Strawberry Broccoli Slaw Salad with Agave Lime Dressing

Dinner the other night (and lunch and dinner the next night...) was this broccoli slaw salad with strawberries, blueberries, and pecans.  It was quick and easy and very refreshing on a hot evening!  It kept decently for lunch the next day, but if I were going to try to make a large batch to last for a few days I would not put the dressing on until I ate it, and I'd probably add the strawberries just before eating it as well.  We served it with rotisserie chicken.  It would be good with grilled chicken mixed in as well. 

Ingredients:
1 bag broccoli slaw (found in produce section near regular bagged slaw mixes)
~12 med-large strawberries, sliced
1 pint blueberries
1/4 cup hemp or chia seed
2 cups pecans

1/4 c. agave
1/2 c. olive oil
1 and 1/2 limes juiced, with 2 Tb zest

Directions:
In a large bowl, toss the salad ingredients together.  The hemp/chia sees are optional, but I like the healthy goodness boost they give this already good-for-you salad.  In a smaller bowl, whisk the agave, olive oil, lime juice, and lime zest together.  Adjust agave to suit how sweet you'd like the dressing to be.  I've made this dressing with honey before as well if you prefer.  Then serve and eat!

Chocolate Scones

I have not tasted cooked one yet, but the batter was delicious enough to post this even before it was cooked. I did find this from Pinterest. I subbed almond flour for coconut flour and only used 2 squirts of Stevia. Enjoy

INGREDIENTS

• 1/2 cup  (75 grams) Coconut Flour
• 1 cup (115 grams) gluten free Oat Flour
• 1/4 cup  (20 grams) unsweetened Cocoa Powder
• 1/8 teaspoon fine Sea Salt
• 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
• 4 ounces Banana (about 1 large banana)
• 3 ounces light, unsweetened Coconut Milk
• Stevia Drops about 4-5 droppers full (adjust sweetness to taste)
• 1 teaspoon pure Vanilla Extract
• 2 ounces vegan semi-sweet Chocolate Chips or chopped Chocolate pieces
• Powdered Sugar or Maple Sugar

METHOD

Pre heat oven to 350˚ with the rack in the middle. In a medium bowl whisk together flours, baking soda, cocoa powder, salt and add one ounce of the chocolate. Mix coconut milk, banana, vanilla, stevia in a blender or food processor. Add wet to the dry ingredients and form a dough. Press together with your fingers until you can knead into dough ball. Taste dough, add more sweetener if needed. Press dough into a 1/2 inch thick flattened disk. Cut into 8 equal pieces. Top with remaining one ounce of chocolate. Bake for about 10-12 minutes. Let cool on baking sheet and transfer to rack. Dust with powdered sugar or maple sugar before serving if desired.

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Pancakes, Pancakes

Ok, not only is that the name of a book by Eric Carle, it is what I wanted for breakfast! So, the challenge of no processed began. These came out really tasty but very flat. I wonder if some natural carbonation may help.

1 cup oat flour
1/2 c almond flour
Flax egg ( olive oil and flaxseed)
1 tsp vanilla
A dash of salt
@ 2 cups of almond milk (I actually used a combination of heavy cream (had some left) and almond milk).
They are very dense and take awhile to cook, but they were yummy!

Let me know if you try them and how to make them fluffy! Enjoy!

Refreshing Lemon Cucumber Water

So someone made lemon cucumber water in Reno and I didn't try it. Then Greg was talking about wanting to work on cleansing out some caffeine to back off coffee, so I looked up some natural cleansers and all sorts of flavored water recipes came up. This one is not particularly made to cleanse, but it seemed light and fresh so I tried it. Super easy and I really like it even though I don't like lemon in my water. The cucumber really adds a layer of flavor.

Ingredients:

10 very thin slices of lemon (I basically used one large lemon and had the two ends left and maybe a slice or two)
10-15 very thin slices of cucumber (I left the skin on but bought organic)
4 cups of water
A handful of ice cubes

Just put it all in a bowl and let sit for a few hours and enjoy! The recipe I found actually called for 5 cups of water, but I added ice to chill it faster and figured once it melted, it would make up the difference. Can be room temperature or chilled.

Variations included the addition of mint or basil. I poured just the water to drink, but some sites recommend getting one of each ingredient in each glass. Play around with it and see what you like!

Enjoy!

Black Bean Pasta with Creamy Jalepeno Sauce and Mango Salsa

 

I found black bean pasta (only ingredients: black beans, water) at our local health food store and decided to try them.  They are shaped like spaghetti.  This meal was yummy yummy.  Wyatt liked the black bean pasta with some mango mixed in.  Leah did not like the pasta.  She said it looked like cat hair.  To each his own I guess.

 

 

For the black bean pasta, cook according to directions on the package.  In lieu of black bean pasta, you could serve this over regular black beans.  Or you could use them for tacos, taco salad, etc.

 

 

Creamy Jalapeno Sauce

 

You'll need: 3 jalapenos, 1 8oz block of cream cheese, 2 T. butter, about 1 cup heavy cream, and salt, pepper, and garlic to taste.

 

Mince the jalapenos and garlic and saute in 2 Tb. of butter until soft over medium high heat. Turn the heat down to medium.  Next, add the cream cheese until it gets liquid-y.  Finally, stir in cream, being careful not to boil the sauce.  Season to taste with salt, pepper, and garlic powder.  (If desired, substitute some milk for the cream.)

 

***This sauce turned out to be creamy with a little kick.  If you want more kick, I'd increase the jalapeno and maybe season with cumin. 

 

Mango Salsa

 

 

Dice and mix the following ingredients: 2 bell peppers (I used a combination of red, yellow, and orange), 2 mangoes, 1 bunch green onions, 1 jalapeno, 1 bunch of cilantro.  Add 1 drained can of petite diced tomatoes with chilies.  (I think fresh tomatoes would be better, but good ones are hard to come by around here it seems...)

Mint Chocolate Cookie Dough Bites

I have not tried these yet but they sound super yummy and have a base of sweet potato, coconut, and dates. No refined sugars. I've included the link below - Click the 'Yum!'

Yum!

Maybe I'll make these for the weekend and we can all try them!

Oatmeal Cookies

Ok, so once again I came home from my 2 mile walk and had a piece if cinnamon raisin Ezekiel bread and some coffee. So again in an hour I am hungry. Searching Pinterest I found a morning cookie recipe, which I altered slightly. The cookies are yummy, healthy, and helps to get rid of those old bananas!
3 very ripe bananas mashed  (sorry Greg!)
1/3 cup applesauce ( I used the homemade one I make and posted a few weeks ago)
2 cups of oats
1/4 cup of unsweetened almond milk
1/2 cup raisins ( could sub another dried fruit since Ryan does not like raisins- the rest of us do)
1/2 cup chopped nuts (I used walnuts)
1 tsp cinnamon ( I used a little more)
1 tsp vanilla
1 quick squirt of Stevia

Mix all ingredients together and let sit for about 5 minutes. Place rounded teaspoons on cookie sheet and bake for 20 minutes at 350. Cool and enjoy! I store these in the refrigerator and the recipe made 2 1/2 dozen cookies!