Enchilada Tempeh Veggie Meatballs

Enchilada Tempeh Veggie Meatballs

  

  
These enchilada veggie meatballs are gluten free.  The enchilada veggie meatball recipe takes a little bit of preparation but it tastes sooo good and it really appeals to little ones.  The little kids can just pop these little enchilada veggie meatballs in their mouth, or they can smother them in the above cheese sauce.  You can make a large batch of the enchilada veggie meatball recipe and freeze them for future use, they can be added to A LOT of different recipes.  The extra work making these enchilada veggie meatballs is well worth it when you can freeze the extras for a quick, easy meal later.


Serving Suggestions for Enchilada Veggie Meatballs

• Serve in warm tortillas with cheese sauce, tomato, guacamole and tofu sour cream
• Crumble up and put in tacos or enchilada recipes
• Serve over brown rice with cheese sauce poured on top
• Crumble and sprinkle over a taco salad

Gluten Free Cornbread

Gluten Free Cornbread 

  

I had no idea how this gluten free cornbread recipe would turn out, it was a complete test recipe.  When I poured the cornbread batter into the pan I really didn't think it was going to qualify for the blog, but much to my surprise this delicious little cornbread came out of the oven and was delicious!!   This gluten free cornbread recipe is very simple, low fat, lower in sugar than most cornbread and very good for you.

Vegan Valentines Day menu, gluten free lentil meatballs, strawberry banana ice cream recipe and more.....

Valentines Day Menu

I let the kids choose the valentines day menu, hubby and I had a delicious vegan valentines dinner at Sage's Cafe on Saturday night so Valentines Day was a family meal.  The kids wanted Spaghetti, I think that is a perfect  centerpiece of a valentine menu. 

If you think about Lady and The Tramp and the spaghetti dinner scene, what could be more romantic than a Spaghetti valentine meal?

I decided to make the valentine menu a little more hearty by adding some delicious gluten free lentil meatballs to the spaghetti.  This turned out to be a hit with the whole family, everyone loved the gluten free lentil meatball recipe!  I am going to share with you our simple valentines day menu.

Valentine Gluten Free Lentil Meatball Spaghetti Recipe

Delicious Gluten Free Quinoa Pasta

This makes a DELICIOUS meal!  These noodles look like white pasta, let me assure you, they are not!  These are delicious, gluten free quinoa noodles.  This gluten free pasta has a good amount of protein and a similar texture and taste to wheat pasta.  

Valentine Dessert Recipes

Raspberry Banana Ice Cream Recipe

Gluten Free Chocolate chip Cookie Recipe

Low Fat Chocolate Sauce Recipe

We all decided we needed to have a red or pink valentine dessert, so we chose Raspberry Banana Ice Cream.  This raspberry banana ice cream recipe is about as healthy as ice cream gets!!  It is sweetened with dates and it contains only fruit and coconut milk.  It was SOOOO Delicious!!  I couldn't believe how decadent this raspberry banana ice cream was.  The kids loved it as well, we had left overs so I poured it into popsicle molds and the kids had healthy fruit popsicles for later.

Gluten Free Chocolate Cake Recipe

My son's scout troop was having a Cake contest for the Blue and Gold banquet.  As I was trying to figure out a cake recipe to make my daughter BEGGED me to make a gluten free chocolate cake recipe.  She said that there wouldn't be any other gluten free cakes there for her to eat and she REALLY wanted to be able to have some dessert.  I was very concerned about making a gluten free cake recipe.  Gluten free cakes tend to be crumbly, dry and they generally aren't very good. 

Finally, I decided I could try to come up with my own gluten free chocolate cake recipe and just cross my fingers it would turn out okay.  Well, it turned out MORE than okay, it was FABULOUS!!!    I know you probably hear many gluten free bakers claim that their recipes are 'just like gluten containing food.'  Well this time it really was!!  I was absolutely blown away at how amazing this gluten free chocolate cake recipe turned out!! 

This Gluten Free Chocolate Cake Recipe Won Second Place and was the MOST eaten cake on the table!!!!

When I say no one knew this was a gluten free chocolate cake, I mean it!  It was moist and delicious!!  So, on to the recipe.....

Amazing Gluten Free Chocolate Cake Recipe

Vegan Fondant Icing Recipe

 

I must state first that I DO NOT believe this is a healthy vegan fondant icing recipe by any stretch of the imagination!!!  However, I created this vegan fondant icing recipe to ice the cake for the Blue and Gold Banquet.  I personally would not make this for my family, we strive to eat a whole foods diet that is low in sugar.  However, on special occasions when we are serving other people I will make unhealthy vegan recipes to serve others.  At times I believe it is important to expose people to the fact that vegan food can be every bit as decadent and delicious as the food they are used to without the devastating impact.

 

This vegan fondant icing is RICH and VERY sugary.  I personally couldn't eat it so I ate a little cake without icing but for those who are used to sugar foods you will certainly enjoy this recipe.

 

creamy rosemary potato soup recipe, gluten free biscuit recipe and gluten free chocolate chip cookie recipe

Creamy Rosemary Garlic Potato Soup Recipe

This is comfort soup at its best!  This soup is packed with nutrients and tastes amazing!!!  I was at a loss for what to make for dinner one night and was trying to figure out how to use my fresh rosemary.  I had already made a few Italian dishes so I wanted to create something different.  I was brushing my hair and it came to me, rosemary and potato soup....YUM!

This potato soup recipe is very simple, quick, easy and yet so delicious.  The best recipes are those that delight the tastebuds but take very little to prepare.  The mix of rosemary, garlic and the subtle hint of sweetness from the carrot juice really make this creamy soup pop.  I hope you enjoy the creamy rosemary garlic potato soup recipe.

Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe Tips

I have been working on gluten free chocolate chip cookie recipes along with low sugar and sugar free cookie recipes as well.  I found a few AMAZING tricks to making a delicious gluten free cookie that I want to share with you.  The gluten free cookies you see in the photo above are low sugar cookies but they are absolutely decadent.  I have also found the tricks to decreasing sugar content in dessert recipes without compromising texture or flavor.

Gluten free baking takes a little getting used to but once I got the hang of it I have had a lot of fun playing around with different gluten free flours, our favorite go to dessert is chocolate chip cookies so creating a delicious gluten free chocolate chip cookie recipe was an absolute MUST in my house. 

The most exciting thing for me is to have my kids BEG me for these low sugar gluten free chocolate chip cookies, they truly LOVE them, even more than the sugar filled cookies they are served other places.  For parents who want to serve their children healthy low sugar desserts stay tuned because I have some great dessert recipes coming. 

My #1 gluten free baking tip:  Use coconut flour!

Coconut flour absorbs A LOT of liquid and acts similar to eggs in vegan recipes so this is a must have for vegan gluten free baking.  I put about 1/4 c. of coconut flour in all my gluten free cookie recipes.  You don't need a lot because it does absorb a lot of liquid, but just a little coconut flour really helps gluten free cookie recipes have the little extra something they need.

#1 low sugar cookie recipe trick:  Use ripe banana and applesauce in all low sugar dessert recipes.  I mix the banana and applesauce together until creamed in the mixer.  Then I add about 1 Tb. of stevia and a couple Tb. of maple syrup.  The combination of sweeteners seems to really do the trick.

It is important to remember that low sugar cookie or dessert recipes will NOT be as sweet as full sugar varieties!  They will be delicious but obviously not as sugar headache inducing.  I prefer the subtle sugar taste to the sickeningly sweet flavor of most dessert recipes.  I have served low sugar cookies to die hard sugar fans and have had excellent reviews so it is definiately doable.

The gluten free, low sugar chocolate chip cookies you see above contain:

bob's red mill flour
brown rice flour
coconut flour
banana
applesauce
vanilla
1 Tb. coconut oil
peanut butter
salt, baking soda and chocolate chips

I did not measure the ingredients :-D  It is just one of those things I do sometimes, but once I get the recipe down I will publish one.....stay tuned you WILL want this gluten free chocolate chip cookie recipe whether you are gluten free or not.

Gluten Free Drop Biscuits

The biggest challenge in creating a gluten free biscuit is to make it light and fluffy and not crumbly.  I have an even greater challenge making whole grain, vegan and low fat gluten free biscuit recipes.  I have found that you do not have to add a lot of refined oils in order to produce a light and delicious gluten free biscuit recipe, you just have to know how to substitute ingredients that will provide the moisture you need.

I was not sure how this gluten free biscuit recipe was going to turn out, a couple ingredients are outside the norm for a biscuit recipe.  I was thrilled with the result, these gluten free biscuits were gone quickly.  My children ate these gluten free biscuits until they were gone!   The trick in this recipe is the soymilk, vinegar and cooked quinoa combination.  The soymilk and vinegar mixture makes a dairy free buttermilk and provides a good rise to the gluten free biscuit recipe, the quinoa provides moisture in place of refined oil in the recipe.

The biggest accomplishment with this biscuit recipe, they were NOT crumbly at all!!  Enjoy this decadent, light, moist and delicious gluten free biscuits!!

Vegan Nacho Cheese Chip recipe, Nacho Bake Recipe, Enchilada Sauce,

Vegan Nacho Cheese Chip Recipe

Delicious nacho cheese 'Dorito' style homemade chips!!  

These chips may not be exactly like the store bought kind, they do not contain MSG and other unhealthy ingredients, but my kids LOVED them!  They have a delicious chili cheesy flavor and they are very easy to make! I haven't seen any homemade dorito chip recipes anywhere, this homemade chip recipe is sure to make kids AND mom's happy.

These dorito style chips are an excellent substitute for traditional chips at your superbowl party, healthy snacks for kids, and they are delicious in mexican style recipes!

I thought this would be an excellent time to post the nacho cheese chip recipe just in time for the superbowl.  I have always loved chips, however, most bagged chips contain 150-200 calories for 7-15 chips!!  200 calories for a 4 foot 10 inch tall woman is about an entire meal!!  I can't eat that, not to mention all the refined oils in traditional bagged chips.  I decided to create a delicious, cheese flavored chip that I could ENJOY without all the junk and excess calories in chips from the grocery store.  You really have to try this homemade dorito chip recipe to appreciate how simple and delicious it really is. 

Enchilada Sauce Recipe

 

This enchilada sauce is delicious, the carrot juice adds a lot of extra nutrition, cuts down on the need for sugar or refined sweeteners and creates a delicious sauce.   There are very few enchilada sauces in the grocery store that do not contain MSG or High Fructose Corn syrup so if you choose to use canned enchilada sauce in a recipe please read he label and make sure you are not getting unwanted ingredients.

 

This enchilada sauce recipe is very simple and delicious and can be used in any recipe that calls for canned enchilada sauce.  I used this enchilada sauce recipe in the nacho pasta bake recipe below and it was fabulous!

Vegan Nacho Cheese Sauce Recipe

Here in this photo you see the vegan nacho cheese sauce on top of the nacho bake...YUM!!

This delicious vegan nacho cheese recipe can be made as a superbowl dip recipe for chips or veggies, it can be used to make nacho cheese quesadillas or to top your favorite mexican dishes.

Nacho Pasta Bake Recipe

This is a delicious kid friendly recipe!!  My kids loved this meal, it has all their favorites, nacho cheese dorito style chips, pasta, cheese sauce and a few veggies to make mom's happy too!  This recipe takes a little extra time to make the nacho chips but it is so worth it!

Blueberry Banana Ice Cream Recipe

 

This AMAZING blueberry banana ice cream recipe is SOOOO simple!  You won't believe how creamy and delicious this healthy, sugar free blueberry ice cream is.  This is an amazing sugar free dessert and is made with only fruit!  This recipe is vegan, dairy free, sugar free and absolutely delicious!

 

There are two ways to make this dessert, I realize that most people do not have a champion or green star juicer with a blank plate so I will give you two ways to make it.

 

***If you do not have this type of juicer you can put the frozen bananas and blueberries in a high powered blender or if you do not have a high powered blender put them in a food processor.  Blend with about 1/2 c. of Silk almond or coconut milk until thick and creamy.  Add the almond milk slowly and only enough to get it mixed well or your ice cream will be runny.

 

Gluten Free Chia Seed Pancake Recipe

 

This is a delicious, very simple gluten free pancake recipe, it does not require expensive xanthan gum and makes perfect, delicious little gluten free pancakes.  My children beg for these pancakes every morning, in fact, my 11 year old makes this gluten free pancake recipe by herself, it is so simple and contains a lot of nutrients and is packed with omega 3 fatty acids!

 

My daughter loves these gluten free pancakes with pure maple syrup, they can also be made as gluten free crepes if you thin the batter enough.

 

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Veggie Garbanzo Burger Recipe, Italian Macadamia cream dressing and Italian tempeh and vegetables in tomato cream sauce

Italian Tempeh and Veggies in Tomato Cream Sauce

My sister and her husband came to dinner last night and I wanted to make a delicious Italian dish because she LOVES pasta!  I created this italian recipe just for them.  The recipe is absolutely delicious and is PACKED with nutrition!

This photo also features some gluten free breadsticks, I had little time so I made them out of biscuit dough, they turned out good but they aren't recipe blog worthy in my opinion so I won't feature the recipe here.

Recipe Thoughts, Nutrition Tidbits, and Carrot Juice Nutritional Profile

Carrot juice is found in many of my recipes because it is so packed with nutrients and adds such an amazing flavor to the food.  It is sad to me that so many people are so ill informed when it comes to nutrition.  Nutrition understanding is based on a totally reductionist view of nutrition.

We select a food such as protein, find the food we 'think' has the most protein and that food is then considered healthy and necessary in order to get your protein.  We do the same thing for calcium, omega 3's and any other fad nutrient to come along.  The problem with this is, we totally miss the boat entirely through this approach, we eat unhealthy foods that are not good for us because they contain some random, high prized nutrient in large quantities, when in reality ALL food contains this nutrient and therefore that particular food is unnecessary anyway.

To give you an example, our humble carrot juice.  Let me guess, you think carrot juice has sugars and some vitamin A [carotenoids]  right?  Wrong?  The nutritional profile of carrot juice is BROAD!!  Carrot juice has been used by natural health professionals for hundreds of years as a healing juice, why?  Because the nutritional profile of carrot juice is impressive and supremely health promoting.  If you thought you knew a lot about nutrition, lets take a peak into the nutritional profile of carrot juice and you might think twice about what you think you know about nutrition.

Nutritional Profile of Carrot Juice

1 cup of Carrot juice
All percentages are the daily percent of the RDA

Calories..............94

Protein................2.2g        [Carrot juice has protein....gasp...shock]

Fat.......................4g         [Carrots have fat? Yes, this is how our fat needs are met without refined oil, gasp]

Vitamin A............1935%

Folate......................2%

Vitamin B1.............20%

Vitamin B2.............12%

Vitamin B3.............7%

Vitamin B5...........11%

Vitamin B6...........39%

Vitamin C............27%    [But I thought only oranges had vitamin C]

Vitamin E............18%

Vitamin K...........41%


Calcium..............6%   [Okay wait, only cows milk has calcium, NOPE!]

Iron...................6%

Magnesium.......10%

Manganese.......17%

Phosphorus......14%

Potassium........15%  

Selenium...........3%

Sodium.............5%   [But I thought we had to eat table salt for sodium, nope, it is in plants]

Zinc.................5%

Omega 3's......2%     [Something other than flax and fish has omega 3's?  I am shocked at the poor understanding of nutrition these days, almost ALL plant foods contain fat and even omega 3's, I know, I know how crazy is that, nature provided well for our  nutritional needs and yet, we don't even realize it]

As you can see, something as simple as 1 cup of carrot juice can provide a significant amount of nutrition.  In fact, consuming carrot juice mixed with a variety of vegetable juices can provide nearly all nutrients we require in a day. 

Hopefully that helps you understand why you see so many vegetables, including carrot juice in so many of my daily recipes and menu plans, it is for the nutritional content!  I hope this brief look into the nutritional profile of carrot juice has helped broaden your understanding of nutrition so that you see that nutrition and nutrient consumption is so much more than milk=calcium, fish=omega 3's etc....

on to more recipes............

Italian Macadamia Cream Salad Dressing Recipe 

 

This salad dressing recipe was a creation in an effort to get my husband and kids to eat a salad for lunch.....it was a smashing success!!!  They all LOVED this salad dressing recipe and cleaned their plates.  I added the yellow squash to the salad dressing recipe as a thickener in place of refined, empty calorie oil and to increase the nutritional content of the dressing.

Blending zucchini, yellow squash and other veggies in sauces is a great way to sneak veggies into your family's diet!

 

More Nutrition Tidbits

Okay, so you read the carrot juice nutritional profile and you might be thinking that was interesting, but why add yellow squash to a salad dressing?  Well, it is the same reason I add carrot juice to many recipes, NUTRITION.  Unfortunately, most people have little understanding of the simple nutritional profile of vegetables, because our society focuses on protein=meat and milk=calcium and that's about where nutrition knowledge ends.  Vegetables only make up about 5-7% of the American diet and therefore we have VERY little understanding of the nutrition in fruits and vegetables.

I enjoy creating delicious salad dressing recipes to share, but I think it is important for you to understand WHY you need to eat your veggies.  Sure, you know veggies are good for you because your mom said so, but WHY are they good for you?  Lets find out by using the humble yellow squash nutritional profile as an example.

Yellow Squash Nutritional Profile

1 yellow summer squash

Calories.................51

Protein..................4g [squash has protein? Surprise!]

Fat................... .6g [you can get all the fat you need from natural foods]

Vitamin A............28%

Folate..................23%

Vitamin B1.........14%

Vitamin B2.........42%

Vitamin B3.........11%

Vitamin B5.........10%

Vitamin B6.........54%

Vitamin C...........73%

Vitamin E............3%

Vitamin K...........11%

Calcium..............5%

Iron....................6%

Magnesium........17%

Manganese.........31%

Phosphorus.........18%

Potassium...........18%

Selenium.............1%

Sodium...............1/2%

Zinc.....................12%



Another shining example of how nutritionally dense vegetables are. In only 51 calories you get A LOT of nutrients!!! This is the reason you should EAT YOUR VEGETABLES!! Your mom was right! Most nutrient deficiencies are due to a lack of a variety of vegetables. They are nutrition powerhouses packed with a small amount of calories, this is the absolute key to weight loss too. Eat your veggies. The nutritional profile of the humble yellow squash is amazing and yet it is only one example of the potent nutrition found in vegetables.


This is the reason you will see vegetables featured in every main meal recipe I create, because they should absolutely take center stage.

Carrot Veggie Bean Burger Recipe

My sunburgers have been a hit with EVERYONE who has tried them.  They are a staple in our house, however I decided to create a veggie burger with higher nutrient density and this delicious little veggie burger was the result.  My husband said it is better than my sunburgers and that is saying a lot because sunburgers are his favorite!!

**I did not dress up this veggie burger for the photo because I wanted you to see the texture of the patty and the veggies.

Nutritional Profile of the Veggie Burgers

I thought it would be interesting to show you the nutritional profile of these veggie burgers so you can see how potent a plant based diet is nutritionally, I figured this for 1 veggie burger.

Calories....................150

Protein....................8g

Fat........................4.5g

Vitamin A............31%

Folate..................11%

Vitamin B1...........34%

Vitamin B2...........38%

Vitamin B3...........21%

Vitamin B6...........35%

Vitamin C..............12%

Vitamin K..............5%

Black Bean Dip Recipe

 

My goal this past week has been to get the fam to eat MORE veggies.  My son LOVES beans, he will eat them right out of the can, so this was my little trick to get him to eat veggies, my black bean dip recipe creation.  It worked like a charm, he dipped veggies in this bleack bean dip all week.  However, he did end up eating a lot of  the black bean dip right out of the bowl, but it still is a healthy snack without the veggies too!

 

This is a fabulous dip for veggies!!  You can also bake up some sprouted ezekiel corn tortillas and dip those in it too.  Enjoy!

 

Looking for Articles on Nutrition?

 

I have authored a couple of articles that are available on Article Base, if you are interested in learning more about nutrition please check out my articles.

I will be publishing articles frequently so please subscribe and read my articles, thanks so much for all your support!

 

http://www.articlesbase.com/nutrition-articles/how-to-get-your-kids-to-eat-healthy-food-4128345.html

http://www.articlesbase.com/nutrition-articles/fruit-nutrition-facts-4120868.html

Gluten free pop tart recipe, vegan enchilada recipe, guacamole and cheese sandwich....

Gluten Free Pop Tart Recipe

My children have been begging me to make them 'healthy' pop tarts ever since I let them have the ones from the health food store.  I don't consider the pop tarts in the health food store to be healthy by any stretch of the imagination but they did have them once and they have begged for more.

I told them that some day I would make them healthier, whole grain pop tarts that were low in sugar.  Well, finally last night I decided to take on the challenge and the result was absolutely DIVINE!!!

****Warning:  If you choose to make this recipe the dough is EXTREMELY hard to work with!!!!  Please take this into account.

In order to produce a very flaky crust it is difficult to work with, I couldn't roll it out so I pressed it with my hands.  It is well worth the effort, trust me.

Gluten free pop tarts are a little tricky, I wanted to make the crust flaky, which can be hard since I did not want to use a lot of refined oil in the recipe.  I have found that macadamia nuts make delicious, flaky crusts so the gluten free pop tart recipe utilizes gluten free macadamia nuts to achieve this.   The dough is crumbly which I am sure many gluten free eaters are familiar with.  I can make dough that is not crumbly but in this case it would make the crust more chewy than flaky so you just have to deal with crumbly dough ;-D

I know so many people who loved pop tarts as children and who want a gluten free pop tart recipe.  This recipe was not designed to merely be a gluten free alternative to pop tarts, it is designed to actually be healthier.  While I wouldn't consider this top on my list of healthy foods, the combination of fruit juice sweetened jam, nuts and whole grain gluten free flours makes this an acceptable dessert for those on a healthy diet.  This gluten free pop tart recipe will BLOW YOU AWAY!!  It is amazing, the ingredients may seem a little strange but trust me, you will love these decadent little gluten free pop tarts.  You won't miss the junk food, sugar and high fructose laden store bought pop tarts.

Vegan Sunburger Enchilada Recipe

 

These are delicious enchiladas!!!   This vegan enchilada recipe takes a bit of prep work and you do need to have the sunburgers on hand, but if you eat like we do you have time set aside on Saturdays to make and freeze your sunburgers.   The cream sauce in this vegan enchilada recipe is a substitution for the typical cream of chicken soup found in traditional creamy enchilada recipes.  You can use either tofu or cashew sour cream depending on your preference. 

I added broccoli to this enchilada recipe because I believe every single meal should contain vegetables!  In many other blog posts I have detailed the amazing nutrient content of vegetables so by now you probably understand why there are vegetables in all my recipes.  In fact, when I make this enchilada recipe for my family it contains many more veggies than the enchilada photo above.  I left out the veggies because I realize most people do not eat veggie enchiladas often and may not find the spinach, carrots, and cauliflower very appetizing in an enchilada recipe so this recipe has been toned down.  If you, however enjoy veggies as much as we do feel free to experiment with the recipe and add your favorite veggies to the enchilada recipe!

 

Guacamole and Cheese Veggie Sandwich

 

My husband came home late from work one night and me and the kids had just had random leftovers for dinner so I created this sandwich from leftovers and he LOVED IT!!  So easy and so delicious!

 

 

This is simple to make:

 

Left over cheese sauce from the enchilada recipe above

Guacamole

Romaine or Green leaf lettuce

Sliced tomato

Sunburger

Onion sliced

Sprouts are also a good option

Whole grain pita or whole grain bread

 

I truly hope that you try the gluten free pop tart recipe, even if you do not generally eat gluten free I promise you will enjoy this delicious pop tart recipe.  The vegan enchilada recipe was created because it is such a common staple food that many people eat on a regular basis and I realize that one of the hardest things about changing your diet is finding subsitutions for your favorite foods.  This vegan enchilada recipe is a delicious subsitution for traditional, extremely unhealthy enchilada recipes. 

Enjoy!