Super Simple, Delicious Beet Hummus

Are you drooling yet?

As someone who has been healthy-lifestyle and food blogging now for 10 years, I'm no stranger to stumbling upon drool-worthy photos on the web and the gram then digging in for the recipes and finding them to be 10 ingredients and 20 steps long.  Who has time for that?

As you know I'm all about quick, healthy recipes and meals that actually fit into a busy girl's lifestyle, and compliment our level of patience with prepping and cooking in the kitchen.

So for those of you who love a dash of PINK on your plate, and those of you who love BEETS, here's a SUPER SIMPLE BEET HUMMUS recipe that will have your palette dancing, your pink-loving-heart beating overtime, and satiate your desire to keep your kitchen and prep time minimal.

INGREDIENTS:

1. a container of any traditional hummus or baba ganouj (simply pick a store bought hummus that you love)

2. frozen, thawed sliced beets

DIRECTIONS:

Steam the beets to warm.  Add the container of hummus and the thawed beets to a food processor with the S blade.  Blend and serve, or add any additional flavors you want (such as more tahini, lemon, sea salt, garlic -- all the ingredients that are traditionally already in your hummus).

I'm not a big 'measurer' in the kitchen unless I'm baking (which let's be real, I rarely do), so if I had to guesstimate on the amounts of hummus and beets I used I'd say about a half of a bag of frozen beets to a container of hummus.

Egg-Banana Protein Pancakes with Berry Compote

A simple protein pancake made with just banana, eggs, and a little protein powder.  One of my favorites....

Ingredients:

for the pancake:
2 whole eggs
1 mashed banana
1/2 scoop vanilla protein powder
1 tsp maple extract
a small squirt of liquid stevia
cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice

For the compote:

1/3 cup of frozen raspberries and frozen strawberries
either a tbsp of lemon or water
a tiny dab of pastured butter (optional)

Toppings:

Cocoyo (coconut yogurt)
grain free granola
cacao nibs

Directions:

Mix the pancake ingredients in a bowl well.  Break up as much banana as possible.  Oil your pan with pastured butter or use a non stick pan and heat over medium.  Add the pancake batter in rounds (they will be slightly runny at first, you can form your pancake as it cooks).  Once the edges are solid and the base is flippable, flip your pancakes to cook both sides.

In a small sauce pan heat the compote ingredients, breaking up the berries and machine the larger ones with a fork.  Heat until completely thawed and warm.

Plate:

Stack your pancakes, top with a generous scoop of cocoyo, the berry compote, and a sprinkle of granola and cacao nibs

Satiating & Delicious Superfood Smoothie Bowls

I rarely eat smoothie bowls out.  There are two places I trust to make me a HEALTHY bowl, but most places make the smoothie bowls with fruit juice, sweetened plant milks, and loads of fruits which end up making your smoothie a sugar bomb, offering you a quick lift, and later a crash and a feeling of hunger.  Most smoothies and bowls you can get at 'healthy' juice bars have the sugar content creeping into 40-70 grams because of all the high sugar fruits and juices added.  That's the equivalent of about 10-16 tsp of sugar!

I'm often asked how I make my smoothie bowls so insanely delicious AND still filling.  In truth, my secret is pretty simple, I keep them low sugar, and make sure they have an ample amount of protein, nutrient density and some healthy fats.  Because I add Vegan Shakeology to all of my bowls, I don't have to overload my bowl with a ton of high sugar fruits to give it natural sweetness.  Rather, I add a half to a full scoop of superfood vegan shakeology and sometimes bump it with a half scoop of vanilla plant protein powder too (I only do that when I use just a 1/2 scoop of shakeology).  I also normally add some greens for alkalization and of course some healthy fats for more satiation.  Additionally, I make sure to top my bowl with items that are lower sugar/lower carb and crunchy, like coconut flakes, cacao nibs, nuts/seeds or a low sugar grain free granola.  This ensures you are CHEWING your smoothie.  The act of chewing sends a message to your brain that you are indeed eating and satiated.  When you're only drinking your food (such as when on a juice only cleanse, or if you choose to have smoothies without crunchy toppings), your body doesn't get the same signal of satiation, so you end up being hungry after or hungry again sooner. 

Whats in this Bowl?

The smoothie base is simple:

3/4 cup unsweetened Ripple Brand Plant Milk

1 full scoop of Vanilla Vegan Superfood Shakeology 

a fistful of spinach

and ice -- all blended together

The Toppings are just cocoyo, grain free granola, coconut flakes, and cacao nibs

Simple Salmon and Greens Bowl

Eating Healthy, doesn't have to be complicated.  You don't have to be a know it all chef or even have many skills in the kitchen.  One of my favorite proteins is salmon.  It's one of the few fish I never tire of eating, and lucky for the less-than-saavy-kitcheness, you can buy salmon already cooked at many healthy grocers like Whole Foods, or you can buy a piece of smoked salmon at almost all grocery stores.

What makes a dish taste so good is the combination of flavors: sweet, salt, and fat, so having a great  dressing for your dishes that satiates the palette can be a big game changer.  I've found that by adding coconut aminos to most my dishes it gives it both the sweetness and saltiness our palettes love, and by adding avocado, it fills the gap on the desire for fats.  Salmon in and of itself is a fattier fish, so you may find that by preparing it with some seasoning salt, you really have little desire for additional fats, but I love my fats, so here's how I build a simple and delicious dish like this:

To half of the bowl add mixed greens / a salad blend 

Add a handful of micro greens 

Slice half an avocado in

Top with either grilled, poached, or smoked salmon

And my preferred dressings for this dish are either:

Green Goddess from the fridge section of Trader Joes with a splash of coconut aminos

or Primal Kitchens honey mustard dressing diluted with a little rice vinegar and coconut aminos

Finish with a light sprinkle of bagel seasoning.

Make At Home Superfood Infused Vegan Chocolate Bark

If there is one thing i have a deep love for that never seems to waiver, it's chocolate.  That said, i'm not an 'any-kind-of-chocolate' type of girl.  I don't care for the cheap drug-store chocolates, milk chocolate, or white chocolate.  Rather i should say, i'm not entirely opposed to them, but I just don't get the same 'feels' with them as i do with a deep, dark, rich, slightly sweet, decadent, melt in my mouth, take me to outer-space, type of darker-quality-chocolate.

I also prefer Vegan preparations of chocolate, given my intolerance to dairy, and i love when chocolate is infused with healing herbs, ayurvedic medicinals, coconut, and love....

Enter....my latest affair with chocolate....this simple make-at-home Superfood Infused Vegan Chocolate Bark.

INGREDIENTS:

4 Tbsp Extra Virgin Coconut Oil

1 Tbsp Coconut Butter (I used Nutivas coconut manna)

2 Tbsp cacao powder

1 scoop or 1 packet VEGAN Chocolate Shakeology

2 Tbsp Vegan Vanilla Shakeology

Culinary Dried Rose Petals

Sea Salt

What i love about using Shakeology specifically for this recipe is that it infuses the bark with over 70 adaptogenic herbs and superfoods including some of my Ayurvedic favorites such as Ashwagandha and Moringa.  Ashwagandha is a rasayana meaning it's used to promote physical as well as mental health.  Specifically it's known to strengthen your immune system, increases your stamina, and has even been shown to help reduce cortisol levels (the stress hormone that makes us store fat).  Moringa is a super-nutrient-dense green packed with anti-oxidants and poly-phenols.  It's known to help with inflammation, is packed with vitamins and minerals, and is revered in Ayurvedic medicine for helping to prevent or treat over 300 dis-eases.

DIRECTIONS:

Start with your base:  Coconut Oil and Coconut Butter

Melt them in a pot stirring over med-high heat stirring often 

Remove from the heat and add in the powdered cacao and shakeology, stirring until all little lumps are smoothed out.

Pour into a non stick container and let set in the fridge for a short moment to cool.

Before the top begins to harden add on any additional toppings; pictured here dried rose leaves and sea salt.  Other great options are goji berries or dried cherries, dried coconut, pumpkin seeds, and sea salt.  Once your toppings are on, place the bark pan in the freezer until frozen (freezes quite quickly).  Remove from freezer once set, break into chunks, and store in the freezer until ready to each (they do melt quite quickly).

No Bake Pumpkin Energy Bites

If you thought my Salted Chocolate Dipped Maple Almond Butter Bites were easy, then this is a CAKE walk...and ironically these little balls taste like cake too.  They use only six simple ingredients (if you count spices and salt as an ingredient), no baking, no prepping, it's literally drop the food in the food processor, blend, and roll into balls.  YES, it's that simple, and they are so delicious.  They are just as good without chocolate in them.  As a matter of fact, if you leave out the cacao nibs and add a pinch of powered ginger and a dash of cinnamon to the recipe below, you'll essentially have what tastes like the healthiest version ever of the Hostess Cinnamon Streusel Topping that comes on their little coffee cakes (yes i ate these as a kid).

You'll need:

`9 medjool dates - remove the pit, if they are very dry you may need to soak them in water for a few minutes.  i used the ones pictured.  They were quite moist and required zero soaking
`1/2 cup of coconut flour
`1/2 cup of pumpkin puree (i used canned)
`1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
` a couple cranks of sea salt
`2 Tbsp of cacao nibs (or chocolate chips)

Step One:  Add everything but the cacao nibs/chocolate chips to a food processor with an S blade, and process until it makes a sticky crumble texture and tends to wad up on one side of the food processor.    Add the cacao nibs/chocolate chips and process again to mix in   Test the batter by making sure if you grab a little piece it's tacky and will stick together when you start rolling.

Step two:  Roll into balls of any size you prefer.  I rolled medium sized balls and this recipe yielded 11 pumpkin energy bites. 

Step 3: Devour or Share.  I recommend keeping any remaining bites in a glass container in your refrigerator. 

 The bites are really 'cakey' inside, and taste almost like pumpkin or carrot cake.  

They are truly delicious.

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Deconstructed Buddha Bowls: Simple Techniques to Stellar Plant Based Bowls

If you've followed me on Instagram, Facebook or even this blog for any length of time, you're well aware of my love for healthy plant based food.  As someone who grew up very sick, in hospitals, and suffered from a lot of digestive malaise, discovering food as medicine and whole foods detoxing has really provided me not just with the healing i was searching for, but gave me the permission and passion to share what helped me in an effort to educate others.  It's actually how this blog was born almost 10 years back.

Many of the older recipes on this blog were created after taking my first raw foods certification course and studying for my Holistic Health Practitioner's and Nutrition Counselor's certifications.  As a matter of fact, i'm not even sure if Facebook was in existence then, and surely Instagram was not around yet.  Over the years as social media became more popular i've spent much of my time sharing recipes on social and educating in my online formats, through my virtual programs, and social communities i've cultivated rather than here on my blog.  I've even put together four ebooks and a clean eating grocery list, including my newest Buddha Bowl ebook full of recipes and my Plant Based Slim Down Ebook which i followed to a T last month when i dropped 6.75 inches and almost 5 lbs in 42 days.  I never intended to publish and sell my ebooks, rather they have always just been a resource for my clients/challengers who invest in their health and commit to any one of my programs.  They were created to simply share what worked for me, and offer a step by step guide, meal plan, and recipe selection for those who wanted to follow my exact same plan and get the results i was getting.

After many requests at where you can find my ebooks and recipes i made sure they were all housed in one simple place for you to access.  While you can scroll down to see a deconstructed buddha bowl, my food prep for it, and how fast it is to eat healthy, if you want all of my exact recipes, eating regime, and my slim down plan, you can click HERE to get started on your program.  As mentioned above all four of my most sought-after ebooks and slim down programs come with your commitment to one of my virtual programs.  You invest one time and you get EVERYTHING including my coaching and online communities for eternity.  Pretty Badass right?  I sure think so!  After being on the hunt myself for optimal health, weight loss, and healing, and purchasing every program out there, i wanted to make sure i could offer my clients something that was personal, community driven, had every resource you need and most importantly gave you a coach that could help you customize your plan and a program that WORKS.  Fact was, i spent hand over fist on programs and did my research before launching my first program and what i found was a lot of people selling the next 'best' program, with very little support or follow through, and an auto-responder that got me no where or a 'coach' that didn't show up for me when i had a Question.  Get excited for what you get in my All Access Member Program....Check it all out HERE.

DECONSTRUCTED BUDDHA BOWLS

I'm a girl who LOVES to eat out of bowls.  Maybe because i love to get every little bite on my plate, and bowls make it so much easier to do that, or maybe it's because i like saucy things and bowls are such great containers for sauce, but either way this girl is all about BOWL EATING.  So the first thing you'll need for your meal is a badass big bowl.  The white ones i use are from Target.  They are bigger than a normal salad bowl, slightly smaller than a serving bowl, and perfect to spread out my veggies so my bowls are picture perfect!

Next, if you're a busy woman, you might want to consider doing some food prep for the week or half week so that you're bowls can literally be thrown together in under 2 minutes.  I steam most of my veggies so depending on how busy my week looks or if i'm traveling, sometimes i do a good amount of prep, sometimes i do it right before i make my food, but i will admit, having your buddha bowl content prepped before hand makes it so easy and fast to get your bowl made before your hangry girl mouth has a moment to be noshing on something else that's faster to grab and less vibrant for your body, mind, and soul.  Generally when i prep i zoodle zucchini with a julienne peeler, noodle carrots with a basic veggie peeler, grate beets or chop small for fast steaming, slice sweet potatoes, chop mushrooms, de-stem/clean/and steam my kale or other greens, and i always keep the insides of my zoodled zuchs for my superfood smoothies to thicken them up, and save the inside of my carrots for noshing with dips.

A few things that generally make their way into my buddha bowls:  

-Bragg's nooch (nutritional yeast) - important for B12 for those of you who are vegan

-Rawmesan (a common topper on my bowls) - you can make it with nooch, nuts, and sea salt 

-Coconut Aminos (similar to soy sauce/tamari but gluten and soy free)

-Seeds (hemp, pumpkin, or other such toppings)

-Tahini (sometimes made into a dressing with lemon and coconut aminos and spices)

-All the STEAMED veggies (i cook most all of my veggies for easier digestibility // steam or grill)

-Avocado

From there you can get super creative using my buddha bowl recipe ebook and slim down guide, and either master the recipes in there or start to create your own.  I guarantee your mouth, heart, and tummy will be happy.  Those of you who don't follow a grain free lifestyle, add some quinoa or rice, and those of you who love your proteins, add some fish, eggs, or other humanely raised and clean source of protein.  I'm not a big fan of Soy Foods, but if you choose soy, always look for GMO and organic!

Raspberry Paleo Pancakes

Cuzzzz a hungry girl's gotta eat, yo.  Here's the JAM:

1.  I'm not on a paleo diet, but these pancakes qualify as Paleo approved (i'm personally not one to shun a cookie especially this time of year)

2.  There is no protein powder in these pancakes.  You make them from eggs, banana, and coconut flour. 

3.  The pancakes do not include sugar other than fruit and do not require syrup.  

4.  They are freaking delicious.  Let me rewrite that: FREAKING DELICIOUS.  Please make them.  Now.  You won't be sorry. 


Raspberry Paleo Pancakes

one very ripe banana mashed well
2 large egg whites
1 heaping Tbsp of coconut flour (i imagine i did about a proper Tbsp plus a tsp)
a few dashes of cinnamon
6 drops of liquid stevia
1/4 tsp of vanilla extract
crank of sea salt
handful of frozen or fresh raspberries (or other berries)

Mash the banana well into a bowl.  Add the two egg whites and whisk together well (you can just use a fork to whisk).  Add the remaining ingredients and stir together well.  Heat a pan over medium to low heat.  Add a little coconut oil if your pan is not non-stick.  Put half the batter in the pan, cover and cook until little bubbles comes through, carefully flip and continue to cook to preferred doneness.  Replicate with second half of batter.  Plate and enjoy.

In addition to this delicious recipe, there are many more healthy recipes listed in my ebook accessible to members on my site.  Membership is free for those who are on or have done a program with me.  To be a part of the health community/accountability group or to have my personal coaching, simply message me and tell me a little about yourself, your lifestyle, what you want to change, and how you feel my guidance could best support you. Contact me through my website.

Sweet Treat: Rawlicious Choco Cookie Dough Bites

It's late June and summer has finally arrived.  While i'm looking forward to this July 4th weekend and all the BBQ's, decadent foods and drinks, bike rides, and socializing that's to be had, i'm equally looking forward to bringing in beach season (and my desire to feel my best in my bikini) by participating in (and leading) a 20 day cleanse starting the end of next week.  With that said....i have 7 days left to enjoy the richness of life (though i always like to keep it with a cleaner approach).  So for my last hoorah, and to inspire you how to clean up your fave cookie dough recipe, here's a great approach for a safe to eat chocolate chip cookie dough that never needs to be cooked.

Here's what you'll need:

a vitamix blender or other high powered mill (food processor or coffee mill will work - though you'd have to do the coffee mill in batches)
1 cup cashew pieces
1/2 cup gluten free raw oats (bob's red mill)
approx 3 tbsp agave nectar
approx 1 -2 tbsp water
cinnamon
vanilla
sea salt
a few handfuls of chocolate chips (or use cacao nibs for a full raw experience)


Toss the cashew pieces and oats into your vitamix blender (or other high powered mill like a food processor or coffee mill in batches).  Grind down to a fine powder/flour.  Add the agave nectar to your flour, a dash or two of cinnamon, a tbsp of water, a crank of sea salt, and about a tsp of vanilla extract.  Blend again.  If dough is stingy add a little more water to get things moving, but make sure you keep it a thick dough.  Remove your dough from the blender, set in a small mixing bowl, and stir in a few handfuls of the best choco chips you can find.  Take small spoonfuls to roll between your hands, place on a parchment lined plate and place in your fridge or freezer.  My batch yielded about 13 balls, though if i didn't eat so much dough in the process i might have 15 total.  :)

Salted Chocolate Dipped Maple Almond Butter Bites

These are seriously so good, so simple, and the hardest part is not eating them all.

I chose to use Enjoy Life chocolate chips to keep the recipe allergy free and VEGAN, but if you're not vegan or dairy free you can pick your favorite chocolate to use for the outside of the 'bites'.

 JUST 4 INGREDIENTS: 

1/2 cup Maple Almond Butter (or any almond butter)  

1/4 cup Coconut Flour

1/2 cup Chocolate Chips

Pink Coarse Grind Sea Salt for topping

Step one:  Mix the coconut flour into the almond butter in a bowl until fully combined and semi crumbly, but also still sticks together.  If you have a more oily almond butter you may need more coconut flour.  If your almond butter is really dry you may need less.

Step two:  Use either a rounded teaspoon scoop or a Tbsp scoop (depending how big you want your bites) to scoop the batter onto parchment paper.  Once complete, let set in the freezer for 10-20 minutes (based on your patience factor of which i have about ZERO).

Step three:  Melt the chocolate morsels in a tiny pot or bowl if using a microwave. 

Side note, I got rid of my microwave YEARS ago after reading a bunch of not-so-healthy side effects of using them.  Sometimes i get sad when i see microwaved mug cakes on pinterest and realize i would have to make it in an oven and it will take longer, but then i remember my health is more important than the time lost from not microwaving.  No offense meant if you have one, rather it's something you might want to read up on.  If you do have a microwave and I came over your house, I'd probably be jazzed AF to use it.

Step four:  Remove your 'naked' maple almond butter bites from the freezer and use a fork or spoon to submerge them one by one into the melted chocolate and fully cover.  As you dip each one, place it back on the parchment paper, top with a pinch or crank of sea salt, and freeze for another 10 minutes

Step five:  My favorite part...  Remove from freezer and EAT.  I'm one of those girls who can't have just one (of any treat), so generally I either make a half batch or i make them when i'm about to leave for an event or to meet someone so I can gift them to my friends.  You do need to keep these in the freezer or fridge until you've eaten them all.  ENJOY!