Cauliflower Pizza Crust- healthified!

A very smart client/friend once asked me why people eat cauliflower pizza crust thinking it's healthy, when anyone knows that with ALL THAT CHEESE there's no way that junk is "healthy". Well, she's a smart cookie and here is a truly healthy pizza crust, and it's yummy!

Ingredients:
3 heads cauliflower florets
2 eggs
1.5 cup almond meal
1 tsp salt
1 tsp garlic powder
1 T italian seasoning

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Stick the florets into a food processor until it's totally "riced". Pour the cauliflower rice into a large pot, cover with water, boil, the cover and reduce heat to simmer for 5 minutes. Drain the cauliflower, and if you'd like, freeze to cool it off. Otherwise, just use a cheesecloth to strain out all the liquid so that the cauliflower is totally dry. Pour that mixture into big mixing bowl, add the rest of the ingredients, and mix. Press into 2 pizza dishes in whatever shape you'd like, but not thinner than 1/4 inch. Cook for 30 minutes, then top, and cook just to heat the ingredients of your choice, and serve!

The Perfect Pumpkin (Zucchini) Chocolate Chip Bread

My mother-in-law has the most amazing pumpkin chocolate chip bread recipe. It's so great that my mouth waters every time I think about it. I have been wondering how to make it healthier, as it is totally filled with a load of butter and sugar. I even enlisted the help of my friend Caroline over at Chocolate and Carrots who had some great ideas to healthify the recipe. I scoured the internet for recipes that sounded like they would work, as I don't really have the time to do complete recipe overhauls. I was surprised to find a version of this recipe over at Love.Health.Fitness and it was absolutely perfect! My mother-in-law's recipe also had a chocolate glaze on it, but after tasting this version, it actually doesn't need it at all. So delicious, and so healthy!

1.5 cups flour (I used Pamela's brand GF baking mix)
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp xanthan gum
big pinches of nutmeg, clove, and ginger
3/4 cup canned pumpkin
1 cup shredded zucchini (squeeze dried)
1/3 cup maple syrup
1 T coconut oil
1 egg
1/2 cup milk (I used flax milk)
1/2 cup chocolate chips

Mix the dry ingredients together, then toss in the zucchini and make sure it is coated evenly. Then mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, pour into a greased loaf pan and bake for 55 minutes at 350 degrees.

My Favorite Waffles

I love a good waffle. However, for me to love a waffle, it has to be protein-dense, healthy, nearly sugarless, and taste perfect with crispness on the outside and softness on the inside. These matched my definition of a great waffle perfectly. I have been loving Teff flour lately, the grain the keeps me full for an incredibly long time. So, I threw in some teff and they worked wonderfully in these waffles. I also quadrupled the recipe and froze several waffles so I can just pop them in the toaster when I want them. Works beautifully.

Ingredients:
3/4 cup Tapioca Flour
1/2 cup Sorghum Flour
1/2 cup gluten free Oat Flour
1/3 cup Teff Flour
2 tsp xanthan gum
1 T baking powder
1 tsp salt
3 T sugar
1 cup almond milk, plus more for desired consistency
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 T melted butter from grass-fed cows
dash of cinnamon
coconut oil spray (or whatever you prefer to grease your waffle iron)

Combine and blend all dry ingredients in a large bowl. In a smaller bowl, stir the liquid ingredients. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients gradually, until well blended and smooth. You may need to add more milk to get the desired thickness, as this usually tends to be very thick. Allow mixture to sit for at least 30 minutes before cooking. I enjoy these waffles with strawberries (I buy organic frozen strawberries, and cook them in a small saucer until they are slightly runny) and a small dripping of pure maple syrup.

Paleo Spaghetti Squash simple pasta

I have been wanting to try this for a long time. Recently, many friends have been telling me to give it a go, that I would really like it. I'll admit, I'm still not a huge fan of the texture since I'm a big perfect pasta texture person, but this was really delicious all the same.

Ingredients:
2 spaghetti squash, cut into halves with seeds scooped out
2 T olive oil, 1 T butter from grass-fed cows
4 cloves garlic
salt and pepper and crushed red pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake the squash cut side down (after the seeds have been removed) for 30 minutes. While that is baking, saute the rest of the ingredients. Once baked, use a fork to scrap out the "pasta" and scoop into the sauce. Serve with salad and steak and enjoy!

Paleo Coconut Pancakes

There are so many recipes for protein pancakes or "clean eating" pancakes out there that people swear by. I've tried several of them, and I don't see how anyone can get them past the tip of their tongue, much less say how delicious they are. A friend asked me to try out a recipe she found, and although skeptical at first, these turned out to be the most perfect healthy pancake I've ever tried. They are toddler approved by my son, but then again he will eat pretty much anything so long as it's not a prune. These really are healthy too, with all the coconut fiber and several eggs that make up a large protein content. We enjoyed them with a drizzle of honey and they were perfect!

Ingredients:
1/2 cup coconut flour
3 T coconut sugar
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
6 large eggs, beaten
1/4 cup butter from grass-fed cows
1 cup almond milk
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
oil for pan

In a large bowl, whisk flour, sugar, powder, and salt. In a smaller bowl add all liquid ingredients. Mix the liquid into the dry with a whisk and heat a large skillet to medium-high heat. Add 1 T oil to pan, then ladle in large scoops of batter. Once it begins to cook half-way through, flip and cook through on other side. Serve with honey or maple syrup!

Paleo breakfast pudding

I've been on a vegan kick lately, and really enjoyed my new meals. However, my doctor was concerned that although my weight gain is on track for this pregnancy, I tend to gain my weight at the end. I also have a big boy in there apparently, and since I'm going for a much-needed VBAC and I'm a small person, I should focus on the baby gaining the weight necessary for him to be healthy, and not in excess of that. Therefore, I need to slow down and try to cut out all carbs other than fruits and vegetables. I don't have an issue with sugar, since I just put honey in my tea and that's about the extent of my sugar intake. My problem is rice and quinoa pasta. So, paleo it is for the rest of this pregnancy. I'm still keeping it at plant-based and all of my meat and eggs will be organic/grass-fed/free range. I'm not sure why people think paleo is all about meat.... or who came up with that bogus chart with meat on the bottom of the pyramid. You can be Vegan and Paleo if you wanted, it would simply cut out a ton of food groups and wouldn't be incredibly healthy. So anyway, here's to a Paleo rest of my pregnancy!

This is delicious. I actually meant to go a particular store to get coconut yogurt, because it's the only one that carries it. However, I got lazy. As I was making my delicious pineapple smoothie with coconut milk, I saw a recipe on the back of the carton for pudding. I modified it quite a bit, but the end result turned out great! I decided to use this instead of yogurt, and I'm glad I did.

Ingredients:
1/3 cup coconut sugar
1/4 cup tapioca starch (next time I'm using coconut flour to make this truly Paleo)
1/4 tsp salt
3 cups coconut milk (you could also use 5x protein almond milk)
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup ground flax seeds

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, stir the sugar, starch and salt together. Add in the milk slowly and whisk constantly until it comes to a boil. Turn heat down to a simmer and continue to whisk until the pudding thickens. Stir in vanilla and flax seeds and cool. Store, then top with berries or fruit of your choice (I chose berries and walnuts) when ready to serve.

Vegan Black Bean and Microgreen wrap

This was the most delicious lunch I have ever thrown together in my life. Well, make that the most delicious, easiest lunch I've ever thrown together. You don't even need the wrap, but I'm trying to get some calories into my life so that's why I ate it this way. You have got to try this!

1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 yellow onion, chopped
pinch garlic powder
black pepper
pinch cumin
salt
cayenne
1/2 jalapeño, chopped
1/2 cup vegetable broth
pinch chili powder
rice (brown is the best option)
microgreens
I used gluten free Fiesta Wraps made with sorghum flour
cilantro would be a great addition

Sautee the beans and the rest of the ingredients before rice is listed for about 8 minutes, or until liquid is absorbed. On a wrap, layer the rice, then beans, then microgreens and fold. So perfect!

Vegan Eggplant Lasagna

It's not beautiful, but it's delicious and healthy! I posted a recipe a while back for vegetarian lasagna, which was great, but here is the vegan-ified version. I loved it, and my son was all over it, so it's a winner!

Ingredients:

1 medium eggplant, sliced length-wise

salt

4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

black pepper

1 teaspoon parsley

28 oz. can tomatoes

1 medium yellow onion, chopped

3 medium garlic cloves, minced

1 bay leaf

1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes, plus more as needed

salt

1 tablespoon capers

12 ounces GF lasagna noodles, cooked

1 pound soft tofu, drained

2 teaspoons salt, plus more as needed

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more as needed

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Blend tomatoes, onion and garlic in a food processor until smooth, then simmer in a small pot on medium heat. After about 15 minutes, add in bay leaf, red pepper, capers, and parsley, and simmer until you are ready to use the sauce. 
With eggplant spread out on a baking sheet or plate, sprinkle with salt on both sides (not generously). In a pan with olive oil heated over medium heat, layer in the eggplant and cook on each side for about 2 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.

Blend the tofu, salt and black pepper until it resembles ricotta cheese. Set aside.

In a 9x13 casserole dish, layer the sauce, then noodles, then tofu, then eggplant then repeat. Finish with the sauce on top. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 50 minutes. Enjoy!

Vegan Tomato and Kale Soup

On an incredibly cold day, tomato soup is just perfect. I'm not a fan of tomato soup with chunks of veggies normally, but this was delicious.

Ingredients:
28 oz. can of fire-roasted tomatoes
3 cups vegetable broth
1 bunch of kale, chopped
1 1/4 cups rice, cooked (you could also use quinoa)
1 cup frozen pea + sliced carrot blend, organic
2 bay leaves (remove before serving)
1 heaping tbsp chili powder
pepper/salt to taste 
1 tsp garlic powder 

pinch cayenne pepper

Blend tomatoes in a processor until smooth, then pour into a large pot. Add vegetable broth and cook on medium-high until boiling. Add spices, bay leaves, and peas and carrots until vegetables are cooked through. Add rice and kale and serve!

Vegan Garlic "butter" Pasta

This dish is incredibly simple. So simple, I made it the night we got back from flying all day instead of ordering take-out. I always have quinoa pasta in the pantry, and the spinach was still fresh, surprisingly. I always say that if you load anything with garlic and hot pepper, it'll be delicious!

Ingredients:
1 pkg quinoa pasta
heaping bunch of spinach, washed and drained
1 T Earth Balance vegan butter spread (soy free)
1/4 cup olive oil (you could get away with less, but I like good fats)
4 cloves of garlic, minced
salt
pepper
crushed red pepper

Boil pasta according to package directions. Melt buttery spread with olive oil in large pan over medium-high heat. Add garlic and stir for about 1 minute, then add spinach and stir until wilted. Once pasta is done, scoop noodles into pan with the spinach and add the spices to taste. So fast and so yummy!

Korean-style cold and spicy noodles

This dish is very similar to the Korean dish called Nangmyon. However, I use different noodles. Instead of buckwheat, because they are typically not gluten free, I use sweet potato glass noodles which are normally used to make Jjapchae. I am always craving this, and whip it up at say... 9 PM when I should be thinking about sleeping but get too excited about traveling and I work up an appetite packing.

Ingredients:
1 T vegetable bouillon (not necessary)
2 servings of sweet potato noodles, or whatever you prefer
1 heaping T Korean hot paste (sunchang is normally gluten free)
1 T soy sauce
2 tsp white distilled vinegar
2 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp pureed pear, or sugar
1 T sesame seeds

Boil the bouillon in several cups of water in a large pot. Boil the noodles until tender, then drain and rinse in cold water. Reserve the liquid from pot in order to modify flavor of your noodles. While the noodles are cooking, mix the rest of the ingredients in a large bowl. Once noodles are rinsed, add to the bowl with the spicy mixture, and mix well. If you need to dilute your noodles due to spice, add the bouillon water from boiling your noodles. I usually ice this water before adding to noodles.

Some add cucumbers and fried egg to this. Well, most do. However, at 9 PM, this is what I'm giving myself!

Miso like you've never had it!

I love good miso soup. This soup was fantastic! I've seriously never had miso that tasted this good, and it was my first attempt at home-made miso. There's a little twist, since my mother-in-law made it this way once and I just love it. I didn't have tofu, so I didn't add it, but it would be a great addition to make this more of a meal!

Ingredients:
4 cups water
2 T sweet white miso paste (I find this in the refrigerated section at the local health food store)
1 T vegetable bouillon
1 jalapeño, sliced
handful chopped cilantro

Bring the water to a boil, add the miso paste and bouillon. Stir until dissolved, then add jalapeno and cilantro. Now go try it and love it!

Chipotle Quinoa

I have honestly never liked chipotle. I love every pepper in the world it seems, with this exception. I found this recipe as well in the the Food Matters Cookbook and decided to give it a try. I was blown away, both by the great flavor of the dish and the heat of the chipotle... a great thing! If you don't like spice, don't add any of the adobo sauce and just use one pepper.

Ingredients:

3 T olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 T minced garlic
2 canned chipotle chiles, minced with some sauce
1 tsp dried oregano
3/4 cup quinoa
salt and black pepper
1 cup cooked or canned black beans, drained
1/2 cup corn
1 1/2 cups vegetable stock
lime wedges

Heat oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add onion and garlic, and cook until onion is clear. Add peppers and adobo, and oregano. Turn heat up to medium-high, add quinoa, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and stir frequently for a few minutes. Add beans, corn, stock and boil. Stir, reduce heat to low and cover, and cook for 15 minutes. Serve with lime wedges.

Ma-Po Tofu without the fluff!

When I lived in China, I was always all over Ma-Po Tofu. It's normally stir-fried with pork, but I'm obviously cooking without pork these days. I modified this recipe from an incredible cookbook I picked up a while back, called The Food Matters Cookbook. It's got all kinds of great plant-based recipes, with meat included as well, just not the star of the dishes. This dish surprised both my husband and I in that it was so good! He's a meat-lover by all standards, and thoroughly enjoyed this. I swear, it was danged-delicious!

Ingredients:
1 T olive oil
3 cloves minced garlic
1 T minced ginger
1/2 tsp chile flakes, to taste
1/2 cup chopped scallions
2 cups chopped tomatoes
1/2 cup vegetable stock
14 oz firm tofu, cut into cubes
2 T soy sauce
salt
black pepper
1 drizzle sesame oil

Heat oil in large skillet. Add garlic, ginger and chile flakes until they sizzle. Add scallions, tomatoes, and stock. Cook for a couple of minutes until fragrant, then add tofu. Stir occasionally until heated through. Stir in soy sauce, salt, black pepper, and sesame oil. Serve over rice and enjoy!

Roasting Seaweed

I've posted a while back about how great of a snack seaweed is. I love it with a bit of rice. In some households, kids eat chicken fingers all day. Well in mine growing up, my brother and I were all over seaweed and rice. I guess we both still are! You can buy little packets of it in the store, but it's incredibly expensive, especially when it takes all of 5 minutes to do in your own kitchen and it tastes so much more fresh.

This is all you need:
A package of seaweed... as much of it as you like.
A brush for food
sea salt
sesame oil
large pan... my mom just used her stove top

Lay out each piece of seaweed, paint on thin coat of sesame oil, then sprinkle with the amount of salt to your preference. I love salt so I throw it on very generously. You may want to hold back and just sprinkle a very light amount. With the pan heated on high, use your fingers or a tong to lay a piece of seaweed in there for about 3 seconds (until it starts to crinkle a little) then flip for a couple of seconds and continue until all seaweed is done. You can chop it into fourths, which is what I prefer since I like a mouth full of seaweed, or into sixths which is what is normal. Serve it alone or with a teaspoon of rice per piece of seaweed for a light lunch or snack.

vegetarian reubens

Every now and then I get a craving for a Reuben sandwich. However, I am to scared to try any deli meats for fear of gluten contaminants. Not only that, but I don't really even like meat if the meal doesn't absolutely need it. The more vegetables the better! My mom and I tried these out, loved them, and decided they're a keeper! Just prep all of the ingredients and put them in tupperware to have ready for whenever you want to throw them together in a pinch.

Ingredients:
Udi's gluten free sandwich bread
mushrooms, sliced
spinach
onions, sliced
jalapenos, sliced
swiss cheese
salt
black pepper
butter
olive oil

Saute the mushrooms, onions, jalapenos, and spinach in a pan with a tablespoon of olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper then set aside. Put the sandwiches together with all of the ingredients other than the butter and olive oil. Butter a large skillet over medium heat, then place the sandwiches into the pan. Flip the sandwiches after 4 minutes. Serve with Russian Island dressing (recipe below) on the side for dipping.

Russian Island dressing:

1/2 cup soy free vegannaise (or mayonnaise)
1/4 cup ketchup
1 T vinegar
1 tsp sugar
sprinkle of black pepper

Mix all ingredients together and refrigerate.

muffins to flex for! ~banana quinoa muffins

These muffins are absolutely phenomenal! I got the recipe straight off the back of a Shiloh Farms bag of Quinoa Flakes. Quinoa is packed with protein, so it makes a great protein snack or dessert.

Ingredients:
2 mashed ripe bananas
2 T grapeseed oil
1 egg
1/2 cup almond coconut milk or milk
2/3 tsp vanilla extract
2/3 cup rice flour
1/2 cup shiloh quinoa flakes
1/3 cup organic cane sugar
1 3/4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Combine bananas with wet ingredients, mix well. Mix dry ingredients in another bowl. Combine mixtures until combined but not too much. Spoon batter evenly into approximately 12 muffin liners. Bake for about 16 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean.

I was at Barnes and Nobles today, where I could not stop staring at the blueberry muffins and I just had to go home and add blueberries to this recipe. Oh man did it do the job!

quick lo mein

What happens when people in my building order take out? Well, seeing how my sense of smell is annoyingly phenomenal, I can't help but to whip up a super quick batch of vegetable lo mein. Not only is my lo mein less greasy, but it has more vegetables, less who-knows-what in it, and the flavor is awesome!

Ingredients:
1 package brown rice noodles
1/2 cup liquid aminos, coconut aminos, or soy sauce
2 T worcestershire sauce, gluten free
1/4 cup honey or agave
1 T black pepper
1 T hot chili sauce, such as Sambal
3 cloves garlic, minced
veggies of choice (mushrooms, bell pepper, onions)

Boil water and add noodles when ready. While the water is heating, mix all ingredients from the liquid aminos down to the veggies together in a medium sized bowl. Drain the pasta. Saute the bowl of ingredients in a large sauce pan for about 3 minutes. Add in the noodles and mix together. Walah! Takeout... or Homein!!

paleo mixed berry cobbler

Back in high school, my group of friends and I would go to Kaminsky's at least two to three times a week for coffee and dessert. Yeah, we were cool.... at least, we thought we were ;) During my last visit to Charleston a couple of my friends and I were reminiscing those old days and how care free we were. I, on the other hand, miss the mixed berry cobbler I would get more than being back in high school which I relate to being more like in prison. But that's beside the point. I love that berry cobbler. Here's a much healthier, paleo version of my old school favorite dessert.

Ingredients:
Handfuls of fresh berries
1 1/2 cups almond meal
1 egg
2 T coconut oil (or grapeseed oil)
1 T cinnamon
honey

Preheat oven to 350. In a small baking dish, pour in all the berries and set aside. In a medium mixing bowl, blend the remaining ingredients, minus the cinnamon and honey. Sprinkle cinnamon and honey atop the berries, then top them with dollops of the dough. Bake for 30 minutes and serve.

paleo nut crunchy treats

I DID IT! Alright, so not these didn't stick together in their perfect little squares like rice crispy treats do with all that marshmallow holding them together. But these are so incredibly yummy and a great snack. They are nothing but protein (with a little bit of chocolate...) and so delicious. I love rice crispy treats, but wanted to make a Paleo version that I could snack on and not feel guilty. Great success!

Ingredients:
6 cups raw nuts, chopped (I used walnuts and cashews)
dash of sea salt
2/3 cup almond butter
2/3 cup honey
1 T vanilla
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips

Toss all of the chopped nuts into a large bowl, then mix in a dash of salt. In a small saucepan over medium heat, stir in the rest of the ingredients until everything is melted and well blended. Remove pan from heat and stir the mixture into the nuts. I put on a glove and mixed everything together by hand to make sure everything was combined. Pour it all into a casserole dish a press down. Allow to cool, then cut when ready to eat.