Oil-Free Bruchetta Spaghetti Squash

...For this recipe use a crockpot so that you can turn it on and forget about it for a few hours. Mix up a quick salad with beans, seeds, and a tahini dressing and together you have a meal full of complex carbohydrates, protein, healthy fats, and a happy belly.

Carrot Dogs On The Grill

Celebrate the 4th of July this year grilling a hot dog that won't lead to colon cancer! Instead these carrot dogs could help PREVENT cancer, heart disease, infection, stroke, all the while improving your vision, skin, and teeth! I'm talking about Carrot dogs! To be clear, these do not taste like meat or veggie meat. These carrot dogs are their own thing and I love it! I feel like I'm eating a hot dog and I get that hot dog fix but instead of chewing down processed meat or processed fake meat I get more fiber, vitamins, and minerals. Eat more plants. Crap like a champ!

Mushroom Cashew Lettuce Wraps

Whenever I invite people over for dinner I either make what I'm currently craving or I have a simple 3-step method that I use. 1. Look inside the fridge. 2. What do I have? 3. What can I turn this into? For dinner the other night I looked into the fridge and saw butter lettuce, leftover tahini mayo (recipe below), and a TON of mushrooms that needed to be used, like, TAaaaH-DAY! I thought about making mushroom lettuce wraps and went to google just that. I saw a Mushroom Cashew Lettuce Wrap recipe that sounded intriguing to me and I took it from there! The recipe itself used a lot of random ingredients that I don't usually use on this website (or buy). So I improvised to make an oil-free version using the ingredients I currently had in the house. The perfect starter for your mushroom-loving friends.

White Bean Alfredo Zoodle Bowl

Like I said in my last Zoodle post, my friend Arnetta gave me a spirilizer and I have to say that it's just so much fun! With it I've made Pad Thai (recipe below), Potato-Zoodle Salad (recipe coming soon), Hummus Zoodles, and the Alfredo recipe for today. I'm planning on eating zoodles with marinara sauce and cashew parmesan, throwing them in soups, and maybe even a zoodle casserole in the future! I'm not sure why I didn't buy myself this little device years ago, but I'm so glad my friend gave me one. So either get yourself a spirilizer or just get yourself an Arnetta! 😉 Zoodles forever!

No Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars (Vegan)

Banana Smoothie recipes: Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Ice Cream Peach Ice Cream Wendy’s Copycat Vegan Frosty Chocolate Chip Milk Shake Chocolate Peanut Butter Bar Recipe Adopted From: Peanut Butter Chocolate Energy Bars Other similar recipes: King-Sized Vegan Snicker Bars Healthy Scotcheroos

Mushroom Risotto Stuffed Butternut Squash (vegan)

This is a super easy and fast recipe. Well, that is, if you have the 3 separate recipes done ahead of time. So, for example, I made the mushroom risotto on Tuesday and we ate some of it for dinner, I always have a batch of cashew parmesan made and in the fridge, and then I baked the squash Wednesday morning (you can also cook in a crockpot). That evening I had the idea to stuff the butternut squash pieces with leftover risotto... it worked out! Delicious.

Mushroom Risotto (Vegan)

Mushrooms are nutrient powerhouses! Just eating half a mushroom a day (or 15 a month) can help lower your risk of breast cancer by 64%!!!!! Seriously? That's absolutely insane! It's too bad so many people dislike mushrooms! Mushrooms have antioxidants, selenium, folate, vitamin D, vitamin C, potassium, and a good amount of protein and fiber! Research shows that consuming mushrooms can help to lower your risks of...

Tahini Miso Kimchi Bowl

This Miso-Tahini Kimchi bowl is my favorite type of meal, because you can make a big batch at the beginning of the week and then every day after you can have dinner on the table in less then 5 minutes. If you're the sort of person who doesn't like to eat the same thing everyday then a simple solution is to...

Simple Steamed Kale

Sometimes you just have to keep things simple. This recipe is SIMPLE. Sometimes it's the simple things that make the world go 'round... not that I'm implying that gravity (or more literally: Conservation of angular momentum) is simple. Please, don't try to explain it to me, I don't want to know!!! I'm just saying that I tend to OVER flavor foods at times and I LOVE that! I want so much garlic and ginger that the dish burns my throat. Jason wants noodles with earth balance spread and salt. What? So we compromise at times. Here's a steamed kale recipe that's so simple I stumbled upon it by accident. I was working with a patient at their home and they didn't own any spices. I was stuck with garlic powder and low sodium soy sauce. We ate this recipe with brown rice and we were very pleased. The simple things... like gravity or Conservation of angular momentum.

Chili-Hummus Baked Potato

I am SO grateful that complex carbohydrates are REALLY REALLY REALLY good for us! Don't be scared of carbs! The reason there's so much confusion is that there's more then one type of carbohydrate! Simple carbohydrates (cookies, cakes, breads, crackers, candy, etc.) have a lot of calories and fat but little to no fiber to help us stay full which means we get hungrier faster even though we may have eaten a lot of calories already. Complex carbohydrates (beans, oatmeal, brown rice, potatoes, corn, quinoa, etc.)...

Avocado Cabbage Salad

Oh avocado how I love you! You are nutritious and delicious, high in fiber and full of flavor. You're fantastic in salads and chips, or sandwiches and dips, inside burritos or tacos or enchiladas with nachos, and apparently you also work as an ingredient in chocolate avocado frosting (recipe below)!!! Avocado, is there nothing you can't do? Can you also be a chunky cabbage salad dressing too? Avocado is the perfect salad dressing because instead of adding a bunch of sugar and fat onto your healthy salad you'll be adding fiber to your fiber so that you can crap like a champ!

Marinara Alfredo Whole Wheat Gnocchi

The best way I know to impress at a dinner party is to make homemade gnocchi! It's been a trick up my sleeve since high school. I think I might have made it for every boyfriend or boyfriend potential over the years. Naturally this was the dish I made Jason for our first valentines dinner together. <3 I don't think words can express how rewarding it feels to sit down to a nice big bowl of potato pasta... potato pasta that you made from scratch! This delicious gnocchi is made with whole wheat flour, potatoes, and salt. It takes longer then most recipes I post but when you need a treat or want to impress someone special then why not? It goes really nice with roasted balsamic zucchini, San Pellegreno, and your very own Jason! 😉

Breakfast Tacos

These Breakfast Tacos are definitely culturally confused what with using Fiesta Scrambled Tofu, Sweet Potato Fries, sriracha sauce, and sauerkraut!!! The meal sounds a bit crazy, but do you trust me? These tacos are well worth it! Dig out the forgotten contents of your refrigerator and whip up these bad boys for Mother's Day! Tacos up!

Fiesta Scrambled Tofu

For all the savory breakfast lovers out there, here's a new treat! I made Culturally Confused Breakfast Tacos last weekend and directions for that delicious feast will be coming soon, but first you need to know how to make the Fiesta Scrambled Tofu! Scroll down to the bottom of the recipe for a sneak peak at the Culturally Confused Breakfast Tacos! 😉 A delicious recipe to brighten your day!!!

Oil-Free Hash Browns

Hash browns are not usually an item I'd choose from a restaurant menu because they're likely dripping in oil, but this recipe side steps that issue in a way that is super easy and yet still scrumptious!

Tempeh Fake’n Bacon

...All cultures around the world have their own form of fermented foods that they consume regularly! In Korea they eat kimchi, in Japan they eat miso, Greece has its yogurt, Germans like their sauerkraut, and that's just the beginning.(links for more information below). So start consuming fermented foods (in moderation), it could save your gut. The first fermented food on your list could definitely be, TEMPEH!

Za’atar (زَعْتَر) Scrambled Tofu

I had been tempted to add za'atar all along, but thought I would shy on the side of caution since this was a new recipe for me. I pushed my inhibition aside and sprinkled on the za'atar... folks you will probably see a lot more recipes in the future highlighting this fantastic condiment! It is definitely my go-to seasoning when a recipe needs a little extra punch of goodness! This recipe is still great if you don't have the za'atar, but if you have it... shake it one!

100% Whole Wheat Pancakes

Some days are pancake days. Try out this 100% whole-wheat pancake recipe with zero sugar or oil added. If you have a hard-anodized pan then you don't even need to use oil in the pancake frying process (we have a great pan from Costco)! This breakfast is high in fiber yet just as tasty as traditional pancake recipes. Eat these pancakes with berries, bananas, unsweetened applesauce, raisins, nut butters, date paste, or fruit compote for a special treat that is also good for you. Start (or finish) your day with a meal that gives you energy instead of zapping it from you! Make a double batch and store in the freezer for a quick meal or snack later on. Just pop one or two frozen pancakes in the toaster, spread with peanut butter and date paste (my favorite combo) and head out the door!

Vegan German Chocolate Cake (sugar and oil free)

Every year when I was growing up I asked for the same birthday cake. I wanted the German Chocolate Cake Frosting (and pecan glaze) on a yellow cake instead of chocolate! My mom faithfully made a Betty Crocker yellow cake mix and layered it with rich chocolate butter cream frosting and made that infamous coconut pecan dream to coat the top. Sweetened condensed milk, gobs of sugar, and a few very hyperactive children later... you get a birthday coma of happiness (and I loved my mom MORE for it). Flash forward a few years my sister said I should make a German Chocolate Cake that she could feel good about giving to her kids (what a good mommy). One day while killing time at Costco (as my husband went up and down each aisle excitedly searching for a specific extension cord he decide we needed <3 I absolutely love my nerd) I started looking at the cooking magazines and after seeing a recipe for caramel chocolate cake I got an idea to use date paste as the binder and sweetener for the coconut pecan frosting (which means zero risk of burning the frosting because you don't have to heat it. Yes, I've done that before)!

Carrot Zucchini Slaw

Some days I don't want to eat a salad. I know I should eat salads and that raw vegetables are good for me, but so are cooked vegetables so I eat a big plate of steamed green beans or zucchin instead. Other times I make a salad a bit more creative...

How To: Make Almond Milk

This easy recipe will take you less then 5 minutes to prepare and is 4 times cheaper then purchasing at the grocery store (not to mention the time it would have taken to drive to there). You also know 100% whats inside your milk, no mystery necessary! This recipe produces 8 cups (2 quarts) of unsweetened almond milk which translates to about 40 calories a cup and 2% calcium (which comes naturally from the almonds). I bought my almonds from Costco and did my own price analysis. It is about...