Crock-Pot Baked Potatoes

Baked Potato with Vegetarian Chili and a side of Broccoli 

It's been hot around here and the last thing I wanted to do was heat up the house making baked potatoes all afternoon... but I REALLY wanted baked potatoes.  I decided to try them out in the crock-pot and I had great success.  After making these I read a variety of reviews saying anything from these turned out great, to they didn't work at all.  All I can say is they turned out great for me, but I suppose you should make them at your own risk.

Crock-Pot Baked Potatoes

Ingredients:

Potatoes

Foil

Crock-Pot

Toppings of Choice

 Make sure each potato is wrapped tightly in foil with no exposed skin.  Cook on low for 8 hours.

Instructions:

Scrub your potatoes well and make sure to dry thoroughly.  Wrap each potato in foil making sure they are tight with no exposed skin.  Place potatoes into crock-pot and cook on low for 8 hours.  When it's time for dinner pop them out, remove the foil, and enjoy your yummy baked potato with your favorite toppings!

 

Be careful, these babies are steamy hot!

Everyone has their favorite baked potato toppings.  Do you love the classic: butter, cheese, bacon, and sour cream?  Are you more a fan of veggie toppings?  I personally am a fan of the chili baked potato which I enjoyed here.  I threw a can of Trader Joe's Vegetarian Chili on the stove and then spooned it onto our potatoes with a side of fresh organic steamed broccoli.  

It was such an easy quick dinner, great for a night when you have somewhere to go and not a lot of prep time.  These tasted just like a baked potato that had been in the oven for hours.  The girls gave them 2 thumbs up and I'd definitely make them again!

 

Creamy Mushroom Pasta {Vegan & Gluten-Free}

Gluten Free Brown Rice Pasta with creamy mushroom and asparagus sauce.

Last week I was in the mood for a creamy pasta, which can be a bit difficult if you can't use dairy.  I decided to just play around and whip something up with some ingredients I had on hand.  You'll have to bear with me since I usually make things up as I go and don't write things down. I didn't decide to blog this until I was about to plate so I'll try my best to remember what I did and be as accurate as I can with the amount of ingredients.


Creamy Vegan Mushroom Pasta

Ingredients:

1 T Earth Balance
1 Onion - Chopped
4 Cloves Garlic - Minced
2 cups Mushrooms
2 cups Asparagus
1 tsp Thyme
Sea Salt & Fresh Ground Pepper - to taste
1/2 - 1 cup Light Veggie Stock (I used one that didn't contain tomato)
1 1/2 cups Unsweetened Coconut Milk
1 tsp Cornstarch
2 tsp Water
1 package Brown Rice Pasta (or pasta of choice)

Occasionally stir cooked pasta with veggie sauce to incorporate flavors.

Instructions:

Melt earth balance in pan and cook onions until they are translucent (about 5-6 mins) add mushrooms (I used a full bag of pre-sliced from TJ's) and cook for about 10 minutes then add asparagus (chopped into 2" pieces) and garlic and cook until asparagus is done.

Add veg stock (I used organic no-chicken broth) as needed to keep veggies from burning.  When veggies are done add the remaining veg stock, thyme, S&P.  Add coconut milk to your sauce - making sure it's unsweetened.

Create your cornstarch mixture by adding 2 tsp cold water to 1 tsp cornstarch in a separate bowl.  Once that's combined add it to your sauce to thicken and stir it all to combine.

In a separate pot boil your water, add salt, and cook your pasta as directed making sure not to overcook.  When pasta is complete strain and transfer pasta to your sauce and mix it to incorporate.  Keep it on low heat for about 5-10 mins while occasionally mixing to incorporate the flavor into the pasta.

Plate and serve immediately enjoying your yummy creamy pasta goodness!

 

Plate and serve immediately then watch it disappear from everyone's plates!

The Path to Clean Eating

For the past 2+ years our family has been moving in a direction towards healthier eating.  It started slowly by just trying to be more aware of what was in our food.  We believe strongly that what we eat and put into our bodies has a direct effect on our health and well being.  I had always shopped at Trader Joe's for a few things here and there, but knowing most of their food was preservative free, and that they cared about the ingredients that went into their food along with a great selection of organic ingredients... I fully made the switch and haven't looked back.

I began finding or developing recipes that used only TJ's ingredients and quickly got the point where I almost never went to the "regular" grocery store.  My shopping is done at TJ's, the farmer's market, and the health food store.  Like many people I also became aware of the amount of meat and dairy we were consuming and stared doing "Meatless Monday's" which led to mostly meatless or vegan cooking.  I'm at the point where almost all the meals I cook are now meatless, aside from the occasional fish or chicken dish about 1-2 times a month.

Despite the fact that we were eating really healthy I was noticing that my health wasn't very good.  I was having almost constant tummy issues and it didn't seem to matter what I ate, I'd almost constantly feel sick.  Just over a month ago I decided I'd had enough.  I decided to go on a 3 day juice fast to cleanse my system, and then move towards a super restricted diet so I could begin to rule out possible food sensitivities or intolerance.  Each day I drank about 48oz of "Mean Green Juice" from the Joe Cross documentary Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead along with about 64oz of water.  After the 3 days of juicing I eliminated gluten, dairy, meat, grains, eggs, corn, processed foods, and sugar.  I ate only fruits, veggies, and nuts for the first 2 weeks and then slowly started adding in other things.  The goal was to feel good and then slowly add new foods to see how I felt and to help determine if they were safe foods or not.  Over the rest of the month I added rice, corn, some meat, and some sugars. 

I wasn't sure what this was going to look like for my family, and that was the most daunting part in the beginning.  I decided to keep their breakfasts and lunches normal and then make dinner for all of us based on my dietary restrictions so we could enjoy dinner as a family.  This meant transitioning to brown rice pasta's, lots of soups, salads, lentils, and mainly veggie based dinners.  Luckily the girls have been fine with everything and have even loved some of the new recipes!

I got a little over-excited at the end of the month when we went out for date night and tried dairy on my gluten free pizza which made me realize I'm definitely lactose intolerant. :-(  I'm hoping to try gluten soon and keeping everything crossed I'll find out that dairy is the source of my troubles and I'll be fine with gluten.  If not though I'll continue on doing the best I can to feed myself and my family so I'm healthy and happy and able to serve them better.  I feel so blessed to have already been on this path so the foods I'm having to make now don't at all seem weird like they would have a few years ago, and many of my standard recipes are already gluten or dairy free. 

I've been on the hunt for gluten free and diary free recipes and plan to post a few of my own as well.  Let me know in the comments if you have food restrictions in your family and how you've dealt with them.  Feel free to link me to any great recipes you love and check back soon for some recipes from me!