Burgers and Fries - a healthy version

This  past weekend my family and I went to the mall to do some shopping. We ended up eating at the food court which is always kind of a gross experience. My kids ate Chick fil-a, I had tuna sub from Subway and my husband had a Philly cheese steak sub. We all indulged in Wendy's new "Natural cut fries with sea salt."

See, we are not perfect at healthy eating. Eating out, especially when you want fast food is hard. And to be perfectly honest some times I just feel like eating bad food. I am still trying to get over my tendency towards emotional eating and overcome our addictions to bad, processed foods. It is a journey and a long one. 

So when we are at home and we get a craving for some "junk food" I make this version of burgers and fries that really are even better tasting than what you can get at a fast food place with none of the guilt.

The burgers are these veggie patties we get at Costco.

Bake them up in the oven at 400 degrees for about 10-12 minutes.
Serve on whole wheat bread, buns, or skinny buns.
Serve with ketchup, mustard, whatever
Add lettuce, tomato, sprouts, avocado, whatever sounds good. To me the avocado is really what takes this burger from good to great.

The Fries come from a recipe I got from my sister, Jen. I changed it a bit. To see her original recipe click here.

A lot of times we will eat this all with a salad or a green smoothie.

Healthy Sweets - A how to and the Best Chocolate Shake Ever!!!!

A few months a go I made a deal with my kids that if they would stop asking for store bought treats and turn down treats offered them by well meaning people I would make them all the treats they wanted at home. The treats you make at home will almost always be healthier than what you buy at the store and they will taste better too. Here are some tips on how to make your treat recipes even healthier.


1. Eggs - try to buy  free range organic, preferably from a local source.


** If you don't want to eat eggs at all. You can use a mixture of 1 Tbsp ground flax seed and 2 Tbsp water for each egg in your baked goods.

2. Use Whole Wheat Flour. Soft white wheat is the closest to white flour. You can also get Whole wheat pastry flour at some stores but it is more expensive.

3. Consider using Virgin Coconut Oil instead of butter or margarine. Here is a link that describes the health benefits of coconut oil. Here is a link for a great place to buy quality coconut oil for cheaper than you can get at the health food store. You want the virgin, unrefined one.  If you don't want to use coconut oil, use butter.

4. Replace the sugar with Sucanat, which is dehydrated, unrefined organic cane juice. You can also try Coconut or Palm Sugar.*

*I really like the palm sugar, nutritionally it is probably one of the best suagrs you can use.

5. Use Aluminum Free Baking Powder. You can find this at health food stores and most grocery stores.

6. Get Alcohol Free Vanilla Extract. Did you realize it had alcohol in it? I didn't until a few years ago. Finding alcohol free can be harder and it is more expensive. I have found some at Trader Joe's and my local health food store. I really like this brand.

7. Use Sea Salt (or Original Crystal Himalayan Salt) for all the minerals in the whole food rather than the processed salt stripped of nutrition, and cut the amount of salt in half.

Best Chocolate Shake

The only sweeteners in this are bananas and dates.

3 cups unsweetened almond milk
4 - 6 frozen bananas (Important – they must be frozen or it won’t be a “shake”)
2-3 medjool dates with pits out (we like 2)
1-2 Tblsp of unsweetened cocoa (we like closer to 1)

2- 3 Tblsp of natural peanut butter (optional)

Blend it all in your blender

** You can use regular milk if you want. We use Almond Breeze unsweetened vanilla flavored almond milk. You can find it at health food stores and some grocery stores.

** Whenever your bananas start to get too brown, break them in to pieces and freeze them in ziploc bags. I always have a ton of frozen bananas in my freezer. If you don't have a powerful blender, let the bananas defrost a little so you don't kill your motor.

**Start out with the smaller amounts of cocoa and dates and taste it, if you want more, add them.

**These are seriously so delicious. They taste like a shake you can get from a malt shop. So good.

What up Wednesday - Back issues and an easy Vegetarian Chili

I have been thinking that a blog purely of recipes may not be the most interesting or most helpful. I still plan on doing a TON of recipes but I thought I would also talk about health in general and the stuff going on in our family.

Lately we have been dealing with a major health issue - my back. I have had a herniated disc for about 6 years and during that time I would have periods where the problem would flare up and really cause me a lot of pain. Sometimes it would be so bad I could do nothing more than lay on the couch and make trips to the bathroom. Of course it is really hard to be the mom when you have this sort of thing going on.

E and A are super surprised and excited that Dad has inexplicably filled

their stockings with high fructose corn syrup and refined sugars!

The latest episode started the week before Christmas (It was a great Christmas!!) and I am still recovering. My doctor thinks my disc is only part of the problem. I also am having issues with my hips and pelvis being all out of place from being pregnant. It has been a long, frustrating recovery.

A finishes up her huge lolli

For years I have not been very good at doing my back strengthening exercises. I would exercise but I wouldn't take the time to do the stretches and exercises I had learned at physical therapy. And I think I am paying for that neglect. It just makes me think why don't we do the things that we know will help us be healthier and happier? I mean I know the reasons: time, motivation, etc... But when will my health take the priority that it needs to be in my life?

This is what sugar overload looks like.

With this last episode I have made myself the promise that I will do my exercises every day. I have made that promise before, hopefully this time I will keep it.

"So, this is Christmas?? - G luckily escapes all the sugar

Well, here is the chili we had for dinner last night. This is a super easy recipe. You just open up a bunch of cans, oh and cut up an onion and add spices but that is it!

Vegetarian Chili

3 cans beans with liquid ( I usually use a combination of kidney, pinto, and black)
2 cups water
2 cans tomato sauce
1 can diced tomatoes with liquid
1 diced yellow onion
1 tbsp. chili powder
1 tbsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp pepper
3 bay leaves
3/4 tsp sea salt

optional: 1 diced green pepper
4 stalks diced celery
1 cup barley

In a large pot bring stir all ingredients together and bring to a boil. Then reduce heat to simmer, put on lid and let cook for about 1 hour. If you are putting in barley add it the last 10 minutes.

** This is an old stand by at our house. My kids eat it with shredded cheese and crushed up tortilla chips. I eat it without cheese and it is still good!



Not Really Fudge

Here is another quick and healthy treat. I got this recipe originally from Iheartwellness.com of course I changed it a bit and of course we added peanut butter. Our motto is "everything tastes better with peanut butter.


1 banana
1/2 cups soaked and pitted dates (soak at least 15 minutes)
1 heaping Tbl of coconut oil
1/4 cup raw sunflower seeds (I like to soak mine for a few hours but it is not necessary)
1/4 cup cocoa
natural peanut butter (optional)

process all ingredients in a food processor except peanut butter
smooth out onto wax or parchment paper on a small cookie sheet or casserole dish
swirl peanut butter through fudge with a knife (or spread on top once fudge starts to freeze)
freeze

serve frozen in bite size pieces *

*This fudge thaws really quickly. It cuts easily frozen and by the time you get it on your plate or pop it in your mouth it is perfect.

Do you like Indian Food? - Vegan Korma

The first time I ever ate Indian food I had this really bad experience which involved stomach cramps and running for the bathroom. But through the years I always wanted to give Indian food another chance. A few months ago we went out to an Indian restaurant with some friends and I had another disappointing experience. I had a hard time finding a vegan dish that looked appealing. The dish I ended up ordering was so spicy I couldn't eat it. When it comes to spicy I am a bit of a wimp. My husband, on the other hand, got a really delicious creamy dish and I was feeling very jealous.

Since then my husband has been begging me to learn how to make Korma for him. I found this vegan version on the Post Punk Kitchen blog. I changed it quite a bit, making it not so spicy. If you want to see the original version go here.

Here is what I did:

For the cream:
2 cups raw cashew pieces (plus water for soaking)
2 cups vegetable broth

Veggies to boil:
1 pound red potatoes (1 1/2 inch chunks)
1 head cauliflower in large florettes (don’t cut em too small or they will fall apart)
1 lb carrots, sliced on a bias 1/2 inch thick

Puree:
1 medium sized yellow onions
1 inch nub of ginger
4 cloves garlic
Everything else:
3 tablespoons peanut oil
1/2 tablespoon coriander, crushed
1/2 tablespoon curry powder
1 teaspoon garam masala
Fresh black pepper
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 tablespoon tamarind concentrate (see note)
1 tablespoons tomato paste
4 cups vegetable broth
1 can coconut milk
First, soak the cashews. This will get them really soft and make them easier to blend really smooth. Place them in a bowl and submerge in water. Set aside for at least an hour. In the meantime prep everything.

Boil the veggies. Place them in a big pot and cover them in cold water. Cover the pot and bring to a boil. Once boiling, lower heat to a simmer (so you don’t overcook the veggies), for about 15 minutes. Potatoes should be fork tender. Drain and set aside.

Next, puree the onion, ginger and garlic. It shouldn’t be completely smooth, some texture is good.

Preheat a skillet over medium heat. Cook the puree in the peanut oil with a sprinkle of salt for about 15 to 20 minutes, until it’s nice and browned.

This is a good time to puree the cashews. Drain them and place them in a blender along with 2 cups vegetable broth. Puree until smooth. This can take up to 5 minutes to get it as smooth as possible.

Back to the puree. Once it’s browned, add the coriander  and saute for about 3 minutes. Add curry powder, garam masala, several dashes fresh black pepper and salt and saute for another minute.

Transfer to the pot you cooked the veggies in. Add tamarind, tomato paste and vegetable broth and bring to a simmer. Now add the coconut milk and the cashew cream. Let cook uncovered for about 15 minutes, it should thicken a little and be really creamy.

 Now fold in the boiled veggies, put the lid on the pot and let it heat through. Taste for salt and seasoning and serve garnished with cilantro if you like.

** I'm not gonna lie to you this took a bit of time. I also had to find an Indian market to buy garam masala and tamarind paste. But all the effort was oh so worth it. So creamy and good.

** This makes a lot of food. We served it over brown rice and for leftovers I ate it over whole wheat couscous.

I heart This Cake - Chocolate Beet Cake

I made this chocolate beet cake for Valentine's Day. After My husband took his first bite. He dropped his fork, turned to me and exclaimed "This is SO GOOD!" Well I thought it was great but I don't know if it was all that. But he could not stop gushing over it. In fact he only let himself eat one slice because he felt guilty eating more.

For this recipe I used coconut sugar for the first time. I bought this Sweet Tree brand at my local health food store. It has a very mild taste and itis great because it is organic, not highly processed so it still has a ton of nutrients in it and it is low on the glycemic index.

I got this recipe from greensmoothie girl but I changed it a bit. Here is my version:

Chocolate Beet Cake

3 eggs (organic, range fed)

¾ cup coconut oil (can substitute applesauce for half of this, if desired)

1 tsp. vanilla

1 3/4 cups baked or steamed beets (about 2 medium-large beets, peeled)

4 Tbsp. baking cocoa (nonalkalized)

2 cups whole-wheat flour (soft white wheat, ground fine)

1 ½ tsp. baking soda

½ tsp sea salt

Puree beets in  blender with  eggs, sugar, oil, and vanilla. Transfer to a bowl and add chocolate and other ingredients. Bake in 9”x13” oiled pan at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

1 ½ cups Coconut sugar

Frosting

¼ cup unsweetened cocoa ½ cup coconut oil

½ cup powdered coconut sugar - to do this I blended up the sugar in the blender until it turned into a powder.

Cream together:

** Everyone liked it. My husband liked it best. E said "Mom, this is so good, it only tastes a little bit like dirt!"

Do you have to give up creamy dishes when you go vegan? N0! - Creamy Avocado Pasta

Sometimes I just miss creamy dishes and so lately I have been on the hunt for creamy vegan dishes.

I got this recipe from OhSheglows.com . It is super fast and easy. Here it is with my adjustments.

Ingredients:

• 1 medium sized ripe Avocado, pitted
• 1/2 lemon, juiced + lemon zest to garnish ( I didn't have lemon zest and I just used bottled lemon juice)
• 2-3 garlic cloves, to taste (I used 3 and it was quite garlicky, but if you are not a big fan of garlic use 1 clove)
• 1/2 tsp sea salt, or to taste
• ~1/4 cup Fresh Basil, ( I used a couple shakes of dried basil)
• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 2 servings/6 oz of your choice of pasta
• Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Directions:
1. Bring several cups of water to a boil in a medium sized pot. Add in your pasta, reduce heat to medium, and cook until Al Dente, about 8-10 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, make the sauce by placing the garlic cloves, lemon juice, and olive oil into a food processor. Process until smooth. Now add in the pitted avocado, basil, and salt. Process until smooth and creamy.
3. When pasta is done cooking, drain and rinse in a strainer and place pasta into a large bowl. Pour on sauce and toss until fully combined. Garnish with lemon zest and black pepper. Serve immediately. Makes 2 servings.

** I doubled this recipe.

** This doesn't reheat very well. But I loved it the next day cold.

** My kids didn't love this but it was a big hit with me and the husband. This was so creamy and yummy. It was a nice change from all the tomato sauce we have been eating.