Yep, you read that right. Oatmeal is my favorite breakfast food. Ever. Recently, I made the easiest and tastiest slow-cooker recipe and, for some reason, I feel like I really need to share it with you all. It’s the perfect breakfast for these cold, winter mornings and it takes about 10 minutest the night before.
{I promise}

:: Cinnamon Apple Oatmeal ::

2 apples (cored and peeled)
1 cup steel cut oats 
1.5 C water
1.5 C skim milk
2 TBSP brown sugar (or something to sweeten- agave, maple syrup, etc)
1 TBSP flax seeds
Cinnamon
pinch of salt

Stir everything together in your crockpot and cook on LOW for about 7 hours.

In the morning, add whatever you want! I like to add berries and walnuts and a little bit of milk.

By now, you should all know my love for pumpkin-everything. It’s sort of a problem but I problem that I’m choosing to ignore.

Hi friends! I hope you had an awesome weekend. Like always, it went by too fast. {sigh} Anyway, I wanted to share a quick and easy meal that I made on Monday night. If you’re like me, you need quick and easy AND something super healthy after coming off a weekend of the-not-really-caring-attitude

So, here it is :: Spaghetti Squash Pad Thai (ish)

{recipe}

1 spaghetti squash (an awesome alternative to pasta or rice)
2 cups of shelled edamame (a frozen bag is easiest)
1 egg, scrambled 
3-4 green onions, chopped
handful of peanuts, chopped
2-3 Tbsp of sesame seed, toasted

dressing:
2 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp white rice vinegar
a pinch of garlic powder and ginger

directions:

Bare with me. I kinda made this up along the way but here’s how I made it…
First, cook the squash. Either in the oven (usually takes about 45 mins) OR in the microwave (which takes about 15 mins. Super easy.) Here’s a link for step-by-step directions if you need it. While the squash is cooking, boil the edamame (per directions) and cook the egg. Once the squash is done, cut it open, seed it and start pulling out the squash. I recommend grabbing a fork and scraping it out so that it makes nice spaghetti strands. Place all of the squash in a bowl and pour the dressing on top. Next, fold in the green onion, edamame and egg. Sprinkle some peanuts on top for a little garnish and eat away! 

A couple of weeks ago, during the final days of summer, we harvested a few summer squash and a handful of tomatoes from our backyard garden. Our garden didn’t do so great this year (hello drought of 2012) but I really wanted to make something yummy with our “crop”… so I searched for a new recipe to try.

After doing a quick review of my favorite cooking blogs, I stumbled across this recipe from thefauxmartha. It was exactly what I was looking for… light. filling. delicious.

one change I made: I used rice, no bake lasagna noodles to make this recipe gluten free. they taste very similar to regular noodles but they do take slightly longer on the stovetop. 

Now that it’s officially fall, I’m gearing up for hearty meals and warm soups.
{now, if only the weather would cooperate with my cravings…}

Happy Eating!

Yep, you read it right. There is such a thing as a healthy cookie. Gluten-free, egg-free and sugar-free (besides the chocolate chunks). And guess what? They actually taste super yummy.

recipe  via

:: what you’ll need ::

bananas (3 ripes ones)
natural peanut butter or almond butter (1/2 cup)
dark chocolate chunks or chips (1/2 cup to 1 cup)
rolled oats (2 cups)
coconut, shredded (to taste)
vanilla extract (1 tsp)
cinnamon (1/4 tsp)
salt (pinch)
baking powder (1 tsp)
oil (1/4 cup)

:: how to ::

First, heat the oven to 350. Okay, now, in a large bowl, mash up the bananas, pb, oil and vanilla. In another bowl, mix all of the dry ingredients together. Add the dry mix to the banana and pb bowl and mix together until combined. Now before you move on, please try the “dough”. It’s safe to eat because there aren’t any raw eggs so enjoy and maybe even set some aside. From there, drop spoonfuls of the dough onto a non-stick baking pan. Slide them in the oven and bake for about 12-15 mins.

** warning, they aren’t going to be the perfect round cookie that you might be used to. They almost look like no-bake cookies but don’t let their size or shape fool you. These puppies are amazing and, since they’re healthy, why not eat a couple?

via casidy’s iphone

If you are looking for a new summer dinner favorite (think fresh, light and filling) then look no further. These “tacos” and salad are it. They are super healthy and most important, delicious.

:: how to do it ::


Tacos:
For the tacos, use a big leaf lettuce instead of the normal tortilla. (I prefer cabbage or butter lettuce.) For the filling, I rinsed and drained 1 can of black beans and mixed it with a diced up summer squash. (I flash-sauteed my squash but you can certainly eat it raw) For the dressing, mix up olive oil, honey, cilantro, salt and half of a fresh squeezed lime. Toss everything together and sprinkle with non-fat feta cheese. (optional, of course) 


Salad:
This tomato and avocado salad is stupid-good. I saw it on pinterest and thought knew I needed to try it. It seemed like the perfect compliment to my lettuce tacos and luckily, I was right Here’s the recipe I used.  The balsamic vinegar adds the extra (sweet) punch that really makes this salad aaaamazing. 

Happy Eating!

the other night I jazzed up an ordinary ravioli dish. you might be thinking how can anyone really make pre-made ravioli different? Well, thanks to my mama, I did… and here’s how you can too:

Don’t boil it…Sauté it! 

:: what you need ::
1 package of fresh packaged ravioli {find this in refrigerated section}
2 tablespoons of olive oil
2 cloves of garlic {minced}
Veggie or Chicken Broth
add-ins of your choice {mushrooms, spinach, shredded chicken for meat-lovers}

:: how to make it ::

Start by heating the oil on the stove. Once it’s warm, throw in the garlic. When that looks ready, toss in the ravioli and stir it until just starting to brown. When it looks “toasted”, pour veggie broth {or chicken broth} until it just covers the ravioli in the pan. Cover and let cook for 10-12 minutes.

Once it’s cooked, add in whatever you’d like! I decided to do shiitake mushrooms. I threw them in with the pasta during the last 2-3 minutes so they would soften and develop a yummy flavor. I also roasted asparagus and tossed everything together before serving. The broth makes a great “sauce” and the ravioli is SO tender.

I might never boil in plain-ole-water again!

Lately, I can’t get enough quinoa. For whatever reason, around dinner time, I find myself reaching for this yummy, little “grain” and making a meal out of it. It’s so easy and so good for you. {bonus!}

{recipe adapted from here}

{i ate too fast to get a pic so i had to take one of the leftovers}

a friend recently told me about roasted chickpeas. I hadn’t tried them before, so I gave it a go.
oh-my-goodness. they are delicious. once you pop, you can’t stop.
{and luckily, it’s pretty healthy}

Here’s what you do:

set oven to 400
rinse + dry chickpeas
sprinkle with any seasoning you’d like
spread on a cookie sheet and bake, 20-30 mins

{ideas}
craving something salty? drizzle with olive oil and top with garlic salt, pepper and chili powder
need something sweet? toss them in sugar and cinnamon.

happy snacking!