Food & fitness obsessed girl.
I love LOVE love salsa. Even better… summer fruit salsa! I don’t even need chips for this salsa and admittedly, I can down the entire bowl of it on my own. The mix of sweet, crunchy, spicy… and mix that with balsamic vinegar ~ a slice of summery heaven.
— Knead to Cook
The hot weather has my mind going right to salsa. I’m known, in my close circle of friends for my tomato salsa. Seriously, I think my friends just come over to eat it first then enjoy our friendship on a secondary level. Ha ha. I always make salsas, margaritas and we enjoy relaxing nights around the fire pit making s’mores and enjoying the warm weather. Well this is my first batch of healthy salsa for the season. It’s light. Refreshing. Not heavy and packed with vitamins and much needed protein. I eat this by the bowl full for lunch or dinner. I require so little in life to be happy.
This would make a great side dish salad or served with tortilla chips as a salsa. It’s quite versatile. Totally vegan and gluten free. No nuts. Perfect dish to take to a party. No fuss because this beautiful dish whips up in seconds and can be made all with frozen veggies (like I did).
— Knead to Cook
Three days into the flu and I’m starting to feel human again. Race day is Sunday and I’m still torn if I’m doing it or not. I’m hoping to do it just at a slower pace but get back out there. Who has ever heard of getting the flu in April? My doc thinks that I have a milder case and that the Tamiflu will help but he wasn’t sure about race day either. I’m done with my meds on Saturday. We shall see. Fingers crossed.
Well I whipped this quick white bean chili recipe up on Tuesday after I saw the doc. It was so easy and I knew that way my family would have a nice dinner on the table even if I buried under the covers in my bed warding off the chills. The dinner was really tasty – I had it for lunch yesterday. Perfect Meatless Monday idea or anytime you need a quick dinner without a lot of effort.
— Knead to Cook
I’ve developed a fond love of cashew cream as of late. It’s incredibly easy to whip up and is one of the most versatile concoctions you can have in your kitchen. From adding maple syrup for sweet recipes to Sriracha sauce for hot and spicy. Use this as a substitution anywhere you use heavy cream. It’s perfect for anyone who is lactose intolerant because it has no dairy. The cream is actually made from cashews. 100% vegan. Gluten free. I love sharing fun, easy and super simple recipes with you. This one is perfect!
I served this up as an appetizer with fresh veggies – English cucumbers, raw asparagus, jicama and carrot sticks. My kids were also dipping pretzel crisps in it. Perfect for the Sriracha lover!
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— Knead to Cook
Happy Monday! I cannot believe it’s the last day of March! Seriously, where did this month go? Wow. Well it looks like I’ll be battling my husband’s cold he shared with me as we approach April, which is fine as the weather looks to be improving on the East Coast. I have so many recipes that I have backlogged to share with you all. Make sure you check back often as a new recipe will be posted each day Monday through Friday.
Today I thought I would pick a Meatless Monday selection that I made last week. It was a cross between a soup I make and one from my newly purchased cookbook Oh She Glows (which I highly recommend if you are vegan or are looking for delicious plant-based recipes). This recipe is super easy and flexible. You can add or delete as you go and customize to your needs. This soup is great for Meatless Mondays if you try to do a meatless day during the week. If not, cook some ground turkey or beef and add it for a meat version.
Super filling and protein/vitamin rich! I served this with sprouted sweet potato tortilla chips for dipping and crunching. My family (kids included) all loved this!
— Knead to Cook
I’ve been a long time fan of the blog Oh She Glows – Angela is a pioneer in the world of vegan blogging. She has been very open about her food struggles and successes and her first cookbook is wildly successful and fabulous. My husband bought this for me and I’m determined to work my way through many of the recipes and share them with you. I think so many people fear the word vegan thinking that food is crazy, bland, boring, cardboard-like, tofu or something disgusting and that couldn’t be farther from the truth. Plus each recipe can be customized to you and your family’s preference.
I made this recipe yesterday and it came together quite fast. My oldest is going through lifeguard training and she tries to eat earlier because she hates to have a full stomach while swimming (which I can understand). I had this in the oven and it only took about 15 minutes to finish up. From there I set my oven to the warm setting and served it as my family arrived home for dinner. For my youngest, who isn’t a fan of cheese, I left it vegan – for my father and husband I added shredded Cabot hot jalapeño cheddar and some diced avocado. Totally customizable!
This recipe is based on Oh She Glow’s Tex Mex Casserole but with my interpretation.
— Knead to Cook
Taco Tuesday is a staple in my house. My kids have requested it forever and now it’s a staple… at least for the most part. We missed Tuesday this week due to my daughter’s swim banquet for high school but I made up for it on Wednesday. Having a taco “bar” is easy when your family has a divided diet as mine does. My husband recently adopted a vegetarian diet, much like myself but my girls and father all eat meat. Having a multitude of toppings makes it easy if your a vegan, vegetarian or meat lover to happily partake in this fun theme dinner.
— Knead to Cook
Corn bread is one of those things that just pairs up with chili so perfectly. Nothing else really fills that void. Like chocolate and peanut butter – there is no better match. So on Monday I made a batch of vegan veggie and bean chili and that coincidentally meant that I had to whip up a batch of my healthy corn bread. I’ve been mixing this recipe up trying to make it healthier v. my standard I’ve always used and this one was good enough to “blog” about. Plus with the addition of Greek yogurt… it has protein, which as a vegetarian, I really focus hard on getting enough in my diet. No oils, butters necessary!
This comes together pretty fast and then you need to bake. I like it a bit on the toastier side of golden but you can certainly adjust your baking time and once the bread is done (insert a toothpick to check) you can remove it. Let it cool for a few minutes then serve it up. My family loves it with honey butter (mix butter with a few teaspoons of raw honey or maple syrup) until blended. I’ve always loved corn bread muffins… the graininess and texture captured my attention during a college internship many years ago and I’ve remained a devout fan. I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we have and make it the next time you whip up a batch of your favorite chili.
— Knead to Cook
Chili is one of those super comforting meals for me and I have many, many recipes for different versions. To me… it’s the perfect Monday meal – I have no idea why… probably because I can fix it and walk away. I love dinners that are ready when you are with little fuss. Yesterday I woke up thinking it was Sunday -admittedly, this was NOT good as it was Monday and the start of the week. I lost a weekend day because Sunday our swim team hosted the longest Championship meet (or what seemed to be) and it was just draining after months of preparation.
So yesterday was Meatless Monday and I was really craving a big bowl of chili. Monday was also our very first night since September that we didn’t have swim practice or commitment so it was lovely to make dinner, do homework and just chill out for the night. Tonight we celebrate our freshman swimmer at her high school banquet and her earning her very first letter and once again, off we go. Very thankful we have leftovers from last night! This recipes yields about 10 servings.
This recipe can easily be adapted if you wish to have it with meat by adding ground turkey or beef (cooked) to it. It is already protein-packed with beans and was so filling that you honestly won’t miss the animal protein if you go that route. This recipe took me about 8 minutes to prepare and I let it slow cook in my crock pot for 4-6 hours and just served it up once everyone was home. Also makes great leftovers.
— Knead to Cook
This was our dinner from Monday but after a week of pure madness with the weather again, I’m finally sitting down to blog about it. My husband has now embraced the vegetarian lifestyle (for the moment) and I’ll admit, it’s becoming a balancing act between three carnivores and two vegetarians for dinner. I’m having flashbacks of when my kids were younger and everyone wanted something different for dinner. Moms out there know exactly what I’m talking about! So Mondays are strictly Meatless Mondays here now. It helps me out a tremendous amount – taking the guesswork out of what’s for dinner and my kids know not to look for the elusive meat choice of the night. Plus one night without meat won’t kill them, despite what they think.
This recipe takes seconds to get together and put in your slow cooker/multi cooker/crock pot. I’ll admit, not a gorgeous dish but it rocks your tastebuds! I’ve been eating the leftovers and it just gets better every day. Plus it’s loaded with beans for protein and great vitamins! A good friend of mine dropped off some of her special Indian rice and we served this over that. All I can say is HEAVENLY!
— Knead to Cook