Tag Archives: vegan

Polenta Torte

Like gorgonzola? Then you will love this dish! Don’t like it? Then simply omit and stick with the parmesan cheese. This is a wonderful polenta & greens dish, spiced with some hot chili flakes and pepper and topped with cheese. Not really a kid dish, given the spice, but you could make a dish of plain polenta and top with cheese – a favorite in our house!

Ingredients

4 c lukewarm water
1 c stone-ground coarse cornmeal
salt to taste
1-2 lbs mixed tender greens (spinach, kale, arugula)
3 Tsp olive oil
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
ground black pepper
1 garlic clove
1/2 c grated pecorino cheese (like parmesan)
Crumbled gorgonzola

Directions

Heat olive oil and add pepper flakes, ground pepper and garlic – sauté until fragrant but don’t let the garlic brown or it will turn bitter
Pour half of the oil in a large glass baking dish
Add water & cornmeal & salt and bake, uncovered, for ~50 minutes
Add greens to skillet with leftover oil and cook for 10 minutes (covered) stirring frequently, removing lid at end and raising heat a bit to just evaporate any liquid left
Remove baked polenta from oven and with a spatula, scrape off the top 1/2 layer of polenta, set aside
Add cooked greens to the baking dish with polenta, sprinkle gorgonzola and half of the parmesan, and then cover with the rest of the polenta
Top with parmesan and return to oven for 10-15 minutes
Serve warm!

Yellow Squash Guacamole // Paleo // Whole30

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My father in law has a big garden. I loooove that we get to go over for a visit, and then he sends us home with a bag fool of yummy home grown veggies!! I’ll be honest. I made this and took these pictures a month ago, and am just getting around to blogging the recipe-whoops! Hopefully, you can still get your hands on some kind of squash that is ok to eat raw, because this was amazing and a great way to sneak in some veggies/aka totally healthy! Ingredients

You can totally play with these measurements of ingredients. I honestly don’t even remember how much of what I used-sorry!! I sometimes just throw a bunch of ingredients in the Cuisinart, hope for the best, and then add a little more of this or that as needed. This time it worked! 🙂

One medium to large yellow squash
2 Avocados
10 Cherry tomatoes
2 Baby onions, or about 1/3 cup diced
1/4 Teaspoon crushed garlic
4-5 fresh basil leaves (you could use the typical cilantro as well, but I love my Trader Joe’s $2.99 Basil plant! Mainly, because it’s still ALIVE! haha :))
Salt and Pepper to taste
Juice from half of a lime (not necessary, but an added bonus)

Directions

Cut off the ends of the yellow squash, cut into 1 inch slices and toss in the Cuisinart. I keep the skin on…
Throw everything else in there and pulse a few times. The squash is the main thing that needs to be shredded first, everything else pulses up pretty quickly.
Serve on top of any kind of grilled fish/meat, with chips, pitas, sweet potato or plantain chips. Really, you can do whatever you want with this!

Tips

This is best served right away. The liquid from the squash tends to leak out the longer it sits, which might not be so appealing to some if you make it too much ahead of time 🙂 I still ate leftovers the next day, but I really hate seeing food go to waste, and it still tasted yummy! You could probably use a lot of different veggies in this. Carrots, zucchini, eggplant (?? Not a big fan, but to each his own :)). The main goal is to slip some extra vitamin enriched goodness into something that everyone loves-guacamole!

Chia Pudding with Blackberries + Coconut

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One of the many things I love about social media is the creativity it sparks. It can also spark feelings of inadequacy, but that’s another post for another day 😉 I’ve seen a lot of posts about chia pudding/porridge/smoothies around Instagram, and it got me thinking about the ginormous bag of chia seeds in our cupboard. The Huz goes online and buys various things to put in his after work out smoothies. This was one of them, yet he wasn’t putting it in the smoothies. Not sure why, but I hate for things to go to waste! So…I thought I’d make some pudding!

I am always looking for easy healthy desserts, and this totally fits the bill! I haven’t tested it out on the boys yet (who would be harsher critics), but Maya gobbled it up and asked for more 🙂 And, with a little extra drizzle of raw honey, I did too haha. Ingredients

1/3 cup chia seeds (or more depending on how many people you want to feed-this would make about four to five 1/2 cup servings)
2 Cups unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk (or whatever milk you want to use)
1 Tablespoon raw honey or agave, plus a little additional for drizzling.
Raw Unsweetened Coconut shavings to sprinkle on top (got mine for totally cheap at the bulk section of PCC)
1 cup of blackberries (or whatever berry you’d like to use!)

Directions

Mix, chia seeds and Honey/Agave in with the milk and let it sit overnight, or do it first thing in the morning, if you want to have it for dessert. It will plump up, and ends up looking like tapioca pudding.
Scoop out into bowls. Top with berries, coconut and drizzle a little more honey over the top.

Enjoy!

Keeping it Real…

This is not a decadent rich dessert. It’s a relatively healthy option when you are craving dessert, but don’t want to feel too guilty 🙂

Paleo Chocolate Almond Banana Ice Cream Shake // Healthy Wendy’s Frosty!!

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I loved the Paleo Banana Coconut Ice Cream Pies so much that I decided to try another variation. I’m not a big fan of chocolate all on it’s own, but I do like chocolate flavored things. I decided to skip the crust this time, and just make the “ice cream” all on it’s own.

I topped it with crushed almonds, shaved unsweetened coconut and fresh blackberries that Maya and I picked (ok, the ones SHE picked went directly into her belly as seen here :)).

Truth be told, I’ve made this twice in the last few weeks haha. The first time, it got devoured before I could take pictures of it, so of course I had to make it again!! The 2nd time I made it, I substituted some chocolate protein powder and convinced myself it was actually ok to have for dinner 🙂 It was just me and Maya because the Huz and the boys were out of town. Sometimes I feel like I’m constantly saying “no” to Maya or telling her to not do things all day long. This felt like a much deserved treat for being the sweet kid that she is. Ok, I wanted it too 😉 For some reason the first time in the bowl, I thought it just tasted like chocolate soft serve, but as soon as I put it in a big glass cup, all I could think about was a Wendy’s Frosty!! So delicious!Ingredients (makes 6 Servings about 1 overflowing Cup or 4 milkshakes :))

Ice Cream

5 frozen bananas
1 Tablespoon pure Cacao or Cocoa (or a scoop of chocolate protein powder!)
1 Cup Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk
2 Tablespoons Almond Butter (can use peanut butter if you aren’t Paleo)
3 Medjul Dates (pitted)
Berries, crushed almonds, unsweetened coconut, or just about anything for topping!

Directions

Let the bananas sit out for about 5 minutes. It helps make it easier for them to blend.
In a blender or food processor, mix all the ingredients until smooth and creamy.
This really is best served right away, but I bet you can freeze individual servings in Popsicle molds!!
If you only want to make 2 servings, it halves easily!

NOW…what variation to try next!?!

ENJOY!!

Paleo Banana Coconut Ice Cream Pies

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I’ve been seeing so many pictures of Nana Ice Cream on Instagram, and have been dying to try my own version. Funny thing…I’m not really a big fan of bananas haha. So, I added a few other things into the mix to see how it turned out. OMG, it was so creamy and delicious!!! One of my favorite desserts (crazy, I know!) is just a plain soft serve ice cream cone. I am TOTALLY doing that with this recipe later!!

I’ve also been itching to make a crust out of almonds and dates, so….I figured why not make them both…TOGETHER! You’d think you were eating a decadent dessert, yet not! Now, with all the almonds and dates, it’s not necessarily low calorie/low fat, but it’s all good for you, so toss the guilt aside, and ENJOY!So the crust on these…OMG. I am a die hard LOVER of graham cracker crust. Like, I double it every time I make a cheesecake or other recipe that calls for it :} This was pretty darn close and so much better for you! Totally converting!Ingredients (makes 8 little pies, or could make one 9 inch pie)

Ice Cream

6 frozen bananas
1/3 Cup Almonds
1 Can low fat Coconut Milk
2 Medjul Dates (pitted)

Crust

12 Medjul Dates (pitted)
1 1/3 Cup Almonds
2 1/2 Tablespoons Coconut Oil

Directions

In a food processor pulse the ingredients for the crust until it starts to clump together. I took 1/3 of a cup and put it in the bottom of each little glass bowl (could use ramicans or place most of it all in a 9 inch pie dish). I kept a little left over to sprinkle over the top of the pies.
I a blender, mix all the Ice Cream ingredients until smooth and creamy. I spooned 1/2 cup into the little bowls, and then sprinkled the leftover crust mix.
This really is best served right away, but you can freeze them and then let them sit out for about 15-20 minutes before serving.
I topped with shaved unsweetened coconut and fresh blueberries. Really, the possibilities are endless on how you can vary this! And…I WILL!

ENJOY!!

Nutritional Facts (I entered all the ingredients into Calorie Count)

Per Individual Pie

Serves 8 // Calories per Individual Pie- 351 // Total Fat- 17g // Saturated Fat- 7g // Total Carbohydrates-55.8g // Dietary Fiber-7.3 // Sugars- 33.1g // Protein- 5.8g

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