"A father is someone you look up to no matter how tall you grow."

So, ever since Martha Stewart has taken over my soul I feel it necessary to give gifts that make one's belly happy! And for a man, this in-turn makes his heart happy. This year for Father's Day Shaun and I made our dad's (John and Dan), my grandfather (Clark), and Shaun's brother-in-law (Josh) homemade BBQ Sauce. The total time for preparation and cooking was about 2 hours, so this is quite the commitment. Keep in mind that we took this recipe and multiplied it by 8. This allowed us to fill 4 large mason jars and 4 small ones. The four small ones were given to other fathers and friends, for fun! (We also kept one ourselves that we later cooked with.)

The Ultimate Barbecue Sauce

For 6 servings, you will need:

• 1 slice bacon
• 1 bunch fresh thyme
Extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• 2 cups ketchup
• 1 cup Sriracha
1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup molasses
• 2 tablespoons red or white wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon dry mustard
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• red pepper flakes (to your discretion for heat)
• Freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

Wrap the bacon around the bunch of thyme and tie with kitchen twine so you have a nice bundle. Heat about 2 tablespoons of oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the thyme and cook slowly 3 to 4 minutes to render the bacon fat and give the sauce a nice smoky taste. Add the onion and garlic and cook slowly without coloring for 5 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients, give the sauce a stir, and turn the heat down to low. Cook slowly for 20 minutes to meld the flavors. Once the sauce is done cooking, remove the bacon and thyme bunches and let the sauce cool (just enough until you put in the refrigerator). If you are using it with meat right away I suggest use half to cook the meat in and save half to poor over the meat once it is cooked. This truly is a great sauce, enjoy!

Carrot Craze

These recipes came from an abundance of carrots I was given back in May (thank you Lisa Kilmas). With about 3 pounds of baby carrots, I knew I couldn't bare to eat ALL of them raw. So, one day, before they spoiled, I decided to put them to good use and make something savory, and something sweet. These are two recipes I found, changed a bit, a made my own. The first is a curried carrot soup. This was absolutely wonderful, comforting, and a crowd pleaser. I ended up taking some to work to share and all my co-workers loved it. The second was, of course, carrot muffins. These were also popular, as I passed them out to my neighbors. They are both pretty simple and so tasty! Enjoy!

Curried Carrot Soup

You will need:
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
1 medium onion
1 1/2 pounds baby carrots
6 cups chicken stalk
1 tablespoon mild curry paste
1/4 teaspoon curry powder
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon 
Coarse salt
sour cream (optional)
6 blades fresh chives, cut into 1-inch pieces (optional)
food processor

Preheat medium pot over medium high heat. Add olive oil, butter, onions and carrots and saute 5 minutes. Ass 4 cups of chicken stock, curry, cayenne, cinnamon and about 1 teaspoon salt to the pot. Bring to a boil, cover and cook until carrots are very tender, about 15 minutes.

 Place pot near the food processor. Process soup in 2 or 3 small batches until soup is smooth and carrots are fully pureed. Transfer processed soup into a large bowl as you work to make room for more soup in the food processor. Return completed soup to the soup pot and place back over low heat. If the soup is too thick, ass remaining stock, up to 2 cups, to achieve desired consistency. Adjust seasonings. 

 If you choose to use sour cream and chives, top with a small dollop on each soup, along with chives. (I decided to keep it as healthy as possible and opted out of using sour cream, it was delicious)

Super Moist Carrot Muffins

What you'll need:

3 mixing bowls

3 cups finely grated carrots

4 large eggs

2 cups all purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

2 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon of vanilla

1 1/2 cups of sugar

1 1/4 cups of oil (oil offers a really nice fine texture. I used olive oil, but you can use any type)

1 1/2 cups chopped walnuts

1 cup of raisins

Directions: 

Preheat the oven to 150°C. Butter and flour either two 9-inch-diameter cake pans or a large muffin tin.

In bowl 1, mix the grated carrots, walnuts and raisins together.

In bowl 2, mix the flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon together.

In bowl 2, mix the sugar and the oil together. Then add in the eggs to the sugar and oil mixture 1 at a time, mixing for about 30 seconds are each.

Add flour mixture to this and stir until blended.

Finally add in the carrot mixture and mix until blended.

Divide the batter into the muffin tins.

Bake muffins until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean. It took me about 20 minutes for the muffins.

Make sure to cool the muffins in the pans for at least 15 minutes. 

Turn out onto racks and eat away!

Papaya filled with Chicken Salad

I recently attended one of my best friend's Bridal Shower and her Auntie had made a version of this. When I immediately fell in love (the flavors truly are delicious together) I had to attempt it on my own. I made this for lunch one day and it was perfect. Very refreshing! This is a must try for everyone. It is so simple and could have many variations. You can add as many or as little of vegetables as you would like. Anything goes. Also, if you don't want to wait for chicken to be cooked or don't have any left overs to use, use chicken in a can. It is just as good. Enjoy!

Did you know? Papayas contain a natural pain reliever called papain

Ingredients:
1 papaya
3 cups diced cooked chicken (fresh or from a can)

• 1/4 cup Greek Yogurt
• 1/4 cup thinly sliced celery
• 1 tablespoon mayonnaise
• 2 teaspoons finely minced green onion
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice (optional)
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

In a medium bowl mix chicken, yogurt, celery, mayonnaise, green onion, lemon juice (optional), salt and pepper.

Cut papaya in half length wise, spoon out seeds and fill with chicken salad mixture.

Healthy lunch after a long run...

Today, after a long work out, I was craving some meat and vegetables but wanted something refreshing (not just hot grilled chicken and steamed vegetables.) Looking at what I had in the fridge I had no clue what to pull together, then Ah-ha, a light bulb went out off, Pasta Salad. Although white starches aren't the best I figured "what the heck" the rest is healthy. So I have decided to name this one Pantry Pasta Salad... 

I apologize for the lack of images, I was too hungry. And now that I've eaten and relaxed from my run I am too tired to go take a picture of the leftovers, ha ha! 

Pantry Pasta Salad: (any vegetables can be used for this, whatever you have in your veggie drawer) 

• 2 cups pasta ( I happened to have macaroni, penne or spiral works well too)
• 1/4 of a cucumber chopped, skin on
• 1/4 tomato chopped
• handful of peas
• 1 green onion chopped
• 3 mushrooms, sliced
• 1 chicken breast
• 1/2 of an avocado
• Olive Oil
• 1/2 of a lemon
• Vinegar
• Dijon Mustard
• Salt and Pepper

Begin by getting your water boiling for the pasta, once that has began boiling toss noodles in and set your timer for 7 minutes. While the water is boiling/noodles are cooking get a pan hot and coat with a very small amount of olive oil. Once the pan is hot, begin cooking the chicken. While the chicken was cooking I seasoned it with salt, pepper, and garlic; on each side. Turn the chicken when necessary to cook the other side.

While the noodles and chicken are cooking, chop your vegetables. Again, ANY vegetables can be used. When your vegetables are chopped, toss them into a mixing bowl. *I topped mine with the avocado, you can also toss it in ahead of time. Once the noodles are done, strain them and rinse with very cold water. This stops the cooking and allows the noodles to cool quickly. Once the chicken is done, chop it and toss into the bowl. At this time you can shake out excess water from the noodles and toss them into the bowl as well. Place in the fridge while you make your dressing. This allows for the pasta salad to get cold quickly. Unless you have time... then no rush. I was hungry!

In a small bowl whisk together 2 tablespoons olive oil, lemon juice form 1/2 of a lemon, 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard, a few fresh grinds of pepper, and about three dashes of white wine vinegar (any vinegar works)

Once your dressing is to your liking, poor over the pasta salad and toss. Serve cold.

This dish was simple, healthy, quick, cheap, and allowed me to use vegetables I was gonna be throwing away soon.

Enjoy!

For the Health Nuts

Being that I was gonna be home alone for a few days and not wanting to cook for one person over and over, I decided to make something that could last me, something that wasn't unhealthy to eat at 10pm after a shift, something that would fill me up after a run, and something that was easy on the wallet. (Total groceries for this was about $15 and it gave me 8 meals) So I made Vegetable Soup. I actually cut this recipe in half and made some changes along the way. Half of this recipe which fed me lunch and dinner for three days (and I still have more) came out to only 580 calories. But, vegetable calories, in my mind, don't count. ha ha. Even if you did count them, cutting this huge amount of soup into 8th (which is about the serving size I've been having) that is only 72.5 calories a meal. That's NOTHING for something that fills you up and is full of nutrition. So here ya go... Ill explain what I did different through the ingredients and directions.

Vegetable Soup Recipe

• 6 large green onions (I used 3)
• 2 green peppers (1 green pepper)
• 1 or 2 cans of tomatoes (diced or whole) (I used Del Monte diced tomatoes with basil, garlic and oregano and didn't drain them, just tossed in the whole can)
• 3 Carrots (1 Carrot)
• 1 Container (10 oz. or so) Mushrooms (I used fresh mushrooms, cut into thick slices)
• 1 bunch of celery (1/2 bunch, about 3 sticks)
• half a head of cabbage (stuck with the 1/2 head, I like cabbage)
• 1 package Lipton soup mix (1/2 package)
• 1 or 2 cubes of bouillon (optional) (I did not use this)
• 1 48oz can V8 juice (optional) (3 5.5oz. cans of 100% V8 Juice)
• Season to taste with salt, pepper, parsley, curry, garlic powder, etc. (I added about 2 pinches of salt and about three full grinds of pepper)

Directions:
Slice green onions, put in a pot and start to saute with cooking spray, then add to pot.
Cut green pepper stem end off and cut in half, take the seeds and membrane out. Cut the green-pepper into bite size pieces and add to pot.
Take the outer leafs layers off the cabbage, cut into bite size pieces, add to pot.
Clean carrots, cut into bite size pieces, and add to pot.
Slice mushrooms into thick slices, add to pot.
Clean and dice the celery, add to pot.
Add Lipton's soup mix and the can of diced tomatoes to the pot.
If you would like a spicy soup, add a few pinches of red pepper flakes. (I did, it gave so much flavor)
You can use beef or chicken bouillon cubes for seasonings. These have all the salt and flavors you will need, so don't add any addition salt.
Use about 12 cups of water (or 8 cups and the V8 juice), cover and put heat on low. Let soup cook for a long time - two hours works well. (Since I cut this in half, I did the three cans of V8 Juice and three cups of water, the balance was perfect)


I cooked this soup in my Crock Pot, it's nice to set a timer and forget about something and just enjoy the smells. Once all the ingredients were in I put the Crock Pot on high and let it cook for two hours. When I had to leave for work, I unplugged it, left it there and came home to exactly what I was wanted!

Most vegetables soups are not very exciting, but this was awesome, the spices were perfect and all the vegetables stayed crunchy (I hate mushy cooked vegetables)!

Shrimp and Pork in Coconut Milk

"My favorite time of day is to get up and eat leftovers from dinner, especially spicy food."

My brother, who eats completely Paleo, introduced me to this dish and it has been one that will stick with me forever. I have made this numerous time, using different variations, depending on who I am cooking for. Although the recipe calls for pork sausage, I always use Hot Italian Turkey Sausage. I have also made it with only shrimp, for a vegetarian friend, and the spice amount depends on who is joining me for dinner. This recipe is truly so simple and it's always delicious, it never let's me down! I recommend EVERYONE attempt this one, you won't be disappointed, I promise!

Side note: If you make it vegetarian style and leave out the sausage, you need to add salt and spice. The sausage is what gives it the salt and spice needed. Otherwise, no need to add either!

• 1 lb. Italian pork sausage
• 1 lb. medium sized raw shrimp, tails removed
• 2 zucchini squash sliced
• 2 Japanese eggplants sliced
• 1 small red and yellow bell pepper, diced
• 1/2 can coconut milk
• Black pepper to taste

In a large soup pot brown Italian sausage over medium heat. While the sausage is browning, rinse and dry your shrimp and chop your vegetables. When the sausage is almost cooked, add shrimp and cook till pink. Once both are cooked add your vegetables. Cook mixture for about 3-4 minutes, then poor in coconut milk. Season with black pepper and if you like more spice throw in a few dashes of red pepper flakes. 

*After the first time making this dish I started using 1/2 lb. of mushrooms instead of the Japanese eggplant. (I felt the eggplant became too soft for my liking) Also, I use a whole can of coconut milk to give it more broth. You can use light or regular coconut milk. Remember, if you don't use the sausage, you will need to salt and spice it or it may be quite bland. This dish can easily be eaten alone for a light meal or with rice if you like.

Pictures definitely do not do this dish justice, the flavors are awesome!

Tuna Salad Lettuce Wraps

"Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, and dinner like a pauper."-Adelle Davis

I often make tuna salad and lay it on a slice of bread, like an open faced sandwich. Trying to stay away from too many carbs I thought of this. You could pretty much put anything in the tuna salad, or even leave it plain. The tuna over the lettuce was refreshing and healthy, and very easy!

1 can of tuna

1/8 cup red bell pepper, finely chopped

1/8 cup orange bell pepper, finely chopped

1 stick of celery, finely chopped

1 tablespoon of mayonnaise

1 dash of white or apple cider vinegar (options)

1/2 tomato chopped

1/2 avocado sliced 

romaine lettuce cups

Mix tuna, bell peppers, celery, mayonnaise, vinegar, and tomato

Lay slices of avocado on lettuce and top with tuna salad mixture.

*You could easily make extra tuna and store for lunch the next day. Also, instead of mixing all the ingredients together, you can make the tuna with only mayonnaise and then chop the lettuce and add the ingredients; creating more of a salad. Then just top with tuna mix.

*If you don't like mayonnaise or are REALLY watching your figure, use mustard and vinegar or salsa. Both are great!