Roasted Carrots, Onions, & Beets

A yummy veggie side dish when beets are in season.

Ingredients:

4-6 large carrots, peeled and sliced thin
4-6 beets, peeled and sliced thin
1 large white or yellow onion,sliced thin
2-3 T olive oil
1 T minced garlic
1 T sage
Salt and pepper (to taste - can add more after roasting if needed)

Preheat oven to 425. Mix everything together and spread on a cookie sheet. Roast in preheated oven about 20 minutes or until veggies are fork tender.

Mini Chocolate Tarts

If you  like chocolate, these are for you. Idea came from here.


Crust:

1 1/4 c almonds
1/2 c unsweetened shredded coconut
pinch of salt
2 T maple syrup
2 T coconut oil, melted

Preheat oven to 375. In food processor, process almonds to a fine meal (not almond butter). Add coconut and salt and process for a few seconds, then add maple syrup and coconut oil and process until combined in  sticky clumps (add more coconut oil and maple syrup if needed). Spoon crust into greased mini-muffin tin, pressing down. Crust should fill each hole about 1/3-1/2 of the way up. Bake for 10 min, or until golden brown. Let cool.

Filling:

1/2 can full fat coconut milk
1 c dark chocolate chips
1 tsp vanilla

In a saucepan, bring the coconut milk to a boil. Pour chocolate chips in a separate bowl and pour boiling milk over. Let it sit for a minute, then whisk together. Add vanilla and continue stirring until smooth. Spoon filling on top of mini-crusts in muffin tin.

Topping:

1/4 c chopped nuts (my favorites are macadamia nuts and pistachios, but almonds and walnuts are delicious too)
1/4 c unsweetened shredded coconut

Toast nuts and coconut on stove-top. Sprinkle on top of filling. Refrigerate mini-tarts until solid, and pop out just before serving. You can freeze them too.

Butternut Squash Soup

This is the first vegetable soup all four of my boys loved and devoured. It's going on this blog for sure. Adapted from this recipe.

Ingredients:

1 small or half a large onion
1-2 tsp minced garlic
1 T chili powder
Salt and pepper
4 cups chicken stock
1 can white beans
1 small to medium butternut squash, cooked and cut into chunks

Directions:

Sauté onions and garlic in a pot. When onions are nice and cooked through, add some salt, pepper, the chili powder, and chicken stock. Bring to a boil and add beans and squash. Simmer for a few minutes (longer is probably better). Before serving, blend with an immersion blender or regular blender. Add more salt and pepper to taste. We love eating this with blue corn chips.

Sweet Potato Spelt Doughnuts (Baked)

I admit it....my kids are sheltered when it comes to food. They helped me make these doughnuts and were absolutely excited and pleased with the end result. To those used to a traditional doughnut, these are very different. But if you want a wholesome, sweet, yummy treat without the crud in regular doughnuts, these are perfect. We sprinkled ours with cinnamon sugar at the end, but you are always welcome to dredge them in some type of frosting. No need here though. Like I said, we are a little sheltered:).

Adapted from this recipe:

Ingredients:

4 cups spelt flour
1 T baking powder
1 t salt
1 t baking soda
1 t cinnamon
1 t ginger powder
1 t nutmeg (about 1/2 of a whole one if your using fresh)
1/2 cup coconut oil
3/4 cup honey (you can add more if you prefer really sweet, but the cinnamon sugar at the end gave us plenty of sweetness)
3-4 medium-small sweet potatoes, cooked and mashed (about 1 1/2 to 2 cups)
4 eggs
1/4 cup milk
2 t vanilla

Mix together the dry ingredients. In a separate mixing bowl (I used my KitchenAid) beat together the coconut oil, honey, and sweet potatoes until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, milk, and vanilla. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet until combined. Spoon mixture into a doughnut pan, or if you don't have one like me, spoon into a Ziplock, cut one corner of the bag, and squeeze mixture out onto a Silpat mat in large circle shapes. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar (you can even brush a little more coconut oil on first to help it stick) or frost as desired. Soooooooo yummy, and you still feel great after eating:).

Pumpkin Kamut Spice Cake

This cake is moist and mildly sweet-perfect for my sweet tooth that doesn't like things too sweet:). Adapted from a Better Homes and Gardens recipe, mine is much more whole foodish, although I still used a small amount of sugar in the cake and powdered sugar in the frosting. I've been experimenting with kamut and have found I can substitute pretty much directly for whole wheat.

Cake Ingredients:


2 cups kamut flour (or whole wheat)
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 cup coconut oil
2 eggs
2/3 cups sugar
1 cup pumpkin purée
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup coconut milk mixed with 1 tablespoon lemon juice

Glaze Ingredients

3/4 cup coconut oil
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:

Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and spices. In a separate mixing bowl beat coconut oil and eggs until well combined (I do this in my Kitchen Aid). Add the sugar, pumpkin, vanilla, and coconut milk and combine again. Add the dry ingredient to the wet and pour into a greased 9 by 13. Bake at 350 for 35 minutes.

For the glaze, melt the coconut oil in a saucepan on the stovetop. Add the powdered sugar and dissolve, stirring constantly. Turn off heat and add the vanilla. Drizzle over the cake when the cake comes out of the oven and let both cool together.

Enjoy:).

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!