Friday, September 24, 2010

Gluten Free Apple Spice Muffin Recipe

Gluten Free Apple Spice Muffin Recipe
Want the recipe....
Integrative Healing Clinic

It has been a long time since I have attempted gluten free baking.  The recipe was created for my daughter on her birthday, she requested muffins and I created this delectable muffin recipe.  I let my husband taste them and he liked them, then I told him they were gluten free and he was shocked!  He generally hates anything gluten free and has impeccable taste for food so that was a high compliment.  I hope you enjoy these muffins as much as we did.

****Very Important:  If you attempt these muffins DO NOT buy buckwheat flour at ANY store!!!  They will not turn out.   Buckwheat flour in stores is ground from buckwheat with the hull left on and it gives a horrible chalky flavor to baked goods and is too heavy and produces terrible results in baking.

YOU MUST grind your own from buckwheat groats, the groats should be brown not black!!!
 

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Menu ideas, healthy recipes and birthday cake

Roasted Potatoes, Cream of Tomato Soup and Birthday Recipes.....

I am changing my focus a bit because many of the menus feature very similar recipes and leftovers so I don't want to bog down readers with redundant photos and recipes so I am going to feature the new recipes and menu ideas.  I have improvised a lot and created my own recipes along the way but overall it has been an excellent experience, it is nice for a change to have everything planned out for me.

Looking for the recipes.....

Integrative Healing Clinic
Roasted Potatoes and Green Beans

  I needed to use the fresh potatoes and green beans from my garden and so I created a very simple roasted potato recipe.  These potatoes turned out delicious!  Excellent for a simple, healthy meal.

Roasted Rosemary Potatoes Recipe
Serves 4
 
 

Homemade Cream of Tomato Soup


I have so many fresh tomatoes from my garden that I had to find a way to use them.  This soup is delicious and can be served in so many different ways.  It is an excellent soup to make after harvesting fresh fall tomatoes from the garden.   I cannot guarantee the same delicious  flavor with store bought tomatoes.
 
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Sauteed Tempeh and Buckwheat 
Salad in Asian Peanut Dressing



You can see the beautiful, rich buckwheat noodles in this recipe.  This was a hit with my family, it is simple to prepare and is delicious!
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Healthy Birthday Cake Recipe


Birthdays are one of the few times during the year that I let the kids have their favorite foods, however I do create their favorites as healthy as I can while maintaining the integrity of taste.  This is a beautiful oreo cookie cake that my daughter requested as her birthday cake.  Delicious!

Healthy Chocolate Cake Recipe:

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Chocolate Mint and Chocolate
Peanut butter cup Cookies


There is a cookie shop that my husband likes to buy cookies, that is his worst weakness, sugar.  I wanted to make a healthier version of these cookies because my daughter loves them and requested them for her birthday.  I have a recipe for chocolate peanut butter cups and mints or you can purchase dairy free peanut butter cups online. 
These cookies are EXTREMELY rich but they are SOOOO Delicious!  In fact, my husband likes mine better than the non-vegan origianls, YAY!!
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Saturday, September 18, 2010

Challenge Continues......
21 Days of Menu's Recipes and Delicious Healthy Food!!

Looking for the Recipes...
Integrative Healing Clinic


Day 8

Breakfast:

Cinnamon Raisin Oatmeal


This is a simple, hearty breakfast!  Oatmeal is a staple for me in the winter when it is 12 degrees outside and I just can't handle an icy cold green smoothie in the morning anymore.

 

Lunch:

Missing Egg Sandwich
This was so simple!!!  I actually put mine in green leaf lettuce:



Quick, easy, simple and delicious lunch meal.  This can even be made in advance and taken to work because it will not go bad or cause food poisoning because there are NO eggs and there is no dairy!!!

 
Sautee in pan until ingredients are warmed and well mixed.  Serve warm on whole grain bread or in green leaf lettuce or steamed collard leaves.


Dinner

BBQ Portobellos was on the kickstart menu but I didn't have portobellos, so I improvised.
BBQ Sloppy Joes


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BBQ sauce:

 
This BBQ sauce can be put over lentils, black beans, brown rice processed in a food processor to make sloppy joes, it can be put over tofu and marinated, it can be put over tempeh or even crumbled tempeh.  The possibilities are endless.  Enjoy!!!

Day 9

Breakfast

Cereal and soymilk

I do not eat cereal so I always make a delicious bowl of whatever fruit I have on hand with some buckwheat and oats.  You can create your own fruit bowl.

Lunch:

Kickstart menu is Dining Out Salad Bar.  Since I was at home I created an amazing recipe!!
Tempeh Salad in Spicy Peanut Dressing

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This is amazing!!!

 

Dinner:

Unfortunately we were out shopping for my sisters Wedding on Thursday so we just grabbed a quick dinner and I did not make dinner tonight.

Day 10

Breakfast:

Oatmeal with Mango and cinnamon


Lunch:

The menu lists a veggie burger but I was at my mom's house making food for the buffet at my sisters wedding and my mom REALLY wanted a tofu egg salad sandwich so we had them again.

Tofu egg salad sandwich

Dinner:

Cheesy Broccoli Potato Soup   

I had to create this recipe on the spot for about 12 people who were working hard on wedding preparations.  It turned out amazing!!!

**Because I was at my moms I wasn't able to get a photo, enjoy the recipe.
 

Day 11

No recipes for today.  
It was my sisters wedding and we were gone from morning until late!!

Day 12

Breakfast:  Mango Delight Smoothie

 
Lunch:

Baked Yam and Salad

Dinner:

Party at my sister in Laws house so we had:
Sunburgers and Baked Fries
  

Monday, September 13, 2010

New Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner menus and recipes





Continuing with the Daily PCRM 21 Day Kickstart Menu and Recipes

Looking for the Recipes...
Integrative Healing Clinic


The recipes so far have been really good, I've made a few adjustments to the recipes to give them a little more depth of flavor or to simplify them.  It's nice to have a pre-planned menu so you don't have to think about what to make everyday.

Day 4

Breakfast:

Cereal with soy or almond milk

I just had my usual sliced banana, apple, peach with 1 Tb. buckwheat and 1-2 Tb. oats

Lunch :
Cup of soup with whole grain bread

I did not have a prepackaged soup like Amy's or Dr. McDougalls soups so I had to improvise on this one.  I had last nights curry soup with added steamed broccoli and cabbage.  It might not look pretty but it was really good and very filling.





I just used last nights curry soup and added steamed broccoli and cabbage in the soup for lunch today.  It was actually very good.  


Dinner

Do It Yourself Mexican

I set about making a fun mexican dish tonight.  I created really good Lentil tacos....YUM!

  These were delicious and so simple to make!!  

Lentil Taco Recipe



Tofu Sour Cream Recipe




Day 5

Breakfast:

Fruit Smoothie:  I have made smoothies for breakfast for years so this was an easy one for me.  This is a simple smoothie and if you don't have the Vega, it's no big deal, I like it sometimes in my smoothies.

F
Blueberry Green Smoothie

 


Lunch:

Southern Beans and Greens

I had leftover taco filling from last night, so instead of making more beans and greens I improvised:


 I put the lentil taco filling on top of a yummy salad and created a simple mexican lime dressing to put on top.  YUMMY!   The dressing was:  water, apple cider vinegar, 1 Tb. cashews, zucchini peeled, lime juice, dates, chili powder

I did not write down the mexican dressing recipe, it was something I just threw together to top my salad.

Dinner

Mexican Dining Out

 Tips for dining out Mexican Style:

  • Bajios- salad with beans, rice, lettuce, salsa, pico de gallo, mango, or veggie burrito no cheese
  • Cafe Rio- Same as Bajios
  • Most Mexican Restaurants have Been burritos, hold the cheese and sour cream, top them with salsa and guacamole
  • TGI Friday's- I have eaten the fajitas, I told them no meat, hold the cheese or sour cream.  They are actually very good but pretty oily.
  • You can always get beans, rice, salsa, guacamole, and most restaurants can help you customize an excellent meal easily.


Day 6

Breakfast

Blueberry Buckwheat Pancakes


 Oooooooo, these are AMAZING!!! I tweaked the recipe because I didn't have buckwheat flour and in fact I would not use buckwheat flour. They leave the hull on and it makes the flour horribly bitter.  These are completely gluten free, dairy free, egg free and delicious!

Gluten Free Blueberry Buckwheat Pancake Recipe

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Lunch:

Bean Dip and baked tortilla chips

I opted for a nice salad topped with garbanzo beans.  This was simple and easy.  I didn't take a photo as it was just your typical salad, green leaf lettuce, cucumber, tomato, broccoli, cauliflower with a tahini dressing.

Dinner:

We took the kids out to see Toy Story 3 and so on our way to the movie we stopped by Quizno's.  Here is an excellent example of how you CAN eat fast food and still maintain a somewhat healthy diet.  It's all about your dedication to eating healthy, it isn't hard at all.  I can find food just about anywhere.  


At Quizno's I always order a small Veggie with NO dressing. The dressing they use is EXTREMELY oily and makes the sandwich nearly 1/2 my daily calorie intake!!!

Without the oily dressing it brings down the calorie content considerably.  Quizno's and Subway are great, fast food chains where you can get a decent lunch or dinner on the go.


Day 7



Breakfast:


Breakfast Rice Pudding

I made this for the whole family on Sunday morning.  Everyone wanted something different in their brown rice for breakfast so I took a few photos of each option.

Apple Cinnamon Brown Rice Breakfast



I had the apple cinnamon brown rice breakfast, it is sooo good and very filling.
  
Peach Banana Rice Breakfast





My husband requested peaches in his, as he really enjoys peaches and almond milk as a dessert.  He commented that this was a really good breakfast.


Banana Rice Breakfast



My daughter LOVES brown rice, bananas and almond milk.  I made this one for her and she really enjoyed it.


Lunch:

Spinach Salad with Orange Dressing

I planned to make this and then my husband said he wanted to leave to go up in the mountains and have a picnic.  So I ended up sauteeing lentils and kale for lunch.  I also had a slice of ezekiel bread with a little peanut butter.


Dinner:

Pasta and Marinara Sauce

We have mashed potatoes and homemade gravy every Sunday and my family was begging me to make it again......so we skipped the Pasta and Marinara.

Country Gravy Recipe



Comments:

I hope you have been enjoying the menus, comments and the recipes.  I think I will continue to post on a regular basis menus and recipes so that you will be able to have a constant flow of new ideas.

Please Comment Below and let me know what you think and what you would like to see in upcoming posts.

  • More recipes
  • Do you have a favorite recipe you want me to convert to a healthier version
  • Weight loss ideas
What questions or suggestions do you have.







   










Wednesday, September 8, 2010

PCRM 21 day Kickstart Journal, recipes and weight loss menu plan.....

PCRM 21 Day Kickstart Journal

I decided to participate in the PCRM kickstart and keep a photo journal of my experience on the blog.  I have an interesting habit of taking basic recipes and creating with them to make something fabulous!  I will be documenting what I eat every day along with pictures, recipes and my thoughts about the food and my overall experience.

I will be experimenting with the recipes and I will post my versions of each recipe so you can try them out.  I think this will be an excellent opportunity for those who are looking to lose a few pounds to have a healthy weight loss menu plan with recipes that they can easily follow.

Day 1 

I am very excited to get started on the kickstart, the menus look excellent!
Breakfast:

Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal Recipe





This is a delicious, simple breakfast recipe!  This was very filling and I loved the flavor.  This is an excellent weight loss breakfast.


 
Lunch:

Roasted Red Bell Pepper Soup Recipe
Okay, this was AMAZING!!!  I did tweak the recipe quite a bit from the original but WOW, this is amazing!!  Excellent, low calorie, high nutrient lunch.  If you are looking to lose weight this is an excellent option, it is filling and yet low in calories.

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Roasted Red Bell Pepper and Carrot soup Recipe
 

****My variations:
If you want to make a dinner meal out of this you can easily add black beans, corn, brown rice etc... to make it a heartier soup.  Add these ingredients after blending.  ENJOY!

I did not make the Couscous confetti salad, I didn't have time to do it and I can't eat that much anyway so I just ate the soup.

Dinner

Hoppin John Salad

The original recipe calls for brown rice, but I was in a hurry and I have fresh potatoes from my garden so I used potatoes instead.  This has a very mild flavor but we really enjoyed it.  This does not taste oily and fattening like a typical potato salad, it is very light and mild.
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Steamed Greens and veggies

I served this with steamed kale and veggies, it was a nice, quick, simple meal.



Thoughts on Day 1

The food was very good, very satisfying and it definitely reduced my cravings for sugar.  Usually by the end of the day I am craving desserts, today my cravings were significantly less.
I did tweak recipes, I don't know if I could make a recipe as written, but I think all in all the nutrient integrity of the recipes was intact and the food was delicious!



DAY 2

I am a little late in starting the blog because I had to get the pictures loaded so here is day 2.

Breakfast:

Cereal with Fruit  
I do not believe cereal is the best breakfast and I don't eat cereal for breakfast so I created my own breakfast bowl recipe for Day 2.

My Version is Fruit & Buckwheat


My Fruit Breakfast Recipe

1/2 banana
1/2 apple
3 strawberries
1 Tb. raisins or currants
1 Tb. oats
1 Tb. buckwheat
1/2 c. hemp or soymilk




Lunch

 Veggie Burger = Portobello Burger


This is a simple portobello mushroom cap marinated and roasted in the oven.  I made this for hubby, mine did not have veganaise on it.  I also had this with a nice salad.

You are supposed to have leftover roasted red bell pepper soup, but I didn't have any left :-D

Dinner

I am sorry but tonight we were on our way out to get wood to heat the house for the winter and I just grabbed a quick salad and 1/2 sprouted grain wrap for dinner before leaving.  I keep homemade oil free dressings in the fridge to have at times like these when I have to run out the door.


DAY 3

Breakfast

Breakfast today was the Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal again.  

I really enjoy this breakfast so I was happy to have it again.


Lunch 


Veggie Sandwich or Wrap and Salad


Simple Wrap and Salad Recipe:

1/2 ezekiel tortilla
1 Tb. hummus
2 slices tomato
4 slices cucumber
1/2 c. green leaf lettuce
1 slice onion

Salad:

1 c. green leaf lettuce
5 cucumber slices
2 slices tomato
1/2 c. broccoli

I served this with my homemade oil free vegan caesar dressing recipe.



Dinner


Curried Potato Bean Stew



This was a very interesting experiment, it was supposed to be a curried lentil soup and I LOVE lentils.  Unfortunately I found that I was out of lentils, so I used pinto beans instead.  As I was making the soup I found the taste to be too bitter and bland.  So I decided this recipe needed a major overhaul.

The end result was good, it's not a soup that I would call fantastic, but it's simple, easy and it does taste good.  My husband liked it and he's pretty picky, the kids did not like the 'spiciness' of the curry so they wouldn't eat it.
The end result:

Potato Bean Curried Stew Recipe

 

****Recipe Tip:  Whenever you are making a soup, if it tastes bland or seems runny you can always remove 2 c.  of the veggies and broth and blend it with some cashews and it will enhance the flavor and thicken the soup.

This recipe turned out to be fairly good considering the flavor I was working with in the original recipe.  Go ahead and give it a try and let me know what you think.

Hoppin John with Flair and Corn



We have delicious fresh corn in the garden so the kids went out and picked it, and it was delicious!!

I had left over hoppin john salad that I needed to use and it definitely needed a taste enhancement so I dumped the rest of my oil free italian dressing on it and viola, something new for dinner.

Experience so far:

Well, I haven't lost any weight being on this diet but then again I really only have a few pounds I want to lose so I guess that's not a surprise.  The food has been great and I've really enjoyed the experience so far.   

Anyone who is looking for a healthy diet and needs it all laid out for them, this is definitely an easy way to go.