Watermelon Sorbet

You must make this dessert while watermelons are in season! It is like candy on a spoon. When I buy a watermelon, I cut it into bite size pieces to put in a container for the fridge. Once the container is full the rest of the watermelon goes into a freezer bag to later become Watermelon Sorbet.

Watermelon Sorbet
By Whole life Nutrition Kitchen

4 to 5 cups frozen (seedless) watermelon chunks
the juice of one lime
1/3 cup honey or agave nectar
1/8 teaspoon guar gum

Place all ingredients into a food processor fitted with the "s" blade and pulse. (I used my Vitamix and it worked great) Continue to process then pulse until all of the chunks have become a smooth sorbet. The pulsing is really the trick here, so if the watermelon chunks just are not breaking down, turn off your machine, then pulse. Taste and add more sweetener if necessary. Pulse again.

You can serve it right away or scoop it out and freeze for a few hours in a container. Use an ice cream scoop to serve.

Chewy Granola Bars

Saturday is usually my day to make a snack for the week. I love finding recipes that freeze well. I cut these up and place the bars in individual snack sized bags then place those bags in a freezer bag in the freezer. Before I leave the house in the morning I grab a bag or two for my purse. It's nice to have something healthy to grab when I am famished so I am not tempted to buy yucky foods- especially when I am grocery shopping. Seriously, never do that hungry.

Chewy Granola Bars
By Simply Sugar and Gluten Free
makes 12 (2 inch x 3 inch) bars
2 cups oats
2 tablespoons flax meal plus enough teff flour to make 1/2 cup total
1 cup walnuts, chopped to desired size
1/2 cup dried black mission figs, stemmed and chopped to desired size
1/2 cup sultans (a.k.a. golden raisins)
1/2 teaspoon good quality cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon good quality ginger
1/3 cup agave
2 extra large eggs
1 – 2 tablespoons water
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare a 9×13 baking pan generously with cooking spray.
Mix oats, flax meal, teff, walnuts, figs, sultans, cinnamon and ginger in a large mixing bowl.
In a small mixing bowl, whisk together agave and eggs. Dump wet ingredients into dry and mix until combined. Add water 1 tablespoon at a time to help moisten granola.
Fit a food processor a steel blade (I used my Vitamix blender). Put once cup of the mixture into the food processor. Pulse 3 seconds at a time until mixture is chopped and sticks together. You don’t need to make this too fine, but it needs to be a little sticky. It will help keep your bars from falling apart.
Dump the chopped granola into the remaining granola and mix with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula until combined. Turn into prepared pan. Using wet fingers, press granola into pan. Keep pressing until the granola covers the entire bottom of the pan. Check for any little gaps and push them together.
Bake for 15 – 20 minutes, or until edges are just starting to brown. Remove from oven and let cool in the pan on a rack for 15 – 20 minutes. Remove from pan and place on rack to finish cooling completely. Once cooled, use a very sharp knife to cut into 2 inch x 3 inch bars, or desired size. Store in an airtight container. These also freeze well.

Brown Rice Waffles

This is one of my favorite waffle recipes because everyone in the family can eat them. My youngest does not eat wheat, nuts or dairy. I don't do wheat dairy or sugar. My other child and husband seem to have no allergies. When I found this recipe AND it tasted good I was ecstatic. My husband had them without syrup and said "These are good". I knew it was a keeper. I double the recipe and freeze them. It's so easy to pull them out and plop them in the toaster oven. Fix a school lunch and they are ready to eat! Thanks Chef Brad for making breakfast delicious and easy!

In blue is how I changed it for my family

Brown Rice Waffles
by Chef Brad
4 eggs
1/4 cup melted butter (1/4 c. coconut oil)
2 cups buttermilk (1 tbsp apple cider vinegar and fill the rest of the 1 cup with non-dairy milk- do it twice to make 2 cups of buttermilk- let sit for a few minutes)
1 cup brown rice, cooked
1/4 c. agave
pinch of salt
2.5 cups ground brown rice
1 tbsp baking powder

In a mixing bowl whisk together the ingredients in the order listed. Spray the waffle iron with non stick spray or brush with coconut oil. Ladle batter into waffle iron and cook to your manufactures instructions.

Chef Brad suggests that if they stick to your waffle iron add about 1/2 cup more of brown rice flour. You can also make them into pancakes.

Nori Rolls with Brown Rice

I learned from Chef Brad ( if you have no idea who I am talking about you must check out his recipes http://chefbrad.com/) to cook 1-2 grains a week and store them in your fridge so you can add them to recipes. This has really helped in incorporating more grains into my diet. When I cook brown rice for the week I like to make these rolls. These are a easy, quick and a light lunch option especially if you are on the go. They will store in your fridge for a few days and still be delicious. I like to make these the day after I cook fish and use the left over fish in the rolls. I dip mine in Braggs Liguid Amino - if you have not tried it is a great alternative to soy sauce and has the same flavor.

Nori Rolls with Sticky Brown Rice
from nourishingmeals.com

toasted nori sheets
brown rice cooked
carrots, sliced thin
avocado, sliced thin
green onion, sliced thin
red cabbage, sliced thin
zucchini, sliced thin
cooked fish

Place a sheet of nori, shiny side down, on a clean surface. Spread a thin layer of rice to 2 inches below the top of the sheet. Place chosen vegetable/fish at the bottom of the sheet. Tightly roll from the vegetable end. The nori can be sealed by running your finger with a little water along the seam side. Repeat this process until you have the desired amount of rolls. Slice nori with a serrated knife that has been dipped in water. Dip in your favorite sauce and enjoy!

Pumpkin Pasta Surprise

I read this recipe in one of my FaVoRiTe magazines- Clean Eating. If you have not had a chance to buy one at the checkout stand or have it sent to your address you should! I have so many great recipes from their lovely magazine.

The first time I made this I made it exactly as the recipe said but I did not add the cream cheese. I also used Trader Joe's brown rice pasta (which the husband still does not know he is eating). It was great. The kids asked for seconds which I am usually bargaining with the 3 year old about how many bites left she has to take. It was even great the next day as leftovers. For the husband I added Parmesan cheese because the man loves cheese. He loved it!

I made it again last night I wanted to try doubling the sauce to put in the freezer for another night. I made the recipe as it states but did not put the turkey back in the pan until after I had cooked the sauce completely. After the sauce was cooked I took half it out and put it in a freezer bag then added the turkey to what was left in the pan. I then added the pasta let it sit for a few minutes and served it. I also did not have jarred red pepper (which I swear grew legs and walked away cause it was there last week in my pantry) . It tasted great! I am excited in a few weeks when I am having "One of those days" I can pull that bag out of the freezer, cook up some turkey and pasta and have a quick meal.

Pumpkin Pasta Surprise

1 13oz pkg whole grain pasta or brown rice pasta
1 lb lean ground turkey or chicken
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1 large carrot, finely shredded
1 tomato, chopped into small chunks
1 small zucchini, finely chopped (peel left on)
1 roasted red pepper, chopped (roast your own or use the jarred ones)
15 oz pumpkin puree
1 10oz jar pasta sauce
1 Tbsp low-fat plain cream cheese

Cook pasta according to package directions (under cook it slightly as it will continue to cook a bit more in the sauce).

Meanwhile, in a skillet over medium heat, brown turkey for 7-10 minutes or until no pink remains. Drain fat, return pan with cooked turkey to the stove and add onion and garlic. Saute turkey mixture till onions are translucent. Add carrot, tomato and zucchini and saute for about 3-5 minutes, until tender.

Add red pepper, pumpkin puree and pasta sauce (if mixture is too thick, add a bit of water). Cover and simmer for 7-10 minutes until zucchini is soft. Add cream cheese, then turn off heat and let cream cheese melt.

Add pasta and mix, cover and let stand for 2 minutes. Enjoy!