Carrot Ginger Pasta

This is an adaptation from this recipe, once again because I didn't have many of the ingredients. The final verdict from our family was 2/5ths loved it, 2/5ths liked it, and 1/5th did not like, but he's the 1/5th who only likes pizza and chicken noodle soup right now so he doesn't really count. And since I was part of the 2/5ths that loved it, I think it's blog-worthy:).

Ingredients:

• 1-2 T olive oil
• 1 T minced garlic
• 1/3 of one of those large bags of baby carrots from Sam's Club (sorry it's not more precise but that's how I gauge things sometimes)
• 1 t minced fresh ginger (fresh is always best, but a few sprinkles of powdered would work I'm sure, and I obviously rarely have the "right" ingredients myself)
• Salt & Pepper
• 2 T sesame seeds
• Juice from 1/2 a lemon
• 1 T water
• Extra olive oil, salt, pepper as needed

Directions:

Ina saucepan over med-high heat saute the garlic in olive oil for about a minute. Add the carrots, ginger, and a good sprinkling of salt and pepper. Let the carrots cook for 10-15 minutes until they are fork tender (turn the heat down a bit if they are drying out or starting to brown). Once fork tender, pour everything into your blender or food processor. Add the sesame seeds, lemon juice, and water and blend/process. Add more olive oil as needed to create a sauce, not just paste. Season with more salt and pepper as needed. Serve with pasta, and feel free to add some cooked shredded chicken unless you want a meatless meal.

Butterfinger Bars

This does not fall into the "Whole Foods" category by any means, but you gotta live a little, right? My only complaint about these bars is that unless cold, they fall apart very easily. But I prefer my chocolate cold or frozen anyways, so it all works out for me, and these are so yummy they are worth the mess even if they warm up.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 sleeves graham crackers
• 1/4 c coconut oil
• 1/2 c peanut butter (I use all natural - crunchy or smooth works)
• 1/2 c unsweetened shredded coconut
• 2 T sugar or honey
• Pinch of salt
• 1/2 c chocolate chips
• 1 T peanut butter

Crush graham crackers to crumbs. If you like things super smooth, use a blender or food processor. If you like things more chunky like me, just throw them in your mixer and let it crush them down for you (plus less dishes to wash after:). Add the coconut oil, 1/2 c peanut butter, coconut, sugar/honey, and pinch of salt. Press mixture into an 8x8 glass baking dish for thinner bars, or a bread pan for thicker bars (pre-oiled or sprayed with cooking spray).

Melt the chocolate chips plus 1 T peanut butter and drizzle over the top and put in the fridge or freezer to set up. Make sure to cut into bars before they are frozen solid (speaking from experience, otherwise they break into more of a bark-like dessert...). Keep cold until serving.

 Delicious!

BBQ Chicken Stir-Fry

A few years ago a friend shared a BBQ chicken kabob recipe with me. I was pregnant at the time and it actually sounded yummy to me so I wanted it THAT NIGHT! But I had no skewers. So I turned it into sitr-fry instead. About a year later our family started making lots of changes in the way we ate, moving towards a whole foods diet. My palate changed and the original recipe became way too sweet for me. So I started changing things up each time we ate this meal, and here's our version today....the version we all love (even if my boys end up eating just the chicken, rice, and pineapples!).

Ingredients:

• 2 T olive oil
• 1 red onion, cut into bite sized pieces
• 3 bell peppers (a combination of different colors is my favorite), cut into bite sized pieces
• 1 cup cherry tomatoes
• 1/2 small, fresh pineapple, cut into bite sized pieces
• 1 cup diced cooked chicken
• 1 T + garlic salt (taste test to your liking)
• 1/4 BBQ sauce, mixed with 1/4 c water (if you like things really sweet, you can mix it with orange juice, but that's way too sweet for my palate)

Directions:

Heat olive oil in a large skillet to medium high heat. Add the onion and pepper (you want them sizzling when they hit the pan so make sure it's preheated well) and cook for 3-4 minutes until crisp tender. Add your tomatoes and pineapple, and cook for another 3-4 minutes (I like to wait until the cherry tomatoes are bursting). Add your cooked chicken and garlic salt. Taste test to see if you need more garlic salt. When everything is heated through add the BBQ sauce/water mixture and allow it to cook down for a couple more minutes. Serve over brown rice, quinoa, or even with pasta.

Avocado Pasta

A yummy, quick, satisfying pasta dish we refer to as "Super Hero Pasta" because of the green color (think little boys and the Green Lantern...). The original recipe for the sauce comes from here (so no, I am not claiming this as my original recipe!!!!), but we usually triple the sauce and use spiral pasta and broccoli florets cooked together for an "easy to eat for babies and kids" dinner. I also switch out the cilantro for basil a lot.

Ingredients:

3 ripe avocados
Juice of two limes, or 2 frozen lime cubes (i sometimes freeze lime juice in ice cube trays in the freezer)
1 heaping tablespoon minced garlic
1 large handful cilantro or basil (both are yummy in the end - just produce slightly different flavors)
2 t good salt
1 package spiral pasta
2 more t good salt (for seasoning the pasta and broccoli)
3 c broccoli florets (chopped into bite sized pieces)

Directions:

Cook pasta according to package directions, adding a couple of teaspoons of salt to the cooking water. With about 5 minutes left of cooking time, add the broccoli. Strain everything together.

In a blender, combine the avocados, lime juice, cilantro, and salt. You may need to use the tamper to get things mixing well.

Combine pasta, broccoli, and sauce in a larger serving dish. We eat this alone or with fruit and rolls.

French Toast

Another easy, filling breakfast we eat often.

Ingredients:

• 4 eggs
• 1+ c milk (we use rice or coconut, and I just eyeball the amount - want it thin enough to soak into the bread quickly but not runny))
• 1 t cinnamon
• Whole wheat bread (usually around 10 slices, depending on how much liquid each slice soaks up)

Directions:

Preheat griddle to 350. In a mixing bowl combine the eggs, milk, and cinnamon. Dip each slice of bread and cook on the griddle. Our favorite way to serve is with coconut oil, maple syrup, and fruit.

Simple Pasta

Another quick, simple, yummy, dinner that I can change up according to what I have on hand. If I am using up leftover ingredients (like the chicken, veggies, and pasta) this is a one-skillet meal too:).

Ingredients:

• 2 T olive oil
• 1-2 c (or more) diced yellow squash (or whatever veggies I have...broccoli, zucchini, peppers, onions, or even frozen veggies if I'm really in a bind)
• 1 T minced garlic
• Salt & Pepper
•  1 c cooked, shredded chicken (I'll use leftover after I cook a whole chicken, cook a frozen chicken breast, or eliminate for a meatless meal)
• 1-2 T balsamic or red wine vinegar
• Pasta (leftover or make some; spaghetti, penne, whatever I have on hand)

Directions:

Heat olive oil in a large skillet. Add the veggies, garlic, salt, and pepper and cook until veggies are crisp-tender (varies depending on the veggie). Add the chicken (if already cooked, otherwise cook before the veggies), vinegar, and pasta and heat through.

Savory Quinoa

This is my favorite way to prepare quinoa for hot meals.

Ingredients:

• 3 c chicken stock (homemade is my fave, and chicken broth or water work if I don't have any)
• 2 c quinoa, rinsed well in cold water
• 1 t good salt
• 1-2 t Costco No-Salt Seasoning Mix (or other version)

Rinse quinoa in cold water in fine-mesh sieve. Bring stock to a boil in a saucepan. Once boiling, add the quinoa and spices. Cover and turn heat to low. Cook for 20-30 minutes or until quinoa is fluffy.

Quinoa with Garlic Spinach

This is a great throw together, quick meal, and many of the ingredients can be changed out according to what I have on hand.

Ingredients:

• 1 T olive oil
• 1/2 red onion (or other color onion)
• 5-6 fresh tomatoes diced, or 1 can diced tomatoes (depending on what I need to use up/have on hand)
• 1 heaping T minced garlic
• 1 can or 2 cups chickpeas or white beans
• 5-6 cups spinach (or more!)
• 2 c cooked quinoa (or brown rice)

Heat the olive oil on med-high heat and add everything else. Simmer until everything smells good or longer. Then add LOTS of spinach (I usually fill my pan as full as I can and then add more when everything cooks down). Cover and turn heat to low. After the spinach has cooked down stir everything together and serve over quinoa.

Honey Bunches of Oatmeal

Totally a cheesy name, I know, but Honey Bunches of Oats has always been one of my favorite cereals and it has taken me a long time to make a habit of eating oatmeal regularly (it's so much better for me than the boxed cereal, and keeps our bellies full a lot longer too). So I created my own version of the cereal using oatmeal and named it this to remind me:).

Ingredients:

• Bowl of oatmeal (cook with water or milk)
• 1 T coconut oil
• 1 T raw honey
• Dash of cinnamon
• Good handful of slivered almonds (I like lots of crunch - not a mushy oatmeal fan at all)

Mix together and enjoy.

Preschool Pancakes

We eat these probably 3 mornings a week or more. I started making them when Austin started preschool and would not eat anything "filling" for breakfast...he just wanted a piece of toast every morning and I knew that would not keep him powered up. So I tweaked a German pancake recipe we had a bit and came up with this. I usually top each piece with coconut oil and give my kids a little pure maple syrup on the side to dip their's in. I usually eat my piece with a little coconut oil and fresh fruit.

Ingredients:

• 6 eggs
• 1 cup milk (we use rice or coconut, but any should work)
• 1 cup flour (usually whole wheat or spelt here which makes them more dense, so use white if you want them super fluffy)
• 1-2 t salt

Mix everything together and pour into a greased baking pan. Bake at 375 for 20 minutes. Cut in pieces and top with whatever sounds good that day.

Chocolate Chip Pecan Honey Cookies

Since we have two littles with dairy issues, I had to find a chocolate chip cookie recipe using coconut oil instead of butter (since I don't do margarine). I found this recipe, but tweaked it when I was going through an anti-sugar-natural-sweeteners-only kick and used honey instead. The result was fabulous, moist, and this has become one of my most requested recipes.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup softened Virgin Coconut Oil
• 1 cup Honey
• 2 Eggs
• 2 teaspoons Vanilla
• 2 1/4 cups Flour (I often use whole wheat or spelt for our family; the end result is a little more flat but for everyday eating we don't care and they still taste fabulous)
• 1 cup Pecans, ground
• 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
• 1 teaspoon Salt
• 1 1/2 cups Chocolate Chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a stand mixer or with an electric mixer, cream oil and honey. Add eggs and vanilla until well combined. Slowly add the flour, ground pecans, baking soda, salt, and chocolate chips until just combined. Scoop tablespoon sized cookies onto cookie sheet (silpat mats work best with these cookies). Bake at 350 for 9-11 minutes, until slightly golden around edges.

Asian Lettuce Wraps

Meatless, but still filling and definitely delicious, I threw this dish together one night when I realized I didn't have half the ingredients listed (including the meat) in the original recipe I wanted to try. I think mine turned out better anyways:).

Ingredients:

• 1 T oil (use a REAL one like grapeseed, olive, or coconut)
• 3 T minced red onion
• 2 T minced garlic
• 1-2 T minced ginger root (acoording to your taste; can use powder but fresh is better)
• 2 cans chickpeas (or the equivalent if you cook your own)
• 2 cups chopped spinach
• 1 T sesame oil (sesame adds a subtle richness and flavor that's hard to replicate, but you could substitute another if you don't have any on hand)
• 1-2 T rice wine vinegar
• 1-2 T Thai Kitchen Sweet Red Chili Sauce (if you want more heat try chili garlic sauce instead)
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1-2 Heads of lettuce (I usually use romaine but boston or butter lettuce would work well too)

In a large frying pan heat your oil on med-high heat and add the red onion, garlic and ginger. Cook for a couple minutes and then add your chickpeas and spinach. Salt and pepper now (you'll probably do it again later, but I like to do a little throughout).

After the spinach cooks down drizzle on your sesame oil and add the rice wine vinegar. Add your chili sauce and give everything a good stir.

Cover, turn the heat down to low, and let everything simmer for a few minutes while you get your lettuce ready.

Before serving, I like to mash my chickpeas down a bit so everything sticks together better. Salt and pepper again if needed.

Fill a piece (or two or four) of lettuce with the filling and enjoy as an appetizer, or with fried rice and some fruit for a meal.