Knead to Cook

Food & fitness obsessed girl.

Curry Chickpea Salad. Vegan. Gluten Free.

by Filed Under: Beans, Brunch, Dressings, Gluten Free, Indian-inspired., Nuts, Salads, Vegan, Vegan proteins, Vinaigrette, Vitamix, Wheat Free, Your Life Edit Foundations Leave a Comment


Curry chickpea salad.  Vegan.  Gluten free.

First, who am I blogging two recipes already this week?  Ha ha.  Okay… so on Saturday we stopped at Alchemy in Columbus, Ohio and I got a small container of their curry chickpea salad.  I was fortunate enough to find Hummusapien’s recipe online (she works with them) and was all over whipping up a batch because it was that good!  I was out of cashews (subbed out almonds) but this recipe is spot on & oh so delish.  I loved the simplicity of this recipe.  I’ve been adding a ton of turmeric to my diet for it’s anti-inflammatory properties.  Plus, hey I’m a sucker for all things curry.

This dish is packed with great nutrition.  Tons of protein and I love it for lunch or dinner in my monster green salad.  Plus, my husband loves it for lunch on bread or with burrito wraps.  I’m also thinking that this recipe is spot on for summer parties – plus you can prep it a day ahead of time to let the flavors develop.  This recipe is perfect for newbie chefs too as it’s impossible to fail.  🙂

Okay let’s get to the kitchen and get this started…
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— Knead to Cook

Easy Summer Quinoa and Chickpea Salad. Vegan. GF.

by Filed Under: 4th of July/Patriotic, Beans, Brunch, Evolution Power Yoga 40 Days, Fitness., Gluten Free, Health & wellness, Nuts, Party Foods, Salads, Side dish, Vegan, Vegan proteins, Wheat Free, Your Life Edit Foundations Leave a Comment

 

Hi everybody!  It’s me the elusive foodie, runner (not running currently), absentee blogger!  I’m here!  Isn’t summer supposed to be oh-so-relaxing?  Yeah.  It isn’t.  At least for me.  In my defense, this post was to live yesterday but my MacBook hated my SD card with the images yesterday.  Had to run to Target to get a card reader to export my images of food long gone (yep, this dish is that good) so it worked.  Heres the post. Phew!

I know I’m tardy but LIFE IS CRAZY!  Seriously within the next month I think we’re home for only a few days.  Not all of us are gone thankfully so my house and dogs are taken care of but I hate living out of suitcase but I love to explore so we do all the things and embrace with grateful hearts.

So this sweet little recipe.  Perfect with leftover quinoa.  I’ve been crazily bumping up protein in my diet lately thanks to all of my weightlifting efforts at the gym.  Uses tons of fresh ingredients from your garden or the farmer’s market so it’s super cost effective.  Great for leftovers, lunches, BBQ’s, get-togethers etc.  Keeps perfectly in the fridge for a week.  My tip is to keep the vinaigrette separate and dress prior to serving. That way veggies stay crisp and lovely!  Okay, tons of cooking to do before we leave so I need to get my boo-TAY moving.

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— Knead to Cook

Easy Spicy Peanut Tofu Bites. Vegan. Gluten Free.

by Filed Under: Appetizers, Brunch, Evolution Power Yoga 40 Days, Gluten Free, Nuts, Party Foods, Tofu, Vegan, Vegan proteins, Vitamix, Your Life Edit Foundations Leave a Comment

Easy spicy peanut tofu bites.  

Well hello there my friends.  I’ve missed you all so much & feel like life is moving at warp speed.  Craziness.  What happened to lazy summer days?  Well, as we settle into our summer norm, having two teenagers home with me, eating round the clock, wanting to go driving (learner’s permit) and my oldest wanting to join me at the gym but “… not so early” and cooking for clients – I seem to the be the only one stressing here. Ha.

So if you follow me on any of my social media… you know I have a big puffy heart love affair with tofu.  Yes, I was the person you are reading this not so long ago.  I hated tofu.  It was gross.  Flavorless.  And pretty much the only food that they can fry and it still tasted gross.  Until I created this recipe and my entire world changed.  In fact, it has a cult following on Instagram.  I kid you not!  Fast forward several months and my love affair has grown.  First, it’s a wonderful source of protein.  It’s incredibly versatile, taking on whatever flavors you throw at it.  This has been a recipe I go to pretty often and once you taste it… you’ll see why.

I adapted this from several different friends (two of which own restaurants) and I really hope you give it a try.

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— Knead to Cook

Sprinkle Protein Cookies. Vegan. GF.

by Filed Under: Breakfast, Cookies, Evolution Power Yoga 40 Days, Fitness., Gluten Free, Nuts, Running/Races, Vegan, Vegan proteins, Wheat Free Leave a Comment



Sprinkle protein cookies.

I was looking for a sweet little cookie present for a friend’s daughter who broke very recently.  I was flipping through Arman Lieu’s cookbook and I found this recipe.  It was perfect.  It made about 10 mini cookies that I decorated with fun heart sprinkles and they’re perfect.  You an easily make this recipe into 2 larger cookies or several minis.  Fun but so healthy and packed with protein!  34 grams of protein in this serving (serves 1), 20 grams of fat and 11 grams of fiber.  I also wanted to test out the Nuzest protein I received.  The vanilla worked perfectly!

Well happy Monday & let’s get this started 🙂

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— Knead to Cook

Homemade Chocolate Nut Milk. Vegan. GF.

by Filed Under: Beverages, Breakfast, Brunch, Evolution Power Yoga 40 Days, Gluten Free, Nuts, Running/Races, Snacks, Vegan, Vegan proteins, Vitamix, Wheat Free, Your Life Edit Foundations 2 Comments


Homemade chocolate nut milk.

I’ve been on a homemade nut milk kick lately & I’m making no apologies for it. I’m the girl who always has something soaking in my kitchen. Since my husband ordered me my nut milk straining bag (okay, refrain from laughing) but seriously, this thing is critical for making nut milk —-it made the process a dream!  This is the bag I got. I was excited to use it and it didn’t disappoint.

I made two batches of milk (different combination of nuts this time) but once I got on the second batch I got the brilliant idea to make a cacao (duh add chocolate) version.  OHHHHH my goodness why haven’t I done this before?  It came out of my Vitamix (frothy and hot) and honestly the best hot chocolate I’ve ever had.  So simple.  You control the level of sweetness versus the sugary commercial versions.  I’m quite smitten with this version.  Not overly chocolatey but just the right amount.  Okay, okay… let me get this recipe started and oh HAPPY FRIDAY!
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— Knead to Cook

Almond Walnut Milk and Everything Bagel Pulp Crackers. V. GF.

by Filed Under: Beverages, Breakfast, Evolution Power Yoga 40 Days, Gluten Free, Nuts, Party Foods, Running/Races, Snacks, Vegan, Vegan proteins, Vitamix, Wheat Free, Your Life Edit Foundations 6 Comments

 

Homemade almond walnut milk & everything bagel wet pulp crackers.  Hi my friends!  Okay, so we survived Stella Superstorm/Nor’Easter blah blah blah.  We ended up with about 8 inches of fresh powder with a good inch of ice.  Super fun.  I won’t complain because my entire family was home together with no commitments or jobs on the agenda.  It was heavenly, I won’t lie.

More updates… So after a very thorough investigation/research – my daughter had narrowed her college search/applications down to 10 schools.  She has finally signed on the dotted line and is committed to university!  So excited.  So yesterday we did all things registration/booking dates for meeting her counselor and registering for classes, booking orientation week, ranking dorms, doing her school ID, choosing her meal plan & she actually has found her roommate.  We also got her bedding etc. last weekend.  What the what?  We’ve gone from zero to finished in a hot second.  Phew!

So I stocked up on all my nuts last week and figured I would make some milk over the weekend.  I wanted to do a combination of walnuts and almonds with cinnamon.  It came out great and I made crackers with the residual pulp (sans dehydration). No waste and lots of goodness.

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— Knead to Cook

Best of… vegan snacking.

by Filed Under: Best Vegan..., Breakfast, Brunch, Candy, Cookies, Desserts, Evolution Power Yoga 40 Days, Gluten Free, Holiday, Holiday Baking Ideas, Ice cream, Nuts, Party Foods, Running/Races, Vegan, Wheat Free Leave a Comment

This week’s best of series focuses on all things vegan snacking.

So when I say vegan snacking, I wanted to share the best of great snack ideas not genetically modified *clears throat* crap that coincidentally is vegan like Oreos.  I wanted real, vegan and gluten free snacking.  I wanted to cover chips to ice cream and everything in between so everyone from sweet to salty palates are covered.

As clean as your eating is, it’s important to build in treats or desserts into your diet. Balance is key.  I shared favorites that are all gluten free and vegan.  Easily found at Whole Foods or your favorite markets (or online).  This is just a list of my top favorites and honestly the list could go on & on if you let me.

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— Knead to Cook

Vegan cheeses that don’t suck. Really.

by Filed Under: Best Vegan..., Cheese, Evolution Power Yoga 40 Days, Notable mentions., Nuts, Product Review., Vegan, Vegan proteins, Wheat Free 4 Comments

Vegan cheeses all suck, right?  They don’t melt.  They taste horrible.  Ummmm….  No!  Today I’m sharing the best of the best out there & these vegan cheeses will convert even the most hard-core cheese lovers.  Trust me, I’m a reformed dairy lover converted over to the favorites I’ve named below & I’m not sad at all!

Now this has been a 3 year journey of many, and I mean MANY, sub-par even disgusting (actually making me sick), pathetic excuses for “vegan cheeses”.  Each of these named below are staples in our kitchen & we use them for grilled cheese sandwiches, pizza and lasagna or stuffed shell recipes.  I’m going to share my tips and tricks for the ooey gooey cheeses below that will have you swoon.
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— Knead to Cook

Banana walnut muffins. Vegan. GF.

by Filed Under: Breads, Breakfast, Brunch, Evolution Power Yoga 40 Days, Gluten Free, Muffins, Nuts, Quick Bread, Running/Races, Snacks, Vegan, Vegan proteins, Wheat Free 2 Comments

Banana walnut vegan & gluten free muffins. These muffins were inspired by a recipe from the Minimalist Baker.  In my house of 5, I’m constantly in an uphill battle with making healthy snacks to have on hand.  Breakfast on-the-go before school, pre or post workout fuel, snacks with lunch or after-school.  Sound familiar?  I’m always on the hunt for new recipes to work with & after the day I had yesterday (sore from my Monday TRX workout then falling on my run)… I wasn’t in the mood to get creative in the kitchen.  I wanted a tried and true recipe and this recipe hit that target.  I did make some modifications as noted below.

These muffins are packed with protein, omegas and fiber.  Each one has about 326 calories, 16 grams of fat, 7.2 grams of protein and sugars at 12 grams.  These muffins will rival your favorite coffee shop counterpart but without the overload of fats/sugars and gluten/dairy.

These muffins are perfect food gift ideas for friends, new moms or someone in need.  Hearty and quite filling.  

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— Knead to Cook