Heaven in a Pot

So, I’m having one of “those” kind of weeks. You know what I’m talking about. Nothing seems right, the kids are a little wild, I haven’t cooked one meal from the menu, we just had peanut butter and honey sandwiches with a carrot for lunch (again!), laundry is pouring out of the laundry room, I haven’t seen the bottom of my sink in a week, I was a royal b*%@& to the Man last night and all I really want to do is watch Felicity re-runs on Netflix. I know, its bad. When I have these little moments in life, it usually has something to do with hormones or season changes. Some of you are thinking, “She is so weird”, while others are yelling, “Me too! Me too!” Well, I have a little treat for the  “Me too”s out there! It is called heaven in a pot… at least it should be. If you’ve read the menus, you know I’m a little on the healthy side (or I pretend to be): I don’t eat ice cream,  I don’t devour a bag a chips, I try to hold myself back from mountains of chocolate. (Try is the key word, people!) Well, when I’m in a funk like this, I want to cry, I want chocolate, I want something REALLY REALLY bad for me… but then I think of how miserable I’ll feel after I consume something horrible for me. So, (enter stage right): heaven in a pot. I almost shed a tear today when I tasted it because it was what I NEEDED! My world was in harmony J Here you go “Me too”s, this one’s for you!! (Okay, and the “She’s weird”s too!)

Heaven in a Pot:

      In a saucepan, mix together 1/3 c. maple syrup, 1/3 c. almond milk and ¼ c. cocoa, bring it to a gentle boil and let it simmer for about 3 minutes. Add 3 tbsp organic peanut butter or almond butter to the mix and stir until its melted into the mixture. Once its well mixed, remove from heat, let it cool for about 5 minutes then stir in 1 tsp vanilla and if you just need an AMAZING chocolate sauce to dip fruit in, you’re done. If you want a cookie style treat, mix in 1 ½ c. oats. Spoon cookies onto a plate and refrigerate. In about 30 minutes it’s cool enough to munch on. Or you could eat it out of the pan with a spoon, like I did J

I got this recipe from Forks Over Knives.

Red Pepper Risotto

I love risottos and according to this website it is gluten free and a decent protein source, win-win! I don’t think it has much in the way of fiber so mixing in some fiber-full veggies sure does make it almost perfect!

Ingredients:

3 large red bell peppers (this is a good time of year to get them cheap! In the winter, 1 organic red bell pepper will cost you a fortune!)

2 tablespoons coconut oil

3 large garlic cloves, thinly sliced

2 handfuls chopped spinach

About 20 oz diced tomatoes

2 bay leaves

5-6 1/2 c. veggie stock

2 ½ c. Arborio rice

6 fresh basil leaves

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Place your whole peppers on a broiling pan and broil in the oven until the skins are blackened and blistered all over. Put the peppers in a bowl and cover them with a damp paper towels. Set them aside for about 10 minutes. After the 10 minutes, peel off the skins and slice the peppers thinly. Toss out the core and seeds. Heat oil in a large saucepan. (I have a wide pan about 6 or 7 inches deep that is perfect.) Next add the garlic and tomatoes; gently cook for about 5 minutes. Add the pepper slices, spinach and bay leaves, cook for 15 minutes stirring occasionally. In a separate heavy, large saucepan, add the stock and heat until simmering. Now, put the rice in with veggies and stir and cook for about 2 minutes. Add about 2 or 3 ladlefuls of the hot stock to the rice/veggie mixture, cook while stirring occasionally until all the stock is absorbed. Continue to add the stock this way. Make sure all the stock is absorbed before adding more. Once the rice is tender, season with salt and pepper, remove from heat and let stand for 10 minutes before stirring in the basil… this will also help keep your kids from searing their tongues. An added benefit!

Go to smoothie recipe

Smoothies are one of my favorite go to breakfasts. It is delicious, healthy, raw goodness! Here is our traditional smoothie:

¾ c. ground flax (I grind mine in our coffee grinder)

1 handful fresh spinach

1 handful fresh kale (with the spines removed)

2 bananas

6 bid strawberries, quartered

1 c. almond milk

1-2 c. ice

I put the ingredients into my ninja in the order listed so that the heavy ingredients will press down the not-so-heavy ones. Put all the ingredients in your blender, minus the ice, blend away. Once you have a nice liquid, add the ice and blend until it is all chopped up. This makes enough for small smoothies for the five of us. 

Thai Red Curry

I’ve been making Thai Curry for YEARS! I LOVE LOVE LOVE it! I have thought a time or two about getting adventurous and making my own curry paste but I have yet to take the plunge. There’s always next time, right? Ha! Anyway, this is one recipe that we turned vegetarian quite some time ago because we could put so much other goodness in it. It doesn’t taste exactly like a Thai restaurant but it is pretty darn close! Maybe when I make my own… or maybe not.

Here’s what you need:

2 cans coconut milk

3 tbsp red curry paste (less if you don’t want it hot)

1-2 tbsp fish sauce (I can forgo this one but it does add a very authentic flavor)

1 tbsp agave or sucanat

1 sliced red bell pepper

2 sliced zucchini

½ c frozen peas

1 small can sliced bamboo

Salt

Start off by pouring your coconut milk into a large skillet or saucepan. Add the red curry and whisk it into the milk. Let simmer for 4-5 minutes then add the fish sauce and sweetener of your choice. Let these guys mix together and simmer for a few more minutes. Next add in your veggies: pepper, zucchini, bamboo and peas. (You can add other veggies too, whatever needs to be used in the frige) Salt to taste. Let it cook until your veggies are tender and delicious! Serve it over some brown basmati rice and you have a treat!

Week 3

I have officially been meat-less (and mostly dairy-free) for 2 weeks and I can’t tell you how great it feels. I don’t have cravings like I used to, no heavy bloated feeling after meals, blemishes on my face have cleared up, I have TONS more energy, just to name a few! Well, here is the menu for week 3, I am buying up new cookbooks left and right to get more inspiration, so if you have any cookbooks that you love, please, pass the title along!

Monday

Breakfast: sucanat, raisin oatmeal

Lunch: We’re eating at Your Dekalb Farmers Market (if you’re in the Atlanta area, CHECK IT OUT!!!!)

Dinner: Thai Red Curry

Tuesday

Breakfast: banana, strawberry, flax, spinach smoothie

Lunch: good ol’ almond butter and honey sammie on homemade whole wheat bread

the tried and true :)

Dinner: Tuesday Night Dinner (this may need explaining!)

Wednesday

Breakfast: fruit salad (pineapple, cantaloupe, bananas)

Lunch: Avocado, Spinach Grilled Cheese Sandwich

Dinner: Red Pepper Risotto

Thursday

Breakfast: Vegan Quiche, yep, you read that correctly J

Lunch: Red Lentil Wraps

Dinner: Szechwan Eggplant

Friday

Breakfast: homemade Musli

Lunch: Veggies with Aunt Margaret's Black Bean DIp (I'll post the recipe if I get permission from the creator!)

Best dip ever!

Here is my picky eater! And this is the lunch
she devoured! 

Dinner: Pizza for the kids, Veg Spaghetti for me!

I will post the rest of the recipes hopefully by tomorrow morning :) I hope you all have a great week! Good health to you!

Banana Nut Muffins

 This is a variation from my mother-in-law’s amazing banana bread recipe.  I love to experiment with family recipes to make them into something healthy while maintaining their yumminess J

½ c. sucanat

½ c. honey

½ c. butter

2 eggs

4 REALLY ripe/rotten bananas

1/8 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soad

2 c. flour blend (1 part coconut flour, 1 part almond flour, 1 part whole wheat flour, 1 part quinoa flour- sometimes I vary how much of each I use, but ½ c. of each is fairly standard)

½ c. crushed walnuts (optional)

Mix together the sucanat, honey and butter in a mixer. Add eggs, one at a time. Mash your bananas and then add them to the sugar mixture. Ina separate bowl, combine the salt, soda and your flour blend. Add the flour to the banana mixture followed by the nuts. Pour the mixture into 3 mini loaf pans and cook for about 45 minutes at 350 degrees. Ovens vary, so be sure to watch your bread the first time you bake it. Also, honey darkens faster than regular sugar so if your bread begins to get darker than you like it, lay a piece of foil over the bread. If you want muffins, cook at 325 for about 20 minutes. Enjoy!

Homemade Larabars!

We make these delightful treats called Date Bars because that is what they are. I have one friend whose family refers to them as dookie balls, yes dookie, because she rolls hers into balls… and other reasons. Anyways, this is the homemade version of a Larabar, so you can put whatever you want in it until you like the consistency. You’ll eat them all in one day, I have no doubt.

• 1 ½ c. pitted dates (I have pitted my own before, not worth it, pay $2 for the pitted ones)
• ½- 3/4 c. various nuts (ex: almonds, pistachios, cashews, walnuts, whatever floats your boat)
• ½ c. coconut
• 2 tbsp coconut oil
• Whatever else you want to put in (choco-chips, cocoa, oats, grated carrot, seriously, whatever sounds good to you in the moment)

Just after adding the coconut!

In your food processor (I use a ninja, its amazing) first toss in the nuts and give them a good grinding. Next put in the dates, I do it a little at a time because too much might just make it into a ball… of dookie, no, just kidding, but some times it will just clump together instead of mixing in with the nuts. So a scoop at a time. Next add the coconut and oil and your ‘extras’ and process away. The end product should stick together nicely but if for some reason it’s too dry add a little more oil and give it another whirl. At this point you can scoop the contents of your processing bowl into a small, glass, baking dish. Cut into pieces and serve. I refrigerate it afterwards just to keep it extra firm. Or you can roll them into balls… easier to transport, I hear. My kids think they’re cookies… success. 

Sleepy face :)