Quinoa with Pomegranite & Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

We got tired of quinoa for a little while, but I admit I perked up immediately when I saw this recipe because we LOVE pomegranate seeds! I changed it around some so that it's more fruity, and added some creamy avocado on the side. Mmmmmmm!

Pomegranate Quinoa Pilaf
3-4 T Vegetable broth
1/2 medium onion, diced small
1 c quinoa
2 c vegetable broth
1 c pomegranate seeds
1 tablespoon chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 T olive oil, cold pressed
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1/2 t fresh lemon zest
1 t sweetener (I used part agave and part vegetable glycerin)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2-3/4 c roasted pumpkin seeds (see below)
sliced avocado, if desired

Heat 3-4 T vegetable broth in a heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium-high heat. Saute the onion until translucent and fragrant. Add the quinoa and stir to coat. Add 2 cups of vegetable broth and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer for about 20 minutes, until the liquid is absorbed and the quinoa is tender.

In a large mixing bowl, combine olive oil, pomegranate seeds, parsley, lemon juice, zest, and sweetener. Add the quinoa and season with salt, and pepper to taste. Sprinkle pumpkin seeds over it and garnish with sliced avocado if desired.

New Lunch recipes! Energy Bites & Zucchini Carrot Raisin Muffins

 Energy Bites
2 c regular oats
1 c peanut butter (or other nut butter)
2/3 c raw honey
2 c shredded coconut
1 c freshly ground flaxseed
1/2 c mini chocolate chips
1/2 c raisins
2 t vanilla
1-2 T chia seeds

Mix everything above in a medium bowl until thoroughly incorporated.  Let chill in the refrigerator for an hour. Once chilled, roll into balls and enjoy!  I chill the night before, and then roll into balls the next morning.  Store in an airtight container and keep refrigerated for up to 1 week. Very filling and delicious!

Zucchini Carrot Raisin Muffins
1 c regular oats
2 c whole wheat flour
3/4 c coconut sugar (or sucanut)
1 T + 2 t baking powder
1 c grated zucchini
1 c grated carrot
1 1/2 t cinnamon
1 t sea salt
3/4 c raisins
3/4 c coconut oil
2 ripe bananas
1/2 apple
1/2 c agave

Preheat oven to 350. Combine the first 9 ingredients in large bowl. Combine the last 4 ingredients in blender and blend until smooth. Pour over dry ingredients and mix well. Bake for 20-23 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. These freeze well and taste DELIGHTFUL!

Fun Summer Yummies: Homemade Pickles, Roasted Potatoes and Asparagus and Quick blender Zucchini Soup

 We don't often have years when we have cucumbers coming out of the ying-yang, but this year has been one of those years! We only have 2 plants, but one of the plants isn't really producing a whole lot. However, an average week yields about 30 crisp delicious cucumbers from this one plant. We'll take it, baby!

Have you ever made homemade pickles? You taste one and it's so hard to go back to store-bought!! And it's so easy! Here's how you do it:
10 c cold filtered water
1 c white vinegar
1/2 c Kosher salt
6ish quarts cucumbers, washed and cut into spears, slices or however you like
3 cloves garlic, sliced
6 sprigs dill
Combine first 3 ingredients and stir until salt dissolves. Place in liquid in jars, about halfway up. Add a little dill, your cucumbers until full, a little garlic and 1 more small sprig of dill. Continue filling jars until done. Allow to sit on counter for 24 hours. Refrigerate and enjoy!

Roasted Potatoes & Asparagus
Red Potatoes
Olive oil
Spices of your choice
Basil
asparagus
shredded parmesan
Scrub and cut potatoes into pieces. Season with olive oil and whatever spices you would like (salt and pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, whatever your preferences are). Spread on prepared baking sheet (I line sheet with foil and spray with baking spray). Bake at 425 for 10-15 minutes. Add asparagus cut into thirds, woody ends cut off). Bake until tender, 15-20 more minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle with cheese.

 Creamy Zucchini Soup
1 oz raw cashews
1 1/2 c water
1 1/2 medium zucchini
sea salt, fresh herbs
Soak cashews in 1/2 c water for 1 hour. Place remaining water, zucchini, sea salt and fresh herbs (fresh basil is great and so is cilantro! Dill would be fun too!) to blender jar.  Add cashews (with water) to jar. Blend on high until blended through and hot.

Quinoa and Veggies

If you want the quickest of quick meals, this is for you! I just got back from a Momcation and my adorable best friend opened the doors of many possibilities, so many of the following recipes are attributed to her. Thanks, Jessie! xo!

This is quick, delicious, and you can totally be creative with it. A few ideas are listed below.

Quinoa and Veggies
Quick quinoa and rice mix (or make your own and freeze for crazy-busy nights!) I got the Seeds of Change one from Costco. It's expensive, so I think I'll make my own from now on!
Frozen veggies (Costco)
*Sauce (raw honey, coconut oil, ginger, tamari)
raw sesame seeds

Extra things: mandarin oranges, drained, slivered almonds, pineapple, cooked chicken or beef, etc, shredded coconut

Sauce options: clove of garlic, pineapple or orange juice, lime juice, shredded coconut
*My family is big so I did about 2/3 c raw honey, 1/3 c coconut oil, 1/3 c tamari, 1/2 inch ginger, cut into pieces

Blend sauce ingredients in blender...to desired taste and thickness...until smooth. Put quinoa/rice mix in large pan on medium head. Thaw your veggie in microwave and add to pan (or just add straight to the pan). Warm all and add your sauce. Mix well and sprinkle with sesame seeds. If you are adding fruit, add this last and gently stir, or just leave on top and let it warm slightly.

Cauliflower "Potato" Salad

This was a surprise for us! I saw something kind of like this on pinterest and have put off making it. Why???? We LOOOOOOVED it! In fact, the hubs said he liked it better then potato salad. Yeah. Let me know what you think!

Cauliflower "Potato" Salad
2 heads cauliflower, cut into large florets 
1/4 medium-sized red onion, diced finely
6 stalks organic celery, diced finely 
1 cucumber, diced
1 sweet pepper, diced
1-2 carrots, shredded
4 dill pickles, diced
2 t dried dill 
sea salt and black pepper, to taste 
sprouted sunflower seeds, optional (or any sprouted nut or seed!)
1 1/2 c almonaise 
2 T raw apple cider vinegar

Steam cauliflower until tender but not mushy. Rinse with cold water and allow to cool. Crumble the cauliflower into a large bowl, and add all of the ingredients except for the almonaise and vinegar. Thin the almonaise with the vinegar and stir into all of the other ingredients. Serve immediately or chill in the refrigerator for a couple of hours before serving.

Greek Dip

I happened upon this on pinterest, and just changed it up a little bit

Greek Dip
Favorite hummus (I love Sabra, but Costco has a Rosemary Garlic one that is WONDERFUL with this recipe)
Diced cucumbers
Diced red pepper
Sliced olives
Feta Cheese
1/8 c pine nuts
Stuff to dip! Whole wheat pita triangles, Beanito chips, veggie sticks, etc.

Spread hummus in pan. Sprinkle veggies over and stop with olives and feta. Sprinkle with pine nuts and serve!

Veggie Rolls-My New Favorite Lunch

Veggie Rolls
2 Nori wrapper
Leftover brown rice
1/4 ripe avocado, thinly sliced
2 slices of smoked tempeh
1/2 carrot, sliced into thin stalks
1/4 cucumber, sliced into thin stalks
toasted sesame seeds
real sea salt

Place sesame seeds, 1 nori wrapper and sea salt to taste in blender. Pulse until nori sheet is broken down some and sesame seeds pop open. Store in airtight container.
Cook tempeh in small amount of coconut oil until brown and cooked through. Spread nori wrapper out and put a thin layer of rice on 2/3 of it, end to end. In the middle of the rice, place avocado, carrot, cucumber and tempeh. Sprinkle with sesame seeds mixture. Roll up and seal wrapper with water. Let sit for a few minutes for the wrapper to soften, and then slice into "sushi" shaped rolls. Delicious!

Veggie Pita and Spinach Pinwheels

 

These two meals are PERFECT for the summer: simple, quick and delicious!

Veggie Pitas
Pita bread, cut in half
Favorite Hummus or leftover cheezy sauce
Raw veggies of your choice: romaine lettuce, baby spinach, sprouts, peppers, carrots, celery, avocado, cucumbers, tomatoes, etc.

Spread your spread in the pita. :) Follow with whatever veggies you want. This is a great one for kids to build their own!  Enjoy!

I think I will like this one more when I find a great-tasting whole grain tortilla.
Spinach Hummus Pinwheels
GREAT TASTING whole-grain tortilla
favorite hummus or cheezy sauce
chopped baby spinach
thinly sliced avocado
thinly sliced peppers
thinly sliced cucumbers

Spread hummus. Thinly layer veggie. Roll up and carefully cut with a knife. Serve with a fresh fruit salad (mmmmm, peaches and blueberries right now, huh???).

Bee Pollen

I ordered this book a little over a month ago, and I really enjoyed Kimberly's second installment. I've relearned a lot about different foods, as well as learned a lot of information of new information! I definitely recommend reading. It will inspire you to nourish every cell in your beautiful body. Take it a day at a time, and keep it as simple as you can. Spend time and energy on the things that matter most.

Okay, on to something that I've never even heard of as a food source: bee pollen! Here is a picture:

 
Looks interesting, huh? Bee pollen is filled with most B vitamins, so it provides stress relief, improves digestion and balances your hormones. Side note-it doesn't take much to throw your hormones out of whack: pregnancy, monthly cycle, breastfeeding, trauma, stress, etc. I've had many indications that my hormones are out of whack, so bee pollen is my new best friend.

Bee pollen is also a complete protein, contains all essential amino acids, essential fatty acids and nucleic acids. It helps control hunger and protects the nervous system against radiation. It also protects vitamins C & E, which helps protect and repair your skin. How awesome is that?!?!

I throw it in smoothies and eat it straight, only about 1/2 teaspoon. You can find it at your local health food store, from www.mountainroseherbs.com or from a local beekeeper.

Have you ever had bee pollen before?

Zucchini Muffins

Zucchini Muffins
4 1/2 c grated fresh zucchini
1 c liquid coconut oil
2 c sucanut
3 T chia seeds (put in 9 T water and let it sit for 15 minutes or until gel)
3 t vanilla
3 t baking soda
pinch sea salt
4 1/2 c whole wheat flour
3 t cinnamon
1/2 t nutmeg
1 1/2 c raisins (or dried cranberries)

Preheat the oven to 350°F. In a large bowl combine the sucanut, chia seeds, and vanilla. Stir in the grated zucchini and then the melted oil. In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda, nutmeg, and cinnamon. Stir these dry ingredients into the zucchini mixture. Stir in raisins.
Coat each muffin cup in your muffin pan with a little spray (or use muffin liners). Use a spoon to distribute the muffin dough equally among the cups, filling the cups up completely. Bake on the middle rack until muffins are golden brown, and the top of the muffins bounce back when you press on them, about 25 to 30 minutes. Test with a long toothpick to make sure the center of the muffins are done. Set on wire rack to cool for 5 minutes. Remove muffins from the tin let cool another 20 minutes.

Say YES to Fun School Lunches!

Allright, here we go. I'm doing this post mostly for me, but I know there are a lot of other parents out there who are at a loss on how to pack healthy lunches for their kiddos, that are fun too! (And that don't take an hour every morning to prepare!) I will be adding to this post as I go!

Salads

Black Bean Taco Salad
1 handful of salad greens with fresh veggies (cucumbers, peppers, whatever you want to add)
1/4 cup of black beans mixed with a bit of salsa or taco seasoning
1 handful of chips, crushed in hand
The dressing is salsa, so pack this is a sealed cup. Everything else can be in compartments so that the kiddos can assemble their own salad and it's not all soggy.

Tuna Salad
1 can tuna
1 apple, finely chopped
handful of raisins
1 small stalk of celery, finely chopped
seeds of your choice (sunflower, pumpkin, sesame, etc)
Mix all together with a bit of vegenaise, onion & garlic powders, cumin
Serve on a bed of greens and chopped veggies

(I actually made this last week with leftover crockpot chicken. The kids loved it!)

Black Bean & Corn Salad
2 c cooked black beans
1 1/2 c fresh corn
1/4 red onion, finely chopped
1/4 bunch cilantro chopped (leaved only!)
1/2 red bell pepper
1/2 green bell pepper
1 diced cucumber
1 handful spinach
Combine and drizzle with the following dressing:
1/2 c agave
1/4 c rice vinegar
1/3 c lime juice
1/3 bunch cilantro (leaves only)
2 cloves garlic, crushed and minced
sea salt to taste
Blend in a blender.

 Fresh Mango & Mint
That's it! Chop up some mango, chop up some fresh mint leaves, mix and voila! It's super tasty!

Strawberry Salad
Spinach or romaine, rinsed and torn
1 cucumber, diced
1 apple, chopped
8 strawberries, quartered
1/2 c dried cranberries
1/2 can mandarin oranges
crumbled blue cheese
1/4 c slivered almonds or chopped pecans

Combine in a bowl and put the dressing on the side in a disposable cup:
1/3 c agave
1/4 c rice vinegar
8 strawberries
Blend in blender.

Fruit Dips

Yogurt Dip
1 cup homemade kefir or yogurt
Add agave nectar & cinnamon to taste (thanks Jessica!)

Strawberry Dip
1 cup plain yogurt
frozen strawberries, 6ish?
a bit of agave nectar
Blend in your blendtec and pour into those disposable cups to dip apples, oranges, bananas, strawberries, pears, etc.

Veggie Dips

Black Bean Dip

1 cup black beans - lightly pulsed in a blender/food proccesor

1 cup salsa

1/4 carrot puree (blend raw carrots in blender until smooth, add water if needed)

1 Tbsp taco seasoning

1 Tbsp fresh cilantro or 1 tsp. dried cilantro

Mix together and serve with an array of sliced fresh veggies.

Salsa
This is for you folks out there who don't care for raw tomatoes (like me!)
1 28 oz can whole tomatoes
1-2 raw roma tomatoes
1 bell pepper cut into big chunks
1/2 medium onion
2-3 cloves of garlic, crushed and minced
1 T lime juice
1 t sea salt
1 t cumin
1 drop hot sauce
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
Pulse all ingredients (except cilantro) in blender until you reach desired consistency. Stir in cilantro. Serve with pita chips, rice chips or organic tortilla chips.

Wraps

Spread homemade peanut butter on a whole wheat tortilla, sprinkle with raisins and cinnamon. Roll up and slice.

Spread hot refried beans, mozzerella cheese, and shredded veggies (squash, carrots, etc); roll up and serve.

Make homemade guacamole (I wish we all loved this, but only my hubby does) by dicing or mashing a ripe avocado with taco seasoning and sea salt to taste, some lime juice and some salsa. Mix well and roll in a tortilla.

Toast a piece of whole wheat or sprouted bread. Spread with almond butter and top with sliced bananas, raisins and cinnamon.


I will post some soup/chili/stew recipes this fall (my absolute favorite season ever!) that you can send with your child. See here with the link to our soup/leftover container.


I will also post a pre-school breakfast post soon with some breakfast ideas besides that sugary bowl of cereal. My son finally eats a variety of breakfasts instead of mini wheats every day! Woot Woot!


You can always serve a homemade muffin with fresh fruit and veggies and dip. We do this 1-2 lunches/week and the kids looooove muffin day! Here is a link with some muffin recipes!

2 New Muffin Recipes

I have rarely made muffins. For my whole life. They just seemed like a lot of work, until I realized that you can squeeze all kinds of nummy stuff into them, and then freeze them! Pull them out the night before and it's all soft and wonderful the next morning. Lately, I've been freezing muffins, and I leave just enough for lunch with a fruit and a ton of veggies and dip (hummus, black bean, salsa, whatever!) This is a super easy lunch idea instead of buying lunch or packing sandwiches day after day. (Oh, and it's a super easy breakfast idea to eat AFTER a green smoothie!)  Before I give you these recipes, though, here are a few resources. 3 years ago, I bought each of my kiddos one of these. This is PERFECT for leftover soup, stew, chili, or even dinner from the night before if the kids raved about it. :)

This year, I'm buying these so that my kids have homemade & much healthier lunchables. Also, my sister has a membership at Sam's Club and is going to buy a package of 1000 of these (see picture) for dips, etc. I'm soooo excited for this, because kids looooove to dip things. Heck, I love to dip things too. :) 


Alright, hopefully now that you know there are plenty of ideas for packaging the lunch out there, let's move on. MUFFINS!!!  P.S. Special thanks to my Jess who bought me the coolest cookbook! I have adjusted some of the recipes per Jess and the result is absolutely fabulous!

Banana Muffins

2/3 c Agave

3 very ripe bananas

1/2 c coconut oil

1/4 to 1/2 c almond milk (adjust to make batter thin enough)

1 1/2 t vanilla

1/2 apple, cored, with skin on

1 t baking powder

1 1/2 t baking soda

1/2 t sea salt
1 t cinnamon
1/2 t nutmeg

2 c flour, see note

Note: any combination of flour will do, but we do a lower gluten variety if we can. You can do whole wheat or partially whole wheat with spelt or kamut or brown rice flour. Everything I've tried has worked beautifully!

Blend in high power blend, or if you don't have one, make sure at least the apple and banana is blended until smooth. Then add dry ingredients to combined wet ingredients. Fill muffin tins until about 3/4 full. This made about 21 muffins. Bake at 325 for 20-25 minutes. 

****you can also add a few teaspoons of freshly ground flax seed-yum!

Pumpkin Muffins

1 can pumpkin

1 1/2 c agave

1/2 c coconut oil

2/3 c water 

1 whole apple, cored, with skin 

1/2 banana, mashed

2 t baking powder

3 1/2 c flour (see note above)

2 1/2 t baking soda

1 1/2 t sea salt

1 t cinnamon

1 t nutmeg

1/2 t ginger

Blend in high powered blender. If you don't have one, do the banana and apple, and then mix combined wet ingredient with combined dry ingredients, adding water as needed to ensure the batter is thin enough. Pour into 2 muffin tins, about 3/4 full. Cook at 325 for 20-25 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

****you can also add a few teaspoons of freshly ground flax seed-yum!

I loooooooove fall, so these just fill my kitchen will all sorts of happy smells and happy thoughts of cooler, crisper weather and colorful leaves.
I will do some dip ideas in another post, but until then, ENJOY!!! :)