Category: Recipes

Barbecue Vegetarian Meatballs

katina horton, lifestyle, vegetarian meatballs, healthy eating, barbecue, simple functional grace-filled living, lifestyle, blogger, blog, food, food photography, family time, grace, intentionality

Background on Vegetarian Meatballs

As our kids are in the process of becoming young adults, it gets more and more challenging to carve out connection time. They have their lives. You have yours. And to top it off, if both of you are working, then you are presented with even more of a challenge.

About a week and a half ago, my son was home to visit. We were both working and extremely busy. However, we were able to carve out some connection time together a little bit before he left, and we decided to explore listening to French music, catch up on each other’s lives, and make vegetarian meatballs.

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Photo by Katina Horton

I hope that you enjoy them as much as we did.

Here’s the recipe:

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Photo by Katina Horton

Ingredients

  • 1 pack of Lightlife Smart Ground Mexican crumble (little bit of a spicy kick to it) per bowl
  • 4 teaspoons of chili powder, garlic powder, parsley, cumin, curry, onion powder, and garlic powder per bowl
  • 1 pack of shredded cheese
  • bread crumbs
  • 1/3 cup of oatmeal
  • 2 tablespoons of flaxseed meal
  • 4 eggs (2 per bowl)
katina horton, lifestyle, vegetarian meatballs, healthy eating, barbecue, simple functional grace-filled living, lifestyle, blogger, blog, food, food photography, family time, grace, intentionality
Photo by Katina Horton

Directions

  • Place one pack of vegan meat in two medium sized bowls.
  • Add 2 eggs, 2 tablespoons of flaxseed meal, oatmeal, seasonings, and desired cheese amount per bowl.
  • Mix the ingredients in each bowl.
  • Grab two cookie sheets and line with parchment paper.
  • Use one cookie sheet per bowl.
  • Use a cookie scoop the size of your choice to scoop the meatball mixture, carefully leveling off and pressing the scoop against the side of the bowl to solidify the mixture.
  • Place the cookie scoop as close to the parchment paper as possible and then release the ball onto the sheet to reduce crumbling.
  • Heat on 325 degrees for about 25 minutes and drizzle with barbecue sauce when done.
  • Enjoy!

What are some of the things that you like to do for fun with your young adult children?

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Pasta with Black Lentils

katina horton, blogger, healthy eating, food, recipes, pasta with black lentils, tomatoes, fettuccine, lifestyle

Background on Pasta with Black Lentils

Over the weekend, I attended a women’s conference at my church. It was a Holy Spirit-filled good time. Because of having a busy weekend, I decided that I wouldn’t cook on Saturday evening. I ordered two build-your-own pizzas, watched movies with my mom, and took it easy.

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Photo by Katina Horton

On Monday night, I decided to cook dinner for the week. I loved the end result. The dish has a little bit of a spicy kick to it. It is just enough for you to enjoy the dish, and at the same time not be overwhelmed.

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Photo by Katina Horton

I pray that you are having a blessed week so far, and preparing to embrace the weekend that is upon us.

Here is the recipe for Pasta with Black Lentils:

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Photo by Katina Horton

Ingredients:

  • 1 box of fettuccine
  • 1/2 cup of quinoa
  • 1/3 cup of oil
  • 1 can of fire roasted diced tomatoes
  • 1 zucchini
  • 1/2 pound of black lentils
  • 4 tablespoons of onion powder, garlic powder, chili powder, parsley, cumin, and curry

Directions:

Boil a pot of water, placing some oil in the water to avoid sticky pasta.

Boil the black lentils for about 30 minutes.

Place the pasta and quinoa into the boiling water.

Cut up the zucchini, and then saute the zucchini and tomatoes together.

Add the seasonings to the vegetables.

Dump the vegetables into the pot of pasta and quinoa.

Enjoy!

God bless,

Katina

French fry A la Mode

french fries, veggie burgers, barbecue sauce, spinach, super green, vegan, vegetarian, routine, establishing routines, wellness, concoctions, healthy eating, healthy recipes

Background on French Fry A la Mode

If you know me by now, you know that I love coming up with all kinds of fun food concoctions. And the other day was no exception to the rule.

Before I give you the recipe, I want to talk about some of the benefits of creating a weeknight routine.

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Food Photo by Katina Horton

Routines help to center, direct, and structure/stabilize/ground us. They also give us predictability for our minds and our bodies. Weeknight routines give us grounding and investment for a good night’s sleep. When we make time and space for the things that we are gifted/good at, and love to do, we are caring for our souls.

french fries, veggie burgers, barbecue sauce, spinach, super green, vegan, vegetarian, routine, establishing routines, wellness, concoctions, healthy eating, healthy recipes

This past week, I decided to be even more intentional in adding some things back to my weeknight routine. One of these things is walking. The benefits of walking are endless. The fresh air, automatic feel good hormones that run through your body, the blood flow, lowering of blood pressure, etc. Walking makes me feel good and keeps my mind creative and flowing with ideas. It also helps me with my writing and allows me to really appreciate nature and how great God is.

Other things that I do for my weeknight routine are listening to podcasts/preaching, dancing, reading books, showering, and drinking tea.

As an exercise tonight, think of all the things that you love to do and are gifted at. Circle all the important things that you wouldn’t want to do without. Make these things a part of your weeknight routine and see how much of a difference that they make in your overall well-being.

Here is the French Fry A La Mode for the Family Recipe

Ingredients

  • 1 bag of french fries
  • 4 Dr. Praeger’s super green veggie burgers
  • 1 container of Sweet Baby Ray’s barbecue sauce
  • 1 bag of cheese

Directions

  • Bake a bag of french fries.
  • While the fries are baking, fry 4 Dr. Praeger’s super green veggie burgers.
  • Grab bowls and add a couple of servings of fries into each bowl.
  • Cut up the veggie burgers and evenly spread them on top of the fries in each bowl.
  • Add shredded cheese and barbecue sauce on top.

Enjoy!

God bless you!

Katina

Summertime Salad

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Background Story on Summertime Salad

My mother and two nieces came to visit me this weekend. I picked them up on Saturday, hoping beforehand to have made at least four out of six stops completed prior to picking them up from the train station. Well, I got three done. I had to talk myself down to the fact that I would have to make three stops with two little ones. It wasn’t that bad after all.

After all of the stopping and putting away groceries, we decided that it would be best to grill on Sunday after church. It rained overnight and Sunday morning. However, as the weather man predicted, the rain stopped at around 1:00 p.m. By 2:00 we were ready to grill.

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Summertime Salad Photo by Katina Horton

Some of the highlights of my weekend were: 1) watching a two-year old dance and climb a flight of stairs with the look of joy on her face, 2) watching both nieces play with twigs and branches in the backyard 3) listening to 70s, 80s, and 90s slow jams, 4) watching movies, 5) baking oatmeal lemon nut and oatmeal chocolate chip cookies with my niece, and 6) grilling for the first time since living here. I hope and pray that you had a simple, functional grace-filled weekend as well.

Here is the recipe for the Summertime Salad that I made on Sunday:

Ingredients

  • 5 medium beets
  • 3 tablespoons of Italian seasoning
  • 3 tablespoons of minced onions
  • dressing of your choice
  • 3 medium green bell peppers
  • 6 to 8 mini sweet peppers
  • 10 radishes
  • 1 tub of mixed green salad
  • 6 tomatoes cut into wedges or slices

Directions

  • Roast the beets for 45 minutes on 350, pouring olive oil and wrapping them individually in foil and placing them on a cookie sheet beforehand.
  • When they are done, allow them to cool off for 15 minutes and then peel off the skin with a towel.
  • Cut the beets into wedges.
  • Dump the mixed green salad into a bowl.
  • Dump the tomato slices or wedges into the bowl.
  • Dump all the rest of the ingredients and sprinkle the seasonings last.
  • Enjoy!

God bless,

Katina

Pasta with Spinach & Quinoa

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Background Story for Pasta with Spinach & Quinoa

It is amazing how we are all are wired up differently, and with this wiring, we all have different things that take us back to childhood. For the last few nights, I have been taking a quick five minute walk in the neighborhood in order to get a whisp of the slightly cool, fresh air and to hear the sound of the crickets. These two things have been my favorite since I was a kid. They remind me of visiting my relatives in Memphis and hearing the calming effect of the crickets at night.

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Photo by Katina Horton

About a week ago, I was trying to decide what to make for dinner. My mind landed on the box of pasta that was still in the cabinet. I decided to jazz it up with my two favorite ingredients for most meals: spinach and diced tomatoes.

Here is the recipe:

Total Prepping and Cooking Time:

45 minutes

Ingredients:

  • 1 box of penne pasta
  • 2 jars of tomato and basil pasta sauce
  • 1 tablespoon of thyme
  • 3 tablespoons of parsley
  • 1 can of diced tomatoes
  • 1 can of cut-leaf spinach
  • 1/3 cup of quinoa
  • 1/4 cup of oil

Directions:

  • Boil a pot of water, adding the oil to the water to prevent the pasta from sticking.
  • Add the pasta and the quinoa once the water has started boiling.
  • While the pasta and quinoa are cooking, saute the spinach and diced tomatoes.
  • Drain the pasta and quinoa in a colander and dump them back into the pot.
  • Dump all the rest of the ingredients into the pot and stir.
  • Eat and enjoy!

Food for thought:

What foods do you eat, or activities do you participate in that take you back to your childhood? Would love to hear your comments!

Seasoned Chicken Breasts

Background Story on “Seasoned Chicken Breast”

I am reading about six books at one time. This is almost always the norm as of the last couple of years. One of the books that I am reading is entitled, “I Thought It Was Just Me (But IT Isn’t) by Brene Brown. I just recently started this book. This particular read hones in on shame and perfectionism, how they work together, and how we can employ shame resilience.

Although I am only at the beginning part of the book, what stuck out to me is the correlation between shame and performance. We have all been guilty of using shame to get the end result of performance. This happens everywhere, including work, home, and in our churches. However, using shame to get this result only damages both side. It damages the shamer and it damages the one being shamed.

No one is left feeling good about themselves. Why is that? Shame reaches into areas of our lives that stirs all kind of unwanted emotions. In order for people to change, we have to have a motivator for ourselves, not from the pressure of other people via shaming or any other form of pressure. Change will not last in this manner. Consequences are not always enough to produce change. Understanding what our behavior does to others will.

Now, on to the recipe. This recipe that I made two weeks ago is a quick recipe for seasoned chicken breasts that can be made in no time and then placed on buns to make a chicken breast sandwich restaurant-style. Hope you enjoy!

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Photo by Katina Horton

Activity: Making Seasoned Chicken Breasts

Total Prepping and Cooking Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

  • Parsley- 3 teaspoons
  • Onion powder-2 teaspoons
  • Curry-3 tablespoons
  • Chili powder -2 teaspoons
  • Black Pepper – 2 teaspoons
  • Cumin-2 teaspoons
  • 3 large chicken breasts
  • 1/3 cup of olive oil

Directions:

  • Rinse off three large chicken breasts.
  • Cut them up into chunks, season them on one side, and place them in a skillet of oil.
  • Turn them over after 13 minutes and season the other side.
  • Eat them paired with sides, alone, or in between two pieces of specialty bread.

Simple Split Pea Soup

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Simple Split Pea Soup Book Exploration

A couple of days ago, I starting reading the book entitled, “The Gifts of Imperfection” by Brene Brown. I have only read a little bit so far. However, there is a story that Brene tells in the beginning that deals with a shame reel after she has given a presentation. I am very familiar with that reel myself.

We all have a series of events that happens when shame knocks at our door. When it comes to mine, it is usually trauma-induced. When a traumatic memory comes up, it may or may not be foreknown that this memory was traumatic for me. Not only does shame play itself out, but anxiety comes in.

I feel embarrassed, start self-protecting, anxiety sets in, and then I start wondering if I should be vulnerable and discuss this issue with my therapist. My shame reel plays by replaying how I will tell my therapist, what I will say, how she will react, and what she will say. This will keep playing until I am vulnerable and get the issue out. Shame is reduced at this point.

I think of it like God chipping away at a brick wall of my shame with a hammer when I allow vulnerability to take over.

Katina Horton

“Simple Split Pea Soup” Recipe

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Now, on to the recipe. I wanted to make something quick, and with adequate protein, and so, Easter weekend I made what I call, ” “Simple Split Pea Soup” .

This recipe only requires a few ingredients. The longest length of time is spent on the split peas boiling. Other than that, everything else is straightforward. As you are learning by now, I love using the combination of spinach and fire-roasted salsa tomatoes to add into a lot of my concoctions.

Total Prepping and Cooking Time:

1 hour 45 minutes

Ingredients

1 can of cut-leaf spinach

1 can of fire-roasted tomatoes

1 16 oz bag of split peas

3 tablespoons of oil or vegan butter

1 container of vegan broth

onion powder- 3 tablespoons

curry powder- 3 tablespoons

parsley – 3 tablespoons

cumin – 3 tablespoons

chili powder – 3 tablespoons

turmeric- 3 tablespoons

1/2 cup of quinoa

Directions

  • Boil the bag of split peas for 1 hour 45 minutes after quickly rinsing them off.
  • Boil the quinoa for 18 minutes.
  • While the split peas are boiling, saute the spinach and tomatoes with 2 tablespoons of oil or butter.
  • Add the saute mix and quinoa to the peas after 1 hour and 10 minutes, along with 1 tablespoon of oil.
  • Add the broth after 1 hour and 20 minutes, along with all the seasonings.
  • Let the soup boil for another 25 minutes and enjoy.
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Other Recipe Posts

Vegetarian Bean Party

Black Bean Mishmash


Vegetarian Bean Party

arugula, vegetarian beans, quinoa, brown rice, nutritional yeast, healthy living, vegan, dinner. lunch, food, food photography, blogger, blogs, podcaster, author

Background on Vegetarian Bean Party

The last bean recipe that I posted, “Black Bean Mishmash“, can be found here. Today’s recipe is entitled Vegetarian Bean Party Bowl. Before we get to the recipe, I would like to take you on my reading adventure.

arugula, vegetarian beans, quinoa, brown rice, nutritional yeast, healthy living, vegan, dinner. lunch, food, food photography, blogger, blogs, podcaster, author
Vegetarian Bean Party Bowl

. Today’s recipe is entitled Vegetarian Bean Party Bowl. Before we get to the recipe, I would like to take you on my reading adventure.

I have been reading “How People Grow” by Dr. Henry Cloud and Dr. John Townsend. I was excited because I found this book at Goodwill a few months ago, and I just started reading it a couple of weeks ago. It is one of those self-help books where once you get into it, it becomes very hard to put it down.

Like all self-help books, there are some concepts mentioned that we realize we are currently implementing that are fine. There are others that need fine-tuning. We have some that need some serious help; then there are some that we have known and implement, but the examples given makes things come more to life than they have ever been.

For me, it was the real-life examples of the effects of how the “Body of Christ” works. What I have noticed myself is that in order to reap the benefits of this “Body/community”, trust is of utmost importance, and then real vulnerability is easier to follow. When one person opens the door to honesty, then for sure others will follow.

Here is the Vegetarian Bean Party Bowl:

Activity: Making Vegetarian Bean Party Bowl

Total Prepping and Cooking Time: 35 Minutes

Ingredients:

1 can of vegetarian beans

1 small can of tomato paste

1/2 cup of arugula

1/4 cup of nutritional yeast

2 tablespoons of curry powder, onion powder, cumin, turmeric, and chili powder

1/3 cup of quinoa

1/2 cup of brown rice

1/4 cup of vegetable broth

Directions:

Bowl the ice and quinoa in two separate pots for 20 minutes.

While the grains are cooking, heat up beans in vegetable broth in a skillet for twenty minutes.

Add all ingredients to the skillet, stirring occasionally for another 15 minutes.

Enjoy!

Black Bean Mishmash

black beans, healthy living, simple meals, mixed vegetables, rice, vegan, vegetarian, eating, food, food photography

Background on Black Bean Fun

With the way that the weather has been within the last few days, it makes one want to snuggle up with a throw and a book, or perhaps a movie, and just relax. Before we get into the black bean recipe, I would like to share a little bit of my reading adventure from the last few months.

I have been reading so many different books within the last few weeks that it’s a wonder that I can keep up with what’s going on in each book.

One book that I am currently reading is entitled, “The Sharper the Knife, The Less You Cry”. Because of taking four years of french in high school, and enjoying every minute of it, I decided to purchase this book at a rummage sale a few months ago. The main character, Kathleen, decides to leave the corporate world, move to Paris, and attend Le Cordon Bleu to pursue her dreams.

There are several different adventures that she has along the way. Some of which involve the relationships between her and her colleagues, her and her boyfriend, and her and her instructors whom she grows to love. This book is filled with French recipes and tons of laughter. Kathleen quickly finds out that life and recipes have a lot in common. As Christians, we are all too familiar with that as well.

Life Analysis

When it comes to recipes, we can have all the ingredients, make the dish exactly as described, and then everything comes out perfect. And such is the Christian life. But then, there are other times that we follow the recipe to a tee, and it turns out a disaster. Perhaps the oil got too brown, we overcooked the rice, or we ended up with meat that was too dry.


God is driving the bus. And we often forget that. Life isn’t a recipe or a secret formula. And although we think we have it all under control, things may fall apart just like the recipe that we knew we followed the directions to a tee. Jeremiah 29:11 tells us: 
For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. (NIV)

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Here is the the recipe:

Activity: Making Black Bean Mishmash

Total Prepping and Cooking Time: 35 Minutes

Ingredients:

1 onion

1/4 cup of nutritional yeast

1 can of mixed vegetables

2 cans of organic black beans

1 box of Quinoa w/brown rice & Rosemary

1/4 cup of oil

onion powder -2 tablespoons

garlic powder -2 tablespoons

cumin -2 tablespoons

Directions:

Boil the box of quinoa w/brown rice mixture.

While the quinoa mix is boiling, do the following:

  • Cut up and saute the onion in a skillet.
  • Boil the mixed vegetables.
  • Heat up the organic black beans.
  • Dump all the cooked ingredients into the skillet with the onion, adding the seasonings and nutritional yeast as well.
  • Enjoy!

Here are other bean recipes in case you’re interested:

Simple Beans and Zucchini Soup

Everything Chili

God bless!

Katina


God is driving the bus. And we often forget that. Life isn’t a recipe or a secret formula. And although we think we have it all under control, things may fall apart just like the recipe that we knew we followed the directions to a tee. Jeremiah 29:11 tells us:
For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. (NIV)


Simple Stuffing

dressing, stuffing, Christmas Eve, Remember God, carrots, celery, zucchini, broth, food, food photography, blogger, recipes, healthy recipes, healthy eating

Background on Simple Stuffing

For the last five days, I have been reading Remember God by Annie F. Downs. It is good. I believe that it is a combination of things that pulls the reader in: the style of writing, the rawness of emotions, and then the fact that it is written in story form. I can’t believe that I am already on page 130 after just a few days.

There are several things that resonated with me while reading this book. I am going to discuss two: I was deep into the story of her Job experience, where everything seemed to go wrong right before Thanksgiving. Why? Because that is exactly what happened to me this year. You can find that whole story here by listening to the podcast: Dancing in the Rain.

The second thing is when she talked about the sweet spot of her life at that time. I heard one particular message on the sweet spot about three years ago, and it still resonates now. Basically, our sweet spot is the spot where we push past our comfort zone into the pain and hard work, but right where God can use this pain and tension for his glory.

I made the recipe below for a Christmas Eve get-together that I had with some dear friends who are just like family to me. Have a blessed week!

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Activity: Making Simple Stuffing

Total Prepping and Cooking Time: 45 minutes

Ingredients:

  • cumin – two tablespoons
  • basil – two tablespoons
  • onion powder – two tablespoons
  • garlic powder – two tablespoons
  • minced garlic – two tablespoons
  • two zucchinis
  • two carrots
  • one onion
  • one piece of a celery stalk
  • two boxes of cornbread stuffing
  • 6 slices of honey wheat bread
  • 2 cups of broth

Directions:

  • Boil two cups of water with butter.
  • Saute the carrots, zucchini, and onions.
  • While the vegetables are sauteing, cut up six slices of bread into cubes.
  • Season with basil, and then place in the oven for 10 minutes.
  • Add the two boxes of cornbread stuffing mix and cubed bread cubes to the water.
  • Add the sauteed vegetables, celery, garlic, seasonings, and broth.
  • Throw it into a casserole pan at 425 degrees for 25 minutes.