Delicious EAT CLEAN Chocolate Sour Cream Cupcakes

Check out my Cupcake blog for this recipe! www.krissascupcakes.blogspot.com

Leek Potato Soup

This soup reminded me of onion soup with a mix of miso soup. Josh and I enjoyed it. Its only 92 calories per serving where as this recipe makes 10 cups.

Ingredients:
6 Leeks, whites only, well rinsed and drained and coarsely chopped
4 medium potatoes peeled
1 Tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup chopped onion
3 cloves garlic, minced
8 cups low sodium chicken stock.

Wash leeks thoroughly. Cut into one-inch pieces. Place in a colander and rinse again. Drain. Peel potatoes and cut into one-inch chunks. In a large saucepan or dutch oven, heat olive oil. Add leeks, potatoes, onion and garlic. Cook for 5-10 minutes until soft. Add stock to saucepan and bring to boil. Once mixture has come to a full boil, reduce heat and cook for another 30 minutes until all vegetables are soft. Puree soup with a blender or food processor.

Eat Clean Oatmeal Cookies

I was impressed with these cookies. They are from the Eat Clean Diet book which I am in the process of reading. They are not only more natural cookies to eat but they were delicious. I would easily eat these instead of sugar loaded, nutrition lacked cookies.

Ingredients:
2 2/3 cups unsalted olice-oil based margarine
2 cups packed brown sugar
3 large omega 3 eggs
3 Tbsp Honey
1 Tbspbest-quality vanilla
1 1/2 tsp sea salt
3 pounds (8 cups) old-fashioned rolled oats
4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
8 oz dark raisins
8 oz coarsly chopped walnuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 350. Line baking sheet with parchment paper. Cream the margarine and sugar together in a large bowl until smooth. Beat in the eggs, honey, vanilla and sea salt until smooth and creamy. Use a large wooden spoon to mix in flour and oats until well combined. Add raisins and walnuts if desired. Shape the dough into large three inch balls and press into five or six inch cookies on the baking sheets. Bake for 15 minutes or until as brown as you desire. Cool on wire racks. Makes 24 large and very delicious cookies.

Nutritional information per cookie with raisins and walnuts: 471 calories; 6g protein; 27g fat; 52g carbohydrates

Nutritional information per cookie without raisins and walnuts: 380 calories; 4g protein; 21g fat; 47g carbohydrates.

Quinoa and Black Beans

SO I have been looking and trying different quinoa recipes and have been disappointed with past recipes. THIS recipe however, was delicious. I love quinoa, black beans and corn so this was one of my favs.

Ingredients:
1 tsp olive oil
1 onion chopped
3 cloves garlic chopped
3/4 cup vegetable broth
1 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
salt and pepper to taste
1 c. corn
2 cans (15oz) black beans
1/2 cup chopped cilantro

Heat the oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the onion and garlic and saute till lightly brown. Mix quinoa into the sauce pan and cover with vegetable  broth and add cumin, cayenne, salt and pepper and bring to boil. Reduce heat and  Let simmer for 20 minutes.

Stir in corn and simmer for five more minutes. Then add black beans and cilantro. YUm Yum Yum! This was a hit in our home.

Grandma's Carmels

This was my first time making candy and I have to say that I wouldn't do this again without my Grandma haha. But it was fun and worth it for the carmels.

Ingredients:
4 c. sugar
1/2 lb butter
4 c. whipping cream
3 c. karo light syrup
1 can evaporated milk (12oz)
1 c. chopped walnuts
2 tsp. vanilla

Mix all ingredients, except nuts and vanilla. Make sure you have a HEAVY pan atleast 7 quart size and a thick bottom. Cook over high heat, stirring it continuously until it starts to bubble. Turn down heat to medium high and keep stirring until candy thermometer reaches 242 degrees. This takes about 1 hour. After this add nuts and vanilla, mix well and pour into WELL BUTTERED 15x10x2 pan and let cool completely.

When carmel is cooled turn over onto cutting board and cut into small pieces. Wrap with wax paper. This makes about 5 lbs of carmels. YUM YUM.

Easy Crock Pot Toast with potatoes

Ingredients:
3lb chunk roast
1/2 can beef broth
1 c. flour
1.2 tsp. garlic powder
1 med. onion
2 tbsp olive oil
1 bay leaf
dash of salt and pepper
three potatoes diced

Wash roast, season generously with salt and pepper and garlic powder. Coat with flour.

Place floured roast into an oiled skillet and brown slightly on both sides. While browning roast, add diced onions to skillet.

Transfer roast and onions to greased crock pot. Toss in whole garlic cloves and bay leaf. Pour 1/2 can beef broth over roast and add salt and pepper. Add potatoes on top and let it cook on high for 3-4 hours or low for 8-10 hours.

Paula Dean's Pumpkin Cheesecake

DE-LIC-IOUS is all I have to say...

Crust:

• 1 3/4 cups graham cracker crumbs
• 3 tablespoons light brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 stick melted salted butter

Filling:

• 3 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, at room temperature
• 1 (15-ounce) can pureed pumpkin
• 3 eggs plus 1 egg yolk
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon fresh ground nutmeg
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
• 2 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

For crust:

In medium bowl, combine crumbs, sugar and cinnamon. Add melted butter. Press down flat into a 9-inch springform pan. Set aside.

For filling:

Beat cream cheese until smooth. Add pumpkin puree, eggs, egg yolk, sour cream, sugar and the spices. Add flour and vanilla. Beat together until well combined.

Pour into crust. Spread out evenly and place oven for 1 hour. Remove from the oven and let sit for 15 minutes. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 4 hours.