Brownie Bites

Finding healthy snacks in the stores seems to be close to impossible, unless of course all I want to eat is fruit and veggies.  Which don’t get me wrong that’s the best food ever, but let’s face it I have a sweet tooth and a craving for chocolate now and then, okay more like all the time.  So I need a treat that is healthy, gluten free and tasty.  Not hard if you are in control of the ingredients right?  Right!

What You’ll Need:

1 ½ cups of peanuts (or whatever type of nut you prefer)

Pinch of sea salt

13-15 dates, pitted

1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 teaspoon vanilla

What You’ll Do:

Put nuts and salt in food processor, process until finely ground.

Add remaining ingredients and process until all mixed.

Remove brownies from the food processor and press into a square shape.  Cut into small bite sizes, enjoy or put in fridge to harden and enjoy later.

Zucchini Pasta with Homemade Tomato Sauce

In my effort to cut gluten out of our diet and do something with all the zucchinis in my garden I decide to try out zucchini pasta.  I’ve had it a time or two before but for whatever reason this time I really enjoyed it more than ever.  So here is it zucchini pasta, a healthier way to eat!

What You’ll Need:

2 pounds zucchini
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
Fresh Tomato Sauce (recipe to follow)

Use a vegetable peeler to cut the zucchini into lengthwise ribbons. Peel off several from one side, then turn the zucchini and peel off more. Continue to turn and peel away ribbons until you get to the seeds at the core of the zucchini. Discard the core. You can also do this on a mandolin, adjusted to a very thin slice.

Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. When oil is hot, add the zucchini and salt. Toss and stir the zucchini while cooking, for two to three minutes, until softened and beginning to turn translucent. Adjust salt and add freshly ground pepper to taste, and transfer to a serving dish. Serve, topping with tomato sauce

Fresh Tomato Sauce

What You’ll Need:

1 Tablespoon olive oil

½ medium onion, diced about 1 cup

½ dried basil

Salt and Pepper

3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

¼ cup dry red wine

1 ½ pounds fresh tomatoes, chopped

1 bay leaf

Heat oil in medium sauce pan, add onion, basil, ½ teaspoon salt and a few pinches of pepper.  Saute until onion is soft, about 7-8 minutes. Add garlic and cook for 1-2 minutes. Then add red wine and simmer a minute or two, when the pan is almost dry add tomatoes and bay leaf.  Reduce to low and cook for 30 minutes.

Chocolate Mousse

Chocolate mousse has always been one of my favorite desserts but it’s one that I rarely treat myself to.  I love how thick and creamy the texture is and how rich the flavors are.  

So how was I going to recreate one of my favorite dessert without dairy?  Simple, coconut milk!  But this recipe doesn’t have a hint of coconut flavor, it’s all sweet chocolate, and it’s absolutely divine!

What You’ll Need:

1 can full-fat coconut milk

1/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp cocoa powder

1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

1/4 cup + a little extra, sugar or to taste

What You'll Do:

Open the coconut milk, pour into bowl. (Don’t shake the can before opening.)  Place it in the fridge uncovered overnight to thicken.  Once thick, whip in your cocoa, vanilla, and sugar with an electric mixer Stored uncovered in the fridge, the mixture gets even thicker.

Kale Chips

We have so much Kale in our garden and are having fun trying out new recipes with it.  So what do with all that Kale?  Make Kale chips, of course!

What You’ll Need:

A bunch of kale, washed and thoroughly dried

1 -2 tablespoons olive oil

Sea salt, for sprinkling

Nutritional yeast, for sprinkling (optional but good)

What You’ll Do:

Preheat the oven to 275 degrees F.

Tear the kale from the ribs in to pieces.  In a large bowl drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt.  Toss thoroughly.  Lay kale on a baking sheet and bake until crisp, turning the leaves halfway through, about 20 minutes. 

Serve as finger food.

Quinoa Wild Rice Blend with Avocados, Sweet Potatoes and Black Beans

My family and I recently began the elimination diet. We are eliminated several foods including, citrus, all gluten, corn, dairy, tomatoes, potatoes, peppers, eggplants, just to name a few. Why you ask? That’s a great question! Health reasons of course! We are trying to determine if some of the issues our kids are dealing with are food related. It’s been a very interesting learning process and I’m excited to share some new recipes with you.


Here’s a recipe from day one! It’s quick, simple and tasty. All things that equal a successful meal in my book!


What You’ll Need:

1 cup Quinoa Wild Rice Blend (you can use quinoa alone if you prefer)
2-3 large Sweet Potatoes; cut in small cubes
2 cans Black Beans
3-4 tablespoons Coconut Oil (2 tablespoons melted for sweet potatoes)
2 large Avocados
Salt and Pepper to taste


What You’ll Do:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Cook quinoa blend according to package directions.

While the quinoa blend is cooking prepare your sweet potatoes. Toss cubes of sweet potato cubes in melted coconut oil, salt and pepper and place on a large baking sheet. Bake for about 10 minutes, then flip and continue baking. Continue this until the sweet potatoes are the desired texture. When done remove from oven and set aside.

In the meantime cook black beans in their liquid.

Cut avocados into medium size cubes.

When quinoa blend is done stir in a tablespoon of coconut oil.  Then drain black beans and add to quinoa blend along with sweet potatoes and avocados. Toss well, add salt and pepper to taste and enjoy!


* This dish may be served hot or cold.  It's great either way.

Simple Mini Blueberry Muffins

Ever find yourself craving muffins but don’t indulge cause deep down you know you really shouldn’t  Well I can’t say these are completely guilt free but you can enjoy these little guys with a little less guilt. Pop one of these bad boys in your mouth and you are will be completely satisfied.

What You’ll Need:

1/4 cup Earth Balance

1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup sugar

2 cups flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup soymilk

2 cups blueberries

What You’ll Do:

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Line muffin tins with paper liners or spray with nonstick spray. Mix all ingredients together until moistened. Fill muffin tins about 3/4 full. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until the tops are firm. Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack.

Note: If you are making regular sized muffins, bake them for about 35 minutes.

Honey Oatmeal Bread

If you are a bread lover you are going to just love this recipe.  Even though it makes two loafs it never lasts long in our home. 

What You’ll Need:

2 cups boiling water
1 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup honey
2 tablespoons butter
2 teaspoons salt
1 (½ tsp) package active dry yeast
1/2 cup warm water
4 + cups bread flour
2 tablespoons honey, warmed slightly
2 tablespoons rolled oats

In a large mixing bowl, combine boiling water, oats, 1/2 cup honey, butter and salt. Let stand for 1 hour.

In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.

Pour the yeast mixture into the oat mixture. Add 2 cups of flour and mix well. Stir in the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, beating well after each addition. When the dough has pulled together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 20 minutes. Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cover with a damp cloth and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 1 hour.

Punch the dough down to deflate it and turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Divide the dough into two equal pieces and form into loaves. Place the loaves into two lightly greased 9x5 inch loaf pans. Cover the loaves with a damp cloth and let rise until doubled in volume, about 40 minutes. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).

Bake at for about 30 minutes or until the top is golden brown and the bottom of the loaf sounds hollow when tapped. Remove loaves from pans, brush tops of loaves with 2 tablespoons honey and sprinkle with oats.

Enjoy!!

Curried Lentil Soup with Chapati

Jaime made this dish for us during our visit to Bulgaria.  We enjoyed it so much then and still do now.

What you’ll need:

2 Tbs Earth Balance

2 garlic cloves, chopped

1 onion, chopped

1 tsp garam masala

¼ tsp cumin

2 pounds tomatoes, seeded and chopped or 2 - 14 oz canned chopped tomatoes, drained

1 cup red lentils, rinsed

2 tsp lemon juice

1 vegetable bouillon

1 ¼ cup coconut milk

Salt and pepper

What you do:

Melt butter in a large pot and sauté garlic and onions for 2-3 minutes.  Add spices and cook for an additional 30 seconds.

Stir in tomatoes, lentils, lemon juice, bouillon, and coconut milk and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer 25-30 minutes, until tender. Blend with hand held blender or in food processor.  Season to taste and serve over rice with Chapati (recipe to follow).

Chapati is an is an unleavened flat bread, which goes perfect with this dish.

What You’ll Need:

2 cups flour

1 tsp salt

1 tsp turmeric

¾ cup water

What you’ll do:

Mix the ingredients together to form dough.

Need for about 5 minutes

Form into 8 small balls

Roll flat and fry in butter.

Cinnamon Coconut Milk Yogurt Fruit Dip

I use to make this recipe with cow’s milk yogurt, but haven’t made it in a long time.  Until, that is, our most recent summer visit to Connecticut.  My sister needed something to bring for ‘snack day’ at work.  I gave her a few options, and wouldn’t you know… she loved the sound of everything.  So I chose my old favorite and it was settled.  I was in the kitchen for the rest of the evening preparing snack for tomorrow’s ‘snack day’. Oh don’t feel bad - we all know the kitchen is my favorite room to be in!

The Results? When she came home from work the next evening, she was so excited to tell me how much people loved the snacks.  Especially the fruit dip she brought! I was beaming as she told me how they ate every last bit.  They even resorted to dunking the brownies in the dip when the fruit was all gone! Not a bad idea actually.   

Anyhow, I was so thrilled about my sister’s reviews, that I decided to make it again for an upcoming family BBQ.  Only this time, I ‘veganized’ it by using the coconut yogurt.   The results? Well, when I went to pick up my plates at the end of the day – there was nothing left.  That’s a great sign! 

 

Now I really don’t believe we need to add sweeteners to fruit - it’s already so sweet and delicious by itself!  But sometimes, I like to change things up a bit and make them even more special.  Well, this is the dip that does it!  Enjoy. 

What you need:

1 cup of coconut milk yogurt

2 tbs brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
Lots of fresh fruit

Mix ingredients well and chill in the refrigerator for 2 hours. Serve with lots of fresh fruit.
 
*If you can’t find coconut milk yogurt you can substitute with soy yogurt.

**If you are interested in making a simple homemade raw vegan coconut yogurt, here is a link from a newly discovered favourite blog that’ll tell you how.

 
http://www.choosingraw.com/greek-yogurt-raw-vegan-style/

Vegan Strawberry Shortcake

I wanted to make something special for my daughter’s 2^nd birthday.  People just expect cake or cupcakes at a party but I wanted to create something people would not expect.  I’d been craving Strawberry Shortcake for a while and since strawberries are in season this time of year it seemed like the perfect choice.  But how was I going to make this traditional dessert, vegan.  That was my mission and I successfully completed it.  It doesn’t just look amazing it, tastes amazing.

What You’ll Need:

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 Tbs. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

4 Tbs. cold vegan margarine (we like Earth Balance), cut into small pieces

2 Tbs. sugar

3/4 cup cold soy milk or almond milk

1 pint strawberries

Cashew Crème (recipe follows) or other vegan whipping cream

What You’ll Do:

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.

Put flour, baking powder, salt and sugar in a large bowl and mix.

Cut the vegan margarine in small pieces into the flour mixture.

Using your hands work in the butter into the flour mixture.

When the mixture has become the texture of sand it is ready to add the soy or almond milk.  Mix large spoon.

Place the dough on a lightly floured workspace and gently kneed to a soft consistency. You may need a little more flour if it is too wet.

Now roll your dough to a 3/4-1 inch thickness and cut out your biscuits, should make 10-12 medium sized biscuits Place them on a baking sheet lined with baking parchment and bake 10-15 minutes or until lightly golden.

Meanwhile, clean the strawberries, set a few aside for garnish. Chop the remaining strawberries.  No need to add sugar to the chopped strawberries, they are naturally sweet.

When the biscuits are ready, remove from the oven and allow them to cool. 

Assemble your shortcakes by slicing each biscuit in half and placing in on an individual plate. Place a generous amount of strawberries on the bottom piece of shortcake. Add the part and top with Cashew Crème or other vegan whipping cream or vegan ice “cream”.

Garnish with sliced berries.

Cashew Crème

What You’ll Need:

4 1/2 cups raw cashews, soaked for about an hour and rinsed
1 lemon juiced
Pinch sea salt
1/3 cup maple syrup
1/3 cup agave
1 1/3 cup water (+/-)

What You’ll Do:

Blend Cashew Creme ingredients in Vitamix until smooth and creamy. Taste and adjust as needed. Remember that salt and lemon juice bring out sweetness. I know it sounds counter-intuitive, but if you need it a bit sweeter, try adding a tiny bit more sea salt or lemon juice.