Snack Attack! - Endurance Crackers and Roasted Red Pepper Hummus

I have a new favorite snack. It's high protein, high fiber, gluten free, nut free, dairy free, vegan, and totally delicious.  Looking back at that sentence, I should have put "totally delicious" first if I were going in order of importance. Because who wants to eat healthy food if it doesn't taste good, right? :)

From left to right: Endurance Crackers- adapted from OhSheGlows.com, and Roasted Red Pepper Hummus, recipe from my sister-in-law, Becky. Hi Becky. Thank you! :)

Added endorsement for the crackers (which are an adaptation of a knockoff  ;D) : 

*My 10 year old will totally scarf these crackers.

*My husband took them to work today, and the guys in the office were asking for the recipe so their wives could make them. 

Endurance Crackers - adapted from Angela Liddon at OhSheGlows.com

See the original here

I didn't change much on this recipe. I simply substituted uncooked quinoa for the sesame seeds because that's what I had on hand - and I don't really care for sesame seeds.

Yield: 22 large crackers

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup chia seeds
• 1/2 cup sunflower seeds
• 1/2 cup pepita seeds (or pumpkin seeds)
• 1/2 cup uncooked quinoa
• 1 cup water
• 1 large garlic clove, finely grated
• 1 tsp grated sweet onion
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 1 tsp Herbamare - any other dried herbs you'd like
• 2 dashes kelp granules (optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 325F and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. In a large bowl, mix the seeds and quinoa together. In a small bowl, mix the water, grated garlic, grated onion, salt, herbamare, and kelp granules. Whisk well. Pour the water mixture onto the seeds and stir until thick and combined.  (It usually takes 2 or 3 minutes for the chia seeds to absorb the water and make the mixture thick.)
3. Spread the mixture onto the prepared baking sheet with the back of a spoon until it’s less than 1/4 inch thick. Not to worry if a couple parts become too thin, you can just patch them up.
4. Bake at 325F for 30 minutes. Remove from oven, slice into crackers, carefully flip onto other side with a spatula. Bake for another 30 minutes, watching closely after about 25 minutes. The bottoms will be lightly golden in color. Allow to cool completely on the pan. Store in a container or plastic baggie.

Check out all that high fiber, delicious seedy goodness in those crackers!

And for the second recipe:

Roasted Red Pepper Hummus - taken from Becky Greene

2 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
2 Tbsp tahini
1 clove garlic
15 oz can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
¼ C water
1 C roasted red bell pepper (about 2 big peppers)
½ tsp ground cumin
½ tsp salt
½ tsp honey

Directions:

1. Clean peppers. Cut into a few pieces. Put peppers and garlic clove on a cookie sheet and broil until sides blacken and it smells good. (About 7-10 minutes)

2. Add all ingredients to blender and puree until desired consistency.

3. Scarf down like there's no tomorrow. (Okay, I added that step. :D)

She's also done this hummus with black beans instead of garbanzo beans, and it's equally delicious. Go ahead. Try it out. Prove me wrong. ;)

And for those of you who like the menu plans, I plan on getting one up by the end of the week. I have it written out, I just want to test 2 of the recipes before I pass them on to you. :)

Oatmeal Spice Whole Grain Pancakes Recipe

Did you know that today is National Pancake Day? At least, according to IHOP, it is.

I was driving home from Zumba this morning and an ad came on for a free short stack of pancakes at IHOP since it's National Pancake Day.

And while I'm normally a fan of anything free, our closest IHOP is 30 minutes away. And I knew I could make much healthier pancakes here at home.

These babies are what I came up with.

I shouldn't call them babies. Because they are not petite. They are stick to your ribs, belly filling pancakes. My husband even referred to this video.  (Disclaimer - my pancakes do NOT have tofu in them :D )

Anyway, here's the recipe. I love them and will definitely be making them again!


Oatmeal Spice Whole Grain Pancakes
by Shana Galbraith

2 cups whole wheat flour

1 1/2 cup Spelt Flour   (or you can use all whole wheat - but they'll be more dense)

1/2 c oatmeal - uncooked

1/4 cup flaxseed meal

1 packet truvia

2 Tbsp wheat bran

 3 tsp baking powder

1 tsp sea salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp ground ginger

4 tbsp coconut oil

3 cups water

1 cups unsweetened vanilla almond milk

Mix dry ingredients together. Then add coconut oil, water, and almond milk. Whisk together well.
Use a 1/4 cup measuring cup to ladle pancakes on a griddle, heated to medium / medium high.
Cook until bubbles form. Flip pancakes over. Cook for 2 minutes more, or until pancakes are heated through.

Serve with agave nectar, honey, or syrup. Yum!

Meatless Monday - Super Easy Enchiladas

I don't know what your Mondays are like, but mine are catch up days from the weekend.

Catch up on laundry.
Catch up on Etsy emails.
Catch up on housework.
Catch up on exercise.
Catch up on everything.


So when it comes to dinner, I want something super easy and low effort.

Once again, low quality phone photo. Sorry. :)

This meal is fabulous for that. It's probably not one of the healthiest meals I do, because I do use storebought Enchilada sauce, and I use quite a bit of cheese. (Normally I try to keep my animal product intake to 10% or less of my total diet. )

Bad photo. Lots of yummy cheese.

But - it's super easy - and my kids (age 5 and 7 ) loved to help with this one.

So, without further ado, here's the recipe:

Super Easy Meatless Monday Enchiladas
by Shana Galbraith

8 to 10 whole wheat tortillas (You can make your own with this super easy recipe )
1 can fat free refried beans (I use the fat free so they don't contain any lard or canola oil )
1.5 cups cooked brown rice (I had leftovers from earlier in the week)
1 can enchilada sauce (I used La Victoria mild)
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

1. Spray 9x13 baking pan with olive oil spray. Preheat oven to 375F.

2. Spread 2 Tbsp (approx) refried beans on a tortilla. Add 4 or 5 spoonfuls rice. Roll up tortilla. Place in baking pan.  Repeat 8 to 10 times.

3. Top all rolled tortillas with can of enchilada sauce. Then sprinkle mozzarella cheese all over the top.

4. Cover pan with tin foil and bake for 30 minutes at 375F.

Serve with lettuce, tomato, and sour cream, if desired.

Green Smoothie Girl's Homemade Whole Wheat Flax tortillas

So, I saw this recipe in Green Smoothie Girl's 12 Steps to Whole Foods. Which can be pretty pricey. But I got mine free by buying my Blendtec through Greensmoothie girl. You can do the same if you decide to buy a Blendtec. That's a $70 value, free. Okay - I'll stop now before I sound like an infomercial.

Anyway, on to the tortillas! They are not that hard to make, and they are SO much better for you. No preservatives, artificial gunk, etc. And they're whole grain with the added benefit of flax meal. Muy delicioso!

I did modify a couple of things, but I stuck to the recipe for the most part.
And they're good tortillas. My family loved them. :)

Green Smoothie Girl's Whole Wheat Flax Tortillas
adaptations made by Shana

5½ C whole-wheat flour
½ C freshly ground flax seeds (I just used Whole Ground Flaxseed Meal )
½ tsp. aluminum-free baking powder (I love Rumford brand)
2 Tbsp. seasoning (powdered garlic, powdered sage, chili powder are some options - I used taco seasoning)
1 tsp. sea salt
6 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
3 C warm water

1. Mix the dry ingredients, then add the wet. If it’s too dry, add more water a spoonful at a time. Mix until a ball forms. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and let stand for 10 minutes.

2. Separate the dough into 20 pieces and form into balls. Roll each ball into a very thin 10" circle. Stack them on plate and cover with a damp cloth. (Here, I just rolled each ball into a circle one at a time when I was ready for them instead of rolling them all out first. It worked nicely because by the time I had a new one rolled, the previous one was ready to flip.)

3. Preheat a griddle to medium-high. Place the dough rounds on the griddle (ungreased), flipping when air
pockets form and piercing the air bubbles. Tortillas are done when they are golden on both sides.

4. Use immediately or store in a Ziploc bag in the fridge or freezer.

If you like this recipe, head on over to greensmoothiegirl.com for more great tips, recipes, etc. I LOVE her site.



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Jamba Juice Orange Berry Blitz knockoff

I LOVE me some Jamba Juice.

So, I decided to try my hand at making one at home.

And I figured out how to:

1. Make it taste almost identical to my favorite flavor, Orange Berry Blitz (which they have discontinued, but you can still request they make it for you)
2. Make it cheaper at home
3. Make it 10 times healthier by omitting the sherbet, and adding kale, flax meal, spinach, and chia seeds - which you can't even taste!

Yay!

Please forgive the crappy photo - one day I'll improve. Maybe. :)

So, without further ado, here's my recipe for a DIY Orange Berry Blitz.  My kids love it, and my husband claims it's better than the Jamba Juice Original.

Enjoy!

Knockoff Orange Berry Blitz 
by Shana Galbraith

2 cups orange juice ( I used calcium fortified)
1 cup Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk
1 large leaf kale
2 large handfuls spinach
(Blend here to make more room for extra goodies)
Then add:
1 packet Truvia
1 Tbsp Ground Flaxseed Meal
1 Tbsp Chia Seeds
1 cup frozen blueberries
1.5 cups frozen strawberries
1 cup ice
Blend again.

This made enough to serve all 5 in my family - but 3 of them were kids :)  - and their portion sizes were smaller. I'd say it would make 2 very generous adult sized servings.


1 Serving =
300 calories
6.2 g fat
11.1 g fiber (44% of your daily needs! :D)
6.9 g protein
120% RDA of Vitamin A
326% RDA of Vitamin C
31% RDA of Calcium
22% RDA of Iron
It's also high in Manganese and Potassium

Take that, breakfast cereal!


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