5 minute meal- Seitan Stir Fry

So lately I've been cooking a lot with Westsoy brand Seitan.  It's SO good, very "meaty," and low in calories and sugar. It's a great substitute for beef or chicken.  I've used it in tacos, beef stew, and the other night I made stir fry veggies with it.  Stir fry is a super quick, healthy, and delicious meal.  It's great for those nights you want something good but either don't have the time, or just don't feel like cooking.  Make the brown rice ahead of time and this seriously takes about 5 minutes.

What You Will Need:
1 box seitan, I cut it into strips
1 bag frozen stir fry veggies, you could go fresh but Birds Eye sells a great stir fry blend- sugar snap peas, carrots, mushrooms, and onions.
2 cups brown rice, cooked
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 tablespoon sesame seeds (good source of calcium)
1 tablespoon low sodium soy sauce
1 teaspoon garlic powder

1. If you haven't already, cook the brown rice and set aside.
2. In a big wok pan, heat the oil and then toss in the stir fry veggies and seitan.  Add the sesame seeds and garlic powder.  Cook until heated throughout.
3. Serve over the brown rice, and drizzle the soy sauce on top.

So easy, quick, and delicious.

Simply Delicious Butternut Squash and Kale Soup

With Thanksgiving around the corner, I've been craving butternut squash.  (For Thanksgiving I make a cranberry almond squash bake (so good!) which I'll be sharing later.)  Anyways, I had planned to make roasted butternut squash and sauteed kale over brown rice.  But I wanted the rice to be creamy.  So in the end I decided to make a soup and I am so glad I did!  This soup turned out to be so good with a very comforting, simple, delicious flavor.  And with the kale it adds an added boost of those vitamins and nutrients everyone needs, especially during cold and flu season- just 1 cup has 200% of Vitamin C, along with Vitamin K, and calcium! Eating healthy is just so easy and delicious!

What You Will Need:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 large onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 teaspoon thyme
1 teaspoon sage
6 cups vegetable broth
1 cup brown rice, uncooked
3 cups butternut squash, cubed
3 cups kale, washed and chopped
salt and pepper, to taste

1. Heat the oil in a large pot and saute the onion, garlic, thyme, and sage for about 3 minutes, or until the onions become translucent.  
2. Add the vegetable broth, rice, squash, salt and pepper.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes.
3. Then add the kale, cover, and continue simmering an addition 25 minutes.