Knead to Cook

Food & fitness obsessed girl.

Instant Pot Mexican Taco Lentils. V. GF.

by Filed Under: Breakfast, Brunch, Gluten Free, Indian-inspired., Mexican, Pressure Cooker, Running/Races, Side dish, Vegan, Vegan proteins, Vegetarian, Wheat Free 3 Comments

Mexican taco lentils.

This week we weren’t able to partake in Taco Tuesday due to an away swim meet so Wednesday it was!  We aren’t fans of missing our favorite cuisine.  So Wednesday I had a much needed day off & was excited to create a meat substitute for our taco bar.  I took a traditionally Indian lentil and did a bit of Mexican fusion by adding salsa and roasted poblanos.  These lentils came out perfectly & cooking in the Instant Pot made this dish exponentially easier.

These lentils would be lovely as a side dish, atop a salad or mixed greens for lunch or straightaway with tortillas or naan.  Lentils are packed with protein, iron and potassium.  We also love lentils with scrambled tofu for breakfast.  Just some ideas to incorporate lentils into your menu.
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— Knead to Cook

Hearty Sweet Potato Teff Pancakes. Vegan and GF.

by Filed Under: Breakfast, Brunch, Evolution Power Yoga 40 Days, Gluten Free, Running/Races, Vegan, Vegan proteins, Wheat Free, Your Life Edit Foundations Leave a Comment


Hearty and wonderful, sweet potato teff pancakes.

I feel like I’m always on the hunt for a really hearty, not sugar-filled, pancake that will fill me up and last for hours.  I created this recipe on the weekend for an endurance athlete who is in the midst of training for the Boston Marathon. I knew the complex carbs would be perfect to fuel her and me post run/weightlifting session or HIIT training.  Another benefit, my daughter could eat these post swim practice during the week before she had classes.

My daughter’s tried these out, refined sugar-free & all, and they both loved them.  One had them with almond butter & raspberry jam, the other had them with maple syrup.  Both girls, who normally eat many 4-5 each, only needed 2 each — I said these are super hearty.  Both loved them very much & requested I make more.  Winner!

The sweet potato with pumpkin puree, butternut or acorn squash 1:1 ratio.  This recipe is loosely based on the Run Fast Eat Slow Teff pancake recipe.
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— Knead to Cook

Vegan and GF “Meaty” Lasagna.

by Filed Under: Brunch, Evolution Power Yoga 40 Days, Gluten Free, Italian-inspired, Nuts, Pasta, Running/Races, Sauces, Vegan, Vegan proteins, Vitamix, Wheat Free 6 Comments

Vegan & gluten free “meaty” lasagna.  I grew up with horrible lasagna.  I mean HORRIBLE!  From my childhood on I’ll admit, I would shy away from this Italian dish with every fiber of my being.  My Italian side of my family, that knew how to cook, never made it.  We always ate ravioli.  So going vegan and gf, this wasn’t a dish that I was going to miss out on.

My oldest asked for lasagna recently.  I was a bit taken aback because I wasn’t sure where she ever developed a penchant for it.  I’ll be honest, I blew her request off.  Then while shopping in a local grocery store that I never really frequent, I spied some gluten free noodles.  Perhaps the universe was sending me a signal.  I embraced it and gave it a whirl.

If you follow me on Snapchat or Insta stories, you saw my over-the-top review over the recipe.  I knew I had to recreate it for you all after over 200 requests.  My disclaimer:  it may not look “picture perfect” but you will be swooning over this one!  I pinky promise.

I do want to apologize for the lack of staging the perfect photos but light was dwindling and I was rushing to get each step documented for you.  Plus lasagna is not the most photogenic food out there.
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— Knead to Cook

Vegan and Gluten free black bean enchiladas.

by Filed Under: Brunch, Gluten Free, Mexican, Running/Races, Vegan, Vegan proteins, Your Life Edit Foundations 2 Comments

New year, new recipe attempts here in my kitchen. How have I never made enchiladas before? Ummm probably because I had a fear of the unknown. But after much research over the past few days I boiled it down to this… enchiladas are very similar to Italian stuffed shells or lasagna in concept. Stuffing, layering and topping with cheese. Pretty simple.

I made two batches of enchiladas – one with flour tortillas and one with a gluten free version. I know, typically corn tortillas are used but I wanted to avoid the whole dipping the tortilla in sauce and praying that the corn didn’t crack and fall apart. I’m all about easy and functional recipes. One tray will go off to my client and we will have the df/gf version for dinner tonight. In fact, ours is in the oven baking as I’m typing this.

This recipe, as are many non-baking, savory food recipes – easily adaptable to add in or delete ingredients you have on hand/love/hate. Plus if you wish to not make your own enchilada sauce – many versions are on the market saving you a step in the process. Next time I need to add more roasted poblanos as a mental note.

An update:  I’ve now made 3 separate trays of these for my family this week per requests.  Definitely a hit! 🙂

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— Knead to Cook

Christmas Gingerbread Granola. V. GF.

by Filed Under: Breakfast, Brunch, Evolution Power Yoga 40 Days, Fruit, Gluten Free, Nuts, Running/Races, Snacks, Vegan, Vegan proteins, Wheat Free Leave a Comment


Christmas gingerbread coconut granola.

Today’s task… workout then prep all the food that I can.  My first menu item was this gingerbread granola for Christmas breakfast.  It’s the one breakfast food in our house that everyone will eat.  Some will top their vegan yogurt with it… some will eat it solo or mixed with cashew milk (even vegan egg nog).  The aroma is absolutely heavenly and screams Christmas.  This also makes the perfect hostess or food gift in case you’re in a pinch.

No time to waste today so let’s get started…
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— Knead to Cook

Birdseed crackers. Vegan. Gluten free.

by Filed Under: Breakfast, Brunch, Evolution Power Yoga 40 Days, Gluten Free, Holiday, Holiday Baking Ideas, Running/Races, Side dish, Vegan, Vegan proteins, Vegetarian, Wheat Free 2 Comments

These birdseed crackers have been a longtime favorite in my house & now that I’m focused more on eating healthy fats – they are a weekly staple.  Even my clients love & request them, often!  They are filled with heart healthy fats. Great as a bread replacement – think smashed avocado or hummus (my faves) and you have a perfect snack or side dish to a big salad.

As the holiday quickly approach, I’ve been working on sharing healthy food ideas for you and your family as well as gift ideas for those on your holiday gift list.  Not everyone cherishes the endless plates of cookies or treats.  I always love to share something different, of course healthier, and it always is received with great joy.  This recipe makes a lovely batch that could easily serve, wrapped up with a pretty plaid ribbon, to 2 or 3 friends/co-workers or special people in your life that you don’t necessarily buy for but appreciate.  Plus homemade gifts come with great heart and love.

This recipe has many substitutions that you can make & I’ll note in the recipe.  I hope you give these a try.  They will most certainly be on a appetizer buffet during Christmas.

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— Knead to Cook

Fruit Sparkling Chia Seed Drink. Vegan. Gluten free.

by Filed Under: Beverages, Breakfast, Evolution Power Yoga 40 Days, Gluten Free, Running/Races, Snacks, Vegan, Vegan proteins, Wheat Free Leave a Comment

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If you follow me on Insta-stories or my snapchat (kneadtocook), you know I’ve been seeing a registered dietician for the past several months.  She has been changing my view on food, macro nutrients, when and how to eat and fuel all my fitness activities.  My biggest change or revelation is increasing my plant based fats.  Adding tons of them to my diet.  I’ll admit, before now I’ve been fat phobic but after crazy results, dropping 10 lbs., I’m embracing this new eating style.

So increasing fats? Why?  Well the fat myth after much research has been debunked.  Clean and healthy fats, like chia, hemp, avocado, nuts, seeds are good for your hormonal balance, don’t spike insulin levels like sugars do, keep you satiated longer, hair and nails beautiful etc.  This summer I went super low fat and my hair, skin and hormones were a mess…. needless to say I’m enjoying the fats lately.

So I do eat more fats, and less calories.  Fats take longer to break down in your body and require much more energy – hello increased metabolism.  A great resource is Eat Fat, Get Thin by Dr. Mark Hyman.  Other benefits to eating this way… well paired up with my intermittent fasting – eating more fats allows me to exhaust my glycogen stores much faster and burn fat for energy on my runs/cross training/lifting days.  We all have infinite fat stores so we won’t ever bonk while working out.  Becoming fat adaptive has allowed me, with the right fuel, to run 17 milers with no gels, Gu’s or any other carb fuel.

So I created this festive drink to keep you powered up right through the holidays and beyond.  Takes a few minutes to make and you can sub whatever juice you love.  I teamed two of my favorites in this recipe.  Plus, these are super hydrating and great post sweaty workout. Hope you give this one a try.
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— Knead to Cook

Walnut & Chocolate Muffins. Vegan. Gluten Free.

by Filed Under: Breakfast, Brunch, Desserts, Evolution Power Yoga 40 Days, Fitness., Gluten Free, Holiday, Holiday Baking Ideas, Muffins, Nuts, Quick Bread, Running/Races, Snacks, Vegan, Vegan proteins, Wheat Free Leave a Comment

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Walnut chocolate chip muffins.

These muffins were inspired by The Minimalist Baker’s Banana Chocolate Pecan muffins.  I’m admittedly not a fan of pecans so I made a few adaptations.  Mainly, I reduced the sugar necessary in the original recipe and increased the baking time a bit.  These muffins are insanely tasty and a perfect morning muffin or snack on the go!

As my oldest heads back to school this week, her final year of varsity swimming is upon her.  I obsess about her nutrition each week because she does many double practices a day and I love to have plenty of options at her disposal.  These muffins will be perfect – transportable, packed with protein and healthy fats along with great nutrition to keep her moving throughout her day & prepared for thousands of meters in the pool.

As I mentioned, I reduced the sugar from the original recipe.  The bananas and chocolate chips, I find, add plenty of sweetness.  These are dense muffins and quite filling.  I store these on my countertop in my cake stand but the fridge would also work well.  Plus freezing these in a ziploc would also work well.  This recipe yields 11 muffins.
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— Knead to Cook

Chickpea Veggie Soup. Vegan. Gluten Free.

by Filed Under: Brunch, Gluten Free, Holiday, Pasta, Running/Races, Soups, Stocks/Broths, Thanksgiving, Vegan, Vegan proteins, Wheat Free, Your Life Edit Foundations 1 Comment

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Chickpea veggie soup.

This recipe was a fun remix sparked by The Minimalist Baker‘s latest cookbook.  Traditionally, I would always take my leftover turkey bones/meat and make my version of chicken noodle soup.  The cold temperatures.  The leftovers that had been worked over numerous times already… this recipe was always a welcome sight plus it froze perfectly for future, timely dinners.

Flip ahead 4 years & although I don’t have meat leftovers – I have a plethora of veggies leftover that I want to use up.  When I was flipping through my new cookbook I saw that Dana had a chickpea veggie soup and BAM!  The idea hit me that I could make my soup with chickpeas for the protein.  It came out perfectly and makes a huge pot.  We had some for dinner and froze leftovers for a easy prep dinner in the future.

You can easily add whatever veggies you have on hand and if you do eat meat & have leftovers – feel free to add that too.  I prepared  vegan/gluten free ramen noodles for our soup but brown rice, leftover quinoa or a small pasta would work nicely as well. I prepare & store it separately.

Happy meatless Monday!
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— Knead to Cook

Tempeh Veggie Scramble. Vegan. GF.

by Filed Under: Beans, Breakfast, Evolution Power Yoga 40 Days, Giveaway!!!, Gluten Free, Product Review., Running/Races, Snacks, Sponsored, Vegan, Vegan proteins, Vegetarian, Wheat Free 19 Comments

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Smilling Hara Tempeh veggie scramble.  

Not all tempeh’s are created equal… trust me, I feel like I’ve personally sampled every single one on the market.  I was contacted by the awesome folks at Smiling Hara several years ago and I’ve never found or eaten another tempeh that rivals their products.  Seriously.

So a little bit of tempeh product knowledge: Originated in Indonesia.  Tempeh is made from a process of culturing beans.  Result is a highly digestible and nutrient dense plant based protein.  Organic soy.  Gluten free.  Vegan. 

My good friend reached out to me a few weeks ago asking if I wanted to try out their new flavor combinations and I jumped at the chance.  Raspberry habanero, miso ginger and smoked salt/pepper have all captured my tastebuds.  The day they arrived I made this scramble and I’ve been waiting to share it with you all (taking pics/blogging the recipe does take time after all).  Finally!  Today, post long run, I was committed to getting this recipe up on the blog to share with you guys.  PLUS, Smiling Hara is also wanting to share the love with you all and is giving me 3 boxes to share with one lucky friend of Knead to Cook!  Ahhhh!
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— Knead to Cook