Cooking
Pumpkin Protein Pancakes
The weather might not agree, but Fall is officially here and at my house that means PUMPKIN EVERYTHING!!
These perfect pumpkin pancakes are great for any time of day and packed with delicious protein to fuel you and your kids.
Pumpkin Protein Pancakes
1 cup coconut flour*
1 TBS honey
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 scoops undenatured whey pumpkin spice protein powder
dash salt
1 tsp pumpkin spice seasoning
1 egg
2 cups almond milk**
3 TBS melted butter
Combine all ingredients with a whisk until smooth. Heat pancakes over medium-low heat. The pancakes will take a very long time to cook enough so that you can flip them over.
*I don’t usually like to use coconut flour. I think it made the pancakes really hard to flip. Although tasty, next time I will use a different gluten free flour. Here is a helpful article about replacing coconut flour in a recipe.
**If you do use coconut flour you may need to add more almond milk. I just added more almond milk until I reached my desired consistency for the pancakes.
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Pumpkin Ginger Spice Scones
The sights, sounds and smells of Fall are in the air and the mornings are cooler. School has been in session for weeks now and hopefully the kids have settled into a routine that allows for a healthy breakfast.
But if you still find yourself running around in the morning with many days that they need a grab-n-go breakfast or a pick-me-up-snack midmorning, these Pumpkin Ginger Spice Scones are packed full of nutritious deliciousness.
Ingredients
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup old fashioned oats
¼ cup hemp seed
¼ cup oat bran
2 Tablespoons chia seeds
2 Tablespoons ground flax meal
1 Tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 Tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ cup crystallized ginger chopped fine
½ cup cold butter
¼ cup undenatured whey pumpkin protein powder (you can substitute vanilla)
5 Tablespoons honey
½ cup pumpkin puree
1 cup plain greek yogurt
Mix all dry ingredients in a large bowl. Add chopped crystallized ginger to dry ingredients. Cut cold butter into the dry ingredients with ginger until resembles small meal. In a small bowl, mix honey, pumpkin puree and yogurt. Fold wet ingredients into dry in the large bowl. Only stir until dry ingredients are moist so scones stay light and fluffy. Roll dough out into a large rectangle 1 inch thick on a floured board and cut into scone sized squares, triangles or circles. Place on a lightly greased cookie sheet and bake in a 425 degree oven for 20 minutes. Yields 25 small scones or 12 large scones.
Pumpkin Apple Cake made with Honey
This cake was a family favorite when I was growing up. In order to modify the original recipe, I did some research on a website called Cooks.com and found out some really interesting information about substituting honey for sugar in baking. (See end of post for a few of the tidbits I learned) This is my first experiment following their suggestions. I am excited to have some guidelines to go by as I experiment with some healthier options in my baking, since I love to bake but I am moving completely away from white sugar-excpet for the Famous Weisser Cookies!!!!
Ingredients
3 cups flour (you can use a combination of white, wheat, almond meal)
¼ cup pumpkin spice undenatured whey protein powder (you can use vanilla protein powder)
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1 ¼ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup honey
⅓ cup coconut oil
1 cup pumpkin puree
2 teaspoon s vanilla
3 cups finely chopped apple
1 cup chopped pecans
Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl. Mix wet ingredients in a medium bowl. Chop apples into tiny pieces. Chop pecans. By hand, mix wet ingredients into dry ingredients until moistened. Fold in apples and pecans. Batter will be very thick. Spoon into a well greased Bundt pan and bake in a 325 degree oven for 60 minutes. Cool and dust with powdered sugar.
You can make a healthy glaze or decorative frosting to make your cake look more festive.
Healthy decorative Frosting
¼ cup pumpkin spice undenatured whey protein powder (if you use vanilla protein powder add 2 tsp pumpkin pie spice)
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
¼ cup powdered sugar
2 Tablespoons butter softened
2 Tablespoons almond milk
Stir all together and add a bit more almond milk if necessary until …
Healthy Juice Blends
You know those mornings that you wake up and you feel congested, as if you have pressure in your nose and eyes areas?? Well, that was me yesterday. I felt like my face was swollen and I would not stop sneezing. I knew that I wasn’t sick but I was in a new environment that occasionally makes my sinuses a bit crazy. I decided to get a juice blend at lunch- beet, Apple, ginger (lots of it), and a little bit of lemon. I almost instantly felt better! My sinuses were clear and my head no longer felt stuffy.
There are so many benefits from juices, such as anti-inflammatory components, aiding in digestion, clearing sinuses, and filling your body with healthy super foods in one drink!! And, with a good juicer, you can even try your own combinations!
A few of our favorite places that we have discovered for juice blends are La Vie which can be found and tasted at the Danville Farmers Markets on Saturday mornings, Pressed Juicery which we found in Southern California (but coming soon to Walnut Creek!) and our favorite restaurant, Ki’s!!
Here are my top 5 juice blends that I have tried:
- Inspired from “Roots 3” from Pressed Juicery and “The Bite” from Ki’s—Beets, Apple, Ginger, Lemon — can aid in digestion and tastes DELICIOUS!! This is my personal favorite 🙂
2. “Greens 4” from Pressed Juicery
Cayenne, Cucumber, Celery, Ginger, Lemon, Watercress
High in antioxidants!
3. “Fire Fighter” from La Vie
Coconut water, filtered water, fresh turmeric juice, fresh ginger juice, fresh lime juice, raw local honey, organic coconut palm sugar, organic cayenne.
Full of kick with lots of turmeric, giving it a anti-inflammatory components that takes great!
4. “E3 Live Cocktail” from La Vie
Apple juice, organic blue green algae, …
Read MoreLemon Blueberry Oatmeal Mini Muffins
Start the day off right with a power packed breakfast and your day will be more productive and your brain will be able to focus with clarity. These mini muffins make great lunch bag treats and you won’t feel guilty that your kids are having a sweet treat because the fiber and protein offset the small amount of sugar. Make these today and join us as we introduce our Growing Weisser Wellness Wisdom campaign. Check back every day for more details.
Ingredients
1 2/3 cups oats ground into coarse meal
1 1/8 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups buttermilk ( fat free if possible or use plain Greek yogurt)
1/4 cup coconut oil
1 Tablespoon grated lemon rind
2 eggs
2 cups frozen small Maine blueberries
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Pulse oats in food processor to make coarse meal. Place all dry ingredients into a large bowl. Combine buttermilk or yogurt, oil, rind and eggs in small bowl and whisk until combined. Pour into dry ingredients and stir carefully until just moist. Fold in blueberries. Lightly grease mini muffin tins (makes 3 dozen mini muffins). Bake for 15 minutes until muffins spring back when touched. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar if desired. Cool and remove from pans. Store in airtight container for a week in refrigerator and for a few weeks in freezer.
ENJOY!
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Reorganize Your Menu
Back to School time is a busy time, but also a great time to reorganize your routine when it comes to meal planning. And if you have picky toddlers, like me, it might be time to work on introducing new foods to their limited diets!
Tonight I made my own BBQ chicken salad and ranch dressing for my girls from scratch. They can be picky about vegetables, so I was hoping that the homemade ranch would get healthy yogurt back in their diet and help them be more open to eating raw veggies.
The BBQ chicken salad just sounded good (it was 100 degrees here in Southern California today) and it tasted even better!
Homemade Ranch Dressing
1/2 cup Full-fat or 2% Greek Yogurt
1/4 tsp dried dill weed
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp parsley
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp celery seed
Mix all ingredients together. Add more spices as needed to taste.
BBQ Chicken Salad
One bag lettuce mix
1/2 cucumber, sliced and cut into half circles
1/2 red onion, diced
6 small colorful sweet peppers, diced
3 carrots, diced
2-4 chicken breasts, shredded and mixed with BBQ sauce
Balsamic Vinegar
Optional toppings: Black beans, corn, tortilla chips, cheese
Instructions: Place lettuce in a large bowl. Chop and dice vegetables to desired sizes. Prepare Chicken. Combine all ingredients and mix. Place in individual serving bowls. Top with balsamic vinegar and additional toppings as desired. Enjoy!
We enjoyed our salads with french fries and sweet potato fries and the girls paired their veggies and ranch with grilled cheese.
I am a “follow the recipe” type of cook, so it felt great to make up some recipes that sounded good in my head and have them turn out to be just as delicious as I’d imagined!…
Read MoreSummer Succotash
It is August, a time to reorganize in preparation for a more regular schedule, but no matter how early school starts in some places, it is still summer to me! Lazy days of summer, encouraging spontaneous gatherings are nearing the end, so I am trying to be creative with my BBQ sides. A great way to cook up some of your favorite vegetables is with a succotash twist. Enjoy this easy showstopper recipe with whatever meat you can grill up on your BBQ.
- 2 TBS coconut oil or olive oil (if you want a touch of coconut flavor, use coconut oil)
- ½ diced onion
- ½ diced bell pepper
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 1 TBS paprika
- 1 TBS tumeric
- ¼ cup cilantro
- 2 stalks of corn (corn cut off)
- 1 tomato
- 1 zuchinni
- 1 TBS cumin
- ¼ cup chicken broth
- ¼ cup parsley
- salt and pepper to taste
- Saute the onions, bell peppers, and garlic
- Add paprika, tumeric, and cilantro. Cook for 3 minutes
- Add the corn, tomato, zuchinni and cook for 5 minutes
- Add the cumin and chiken broth and bring to a boil
- Add the parsley, salt, and pepper at the end.
What is one of your favorite side dishes to serve at your summer BBQ?
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Baklava-a Traditional Mediterranean Sweet Treat
Baklava has always been a food full of memories for me. Growing up in a family that loved to cook foods from different cultures, in addition to marrying into an Armenian family , I have had a passion for Mediterranean food for years. My fondest memory of Baklava is from my college years when some girl friends and I spent our spring break in Greece. We loved every minute of our time in Greece and although it was the Europe on $5 a day era….we found ourselves a bit short on money the last three days of our trip. Knowing we needed to save enough money for our ferry boat ride back to Italy where we were living and studying, we decided the best use of the remainder of our money would be to skip conventional restaurant meals and survive for our last three days in Greece on Baklava. What a GREAT decision that was. This weekend we had our reunion with the folks we had the privilege of traveling with through Turkey and Greece a few months ago. I decided to bring Baklava for us to all enjoy since it had been one of our group’s favorite treats on our trip. Years ago, my husband’s Nana taught me how to make her Armenian version of Baklava and I have tried various other recipes over the years, but I decided to go back to our roots make my favorite Baklava Recipe…….and I will share it here with you……
Ingredients
1 (16 oz) package Phyllo dough, thawed according to package instructions
1 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 pound (4 cups) walnuts finely chopped (for a more authentic Turkish version, use pistachios)
2 teaspoons cinnamon
½ cup sugar
1 cup honey
3 Tablespoons lemon juice (juice of 1 lemon)
¾ cup water…
Nutritious Nachos-RECHARGED with summer veggies
When our girls were young, nachos were a favorite go-to meal along with quesadillas. These NUTRITIOUS and DELICIOUS nachos are covered with vegetable goodness, made on home baked tortilla chips and are an easy complete summer meal. Whip up a batch the next time you have a group over or just enjoy on a Sunday afternoon while watching a ballgame. If you have the time to grill your corn and let it cool a bit before you make this recipe it has a wonderful added bbq flavor but fresh cut off the cob works as well.
Ingredients
1-2 teaspoons olive oil
1 red onion chopped (1 cup)
3 cloves garlic minced
2 cups chopped zucchini
1 red pepper chopped
1-2 cups fresh corn (you can bbq first for added roasted flavor)
1 jalepeno pepper thinly sliced
2 teaspoon ground cumin
1½ teaspoon chili powder
2 teaspoon sea salt
1 can black beans drained and rinsed
½ pound ground turkey (optional if you want vegetarian version)
8-10 corn tortillas
½ cup grated Mexican cheese blend (cheddar and Monterey jack or colby jack)
½ cup queso fresco crumbled
1 avocado diced
1-2 tomatoes chopped
⅓ cup cilantro chopped
1 lime cut into wedges
Brown ground turkey seasoned with 1 teaspoon each cumin, chili powder and salt in skillet until completely cooked. Set aside
Saute onion and garlic in olive oil for 5 minutes on medium heat. Add zucchini, corn, red pepper, jalepeno, 1 teaspoon cumin, ½ teaspoon chili powder and 1 teaspoon salt and cook 5 more minutes. Add black bean and stir until heated through. Turn off heat and let cool.
Cut corn tortillas into quarters and spread out in a 15×10 inch jelly roll pan that has been coated with olive oil spray. Spray tops of tortillas with olive oil …
Moshu Chicken
When I was growing up, my mom loved to have theme dinners. One of our favorite international themed dinners was Chinese food and we LOVED it when she made Moshu Chicken. I continued the tradition of theme dinners with our girls and they have enjoyed learning how to cook foods from all different cultures as well. Here is a healthy rendition of Moshu chicken and tonight we recharged the classic recipe by using firm tofu in place of the chicken and whole wheat low carb tortillas for the wrap.
Ingredients
2 cups shredded Chinese napa cabbage
1 cup gated carrots
6 green onions sliced thin ( I used red onion)
1 cup bean sprouts
1 can bamboo shoots sliced thin
1 zucchini sliced in thin matchsticks
1 can water chestnuts sliced in thin matchsticks
3 Tablespoons soy sauce
3 Tablespoons sesame oil
1 Tablespoon sugar or honey
3 boneless skinless chicken breasts
2 Tablespoons oil
2 cloves garlic
6 eggs beaten
1 package rice pancakes (enroll wrappers) or flour tortillas
1 jar Hoisin sauce
Slice chicken into thin strips. Stir fry chicken in 2 Tablespoons oil with 2 cloves garlic crushed until chicken pieces are cooked through. Remove chicken from wok or pan and put into medium sized bowl. Add 2 Tablespoons Hoisin sauce to the chicken and stir and set aside. Stir fry vegetables in sesame oil, soy, and sugar until crisp tender. Add the chicken and stir together. Scramble the 6 eggs and cook until soft. Add to the chicken and vegetable mixture. To serve, warm the egg pancakes or tortillas and place one spoonful of Hoisin sauce down the center. Spoon a generous portion of the chicken, vegetable, egg mixture down the center, sprinkle with some sliced green onion and roll up like a burrito. when our …
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