Favorite Recipes

I wrote a post a few days ago about some tips for clean eating.  I wanted to follow up by sharing a few of our favorite tried and true recipes.  None of these are ones that I created, so I included a link to the original source.  If you have any awesome recipes, especially quick and easy ones, please share them with me!!  We are always looking for new things to try.

Enjoying a banana peanut butter cookie (#2 below)

1. Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Pancakes from the Minimalist Baker. This is one of our all time favorite recipes.  I double the recipe so that we can reheat these for Moose over a few day period.  Instead of a flax egg, we use a real egg.

Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Pancakes

2. Banana Peanut Butter Cookies (no added gluten or eggs).  I thank the people from babble.com for suggesting this recipe on my Facebook feed.  These are actually really good.  I couldn't believe it.  Because there aren't any eggs, they tend to crumble, but you can fix this problem by flattening the cookies before you bake them.  We are a big egg family, so I am not opposed to using them in recipes, but I have yet to try it with this one.

Banana Peanut Butter Cookies (no added sugar or gluten)

3. Kale Chips.  Thank you to Once Upon a Chef for introducing me to these kale chips.  I first started making these when I was home on maternity leave and had a great deal of spare time.  As someone who is not a huge kale fan, I can say with full honestly that I love these "chips."  The Parmesan makes them taste great and you actually feel like you are having a real treat.  The best part is that you can feel great afterwards because it is not often that you can eat a superfood for a snack and actually enjoy it.

Lemon and Parmesan Kale Chips

4. Bacon Wrapped Meatloaf from the folks at babble.com.  I am of the opinion that if it has bacon, it is going to be good, so this one is a sure winner.  My husband is obsessed with this meatloaf and often asks that I make it when we are going to have company.  As suggested in the recipe, you can use Panko instead of bread crumbs (no trans fat), but you can also used crushed up cornflakes for a gluten free option.

Bacon Wrapped Meatloaf

5. Satay Wraps.  We have been making these for years and love them.  We use coconut oil instead of vegetable oil.  You can also use a peanut butter and/ or soy sauce substitute if you want.  We sometimes use gluten free soy sauce, but have not yet

Satay Wraps

6. Moose's favorite meatballs.  She is obsessed with them.  I usually triple the recipe so that I can freeze them.  To add even more nutrition, I usually grind up some carrots and throw them in the mix as well. You can't even taste them.  I also make my own breadcrumbs using organic cornflakes.  Be sure to use real Parmesan cheese for this (not the stuff in the unrefrigerated green container).  Also, we broil these for about 20 minutes (flipping them over once halfway) instead of putting them in a boiling pan.  It locks in the moisture without cooking and they freeze well.

Moose's Favorite Meatballs

7. Avocado Pesto (gluten and dairy free).  This stuff is delicious.  We are big pesto fans, but love this recipe because we can eat it without feeling guilty.

Avocado Pesto

8. Banana Peanut Butter "Ice Cream" from the folks at userealbutter.com.  You have to try this one to believe it, but it really does taste like ice cream, only it is really good for you!  The only ingredients are bananas and peanut butter.  You can add other ingredients if you would like.  I usually add chocolate chips.  The recipe below uses cocoa power.

Banana Peanut Butter Ice Cream

9. Cilantro Lime Shrimp from skinnytaste.com.  This is a very easy and delicious way to make shrimp.  After marinating them, we throw them on the grill, but as the recipe suggests, you can also cook them on the stove top.

Cilantro Lime Shrimp

10. Quinoa Spinach Feta Toss.  Okay, so I lied earlier.  This is one that we did make up.  It is one of our favorite summer go-tos when we have fresh tomatoes.  We cook quinoa and then add cut up (raw) spinach (we used kale this summer because we had an abundance of it in our garden), cut up tomatoes, cut up avocados, and crumbled feta.  We then mix olive oil, lemon juice (from fresh lemons), and a tiny bit of salt to make the dressing, which is mixed into the entire dish.  Voila!  A fresh and delicious summer salad.

I hope you enjoy some of these recipes, and, again, please share you favorites!  As we get ready to start the new school year, it would be fun to have some new things to try.