How To Roast Pumkin Seeds!

I must admit, my favorite part about carving pumpkins is getting to roast and eat the seeds! They are so yummy and easy to make.  Below is my simple and easy recipe for making the perfect roasted pumpkin seeds.




What you need

• 1 Medium Sized Pumpkin
• Colander
• Medium Bowl
• Baking Sheet
• Tin Foil
• Paper Towel

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp Olive Oil  
• 1/2 Tsp Kosher Salt

Empty the "guts" of your pumpkin into a colander.  Under cool running water clean the pumpkin seeds, removing any pumpkin pieces.  Once your seeds are clean, lay them out on a paper towel and pat them dry.  This will help them bake easier and more evenly.  Once you are done drying the seeds place them in a medium sized mixing bowl.

 

Add the Olive oil and Salt, then toss or stir until the seeds are evenly coated.

Once coated, evenly spread out your pumpkin seeds on a baking tray lined with tin foil.

Bake your seeds at 300'F for 40 minutes, stirring after 20 minutes, or until golden brown.

 

 ENJOY!

Homemade Clean Granola!

Yes its here! Another ridiculously easy and delicious clean recipe from my kitchen!  I love sprinkling granola on my yogurt in the morning or even as a snack, but I hate everything that is added to store bought granola. For instance preservatives, processed sugar, artificial coloring, corn syrup, Soy lecithin, hydrogenated oils, etc! Even the healthiest of store bought products contain some unwanted ingredients. For a while now I have been making my own granola at home and I love it! I know exactly what is in it and it is less expensive compared to store bought products.  I prefer a nut free granola, but this recipe can be adjusted to incorporate nuts, seeds and more.  I love this particular recipe because it is great for everyone.  It is gluten free, nut free, grain free and contains no processed sugars.




What you need:
Large Mixing Bowl
Large Baking Sheet
Parchment Paper
Spoon or Spatula










In a large mixing combine all your ingredients.

• 3 Cups Gluten Free Rolled Oats
• 1 Tbsp Coconut Oil or Grape Seed Oil
• 1 Tsp Cinnamon
• 1/4 Tsp Salt
• 2-3 Tbsp Maple Syrup (depending on desired sweetness)
• 2 Tbsp Raw Honey
• 1 Tsp Pure Vanilla Extract
• 2 Tbsp Flax Seed Meal 

Once your granola is evenly mixed spread it out evenly on a parchment lined baking sheet.  Bake at 300'F for 45 minutes, stirring after 30 minutes.

Again if you prefer you can add nuts, seeds, shredded coconut, whatever your heart desires!

Tip: If you have flax seeds you can grind them in a coffee grinder or small chopper to make flax seed meal.

 ENJOY!

FRIED GREEN TOMATOES!

Most people think of the movie when they hear Fried Green Tomatoes.  They are actually quite tasty and make for a delicious breakfast or anytime snack!  Since I use coconut flour in this recipe it's great for anyone who follows Whole 30, eats Paleo, Gluten Free or Clean. They are also easy and quick to make!

 


Ingredients:
3 Strips of Bacon
2 Large Green Tomatoes
2 Eggs
1/4 Cup Coconut Flour
1/2 Teaspoon Salt
1/2 Teaspoon Pepper






Prep:
1. Mix the coconut flour, salt and pepper in a shallow bowl.
2. In another bowl whip together your eggs.
3. You will want to slice your green tomatoes into slices about 1/8 of an inch thick.

Cook:
1. In a large skillet cook the bacon over medium heat.  Once the bacon is cooked put it aside to cool and keep the grease for cooking your tomatoes.
2. Dip your tomato in egg then dredge in coconut flour.
3. Over medium heat saute the tomatoes in your bacon grease for about two minutes on each side.
4. Crumble the bacon over the tomatoes and serve.

To add extra flavor to your Fried Green Tomatoes, sprinkle some cracked pepper before serving.

Have you ever tried Fried Green Tomatoes? 

Homemade Hummus Recipe!

For the longest time I have believed I didn't like hummus, as it turns out I don't like store bought hummus!  After I tasted my stepmother's hummus one day I couldn't get enough.  Ever since then I have been experimenting with crafting the best hummus recipe.  Here is my delicious recipe for  hummus that's flavorful with a tang!

Here is what you need:
2 13.5oz cans of Organic Garbanzo Beans (liquid from one)
1-1.5 Fresh Squeezed Lemons
1 Tbsp Tahini
1 Tbsp Liquid Aminos (you can substitute Tamari or Soy Sauce)
4 Garlic Cloves
1 Tbsp Fresh Oregano or 1 tsp dried
1 tsp Kosher Salt
1 tsp Fresh Cracked Pepper
(for a less zesty flavor you can use regular black pepper)


Place all of your ingredients including the liquid from one can of Garbanzo beans into a food processor or blander until smooth.  You can enjoy the hummus right away or refrigerate for a few hours for a richer flavor.

Enjoy!

Delicious Husband Approved Paleo Banana Bread!

My husband loves banana bread, and I try to avoid wheat and processed sugar!  So when it came to creating something out of a batch of bananas that had gone bad I decided to try something we both could enjoy.  That is how we ended up with a delicious grain free, sugar free, super moist banana bread. 

Bonus, it's totally easy to make!

3 brown bananas
⅓ cup palm shortening (can use coconut oil)
½ cup coconut flour
4 eggs
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 ½ tsp cinnamon
¼ teaspoon sea salt

(Feel free to add some of your favorite nuts or even some dark chocolate chips)

To make, mix all your ingredients in a bowl and transfer the batter in to your bread pan. (you can grease your pan with coconut oil but I didn't)  Then just bake in an oven that has been preheated to 350' for about an hour.  You want your bread to be set in the center and have a warm golden color!

Would you try this recipe?

Caramel Sauce!

I definitely have a sweet tooth!  This is an awesome quick (like 2 minutes!) and easy recipe for caramel i came across that is also Paleo.  The best part though is it requires no heat and no equipment to whip up this delicious treat. 

• 2 Tablespoons coconut oil (melted)
• 2 Tablespoons almond butter
• 1-2 Tablespoons maple syrup (depending on the sweetness you want)
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• Sea salt (pinch)   

Stir together all ingredients in a small bowl and you are done!  Now you can top your favorite fruit or dessert and turn it into a tasty treat.  It is also great for dipping sliced apples into.  What I like best about this sauce is that it travels great, pack it in a school lunch or take it with you to work for a sweet fulfilling 3 pm boost!  

Here i fancied up a simple apple by slicing it thin (yes that's only 1 apple), topping it off with caramel sauce and macadamia nuts.  I also sometimes use walnuts.

It is easy to store too.  Just place your caramel in a glass jar or storage container and it store in your cupboard or pantry.  I keep mine in a recycled glass jar.

Tip: you can replace the maple syrup with honey or any other natural sweetener

Would you try whipping up this sweet treat?

The Bad Cow!

When you are trying to lose weight, maintain your weight or just indulge in a sweet treat without over doing it, you look to "healthier" options.  The ad executives and pr firms make a ton of money by marketing those "healthier" products to those kinds of people.  Lets be honest, most people who fit those categories are women!  My mother passed along a blog post to me recently about how particularly Un-"healthy" those skinny cow deserts you love actually are.

Don't get me wrong, I used to eat one probably every night.  I probably still have a few tucked in the back of my freezer somewhere.  I even blogged about them 3 years ago! When we set out to be healthy it is pretty apparent drastic changes don't work.  So I, like many, found easy substitutes and "cheats" that would allow me to cut back without depriving myself. What we don't always realize.. or want to face is that when we stray away from foods with a lot of fat, sugar or calories we end up replacing those ingredients with chemicals, additives and all sorts of nasty stuff.  Eating a Paleo diet has definitely allowed me to realize the kinds of things I was previously ingesting.  While it's scary to think about all the unknowns I actually consumed, it's comforting that I am more aware now and can make better choices.

While this is just one product line of many, it is a good wake up call and if nothing else can hopefully get you to look a little deeper at a label's nutrition facts.This isn't something that just plagues ice cream treats, it can be found throughout the grocery isles and particularly in those products labeled "low-cal" "low-fat" & "fat-free".  My mother loves to tell me that the biggest culprit are all those 100 calorie packs.

To check out the original article I mentioned from the blog My Whole Food Life Go Here

You can find another interesting post I found Here

Thoughts?

16 Things You Can Turn Into Pesto!

 Came across a neat article today on Buzzfeed about ways to spice your ordinary pesto recipe!

 As long as you have all the basic components that make pesto *pesto* (cheese, nuts, olive oil, garlic), the central vegetable can be almost anything you want. And you can even skip the cheese or the nuts if they don’t fit into your personal diet plan. Have at it!

Check it out HERE

Green Smoothie!

 I don't always eat enough vegetables to get my suggested daily intake of nutrients each day.  A while back I started adding some healthier ingredients to my fruit smoothies to make them a little healthier.  Over time I have added more healthy ingredients and now have a power packed green smoothie each day that tastes like a fruit smoothie.  Here is a easy recipe and instructional video outlining what goes into my green smoothie as well as show how easy they are to make. 

  

Do you drink Green Smoothies?

Would you make these yourself?

Gluten Free Chocolate Covered Pretzels!

I have come across a delicious new treat I can enjoy while eating gluten free.  As many of you know I don't like anything that tastes "diet-y" ESPECIALLY sweets.  I was nervous when I purchased this bag of Glutino fudge covered pretzels, but I was an instant fan at first bite. They are delicious and taste just like any other chocolate covered pretzel, which is one of my favorite treats.  If you didn't know they were a gluten free product you would guess.  I can’t even begin to describe how good these pretzels are! 

Have you tried these pretzels?

Strawberry Margarita Jell-o Shots!

  Strawberry Margarita Jell-o Shots!

 What you need:

• 2 lbs. of Strawberries
• 6 oz. of Margarita Mix
• 1 Cup of Tequila
• 3 oz. Strawberry Flavored Jell-O
• Sugar and/or Limes (for garnish) 

Step 1:

After washing the strawberries  cut off the tip so that they will stand upright on a flat surface.  Cut the top off the strawberries and using a small melon baller you want to scoop out the insides.  

 

 

 

 

 

You want to be careful to leave a even shell without puncturing it.

Step 2:

In a sauce pan bring 6 ounces of margarita mix to a boil. Remove from heat and stir in  the jell-o mix.  Once dissolved stir in the tequila.

 Step 3:

Place the hollow strawberries on a plate and fill to rim with jell-o.  The strawberries need to go in the fridge for at least four hours.

TIP: Keep any remaining jell-o at room temp, You may need it to refill some strawberries that leak. Some strawberries may leak.  Allow the initial jell-o to set before you try to refill the strawberries with more jell-o.  You can also salvage spilled jell-o on the plate with a spoon.

Step 4:

You can serve the strawberries as is or if you want to garnish them you can rub the rim of the strawberries with a lime wedge and then rotate them in sugar. You can also add a garnish of  lime. TIP: You want to serve the strawberries cold.

Make It Hungry For Living!

Here are some ways to make this recipe a little healthier.

1- Use sugar free Jello
2- Use a low cal margarita mix (like Skinny girl) or use 6 0z of lime juice mixed with 1Tblsp   of Agave
3- Use truvia (no cal sweetener) instead of sugar as a garnish
4- Use only limes or mint leaf for garnish
5- Don't use a garnish

Banana Bread!

If you are like me, some of your bananas seem to go bad before you can eat them all. I love keeping bananas in the house for a healthy mid morning snack but I don't like them once they start getting all brown.  A great way to avoid throwing out old bananas is to turn them into Banana Bread!  I have created a Low Fat, sugar free banana bread that is delicious and healthy!

 

What you need:

• A Large Bowl
• A Loaf Pan
• Wooden Spoon
• Cooking Spray
• Potato Masher & Hand Mixer (optional)

Ingredients:

• 3 Bananas
• 2 Eggs
• 1/4 Cup Water
• 1 & 2/3 Cups of Flour
• 1/4 Cup of Coconut Oil (any oil or butter product will work)
• 2/3 Cup of Truvia (or sweetener of your choice)
•  1tsp Baking Soda
• 1/4tsp Baking Powder
• 1/2tsp Salt
• 4Tbsp Chocolate Chips (optional)

Pre-heat your over to 350

In a large bowl mash up your Bananas.  Mix in your eggs, water, brummel & brown and splenda.  You want a cake batter like consistency.

Then mix in  your flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.  If you are like me and have a sweet tooth you can add in 4tbsp of chocolate chips.  This also makes the banana bread a sweet chocolaty treat.

Spray your loaf pan with cooking spray.  I like to use PAM.  You want to fully coat the inside of the pan so that your bread will fall out easily.  Then pour your batter into you loaf pan.

 

Place your pan in your pre-heated oven for about an hour and 15 minutes or until golden brown. (TIP:  You can tell if your bread is fully cooked by inserting a knife into the center.  If your knife comes out clean your bread is done)

 

Once your bread has cooled you can turn your pan upside down and the bread should easily fall out.  Place on a plate, slice it up and indulge...

Enjoy!!

This banana bread yields 11 servings and is only 4 Weight Watcher Points Plus!

5 Points Plus if you add the Chocolate Chips!

 (If you don't want to make the recipe sugar free you can use the same amount of sugar instead of splenda)

Guacamole!

Guacamole is one of my favorite foods and it is actually good for you!  Avocados have gotten a bad reputation for being a food that is high in fat, while they are high in fat, the oil it contains actually ranks among the healthiest types of fat. Plus all the other ingredients in Guacamole are highly alkalizing (means they help promote weight loss, increased stamina and strength, a stronger immune system and a greater sense of well being) and loaded with nutrients. It`s important to make Guacamole fresh though. Here is a simple and easy recipe.

What you Will Need:

4 ripe avocados (soft to the touch)

1/2 red onion

1 tomato

1 Jalapeno

1 Lime

4 Cloves of Garlic

A Handful of FRESH cilantro

1/2 tsp of Salt and Pepper

 

You Will also need: A large bowl, large knife, small knife, spoon & hand grater

• To start slice up the avocados.  I like to take a small knife and slice a few time horizontally and vertically  to create chucks to start from.  Then using a large spoon scoop out the avocado into a large bowl.

•  Next you want to "De-Vein" your Jalapeno. This is done by simply by taking a small knife and removing the white stem and seeds from the pepper. TIP if you like HOT you can add some seeds to your guacamole

Once the vein is removed you want to grate the Jalapeno using a fine hand grater.  If you don't have one you can finely dice the Jalapeno.

  I like the flavor you get from using this method.

•  Now using a large knife you want to dice your onion. 

TIP 

 An easy way to dice an onion is to first hold the onion with one hand flat on top and make horizontal slices

 Than starting with the tip of your knife make vertical slices

 Now all you have to do is slice the onion and its diced for you

•  Next you want to add four cloves of garlic.  Again I like to use a fine hand grater, this really adds to the flavor of the final guacamole.  If you don't have one you can use a garlic press or finely mince the garlic using a sharp knife.

•  Again using the fine hand grater you want to zest half a lime

• Than using a juicer, juice the whole lime into your Guacamole

•  Using a sharp knife you want to mince the cilantro.  This consists of just the leaves no stems

• Add 1/2 tsp of both Salt and Pepper. Then using a large spoon mix the ingredients together in the bowl while also mashing some of the avocado into more of a paste.   

Before

After

• Now using a very sharp knife you want to dice your tomato

•  Using a large spoon gently fold in the diced tomatoes

Now all you need are your favorite whole wheat chips to enjoy your fresh homemade Guacamole! I like to use Weight Watchers wheat chips because I know they are healthy and its also a pre measured portion.

Enjoy!

Yields 12 servings: Each serving has 3 WW Points Plus Values

A Quick, Easy, Filling Snack!

Finding a healthy snack that will also fill you up can be a challenge. The best nutritional value provided by snacking on popcorn is that it is high in fiber. Most people don't get enough fiber in their daily diet so its an added bonus.  Plus it helps fill you up and keep you full longer. It's quick simple and easy.

POPCORN!

What you need:

large pasta pot with lid

2tbsp popcorn kernels

1tsp Vegetable oil

• Place pot over high heat with 1tea spoon of oil and 3-4 kernels

• When the kernels begin to pop add 2 table spoons of kernels and recover

• As the kernels begin to pop gently shake and or move the pot around over the heat
• Once the popping stops (for at least 3 seconds) remove from heat and pour into a bowl. 

(I like to sprinkle a little salt on top)

For added flavor you can add flavor with a variety of different spices like Cinnamon, Garlic Salt, Paprika, Parmesan Cheese, calorie free popcorn toppings or for a buttery guiltless topping you can spray a few sprays of I Can't Believe It's Not Butter.

4 WW Points Plus Value