Chocolate Chip "Cookie Dough" Balls

These are super yummy and taste amazingly like cookie dough! But these are much healthier for you. You could "almost" call them health food ;) ...but I wouldn't, ha! I adapted this recipe from one I found at http://ohsheglows.com

Makes approximately 20 1 inch balls
Ingredients:
1/2 cup unsalted raw organic cashews

1/2 cup organic rolled oats
1/4 cup organic white whole wheat flour (unbleached)
1/2 tsp real salt
2 tbsp organic cane sugar
4 tbsp organic pure maple syrup (add gradually until desired consistency is achieved)
1/2 tsp organic pure vanilla extract
1/4 cup organic cacao chips
1/4 cup EnviroKidz organic Koala Krisp cereal (like a chocolate rice cripy cereal)

In a food processor, process cashews and rolled oats until fine. Add flour, salt, and sugar and pulse to combine. Add vanilla. Add maple syrup while processor is running, a little at a time. (If you wish, you could substitute 1 tb of maple syrup for 1 tb organic sunflower butter, that would be really yummy!) Occasionally check dough to see if it's a consistency to make balls. If too sticky, add more flour. If too dry, add more syrup. When your dough is ready, pulse in chocolate chips. Scoop dough out into a bowl and knead in cereal. With wet hands, form 1 inch balls. Store in the fridge or freezer. Enjoy! Yum!

Mexican Stuffed Poblano Bake

This is so yummy, I could eat it all the time. Well...almost all the time...I have to leave room to eat enchiladas and french onion soup =) This turned out to be totally family-friendly. The first time I made it just for hubby and I because I thought it would be too spicy for the kids. They kept asking for bites and ended up eating a ton of it. Though, here's a disclaimer, some poblano peppers are spicier than others so if I had really spicy ones it wouldn't be so kid-friendly. But I've made it many times since then and they still gobble it up. So maybe cooking them for so long makes them less spicy, I don't know. Either way, we love this recipe!

Ingredients:
24 oz organic crushed tomatoes or tomato puree
2 organic onions, chopped, divided
1 jalapeno, chopped
Sea salt and pepper
3 cloves organic garlic
2 cups organic beans, black or pinto
1/2 cup organic cornmeal
1 cup pepperjack cheese
1 ts organic cumin
4 large poblano peppers, organic if you can, I can't find them =(

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. In a blender, puree tomatoes, 1 onion, jalapeno, 2 garlic cloves, and a dash of salt. Pour into a 9x13 baking dish.
Mince remaining garlic clove. In a large bowl combine garlic, beans, cornmeal, 1/2 cup cheese, 1 diced onion,  cumin, 3/4 cup water, 1/2 ts salt, pepper to taste.
Slice peppers in half and remove stems and seeds. Place in baking dish and stuff with bean mixture. Sprinkle remaining cheese over top.
Invert another baking dish to cover the dish and place in oven for 45 minutes. Uncover and bake another 10 minutes until cheese browns.
Enjoy!

Kiwi-Dew Juice

Makes approximately 2-3 cups juice. Very light and refreshing!

1 small honeydew, or half a large
2 kiwi
1 organic apple (green would be best, but any kind will work)

Run fruit through a juicer, minus the skin on kiwi and skin and seeds from honeydew. Pour, serve, and Enjoy!

Sweet and Sour Veggies and Beans

This is a great vegetarian option to the traditional sweet and sour dishes. Though this would still be awesome with chicken if you wanted to.

Ingredients:
2 heads organic brocolli
1 organic red pepper
2 cups diced pineapple
1 cup organic beans, pinto, black, or kidney
1 organic onion, sliced
2 cloves organic garlic, minced

1/4 to half a cup pineapple juice (Note: if using canned pineapple, which I don't recommend with bpa lined cans, you can use the juice from the can. You can run some pineapple through a juicer. Or use frozen pineapple and as it defrosts you will end up with enough juice. Or with fresh pineapple you can mash some with a potato masher and squeeze some juice out.)
1/4 cup organic brown sugar
2 TB organic cornstarch
1/4 ts organic ground ginger
1/4 cup organic vinegar (apple cider or white wine)
2 TB braggs liquid aminos, or organic soy sauce

In a bowl, combine pineapple juice, brown sugar, cornstarch, ginger, vinegar, and braggs or soy sauce. Set aside. In a skillet, saute in a little water or oil, brocolli, red pepper, and onion until tender. Add minced garlic and saute for about a minute. Add beans and pineapple and cook until heated through. Pour in reserved sauce and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and cook for 3-5 minutes until sauce is thickened.
Serve over brown rice.

Balsamic Vinaigrette with a touch of sweetness

According to my husband this balsamic vinaigrette is perfect! The kids love it too. It has that great vinaigrette taste with a slight hint of sweetness! Bet this will make you eat more salads!

Ingredients:
1/2 cup organic extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup organic balsamic vinegar
1 ts organic ground mustard
2 cloves organic garlic, pressed, crushed, or diced
Pinch of sea salt
1/4 ts organic ground pepper
1/2 ts raw honey

Whisk or blend all ingredients together and store in a bottle or jar in the fridge.

Jellied Cranberry Sauce

Why buy canned cranberry sauce laden in BPA when you can make your own! It's so quick and easy, let it be a part of your next holiday gathering!

Ingredients:
4 cups organic fresh cranberries
2 cups water
2 cups organic sugar (I actually prefer to use less, you could use 1 cup sugar, and substitute some orange juice for some of the water)

Place cranberries and water in a pot and bring to a boil. As soon as it comes to a boil, cover the pot and reduce to medium. Cook until the cranberries have burst. Puree cranberries in a blender or food processor. Pour back into the pot and stir in sugar. Bring to a rolling boil. Remove from heat and let set for at least 30 minutes. Place in the refrigerator if you like your cranberry sauce cold.

Herb Balsamic Tomatoes

Yummy, healthy, side dish. appetizer, or snack. My kids gobble these up!
Picture above is one tomato. I personally consider that one serving, but others may not. So I will write the recipe for one tomato/serving. Multiply as needed!

Ingredients:
1 tomato, sliced
A couple fresh basil leaves, chopped
A couple fresh mint leaves, chopped
A couple fresh parsley leaves, chopped
A pinch of fresh dill
Sea salt and ground pepper to taste
A drizzle of balsamic vinegar, organic
A drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, organic

Lay sliced tomatoes on a plate. Sprinkle with herbs, salt, and pepper. Drizzle with vinegar, and then oil. Enjoy!

Mango Guacamole

A unique take on the standard guacamole. Try it with tortilla chips or just by the spoonful!

Ingredients:
1 mango, diced
1 avocado, diced
1 green onion, chopped
Pinch of sea salt
2 ts evoo
1/2 cumin

Gently toss all ingredients together. That's it...super easy!

Kale Chips

Ok, seriously, these are MUCH better than they look! I tend to not be able to stop eating them. You could flavor these any way you want. Below is a basic yummy recipe. They crisp up nicely like chips!

Ingredients:
1 bunch organic kale
Olive oil
Garlic Salt
Pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Remove kale leaves from stem and rip or cut into bite size pieces. Toss with olive oil. Spread the leaves out on a parchment lined baking sheets or lightly oiled baking sheet. Sprinkle garlic salt and pepper over all the leaves. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until crispy. Enjoy!

Quinoa Tabouli

Quinoa is so very good for you with 8 grams of protein, 5 grams of fiber, 4 grams of fat in a one cup serving. It is a gluten-free grain, so it's great for everyone. You can use it in place of rice on most recipes. Tabouli or Tabbouleh usually calls for bulgar wheat. This is a yummy side or main dish. Enjoy!
This is a variation of a recipe I saw at www.hacres.com

Ingredients:
1 cup organic quinoa
1 cup organic grape tomatoes, cut in half
1/2 cup flat leaf parsley, minced
A couple mint leaves, minced
3 cloves organic garlic, minced
 Half a cucumber, diced
1 bunch of green onions, chopped
Juice of one lemon
2 TB gluten-free tamari (or organic soy sauce, braggs liquid aminos)
2 TB olive oil
1 ts sea salt
pinch of cayenne

Place quinoa in a fine strainer and rinse. Rub the grains together.
Place quinoa in a pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil and reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes or until all the water is absorbed. Remove from heat, cool.
In a small bowl, mix together lemon, tamari, olive oil, salt, and cayenne.
Toss all ingredients together.
Let mixture sit for an hour for all the ingredients to mingle. Refrigerate until ready to serve and toss one more time. Enjoy!

Berry lemonade

So what if it's 30 degrees outside and this should be more of a summer drink....drink this and dream of summertime! Super yummy, and good for you too!

Ingredients:
2 whole lemons, peeled
1 cup mixed organic berries, frozen or fresh
2 tb organic raw honey
Water

Place all ingredients in the blender with enough water to cover them. Blend for a minute and enjoy! A nice vitamin packed drink!

Vegetarian Nachos

Nachos are such a well rounded meal! So grab a tray of them and head to the living room for movie night with the kiddos! That's what we do! (You can even throw on some meat if you must for those meat eaters!)

Ingredients:
1 bag organic tortilla chips (important to get organic since a huge percentage of corn is GMO)
2 cups shredded organic cheese, jack or cheddar
1 can sliced black olives
1 bunch cilantro, chopped
1 tomato chopped
1 organic onion chopped
1 bunch green onions, chopped
1 jalapeno, chopped (optional)
1 cup organic black or pinto beans (already cooked)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lay chips on a parchment lined large baking sheet. Scatter all the ingredients except the cheese all over the chips.

Top with cheese. (I like putting the cheese on top of the toppings because it holds them to the chips)

Cook for 10-15 minutes until cheese is melted. Serve sour cream and salsa on the side, Enjoy!

Guacamole Egg Rolls

This is a variation of a recipe I saw at www.mommybistro.com She has some great comfort food recipes, you should check it out.
These are fun! Serve them with a side of salsa. As for the egg roll wrappers, I found egg roll/spring roll wrappers in the frozen section but after reading the ingredients I put them back. I would have put them back just for the fact that bleached white flour was the first ingredient, but scroll down a little and there was propylene glycol (aka anti-freeze, ick). Then there was Sodium Benzoate, which is a pretty bad preservative. So I went over to the Japanese isle and they had some spring roll wrappers with something like 4 ingredients, none of which were a deal breaker, so I got those. The only hitch with those is they are hard and crispy. I had some in my house a few years ago that I could not figure out how to use. Everytime I tried to wrap anything they would snap. Now, if you know how to use these you're probably shaking your head at me right now. If you don't, you have to soak them in water for a few before you try to wrap anything. Boy did that make an amazing difference =) The first thing I ever successfully wrapped with them were bananas, chocolate, and almond butter...THAT was super yummy! Though I've learned since then to use more than one wrapper for each roll so they are less likely to tear while wrapping and cooking. This recipe will call for two wrappers for each roll, feel free to use more, honestly three might be better, adjust accordingly. A ton come in the package I got so I didn't even come close to using them all.  Here's a pic of the ones I got:

Ingredients: (Makes 8 egg rolls)
16 egg roll or spring roll wrappers (Please read the ingredient label!!!)
2 avocados, diced
1 medium tomato, diced
1/2 organic onion, chopped
Handful of cilantro, chopped
1/2 ts sea salt
1 organic egg, beaten
Coconut or olive oil for searing or deep frying (See instructions below)

In a large bowl, gently stir together avocado, tomato, onion, cilantro and salt.

Fill a plate with water and place 2 wrappers in the water to soak for a minute. Remove from water and place on a sheet of wax paper. Place a couple of scoops of avocado mixture down the middle.

Fold the bottom flap up a quarter to halfway up the mixture. Brush the beaten egg along all the edges.

Fold the top flap down, and roll up. Repeat with all rolls.
Now at this point, you could go ahead and deep fry them if you so desire. If you do, coconut oil would be the healthiest choice.
Or, you could heat a skillet with about 2 TB of coconut oil. Sear all sides of the roll, and place roll on a baking sheet. Repeat with all rolls. Bake at 400 degrees for 20-30 minutes, flipping half way through.

Grown Up Grilled Cheese

Jaz up grilled cheese night by stuffing your grilled cheese with onion, avocado, and tomato! Of course serve it with a side of tomato soup =)

Serves 4

Ingredients:
8 slices whole wheat bread
2 organic tomatoes, sliced
1 organic onion, sliced
1 avocado sliced
8 oz sliced organic cheddar cheese
Sea salt to taste
Garlic powder to taste
Organic softened butter

Heat a skillet over medium heat. Butter both sides of two pieces of bread and place in skillet. Warm for a few minutes and flip. Top one piece with the cheese. Then layer the avocado, onion, and tomato. Sprinkle with salt and garlic powder. Place second slice of bread on top. Cook, flipping often to avoid burning, until cheese is melted. Repeat for the rest of the sandwiches. Enjoy!

Yummy bread (no-knead bread)

This bread is so great! The only way I can describe it is it's ciabatta-like. Great to sop up sauces, great dipped in olive oil, great with butter. The directions may sound daunting but it really is pretty easy (Unless you take a nap and miss a step...not that I've ever done that or anything).

Ingredients:

3 cups organic white (unbleached) wheat flour
1/4 teaspoon yeast
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 1/2 cups warm water

You will need a covered pot that can go in a 450 degree oven (pyrex, cast iron, stainless steal, ceramic, etc)

1. Mix dough: The night before, combine all ingredients in a big bowlwith a wooden spoon until the dough just

 comes together. It will be ashaggy, doughy mess. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit 12-20 hourson countertop.

2. Shape & preheat: The dough will now be wet, sticky and bubbly. Witha wet spatula, dump the dough into 

a bowl that is coated in olive oil.Shape dough into a ball by folding ends of dough over and tucking it towards 

the middle.Keep your hands wet so that the dough does not stick. Cover dough withfloured cloth and let it 

rest for 2 hours. When you’ve got about a half hourleft, slip your covered pot into the oven and preheat to 

450F.
3. Bake: Your dough should have doubled in size. Remove pot from oven (Carefully).
 Holding the bowl of dough over the preheated pot, gently use a spatula toremove dough from bowl and 

dump it into pot. Doesn’t matter which wayit lands. Shake to even dough out. Cover (Carefully, don't forget

 it's hot!).

 Bake 30 minutes. Uncover, bake another 15-20 minutes or until the crust is beautifully goldenand middle 

of loaf is 210F. Remove and let cool on wired rack. If noteating right away, you can re-crisp crust in 350F 

oven for 10 minutes.

Creamy Baked Potato Soup

Way back when I worked at Outback Steakhouse. I loved their creamy potato soup and their creamy onion soup. Though I still haven't mastered the creamy onion soup, this potato soup has long become a staple in our house. It's very hearty so don't plan to have it with a huge main course. Pair with a salad and an artichoke, Mmm!

Ingredients:
5 organic potatoes
1 cup organic milk
2 tb organic butter
1 oz organic cheddar cheese
1/2 onion
1 ts salt
1 ts pepper
2 cloves organic garlic
1 TB veggie bacon bits

Optional toppings:
chopped green onions
sour cream
veggie bacon bits
shredded cheese

Bake potatoes until done. Quarter the potatoes. Place potatoes in a blender (I use a VitaMix) with the rest of the ingredients and blend. If it's too thick, add some more milk. If you do this right after the potatoes finish cooking  you shouldn't need to heat up the soup. But if you wait awhile you'll need to throw it in a pot on the stove for a few. Or make ahead and put in the crock pot on "warm".

Caprese Salad

I love Caprese Salad! So do my kids! They cheer when I set it on the table. Now you can totally make this the pretty way by slicing your tomatoes in rings, placing a basil leaf and slice of cheese on top and then drizzling with the dressing. But for my family, I would need like 5 plates done like that for how much they eat of it. Do you know how long that would take? Just for them to gobble them right up. So I just mix it all up in one big bowl. Not as pretty presentation-wise, but oh so yummy!

Ingredients:
5 medium organic tomatoes, sliced
1 8oz chunk of fresh mozzarella
20 or so basil leaves, chiffon (put leaves in one pile, roll them up, and slice)
3:1 oil to vinegar (you need about a 1/2 cup total)
Olive oil, organic
White Wine vinegar, organic
1/2 ts sea salt
3 cloves organic garlic, chopped

In a measuring cup mix together oil, vinegar, salt, garlic, and basil leaves. In a large bowl mix together tomatoes and mozzarella, toss with dressing.

Tortillas

If you've ever looked at the ingredients on a package of tortillas you know that there is a ton of ingredients in there that really don't need to be. So why not make your own? 4 ingredients, one of which is water. You can't beat that! The following recipe will make approximately 10 6-8 inch tortillas. Smaller is great for soft tacos, enchiladas, for spreads, and to dip. Bigger ones to wrap for burritos and wraps.

4 cups whole wheat flour, unbleached, organic
2 ts sea salt
1/2 cup olive oil
1 cup warm water

Mix dry ingredients. Add the oil and mix until crumbly. Add water and kneed until smooth.

Heat a skillet or flat pan to medium low. Divide into balls about 1/3 cup in size, or slightly bigger than a golf ball. If you would like large tortillas, go bigger. Roll thin on a floured surface. I have a tortilla press but it doesn't really get them as thin as I'd like. So what I do is: Lay a piece of wax paper on my tortilla press, place the dough ball on it, top with another piece of wax paper, press. THEN I roll it out with a rolling pin further. This actually gives it a nicer shape than if I just roll it with a rolling pin. Plus I think it rolls thinner than if I just use a rolling pin. But I'm not the best rolling pin user, so do whatever you like. For years I did it without the press just fine. After you have one rolled out, throw it on an un-greased skillet or flat pan. Cook until you get some bubbles.

Than flip. Cook until you have some light brown spots on the underside, just a few minutes.

(Haha, yes I know that one has a whole, no one's perfect =)  ) Remove from pan and keep under a cloth until all the tortillas are done and are ready to be used. If you are going to be wrapping burritos, wet the tortillas and put in a toaster oven for a few minutes to make them easier to roll, plus they'll stay together really well. This works with ANY tortilla. Never make a burrito without that tip!

Organic homemade granola bars

These are great! My kids gobble them up. This recipe is for a double batch because they eat them so fast! I was inspired to start making my own granola bars because my kids would want to eat multiple granola bars a day. As I saw money flying out the window with each individually wrapped organic granola bar going into their belly, I decided to start making my own. They actually prefer these. They are a hearty snack they love! Feel free to cut everything in half if you don't want two pans, it'll work fine.
Ingredients:
4 cups organic rolled oats
1 1/2 cups organic brown sugar
4 TB organic seeds (I've used : Flax, sunflower, chia, sesame, etc)
2 cups organic unbleached wheat flour
1/2 cup organic chocolate chips
1/2 cup organic raisins
1 1/2 ts sea salt
1 1/2 ts organic cinnamon
1 1/2 cups honey
1 cup oil
4 ts organic vanilla
2 organic eggs beaten
 
(Options: Any dried fruit can be used. I've used dried cranberries and that was really yummy. Chop any larger pieces of dried fruit. Coconut adds a nice flavor. 1/2 cup organic almond or sunflower seed butter can be added with no consistency problem. You could substitute some of the honey with maple syrup. Be creative, mix it up, and make these YOUR bars!)
Grease two baking pans. Mix all dry ingredients in a large bowl (oats to cinnamon). Make a well in the middle and add all wet ingredients (honey to eggs). Mix well, hands are best. Divide evenly between the two pans. Wet your hands and press the mixture down into the pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes. The edges will be brown when done.

Let cool for 5-10 minutes. Do not let them cool completely or they will be too hard to cut. With a wet sharp knife cut squares, or rectangles, whatever you prefer.

Let cool completely in the pan and then remove with a metal spatula. Store in an airtight container.

Ricotta Stuffed Hot Peppers

A couple weeks ago we went to the Garlic Festival. This always so fun. The food is always so good. We always have to try a little of everything..well we've never tried the garlic sprinkles on ice cream, but I must draw the line somewhere ;) This year one of the booths had a spicy stuffed pepper that was so yummy I HAD to try to recreate it. And I did! I used Hungarian wax peppers which are moderately spicy. Though I think that may be an "average" because some were only a little spicy and some made we want to rip my tongue off. But the spice went away and I was happy with the result! Feel free to use a less spicy pepper. It would be good in banana peppers too. Though I have to say, I decided to leave the seeds in to make them spicier, I won't be doing that next time. It worked well for the ones that were only a little spicy but made the more spicy ones a little hard to handle. But whatever pepper you decide to use, make these, soon!

Ingredients:
8 Hungarian wax peppers, organic if you can find it, I couldn't
8 oz ricotta, organic
1/4 cup shredded parm, organic
1 cup shredded mozzarella, organic
1/2 ts ground pepper
4 cloves organic garlic, minced
1/2 ts sea salt

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Mix together everything but the peppers in a medium bowl. Cut the end off the peppers at an angle to release the seeds and membrane, like this:

Pull gently on the stem so it lifts out the seeds. Hopefully it looks like this: (If not, just scrape the seeds out)

There are a couple ways you can get the filling in. You can use a butter knife and push it down in until it's full.
You could also use a zip lock bag, fill with mixture, seal, and cut a corner off , squeeze down in. Either way, it should look like this when you're done:

Place them all in a baking dish and bake for 30 minutes at 400 degrees.