Pumpkin Cheesecake

And yet another yummy recipe I discovered on Pinterest! ;) This was rich and very satisfying without sugar or flour!

The crust is made from almonds, butter, xylitol (or other sweetener) and cinnamon.

There are two middles - made from cream cheese, xylitol, eggs, pumpkin puree, and spices.

I'm not gonna lie... this was not easy to make and it did not turn out pretty. It was one of those recipes that I kept wondering if I was making it right. But in the end, it tasted really good! This would be a great healthy option for Thanksgiving dessert -- and for me it would be rich and satisfying enough that I would be able to leave other desserts alone!

The full recipe can be found here...

I didn't know what they meant by "Set the cheesecake into a pan of water so it won't crack while being baked" so this is what I used, and it seemed to work -- it cooked through and it didn't crack! (Note: I used more water than this... this is how much water was left after baking for an hour and after I spilled a bunch of water all over the countertop -- I filled it about halfway.)

Healthy Pumpkin Bars

Wow! These were yummy -- my kiddos gobbled them up like they had sugar and white flour in them!

You can get the recipe for them here! I used xylitol as my sweetener. For the frosting, I put the xylitol through my blender first (I had heard you could do this, and this was my first time trying it) to make it more like powdered sugar. These are seriously yummy! And when I gave these to my kids for BREAKFAST, I think I may have gotten myself nominated for Mother of the Year!

I thought I had almond butter, but when I opened it up it had already been opened and stored in the pantry for who knows how long -- Yikes! Definitely not useable. And I really wanted to make this recipe... and I had almonds and a food processor.  So I googled how to make almond butter and found a recipe on line. You can go here to see how I made the almond butter! (or you can buy it)

Almond Butter

I made almond butter for the first time! I used the directions I found here...

I used 2 heaping cups (which made a little more than 1 cup of almond butter), and it only took me 10 minutes. I'm not sure if I have a newer food processor than her (mine is 2-3 years old) or if I just didn't process it as much as her, but it turned out great!

I also added a little sea salt at the end... just because I think almost everything tastes better with a little bit of salt in it!

Here's what mine looked like:

Quinoa and Black Beans

I've seen lots of variations of this quinoa and black bean recipe.  I liked this recipe because I liked the idea of making it all in the rice cooker!

1-1/2 cups dry quinoa, rinsed and drained
2 cups water
2 vegetable bouillon cubes
1 carrot, diced, 
1/2 cup onion (I used green onions)
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained

Put quinoa, water, bouillon cubes, carrot and onion in the rice cooker.

About 20 minutes into the rice cooking, add the beans:

When it is done it will look something like this:

If you love salt like I do, you will want to add salt before eating!

Vegetable Broth

A lot of recipes I've been using call for vegetable broth. I used to buy this vegetable bouillon from my local health store, but a couple of years ago they stopped selling it so I ordered a bunch of it from Amazon.com (it comes in batches of 6 boxes): 

I add one of these cubes to a cup of hot water for every cup of vegetable broth that the recipe calls for. 

You can see lots more options for vegetable bouillon or broth here at Amazon.com (or you can probably find this -- or something comparable -- at your local health store.). Just be careful that there isn't any MSG in it!

Cauliflower Pasta

Okay, this original recipe called for butternut squash. It wasn't easy to get it cut into these small chunks before cooking it and it gave it a weird taste.  Next time I am just going to make the cauliflower "alfredo" sauce, and add it to pasta... and have the vegetables on the side. This tasted better the next day, but the sweetness of the butternut squash still gave it a weird taste (in my opinion)...

Cauliflower Pasta
1 medium head cauliflower, cut into florets (I'm also going to try this with a bag of frozen cauliflower)
2 cups vegetable broth

Cook over medium heat for 10 minutes, or until cauliflower is tender. Remove pan from the heat and puree sauce until smooth and creamy.  Add any desired spices.

Serve over whole grain pasta.

Kale Shake

So I have been trying to get some more vegetables into this vegetarian lifestyle! After all, the objective is better health, right? This is an easy (I'm not going to say it's yummy, but it is definitely drinkable, and my body feels yummy after I've had it even if it isn't the yummiest thing in the world going down) way to get more veggies into your day...

You can learn more about kale shakes here...

This is how I make mine:

Take a handful of kale (I buy this at Trader Joe's and it comes ready to throw in the blender), 

about 1/2 cup of frozen blueberries, 

about a cup of water,

some ice (in the picture above I had a little too much ice so I had to add some water... not a problem), and a squirt of liquid stevia.

Blend for 2-3 minutes. It looks like this:

I put some in a glass container so you could see it better: 

Chinese Fried Rice

We had this last night and it was a real hit with my family!

1 cup onion, peeled and diced
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1/2 cup Chinese Brown Sauce*
15 oz can pineapple chunks, drained
1/2 cup frozen peas

Heat large skillet over high heat. Saute onion (using a little water if needed). Add garlic and peas, and cook for a few more minutes. Add the Chinese brown sauce, rice, and pineapple. Heat all the way through.

*Chinese Brown Sauce
1/3 cup low-sodium soy sauce (I used Bragg's Liquid Aminos instead)
1/3 cup vegetable broth
1/4 cup brown rice syrup (I bought this just to try this recipe. I had a hard time finding it, but it really is yummy stuff -- it looks and tastes like creamed honey)
1 teaspoon ground ginger
2 teaspoons minced garlic
2 teaspoons arrowroot powder
     Combine all ingredients in a medium saucepan and cook over
     medium heat until thickened, about 5 minutes. You can store
     this refrigerated in an airtight container for about a week.

My 10-year-old daughter showing how much she loves this rice! ;)

Whole Wheat Muffins

2 cups whole wheat flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup almond milk
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup applesauce
1 egg (or egg substitute)

Mix dry ingredients together in a medium sized bowl.

Combine wet ingredients in a small bowl.

Pour wet ingredients over dry ingredients and stir just until moistened.

Spoon into greased muffin tins and bake at 350 for 15 minutes.

To make this more of a "treat" add the following topping (the muffin pictured above does have the topping):
2 Tablespoons melted butter
1/3 cup sucanat*
2 Tablespoons whole wheat flour
1-1/2 teaspoons cinnamon.
Combine all ingredients and sprinkle on top of the muffins. 

*Sucanat is a natural sweetener that stands for "sugar cane natural." You can find it anywhere that sells healthy foods in bulk or you can buy it online.

Corn Chowder - Yum!

I really wish this picture had turned out better because this was a huge hit with the whole family (and it was so easy to make)!

6-8 potatoes, diced into small cubes
3 cups frozen corn
2 cups vegetable broth
1 cup diced onions
2 Tbsp butter
1 cup almond milk

Place potatoes, corn, vegetable broth, and onions into the slow cooker. Cook 6-8 hours. Mash mixture to your desired consistency (if you want to), and add the butter and almond milk. Cook for an additional 30 minutes on high.  Serve with yummy rolls! These are the rolls we had with this!

Whole Wheat Rolls

(If you have a smaller mixer, you may want to start by halving this recipe and only making 2 dozen rolls at a time -- I did that for a while until I bought a bigger mixer! I have a sister who has made this by hand without using a mixer... so it can be done that way, too!)

4-1/2 cups hot tap water
7 cups freshly ground whole wheat flour*
     Combine the water and whole wheat flour in a mixer and mix on 
     low speed for about a minute. Let it sit about 10 minutes while you 
     get the yeast going.
2 Tablespoons yeast
1 Tablespoon sugar
1/2 cup warm water
     In a small bowl, combine yeast, sugar and water and let the yeast rise.
2 Tablespoons salt
2/3 cup oil
2/3 cup honey
1 cup whole wheat flour
     Add the salt, oil, honey and 1 cup of flour to the mixture (in the mixer)
     and mix until well blended. Add the prepared yeast to the mixture and 
     blend thoroughly.
4-5 more cups of whole wheat flour
     Add remaining flour 1 cup at a time. Knead the dough for about 10
     minutes on low speed.

Divide dough into 4 sections. Each section will make 12 rolls. Let rise for approximately 35 minutes.
Bake at 350 for 15 minutes.

(This dough will also make loaves of bread - Instead of shaping into 12 rolls, you can take each section and shape them into a loaf pan. Let them rise for 35 minutes, and bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes)

*Tip: the more freshly ground the flour, the more moist the rolls! If you don't have freshly ground flour, these will still be yummy! You will need a total of about 13 cups of whole wheat flour if you are making the full recipe.

Greek Yogurt

This is one of my favorite snacks... I don't like the taste of the plain Greek yogurt by itself (although I am surprised at how quickly I am acquiring a taste for it), but I find that if I add a few ingredients then I love it!

For my favorite Greek yogurt recipe I use:

~0% plain Greek yogurt - this is one of the few dairy products that I consume; I love it because 1/2 cup has about 11 or 12 grams of protein!

~1 package of Stevia  - I use this brand because I bought it from Costco and it is going to last me FOREVER -- I'm not sure it's the best brand out there! You can really use whatever sweetener you prefer!

~Frozen blueberries

Mix them together - it doesn't look pretty, but it is yummy, easy and filling! (Tip: The longer you let it sit before eating it, the more "blueberry" looking it will be... I just never wait that long!)

You can also add this yummy granola (or your own favorite granola) to the plain Greek yogurt!

Disastrous Cheese, Potato, and Broccoli Soup

I debated whether or not to even take a picture of this... I did use a recipe, but when I sampled the "no-cheese sauce," I panicked! It tasted horrible, and I knew it would ruin the soup!

So I went online and found a completely different "no-cheese sauce" recipe and quickly made that - horrible again!

My 10-year-old daughter said, "So we're being vegan? I thought we were just doing vegetarian."

She's right - vegetarians can have cheese, right? So I quickly grated some cheddar cheese and threw it in -- you can see in the picture how it just globbed up!

Then to save the recipe, I quickly cooked some broccoli and threw it in... You read that right... The broccoli saved the soup from being a complete, complete disaster!

Not every recipe turns out like we would hope... I think Cheese, Potato, and Broccoli soup is a great idea... I don't think making it the way I did is a good idea at all! I will try this again... with a different recipe!

Sweet Potato

The yummy sweet potato! This made for a perfect lunch today! It cooks perfectly in my small toaster oven so I don't even have to heat the big oven up for one potato. I just put butter and salt on it and ate it... I meant to have a salad with it, but got too lazy to make the salad! The kale and pear salad would have been perfect with this!

Rice and Beans

Dinner last night may seem boring to a lot of people, but this is actually one of my favorite meals! I love black beans and rice!  

Black Beans - I drained and rinsed about half a can of beans and added them to the rice to heat up. (You can substitute any other kind of bean)

Brown Rice - The rice I had made a few weeks ago and frozen them in portion sizes... so that made this a quick and easy dinner last night!  Here is the recipe I used:

4 cups vegetable broth
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped carrot
1/2 cup chopped celery
1 Tbsp cilantro
1 tsp minced garlic
1 cup brown rice

Mix the broth, vegetables, cilantro and garlic in a large pot. Add 1 cup of water and bring it to a boil. Add the rice and bring back to a boil. Cover and simmer for 25 minutes. Remove the lid and simmer for 5 minutes more.

Snacks

Some of my favorite snacks this week have been:
The banana ice cream pictured above!!!
Celery and hummus
Apple
Orange
Grapes
Pears
Sugar-free No-bake cookies* (recipe will come in a different post)
Rice Crackers*
Whole Wheat Toast*

* I don't plan to eat these as snacks on a regular basis, but since I'm still transitioning I'm spoiling myself a little! ;)

What are some of your favorite healthy snacks?

Whey Protein Shake

This one is a favorite go-to, especially if I'm looking for fast, yummy and easy! 
Here are the ingredients:

The ingredients are:

~Unsweetened almond milk -  You can buy this anywhere - Target, Costco, Trader Joe's, Walmart, etc.

~Swanson Whey Protein Powder - I love this because it's grass-fed, certified rBGH-free - and for 18 servings it only costs $15.99... which if you've ever priced quality protein powder, this is less than half what you would pay for other brands. You can buy it here!

~Truvia (mixture of stevia and erythritol, a sugar alcohol) - You can buy this at Target or Walmart -- Walmart has a refill size for the same price that is a lot bigger.

~PB2 (powdered peanut butter) - I used the chocolate kind. You can buy this at some health stores or online - the upside is that it tastes yummy and has a lot less fat and calories than peanut butter (and it's not messy to use); the downside is that it has sugar in it so when I run out I will probably not be buying more...

Add to blender:
1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk
1/2 cup water
1 scoop protein powder
1 TablespoonPB2
2 teaspoons Truvia
Ice to taste (I like mine a little thicker so I had more - if you want it runnier, add less)
Blend and Enjoy!!!

This comes out to about:
130 calories
3.25g fat
4 net carbs
20g protein

Mushroom Stroganoff

Mushroom Stroganoff (Not a favorite, but one I would probably make again when I want something a little different...)
4 Tbsp green onions
1 tsp dry thyme
Salt and pepper to taste
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1 lb Portobello mushrooms
2 cups vegetable broth, divided
1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
2 Tbsp arrowroot powder
1 cup Tofu Sour Cream (recipe below: I think I would use regular sour cream next time)
1 lb whole-grain fettuccine (I used spaghetti noodles)

Place green onions in pan and saute (with a little water to keep from sticking to pan). Add thyme, salt, pepper, Italian seasoning, mushrooms and 1/2 cup vegetable broth. Cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add rest of vegetable broth, Worcestershire sauce, and sour cream. Mix. Add arrowroot powder to thicken. Serve over whole-grain fettuccine.

Tofu Sour Cream (not sure if the soy in the tofu is better or worse than the dairy in regular sour cream so I'm not sure I would go to the trouble to make this again -- but in case you want it, here it is):
1 12-oz package extra firm silken tofu, drained
1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 Tbsp red wine vinegar
Salt to taste
Combine all ingredients in a blender (food processor may work better) and puree until smooth and creamy. Chill until ready to serve.

Oatmeal Smoothie

Directions: (Important to do it this way or it will be really crunchy)
Put the oats in the blender and blend until flour-like texture.
Add rest of ingredients and blend.

This is what I had for breakfast (after snacking on the oatmeal cookie granola that my kids were eating -- so finally I decided to just add some to the smoothie).

The original recipe called for 1 cup of oats and 1 cup of water and that was too much, but 1/3 cup wasn't as filling... I will probably try for 1/2 cup next time! You can add ice to make it colder and thicker, you can drink it from a cup, or you can put it in a small bowl, add granola and eat it with a spoon! I can't eat cooked oatmeal (it's a texture thing) so this is a great solution for me!

Cookie Oatmeal Granola

I made this last night for the kids to have for breakfast this morning... It was so yummy we all ended up having some for dessert last night! My kids would eat this for breakfast, lunch, snack, dinner, and dessert!  It is that good -- and it's easy to make!!!

Click here for the recipe

Taco Salad

Layer the following in a large salad bowl:
Romaine Lettuce
Cucumbers
Tomatoes
Chopped Broccoli
15 oz can beans, drained and rinsed (I used black beans)
15 oz can beans, drained and rinsed (I used pinto beans)
1-2 cups corn (I used frozen and thawed it and then added it)

Take 4 corn tortillas and place them on a baking sheet and cook for 5 minutes. Cut in strips and place on top of salad. Serve with a yummy dressing!

This salad was a big hit with the whole family... We will definitely do this again (and again and again)!

Kale and Pear Salad

This is my lunch today: Yum! Yum! I will definitely have this again! 

(Good thing because there is lots of left over dressing)

Dressing:
3 Tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp spicy brown mustard
1-2 tsp pure maple syrup
6 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 tsp dried oregano
pinch of sea salt