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Homemade Roasted Red Pepper Cauliflower Hummus

By on September 10, 2018 in Dressings and Sauces, Healthy Snacks

I love hummus! I eat it on veggies, on wraps, on hot dogs (way better than ketchup) and on a well-rounded spoon. I decided I wanted to make my own, but I also wanted to up my veggie consumption. Since vegetables are amazing and we all need more, I’m always trying to find a way to get more in my diet. So I decided to replace the beans with roasted cauliflower and see how that worked out for me.

My life will never be the same. It’s DELICIOUS! If you’re not a big fan of cauliflower, give it a try and see what you think. The addition of tahini and the red peppers, plus the smoky flavors from the cumin and paprika cover any cauliflower taste and make this amazing! I mostly use this as a vegetable dip for broccoli and carrots, upping my veggie intake even more. This is also delicious with crackers or plantain chips. If you’re sensitive to tahini, cashew butter works as well, but the tahini gives it a bit more flavor. If I use cashew butter, I sometimes add a bit more cumin and paprika.

I’m also willing to make this homemade “hummus” because it’s super easy to make, freezes well, and lasts longer in the fridge than traditional hummus. Because I line my sheet pan with parchment paper, the only big dish I have to clean is the food processor bowl.

I just throw it all in together to mix, so there is no order to the ingredients. The only part that takes effort (if you can even call it effort) is scraping down the sides of the food processor bowl between blending. If you don’t have a food processor, feel free to use a blender. Just make sure to continue to scrape down the sides.

 

I’m so happy with the results, I plan to change up the flavors and see what else I can come up with. Stay tuned!


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5 Ingredient Healthy Chocolate Peanut Butter Pudding

By on July 12, 2017 in Guilt-Free Treats

We do dessert every Sunday night because it just makes life better. A few weeks ago I made some grain-free, refined sugar-free, dairy-free cookies. They were DELICIOUS, but I wanted something more. I didn’t have much time so I decided to whip up some extremely easy, creamy, sweet chocolate peanut butter pudding. Dipping the cookies in the pudding was basically heaven!

It all starts with coconut cream. Coconut cream is the solid portion of canned coconut milk. Getting it is super simple. Just stick a can of full-fat coconut milk in the fridge for a few hours (I usually stick mine in the night before). I really like to use the Thai Kitchen brand. I prefer the taste and consistency to other coconut milks. Then using a spoon, gently scoop the solid cream into a bowl. You’ll be left with a clear liquid. Save this for smoothies or to thin out your pudding a bit.

Coconut cream is so stable, you can add it the honey, cocoa powder and vanilla all at the same time.

Whip this up with a hand mixer and then add in the peanut butter. I call it good there. But this pudding is extremely thick. So thick this could even double for a frosting. If you like a thinner pudding, just keep whipping in the liquid from the coconut milk until you’re satisfied.

I highly recommend this with a cookie… or three…


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coasters

10 Minute Christmas Present – Homemade Coasters

By on December 14, 2016 in Crafts, Holidays

Last year for Christmas we gave our family things they’d need for a family night. This included a game, a movie, popcorn, hot chocolate and these adorable coasters (for the hot chocolate, of course). I’m not the kind of person that can find an adorable craft on Pinterest and make it come to life, so […]

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Homemade Sugar-Free Marinara Sauce

By on April 1, 2016 in Main Dishes

20150814_192438Prepare yourselves for a rant. As I’ve mentioned one, two or a million times, I get so angry when companies add sugar to things that don’t need sugar. Fruit is my biggest pet peeve (and why do we need to add sugar to nature’s sugar?), but sauces drive me crazy. A few weeks ago, I was making spaghetti for my family. I tried to buy some marinara sauce only to find they all had added sugar. Most have 5-7 grams of sugar per serving. As I was slamming jars back on teh shelves of the grocery store, I said to myself, (or possibly aloud. Going shopping with kids gives you a good excuse to talk to yourself while making it look like you’re talking to your kids) “I’ll make my own marinara sauce!” And I did. But my marinara sauce has less than two grams of sugar per serving. That’s just my way of sticking it to the man; or at least, sticking it to Ragu.

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Healthy One-Pot Italian Sausage Soup

By on March 25, 2016 in Main Dishes

2016-01-14 17.59.03It’s spring and I live in the Rockies. That means one day it will be 70 degrees and the next day, 30. And when it’s cold, I want soup. And this soup totally delivers on flavor. It has two, yes TWO different sausages. This is an important component in our house as my 5-year-old daughter’s favorite food is either sausage or bacon, depending on the day of the week. This also comes together in one pot which makes clean-up much easier.

Start by cooking the pepper and onion in avocado oil in a large pot. Then add in some ground Italian chicken sausage and cook it through. Add in some diced tomatoes and chicken broth and now sliced smoked turkey sausage.

Now the part that really makes it fabulous: pesto. Stir in 1/2 C of basil pesto. I use a pre-made pesto but feel free to make your own.

Let this all simmer together and then throw in some zucchini at the end and let if cook a bit longer. This keeps the zucchini from going mushy.

 

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Thrift Store Candle Stand Makeover

By on February 16, 2016 in Crafts

A few weeks ago I was in a home decorating store. I saw some beautiful, brightly colored candle pillar stands and wanted them for my fireplace. I had visions of myself sitting on my couch in front of my fireplace, looking like the cover of a magazine with my beautiful candles. Then I looked at the […]

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Perfect Mashed Sweet Potatoes

By on December 18, 2015 in Side Dishes

When I was a little girl, my mom tried to give me a sweet potato for dinner. After tears, screaming and a fair amount of pouting, it was accepted in our house that I did not like sweet potatoes. I lived for years thinking this to be true until one day I decided to be daring and eat a sweet potato. It was like making a new best friend. Since that day we buy a large bag of sweet potatoes every week. We eat them as fries, as cubes, roasted, in potato salad, in breads and pancakes, baked and loaded, and most popularly, mashed. Mashed sweet potatoes serve as a great component to a lot of dishes. You can use them as a side dish or a base for meatballs or stew. After trial and error, I’ve found the best way to make mashed sweet potatoes.

You can cook the sweet potatoes by boiling them or baking them whole. I usually boil them.  Just peel, cube and boil them until they’re tender.

Then mash them with the coconut oil, milk and seasonings. They’re so easy and delicious! My 5-year-old does not like regular potatoes, but loves these mashed sweet potatoes. Enjoy your Christmas sweet potatoes!

 

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No Sugar Hot Apple Cider

By on December 11, 2015 in Guilt-Free Treats, Holidays

Apple cider is fabulous for many reasons. I love to use it in bbq recipes, it makes the house smell great while it’s cooking and it’s so fun to drink on a cold day. Sadly, most apple ciders, homemade or bottled are packed with sugar. This is one of my pet peeves [Warning: Rant ahead]. Why do we always need to add sugar into fruit. Fruit is nature’s sugar. It’s naturally sweet. It doesn’t need sugar! [Rant complete… for now].

This apple cider combines all the things that make apple cider so delicious, without the added sugar. Plus it’s a slow cooker recipe so you can let it brew all day and come home to amazing smells.

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Add the apple juice to a small slow cooker. We like Motts Tots. It has half the sugar of other apple juices, which makes this even lower in sugar than it would otherwise. But use your favorite apple juice, as long as it’s 100% juice.

Slice the orange and add it to the slow cooker along with the rest of the ingredients. Now just let it simmer on low for at least 4 hours. If we want it the next morning, Waking up to that smell makes life better, no matter what else happens the rest of the day.

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