Month: August 2017

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Superfood Chocolate Protein Smoothie

This smoothie makes a great afternoon snack for my often ravenous boys.  This makes 4-6 servings.  I’ve made different variations on this, but this one is my favorite.

2 Cups water

1/2 C almonds

1/4 C hemp seeds

1/2 cup salted peanuts or natural peanut butter

2-3 very ripe bananas (frozen is best)

1/2 cup blueberries (again, frozen is best)

3 TBSP cocoa powder

1 tsp vanilla

3-4 cups power greens mix

Blend all ingredients on high until smooth.  Since bananas are the main sweetener, start with two and add more if it isn’t sweet enough.  If you don’t have frozen bananas or blueberries, start with some ice and fill your blender to 2 cups to keep the smoothie cool.  This is my favorite combination, but if you don’t have all the ingredients, try some substitutions.  The cocoa and bananas help cover all kinds of interesting flavors.

I always freeze my greens in ziploc bags as soon as I get them home from the store.  That way they are always fresh and ready when I need them and I don’t lose any to the wilty mess in the bottom of the bag.

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Exact Measurements Guacamole

Most Guacamole recipes can be vague – half an onion, a clove of garlic, juice of a lime, salt to taste.  This is okay, but when you’re making a big batch for a party, you want to get it pretty much right the first time.  And if then, why not every time?

I bought 18 avocados at Sprouts today! Good sale and I needed them!

2 1/4 cup (10.5 oz) diced avocado (about 3 small avocados)
1/2 tsp green tabasco sauce (I like this in place of diced jalapeno)
2 TBSP lime juice
1/2 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp sea salt
2 tsp fresh garlic, minced
2 TBSP (1.5 oz) diced red onion
1/4 C chopped cilantro

Mash with potato masher two avocados with tabasco, lime juice, cumin, sea salt and garlic. Give it a good stir to make sure seasonings are well incorporated, then fold in remaining avocado, onion and cilantro.  Refrigerate for at least 30 min before serving.

If you are in the mood for improvisation, a scoop of sour cream works great to prevent browning.  Also diced roma tomato can be added.

Emergency Guac:

When I’m in a hurry I’ll mash two avocados with the juice of half a lime, 1/2 tsp garlic salt and a few shakes of green tabasco.  Pretty tasty and fast but not what I want to take to a party.

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Hearty Vegetable Chili

My kids actually like this vegetable chili.  Woohoo! Adapated from America’s Test Kitchen Family Cookbook.  I will also put leftovers over rice or quinoa and top with cheese sauce to turn it into a casserole–just heat in the oven until warm.

2 TBSP vegetable oil
1 onion minced
1 red bell pepper chopped
1 zucchini chopped
1 yellow squash chopped
2 garlic cloves minced
1 1⁄2 TBSP chili powder
1 15 oz can tomato sauce
1 can kidney beans rinsed
1 can black beans rinsed
1 cup vegetable broth
2 TBSP minced cilantro optional

Cook onion and bell pepper in oil over medium high heat until softened, about three minutes. Add zucchini and squash and cook until browned, 5-7 minutes. Stir in garlic and chili powder until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add sauce, beans and broth and simmer for ten minutes. Add 2 TBSP minced cilantro; season with salt and pepper to taste.
I added about 3/4 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp chipotle tabasco.
Chipotle Tabasco is the BEST flavor for soups and stews.  If you add just a few shakes or 1/4 tsp or so, it adds great flavor without being spicy.  Of course you can add more if you want it spicy!
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“Cheesy” Rice

I created this not long ago and got an enthusiastic “Make this again, Mom!”  Will do!  I’ve tried a ton of different plant-based macaroni and cheese recipes.  They are tasty but nothing will ever taste exactly like a box of mac and cheese.  I’m okay with that, but putting this sauce on brown rice creates a similarly satisfying combination without the expectation that it taste exactly like the box.

2 cups uncooked brown rice, cooked

1-2 lbs cooked broccoli, normandy mix or your favorite vegetables

1 recipe Smoky Butternut Squash Soup

Simply pour the soup over the cooked rice and vegetables and you have delicious warm comfort food.  Serve immediately or can also be reheated later in a casserole dish in the oven (30-40 min at 350).

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Smoky Butternut Squash Soup

This soup has it all–healthy, easy and even the kids like it.  Chipotle Tabasco is the secret ingredient here, it lends a wonderfully complex flavor but isn’t spicy in this amount. This is a great soup to keep on hand in the freezer and reheat in the rice cooker.
Serves: 10

Ingredients

  • 2 cups diced onion (about 1 large)
  • 1 TBSP olive oil
  • 4 cups (1 quart) low-sodium vegetable broth
  • 8 cups diced butternut squash (about 1 medium squash or 2 lbs precut squash)
  • 1 tsp chipotle tabasco sauce
  • 1 cup raw unsalted cashews
  • 1 tsp smoked paprika
  • sea salt to taste I like about 1 to 1 1/2 tsp

Directions

  1. Saute onion in olive oil for 3-5 min until soft. Add broth and squash and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until squash is soft, about 25-30 min. Turn heat off and stir in cashews. Allow cashews to soften for about 5 min, meanwhile add salt, paprika and tabasco to blender. Puree soup in batches in high speed blender, using caution to allow steam to escape. Adjust seasonings to taste and serve.
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Super fast you’d never believe its vegan broccoli “cheese” soup

This soup is so fast, tasty, satisfying and healthy!!

1 lb cooked broccoli
1-2 roasted red peppers (optional)
1 quart vegetable broth
1 cup cashews (preferably raw unsalted)
3 tbsp nutritional yeast (I get this at sprouts by the spices or order on Amazon)
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
Few dashes chipotle Tabasco
1/2 tsp sea salt
Cooked quinoa (optional) brown rice would work too.

I cook my quinoa on the white rice setting of my rice cooker. It generally takes 20-30 minutes so if I do that first it can be cooking while I make everything else.

Cook your broccoli if it’s not already cooked.

Add remaining ingredients to blender. If you have a Blendtec or Vitamix you can run it on high for three minutes to heat, but your broccoli and quinoa should be hot as well. Or you can blend until smooth and heat on the stove. Once mixture is smooth, pulse in broccoli to desired consistency and stir in quinoa if using (if the broccoli is the right size no one will know the quinoa is there). Heat if needed, adjust seasonings to taste and enjoy!

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Blueberry Kale Smoothie

Adapted from this Tastes like Ice Cream Kale Smoothie on healthyblenderrecipes.com

Scant 1/4 C pitted dates
1 cup filtered water
1-2 cups baby kale (I like the bagged version)
1/2 cup raw unsalted cashews or pistachios, soaked
2 medium bananas
pinch of sea salt
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 cups frozen blueberries or mixed berries

optional boosters:
1 tsp minced ginger
1 TBSP chia, flax or hemp seeds

My kids were not too crazy about the original Tastes like ice cream version, but when I left out the ginger and used berries in place of the ice, it took on a whole new taste and went over pretty well.  That ginger sure is super healthy but we have to get used to it’s strong flavor.

If the bananas and berries are frozen you will have difficulty blending.  Berries can be thawed, water can be hot, or bananas can be fresh to make this quick and easy.

I like to warm up the water in a glass measuring cup and put the dates and nuts in while I prep the rest of the ingredients.  Then I pour the glass in with the water, dates and nuts and typically those few minutes soften them enough for the Blendtec.

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Avocado Pasta

My best method for getting fresh garlic into all of my kids!  They love it!!

12 oz pasta
about 1 TBSP salt for pasta water

2 cups frozen corn
1 can black beans

Sauce:
1 cup unsweetened original almond milk
1 large avocado
2 cloves garlic, minced (about 1 1/2 tsp)
1/2 tsp sea salt

Cook pasta according to package directions.  Meanwhile, put corn and beans in colander, rinse with warm water to thaw corn.  Then blend milk, avocado, garlic and salt until smooth.

When pasta is done cooking, you can pour it into the same colander which will take care of any corn that is still frozen.  Return corn, beans and pasta to pot and mix with sauce.

You could certainly make this healthier by swapping out the pasta for zoodles, quinoa, etc.  But I haven’t come up with anything my kids will devour this quickly so we’ll stick to it for now.

You could mix in diced avocado, cilantro, mango, tomatoes . . . the possibilities are endless here!

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Super Healthy & Easy Slow Cooker Refried Beans and Nachos

I’ve been on a nachos kick lately . . .it is our go-to “we’re starving” after 1:00 church meal.  It takes some planning to make it this way, but it’s just 10-15 min here and 10-15 min there and a great way to get all kinds of healthy stuff into an easy meal.

The beans take some planning, but it’s a piece of cake to make a large batch and keep them in the freezer.  I whip up the cheese sauce the day before and the guacamole the morning of.  Then I just make the salsa in the blender and we have a  really tasty meal and leftovers.  But it’s also the kind of meal you can take a lot of short cuts on, as in a can of beans and jar of salsa and diced avocado.  So it works for what you need.

Adapted from: www.kitchentreaty.com  She blends hers up with the cooking liquid, but I like to cook the beans first then drain off most of the cooking liquid to keep the gas as minimal as possible.

1 pound dry pinto beans
3 cups vegetable broth + a little more for thinning, if desired
4-5 medium cloves garlic, peeled and sliced
1 whole onion cut into large chunks
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 fresh lime (optional)

Cover beans in water and soak overnight, discarding any odd beans

Rinse beans and cook in water for several hours with 1 tsp salt and half of the onion cut into large chunks until mostly soft  (this can be done both on the stove top or in a crock pot).

Rinse beans again and return to pot/crockpot.  Add remaining ingredients (including the other half of the onion) except salt.  If needed, add additional water to cover beans.

Simmer for several more hours until beans are very soft and beans are flavorful.

Blend in batches, or use an immersion blender or bean masher to reach desired consistency. Add salt to taste.

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The BEST whole-food/plant-based chocolate treat

I have experimented with a lot of things — there are a lot of whole foods treats out there but since finding this I have stopped looking.  A lot of “healthy” treats use a lot of coconut oil and natural sweeteners like maple syrup.  And while I am not opposed to these I do believe there are even better options.  These brownie bites/chocolate totally satisfy the craving for a chocolate treat but have a lot more nutrition than most things!

We love this recipe as written:

Detoxinista’s Raw Brownie Bites

But we also discovered that you can add additional water to make more of a thick chocolate mousse.  We serve this in small bowls and top with berries, toasted slivered almonds & coconut and cashew cream.  It makes for a decadent yet nutrient-dense treat.