Orange Brownie

 What are two of the best things you could put together? What are two of the weirdest things you could put together? The answer is one amazing, fantastic, fabulous recipe (drummmm rolllllll)

ORANGE BROWNIE!

I have made this recipe at least twice a week over the past few weeks. It is an amazing after workout snack! So again why am I wasting your time reading this? Lets jump in!

What you will need:

1 cup walnuts

1 cup orange juice

1 cup oatmeal

2 T cinnamon

3/4 cup cocoa or carob powder

1/2 cup chocolate chips

1 egg

1 T baking powder

~Preheat oven to 350~

Mix walnuts and orange juice in a high power blender or food processor. Add oatmeal and make sure the walnuts, oatmeal, and orange juice are a very liquidy paste. Now it gets super simple! Add everything else mix, scrape into a greased pan, wait 30-40 minutes and

ENJOY!



Homemade Face Towelettes

Lately (as I said on my detergent rant) I have been trying to weed the chemicals out of my house. I know that lately I have been loving the simple brand of face towelettes, but even if they are pretty cheap ($2-3) that collects over time. That is why today I have made my new MUST have.

What you will need:

1/2 roll of paper towels

1 T apple cider vinegar

1 T of your soap

1 cup water

1 T coconut oil

Cut your paper towels in half and put them in a plastic container. 

Put everything in the pot and let it boil

Pour into your container put a lid on it and well wash your face!

Enjoy!!!! 

Guilt Free Nutella

This is possibly my new favorite recipe! It is a guilt free NUTELLA it does not get any better than that! I would bore you with the details of how great this is but honestly it would just be wasting the time that could be spent making and enjoying this lovely recipe!!! 

What you will need:

1 cup walnuts

2 T maple syrup

2 T cocoa powder or carob powder

2 T milk

1 t vanilla

1/2 cup of chocolate chips

Put your walnuts into the blender or food processor until they are finely ground. Throw in the rest and mix!

And ENJOY!!!!!

P.s. amazing with bananas!!!

Cranberry, Chocolate, and Coconut Granola

Yogurt topper? Cereal? Snack? Trail mix? What is this magical new recipe? I personally like eating it as either a trail mix type of thing or on top of yogurt. It is splendid!

What you will need:

1 1/2 cup rolled oats

1/2 cup shredded coconut
1/3 cup raw almonds chopped
1/3 cup dried cranberries
1/3 cup applesauce
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp cinnamon
1/3 cup maple syrup

Preheat oven to 375

I threw everything onto the pan an mixed it up on there in a grasping chance to save dishes!

Bake for 30-40 min depending on your oven and how crispy you want your granola.

Good Luck!!

Pumpkin Cookies

Hello and Happy Wednesday!

Something we should probably get straight before we become TO good of friends is that I LOVE pumpkin, chocolate, and coconut. If I could survive off of these ingredients alone I would be a very happy girl! In the past I have shared my favorite brownie recipe and my absolute favorite coconut recipe but I realized I haven't shared a pumpkin recipe! When I made these yesterday my youngest brother (who never likes anything I make) said and I quote "these are surprisingly decent" coming from this little guy that is a 10 star review! But I don't want to bore you with the details so lets get into,

What you need:

1 cup of pumpkin

1 cup of flour

1 1/2 cup of oatmeal

1/3 maple syrup

1/2 apple sauce

1 T of milk

1/2 t salt

1/2 t baking powder

1/2 T pumpkin pie spice

1 t cinnamon (I think I used a little more because I personally love it!!)

You can add chocolate chips, I didn't.

Preheat oven to 350

Look how cute they are!!!

Throw all of your ingredients I bowl...

And stir, stir, stir!

It is actually that simple! If you do not have pumpkin pies spice you can substitute it for ginger, nutmeg, cloves.

Adapted from:  http://mywholefoodlife.com/2012/11/23/pumpkin-spice-breakfast-cookies/

Have a lovely day!!!!

Gluten Free Healthy Waffles

BREAKFAST! This is my personal favorite meal of the day and no matter how hot it is outside I will still make a warm breakfast and this has to be my favorite. Especially since it's so easy! My dad who really doesn't like anything semi-healthy likes these.

(Sorry for the poor quality of the pictures they were taken at 6 AM and it was really dark.)

What you will need:

1 banana  

1 cup of oatmeal

1/2 cup of water

1T of vanilla

You can add fruit or you can leave the waffles plain.  I sprinkle cranberries on top of the batter once it is in the waffle maker.

Put everything except the fruit (if you are doing fruit) in the blender. You can, of course, mix it up and stick in the fridge but I prefer to make them fresh.

This will make around 4 waffles.  I usually double the batch and my family and I eat them for the next couple days.

This is also a great after workout breakfast!

Bean, Quinoa, and Avocado Burrito

Yummied, yum, yum, yummmmmm!  I have made this recipe twice in the past week. As I sit and write this on a Saturday night I am already planning the next time I can make it! So, so very good!

What you will need:

1 T olive oil

1 small onion

1 clove garlic, minced

1 handful of cilantro

1/4 cup of lime juice

2 colored peppers, chopped

1 1/2 t chili powered

1 t cumin

juice of 1/2 a lime

salt and black pepper

1 can of beans, drained and rinsed

1 can of sweet corn, drained and rinsed

Whole wheat tortillas

Cilantro Lime Quinoa

1 cup of quinoa

2 cups water

cilantro

juice of 1/2 a lime

Avocado Smash

1 avocado

1/2 red pepper

1/2 yellow pepper

1-2 chopped tomatoes

juice of 1/2 a lime

salt and pepper to taste

Whole wheat tortillas

First start by cooking quinoa according to package directions.  After cooked pull off heat and add cilantro and lime juice. 

Now it is time to start the other filling for the burrito.

Sautee 2 peppers and onion and add garlic at the end.

After sautéing add beans, corn, cilantro and seasonings. Keep warm on a low medium heat.

Now time to make the avocado smash.

 Smash up the avocado and add the rest of the peppers, lime juice, tomato, salt and pepper. 

Now put the cilantro quinoa, black bean mix, and avocado smash into a tortilla wrap it up and ENJOY!

If you keep the avocado pit with the avocado smash you can keep the left overs in the fridge.  It will not turn brown and be ready for leftovers.  Once made this is a great go-to lunch or in a hurry supper.

Lentil and Wheat Berry Bowl

I am about to share with you one of the absolute best recipes!!!  Truly I need you to understand! The first time I made this I was a little hesitant mainly because raw wheat berries aren't really part of my "typical" diet. But I was happily surprised because it tastes amazing and is gorgeous!! My mom and I have made this three times in the past 2 weeks. That just shows how good it is!

What You Will Need:

Sauce:
1/4 cup Tahini
1 garlic cloves
1/4 cup of lime juice
1/2 cup nutritional yeast
Salt and Pepper to taste

Salad:
1 cup lentils
1 cup of wheat berries or brown rice
1/2 onion
4 garlic cloves
1 red pepper
1 yellow pepper
1 cup of chopped tomatoes
3 cups spinach
1/2 cup fresh cilantro
7 jalapeño slices (I used them from a jar)

Let's get started!!

Soak your rice or wheat berries the night before to get the full nutrional benefits.

After soaking your berries/rice cook them and the lentils according to package directions.

Blend up your sauce (1/4 cup Tahini, 2 garlic cloves, 1/4 cup of lime juice, 1/2 cup nutritional yeast, (Salt and Pepper to taste). Set aside.

Sauté your onions and then add your veggies (1/2 onion, 2 garlic cloves, 1 red pepper, 1 yellow pepper, 1 cup of chopped tomatoes)

After a few minutes of sautéing the veggies add the spinach.

Look how pretty it is!!!

Add the lentils, berries/rice, and the sauce from earlier.

 This is best warm and reheats fantastically.

Enjoy!!!

Adapted from Oh She Glows.

Chia Seeds

Greetings!

Lately I have been finding a lot of recipes with chia seeds in them, so I really wanted to do some research and figure out exactly what the health benefits of this mysterious little seeds. Here is what I pleasantly discovered.  

Chia Seeds come from a flowering plant in the mint family that's native to Mexico and Guatemala, and history suggests it was a very important food crop for the Aztecs.

Chia seeds have omega-3 fatty acids they are one of the richest plant based sources of this.

10 grams of fiber in 2 tablespoons this is 1/3 of your daily intake of fiber.

They are rich with antioxidants.

Chia seeds are a HUGE source of protein.

When mixed with liquids Chia has a higher concentration of satiety.

They are gluten free so they truly are the perfect food.

Chia can actually be used as an egg replacer. Because when mixed with liquids they gel. To do this mix 1 tablespoon of chia seeds to 3 tablespoons of water and then left set for 15 minutes creates the perfect egg replacer.

Chia seeds can really help in regulating insulin levels.

With 27 percent of your daily value for phosphorus chia seeds also helps you maintain healthy bones and teeth. Phosphorus is also used by the body to synthesize protein for cell and tissue growth and repair.

Hope this helps and interests you!

 

This was my main source:

 

http://healthyeating.sfgate.com/top-10-health-benefits-chia-seeds-6962.html

Pictures from:

https://www.google.com/search?q=chia+seeds&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=ebEnU63KMsiTkQfU24CADw&sqi=2&ved=0CAgQ_AUoAg&biw=1366&bih=643#facrc=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=756I6YGIbAqL9M%253A%3BJlglruqiqdxBiM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fbmedia.fooducate.com%252Fwp-content%252Fuploads%252F2012%252F07%252FChiaSeeds.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fblog.fooducate.com%252F2012%252F07%252F22%252Fchia-seeds-why-we-love-em%252F%3B450%3B275