Tag: dairy free

12 Make Ahead Breakfasts for Back to School Mornings

Melissa King 65 Comments

It’s that time of year again.  The kids are going back to school.  Mine start in a couple of weeks.   So now is the time to get organized so you are not rushing on those busy mornings.  Here is a list of make ahead breakfasts you can freeze and easily pull out in a hurry.  I thought I would also share some of my favorite school lunch supplies.

Lunchbots Lunchboxes – We have had these going on 3 years and they are great.

Kids Drinking Thermos – Another product we have had 3 years so far.  They are very easy to pop open.  Perfect for little hands.

Lunchskins Re-Usable Snack Bags -These are easy to clean and quick drying.

Hot Food Jars – Perfect for bringing hot foods like pasta and oatmeal.

Kids Konserve Ice Packs – Made of non toxic materials and BPA free.

Olive Kids Lunchbox – Durable, BPA free and easy to clean.  Comes in many styles.

 

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Strawberry Banana Baked Oatmeal

This recipe will make a weeks worth of healthy breakfasts you can freeze and reheat for busy mornings.  You can swap out the fruits for what you have on hand as well.

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Almond Butter Chocolate Chip Oatmeal

This recipe can also be made with peanut butter or sunflower butter.  The choice is yours.  Make, freeze and re-heat.

Overnight Oats FG blur

Almond Butter Overnight Oats

Use this recipe as a base and add in your own flavors.  Fruits, nuts, seeds…the possibilities are endless!  Make a weeks worth of these and then grab them when you need them.

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Homemade Pop Tarts

Fill them with your favorite jams.  I personally love them with blueberry chia jam.  Then just freeze them and pull them out when needed.

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Homemade Nutri-Grain Bars

These are perfect to throw in your child’s lunch box.  My kids love them.  Add in your favorite jam and you are ready to go.  They freeze very well.

Banana Blueberry Muffins - My Whole Food Life

Banana Blueberry Muffins

These freeze very well and all the kids love them.  They can also be done gluten free.

Coconut Raspberry Smoothie Watermark

Raspberry Coconut Smoothie

Make a big batch of these and then freeze them in ice cube trays.  Then on those busy mornings, just pop out and blend what you need.

Here are some other recipes from some blogs I follow.

Real Food. Real Deals No Knead Apple Pie Bread
Eat Good 4 Life Chocolate and Peanut Butter Chia Pudding
The Clever Carrot Gluten Free Zucchini Muffins
Sugar Dish Me Whole Wheat Poppy Seed Bagels
Chocolate Covered Katie Gluten Free Cinnamon Sugar Waffles

22 Make Ahead Breakfasts

Homemade Wheat Thins

Melissa King 74 Comments

I recently polled all of you about what recipes you wanted to see copycat versions of.  Many of you asked for homemade wheat thins.  I used to love them myself, but have not bought them in a very long time.  So here are some homemade wheat thins.

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I found the ingredient list on Fooducate’s website.  Here is what is in the Garden Veggie version.

whole grain wheat flour, enriched bleached flour (wheat flour, niacin, reduced iron, thiamine mononitrate {vitamin b1}, riboflavin {vitamin b2}, folic acid), soybean oil, modified cornstarch, sugar, oat fiber, dried vegetable blend (carrots, onions, cabbage, tomato, green and red bell peppers), salt, leavening (calcium phosphate and/or baking soda), onion powder, parsley, garlic powder, hydrolyzed corn protein, torula yeast, brewer’s yeast, cornstarch, malted barley flour, natural flavor. bht added to packaging material to preserve freshness.

Wow!  That is a lot of ingredients!  I have highlighted some of the worst ones.  My recipe is so easy and made from only real ingredients.  I personally think it tastes better too.  I made mine with wheat flour because I was trying to keep it close to the real thing.  If you want to do a gluten free version, you can use gluten free flour and add an extra egg.  I think it would work well. I love this recipe because you can create your own flavors. Just add in the extra herbs!  These, along with my Peach Fruit Leathers, would be great for school lunch boxes.

Homemade Wheat Thins

Homemade Wheat Thins

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Prep Time 30 min Cook Time 25 min

Ingredients

  • 2 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour (!For a gluten free version, sub GF all purpose or GF oat flour and add an extra egg)
  • 1/4-1/3 cup raw honey (depending on how sweet you want them)
  • 1/4 cup coconut oil (measure after melting)
  • 1/4 cup applesauce (unsweetened)
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1 flax egg
  • 1/4 cup almond milk
  • Optional add ins: basil, parsley, oregano, rosemary, thyme

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350. 
  2. Mix all the dry ingredients in one bowl . 
  3. Mix wet in another. 
  4. Add wet to dry and mix until combined. 
  5. Gather the dough into a ball and wrap it with plastic. 
  6. Stick it in the fridge for about 10-15 minutes so it gets a bit more firm. 
  7. Once it’s firm, cut the dough in half with a bench scraper .
  8. Tear two pieces of parchment to line your baking bans.  You can also use a silpat . 
  9. Roll out half the dough by placing the ball on top of one sheet of parchment paper, and the plastic wrap between the dough and the rolling pin .  This will let you roll the dough out very thin without it sticking the rolling pin , or the counter.  It also makes for easy transfer to the baking sheet. 
  10. Roll the dough out very thin.  Try to roll it out in an even square if possible. 
  11. Once the dough is rolled out, score it with a pizza cutter .  I cut mine into bite sized squares.  This will make the pieces come apart very easy. 
  12. Repeat these steps with the other half of the dough. 
  13. Once done, bake in the oven for about 15 minutes.  Watch them carefully though, because everyone’s oven is a bit different and they can easily burn. 
  14. Once the edges look browned, pull the pans out and carefully flip the pieces over. 
  15. Bake for another 5-7 minutes, or until the pieces are crunchy.

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Recipe Notes

I got far more crackers in my batch than you would get in a box of store bought wheat thins. Way cheaper to make too! I store mine in a glass jar in the pantry. They should last a couple weeks. To keep them crispy, scatter a bit of rice at the bottom of the container. The rice should help absorb the moisture and keep the crackers crisp. Enjoy!

Apple Cinnamon Waffles (Vegan)

Melissa King 40 Comments

Apple Cinnamon Waffles. Every weekend we try to make waffles.  You can never have too many healthy waffle recipes.   Today we made healthy apple waffles with lots of cinnamon!

We usually make Blueberry Oatmeal Waffles or Strawberry Banana Waffles.  The last couple months, my daughter had soccer early in the morning, so we had to rush out quickly with no time to make waffles.

This past weekend, we were finally able to again.  My daughter requested apple cinnamon waffles, so here you go.

 

apple cinnamon waffles

 

You can use all white whole wheat flour if you want.  I just like to mix it up with some oat flour.  This recipe is super easy and could probably be easily converted into pancakes as well.

It will make your house smell amazing too!  I always make a big batch and then freeze some.  Then you can easily pull one out and toast it on those busy mornings!

Apple Cinnamon Waffles

Apple Cinnamon Waffles

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Prep Time 10 min Cook Time 10 min Serves 5-6 waffles     adjust servings

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. Preheat your waffle iron . 
  2. Mix all the dry ingredients in one bowl. 
  3. Mix wet in another. 
  4. Add we to dry and mix until combined. 
  5. Using a 1/2 cup scoop, spoon mixture onto a greased waffle pan. 
  6. Repeat these steps until all are made.  I got 5-6 waffles out of my batch.  Enjoy!

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Grain Free Sugar Cookies

Melissa King 22 Comments

Did someone say sugar cookies? I love sugar cookies. I have also been inspired to do some grain free baking lately, so a grain free sugar free cookie just seemed to make sense.  I have already tried doing some grain free baking with my Grain Free Blondies and my Grain Free Blueberry Tart.  I hadn’t really used any coconut flour though.  So today at Whole Foods, I bought some.  I was so excited to use it that I baked these sugar cookies this afternoon.

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I knew they were good as soon as I saw my daughter lick the beater clean.  If you are new to baking with coconut flour, there are some things you need to know.  Coconut flour absorbs a lot of moisture so it’s good to add an egg for every 1/4 cup coconut flour.  I used flax egg replacements in this recipe.  I was a little worried because I have heard that if you use more than 2 flax eggs, it messes up the recipe, but I used 3 and this came out great.

Grain Free Sugar Cookies

Grain Free Sugar Cookies

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Prep Time 10 min Cook Time 15 min Serves 15 cookies     adjust servings

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350.
  2. Mix all the dry ingredients in one bowl .
  3. Mix all wet in another.
  4. Add wet to dry and mix.
  5. Roll dough into balls.
  6. Place them on a lined baking sheet , and then flatten each ball with your palm.
  7. Bake for about 12-15 minutes.

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Recipe Notes

Enjoy!

Healthier Corn Fritters (Vegan)

Melissa King 13 Comments

Healthier Corn Fritters.  So a few weeks ago, our co-op offered an add on of 48 ears of organic and non GMO corn.  I love corn on the cob, so I got the add on.

That day, we boiled and cut all the corn and stuck most of it in the freezer.  It took all day!  I used some to make my Honey Balsamic Bean Salad.  This weekend, we decided to make corn fritters.  The traditional way calls for deep frying.

We pan seared ours and then baked them.  So they still have a crunchy crust, but are mostly baked.  This is one of my husband’s recipes.

 

healthier corn fritters

 

These came out so good!  It’s been rainy here the last couple days and I didn’t want to eat them before I was able to get photos.

I am so glad I got a chance to shoot these so I can have them for lunch today.  These fritters would be perfect on top of a salad, eaten as a burger, or just topped with some avocado.

Healthier Corn Fritters

Healthier Corn Fritters

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Prep Time 10 min Cook Time 22 min Serves 10 - 12 fritters     adjust servings

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 425. 
  2. Throw all the ingredients in a bowl , and mix until the batter comes together.  I did this by hand.
  3. Form into small patties. I used a 1/4 cup measurement for this.
  4. Lightly oil a large saucepan on medium to medium high heat.
  5. Lay the patties into the pan and sear for 1-2 minutes on each side. Just enough to give it a nice crispy outside.  You may need to add a bit more oil if the pan looks dry.  
  6. Repeat these steps until all the patties are seared.
  7. Lay the patties on a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes, stopping in the middle to flip them over. Enjoy!

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Recipe Notes

I got 10-12 patties out of this batch.

Grain Free Blondies (Vegan Too)

Melissa King 64 Comments

Grain Free Blondies you guys!!  I don’t know if you have noticed, but I am trying to branch out and create more recipes that are grain and gluten free.

I have already done so with my Grain Free Blueberry Tart and my Healthy Key Lime Tart.

Since the gluten free and grain free diets seem to be a trend nowadays, I thought you may enjoy this recipe.  These grain free blondies may be the start of many more grain free desserts in the future.

 

Grain Free Blondies

 

I under cooked mine slightly because I wanted to maintain a gooey and soft center.  Another awesome thing about these blondies is that they are only sweetened with dates.  I love dates!

Grain Free Blondies

Grain Free Blondies

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Prep Time 15 min Cook Time 20 min Serves 9 squares     adjust servings

Soft and gooey blondies that are grain free!

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350.
  2. Mix all the dry ingredients in one bowl .
  3. In a food processor , grind up the dates.
  4. Add the almond butter and coconut oil and pulse together.
  5. Transfer the mixture to a mixing bowl and add in the eggs, vanilla and milk.
  6. Lastly, add the dry ingredients and mix well.
  7. Cut a sheet of parchment paper and place it into an 8X8 baking dish .
  8. Make sure you have enough paper to stick out the sides so you can easily grab the whole thing out of the pan.
  9. Spread dough evenly inside the dish. The dough will be sticky and using wet hands or a wet spatula can make it easier.
  10. Bake in the oven for about 20 minutes.
  11. Let it cool completely before removing, and then cut the blondies into squares with a pizza cutter .

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Recipe Notes

I stored mine in the fridge. Enjoy!