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Ingredients Archives: Raisins

Healthy Remake: Gluten-Free Pumpkin Soup with Apple Relish

By on November 18, 2016 in Main Dishes

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A few weeks ago I was more stressed than usual. I decided the thing that would decrease my stress would be to organize my pantry. I know this doesn’t make a ton of sense, but you people like me (Type A and slightly OCD) understand how a well-organized pantry can lower stress.

In my organization, I stacked 13 cans of pumpkin puree. Thirteen!! That’s when I knew I had a problem. But since it is fall, I decided to put that pumpkin to good use and not just for pumpkin bread, pumpkin pie, pumpkin pancakes… I really want some pumpkin right now.

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I immediately thought of this amazing pumpkin soup I had a few weeks ago. My friend had a pumpkin party (best idea ever, right?) and made this amazing pumpkin soup from Rachael Ray (click here for original recipe). But I was sad when I saw the recipe and realized it included flour and diary. The soup is actually pretty healthy in its original version but if you are like me and swell up in your joints and gut if you eat gluten or dairy, you’ll appreciate my dilemma.

I decided to make the soup but change the ingredients and adjust them to still get the same creamy consistency without the flour.  I also wanted to up the protein with some chicken. I’m pleased to report I was very successful. My whole family loved this soup.

The best part is that it comes together in one pan. Start by sauteing the vegetables in the butter.

The bulk of this soup comes from three cans. How easy is that?! Just a can of chicken stock, a can of pumpkin and a can of coconut milk.

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Then it gets some great flavor from the nutmeg and bay leaves.

After this simmers together, just add some cooked chicken pieces. We use thighs because we like them better than breasts,  but any chicken will work great.

As far as the relish goes, I left it completely the same as the original recipe but replaced the Craisins with raisins. It’s close to impossible to find dried cranberries without added sugar, so I opted for the raisins. The flavor was still amazing. I also left out the chili as I knew that would not impress my 5-year-old.

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Now I have 12 cans left of pumpkin in my pantry. Guess I’ll have to try one of these (click here for a link to some great pumpkin recipes).

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Guilt-Free Cinnamon Raisin Biscuits

By on July 8, 2016 in Breakfast

As a kid, I always got excited when I heard the ice cream truck. Since it was summer, I was generally in my black and rainbow striped swimsuit running through the sprinklers with half the kids in my neighborhood. We’d hear the music and run toward the truck with all our might and quarters. Aside from that, there was another truck that brought joy to my heart: the Schwan’s truck. We’d get so excited when the “Schwan’s man” would come each week. My mom always bought two things (she bought more but I wasn’t really interested in raw chicken breasts and salmon patties). One, push-up ice cream pops. Remember those? I can still taste of that delicous peach ice cream combined with the taste of plastic and cardboard as I licked the tube trying to get every last drop. The second things she always got; cinnamon raising biscuits. These things were so addicting. Many a Sunday morning, I’d wake up smelling those delicious biscuits. The fact that they came with a tube of frosting made them that much better.

Maybe I was feeling nostalgic because it was close to mother’s day, but a few weeks ago, I was craving these biscuits, but didn’t want to eat something that I’d regret later. Then I realized, since I know how to make healthy biscuits, I could easily recreate these!

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I started with my healthy drop biscuit recipe. To them I added cinnamon, vanilla and raisins. As with the drop biscuits, I was way too lazy to roll and cut them, but you certainly could if you had the motivation. Since I wanted them to have that round look the ones from my childhood had, I rolled them and shaped them with my hands.

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We ate these before I could get a picture, but to simulate the frosting, we drizzled a bit of coconut butter of the top of a few of them. These were so good, I considered putting the black and rainbow swimsuit back on and running through the sprinklers eating one. But then I’d be the neighborhood freak. Oh well. They tasted just as delicious as they did when I was 7.

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Leftover Round Steak Salad

By on November 27, 2015 in Main Dishes

Even though I enjoy making dinner for my family, there are nights I’m tired, cranky, hungry NOW, or would rather sit on my tuckus and not make dinner. That’s when I love “2-for-1” dinners. That’s when I make dinner one night and can use the leftovers to make dinner the next night. That’s what I do when I make Grilled Round Steak. The night after we have this delicious steak, we have Steak Salad.

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A salad is a great meal option for families with picky eaters. Each person can customize their own salad based on what they like. I’ve listed our favorite ingredients, but feel free to customize this however you like. I like to top it with guacamole (my favorite salad dressing) but use what dressing you have and like.

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