Month: May 2013

Maple Pecan Cookies

Melissa King 23 Comments

I have had it on my mind to make these maple pecan cookies for a while now and I finally got around to it.  These maple pecan cookies came out really tasty!  Maple and pecans are two of my favorite things, so why not throw them together and make a maple and pecan thumbprint cookie.

pecan ccokies 1 watermark

These are made with whole grains and no refined sugar.  I also added extra crushed vanilla bean and cinnamon to make the cookie appear sweeter than it actually is.  Did you know that spices can do that?  I was pretty surprised to first read that, but now I swear by those vanilla beans.  They are amazing!  This is a great recipe to do with your kids as well.  Since my daughter is only 3 1/2, her job is to push the pecans into the middle of the cookie.  I used raw pecans for my recipe, but they would be equally delicious with my Candied Pecans as well.

Maple Pecan Cookies

Maple Pecan Cookies

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Prep Time 10 min Cook Time 13 min Serves 20 Cookies     adjust servings

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350.
  2. In a food processor, grind up the 1/2 cup pecans (measure before grinding.)
  3. Add the pecans to a bowl with the rest of the dry ingredients.
  4. Add all the wet ingredients into another bowl.
  5. Add dry to wet and mix only until combined. The dough will be a bit thick and sticky.
  6. Roll into balls and place on a lined baking sheet.
  7. Press the cookies down flat with the palm of your hand.
  8. Press a pecan into the middle of each cookie.
  9. Bake in the oven for about 13 minutes.

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Recipe Notes

They should last at least a week, but you can refrigerate or even freeze to make them last longer. Enjoy!

Dairy Free Spinach Pesto Recipe

Melissa King 30 Comments

You need to try this Dairy Free Spinach Pesto!  Who doesn’t like pesto?  I actually prefer it over a tomato sauce any day.  We have basil growing in our backyard, so I thought I would use some of it to create a pesto sauce.

I could seriously sit there and smell it all day!  Seriously, if you don’t have basil growing in your house or yard, you need to get some.

Basil grows like a weed!  You can save so much money by growing your own herbs, and basil is no exception.

Plus, you can freeze them and have herbs all year round.  This dairy free spinach pesto recipe makes more of a paste than a sauce, so if you want to turn it into a sauce, you need to add a bit more oil and/or some water.

 

dairy free spinach pesto

I love using this recipe for making pizza.  It’s great with a cherry tomatoes as well.  If you are not familiar with nutritional yeast,  it comes in flake form and gives a nutty and cheesy taste.

It is often used in place of cheese.  Nutritional yeast is a great source of protein, fiber and B vitamins.

You can find it at most health stores.  I used almonds when making this pesto, since pine nuts are so expensive.  Almonds make a great substitute.

You can also make this healthy pesto recipe with kale if you like.  Works just as well.

Dairy Free Spinach Pesto

Dairy Free Spinach Pesto

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Prep Time 10 min Serves 1.5 cups     adjust servings

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. Throw everything in the food processor and mix until combined. Since my food processor’s lid broke and I am waiting for a new one to arrive, I had to use my Vitamix for this. I can tell you it was a bit harder in the Vitamix than the food processor.

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Recipe Notes

This recipe made about 1 1/2 cups and should last a couple weeks in the fridge. You can also freeze it for longer storage. Enjoy!

Memorial Day Healthy Recipe Roundup

Melissa King 8 Comments

It is possible to stick to healthy eating when attending or hosting your Memorial Day parties.  Here are a few of my ideas.

Guacamole-11-1024x680

Healthy Corn Tortilla Chips
Homemade Guacamole With Roasted Tomatillos

salsa

Pineapple Mango Salsa

hummus-watermark

Homemade Hummus and Veggies

salad

Black Bean and Spinach Salad

salad with watermark

Macaroni Salad With Chickpeas

potato salad

Dairy Free Potato Salad

bbq1

BBQ Cauliflower Bites

dip

Healthy White Bean Pesto Dip

bbq sauce

Homemade BBQ Sauce

French Fries

Healthy French Fries
Homemade Ketchup

chips

Healthy Sweet Potato Chips

dressing

Healthy Homemade Honey Mustard

Have a happy, healthy and safe Memorial Day!

Italian Herb Dressing Recipe

Melissa King 20 Comments

Italian Herb Dressing.  When I asked you awhile back about what kind of healthy dressing recipes you would like to see, a popular answer was a vegan Italian dressing.

I had already created a Balsamic Vinaigrette.  So I created an vegan herb dressing for you.

 

Italian herb dressing

 

This healthy salad dressing is super easy to make as well.  I used dried herbs, because that is what I had on hand.  Feel free to use fresh ones as well.

This dressing would make a great marinade as well.  I am thinking of marinating some vegetable kabobs in this and then grilling them.  Yum!

Italian Herb Dressing Recipe

Italian Herb Dressing

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Prep Time 5 min Serves 1 cup     adjust servings

Ingredients

  • 1/3 cup olive oil
  • 1/3 cup white wine vinegar
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • 1/2 tsp thyme
  • 1/2 tsp oregano
  • 1 tsp basil
  • 1 1/2 tsp honey or maple syrup (I used honey)
  • pinch salt

Instructions

  1. Mix all the wet ingredients in a bowl .
  2. Mix all the dry in another. 
  3. Add wet to dry and whisk until combined.

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Recipe Notes

Another way you can mix is to throw everything in a covered container and shake well. Keep in mind that since this is a homemade dressing, the oil will try to solidify in the fridge. If you plan on using the dressing, just pull it out a few minutes before you need it and then shake well before using. I got close to 1 cup of dressing. It should last in the fridge a couple weeks. Enjoy!

Homemade Nutri-Grain Bars

Melissa King 217 Comments

Who doesn’t like a Nutri-Grain bar? I made you Homemade Nutri-Grain Bars!  I used to eat them like crazy until I liked at all the ingredients in them.  If you read it as well, you probably know that they are laden with way too many chemicals and artificial dyes.

So naturally I had to create my own homemade nutri-grain bars.  My homemade nutrigrain bars tastes so much better and it’s made from wholesome ingredients.

Homemade Nutri-Grain Bars

Sadly, it took me two tries.

I did some tweaking the second time around and they still didn’t look that pretty, but I thought, what the heck, I will post them!  The second time I learned from my mistakes so hopefully, these will be easy for you to make.

I filled them with pureed dates and also with a fruit spread. I personally liked the dates better as a filling, but use what ever you like.  I know many people have said they filled them with homemade Nutella.  I bet that is amazing too! I’m not sure I trust myself with something like that haha.

Homemade Nutri-Grain Bars

Homemade Nutri-Grain Bars

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Prep Time 30 min Cook Time 13 min

Ingredients

    For the bars

    For the filling

    • Your favorite fruit spread or 12 medjool dates blended up into a caramel with a bit of water

    Instructions

    1. Preheat oven to 350.
    2. In a food processor, grind up the almonds and oats. Measure them before grinding. 
    3. Once they are ground into a slightly course consistency, add them to a bowl with the rest of the dry ingredients. 
    4. In another bowl, add the wet ingredients. 
    5. Add dry to wet and mix just until combined. 
    6. Gather the dough into a ball.  It will be a bit sticky. 
    7. Wrap it in plastic and place in the fridge for about 30-60 minutes to firm up. 
    8. Once firm, cut a piece of parchment paper the size of a baking sheet, and lay it on the counter.
    9. Cut the dough ball in half.  I used a bench scraper to cut mine. 
    10. Take one piece and roll it out onto the parchment, putting some plastic wrap between the rolling pin and dough. 
    11. Roll it until it is about 1/4-1/2 inch thick. 
    12. Spread jam onto the top. 
    13. Roll the second ball of dough the same way onto another piece of parchment. Place that onto the dough with the jam. I made sure all the sides were sealed up. Then slice into squares with a pizza cutter. Bake for about 13 minutes. These should last a week or two. You can freeze them as well.  Remember to save your parchment paper.  You can re-use the same piece over and over again.  Enjoy!

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    Copycat Mary’s Gone Crackers!

    Melissa King 135 Comments

    Copycat Mary’s Gone Crackers is the recipe today.  When you decide to eat a diet of just wholesome foods, it’s hard to find a cracker that fits this criteria.

    It was quite disappointing to read labels and find most crackers contained added sugar or highly processed grains.  I also keep wanted to find a healthy cracker that my picky toddlers would eat.

    I finally found a good one in Mary’s Gone Crackers.  They are organic, vegan, gluten free and non GMO verified.  I love them and so do my kids, but at $4 a box, they can be quite pricey.

    Since we go through them so fast, I thought I would try making a homemade Mary’s Gone Cracker version.  They came out really good!

    You also should try my Homemade Fig Newtons and my Homemade Nutri-Grain Bars.

     

    Copycat Mary's Gone Crackers

    They are pretty easy to make and you can add in your own ingredients to customize your favorite flavors.  It’s also a great recipe to do with your kids.  Not really a lot of messy ingredients or measuring.

    I find when I get my kids involved in the prep work, they are more likely to eat the food.

    For starters, I just did a multi-seed cracker.  I really love their herb flavor, so that will be my next batch.  I also threw some chia seeds because they are so good for you.

    I try to toss them in everything from baked goods to smoothies and in between.  To help keep costs down, I bought all of the ingredients out of the bulk bins at Whole Foods.  Here is my recipe.

    Copycat Mary’s Gone Crackers!

    Homemade Mary’s Gone Crackers!

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    Prep Time 15 min Cook Time 30 min Serves 25-30 crackers     adjust servings

    Ingredients

    Instructions

    1. Preheat oven to 350.
    2. In a food processor , combine the quinoa and rice into a mushy consistency.
    3. Add in all the seeds and salt with a bit of water and pulse until you have a mushy ball.
    4. Get out a sheet of parchment paper about the size of a baking sheet and lay it on the counter.
    5. Take half of the mixture and place it on the parchment.
    6. Using a rolling pin and some plastic wrap, roll out the mixture, putting the plastic wrap between the rolling pin and the mixture. That way, you can roll it out without it getting stuck.
    7. Roll as thin as possible and then transfer the parchment and rolled mixture onto a baking sheet.
    8. Repeat the same steps with the second half.
    9. Bake in the oven for about 15 minutes.
    10. Pull them out and carefully flip them and bake for another 12 minutes.
    11. When they are done, carefully break them into bite sized pieces and bake for an additional 10 minutes or until the pieces are crispy.

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    Recipe Notes

    I got about 25 – 30 crackers out of my batch. They should keep for a week or so. Enjoy!