Ranch Stew

A perfect stew for a chilly Sunday evening (aka every week in Wyoming)!

Ingredients:
2-3 lbs beef chunks
2 cups carrots, in chunks
1 cup celery, chopped
4 potatoes, peeled and cubed
2 onions, cut into wedges
1 package stew seasoning
1 Tbs sugar
3 Tbs quick-cooking tapioca
1 jar canned tomatoes
2 Tbs cooking sherry

Directions:
1. Put all ingredients in a kettle or dutch oven with a lid that can be put into the oven.
2. Bake 5 hours at 300 degrees.

Egg Rolls

Famous Egg Rolls

These egg rolls are a family favorite and are a crowd-pleaser for any type of party. The recipe makes a lot...but it is hard not to eat at least 8 in one sitting...so that's a good thing. 

Ingredients: (I know you might think some of these are odd or disgusting...but you simply can't take them out of the recipe or they just won't turn out right...I promise!)

1 can (4.5oz) shrimp; drained and chopped

1 lb ground pork, cooked and drained

1 can (6 oz) chicken, drained and chopped

1/2 cup mushrooms, chopped

4-6 green onions, chopped

1/2 green pepper, chopped

1 large head Chinese cabbage, chopped

1 can (6 oz) water chestnuts, drained and chopped

1/3 cup bean sprouts, chopped

3 Tbsp cooking sherry

2 tsp grated ginger root

1 tsp sugar

1/2 tsp salt

2 packages egg roll wrappers

1. Combine all ingredients.

2. Roll in egg roll wrappers.

3. Fry in hot oil.

4. Serve with soy sauce, hot mustard, and sweet and sour sauce. 

Pita Pizzas

Pita Pizza

These pita pizzas were the original creation of Dean and have become a favorite in our house. We eat them often and love them, and so does everyone we've fed them to.  You can also use it as a main dish or an appetizer. 

4 whole wheat pitas- we prefer to get them at Fred Meyer cause they are low calorie
1/2 cup sundried tomato pesto*
6 roma tomatoes
1/2 cup feta cheese, crumbled
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
Salt and Pepper, to taste

Spread pesto on pitas.  Top with tomatoes.  Salt and pepper to taste.  Sprinkle cheeses on top.  Cook in preheated oven at 350 for 10 minutes.  Then, broil on high for 2 minutes, or until crispy.

That's it!  Enjoy!  Depending on your pita, tomato, etc., these range from 270 to 300 calories or so.

*What, you don't have a stash of sundried tomato pesto?  Well, here's my recipe

Blend together in food processor until smooth:

8 oz. sundried tomatoes packed in oil, drained
1 Tbsp. minced garlic
2 tsp. dried basil (or fresh equivalent)
2 tsp. dried parsley (or fresh equivalent)
1 packet onion soup mix
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

Roasted Vegetable Pasta in Lemon Cream Sauce

Roasted Vegetable Pasta in Lemon Cream Sauce

Before anyone freaks out about the word "cream" here, let me tell you this recipe is super low calorie.  And it's filling!  It's also really pretty, but my phone really doesn't do it justice. Enjoy!

4 tsp. olive oil, divided
2 small onions or 1 large onion
10 cloves garlic (this number is negotiable, but we really like garlic)
1 head broccoli
1 bunch asparagus
1 pint cherry tomatoes
2 bell peppers (not green)
1/2 tsp. oregano
1/2 tsp. basil
1/2 tsp. thyme
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1/2 tsp. salt (or to taste)
1/4 cup flour
1 1/2 cup water
2 Tbsp. lemon juice
2 cubes chicken bouillon
5 oz. rotini pasta*
2 Tbsp. heavy cream

1. Chop the onions into small pieces.  Add to skillet with 1 tsp. olive oil.  Crush the garlic.  Heat slowly, allowing onions to caramelize.

2. Chop broccoli, asparagus and peppers into bite sized pieces (as shown).  Put all three into a bowl with tomatoes and remaining olive oil.  Toss with a little salt and pepper to coat.  Transfer vegetables to glass baking dish and roast at 450 for 30-40 minutes, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are nice and roasty.

3. While stirring onions frequently, add oregano, basil, thyme, pepper and salt.  Once onions are caramelized, add flour (like a roux).  Once flour is incorporated, add water, bouillon and lemon juice.  Boil until mixture thickens and turn to simmer.

4. Cook pasta according to directions.  (We do this simultaneously with step 3.)

5. Once vegetables are nice and roasted and pasta is soft, drain the pasta and remove vegetables from the oven.  Add the cream to the sauce.  Then add the pasta and vegetables and stir together.  Serve hot with a tiny bit of parmesan sprinkled on top.

*We use Barilla white fiber pasta.  Trust me, it's worth the extra couple cents (it's still cheap!).  It has more protein and fiber than normal pasta but tastes just like your average rotini.  It's seriously a miracle.

Calories per serving: 325.  Fat: 8g. Carbohydrates: 54g. Protein: 9g. Fiber: 9g.  (NOTE: Calories do not include parmesan.  We calculated the calories using the Barilla white fiber pasta.)

Vegetarian Stuffed Peppers

Vegetarian Stuffed Peppers

Okay, so these were a date night invention. I thought they were pretty darn good. 

Ingredients:

1.5 cups wild rice, uncooked
6 sweet red peppers
2 red onions
1-2 tsp. olive oil
4 (or so) large cloves garlic
3/8 cup walnuts, chopped
2 oz. dried apricots, chopped
5 oz. gorgonzola crumbles

Directions:

1. Prepare rice as directed.

2. While rice is cooking, caramelize onions in olive oil. Add garlic once onions begin to soften and turn a nice brown.

3. Preheat oven to 350F.

4. Once onions and garlic are nice and caramelized, cut tops off peppers. Hollow out seeds and rind.

5. Add rice to onions. Mix in apricots and walnuts and gorgonzola. Stuff peppers with rice mixture and place tops back on.

6. Put peppers in 9x13 dish and fill 1/2 inch full of water. Cover with aluminum foil. Bake 35 to 40 minutes. Remove aluminum foil and bake for 15 more minutes, or until tops are brown to black.

Banana Curry Sauce

Here is an interesting but amazing curry that we recently tried and loved. We roasted up some zucchini, summer squash, cauliflower, and carrots to mix with the sauce and served it over Basmati rice. I didn't think I was going to like this curry because it looked odd but I ended up loving every bite.

Sauce Ingredients
1 tsp. olive oil
4 small bananas; quartered
2 shallots; quartered
4 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 sweet onion
2 Tbs. curry powder
2 cups vegetable or chicken broth
2 Tbs. rice vinegar
1 Tb. honey
Salt to taste
1 dash cayenne pepper

Directions
1. Saute bananas, shallots, garlic, and onion in olive oil over medium heat until the onion is softened-- about 5 minutes. Stir in curry powder. Add broth and simmer for about 5 minutes.

2. Pour the cooked mixture, rice vinegar, honey, salt, and cayenne in a food processor and pulse until smooth.

3. Add sauce to roasted veggies or chicken and serve over rice.

Lentil Tacos

Here is another simple, vegetarian taco recipe from my friend Emily that tastes delicious!

Lentil Tacos

Ingredients

1 onion, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced (or more if you are a garlic lover like me)

1 teaspoon olive oil

1 cup dried lentils

1 Tablespoon chili powder

2 teaspoons ground cumin

1 teaspoon dried oregano

3 cups chicken or vegetable broth

1 cup salsa

Tortillas or Taco Shells

Lettuce

Tomatoes

Mangoes

Cheese

Sour Cream

Guacamole

Pico 

Any other of your favorite taco toppings

Directions:
In a large, nonstick pan, saute the onion and garlic in oil until tender. Add the lentils, chili powder, cumin and oregano and stir. Add broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat. Cover and simmer for 25-30 minutes--until the lentils are tender.
Uncover and cook for 6-8 more minutes until mixture thickens. Mash lentils slightly. Stir in salsa.
Enjoy!

Broccoli Salad

Broccoli Salad

This is an easy picnic staple that all will enjoy...even those that typically don't enjoy broccoli! :)

Ingredients: 

3 bunches broccoli florets

1 lb bacon, fried and crumbled

1/4 cup craisins

2 Tbls. apple cider vinegar

1 cup Mayo*

1/2 cup sugar

Directions:

1. Cut broccoli into bite sized pieces. 

2. Mix mayo, sugar, and vinegar together. 

3. Pour over the broccoli. 

4. Sprinkle in bacon and craisins and mix.

*Lite mayo tastes fine if you are trying to cut down the calories.

Ratatouille

Ratatouille

This is a recipe Dean first made for me as a surprise date. I had a long and terrible day at work and was really not looking forward to going home and cooking dinner. To my pleasant surprise, as soon as I walked in the door I smelled a delicious dinner already in the oven with the Disney movie Ratatouille on the counter. We ate this delicious, vegetarian, French dish and then got to snuggle up on the couch to watch the movie. Let's just say it made my whole day better! So, without further adieu, here is the recipe adapted from: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/disneys-ratatouille/. 

Ingredients:

Sauce:

1- 6 oz can tomato paste

1 Tbl. dried onion

1/4 cup minced garlic

3/4 cup water

1 tsp olive oil

Brown sugar to taste

Salt to taste (about a tsp.)

Pepper to taste

1-3 dashes cayenne pepper

Veggies: 

1 red pepper, sliced

1 yellow pepper, sliced

1 orange pepper, sliced

1 eggplant, thinly sliced and cut into triangular pieces 

1 zucchini, thinly sliced

1 yellow squash, thinly sliced

3 Roma tomatoes, thinly sliced

Oregano, coriander, thyme, basil, salt, and pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375. Mix sauce ingredients together and place in the bottom of a greased 8x11 casserole dish.

2. Sprinkle spices over veggies and mix them together. Place veggies on top of sauce in alternating order (pepper slice, eggplant slice, tomato slice, pepper slice, squash slice, pepper slice, zucchini slice, etc.)--and if you are feeling lazy and don't care how beautiful it looks, you can just quickly spread the veggies over the top.   

3. Cover with tin foil and cook for about 35 minutes. Remove the tin foil and cook for 10 more minutes or until the veggies are tender and roasted. Enjoy! :)

Sweet Potato Black Bean Tacos

Sweet Potato Black Bean Tacos

These easy and fast to make and delicious to eat vegetarian tacos were masterminded by my wonderful husband, with some adjustment from my brain as well. Together, we came up with one of our favorite recipes. 

Ingredients:

1 large sweet potato

1 large onion

1 can black beans

1 package taco seasoning

Salt, pepper, and garlic powder to taste

Tortillas

Sour Cream, Salsa, etc. for toppings

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400. Peel sweet potato and cut into one inch cubes. Dice onion. Place diced onion and sweet potato onto greased cooking sheet. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Place in oven for about 40 minutes or until the sweet potato is nice and roasted. 

2. Rinse and drain black beans. Place in a skillet on the stove and add the taco seasoning and water (as much as the package calls for). Once the taco seasoning is incorporated, add the roasted sweet potato and onion. Stir together and heat until the taco seasoning reaches your desired consistency. 

3. Serve on tortillas with sour cream, salsa, and any other toppings you like! 

Servings: About 4 large tacos