Tips For Eating and Living Well
This glorious golden soup started out as a corn and potato chowder, but I couldn’t stop adding vegetables! And why not? The more variety of veggies you eat, the more nutrients your body can use to build, restore, and protect itself. And what resulted may be my new favorite soup of the season — my Summer Vegetable Chowder! …
I often find myself wanting to serve my family spaghetti squash for dinner, but not knowing what to have with it to make it more nutritious and filling. If you’re not familiar with spaghetti squash, it’s a great gluten-free, low-calorie substitute for pasta. It’s also mostly water and needs veggies and a protein source to make it a complete meal. To remedy this problem without topping my spaghetti with processed/oily vegan “meat,” I decided to make some bean balls full of veggies that kids and adults will love….
I know, I know, overnight oats have been a thing for quite a while now. And yet, I’m just now jumping aboard the overnight oats train because, well, I’m SO TIRED OF OATMEAL. There, I said it. When I do eat it, it’s because I know it’s good for me, not because I legitimately enjoy eating a bowl of warm mush. But I’ve found that I actually look forward to eating my overnight oats because they’re already prepared when I wake up, I try lots of fun flavors, and it’s like eating dessert for breakfast every morning! …
As many of you know, I am currently 22 weeks pregnant with my second child and am trying not to eat everything in sight. As with my first pregnancy, my cravings tend to center around starchy things: potatoes, bread, bread with potatoes on it, and sweet baked goods. If you put a cookie in front of me, I will eat it. So while I’m still making sure I eat super healthful plant-based meals to nourish the baby, my free time is spent looking through recipes and writing down ideas for baked goods that I can make and then shove into my face. I do need extra calories, after all!
A couple of weeks ago I was craving almond cookies, so I made some, tried them, and decided they weren’t very exciting. They needed more flavor and more sweetness, which is where the cinnamon and sugar come in. I love cinnamon and almond butter on toast or apple slices, so why not put cinnamon on almond cookies and call them snickerdoodles???…
Nothing says ‘Easter’ quite like a pretty coffee cake served on dainty plates. And since we vegan and gluten-free people also want our cake (and to eat it, of course), I decided to alter this recipe for a Raspberry Almond Breakfast Cake so it’s also vegan. The result . . . delicious! …
I’m way overdue on posting a fun recipe that doubles as a post-workout snack, and since Thursday was supposedly National Peanut Butter Day, I HAD to concoct these chewy, mildly sweet, Peanut Butter Protein Bars!…
I must admit, it’s hard to beat traditional sweet potato casserole for the holidays. But in the off chance that you’re cooking for a group of people who enjoy culinary adventure, I recommend changing things up a bit with this Sweet Potato & Plantain Mash with Toasted Hazelnuts! It’s close enough to sweet potato casserole that you won’t be straying from tradition too much, and the added plantains complement the sweet potatoes with their mild sweetness and starchy goodness. Top the whole thing off with toasted hazelnuts, and you have a nutritious side dish that’s worthy of the holiday table. …
It’s November, which means it’s time to start planning your Thanksgiving menu! And why not start with the most important part of the meal — dessert! It’s imperative that there is a pumpkin dessert on your buffet, so let’s change things up from the traditional pumpkin pie and make this dreamy, vegan Pumpkin Cheesecake! …
This easy Ethiopian Sweet Potato Stew came from my desire to have dinner cooking in my crock pot while I worked on other things around the house, kept my 3-year-old alive and entertained, and tested other recipes for the blog. The result was too good not to share! Even Picky Husband gave it two thumbs up! 🙂 …
I gotta say, I’m SO glad it’s fall! I enjoy the summer, but it’s hard to beat those crisp fall days, the colorful leaves, the return of the Dixie Classic Fair, and the fall comfort food recipes. I’m also turning 29 tomorrow (for the third year in a row)! To celebrate, why don’t you make this comforting, nutritious, creamy Roasted Vegetable Alfredo Bake? It’s so good and filling, you’ll swear it contains dairy. But actually, I used my kitchen wizardry to make sure this one-dish wonder is vegan, gluten-free, and oil free! …
Happy Fall, everyone! To celebrate my favorite season, I decided to create a sweet caramel apple bread that will fill your home with the fall aromas of baked apples and cinnamon. And to top it off, I added date caramel to make it extra special. Oh man. This cake bread is so good, you’d never guess that it’s vegan, gluten-free, and oil free!…
Due to some inflammation in my joints in the past couple of months, I’ve decided to get back to being 100 percent on my plant-pure diet. This means no oily veggies and dressings at restaurants, no goat cheese on salads, no more caffeine, and no added sugars. I’m not going to lie — it’s tough sometimes. But the key is finding good ways to substitute healthy foods for the unhealthy ones. For example, last Saturday I had some leftover Mexican ingredients (including my queso!), and I really wanted to make loaded nachos to eat while watching football. Well you can’t have nachos without tortilla chips, and all of the ones you buy are cooked in oil. I’d heard it’s easy to make your own tortilla chips in the oven, so I purchased corn tortillas and made my own. And guess what — they were great!…
