The Purple Almond adds: This is a whole food, healthy, fun, quick, easy and yummy treat for the holidays from My Kids Lick The Bowl. This blog is written by a Mom and self proclaimed kid food expert, from New Zealand. She is a dietician with a BS degree in human nutrition. The energy bites contain no sugar other than dates, which are a great alternative to sugar. In fact, I found a little video showing just how healthy dates are as a sugar alternative. (It’s only 1:29 long!) ENJOY!
A fun healthy Christmas treat idea , low in sugar, nut free and packing a vegetable punch!
The Purple Almond adds: Many a moon ago, when my ventures into all things gluten-free began, I found a beautiful and fun website called: http://www.thespunkycoconut.com/. The recipes are all gluten and dairy free. The sweetener in the recipes are either stevia, maple syrup, honey or coconut sugar. There are many fun and clever recipes. I’ve chosen “Monkey-Bread” cupcakes. Who doesn’t like gooey, cinnamon and caramel covered bread? ENJOY!!
I’ve always said that eating this way—without gluten, grains, or dairy—can be just as good as the alternative, or… dare I say, better. My good friend, Brittany has really proven that fact in her book, Every Last Crumb, which is a true masterpiece. I wouldn’t have asked to need to eat this way, but ten years ago…Read More »
As a continuation for my 5 whole food breakfasts in 5 minutes or less, and my effort to convince you that eating healthy is easy, I found 5 videos. Instead of recipes, each video gives you a different method, that can be prepared the night before, or even on the weekend. Then, in your morning rush, all you have to do is grab it and go. No more using your hard earned money to buy unhealthy fast food. These methods are just as quick and MUCH healthier. The possibilities are endless, and only limited to your imagination.
RICE BOWLS-Don’t limit yourself to rice, however. Venture out into the world of ancient grains, such as quinoa, teff or millet.
Here are some other recipes to give you a few more “meal in a bowl” ideas:
2. HEALTHY WRAPS-For wraps, make sure and choose a 100% whole grain wrap, with whole food ingredients. If there are more than 5 or 10 ingredients, or if it sounds like something from a chemistry lab, avoid it.
Here is a link to more wrap ideas, just to spark your imagination
3. SALAD IN A JAR– These are great, and can be prepared on the weekend. Everything you need is in the jar, including the dressing. Just dump it in a bowl, toss and eat. I couldn’t be easier.
Here are 33 more mason jar salad recipes to get you started:
4. SOUP IN A JAR– How many times have you grabbed one of those instant ramen noodle cups in your rush between meetings at work? Well have I got a surprise for you! Once again the mason jar saves the day. Soup in a jar, add hot water, just like instant ramen. They can be put together a few days in advance. A few of the recipes use “chicken base”, which I shy away from. I did find a healthy alternative at amazon: Cooks Delight Soup Base. It’s a bit pricey, but much healthier than most instant broth bases and makes 5 gallons of broth.
5. BOX LUNCH BASICS (aka: bento boxes): Bento box is a Japanese word for “Lunch Box”, but you aren’t limited to Japanese food. This video will show you the basics of putting one together.
Here are 9 more box lunch ideas to rev your imagination.
As promised, here is my personal recipe for leftovers, which just “happened” to be turkey, from Thanksgiving. However, this really isn’t a recipe, as much as a process, which is very versatile. In this instance, I used Delicata squash, along with other things I had on hand, the basics, turkey, of course as well as kale, carrots, celery, onion, along with homemade bone broth, white wine, a little Himalayan salt, and some spices. The Delicata squash, pictured below, is a small, slightly sweet squash, about the size of a large sweet potato.
Delicata Squash
This recipe was born out of a craving for pot pie. Being gluten-free, I was too lazy to attempt the almost impossible “gluten-free” pie crust. So, I made the filling for the pot pie, and put it over a baked potato. Thus the lazy pot pie was invented.
With this recipe/procedure, you are only limited by your imagination. Open your fridge and see what you have on hand. How about, Sweet Potatoes, with left over steak, zucchini and tomatoes, or, Acorn squash, rotisserie chicken, broccoli, and spinach…well you get the idea. Experiment! There is a huge variety of squash, potatoes or even ancient grains, such as quinoa, amaranth or millet. Add some fresh herbs to liven it up.
So, here we go. First, gather your ingredients together.
Ingredients:
4 Delicata Squash
4 carrots-diced
4 celery stalks-chopped
2 cups finely chopped kale
1/2 medium onion-diced
2 cloves garlic-minced.
olive oil
2 cups turkey-chopped
1/2 cup white wine-I used Pino Grigio
1/2 broth (I used my bone broth. You can use organic broth from the store. DO NOT use bullion cubes, which are filled with salt, chemicals and MSG)
Mrs. Dash
Himalayan salt, and pepper to taste
Heat oven to 375.
Line a baking pan parchment paper.
Cut each squash in half, and clean out the seeds
Drizzle each squash with olive oil. Sprinkle salt and pepper on each half. Place cut side down on baking pan. Bake for 30 to 45 minutes, until tender.
While the squash is cooking-prepare the filling.
Wash and chop all vegetables. Chop them into a small dice, for quick cooking.
In a large frying pan, heat the 2 tablespoons olive oil, then add the carrots. Cook for about 5 minutes, or until tender crisp.
Add turkey, salt, pepper, Mrs. Dash, and vegetables, except kale, to carrots. Cook for 5 more minutes, until turkey is heated through, and vegetables are tender.
9. Add wine to pan. Cook for an additional 2 or 3 minutes, or until alcohol cooks out.
10.Add Broth to pan. Cook until liquid is reduced by half, about 3 minutes.
11. Add Kale and cook until just wilted. It cooks quick. When it’s bright green, it’s done.
12. Place a half of squash in a dish, scoop some filling into the squash, and enjoy. This serves 4 to 8, depending on your hunger level.
Well, that’s it. This is a quick, easy, super healthy, and completely whole food dinner.
The Purple Almond Adds: Ok, so you buy a package of basil for ONE recipe, what do you do with the rest? Try this recipe from Ellie Bleu:
It’s pesto time at my house. I decided to try a plant-based pesto this summer. Instead of adding parmesan, I used nutritional yeast. To my surprise, it turned out just as good as the original. I still have a lot of extra basil. If you have a favorite pesto recipe, I’d love to try it! Feel free […]
This is a wonderful, healthy recipe. I may also try it with raw honey or pure maple syrup. It is gluten free and the flax seeds add fiber and healthy omega 3 fats.
