The "What to do With all this Turkey" Minestrone

We hosted Christmas this year at our place (only 8 adults and Magnus) and had a great meal.  Like many of you I'm sure we had a tonne of turkey leftover and turkey buns get old after a few days.  So, in my attempts to get back on track with healthy eating and use up some of that marvellous bird I came up with this very satisfying and comforting soup.


Anyone with a well stocked pantry should be able to make this soup without running to the store for an ingredient.  So, into the slow cooker I added all the prepped ingredients.  I did not drain the juice from one of the cans of beans (Romano) so that it would help thicken and add a creamier texture to the soup.  If you want a thicker soup feel free to add all the beans undrained (draining and rinsing will help reduce  salt so if your watching your sodium keep that in mind).

The great thing about this meal simmering away in the slow cooker is that the less desired turkey meat  can be used: drier bits will soften, the dark meat can hide among the rest of the ingredients, and white meat will become nice and moist.

So me in my creative impulsiveness started up the slow cooker at 6pm for lunch the next day.  I let it cook for 4-5 hours on high until the veggies were tender.  If you have more time though cooking on low would let the flavours develop more and keep the beans intact (about 1/3 of the beans in this soup split but I think that added to the creamy texture).  I would assume about 8 hours would work if simmering on low.  This soup is very forgiving and if you are missing something, wanting to add an ingredient or substitute different types of beans I'm sure it would still taste great!

As I continually attempt to clean up my diet I would like to use more dry beans, less canned ingredients and fresher spices when possible.  But in saying that I'm glad this meal came together so quickly, lol.  I did not add any salt to this soup as with all the canned ingredients there was a sufficient salt.  Serve with of without parmesan, enjoy :)

The Recipe:

3 stalks of celery chopped
4 carrots chopped
1-2 onions diced
1-2 cups of chopped turkey
2 cups of turkey stock (more if you want a more brothy soup)
2 cans of diced tomatoes (not the large ones)
1 14 ounce can of kidney beans
1 19 ounce can of Romano or navy beans
1/2 tsp of dried garlic
1/2 tbs of dried thyme and oregano
1 tbs of dried basil
2-3 bay leaves
1 tbs white vinegar
1 tsp of sugar
ground pepper to taste

Merry Christmas!

Hi everyone, I honestly can't believe that Christmas is only a couple sleeps away.  I'm loving that my son Magnus is still too young to get caught up in the materialism of it all but still excited for the simple things like decorations, a few extra treats and more time with extended family.  I know that in the coming years Christmas will get even more exciting and perhaps more complicated so I am enjoying this time of simplicity.


For me Christmas has always been a time of excess; spending money, eating out, and indulging ALL season long.  Being a nurse I have to admit there is an extra struggle with Christmas goodies brought in by staff and gifted by patients and their families and working nights even makes it harder to resist temptation.  My family has a true addiction when it comes to food; two very close family members have had weight loss surgery.  As a family we enjoy the good eats over the holidays but often leave at the end of the night feeling sick and somehow disappointed the food did little to nourish us; mentally, emotionally and physically.

This year as I continue my weight loss and journey to better health I am working on focusing on the events (the pictures above and below are from the Kettle Valley Railway Christmas Express), the people, my personal food choices and of course Jesus and his true gift.

I wish you all a season of true peace and hopefully a new or refreshed attitude towards what is really important.  Don't wait until 2013, don't dwell on resolutions, just make a commitment of health to yourself and your loved ones whether it be weight related of otherwise.

Merry Christmas!  Love Chubby Mommy :)

Cauliflower Pizza Crust

First of all this is not a recipe I can take credit for but after posting a well received picture of the finished product on my Facebook profile I thought I should share.  In my efforts to eat cleaner and eat less wheat (I'm not officially gluten free...yet) I came across a few cauliflower pizza crust recipes on Pinterest.  I decided to give it a try and the results were pretty good (hubby raved about it and Magnus devoured it), although not exactly the same as a doughy pizza crust but equally as delicious in my opinion :)


Cauliflower pizza requires "riced" cauliflower.  Most suggest grating but I found something less messy, time consuming and annoying.  Chop up your head or portion of raw cauliflower into equal sized pieces and place them in a blender (my blender has a wide base and I have a feeling a wide base would work better than a smaller tapered base).  Next cover the cauliflower with a generous amount of water and pulse or blitz on high for a few short seconds and you should end up with small somewhat equal bits of cauliflower (sorry guys, I forgot to take a pic of this step but there is a video floating around the web which is where I got the idea).  Dry the cauliflower bits really well.  I let mine sit in the fridge uncovered for a few hours after I strained them.

So, the basic recipe for the crust is:

1 cup "riced" cauliflower

1 cup grated cheese (I used mozzarella but might try an Italian blend next time)

1 egg

seasoning of choice (I didn't add salt as I figured the cheese had plenty)

Mix all the ingrediants together and shape by hand on a parchment lined cookie sheet.  Personal size works best as it's easier to handle and won't be as flopsy.  I shaped mine to a 1 cm thickness and prior to baking the mix won't look dense like dough but don't worry it will come together nicely when baked.  I baked mine at 450 degrees for 14 minutes then flipped them over and baked for a couple more minutes.  The results were like a dense fritatta but not eggy.  Also there seems to be little evidence of cauliflower, no taste of it or pungent aroma.

For my husband and Magnus I topped the crust with pasta sauce and cheese (baked a bit longer under the broiler) but for myself I used I "healthy" guacamole (1/2 cup mashed navy beans, 1 mashed avocado, lime juice, salt and a generous spoonful of salsa).  The topping possibilities are endless.

I should mention the recipe only makes 2 generous personal sized pizzas so I doubled it.  I had enough "riced" cauliflower to make another batch.  I mixed all the ingredients for the extra batch except the eggs and froze for a later date.  I think these would be good cold, used as a bread replacement for a sandwich, or even cut up and served with a dip like hummus or marinara sauce.  I am watching my calorie intake and chose not to add anymore cheese as the crust had plenty.  Gluten and wheat free does not always mean low calorie, unfortunatley.  Give this one a try and you'll be pleasantly surprised at how good it is.

Pumpkin Quinoa Cake

We had a good dump of snow last night and this morning.  An abundance of white fluffy flakes decorated the sky making the indoors seem very comforting and cozy.  I however feel like I'm going to climb the walls being stuck indoors with a toddler all day.  Thankfully some brave friends decided to come visit and this is a healthy snack cake I made for them.


First mix the dry ingredients: almond flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking powder, and coconut sugar together in a large bowl.  In a separate medium bowl mix the wet ingredients: pumpkin purée, eggs, salt, and vanilla.  Mix the wet ingredients into the dry...pretty straight forward so far right? :)

To the combined mixture I added the pumpkin seeds, raisins and lastly the quinoa giving it a gentle stir just to blend it all.  I baked this in a greased (I used coconut oil) 8x11.5 casserole dish 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes until the cake is firm with a slight spring.  Honestly though a 9x13 or even a 8x8 would work you'd just end up with a thicker/thinner cake and need to adjust your baking time a bit.

This smelled delicious when baking and needed a gentle approach when removing the pieces from the dish (greasing and flouring the dish might help) so making these in toddler friendly mini muffin pans is out of the question unless you want to be cleaning a mini muffin tin all afternoon.  All our little friends and my clean and paleo eating mommy friends seemed to enjoy this.  My son however wasn't too interested...go figure :P

The Recipe:

1 1/2 cups almond flour

1 tsp pumpkin pie spice

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 cups coconut sugar (most other dry sugars can be substituted)

Light sprinkle of salt

1 cup pure pumpkin purée

4 eggs lightly beaten

1-2 tsp of vanilla (I rarely measure vanilla)

1/4 cups of unsalted pumpkin seeds (roasted would be fine)

1/2 cups raisins

1 1/2 cups of quinoa (cooked and cooled). Let it dry out a bit if you can.

Chinese "Fried" Quinoa

I'm a big fan of the health benefits of Quinoa but really a side of steamy plain quinoa seems kind of bland and unappetizing.  So, in my quest to add things like quinoa to my diet and make my favourite dishes healthier I came up with Chinese "fried" quinoa and it's packed with veggies and flavour.


First I chopped up 2 carrots, 4-5 stalks of celery, 2 bell peppers and one medium to large onion (we love onions in our house, my son even eats them raw which I find strange).  When chopping these veggies up think bit sized little pieces similar to the frozen veggie mix with the little square carrots, lol.  Actually a frozen mix with carrots, peas, corn and even green beans would work very nicely if your short on time or patience, lol.  Now get those onion bits in a nice hot (med/high) pan or wok with a little bit of oil (I use olive oil mostly but might eventually move to grape seed as it has a higher smoking point and lighter flavour).  I cooked up the onion until it was nice a carmelized with darker almost charred looking bits flecked throughout which will give you a great flavour base.  I added the rest of the veggies just before the onions were done and cooked them until they were soft but with a bite still left to them.

To the veggies I added the dried garlic, ginger and a few good shakes of Chinese 5 spice powder which has a licorice-like flavour.  I mixed in all the seasonings then added the quinoa and peas (which were still a bit frozen).

  Keeping the pan nice and hot I let it all cook and tried my best not to constantly stir the mix as I wanted some crunchy chewiness texture like take-out fried rice has :)  Once it was done I lastly added the soy sauce and gave it a good stir.  

This dish smelled amazing and worked well paired with Asian inspired salmon.  If you want to make a complete meal out of this, leftover chopped chicken, tofu, and/or fried eggs added into the mix would be  delicious.  Green onions would be great in this colourful dish as well...really the possibilities are endless.  Hope you give this a try and enjoy it!

The Recipe:

This serves 4-6.

1 medium/large onion medium diced

2 carrots peeled and chopped

4-5 stalks of celery chopped

2 bell peppers chopped

1-1.5 cups frozen peas

1.5-2 cups cooked cooled quinoa (I left mine in the fridge overnight)

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp ginger powder

1/2 tsp Chinese 5 spice powder

1/8 cup Soy sauce 

Southwestern Sweet Potato and Black Bean Soup

Finally...I make a delicious AND healthy soup! After 14 years of married life and muddling through domestic blissfulness I have created something brothy, rich in flavour, full of veggies, and I must say quite beautiful to look at as well. All the measurements are approximate as I am not a precise cook so here we go...

Get out your trusty kitchen knife and cutting board as there is going to be some chopping.  In a larger capacity slow cooker add 3 small sweet potatoes (the orange ones not yellow) diced.  2   medium onions diced and 3-4 stalks of celery chopped.  Add   just enough water to cover the veggies (I used chicken stock paste to taste) or chicken stock.

Next I added a salsa spice blend (I used Epicure medium heat, about 1.5 tsp) and 1 tsp of cumin.  If you do not have the spice blend I mentioned substitute with a Mexican or Southwestern flavoured spice blend or fresh garlic, paprika (smoky would be best, and onion powder.

I let all this simmer away on low heat for about 3 hours  and went off for a playdate.  After that I added 2 bell peppers diced, 2 cans of black beans, and 1 can of diced tomatoes.  I think next time I will be adding 2 cans of diced tomatoes or 1 large can.  If you can find fire roasted canned tomatoes they would work great in this soup.

After another 3-4 hours on low, voila! You have a veggie laden, fat free, meat free meal.  Substitute vegetable broth for the chicken stock and this would be truly vegetarian.  If you wanted to add meat shredded chicken, chunks or shreds beef and even ground beef would work although I think beef would taste best in this soup rather than chicken.  Fresh squeezed lime juice would be an excellent last minute addition as well.  I garnished with chopped cilantro, fat free Greek yogurt and diced avocado.  Even my husband who does not consider soup to be a meal really enjoyed this.  Delish!

The Recipe

3 smaller sized sweet potatoes (the orange ones), peeled and diced to 1 cm cubes

2 medium onions fine diced

3-4 stalks of celery chopped

Enough water (if adding stock concentrate) or stock (chicken or vegetable) to cover

1-2 tsp of Southwestern or mexican style spice blend (I used lower sodium Epicure Salsa seasoning)

1 tsp of cumin

2 sweet bell peppers diced

1-2 cans of diced tomatoes

2 cans of black beans

Sour cream or Greek yogurt, cilantro, fresh lime juice and avocado for garnish