It might look weird, but it sure tastes great! For veggie lovers only. ;D

HERE'S ALL IT TAKES

• 2 slices Rye bread, toasted well
• 2-3 tablespoons hummus, warmed
• 1 mushroom, sliced
• baby spinach leaves

I don't really have to tell you how to build a sandwich. Do I?

If you look closely at the photos, you'll see some green stuff that's not spinach.  That's hummus with fresh spinach blended into it. I call it spinach-hummus. It's REALLY GOOD! My kids even like it. Seriously! Ok, not my daughter, she doesn't like anything. But my son, he digs eating spinach-hummus.

After reading a hundred consumer reviews, endless shopping, and borrowing my friends' juicers, I settled on buying a Champion masticating juicer to get more concentrated vitamins and minerals into my luscious bod.  Juicing is not for the light-hearted.  You gotta want it to keep up the routine.  However, I admit, I don't have a routine.  I juice enough fruits & veggies for my husband and me twice a week.  I wish I could juice everyday but I can't.  I don't live around the corner from an organic produce source. That's my problem not yours.  Anyhoo.

Every chance I get, I juice. My favorite juice combinations are as follows.

Carrot & Apple Juice for One

• 3 carrots
• 1 apple, cored

Green Juice for Two

• 1 bunch mild-tasting Kale, thick stems removed
• 4 handfuls baby spinach
• 4 apples, cored
• 4 celery stalks
• 1 cucumber
• 1-inch piece ginger

Do you juice?  I'd love to know I'm not alone in this.

Just as there is more than one way to skin a cat. There's more than one way to make brown rice.  I have come to like my way. Go figure. ;D

HERE'S ALL IT TAKES

• 1 1/2 cups brown rice
• water

Fill a 5.5 quart pot 3/4 full of water.  Bring water to a rolling boil over medium-high heat.  Add rice and stir.  When water returns to a rolling boil, start counting.  Cook uncovered 30 to 40 minutes, until tender.  Stir one time halfway through the cooking process.

Drain rice in a colander.  Transfer to a covered dish. Drape a clean tea towel over rice then cover with lid.  Allow rice to cool 15 minutes or so.  (I really never count at this point because I typically make rice a day or two before I need it.)  Remove tea towel.  Fluff rice with a fork.  Use right away or store in fridge and use as needed for the next 5 days.

HERE'S ALL IT TAKES

serves 4

• 2 (14.5 ounce) cans black beans
• 1 large yellow onion, roughly chopped
• 1 large bell pepper, roughly chopped
• 4 to 6 white button mushrooms, sliced
• 2 teaspoons chili powder
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 3 to 4 cups cooked brown rice
• avocado, seeded and chopped
• tomato, chopped

Mash beans to a lumpy consistency. Heat in a medium sauce pan over medium heat.

In a medium skillet, heat 1/4 cup water over medium-high heat. Saute onion, bell pepper, and mushrooms until tender. Add chili powder and cumin to vegetables and toss until well coated, cook for 1 minute.

Serve beans over cooked rice, topped with sautéed vegetables, avocado, and tomato.

Served this up at my husband's 40th birthday party to a houseful of meat-lovers. EVERYONE was floored by its awesomeness.  I can't wait to make it again.

Enlist a kitchen helper to put this ROCKIN' vegetable lasagna recipe together.  There's nothing complicated about pulling it together, but it does take some time to get everything chopped.  The trick to making this dinner simple is prepping all the ingredients first.  It's well worth all the effort, too!

HERE'S ALL IT TAKES

serves 12

• 1 yellow onion, chopped
• 12 garlic cloves, minced
• 12 button mushrooms, sliced
• 1 head broccoli, chopped
• 2 carrots, chopped
• 2 red bell peppers, seeded and chopped
• 1 (14.5-ounce) sweet corn, rinsed & drained
• 1 package firm tofu
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• 1 teaspoon basil
• 1 teaspoon rosemary
• 2 quarts pasta sauce
• 2 boxes lasagna noodles
• 2 (10-ounce) bags frozen spinach, thawed & drained
• 2 sweet potatoes, cooked & mashed
• 6 Roma tomatoes, sliced thin
• 1 cup raw cashews, ground

Heat oven to 400ºF. degrees.

Sauté the onion, garlic, and mushrooms on medium-high heat in just enough water to cover the bottom of the pan. Cook until onion is tender, 8 minutes.  Transfer to a large bowl.  Reserve any liquid in the pan.  Sauté the broccoli and carrots for 5 minutes and add to the vegetable bowl.  Sauté the bell peppers and corn until crisp tender.  Add them to the vegetable bowl.

Drain the tofu well.  Break it up and mix into the vegetables.  Add spices and toss.

TIME TO PUT IT TOGETHER

Cover the bottom of a 9-inch by 13-inch casserole dish with a layer of sauce. Add a layer of noodles.  cover the noodles with sauce.  Spread the vegetable mixture over the sauced noodles.  Cover with a layer a noodles and another layer of sauce.  Add the spinach to the second layer of sauced noodles.  Cover the spinach with the mashed sweet potatoes.  Add another layer of sauce, the final layer of noodles, and a last topping of sauce.   Cover the lasagna with thinly sliced Roma tomatoes.

Cover the dish with foil and bake for 45 minutes.  Remove the foil, sprinkle with ground cashews, and return to the oven for 15 minutes.  Let it stand for 15 to 20 minutes before serving. Divide into 12 servings.

Serve with a dark leafy green salad on the side.

I got this AWESOME recipe from The Engine 2 Diet: The Texas Firefighter's 28-Day Save-Your-Life Plan that Lowers Cholesterol and Burns Away the Pounds

Give yourself a break and watch the video.

I'm giving away 1-year subscriptions to Martha Stewart's Whole Living Magazine from now through August. Watch the video to get all the details.

Drawings will be held April 28th, May 1st, June 1st, July 1st, and August 1, 2012

APRIL WINNER: Sherri Jo from The Adventures of Kitchen Girl

MAY WINNERS: Susan Hatcher from Georgia, Louise Larsen from Hawaii, and Megan McDaniel from Texas!!!
I chose 3 winners because they were the only gals that participated this month.

JUNE WINNERS ??? 

GET THE FULL RECIPE HERE.

Oatmeal has gone from the last thing I would ever eat to the first thing I think about eating.  It's the steel-cut oats that really make the difference.  For years, I've tried eating rolled oats, but I could never get past the texture.  I don't dig sticky mush.  Steel-cut oats are completely different. They have more of a chewy rice texture without the mush.

Now I'll admit, I'm still in the child-like stage when it comes to dressing up my oatmeal, i.e. I add a bit of sugar and lots of raisins, dried cranberries and chopped nuts.  I haven't matured to the point where I can eat oatmeal plain.  However, the other day I was wanting a pick me up snack in the afternoon and I went for a small bowl of cold oatmeal.  IT WAS GOOD!  I kid you not. It totally surprised me.

HERE'S ALL IT TAKES

enough for 6 servings

• 3 cups water
• 1/3 cup golden raisins
• 1/3 cup dried cranberries
• 1/3 cup pecans, chopped
• 2 tablespoons raw sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 cup steel-cut oats

Bring water to a mild boil, add raisins, cranberries, pecan, sugar, cinnamon and steel-cut oats. Stir well. Cover. Reduce heat to LOW.  Set timer for 30 minutes.  Stir every 10 minutes or so, just to make sure the oats don't stick to the bottom.

If the oats have absorbed the water 8 to 10 minutes before the timer is set to go off, stir in another 1/2 cup more water.  Sometimes I need to do this.  Not all steel-cut oats are cut the same size, depends on the brand or if I buy them from a bulk bin.

After the oats have cooked for 30 minutes, keep them covered and remove from heat.  Let oats stand for 10 minutes.  Stir before serving.

Store any leftovers in the fridge. Cooked oats keep very well for up to a week.  Reheat either in a microwave or in a small saucepan with a splash of water or milk to help loosen the oats.

Tropic smoothies are awesome for breakfast, snack time, and dessert.  I shared this recipe with a friend and they said it would be good with a splash of rum.  I haven't tried their suggestion. If you try it, let me know what you think.

HERE'S ALL IT TAKES

Makes about 5 servings

• 1/2 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
• 3 cold, medium bananas
• 1 cup frozen pineapple chunks
• 1 cup frozen mango chunks
• 2 1/2 cup unsweetened non-dairy milk (soy, almond, coconut, etc.)

Blend on high speed for at least 20 seconds until completely smooth.

If you use frozen banana chunks, you'll have to add more milk for a slurpable consistency.  Otherwise, you have a thick, frozen shake in your glass.  Those are awesome, too.