Pro-Power Bowls with Roasted Peppers & Herb Vinaigrette

14 oz can kidney beans

8 oz precooked brown rice

1 lemon

1 shallot

1 oz fresh parsley

4 oz roasted red peppers

1 tsp maple syrup

2 tsp Dijon mustard

Drain and rinse kidney beans. Halve and juice lemon. Peel and mince shallot. Pick and roughly chop parsley. Drain red peppers. Whisk lemon juice, maple syrup, Dijon mustard, 1 tbsp water and a pinch of salt and pepper in a small bowl.

Add the beans, shallots, parsley, peppers and vinaigrette to the cooked brown rice and toss to combine. Makes 2 servings. 

Street Corn Bowls with Black Beans & Fiery Lime Sauce

 8.8 oz precooked brown rice

14 oz can black beans

1 ear of corn

2 mini sweet peppers

1/4 oz fresh cilantro

1 lime

2 tbsp Vegenaise

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

Drain & rinse black beans. Cut kernels off the cob. Thinly slice peppers. Pick cilantro leaves from stems. Halve and juice the lime. Add lime juice, Vegenaise, a pinch of cayenne and a pinch of salt to a small bowl. Whisk the fiery lime juice until combined.

Divide the brown rice between 2 bowls. Add beans, corn, peppers & cilantro. Drizzle with lime sauce. 

Brown Rice Pesto Bowls

16 oz brown rice (can use precooked)

1 14 oz can artichoke hearts

1/4 c vegan basil pesto

1/4 c kalamata olives sliced

2 tbsp vegan parmesan

Drain artichoke hearts. Divide brown rice into 2 servings. Add basil pesto and stir to combine. Add artichoke hearts, olives & parmesan. 

Taco Tofu Chili

I met my friend Kacey through the blogging world back in the day when Pioneer Woman actually visited my blog, before she became famous and was on Food Network. Kacey & I became good friends & I even visited her in TN. She gave me this awesome recipe on a beautiful card. I never made it. Funny enough, my husband and I became whole food plant based eaters in 1/2019. I was looking through recipes & found her sweet recipe card. I thought to myself, why not sub the beef with tofu. And what came out of that was sweet victory. Hubs loves it & when it's done, a new batch gets made. It couldn't be easier because you just dump everything in except for the corn, which gets drained. 

1 pkg extra firm tofu

2 tblsp taco seasoning

Vegetable broth for cooking

1 onion, diced

1 can kidney beans, UNdrained

2 cans pinto beans, UNdrained

1 tblsp Ranch seasoning

1 can white corn

1 can Hot Rotel 

1 can original Rotel

1 4oz can diced green chiles

Drain tofu, crumble & lay out on paper towel to rid of excess water. Or use tofu press. Add to air fryer & sprinkle with taco seasoning. Air fry for about 15 minutes, tossing & breaking up a few times since the tofu will stick tpgether. 

Saute onion in vegetable broth until brown. Mix in beans (undrained), Rotel, corn, chiles, Ranch seasoning. Let simmer & cover until tofu is ready. 

When tofu is nice & brown, add it to the chili. 

I like to air fry oil free corn tortillas to go with this. Hubs still eats cheese so he adds some shredded. 

Beet Burgers with Smoky Tomato Aioli

1/4 c quinoa

1/2 c peas

1/2 c panko breadcrumbs

2 oz beets (canned works!)

Pretzel Buns

2/3 c Vegenaise

1 tbsp tomato paste

1 garlic clove, minced

1 tbsp lemon juice

1 tsp smoked paprika

1 shallot, thinly sliced

Spinach or pea shoots

For the aioli, mix the Vegenaise, tomato paste, garlic, lemon juice & smoked paprika. Put in fridge until ready to use. This will make enough for 4-5 burgers. 

Cook quinoa according to package directions, along with a pinch of salt. Add cooked quinoa, peas, breadcrumbs, beets and 1/2 tsp salt to processor. Blend until well combined (about 10 pulses). Divide the beet mixture into 2-3 patties, depending on your size preference. Air fry, bake or pan fry until crisp.

To assemble sandwich, toast pretzel buns lightly. Spread each side with a little aioli. Top with beet burger, sliced shallots & spinach. 

Alternatively for the aioli: this recipe came from Purple Carrot. Their ingredients were 3 tblsp Vegenaise, 2 tsp tomato powder, 1/8 tsp liquid smoke & 1 tbsp water. Since I cannot find tomato powder, I resorted to a Googled recipe for this aioli. It comes quite close. 

Food for Thought: I just made these this evening. Doubled the recipe for just the burgers and made 5 patties. 

Linguine with Spicy Red Clam Sauce

A family favorite for over 20 years, I created this recipe after visiting a bookstore back in 2000 and perusing so many Italian cookbooks for a clam sauce recipe. I took what I liked about all of them and made my own. We like things spicy around here, hence the use of jalapeños. This couldn't be any easier. Currently, I make this for my mom and dad in freezer portions because they absolutely love it too. 

Printable Recipe Here


Olive oil
5-6 garlic cloves
2 28oz cans whole peeled tomatoes (I like Cento)
6 jalapeño peppers, red or green, seeded (see notes) & finely chopped
6-7 cans chopped clams, drained. Liquid reserved from 4 cans only.
2 tblsp parsley
16oz cooked linguine
Salt to taste
Red pepper flakes (optional)
Parmesan cheese (optional)

Heat oil in sauté pan. Cook garlic until soft & fragrant. Stir in tomatoes & jalapeños. Cook for 3 minutes. Stir in clam liquid & heat to boiling. Reduce heat to low. Simmer uncovered for 10 minutes. This is when I break down the tomatoes with my immersion blender or you can use a masher. Personal preference as to how chunky you like your sauce.

Stir in clams, parsley & salt. Cover & simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Meanwhile, put up linguine.

Serve with pasta. Add red pepper flakes & parmesan cheese.

Food for thought: Jalapeño peppers vary in their heat level so I try to judge the best I can from if my nose and eyes are watering as I cut them. For more heat, I keep the seeds in. If you're not a spicy fan, then de-seed and use less jalapeño. As for the clams, I used to use the minced but the bigger chopped ones are perfect. 

Dip & Dinos

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO SASSY STEPHANIE!!!!!

I have shared this dip with you before but with the holidays coming up & because this is the first time I have my own pictures, I wanted to post it again. It is a family favorite, my sister & I have been making it for years. And since it is so easy, I never even factor it in to my timeline when entertaining. It always has a spot. Even those who don't love artichokes have loved this dip!!

(2) 14oz can quartered artichoke hearts, drained & cut up (2) can original Rotel (diced tomatoes & chiles), drained (1) cup mayo (1) cup grated parmesan cheese (2) tsp garlic powder (1) tsp worcestershire sauce Preheat oven to 375. To minimize cleanup, drain artichoke hearts in one side of the colander & the Rotel in the other side. Let sit for a few minutes. Roughly chop up the artichoke hearts in half. Pour into a shallow baking dish. Add mayo, parm cheese, garlic & worcestershire. Combine well. Bake for 30-35 minutes until nice & bubbly. Let stand for 10 minutes. Serve with Scoops!!!

My Thoughts: Too easy. This dip tastes perfect warm or at room temperature so it's perfect for taking right out of the oven & bringing somewhere. Even people who don't love artichokes have loved this dip. It's a must try. While it's not spicy at all, it does have a little kick. So, if you are on the cautious side at all, just buy the mild Rotel instead of the original.

Click Here to Print Recipe

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Here's pics from last weekend when we saw the live show Walking with Dinosaurs. It was an awesome experience & worth the money. It's based on the award winning BBC TV series & depicts the evolution of these dinos & their daily interactions with one another. I was amazed at how incredibly real they looked.

Click on pics to make larger.

We went with Tristan's girlfriend Emily who he has known since he was 8 months old, and her mom. How cute do they look together?

Tuna Casserole

This is another of my husband's favorites of all time. His Mom has been making it for years & Terry actually made it for me when we were dating before handing over the recipe to me. I wrote last week that it's not a favorite but when I tasted it this weekend I really did enjoy it. It's best served cold out of the fridge, a day after making it. Terry also loves putting a sliver of it between bread.
















2 cans solid white tuna, the largest size
2 cans of cream of mushroom soup
2 jars of sliced mushrooms, drained
1 envelope of Lipton dry onion soup mix
5 celery stalks with leaves, diced
1 medium Vidalia onion, diced
24oz Sour cream
16oz Muellers Egg noodles, medium
Italian Bread crumbs

In a saucepan, combine the tuna, soup, mushrooms, onion soup mix & sour cream. Simmer for 20 minutes. Microwave the diced celery with a tablespoon of water for 2 minutes. Drain and add to t8una mixture. Meanwhile, boil water and cook noodles for 5 minutes less than what the package states. Drain noodles & place back in pot. Add the tuna mixture except for 1-2 cups. Combine noodles and tuna mix well and place in a 9x13 casserole dish. Spread the extra tuna mixture on top. Sprinkle evenly with breadcrumbs and place under the broiler just until they are browned, 5-7 minutes. Let cool & place in fridge. Best eaten next day when completely cooled.

**I used to bake the casserole to get the breadcrumbs browned but it took too long & I figured if that was the only reason it would be easier to just broil it **









The picture here is of the recipe halved in a smaller casserole dish but it was still gone in less than 24 hours.

Hot Garlic Artichoke Dip

This is always on the table at get togethers. The following usually feeds about 6-8 and it disappears. Some of my friends up North have had a problem finding Rotel. Let me know, I will send you some!!!!

(2) 14oz can QUARTERED artichoke hearts, drained and cut up

(2) can ORIGINAL Rotel (diced tomatoes and chiles), drained
(1) cup mayo or light mayo
(1) cup grated parmesan cheese
(2) tsp garlic powder
(1) tsp worcestershire sauce

Preheat oven to 375. To minimize cleanup, drain artichoke hearts in one side of the colander and the Rotel in the other side. Let sit. In the round casserole dish you will be baking this in, combine mayo, parm cheese, garlic and worcestershire. In the colander, roughly chop up the artichoke hearts. Add artichokes and Rotel to casserole dish and mix up. Bake for 30-35 minutes until nice and bubbly. Let stand for 10 minutes. Serve with Scoops!!!