broccoli – Fervent Foodie

Broccoli, Leek, & Potato Soup {vegan, vegetarian, gluten free, whole30 recipe}

January 6, 2016 2 Comments

I wrote this Broccoli, Leek, & Potato Soup post as part of a series for Tasteful Selections Potatoes, which is sponsoring Katie’s Krops, an awesome hunger-focused nonprofit fueled by kid-run gardens, through January 2016 (details below).

This January, I’ve committed to refocusing on healthy living. Just like the rest of humanity. Sure it’s cliché, but in my mind New Year’s Day is like hitting the “reset” button on the Nintendo. While I’m normally pretty health-focused, things got a little crazy last year (as they do every year), and I’m thankful for this month to refresh. At this time last year, I was timidly beginning my first Whole30–a nutritional reset program focused on super clean eating for thirty days–and I’m doing the same this year. When I mention the Whole30 in conversation, I often get concerned looks and questions of “wait… what the heck do you eat?” In a nutshell, the Whole30 rules out grains, sugar, beans, soy, dairy, unnatural ingredients, and booze. Which leaves us with protein, fats, and veggies. Lots and lots of veggies.

Broccoli, Leek, & Potato Soup Recipe {vegan, gluten free, whole30}

(bowls by JMNPottery)

The secret to a successful Whole30 (or any clean-eating program, for that matter) is planning, and my plan includes batch cooking tons of vegetables each week. This week, for example, I sautéed an entire head cabbage, roasted three pounds of brussels sprouts, sautéed three bell peppers and two onions, bought a giant container of baby spinach to toss in EVERYTHING, and made this hearty Broccoli, Leek, and Potato Soup. More vegetables than a vegetarian, as they say.

Recipes

Mary’s Special Eggs

January 10, 2011 10 Comments

It’s no secret that I love eggs for breakfast. Every. Day.

Unfortunately, I just don’t have the time to whip myself up some eggs before work every day, so I like to cook a big ole batch on Sunday night. I was getting a little burnt out on my normal scrambled eggs and broccoli (not to mention the fact that my coworkers were getting sick of the broccoli stinking up the microwave), so I decided to switch things up a bit.

And so evolved Mary’s Special Eggs!

For a 5-serving batch, I start off with 2 links Jennie O’ Hot Turkey Sausage, casings removed. I pop those into a hot skillet and cook until no longer pink while crumbling with a spatula.

Once the sausage is finished cooking, I remove it from the pan and set aside while I get to work on the veggies.

In the same skillet (which should still be hot), toss in

A handful of sliced up baby bella mushrooms
1/2 cup diced red onion
2 cloves garlic

Season these guys up with salt and pepper, and let them cook over medium heat until soft.

Meanwhile, get to crackin the eggs. For 5 servings I go with:

5 whole eggs
10 egg whites
Splash of water

Give those a good whisk. The onions and mushrooms should be softened up by now and looking oh so tasty.

At that point, you pour on the egg mixture:

Season these up with S&P, and as the eggs begin to cook, use your spatula to scrape the cooked eggs off the bottom of the pan. Continue this process until the eggs are nearly cooked through,

then toss in the cooked turkey sausage:

And some more veggies!

1 diced tomato, seeded
2 cups spinach thinly sliced

Into the pan:

Then I just use the spatula to fold everything in and finish cooking the eggs through:

Soooo yummy.

Once the eggs are done cooking I divide them up into 5 containers—and there’s Breakfast #1 for the workweek!

I like to break my breakfasts up into 2 small breakfasts rather than one large meal, so I typically follow the eggs up with a serving of oatmeal about 2 hours afterward. On the weekends I like to take a serving of the eggs, pop them on a low carb tortilla with some Franks Red Hot, and give them a nice grill on the George Foreman. Trust me, it’s one delicious (HEALTHY!) breakfast burrito!

Stats on 1 Servings of my Special Eggs: 189 Calories, 9g carbs, 9g fat, 23g protein, 1g fiber

Recipes, What I ate

Healthified Chicken Parmesan Sub

July 8, 2010 4 Comments

What’s better than a dinner that only takes 15 minutes to get into your belly? A dinner that only takes 15 minutes AND is healthy AND tastes delicious!

Lately, I’ve been craving bread. Buns, muffins, bagels, pizzas, you know the deal. So tonight, I thought I’d make a healthified chicken parmesan sub.

I topped a Joseph’s Low-Carb Pita with a 1/4 cup of Classico Fire Roasted Tomato Garlic Pasta sauce (leftover from yesterday’s pizza), and 3 ounces of grilled chicken (leftovers from the weekend). I added some red pepper flakes, dried oregano, black pepper, and garlic powder.

Then I thinly sliced a light mini babybel cheese round into four thin discs and tossed that on top along with some banana pepper rings:

In another pan, I added 2 cups broccoli and a ¼ cup of garbanzo beans (leftovers from the couscous garbanzo bean salad).

Everything into a 415 degree oven for 15 minutes.

Beautiful.

So friggin’ tasty:

I love roasted veggies

Melty and amazing

So is it still considered a chicken parmesan sub if I didn’t use any parmesan? Chicken Babybelesan sub perhaps 😉

Stats on the sub: 228 calories, 13g carbs, 7g fat, 33g protein, 5g fiber

Stats on the broccoli/beans: 110 calories, 22g carbs, 2g fat, 8g protein, 9g fiber

Altogether: 338 calories, 35g carbs, 9g fat, 41g protein, 14g fiber

Ramblings

Foodie who is anti-food?

July 7, 2010 7 Comments

All throughout my life, I’ve been a big eater.

Eating minimal food throughout the day so that I could engorge at dinner was commonplace for me for many years. Family members would tease me about always being the first person in the cookout buffet lines, and the first person to go back for round #2. I’ve been a foodie for as long as I can remember. I just love food. Yes, my world basically revolves around it. Yes, that may mean I have issues… but I’m ok with that 🙂

Over the past year, I’ve changed a lot of my old habits. Nowadays, I take the time to plan my meals out in advance so that I’m sure I’m giving my body the fuel it needs to chug along throughout the day. And I try as hard as I can to not over do it in one sitting. I HATE that sickly full feeling you get when you overeat. (Despite other changes I have made, I am still always the first in the buffet line… watch out, I throw elbows 😉 )

Never in my life have I even been called a person who is “not really into food,” until today that is. I was incorrectly classified today after I suggested a place with “healthy options” for lunch, and then proceeded to only eat 1/2 of my ginormous plate of food. I must say, I was a little taken aback. Dare I say, I scoffed in the commenter’s general direction. I LOVE FOOD. LOVE, I say, LOVE! I just try to incorporate as many healthy choices into my day as possible.

Does that make me anti-food? I think not!

Breakfast #1

I had a leftover link of Jennie-O Hot Turkey sausage from the weekend I wanted to use up, so I decided to make a double batch of scrambled eggs.

I mixed up 8 egg whites, S&P, red pepper flakes, and some water and got my scramble on. Once the curds started to form (least attractive word ever), I added some splashes of franks red hot to the eggs and dumped in the diced up turkey sausage.

I also roasted up some broccoli to go along side.

2 days’ breakfasts & minimal effort. Love it!

B#1 Stats (1 serving = 1/2 of recipe above): 174 calories, 8g carbs, 5g fat, 24g protein, 1g fiber

Breakfast #2

As I was preparing to make my overnight oats last night, I stood in front of an open cabinet pondering what I could possibly put in my oats to mix things up. Then a little voice inside me said.. you know you want the same exact oats you made for Monday. And guess what, that little voice was right. 🙂

1/2 cup uncooked quick oats
1/2 cup unsweetened almond breeze almond milk
1 tsp brown sugar
cinnamon
fresh strawberries

Heaven.

B#2 Stats: 208 calories, 38g carbs, 5g fat, 6g protein, 6g fiber

Lunch

Lunch today was courtesy of Aladdin’s Eatery. I went with the Jasmine’s Favorite Plate (plain)–which according to the Daily Plate only has 400 calories. I find that hard to believe, given that the plate of food they brought me was overfloweth with food. What do you guys think of that website? Reliable? Not reliable?

Anyway, the Jasmine’s Favorite is “a fresh mix of cooked beans, vegetables and rice seasoned with a blend of herbs and spices,” and it was DELICIOUS.

I wasn’t able to take a pic of everything, but here’s some of what was leftover: