Category: Food and Recipes

As many of you know, we don’t eat a lot of meat in this house, as my husband is a vegetarian. Don’t get me wrong, the kids and I do get in our chicken, turkey meatballs and fish whenever we can, but most days our protein comes from beans, eggs, cheese or peanut butter and occasionally, tofu. (chuckle, chuckle… Michael and Lucas are peanut butter addicts! They eat at least a couple servings every day.)

For dinner tonight, we’re making these delicious, Black Bean Enchiladas. They are packed with protein and fiber and oh, so delicious. I just love cheese so I fill up the inside with tons of cheese and sprinkle a ton more right on top.

Today, we are using my homemade Enchilada Sauce. It’s so easy to make with just a few simple pantry ingredients. I have to be honest, this was my first time making Enchilada Sauce. I didn’t realize it would be so easy to make, but it was so simple and only took a few minutes. Plus, it tastes so much better then the canned stuff too. I don’t think I’ll ever buy mass produced enchilada sauce again!

There are so many benefits to making your own sauce. First, you know exactly what ingredients you are putting into the sauce. There aren’t any preservatives or additives, such as monsodium glutamate, soy protein or corn gluten. Second, you can make it allergen friendly, which is what I did, substituting the all-purpose flour with brown rice flour. However, I know we all lack time in our lives so if you don’t have the time to make your own enchilada sauce, I would buy it at your local natural foods store, as those brands aren’t likely to contain MSG.

With so many different types of beans, it is easy to enjoy meatless meals from these Black Bean Enchiladas to Minestrone Soup or Vegetarian Chili. The options are endless. As I am a firm believer in living and eating everything in balance, I feel it’s important to balance our intake of foods. We are so fortunate to live in a country where there are so many available food options for us. So, we should use that freedom and allow ourselves to keep an open mind to different foods.

I welcome you to replace a couple of your meat or fish meals, with a vegetarian option. Go ahead and make a couple days of your week, meatless meal days. Your body will thank you.

I don’t know about you, but I just love granola! It’s sweet, nutty and packed with flavor, plus it’s great for you, full of  protein and whole grains. It’s a perfect gluten free breakfast or snack.

We’ve been making homemade granola for quite some time now. It’s way better then the store bought stuff with just the right amount of oats, nuts, dried fruit and sweet honey goodness. It’s always so fresh too, probably because it doesn’t last too long in this house. We eat granola with everything from cereal, to yogurt, in smoothies or just by the handful.

Our Food Jules Nutty Granola recipe is so delicious, that it has become one of our most popular products at the summer farmer’s market. Once you taste the difference between homemade, fresh granola and the store bought ones, you will never want to eat the packaged granola again! Granola is so versatile too, you can pack it full of nuts or seeds, dried fruit or even chocolate chips. It is a perfect gluten free snack.

Over the past year, we’ve started making Nut Free Granola Bites that the kids take to school as a snack. These are so good and easy to pop in your mouth for a quick breakfast on the go! The kids love them so much that I’ve started to incorporate them into my cooking class curriculum. Plus, they are  nut free, which makes them a perfect, nutritious school snack, without worrying about any potential allergies.

I’ve also been tinkering around with different granola bar recipes and even tried converting our standard granola recipes into bars, but it’s never quite worked out as well as I thought it would. Until this weekend. I tried a new granola bar recipe, made a few minor adjustments and voila, our Nutty Granola Bars have arrived. These granola bars are perfect, so soft and chewy yet you still get a little crunch from all of the nuts. Plus, they are so simple to make. Again, you if you need to keep it nut-free, you can swap out the nuts for sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds or even chocolate chips.

The key to making a perfect granola bar is to bake it for just a few minutes, until it’s slightly golden. You don’t want to over bake it or it will get too dark and too hard to eat. Also, you have to be sure to let them cool completely before cutting them into bars, otherwise they will fall apart. I allowed our bars to cool at room temperature for a couple of hours before cutting them and then stored them in an air tight container.

Well, I hope you’ll enjoy all of these delicious granola recipes and feel free to share your favorite granola recipes with us. Our next granola adventure may be a dark chocolate coconut granola bar, YUM. Mike and Lilliana would love that one!

If you’re looking for a quick, nutritious and delicious breakfast treat, you found it!

This Morning Glory Muffin is full of protein, fiber and iron. The carrots, apple and pineapple give this muffin so much sweetness with the added crunch of the oats and walnuts, it will remind you of eating a yummy carrot cake. This muffin is all you need to get you going in the morning and satisfy that sweet tooth.

This is the same recipe I use when baking with wheat flour. All I did to make it gluten free was swap out the whole wheat flour with oat and almond flour, keeping it whole grain and packing it with more protein. If you don’t have oat and almond flour, it’s easy to make. Just pop the same amount of whole oats and raw almonds in a food processor (plus a little extra) and pulse until you get a fine, powdery flour. VOILA.

The original recipe calls for a ton more sugar and oil, but as you know, both of these are not the healthiest. So, I reduced the amount of sugar and replaced it with all natural, pure maple syrup and added in some yogurt to give it that moisture it gets from the oil. My new favorite oil in baking and cooking is Coconut Oil. It’s packed with so many health benefits from heart health to maintaining cholesterol, weight loss, increased immunity, boosting your thyroid and metabolism and even hair and skin care. The list goes on! My brand of choice is the Organic Coconut Oil from Trader Joe’s. It’s reasonably priced, all natural and doesn’t have a strong flavor.

So, make your morning a glorious one with these delicious Morning Glory Muffins.

Happy Snow Day to all my friends on the East Coast!

I was under the illusion that the snow and winter were over. I know, it is only the middle of January and we are in the thick of winter right now but hey, a woman can only dream, right? As I have mentioned numerous times, I am not a cold weather kind of gal. You would never know I was born and raised in Fairfield County because I would move to the West Coast or the South in a heart beat! If only, my husband would oblige.

Well, at least I can find some comfort in the smell and taste of homemade baked goods during this snowy, cold day. These warm, chewy, Dark Chocolate Fudge Brownies are the perfect sweet treat for a day like today. Plus, they are gluten free since I am still going strong on my gluten cleanse. Trust me, you wouldn’t know the difference anyway. These are absolutely sweet and delicious plus they are almost guilt free since I made them with whole grain oat and almond flour, wink, wink. However, if you’re not looking to avoid wheat, then go ahead and substitute the oat and almond flour for whole wheat flour, it’s that simple.

These brownies are quick to make with only eight simple ingredients, all of which you probably already have in your pantry. Besides, they are so much better for you then any box of brownie mix you have hidden in your kitchen cabinet. So, what are you waiting for? Get up and get baking and be sure to savor every single bite!