Year: 2013

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Larabars

Melissa King 71 Comments

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Larabars.  Okay I am officially addicted to homemade larabars!  My first recipe was the Chocolate Brownie Larabar, then there was the Coconut Cream Larabar and now the Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Larabar.

I have to say the coconut cream is still my favorite, but the cookie dough comes in at a close second.  You can roll them into balls as well if you don’t want to do bars.

 

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Larabars

 

These are just so easy to make and they contain just a few ingredients.  This was my second attempt for this flavor.  The first one came out good, but I didn’t think it was quite right.

Read More

Homemade Hemp Milk

Melissa King 86 Comments

So I have been making my own Almond Milk for a while now.  While I was writing my post on Superfoods for Good Health, I read a lot about the benefits of hemp seeds.  So, I decided to make my own hemp milk too.  Turns out it is even easier than almond milk.

hemp milk

It’s pretty good too!  I haven’t been able to find store bought hemp milk that doesn’t contain large amounts of sugar.  When I make my own, I can control the sugar amount.  There are also no funky additives like carrageenan in this.  I added ground vanilla bean
to my milk.  I swear by that stuff.  Worth.Every.Penny.  A little goes a long way and it actually gives an impression of sweetness without adding sugar.  Because there are no additives in this milk, it will separate in the fridge so you need to shake it well before you use it.  I store mine in a leak-proof jar so I can shake it really well without it leaking.  You will need a powerful blender, a very fine and strong cheesecloth and a mesh strainer.

Homemade Hemp Milk

Homemade Hemp Milk

print shopping list
Prep Time 5 min

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. Throw everything in the blender and blend for 90 seconds or so. I used a Vitamix . 
  2. Lay the mesh strainer across a large bowl . 
  3. Put the cheesecloth over that.
  4. Slowly pour the milk out of the blender giving the cheesecloth time to drain the liquid. You may have to give the cheese cloth a little squeeze to get all the liquid.
  5. Repeat until all the liquid has been strained.

by

Recipe Notes

This is different from the almond milk because you will not have a leftover meal. All you are straining is the seed particles. You really can skip the straining process if you like. The seed bits will be small and barely noticeable. Either way works.

Simple Stir Fry

Melissa King 12 Comments

We had a lot of random veggies left in our fridge today.   Since I am going shopping tomorrow,  thought I would use them up.  The best way to do that is in a stir fry.  There are no rules really, just throw everything together with some sauce.  We love stir fries and have several on the blog already.  The Peanut Noodle Stir Fry is my husband’s favorite.

stir fry

As you can see from the picture, I added tofu to ours.  If you are going to use tofu, try to get an organic brand that is non GMO verified since 90% of the soy products in this country contain GMOs.  Feel free to add a protein of your choice if soy is not your thing.  I tossed in some black rice that we had laying around the fridge as well.  We usually make a big pot of rice every week and add it to various meals to stretch them out longer.

Simple Stir Fry

Simple Stir Fry

print shopping list

Ingredients

  • 1 pkg firm tofu
  • 4-5 cups of spinach (seems like a lot, but it cooks down)
  • 5 carrots cut in strips
  • 1/2 green or red pepper cut in strips
  • 1 cup sliced green beans
  • 2 cups cooked rice (I used black rice)
  • 2 T toasted sesame oil

For the sauce

  • 1/4 cup soy sauce or bragg's aminos
  • 2 T mirin
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • 1/2 T coconut sugar

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 400.
  2. Drain the tofu and pat dry.
  3. Cut into cubes and place on a greased baking pan and bake for about 45 minutes.
  4. In a large sauce pan, on medium heat, cook the oil, peppers, carrots and beans until they soften.
  5. Then add the spinach, rice, sauce and tofu.
  6. Cook for another few minutes until everything looks well combined with sauce.
  7. Serve immediately or refrigerate for later.

by

Strawberry Banana Waffles

Melissa King 17 Comments

At our house, Sundays have a morning tradition of homemade waffles or pancakes.  Last week we had Blueberry Oatmeal Waffles.  This week, my daughter requested strawberry banana waffles.  So that is what we had.

waffles

I mix all the dry ingredients the night before so it takes only minutes to whip them up in the morning.  I got five large waffles out of this batch.  There were hardly any leftovers.  I used freeze dried strawberries for this recipe, so if you use fresh, you may need to slice them thin and use a little bit less liquid.

Do you have any weekend traditions?

Strawberry Banana Waffles

Strawberry Banana Waffles

print shopping list
Prep Time 10 min Cook Time 10 min

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. Mix all the dry ingredients and stir well.
  2. Then add the wet and mix only until combined. Be careful not to over mix. 
  3. That’s all there is to it.  I hope you all enjoy these as much as we did.

by

Coconut Cream Larabars

Melissa King 328 Comments

These Coconut Cream Larabars are where it’s at. No matter who you talk to, most everyone seems to love larabar,  My two most viewed posts on the blog are the Peanut Butter Granola Bars and the Homemade Clif Bars.

The first larabar recipe I created was the chocolate brownie.  I think these healthy larabars came out even better!

Coconut Cream Larabars

These literally took about 5 minutes to make.  Can it get any easier?  I love recipes like this.  The store bought Larabars cost $1.50 a piece.  That can get pretty pricey if you are buying a lot of them.  So here is my recipe.  I hope you like it as much as we did.

Some other larabar recipes you may enjoy:

Like this recipe?  Watch how to make it in the video below. For more videos, you can subscribe to my You Tube Channel.

Coconut Cream Larabars

Coconut Cream Larabars

print shopping list
Prep Time 20 min

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. Mix the almonds, coconut and cashews in the food processor until fine.
  2. Then add the dates, oil and water and pulse until a dough forms.
  3. Line an 8X8 pan with parchment paper leaving enough room for some to come out the sides. That way, the bars will be easy to remove and cut with a pizza cutter.
  4. Press down the down so that it is packed well and place in the fridge to set.
  5. It will take an hour or two. Slice and eat. These should keep in the fridge for a couple weeks.

by

Minestrone Soup (Slow Cooker Recipe)

Melissa King 17 Comments

Minestrone Soup.  I just love soups.  If you have been reading this blog for awhile now, then I am sure you have realized that.  This slow cooker soup is my latest recipe.

I also created a post recently including 6 Healthy and Filling Soups.  I will probably have to add this slow cooker minestrone to it.

 

Minestrone Soup

 

This healthy and hearty soup is hearty and filling and it was perfect for the chilly day we had inTexas yesterday.  Soups are great because they are very budget friendly.  They also freeze well, so soups are great for batch cooking.

 

 

Looking for more soup recipes?

We also shot a short video for this recipe.  You can view it below. For more videos, please subscribe to my You Tube Channel.

Minestrone Soup

Minestrone Soup

print shopping list
Prep Time 20 min Cook Time 6 hr

Ingredients

  • 4 cups vegetable stock
  • 1 28 oz can diced tomatoes or 3.5 cups homemade diced tomatoes
  • 4 stalks celery chopped
  • 4 carrots chopped
  • 1 onion chopped
  • 1.5 cups green beans chopped
  • 4 cloves garlic diced
  • 1 1/2 T fresh basil chopped
  • 1/2 tsp oregano (I used dried)
  • 2 cups pasta (I used quinoa pasta )

Instructions

  1. In a food processor , chop the carrots, onion and celery fine.
  2. Throw that mixture and all the other ingredients except the pasta in the crock pot . 
  3. Cook on high for the first hour, then turn to low and cook for a few more hours.
  4. Add the pasta in for the last 20 minutes of cooking and test a piece before you turn the crock pot off.

by

Recipe Notes

We got about 6 good size servings out of this recipe.

Minestrone soup