healthy Reese's cup

• 2 scoops of vanilla or chocolate whey protein (both are delicious however chocolate makes them tastes like a Reese’s cup)
• 2 large tablespoons of natural peanut butter
• 1 tsp of honey

Take a fork and beat it all together, roll them in balls and put in a container lined with wax paper. Refrigerate.

Sweet and Sour Meatballs

Had the missionaries over and served this, they loved it.

http://www.melskitchencafe.com/2009/02/sweet-and-sour-meatballs.html

Southwest Black Bean Chicken Chili

Very easy to prepare!

http://www.melskitchencafe.com/2011/03/southwestern-chicken-barley-chili.html

Salad

Peel 1 large sweet tater + chop into bite-sized pieces.

Place in a small bowl, drizzle with real maple syrup, ground flax, cinnamon + coarse sea salt. Mix to coat.

Spray baking sheet with olive oil and bake in a preheated 350* for appox. 30 minutes. Then place your hot taters atop a hefty portion of lettuce/spinach, avocado, red onion, squash/Zucchini and anything else that sounds good! Finish it off with a drizzle of olive oil + balsamic and fresh black pepper.

Sweet tater and black bean balls

Sweet Tater + Black Bean Balls

• 1/2 sweet potato, mashed
• 1/2 c. black beans, rinsed + drained
• 3 T salsa
• ground flax

To cook the potato, pierce with a fork and then microwave for appox. 6 minutes until tender. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350*. Combine the mashed potato, black beans, and salsa in a small bowl. Roll into balls [should make between 6-8]. Spread the flax onto a flat surface and roll each ball in the seeds, to coat. Place on a greased baking sheet + let cook for about 20 minutes, depending on size. Enjoy with sour cream or Greek yogurt – yum!

Beef Stroganoff

Can be served over rice or potatoes!
http://www.melskitchencafe.com/2008/04/the-ultimate-beef-stroganoff.html

Peanut butter banana frozen yogurt pops

1 1/2 bananas, frozen + cut into 1-inch chunks (Peel bananas and put into ziplock bag and then stick in freezer)
1 (6-oz.) plain Greek yogurt
1/4 cup peanut butter chips (or 2 T peanut butter)
1 t ground cinnamon
a drizzle of agave syrup or a tablespoon of sugar

In a food processor or blend tec blender, blend the bananas until they reach an ice cream-like consistency. This should take between 3 – 4 minutes. Add in the rest of your ingredients, and blend well.

In a popsicle mold or small paper Dixie cups, pour the mixture.

Place a popsicle stick or spoon in each cup, and place in the freezer for at least 3 – 4 hours.

Makes 2 large popsicles or 4 small popsicles

Almond flour pancakes

1 1/2 cups almond meal*
3 eggs
1/4 cup milk of your choice
1 t vanilla extract
2 T maple syrup
1/2 t baking soda
1/4 t salt
1 t ground cinnamon

*almond meal can be made by pulsing raw, blanched almonds in your food processor/blend tec blender until they are finely ground and look something like this

Mix all the ingredients well.

In a medium fry pan or skillet over medium-low heat, spray the surface with cooking spray and dollop 2 heaping T of batter per pancake. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes or until golden brown, and then cook an additional 1 to 2 minutes on the other side.

Top with garnishes of your choice (i.e. nut butter, bananas, berries, maple syrup, agave syrup, cinnamon + sugar, whipped cream, Greek yogurt).

Makes 10 pancakes

Found another blog!

Because yes, sometimes work really is that slow!

http://www.thehealthyeverythingtarian.com/?page_id=1585

Apple Cinnamon Quinoa

1/2 cup water
1/2 cup vanilla soymilk or whatever you have in your fridge!
1/2 t pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup quinoa
1 large Braeburn, Fuji or Gala apple, diced
1 T honey
1/2 t cinnamon
Pinch nutmeg
1/4 cup almonds & walnuts, crushed

To make quinoa, mix water, soymilk, vanilla and quinoa, and cook in your rice cooker.

Just before serving, microwave the diced apple for 1 minute (should be slightly softened and warmed). Mix the apple, honey, cinnamon and nutmeg with the cooked quinoa.

To serve, divide into two bowls and top with the crushed nuts. Add a dollop of Greek yogurt, sprinkle of cinnamon and a drizzle of honey, and enjoy!

Fresh Tomato/Tortilla Soup

Must be made with fresh tomatoes from the garden!

4 medium fresh tomatoes (1.5 lbs), quartered

1 medium onion, quartered

olive oil spray

6 (7 inch) corn tortillas

6 large cloves garlic, finely chopped

8 cups chicken or vegetable broth

1/4 cup tomato paste

1 TBSP chopped cilantro

1 TBSP ground cumin

1/2 TBSP chili powder

2 small bay leaves

salt to taste

1 small ripe avocado, peeled and diced

1/3 cup cheddar cheese (optional)

In a food processor, puree tomatoes and onions until smooth. Finely coat the bottom of a sauce pan with olive oil spray. Take 3 of the corn tortillas and shred them into bite size pieces, add them to the sauce pan with the garlic and sautee for 2-3 minutes. Add tomatoes and onion mixture. Add chicken broth, tomato paste, cilantro, cumin, chili powder and bay leaves. Bring to a boil and reduce heat. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes. Remove and discard bay leaves. Season with salt as needed.

While soup is cooking, preheat oven to 350. Take the other 3 tortillas and cut them into strips, brush with olive oil. Bake for 10-12 minutes shaking the pan occasionally until the strips are crispy. Set aside.

Ladle soup into bowls and top with tortillas strips, avocado and cheese.

Rainbow jello/The food librarian

http://foodlibrarian.blogspot.com/ (AWESOME IDEAS!)

This is Easier than it may seem.

1. Jello.
2. Sweetened Condensed Milk.
3. Knox Gelatin.

For each layer:
3 ounces of Jello. (3 oz is a small 4-serving box. Blue and Purple flavors come in larger 6 oz. boxes - I use my scale and weigh out 3 oz or just measure half the package.

1/2 package of Knox gelatin.

1 cup boiling water

Mix until totally dissolved.

In a separate glass measuring cup (or bowl), empty 1 can of sweetened condensed milk (don't use evaporated milk, 1 can is about 1 cup of milk). Add enough boiling water to make 2 cups of liquid. (this doesn't have to be exact!)

Add 1/2 cup of the milky mixture to the dissolved colored jello.

Pour into pan and let set for about 30 minutes in fridge

Continue for other colors. You can make up to 4 layers with the 2 cups of milky mixture.

You can use whatever colors you want!

no bake cookies

1 cube butter

2 cups sugar

1/2 cup milk

1/4 cup cocoa

Stir together in a medium sauce pan, bring ingredients to a boil for 1 minute. Remove from heat then add:

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup peanut butter

3 1/2 cups rolled oats

Mix together then return to burner for 1 minute. Drop by spoonfulls onto wax paper or aluminum foil. Cool to set.

tofu quinoa stir fry

I'm no good with measuring-I do much better throwing a bunch of stuff together. So you do the same!

Quinoa (cooked in rice cooker)

Mix together in frying pan:

Veggies- frozen or fresh

a little bit of soy sauce

Tofu or chicken

After thats all done, throw the quinoa in the frying pan and then eat.

Name...? fast and easy

1/4 C. brown rice

1/4 C. Beans (black or kidney or mixed...)

1/2 avacado

Tofu (if you like! optional) or chicken

add some hummus to the side

oatmeal

Oatmeal with 1/3 C. almond milk. Banana and walnuts on top. Sprinkle on some cinnamon too. So simple and easy. healthy food can be fast! Sometimes I add 1 tbspoon of almond butter and stir it in.

Tomato avacado salad

I don't know why I don't eat this kind of stuff more often. Easy. Tomatoes, avacado and a little bit of sea salt.

POWER-PACKED GRANOLA CEREAL

POWER-PACKED Granola cereal

• 1/3 c rolled oats (regular oats would work too)
• 1 t sunflower seeds
• 1 t shelled pumpkin seeds
• Dried fruit of your choice
• 1 T chopped raw walnuts

Combine all ingredients and top with milk. I used unsweetened vanilla almond milk and it was so good!

14 layer cake

KATIE! Can we try this with a pamelas or betty crocker mix, please?! YUMMY!

http://www.bakerella.com/fourteen-for-the-fourteenth/

B-A-N-A-N-A-S

I haven't tried this yet, but I saw it on yahoo recipes and i'm really excited to try them!

Banana Salsa
Make a quick salsa with 2 diced peeled bananas, 2 tablespoons minced red onion, 1 tablespoon mincedcilantro, 1 teaspoon minced serrano or jalepeno pepper, juice of 1 lime, and brown sugar and salt to taste. Use it to top fish or tacos... ect...

Broiled Bananas

Slice 1 peeled banana in half lengthwise. Put banana pieces, cut sides up, on a rimmed baking sheet. Sprinkle the banana pieces with 1 teaspoon brown sugar, and broil on high until the sugar bubbles and the bananas brown (about 2–3 minutes). After broiling, sprinkle with cinnamon—or drizzle with 1 teaspoon rumfor an extra-special treat.

apple oatmeal

Back to pureeing... I pureed some apples and then froze it in a ice cube tray. Then made oatmeal and added the apple ice cubes to melt in the hot oatmeal... Then sprinkled some nutmeg and cinnamon onto it. YUM! It was like adding the apple butter to it. So good. I didn't even have to add sugar or anything.

Oatmeal: Cook one cup of oats with two cups of water. Bring to boil, then simmer for a few minutes. To help cool off the oatmeal to give to a hungry child, add three or four cubes of apple puree. This will cool the oatmeal and add a nice sweet taste without adding sugar.