Vanilla Chia Seed Pudding

I have tried a couple of recipes for chia seed pudding and I finally hit the jackpot with this one. The flavors are usually always fine but the consistency was never right. This recipe for Vanilla Chia Seed Pudding came out great! I made two batches this week. On this night I added some cacao bits to boost the flavor, texture and nutrition. Cacao is a very healthy superfood. It can be a little bitter so I add it sparingly (and it's REALLY expensive) but it gives things that little extra something that I love! 

This chia seed followed our Meatless Monday dinner that I unfortunately did not take any pictures of. It went something like this...

Portabello burgers: I sautéed some portabellos in a little olive oil on my griddle pan for a few minutes on each side. Just enough to soften them up and heat them through. I threw these on toasted whole wheat buns with some ranch dressing (Annie's organic-so good) a slice of havarti and some fresh kale. They were SO GOOD! The mushroom burgers were my husbands idea for Meatless Monday; he makes me so proud! 

Kale Chips: I made some kale chips to go with our burgers. See previous post on how I make these.

Sweet Potatoes: When I got home from work I threw together a batch of Banana Oatmeal Muffins (I had some overly ripe bananas that I had to use and I wanted a batch for the week). Point being... Since I had the oven on, I threw in 3 large sweet potatoes. I let them roast for about 30 minutes or so and then I cute them into cubes and cooked them in my skillet with a generous amount of butter and some salt, pepper and nutmeg. I let these cook on med-high until they were good and crispy. Since I roasted them a little bit first, the inside was really soft. They were really good! 

Chicken Burritos w/ Cilantro Lime Quinoa

Copying a recipe I saw for Philly Chicken Sandwiches, I concocted some chicken burritos that were way too simple and really tasty! Lay some chicken (I used one large breast and 2 thighs) on a bed of sliced onion and bell peppers in the crock pot. I used red, yellow and orange bc that's what I had on hand. Green probably would have been really good as well. Sprinkle w/ salt and pepper on cook on low for 8 hours. 

When I got home from work I started cooking the beans that I had soaked overnight. Canned beans would also work just fine but I prefer to make ours fresh from dried beans, provided I get my act together ahead of time and remember to soak them. Whenever I do make fresh beans I try to make a big batch and then freeze a servings worth for another meal. Dried beans are much cheaper and a lot better for you since most canned foods are at risk for BPA contamination. That's another story all together...

While the beans were cooking I started some quinoa, shredded the cheese, chopped some cilantro and pulled the chicken with some tongs. I added a generous amount of the pepper and onion mixture to the shredded chicken and mixed it all together. When the quinoa was done I added some cilantro, lime zest and lime juice. I love the flavor of cilantro/lime.

Chicken burritos with beans, cheese, cilantro and salsa and a side of cilantro-lime quinoa. 

Leftovers for lunch the next day...I added the remaining quinoa to the leftover burritos. 

"Local" Eggs, Breakfast for Dinner

Our neighbor recently got four chickens and he was kind enough to share some of their eggs with us. I have always heard how amazing eggs are "straight from the coop" and if you ask me, I'd say amazing is an understatement. We eat a lot of eggs in this house (ONLY organic of course) but these "fresh" eggs from our neighbors back yard were unlike anything I've ever had. The yolks were orange and the flavor was just so pure. If you can ever get your hands on some farm (or backyard) fresh eggs, do yourself a favor and go for it! 

Because we were eager to try the eggs and I didn't have anything great planned for dinner, we had breakfast for dinner. This was a big hit with my kids! I had some chicken sausage in the freezer that I cooked up and I made these delicious potatoes that I saw on a cooking show. 

I'm sure if you google her website, the Pioneer Woman, you will the actual recipe for her Smash Potatoes but I just winged it based on what I saw on her show. It goes something like this...

Boil a few potatoes for 20-30 minutes. They need to be fork tender. Once they're soft enough, transfer them to a parchment lined cookie sheet and then gently smash them down with a potato masher. You don't want to flatten them like a pancake but you just want to mush them down about a half way or so. Drizzle some olive oil and then sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake at 400 for about 20 minutes or so. I think I baked them a bit longer bc I like my potatoes nice and crunchy. These were pretty good bc the outer layer has a good crisp and then inside is soft and fluffy. Next time I make these I might try butter instead of olive oil and I might use some season salt also. 

Pine Nut "Cheesecake"

My dad's coworker sent this recipe to him to share with me and I was pretty excited to try it out. It was the perfect dessert for our Easter dinner bc my brother is allergic to dairy and this is a dairy free version of "cheesecake". It was really simple to make and everyone seemed to like it! I REALLY liked it!

I wish I could give credit where it's due but I have no idea where this recipe originated....

Crust

• 1/2 cup pine nuts
• 1/2 cup unsweetened, dry coconut
• 1 tablespoon agave nectar or liquid sweetener of choice honey
• Pinch Himalayan Salt

1. Place all ingredients in the food processor. Process until well ground. 

2. Pat into 8″ spring form pan. (I used a pie dish bc I didn't feel like digging out my sf pan).

Filling

• 2 cups pine nuts, soaked overnight, drained and rinsed
• 3/4  cup coconut butter (or coconut oil – the butter gives a richer, creamier texture)
• 1/2 cup lemon juice (approximately 3 lemons)
• 1/2 cup honey
• 3 tablespoons lemon zest (I only used about 1 tablespoon and it was plenty. Lemon zest is very strong). 
• 1/2 cup dried large flake unsweetened coconut

1. Place pine nuts, coconut butter, lemon juice and agave (or honey) in high-speed blender. Blend until smooth.

2. Add the lemon zest, pulse once or twice to blend. 

3. Pour over crust. Top with flaked coconut, if desired. 

3. Chill for 6 hours in the fridge. 

Corned Beef and Cabbage

On St Patrick's Day I made the typical feast of corned beef and cabbage. This is a pretty simple meal to make. Following the directions on the package, I boiled the beef brisket (that I bought at Whole Foods) for about 3 hours and then added potatoes, cabbage and carrots. Once the veggies were tender the meal was ready. Easy and my house smelled SO GOOD!

I also made some roasted cauliflower using this recipe that I love. And for dessert I followed this recipe for chocolate chia seed pudding only I added a little mint extract! While my dad didn't seem sold on the idea, I thought the "pudding" was pretty good!

Lentil Tostadas

For Meatless Monday last week, I made some lentil tostadas! See my previous post about taco seasoned lentils. They're just too easy! While my lentils were cooking, I took burritos size (whole grain) tortillas and draped them over upside bowls on my oven rack. I baked them at about 375 for about 15 minutes (I can't quite remember at this point). I baked them until they were good and crispy and then took them out, gently pried them off the bowls and ended up with tostado bowls. 

At the same time I also sautéd some chunks of red pepper and portobello mushrooms in a skillet with a little olive oil, cut up some lettuce and tomatoes, shredded some cheese and cut an avocado (for my husband and kids---it detest the green mush). I also warmed some leftover homemade black, pinto and kidney beans that I had in the fridge. 

In this order (sort of): tostado bowl, lettuce, lentils, beans, peppers and mushrooms, cheese, tomatoes and salsa. These were SO GOOD! Give them a try!

Random Chilli

We really like chili in this house and I really like to make random variations of chili. On this morning I threw in about a cup of kidney beans and a cup of white beans (I usually always add pinto beans as well but I was out), a chopped onion, a few stalks of diced celery, a small can of mild green chiles and half a pound of ground dark turkey (organic of course-well, everything in my kitchen almost always is...almost). 

To my slow cooker and the aforementioned ingredients, I also added a hefty tablespoon (or two) of my home taco seasoning, a carton of organic veggie broth from TJs and approximately equal parts water. The carton is about 4 cups of broth and I just eyeball the water when I pour it in but I'd say another 3-4 cups would be sufficient. This is a fun game! You must add enough liquid for the beans to absorb but you don't want to add too much bc then you chili will be more like a brothy soup. Either way it will still taste fine. Good luck! 

BLT w/ Portabello

I have to make a quick dinner on Thursdays bc my son has swim class. Last week I didn't have anything planned and I was off my game for slowcooker meals (it was a long, busy week) so I while I was at work I decided I would just throw together some BLTs. 

I asked my husband to pick up some bacon on his way home (a huge treat in our house) and in true husband fashion, he couldn't just stop there! He also bought some portobello mushrooms to add to our sandwiches. This is not something that I would ever think to do as it just did not sound good. I love portobellos and use them in a ton of recipes but on a BLT...Hmm???

The new addition to our BLTs was pretty good. Different, for sure but definitely tasty! Give it a try sometime! My husband just sautéd the mushrooms in a little olive oil on my flat skillet.