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!

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?

Skinny Banana Bread

Myth about whole foods:

Your food will never taste like the "normal" recipe does when you adapt it for whole food natural living!

NOT TRUE! I can't tell you how many awesome recipes I've been able to adapt to fit my lifestyle of whole food, healthy living! It is an amazing journey when you start, to feel your body actually love you for what you are putting into it...that feeling of happiness grows even more when you see your family love everything they are eating also! It's amazing.

So if you think you will be sacrificing taste and delicious comfort food to eat healthy, whole and natural...I'm going to prove you wrong with this revamp of my comforting banana bread! It was amazing! I made it for my husband who requested banana bread. Well the night I made it, he worked late. The kids and I slaved and slaved, then probably ate half the loaf (yes you read that right)  and then I tucked the rest away nicely for my husband to enjoy for breakfast and while he was in class!

When I got home from work the next day I asked him if he liked his banana bread, because it was all gone. He said he didn't even get ONE PIECE! I laughed so hard, between my kids and our babysitter the next morning they ate the rest of the loaf of banana bread! It lasted less than 24 hours!

So I promised I'll make it again soon for the hubs...

If you want a guiltless loaf of banana bread this is your lucky day! Originally this recipe contains 1 cup of sugar and 1/2 a cup of shortening! Yikes! This baby needed a makeover...Enjoy, I know you'll love it

Skinny Banana Bread

3/4-1 c raw stevia

2 T vegan margarine

1/4 c unsweetened applesauce

2 flax eggs- (2 T ground flax + 6 T warm water ) I also added about 1/4 tsp chia seed

3 ripened bananas, mashed

1 3/4 c whole wheat flour (or any flour you'd like)

1/2 tsp cinnamon (optional)

1 tsp baking soda

2-3 T dark chocolate chips or nuts of choice

Cream together margarine and stevia, slowly add applesauce and continue to cream. Add flax eggs and mix well. Add bananas, mix well. Add flour, baking soda, cinnamon and chocolate chips. Fold together well. Place in a loaf pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes until golden and fork comes clean (your house will smell amazing!)

Enjoy

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

Trying New Things, And Delicious Collard Greens

Do you know about the kid face? The face that is a mix between fear and disgust? When your child looks up at you and is mentally saying 

 "You can't be serious! You really want me to eat that?"

That is the face my daughter gave me last night when I placed a side of collard greens on her plate!

We have never had collard greens before! Last night we hadn't had basically anything that I served before. 

Last night was a night of trying new things. I decided I wanted to try collard greens. If I'm going to eat plant based I better branch out and eat more than spinach and romaine lettuce or my meals may get a little bit boring. I tried the greens raw in a salad before, and well they were very bitter. So I decided to saute them with some flavor.

We also tried Quinoa pasta for the first time! I loved it, it didn't taste any different to me, but it is a little bit lower in carbohydrates so that was a fantastic find it is also gluten free! The box also gave some awesome sounding recipes that I can't wait to try out!

We also tried Boca ground crumbles in our sauce in place of ground beef. Boca is soy based, but didn't taste like soy. Really I find it is a great ground beef replacement. I think the lentil meatballs are healthier since I'm sure the Boca crumbles have sodium in them, but if the lentils don't do it for you, this is another alternative!

Back to my daughter story about the greens. Well she kept saying her lettuce was wet, that was funny. My son didn't even give them a chance unfortunately, and try reasoning with and 18 month old. It's not the easiest thing. But, my daughter was required to try at least one bite. It was an enjoyable moment. 

I watched the face. It was a face for about 5 minutes trying to figure out if she liked it or not. Then she distracted herself as most 3 year old's do, and she swallowed it.  I asked her if she liked it and she said she did, so success in my mind!

I think these make a beautiful side dish. It is a nice way to add some extra greens into your diet. It uses some oil, maybe you like them raw which is probably better, but I used very little oil and liked the end result.  It is bright and colorful and for the holidays I keep thinking Thanksgiving! Awesome!

Collard Greens

1 Bunch of collard greens

2 tsp coconut oil

1/2 c sun dried tomatoes

1/2 onion

1 garlic clove shredded

1/4 c sunflower nuts

Heat oil in large skillet. Add collard greens with onion, garlic, and tomatoes. Heat for 15 minutes, mixing occasionally to make sure the greens are wilting and coated. Add sunflower nuts. Mix and heat another 5 minutes until the greens are very wilted and onions are cooked and browned. Enjoy! You can top these with your favorite dressing if you'd like or vinegar. I thought they were great without it. 

Add any nut in place of sunflower nuts. I think pine nuts, or almond slivers would be great.

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!

Crock Pot Light Alfredo Sauce

Why do you suppose that creamy, thick sauce smothering pasta is so comforting? If you are like me I adore pasta sauces - the creamier the better. Cream does not sit well with healthy diet. Dairy can be harmful to our bodies and cream is full of fat!

My previously favorite dish was Olive Garden's Chicken Alfredo- a classic. My brother-in-law works at Olive Garden while he is going to school and he spilled the beans on how many calories this dish held! 1700 calories!!!!!! I always ate it all!!! I never ate it again even before I began eating better...that number was constantly flashing into my mind!

I really wanted to try and lighten up an Alfredo dish so we could eat it a little more carefree! Now there are a lot of ways to make cream sauces, most of the ways I've found still have a high fat content. If you use nuts obviously it will be better fats for you. This sauce is not made from nuts, I used Vegan Cream Cheese Alternative. It was lower in fats, about 9 grams a serving, than regular cream cheese, but still no where near fat free. So I only tried this dinner tonight since I'm trying to stick to my challenge this week! It was hard not to keep eating it. I used vegetables instead of pasta to give the kids a healthy helping of their greens.

To be honest this meal took some persuading to get them to try it. After the first bite though, there was no more persuading it sold itself! I loved the flavor, it will still be eaten sparingly in this house, but a much better option than traditional Alfredo Sauce.

Light Alfredo Sauce (vegan)

1 container of vegan cream cheese alternative, like tofutti

1 C soy milk

2 cloves garlic minced

1  T nutmeg

1 T paprika

1 1/2 T Italian Seasoning

1 tsp Dijon mustard

Pepper to taste

Add ingredients to the crock pot cook on low for 3 hours. Stirring occasionally to make sure flavors are blending! Serve over cooked zucchini noodles and mixed vegetables or  your favorite pasta!

* this tasted so great with the veggies I think this would make an excellent veggie dip or bread stick dip, what do you think?

Crock Pot Italian Potatoes

MMMMM...delicious vegetable eating at it's finest. I used to make a dinner that was Italian chicken and potatoes that was a family favorite. It had tons of italian dressing drizzled over it, cheddar cheese, chicken and potatoes. It was so tasty, but I can't even imagine the fat content from the oil and cheese.

I really had been wanting to recreate that dish since we loved it so much, but I wanted to find a way to bring our healthy eating lifestyle into play.

I am happy to say that now I have created a crook pot dish full of vegetables that is vegetarian and so much healthier.

I was so excited when Derek told me last night that he liked these potatoes better than the old dish! I was very excited. We didn't eat these as a side, they were the main dish! We had salads for a side, it was a veggie night and our kids loved every bit of it! I thought they tasted almost like delicious Dutch oven potatoes!

Meals like this stand for one of my points I try to make... there are no rules that you need a piece of meat for your meal. There is no rule that you need cheese to make things taste better! There is no rule that says your kids won't eat kid-friendly healthy meals! Did I also say budget friendly! This whole meal cost approximately $5.00 for a family of four and that includes leftovers- we're able to compete with Little Ceasar's! Which one would make you feel better inside though? Ask yourself that question!

Enjoy this yummy dinner, have it ready and cooking in a matter of minutes! That calls for one happy Momma!

Crock Pot Italian Potatoes

6 Yellow potatoes (or any potato would work)

1 bunch of broccoli, chopped

1 T coconut oil

1/2 onion

2 T Italian seasoning (or a mixture of basil and oregano)

1/2 T cumin

3 T water

1 T paprika

1 T Mrs. Dash seasoning (optional, but recommended)

Chop vegetables and add to the crock pot. Add remaining ingredients and stir to coat well. Cook on high for 3-4 hours!

Crock-Pot Vegetarian Lasagna

 Happy weekend to everyone! I've started adding a few new recipes to my crock-pot list like this fun little creation tonight! I know I called it lasagna, well that is because I had originally planned on using lasagna noodles. Unfortunately I was unable to find a whole grain or wheat lasagna noodle. It was all the enriched white pasta, so I opted for some whole grain penne.

Once again this is a very simple prep and comes out tasting great. I wanted to find a way to get the creamy cheesy feel back into a lasagna dish and I think this end result was really nice! There is plenty of wiggle room for this baby, add any vegetables you want and you will love it~

Vegetarian Lasagna

1 lb whole wheat pasta

1 can tomato sauce

1 can tomato paste

2 T basil

1 T Italian seasoning

1 T parsley

1/2 green bell pepper

1/2 onion

3 garlic cloves

1 tsp lemon juice

1/4 c nutritional yeast

2 BIG handfuls of spinach

12 oz silken tofu

1/4 c almond milk

Combine tofu, milk, garlic, lemon juice yeast and 1 T of basil to a blender. Blend until well mixed, then add spinach. Pulse until there are only a few larger pieces of spinach left. Mix together tomato sauce and paste with bell pepper, onion, parsley, Italian seasoning and remaining basil in a medium bowl. Stir until pretty well combined, it's mostly just to blend the paste. Layer 1/3 of sauce on the bottom of crock pot add 1/3 of the uncooked pasta and 1/3 of blender mixture. Repeat layers until it is all used up. Cook on low for about 5 hours or on high for 2-3 hours. You may need to stir it up sometimes to make sure the noodles are cooking evenly! Serve with salad! Yum!

* This is vegan, but if you'd like just vegetarian, add some Mozzarella  cheese on top and cook for 20-30 minutes!

Crock Pot Peppermint Patty Brownies!

No dinner recipe to post this evening~ it's all sweet tooth tonight! These brownies have been made healthier, but still eat in moderation, the homemade sweetened condensed milk has some sugar in it! The good news....you can make these in a lot of different ways, I kept mine vegan, but you can use an egg, or real sweetened condensed milk, my version is just lighter in sugar than canned milk! It is much faster cook time in the oven for brownies, but you can't beat just throwing the ingredients in the crock pot and letting them cook themselves! And it was just kind of a fun shake up of things! These little babies are quite homely looking in my pictures, but they were so tasty, my kids wanted to eat all of them, I told them they had to save some for their dad who has been at school all day! I'd say these will be a nice treat for him to come home too!

The idea from crock pot brownies came from a blog I found on one of my many google searches for unique crock-pot meals! I obviously made some changes from the original to make it better for you, but I think they turned out as tasty as a brownie can be. 

Some ideas for revamping this recipe to make it your own, for your own tastes:

~ Blend 5 pitted dates with 1/2 C almond milk and throw that paste in for all sweeteners

~Use nuts instead of oats

~ add peppermint extract to the homemade sweetened condensed milk or brownie mix instead of using the candy peppermint patties

~ melt dark chocolate chips on top

~ Use a gluten free flour to make it gluten free

Wow, take your pick of how you make this, I'm sure it will still come out awesome!

Peppermint Patty Brownies

1 T vegan margarine

1 C water

1 chia -flax egg (1 T chia seed +1 T flax seed +3-4 T warm water)

1 1/2 C spelt flour (or any whole grain flour)

3/4 C cacao powder

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 C date paste (optional)

1/2 C oats

4-5 small peppermint patties

Homemade sweetened condensed milk

2 T vegan margarine

1/4 C raw turbinado sugar (sugar in the raw)

1 1/4 C vanilla soy milk

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon (optional) 

Add 1 T margarine to crock-pot while on low. While it is melting begin making the sweetened condensed milk. In a small sauce pan add margarine and melt it, in another sauce pan add soy milk and bring to a low boil. Add sugar to melted margarine and stir constantly until it is a rolling boil. Combine with soy milk and heat until low boil. Stir in cinnamon.

After the margarine is melted in the crock pot add the chia -flax egg, water and brownie mix (make sure you mix the dry ingredients together first) Mix until the dry ingredients are wet,

 add sweetened condensed milk and top with oats.

 Cook on low for 2-3 hours. Check with a fork and see if it is done. Add patties to the top and cook another 30-45 minutes. Enjoy

* if you use a date paste add the paste before the brownie mix then mix it well and don't add sugar to the sweetened condensed milk!

We did enjoy dinner tonight, we didn't just eat brownies I promise. I wanted to show how I was able to utilize some great leftovers and make a tasty healthy dinner! I used the leftover sauce from the zucchini boats the other night and cooked up some wheat noodles. I mixed in the sauce so it was lightly coated and let the noodles cool slightly, then I mixed in some spinach and carrot chips and topped it will a small amount of balsamic, or you can use a little Italian dressing. The sauce from the noodles helps create a dressing! And there you go! A tasty quick meal full of healthy ingredients! Use those leftovers! Has anyone been able to create something deliciously healthy using leftovers?