Tag: healthy

Peanut Butter and Jelly Pancakes

Melissa King 30 Comments

I made my own  Healthy Cranberry Sauce the other day.  It came out fantastic!  So naturally, I have to find some delicious uses for it other than as a side for Thanksgiving.  First, I came up with my Cranberry Thumbprint Cookies and they were a hit.  I also love peanut butter anything, so I decided to try some peanut butter and jelly pancakes!

pancakes

These are not only good, but they are kid friendly too.  What kid doesn’t like peanut butter and jelly?  Plus, it is a fun recipe that you and your kids will enjoy making together.  My daughter, Meadow, loves helping in the kitchen.

Hope you enjoy them as much as we did. 🙂

Peanut Butter and Jelly Pancakes

Peanut Butter and Jelly Pancakes

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Prep Time 10 min Cook Time 10 min

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups spelt flour (for a gluten free option, use gluten free flour and add another flax egg)
  • 1 1/4 cups almond milk
  • 1/3 cup peanut butter (or nut butter of choice)
  • 1 T coconut oil
  • 2 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1 flax egg (real eggs work too)
  • 1 T maple syrup
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • Jam of your choice. (I used my homemade cranberry sauce )

Instructions

  1. In a large bowl, mix all the dry ingredients. 
  2. In a small bowl combine the wet. 
  3. You may need to heat up the peanut butter if you keep it in the fridge like I do. 
  4. Add wet to dry and mix until smooth. 
  5. Heat a medium or large skillet pan and scoop out 1/4 cup servings of batter. 
  6. Flip when you see it start to bubble. 
  7. Remove, add jam and eat.

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Healthy Cranberry Sauce (No Refined Sugar)

Melissa King 23 Comments

Healthy Cranberry Sauce.  Usually when I think of cranberry sauce, I think of the high sugar, gelatinous brand that comes in the can.

This homemade cranberry sauce is as far from that as it can get.  This  healthy cranberry sauce recipe contains no refined sugars.  I love the tarty and tangy taste and I hope you will too.

 

Healthy Cranberry Sauce

This cranberry sauce recipe contains no processed sugars.  It’s also vegan and gluten free.  Another great thing about this recipe is that it can be frozen.

So you could make a large batch in the winter when cranberries are in season.  Then if you get a craving for some cranberry sauce in the summer, you can have it!   I hope you enjoy.

I used this homemade cranberry sauce as a filling in this muffin recipe too.  So delicious!  You can also use the leftovers to use in thumbprint cookies.

 

Healthy Cranberry Sauce

Healthy Cranberry Sauce

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Prep Time 10 min Cook Time 10 min

Ingredients

  • 1 package cranberries
  • 1 cup diced pineapple
  • 1 T pineapple juice
  • 1 cup orange juice
  • 1 – 2 tsp orange zest
  • 1 T maple syrup

Instructions

  1. In a magic bullet , blend the pineapple and 1 T pineapple juice until it becomes pureed. 
  2. In a medium saucepan, heat the orange juice, pureed pineapple mixture, orange zest and maple syrup. 
  3. Add the cranberries after a few minutes.
  4. Cook until the cranberries pop and breakdown. (about 10 minutes)
  5. Remove from heat and transfer to a bowl.  The mixture will thicken while it stands.  Serve immediately or refrigerate.  Enjoy!

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Recipe Notes

Refer to the images above to see the process of making them.

Gluten Free Corn Muffins (Vegan Too)

Melissa King 24 Comments

Gluten Free Corn Muffins.  This recipe for gluten free corn muffins is very old.  Originally, it was not gluten free.  I have revamped these corn muffins and made them gluten free as well as vegan.

I’m pretty pleased with the results of these gluten free corn muffins and I hope you are too.

 

gluten free corn muffins

 

This recipe is for a sweet cornbread, but if you like a more savory version, feel free to adapt this recipe.

Gluten Free Corn Muffins

Gluten Free Corn Muffins

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Prep Time 10 min Cook Time 15 min Serves 5 large muffins     adjust servings

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven 350. 
  2. Mix all the wet ingredients in one medium bowl. 
  3. Mix dry into a large bowl. 
  4. Add the wet to dry and mix just enough to combine. 
  5. Pour batter into muffin pans.  I used jumbo muffin pans and got 5 out of my batch.  You would probably get 12 out of a standard sized muffin pan .
  6. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes or until the toothpick comes out clean. 
  7. Wait until completely cooled before removing from the pans.

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Healthy Vegan Green Bean Casserole

Melissa King 12 Comments

Thanksgiving is that time of year when you stuff yourself silly with all the guilty pleasures.  I am going to try to make healthier versions of all the naughty dishes.  The first one that came to mind was to make a vegan green bean casserole.  Who doesn’t love it in all it’s decadent glory?  The original version is not vegan and contains a lot of unwanted ingredients.  My vegan green bean casserole is much healthier
and just as delicious…

Vegan Green Bean Casserole

I am including a gluten free option in this recipe as well.  So you can save all the calories for dessert. 🙂

What are some other Thanksgiving guilty pleasures?

Healthy Vegan Green Bean Casserole

Healthy Vegan Green Bean Casserole

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Prep Time 20 min Cook Time 25 min

Ingredients

  • 2 cups green beans sliced
  • 3 cups + 1/4 cup vegetable broth
  • 3/4 cup + 4-5 sliced mushrooms
  • 1/2 cup diced onion
  • 1/4 cup almond milk
  • 1 T arrowroot powder
  • 1/2 cup + 2T whole wheat panco bread crumbs (to make this gluten free, just use gluten free breadcrumbs.)
  • 2 T olive oil
  • 2-3 cloves of garlic minced
  • salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350. 
  2. In a large sauce pan , saute 3/4 cup mushrooms, onions and olive oil. 
  3. In another pot, boil the green beans in the 3 cups veggie broth for 10 minutes. 
  4. In a food processor , combine the arrowroot, 1/4 cup milk and 4-5 sliced mushrooms until mixture is fully pureed. 
  5. Once the beans are boiled, drain and add them to the mushroom/onion mixture. 
  6. Add the pureed mushrooms to the pan. 
  7. Now add the salt and breadcrumbs. Stir well.
  8. Place in the oven and bake for  20 minutes. 
  9. Pull it out and sprinkle last 2T breadcrumbs over the top and cook for another 5 minutes.

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Thinking of Takeout? Try This Pizza!

Melissa King 7 Comments

I know that life moves fast and a lot of time you don’t have the time to whip up an elaborate dinner.  Instead of ordering a pizza, try making your own flat bread one.  It’s super easy.

When I was in high school, I worked at a pizza restaurant.  They used to let us make a small pizza to take home after our shift.  We used to get creative with the toppings.  I think I made a steak and cheese pizza once.  On slow nights we used to make fried dough.  It was fun and yummy.  Probably not too healthy though. 🙂  Now, every time I smell takeout, it reminds me of that time.

Quick Flat Bread Pizza

Thinking of Takeout? Try This Pizza!

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Prep Time 10 min Cook Time 17 min

Ingredients

    For the pizza

    • Whole grain flat bread
    • 10-12 cherry tomatoes
    • 1/2 cup mushrooms
    • 1 bunch baby spinach
    • 1/4 cup daiya cheese

    Pesto Sauce

    • 1 cup fresh basil
    • 1 cup fresh parsley
    • 1/2 cup almonds (I use almonds because pine nuts are so expensive)
    • 3-4 garlic cloves rough chopped
    • 2 T nutritional yeast
    • 1/4 cup olive oil

    Instructions

      Pesto Sauce:

      1. Grind the almonds up a bit in the food processor first.
      2. Then add the basil, parsley, nutritional yeast and garlic.
      3. As you process those, drizzle in the oil until everything is well mixed.

      For the pizza

      1. Preheat oven to 350.
      2. Take the whole grain flat bread and brush it with oil and bake it for about 7 minutes.
      3. Pull the flat bread out and spread on the pesto sauce, add the mushrooms, spinach and tomato and cheese and bake for another 10 minutes or until the flat bread looks crispy.
      4. Cut up and enjoy!

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      Healthy Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

      Melissa King 177 Comments

      Here is yet another pumpkin recipe  I just love muffins, so it was only fitting I would make healthy pumpkin chocolate chip muffins.  They make me feel like I am eating cake for breakfast. 🙂   Growing up in Boston, we had a Dunkin Donuts on every corner.

      One of the things I loved there was the pumpkin chocolate chip muffins.  Then one day I looked up the nutrition facts. They have 600 calories and 26 grams of fat.  Ouch!

      Healthy Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

      Meadow and I ate one as soon as they came out of the oven.  Yum! Do you have a Dunkin Donuts nearby?  We only have a handful here in Texas.

      If you are a visual person, I filmed this short video on how to make these. For more videos, you can subscribe to my You Tube Channel.

      Healthy Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

      Healthy Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins!

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      Prep Time 10 min Cook Time 15 min

      Ingredients

      Instructions

      1. Preheat oven to 350. 
      2. Mix wet in one bowl.
      3. Mix dry in another.
      4. Add wet to dry and mix until combined.  
      5. Spoon into muffin tins. 
      6. Bake for around 12-15 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

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      Pumpkin Muffins