Sausage, Spinach, and Bean Soup (aka: Hoarder’s Soup)

My father has a slight problem. He cannot resist stocking up on food. Like, at all.

No lie, we currently have 16 jars of peanut butter, 52 28oz cans of tomatoes, 13 boxes of broth, 18 17.2oz jars of Himalayan salt, 35 cans of beans, 24 boxes of almond milk, and 10 bundles of sausage. We’ve already had to move my food processor to make room for all the tomatoes 😦 

Fortunately, all the food still fits in our cabinets… for now at least. 

Oh, and then there’s the 500+ cardboard egg cartons we have mounted in our basement. My father refuses to let me throw them out as he’s saving them for the bonfire we have, maybe once a year? 

So, every so often I try to clean house and find ways to use up some of these ingredients. Soup is the perfect resolution for such times, as shown below.  

As for the egg cartons, I’ve been using them for crafts or secretly bringing them to my friends’ houses to put in their recycle bins and bonfires. Shhhhhhhhh!

Sausage, Spinach, and Bean Soup (aka: Hoarder’s Soup) 

Ingredients: 

1 tbsp ghee 

1 onion, chopped 

4 garlic cloves, minced 

2 tbsp dried red rubin basil (can also regular basil as well) 

1/2 tsp dried rosemary

1/2 tsp dried thyme 

1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

4 sausages (I used a garlic and pepper version), cooked and sliced into small pieces

1 28 0z can crushed roasted tomatoes 

3 cups chicken broth 

1 can red kidney beans, rinsed and drained 

4 cups spinach, chopped 

3/4 cup frozen corn

1/2 cup carrots, sliced 

salt and pepper, to taste

Optional: pasta 

Directions: 

Heat ghee over low-medium heat and sauté onion and garlic for 3 minutes. 

Add in basil, rosemary, thyme, and crushed red pepper and continue to cook for 2 minutes. 

Add sausage and heat for another 5 minutes. 

Add tomatoes, broth, and kidney beans. Cook for 20 minutes. 

Add spinach, corn, and carrot and cook for 1o more minutes. 

Adjust with salt and pepper, to taste. 

Stir in cooked pasta, if desired. 

 

 

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Tuna Stuffed Peppers

Pretty simple recipe today! Again, just another based from what I can usually find in my fridge. 

As an alternative to bread, I used bell pepper bowls. But, of course, use bread if you want (which I have to do for my younger brother every time). I prefer the pepper bowls though. For some reason it make it appear… I don’t know, fancier???

Ehhh, let’s go with that 🙂  

Tuna Stuffed Peppers 

Ingredients: 

2 green bell pepper, sliced in half 

1 5oz can of tuna, excess water drained  

1 pickle spear, chopped

1/4 cup feta cheese + extra for topping 

3 tbsp whole-milk yogurt

3 tbsp chopped tomatoes 

2 tbsp chopped onions

1 tbsp chopped jalapeño pepper 

1 tsp paprika 

1 tsp dried parsley

salt and pepper, to taste 

Directions: 

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and place sliced bell peppers on a baking pan. Combine the rest of the ingredients in a bowl. Divide and spoon tuna mixture evenly between pepper “bowls.” Top with sprinkled feta cheese and place in the oven. Garnish with more parsley and black pepper before serving, if desired.  

 

 

Sausage and Pepper Cauliflower Pizza Casserole (Grain-Free)

I feel like I’ve been on a role lately with spur-of-the-moment recipe ideas. Most of the time I carefully plan what I want to make: ingredients, measurements, cooking times- all that jazz. Nope, not this week. It was all “Let’s poke my head in the fridge and see what I can find.” 

It’s good to see that school hasn’t completely killed my imagination 🙂 

So, I’ve restocked my recipe vault that was severely depleting and now have serval weeks-worth of recipes to share, beginning with this beauty: 

Sausage and Pepper Cauliflower Pizza Casserole (Grain-Free) 

Ingredients: 

1 large cauliflower, chopped into bite-sized pieces 

1 tbsp olive oil 

3 italian sausages, cooked (I always use leftover ones from the grill) 

1 large green bell pepper 

2 and 1/2 cups marinara sauce 

1 and 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, divided 

2 tbsp dried basil 

2 tsp dried oregano

2 tsp garlic powder

2 tsp onion powder

salt and pepper, to taste

Directions: 

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Toss cauliflower in olive oil, spread on a baking pan, and roast in the oven for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, chop up sausage and bell pepper and place in a bowl. Add in marinara sauce, 1/2 cup cheese, basil, oregano, garlic powder, onion powder, and salt and pepper and mix altogether. 

Once finished roasting, add in cauliflower and combine. Spread mixture into a 9×13 baking dish and top with remaining 1 cup of cheese. Place in a 350 degree oven for 20 more minutes. 

 

 

 

Paleo Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Dip

I apologize for my failure to post last week. My nannying job took me on the road and I had to watch 3 hyped-up ten-year old boys at an indoor water park. And I swear, I think I was the biggest kid of all. I kept asking them if they wanted to go on rides. Unfortunately none of them wanted to. Kids today with their technology  

Anyways, the trip would have been even more enjoyable if it had not fallen on my finals studying weekend, forcing me to stay up many nights. Ah college…

But, I’m off for a few weeks before summer courses begin! So, all is right in the world. 

And as I celebratory treat, I got edible, raw cookie dough to share! 

This was actually an accidental recipe. I had a few minutes to spare before class one morning and there was some almond butter and leftover sweet potato so… that was my breakfast. And with the color and consistency, I of course immediately thought of cookie dough. It’s kinda sad, but I spent my whole class thinking how to make this into a cookie dough dip. And when I got home, I went directly to the kitchen. 

Needless to say, I had a lot of sweet potatoes that day. But hey, someone has to be the taste-tester 🙂 

Paleo Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Dip

Ingredients: 

6 dates, soaked in water 1-2 hours beforehand 

1 cup cooked sweet potato, mashed  

1/4 cup nut butter 

2 tsp vanilla extract 

2 tsp cinnamon 

1/4 tsp salt 

1/4 cup chocolate chips 

Directions: 

Place dates in a food processor and pulse a few times, breaking then dates up. Add the rest of the ingredients (except the chocolate chips) until smooth. Mix in the chocolate chips and serve!