Deviled eggs are a classic American appetizer, high in Vitamin B-12, riboflavin and Vitamin A, as well as essential amino acids and Omega 3 fatty acid. While high in cholesterol, this recipe can be modified in several ways to significantly reduce the cholesterol in each serving.

Reduced-Cholesterol Versions

• Use only half the egg yolks (you’ll have to add something more to complete the filling mix, such as more mayo, or both mayo and greek yogurt). This reduces cholesterol to 94 mg (or 31% US RDA), depending on your addition to the filling mix. (Using 3 Tbsp mayo + 3 Tbsp Greek yogurt keeps it at 95 mg.
• Fill egg whites with guacamole for “Green eggs and Ham”
• Fill eggs with mashed potatoes instead of yolks
• Use Greek Yogurt instead of mayonnaise. This reduces cholesterol to 187 mg (or 62% US RDA).

Ingredients

• 8 eggs
• dijon mustard
• Tabasco sauce
• fresh ground peppercorns (or black pepper)
• fresh chives or green onions
• Hellman’s Mayonnaise with Olive Oil
• Paprika
• Pickle relish (optional)

Deviled Egg Filling & Garnish Variations

• Some people like to add white vinegar or ACV
• You could use either Dijon Mustard or Yellow Mustard, or Both
• Or skip all the extra flavor for plain mayo & pepper
• Garnish with fresh dill weed instead of chive or onion or relish, or mix them up a bit

How to perfectly hard-boil eggs

1. Rinse eggs with warm water and gently place in a medium size pot. Fill the pot with water, just to cover the eggs.
2. Bring it just to a boil on medium-high heat, turn off the burner, cover the pot and let sit for about 12-15 minutes.
3. Rinse eggs under cold water, and peel them. Cool the peeled eggs in the refrigerator, covered, for about 15 minutes.

Making the Deviled Egg Filling

1. Slice the eggs lengthwise and place as many egg yolks in a gallon Ziploc baggie (or into a bowl).
2. Leaving the top of the bag open, smush the yolks well. You can use a rolling pin, or just your hands. (Or use a fork if you’re using a mixing bowl.)
3. Add the mustard, 2 dashes of Tabasco sauce, pepper, mayo, onions or chives, and relish. Mix well.
4. When the mix is as smooth as can be, push some of the mix away from the corner of the baggie and cut a small V-shape in the corner, about 1/4″ wide. Pipe the filling into eggs in small circling motions until all the mix is used up.
5. sprinkle the top of the eggs with paprika, and extra chive, onion or relish.

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Deviled Eggs

Classic Deviled Eggs are the great American appetizer for any occasion.

Course Appetizer

Cuisine American

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes minutes

Resting Time 15 minutes minutes

Total Time 55 minutes minutes

Servings 8

Calories 59kcal

Cost $7

Equipment

• 1 Deviled Egg Tray

Ingredients

• 8 eggs
• 1 tsp Dijon mustard
• 2 dashes Tabasco sauce
• ¼ tsp fresh ground black pepper
• 1 Tbsp green onion
• 3 Tbsp Hellmann's Mayonnaise Dressing with Olive Oil
• 1 tsp Paprika

Instructions

How to Boil Eggs

• Rinse eggs with warm water and gently place in a medium size pot. Fill with water to cover the eggs.
• Bring to a boil over medium-high heat (about 10 – 12 minutes), then turn off heat, cover and let sit for 12 – 15 minutes.
• Rinse under cold water and peel the eggs. Place covered eggs in refrigerator for 15 minutes.

Deviled Egg Filling

• Slice the eggs in half lengthwise, and place egg yolks in a Ziploc bag or bowl.
• Mash the eggs well. You can use your hands, or a rolling pin, or a fork if you're using a mixing bowl.
• Add the mayo, mustard, Tabasco, pepper and onion. Mix well.
• Cut a V-shape in the corner of the bag and pipe the filling into the egg white halves.
• Garnish with paprika and extra green onion.

Notes

The post Deviled Eggs appeared first on Food Love Affair.

To slice the cabbage, I got a head of cabbage and started slicing it until I had about half a head piled on the chopper. Then, I just sliced it the opposite direction. I tried to make thin slices, but when you get the end piece, it can be pretty big. Just make sure it’s chopped up into bite-size pieces.

Using two bell peppers, I sliced them lengthwise and then just cut them in half. I sliced the celery in half length-wise and then sliced them thinly (about 1/4″). I used 1/4 of an onion, and then sliced that into strips. I shredded my carrots using the cheese grater.

All you do is prep the veggies, mix the dressing and combine the two. Let it rest for at least an hour.

For the dressing, be sure to use fresh ground peppercorn to make the pepper slaw really pop. Combine vegetable oil, celery salt, pepper, celery seed, sugar, apple cider vinegar and mustard with a whisk until the sugar begins to dissolve. The recipe actually calls for dry mustard, and I never have that in my cupboard, so I just use yellow mustard.

I tried to shake this to combine, but you’ll have to shake, then stir and repeat. That mixed it up really well.

A perfect side dish for your barbeque! We had shredded beef brisket on kaiser rolls with this yummy, summery pepper slaw.

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Bell Pepper Slaw

A crisp and refreshing summer side salad for your cookout.

Course Salad

Cuisine American

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Servings 12

Calories 111kcal

Cost $4

Ingredients

• ½ head green cabbage
• 1 red bell pepper
• 1 green bell pepper
• 3 ribs celery
• ¼ onion, sliced
• 1 carrot, shredded

Dressing

• ½ c canola or vegetable oil
• 1 ½ tsp celery salt
• 1 tsp cracked black pepper
• ½ tsp celery seed
• 2 Tbsp sugar
• 3 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 1 Tbsp mustard

Instructions

• Chop, dice and shred your veggies.
• Mix your dressing.
• Stir to combine.

Notes

The post Bell Pepper Slaw appeared first on Food Love Affair.

It’s pretty easy, and you can tweak it to your liking. All you need is:

• a bag of coleslaw mix
• sunflower seeds
• sliced almonds
• ramen noodles
• green onion
• vegetable oil
• distilled vinegar
• sugar

First you mix the salad, then you mix the dressing and toss it all together. I added a bit of salt & pepper to mine since the nuts were raw, I felt the salad could use a little balance of salt to the sugar.

Alterations:

• Make the coleslaw mix from scratch with Napa cabbage (about 3 cups), red cabbage (about 2 cups) and carrots (about 1 cup).
• Use organic ramen noodles.
• Add extra carrots, shredded or sticks.
• Add sesame seed, or swap the vegetable oil for olive oil or avocado oil.
• Swap the white vinegar for rice vinegar.
• Add a tablespoon of soy sauce to the dressing.
• You can toast the nuts in the oven, or stir fry the nuts with the noodles in butter for extra buttery crunch.

This crunchy ramen salad is a perfect potluck or cookout side dish; you could call it “disappearing crunchy ramen salad”!

Tips:

To crush the ramen noodles, you could use a rolling pin. I put mine in a quart Ziploc bag (don’t seal the bag), and ended up kind of hammer-rolling it out to bite-size pieces.

Also note that this salad is best eaten the day it is prepared. When you let the ramen noodles sit in the dressing, they will absorb it and no longer be crunchy.

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Crunchy Ramen Salad

A light, crunchy summer salad with an Asian twist that's easy to make and a great crowd-pleaser!

Course Salad

Cuisine Chinese

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Servings 8

Calories 329kcal

Cost $9

Ingredients

Salad Base

• 1 bag coleslaw mix
• 1 c sunflower kernels
• 1 c sliced almonds
• 2 bags ramen noodles
• 4 stalks green onion

Dressing

• ¾ c vegetable oil
• ⅓ c distilled vinegar
• ½ c sugar
• ½ t pepper
• ¼ t salt

Instructions

• Combine the salad base ingredients in a large bowl.
• Whisk the dressing ingredients in a large bowl.
• Add the dressing to the salad and mix well to coat.

Notes

The post Crunchy Ramen Salad appeared first on Food Love Affair.

Here’s how to make a cheese sandwich:

Git your ingredients:

• Cheese
• Mayo
• Bread

And a plate to put it on.

Assembly:

Spread the mayo with whatever tool you have (spoon, knife, spatula, etc.)

Take two pieces of cheese, fold one in half and eat the other half. Layer the cheese on the bread.

And put them together with the mayo facing the cheese.

Cut it

Whether you like triangles or rectangles, or if you want to peel the crust off. Do it how you like.

Eat it. Recall your childhood memories and those midnight trips to the fridge to take a bite out of the block of cheese.

Just kidding, we had mice. That wore Barbie pajamas.

Fine, I confess. It was me. I was the mouse. Sorry, mom & dad.

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Cheese Sandwich

Cold sandwich on a hot day: cheese, mayo; what could be simpler or more delicious?

Course Lunch

Cuisine American

Prep Time 5 minutes minutes

Servings 1

Calories 346kcal

Cost $1

Ingredients

• 2 slices bread
• 2 slices american cheese
• 1 T Hellmann's Olive Oil Mayonnaise Dressing

Instructions

• Apply the Mayo to one slice of bread
• Layer cheese across the bread
• Top with the other slice of bread

Notes

The post Cheese Sandwich appeared first on Food Love Affair.

Ingredients

• 1 box thin spaghetti or angel hair pasta
• 3 T lemon juice
• 4 T canola oil
• Seasoned Salt
• Sugar
• 4 oz diced pimento
• 1 green pepper, chopped
• 1 c celery, sliced
• 1 c black olives, chopped
• 1 ½ c Mayo

Recipe Update:

I finally found my notes for the recipe and there’s a few things missing here…

• Break the “Vermicellie” into Thirds Before Boiling
• Original Recipe calls for 1 T. Accent (if you don’t have any issues with MSG, feel free to try it this way, with seasoned salt)
• Celery should be 2 c.
• ¾ c. onions is missing; I think this is supposed to be red onion (or green)
• A note about the oil: it can be Canola oil, vegetable oil or extra virgin olive oil.

Break the pasta in half and cook according to package directions.

Place cooked spaghetti in a large bowl and add seasoning mix, lemon juice and vegetable oil. Stir to combine, cover and refrigerate overnight.

Add vegetables and mayonnaise and mix well. Chill for one hour and serve.

Variations

I also like to make my own seasoning, but you can choose 1 Tbsp of seasoned salt to your liking, adding a bit of sugar to replace the original 1 Tbsp of MSG.

Optionally, you can add diced onion – red onion or white onion – about ½ cup, or ½ an onion for extra veggies.

You can also use vermicelli noodles, which are equivalent to angel hair and traditionally Asian.

I’ve seen diced tomato used in place of pimentos, I would use just one Roma tomato.

You can also use just zesty Italian dressing with McCormick salad dressing seasoning (Perfect Pinch) instead of the olive oil + lemon juice and skip the mayo.

Tip: Don’t forget this is mayo-based, so if you bring it outside, keep it cold.

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Spaghetti Salad

A thin spaghetti salad side dish.

Course Salad, Side Dish

Cuisine American

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes minutes

Resting Time 9 hours hours

Total Time 9 hours hours 30 minutes minutes

Servings 11

Calories 234kcal

Cost $9

Ingredients

• 16 oz thin spaghetti or angel hair pasta (1 box)
• 3 T lemon juice
• 4 T canola oil
• 4 oz diced pimento
• 1 green pepper, chopped
• 1 c celery, sliced
• 1 c black olives, chopped
• 1 ½ c Hellmann's Mayonnaise Dressing with Olive Oil

Seasoning Mix

• 1 ½ T salt
• 1 T sugar
• ½ t Paprika
• ½ t turmeric
• ½ t onion powder
• ¼ t garlic powder

Instructions

• Break thin spaghetti or angel hair pasta in half and cook according to package directions
• Place cooked spaghetti in a large bowl and add seasoning mix, lemon juice and vegetable oil. Stir to combine, cover and refrigerate overnight.
• Remove pasta from the refrigerator and add vegetables and mayonnaise. Chill for one hour and serve.

Notes

The post Spaghetti Salad appeared first on Food Love Affair.

Spinach pie: fresh spinach or frozen? My attempts at fresh spinach for spanakopita failed. It tasted like dirt even though I washed and washed. I prefer frozen now, because there is a lot less fuss over preparation. You don’t have to cook it through, since it is already wilted, but I fold mine into my sauteed, seasoned veggies, and cook it just a little to warm it up, and let some of the steam or remaining moisture evaporate.

Seasonings are better when fresh, such as dill and parsley. I almost never have the fresh stuff, so if you do, double the amount used. And use as much onion & green onion as you see fit. I like to combine the two, or sometimes leave out the green onion. About 1 medium white or yellow onion and a half-bunch of green onion makes a good base to complement the spinach.

Spanakopita cheese: just feta, or feta and ricotta? This is a personal preference – the feta did not provide enough richness to my liking, so I combine both feta and ricotta cheese for a rich, creamy tasty Greek spinach pie. Try it with cottage cheese, if that’s your thing.

During assembly, you want to keep they phyllo dough moist, so I put a very lightly moistened paper towel over the top of my sheet pile.

Then, after each layer of pastry sheet, I dab the whole layer, end-to-end with olive oil.

Before the last two or three layers, I fold the edges in and over the top.

Bake at 350° F for 35 minutes.

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Spanakopita (Spinach Pie)

Greek spinach pie, rich and creamy and easy to prepare.

Course Main Course

Cuisine Mediterranean

Prep Time 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time 1 hour hour

Total Time 1 hour hour 30 minutes minutes

Servings 12

Calories 178kcal

Ingredients

• 3 T olive oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 c green onions, chopped optional
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 16 oz frozen spinach, drained well
• 2 T parsley
• 3 eggs, beaten
• ½ c ricotta cheese
• 1 c feta cheese crumbles
• 1 t dill weed
• ⅛ t nutmeg
• 1 package phyllo dough, thawed
• ¾ c olive oil

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350° F. Lightly grease a 9×9 baking pan.
• Heat 3 Tbsp olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Sautee onions & garlic until soft and lightly brown. Add spinach, parsley and seasonings. Mix and cook until heated through (about a minute). Remove from heat and let cool.
• In a medium bowl, mix eggs and cheese. Stir into spinach mixture.
• Lay 1 sheet of dough in pan and brush lightly with oil. Lay another sheet of dough, brush with oil and repeat with 2 more sheets. Give it another light coating of oil, ensuring all layers are coated end to end.
• Spread spinach and cheese mixture into pan and fold overhanging dough over filling. Layer the remaining 4 sheets of dough with adequate oil between each layer and on top, then tuck overhanging dough into pan to seal.
• Bake for 35 minutes or until golden brown.

Notes

The post Spanakopita (Spinach Pie) appeared first on Food Love Affair.

This recipe is based on a recipe suggestion from Sendik’s real food magazine. My brother has struggled with Crohn’s disease for years and has been extremely careful about what he eats, and frugal with what he actually likes, so if it gets his approval, I consider it a success. This was a successful minestrone soup recipe, and I hope others with food allergies and medical conditions can eat it, too. If you try it, do comment and rate the recipe, so others can benefit from your experience.

The ingredients are simple but the soup is hearty & delicious.

• onion
• carrots
• celery
• garlic
• barley
• tomatoes
• kidney beans
• parmigiano cheese
• bay leaf

The base is simple, traditional: diced carrots, onion & celery, sauteed in olive oil with a bit of garlic.

Add water, barley, bay leaf, salt & pepper and bring it to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer 30 minutes.

Add tomatoes, beans and cheese and simmer for 10 more minutes.

You might like to slice the celery instead of dicing them, for heartier chunks, or you might like to cook it a bit longer for softer vegetables.

Serve with a side of sliced french baguette or toasted Italian garlic-cheese bread.

Minestrone Alterations

• Add fresh, trimmed green beans (1 ½ c), cut into ½” pieces
• Season with 1 tsp. crushed rosemary, parsley or oregano
• Use stewed tomatoes and 1 Tbsp of tomato paste instead of diced tomatoes
• Try White Cannellini or navy beans, or blend lightly with a hand mixer for a thicker stew
• Add spinach or zucchini or cabbage and cubed potatoes when you add the beans.
• Cook with chicken broth instead of water
• Add pasta (1 ½ c) instead of barley (during the last ten minutes of cooking)
• make it vegan by excluding the cheese

This high-fiber soup calls Italy its home, and while vegetarian in nature, it can be made vegan, or contain meat, such as beef or bone stock. It is meant to be a whatever-you-have-in-the-fridge meal: throw in your asparagus, mushrooms, turnips, lentils or cauliflower. Traditionally a dish for the poor, it grew in nobility. Its meager beginnings included flour and eventually bread or croutons. Try it old-school Roman style with rice or spaghetti!

About Sendik’s

Sendik’s is a local grocery chain started by the Balistreri family after the migrated from Italy in 1926. They’re a high-quality fresh market, that offers a carpeted grocery shopping experience. They have wonderful Italian deli items, and always cover the basics for an American picnic, too. If there’s an ingredient I can’t get at Pick N Save, they will have it at Sendik’s.

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Red Bean Minestrone Soup

This rich kidney bean soup's tomato base pairs well with cheesy french bread toast.

Course Lunch, Main Course

Cuisine Italian, Mediterranean

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 1 hour hour

Servings 6

Calories 246kcal

Cost $7

Ingredients

• 1 c onion, chopped
• 1 c carrots, chopped
• 1 c celery, chopped
• 2 T olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• 4 c water
• ½ c barley
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 t salt
• ⅛ t pepper
• 1 28-oz can diced tomatoes
• 1 15-oz can dark red kidney beans, rinsed & drained
• ½ c parmesan romano cheese, grated

Instructions

• Warm oil in large pot, sautee onion, carrot, celery on medium heat about 10 minutes. Add garlic reduce heat to low, stirring for one minute
• Add water, barley, bay leaf, salt and pepper. Bring it to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer, covered, 30 – 40 minutes. Add tomatoes and beans and cook under cover until it begins to simmer again (about 10 minutes).
• Stir in cheese, and adjust seasoning to taste. Serve immediately with cheesy toast.

Notes

The post Red Bean Minestrone Soup appeared first on Food Love Affair.

Oh, ’90’s, I miss you so. I used to wear dresses & skirts, so much plaid, chunky heeled shoes, babydoll t-shirts under spaghetti-strap dresses, and overalls – overall shorts, overall mini skirts, in blue jean and black cotton. And silver tank tops with matching lipstick. So. Weird.

Okay, enough fashion flashback, just look at a JCPenney catalog, let’s get back to the food flashback – the kaiser rolls and pita breads.

Fresh Stuffed Pita selections:

• Classic Greek
• Garden Ranch Chicken
• Chicken Caesar
• Garden Veggie

Greek & Veggie had the same base:

• Flat Pita shell
• Romaine Lettuce Blend (With Shredded Carrot & Red Cabbage)
• Fresh Veggie Blend (Diced Red Onion, Tomato, Cucumber)

Romaine Lettuce Blend

You could make the Romaine Lettuce Blend yourself, combining 6 c. chopped romaine lettuce, 1/4 c. shredded red cabbage & 1/4 c shredded carrot, or you can just pick up a bag of Fresh Express Premium Romaine Salad. It might be less lettuce than if you made it yourself, but you want more room for that delicious veggie blend, don’t you?

Fresh Veggie Blend

For the Fresh Veggie Blend, I try to make a bit more, and it depends on the size of the vegetables just how much leftover I’ll have. I use 2 small-to-medium ripe red tomatoes, one cucumber and about 1/4 – 1/8 of a red onion. I often forget to seed the tomato, I suppose that’s why it ends up being so messy. Try seeding your tomato before dicing it up, or use some firm Roma tomatoes, which I find easier to seed.

Classic Greek Pita

To make the Greek Pita, add crumbled Feta cheese & either Caesar dressing or Italian dressing (based on your personal preference and what’s in your fridge).

Veggie Pita

To finish off the Veggie Pita, just top with Ranch or Italian. The original had “shredded” carrots that were more like teeny, tiny strips or ultra baby carrot sticks, and the dressing was on top of that carrot/cucumber mix, but underneath the diced fresh veggies.

The Garden Veggie Pita also had a broccoli slaw, as you can see in this video right at the 24 second mark: https://youtu.be/QgOvolliaF8?t=24

Another video made it look like the Garden Ranch pita had it on there, too. Let me know if you remember when you rate and review these pita recipes. They are soo good!

I nearly forgot about it, but I’m thinking it was a simple broccoli slaw like Green Giant‘s bag of broccoli slaw, with a simple creamy dressing base: mayo, vinegar, sugar, pepper & celery seed. For a 32 oz bag, use ½ c mayo, ¼ c vinegar, 2 Tbsp sugar, ½ tsp celery seed, and as much pepper as you like. For the 12-oz, use ⅓ c mayo, 2 Tbsp vinegar, 1 Tbsp sugar, ¼ tsp celery seed and pepper.

I would go with the big bag, and if you have leftover slaw, throw in some sunflower seeds or sliced almonds & cranberries or green onion with a dash of lemon juice to make it fancy.

Chicken Pitas (Garden Ranch/Caesar)

The Chicken Pitas also have the same base:

• Flat Pita shell
• Romain Lettuce Blend
• Diced, Grilled Chicken

To make the Garden Ranch Chicken, just top with Ranch dressing. You could add shredded cheddar cheese if you like, but it didn’t originally come with it.

To make the Chicken Caesar, add shredded Parmesan cheese and Italian or Caesar dressing.

Be sure to select a fluffy, white, flat pita bread. If you can’t find it, or want to make a healthier bread selection, you can try the pita pockets in wheat, but the pockets almost always fall apart at one seam or another. You’d be better off eating that one out of a bowl and ripping up the pita pocket into bite size pieces like a piece of lettuce.

Don’t forget the napkins, the dressing does drip out the back of the pita, even if you only use a little. Especially with the Fresh Veggie Blend, the juice from the tomatoes and cucumbers don’t lend it to being a ‘dry sandwich’.

Enjoy your food flashback, and stay tuned for the Smoky Bacon Cheeseburger recipe. Check out more of our fast food re-creations from Wendy’s, Taco Bell, Cousins Subs and more in our “Fast Food At Home” Category.

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Classic Greek Fresh Stuffed Pita (Wendy’s)

This copycat recipe makes it super easy to flash back to 1996.

Course Lunch, Salad

Cuisine Mediterranean

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Servings 4

Calories 313kcal

Cost $8

Ingredients

• 1 bag Fresh Express Premium Romaine Salad, 9 oz w/carrot & red cabbage
• 4 round, flat pita breads (like Kangaroo or Toufayan)
• 1 c feta cheese crumbles
• 4 T Italian or Caesar dressing

Veggie Blend

• ½ c tomato, seeded and diced
• ¼ c cucumber, sliced and chopped
• ¼ c red onion, diced

Instructions

• Combine the Veggie Blend.
• Warm the pita breads.
• Put some lettuce blend in the folded pita (about 1 c.), top with 1/4 c. Veggie Blend, ¼ c. feta, and drizzle with 1 T dressing.
• Serve immediately.

Notes

The post Classic Greek Fresh Stuffed Pita (Wendy’s) appeared first on Food Love Affair.

The main recipe comes from my Hamilton Beach Slow Cooker recipe book and it is practically perfect. This makes 3 quarts, but you can easily make 4 quarts with a total of 32 oz V-8, 1 Tbsp garlic, ½ c chopped onion, 2 bags of vegetables, 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp sugar and 3 cups of water.

I usually search for mixed vegetables at the back of the freezer, whichever type of mix I have, like soup vegetables or mixed vegetables. The goal is to get a good mix of green beans, peas, carrots, corn and maybe some potatoes and extra onions.

Easy makes it fun – chunk it up with extra fresh veggies, or spice it up as you like.

Try to avoid using a broth with salt or additives, or make your own homemade vegetable base. This already has sodium, so skip the salt wherever you can. You don’t want too much salt or sugar, especially if you’re going to add crackers. And, who doesn’t add crackers?

Ingredients

• V-8
• tomato paste
• chopped garlic
• diced onion
• bag of mixed vegetables
• vegetable broth
• Italian seasoning
• salt
• sugar
• water

Typically, I’ll have a bag of mixed vegetables in the freezer with Organic Carrots, Organic Corn, Organic Peas and Organic Green Beans.

Sometimes I like to add fresh potato or celery, but here are some other ideas for veggies to add to your soup:

• diced tomatoes
• lima beans
• zucchini
• cabbage
• peppers (bell)
• cauliflower
• kale
• leeks

Vegetable Soup Instructions

• Combine all ingredients, stir, cover and cook on Low for 6 hours.

Easy, right?!

Make it a hearty meal with some class grilled cheese, or garlic bread on the side. It can be a filling dinner later in the week. This makes plenty for leftovers or ‘seconds’.

Seasoning Ideas

Italian seasoning mixes usually contain things like Marjoram, Rosemary, Basil, Thyme, Savory, Oregano and Sage, but you can make your own flavor profile as you like:

• paprika
• pepper
• parsley
• lemon juice

More stir-in ideas

Many of the canned or bagged version of vegetable soups & mixes will contain other fillers. If you use potato in your soup, you should definitely skip these. But, I’ve made it with some alphabet noodles (just like Campbell’s) and that made it fun while keeping the dish light. Just remember you don’t want over-saturated, soggy noodles, so just add them in the last few minutes (they only take about ten minutes to cook).

• rice (try brown rice)
• barley
• noodles (shell noodles, spiral noodles, egg noodles)
• lentils

If you like barley, mix it in during the last 30 minutes.

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Vegetarian Vegetable Soup

A slow-cooked vegetable soup will warm you, heart and soul, during the cold, dark winter.

Course Lunch, Soup

Cuisine American

Prep Time 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time 6 hours hours

Servings 12

Calories 41kcal

Cost $7

Equipment

• crock pot

Ingredients

• 3 c vegetable juice V-8
• 6 oz tomato paste
• 1 tsp chopped garlic
• ¼ c onion, diced
• 16 oz frozen mixed vegetables
• 14 oz vegetable broth
• 1 ½ c water
• ½ t salt
• ½ t sugar

Instructions

• Toss all ingredients into crock pot. Stir. Cook on low for 6 hours.

Notes

The post Vegetarian Vegetable Soup appeared first on Food Love Affair.

You can double the recipe for more people, but I usually eat only about 10 (or the equivalent of one burrito size tortilla shell).

Simple Ingredients

• cream cheese
• cheddar
• sour cream
• salsa (inside or on the side)
• green onion
• garlic powder
• seasoned salt
• tortilla shells

I ran out of burrito-sized tortilla shells today, so I used my bulk of Fajita shells for smaller roll-ups.

For the larger shells, I didn’t spread it all the way to the edge because when you roll up the pinwheel, some of it will push, completing the spread.

Easy instructions

• Mix
• Spread
• Roll-up
• Wrap

These tortilla roll-ups are super fun to make with the kids! (Pinwheels always are – just make sure you do the slicing with a serrated knife.)

Using Fajita shells instead of burrito shells makes a slightly smaller pinwheel, but they turned out just fine.

Refrigerate overnight, then slice and serve. You’ll have “end pieces”, which will have less cream cheese filling, but you can dip them in salsa and they’re just great! Like little taquitos, but with cheese and not deep fried.

This recipe is based on a Taste of Home appetizer, modified for simplicity and servings.

Alterations:

• add diced black olives
• leave the salsa on the side for dipping
• use diced red bell pepper & celery instead of green onions and salsa
• try ranch dressing mix instead of garlic powder & seasoned salt
• chives often make better flavor than green onions, though they cost a little more
• add sun-dried tomatoes

Pinwheel tips

Other recipes for pinwheels call for shorter cooling time because their tortilla gets soggy – I did not have any issues. I use Mission tortilla shells, or La Banderita burrito shells.

Make sure your salsa is chunky. I think this helps minimize moisture.

The sour cream brand doesn’t really matter, just make sure you don’t get something on discount or fat-free (they tend to be runny). You want it thick and rich.

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Easy Party Pinwheels

Cream cheese tortilla roll-ups are a great party snack for kids

Course Appetizer

Cuisine Mexican

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Total Time 20 minutes minutes

Servings 4

Calories 394kcal

Cost $4

Ingredients

• 4 oz cream cheese
• 4 oz cheddar cheese, shredded
• ⅓ c sour cream
• ¼ c chunky salsa
• ½ c green onions, chopped
• 1 t garlic powder
• 1 t seasoned salt
• 3 flour tortilla shells, 10"

Instructions

• Blend cream cheese, cheddar cheese and sour cream. Add salsa, green onions and seasoning to your taste. Mix well to combine.
• Spread across tortilla to the edge & roll the tortilla tight. wrap in plastic wrap, twisting ends to seal. Refrigerate overnight.
• Unwrap and slice into ¾" slices. Serve immediately.

Notes

% Daily Value*
Total Fat 27.9g	36%
Saturated Fat 17g	85%
Cholesterol 73mg	24%
Sodium 670mg	29%
Total Carbohydrate 22.9g	8%
Dietary Fiber 0.6g	2%
Total Sugars 1.7g
Protein 13.6g
Vitamin D 3mcg	17%
Calcium 348mg	27%
Iron 2mg	12%
Potassium 179mg	4%

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