Cashew Spinach Pesto

I love pesto.  Along with mustard and chocolate, it's up there with my most-craved foods. 

Unfortunately, most pesto served in restaurants or sold pre-made in stores contains Parmesan cheese.  Dairy in my pesto?  No thanks! 

Another downer with pesto is that it traditionally requires pine nuts.  Pine nuts are expensive. 

I really wanted to find a way to satisfy my pesto cravings at home without breaking the bank.

One of our favorite restaurants on the east side of Michigan serves a tofu scramble with a basil cashew pesto.  I'm a sucker for it every time, and have to hold myself back from ordering nothing but a side of pesto and a spoon.

Their pesto inspired me to attempt my own cashew pesto.  I was dealing with a pesto craving a couple of weeks ago and hadn't acquired my basil plant yet, so I gave this a whirl with a spinach/kale blend.  I was pleasantly surprised at the outcome!  You could really use any green here - arugula, mizuna, beet greens - you name it! 

I first enjoyed the pesto tossed with some spiralized zucchini, artichoke hearts, grape tomatoes and Beyond Meat Grilled strips.  It made for a really light, fresh, spring-like meal that also had a decadent feel to it.


Cashew Spinach Pesto

1/2 C. Raw Cashews
2 lightly packed C. greens of choice
1/3 C. Nutritional Yeast flakes
3 Garlic cloves
1 T. Lemon juice
Salt and black pepper to taste

First put the garlic in the food processor to mince.  Then add the cashews, then the rest of the ingredients and process until a smooth-ish paste forms.  My pesto is oil free, so you may need to add a splash or two of water as you go to get the desired consistency.  Taste and season as you go. 

This pesto is great as a sandwich spread, pasta sauce or a crudités dip. 

Give this pesto a try next time you want to try something different on your pasta or veggies!  

Also, if you find yourself in Ann Arbor or Detroit Michigan, get into Seva and try their basil cashew pesto.  Wash it down with Left Foot Charley's Cinnamon Girl cider. Trust me. 

Bowl of the Week - Sweet Chili Tofu and veggie bowl with pineapple and cashews

This week's bowl is a total cheat bowl. It uses sauce from a jar! 

I have enjoyed watching cooking shows as far back as I can remember.  One show I remember falling in love with was "Semi-Homemade with Sandra Lee".  On Semi-Homemade, Sandra Lee would make a delicious from-scratch pie filling, and then put it in a pre-made crust.  Or prepare a lovely casserole one night, and then keep the leftovers relevant the following night by using them to stuff a pepper or a mushroom. 

I liked the idea of getting more bang for your effort. I still do. 

So, that's why this cheat-bowl makes me super happy.  Normally, I enjoy making my own sauces, marinades and dressings.  It's important to me to know exactly what is in every element of my food.  Bottled and jarred sauces often have undesirable additives, or far more sugar or sodium than I'd like. 

But, there's just always been something about Trader Joe's Sweet Chili Sauce.  For a special treat, and to make life easy, I use it to dress a stir fry every once in a while. 

All your time and effort for this bowl (which won't be much!) will go into chopping veggies and dry-frying tofu; not meticulously measuring spices and other sauce ingredients. 

Sweet Chili Tofu and veggie bowl with pineapple and cashews

1 lb package of extra firm tofu, pressed for at least a half hour (I put my tofu on a plate, cover it with another plate, and then place something super heavy like a cast iron skillet or full teapot on top.) 
1/2 lb asparagus spears, chopped into 1-2" pieces
1 C. Carrots, chopped into large matchstick shapes
2 C. Broccoli florets
1 medium red onion, roughly chopped
1 C. Fresh pineapple, chopped
1/2 C. Raw cashews
1/2 C. Sweet Chili Sauce
Grain of choice, for serving (optional)

Start by toasting your cashews. Preheat a large skillet (cast iron is best!) over medium heat. Toss the cashews around for a few minutes until they start to golden up and smell awesome. Take them off the skillet and set them aside. 

Now we're going to dry fry tofu.  This is probably my favorite way to enjoy tofu. It gets perfectly browned and crispy, without using any oil!

Cut the tofu block in five slices width-wise, then four slices lengthwise.  You can cut them smaller if you want, after they've been cooked. 

Lay the tofu in a single layer on your preheated skillet.  You want them to sizzle when they hit the pan.  Let them set there for three-four minutes. Sprinkle the tops with salt, and use a wide metal spatula to press the tofu down. Hear that sizzle?  That's the money.  Flip one piece to check for golden-brown perfection, and when they're all nice and toasty, flip them all over and repeat on the other side. 

Take the tofu out and set aside.  Throw your veggies in the skillet with a few tablespoons of water and cook over medium-high heat until they've reached your preferred softness (about7-10 minutes).  Add the pineapple, tofu and chili sauce and toss to cover everything with the sauce. 
Serve over brown rice, rice noodles, quinoa- or as is!  Sprinkle with your toasted cashews and enjoy.

After School Snacks

It never ceases to amaze me how many little stages of life there are, and how much each new phase we enter as a family dramatically alters our routines and processes.

With our oldest in school full time, we've recently entered the school-aged kid phase.

Children, even small, six-year-old ones, come home from school famished from all the learning and socializing they've been busy with all day long. I love being able to offer my son nutritious, whole food snacks when he gets home. 

After school snack time is also the best time to re-cap the day and share the events we missed out on with each other. 

An after school snack needs to be sustaining without being too filling. It also must be appealing to the palate of a child, but not too sugary.

Here are a few of our favorite after school snack options.

Ants on a log - celery with nut or seed butter and raisins or other dried fruit (cranberries, chopped dates or figs are a great option!) and some organic tortilla chips with melted Daiya brand vegan cheese shreds.

Loaded rice cake. There are so many ways to enjoy an unsalted rice cake. This one has homemade oil-free almond butter, unsweetened coconut shreds and raw cacao nibs. Other delicious combos might include coconut butter with pumpkin seeds and a drizzle of honey, or peanut butter and banana slices and chopped

 peanuts. 

You can also take a savory approach and spread on some hummus or mashed avocado and add chopped veggies to make a rice cake monster! My kids think these are hilarious.

Keeping with the monster theme- Slice some grape tomatoes in half, smear on some avocado and add a black olive. Voila! Monster "eye balls".

Sometimes your child may have had a particularly taxing day and need a little extra boost. I like to keep mini-tofu omelettes around. They're from the Isa Does It cookbook and I add pureed spinach. A few of these with some peanut butter, apple slices and minimal-additive or homemade crackers makes a great mini-meal for the afternoon.

 We make a lot of popcorn around here. Air popped popcorn sprinkled with either pink himilayan salt, or cinnamon and stevia goes great with some hot cocoa.

A simple crudite platter is always a good option. Here I have some homemade oil-free hummus, veggies and sprouted lentil flatbreads.

Apple "nachos". Core and slice two apples. Melt some chocolate chips in the microwave. Stick the apple slices in the oven at 400 for 10 minutes or so, just to warm and soften them. Drizzle the chocolate on top and then top with whatever else you like. Mine here have cinnamon, chopped peanuts and unsweetened coconut shreds. Serves two.

If you've been in a snack slump, I hope these have given you some inspiration! 

What are some of your favorite after school snacks?

Hummingbird Pancakes

Winter is my least favorite thing.

I live in Michigan. I love Christmas. I LOVE Valentine's Day. But winter? You can have it. 

Once Valentine's Day (my favorite holiday) is over, I start anticipating spring with a severity and angst akin to high school senioritis. Every time it snows past February 14, I throw a tantrum that could rival any my four your old can dish out. 

These Hummingbird pancakes are a manifestation of my eagerness for spring, as well as a throwback to my southern upbringing. Basically an emotional win/win. 

If you've never had Hummingbird Cake, it's traditionally a southern cake made with pineapple, banana and coconut. These three flavors are heaven together. They are sweet, and fruity, and light, and will make you feel like birds are chirping in your head and the warm, spring sunshine is streaming down on your face. 

Also, sorghum flour has quickly become one of my favorite gluten-free flours. It blends so nicely with oat and buckwheat flours without adding any additional gumminess or bitter flavor. I highly recommend this blend! If you are not gluten- free, feel free to make these with whole wheat, or unbleached all purpose flour.

They are perfect for a bleak February morning that needs a little brightening up.

Hummingbird pancakes

1 C. Oat flour
1/2 C. Sorghum flour
1/2 C. Tapioca starch
1/3 C. Rolled oats
1T. Ground flax seed

1/2 t. Cinnamon
1/4 t. Nutmeg
1/4 t. Ginger

2 t. Baking powder

1/4 C. Shredded coconut
1 C. Non-dairy milk of choice

1 t. Apple cider vinegar

1 20 oz. Can of crushed pineapple, juice and pineapple separated

1t. Vanilla extract
1/4 C. Banana, mashed

Heat a non-stick griddle or cast iron pan over medium heat. 

In a small bowl, stir together non-dairy milk and apple cider vinegar, set aside for 5 minutes. 

In a medium mixing bowl, combine dry ingredients and mix well. In a large bowl, pour in the pineapple juice, (this should be about 1 C.), milk and vinegar mixture, vanilla, banana and 1/4 C. of the crushed pineapple. Mix well, then fold in your dry ingredients. Mix until incorporated.

Drop by 1/4 Cupfuls one your skillet and flip when they start to bubble a bit. Once all the pancakes are cooked, use the remainder of the pineapple to garnish, with a little more coconut, if desired. Drizzle with maple syrup and enjoy!

Recipe makes about 10 small-medium pancakes.

Buffalo Chickpea Burgers

Over the years, we've had some pretty "blah" veggie burgers. Meaning, I've made some pretty "blah" veggie burgers. Somewhere along the line, though, I figured out what I was doing wrong, and it was so simple, it almost hurt to discover. Seasoning! 

Um, yeah.

Beans and grains are amazing. They are a massive portion of our diet; but they need some help. Garlic, cayenne, onion and pink Himalayan salt are combined with the ever-popular buffalo sauce to take chickpeas and quinoa somewhere even they never thought they could go. 

If your life is anything like mine, you get the kids home from school, and the rest is a blur until dinner time. I don't ever seem to know where those two hours go. They're filled with after school snacks, homework, cleaning rooms, wrestling matches, sorting through the day's school papers, etc....

It gets a little chaotic.

Veggie patties can be made ahead of time and will patiently wait in the fridge until you're ready to cook them. Just stick them in the oven with some sliced potatoes 30 minutes before you want to eat, and somewhere in the middle of the third wrestling match and the second pile of school work, the oven timer will give you a much welcome reprieve from the late afternoon chaos. 

I guarantee you're going to love these buffalo burgers. 

Buffalo Chickpea Burgers with Spicy Aoili 

1.5 C. Cooked Chickpeas (or 1 can, drained and rinsed)
1/2 C. Cooked Quinoa
2 Carrots, diced
2 Celery stalks, diced
1/2 Medium onion, diced
3/4 t. Cayenne powder
1 t. Salt
1 t. Onion powder
1 t. Garlic powder
1/3 C. Buffalo sauce (I used Frank's Original)
1/4 C. Oat flour, chickpea flour OR flax meal
1 Chia or flax "egg" - 1 T. ground flax or chia seeds mixed with 3 T. water and allowed to set for 5 min.

Spicy Aoili
1/3 C. Vegan mayonaise, such as Veganaise or Just Mayo
2 T. Buffalo sauce
1/2 t. Smoked Paprika
1/2 t. Garlic Powder
Water to thin, as needed

Preheat oven to 400, (unless you plan on making the patties ahead of time and cooking later). 

Pour a splash of water in a large skillet or frying pan and saute the carrots, celery and onion over medium-high heat until soft. Stir in cayenne, salt, onion powder and garlic powder and cook another 30 seconds to a minute. Remove from heat.

Put chickpeas and quinoa in the bowl of a food processor and add veggie/spice mix. Pulse unil incorporated, pour in buffalo sauce, oat flour and egg replacer. Process until well mixed. 

Bake on a parchment lined baking sheet for 15 minutes. Carefully flip and cook another 10 minutes. Turn on the broiler in your oven and broil for 5 minutes or so, until nicely browned.

While burgers are cooking, simply mix your aoili ingredients together. Adjust spices to your personal preference.

We're not big bun people here, so we enjoy these on romain leaves, or Ezekiel toast, or in a salad. Or on a plate, with a fork. Or without a fork.  Whatever. 

Leftovers will come in very handy throughout the week, so consider making a double batch and saving some for later! 

Bowl of the Week! And my weekly Workout Schedule!

Garbage bowls. I have no idea if that's really a thing, but for me it is. A garbage bowl is that last ditch effort to make something sustaining and nutritious with what's left in the fridge the night before grocery shopping day. 

Sometimes, my best bowls come out of a garbage bowl endeavor. Necessity is the mother of invention, right?

This asian inspired bowl with a soy-maple-peanut glaze turned out so great I've made the sauce many times over. I like to use the powdered peanut butter in here to keep it light, but feel free to use regular peanut butter. 

When I make this for just myself, I eat about half of this recipe on it's own. If making for 2-3, I would suggest doubling the recipe, or serving over quinoa or rice.

Asian Garbage Bowl with Asparagus

1/2 lb. Asparagus spears

1-2 Baby bella mushrooms

1 C. Cooked chickpeas

2-3 C. Fresh spinach

Soy maple glaze - 2 T. Tamari, Nama shoyu or Liquid Aminos. 2 T. maple syrup. 1 T. powdered peanut butter, such as PB2. A pinch of onion powder. Stir together. Done.

Throw veggies in a skillet. No oil or water is necessary, as the mushrooms will provide moisture through their natural juices as they cook down. Cook on medium high heat for a couple minutes, until asparagus is bright green and spinach is wilted. Toss in a couple minced garlic cloves and add chickpeas. Cook for 1-2 more minutes. Add glaze and stir to combine. Serve immediately. 

Some days I feel like winter hinders my workout motivation, and other times it seems to fuel me to push through the cold and bleak, gray days. I am trying to hang on to the latter feelng this week. February is here and I can smell spring!  Let's embrace the power of positive thinking!

So here is what I'm doing this week! You'll probably notice a few repeats from the past week I posted. Generally, I switch it up a lot more since there are so many great Tone It Up workouts to choose from. 

From January 1- Valentine's Day, though, I participate in the "Love Your Body" Challenge series which focuses on a particular set of workouts made specifically for this challenge. I love all the workouts in this series, so I don't mind a little repetition for a few weeks.

I've included links to the workouts again so you can give them a try! I've also updated my Fitness page to include my weekly schedule, so from now on you can check that page out for the latest schedule!

Weekly Workout Schedule

Monday

BC: LYB HIIT 2x, bikini abs (YT)

Tuesday

BC: Fat burn treadmill HIIT

Afternoon: Surfer girl WO, Beach Babe DVD 1

Wednesday

BC:  Date Night Cardio

Afternoon: LYB Total body x2

          

Thursday

BC: 2 mile run, LYB arms and abs

Friday

BC: HIIT the Beach 2 (Beach Babe DVD 2)

PM: LYB Abs 2x, 3 mile walk

Saturday-

BC: LYB Kettle bells, 4 mile walk

Sunday

BC: Sunday Runday! Run a 5k!

Millet Pizza Crust

I think this is the first pizza crust recipe, self developed or otherwise, that I've made multiple times. Usually gluten-free pizza crusts fall very short for me; even after years of having my expectations being lowered from many a lackluster pizza. 

My favorite pizza option is still a large portobella cap as the "crust", or a cauliflower crust warm from the dehydrator.  However, sometimes I crave pizza on a more traditional level, and this millet crust fills that void for me without a lot of fuss.

Millet and Brown Rice Pizza Crust

1 C. Millet flour (I made my own by grinding millet in my Vitamix)

1 C. Brown rice flour

1/2 C. Cornstarch or potato starch

1 t.  Salt

1 .25 oz Package of rapid rise yeast 

1 1/4 C. Warm water

2 flax eggs (2 T. ground flax mixed with 6 T. warm water, let set for 5 minutes)

Mix all dry ingredients first. Add warm water and mix. Add flax eggs and mix again. Cover and let rise 10-15 minutes. Refrigerate dough for at least 30 minutes. 

Roll out onto lightly greased or parchment covered baking sheet, or seasoned pizza stone. 

Bake at 375 for 20 minutes. Cover with sauce and desired toppings, bake for another 15 minutes or until crust edges turn golden. Top with vegan parm, white balsamic vinegar, and enjoy fully.