Sourdough Hamburger Buns

We love a good burger every now and then, but really limit how often we eat them because I had not been able to find a bun I felt good about. All that ends with this recipe, which results in the most wonderful homemade sourdough buns. They work really great for hamburgers and we have also used them for breakfast sandwiches and sloppy joes (and more). I cannot imagine a better bun than this.

Vegetarian Dirty Rice

This makes a very tasty side dish or could be a main course on its own.

Shrimp Scampi

A few of my favorite memories from childhood revolve around Shrimp Scampi. It was a meal my grandma cooked for me when I would visit her. And it was something she always included on her Christmas Eve menu, with lots of other wonderful fish dishes. Also, I remember eating lunch at Red Lobster with my dad and sister when I was in high school. We would order the shrimp scampi for lunch and dip those yummy little Cheddar Bay biscuits in the sauce. I love shrimp scampi, which can be a very nourishing and healthy meal if you make it at home.

Salmon Patties

These crispy little patties pack in a lot of flavor and are a delicious and fun treat. You will enjoy them on their own, as a salad topper, or even in a sandwich.

Pizza with Sourdough Crust

We haven't made pizza at home in a long time. It seemed like a hassle to try to make a no-guilt crust so we just skipped it altogether. However, now that I keep a sourdough starter the door has re-opened to many recipes I had previously passed over, including one for homemade pizza. If you have a sourdough starter, you too can make a nutritious pizza that the whole family will love!

If you don't have a sourdough starter yet, it is easy to keep one! Read my quick start guide for more information.

Sweet and Sour Chicken

Everyone in my household loves take-out "Chinese" food, but we do not love the mystery ingredients. This is a nutritious version of sweet and sour chicken that is so good you will not miss the take-out version.

French Onion Soup

French Onion Soup is one of my very favorite soups. I remember eating it for the first time at a little restaurant on the Rhine River called Noah's Ark in Wiesbaden, Germany. I was around eight or ten years old and my sister and I would get the French Onion Soup every time we had dinner there. It was served in shallow metal "skillets" that were always too hot to touch. There was a thick layer of cheese covering a thin slice of German bread and the cheese was always bubbly and golden brown from the oven and overflowing down the sides of the metal bowls.

With winter just not letting go this year, I am back in a soup kick. It was -1 degree here this morning after all!

Amazing Beef Stew

This is the best beef stew we've ever had. I think you will really enjoy this recipe, which is adapted from the Classic Slow Cooker Beef Stew from the December 2013 issue of Cooking Light. My recipe does not use a slow cooker, but I've included those instructions in the comments if that is your preference.

Sourdough Bierocks and Empanadas

My friend, LeAnn, shared a wonderful bierock recipe with me. The ingredients are very simple and the end result is so delicious. I did substitute my own recipe for the dough since I am trying to ensure all my grains are prepared to maximize their nutritional benefit. I was worried the substitution might change the taste overall, but it did not. In fact, this dough is really wonderful and very close in taste to my friend's original recipe.

 

It was so good that I started filling it with all kinds of yummy stuff. So, you'll find the recipes below for Bierocks and also for Bacon Cheeseburger Empanadas and a *bonus* for Breakfast Empanadas in the Comments. I am sure you will also come up with lots of delicious fillings for this wonderful dough - please leave your ideas in the comments.

Ham & Swiss Sourdough Pancakes

This is a great recipe to use up excess starter and can easily be halved. It is easy to keep a sourdough starter (I promise)! - please check out my Quick Start Guide for more information.

Chicken Enchilada Casserole

My husband makes really delicious chicken enchiladas from scratch, but they are quite labor intensive and so we don't have them very often. I made this recipe to be able to enjoy all the flavors of chicken enchiladas with less work.

Leftover Turkey & Rice Soup

Every Thanksgiving I am so happy to make lots of stock with my turkey carcass. I always wind up with some extra turkey meat from the process, which I love to use in this soup. This is a sort of "throw it together" type of soup, so if you find you prefer more or less of any ingredient, go for it until you find exactly what you like best!

Alfredo Sauce with Mushrooms, Leeks, and Peas

I think pasta is a food of the gods. How could it be more perfect? Sauce, little tiny bits of cooked dough in pretty designs and shapes, sprinkled with cheese, delicious with any food added to it or alongside any main dish. I love love love pasta!

Now, with all that being said, I (sadly) mostly gave up pasta years ago when it became known to me that white flour was the spawn of Satan, ruining my health and my figure. Sigh.... I saved it for special occasions and visits to my grandma, which are special occasions.  : )

That was until I heard about Jovial Foods! They offer a line of whole grain Einkorn and brown rice pasta (gluten-free) that actually tastes good. This stuff is great. If you are looking for a better choice pasta then you should definitely give it a try. I have tried many alternative pastas and most are pretty gross, but in all seriousness, Jovial's line is really good.

Yellow Squash-Zucchini Fritters

As you can tell, I am definitely on a squash/ zucchini recipe "kick" since I have so much to use up from my CSA box. We have made these fritters several times now and they are husband and kid approved. 

Red Beans and Rice

With the weather getting cooler, my mind turns to soups and other comfort foods. This recipe for Red Beans and Rice is really delicious and it makes enough for leftovers or to freeze for future meals.

Summer Squash Couscous

I have been searching the internet for squash recipes this month to try to find ways to use up all the squash I've gotten from my CSA box. Even after giving some away I find myself with an abundance and a need for new recipes. This light summer dish is really wonderful.

Ground Beef and Cabbage

Have you ever had one of those days where you decide what you're going to make for dinner 5 minutes before you start cooking? Well, I have them all the time! And this recipe is one of the success stories. Now it doesn't sound like much, but I hope you'll give it a try because it is surprisingly delicious and so easy to make.

Hamburger Skillet (Easy & Flexible)

I have a confession... my husband and son love hamburger helper. LOVE IT. Before I married my husband, it was one of his regular meals. Now, when I am away for work sometimes I will come back and see the boxes in my cabinets. I have a fit. They thinks it's scrumptious.

I have never eaten the stuff. I think it sounds terrible - I mean you can't hardly get much more processed than hamburger helper.

So anyway, all that being said, and with love for my family and a desire for this journey to be easy for them (and a reason to throw away that last box of hamburger helper peeking out from behind jars of pickles) I thought I would try to make something reminiscent of hamburger helper without all the nastiness in the box version.

Creole Shrimp

It's that time of month again when I peruse the pages of my recent Cooking Light magazine and re-vamp one of their recipes for my dinner table. I really enjoy this magazine for the new ideas it inspires, but don't necessarily agree with several of their ideas of "healthy" foods  (often their elimination of butter or healthy fats of any kind as well as subsitutions with low fat or no fat milk and their use of "fake" foods like margarine). However, these types of ingredients are easy to replace with more nourishing options.

In their latest issue, the June 2013 magazine, I found a wonderful shrimp recipe that my family thoroughly enjoyed. In fact, it was so good, it will likely be on the regular rotation and I hope you will enjoy it as much as we did. Here is the link to the original recipe. I've changed it up a bit below.

Quinoa-Bean Salad

You will really enjoy this versatile dish, which makes enough for lunches during the week and a dinner side dish too.