Asian Sesame Dressing

We had leftovers for Christmas dinner. Lame. I know. But I cooked a feast last night and a feast this morning and after traveling to my parents house and back in a storm and cleaning up after Christmas Morning, the though of whipping up something new was far too daunting. My kids chose leftover Pasta with Spinach Garlic Cream Sauce (recipe coming soon). My husband chose leftover roasted veggies, mashed potatoes and balsamic honey salmon. And after all the holiday junk food, I chose a lovely colorful green salad with and lot of avocado sliced on top, a little crumble of leftover salmon, and a generous sprinkle of ground flax. But the only dressing I had in the fridge was Ranch- and that did not go with my salad mood! Necessity is the mother of invention right?

Asian Sesame Dressing

1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup rice vinegar or sushi vinegar
1/2-1 tsp sesame oil
1-2 tbsp agave
1 tbsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp powdered ginger
approx 1/2 tsp wasabe paste (optional)

Put it all in a bottle and shake it up baby! Couldn't be much easier!

Vegan French Toast

I went looking for some healthy breakfast ideas for a Christmas morning treat and here is one of the favorites I found. I think I'll be substituting coconut oil for the margarine.
These are very banana-y depending on how ripe your bananas are. I loved them! We had them Christmas morning with homemade hash browns, orange juice, and a little splurge of turkey bacon.

Vegan French Toast

• 2-3 ripe bananas
• 3/4 cup soy milk
• 1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice (optional)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• bread, any kind is fine
• vegan margarine

Blend bananas, soy milk, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice and vanilla in blender or food processor and pour mixture into pie plate or wide dish. Gently dip bread slices into the mix, coating both sides. Fry in vegan margarine in medium-hot skillet until golden brown. Serve with maple syrup if desired, and, as always, enjoy your wonderful vegan French toast!
This comes from Jolinda Hackett on about.com

*Extras can be frozen and cooked up in the toaster or flashed in the oven.

Breakfast Cookies

Per the holiday season, I've been getting requests lately for healthy dessert recipes. Our family doesn't have desserts that often so I knew this would take some experimenting, but my first experiment turned from intended decadent dessert, to cookies so healthy my kids have been eating them for breakfast! When sleepy mommy is trying to feed the baby, sending the kids off to grab a cookie or 3 for breakfast is awesome! I'll be making another batch for my husband to eat during the drive to work on cold mornings (When smoothies are just too cold!).

Breakfast Cookies

1 apple (of the sweet variety- jonagold, gala, fuji), peeled and finely diced
1/2 cup water
3-4 tbsp coconut oil
2 tbsp cinnamon
1-2 tsp nutmeg
1/2-1 tsp ground clove
1 banana, mashed
approx 6 dates, pitted and diced
1-2 tbsp agave nectar
3-4 tbsp ground flax seed
2 cups rolled oats
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp sea salt
approx 3/4 cup raisins
approx 3/4 cup chopped almonds (optional)

Place water, coconut oil, diced apple, cinnamon, nutmeg and clove in a small pot on stove top and bring to a simmer over medium heat for about 3 minutes. Add mashed banana and dates and let simmer over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally for another 3-5 minutes. Remove from heat and add agave.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
In mixing bowl, combine flax seed, oats, baking soda, flour and sea salt. Mix together. Add fruit mixture to dry ingredients in bowl, along with raisins and almonds. Mix well, adding more water if needed.
Roll golf ball sized scoops and place on greased cookie sheet. Press down into cookie shape. Bake at 350 F for 15 minutes.

Delicious Quinoa Tabouleh

This year my family decided to have a Middle Eastern evening for a more authentic Christmas experience. It was awesome. We all lounged around on blankets around the food, dressed in galabeas and robes. We enjoyed hot lentil soup, dates, almonds, grapes, boiled eggs, hummus with pita bread, and I volunteered to bring the tabouleh. Taboubeh (tab-oo-lee) is a very light and fresh tasting salad made traditionally with bulghar wheat. I chose to make it even lighter by using quinoa. (I love quinoa.) I made a huge batch- that fed 20 people generously, so I am going to cut it in half for this recipe.

Delicious Quinoa Tabouleh

1 1/2 cups quinoa, rinsed in hot water
3 1/2 cups water
1 medium/small bunch parsley, finely chopped, stems discarded
2 tbsp fresh mint (or 1 1/2 tbsp dried)
1 medium-large cucumber seeded and chopped
(if you leave the peel on, wash it well- the peel is where the vitamins are!)
approx 1- 1 1/2 cups grape tomatoes, quartered
1/2 medium onion, finely diced
3 large cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup lemon juice
Sea salt to taste (about 2 tbsp)

Place water in rice cooker or pot. If in rice cooker, add quinoa and a little salt and set to cook. If in pot, bring salted water to boil, add quinoa, cover, turn to low heat and cook for approx 15-20 minutes until water is absorbed.
Transfer cooked quinoa into a large bowl and let cool.
Once cool, add parsley, mint, cucumber, tomatoes and onion. Mix well. Combine olive oil, lemon juice, garlic and sea salt in a bowl or magic bullet and whisk or blend. Pour over quinoa and vegetables and mix well. Cover and refrigerate for at least two hours. Serve cold.
For presentation, I lined my serving bowl with romaine lettuce.
Enjoy!

We had baklava for dessert... YUM!

Yummy Yam Pot Pie

Perfect for a cold winter night. It was hard to remember and measure what I put in this one- it was very on-the-fly. My family LOVED it though, so I had to try!
The crust can be substituted with puff pastry sheets for convenience.


Yummy Yam Pot Pie

Filling:
3 yams or sweet potatoes, peeled and dice in 1/2-1 inch cubes
3 Tbsp coconut oil
1/2 sweet onion, diced
approx 1 cup chopped carrots
2-3 tbsp flour
approx 2 cups mushroom broth and/or vegetable broth (I used a mix)
approx 5-6 spears asparagus, chopped in 1/2 inch long pieces
approx 1 cup frozen whole green beans, chopped in 1/2-1 inch pieces
approx 1- 1 1/2 cups frozen corn kernels
1-2 tsp dried bouquet garni (basil, thyme, sage, oregano mix)
Sea salt or Realsalt to taste

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Steam yams in steamer or steamer pot until soft- approx 10-15 minutes.

Heat oil over medium high heat. Add diced onion and carrots and saute for a few minutes until onion is soft. Whisk in flour and then broth a little at a time. Add asparagus, green beans and corn. Simmer over medium low for approx 10 minutes stirring occasionally. Add cooked yam cubes and stir well. Add more broth if needed. Let simmer until carrots and asparagus are mostly soft.

Crust
1 1/2 -2 cups flour
1 tsp sea salt
2-3 tbsp butter (might be able to substitute with coconut oil for vegan)
approx 1/2 cup cold water

Mix flour and salt in bowl. Dice cold butter. Cut butter into flour or mash in with fork. Add water gradually, stirring until soft dough is formed. Add more water if needed. Divide into two sections (one slightly larger than the other) and roll out thin on floured surface. Line greased baking pan (9x9 or similar) with larger dough sheet. Place in oven for 10 minutes. Add pie filling and cover with other dough sheet. Make two small cuts in top and bake in oven for about 30 minutes until crust is golden brown.
Let cool slightly and enjoy!

Sweet Simmered Black Beans and Green Chile Brown Rice

I love restaurants like Cafe Rio, Bajio, Costa Vida, etc. Before I cut back on the meat and basically became a pescatarian, I had perfected a marvelous sweet pork/chicken recipe for salads, tacos and burritos. These beans serve as a substitute for the shredded meat. I don't miss it too much. The rice compliments them beautifully. I used the rice in the burritos or salad with the beans.
They can be used in burritos, salads, tacos, or served on their own.

Sweet Simmered Black Beans

1 can diced tomatoes
1 can petite diced tomatoes (you can just do two cans of whichever tomatoes you have)
1/2 large sweet onion
4-5 cloves garlic
juice of 1-2 limes
3 cans black beans, rinsed and drained
approx 1/3-1/2 cup agave
approx 3 tsp sea salt
approx 1/2 tsp ground cumin
approx 1/2- 1 tsp chili powder
(optional) 1 cup frozen or fresh corn kernels

Place 1 can of diced tomatoes including juice in food processor or blender with onion, garlic, salt and lime juice.
In medium pot, saucepan or crockpot, combine tomato mix, can of petite diced tomatoes, beans and remaining ingredients, bring to a simmer and cook on low heat at least until warm, stirring occasionally (if on stovetop), or for at least 1-2 hours (if in crockpot). The longer it simmers, the better- the flavors will combine and the beans will soak them in.


Green Chile Brown Rice

2 cups brown rice
3 cups water
2 cups vegetable broth
2 cans mild green chiles
2-3 tsp sea salt
1 tsp cumin
1 tbsp garlic powder
1 tsp chili powder
1/3 cup agave


Place all ingredient in rice cooker and follow cooker instructions. Fluff with fork.

Combine beans and rice together in whole wheat tortilla for healthy, yummy burritos served with colorful salad.

For an amazing salad:
Crisp up tortilla in a little olive oil in a skillet, then place on plate, layer rice, beans, salad greens and colorful veg mix, top with favorite dressing (I like lighthouse ranch) or salsa and enjoy!

Update from Potty Training post

My 8 month old daughter has taken to this potty training thing like a fish to water! We are 2 days in and she's gone in the toilet many times- both liquid and solid. She wets her diaper during naps, but we've only had one wet diaper besides those today! She is so excited about it! I can hardly believe how smart she is! I wish I'd known about this sooner!
When she finishes she wants to sign to everyone in the house that she went potty and have them cheer for her. SO cute!
I think the unused cloth diaper fabric will become some little training pants.