Whirlwind

This last weekend was a crazy great one- We set up a wedding with Bella I'venti and I was in charge of making healthy dessert for my nephews 1st bday party! And we had a craft show that same day! Luckly my sister Autumn could stay at the show while I went to the birthday party.

The cupcakes were a test- I have never tried to make a healthy cupcake without sgar or other artrifical ingredients, at times i felt like bring on the box cake mix! But it was worth every bit of struggle...

I made Banana cupcakes- which were more like a muffin so I need to find a more cake like recipe, but they were good non the less. My nephew's fave thing is banana so I thought they would be perfect!

I also made Strawberry Cupcakes- it was like an angel food cake with strawberries mixed in. Very yummy!

I did make some alterations to each recipe- Where it called for agave I used honey. I also did not use the specialty flours or the arrowroot powder- I used half organic wheat and half organic unblanched white flour. I also used coconut oil in the banana cupcakes instead of grapeseed oil.

Also I made my healthier cookies, that are really yummy, but i will share that recipe later.

I didn't really take pictures, i was too flustered with everything that was going on in my life! Ha, oh well next time I will remember to slow down

Husband and I also had our first sunday at our new church! We are driving 1.5 hours to get there, and we are very excited for our future at Covenant Church! Since being led to make the drive we didn't know what to expect... and while we have been hearing some opinions from family and friends that think we are crazy, radical... we knew and know that this is where God wants us to be. The service Sunday was so refreshing! I would highly suggest you go and listen in. It was every bit of what I needed to hear and I am so blessed already by Pastor Matt and Covenant Church!


XOXO

whats for dinner.

Dinner post-

last night I got a little creative with some healthy influence from my dad! Grilled lettuce- yes you heard me right grilled.

All you do is take the lettuce leaf, rub EVOO on both sides season with whatever you want- and place on the grill for about 3 mins. It will get wilty and crunchy and ohh so good!! I seriously never knew lettuce could taste so wonderful!
Then i sauteed up some onions and red peppers, seasoned those with garlic, a little cayenne (my fave) and some nutritional yeast.

We were also trying some sun dried tomato tofu dumplings I bought.

It all went together perfectly-  I found that the dumpling tasted really rummy rolled up with the lettuce and peppers!

Nothing for Dinner

So this past week we have need to go grocery shopping and for some reason never went... i know i know we were being LAZY!

Well so last night after going out to dinner for 3 nights in a row! I decided to collect what I had to work with and see what I could come up with...

It was a little daunting- this is my ingredients: Cauliflower, Kale, Diced tomatoes, Fresh Mozzarella and mushrooms (left over from the other night). Umm lets see Asparagus...

Steamed the Cauliflower
Sauteed the Mushrooms
Mixed Diced Tomatoes, Nutritional Yeast, Cumin, Garlic, Fresh Cloves, Fresh Basil, little dash of Cayenne- then added the mushrooms after they were finished with some chopped up Kale
Sauteed the Asparagus and a little bit of Cauliflower

Put the cauliflower on the bottom, added sauce, added a piece of mozzarella, topped with asparagus and more cauliflower!

It was very good, and very filling! I was pretty happy and can't wait to make it again! :) 

Holiday Challenge

this past weekend was a test for me.
      Being memorial day, everyone fires up the grill and makes a whole lot of different variations of meat...

I had to bring my own vegetarian options to the table for 3 days...they had to be filling so husband would be satisfied and I wanted others to enjoy them too. (hoping to persuade them of the benefits of a plant based diet, *i think it kind of worked)

So on the menu was:

Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms-


Baby Bellas- with the stem and inside scraped out
Diced fresh tomatoes
Chopped fresh basil
Added some olive oil and mixed the tomatoes and basil together
Added some goat milk feta (which was amazing)
Sprinkle with some himalayan salt, and garlic
 

Pack into the mushrooms and top with a little bit of fresh mozerella cheese
And put on the grill- simple and very impressive!


Sunday was a little easier- I made my rendition of a "warm salad" - my mom saw the pic on my instagram earlier in the week and decided we had to make it! So that was easy and very delicious.

For dessert- Grilled figs so wished I had rice milk ice cream for this one, but that was a lot of work for a big party! So I enjoyed this one with a little cheat for the day (ice cream) but oh my goodness with the balsamic it was pretty amazing!

Monday I attempted Black Bean Burgers slightly changed the recipe- got rid of the flour added one egg, some cayenne and parsley

They were a little crumbly but still so good! I am going to have to play around with this recipe a little more.

Dessert was GF Rhubarb Crisp

I am loving my new lifestyle and the challenges it presents!