Knead to Cook

Food & fitness obsessed girl.

Banana Peanut Butter Yogurt Smoothie with a twist.

by Filed Under: Breakfast, Brunch, Evolution Power Yoga 40 Days, Fruit, Gluten Free, No bake/cooking required!, Smoothies, Snacks, Vegetarian, Vitamix, Wheat Free, Yogurt 4 Comments

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Can’t get your kids to eat “good” foods?  How about sneaking them in to what they love?  I posted a recipe for a smoothie a few months ago that had an avocado in it and I had several people email me questioning the taste and my sanity.  Ha!  Then they tried it on their 2, 3 and 4 year olds and guess what… the kids were asking for more!  Now I don’t go telling my kids what I put in their smoothies because then they would complain or not drink them.  Today was the perfect example… my oldest daughter went to the gym yesterday to workout with my 75 year old dad.  He kicked her tush!  I got a text this morning that stated simply “I’m broken.”  Ha ha.  Now, I shouldn’t laugh but every day of my life I have a sore muscle or muscles.  The constant pursuit of fitness will yield these results.  So with a chuckle, I knew I had to make her a nice big protein smoothie to help her sore muscles rebuild.  She, along with the workers that I have in my house today installing our pool table, all gobbled it down and loved it.  None the wiser of the ingredients!

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— Knead to Cook

Fast, fresh tomato sauce.

by Filed Under: Evolution Power Yoga 40 Days, Gluten Free, Pasta, Sauces, Vegetarian, Wheat Free 2 Comments

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Just back from an awesome 12 day vacation (my Cabot posting will be up this week as it may take days to download all of the pictures from my fun race weekend in Maine) and inundated with fresh tomatoes from the garden.  Today, as it always seems to be as we return back from vacationing in August – was filled with school shopping on the brain.  I had one child done and just received the other’s list for supplies.  So after many errands today, I had just enough time to whip up my down and dirty tomato sauce.  No roasting tomatoes here… just a quick, fabulously fresh sauce that you can top your veggie or whole wheat pasta with and enjoy with a loaf of crusty bread and a glass of wine.  I love a good sauce you can make and just let simmer on the stove while you do a million other things… and that is just what was needed today.

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— Knead to Cook

Gazpacho.

by Filed Under: Appetizers, Evolution Power Yoga 40 Days, Gluten Free, Mexican, No bake/cooking required!, Party Foods, Soups, Vegetarian, Vitamix, Wheat Free 4 Comments

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I love making vegetarian dinners for my family.  It’s important to me to do this a few times a week.  This one, I admit, is super easy when you have a bounty of fresh tomatoes flowing from the garden daily.  I typically make salsa or roast my tomatoes for sauce but I thought it would be a nice night for a cold soup with some crusty bread and tons of flavor!  If you love salsa, you will totally flip over this soup.  Also, great to make the night before or a few hours before dinner and let the flavors mingle while chilling.  Also great for an appetizer idea served in tall, thin glasses as shooters.  You can top this with fresh sliced jalapeños or cold shrimp would be perfection too!  Plus another great thing about this recipe, no heating up your kitchen and preparation is super fast!   Vegan.

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— Knead to Cook

Shrimp Salsa.

by Filed Under: Appetizers, Dips, Evolution Power Yoga 40 Days, Fish, Gluten Free, Mexican, No bake/cooking required!, Party Foods, Salsas & Guacamole, Seafood, Side dish, Snacks, Vegetarian, Wheat Free Leave a Comment

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Lately I haven’t been eating any meat, actually it’s been quite a few months since I have.  I haven’t had a taste for it so I adjust my sails and go forward.  I’m sadly not a seafood lover but I do love, and have since I was pregnant with my oldest 15 years ago, cold shrimp.  Not cooked shrimp, it has to be cold.  I actually think I love the spicy cocktail sauce more than anything (the shrimp being a venue to get that to my mouth) but as of late, I started venturing out of my comfort zone and this little dish is now one of my favorites that I cannot stop eating.  Hashtag addictive!  Ha ha.  This is the perfect salsa to serve with tortilla chips, as a side or straight up out of the bowl like I do it.  It is so good and so refreshing.  It also proves my point once again, clean eating can be easy, quite tasty and fun.  Plus the longer this has to sit in the fridge, the tastier it becomes.  Easiest recipe ever!

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— Knead to Cook

Dried Fava Bean Hummus.

by Filed Under: Appetizers, Condiments, Dips, Evolution Power Yoga 40 Days, Gluten Free, Indian-inspired., Party Foods, Snacks, Stocks/Broths, Vegetarian, Vitamix, Wheat Free 4 Comments

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I often buy bags of beans (thanks to Bob’s Red Mill) that look interesting or something I haven’t tried before.  Now I’ve eaten fresh fava beans but never dried so I grabbed the bag and vowed to make something this week (and not let it get buried in the back of pantry never to be seen again).  This is a crazy (yes, another) week with three swim meets, one of which we are hosting amongst construction in our house, training and our swim banquet.  My eye is twitching in stress as I type this (ha ha).  So in my free hour that I was blessed with today, I grabbed the beans and cooked them according to the package directions.  It only took about 40 minutes.  The texture is similar to a baked potato when done.  They are packed with protein, fiber and iron!  Perfect as I haven’t been eating meat in the past few months.  And this is what I did with them after draining…

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— Knead to Cook

Overnight Peanut Butter and Banana Oats. {no cooking or baking.}

by Filed Under: Breakfast, Brunch, Evolution Power Yoga 40 Days, Fruit, Gluten Free, No bake/cooking required!, Nuts, Vegetarian 11 Comments

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I need to add more oats to my diet.  I am a total creature of habit.  I pretty much have the same breakfast and lunch every day.  I needed to mix it up – variety is the spice of life, right?  I kept seeing overnight oats everywhere I looked – like a subliminal message, I thought I would make a batch last night (after three days away in three states for a short holiday) and see how it tasted.  Well as you may or many not know, I’ve been clean eating for about 8-9 months.  Avoiding pretty much anything processed, loaded with preservatives, meat and striving to be as clean as possible.  Okay enough about that!  So I wanted to add only clean ingredients to my overnight refrigerated oatmeal.  It took me about 2 minutes to assemble and have in the fridge.  I anxiously awaited the morning and the taste test… to be continued.

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— Knead to Cook

Corn, Quinoa, Cilantro and Avocado Salad.

by Filed Under: Cheese, Evolution Power Yoga 40 Days, Gluten Free, Party Foods, Salads, Side dish, Vegetarian 8 Comments

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Happy Meatless Monday!

I’ve been sharing my healthy journey with everyone for quite some time.  I’ve been focusing on eating more and more vegetarian dishes because I just haven’t had a taste for meat.  This salad is one of the reasons why… all fresh ingredients, I just don’t miss the meat.  This salad encapsulates summer with all of the freshness without any heavy ingredients to weigh you down.  Perfect to make ahead for a party too!  You can make this vegan by omitting the cheese if you wish as well.  I wanted to try out some new Cabot lactose free cheddar and decided to use it in this salad – it was so good.  You can also sub out fresh mozzarella if you wish.  And if you are a staunch carnivore… this is the perfect side dish to pair up alongside fish, pork, chicken or beef.
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— Knead to Cook

Blueberry Pineapple Oatmeal Smoothie.

by Filed Under: Beverages, Breakfast, Evolution Power Yoga 40 Days, Smoothies, Snacks, Vitamix, Yogurt 26 Comments

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We are in the throngs of swimming in our house.  That means late night meets and early morning practices.  I’ll admit, it takes a toll.  My kids rolls out of bed in the morning exhausted and not wanting to eat breakfast.  This is the perfect way to get them packed with protein, vitamins and minerals without them really paying that much attention to it.  These serve as a great pre or post workout meal, snack, lunch etc.  Add a handful of spinach or kale for more added punch (I promise you won’t taste it!).  Adapt whatever fruit you have on hand and make it your own.

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— Knead to Cook

Strawberry & Peanut Butter Protein Smoothie.

by Filed Under: Beverages, Breakfast, Evolution Power Yoga 40 Days, Fruit, Gluten Free, No bake/cooking required!, Smoothies, Vegetarian, Vitamix 1 Comment

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It’s been a bountiful strawberry season for our garden.  Huge bowls of strawberries are being filtered into my kitchen daily.  So after my run this morning, I thought I would whip up a breakfast smoothie for my girls and I thought a peanut butter &  strawberry (a take-off of pb and j) would be a fun.  My girls loved it and drank them down in record time.  Packed with fruit, which provides necessary vitamins and energy, protein for muscles – its a great way to start the day.  A lower calorie option would be to replace the peanut butter with dried peanut butter (4 tablespoons) to reduce the fat/calories.

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— Knead to Cook

Banana Almond Butter Ice Cream. {Dairy-free.}

by Filed Under: 4th of July/Patriotic, Evolution Power Yoga 40 Days, Featured, Fruit, Ice cream, Vegetarian, Vitamix, Wheat Free 15 Comments

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We all have them… the bananas on our kitchen counter that are starting to spoil right in front of our eyes.  I buy so many bananas at the farmer’s market for smoothies and snacks, invariably some remain that look rather dismal and taunt me.  I typically freeze them (for future use) or I whip up some banana bread but with soaring 90 degree temps this week – I thought I would blend them up with some almond butter and make some healthy ice cream.  This recipe is so insanely easy and customizable – you will fall in love, fast & hard for this treat!

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— Knead to Cook