Golden Pumpkin Muffins (Gluten free, Vegan, Dairy free,)

I went on a walk this morning it couldn't have been more beautiful. It was so invigorating. I love going on walks. Hope your week is starting off great too.

It is that wonderful time of year when everyone starts buying pumpkin and baking wonderful bakes goods. These were sooo good. I loved eating two muffins at a time. I love pumpkin! I hope you do too.

Ingredients

1 cup pumpkin puree
1/4 cup coconut oil
1/4 cup honey
1 egg or flax eggs (1 tablespoon ground flax + 3 tablespoons water, whisk together set aside for 15 min.)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cup gluten free oat flour
1/2 cup almond flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup chopped up dark chocolate chips (Vegan chips if desired)

Instructions

1. Heat oven to 350. Grease muffin cups.
2. Blend together in blender pumpkin, oil, egg and vanilla. blend until smooth.
3. Pour in dry ingredients into the blender, flour, almond flour, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and salt. Pulse until just combined. (You could also stir it in with a spoon.)
4. Fold in the chocolate chips.
5. Scoop into greased muffin pans. Place in preheated oven. Bake for 15 min or until done.
6. Cool on wire rack.
7. Store leftovers in airtight container. Store in fridge or freezer.

Vegetable Lentil Salad

This salad is a great way to eat a lot of vegetables in a healthy way. I loved all the color in it. When you eat a rainbow of colors you know you are getting a nice mixture of nutrients. You get a added bonus of lentils, chia, and quinoa. You get some nice protein in it. I have a nice hand chopper that cubes the vegetables. That makes it really easy. You can find it at Walmart or any store that carries kitchen tools. This is so healthy and good. Winner! Winner!

Ingredients

1 C lentils cooked
1/3 C quinoa cooked (red adds great color
1/3 C chia *optional
1/4 C chopped purple onion
1 sweet potato cooked and cubed
1/4 C yellow pepper chopped in cubes
1/4 C red pepper chopped in cubes
1/2 C zucchini  chopped
1/2 C avocado chopped
2 Roma tomatoes chopped in small pieces
1/4 C cilantro chopped up
juice from one lime
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground pepper
1/4 tsp chili powder

Directions
1. Toss all the ingredients in a bowl except juice, salt, pepper and chili powder.
2. Then squeeze on the juice and pour in salt, pepper and chili powder. Toss into salad.
3. Serve at once for best results or cover in an air tight container and put in the fridge until ready to serve.
4. Keep leftovers in airtight container in the fridge.

Vegan Quinoa Lettuce Burgers

 

This month's Recipe Redux theme is a Play on Patties. So with our fellow bloggers, you will be seeing a pelthora of delicious, healthy patties--turkey burgers, potato patties, and the like--in honor of St. Patty's Day, of course.

We have been on a quinoa kick lately, in part because quinoa is awesome and also because of the quinoa book that we've been working on. So we decided to develop a recipe that uses this great grain as a meat substitute. As a bonus, we've used flax seed instead of the traditional egg to bind the ingredients together so that it's vegan as well. Between quinoa being a complete protein and the flax having so many great Omega-3's, this burger is a great meat substitute. And because you have the grain on the inside of the burger, you don't need the bun and can fill up on veggies instead!

And it's really delicious. The end.

Ingredients
1 1/2 C quinoa, cooked
3/4 C shredded apple
2 green onions, chopped
1 T Worcestershire sauce (Take out for vegan version)
1/2 tsp dry mustard
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2 cloves garlic
1/2 C cornmeal
1 1/2 tsp ground flax + 4 Tbsp water
coconut oil
tomato
green leaf lettuce

Directions
1. Mix together the quinoa, shredded apple, and green onion.
2. In a small bowl, mix together Worcestershire sauce, mustard, salt, pepper, and garlic. Pour over quinoa and stir. Stir in the cornmeal.
3. Using a blender, food processor, or electric mixer, beat together flax and water until it becomes thick. Add to quinoa and stir.
4. Heat a skillet to medium heat. Put a small amount of coconut oil on the skillet. Form a patty with your hands and place it in the pan. Allow it to brown on one side and then carefully flip it over.
5. When the patty has been cooked on both sides, remove from heat and place on a paper towel to absorb extra oil. Let cook for 5 to 10 minutes.
6. Top with a thick tomato slice and wrap in several leaves of lettuce. Enjoy immediately.

An InLinkz Link-up

Healthy Oatmeal Cashew Chocolate Chip Cookies (Vegan)

Well I went to get my teeth cleaned yesterday, by my one of my sweet daughters who is a dental hygienist. Getting my teeth cleaned is Not one of my favorite things to do, so I really appreciate a daughter who makes it a better experience, with her concern and the extra effort she puts into it. She is a sweetie. :) We have made it a tradition to go out to eat, after she cleans my teeth. We to to the Herb Shop. I Love their bread (It was even warm this time :) they serve with their turkey sandwich and their cookies are so good too. It helps me to soften my concerns about my teeth.
Well I looked at the ingredients in their cookies, and came up with my own variation today. They have a lot of healthy ingredients. I would not feel bad eating them for breakfast. You could add some other ingredients instead of chips too. Like dried fruit, nuts etc... Yum!

Ingredients:
1/2 almond milk or soy milk or...
2 T cider vinegar
3 C whole grain flour ( I did about 2 C kamut flour, 3/4 C spelt flour and 1/4 C teff flour)
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 C cashew powder (1/2 cashews ground into powder in the blender)
1/2 C coconut oil
1 1/4 to 1 1/2 C honey (depending on your sweetness preference) or 2 C sugar for vegan recipe
1 T vanilla
6 C old fashioned oatmeal
1 C chocolate chips or dried fruits or nuts

Directions: Heat oven to 350 Bake 8 to 10 min.
1. In a small bowl pour in milk and vinegar. Set aside for about 10 min. So milk can curdle.

2. Measure and pour the flour, salt and soda in a separate bowl.

3. In a mixing bowl, beat oil, honey and cashew powder till nice and creamy. Then beat in the vanilla. Then beat in the milk mixture.

4. Then alternate adding the flour and the oatmeal. Fold in the Chips.

5. Scoop on the cookie dough on to cookie sheet. (I used parchment paper.)

6. Don't over bake just cook till light golden. Cool on cooling rack.

The cashew powder added a creaminess to the cookie.

* You could flatten them before baking if you want a flatter cookie.

* Cider vinegar can be used in baking to work as a binding and leavening agent. Very Cool! :)

Cashew Sauce with Pasta

I was in the store the other day and started talking to a lady as she was checking out. I love talking to people--just like my dad. Sometimes it drives my kids nuts, but I find I learn fun new ideas. This was one of those times. She was telling me how she makes a cashew sauce with pasta that her children love. I gave it a try yesterday and really enjoyed it. It is nice if you avoid dairy. There is no dairy in the recipe, but lots of healthy veggies.



This is what it looked like prior to cooking.

Ingredients:
12 oz cooked pasta whole grain or regular ( something like rotini, macaroni penne, etc..)
3 slices toasted bread
1/2 green onions chopped small pieces
2 C peeled potatoes chopped up (yellow or red)
1/2 C carrots peeled and chopped
2/3 C onion chopped up small pieces
2 C water
2/3 C cashews
1 T sea salt
1/2 C coconut oil or another oil or butter if you are OK with dairy
2 garlic cloves minced
1/2 tsp dried mustard
2 T fresh lemon juice
1/2 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp cayenne
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 C fresh spinach *optional
1/2 C fresh mushrooms * optional
paprika and dried parsley for garnish

1. Throw the toasted bread into my blender to chop them up into bread crumbs. (* optional: You could add a couple tablespoons of melted butter to the breadcrumbs after they are chopped up. (If you are OK with a little dairy.)

2. Heat oven to 350. Grease a 9X13 pan.

3. In a saucepan, add onions, potatoes, water and carrots. Cook with lid on until vegetables are softened.

4. In a blender pour in cashews, salt, garlic, oil, mustard, lemon juice, Cayenne, paprika, and spinach, mushrooms cooked vegetables along with the cooking water. Pulse until the mixture is all creamy. It should take a couple minutes.

5. Then a bowl mix the cooked pasta and sauce together. Pour into greased pan.

6. Pour on the breadcrumbs sprinkle evenly, and sprinkle with paprika and parsley.

7. Place in preheated oven. for 20 to 30 min till the bread crumbs are a nice golden color. Don't over bake. It will dry it out.

Serve
* You could omit the breadcrumbs and the cooking part in the oven, and just pour the sauce on to spaghetti or linguine. Something for me to try next time. :)