Mother’s Day Protein Bites

These are easy, quick and tasty! I threw them together, so adjust your measurements, if needed, to get the best consistency.
1/3 cup almond butter
1 Tbsp coconut nectar
1/3 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
1/4 cup finely chopped walnuts
2 Tbsp chocolate chips
3 Tbsp hemp seeds

In a medium sized bowl, mix almond butter and coconut nectar together with a spoon. Add coconut, walnuts and chocolate chips. Mix together until a stiff dough forms. Place the hemp seeds into a small bowl. Roll the dough into tablespoon sized balls. Roll in hemp seeds and repeat with all the dough. Place in refrigerator for about 30 minutes to firm and chill. Store in a closed container in the refrigerator up to a week.

You can use any nut butter or liquid sweetener you choose. You can also swap out the coconut flakes, chocolate chips and walnuts for other nuts, seeds or dried fruit. If you don’t have hemp seed or prefer, you can use coconut, chia seed, or omit the hemp seed coating altogether. If you like chocolate a lot, you can melt some chocolate chips and dip the balls in chocolate. This recipe is very flexible!!

Millet Vegetable Salad

Ingredients:

1 c millet

2 c water

1 tbsp grapeseed oil

1 medium onion, halved & thinly sliced

2 zucchini, quartered & sliced

1 red bell pepper, chopped

2 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp apple cider vinegar

1 minced garlic clove

½ tbsp fresh grated ginger

½ tbsp fresh grated turmeric

1 tbsp fresh thyme leaves

2 tbsp fresh parsley

½ c pumpkin seeds

Salt and Pepper to taste

1 sprig parsley for garnish

Directions:

In a medium pan, place millet and water with a pinch of salt. Bring to a boil on high, then reduce heat to medium-low and simmer covered for 15 minutes. Remove from heat and leave covered for 10 minutes. Fluff with a fork and set aside to cool.

In a large skillet, heat grapeseed oil. Add onion, zucchini and pepper. Sauté on medium to medium-high heat until zucchini begins to soften, approximately 6-8 minutes. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, place olive oil, apple cider vinegar, garlic, ginger, turmeric, thyme and parsley. Whisk to combine.

Add millet to the bowl with the whisked dressing. Mix and fold to coat the millet with dressing. Add sautéed vegetables and pumpkin seeds. Mix to incorporate. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Top with parsley sprig for garnish. Serve at room temperature. Will keep in refrigerator for several days.

Savory Breakfast Cakes

I am interested in repurposing leftovers. It's creative and helps save money. I've made many different repurposed dishes, but decided I should start keeping track of them. I'll throw something together that turns out great and never have it again because I didn't write it down. This one I wrote down and even took pictures!

Yield: six 3 to 4" cakes
1/2 c leftover cooked steel cut oats

2 eggs                                                                                                

½ tsp garlic salt                                                                                 

½ tsp pepper

1 garlic scape or green scallion, diced

2 tbs grated parmesan, optional

2 kale leaves, deboned and diced

1/4 c arrowroot starch

In a medium bowl, stir and mash eggs and oats together.  Stir in salt, pepper, scape, parmesan and kale. Mix thoroughly. Add starch a tablespoon at a time making sure to blend well. If it isn't well blended, you will taste bits of starch in the cake. Add 1 tablespoon of grapeseed or olive oil to a skillet on medium heat. Spoon about ¼ cup cake mixture into the skillet smoothing and forming a patty. Cook approximately 3 minutes per side, until light brown. Serve plain or topped with sour cream, salsa or a sprinkle of parmesan.

Fruit & Squash Porridge

I made this for for breakfast today while Mom and Dad are visiting.  It is so good and really warmed us up on a cool fall day! It makes about four 2 cup servings.


2 cups rolled oats
2 cups water, extra if needed
1 cup grated winter squash or pumpkin
1 pear
1 apple
1 tbs agave nectar or honey
1 tsp to 1 tbs cinnamon, depending on how you like it
1 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
pinch cloves
1/3 c almond milk (can substitute regular milk)
chopped almonds, optional

In a large saucepan over medium heat, place oats, water and squash.   While oats are cooking, chop pear and apple.  Add a little water if oats become too thick.  Once the oats are cooked, about 5 minutes, add the remaining ingredients and stir to combine.  Serve with chopped almonds on top, if desired.

Chilean Sea Bass with Prawns

I made this for dinner last night and it was really delicious!  Mom is staying with us while David is in Yakima.  We decided we needed a good meal to make us happy.  This really did that.


Serves 3 to 4

3 to 4 (1/4 to 1/3 oz ea) Chilean sea bass fillets (or substitute thick cod or tuna)
10 to 12 prawns, shelled and cleaned
1 28oz can crushed plum tomatoes
1/2 to 3/4 lb fingerling potatoes
2 tbs plus 1 tbs olive oil
1/2 tsp garlic granules
1 tsp rosemary
1 tbs plus 1/2 tsp salt free seasoning (I used Mrs. Dash)
1 tbs capers, drained
salt & pepper to season fish
fresh chives or flat leaf parsley for garnish, optional

Heat oven to 375F.  In a large plastic zipper bag, combine 2 tbs olive oil, 1 tbs salt free seasoning and potatoes.  Close bag and massage potatoes until they are coated with oil and seasoning.  Place in a single layer on a baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a large skillet over medium high heat, add 1 tbs olive oil.  Season sea bass with salt and pepper and sear on all sides for 3 to 5 minutes per side (all 4 sides if fillets are thick).  During the last half of cooking, loosely cover skillet with a lid.  Once seared, add prawns to the skillet.  Sprinkle garlic, rosemary and remaining 1/2 tsp salt free seasoning on top of the prawns to season them while they cook.  When the prawns are opaque, add tomatoes and capers to the skillet, stirring to distribute seasonings.  Reduce the heat to medium low and loosely cover the skillet.  Simmer for about 5 minutes while preparing the potatoes.  Distribute potatoes evenly between 3 to 4 flat bowls.  Gently crush potatoes with a potato masher.  Place sea bass on top of potatoes and ladle the prawns and sauce over the top.  If desired, garnish with fresh chopped chives or flat leaf parsley.

Spelt Oatmeal Sandwich Cookies

I was never a big fan of oatmeal sandwich cookies, but can you blame me?  Those store bought, prepackaged cookies aren't that great in my estimation.  I like oatmeal cookies, and decided that oatmeal sandwich cookies should be a step up.  I mean, how can you go wrong putting frosting in the center of two oatmeal cookies?  For that to happen I needed to make them homemade.  I found a recipe at Two Peas and Their Pod but I wanted them a little healthier, so I changed the recipe to my satisfaction, crossed my fingers and hoped they turned out.  They were fantastic!!!

yield: 18 sandwich cookies

COOKIES:
1 1/2 c white spelt flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 c coconut sugar
1/2 c organic cane sugar
1/2 c unsalted butter, cut in cubes
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 c rolled oats
FILLING:
1 c white chocolate chips
1/4 c unsalted butter, cut in cubes
1/4 c plain Greek yogurt
1 1/2 c organic powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 375F.  Line 3 baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.  In a medium sized bowl, stir together; flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon.  In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine; sugars and butter until fluffy, about 2 to 3 minutes.  Add egg and vanilla, mix well.  Add dry ingredients and mix to combine.  Add oats and mix well.  Scoop by tablespoon or small cookie scoop onto the prepared baking sheets 3 inches apart.  Bake for 10 minutes (they should be light brown).  Leave on baking sheet for 2 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack to finish cooling.

While the cookies are baking, prepare the filling.  Place white chocolate chips in a small saucepan and melt over low heat just until the chips melt.  In a bowl, whip together butter and yogurt until combined (the mixture will seem runny until the melted chocolate is added).  Add one cup of the powdered sugar and mix until combined.  With mixer running, slowly add white chocolate.  The filling will begin to get more fluffy, add remaining powdered sugar and vanilla.  Mix on high until smooth and glossy.

The cookies will only need about 20 to 30 minutes to cool.  Once cool, flip the cookies over (this will make it easier to match same sized cookies for the sandwiches), frost the bottom of one cookie and place another cookie (bottom side to the filling) on top.  Place cookies in refrigerator for about 20 minutes or until the frosting is firm.  Store cookies and any leftover frosting in refrigerator.

This recipe should yield about 18 sandwich cookies, though I was eating cookies as they came out of the oven to test them, then again when sandwiched to test them again!

I got an enthusiastic thumbs up from the family and was told this recipe was a keeper!  I don't want to say I was proud of myself, but I was!

Zucchini Brownies

The recipe is a healthy one, but they taste so good!!  I adapted them slightly from this recipe at www.texanerin.com.  Erin is a genius at making yummy desserts healthier.  Talk about no guilt!

2 eggs
1 tbs vanilla extract
1/2 c coconut sugar (or organic sugar)
1/4 c organic sugar
1/4 c unsweetened applesauce
1 c whole wheat or whole spelt flour
1/2 c raw cacao or cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 c chopped walnuts
2 c peeled and grated zucchini
1 c semi sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350F.  Spray a baking pan (8x8) with cooking spray.  In a large bowl, mix together; eggs, vanilla, coconut sugar, sugar and applesauce.  Let sit 5 minutes.  In a medium bowl, stir together; flour, cacao powder, baking soda and salt.   Sift the cacao if it has lumps.  It is important that there are no lumps in the flour mixture.  Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir gently to moisten.  Fold in walnuts, zucchini and chocolate chips.  It will look like there is too much zucchini in the batter, but it won't be noticeable when done.  Bake 25 to 35 minutes.  Check with toothpick and remove when sticky but not wet.  Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator up to a week (if they last that long!).  

This picture just doesn't do it justice.  These are very good!