healthy food ideas — Recipe Blog

Black Bean Veggie Burger (V)

I know this site is usually dedicated for more vegetarian friendly foods, however I do make these for the two non-vegetarians in my household - my hubby and 18 month old daughter. They both LOVE these and I make them quite frequently. So while I hesitated posting to keep this site very vegan/vegetarian/flexitarian friendly, I do like to add foods that I DO actually make for others and this is one of them.

Artichoke Turmeric Hummus (V, GF)

We eat a lot of hummus in our household and my husband recently told me store bought hummus keeps him up at night and makes him bloated. Although I like homemade hummus many times I just find it easier to buy it! I mean its right there, so easy! However, I don’t like all of the preservatives and the sugar! Regardless of how clean the hummus you find at the store, its still processed, has preservatives AND contains sugar. Hence the reason why my husband is so sensitive to it! And why I should be making it for our family.

I’ve made so many varieties over the years and I decided to start tracking them and putting them here for all of you!

Vegan Crockpot Chili - Variation 2 (GF) (V)

This one is one of my favorites in the winter time and its super hearty, filled with fibrous beans and legumes and keeps me satisfied for hours! Not only that, I make a huge crock pot full and I have lunch and dinner for a couple of days for myself, my husband and my child!

Leftover Series: Collard Quinoa Seitan Wraps (V, GF)

Every week, on Thursday’s I started doing this LIVE Facebook video where I would take all of my leftovers from my fridge and re-create or create something new with it all together. It’s become a fun project and my Facebook friends seem to really be a fan of it. So, in honor of that I think I’ll make this a regular weekly thing as long as I’m at home….shoot who knows where I’ll be and may want to reinvent something!

So this week I had a lot of leftovers because we were crazed this week and only had a couple meals at home. Here’s a list of my leftovers (some of which were not used)

Collard Greens
Onion
Garlic Cloves
Spinach
Purple Cabbage
Carrots
Mushrooms

Vegan Mac & Cheese

Now who doesn’t love Mac & Cheese? I mean when I was a kid, and lets face it into my 20’s I still ate Mac & Cheese out of the box. Like piled on the butter and powdered cheese! Now this was the true-to-form stuff right out of the box and it was delicious! However, now knowing what I know, its almost impossible to eat!

So, in order to fulfill my childhood cravings AND be able to provide my daughter with something that nutritious, easy to make and very tasty! As we know toddlers and kids can be very picky eaters so its great to have this in your back pocket for a toddler or for yourself!

There are a couple ways to make this. 100% vegan OR vegan + butter. When I say butter I mean in the truest from. No margarine, no salted butter, no oleo, just 100% organic unsalted butter OR clarified butter using Ghee another one of my favorites. Now what’s the difference you ask? Great question! I read a great article on this articulating the difference in simple terms so I have shared it below.

Loaded Veggie Lasagna (GF)

started making veggie lasagna probably 6 years ago when I really started eating plant based and incorporating all the veggies I could into my diet. From that initial lasagna to the current one I’ve gone through several variations and the best thing about it is you can play with it and try seasonal veggies and add noodles, keep them out, anything goes here.

Whether you’re making this for yourself or your kids you’ll find that tastes vary and depending on what veggies you like or what veggies your kids will eat, just keep mixing it up and trying new things.

How To: Meal Prepping Basics

Let's start with the basics of planning your shopping trip to planning out your meals for the week. First, decide if you are the type of person that gets bored with food easily, or you can roll with it as long as its planned out. I'm DEFINITELY the type that gets bored and I really don't life leftovers for more than a day MAX two post cooking. I just prefer my ingredients fresh.

Second, pick your go-to proteins. This can be a range or stick with one particular protein like chicken. If you are vegetarian is it tempeh, beans, legumes, soy, etc. Or maybe you want a variety. That's fine too, just choose your proteins as a base.