Category Archives: Dinner

Black Beans

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Ingredients

  • 4 cups dried beans (soaked overnight if possible, then drained and rinsed)
  • 2-4 TBSP sea salt
  • 2 tsp garlic powder, or press in 2-4 cloves fresh garlic
  • 1 chopped onion, or 2 TBSP onion flakes

Instructions

  1. Place beans in stock pot, cover with filtered water. Add salt, garlic, and onion,
  2. Cook on medium to high heat until you see a consistent boil
  3. Lower heat and continue to cook for several hours until beans are tender– Keep an eye on the water and add more as you see the need.

Remember you can always flavor with salsa or cilantro, cumin, cayenne, or chipotle seasoning. Try adding 1 can of mild or medium Rotel canned tomatoes and/or 1 small can of mild green chilies.

Potato-Bar Chili

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Prep Time: 10 minutes — Cook Time: 30 minutes — Yield: 7 cups

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 pounds ground beeg
  • 2 medium onions, chopped
  • 1 medium green pepper, chopped
  • 1 can (28 ounces) diced tomatoes, undrained
  • 1 can (16 ounces) chili beans, undrained
  • 2 TBSP sugar
  • 2 tsp chili powder
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp pepper
  • Baked potatoes

Instructions

  1. In a Dutch oven, cook the beef, onions, and green pepper over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. Add the tomatoes, beans, sugar, and seasonings.
  2. Bring to a boil, reduce heat. Simmer, uncovered, for 20 minutes.
  3. Serve with baked potatoes

Chicken Tortilla Soup

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Ingredients

  • 3 TBSP Extra Virgin Olive Oil (I use butter)
  • 1 1/2 medium onion, chopped fine
  • 2 large garlic cloves
  • 1 1/2 cups chopped kale
  • 3 4oz can of green chilies (or less depending on your taste) –For our large batch, we use 3 cans and it was plenty spicy for our family
  • 3 tsp chili powder
  • 3 tsp ground cumin
  • 3 tsp dried oregano
  • 12 cups total water and chicken broth
  • 3 14.5 oz diced tomatoes (I prefer to chop fresh roma tomatoes vs. the canned… we did use canned this time, but in the future I will chop fresh so the sizes are smalled and there are no stem chunks in the soup)
  • 4 cups shredded chicken*
  • 4 cups organic frozen corn
  • 2/3 cups cilantro, chopped
  • chopped green onions
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • Serve with raw grated cheese and non-GMO corn chips

*Note: (We put 2 chickens in a very large stock pot and added water and some garlic and celtic sea salt (approx. 1 TBSP) and cooked it until the chicken was falling apart… then we used metal tongs to pull the chickens out and put them in a baking dish to cool. Once cooled, we picked all the chicken off and put it back into the broth. The leftover bones were put into a new stock pot and cooked over night for future broth– then cooled and put into mason jars in our fridge.)

Hearty Beef Stew

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Ingredients

  • 2-3 onions, finely chopped
  • 1 TBSP coconut oil or butter
  • 1 package beef stew meat (grass fed or grass finished beef)
  • 2 cartons of 8 cups beef broth, or water
  • 2-3 cups water (in addition to broth/water above)
  • 6-7 medium potatoes, cut into small cubes
  • 8-10 carrots, cut into small circles
  • 1 small can organic tomato paste
  • 1 28oz can chopped tomatoes
  • The following spices to taste: oregano, celery seed, salt, pepper, parsley. Add more of these items if you did not have broth on hand.

Instructions

  1. In the bottom of a large stock pot, sauté onions for several minutes in oil.
  2. Brown meat until the outside of each chunk is cooked, but still raw in the middle.
  3. Add liquids and other ingredients to the stock pot.
  4. Bring to a boil.
  5. Turn the heat down to medium-low, cover.
  6. Let cook for a couple of hours.

Pulled Beef

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Have some stew meat in the freezer but not in the mood for beef stew?  Transform stew meat into pulled beef with DIY barbecue sauce.

Ingredients

  • 2 lbs stew meat (we buy ours from a local farmer, grassfed/grassfinished)
  • 3 TBL organic butter
  • 1 tsp sea salt
  • 1 tsp pepper
  • 1/2 medium onion, diced
  • 1 cup of barbecue sauce

Instructions

  1. Turn to low heart (175 degrees) Cover and cook on low for one hour or until meat is tender. Use a fork to shred beef. Just prior to serving, add 1/2 cup barbecue sauce.

Old Fashioned Barbecue Sauce

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We enjoyed this tasty old fashioned barbecue sauce on slow cooked stew meat, shredded and paired with several sides of raw salads.   Have some fun and use your imagination

Ingredients

  • 1 cup organic ketchup
  • 1/2 cup organic molasses
  • 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar (Bragg’s is a GREAT brand)
  • 1/4 cup Dijon mustard
  • 2 TBS Worcestershire sauce (a gluten-free brand)
  • 1/4 tsp garlic powder
  • 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

Instructions

  1. Mix ‘er up and enjoy!

Old Fashioned Sloppy Joes

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Who doesn’t remember a good old fashioned sloppy joe from their childhood?  Sloppy Joes can be made with all natural, nutritious ingredients.  Easy on mom and often a favorite!  This very simple recipe is tried and true, submitted by a sweet mom and friend, Jessica Fuester.

Ingredients

  • 3 pounds ground beef
  • 1 onion
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons honey
  • 2 1/2 tablespoons mustard
  • 1 1/2 teaspoon allspice
  • 1 medium size bottle of ketchup

Instructions

  1. Cook the meat and onions together.
  2. Then add all other ingredients. Cook for at least one hour, but if you have time cook for a few hours.
  3. Once that bottle of ketchup has been emptied into the pot, fill the ketchup bottle halfway with water and add to pot.
  4. Need to stretch this recipe into more meals? Try adding a cup or two of oats. Gluten free, adds nutrition and bulk.

Sloppy Joes

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Sloppy Joe =  a sandwich consisting of ground beef, onions, tomato sauce or ketchup, sometimes various diced veggies, Worcestershire sauce, and other seasonings, served on a hamburger bun.   Go for the best beef you can buy, wholesome  ingredients and fresh sides and you will have a wonderful feast!

Ingredients

  • 1 TBS olive oil or more
  • 1 small onion finely diced
  • 1 red or yellow bell pepper, diced
  • 1 cup shredded carrot
  • 1 large celery stalk, chopped fine
  • 4 cloves garlic minced (or pressed)
  • 1 tsp thyme (optional)
  • Salt & Pepper to taste
  • 1 1/4 (or more) ground beef, browned then added to vegetable mixture
  • Add: 1/2 cup chili sauce
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 1 TBS worcester sauce (optional)

Instructions

  1. Brown beef
  2. Add vegetables and spices
  3. Partially cover and simmer, stirring occasionally until sauce is slightly thickened.
  4. Serve on gluten free or whole wheat buns with a slice of cheese. Enjoy!

Barley Bread – Soft Crust Pizza

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One word. . . .SAVORY. . .this bread is comforting and made with freshly ground barley flour.  Perfect with soup and perfect as a crust for pizza.  Barley is said to be good for you heart.  If you add thyme, you will love it all the more.

Barley Bread

Ingredients

  • 2 cups barley flour (freshly milled)
  • 1/2 tsp. sea salt
  • 1 tbl. Sucanat (organic, natural sugar)
  • 2 tsp. Rumford baking powder (aluminum free)
  • 1 cup almond milk or diluted coconut milk
  • 2 tbl. Extra virgin organic olive oil

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
  2. In a medium-size bowl stir the flour, salt, sugar, and baking powder together.  
  3. Add milk and oil.  Stir until all the flour is moistened and a smooth, stiff dough has formed.  If dough is very stiff and all the flour isn’t moistened, add more milk (or water), one tablespoon at a time until a cohesive dough forms.  
  4. Turn the dough out onto a stone.  With the back of a spoon, form the dough into a 1/2 inch thick, 8 inch diameter loaf.  
  5. Bake at 450 degrees for 10-15 minutes, until loaf is browned.
  6. Cut into wedges and serve while warm.  Makes one 8 inchround loaf.
  7. Try this bread plain, as a soft-crust pizza OR add thyme (1 tsp) and this is the best soup bread ever!

Bread Bowls

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Soup in a bread bowl!  This little treat thrilled our children.  The bread is from our basic whole wheat recipe, only we added in 1 cup of whole golden flaxseed.  The result was beautiful and delicious.

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For the adults, we oiled the outside of oven safe soup bowls and placed the dough on the outside of each bowl.  For the children, we used small mason jars.  We oiled down the bottom of each jar and covered each with dough.

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These took about 12 minutes at 375 degrees.  After cooling, the bread pops off and is ready to use for your favorite soup!

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