Oatmeal Protein Bites

These are one of Traci’s go to recipes for easy meal prepping. They make up a bunch of bites that store well. A few bites for breakfast, or one to treat a mid day snack attack, and you’ll be all set.

Oatmeal Protein bites

Print Recipe
Prep Time 5 minutes
Course Breakfast, Snack
Cuisine American
Servings 28 bars

Ingredients
  

  • 2 cups Creamy Peanut Butter
  • 1 1/4 cups Honey
  • 2 1/4 cups Protein powder
  • 3 cups Instant oatmeal

Instructions
 

  • Microwave the honey and peanut butter for about a minute. 
  • Mix the oatmeal and protein powder in another bowl. 
  • Fold the peanut butter mixture into the oatmeal mixture until well blended (mix will be crumbly). Pour mixture into a lightly sprayed 9×13 pan and pack mix down. Chill for an hour and cut into 28 bars. One serving is one bar. 
  • These freeze well!
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
Category: Appetizers & Snacks, Breakfast & Brunch | LEAVE A COMMENT

Super Kale Salad

Here’s our Super Kale Salad.

Super Kale Salad

Print Recipe
Course Salad
Cuisine American
Servings 0

Ingredients
  

  • 2 lemons juiced
  • 2 tbsp honey
  • 1/4 cup spicy mustard
  • salt to taste
  • pepper to taste
  • kale
  • cauliflower
  • rainbow bell peppers
  • sweet onion
  • blueberries
  • slivered almonds
  • sunflower seeds

Instructions
 

For the Dressing

  • Combine lemon juice, honey, and spicy mustard in a small bowl
  • Whisk until well combine and emulsified
  • Salt and pepper to taste

For the Salad

  • Remove the thick stems of the kale and finely chop.
  • Put kale in a large bowl and massage with your clean hands to break down the fibers. About 30 seconds.
  • Place cauliflower in a blender and pulse until the consistency of rice. Add the the kale.
  • Finely chop the bell pepper and onion. Add to the bowl.
  • Add blueberries, almonds, and sunflower seeds. Toss salad.
  • Salt and pepper to taste.
  • Toss with Lemon Honey Mustard when ready to serve.

Notes

Original recipe: https://bakerbettie.com/superfood-salad-and-recipes-perfect-for-summer/
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

Category: Healthy & Light, Main Courses, Side Dish | LEAVE A COMMENT

Black Bean Sweet Potato Chili

This is our favorite hearty chili, that is also healthy and vegetarian friendly. I can’t believe that we haven’t posted it to the site until today.  

Black Bean Sweet Potato Chili

Print Recipe
Course Main Course
Cuisine American
Servings 4 servings

Ingredients
  

  • 1 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
  • 2 tsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
  • 1 Sweet potato, medium-large peeled and diced
  • 1 Red Onion, large dices
  • 2 tbsp Chili powder
  • 1/2 tsp Ground Chipotle powder
  • 1/2 tsp Ground Cumin
  • 1/4 tsp Salt
  • 3.5 cups Vegetable stock
  • 1 can Black beans,15 ounce rinsed
  • 1 can Diced Tomatoes, 14.5 ounce
  • 1/2 cup Quinoa, dry
  • 4 tsp Lime juice
  • Suggested garnish include: avocado, cilantro, crema, cheese

Instructions
 

  • Heat a large heavy bottom pot with 1 tbsp oil over medium heat.
  • Add the sweet potato and onion and cook for about 5 minutes, until the onion is softened.
  • Add the garlic, chili powder, chipotle, cumin, and salt. Stir to combine.
  • Cover the pot and reduce the heat to maintain a gentle simmer. 
    Cook for 30-40 minutes until the quinoa is fully cooked and the sweet potatoes are soft and the entire mixture is slightly thick like a chili.
  • Add the lime juice and remove the pot from the heat. Season with salt as needed.
  • Garnish with avocado, cilantro, crema, or cheese before serving. 

Notes

Original recipe: https://whatsgabycooking.com/black-bean-sweet-potato-chili/
Keyword Vegetarian
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
Category: Main Courses, Side Dish, Soup & Stews, Vegetarian & Vegan | LEAVE A COMMENT

Honey Roasted Butternut Squash

This was a great recipe. Costco sells containers of cubed butternut squash which makes this recipe so easy.  Definitely one that is easy and really tasty!

Honey Roasted Butternut Squash

Print Recipe
Course Side Dish
Cuisine American
Servings 0

Ingredients
  

  • 1 lb Butternut Squash cubed pieces
  • 1 tbsp Butter melted
  • 1.5 tbsp Honey
  • Kosher Salt

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
  • Melt butter for a few seconds in a small bowl in the microwave, and then add the honey. Stir until combined.
  • Place squash cubes on a large shallow baking pan or cookie sheet and drizzle with honey butter mixture. Lightly sprinkle with kosher salt (to taste).
  • Dig in with your hands and gently toss squash until all pieces are coated.
  • Roast in preheated oven for 15-20 minutes or until squash is golden brown. Serve hot!

Notes

Original recipe: http://triedandtriedagain.blogspot.com/2012/02/honey-roasted-butternut-squash.html
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

Category: Side Dish | LEAVE A COMMENT

Low-Carb Biscuits

Traci made these to go with the Mississippi pot roast.

Man… They tasted great and were perfect for soaking up all the delicious meat juices. These would also work great for making breakfast sandwiches as the original recipe mentions.

Just make sure that you use an aluminum free baking powder!

Low-Carb Biscuits

Print Recipe
Course Appetizer, Side Dish
Cuisine American
Servings 0

Ingredients
  

  • 1.5 cups Almond Flour
  • 1/4 tsp Salt
  • 1 tbsp Baking Powder aluminum free
  • 2 Eggs
  • 1/2 cup Sour Cream
  • 4 tbsp Butter melted
  • 1/3 cup Shredded Cheese optional
  • 1/2 tsp Garlic Powder

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 400F.
  • Spray your pan. Use a pan that has walls like a brownie or cupcake pan. As these like to spread and flatten some.
  • Combine all of your dry ingredients. Using a fork will help break up some of the clumps in the almond flour.
  • Combine all of your wet ingredients and start mixing.
    Looks like egg drop soup? Keep mixing.
    Looks like you put too much butter in your mashed potatoes? Keep mixing.
  • Pour your wet ingredients into your dry and start mixing. A silicon spoon is great for this. This doesn't take much effort. The almond flour actually absorbs liquid faster than flour.
  • Dump in some cheese and mix it in.
  • Transfer into a greased pan.
    Try to keep the portions even-ish.
  • Bake for 10-12 minutes

Notes

Original recipe: https://snapguide.com/guides/make-low-carb-biscuits-keto-diet/
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

 

Category: Breakfast & Brunch, Side Dish | LEAVE A COMMENT

Sesame Ginger Kale Salad

This is a great lunch or dinner salad. It can get so big that you’ll be tired of chewing at the end of it. lol.

We actually make this pretty often for a great colorful salad to take for lunch at work.  This was definitely influenced by Traci, as kale isn’t always one of my go-to veggies. But being that this salad has so much flavor, I have yet to complain about it.

Sesame Ginger Kale Salad

Print Recipe
Course Salad
Cuisine American, Japanese
Servings 4

Ingredients
  

Sesame Ginger Vinaigrette

  • 1/4 cup Soy Aminos
  • 2 tsp Cornstarch
  • 1/4 cup Cooking Oil any nuetral oil, or sub garlic oil and remove garlic below
  • 2 cloves Garlic
  • 1/4 cup Rice Vinegar
  • 3 tbsp Ginger grated
  • 1 tbsp White Sesame Seeds

Salad

  • 8 leaves Curly Kale roughly chopped
  • 1 cup Carrots shredded, optional
  • 4 Radishes thinly sliced
  • 1 cup Edamame shelled
  • 1 Avocado sliced
  • 2 tsp Sesame Seeds black or white

Instructions
 

  • Whisk together the cornstarch and soy sauce until cornstarch is dissolved. In a small saucepan (or microwave-safe container), combine the mixture with the remaining ingredients for the dressing. Heat over medium-high heat, stirring frequently (or in the microwave in 15 second increments stirring after each increment) until it begins to simmer. Continue heating until vinaigrette thickens slightly, about 2 minutes.
  • At least 30 minutes and up to a day before serving, toss kale with 2 tablespoons of the vinaigrette and massage dressing into kale leaves.
  • Toss kale with carrots, radishes, edamame, and avocado.
    Add vinaigrette until it is dressed to your liking. You won't need all of the vinaigrette for this recipe, but it can be refrigerated for 2 to 3 weeks. Sprinkle with extra sesame seeds.

Notes

Original recipe: http://inquiringchef.com/sesame-ginger-kale-salad/
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

Category: Healthy & Light, Main Courses, Side Dish | LEAVE A COMMENT

Southern Buttermilk Biscuits

Who doesn’t love a warm, buttered, homemade biscuit?

The key to this recipe is to freeze the butter. The other crucial part is not over work, or over stimulate the dough.

Southern Buttermilk Biscuits

Who doesn't love a warm biscuit.
Print Recipe
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 12 minutes
Total Time 22 minutes
Course Appetizer, Side Dish
Cuisine American
Servings 10 Biscuits

Ingredients
  

  • 2 cup All-Purpose Flour, Unbleached plus more for the board
  • 1/4 tsp Baking Soda
  • 1 tbsp Baing Powder Use one with no aluminum
  • 1 tsp Salt
  • 6 tbsp Butter, Unsalted Freeze. Grate on cheesegrater
  • 1 cup Buttermilk apprximately

Instructions
 

  • Preheat your over to 450F.
  • Combine all the dry ingredients in a bowl, or in the bowl of a food processor.
  • Cut the butter into chucks and cut into the flour until it resembles course meal.
    If using a food processor, just pulse a few times until this consistence is achieved.
  • Add the buttermilk and mix JUST until combined.
  • If it appears on the dry side, add a bit more buttermilk. It should be very wet.
  • Turn the dough out onto a floured board
  • Gentlym gently PAT (do NOT roll with a rolling pin) the dough out until it's about 1/2 inch thick. Fold the dough about 5 times, gently press the dough back down to 1 inch thick.
  • Use a round cutter to cut into rounds
  • You can gently knead the scraps together to make a few morel but they won't be as good as the first ones.
  • Place the biscuits on a cookie sheet.
    -Soft sides: put them down touching each other
    -Crispy sides: put them down about 1 inch apart, these will not rise as high as the biscuits put close together.
  • Bake for 10-12 minutes.
    The biscuits will be a beautiful light golden brown on top and bottom.
  • Do Not Over Bake
  • NOTE 1: The key to real biscuits is not in the ingredients, but in the handling of the dough. The dough must be handled as little as possible or you will have tough biscuits.
    A food processor produces superior biscuits, because the ingredients stay colder and there's less chance of over mixing.
    You also must pat the dough out with your hands, lightly.
    Rolling with a rolling pin is a guaranteed way to over stimulate the gluten, resulting in a tougher biscuit. 
  • NOTE 2: You can make these biscuits, cut them, put them on cookie sheets and freeze them for up to a month. When you want fresh biscuits, simply place them frozen on a cookie sheet and bake at 450F for about 20 minutes.

Notes

Original recipe: http://geniuskitchen.com/recipe/southern-buttermilk-biscuits-26110
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

Category: Breakfast & Brunch, Side Dish | LEAVE A COMMENT

Szechuan Eggplant

This one was inspired by trying to copy-cat the same dish from a local chinese restaurant. We were trying to eat ‘healthier’ and have more vegetables, so since we both like eggplant, we decided to order this instead of some all meat dish. I think that we have ordered it there every time that we have gone since then. While this isn’t their recipe, it is a pretty decent attempt at replicating it.

Szechuan Eggplant

Print Recipe
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 20 minutes
Course Side Dish
Cuisine Chinese
Servings 2

Ingredients
  

  • 3 cups Eggplant cut into 1" wedges or cubes
  • 5-6 Shallots or pearl onions
  • 1 tsp Garlic minced
  • 1 tsp Red Chili Sauce Sriracha, Maggi, chili flakes or anything works
  • 2 tbsp Soy Aminos
  • 1 tsp White Vinegar
  • 1 tsp Corn flour or corn starch
  • 1/2 tsp Black Pepper
  • 2 tbsp Sesame Oil or peanut oil
  • 1 small bunch Cilantro leaves
  • 1 cup Water

Instructions
 

  • Heat oil in a wide pan and when it starts to smoke, add the eggplant in 2 batches, frying until sticky and brown.
  • Add salt and pepper to this, drain and set aside.
  • in the same pan, add a few more drops of oil if required and fry the shallots until soft.
  • To this, add the red chili sauce (or flakes) and minced garlic. Saute for a few seconds.
  • In a seperate bowl, mix the soy aminos, vinegar, corn starch, sugar, and some salt to make the Szechuan sauce.
  • Add this to the shallot mixture and cook on medium-high heat until it starts to bubble.
  • Tip in the fried eggplant and mix well until the sauce coats the eggplant.
  • Garnish with chopped cilantro leaves and serve hot with fried rice or noodles. Goes great even with plain steamed rice.

Notes

Original recipe: https://www.cookingandme.com/2013/03/18/schezwan-eggplant-sichuan-eggplant-recipe/
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

Category: International Cuisine, Side Dish | LEAVE A COMMENT

Lemon Garlic Sauteed Bok Choy

We both like this recipe a lot.  The lemon and garlic really step up the flavor of the bok choy.  It’s a simple recipe that easy to do and it pairs easily with fish, chicken, or pork.

 

Lemon Garlic Sauteed Bok Choy

Quick, delicious, satisfying. Lots of flavor!
Print Recipe
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 5 minutes
Total Time 10 minutes
Course Side Dish
Cuisine Chinese
Servings 4

Ingredients
  

  • 1 lb Baby Bok Choy
  • 1.5 tbsp Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
  • 3 cloves Garlic minced
  • 1 pinch Crushed Red Pepper optional for spicy
  • Sea Salt
  • 1/2 Lemon cut into wedges

Instructions
 

  • Remove any discolored outer stalks of the bok choy and discard them (or save for stock later). Place the bok choy into a colander and rinse with cool water, rubbing any grit or dirt away from between the leaves.
  • Trim the ends and slice each bok choy in half lengthwise. Or if they are large, cut them into quarters. Pat dry.
  • Add the oil, garlic, and red pepper flakes to a wide room temperature skillet. Place over medium heat and cook, stirring occasionally, until the oil begins to bubble around the garlic, but before the garlic starts to turn light brown.
  • Toss in the bok choy and spread into one layer. Sprinkle with about a 1/4 teaspoon of salt then cook, without stirring, until the bottom is starting to turn brown, about 2 minutes.
  • Flip then cook another 2 minutes or until the green leaves have wilted and the white bottoms are beginning to soften, but still have some crunch.
  • Transfer the cooked bok choy to a platter, then squeeze 2 lemon wedges on top. A teaspoon of olive oil is nice too, Serve with more lemon wedges on the side,

Notes

Original recipe: https://inspiredtaste.net/34160/lemon-garlic-bok-choy-recipe/
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

Category: Healthy & Light, International Cuisine, Side Dish, Vegetarian & Vegan | LEAVE A COMMENT

Homemade Whipped Cream

How do you pronounce Cool Whip? While typing up this recipe, all i could thing of is the show, Family Guy, and Brian making fun of Stewie for how he says cool whip.

Whipped cream is so easy to make that it’s easy to forget and just buy the tub fro the store. However, like most things, nothing beats the homemade version. Same holds true for whipped cream. It’s incredible what difference the freshness makes between the stuff you buy in the store and what you can whip up at home.

Sure you could put it on top of berries. Or add to some to your hot cocoa. But my favorite way to enjoy it is simple by the spoonful right out of the container i made it in. lol.

Homemade Whipped Cream

Delicious homemade whipped cream. Great on anything!
Print Recipe
Prep Time 18 minutes
Total Time 18 minutes
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Servings 8 cups

Ingredients
  

  • 1.5 cups Heavy Cream cold
  • 1/2 cup Powdered Sugar
  • 1 tsp Vanilla Extract

Instructions
 

  • Place a medium-sized bowl (preferably metal) in the freezer for at least 10 minutes to chill.
  • Once bowl has chilled, remove from freezer and add heavy cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract.
  • Using an electric mixer, beat ingredients on low speed, gradually increasing speed to high, and beat until stiff peaks form. Don't over-beat, but don't stop beating it until the cream has reached cool whip consistency.
  • Keep unused whipped cream refrigerated in an air tight container. 
  • Note: Recommend using an electric mixer for this. IF you're using a KitchenAid or stand mixer, use the whisk attachment for best results.

Notes

Original recipe: https://sugarspunrun.com/homemade-whipped-cream/
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

Category: Desserts, Side Dish | LEAVE A COMMENT