An inventive take on traditional fruit crisp and a great make-ahead dessert for peach season. Gluten-free. JUMP TO RECIPE
When you’re a food blogger your mind works in strange ways. I was driving back from visiting my mom last week and thinking about what dish I would photograph over the weekend. I decided it would be Herbed Parmesan Sweet Potato Waffles, a variation on my Broccoli Cheddar Waffles (this will be coming soon, I promise), but right as I was planning out the styling for the shoot in my head, I passed a sign for local peaches. And then, as if by magic, the idea for Peach Waffle Crisp came to me! (more…)
Vegan, gluten-free, and dairy-free nut bars. Sweet, salty, chocolaty and delicious! The perfect healthy snack. JUMP TO RECIPE
Some people love to have a sweet treat after dinner but for some strange reason I’ve always had this craving following lunch. In my younger years this usually meant having a cookie or candy bar, but as I got older, and made a conscious effort to eat more healthfully, I sought out nutritious alternatives to satisfy my midday sweet tooth and this is when I got hooked on KIND snack nut bars. For years I had one almost every day after lunch and discovered, much to my delight, that they did a great job of keeping full until dinner (not true when I was in the habit of having a cookie/candy bar). But one day I realized how much money I was spending on them and decided to start making my own nut bars. These Dark Chocolate Sea Salt Flax Nut Bars are one version I came up with and they are REALLY delicious! (more…)
Disclosure: I received free samples from Nature’s Earthly Choice to develop this post. All opinions expressed are my own. JUMP TO RECIPE
Plant-based eating has been getting a lot of buzz lately as more and more research supports its association with a lower risk of many chronic diseases. If you’re a meat lover who is concerned about your health you might not want to hear this. But don’t worry, I’ve got you covered with these savory, delicious, Curried Black Rice Veggie Burgers. I won’t claim these burgers taste exactly like ones made with meat, but if you believe the expression “we taste with our eyes first”, then perhaps your stomach will be tricked into believing you’re eating beef burgers! Over the years I’ve come across lots of recipes for veggie burgers but never one where the patties look almost identical to beef burgers, as they do here (check out the picture below). This is due to the recipe’s key ingredient – black rice, which, color aside, has some amazing health benefits. (more…)
A healthy, delicious, whole grain snack that can be ready to eat in under 10 minutes! JUMP TO RECIPE
I believe one of the keys to maintaining a healthy diet is to always have wholesome, nutritious snacks available. Most of the time when we overindulge in unhealthy foods it’s because we’re so hungry that we’ll eat whatever is available at that moment and if there are no healthy choices in front of us, that’s when the trouble begins. There are lots of great options for healthy snacks, but one of the best is good old-fashioned popcorn. Not the kind you get at the movie theatre (read this article to see what’s actually in movie theatre popcorn), and not the kind that comes in microwavable paper packets, (read here about these), but popcorn kernels cooked plain, and then coated with REAL melted butter and seasonings, and maybe even a little bit of unrefined sugar to make it more of a treat than a snack. I’m talking about something like this Sweet and Spicy Chile Lime Popcorn. (more…)
Healthy, gluten-free bread made from one of America’s most popular vegetables. JUMP TO RECIPE
The food that people miss most when they switch to a gluten-free diet is undoubtedly bread. I don’t adhere exclusively to a gluten-free diet but decided several years ago, for various reasons, to avoid gluten as much as possible. It was really hard at first because like most people, I love bread, but thankfully I quickly discovered lots of gluten-free options that satisfy my cravings and I’ve had fun developing recipes that are great alternatives to traditional wheat bread (see links in the last paragraph of this post). These Broccoli Bread Slices are my newest creation and they are REALLY delicious! (more…)
A healthy, festive treat for any patriotic holiday. Great for parties. JUMP TO RECIPE
I am the worst planner and someone who often waits until the last minute to get things done. These Paleo Patriotic Teacakes, perfect for the 4th of July, are a case in point. Any food blogger knows that holiday recipes need to be posted at least a couple of months ahead of time but I am just now getting around to publishing this – right under the wire! The good news is these teacakes are simple to make so even if you’ve already planned your July 4th menu you can quickly throw these together and, with the exception of the strawberry fruit leather, you probably already have what you need to make them in your pantry right now, especially if you follow a paleo diet. (more…)
Disclosure: I received free samples of wine from a Stout & Cellar consultant to develop this post. All opinions expressed are my own. JUMP TO RECIPE
Strawberry season is my favorite time of year. Not only because I love strawberries, but because once the warm weather arrives and the strawberries ripen, it means summer is finally underway. This year, strawberry season coincided with me receiving free samples of 14K Wines Rosé from Scout & Cellar, a direct to consumer distributor of clean crafted organic and vegan wines, and with it, I made these incredibly juicy and delicious Sugar-Coated Rosé Strawberries. “Clean crafted wines”, a term coined by Stout & Cellar, is a phrase you’ll probably start to hear more about. The clean eating movement has spurred health-conscious consumers to ask more questions about exactly what’s in their food and how it’s made/harvested, so it’s only a matter of time before they start demanding the same information about their wines. If you’ve ever woken up with a headache after drinking just 1 or 2 glasses of wine the night before, it doesn’t mean you’re getting old, it means the wine you were drinking had a lot of junk in it! And if you don’t like drinking reds because they stain your teeth, you should know that this is likely the result of a dye called Mega Purple or Ultra Red, an additive used in many mass-produced red wines. (more…)
The Recipe Redux is a group of like-minded food bloggers whose mission is to inspire the food lover in every healthy eater and inspire the healthy eater in every food lover. Each month members post recipes to their blogs following a theme set by the group moderators. To celebrate ReDux birthday month, we’re showcasing healthy upgrades to the simple sandwich. Click the Recipe Redux logo at the bottom of this page to see links to all the posts for this month’s challenge. JUMP TO RECIPE
I’m not sure who came up with the idea of making bread in the microwave but whoever they are, they should be given some kind of an award! I’m calling my take on this trending recipe Miracle Microwave Gluten-Free Bread Slices. The first time I saw a recipe for microwave bread was in celebrity chef Rocco DiSpirito’s cookbook Healthy & Delicious: More than 200 (Mostly) Plant-Based Recipes for Everyday Life. At the time I remember thinking that there was no way this recipe could possibly work. Healthy, gluten-free, dairy free bread made in the microwave in under 2 minutes? No yeast, no gluten? It sounded too good to be true. I was so intrigued I tried the recipe right then and there and was amazed at the results. Since then I’ve seen countless similar recipes, both online and in print publictions, but the recipe and technique that I subsequently came up for making microwave bread differs from most others out there. Read on. (more…)
Homemade slices of gluten-free bread, made with probiotic rich kefir, in under 30 minutes! JUMP TO RECIPE
I’ve been on a kefir roll lately and these gluten-free Kefir Flatbreads are my newest creation using this tart and tangy, probiotic rich dairy product. I just love kefir as an ingredient in healthy recipes and use it regularly as a substitute in dishes that call for yogurt or buttermilk. The results have been delicious. In case you’re not familiar with this increasingly popular health food, kefir (pronounced KUH-FEER) is a cultured milk product high in protein, calcium, and Vitamin D, and full of probiotics that strengthen immunity and promote gut-health. It has a thinner consistency than yogurt and a slightly effervescent quality that has earned it the title “Champagne of Dairy”. If you haven’t tried kefir yet, don’t wait one minute longer. You can find it in the dairy aisle at almost any grocery store nowadays; it’s usually right alongside the yogurt and smoothies. (more…)
There’s only three ingredients in these deliciously soft and chewy macaroons sweetened with coconut sugar. Gluten-free, dairy free, and paleo friendly. JUMP TO RECIPE
These cookies obviously don’t look like typical coconut macaroons. They’re made with shredded coconut just like traditional macaroons, but the reason they look different is because instead of white granulated sugar, they’re sweetened with coconut sugar, hence the name Double Coconut Macaroons. After all, shouldn’t coconut macaroons be made with coconut sugar? Of course they should! These cookies are soft and chewy with brown sugar and caramel notes and they’re every bit as delicious as classic coconut macaroons. Best of all, they’re made with just three ingredients and are gluten-free, dairy free, and paleo friendly.
