Revolution of Love

Revolution of Love

Do small things with great love.

Pinterest Party & Link-up (Vol 21): Sneaky Spaghetti Sauce with Pureed Veggies

Welcome to the RoL Pinterest Party. Join me every 2nd and 4th Tuesday as we link up and share how we made, cooked, baked, crafted, planned, organized, followed or created one of the pins on our Pinterest boards OR share something original that others can pin onto their boards.

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Sneaky Spaghetti with Pureed Veggies


The original recipe appeared on Mommy’s Kitchen.net.

When I saw this recipe on Pinterest I thought it would be perfect for certain kiddos of mine that have a hard time eating their veggies. I was also excited to try out my new food processor so choosing this sneaky spaghetti was a no brainer. I started out by steaming the veggies I would be using in the sauce – zucchini, carrots, celery, red and green peppers. Here is the recipe with my notes.

Ingredients:
1 – lb ground turkey
2 – sweet Italian sausage links, remove casings (I used chicken sausage with no additives/nitrates.)
1 – small to medium onion, chopped
2 – cloves garlic, minced (I doubled the garlic.)
1 – orange, green or yellow bell pepper, seeded and pureed
1/2 – cup carrots, shredded or pureed
1/2 – cup zucchini, shredded or pureed
1 – medium rib of celery, chopped or pureed
1 – 28 oz can Italian style tomatoes in puree
1 – 14 oz can Italian diced tomatoes, with juice (I didn’t have Italian style so I used fire roasted tomatoes and just added a bit more basil.)
1 – 6 oz can tomato paste
1/2 – cup water (if using frozen pureed veggies omit the water)
2 – 3 tablespoon sugar (I used unrefined coconut sugar.)
1 – bay leaf
1 – teaspoon dried basil
1/2 – tablespoon dried oregano
1/2 – teaspoon crushed thyme
1 – teaspoon salt
1 – 16 oz package spaghetti noodles (I used whole wheat pasta.)

Directions:

In a large sauce pan, crumble the turkey and Italian sausage. Add the onion and garlic and cook over medium heat until the meat is cooked through. Drain off any fat. Add the meat mixture to a 4 – 6 qt crock pot.

Stir in the tomato paste and all the canned tomatoes. Use a large spoon to break up the whole tomatoes. Stir in the pureed vegetables (bell pepper, carrots, zucchini, celery).

Add the spices, sugar, water and bay leaf. Cover and cook on low for 6 – 8 hours. Stirring occasionally. Serve over cooked pasta.

Shredded Vegetables:
If using shredded vegetables add the carrots, celery and zucchini when the meat mixture is fully cooked and drained. Continue to cook, stirring, until the vegetables are limp, about 5 minutes.

Recipe yields: 6 -8 servings

The spaghetti was thick, chunky and delicious. Although there is a little more prep time to this recipe, everyone loved it and it tasted even better as leftovers. This will now be my go to recipe for spaghetti, especially if I have extra veggies I need to use up. 🙂

If you have any other favorite recipes for sneaking in veggies, let me know in the comments.

If you are on Pinterest, let me know so I can follow you. You can find me here: http://pinterest.com/rol_bobbi/. 🙂

* * * * *

Now it’s your turn.

1. Choose your creation, share about it and snap a photo if you can.

2. In your post, link back the original blogger/idea, rather than your Pinterest pin. That way credit goes to the proper person. 🙂 (But feel free to add your Pinterest profile link so we can follow you!)

3. Add a link back here so others can play along.

4. If you want to use it, here is the html code for the logo:

<a href=”http://www.flove.com/blog/?p=2157″><img title=”Revolution of Love Blog – Pinterest Party &amp; Link-up” src=”http://www.revolutionoflove.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/pinterest_2_medW32-300×240.jpg” alt=”” width=”300″ height=”240″ /></a>

5. Link up below. Make sure you’re sending us to your actual post, and not to your general blog address.

The link up will be active for 10 days. Have fun!

PS – You can follow RoL on Bloglovin, Feedly or another news feed. If you are a social media fan like me, we can stay in touch through Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, GoodReads or Instagram. 😉



Pinterest Party & Link-up (Vol 20): Gluten Free Black Bean Brownies


Welcome to the RoL Pinterest Party. Join me every 2nd and 4th Tuesday as we link up and share how we made, cooked, baked, crafted, planned, organized, followed or created one of the pins on our Pinterest boards OR share something original that others can pin onto their boards.

* * * * *

THE PIN: Gluten Free Black Bean Brownies


I first saw this recipe on my sister-in-law Maria’s Facebook page and I was less than enthused. Black beans?? Sounds gross. But I couldn’t help but wonder how something that looks so yummy be that bad.Curiosity got he best of me and I decided to make a batch for the kids’ Sunday treat. I didn’t want to use a recipe with regular sugar but I figured I had better follow it the first time then I could experiment the second time. So for the sugar I used 1/2 the amount white sugar and 1/2 the amount unrefined coconut sugar.

The original recipe appeared on Hip2Save.com.

Ingredients

1 (15.5 ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
3 eggs
3 tablespoons coconut oil or vegetable oil
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 pinch salt
1/2 cup chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease an 8×8 pan. Place beans in food processor and process until mashed. Add eggs, vanilla, cocoa powder, baking powder, salt, sugar and oil. Process until smooth. Pour into pan and sprinkle chocolate chips on top. Bake for 30-35 minutes.


The recipe is really easy but unfortunately I do not have a food processor. I tried using my blender but it wasn’t strong enough. I landed out mashing the heck out the beans with a fork. It worked fairly well, except that there were a few small pieces of bean skin that I had to pick out. As far as taste, they were actually really good. The texture was different from a normal brownie, it was more crumbly, best eaten with a fork.


However, the kids had no issues with them and gobbled them up! 🙂


* * * * *

Now it’s your turn.

1. Choose your creation, share about it and snap a photo if you can.

2. In your post, link back the original blogger/idea, rather than your Pinterest pin. That way credit goes to the proper person. 🙂 (But feel free to add your Pinterest profile link so we can follow you!)

3. Add a link back here so others can play along.

4. If you want to use it, here is the html code for the logo:

<a href=”http://www.flove.com/blog/?p=2157″><img title=”Revolution of Love Blog – Pinterest Party &amp; Link-up” src=”http://www.revolutionoflove.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/pinterest_2_medW32-300×240.jpg” alt=”” width=”300″ height=”240″ /></a>

5. Link up below. Make sure you’re sending us to your actual post, and not to your general blog address.

The link up will be active for 10 days. Have fun!

Lastly, you can follow me on Pinterest here: http://pinterest.com/rol_bobbi/. 🙂


PS – You can follow RoL on Bloglovin, Feedly or another news feed. If you are a social media fan like me, we can stay in touch through Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, GoodReads or Instagram. 😉



In the Kitchen: Carrot Apple Muffins

Today is Day 6 of my participation in Jen’s 7 Posts in 7 Days Challenge.

Since we no longer have our traditional donuts after Sunday Mass, on Saturday I have to make sure that I bake a healthier treat for Sunday morning. And since my mom was asking for the recipe of the carrot apple muffins I made, I thought I’d post it today. So here you go, mom. 🙂

I found this recipe for Carrot Apple Muffins on the Whole Foods website and I altered it a little.

Ingredients:

  • 1 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
  • 1/4 cup sugar(I used unrefined coconut sugar, which is more natural than regular sugar.)
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon non-aluminum baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
  • 1 cup grated carrots
  • 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
  • 1/4 cup chopped apple
  • 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
  • 1/4 cup lowfat buttermilk
  • 1/4 cup canola or safflower oil
  • 1 teaspoon real vanilla extract
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly oil a 12-cup standard muffin tin or use muffin papers. Set aside. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
In a separate bowl, combine carrots, applesauce, apple, eggs, butter milk, oil and vanilla. Add half the carrot mixture to the flour mixture, stir until blended then add the rest of the carrot mixture.
Spoon batter into muffin cups and bake about 20 minutes or until a toothpick in the center of a muffin comes out clean. Serve warm. (I used my new “heart” muffin pans that I bought for Valentine’s Day.)
The muffins are good but only slightly sweet. I drizzled a little honey on the plate for added sweetness. 🙂

PS – You can follow RoL on Bloglovin, Feedly or another news feed. If you are a social media fan like me, we can stay in touch through Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, GoodReads or Instagram. 😉


Pinterest Party & Link-up (Vol 19): Banana Honey Oatmeal Cookies

This is Day 2 of my participation in Jen’s 7 Posts in 7 Days Challenge.

Welcome to the RoL Pinterest Party. Join me every 2nd and 4th Tuesday as we link up and share how we made, cooked, baked, crafted, planned, organized, followed or created one of the pins on our Pinterest boards OR share something original that others can pin onto their boards.

* * * * *

THE PIN: Banana Honey Oatmeal Cookies

We continue our journey to cut down/cut out the processed food and eat “real” food and I am cooking from scratch more. I have been looking for baked treats I can make the kids that don’t use white flour or sugar and yet doesn’t taste like sawdust. My sister sent me a recipe of cookies that her family loves. We tried them and they were delicious. Here it is.

Banana Honey and Oatmeal Cookies Preparation

Mix in large bowl…

3 cups whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 cup honey

Cut in…

1 cup coconut oil (you don’t need to melt it first)

In a separate bowl mix…

2 eggs (room temp)
2 cups mashed bananas

Add egg mixture to flour/coconut oil mixture.

Stir in…

3 1/2 cups of old fashioned oatmeal
1 cup chocolate chips
1/4 cup of chia seeds

Scoop them with a little ice cream scoop and bake for 8-10 mins at 375 degrees.

Yum!! I followed the directions except that I landed out using 1/2 coconut oil and 1/2 canola oil. They still came out fine and everyone loved them. Thanks for the recipe, sis!

* * * * *

Now it’s your turn.

1. Choose your creation, share about it and snap a photo if you can.

2. In your post, link back the original blogger/idea, rather than your Pinterest pin. That way credit goes to the proper person. 🙂 (But feel free to add your Pinterest profile link so we can follow you!)

3. Add a link back here so others can play along.

4. If you want to use it, here is the html code for the logo:

<a href=”http://www.revolutionoflove.com/blog/?p=2157″><img title=”Revolution of Love Blog – Pinterest Party &amp; Link-up” src=”http://www.revolutionoflove.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/pinterest_2_medW32-300×240.jpg” alt=”” width=”300″ height=”240″ /></a>

5. Link up below. Make sure you’re sending us to your actual post, and not to your general blog address.

The link up will be active for 10 days. Have fun!

Lastly, you can follow me on Pinterest here: http://pinterest.com/rol_bobbi/. 🙂

PS – You can follow RoL on Bloglovin, Feedly or another news feed. If you are a social media fan like me, we can stay in touch through Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, GoodReads or Instagram. 😉



Pinterest Party & Link-up (Vol 18): Moroccan Style Chickpea Chili

Welcome to the RoL Pinterest Party. Join me every 2nd and 4th Tuesday as we link up and share how we made, cooked, baked, crafted, planned, organized, followed or created one of the pins on our Pinterest boards OR share something original that others can pin onto their boards.

* * * * *

Now that we are trying to cut out the processed food and eat “real” food, I am cooking from scratch more.  I have been trying new recipes, particularly ones with anti-cancer foods  and spices, like turmeric. One of those new recipes I tried was this Moroccan style chickpea chili.

(Not pictured – Butternut squash. I was out so I used winter squash.

I originally got the recipe from my cookbook – Cooking Light: Slow Cooker Tonight.

I also found the recipe online here. I added it to my board – What’s Cooking in the Slow Cooker.

Ingredients

1 cup dried chickpeas
2 quarts boiling water
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 1/2 cups chopped onion
5 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon ground red pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
2 1/2 cups fat-free, lower-sodium chicken broth (Use veggie broth to make this a Meatless Meal.)
1/2 cup water
2/3 cup sliced pimiento-stuffed olives
1/2 cup golden raisins
1 (28-ounce) can whole tomatoes, undrained and crushed
4 cups chopped peeled butternut squash
1 cup frozen green peas, thawed
6 cups hot cooked couscous
8 lime wedges
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

(NOTE: The second time I made this I added 1/2 teaspoon of ginger. I also added a bit more red pepper since is was on the sweeter side.)

Preparation

1. Place chickpeas in a saucepan; add 2 quarts boiling water. Cover and let stand 1 hour; drain. Place beans in a 6-quart slow cooker.
2. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add 1 tablespoon oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add onion; sauté 4 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add garlic; sauté 1 minute, stirring constantly. Stir in tomato paste and next 5 ingredients (through turmeric); sauté 30 seconds, stirring constantly. Add onion mixture to slow cooker. Add broth and next 4 ingredients (through tomatoes) to slow cooker; cover and cook on HIGH 8 hours.
3. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add remaining 1 tablespoon oil; swirl to coat. Add squash; saute 5 minutes. Add squash to slow cooker. Cover and cook on HIGH 1 hour; stir in peas. Sprinkle with cilantro. Serve over couscous with lime wedges.

As I mentioned, I subbed the butternut for winter squash. I also used brown rice instead of couscous. We loved the flavor and it wasn’t spicy so the kids enjoyed it too. The next time I may try adding a little ginger too. 🙂

* * * * *

Now it’s your turn.

1. Choose your creation, share about it and snap a photo if you can.

2. In your post, link back the original blogger/idea, rather than your Pinterest pin. That way credit goes to the proper person. 🙂 (But feel free to add your Pinterest profile link so we can follow you!)

3. Add a link back here so others can play along.

4. If you want to use it, here is the html code for the logo:

<a href=”http://www.revolutionoflove.com/blog/?p=2157″><img title=”Revolution of Love Blog – Pinterest Party &amp; Link-up” src=”http://www.revolutionoflove.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/pinterest_2_medW32-300×240.jpg” alt=”” width=”300″ height=”240″ /></a>

5. Link up below. Make sure you’re sending us to your actual post, and not to your general blog address.

The link up will be active for 10 days. Have fun!

Lastly, you can follow me on Pinterest here: http://pinterest.com/rol_bobbi/. 🙂

PS – You can follow RoL on Bloglovin, Feedly or another news feed. If you are a social media fan like me, we can stay in touch through Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, GoodReads or Instagram. 😉