Reduced Ebook pricing!

Now that we are well into the new year, I wanted to re-post OUR EBOOK at an even lower price to help you keep going in your resolutions. By the end of January is when I'd rather let go of some of the 'uncomfortable' changes I've tried to make for myself. I hope that our book can give you some motivation to keep going, eat clean, add more fruits and veggies. You are worth it and I know you can do it, because you can do hard things.

Baby steps remember. Maybe add a few more vegetarian meals, a few more salads and work up from there. It doesn't have to be cold turkey on every guilty pleasure all at once!

Keep going, and hopefully this $0.99 book can help you along your way!

Lemon Garlic Quinoa

 

 

 

Well this whole food week has gone pretty good. I have really tried to put a lot of thought into my meals. I usually start the day with  a shake, then I have a lunch with a lot of fruits and veggies and maybe like a string cheese or something.

 

I ended up making some awesome steamed asparagus and baked chicken with a lemon, garlic quinoa!  I just kind of played around with some ingredients a I had so we didn't just have plain quinoa, it turned out really great! Super easy and an awesome healthy side for an awesome dinner.

 

Whole food living can be difficult, especially when you work or are chasing kiddos everywhere. I'm a big fan of pre planning and even pre- packaging your lunches...it's easy and all ready for you. The number one tip to remember is to stay as close to nature as possible and you'll be golden!

Lemon Garlic Quinoa

 

1 cup uncooked quinoa

 

1/2 lemon

 

1 garlic clove, minced

 

2 cups of water

 

Add quinoa and water to a medium sized sauce pan. Cover and bring to a boil. Add 1/2 lemon and garlic clove. Reduce to a simmer for another 10-15 minutes until water is all absorbed. Serve warm~ Enjoy

 

 

 

 

 



Cheesy Cauliflower Quinoa

This may sound like the most random meal...however if you are strapped for cash this holiday (I feel ya) and looking for a fast, healthy, meal that your kiddos even husband will eat...then look no further! This meal came from looking in the fridge for inspiration to come to me...to our plates within 30 minutes! It was very tasty.

After I explained to my husband my idea for dinner...he gave me the nose wrinkle! Yuck! Well I am happy to say that after the first bite (because he's a trooper) He said..."This is really good!" My husband can be like a kid and if he doesn't like something he'll push it around his plate and he won't finish the meal...this was gone with no leftovers! This equals a happy mom!

Cheesy Cauliflower Quinoa

1 head of cauliflower, chopped

1 1/2 c uncooked quinoa

2 c vegetable broth

1/2 c cheese of any kind, I prefer white cheeses (you can add more if you'd like it really cheesy)

1 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp italian seasoning

dash of parsley 

Add cauliflower and Quinoa to a large pot*. Add broth with 2 cups of water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer and cover with lid until liquid is absorbed. Add, shredded cheese to pot, mix until melted. Mix in seasonings and top with parsley! Serve immediately. Enjoy!

* if you like more firm cauliflower, add it after you bring it to a boil and reduce to a simmer

Chicken Lentil Soup

Fall is here and soups comfort my soul! I had a friend who asked for a soup that used lentils. I love lentils, and I love lentil soup...some though find lentils an acquired taste. I admit if you don't season things good when using lentils they can be quite bland.

This soup is chuck full of stuff! It's hearty, healthy and perfect for a chilly day. I felt mine had a good flavor, a good consistency. However my basil kind of spilled into the soup so I had a little too much basil. I'll put the correct amount though- hopefully you don't have the same problem! Also, this soup is so easily turned vegan/vegetarian...just leave out the chicken. What other soups do you like? Do you prefer really hearty soups with lots of textures, or do you prefer a really smooth soup texture?

Chicken Lentil Soup

6 cups vegetable broth

4 small potatoes, cubed

1 1/4 C lentils

1 cup cooked quinoa

2 T basil

1 T garlic, minced

 salt and pepper to taste

dash of red pepper flakes

1 1/2 cup cubed cooked chicken

Add broth to a large pot. Add cubed potatoes with salt, pepper and red pepper flakes. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer and simmer for 5 minutes covered. Add lentils, quinoa, basil, and garlic. Simmer for 10 minutes until potatoes are tender. 

This is optional- I put half of the soup into the blender and blended it. Then poured it back into the pot. You don't have to do that if you don't like that consistency. 

Add cubed chicken and cover and simmer together for another 5 minutes!

Remove from heat and serve! Enjoy

Summer Vegetable Quinoa Salad

I am so addicted to Quinoa lately, it is so easy and so nutritious. I have gotten serious lately about my baby pounds shedding...my progress was a little slower than I had wanted, I probably wasn't eating as well as I should though. So this week I have really gotten it in gear and have really been feeling wonderful. It's amazing how much revolves around what we put into our bodies. I was having intense tension headaches, they have left already and it's only been two days. I feel that my mood is better, which my little people enjoy, bear mom is not appealing. I also feel I have more energy which is priceless for me right now with my sweet little guy graciously waking me up in the middle of the night...and trust me this kid likes to play at night...it takes a good hour to an hour and a half to get that pumpkin snoozing again. 

Anyways on to the food. I saw this recipe here and it sounded delightful to me. Well the finished product did not disappoint and do you know the coolest thing ever...my kids devoured it! Seriously I watched my two year old son for the first time ever just stuff a piece of zucchini in his mouth without even blinking...and it stayed in his mouth! No spitting it back out...the only problem with this is I didn't make enough! Seriously even my husband said "Go ahead and make this again it's really good"

I hate the texture of peppers but even I ate every bite including the peppers. This is full of delicious bright vegetables and full of flavor. I hope you whip this up as the meal or as the side. your family will love it!

Summer Vegetable Quinoa Salad

1 cup Quinoa

1 zucchini

1/2 c shredded carrot (I used a full size carrot and grated it myself so it was very fine)

1 yellow pepper

3 green onions, chopped

1/2 cup slivered almonds

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 T olive oil

dash of red pepper flakes

half a lime

Cook quinoa in 2 cups of water. Meanwhile heat oil in skillet, add peppers, onions, carrot, and garlic. Cook over med-low heat until tender, add zucchini, almonds and red pepper flakes. Continue to cook until zucchini is tender. When Quinoa is cooked add quinoa to skillet to combine flavors. Right before you serve it squeeze lime juice over the top to give the flavors some kick! Enjoy!

Welcome Back Green Smoothie

Hello All

I hope you forgive me for my looooong absence. We welcomed our third baby just a few weeks ago. I had a tough pregnancy so I decided I needed to cut something back so I could function and take care of my other two little people so I took a break from the blog!

But- our third little is here! He is an angel and I am excited to be back to inventing some fun healthy food. 

I have had some thoughts as I've been continuing to do research on what I believe is the healthiest way to eat. I have thought about this a lot in these last few weeks especially as I've been concocting my plan of attack on how to drop the baby poundage. 

I continue to believe that an 80%-90% plant based diet is the healthiest. These are nature's foods for our bodies. They are chuck full of so many nutrients and low calories so we can eat our fill without counting calories (which is totally exhausting in my opinion!) I, however, believe that having small amounts of animal products is not going to kill us. I feel fine giving my little people eggs, yogurt, and lean meats. We continue to cut out red meat it tastes disgusting to me at this point unless it's a good old home cooked hamburger at a fourth of July barbecue...am I right people, there isn't much better :). 

We don't eat a lot of pork either. We stick to lean poultry. 

However I feel most protein should come from plant products and grains for example:

Black Beans

Quinoa

Broccoli

Nuts and Legumes

So many people worry about the fat content in nuts, just remember that you are putting healthy fats into your body. Instead of worrying about fat count...worry about types of fat! Now do I suggest grabbing a spoon and eating half a jar of peanut butter, no. However a handful of almonds or a spoon of peanut butter is a great way to get some protein and healthy fats into your system. 

So my plan of attack for weight loss (I invite anyone to join in this plan with me and we can all give each other suggestions and help each other...support is key)

I begin my day with a huge Green Smoothie! (I am nursing so I do need more calories so I also might add some peanut butter or oatmeal with my smoothie)

For lunch I stick to plants, a large salad with beans and nuts on top and low fat/low cal dressing

Then for dinner I have been preparing the lean meats with fruits and veggies for the whole family to eat. 

So far I've been losing healthy weight loss and I'm on my third week post baby, I've been dropping about 2-2.5 pounds a week (well not counting the huge amount of water weight) and I have to report I truly feel that this style of eating is helping me function when I am seriously sleep deprived and have two wild munchkins to entertain all day on top of baby! 

So anyways I wanted to post a yummy green smoothie recipe that is chuck full of goodness, but low fat! This green smoothie by the way is not green...it doesn't have to be green to be considered a green smoothie, most of mine turn a disgusting brown color!

Energy Lovin' Green Smoothie

3 HUGE handfuls of spinach, kale or collard greens (or all of them)

1 cup frozen berries

1 1/2 Banana

1/2 apple, chopped

Water 

Add spinach to blender. Add water to help blend spinach. Blend until pureed, about 90 seconds. Add banana, then berries, then chopped apple. Blend until completely incorporated and smooth. About another 90 seconds. Serve chilled! This has incredible amounts of fiber and nutrients to help you get through your morning! I pour mine in a bottle and carry it with  me, for my nearly hands off breakfast! Good with kids!

Enjoy

What are your favorite healthy breakfast recipes? What is your plan of attack for getting your ideal body weight?

Hearty Fall Crock Pot Vegetable Soup

Crisp fall air just screams for soup that warms your whole body. It is beautiful during this season, the leaves all up and down my street are so colorful...the only problem is...the bugs are trying to come inside for the winter! Seriously they are everywhere!

 

But one thing I look forward to is soup, soup and more soup...maybe a few bread bowls thrown in there. In the past most of my soups contained a lot of cream and cheese. If I'm going for creamy soup I try to stick to a cashew cream sauce base instead of cream cheese!

Soup is so diverse also since you can use almost anything you have on hand and usually turn up with a great tasting creation! That's what happened with this hearty vegetable soup. It was delicious and I used vegetables I just had in my fridge. It was so simple and may entire family devoured it. I made some homemade garlic biscuits to go with it and it was a very filling meal. I made this soup in the crock pot but you could easily do this on the stove top if you wanted to! Enjoy--this is sure to warm you up and make your stomach's very happy!

 

Fall Vegetable Soup

 

3 russet potatoes, peeled and chopped

1 onion chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

2-3 large carrots chopped

2 stalks celery, chopped

1/2 head cauliflower

1 c fresh or frozen peas

1 28 oz can of crushed tomatoes

2 c vegetable or chicken broth (low sodium)

2 c water

1 T Italian seasoning

salt and pepper to taste

 

Heat small amount of olive oil  to a skillet add chopped onion. Saute for about 7 minutes over med-high heat, add garlic. Saute together another 2 min. Reduce heat to medium and add all remaining vegetables. Cook for about 5-10 minutes until the potatoes begin to get somewhat soft and onions are translucent (this sauteing is what really pops the flavor). Meanwhile add tomatoes, broth and water to a crock pot. Add seasonings to skillet over the vegetables. Add vegetables to the crock pot. Cook on low for 7-8 hours or on high for 4 hours! You can mash the potatoes against the side of the crock pot once cooked to thicken it up! Enjoy

 

 

 

 

Remember our Ebook has recently been put out, don't miss out on your chance to win a Professional Grade Ninja Blender, all you need to do is buy our Ebook for $3.99 and you're in the running! Here is the link to the prizes

 

Spaghetti Squash Vegan Alfredo

I've been thinking lately about how many people I've come in contact with that are choosing gluten free for health or because they have an allergy. My mom has Celiac disease so I'm very familiar with gluten free living, and now my sister has put my nephew on a gluten free diet. My cute little nephew is lactose intolerant as well and still having some tummy issues so the doctor suggested gluten free. 

Tonight's dinner was made with my cute nephew in mind. Dairy free and gluten free! I wasn't sure how my kids would like tonight's dinner...I kept waiting to see if they could tell that these noodles weren't quite the same. Well the end result....I think they could tell but that didn't stop them. To my surprise my son ate better than my daughter and the last few weeks it's been like pulling teeth to get him to actually eat what I put in front of him and not play with it!

This is a thick alfredo sauce...it isn't conventional alfredo sauce, but it still tasted rich and creamy even though it was vegan. I typically try and stick with a very natural whole food diet, but every once in awhile I'll add some of these mixes. We used Tofutti products, they are dairy free, but still processed so not so whole foods I'd say. But they have much less fat than regular cream cheese...pick your battles!

I want to include a step by step guide for preparing the "spaghetti" of the squash if you're unfamiliar with it...it is so simple!

1. Poke holes in the squash with large fork or knife

2. Bake in the oven for 1 hour at 375 degrees

3. Cut the squash in half lengthwise

4. take out seeds with a fork

5. With the fork shred the sides of the squash until all the noodley squash is out! 

And your done!

It is one of the easiest squash to cut and prepare in my opinion, it just takes some time to bake!

Well how about that sauce recipe then huh?

3-4 T vegan cream cheese

1-2 T vegan sour cream

1/2 c soy milk or dairy free milk

1 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp dijon mustard

1 1/2 tsp Italian seasoning

dash of red pepper flakes

pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients in a medium sauce pan. Heat over medium until everything has melted down. Stir over med-low for 5 minutes! Enjoy

Pretty easy right? Talk about a great way to get some veggies into your family all the while having an allergen free meal! It's a great day!

Zesty Triple Bean Salad

 

 

I have given summer a farewell. It's sad, but so exciting. I love the fall and I love all the holidays. My house was decorated for Halloween four days ago...I couldn't hold off any longer!

 

Fall brings crisp air, beautiful leaves, family, delicious treats, soup and so much more! Last night I attempted to make a chicken noodle like crock pot soup...without chicken. It smelled amazing...but it shouldn't be made it the crockpot...the noodles turned to mush...it was crazy! It needs some TLC and then it'll be ready to share with you all!

 

 

 

The side dish made up for my disappointment soup. I made a zesty triple bean salad that really took our taste buds for a ride! It was fantastic, I had it for lunch today also!

 

Beans are a key aspect to living a plant based diet. Greens, fruit and other vegetables do have protein, but most of my intense protein comes from Adam's Natural Peanut Butter and a huge variety of beans! I love beans!

 

As a budgeter as well-- beans are cheap...I like love healthy cheap! I want to write a book on 100 things to make with beans they are amazing! They are the magical fruit!!!

 

So if you are looking for a zesty, flavorful, easy, healty, budget friendly meal you are really going to want to try this! From start to finish it took me 10 minutes to serve it up. Believe it or not in this house this was kid friendly too! How great is that!

 

Zesty Triple Bean Salad

 

1 c black beans

1c red kidney beans

1 c navy beans

1/2 cucumber chopped

1 small onion chopped

1 c chopped red pepper

2 T olive or canola oil

4 T red wine vinegar

1 T parsley

 

If you are using canned beans make sure you rinse the beans well. Combine all ingredients into a medium sized bowl. Mix well. Chill in the fridge for 10 minutes or until you serve it. Serve over lettuce! Enjoy your taste bud happy time!

 

 

 



Vegan Oatmeal Cookie Pancakes

Oh man do you ever wake up just craving some syrupy goodness? Today I did, it wasn't the pancakes I was craving it was my boysenberry syrup I bought a little while ago! I grew up on that stuff and I adore it...no it is not sugar free, but my pancakes were!

Pancakes warm my soul! I love the flavors and I adore the rich taste of any syrup really poured over the top of fluffy, hot pancakes. What makes me feel better is when I get the same comfort food with no oil and no sugar (apart from the chocolate chips of course :) ) I love watching the kids gobble delicious nutritious food up and ask for more...this morning in particular we had to make a whole new batch--I couldn't keep up with the demand!

I'm very satisfied with my end result this morning. I found these little babies here and I tweaked it just a little bit to make them oil free and a little more holiday spice! Delicious. I didn't even use that many chocolate chips, but they sure melted when I added them to the skillet and it made them quite homely looking! Even though they looked ugly they were very delicious. 

If you want a fast, healthy, satisfying breakfast for your whole family...you have got to try these

Oh and by the way...this only takes one bowl for mixing except a small bowl for the flax egg...pretty sweet.

Vegan Oatmeal Cookie Pancakes

1 ripe banana

1 flax/chia egg (1 T ground flax +1 tsp chia seed +3 T water)

1 tsp baking powder

pinch of salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/4 c whole wheat flour

1/2 c steel cut oats (or any oats)

1 T applesauce

3 T almond milk

1 T almond butter- melted down a little

3 T semi sweet chocolate chips or raisins

Mix flax egg and set aside for 5 minutes in a small bowl. Mash banana and baking powder together. Add flax egg, applesauce, almond milk, almond butter, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. Mix together well. Add flour and oats, combine until well coated. Fold in chocolate chips. Heat skillet and pour 1/4 c of batter onto skillet. Cook about 2-3 minutes on each side until golden brown. You may want to double this recipe...it only yields about 5-6 small pancakes...

seriously I could eat that by myself :)

*use gluten free flour and gluten free oats for a gluten free option

Enjoy

You may find that you have helpers that want to assist in making breakfast!!! Courtesy of my 18 month old!

One Dish Bulgar Skillet

I love one dish meals! They are simple and call for an easy clean up! I also adore skillets...the way that they mesh all the delicious flavors together...it makes me sneak leftover bites for days to come! 

I decided to try something new. Bulgar. Has anyone tried it before? It is a whole grain--a groat really from wheat specimens (I sound scientific huh) Anyways it's delicious. I had planned to make hot cereal with it, but our weekends have been crazy and I leave for work before anyone else is awake during the week. So I decided to make a skillet full of veggies and boca crumbles! Bulgar has a nice nutty flavor and it was a great addition to our pilaf skillet.

This really is up to you what veggies you want to add. I used:

1 onion

1 bunch of broccoli

1 garlic clove

1/2 yellow pepper

1 grated carrot

a large handful of chopped kale

I thought my choices of veggies really meshed nice together...

some other suggestions I thought of

broccoli slaw

olives

mushrooms

sun dried tomatoes

After you have all the veggies chopped add the onions with 1 tablespoon of coconut oil to a large skillet. Heat them until tender then add the garlic. When it is fragrant add remaining vegetables and heat for about 5 minutes. The amount of Bulgar I used was plenty... 1 1/2 cups. After the veggies are heated add Bulgar. Add 2 1/4 cups of vegetable stock and 1 tablespoon cumin and half a bag of Boca crumbles. Now you simply cover and simmer over med-low until all the liquid is absorbed. 

When it was all said and done I added 2 tablespoons of lemon juice and 1 tablespoon of parsley and some low sodium soy sauce. Serve hot and it is yummy!

Honestly I was hoping for more of a reaction from my kids. I loved every bite, they liked it but you could tell it wasn't their favorite! It is a delicious meal. If you aren't looking for vegetarian/vegan I bet chicken, turkey or shrimp would be great to add into it!

Ingredients written out a little easier for you :)

1 onion chopped

1 clove garlic minced

1 grated carrot

1/2 yellow onion

1 c chopped kale leaves

1 head of broccoli chopped

1 1/2 c Bulgar

2 1/4 c vegetable stock

1 T cumin

1 T parsley

2 T lemon juice

1 T coconut oil

1/2 T low sodium soy sauce

1/2 bag Boca Meatless crumbles

Deep Dish Vegetarian Pizza

My goodness today has been great! Unfortunately sometimes our Sundays are on the go and busy busy, whatever happened to the day of rest in this house I'll never know. Due to Derek's school schedule he often has to work Sunday nights so rarely gets to eat Sunday dinner with us, but today was a different schedule and we finally sat down to a delicious family dinner!

I had been wanting to make some homemade pizza for awhile now. I originally was intending to make this pizza vegan, but I caved guys, I did. I used a little bit of fresh mozzarella cheese...and it was tasty!

We added the Boca crumbles and it turned into almost a hamburger type pizza without the ground beef! If you don't believe me that this tasted like ground beef, I don't know what else I can say...I am amazed at how much the Boca crumbles resemble ground beef, in texture and taste...I don't know it's been a long time since I've had it, but these are great!

I wanted to add some greens to the pizza so I added a good helping of spinach and it was perfect! This pizza is now gone, yes my kids ate about three pieces and maybe Derek and I had a few more...don't judge!

My little boy is still being funny when he eats, the fork has become the greatest toy he has. He just sits there and stabs food and scoots it all over his plate...it's cute but getting really old. Sometimes I really start to worry about his calorie, fat and protein intake...but he still is my chunk so each day I'm going to just keep trying!

You will love this pizza, it doesn't have to be deep dish- I just felt like making it that way! Adding  a delicious green salad turns this into a rockin' Sunday dinner!

Deep Dish Vegetarian Pizza

Crust

1 3/4 c whole wheat flour

1/4 c wheat germ

1 packet instant yeast

1 tsp salt

1/2 T raw sugar

1 T honey

1 c warm water

Combine water, yeast and sugar to a small bowl and set aside for 10 minutes. Combine salt, wheat germ and flour to a large bowl and mix in yeast mixture. When it is wet add honey and mix it in well. Mold to form a sort of ball in the bowl. Cover and set it in a warm place for 15 minutes. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Flatten dough into a greased deep baking dish and poke holes with a fork all over it. Pre bake for 10 minutes remove from oven. 

Toppings

1/2 bag Boca crumbles

5 chopped mushrooms

1 minced onion

1 T Italian seasoning

1/2 can tomato sauce

1 large handful of spinach

Mozzarella cheese as desired

 In a skilled add 1 tablespoon of olive oil and add onion, mushrooms, and boca crumbles. Heat until crumbles are browned and onions are somewhat translucent.Pour tomato sauce over the pre-baked crust and add Italian seasonings, spread evenly over crust. Add mozzarella cheese, then Boca and vegetables. Bake in the oven for 18-20 minutes until cheese has melted and crust is baked through. 

I forgot to grease my pan so ours turned into more of a pizza casserole since it kind of stuck, but it still tasted delicious.

Again this doesn't need to be a deep dish pizza, it's just what we were craving! 

Better Than Chicken Salad Alternative!

How many bridal shower, baby showers, or parties have you been to with the little rolls of chicken salad or tuna salad sandwiches? I love those little things! I love the textures of good chicken salad. Since I don't eat meat in my diet as a staple I wanted to find a delicious, easy, healthy alternative to have for lunches and snacks! Well I had this recipe come into my mind, because I saw a picture of it months ago on another blog. It uses garbanzo beans in place of the tuna or chicken!

Open a can of those babies they honestly smell a little like the canned meats. I fell in love with this sandwich. The first time I made it I'm pretty sure I had a wrap, a sandwich and a slice of bread with some on it...in one sitting! Carb overload...I'd say so.

The beauty of this spread is you can add whatever you want in it and it has turned out great every time for me. The first time I added broccoli slaw and sun dried tomatoes in the mix, next I added red peppers with a dash of Annies roasted red pepper dressing, this time around I made it traditional chicken salad style with grapes and celery! Fantastic every way you do it. I'm going to do the traditional style recipe, but keep in mind you can add whatever you'd like and it will be amazing.

Step 1- drain, rinse and mash the beans with a potato masher

Step 2- add 1 1/2 T mayo or veganaise, 1/2 c cut up grapes, 1/2 cup chopped celery.

Step 3- Mix it all together

Step 4- devour it on your favorite wrap or sandwich!

My family loved this! I haven't been this obsessed with a recipe in a long time, very rarely will I make something multiple times in a week...well this one hits the spot! Enjoy...yay for easy lunches! Lettuce wraps would be great, and maybe some chopped up pickle or plain cucumber...just some extra thoughts of mine.

Living Simple and Healthy

 I feel I haven't been able to post that much lately (if I don't post everyday I feel like I'm neglecting the blog). One reason is I've been slamming with the final wrap ups of the eBook design and also my stinking computer has been having the hardest time uploading the pictures I take...it's a bummer. Well I've been trying for  few days to upload some now finally this morning it decided to be nice to me and let me get some pictures to post for you guys.

As a working mom I don't always have the energy and time to make time consuming meals. Sometimes I do, most times they taste great and I'm proud of my hard work, but there are other times when I  am so stressed out that I don't even enjoy the meal because it doesn't taste that great-then it just makes me sad.

It is awesome when I can make something nutritious and delicious without a huge mess or without a huge prep time. I wanted to share some simple food ideas that I've made that my family has loved! These meals are easy to make and the other plus...they are cheap and go a long way! Bring on the healthy and happy in these dinners!

Meal #1 Maple Baked Beans with Baked Potato

Beans:

1 can chili beans

1 can black beans

2 tsp pure maple extract

2 T honey

1 tsp cumin

1/2 onion, finely chopped

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Add all ingredients into and 8x8 baking dish, use the bean liquid too, don't rinse the beans. Mix well. Cover and bake for 15 minutes. Remove cover and bake another 10 minutes. Delicious! 

* I had the potatoes baking before hand, I added the beans about 25 minutes into the baked potatoes and took them out together! Easy.

These are called Pantry tacos since I just looked around and used anything I saw that would go well together in my fridge and pantry! It worked great! That's all I have to say...delicious. 

Meal #2 Pantry Tacos and sweet potato fries

Taco filling

 1 can beans (any kind) drained and rinsed

1 c low sodium vegetable broth

1/2 chopped onion

1 red bell pepper chopped

1 handful spinach finely chopped

3-4 canned jalapenos with juice

1 T cumin

Add all ingredient to a medium sauce pan. Heat on med-low and cover. Let simmer for 15-20 minuted until vegetables have achieved desired tenderness.

Sweet Potato Fries

2 julienne d peeled sweet potatoes

paprika, salt and pepper to taste

2 tsp olive oil

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Pour olive oil over potatoes and add seasonings. Bake for 15 minutes then flip the fries over. Bake another 15 minutes until they are golden and crispy! Enjoy

It is so nice to have healthy meals that are easy and fun to eat! Does anyone have some easy fun, healthy recipes that they enjoy in their families? Leave a comment!

 

Vegan Cheezy Quesadillas

One of my greatest loves, especially during pregnancy, are cheese quesadillas! I obviously don't eat them anymore. Cheese offers tons of saturated fats and really unhealthy stuff for our bodies! I don't know why I loved them so much, but lately I've been wanting a make over of a quesadilla so I can enjoy again and my kids can have some variety for lunch!

These little quesadillas took a little bit more time to make than original ones, but they were so delicious! I loved them and my kids loved them too! It's so nice to make something that turns out even better than the original and that is better for you! As you can see from the picture of my son's cute little hand they kept coming back for more!

Cheese Quesadillas

1 c raw cashews, soaked in water for an hour

1/2 c nutritional yeast

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

1 garlic clove

1/3 c milk

4 tortillas

1 can beans (any kind)

Drain nuts. Add nuts, yeast, nutmeg, red pepper flakes, garlic and milk to a blender. Blend for two minutes until completely smooth. Add beans to two tortillas. Pour cheeze sauce over the top and top with remaining two tortillas. Microwave for 30 seconds. Garnish with your favorite salsa or avocado. Enjoy

Peanut Butter Cup Oatmeal

Cold Cereal in the morning can get pretty boring, and it isn't the healthiest choice out there. I'm not perfect and you can find me many mornings placing cold cereal in front of my kids. I try to have healthier breakfasts, but I leave for work at 6 am most of the time...not a whole lot of time to make great breakfasts. 

My son has been on a picky cycle for awhile, I've been having a difficult time getting him to eat dinner, lunch, basically anything besides fruit. I'm happy with fruit, but I know he needs his vegetables, beans, and healthy fats. He's still my little guy and his brain is still busy learning and growing. So I sat and thought I need to give him something besides bananas for breakfast...that's all he eats! I wanted to either do avocado green smoothies or oatmeal...well my daughter voted oatmeal~ so here we are. I added some Adam's Natural Peanut butter, if you guys haven't tried natural peanut butter please do! The flavor is amazing and the price isn't that much different! We were sold from day one! Well anyways then I garnished the oatmeal with a few mini dark chocolate chips just to get the kids excited! And what do we have! Oatmeal that is like a peanut butter cup!

Moment of truth for me, this was not my favorite oatmeal. I prefer more fruity oatmeal flavor, but and a big but, the people I wanted to down this....DEVOURED IT! They loved it. My son actually ate his entire bowl without flinging it all over the floor! I was so excited...do you want to know what else...later that day he actually ate an entire hummus wrap from the tasty hummus I made! He was on a role yesterday...hopefully today is the same! 

Peanut Butter Cup Oatmeal

2 c oats

2 1/4 c water

2 -3 T natural peanut butter

dark chocolate chips for garnish

Cook oats in a sauces pan with water until water is absorbed and the oats are tender and moist. Fold in peanut butter so it is swirled throughout oatmeal. Top with chocolate chips! Enjoy

for gluten free, make sure you use gluten free oats!

Skinny Enchiladas- trial 2

These magnificent enchiladas were initially intended to be part of the crock pot challenge. Well it ended up very mushy and a weird texture....so I ended up just baking them.

These are full of nutrients...seriously guys so good! I loved every bite and even told my husband "These are perfect for neighbor food! You know after a baby comes or something I'm taking these!" Everyone loved them...well my son is still being funny with food...he threw a lot of it, but my three year old gobbled them up like she had never eaten before!

Derek suggested that I call them What?! No Meat Enchiladas...catchy but I don't know I just didn't. These are ideal for the fall season that will be here in no time, they were colorful and delicious and I will be making these again shortly I'm sure! You can have a gluten free option by just using corn tortillas.

I added maybe a half a tablespoon of shredded cheese, I don't know why- I just did. It added nothing to this dish I couldn't even taste it, so next time I'll leave the unnecessary saturated fat out! I also found this adorable little bag of butternut squash pre-cut into perfect little squares so I didn't have to cut and peel a squash. If you guys want a delicious healthy, fall  meal to impress your family's without adding to the hips...ladies am I right? Then these are for you!

Skinny Enchiladas

1 can black beans

1 can pinto beans or chili beans

1 c cubed butternut squash

1 handful of spinach finely chopped

1 can green chili enchilada sauce

1 T nutritional yeast

1 c cooked brown rice

10 whole wheat tortillas (or corn)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Drain and rinse beans. In a small bowl combine beans, squash, spinach, rice and a tablespoon of enchilada sauce. Coat well. In a baking dish fill tortillas with bean mixture and roll the tortillas over the mixture. 

top with remaining enchilada sauce, nutritional yeast and a small amount of cheese if you'd like. Cover and bake for 20 minutes. Remove cover and bake an additional 10 minutes. Serve with salad and corn!!! You can thank me later!!!!

This is all that was left after we devoured them!

Failure and Winner!!!!

Let's get honest shall we? I don't always have delicious dinners to serve my family. There are times when I have to bust out the old PB&J. When I started this crock pot challenge I had envisioned lovely dinners and desserts every day. Well sometimes life happens so I don't get to make dinner that night or we have a lot of left overs to eat or maybe I just have a disaster of a meal that I am so sad I can't eat. Last night was no exception

I attempted to make the Honey, Orange Broccoli and Tofu. I thought it would be great since I have been loving using silken tofu in my desserts, so I thought I 'd have no problem with firm tofu. Remember how I always talk about we need to allow our kids time to adjust their tastes...well apparently eating tofu like chicken is a taste I need to adjust. I just didn't like how everything turned out....the broccoli was too cooked, the tofu was bland and tasted like just a piece of soy (which I guess it is) and the sauce was not sauce it looked like water. So, not a good dinner and yes I pulled out the peanut butter!

On a brighter note, today for lunch we had a great creation, tasty hummus!. It wasn't from the crock pot, but it was so tasty and really good for you. It comes straight from my Eat to Live book. I was laughing the other day about how after my daughter was born and I first did the Eat to Live Challenge to lose weight I looked at the recipes and thought they sounded gross, and I didn't know what half the ingredients were....I didn't know ANYTHING ABOUT FOOD! Now I read it again and everything sounds so delicious to me...funny how things change. 

Dr. Fuhrman's Tasty Hummus Spread

1 1/4 C chick peas (garbanzo beans)

1 heaping T sunflower seed butter (tahini)

2 garlic cloves

2 T lemon juice

1/3 c bean liquid or water

cumin to taste

Add all ingredients to blender and blend until completely smooth. If you want it thick add more beans or sunflower seed butter. Use on sandwiches or wraps!

I made myself I salad wrap on corn tortillas filled with tons of lettuce, it was so awesome! What an easy lunch!

I sandwiched them together and made it like a tostada!