Easiest Halloween Party "recipe" ever....

This is easier than it looks, if that's even possible, like, I suppose you could do it in more than the 30 seconds I spent & make it a little more "pretty" ;) - this is 2 bags of organic carrots at .79 per bag- peeled and chopped into sticks and 2 cans of olives (that were 2 for $1) drained & rinsed.
We are talkin $3 total here people. Plus $4 on a big tub of Trader Joe's Hummus Dip (my favorite)- boom. Big, festive pumpkin face party plate for under $10!! HOORAY!

Orzo with kale

It really doesn't get too much easier than this with out picking up the phone and trying to be patient while you wait for the pizza guy...which reminds me, it's been a while since I've done that, and now pizza sounds really good. Blast.

Here is what you will need
1 package orzo pasta (from Trader Joes) cooked according to package... boil it about 9 minutes, drain then put back in the pot to make the rest of this "masterpiece"!
4 sausages, cooked and chopped into small pieces (I used chicken feta - grill em or if it just so happens to rain or you run out of propane like I did- throw em in the toaster oven!)
2 handfuls kale, chop fine
4 T cream cheese (halfa block)- cubed
1/3 cup tomato vodka sauce (this is a jarred pasta sauce I get at Trader joes and my son LOVES so I always have it- you can totally sub any tomato sauce you'd like)

After you boil the orzo, drain it & put it back in the pot, add the cream cheese and tomato sauce immediately, turn on the lowest heat possible and stir the sauce & cream cheese until cheese is totally melted. Add sausage & kale, stir about 5-10 minutes till kale is a little softer.
YUM!
Since we used chicken feta sausage, I topped this with feta & it was soooooo good!

Power bowls of yumminess

I am so sure I didn't invent this "recipe" but love it and could eat one of these every day. Lately, to save time, money and make my meal prep quicker- I cook a batch of quinoa every Sunday, then on Tuesday or Wednesday make either a batch of pasta or a batch of brown rice. This was dinner on the night that I had just enough of the quinoa left and plenty of rice- it's been a massive help in my meal planning and getting dinner ready fast so we can eat all together more often

Here is what you will need (serves 4)

 1 cup dry quinoa (prep according to package)
1 cup dry Brown rice (prep according to package)
1 avocado, chopped
1 mango, chopped
1 cup shelled steamed edamame (you can buy this frozen, hullo easy fabulousness!)
1/4 cup pickled ginger chopped
a handful of kale "microchips" (from THIS POST)
Dried seaweed sheets (one package, you'll have leftovers- or skip this if you are not down with the dried sea weed!)
sesame seeds
Soy/ wasabi or ginger miso dressing  (you can buy ginger miso salad dressing, it's yummy....or, what we did, was mix a bit of wasabi in some low sodium soy sauce and drizzle it over everything!)

For each bowl, mix 1/2 cup cooked, cooled quinoa, 1/2 cup cooked, cooled brown rice- 1/4 avocado, 1/4 mango, 1/4 cup edamame, some ginger, sprinkle w sesame seeds & kale chips serve w seaweed sheets as an option.

Sweet Potato w White Beans & Kale

Ok, this barley qualifies as a "recipe" by any stretch of the imagination, but I am trying to incorporate more vegan meals into our routine and this was a SUPER easy lunch I made that Logan and I totally loved. I've also never posted about the amazingness of kale chips before so that made it worthy of a post on it's own.

Here's what you will need

Serves 4

2 sweet potatoes, scrubbed

1 15oz can white beans, drained & rinsed

Kale, finely chopped- stems removed

Olive oil

Salt

This was for lunch, with a 2 year old, feel free to oven bake the sweet potatoes when you make this- I didn't have time!

I punctured both potatoes & microwaved them on 70% power for about 7 minutes- until cooked through- split them in half, sit to cool.

Preheat oven (or toaster oven!) to 350

Cover a baking sheet with foil. Place a layer of the chopped kale on the sheet.

Spray or drizzle with olive oil and lightly salt w sea salt.

Bake for about 7-10 minutes until crispy but not dark brown, watch it- you want it to still be green!!

I chopped the kale super fine because I wanted to add texture to the dish, so we called them kale "microchips", then Logan called them "crunchies" when he asked for MORE, THREE TIMES, so now that's what they are.

YUM!.