5 Ways to Add More Vegetables to Your Meal Plan

I am lucky to have a family that LOVES vegetables. 

But if you are looking for ways to get some more veggies in your families tummies, here are a few easy switches! 

Best thing about all of these is that they are 'whatever' recipes. 'Whatever' recipes are my favorite, because you just use whatever vegetables you have on hand! This is perfect for the summer months when you have a plethora of fresh produce in your garden or from the farmer's market. You can never have to much, just chop those veggies up and make these easy dishes!

1. Lasagna

Lasagna is a dish that is just begging to be loaded with vegetables. 

Basic lasagna=boring. 

Veggie lasagna=awesome!

I like to go for a skillet lasagna, as layering fragile noodles is not my jam. I take the basics from Annie's Eats Skillet Lasagna and twist it a bit to make it vegaliscious. Just take out the pound of sausage and add 2 cups of diced vegetables, whatever you have on hand! Alternately, do 1/2 a pound of meat and 1 cup veggies. That'll trick 'em:)

 If you wanna squeeze even more vegetables into a pan of lasagna, you really MUST try Pinch of Yum's 'Veggie Alfredo Lasagna.' She gets sneaky by making Alfredo sauce from cauliflower.
Shut the front door.

I made mine with zucchini, squash, tomatoes, and onion.

2. Chili

Chili thats not loaded with veggies just feels blah to me. Meat and beans and tomatoes? That's it??

Not around here! I use this recipe from 2 Peas and their Pod for the base, and then toss in whatever other veggies I have on hand. If your not ready to go meatless quite yet, just sub out half the meat in your normal recipe for an equal amount of chopped veggies. Peppers, zucchini, squash, celery, carrots, and eggplant all work well.

3. Spaghetti Squash

I have never meet someone who didn't like pasta. Pasta+marinara sauce+cheese is comfort food at it's finest. 
But I have meet lots of people who don't like to have a huge ass, and that, unfortunately, is what eating pasta does to you. But swap those carb loaded noodles for spaghetti squash, and you can eat to your hearts content, guilt free. My favorite way to fix it is a spaghetti squash bake. 

Cut your spaghetti squash in half lengthwise, then bake, cut side down on a baking sheet for 40 minutes at 375. Meanwhile, dice up whatever veggies you have (I usually go for onions, lots of zucchini, squash {squash on squash on squash? I know, I'm crazy}, spinach, bell peppers). Saute your veggies with a little olive oil over medium heat until tender. In a large bowl, mix veggies, about half a jar of marinara sauce, and about a 1/4 cup parmesan cheese. Once the squash is done, let it cool for a few minutes, then use a fork to scrape the flesh (i.e. noodle) from the inside and add to the bowl. Mix it all up, put it in a greased baking dish, and top with shredded mozzarella cheese. Put under the broiler for 5-10 minutes, until the cheese is bubbly and starting to brown.

SO good.

4. Veggie Fried Rice

Chinese food is usually pretty heavy on the veggies, fairly easy to fix, and full of flavor. Fried rice is a great way to use up any vegetables you have that are about to go bad.
My easy peasy recipe:
Start with 4 cups precooked rice (it works best to use cold rice, so make it early in the day, or refrigerate it before adding to your stir fry0. Heat a little olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add 3 beaten eggs and cook until they are just starting to scramble, and set aside. Add a little more olive oil to the plan, and sauté your veggies until tender. Try it with bell peppers, carrots, broccoli, green onions, or green beans. And don't forget to season with garlic and ginger! Once veggies are fork tender, add your cold rice and cook until its heated, about 5 minutes. Meanwhile, whisk 4 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce with 2 teaspoons sugar. Pour sauce over veggies and rice, the add your cooked eggs. Stir fry for couple more minutes, then drizzle with a little sesame oil just before serving.

5. Veggie-ful Grilled Cheese

Because why not put a ton of sautéed vegetables in the middle of your grilled cheese?

For this one, I pan fried some sliced red and green bell peppers, red onion, and zucchini in a little olive oil, salt and pepper. Then I used sliced Colby Jack cheese, and made a grilled cheese as usual, with a healthy heaping of vegetables added to the middle. It's not subtle, but it is delicious. Lincoln like his with just cheese and sliced zucchini, and I'm ok with that too.


What are the ways you use up your summer vegetables?

Mexican Lasagna (Blog Everyday In May - Day 2)

Day 2 of the Blog Everyday In May challenge is: Educate us on something you know a lot about or are good at.

Well I 'm good at food. Specifically the making and eating part.

So here's a new recipe for you!

I would call it Mexican Lasagna, or a Tortilla Stack, but whatever you call it, it's awesome.

What you need:

• 9(ish) flour tortillas. I used homemade tortillas(so easy), and only used 7, so it depends on the size of tortilla you use.
• 2 cups organic black beans (1 can)
• 2 cups organic corn (1 can)
• 10 oz red enchilada sauce
• 1 can cream of mushroom soup
• 1 (4 oz) can organic diced green chilies
• 1 can organic refried beans
• 2 cups shredded Mexican blend cheese

Optional toppings: Greek yogurt or sour cream; taco sauce; avocado; green onions; salsa

To make:

Preheat oven to 375. In a large skillet, combine black beans, corn, enchilada sauce, cream of mushroom, and green chilies and heat over medium high heat.  Heat for 10 minutes, stirring frequently, then remove from heat and set aside. At the same time, heat up your refried beans in a small saucepan with a couple of teaspoons of vegetable stock or water. (This makes them easier to spread)

Spray a 9x13 baking dish with cooking spray or coat with olive oil. In a 9x13 glass baking dish, spray with cooking spray. Place 2-3 tortillas in the dish, overlapping or tearing them apart and piecing them together to cover the entire bottom. Use the back of a spoon to spread half the refried beans over the tortillas. Pour half of the black bean and corn mixture over the beans, trying to smooth it into an even layer. Sprinkle on half a cup of cheese, then layer another 2-3 tortillas on top. Repeat with the rest of the refried beans, black bean and corn mix, and another half cup of cheese. Place 2-3 tortillas on top and sprinkle the rest of the shredded cheese over the top of those. Bake for 25 minutes. Let rest for 5 minutes, then serve with whatever toppings you want!

Makes 12 servings.

 Perfect for Cinco de Mayo this weekend!

Cheesy Portobello Taquitos

I recently checked out the too cute Weelicious cookbook from the library. It is full of fresh and easy recipes that the whole family will enjoy. 

This is a big idea for me: 1 meal that EVERYONE will not only eat, but actually like. I made several recipes from the book, but our favorite was my modified version of her 

Cheesy Chicken Taquitos 

(click here for the original recipe)

The only change I made to the taquitos was to use sliced portobello mushrooms instead of the chicken breast. So to make my Cheesy Portobello Taquitos, you need:

 4 portobello mushroom caps, thinly sliced.

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 cup shredded Mexican cheese mix

12 corn tortillas

cooking spray

Preheat oven to 400 and line a baking sheet with foil.

Toss sliced mushrooms with seasonings and cheese in a large bowl.

Microwave 2 tortillas at a time between damp paper towels for about 20 seconds.

Lay a tortilla flat in front of you, and place about 2 tablespoons of the mushroom filling on the edge closest to you. 

Roll the tortilla up and place seam side down on the baking sheet.

Repeat with the remaining tortillas.

Spray taquitos lightly with cooking spray and bake for 25 minutes, or until they are crisp.

I served them with refried beans and an avocado sauce for dipping, and the whole meal was a hit with everyone!

To make the sauce I put the meat of 1 avocado, 2 tablespoons greek yogurt, 2 teaspoons lime juice, 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, 1 tsp crushed red pepper, and 1 tsp taco seasoning in the food processor and pulsed until smooth.

I like to dress up a can of organic refried pinto beans by stirring in a couple of tablespoons of vegetable stock, some taco seasoning, and a little Mexican cheese as they cook. 

So good, so easy, so perfect for the whole family.

Crock Pot Potato Soup

It's a little chilly here in Indiana, which means I've been in the mood for belly warming foods. Today I'm cooking up a big pot of potato soup, and my mouth is watering waiting for dinner time! This soup is  super easy, chop some potatoes, through some stuff in the crock pot, wait (and wait), and yum. Comfort food at it's finest.

Crock Pot Potato Soup

2.5 lbs russet potatoes (washed, but not peeled. Cubed)

1/2 yellow onion (diced)
5 cloves of garlic (minced)
4 cups vegetable broth (or chicken)
8 oz cream cheese (softened & cubed)
1/2 tablespoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/8 teaspoon turmeric
optional garnish: cheddar cheese, green onions, crumbled bacon or real bacon bits

Add potatoes, onion, garlic, broth, and spices to crock pot. Cook on high for 6 hours or low for 10 hours. Put about half of the soup into a blender with the cream cheese, and blend until smooth. Add back to the crock pot and stir well. Add your toppings and dig in. Told you it was easy.

Original recipe at Mama Loves Food!

YUM- Vegetarian Italian Hoagie

Bold statement: This is my FAVORITE sandwich. 

I don't think it could get more delicious if it tried. 

I haven't tried, because there is no point. It's there.

Vegetarian Italian Hoagie

What you need for 4 sandwiches:

4 hoagie rolls. I like the ones that Fresh Market carries in their bakery, and the Sarah Lee ones are so friggin soft I want to make a pillow out of them.

4 slices pepper jack cheese, torn in half

1/2 cup thinly sliced red onion, separated into rings

1 14-oz jar artichoke hearts, rinsed and coarsely chopped

2 cups shredded romaine lettuce

1/4 cup sliced pepperoncini

1 medium tomato, seeded and diced

2 tbsp red wine vinegar

2 tsp extra-virgin olive oil

1 tsp dried oregano

Dash of salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Combine artichoke, tomato, vinegar, oil, oregano and salt & pepper in a bowl.

If necessary, split your hoagie rolls  horizontally and pull out some of the soft bread from each side.

To assemble sandwiches, lay 2 halves of cheese on 1 side. 

Spread on the artichoke mixture and top with the onion, lettuce and pepperoncini's.

Press sandwiches together, and place on a foil lined baking sheet.

Place in oven until bread is browned and cheese is melted, about 8-10 minutes.

On the left is the Fresh Market hoagie rolls, and the right is the Sarah Lee soft sandwich rolls

Recipe adapted from LaaLosh

YUM- Crock Pot Apple Butter

This is one of those things that at soon as I put in in my mouth, I felt like my life before that point was void of meaning because no apple butter had been in it.

I mean seriously. It's that good.

Unfortunately, I have an irrational fear that if I leave the crock pot on all day, my house will burn to the ground. And no amount of apple butter is worth that. So I will have to save making this dish for days when I don't plan to leave the house. Like Sunday.

Crock Pot Apple Butter

What you need:

about a dozen apples, peeled, cored, and cubed. I say about, because I used organic apples, which tend to be a little smaller, so I used more. Use the equivalent to a dozen average size apples...I just made that confusing, didn't I? Moving on...

1/2 Cup Water

1/4 Cup Brown Sugar

1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon All Spice

1/4-1/2 Cup Honey

Now just put everything but the honey into your crock pot and set it for high (6-8 hours) or low (10-12 hours). Depends on how bad you want the butter, I guess. 

I started mine on high, then turned it down to low once things started getting good and cooked in there.

Every few hours, give it a stir. Once the apples have disintegrated and it seems like an appropriate consistency, add a 1/4 cup of the honey. Stir. Taste. 

Sweet enough? If not, add some more honey.

Totally not necessary, but I blended about half of the mixture until smooth, then added it back to the rest. It gave it more spreadable texture.

This recipe made about a pint of butter, which lasted no time in my house. Next time I will double the amount, cause once you go for the butter, you'll never go back.

Recipe adapted from Cake Student

YUM-Apple Pie Oatmeal

I love oatmeal. Most days I just pour some oats in a jar, add a dash of salt and brown sugar, and pour in some Almond Milk. Then I put a lid on it, let it soak on my way to work, and by time I'm sitting at my desk I have a easy, filling breakfast.

But, on days when I have more time, this 

Apple Pie Oatmeal 

is like my special treat.

And easy. All you need is:

1 apple, cut from the core and chopped into bite size pieces
1 cup  of water
1/2 cup organic rolled oats
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

Bring the water to a boil in a small saucepan. Add the oats, apple, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Adjusted the heat to low and simmer the oatmeal until apples are a little soft and liquid is all absorbed, about 5-7 minutes. Top it off with a little milk (I use Sugar Free Vanilla Almond Milk) and a sprinkle of brown sugar. 

So. Good.

Recipe adapted from Family Feedbag

YUM-I think I might have created the most amazing thing to enter my mouth...ever.

Every week I create a 7 day meal plan for the following week, and then make my grocery list accordingly. This is great because we only buy the groceries we will need, so therefore we save money and waste a lot less food.

But it's hard! I spend what seems like HOURS scouring the Internet for recipes that:

A. Are meatless

B. My family will eat

C. Aren't boring salads, pasta's, or any other bland stereotypical vegetarian meal.

Hard. Core.

All I have to say is thank the sweet baby jesus for Pinterest. It has come to my rescue on many occasions!

I recently stumbled upon this little gem, and thought YUM!



Open-Faced Ratatouille Sandwich



And then thought, "I can do better."

And I did.

Presenting "The best sandwich I've ever put in my mouth"

...or something like that. Clearly needs a better name...

Ingredients:

olive oil

1 clove garlic, minced

1 small eggplant, cut into 1/2 inch cubes

1 small zucchini slices, then quartered
1/2 medium red pepper, cut in strips

1/2 of a small red onion, cut in slices
handful of cherry tomatoes, halved

2 slices of mozzarella cheese

salt & pepper

Oregano

2 eggs

Loaf of French bread...or any other good crusty bread. I used this Rosemary French bread that I found at The Fresh Market, and it was awesome.

1/2 cup Veganaise (or whatever you use, Miracle Whip or mayonnaise would be fine)

1 chipotle pepper, minced (from a can of Chipotle Chili's in Adobo Sauce)

1/2 teaspoon-1 teaspoon of Adobo sauce

squirt of lemon juice

How To: (Makes 2 VERY FILLING portions)

Heat olive oil in large skillet over medium heat.

Add garlic, onion, eggplant, zucchini, & red peppers. Cook until tender, about 8 minutes.

Add cherry tomatoes, salt & pepper, and oregano. Cook for about 5 more minutes.

Meanwhile, cook eggs in separate skillet to desired doneness, and toast 4 slices of bread until lightly browned. I did this in our toaster oven, but you could just as easily place them under the broiler for a few minutes.

For chipotle mayo: Mix together mayo of your choice with minced chipotle pepper, adobo sauce, and lemon juice. Chipotle peppers and the adobo sauce are crazy spicy, so I recommend adding a little, tasting, and adjusting as necessary!

Place 2 slices of bread together on each plate. Spread a nice thick layer of chipotle mayo over top.

Top with a heaping serving of the sauteed vegetables. (I had about a 1/2 cup of veggies left over after assembling both sandwiches)

Top each with a slice of mozzarella cheese

And put an egg on it! Grab a fork and knife and dig in.

I'm not at all joking when I say how amazing this is. Richard and I were talking about it HOURS after dinner was over.

The only thing missing is a super bad ass name to represent this super bad ass sandwich.

My pal Erin has appropriately called it the "OMG"

and Lincoln dubbed it the "Eggy Face"

Any other suggestions??

Tia

YUM-Eggplant Parm Sandwich

This meatless meal is SO easy, and seriously good.

I LOVE Eggplant Parmesan, and I really love sandwiches, and cheese...don't even get me started. 

So this is like my favorite things, all rolled up into one fantastic meal!

Ingredients:

2 eggs

salt and pepper

3/4 cup Italian seasoned breadcrumbs

Olive oil, for baking sheet

1 medium eggplant sliced into 1/2-inch-thick rounds

2 hoagie rolls

1 cup Tomato sauce--whatever you have would work, I used some plain tomato sauce that I seasoned with oregano and basil, but pizza sauce or pasta sauce would work just as good. Use up those leftovers!

8 ounces mozzarella cheese-i used shredded, but slices of fresh would be SO much better.

 
Directions:
-Preheat oven to 475°.  In a small bowl beat eggs with 1 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Spread breadcrumbs in a pie plate or shallow dish.
 
-Oil a baking sheet. Dip eggplant rounds in egg, then dredge in breadcrumbs, making sure to coat completely. Lay breaded eggplant in a single layer on baking sheet, and bake, without turning, until golden (about 15-20 minutes.)
 
-Place open hoagie rolls on another baking sheet. Layer both halves with tomato sauce, then baked eggplant rounds, and top with cheese. Bake until cheese is melted and slightly browned, about 7 minutes.
 

-ENJOY!

Recipe adapted from Martha Stewart

Check out my Pinterest boards for more delicious (and mostly healthy) recipes!

♥♥♥

Tia

Ratatouille sounds like "rat" and "patootie." Rat-patootie, which does not sound delicious.

But it IS.



Of course with having a kid I can't help but think of Remy & Linguini whenever I hear Ratatouille. But (huge suprise to Lincoln) it is actually food. When I told him what we were having for dinner last night, to say he was confused would be putting it mildley. Pretty sure he thought we were eatting Remy and all his little mice friends....

Ratatouille Wraps-As promised, awesome vegetarian recipe!


½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 large eggplant, cut into ½-inch cubes
1 large zucchini, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced crosswise
1 small red onion, halved and thinly sliced
1/2 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
2 tomatoes, chopped
½ teaspoon dried thyme
Salt & Pepper
4 large whole wheat wraps
Shredded Montery Jack cheese

In a large nonstick skillet, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil over medium heat. Add the eggplant and cook, stirring, until golden, about 5 minutes. Add 2 tablespoons olive oil, the zucchini, onion, bell pepper and ¼ teaspoon each salt and pepper and cook, stirring, until crisp-tender, about 6 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes and thyme, partially cover and cook until tender, about 5 minutes; season with salt and pepper. Simmer, uncovered, for 2 minutes more to cook off any liquid. Transfer to a large bowl and wipe the skillet clean.

Lay the wraps on a work surface. Sprinkle about a 1/4 cup of cheese in the center of each wrap and top with about 3/4 cup ratatouille. Fold burrito-style to enclose.

In the same skillet, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil over medium heat. Add 2 wraps, seam side down, and cook, turning once, until golden, about 4 minutes. Repeat with the remaining olive oil and wraps.



This was so easy, and so delicious! I just ate another one for lunch today, and I think it might have been even better as leftovers.

T.G.I.F....Have an awesome weekend!!!!