Oatmeal Bites

My workout buddy gave me this recipe-super yummy and healthy!! Three are considered a snack...good luck!

Oatmeal Bites

Melt in a glass bowl and stir well to combine:

2 Tbs. coconut oil
1/2 C. honey
1 C. creamy peanut butter

Add:
2 C. oatmeal (quick oats)
1 C. brown rice krispies
1 C. milled flaxseed
1/2 C. dark chocolate chips (60% cacao good)
2 tsp. vanilla
unsweetened coconut (optional)

Stir to combine and roll into balls. Refrigerate of freeze.

Quinoa and Black Beans

I found this fabulous recipe on Allrecipes and changed it a bit. Makes amazing tacos or use it as a chip dip!

1 tsp. oil
1 onion chopped or 1/4 C. dried minced (if using dried add with broth)
3 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
3/4 C. uncooked quinoa
1 1/2 C. chicken or vegetable broth
1 tsp. ground cumin
1/8-1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
salt and pepper to taste
1 C. frozen corn kernels
1 (15oz.) can black beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 C. fresh cilantro (mix in or on the side)

Heat oil in a medium sauccepan over medium heat. Stir in the onion and garlic and saute until lightly brown.
Mix quinoa into the garlic and onion and add broth. Add cumin, cayenne pepper, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, cover and reduce heat to simmer for 20 min.
Stir frozen corn into quinoa mixture and continue to simmer covered for 5 additional minutes. Stir in black beans and cilantro if desired.
Serve in warm, soft corn or flour tortillas with fresh chopped tomatoes, guacamole, sour cream and salsa.

Quinoa Tabbouleh

Ingredients

• 2 cups water
• 1 cup quinoa
• 1 pinch salt
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/4 cup fresh lime juice
• 3 tomatoes, diced (I used grape tomatoes, cut in half)
• 1 English cucumber, diced
• 2 bunches green onions, diced
• 2 carrots, grated
• 1 cup fresh parsley, chopped

Directions

1. In a saucepan bring water to a boil. Add quinoa and a pinch of salt. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 15 minutes. Allow to cool to room temperature; fluff with a fork.
2. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine olive oil, sea salt, lime juice, tomatoes, cucumber, green onions, carrots and parsley. Stir in cooled quinoa. Serve with pita bread.

Roasted Cauliflower poppers

This recipe was so yummy!! It totally satisfies my need for fries or something fried. I have never thought of roasting cauliflower, but it is just too simple and delicious, even Brent liked it!! And he hates cauliflower! I got the recipe here. Hope you enjoy as much as we did!!
Jenna

Roasted Cauliflower Poppers

What you will need:

* 2 heads of cauliflower
* 1/4 cup of olive oil
* 1 1/2 teaspoon of salt
* 1 teaspoon of pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees
2. Wash and clean the cauliflower. Cut off and discard the stem. Cut the cauliflower up into small pieces.
3. In a large bowl, combine the olive oil, salt and pepper. Add the cauliflower pieces and thoroughly coat each piece.
4. Place cauliflower pieces onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake for one hour and turn 3 times during cooking until each piece has a nice brown coloring. The browner they are the better.
5. Remove from oven and enjoy!

Fabio Viviani's Italian Wedding Soup

Try This Fabulous Soup

Servings:6-8

Difficulty:Easy

Cook Time:30-60 min

Ground beef, panko bread crumbs, and eggs make for delicious meatballs in this warm soup.

Ingredients

1 lb. ground beef (80/20)

2 ea. eggs

1/3 cup panko bread crumbs

3 Tbsp. parmesan cheese, grated

3 quarts chicken broth

3 cups fresh baby spinach

1 cup carrots, diced

1 cup yellow onion, diced

1 cup celery, diced

2 cups orzo pasta

½ cup (to taste) extra virgin olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

Cooking Directions

Saute carrots, onion and celery in oil until soft and starting to brown.

Add Chicken stock. Let the mixture reduce on high heat.

While boiling, mix beef, eggs, breadcrumbs and parmesan in a separate bowl to make meatballs. Form into ½ inch balls, and set on a baking sheet.

Cook meatballs on the baking sheet in 375F degree oven for 12-15 minutes.

Add pasta to soup to cook.

When meatballs are cooked, add them to the soup.

Stir in the spinach to the soup.

Boil 5 minutes and season with salt and pepper.

MANGIA!

I got this recipe off yahoo a few days ago it just looked so good, and tried it last night--everyone loved it! Even the kids. It was something a little different than the regular soup, and warmed us up. For all the vegetarians out there, you will have to figure out what to substitute the meatballs for? I used turkey meat, instead of hamburger, and it was very tasty.

Becky

Good Foods - The beginning

Just getting started with our new diet and healthier outlook....

Saturday Family breakfast: Steel cut oatmeal with a variety of toppings:
fresh blueberries, strawberries, apples, bananas, almonds and pecans, flax seed, brown sugar or honey, raisins, cinnamon, and almond or coconut milk.


Scrambled eggs with caramelized onions and baby bella mushrooms with avocado and a sprinkle of feta.


Rice cakes with almond butter, apples and topping of whipped honey and mashed banana. 


Wish I had time to fix and eat that every morning!


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 Sunday dinner:
Roasted vegetables: carrots, red potatoes, yellow and zucchini squash, sweet potatoes, red bell pepper, asparagus, mushrooms, artichokes, and onions.  Mix a little olive oil with mashed garlic, salt, pepper and Italian Seasoning and bake for and hour on 375 (til red potatoes are done).


If I had sliced the vegetables thin, I could have used these in the lasagna for a vegetarian version!


(Sorry about the ugly white outline, I cant make it go away!)


Lasagna with Tofu instead of Ricotta

• 1 lb tofu
• 1 tablespoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• 1 teaspoon basil
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon olive oil

Directions:

1. 1
   Blend all ingredients well.
2. 2
   Use in lasagna recipe in place of ricotta.
   
   
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Monday dinner with Jill and David and their kids:
Make em yourself Thai Spring Rolls


Rice Spring Roll Wrappers (found in the Asian section or at an Asian market)

dip them for about 15 seconds in a pie plate filled with warm water.
Lay on your plate and fill with any combination of the following:
Green or red leaf or butter lettuce
Fresh cilantro, basil, and /or mint leaves
thinly cut carrots
thinly cut green onion
thinly cut cucumbers
bean sprouts
Firm tofu, sliced thin and then gently tossed with a little hoisin sauce and/or soy sauce, and a few drops of sesame oil
(or if you do the meat thing: little bits thinly sliced pork or little bits of shrimp or imitation crab)
Rice noodles (thin) soaked in hot water for a few minutes

Roll it up and tuck in the sides like a burrito

and then dip in either of these two sauces:


Peanut Sauce:

• 1 1/2 cups creamy peanut butter
• 1/2 cup coconut milk
• 3 tablespoons water
• 3 tablespoons fresh lime juice or rice vinegar
• 3 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon hot (rooster) sauce
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger root or 1 tsp ginger powder
• 3 cloves garlic, minced or 1 tsp garlic powder

Mix until creamy and serve

OR 

Sweet Chili Sauce

• 1/2 cup rice vinegar (or substitute white vinegar)

• 1/2 cup white sugar or other sweetener

• 1/4 cup water or pineapple or orange juice

• 3 cloves garlic, minced

• 1/2 to 1 Tbsp. dried crushed chili (1 Tbsp. makes spicy-hot sauce)

• 1+1/2 Tbsp. cornstarch dissolved in 3-4 Tbsp. cool water

Bring to a boil and stir until thick. Cool and serve.

(add more chili or sugar as desired, perhaps a squeeze of lime)

For dessert, we had Thai Sticky Rice with Mango

• 1 cup coconut milk
• 2 pinches salt
• 1 cup Sticky Rice
• 2 tablespoons sugar (or substitue sweetener of your choice)

I soaked the rice in warm water for about 20 minutes, drained and then added the other ingredients and cooked like normal rice.

However here are some interesting directions I'll try next time: 

The Microwave Method: 

Soak the sticky rice for 10 minutes in warm water in a bowl. Soaking the rice is very important. I have tried this method without soaking the rice first and it was disastrous. The rice was undercooked and inedible. The water level should be just above the rice, which comes out to be 1 cup of rice and a little over 1 cup of water (about 10% more). I recommend using a non-plastic container because you may melt the plastic in the microwave. Cover the bowl with a dish and cook in microwave for at full power 3 minutes. Stir the rice around to move the rice from the top to the bottom. You will notice that some of the rice is translucent or cooked and some still has white center or the uncooked portion.

Heat it up again for another 3 minutes. Check and see if it is done. When cooked, all the rice should be translucent. If it needs more cooking, I recommend heating up and checking every 3 minutes or so. How long it takes to cook really depends on your microwave.

Putting it together: Heat the coconut milk in a pot over medium heat. Stir constantly and let the coconut milk simmer. Hard boiled coconut milk will curdle. Add sugar and salt. Remove from heat. Pour 3/4 of the hot coconut milk over the hot sticky rice. Let it sit for 5 minutes. The hot sticky rice will absorb all the coconut milk. The rice should be a little mushy. Spoon the rest of the coconut milk on top of the rice at serving time.

Sauce on top: is just the remainder of your coconut milk, a little sweetener and 3T. cool water mixed with 2 T. corn starch to thicken, stir almost to boiling and until thick enough to coat a spoon.

Drizzle over fresh sliced mangoes and coconut rice and sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds if desired.

HAPPY EATING!

:)

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