Cooking
Our Pumpkin Favorites
Christmas decorations have started to appear and the holiday cups are out at Starbucks…but I for one am still holding on to the flavors of Fall. If you aren’t ready to trade in your PSL for Peppermint Mocha quite yet and want some food to go with, I’ve linked our FAVORITE Growing Weisser pumpkin recipes below!
Happy Baking and Making.
Breakfast
Snacks
Dessert
Pumpkin Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
What will you try?
…
Pumpkin Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
PUMPKIN, PUMPKIN, PUMPKIN…who doesn’t love pumpkin baked goods at this time of year. This one is a show stopper. I modified an old family favorite recipe to bring you this healthier version with just as much taste and a wonderful texture. It is hard to eat just one!
I made a batch of these for a women’s gathering tomorrow and I know they will be gone in a flash. They are so moist and delicious, you can not eat just one!!!
Pumpkin Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
1 cup oat flour
1/4 cup flax meal
1 cup whole wheat flour (or almond flour or coconut flour)
2 cups oats
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 cup coconut oil
1/2 cup butter (you can use 1 cup total coconut oil instead of 1/2 coconut oil 1/2 butter)
3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
3/4 cup coconut sugar (can use brown sugar here as well)
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup organic pumpkin puree (not the pumpkin pie filling that has spices in it already)
1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 cup raisins (optional)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Measure first 9 ingredients (flour, dry ingredients and spices) in a medium sized bowl. Cream the butter, coconut oil and sugar with a mixer until light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla and blend. Add the canned pumpkin alternately with the dry ingredients to the creamed mixture and mix until blended. Stir in the chocolate chips, walnuts and raisins and stir until blended. Drop by tablespoonfuls onto a lightly greased cookie sheet and bake for 15-20 minutes. Makes 2 dozen large cookies or 3 dozen medium cookie. Enjoy!
Here are the ingredients for the original recipe, if …
Read MoreJuggling “Me Time” and “Us Time”
Finding time for yourself as a mom can be nearly impossible. Emphasis on the “nearly,” because as much as it SEEMS impossible, it is possible. You might have to be a little more creative and willing to INTENTIONALLY carve out that time, but you CAN do it.
Today, I had work I needed to do. I work from home on this blog, building my Isagenix business with my amazing team, and with the little that’s left lead a Girl Scout troop of Daisy girls. Oh and of course first and foremost I’m a mom of 3.
Something that I’ve found that helps me juggle my time is being intentional. I’m trying to write down and schedule the things I need to do every day so I stay focused. I set an intention to complete the things on my list. I am also intentional about time. After I picked up the girls from school I knew I had some things to get done. I told the girls that I needed 30 minutes to work in my office. I set a timer because I told them 30 minutes, which meant I was going to do as much as I could with focus for those 30 minutes.
After the 30 minutes I was intentional about spending time with the girls. My 2 youngest were having fun playing together and my oldest had homework to do. It has been rough finding the time and energy to do homework after a full day of school, so I decided to make a little time for the two of us to do something together first.
I wanted to try a new muffin recipe so we baked together. I told her that she needed to do her homework after we were done, setting my expectations before we started. …
Read MoreChicken Shwarma Bowls
Our Growing Weisser family has become obsessed with Mediterranean food. I am sure part of the obsession is our Middle Eastern heritage. This holiday season i will share some of our traditional Christmas food that we make every season. Chicken Shwarma is one of our go-to favorites. This recipe has been adapted from a recipe that Rachel found online. I worked with it and changed it up and bit adding a bit more spice and a few adaptations to the sauce. This is definitely worth the time and would be a fantastic meal to serve for company. We ate this meal as a “build your own bowl” one night and as a pita sandwich the next night. Sure was delicious.
Chicken Shwarma Marinate
2 lemons juiced
4 Tablespoons olive oil
6 cloves garlic smashed
2 teaspoons cumin
2 teaspoons smoked paprika
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
½ tsp cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 teaspoon cardamom
Mix all ingredients in a 1 gallon zip lock bag. Add 2 ½ -3 pounds of boneless skinless chicken thighs. Ziplock the bag securely and distribute the marinate around the chicken pieces by shaking and moving the chicken around once bag is sealed. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours. Bake or BBQ the chicken until cooked.
I baked mine in a 350 degree oven for 40 minutes. I think BBQ would taste even better. Build your bowls with lettuce, tomatoes, a scoop of quinoa, a big spoonful of roasted chickpeas and a dollop of cucumber tahini yogurt sauce-(recipes below). Serve with warm pita bread and hummus.
Other ingredients for Chicken Shwarma bowls, wraps, pita sandwiches…..
Pita bread
quinoa cooked according to package directions using chicken stock in place of water
Romaine lettuce chopped
3-4 tomatoes sliced
cucumbers sliced
fresh …
Pumpkin Spice Protein Balls
The kids are back to school and everyone is settling into the Fall routine. Days are getting shorter and mornings are cooler. The local coffee shops are all offering their version of a “Pumpkin Spice Latte”, so we decided to jump on the band wagon and make some Pumpkin Spice Protein Balls. Before we know it, the leaves will be turning and it will be pumpkins, pumpkins everywhere!!! So here is a way to get your pumpkin “fix” without compromising your healthy habits.
Ingredients
½ cup peanut butter or almond butter (use a no sugar added version-our favorite is Trader Joe’s)
¼ cup oats (I blended my a bit in my Vitamix)
1 Tablespoon flax meal
½ cup pumpkin flavored protein powder (we use the Isagenix pumpkin spice protein powder, but you can use any vanilla protein powder and add 1 tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp ginger and ½ tsp cloves)
1 teaspoon cinnamon (add 2 teaspoons if using vanilla protein powder)
3 Tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon vanilla
¼ cup mini chocolate chips, raisins or other dried fruit chopped fine (optional)
Mix all ingredients in a medium bowl until blended. Roll into 1 inch balls. Refrigerate and stop in a tupperware for up to 2 weeks. Believe me…they will not last 2 weeks because they are so YUMMY!!!
This batch is made with peanut butter, some have mini chocolate chips as well.
Peanut butter, pumpkin spice protein balls.
This batch was made with crunchy almond butter and looks a bit heartier because I did not pulse the oats quite as fine and the peanut butter batch.
- ½ cup peanut butter or almond butter (use a no sugar added version-our favorite is Trader Joe's)
Chicken Chickpea Moroccan Crockpot Stew
1 (15-ounce) can garbanzo beans drained and rinsed
1 bell pepper, stemmed, seeded, and sliced
Lemon Blueberry Superfoods Shake
You know our family LOVES our superfoods shakes, and this recipe will take meal or snack time to a WHOLE NEW LEVEL!!!
We start with our protein and nutrient packed dairy free shake powder and harness the power of citrus and berries to bump up the flavor and health benefits.
Combining the immune health powers of lemon ESSENCE essential oil with the heart boosting properties of blueberries for a seriously delicious meal.
Ingredients
6-8 oz Water
1-2 drops Lemon ESSENCE essential oil
1/2 cup Frozen Blueberries
1/2-1 tsp Cinnamon
Ice as needed
1 packet Dairy Free IsaLean Vanilla Chai protein powder.
To make, fill your blender with 6-8 ounces of water depending on how thick you like your shake. I LOVE the consistency of our dairy free shakes, but you do have to be careful with the amounts of water and ice. Just play around to find what you like. Next, add 1 or 2 drops of the lemon essential oil using a dropper or carefully pouring. Add the protein powder followed by the cinnamon and blueberries. Start to blend. Add ice until you get your desired consistency. Enjoy with a straw or try what I did today: make it a little thicker, pour in a bowl, and top with your favorite grain-free granola!!
Enjoy!…
Read MoreChocolate Chip Banana Bread
Sweet snacks in the summer are a real treat. When you have little ones that are eager to bake and even more eager to EAT a SWEET TREAT…why not make a healthy snack for all to enjoy. The Spoelhof girls and I tried this recipe over the weekend and it was a HIT!!!
HERE ARE THE INGREDIENTS AND DIRECTIONS….
4 medium sized VERY RIPE bananas
2 eggs
1 ½ teaspoon vanilla
¼ cup coconut oil
¾ cup whole wheat flour
½ cup all purpose flour or TJ’s white wheat flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 ½ teaspoons cinnamon
½ cup brown sugar firmly packed
If you feel creative and want to increase the nutritional value of your bread, substitute ½ cup of cauliflower puree for ½ cup of the banana puree.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl, mix all the wet ingredients; banana puree, eggs, vanilla and oil. In another medium bowl, mix all the dry ingredients; flour, sugar, baking soda and baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix until combined but DO NOT OVERMIX! Fold in the chocolate chips. Pour into a well greased 9 x 5 inch loaf pan and bake in a preheated oven for 50 minutes. Test with a toothpick to make sure it is done in the middle. Remove from oven and let cool for about 30-45 minutes. Turn out onto a platter and cut slices. It is delicious warm. You can store the leftovers if there are any leftovers wrapped in foil or saran and store in refrigerator for up to 1 week.
A perfect ending to a perfect day including pizza night and a movie!!!
S’mores at the End of a Sunny Summer Day
Lots of sun and swimming and even a nice walk to the neighborhood park. all in a fun summer day. It seems like a perfect night to have S’mores for dessert. If you have the supplies on hand and an outdoor fire pit it is easy to roast some marshmallows and make a batch of s’mores. But what if you do not have a fire pit?…..Here is a fun and easy way to provide that campground dessert experience for you kids or grandkids by making pocket s’mores.
What you need:
aluminum foil
1 bag of large marshmallows
1 box of graham crackers
one milk chocolate bar for each 2 pouches of s’mores (Hershey’s works well because the bars are thin)
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Or if you have a BBQ going for your dinner prep you can have your pouches ready and put the pouches directly on the BBQ.
For each pouch of s’mores you need a large piece of foil (about 12 x 16 inches). Give each person
1 large graham cracker and 2 marshmallows and ½ of a milk chocolate bar for each pouch of s’mores. Break up the graham crackers into medium pieces and place in the middle of your foil. Place the two marshmallows on top of the graham crackers. Break up the chocolate bar into small pieces and scatter over the graham cracker and marshmallow mixture. Wrap the foil around the ingredients you have placed on the middle and make a little pouch that looks like a Hersheys Kiss-twisting in the middle. Make sure there are no spaces where melted chocolate or marshmallows can drip out. Place pouches onto a cookie sheet. Bake 10-12 minutes or until marshmallows and chocolate are melted. Open up the pouch and enjoy!!!
YUMMY in the TUMMY!!! WE had …
BEST Summer Banana Bread
During the warm months of summer, I seem to always have a few bananas in my fruit basket that get TOO RIPE, TOO QUICKLY….Here is a perfect solution to that problem. This is a very easy recipe using ingredients you probably always have on hand. It is simple enough to make that you will want to call the kids in from their outdoor adventures to get cooled off for 15 minutes to help you measure, pour, mix and pop this delicious banana bread into the oven. If you have a bunch of kids over, you can make this into muffins for easier serving. Send the kids back outside when you put the bread into the oven and they will have another hour to play before you call them in for their homemade healthy snack.
BEST Summer Banana Bread
1 ½ cups white whole wheat flour
½ cup oat flour or ground oats
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
¼ cup maple syrup
2 large egg
1 1/2 cups (from 4 medium bananas) ripe bananas, mashed
1/3 cup plain yogurt or low-fat buttermilk
3 tablespoons coconut oil
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Measure out the flour, oat flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon into a small bowl and mix. Mash the VERY ripe bananas in a medium bowl. Add the eggs, brown sugar, oil and maple syrup to the bananas and stir until blended. Slowly fold in the flour mixture and yogurt or buttermilk. Add walnuts if desired and stir gently. When blended, pour into a greased 9 x 5 inch bread pan. Bake of 1 hour. Test with a toothpick and remove from oven when toothpick comes out clean. …
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