Chunky Tomato Soup

Portland grey skies never seem to leave us, until July. With cool temperatures, overcast clouds, some days I want to curl up and read a book next to a fireplace, enjoying coffees, teas, and warm bowls of soup for dinners. 

I love soups. They can be so versatile, flavorful, and simple to make. You can slow cook them, and allow the aroma's  fill your home. They are filling, and easy to use for leftovers!

Hold the Bread Please

• 1 Onion
• 3 Garlic Cloves
• Handful of Basil leaves
• 4 (14.2 ounce) cans of Diced Tomatoes 
• 16 slow roasted tomatoes
• Kosher Sea Salt
• Black pepper
• 2 sprigs of Rosemary
• 1/4 cup of Olive oil

Dice Onion, and garlic. Heat olive oil, onions, and garlic in a dutch oven over medium heat for ten minutes. Add tomatoes, salt, rosemary, basil, slow roasted tomatoes, salt and pepper. Turn down heat, and simmer for 20 minutes.

This soup is chunky and thick. If you like a thinner soup, feel free to add a cup of water.

Slow Roasted makes this soup amazing

Fresh Garden Herbs add intensity and flavors to the dish

Dice and simmer for ten minutes

Add bacon instead of bread, for a complete meal!

Roasted Tomatoes

Slow Roasted Tomatoes

I hate to admit that I have been sort of lazy this summer, and not wanting to cook much. I have been staying away from the more complicated dishes and trying to stick to the basic easy to cook dishes.

This recipe was so simple, and can turn ordinary dishes into the extraordinary dishes! Add it to salads, pizza, marinara, scrambled eggs, or my sun-dried-feta-cauliflower ,or even soups! I found myself snacking on them, because they store easily!

Loaded with tons of Antioxidant goodness!

• 16 Vine-ripened tomatoes 
• Two tablespoons of olive oil
• Kosher Sea salt

Preheat oven to 275.
Slice tomato's 1/2 inch each and place tomatoes on to parchment paper on a baking sheet. Lightly drizzle olive oil on top, and sprinkle lightly salt. Roast for 3 hours.

Make sure to chill the tomatoes before refrigerating. You can easily store these for up to a week, in a Ziploc bag.

Banana Pancakes

Banana Pancakes

I am pancake snob. You have coffee snobs, wine conesures and then me the pancake-connoisseur-snob. I am on the search for the perfect Paleo Pancake, and have yet to find one or make one. Out of all the recipes that we have tried so far none of compared to my beloved Saturday morning pancakes. 

This recipe is close to my liking! Out of all the Almond Flour recipes that I have tried online so far, the consistency of the batter is closes to pancakes. They are not to salty, the do not fall apart, no crumbling. What I would do next time is take out the Apple Cider Vinegar. My kids and their friends asked for seconds, so it does past the kid test.

As a pancake-conesures-snob, I rate this pancake recipe at a 7 out of 10. So far the other Almond flour recipes I have tried rated at a 3, so that is not to shabby! 

• 2 cups Almond Flour 
• 2 Whole eggs
• 2 Egg yokes
• 1/4 teaspoon of Celtic Sea Salt
• 1/4 teaspoon of Baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda
• 1 teaspoon of Maple extract
• 1/2 cup of Pure Maple Syrup
• 1/2 teaspoon of Apple Cider Vinegar (optional)
• 1/2 cup of Almond Milk
• 1 mashed Banana!!
• 1 tablespoon of melted butter ( optional)

When measuring with a 1/4 cup Makes 14 to 15 pancakes. 

Takes a while to cook on each side, I would recommend 3 to 5 minutes, on low to medium heat on each side. If the heat is too high, almond flour will burn easily.

Fluffy! 

Stacked and ready to eat

Garnished or accessorized? 

Notice if heat is too high, almond flour easily burns

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Broccoli Bacon Soup

It has been a while since my last post. We have been cooking, and taking photos, and chasing our kids! Mainly chasing kids! Which is why I love this recipe that I am about to share with you today! It is fast, and loaded full of vitamins. It took me under 35 minutes to prepare the whole dish.

Green Goodness!

Recently, I went over to a girlfriends house for a fun night of Bunco, and indulged in a delicious blueberry muffin. The recipe, was from the new cookbook My Father's Daughter, by Gwyneth Paltrow. Everyone knows that I have a deep love of cooking and cookbooks, I would consider it more of an obsession, to be honest.

Last week, I bought the book, and made an amazing broccoli  soup. Broccoli soup was more of an experiment to see if my daughters would eat the broccoli, with no complaints. It was a pleasant surprise when they devoured their bowls with no complaints. They loved this soup, so much they had two servings. I did modify it, it a little. Next time to add more life to the soup I will add diced tomato. We will be making more of it this week, and freezing it.

• 2 tablespoons of Olive Oil, Napa
• 2 teaspoons of Granulated Garlic, or you could use 3 fresh garlic cloves sliced
• 1 small yellow onion, diced
• 3 Medium Broccoli stalks, cut into small florets
• 32 ounces of Chicken Broth, or Vegetable stock
• 1 teaspoon of Celtic Salt
• 1 teaspoon of black pepper
• 5 slices of cooked bacon (omit for vegan option)
• 1/2 cup of cheddar cheese, or sprinkle of Parmesan cheese (optional, if dairy free)

This recipe is really simple. In a skillet add olive oil, and then toss in onion, broccoli, granulated garlic. Cook on medium high for ten minutes to fifteen minutes, until broccoli is green and tender but firm. In a dutch oven, add the broccoli mixture, broth, salt and pepper. Then use the skillet to fry up the bacon. While bacon is cooking simmer soup mixture on a medium high for ten minutes, and then add bacon and heat at a medium for ten more minutes.

Pour soup into a large bowl, and puree. I use my Cuisinart Smart Stick Hand Blender. 

Serve and enjoy!

Messy looking, but tasty

Two thumbs up from our picky eater!

Thumbs up from V

My family loved this recipe so much it was gone as quickly as it was made.

Creamy Cauliflower Soup

Creamy Cauliflower Soup

Many people turn their noses up to Cauliflower, thinking that it is flavorless. However, this vegetable is highly versatile, low in fat, high in dietary fiber, folate, water and vitamin C, and an excellent source of carotenoids. With phytochemicals, indole-3-carbinol, cauliflower is known for aiding and blocking growth of cancer cells, and can actually prevent and slow the grown of cancer and tumors. Cauliflower also may assist the liver in detoxing carcinogenic substances. Feel free to play with this recipe, it can easily be made vegetarian, dairy free, and of course gluten free!

• 1/2 stick Butter or olive oil
• 1 garlic clove minced
• 3/4 of a cup of Green onion, sliced and divided in half
• 2 whole Carrot thinly sliced
• 1 stalk Celery, well Diced
• 1 whole Cauliflower Heads
• 2 Tablespoons Fresh Or Dried Parsley
• 32 ounces of organic Chicken Broth Or Stock or vegetable Broth
• 2 cups Almond milk ( or milk)
• 1 cup Half-and-half (optional)
• Sprinkle of salt and Pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon of paprika
• 1/2 cup of Sour Cream (optional)
• 4 slices of Turkey Bacon (Applegate) (optional)
• 1/2 cup of red Bell Pepper diced
• 1/2 cup of tomato diced

In a Dutch oven brown bacon.Remove, and then melt butter or add 1/4 of a cup of Olive oil.

Add minced Garlic, whites of onions, reserve the green Chives Saute for 2 minutes

Add carrots and celery and continue to saute for 5 minutes then add Cauliflower and cook for 10 more minutes.

Add Chicken or vegetable Broth, cook on medium heat for 20 minutes. Add 2 pieces of diced Bacon

salt and pepper. And 1/2 teaspoon of paprika.

Now you can either get your blender and Puree, or what I find easiest is to pour contents into a bowl and puree with my Smart Stick Blender. Once the soup is pureed, pour it back into the dutch oven and add Milk/ Cream, and sour cream, perhaps more pepper if desired or even better a pinch of RED Pepper! Stir well.

Spoon into bowls, and top with the remaining 2 pieces of diced Bacon, a tablespoon of red bell pepper, some chives and parsley. The tomato is optional.

This dish is pretty filling, and very delicious.

Spicy Avocado Prawn Salad with steak

Spicy Avocado Prawn Salad
This recipe is one of my favorites! I adapted it from a Paley's Place recipe. It is one of my favorite restaurants in Portland and they are known for their Northwest flair. This summer, I made the Warm Spot- Prawn, Tomato, and Feta Salad. It was an amazing dish. This recipe is similar, and yet so extremely different with the addition of salsa and avocado, and omitting the capers and Persillade.  I encourage all my reader to play with their recipes, experiment, and never be afraid to try something new!

• 1 large onion
• 1 pound of sirloin strips
• 1/4 cup of extra- virgin olive oil
• 1 medium head of Red Leaf Lettuce
• Fresh Pre-made salsa
• Pinch of Red pepper flakes
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 1 ripe Avocado
• 20 prawns
• 1/4 cup of dry white wine
• Juice of a lemon
• 6 to 8 ounces of feta or sheep's cheese

Preheat oven to 400
Slice and roast onions on a baking sheet, sprinkle with Kosher salt and pepper and drizzle olive oil.  Roast until edges are golden, this will take about 20 to 30 minutes


Saute steak individually. Season with pepper and salt.


Wash and prepare lettuce. do not tear the leaves..
In a skillet pour the olive oil and red pepper flakes with the sliced garlic and saute for about 30 seconds. Add salt and pepper, then prawns, cook for around 2 minutes, then add white wine, lemon juice, and cook until done. For about 2 or 5 minutes. Remove from heat and then Add to hot pan feta cheese. 


Place whole leafs on plate arranged beautifully, then add onion rings. Top with prawn mixture, and then 2 tablespoons of salsa, and top with 1/4 cup of avocado.


Serve, relish in delight, and enjoy!

Coconut Flour Brownies

Organic Coconut Flour Brownies

Did you know that Chocolate is a super food? Chocolate has tremendous health benefits that can not be ignored. So Eat up! Eat for your heart, eat for your memory, eat it for your health!

Below is a brownie recipe that I made yesterday. It is not yet perfected, but if I promise I will be making a new and improved batch this week. It was still very delicious. I was not a fan of the Agauve so I may try Applesauce or stick with regular sugar, and would like to replace the olive oil with Grapeseed oil, coconut oil, or Walnut Oil next time!

• About 1 cup of Olive oil, give or take.
• 1 cup of Cocoa Powder
• 12 eggs or equivalent egg substititute. 
• 1/2 cup of Agauve
• 1/2 cup of brown sugar
• 1 tsp of Vanilla extract
• 1 cup of Coconut Flour ( Lets Do… Organic)
• hand full of chocolate chips and walnuts if desired.

Pre- heat oven to 350. Whisk eggs and add olive oil, extract, and aguave. Stir, and add Cocoa Powder and coconut flour. Finally add chocolate chips and walnuts!

This was a good brownie mix and was gone in a days time. It is just not my all time best! To me it tasted like a healthy brownie! All in all, this recipe would get 7 starts out of 10. Stay tune for more brownie recipes to follow!

We did have a fun time making the brownies, which is the main reason I cook, and that is to enjoy the experience with my family. Below I included some pictures. Violet even got into the mixing!

Lemon Water

My recipe for Gorgeous Skin

Several times a week I am stopped by strangers and sometimes friends and asked what my secret to beautiful skin is. This is big compliment, that I of course love hearing. So my secret next washing every night and applying a organic Green tea cream.  Is in invigorating Lemon Water. It is amazing warm or cold. 

Lemon Water is clinically proven to act as anti-aging agent, and  rejuvenating skin

• A pitcher of H2O
• 1 lemon sliced 

Squeeze lemon slices into water, and enjoy all day! 

Tracey Original Egg

The Tracey Original Egg mixture for Lunch

So delicious, you will eat it every morning!

My husband always teases me that if I call something a Tracey Original, that it will be an enjoy only one time meal. A "Tracey Original" so we like to call it, is a dish that I randomly throw together, with no direction. It is items that we happen to have on hand that are selectively chosen by me and thrown into a dish. Typically these dishes are amazingly delicious, to where everyone will savor the dish, and ask me to make sure to write it down. Which I never have time to do, and they are a once in a life time meal!

The Tracey Original Egg mixture is not a one timer. It is my lunch on most days. Very Filling, and satisfying! Sorry Vegans, this a Vegetarian recipe.

• One sliced Mushroom
• 3 egg whites (or)  2 whole eggs
• Granulated Garlic ( a sprinkle)
• Paprika ( a sprinkle)
• Pepper ( a sprinkle)
• Garlic ( a sprinkle)
• Olive oil ( a spray)
• Feta Cheese ( tablespoon)
• Spinach or spring mix ( one hand full)

In a medium sized skillet spray olive oil. First add the mushroom saute for a minute or two on medium heat. Next add Egg and spices. Scramble until almost done and then add Feta, continue to scramble for another minute, and then add Spinach, and saute until the consistency you like!

The Health benefits to this meal is found in the Eggs, mushroom, olive oil, garlic powder, and spinach mix. 

Simple spices

Toss and scramble  

Chocolate Coconut Ice Cream Pie

Chocolate Coconut Ice Cream Pie
Yum Yum!

Pie crust

• 2 cups Almond flour
• 1/4 tsp of salt
• 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda
• 2 1/2 tablespoons of Cocoa powder
• 2 1/2 tablespoons of Irish creme Agave
• 1 teaspoon of Vanilla extract
• 4 tablespoons of cold butter 

1. In a medium bowl mix Blanched Almond Flour, salt, baking soda, cocoa powder.
2. Mix in Agave, vanilla extract and butter with a fork.
3. Spread into pie pan with hand
4. Chill in refrigerator for 15 minutes
5. Preheat oven at 350
6. bake for 10 minutes
7. Cool and place in freezer

Pie crust mix

I had a hard time getting the butter to mix in. I am thinking about leaving the butter out and letting it soften to room temp.

Ice Cream Filling

Ice Cream Filling

• 1 tablespoon of bowling water
• 2 teaspoons of coffee instant
• 3/4 cup of chocolate chips
• 2 tablespoons of coconut milk
• 1 Pint Naked Coconut 
• 1 pint Dark Chocolate  Luna & Larry's Organic Coconut Bliss

1. In a small bowl heat a tablespoon of water in the microwave for a minute, and dissolve a packet of Via coffee. 
2. On stove top heat in a saucepan 3/4 cup of chocolate chips, and add 2 tablespoons of coconut milk. 
3. Add melted chocolate mixture into a small bowl with the coffee that has now dissolved into the water.
4. In frozen bowl mix the two variety of ice creams and add 3 Tablespoons of chocolate/ coffee mixture. 
5. Spoon ice Cream filling into the Pie, 
6. then cover and freeze for 3 to 4 hours.

I told my husband two Chocolate and this is what he brought home! So we improvise!

Chocolate goodness!

After filling Pie with Ice Cream, I smoothed top with a Cake smoother tool, and drizzled on a little of the extra melted Chocolate.