Roasted Butternut Squash and Crispy Chickpea Quinoa Salad

Tried and Tested!

This was a winner - for sure! Some things on pinterest flop, but I loved this one! 

Its worth the extra work. 

Yummy and large enough to serve for dinner, or make it on monday and eat it all week! 

My kind of lunch!

Isn't it beautiful? Crispy Chickpeas are amazing with the soft, sweet squash!

Click HERE for recipe

I used Baby Kale instead of Arugula, and added feta cheese! 

Enjoy!

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Easter Morn - Lemon Berry Crepes

Even though the skies may bring some dull gray, I was bound and determined to pretend otherwise!  Just closed my eyes and focused on the birds chirping (it works!)

... I'm so ready for spring! 

Nothing says spring more than LEMONS. 

This time of year always brings about a citrus focus; 

where ever treat, snack, meal and scented candle is lemon flavored! YUM!!

 It just screams bright and sunny!

These were the perfect balance of tart, sunny lemon for me.

 My husband wanted more sweet, but he always does! 

For me they were the perfect combination of that tart and sweet combination.

Crepes:

1 1/2 C Milk (any milk would work)

3 Eggs

1 tsp Lemon Zest

1/4 tsp Lemon Extract

1 Tbl Fresh Lemon Juice (or more to taste)

1 1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract

Dropper of Vanilla Stevia, or pinch of Stevia Powder, Or just 1 Tbl of Sugar

1 Tbl Melted Coconut Oil or Butter

1 1 1/2 C Whole Wheat Pastry Flour

Whisk wet ingredients, then slowly add flour whisking well. Heat non-stick 8-9 inch skillet over medium/low heat. Add about 1/3 cup of bater and quickly swirl the pan to cover. Let cook until you see edges curled and not wet, flip and cook for about a minut more.

Berry Syrup:

1 LARGE Orange Juiced (about 1 cup of juice)

1 C Fresh or Frozen Berries of Choice

1 Tbl Chia Seeds

Add juice and berries to small pot. Simmer for about 10 minutes. Turn of heat and smash slightly. Stir in chia seeds and let cool slightly until ready to serve.

Lemon Curd Filling:

1 C Low Fat or Fat Free Greek Yogurt

2 Tbl Raw Honey, (or more to taste)

1/2 Lemon Squeezed

1/2 tsp Lemon Extract (taste to see how much lemon you want and adjust)

Whisk all ingredients together.

Fill each Crepe with yogurt filling and fresh berries if you like. Top with Berry syrup and a sprinkle of powdered sugar.

ENJOY!

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Easter Dinner

Nothing like an awesome Vegetarian Dinner! It was really yummy! 

Here's the low down:

Chickpea Deviled Eggs

These were REALLY good! I left out two of the yokes, and added a little more chickpeas. I also replaced the Mayo with Veganase or Nayonnaise. And I topped them with Paprika! YUM!

Definitely something you could entertain with! (need to remember this!)

Click HERE for the recipe

Pasta Primavera

8 oz. Quinoa Pasta or whatever pasta you desire

1-2 Tbl Olive Oil

1 red onion, diced

2-3 Cloves Garlic, minced

1/4 C Dry White Wine

2 C Broccoli

2 C Cauliflower

1/2 Stalk of Asparagus Chopped

8 oz sliced mushrooms

1 zucchini or yellow squash diced

1 Can Italian style Tomatoes

1 tsp Oregano

1/4 tsp Thyme

1) Cook Pasta.

2) Cook Onion and Garlic until soft.

3) Add broccoli and wine. Cover and simmer about 4 minutes. Add the rest of the veggies and tomatoes, and herbs. Cover and Cook until desired consistency. (I like mine crisp tender).

4) Stir cooked pasta into veggies, stir in 1/4 C chopped Parsley and Basil. Lots of Salt and Pepper. Top with Parmesan Cheese if desired.

Pecan Sweet Potatoes

3-4 Large Sweet Potatoes/Yams

The Juice of One Orange

Dash Salt

1 tsp Ginger Powder

1/4 C Pure Maple Syrup/ Honey/ Or Agave (whatever you prefer)

1/2 C Chopped Pecans

Clean Potatoes. Poke with a fork and cook in microwave until fork inserts easily (about 5-8 minutes). Slice potatoes and put in blender with Juice, Ginger, Salt, and Maple syrup. Blend until all pureed. Put in 8 x 9 casserole dish. Spread with Pecans, 2 Tbl Sucunat or Brown sugar, 1 tsp Cinnamon and 1/2 tsp Nutmeg. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes.

ENJOY!

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Sugar Free Easter Treats

I've been off sugar (except for one or two hershey kisses) this week. Its killer and I feel like I binge just trying to get rid of the craving! Is this worth it?? Why is it so DANG hard!!???? Anyway - here a few fun treats we tried this weekend.

Sugar free Lemon Almond Sugar Cookies

(-these were ok, I wish I blended it, instead of processed it, and I wished that I roasted my almonds to get a stronger flavor. They still turned out a little dry, but my kids LOVED Them! Surprisingly!! They were a fun little thing to decorate. - I'll be experimenting more with this recipe for sure!)

Click HERE for the recipe

(make sure to soak your almonds overnight and then let dry, or roast in oven)

I didn't make her frosting recipe, Here's what I did:
Lemon (Dairy Free) Cookie Frosting

3/4 C Raw Cashews (Soaked overnight or at least 3-5 hours)
2 Dates (soaked for an hour or so - optional, but helps)
1 tsp Vanilla
pinch Salt 
Juice from 1 lemon
little lemon zest
1/2 tsp Stevia powder
1/4 Water (add more if you want a thinner consistency)Taste it - you may want to add some Agave/Honey

Blend for quite a while, it thickens as it blends. Add in desired food coloring and enjoy! 

You do need to eat rather soon once frosted, (they didn't store well frosted).

Peanut Butter filled Chocolate Eggs

These were pretty tasty! I did the sugar free version, which wasn't bad! It would taste way better if you wanted to use the real stuff, or even honey would be fine
(might need to add in flour to thicken it).

I froze the peanut butter egg shapes for a couple hours, this made the chocolate harden right as I dipped it! It was so yummy! Just store in fridge or freezer, cause it will melt and get soft, 

and they were way tastier with a hard shell! :)

Click HERE for the recipe

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Easter Egg Picnic

Your kids will LOVE this! 

Let them 'hunt' for their lunch! 

The ideas are endless!

1) Carrot sticks and Hummus (at the bottom)

2) Rice Crackers

3) Tortilla Roll Up - 

(whole wheat tortilla spread with laughing cow cheese wedge, 

smooshed avocado, and all natural turkey. Roll and Slice)

(or whole wheat tortilla, spread with Peanut butter,

and roll up around a banana and slice)

4) Cucumber sticks with annie's ranch dressing (in the bottom)

5) Banana chips and a small treat :)

6) another tortilla wrap.

More Ideas: Raisins, trail mix, grapes, berries, small cubed cheese, pretzel balls, Roasted Edamame, Fresh peas, melon balls, dark chocolate chips, small apple slices, etc. 

Any other ideas?

Enjoy!

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Lucky Green Food!

Have fun tomorrow with some great "green" options!

Green Eggs! (the Healthy Way!)

Shown here with yummy (gluten free!) Sunflower Millet Bread

1 Handful of Spinach

1 or 2 Light Laughing Cow Cheese Wedges

1/4 C milk of choice

Blend in food processor or blended until smooth. 

In a separate bowl mix:

 4 eggs (I prefer free range organic), the spinach mixture, 1 tsp Italian Seasoning, 

and salt and pepper to taste. 

Scramble over med- high heat.

Parmesan or cheddar cheese for garnish. (optional)

Lemon Broccoli Pesto

Large Head of Broccoli and Stems roughly chopped 

(or two small heads) (reserve some for topping pasta)

1 C Sunflower Seeds (soaked for an hour if possible)

1/4 C Pine Nuts

Large Handful of Fresh Parsley or Basil

1/2 Lemon, Juice and Zest

1 Large Clove Garlic

Small Handful of Parmesan Cheese (optional - put how much you want!)

1-2 tsp Sea Salt (to taste)

Put all ingredients in food processor, and blend until combined.

While in processor, drizzle in 2 Tbl Milk, 1 Tbl Olive Oil, and about 1/4 C water. Watch it closely until you get the consistency you want.

Mix with Whole Wheat Pasta and top with Some Broccoli And optional Parmesan Cheese and/or Pine Nuts.

I mixed my pesto with Zunchinni Noodles, made with a sprilalizer. YUM!

Diary Free Mint Chocolate Chip Ice cream!

2 Frozen Bananas (make sure to slice before freezing)

3/4 C Coconut Milk or Almond Milk (frozen in ice cube trays)

1/4 tsp Mint Exctract

Couple Drops of Green Food Coloring

handful cacao nibs

2 Dates - soaked for 1/2 hour

1/8 tsp stevia or Agave or Honey - whatever sweetener you prefer

1/4 C Dark Chocolate/Mint Chips - or just chocolate chips

Put Bananas and milk cubes in microwave for about 30 seconds. Puree in processor until smooth consistency. Add the rest of ingredients and puree until smooth. Sprinkle with some mini chocolate chips or sprinkles if you like. :)

HAPPY ST. PATTY'S DAY!

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Valentine Treats

Oh man  - keep that dove chocolate away, cause it will be devoured fast if it comes in my view! 

I have to be prepared with some new, fun ideas! So I thought I would share. 

Coconut Date Butter

This really was SO good!

1 C Dates:

(Soaked for about 1 hour or just simmered in water over small pot for about 20 minutes)

1 Bag of Unsweetened Coconut

THATS IT!!! Can you believe it??

Throw the bag of coconut into your vita-mix or food processor. And GO TO TOWN. You may have to scrape sides every once and while, but it should start to form a pureed coconut butter. (sometimes this doesn't work - it may take a little patience) If it doesn't totally puree - thats ok! 

Add in the dates and a little of the water ( I just see if it needs more  - depending on your desired consistency) And blend until combined. Spread on toast, dip fruit in it, sweeten baked breads, on pancakes - whatever you can think of! YUM!

Raw Almond Joy Candy Bars!

Yum - these are seriously amazing and REALLY taste like an Almond Joy!!!

Who knew a candy bar could be good for you???

This is the coconut before being dipped in chocolate. 

(I freezed in between stages)

CLick HERE for the recipe. 

note: If you can't find coconut butter, just use coconut oil. You can also sub Honey for Agave.

 (or make your own coconut butter in blender like I described above)

Or some Simply Sweet No Bake Cookies 

Easy to make and fun to package up!!

Seriously - I was in love with both of these!! Will be making these quite often!

Hopefully you can click on the picture to enlarge and print? 

Let me know if you want me to email this to you!

The second recipe was from chocolatecoveredkatie!

no sugar, no dairy added - 

Chocolate Cherry Ice cream! 

YUM!

2 VERY RIPE Bananas - cut into chunks and frozen

3/4 C Frozen Cherries

2 Tbl Dried Cherries

1/4 C Cocoa Powder

1/4-1/2 C Almond Milk

Cacoa Nibs or Mini Chocolate chips

Feel free to add some fresh cherries in at the end as garnish. 

Place Bananas in Food processor. Pulse until they begin to melt and combine. (like in this post). Once they are mostly combined add cocoa powder and frozen cherries and continue to pulse for about 30 seconds. Add dried cherries and turn machine on until they are chopped pretty small. While machine is running add milk just small bits at a time until you reach desired consistency. Add in nibs or chips and pulse once or twice just to combine. 

ENJOY immediately!!

Top with coconut or nuts if desired. :)

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No Time

I have SOO badly wanted to try some new holiday cookies this year. Never got the chance - which is probably good considering how many sweets came to our door anyway! Ugh - hard to resist all day! That's part of the reason I want something a little better for me, to ease that temptation! 

But now time is up.

Oh well, so here is a list of things I WANTED to try!! 

Let me know if you try them and how they turn out!

1)Mint-Cacao Truffles!

2)Skinny Snickerdoodles

3)Buckwheat Gingerbread Men

4) Spiced Carrot Cake Cookies

5)Vegan Macaroon Truffles

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Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies - Fat Free and Whole Wheat

YUM! These are PERFECT for a crowd. 

They do have some sugar in them, wish that I could always get around that, but other people can't! 

 - You can try Stevia if you are worried about sugar.

Whisk all Dry Ingredients together:

1/4 Old Fashioned Oats

3/4 C Oat Flour (Ground Oats)

1/4 C Almond Flour (Almonds ground up)

1/2 C White Whole Wheat Flour

1/2 tsp Baking Soda

1/2 tsp Salt

1/4 C Sugar

1/4 C Brown Sugar

1/2 tsp Cinnamon

1/4 tsp Ground Ginger

1/8 tsp Nutmeg

1/8 tsp Ground Cloves

In separate bowl whisk together wet ingredients:

1/2 C Pureed Pumpkin

1 Egg

1/2 tsp Vanilla

Add wet to dry and combine. 

Stir in 1 to 1 1/2 Chocolate chips. I love to do half Butterscotch and Half Chocolate!

Bake at 350 for 4 1/2 minutes, turn cookie sheet, Bake for 5 more minutes.

ENJOY!

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We're going PIE CRAZY!

Okay - the pumpkin craze has begun!

I have about 5 recipes I already LOVE and want to share. We'll just start with a few.

Pumpkin Pie Waffles

These are just the beginning and are Simply Amazing!

That's all I have to say!

1 1/2 C Pureed Pumpkin

1/4 C Pure Maple Syrup

1 Tbs Brown Sugar

1 1/4 tsp Cinnamon

1 1/4 tsp Grated Fresh Ginger

1/8 tsp Cloves

1/8 tsp Nutmeg

Pinch of Salt

Blend all Ingredients Above

Then add:

1 C Skim or Almond Milk

1/2 C Fat Free Plain Greek Yogurt or Sour Cream

1 Egg and 1 Egg White

1/4 tsp Rum Extract

1 tsp Vanilla Extract

Mix until blended. Then Add:

1 C Whole Wheat Pastry Flour

1/3 C All Purpose Flour

1 Tbs Baking Powder

1/2 Tbs Baking Soda

Don't overmix - Just incorporate all ingredients.

Top with Cashew Creme and A little bit of Maple Syrup! AMAZING!

ENJOY!!

Pumpkin Pie 'Green' Smoothie

2 C spinach
1/2 C Almond Milk
3/4 C pureed pumpkin
1 tsp Vanilla
2 Dates
1/8 tsp nutmeg and cloves
1/4 tsp Ginger (ground or fresh)
1 tsp Cinnamon
Vanilla Protein Powder (optional)
Ice

Enjoy!


For more Pumpkin - Check out Pumpkin Pancakes and Pumpkin Pie Oats

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Healthy Holiday Cookie

Ginger Cashew Pillows

A Fav of mine - partially because I love ginger.

A perfect little Sweet Holiday bite :)

You can find the recipe HERE

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Is your Diet SCARED??

THANKSGIVING can be a scary day for us all!

Read this awesome article for some healthy swaps!

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Pumpkin Pancakes

I love ANYTHING pumpkin!

I have even been adding it to my mid-day smoothies!

The best thing for the season!

Pumpkin Pancakes

YUM!

Try THESE

I replace the white flour with Whole Wheat Pastry Flour for a healthier alternative

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