Tomato Basil Pasta

I have been craving a “tomato-basil” anything lately. There is something so refreshing and wonderful about these two flavors together. I didn’t go out looking for a recipe like a usually do because I wanted to get creative with the food I already had in my house. I wish I would have had some fresh basil, but all I had was dried. This dish would be delicious with some fresh basil leaves as well!

I threw together this dish and while the sauce didn’t turn out exactly like I thought it would, I am still really happy with the final outcome. This dish is light, refreshing and perfect for a summer’s evening!

Tomato-Basil Pasta

1 pint grape tomatoes, halved (or quartered, depending on the size of your tomatoes)

½ onion, chopped and sautéed

3 chicken sausages, sliced (Italian sausage would be great as well)

1 Tbps + extra for sprinkling dried basil (a handful of fresh basil leaves would be divine as well)

1 package gluten-free spiral noodles (we get ours at Trader Joes)

Goat cheese (optional)

Dressing:

¾ cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1 Tbps (or to taste) minced garlic

1 tsp white vinegar

1 Tbps dried Basil

5-10 cashews

¼ tsp salt

¼ tsp organic sugar

¼ cup water

I started by making the dressing. Add all ingredients to a blendtec or food processor. Blend until creamy and completely smooth. Set dressing aside.

Prepare noodles according to package. While noodles are cooking, cook your sausage until slightly browned. Saute your onions as well. Once noodles are cooked and drained, combine sausage, onions, tomatoes, basil and top with the dressing. Mix until well combined. Top with some shredded goat sheep and combine. Serve on plate and top serving with a sprinkle of additional basil. 

Tuna-Stuffed Tomatoes

Wow, it’s been almost 3 months since my last blog. I wish I could say that I had some awesome reason for my hiatus or that something exciting was going on in our lives, but… I don’t. I simply had been feeling unmotivated to blog.

I can’t pinpoint why I was feeling this way or what sparked me to start blogging again, but I’m back. I think I was pressuring myself to post something EVERY DAY, and if I didn’t, I was some kind of failure, when really I started this blog as a way to keep track of recipes I liked and a virtual diary of sorts.

I have a bunch of new recipes and ideas to share and I am excited to get them on the blog again!

While this first blog isn’t really a recipe, I thought the idea was so fun and clever I had to share.

Tuna-Stuffed Tomatoes

These cute little treats are so much fun to serve for dinner or would make a great addition to any potluck. We use mustard in our tuna, hence the yellowish color in the pictures!

Ingredients:

2 cans of Tuna (drained)

1 pickle, diced

Quarter of an onion, diced

Mayo (or mustard) to your liking

2 tsp minced garlic

3 beefsteak tomatoes, hollowed out.

Basil for sprinkling

Mix up your tuna to your liking in a bow. Hollow out the tomatoes, just as you would a pumpkin. Stuff the tomatoes with the tuna and top with a sprinkle of basil.

Serve with some organic tortilla chips for a wonderful appetizer or dinner! 

Chicken Con Cipolle e Formaggio

I have a plethora of chicken breasts at my house right now, about 40 lbs to be exact.So expect a lot of chicken recipes in the next few weeks.

I knew I wanted to try a new recipe, as my husband easily tires of chicken, and to get him to love any chicken dish, it has to be new, and something we don’t eat very often!

Thus came along Chicken con Cipolle e Formaggio, which is really just Chicken with Onions and Cheese, but it sounds so fancy :) 

Not to brag, but oh wow! This dish came out even better than I could have imagined. It was so moist and flavorful!

Chicken con Cipolle e Formaggio:

3-4 Chicken Breasts

1 medium onion, sliced

8 slices of goat cheese

Italian dressing of choice to marinate Chicken in

Coconut Oil to grease your baking dish and for Onions

Salt

Marinate your Chicken breasts in Italian dressing of your choice up to 24 hours.

Preheat your oven to 375.

Lightly grease a baking dish, add your marinated chicken breasts to the dish and cook for 25 minutes.

While your chicken breasts are cooking, add some coconut oil to a saute pan and heat over medium heat. When the oil is hot, add your sliced onion. While they are cooking, sprinkle with salt (this makes them sweet, not sugar surprisingly) Let them cook until they are slightly browned and very limp.

When the 25 minutes is up, take your chicken out of the oven, top each breast with 2 slices of goat cheese (or more or less), and then a large pile of onions. Put back into the oven for an additional 5-10 minutes, until chicken is cooked through.

I wanted my onions and cheese to brown slightly, so for the last five minutes I turned my oven to broil.

Quinoa Summer Salad

My dear friend, Jenny, emailed me a version of this recipe a few weeks ago. Her co-worker brought this salad to a work potluck, and Jenny thought of us, since it was gluten free and delicious!

After being on vacation (a post on our wonderful trip to Florida is coming soon) and just a crazy month of May, I finally got around to making this dish last night. It was a huge hit! My husband even said “Ang, I think I have a new favorite!” I love that he is so easy to please!

I adapted the original recipe a bit to add more protein and make it a dinner dish. My adapted recipe is below.

Quinoa Summer Salad

3 cups Quinoa

¼ Cup Olive Oil

1 bag (2 cups) frozen corn

2 Chicken Sausages

1 pint (about 10-12) grape cherry tomatoes, halved

½ cup cilantro

½ Onion finely chopped

¾ jar of creamy balsamic dressing (or dressing of your choice)

½ lime squeezed

3-4 sun dried tomatoes, diced

1 Avocado, chopped

Salt and Pepper to taste

Cook the Quinoa according to package directions. Once the quinoa is cooked and has cooled, add olive oil and fluff. Salt and pepper to taste.  Transfer to a large serving dish/bowl.

While the Quinoa is cooking, defrost corn and cook the sausage until heated all the way through. Chop the sausages into bite sites pieces.

Cut up the tomatoes, onion and cilantro and avocado.

Add the corn, onion, sausage, cilantro, grape tomatoes, and dried tomatoes to the Quinoa mixture. Squeeze your lime and add your dressing to the dish and mix until well incorporated. Top the dish with the avocado and serve.

 

 

I'm sharing this on Pennywise Platter Thursdays,  Full Plate Thursdays, and It's a keeper Thursdays

Coconut-Breaded Halibut

When I first started buying organic food in bulk, I might have gone a little crazy. I may have an entire cupboard full of 5 lbs bags of flour, baking ingredients and such, just maybe!

One thing that I bought in bulk (and look back and have NO idea why) was shredded coconut. Now, many of you are thinking that there is a lot you could do with 5 lbs of coconut, and I’m sure you are right, but me? I don't like shredded coconut! I never have, I probably never will! I don’t like the taste, I don’t like the texture and I avoid foods with shredded coconut on/in them.(This leads me back to the point “why do I have 5 lbs sitting in my house?!?)

Well, in an effort not to waste the coconut, I decided to try this recipe for Coconut-breaded Halibut. Let me bring up another point… I do not like seafood very much. In fact, I didn’t have my first voluntary bite of fish until I was dating my husband. Now, I can eat shrimp and tilapia and that’s about it! I am slowly working my way toward different varieties, but it is a slow transition.

All of that to say, I have no idea why I thought I would LOVE this recipe. It includes two ingredients that even on a good day, I don’t like! Needless to say, this is not my favorite recipe, however my husband really liked it and I’m sure if you are not afraid of coconut and like fish, this would be a great dish!

Coconut-breaded Halibut (or Cod or Tilapia)

1 cup shredded coconut, finely chopped

2 tablespoons coconut flour

1 tablespoon Cajon seasoning

4 (4 ounce) Halibut fillets or similar white fish

1/2 cup cornstarch

3 Egg whites

Preheat oven to 350

Toss together the coconut, flour and Creole seasoning in a bowl. In a separate bowl, toss the fish with the cornstarch, and shake off the excess. Pour the egg whites into a separate bowl, and dip the fillets in the egg. Next, press fillets in the coconut mixture coating all sides. 

Place fillets into a lightly greased baking dish. Bake the fish for 10-12 minutes, or until the coconut is browned, and the fish is flakey. 

Viola! 

Im sharing this on:

Real Food Wednesdays

What's Cookin Wenesdays

Pennywise Platter

Real Food Weekly

Full Plate Thursdays

Its a keeper Thursdays

Asian Green Beans

I have to admit that I get really lazy when it comes to side dishes for dinner. I spend a lot of time prepping and making sure that the main dish is delicious, that we usually end up having salad (every.single.night) or simple rice/quinoa.

I have been wanting to try and get more creative with the side dishes I prepare, so here is one of my first attempts! And boy, it was hit! I will definitely be making this again. You could even add some chicken and use this as a main dish!

Asian Green Beans:

2-3 Cups Frozen Green Beans (organic) or Fresh

½ Cup Walnuts or Pecans

Sauce:

1 Tbsp Soy sauce or coconut aminos

1 Tbsp Toasted Sesame Oil

1 Tsp Olive Oil

½ Tsp Garlic powder

½ Tsp  Onion powder

½ Tsp or less Salt

1 Tsp Sesame Seeds

Preheat your oven to 350

Steam your green bean on the stove top until done (typically about 10 -15 minutes if frozen, 5- 10 if fresh). While your beans are cooking, place nuts on a silpat or cookie sheet and place in the preheated oven for about 5 minutes, or until brown.

While everything is cooking, prepare your sauce in a small bowl.

Once your bean and nuts are done cooking, combine the two in a serving dish. Drizzle your sauce over the top of dish and mix well. Sprinkle Sesame Seeds over top of the dish and serve!

Here it is with our dinner from last night! (recipe for the fish is coming soon! Coconut crusted Cod!)

 

Im sharing this on Pennywise Platter Thursday!

Full Plate Thursdays and 

Its a Keeper Thursdays!

Nut Butter Bread

I found this recipe on Homemade Dutch Apple Pie’s blog and was so intrigued by the recipe I had to try it for myself.

I could not wrap my head around the fact that the ingredients in this recipe come together to make a… bread? But low and behold, they did! This Nut butter bread is moist, flavorful and a wonderful treat!

Nut Butter Bread

1 cup nut butter (I used almond butter!)
1/4 cup honey
3 eggs ( I only had two left, and the recipe turned out just fine, but I would recommend 3 if you have them on hand)
1/2 tsp baking soda
Pinch of salt
1 T vinegar or lemon juice (I used lemon juice)

Combine all ingredients except for the lemon juice and mix well. Add the vinegar or lemon juice and mix well, then pour into a greased loaf pan.

Bake about 40 minutes in a 350 degree oven (mine only needed about 25-30 minutes, not sure if it was because I omitted an egg or not?). It is done when a knife or toothpick comes out clean.

Homemade Chili

Seattle has had a late launch on Spring/Summer weather this year. This being the case, we are still drudging through rain, clouds and cold weather. I think I can handle this weather through the end of March, and that’s it. Once April rolls around I expect some sunshine (even if it is mixed in with rain showers) and some warmer weather!!

This weekend, we had the wonderful pleasure of going to a Mariner’s baseball game! While the roof was closed on the stadium (so we weren’t soaked) it was still chilly and I needed something warm and hearty to heat me up.

This recipe is so simple, its delicious and it makes a TON of chili. We usually have enough to last us through a few meals, and then an entire zip lock bag full for the freezer!

Crockpot Chili:

1 lb. ground turkey, grass fed beef
1 29 oz. can tomato sauce plus 1 -15 oz can of tomato sauce
1 29 oz can. large can of diced tomatoes
2 Tbls Minced Garlic
1 large onion, chopped
1 pepper, chopped
3 Tbls. taco seasoning mix
4 cups cooked beans (I used Kidney and black, but any kind will work!)
1/8-1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 cup rapadura or natural sweetener
1-2 tsp. oregano
3/4 tsp pepper
2 tsp salt
3 tsp cumin
1-8-1/4 cup chili powder, as desired.

In a large sauté pan, cook meat, onions, and peppers until browned. Add minced garlic and cook for about one minute.

Place in your crockpot with remaining ingredients and allow to cook over low heat for 5-6 hours, or high heat for 2-3 hours.

After having this for dinner last night and lunch today, here is the amount of soup we have left over:

We use the leftovers for baked potato bar (nothing like a chili baked potato) or chili hotdogs, or for another meal!

How to Adapt "Normal"Recipes into Allergy-Friendly Recipes

When you live in a household where you have dairy, gluten and soy allergies, you learn very quickly how to adapt “normal” or “classic” recipes into allergy-friendly recipes.

This is one things I have prided myself on over the last few years. I can take just about any recipe and make it not only allergy-friendly, but much healthier.

I was thinking about this today, and I realize that some of you may not have allergies in your home, but have dinner guests who do have allergies, or are raising kids who are just developing allergies and you may not be as well adjusted to this practice.

I wanted to take the time to share with you some really basic substitutions for classic meals that can be allergy friendly and offer some basic substitution recommendations.

Allergy: Gluten

Substitution:

All-Purpose flour – Any Gluten Free All-purpose flour (Bob’s Red Mill is the most popular and can be found in most any grocery store) (also, please note you will need either xanthan gum or guar gum to make the flour work)

Pasta – Brown Rice Pasta (can be found at Trader Joes, Fred Meyer, QFC, ect)

Tortillas – Corn Tortillas (make sure they don’t have any wheat in the ingredients)

Chips – Either Corn Chips or Potato chips (make sure the seasoning doesn’t contain gluten in the ingredients on the back of the bag)

Bread – Udi’s Gluten Free Bread can be found at a lot of stores, Fred Meyer, QFC, ect, some times gluten free bread is found in the freezer section, with the organic foods)

Allergy: Dairy

Substitution:

Butter: Coconut Oil (can be found in the natural food section or online) or Vegetable Palm Shorting.

Heavy Cream: Full Fat Coconut Milk

Milk: Coconut Milk, Almond Milk, Rice Milk (I do not recommend soy milk)

Sour Cream: Cashew-Cream 

Cheese: Daiya Shreds (can be found only at Whole Foods, PCC, ect) or Goat Cheese (make sure your guest can have Goat cheese, contains no lactose, but does affect some allergy suffers)

Allergy: Eggs

Substitution: Ener-G Egg Substitute (for baking only), or 1-2 tsp Chai Seed Meal (ground up Chai Seeds) mixed with hot water, combine until stringy, per egg (for baking only)

Allergy: Nuts

Substitution:

Peanut Butter: Sunflower Butter (available at most stores)

Nuts: Seeds!

Allergy: Soy

Substitutions:

Soysauce: Coconut Aminos (can be found at health food store of Online)

Soy Milk: ANY OTHER KIND OF MILK (please do this anyway!)

Soybean Oil: Coconut Oil

Allergy: Shellfish

I don’t have any ideas. Probably just to avoid shellfish and eat other types of protein!

Although most recipes can use some of these replacements, not every recipe is going to ideal for guests with allergies. If you are having a guest over who has a dairy allergy, I wouldn’t recommend trying to make a dairy-free lasagna (if you do, and are successful, let me know!) Just as if, you are having a guest over who can’t have eggs, I wouldn’t recommend making omelets with one of the options above!

However, if you are having a guest over for dinner, or have a child with a gluten allergy, making spaghetti with brown rice noodles would be a fabulous replacement. Or, if you are making cheeseburgers for a dairy-free friend, adding goat or Daiya shreds to their burger would be wonderful!

Here is an example of a “classic” recipe that I will change into an allergy-friendly recipe.

Meatloaf:

Ingredients in the Classic Recipe:

• 1 1/2 pounds ground beef
• 1 egg
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup dried bread crumbs
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons prepared mustard
• 1/3 cup ketchup

Ingredients in the Allergy- Friendly Recipe:

• 1 1/2 pounds ground beef
• 1 -2 Tsp Chai Seed and Hot water (egg replacement)
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 cup coconut milk (milk replacement)
• 1 cup Gluten Free Oats (bread crumb replacement)
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar ( would also replace this for Turbando to make it healthier!)
• 2 tablespoons prepared mustard
• 1/3 cup ketchup

See? That was so simple, and with a few adjustments, you can make just about any meal for any guest.

Want another example?

Chicken Parmesan:

Ingredients in the Classic Recipe:

• 4 boneless chicken breasts, pounded to 1/2 inch thickness
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup milk
• seasoned bread crumbs
• 2 to 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 8 slices mozzarella cheese, or more
• 1 jar (16 oz) spaghetti sauce

Ingredients in the Allergy-friendly recipe:

• 4 boneless chicken breasts, pounded to 1/2 inch thickness
• Ener-G Egg Replacer (egg replacement)
• 1/2 Almond Milk (milk replacement)
• Gluten Free Bread, cooked and crumbed, or GF flour (breadcrumb replacement)
• 2 to 3 tablespoons olive oil
• Sliced Goat Cheese or Daiya Shreds (cheese substitute)
• 1 jar (16 oz) spaghetti sauce

I hope this helps ease the cooking process as you ease into allergy-friendly cooking!

Whole Food Detox: Week One Update and Recipe

Well I know I promised I would be back with week with lots of recipes, however my husband I came down with the flu last week (I had the stomach flu, Mike just had the flu) so our food choices this past week was whatever was simplest and whatever was easiest!

Today is Day 7 of the detox and Mike and I are both feeling great. Mike is seeing significant reduction of swelling in his knees (PRAISE THE LORD!) and has already lost 10 lbs! I think I have lost about 4 lbs and besides recovering from the flu, have been feeling great!

I mentioned in my last post, that we were talking 21 pills a day (which was incorrect, we were actually taking 30 a day). Today is the last day we have to take so many pills! Woohoo! The way the program is set up is you take certain pills day 1-7, and then days 8-21, you take a different set of pills. So now are down to taking 21 pills a day!

One of the best things we ate this past week was roasted garlic asparagus! It is so flavorful, it is easy to make and it hits the spot every time!

Here is the recipe that I use:

Roasted-Garlic Asparagus:

1 lbs (or more) washed and trimmed Asparagus

1-2tsp Organic Garlic Powder (or fresh minced garlic)

½-1tsp Sea Salt

1-2Tbps Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Preheat your oven to 375. On a clean Silpat or cookie sheet, lay your asparagus in a single line. Drizzle your asparagus with your extra virgin olive oil and then top with salt and garlic. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until done to your liking (we like ours slightly crisp!)

Tonight I will be making Baked Apples and will post our recipe tomorrow!

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Because my husband and I are starting a detox next week, I decided that we had to have cookies this week, right? I mean we needed one last little treat! :)

I was looking for a simple, yet delicious recipe, when I ran across this recipe on Pie Birds, Buttons and Muddy Puddles. Oh man, peanut butter, oatmeal and chocolate all in one cookie? Sounds almost too good to be true!

Oh, but friends, they are true, and SO delicious! I adapted Andrea’s recipe to make it dairy and gluten free, and they turned out marvelous! Hope you enjoy these delicious cookies!

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies:

Ingredients:
1 cup all-purpose  gluten free flour (I used Bob’s Red Mill All-purpose, because I had some at home, but you could make your own, following these instructions!)
¼ teaspoon guar gum
1 teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup organic vegetarian shortening (I use Spectrum), at room temperature
½ cup organic creamy peanut butter
½ cup Turbinado or Sucanat
1/3 cup light brown sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg
½ cup gluten-free rolled oats
1 cup dairy free semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silpats and set aside.

2. Whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.

3. On medium speed, cream together the shortening, peanut butter, sucanat, brown sugar and vanilla extract, about 3 minutes. Add the egg and beat to combine. On low speed, gradually add the flour until just combined. Stir in the oats, and then the chocolate chips.

4. Use a large cookie scoop (3 tablespoons) and drop dough onto prepared baking sheets. Bake for 12 minutes, or until the cookies are lightly golden. Cool completely on the baking sheet and then store in an airtight container at room temperature.

Simple Taco Salad

Taco Salad is a staple in our household. I put taco salad on our menu at least once a month. It’s so quick to prepare, it’s healthy, it’s delicious and it’s fun, because YOU get to pick what to put in your salad.

I always prepare the salad like a salad bar. I will cut up lots of different veggies, put out corn, beans, chips, seasoned taco meat, salsa, avocado, different salad dressings, ect and then my hubby and I top our salads however we choose!

There isn’t really a recipe for this salad, as you can choose whatever your family likes, but I will provide a list of ingredients that we typically use for our Taco Salads:

Taco Salad:

Carrots – chopped

Onions – diced/chopped

Peppers – chopped
Olives – chopped

Avocados – chopped or turned into guacamole

Corn

Beans – either refried as a topping or any whole bean (heated would be best probably)

Corn Chips – crunched as a topping

Tomatoes – chopped/diced

Shredded Chicken/beef – Seasoned w/homemade taco seasoning

Ground beef/turkey – Seasoned w/homemade taco seasoning

Cheese/Sour cream – if you can eat dairy

Salsa

Salad Dressing of Choice

Throw together and enjoy!

Taco Seasoning Mix

I found this recipe on Passionate Homemaking months ago, and have been using my original batch ever since. Last night, I ran out and had to make a second batch! This seasoning is great and it tastes just like the store bought, but is much cheaper to make, and it is SO much healthier!

Taco-Seasoning Mix

6 tsp chili powder
4 ½ tsp cumin
5 tsp paprika
3 tsp onion powder
2 ½ tsp garlic powder
1/8 – ¼ tsp cayenne pepper

Mix all the ingredients, and store in an air-tight container. The homemade mix is twice as strong as the store-bought one, so add only half as much.

Mike's Pasta

One night, in a mad scramble to make dinner in a hurry, without having anything planned for dinner, this dish came together and was quickly dubbed “Mike’s Pasta” because he has requested it almost weekly since I first made it!

This one dinner dish is quick, simple and hits the spot at our house every time I make it!

Mike’s Pasta

3 Chicken Sausages, chopped

2 Cups chopped Veggies (any veggies work, we use a frozen veggie blend with carrots, peppers, broccoli, beans, baby corn, onions, mushrooms, ect)

1 pack of elbow noodles (I use brown rice noodles from Trader Joe's)
¾- 1 Cup Italian Dressing (recipe below)

Salt and Pepper to taste

Grated Goat cheese to taste

Bring a large pot of water to a boil.

While the water is coming to a boil, sauté veggies and sausage until well cooked (about 10 minutes) in a separate large skillet.

Once the water boils, add your noodles and cook according to directions on package.

Drain your noodles and rinse (if using rice noodles)

Add Sausage and veggies into the noodles and combine well. Top Pasta mixture with Italian dressing. Mix well. Salt and Pepper to taste. Grate Cheese into the mixture, and combine well.

Enjoy!

Note: Because rice noodles get hard when cold, this dish is best served warm. If you are using wheat noodles, this dish may be great served cold as well!

Italian Dressing (to go with above recipe)
(from heavenlyhomemaker.com):

2 T Dry Italian Dressing Mix (recipe below)

¼ Cup Vinegar

2 t. water

½ Cup Olive Oil (or extra-virgin)

Mix well. Enjoy!

Dry Italian Dressing Mix:
1 1/2 t. garlic powder
1 T. onion powder
2 t. oregano
1 T. dried parsley
2 t. sea salt
1 t. pepper
1/4 t. thyme
1/2 t. dried celery flakes

Shake ingredients together and store in a jar!

Gluten Free Corn Dog Cornbread Muffins

Monday night is our Salad/Stirfry night. While my husband and I both LOVE salads, sometimes a salad just isn’t enough to fill my husband’s appetite.

I decided last night to try and adapt Laura from Heavenly Homemakers Corn dog Muffins into a gluten free dairy free muffin that would work for our family to have for dinner.

Oh.My.Goodness. These are officially my favorite gluten free baked good I have never made or tasted! They are amazing! So moist, flavorful and filling! These would make a great breakfast, snack, or addition to any meal! These could easily be just cornbread muffins, by leaving out the hotdog!

I made a double batch of these muffins, so you are more than welcome to cut this recipe in half if you want only 1 dozen. These muffins freeze really well (and are delicious) so I encourage you to make a double batch (twice the payoff for half the work!)

Corn Dog Cornbread Muffins:

Dry:

2 Cups Cornmeal

1.5 Cups Sorghum Flour

1 Cup Tapioca Starch

2 Tsp Guar gum (or xanthan gum)

2 Tsp Baking Soda

3 Tsp Baking Soda

2 Tsp Salt

1 Cup Sucanat

Wet:

4 eggs

1 Cup plus 1 Tbps Olive Oil

2 Cups Water

8 hotdogs. Each hotdog should be cut into 3rds. (I used All Natural Uncured Beef hotdogs from Trader Joes)

Preheat oven to 400

Add dry ingredients into a bowl. Combine until well mixed.

In a separate bowl, add wet ingredients. Whisk wet ingredients together until well combined, about 1 minute.

Slowly add dry ingredients to wet ingredients. Mix by hand until batter is formed. Should be thicker than cake batter.

If not using a demarle pan, line your muffin pan with paper liners

Use a 1/3 Cup measure to pour batter into muffin cups

Then, drop one piece of hotdog into each muffin cup. 

Bake for 18 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Cool on a wire rack. Serve warm or throw them in the freezer for a later date!

I'm sharing this on Tuesday Twister!

Papa's Chicken

I plan my meals a month in advance. I find that this is the easiest way for me to stay within our grocery budget, for me to cook healthy nutritious meals and to make sure that we don’t eat out every night. It is so much easier to come home from work after a long day and not have to think about what’s for dinner. I simply look at my chart, and start cooking. I already have all the ingredients and I rarely plan for anything that takes longer than 30-45 minutest to prepare!

Last night, however, was one of those rare nights when I got home, the vegetables had gone bad, the meat wasn’t thawed and I had NO desire to try and be creative and make the dinner work. So I dug through our freezer and fridge to see what we had and this recipe is a result of our existing ingredients. We loved it (my husband did especially – anytime he gets bacon, he’s a happy boy!)

Papa’s Chicken

4 Boneless Free Range Chicken Breasts

8 Slices Nitrate Free Bacon

1.5 Cups Homemade BBQ Sauce, divided

Homemade BBQ Sauce

¾ cup Organic Ketchup

1 teaspoon liquid smoke

1 T Garlic Powder

1 T Onion Powder

1 T Honey

Mix in a small pot and simmer for 5-10 minutes.

Preheat your oven to 350

Rinse and pat dry your chicken breasts. Place Chicken Breasts in a 9x13 lightly greased baking dish. Poor half of your BBQ Sauce over chicken breasts. Place in over and bake for 30 minutes.

While chicken is baking, cook the bacon until crispy. When chicken timer goes off, place 2 slices of bacon on each chicken breast. Top with remaining BBQ Sauce. Bake for 10-15 more minutes or until chicken juices run clear.

Such an easy dinner, and if your husband is anything like mine, it will be a HUGE hit!

I'm sharing this on Real Food Wednesdays, What's Cooking Wednesdays, and Pennywise Platter Thursdays and Real Food Weekly

Triple-Seed Crackers

One thing I love as much as blogging and cooking, is reading other blogs about whole food cooking! I have noticed that almost every blog I follow has some sort of cracker recipe.

I’m not sure why but crackers seemed intimidating to me. I was fearful that they would come out bland, too dry, burnt, ect, and it would be a lot of work, for little payoff.  Well, I decided yesterday to conquer my fears and tackle making a batch of crackers.

Oh man! I am bummed that I waited this long to make crackers. This recipe (that I got from Whole Life Nutrition Kitchen) and slightly adapted to use what I had at home is amazing! The crackers are delicious, and they were SO easy. They were actually pretty fun to make too!

Triple-Seed Crackers 

(from Whole Life Nutrition Kitchen)

1 cup sorghum flour

1/2 cup brown rice flour

2 tablespoons arrowroot powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

3/4 cup cooked quinoa

6 to 7 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1/3 to 1/2 cup water

Topping:

1 to 2 tablespoons sesame seeds

1 to 2 tablespoons flax seeds

1 to 2 teaspoons poppy seeds

S ea salt and cracked black pepper

Preheat oven to 375

Place the sorghum flour, brown rice flour, arrowroot, baking soda, and salt in a food processor. Mix lightly.  add the quinoa and extra virgin olive oil. Process until well combined. Add your water slowly while processing, just until the dough forms a ball. Once a ball has formed, your dough is ready. Do not add any additional water.

Split your dough in half. Take one half and roll it out between two pieces of parchment paper. Make sure to get the dough rolled out as thin as possible, so you have crispy cracker.

Remove the top layer of parchment and sprinkle with seeds. Place top layer parchment paper back on top of dough and gently press/roll the seeds into the dough. Remove top parchment paper.

Slide the rolled-out dough onto a large cookie sheet. Use a pizza cutter to slice the dough into small squares.

Bake for 30 to 35 minutes (Mine only took about 15 minutes). Watch baking time carefully as it will totally depend on the thickness of your crackers.  Crackers will crisp up as they cool

Easy Pot Roast and Veggies

When I married my husband, I made it a priority to find out what his favorites home cooked meals were so that I could make them on a semi-regular basis or for special occasions for my sweetie. What were they you ask? His mom’s potato salad, steak and Pot Roast.

Steak? No problem! I don’t mean to brag, but I can make a mean steak. Potato salad? A little more intimidating, but because he loves his mom’s specific recipe, all I had to do was get the recipe from her and have her help me with the first batch. Pot Roast? That’s a whole other story. I had never, ever, made a pot roast before we were married. I don’t think I had even eaten a pot roast in 10 years.

Well, in the almost 1 year that we have been married I have successfully made at least 5 pot roasts and have received raved reviews from my hubby every time! I don’t know why I was so intimated by the thought, pot roast is definitely one of the easiest meals to prepare and almost impossible to mess up!

Crockpot Pot Roast w/Veggies

1 Beef Roast (any kind will do, really! I used Chuck Roast last night)

10-15 mini carrots or 3 large carrots, peels and chopped into quarters or fifths

1 large onion, chopped into large chunks
Potatoes – amount to your liking (cubed and skinned, if using Russets)

1 Tablespoon Allspice

1 ½ Tablespoon garlic salt
1 Teaspoon Thyme (or spice of your choice)

1 Tablespoon minced garlic

Salt and pepper to taste

In a small bowl, combine allspice, garlic salt, and Thyme, salt and pepper. Rub the spice mix onto your roast. Save remaining spice mix.

Place your roast in the center of your Crockpot. Place carrots, potatoes, and onions around the roast. Sprinkle the remaining spice mix over top of veggies and pot roast.

Lastly, add the minced garlic over top of the veggies and pot roast.

Cook for 8 hours on low, or 4-6 hours on high. I have found it is juicer and melts in your mouth more if you can cook it for longer on a lower heat than on the higher setting, however either way works!

This meal is great because you have a whole meal done when you get home from work. Through it on the plate and you are good to go!

I'm sharing this on Real Food Wednesdays, What's Cooking Wednesdays, and Pennywise Platter Thursdays

Blueberry Muffins and Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins

Ever since I have started getting into baking, I have been seeing muffin and cupcake recipes everywhere that I have wanted to try. However, I surprisingly didn’t have a muffin tin! So, I have been muffin-less, until now!

My wonderful mother-in-law got me a Demarle muffin pan for Christmas and I am now a muffin makin’ machine! This not only excites me, but my husband is pretty ecstatic as well! Last night he actually asked me to “make dozens and freeze them”. I’m going to have to find the time to make dozens before I can commit to that!

Below are my two favorite muffin recipes thus far.

Blueberry Muffins (adapted from Whole Life Nutrition Kitchen)
 

These are so moist and delicious, and very filling. They are great for breakfast or for a snack!  

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups sorghum flour (or you can use brown rice flower)
1 cup almond meal flour
1/2 cup tapioca flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon guar gum
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 large eggs
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup milk (dairy or non-dairy)
1/3 cup melted virgin coconut oil
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups blueberries

Preheat your oven to 350. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners (or if you have Demarle, you can skip this step)

Mix together the dry ingredients in a large bowl. 

In a separate bowl add the eggs and whisk. Then add the remaining wet ingredients. Blend well. 

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and whisk together well. Then, lightly mix in the blueberries. Use a 1/3 cup measure to pour batter into muffin cups.

Bake for about 25 minutes. Remove muffins from pan and let cool

Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins (or Lime Poppy Seed)

These muffins are lighter and airier than the previous muffin. They are also much sweeter. These make a better snack or dessert than breakfast!

Ingredients
8 Tablespoons dairy free shortening. (I’m sure that coconut oil would work too, make sure its softened)
1 cup Turbinado
2 egg
1 teaspoon lemon extract (or lime)
1 teaspoon almond extract
2 Tablespoon lemon juice (or lime)
2/3 cup tapioca starch + 1/2 cup superfine rice flour + 1 teaspoon guar gum
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup almond flour
2 teaspoons poppy seeds
1/4 cup milk (I used coconut)

Lemon syrup ingredients:
2 Tablespoons lemon juice
2 Tablespoons sugar 

Preheat your oven to 350. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners (or if you have Demarle, you can skip this step)

In a large bowl, Cream together butter and sugar. Add remaining wet ingredients, minus the milk,  and blend well

In a separate bowl, whisk together flour(s), baking powder, salt, and almond flour.

Add dry ingredients to creamed sugar/butter/egg mixture, mix well. Add milk, mix well 

Fill muffin cups/paper liners w/ a ¼ cup measure and bake for 16-20 minutes

While the muffins are baking, mix together the sugar and lemon juice for the lemon syrup and set aside.
 

Puncture several small holes in each muffin (6 or so). Spoon the lemon syrup over the top of each muffin.

Allow the muffins to sit for 15 minutes before removing from the pan.

Collard Wraps w/Sunflower Pate

My husband enjoying his Collard Wraps

I found recipe through one of my very favorite blogs, Whole Life Nutrition Kitchen. They have great whole food, healthy, allergy friendly, original recipes! If you haven’t checked them out, I greatly encourage you to stop by their blog.

This recipe is very unique! The flavor is so wonderful and while it is fairly time consuming, it is totally worth it! This recipe was not the biggest hit with my husband, but I loved it! It is so healthy, and makes a huge amount! I think it would be a great appetizer to bring to party, or for a large dinner as the main dish!

Collard Wraps with Raw Sunflower Pate (from Whole Life Nutrition Kitchen) 

1 bunch (large) collard greens

Sunflower Pate:

 2 cups raw sunflower seeds, soaked for 6 to 8 hours

1 cup chopped celery

1/4 cup finely diced shallots (I found ¼ cup was a little to strong for my family, next time we will use a little bit less)

2 to 3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 teaspoon dried thyme

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/2 to 1 teaspoon sea salt

2 teaspoon honey (I added this to the recipe as I found it was too tart without it!)

Fillings (all optional, whatever sounds good to you!)

pumpkin seeds
green lettuce
tomatoes

grated carrots

sprouts

sliced avocados

Cut the stems off of the bottom of each collard green. Bring a large pot of water to a boil.

While the water in coming to a boil, drain and rinse the sunflower seeds in a fine mesh strainer. Place all pate ingredients into a food processor fitted with the "s" blade and pulse until desired consistency. I like mine processed until the pate is fairly smooth. Set aside.

To blanch the collard greens, dunk each one in the boiling pot of water for approximately 60 seconds. Gently remove with tongs and set on a plate to cool. Continue to do this until all of the greens are blanched.

To assemble the wrap, place a green onto a large plate or cutting board. Place a few scoops of the pate on the bottom (stem-end) of the green. Add your other filling ingredients on top. Fold the long ends in slightly (about an inch on each side) and then tightly roll. Refrigerate right away or cut in half and serve.