Slow Cooked Corn Polenta and Chiles

WE LOVE POLENTA! We love grits! Whatever you want to call it, it is deelish and one of my fave comfort foods ever! It is so simple to prepare but even simpler to eat 🙂

Sometimes when I know I have a lot of cooking to do, I love to use the slow cooker so that I can prepare one part of the meal beforehand and it is ready when I am done cooking the rest. Ahh so simple!

Pre-cooked Polenta

Soft Polenta Yummyness

Set Polenta

Polenta Square

Slow cooked Corn Polenta and Chiles

3 cups water (or milk/ or non-dairy milk)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon fresh rosemary, chopped
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3/4 cup yellow cornmeal
1 cup corn kernels
1 cup shredded montery jack cheese (or non-dairy cheese)
1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese (or non-dairy cheese)
1 can diced mild green chiles

  1. In a large saucepan or flame-proof slow cooker liner over medium heat bring water, garlic, rosemary, salt and pepper to a boil.  Add polenta, whisking to prevent lumps. Continue whisking until mixture begins to thicken and bubbles, about 5 minutes. Add corn, Jack and Parmesan cheeses and chiles and mix well. Transfer to slow cooker stoneware if you are using a saucepan.
  2. Cover and cook on Low for 2-3 hours. It will then be a soft (deelish) polenta. If you want it to set transfer to a 8×8 glass pan and place in the fridge for a half hour or so.
  3. Serve and enjoy either way!
LOVE POLENTA!3 cups skim milk (water or soy milk)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon fresh rosemary, chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3/4 cup coarsley yellow cornmeal, preferably stone-ground
1 cup corn kernals
1 cup shredded montery jack cheese
1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
1 can diced mild green chiles

1. in a large saucepa over medium heat, bring milk, garli, rosemary, salt and pepper to taste to a boil. Gradually add polenta, in a steady stream, whisking to remove all lumps. Continue whisking until mixture begins to thicken and bubbles like lava, about 5 minutes. Add corn, Jack and Parmesan cheeses and chiles and mix well. Transfer to slow cooker stoneware.
2. Cover and cook on Low for 2 hours, until mixture is firm and just beginning to brown around the edges.

Banana Ice Cream Love

mmmmm!! We  have been eating Banana Ice Cream for so long and I have never posted it! I am sorry not to have shared this beloved ‘secret’ recipe with everyone before!! It couldn’t be simpler (to make and ingredients) and is so delicious! For us it is super easy because we always keep a bunch of frozen bananas in the freezer to make smoothies and ice cream, so there is no planning for this fabulous dessert, ever! Since this recipe is really just bananas, you can enjoy it anytime; even for breakfast!! How great is that, Ice Cream for Breakfast! There are so many twists and additions you can make with this recipe, so have fun with it! Let me know anything else you try and love!

Banana Ice Cream

1-2 frozen bananas per person serving
any toppings or additions you want to add

So Simple! Just take the bananas and blend away in your Vita-mix, Blend-tec, blender or food processor until smooth. ENJOY 🙂

Suggested Topping or Add-Ins

  • The pictures in this post, we used our beloved Agave Pecan Butter, basically making an amazing frozen version of  Chocolate-Covered Katie’s Banana Butter
  • Sometimes we add in Cocoa Nibs and we get amazing Chocolate Chip Ice cream
  • ChocAgave –yummy raw chocolate sauce, or just use regular chocolate syrup
  • Goji berries for a great chewy taste
  • add other berries in the mixture to change up the taste, or as a topping
  • add cocoa powder to make chocolate ice cream
  • maca, mesquite, lucuma , protein powders
  • have fun, this is such a great treat to play with

Crock-Pot Oatmeal

I know you had all heard me profess my new-found love for breakfast but I haven’t posted one in a while. For the last couple of weeks I have been making Crock-Pot Oatmeal. As you know I am always cooking up a storm in my kitchen, so to have this one be super easy really takes the pressure of breakfast off me 🙂 What I do is throw all the ingredients in the crock pot on sunday, let it do its thing and then refrigerate them in perfect portions for the week. Love it! This really couldn’t be easier and there are so many versions to play with! The one below is this week’s breakfast but I will list addition as well.

Crock-Pot Oatmeal

1 cup of steel-cut oats
1/2 cup quinoa
1/2 brown rice
5 cups water
1/3 cup raisins
1/2 – 1 teaspoon salt, to taste
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup agave

In a crock-pot, combine the oats, quinoa, rice, water, raisins and salt. Turn on high for 2.5 hours or slow for 6 hours. About 1.5 hours in, stir and recover. Once the oatmeal is finished cooking add the sweeteners of your choice. Enjoy 🙂

Additions or substitutions

  • apples, chopped (before cooking for baked apples or after for crisp apples)
  • dried fruits (goji berries, cranberries, chopped figs, etc. )
  • berries (after cooking)
  • other grains (wheat berries, barley, buckwheat, cornmeal, etc)
  • sweeteners (honey, stevia, date sugar, etc.)

Butterscotch Smoothie

Butterscotch Smoothie anyone? OMG! This was so good! Non-green smoothies are rare in my house and normally a weekend treat. This one is perfect for a treat anytime though! SO good! Mesquite is always a great addition. If you have never had it before I would definitely suggest this sweet, butterscotch tasting powder that is made from ground mesquite pods. Check it out here.

Plus they match the wood 🙂

Butterscotch Smoothie

4 large ripe bananas (I used some frozen and some ripe)
1 ½ cups water
4-6 dates
1 tablespoons of agave nectar
2 heaping tablespoons mesquite powder

Also the best thing about this smoothie, is you just put everything in the blender and blend away! You can add more mesquite or sweetener to taste.

Everything but the kitchen Sink-Frittata

I think you all know that we love frittatas in my house. See my Spanish Tortilla, Zucchini, Potato and Goat Cheese Frittata with Cilantro Sauce and Fontina, Asparagus and Zucchini Frittata. They are delicious, quick and nutritious. So similarly to the Italian Ribollita soup, this is my go-to leftovers meal. I hate wasting food so this is the perfect way to make sure your veggies don’t go bad and to empty out your fridge all while really enjoying what you make with the ingredients. Also, as I have said before, frittatas are perfect for breakfast, lunch, snacking and dinner! All you need is the eggs and have fun with the rest. This recipe is one that I made recently, but you can play with whatever you have and as long as it makes sense and you will have a tasty, quick and inexpensive meal.

Everything but the kitchen Sink-Frittata

6 eggs
left-over goat cheese from Judith’s Fig and Goat Cheese Bruschetta (thanks Judith 🙂 )
2 onions chopped (there are always onions in my house)
1 10 ounce bag of spinach leftover from the Polenta Vegetable Casserole
1/2 cup of pesto leftover from the Raw Corn Cakes
3/4 cup chestnut puree, divided, leftover from the Chestnut and Mushroom Pâté en Croûte
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
3/4 cup mushrooms leftover from the Chestnut and Mushroom Pâté en Croûte
1/2 cup cottage cheese
garlic, chopped (of course!)

Preheat over to 375 degrees. Heat some oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Sautée onions and garlic for 5 minutes. Add mushrooms and spinach and cook for another 2-3 minutes, till spinach has wilted. Add goat cheese, cottage cheese, pesto and half of the chestnut puree and stir till combined with vegetable mixture. Turn heat down to medium and pour eggs on top of vegetable mixture and let settle. Top parmesan, other half of chestnut puree, salt and pepper. After 5-7 minutes on the stove top put the skillet into the oven for another 10-15 minutes to set. Once it is golden on top you can take out and Enjoy :)

Buckwheat Apple Cinnamon Cookies

More Apple Cookies 🙂 I am on a kick here. These were great! They had a bunch of ingredients and made a little more than I wanted, but since when do I complain about too much of a good thing?!?! It was a little hard to work with all these ingredients in the food processor. I would suggest processing all the dry ingredients and then pouring that mixture into a large bowl. Then adding the wet ingredients to the processor and then combining dy and wet together…that would simplify matters. But either way I am sure you would be happy with the results. These are good!

Buckwheat Apple Cinnamon Cookies
Recipe from The Sunny Raw Kitchen
makes a big batch of cookies

1 1/2 cups soaked almonds
1 1 /2 cups soaked buckwheat
2 cups apples, peeled and roughly chopped
1 cup dates, soaked
3/4 cup dried coconut
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1/4 cup agave nectar (or to taste)
1/4 cup liquid vanilla
1/4 cup dried cranberries
1/4 cup ground oats
1/4 cup ground flax
1 tbs cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup oat flakes

Mix all ingredients except oat flakes in a food processor until well incorporated. (You may need to do this in more than one batch!)

Transfer batter to a large bowl and mix in the oat flakes by hand.

Drop by the spoonful directly onto a dehydrator mesh and flatten with a spatula or a glass. (Mine were about 1/3″ thick.)

Dehydrate overnight at 110.

Oats and Chia

More oats and chia 🙂 This was great because it was raw and still included oats. Having the oats become saturated by the almond milk overnight really worked! I added a few drops of stevia for some sweetness and raspberries because they are my fave. Yum!

Oats and Chia
serves 2-3

1 cups thick rolled oats (raw if you can find them)
1 cup almond milk, plus more for serving
1 1/2 tablespoon chia seeds
pinch of cinnamon
berries
stevia and/or agave to taste

I am medium bowl place the oats, chia and connamon. Add the almond milk and stir well. Let sit for 10 minutes and stir well again. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
In the morning stir again and then top with berries, stevia and/or agave for some sweetness.

Baked Sweet Potato with Cinnamon & Coconut Butter

Veggie Girl is awesome and always has great recipes and insights on her blog. Here is her latest snack obsession that I loved as well!! My mother-in-law has always told me that she loves to eat sweet potatoes and once I saw this recipe I decided to take the plunge 🙂 (I have had them before, but not a regular staple in my life) It was awesome!! Plus coconut butter is so delightful, always!! haha This was a sweet and satisfying meal that I am sure I will have many times! It can be breakfast, a snack, lunch or a side for dinner. Try it out, so simple and deelish! Thanks Veggie Girl 🙂

IMG_2758

Baked Sweet Potato with Cinnamon & Coconut Butter

1-2 sweet potatoes
1-2 tablespoons Coconut Butter (Just like Veggie Girl, I highly recommend the Artisana brand of coconut butter. It is by far the best out there ever!!)
Cinnamon to taste
Dash of salt

Bake the sweet potatoes at 350 degrees for 40-50 minutes. Cut open and add coconut butter, cinnamon and salt. Enjoy!!!

Mango Chia Goodness

I love all things chia. I am sure you have seen my many posts on Chia and all the fun recipes you can make with it. Chia Seed Pudding, Sweet Double Coconut Chia Pudding, Holiday Chia Pudding, and Banana Date Chia Pudding. (wow, I totally love Chia!!)

Here is a super simple recipe that barely takes any prep time to make (although you do have to let it sit overnight). For me this chia recipe is super simple… I mix it at night and in the morning all I have to do is cut up a mango and I am ready to go 🙂 Love it! Super simple and deelish!

IMG_2712
Mango Chia Goodness
4 servings
2 cups vanilla almond milk
1/3 cup chia seeds
1 mango diced

Combine chia seeds with almond milk and whisk. Let sit for 10 minutes and stir again to avoid clumps. Cover and refrigerate overnight. In the morning dice a mango and add to chia pudding. Enjoy 🙂

Per serving: 144 calories, 8 g fat, 1 g saturated fat, 0 g cholesterol, 4 g protein, 18 g carbohydrates, 8 g sugar, 9 g fiber

Pumpkin Oatmeal

I love Oatmeal!! But sometimes I want more per serving and don’t want to up the carb & calorie stats. I know many people have the same feeling with cereal servings. What we would consider a normal serving is twice what the stats are giving us 😦 So this time around I added canned pure pumpkin. It added a deelish pumpkin taste and fiber, giving me more oatmeal for a tiny bit more calories. A 1/2 cup serving has just 40 calories, .5 gram of fat, 9 carbs, and 5 grams of fiber (and I only used 8 tablespoons for the whole recipe!) I loved this recipe and it was husband approved 🙂 Success!

IMG_2677

Pumpkin Oatmeal
4 servings

1 1/2 cups oatmeal
2 1/2 cups water
8 tbsp canned pure pumpkin
4 tbsp maple syrup
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground dry ginger
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
12 drops of stevia
3/4 tsp Celtic sea salt

Boil water and oatmeal together for about 8-10 minutes. Turn down the heat and add the pumpkin, maple syrup, spices, stevia and salt. Stir over heat until well combined and it has reached the desired consistency. Enjoy!

Per Serving: 240 calories, 3 fat, 44g carbs, 7g fiber, 15g sugars, 7g protein

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