Homemade Nutella Filled Cookies

19 Mar

Homemade-Nutella-Filled-Cookies

Back in the day, you could find me in front of the cupboard with a knife eating nutella. When I finally took a look at the list of ingredients, it was enough to turn me off of it forever. Then one day it dawned on me… I could totally make this with regular food! So, off I went trying out a number of combinations before I finally got it. So satisfying!

The cookies are so delicious. They are light and buttery, which is amazing since there is no butter in them. They’re crumbly and taste amazing with the nutella. These cookies came much easier after all the experimenting I did with my girl scout cookies. I tried adding almond milk but that made the batter too wet. I tried it again without the almond milk and that seemed to do the trick. I also tried these using spelt flour and while they were really good, the flavor overpowered the hazelnut.

Homemade-Nutella

For the Nutella:
Ingredients:
1 cup dry roasted hazelnuts
2 tbsp coco powder
1 tbsp confectioners sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp stevia (optional)
1/3 cup coconut oil, melted

Directions:

  1. In a food processor fitted with an S blade, process the hazelnuts, coco powder, confectioners sugar, stevia (if using) and vanilla.
  2. Through the feed tube, slowly drizzle in the coconut oil and continue processing until smooth.

For the Cookies:
Ingredients:
1 cup almond flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tbsp coconut oil
1 tsp vanilla
2 tbsp maple syrup

Directions:

  1. Preheat the oven to 325o
  2. Combine the almond flour and baking powder in a bowl.
  3. In a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the coconut oil, maple syrup and vanilla until creamy.
  4. With the mixer on low, slowly add the flour and turn the speed up to medium.
  5. Form balls with the dough and flatten out on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
  6. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until cookies are golden brown. Rotating the baking sheet 180o half way through.
  7. Allow the cookies to cool on a baking rack.
  8. Once the cookies are cool, spread the nutella on one cookie and top with another.

As always, enjoy!

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Veggie Fajitas with Homemade Guacamole

18 Mar

Guacamole

I am a fajita connoisseur. If there are fajitas on a menu, you can bet your last buck that I’m ordering them. Needless to say, this is hands down my favorite recipe. Not only is it knock your socks off delicious, but it’s incredibly easy to make. Add in some homemade guacamole and you’re good to go!

Veggie-Fajita

If you choose to add chicken to the fajitas, I used to marinate the chicken in the spice mixture instead of the veggies. I would saute the veggies, grill the marinated chicken and toss them together at the end.

For the Fajitas:
Ingredients:
1 large red pepper, cut into strips
1 large yellow pepper, cut into strips
1 large orange pepper, cut into strips
1 onion, cut into half moons
8 oz cremini mushrooms, sliced
1 tbsp turmeric
1 tbsp cumin
1 tbsp coriander
1 tsp cayenne pepper
4 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
Ezekiel 4:9 tortillas
Shredded monterey jack cheese
Serve with Sour cream and guacamole

Directions:

  1. Combine 3 tbsp of oil with the turmeric, cumin, coriander and cayenne pepper and stir to form a paste.
  2. Add the peppers and onions to the spice mixture and toss until peppers and onion are well coated.
  3. Heat remaining tablespoon of oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the spiced peppers and onions to the pan and saute until soft. Once they are soft, add the mushrooms and saute for another 3 minutes.
  4. Serve with sour cream, guacamole and cheese.

For the Guacamole:
Ingredients:
4 ripe avocados
1/8 cup diced tomatoes, seeded
1/8 cup diced red onion
1 tbsp lime juice
salt to taste
cilantro (optional)

Directions:

  1. Scoop out the avocados into a bowl and mash with a fork.
  2. Add the tomatoes, onions, lime juice, cilantro, salt and pepper and combine well.

As always, enjoy!

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Spinach, Mushroom and Onion Calzones

15 Mar

Calzone

I think of calzones as portable little pizzas. Minus the sauce of course, which is probably why I enjoy them so much. You see, I’m not a huge fan of tomato sauce. I did serve these with sauce from a jar on the side but Michael didn’t even use it. He said they were perfectly delicious without the sauce.

For the Dough
Ingredients:
2 cups white whole wheat flour
2 tsp yeast
1/2 tsp salt
11/2 cup warm water (approx. 105o)

Directions:

  1. Combine the flour and yeast into the bowl of a mixer fitted with a dough hook and stir
  2. Continue mixing as you slowly add the water and salt. Mix until the dough forms a ball on the hook.
  3. Transfer the dough into a bowl greased with olive oil and cover with a towel. Allow the dough to rise in a warm place (I put mine in the oven with the light turned on) for 1 hour.
  4. Uncover the dough and punch it down. Lightly flour a countertop and lightly knead the dough into a ball. Roll the dough into a log and divide in half for larger calzones or quarters if you want small ones.

Calzone-Vegetable-Mixture

For the Filling:
Ingredients:
1/2 cup ricotta cheese
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
2 cups uncooked spinach
1 cup mushrooms, chopped
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp red pepper flakes
1 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 400o
  2. Heat the olive oil in a pan over medium heat. Saute the onions until they are clear, about 5 minutes. Add the mushrooms and spinach and cook until the spinach is bright green, about 3 minutes.
  3. Add the garlic, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper and stir into the vegetable mixture. Remove from heat and cool.
  4. Mix the ricotta and mozzarella in a large bowl. Add the cooled vegetable mixture to the cheeses and mix well.
  5. Roll the divided dough into circles and fill half the dough with the filling, leaving about a 1/2 inch between the filling and the end of the dough.
  6. Fold the unfilled half of the dough over to cover the filling and press and fold the edges together.
  7. Transfer the calzones to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake until golden brown, about 25 minutes.

Calzones-Uncooked

As always, enjoy!

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Crustless Rainbow Chard, Leek and Tarragon Quiche

13 Mar

Quiche-Side

It is entirely possible that I’ve never had quiche until last night. I spent our entire meal racking my brain trying to figure out if I had ever had quiche before. I couldn’t recall ever having had one. So, this was very exciting for me! I’ll be honest, Michael wasn’t a fan. However, I learned after the fact that he’s not really a “quiche man” as he called it. I, on the other hand, am totally a quiche woman. I thought it was very yummy and will most likely be eating the leftovers for days to come!

Quiche-Top

Ingredients:
Variations to this Crustless Leek, Greens and Herb Quiche recipe
2 leeks, green and white portions halved and sliced
2 cups rainbow chard, cut into ribbons and stems sliced thinly
1 tbsp olive oil
5 eggs
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 tbsp tarragon, chopped
1/4 cup shredded monterey jack cheese
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350o and grease a 9″ pie dish.
  2. Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Saute the leeks and chard until the leeks are slightly golden brown. Remove from heat.
  3. Whisk eggs in a large bowl. Stir in the tarragon, nutmeg, cheese, salt, and pepper.
  4. Stir the chard-leek mixture into the eggs and pour into the pie dish.
  5. Bake for 30 minutes or until the eggs are set up.
  6. Cool for 10 minutes before serving.

    7. As always, enjoy!

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Do-si-do Inspired Cookies

13 Mar

Do-si-dos

Who doesn’t love Girl Scout cookies? My favorites are the Tagalongs and Do-si-dos. What I don’t love is all the junk that they put into those cookies. As usual, I was left with not choice but to make my own. To say these cookies were a labor of love is an understatement. I have baked batches of these cookies everyday, trying to match that addictive flavor. After countless batches, I finally nailed it! While I can’t say these have less fat, I can say that they don’t have any fake junk. And, in my book that’s a success.

Another key part of this cookie was the fresh peanut butter I used. You can get freshly ground peanut butter at any Whole Foods, which is what I used to buy. But being on a tight budget, spending $5.99 per pound on peanut butter isn’t really an option. So, I’m making my own. And it’s delicious!

I must give a BIG thanks to my wonderful taste testers: my husband, my sister, brother in-law, and the plumber. Yes, you read that correctly. What can I say, Michael makes friends quickly. In addition to fixing our sink, he actually gave me some very useful feedback. I really appreciate all the cookies you ate. I’m sure it was very hard on all of you. 🙂

Do-si-do-full-plate

For the Cookies:
Ingredients:
11/2 cup white whole wheat flour
1/8 tsp baking powder
1 cup rolled oats, roughly chopped
1/2 cup sucanat
2 tbsp maple syrup
2 tbsp coconut oil
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/4 cup almond milk
15 tbsp peanut butter (amount will vary depending on how big or small you make the cookies)

Directions:

  1. Preheat the oven to 325o
  2. Give the rolled oats a few pulses in the food processor. Transfer the oats to a bowl and mix in the flour and baking powder.
  3. In a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix the sucanat, vanilla, maple syrup and coconut oil on a low setting until you form a creamy mixture.
  4. On the low setting, add the flour and oat mixture.
  5. With the mixer running, slowly pour in the almond milk.
  6. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Roll a tablespoon size of the batter in your hands to form a ball.
  7. Place the ball on the baking sheet and flatten with your palm. Repeat with remaining batter.
  8. Bake for 20 minutes, rotating the baking sheets 180o half way through.
  9. Cool the cookies on a rack. Once cooled, pair the cookies based on size and spread 1 tablespoon of peanut butter on one cookie and press the other cookie into a sandwich.

Do-si-dos-close-up

For the Peanut Butter:
Ingredients:
1 lb roasted and unsalted peanuts
2 tbsp maple syrup
3-4 tbsp peanut oil

Directions:

  1. Add the peanuts to a food processor fitted with an S blade and begin to process.
  2. Add the maple syrup and peanut oil through the feed tube and process until a paste is formed.
  3. Store in a sealed container in the refrigerator.

As always, enjoy!

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Rainbow Chard over Quinoa

12 Mar

Rainbow-Chard-over-Quinoa

I had a tiny cold last week and was really in need of comfort food. Now that I’m feeling better, I was compelled to counter all the heaviness of last week with loads of veggies. I plan our weekly meals before going to the grocery store. This way I only buy what I need and don’t have to worry about wasting food. Plus, it makes getting things ready super easy since I already know we’re having for dinner that night. Feeling uninspired when I was making my weekly grocery list, I turned to the interweb for some help. I found this recipe on the Vegetarian Times and was inspired to make it a little more budget friendly. Are pine nuts only outrageously expensive in Chicago?

This meal was incredibly delicious. It was light, yet filling and had a wonderful hint of summer flavor. The success of this meal was confirmed by Michael’s second helping.

Note: My sister gave me a bottle of Orange Muscat Champagne Vinegar from Trader Joe’s that she had leftover. It’s delicious! I used two tablespoons of this in the recipe, but you could also combine champagne vinegar and orange juice with a bit of sugar or honey.

Ingredients:
Inspired by Sicilian Swiss Chard over Quiona
1 bunch rainbow chard, leaves cut into ribbons and stems sliced thinly
2 carrots, peeled
1 onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, chopped
1/4 cup golden raisins
1/4 chopped cashews
2 tbsp Orange Muscat Champagne Vinegar (from Trader Joe’s)
3 garlic cloves, chopped
1 tbsp red pepper flakes (I like things hot, but you can tone it down)
1 tbsp cumin
1 cup quinoa, rinsed
2 cups vegetable broth

Directions:

  1. Bring the vegetable broth and cumin to a boil and add the quinoa. Cover and reduce to low heat. Cook until all the liquid is absorbed.
  2. Heat olive oil in a pan over medium heat. Add the carrots, onion and chard stems. Cook until the onion is golden brown.
  3. Toss in the chard ribbons, garlic, red pepper flakes and raisins. Stir in the orange muscat champagne vinegar and cook for about 4 minutes.
  4. Remove the pan from the heat and toss in the cashews.
  5. Spoon the quinoa into bowls and top with the chard.

As always, enjoy!

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Three Bean Chili and Vegan Cornbread

8 Mar

Three-Bean-Chili

It’s been pretty cold here in Chicago and nothing makes me feel warm and happy like a bowl of chili and warm cornbread.

Just a warning, I like my food a bit on the spicy side. If you don’t, you can reduce the amount of chipotles and jalapeño you put into the chili. The adobo sauce itself isn’t terribly spicy and neither is chili powder. That’s what helps give it the smokey flavor.

For the Chili:
Ingredients:
1/2 cup dry black beans
1/2 cup dry pinto beans
1/2 cup dry white beans
1 onion, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 jalapeño, stemmed, seeded and chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 28 oz. can of diced tomatoes
2 cups vegetable broth
2 tbsp chili powder
2 tbsp cumin
2 tbsp chipotle chilis in adobo sauce, chopped
1 tbsp olive oil
Shredded cheddar cheese or nutritional yeast as a topping

Directions:

  1. Heat the oil in a heavy stock pot over medium heat
  2. Add the onion, bell peppers and jalapeño to the oil and saute until the onions are clear. Once the onions are clear, add the garlic
  3. When the garlic is fragrant, sprinkle the chili powder and cumin and stir
  4. Add the tomatoes, vegetable broth and chipotle chilis with some of the adobo sauce
  5. Bring to a boil, cover and simmer for 20 minutes
  6. Season with salt and pepper

Cornbread

For the Cornbread:
Ingredients:
11/4 cups garbanzo bean flour (you can substitute any flour you like)
1 cup cornmeal
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup sucanat
4 tbsp coconut oil, melted
1 cup milk of choice (I used Homemade Almond Milk)
1 tsp vinegar
2 tbsp ground flax
2 tbsp water
1 cup frozen corn, thawed

Directions:

  1. In a medium bowl, combine the flax and water to make a paste
  2. Add the milk, vinegar and sucanat to the flax mixture, and stir well
  3. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, cornmeal and baking soda
  4. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour the wet ingredients into the center and combine well
  5. Add in the corn and coconut oil and mix well
  6. Pour the batter into a greased 8×8 baking dish and bake until the edges are golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean
  7. Allow to cool for 20 minutes before slicing

As always, enjoy!

Chili-with-Cornbread

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Vegetable Bolognese

7 Mar

Vegetable-Bolognese-Cooked

Pasta definitely tops the list of my favorite foods. Add in some cheese and it’s even better. However, being the healthy person that I am, I knew that I needed to throw in something to balance the pasta and cheese. Enter vegetables!

Raibow-Carrots

When I was at the grocery store this weekend these beauties jumped out at me and I knew that they would be perfect in this bolognese. It’s kind of sad that you can’t see their beautiful color but they sure tasted good.

IMG_9391

Just a quick note, I doubled the recipe so that I could freeze half for later.

Ingredients:
Inspired by Giada De Laurentiis
2 red bell peppers, chopped
8 oz cremini mushrooms, chopped
1 bunch rainbow carrots
1 onion, peeled and chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
3 tsp fresh thyme
3 tsp dried oregano
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup vegetable broth
1/2 can tomato paste
16 oz. mascarpone cheese
1/4 cup parmesan
1/8 cup fresh mozzarella cheese, cubed
1/2 pound whole wheat pasta
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

  1. Cook pasta according to package and preheat oven to 350o
  2. Give the bell peppers, carrots and onion a rough chop and transfer to a food processor, along with the garlic and pulse until you have a mixture of finely grated and chunks of vegetables
  3. Heat the olive oil over medium heat. When the oil is hot, transfer vegetable mixture to the pan and add the thyme and oregano
  4. Cook vegetables until golden brown and stir in tomato paste
  5. Once tomato paste is combined, add vegetable broth and reduce for about 20 minutes
  6. Remove the pan from heat and stir in mascarpone and parmesan cheese
  7. Stir until both cheeses are combined
  8. Toss the pasta with the sauce and cubed mozzarella cheese. Spoon into individual ramekins or baking dish
  9. Bake until cheese is melted

As always, enjoy!

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Very Cherry Berry Smoothie

6 Mar

Very-Cherry-Berry-Smoothie

Would you believe me if I told you that this smoothie was a green smoothie? Well, it is! That’s right, lots of kale went into the making of my all-time favorite smoothie. This shake is super fast since the Very Cherry Berry Mix comes frozen from Trader Joe’s. The main difference in my smoothie recipes is the fruit combination. My main goal is to get my greens and protein but sometimes I just want a different flavor. Although, this one never gets old 🙂

Ingredients
makes 2 servings
1 cup Trader Joe’s Very Cherry Berry Mix
1/2 cup fresh or frozen mango
1 banana
4 cups kale
1/2 cup silken tofu
13/4 cup steeped green tea
2 tbsp chia seeds
2 packets stevia
4 ice cubes (optional)

Directions

  1. Place all the ingredients, except the steeped green tea and chia seeds, into a blender
  2. Steep the green tea for 2-3 minutes and remove the tea bag
  3. Sprinkle the chia seeds into the green tea and let steep for 10 minutes
  4. Add the ice to the warm green tea and chia seeds to help cool down the temperature
  5. Pour the tea and seed mixture into the blender and blend

As always, enjoy!

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Vegan Blueberry Pancakes

5 Mar

Pancakes-Cooked

Who doesn’t love pancakes, especially for dinner! The other night I decided to change things up and make “brinner” as Michael likes to call it. He also said that these were the best pancakes he has ever had. Another bonus is that they re-heat really well. Just throw them back on the griddle or into a skillet and you’re good to go!

Just a note, I used King Arthur flour which is higher in protein than other whole wheat flours. As a result, the flour soaks up a lot of moisture so I need to use more almond milk. If you use all-purpose flour or another type of flour, you may need to decrease the amount of milk.

Pancake-Batter

Pancakes-Cooking

Ingredients:
2 cups white whole wheat flour
2 tsp baking powder
21/2 cups milk of choice (I used homemade almond milk)
2 tbsp ground flax
2 tbsp water
2 tbsp maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp melted coconut oil
1/2 cup blueberries

Directions:
Makes approximately 12 pancakes

  1. Combine the flour and the baking powder in a large bowl
  2. In a small bowl, mix the ground flax and water together to make a paste (vegan bakers use this mixture as an egg substitute). Add the maple syrup, vanilla and coconut oil to the flax and mix together
  3. Add the flax mixture and milk to the flour and stir until just combined. Be sure not to over mix, you don’t want the batter to get thick
  4. Stir in blueberries to the batter
  5. Heat oil on a griddle or skillet over medium heat
  6. Add about a 1/4 cup of batter to the pan or griddle. The edges of the batter will begin to bubble when the pancake is ready to be flipped over

As always, enjoy!

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