Amazing Grilled Sandwiches!

Love Love Love Grill Season!!! (which is most of the time in Southern California) But there is something about those warm early summer days and firing up the grill!
We stumbled across the recipe while trying out the 'one vegetarian meal a week" idea.
Here's the originalrecipe from Allrecipes.com But of course we've changed things up a bit... :-)

Grilled Veggie Sandwiches

1 Red or Yellow or Orange Bell Pepper, cored and pulled apart into two halves
1 Zucchini, sliced longways
1 Yellow Squash, sliced longways
Half Red Onion, sliced
Mushrooms, if desired, either buttons sliced or Portabellas- they would make a pretty hearty huge sandwich
Loaf of Really Yummy Bread- (we normally go the focaccia route) sliced horizontally and vertically
Feta Cheese, crumbed
Pesto
Olive Oil for drizzling

Preheat grill to medium high.

Brush veggies and grill grate with oil. Place veggies on grill about 3min each side. Watch carefully though some may cook alot faster! (when I do mushrooms I do them inside in a saute pan and just saute with some garlic powder and pam spray)

(you can see the kids' ham and cheese side, but we did veggies

on their other side. Also added some parm cheese this time too!)

Place bread on cookie sheet. Spread both sides of bread with pesto. Pile on veggies (one side or both- sometimes hard to put together if on both sides) Top with feta. Pop them under the broiler for a few mins (could also put back on grill)

and ENJOY!!!

Sorta Soba Bowl

I really enjoyed watching Rachael Ray when I became a newly stay at home mom. She has such great recipes and understands the need to make a quick healthy meal. I don't get much time to watch her show now (Kids keep me too busy for that!) But we have some favorites of hers that we always come back to.

Sorta Soba Bowl
 Feeds 4-6 Adults

1lb of whole wheat spaghetti (we normally have a ton of leftover noodles but I freeze them or use them up         the following days)
2tbs vegetable oil- basically a few turns in the pan to help with sticking
1 onion diced
2+cloves of garlic-chopped
3 "handfuls" of store bought shredded carrots- I don't shredded my own carrots- more power to you if you do!
10ish shiitake mushrooms- thinly chopped
1 large zucchini, cut into half moons then sliced 1/2-inch thick
1 large bok choy or 3 baby boks- (remove middle part if using large bok choy) chop
6 cups of stock -chicken or veggie works

Topping
1/4cup toasted sesame seeds
1/2tbs ground coriander
1/2tbs chili powder
cayenne pepper- just a pinch depending on how spicy

Soy Sauce

Bring a large pot of water to a boil for the noodles. Once it boils add some salt and the noodles and cook until al dente- try not to overcook.

While water is boiling for noodles, swirl veg oil in a large soup pan/pot over medium heat. Add onion, garlic and carrots. Cook until onions start to get tender (4-5mins)

Add mushrooms, zucchini and bok choy- cook for another 2-3mins. Add stock and bring to a simmer for 5mins.

In a small bowl mix topping ingredients together- reserve for a garnish for soup.

Take cooked noodles and drain. Toss with a little veg oil and place in individual bowls. Drizzle some soy sauce over the noodles. Then pour veggie soup over noodles. Top with sesame seed topping.

For our little ones, I leave off the spicy topping and just sprinkle regular sesame seeds on theirs. I also serve it with forks and spoons for them. I, myself, use just a fork. We have left it vegetarian before but have also added shrimp and/or chicken to it. If chicken, I will marinate the chicken in some soyaki (from trader joes) or just some regular teriyaki sauce. Then bake in marinade and shred or dice cooked chicken and add into soup last minute.

Enjoy!

Comfort Soup

It seems as though my kids can't stay well this year! It's one cold after another, croup, stomach bugs.. Just when everyone is snot free and we have a few days to play one of them catches something and we're back at being stuck at home.. waiting it out..
So a staple in our house this "winter" has been soups. I remember my friends talking about just throwing soups together out of whatever they had on hand! This blew my mind! I was in such awe of them! Then tried it a few times and it really is so easy!
We normally make our own broth. We made a ton from our turkey from Thanksgiving! Just froze it and then pull it out when needed. We had a huge turkey this year and had a TON of leftovers. So we have little baggies of that frozen too. But this wonderful comfort soup can be made with whatever you have on hand! That's the wonderfulness of it!! Plus there are no measurements, just some pouring and shaking!

Here is how I usually make mine (now that I am an expert and all!)

Broth- normally chicken or turkey- Probably the same amount as a box of broth from store (easy to keep those on hand too)
Meat- again normally turkey or chicken leftovers, cut up
2-3 carrots- diced very small
1/4 of an onion- diced very small
2 cloves of garlic
Pasta, I love using the mini pasta or breaking up spaghetti noodles really small too
a handful of frozen peas
a potato- peeled & diced small
a few dashes of paprika
dashes of dried basil and oregano (my little guy has texture issues with these in his soup so I leave them out now)
and that's my normal comfort soup... Again it all depends what I have on hand. I've thrown in beans, bell peppers, celery, broccoli.. the combinations are endless. We always add saltine crackers to ours and if we have it on hand some chopped cilantro too. Toppings are just as endless as what goes inside the soup! And buy making your own broth or buying the low sodium you can monitor your salt intake too!