dinner. On our yummy sandwiches (yummy because I like to use fresh San Francisco sourdough bread from Costco), we add lettuce, tomatoe, sprouts, or cucumber or whatever. A wrap can be assembled quickly with veggies and leftovers and salsa. We just make sure we add fresh, living food to our lunch.

Dinner: My mother always! served a raw vegetable salad with dinner ... mostly a green salad. I try to do the same. And we have a vegetable with dinner too ... like brocolli or beans or some green leafy thing. Why do we try to serve fresh, raw fruits and vegetables with every meal???? Because they keep our gut moving, but more importantly to help digest the food we eat. Raw fruits and vegetables have enzymes which digest foods. The less processed, the better ... as it will keep us young and strong longer.

With that said, I share with you a recipe which has lots of veggies, but they are not raw :( Soooo, serve a green salad with it!

ROASTED VEGETABLE LINGUINE WITH TORN FRESH BASIL - serves 6

2 cups sliced shiitake mushrooms (or other cheaper ones)
1/2 lb. fresh or frozen asparagus, cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces
1 small onion, coarsely chopped (1 cup)
2 Tbs. olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced (2 tsp)
1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes
2 cups cherry tomatoes
1/2 cup white cooking wine
1/2 13.25-oz. pkg. linguine
1/2 C. torn fresh basil leaves

1. Preheat oven to 450. Toss together first 6 ingredients in large roasting pan. Roast 20 minutes, or until mushrooms and onions begin to brown, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking. (I wonder, Matt, if they could be roasted on the grill?)
2. Add tomatoes to pan, and roast 7-10 minutes more, or until tomatoes shrivel and soften. Transfer veggies to bowl. Add cooking wine to roasting pan, stirring to scrape off any stuck-on bits from bottom of pan. Return roasting pan to oven 5 minutes, and let wine cook off.
3. Meanwhile, prepare pasta according to package directions. Drain pasta and reserve 1/2 cup cooking water. Stir reserved cooking water into reduced wine in roastin pan.
4. Return pasta to pot. Add wine mixture and vegetables, and toss over medium-low heat until heated through. Season with salt and pepper, if desired. Stir in torn fresh basil leaves, and serve immediately.

-mom Vinton

Marinated Veggies

Maughan's Marinated Veggie Salad

4 Cups Sliced Zucchini

2 C. sliced yellow squash

2 C. cut up broccoli

1 1/2 C cauliflower

1 C. sliced carrots

1 C purple onion

1 C halved cherry tomatoes

1/2 C sliced mushrooms

Marinate overnight in : 2 C Olive oil, 1 C white vinegar, 1/2 C red wine vinegar, 1/2 C lemon juice, 1/8 C salt, 1 tsp Oregano, 1 tsp dehydrated onion, 1 tsp fresh garlic

To begin

Well I finally took a few minutes to get the blog started we discussed at Christmas. On this blog I would like to invite all to post recipes that add more veggies to our diets. They don't necessarily need to be all vegetarian...just have a lot of the good stuff in them. I would like to invite April to post her acorn squash recipe :). Hopefully this can help us all enjoy those fresh vegetables a little more as we find delicious ways to add them to our diets. Just email me for the sign in info and then post away! Thanks all