No bake banana cookies

This is a great way to get your chocolate fix the recipe came from here. They are only 80 calories and super easy to make, about 5 minutes of prep work, then you just need to wait for them to set up. I didn't use vegan chocolate chips for mine like the original recipe, I just used semi-sweet chocolate chips, I still thought it tasted good with it. It does have a very strong banana taste, basically chocolate banana treat!

No Bake Banana Cookies

1/2 C rolled oats

1/4 C chocolate chips

1 banana

1 tsp vanilla

1 T chia seeds

1 T buckwheat groats

1 tsp cocoa

sweetener to taste (optional)

Melt chocolate chips in the microwave, be careful not to let them burn. About 60 seconds then stir to melt the rest. Add chopped banana and mash together. Mix with other ingredients until coated. Drop in spoonfuls on wax paper on a cookie sheet. Freeze for 1 hour. These cookies will set up, however they will remain chewy. 

Quick Alfredo

I love pasta and creamy sauces soooo much, seriously it's almost sick. I'm so glad I have discovered cashew sauces it has the good fats and so much less saturated fats and I honestly think they taste better than some other cream sauces. This Alfredo recipe is no different. I love the creamy taste and I always love the taste of nutmeg with my creamy pastas. It's very similar to other mac and cheese recipes with little less cheesy taste and more of just a creamy taste!

1/2 C cashews

1 garlic clove

3 T nutritional yeast

3/4 C + 2 T almond Milk

1 T lemon juice

2 T margarine (preferably earth balance, whipped)

1 1/2 T dijon mustard

Nutmeg to taste

Salt to taste

1/2 tsp paprika

1 lb pasta

Combine all ingredients into blender or food processor and blend until smooth. Meanwhile cook pasta according to package directions. Drain pasta and mix in Alfredo sauce. Sprinkle nutmeg on top. Enjoy!

*you can also put any type of veggie you'd like with this, like peas, corn, broccoli whatever! Yum!

ps. ignore my thumb in the picture I never said I was a photographer :)

"Cheezy" Potato Dish

When I was in college and single (okay and maybe into my college married days) some of my favorite quick sides and "college" food were those packaged potatoes, you know the little flakes where you just add water or milk and you have instant fake potatoes!!! Yep you bet those were the days! My favorite flavor was the cheesy potatoes.

Fast forward to today and I have come to understand that real food is obviously the better option for my family and I, I don't enjoy the salty taste in those potatoes and I mean really...can you honestly beat the taste of real mashed potatoes!!!! My Grandma always used to make mashed potatoes then put them in a casserole dish and bake them for awhile! MMMMMM...they were so great and had so much less fat because it had no cheese, I used almond milk, and vegan margarine, all in all adding up to about 120 calories! Well I have found out that just because I choose a healthy diet, doesn't mean I need to give up foods I love! Really...so I decided to do a remake on my old, fake cheesy potato days with a little of my grandma's spin on things.

So instead of fake flakes and extra sodium, I've loaded this yummy side dish up with real red potatoes (or any potato you'd like) chopped some real garlic, seasonings, and for my cheesy taste, I threw in some nutritional yeast! I am pleased to announce...I ain't missin' a thing from the fake potatoes!!!! This is fast, easy, and such a great addition to any meal!!!! Get creative, and remember being a healthy eater doesn't mean you give up things or it doesn't restrain your tastes, I've never had a problem being satisfied with how I eat, I don't crave the things I used to eat so it's not a problem! Eating healthy can give you more freedom actually with health and the way you feel about yourself! You can really find ways to clean up recipes from anywhere, and personally I think it's really fun to try!

Cheezy Potato Dish

5 red potatoes

1 1/2 tsp onion powder

1 garlic clove, shredded (optional)

1/2 C nutritional yeast

1 1/2 tsp paprika

1 tsp vegan margarine

milk as needed (I used Almond Milk)

Dice potatoes, skin included. Add to pot and cover with water, bring to a boil then cover and simmer for about 10-15 minutes until potatoes are tender. Drain water from potatoes and add  margarine and milk and mash or whip the potatoes until you have your desired texture, personally I leave mine a little chunky. Add remaining ingredients and mix well, you could even whip all the ingredients again to make sure they are well combined. Place the potatoes into an 8x8 baking dish and bake at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes. Sprinkle top with paprika! Enjoy!

*you can skip the baking and just eat them out of the pot if you'd like!

Emily's Cheeze Sauce

This is just me combining things to make a vegan cheese sauce with things I had. It turned out great, I was very happy we eat it normally on the Cheezy Fiesta Taco Pie.

Homemade Cheeze  Sauce

2/3 C Nutritional Yeast

1 C cashews

1 1/4 C water

1/4 nondairy milk

1 tsp onion powder

1 tsp garlic powder

Place all ingredients in high powered blender. Blend on high for about 90 seconds or until completely smooth!  Enjoy

*if you don't want it vegan go ahead and add 1/4 cup of shredded cheese for the cheesier stretchy effect!

Banana Blueberry Muffins

These are super yummy and a much better muffin for you. My family really enjoys these for breakfast. The original recipe had raspberries in it, I haven't tried it with raspberries but it does sound yummy.

Banana Blueberry Muffins

1 C whole grain flour

3/4 C rolled oats

3/4 C white wheat flour

1/4 C wheat germ

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

2 T chia seeds

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 C blueberries

Wet Ingredients

1/2 C great northern beans

1/2 C applesauce

3 bananas

2 T almond oil (can also use canola)

1 tsp almond extract (or vanilla)

2 eggs

1/2 C honey

2 T maple syrup (optional, I use maple extract)

2 T berry jam (optional)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Combine all dry ingredients in a bowl except blueberries. Add all wet ingredients to blender and blend until smooth. Combine wet and dry ingredients and mix well. Lightly coat blueberries with flour and add them to the mixture. Spoon into muffin tins about 3/4 full. Bake for 13-15 min. 

Cinnamon Vanilla Oatmeal

Here is a quick, easy, tasty breakfast that everyone can love. I think there will be lots of ways to adapt this and add different flavors to change it up a bit!

Cinnamon Vanilla Oatmeal

2 C water

1 tsp vanilla

2 C oats

2 T cinnamon

2 T coconut sugar (or agave)

Boil water with vanilla. Add oats. Once oats are cooked add sugar and cinnamon. Sprinkle dash of cinnamon on top! Enjoy!

Tomato Basil Sauce

This sauce is super creamy for creamier tomato pasta. I'm not a super huge fan of a strong basil taste so I halved the basil from the original recipe from ohsheglows.com . But you can adapt whatever you want to fit your tastes

Tomato Basil Sauce

1/2 C Raw cashews

1/4 C water

1 T tomato paste

1 T olive oil

2-4 garlic cloves

1 tsp salt

3-4 T water

1/2 C basil

Combine olive oil and garlic in large sauce pan and saute until tender. Meanwhile combine remaining ingredients to blender and blend on high for 90 seconds or until completely smooth. Pour tomato mixture into sauce pan to combine garlic. Toss with pasta. 

Easy Turkey Taco Soup

Taco soup is a yummy comfort food. This version is super easy and a little bit cleaner than typical taco soup. You can leave the refried beans out of this recipe if you'd like they just make it a thicker soup and also keep out the turkey if your going for vegetarian.

Easy Turkey Taco Soup

1 lb lean ground turkey

1 can kidney beans

1 can black beans

1 can red beans/or pinto

1 can fat free refried beans (optional)

1 can low sodium vegetable broth

1/2 packet taco seasoning (or the whole packet if you like more taco taste)

1 1/2 c frozen corn

1/2 T cumin

1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes

Heat pan and add ground turkey and cumin. Heat until browned. Drain any grease from turkey. Combine all other ingredients into crock pot or soup pot be sure to drain and rinse beans before adding. Add seasoned ground turkey to soup. If in the crockpot cook on high for about 4 hours, if on the stove top let simmer for 30 min. Serve with tortilla chips, optional toppings, avacado and diced tomatoes. 

Vegan Mac and Cheese!!!

I found this recipe here and really enjoyed it. It was my first attempt at a vegan mac and cheese. I love pasta so if I could find a better, healthier pasta but still be satisfied with a yummy taste I would be happy so I tried this. It's a simple weeknight dinner that my kids also enjoy.

Vegan Mac and Cheese

1 lb whole grain pasta

3 C broccoli

1/4 C margarine (earth balance vegan spread, whipped)

1/3 C flour (I used spelt)

3 C soy milk

1/2 C Nutritional Yeast

2 T tomato paste

2 T sea salt

1 tsp garlic powder

1 T lemon juice

1 T agave

Bring a large pot of heavily salted water to boil. Add pasta and cook according to package directions. Add broccoli for the last 5 minutes of boiling and let cook until broccoli is fork tender. Drain and return to pot. Meanwhile in a medium saucepan, make a roux or paste by whisking the margarine and flour over medium heat for 3-5 minutes. Add nondairy milk, yeast, tomato paste, salt, and garlic powder to the saucepan and bring to a boil whisking frequently. Reduce heat to low and let simmer until the sauce thickens. Adjust seasoning to taste and stir in lemon juice and agave. Toss the noodles and broccoli with the sauce and serve. 

Quinoa Burritos

Lunch is a hard meal sometimes, if you have kids you are trying to get them taken care of, it can I've found turn into a repetitious meal, lots of sandwiches, lots of salads etc..well I wanted something quick for me to put together that was a little out of the ordinary. Lunch for me is right when I get home from work, right before nap time and right when I don't feel like making a whole lot of food. Well I found these burritos to be fast, easy and nutritious. You can top with lettuce, avocado, tomato, anything really! Design your food your way ;)

Quinoa Burrito

1 c vegetable broth

1 c water

1 c quinoa

1 tortilla (I used corn)

1/2 can black beans

3/4 c salsa

2 T nutritional yeast

Heat vegetable broth and water on stove top. Add quinoa when bubbles start on the bottom of the pot. Heat 15 minutes, add beans and nutritional yeast after about 10 minutes continue to heat until Quinoa is cooked. Place quinoa mixture on tortilla top with salsa and any other desired toppings. I put some fresh spinach on top. Pretty fast, healthy and satisfying!!! Enjoy

Butternut Squash Mac and Cheese

Well I can say this far in our eating, this is my favorite mac and cheese recipe!!!! Everyone in my family loved it, my husband kept saying "oh my gosh this is good" that's saying a lot since whenever I make my vegan mac and cheese he always adds some shredded dairy cheese on top...it kind of defies the purpose don't you think :) But no added cheese on this one. It was a hit and it has a hidden vegetable in it! I tweaked the original recipe a tiny bit to our taste but you can find the original recipe here either way it's tasty!!!

Butternut Squash Mac and Cheese

1/2 Butternut Squash, peeled and chopped

3/4 C cashews

1 C non-dairy milk ( I used almond milk)

3 garlic cloves

1 T lemon juice

2 tsp salt or to taste

6-7 T nutritional yeast

1/2 tsp dijon mustard

1/2 tsp dried italian seasoning

pepper to taste

1/4-1/2 tsp paprika

1/4 tsp nutmeg

your choice of pasta 

Preheat Oven to 350 degrees, chop and season squash as desired add 2 T olive oil to baking sheet add squash and coat with oil. Roast squash for 40 minutes flipping once halfway through, I roasted my squash before hand, it made it a faster meal prep. Combine your cheese sauce ingredients (cashews, non-dairy milk, garlic, lemon, salt, nutritional yeast, pepper, mustard seasonings besides nutmeg) place in blender or food processor. Blend until smooth and not grainy. Add roasted squash, blend until smooth. If the sauce is too thick add some more milk. Cook pasta according to package, rinse and drain pasta, combine sauce and pasta into a casserole dish top with nutmeg and sprinkle with paprika. Bake pasta at 350 for 20-25 minutes. You can always add peas or broccoli for some more veggies or just enjoy as it is. Delish!!!

Raw Granola Bars

Granola bars have always been a tricky thing for me. Usually I have a really hard time getting them to actually stay in a bar form, but these were great they stayed in the little squares I cut them into. I've put these little babies into three different categories, treat, snack, and raw. They are so delicious and healthy, but they still taste like a treat to me, they make a great snack, and they have all raw ingredients so there you go. They are also so simple. They were a huge hit

Just combine all your dry ingredients, and then add the wet (you might want to microwave the wet for a few seconds to make sure you get all the lumps out)

Smash it all in a cake pan, and freeze it for about an hour! Your done

*Tip keep them in the fridge, if left out they will start to fall apart, but hey I guess you have some granola then :)

Raw Granola Bars

3 C oats

1/2 C chia seeds

1 1/2 C cashews (or almonds)

1 1/2 C coconut flakes

3/4 C sesame seeds

1 tsp cinnamon

1 C sprouted buckwheat groats (optional)

1/2 tsp sea salt

1/4 raisins (or chocolate chips if you don't want completely raw)

1 C natural peanut butter (or almond butter, I use half and half)

3/4 C raw honey (I have also used agave)

5-6 T coconut oil

 1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla

Combine dry ingredients into bowl. Combine peanut butter/almond butter, coconut oil, honey and vanilla in separate bowl. You may have to microwave wet ingredients to make sure coconut oil and nut butters are smooth. Combine wet and dry ingredients. Pack into cake pan and place in freezer for about 30-hour or until desired hardness is achieved. Keep refrigerated

Pride

I had to say how happy I am, these healthy habits are truly sticking with our kids. Today we went to a street art fair and we splurged and got some cotton candy to bring home. Well I offered some to my little girl and she just looked at me and said no, so I said okay would you like a cookie? (see cookie recipe here) she said no, I think I just want some nuts!!!! I just couldn't help but smile from ear to ear while I gave her a little bowl of cashews. It makes me happy to think that if my three year old can make that choice now, when her MOM is offering sweets to her hopefully as she gets older she'll be able to continue to make healthy choices!

Zesty Couscous Medley

This was a yummy side or main dish. If you enjoy couscous you'll enjoy this. It was creamy and the Italian dressing made it pretty tangy. I love vegetables and potatoes, they tend to be my comfort food, so creamy comfort food without the guilt, I'm happy :) We had this along side some baked chicken and salad, but I look forward to having it as a yummy lunch.

Zesty Couscous Medley

1 1/2 C  couscous

3-4 medium potatoes

1/2 bag of frozen mixed veggies

3/4 C vegetable broth

3/4 C water

Creamy Tomato Sauce

3 T Italian dressing

* other vegetables to add if wanted, bell pepper, broccoli, asparagus, spinach...the sky's the limit

Add vegetables and potatoes to pot with 1/2 filled with water. Let simmer 10 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Meanwhile, combine water and vegetable broth and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and add couscous and cover. Let stand for 5-7 minutes until couscous is tender and fluff with fork. Meanwhile make creamy tomato sauce from this recipe here. Add vegetables and sauce to skillet stir to coat. Add couscous and  Italian dressing. Let simmer and heat together 5 minutes stirring often. Sprinkle with parsley and serve

* for a cheesier flavor you can add 2 T nutritional yeast, or just some shredded cheese. 

Banana Cinnamon French Toast

I've made this a few times because it is SOOO simple and tasty. I found this recipe on here, My kiddos love it. This isn't your typical french toast, no eggs, no butter nothing like that. It typically only has four ingredients, however this last time I added some maple extract...yummy it'll be a permanent addition I think.

Super simple just combine all the ingredients and blend!

Then you just coat your bread like regular french toast, the tricky part does come in cooking the bread. The batter tends to get a little sticky, so keep a close eye on it, I find I do have to constantly scrape the pan or the remnants of batter burn quickly. The bread will be soft. 

Banana Cinnamon French Toast

1 banana

1 tsp cinnamon

1 cup soy milk

1/4 cup oats

1 tsp maple extract

Combine soymilk, oats, banana, and maple extract in blender. Blend on high until smooth. Pour into shallow baking dish. Add cinnamon. Mix well. Soak bread before putting it on skillet. Make sure to spray pan with non-stick spray, cook on each side until golden, Turn carefully because they get sticky. You can have these with syrup, or alone. I put fresh raspberries and blueberries on mine it was delish!!!! And here is your end result...

Happy Kids!!!

Almondy Apples

One of my favorite quick snacks is so simple, but controls my hunger in between meals, and is a healthy choice compared to crackers or chips! I used to enjoy a slice of bread with peanut butter, then I started thinking if I want carbs lets make them good carbs, so simply apples with any nut butter for dip!!! I love it. You get a good protein source in the nut butter and two servings of fruit so there you go.

Almondy Apples

1 sliced apple
2 spoonfuls of almond butter (or any nut butter)


Enjoy