Baked Oatmeal Snack Bars

I'm in love with this oat bar recipe.  It has no added sugar and is an awesome post or after workout snack for me.  I wrap them in individual pieces of plastic wrap for a quick grab and go bar.  If you aren't use to eating your oatmeal plain you might want to add a bit of sugar to this recipe but I love it.  You get a perfect amount of sweetness from the dried fruit. I found this recipe on Kath Eats. 

To up the protein a bit I added a scoop of protein powder to this recipe that you could of course omit. 

Baked Oatmeal Snack Bars

1 1/2 c. rolled old fashioned oats
1 scoop vanilla soy protein powder
1/4 c. dried cranberries
1/2 c. chopped walnuts
1/4 c. ground flax seeds (or any seeds you like)
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/4 c. almond milk (original)
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla

Preheat oven to 350.  Mix dry ingredients.  Mix wet ingredients. Pour wet into dry. Stir to combine. Pour into a 9×9 baking dish either coated in cooking spray or lined with parchment. Bake for 40 minutes. Cut into 9 squares. 

Makes 9 servings

NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION -  227 Calories * 13 g. Fat * 20 g. Carbohydrates * 31 mg. Sodium * 7 g. Sugar * 6.8 g. Protein * 4.6 g. Fiber

Ants in a Tree

This is my take on a Chinese dish, ants in a tree.  Normally it is made with ground pork and mung bean noodles.  I thought the mung bean noodles tasted awful so I prefer to serve mine over rice and I substituted ground turkey just because it is a healthier lower calorie option.  This is such a quick easy dinner that my family loves.

Ants in a Tree 

1 lb. ground turkey
1/4 c. low sodium soy sauce
1 tbsp. rice vinegar
1 tbsp. sambal chili paste
1 tsp. cornstarch
1 tbsp. canola oil
1/2 c. chicken broth 

Combine the soy sauce, rice vinegar, and chili paste in a medium bowl and whisk until smooth. Add the cornstarch and whisk until combined. Add the ground turkey and mix until thoroughly integrated. Set aside for 30 minutes.

Place a 12-inch saute pan over high heat for 1 minute. Add the oil and swirl to coat the bottom and sides of the pan. Once the oil shimmers, add the meat mixture. Stir constantly for 2 minutes, breaking the meat up into very small pieces. Continue cooking and stirring until the meat is well browned and in very small pieces, approximately 2 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium-high and add the broth. Cook until reduced, approximately 3 minutes.  Serve over rice.

NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION:  210 Calories * 12.5 g. Fat *  499 mg. Sodium * 21 g. Protein  This recipe serves 6 about 1/2 c. per serving, rice not included in calorie count.

Lemon & White Wine Quinoa Pasta

This is the very first recipe I tried using quinoa pasta and my entire family loved it.  This is just such an awesome summer time dish and the lemon just makes it amazing.  I found the original recipe here at Cutesy Jingles.   All the dairy eaters in my house had Parmesan cheese added to the top of their pasta. Mine was perfectly delicious without it. I absolutely ADORE lemon so you might want to add about 1/2 the zest and give it a taste before adding the rest.    

Lemon & White Wine Quinoa Pasta

4 oz dry quiona spaghetti
1/4 cup grated Parmesan (*optional)
2 tsp olive oil
3 cloves garlic (or 2 large)
1/2 lemon
zest of one lemon
1/8 c. white wine
handful of basil leaves, chiffonaded


Add olive oil to a pan and start sauteing your garlic.  When fragrant add in the lemon juice and wine and allow to simmer while you cook your pasta.  Once your pasta has finished cooking add it directly into the pan with your lemon white wine sauce.  Now add in the lemon zest, basil and Parmesan cheese.  When serving you can top with additional cheese if you wish. 

As long as you salt your pasta water your pasta will be salty enough without needing any additional salt.

NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION:  (Serving size roughly 3) 212 Calories * 6.1 g. Fat * 1.8 g.Saturated fat * 32.5 g. Carbohydrates * 131 mg. Sodium * 2.7 g. Fiber * 6.1 g. Protein 

Whole Wheat Oatmeal Pizza Dough

This turned out much better than I thought it would.  I was skeptical.  I mean it is really hard to make whole wheat pizza dough without adding in some white flour to make it taste better but I was really pleased with this recipe!  I found this recipe on Give Me Neither.  I modified the ingredients to suit what I was looking for a bit better.  I didn't eat much of this since I'm avoiding dairy but my kids and even my husband really liked this.  I wouldn't make bread sticks out of this dough but with the cheese and sauce it works really well with the whole wheat oatmeal crust.  I will definitely be making this again.

 Whole Wheat Oatmeal Pizza Dough
 
1 1/4 c. water
2 tbsp. olive oil
2 tsp. salt
2 1/4 c. whole wheat bread flour
2/3 c. ground old fashioned oats
1/4 c. vital wheat gluten
2 tbsp. honey
3 tsp. yeast

Using warm water (about 110 degrees) put in your yeast and honey and allow to sit while you grind your oats.  In a food processor grind your oats until they are the consistency of flour.  Then switch your food processor blade to the plastic blade and add in the wheat flour, gluten and salt.  With the food processor on slowly add in the water yeast mixture and oil and pulse until it turns into a rough dough ball.  Sprinkle some extra flour on the counter and knead your dough until a ball.  Let rise in a greased bowl for about 2 hours.  Separate the dough into two halves.  Roll out until desired size.  Since this dough is completely whole grain it is a bit more difficult to work with and roll out just be patient.  It also will not rise as much as a normal white dough.  In the meantime, preheat your oven to 500 degrees with a baking stone.  Top your pizza with your desired toppings and bake for 8-10 minutes or until golden.  You can brush edges with olive oil if you wish as well.  

Now this nutritional information is just for the crust alone if you made 2 large pizzas and cut them into 8 slices (16 total).

NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION - 157.2 Calories * 2.6 g. Fat * 29.3 g. Carbohydrates * 4.5 g Fiber * 2.3 g. Sugar * 6.5 g. Protein 

Chicken & Vegetable Quinoa Casserole

I've been hearing so much about quinoa lately and am a bit embarrassed to say I've never tried it before until this week.  I've been using quinoa pasta lately and love it and decided to finally use my box of quinoa in my pantry this week.  I was not disappointed.  I found a casserole recipe on Nelly's Pantry and was rather pleased to find that it was dairy-free.  It isn't often you find a dairy-free casserole since most of them are loaded with cream of chicken soup, cream of broccoli soup and mayonnaise.  I love that this one makes a chicken gravy and uses that instead.  Plus, casseroles are so versatile.  You can throw and vegetable you like into it.  You can throw one or many.  I added in broccoli, corn and carrots into mine.  Of course if you don't have a dairy allergy this recipe would be awesome with cheese.  I know my husband was probably thinking that the entire time he was eating it but he's wonderful enough to forgo his cheese in front of me and the kids since we can't eat it.

Mix all ingredients together.

Chicken & Vegetable Quinoa Casserole

1 1/2 c. uncooked quinoa
6 c. chicken stock
1/3 c. all-purpose flour
3 tbsp. dairy-free butter or oil
2 bone in chicken breasts
1 c. broccoli
1/2 c. corn
1/2 c. sliced carrots
2 cloves minced garlic
1/3 c. panko breadcrumbs
Salt & Pepper to taste

Spread breadcrumbs evenly over top.

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.  On a baking sheet place your chicken breasts skin side up and season with a spray of cooking spray, salt and pepper and bake for 45 minutes.  Meanwhile cook your quinoa.  I think cooking it in chicken stock gives it better flavor but you can use water if you rather.  Add quinoa to a saucepan with 3 cups of chicken stock and bring to a boil.  Cover and simmer for about 10-15 minutes or until all liquid has evaporated.  Set aside to cool in a large mixing bowl.  Steam all your vegetables for about 5 minutes to cook them just a bit and pour over the top of the quinoa.  Once chicken has baked set aside until cool enough to handle and remove breast from bone and chop.  Add chicken to the quinoa and vegetable mixture.  Now to make your sauce.  Add 3 tbsp. butter or oil to a saucepan over medium heat.  Add garlic and cook for a minute or two until nice and fragrant.  All in your flour and whisk until combined to make your roux.  Slowly add in your chicken stock (3 cups) while whisking to prevent lumps and bring to a boil until thick.  It should coat the back of a spoon quite well at this point.  If you rather you could cook your vegetables in the gravy instead of steam them but that's up to you.  Now pour the gravy over the quinoa, chicken and vegetable mixture and stir (gently) until combined.  Pour in a greased baking dish.  Add the panko to the top of the casserole and lightly spray with cooking spray.  Bake at 400 for 30 minutes or until golden brown.  I turned my broiler on high for the last 3-5 minutes to make the top extra golden.  

Baked to golden delicious perfection!

I entered all of the ingredients into this recipe calorie calculator found here - Recipe Calorie Counter   and determined that this recipe is roughly 205 calories for a 1/2 c. serving.  This is only an estimate.  I calorie count my meals these days so you will see many more of these nutrition facts on my site in the future.  
 

Nutrition Facts User Entered Recipe
12 Servings
Amount Per Serving
Calories		204.5
Total Fat		7.1 g
	Saturated Fat	3.5 g
	Polyunsaturated Fat	0.6 g
	Monounsaturated Fat	2.1 g
Cholesterol		38.3 mg
Sodium		516.9 mg
Potassium		381.7 mg
Total Carbohydrate		22.0 g
	Dietary Fiber	2.2 g
	Sugars	2.5 g
Protein		13.6 g

Apple Cinnamon Oat Waffles (Gluten-Free/Dairy-Free)

I've been trying and trying to find the motivation to continue with my blog but I feel like I started strong doing so many of my favorite desserts and baked goods and then when I started dieting and losing weight I stopped all of that completely.  For a while I felt like there wasn't a point to continuing without cookies and cakes but I think I'm just going to revamp my blog to fit the new me.  Recipes that reflect all the healthy foods we eat in our house now.  The world of dairy-free and gluten-free is very new to me still so there are so many new recipes that I can't wait to try and share with you all.   Over the last 6 months of healthy eating and exercise I've lost 25lbs and feel stronger, healthier and more motivated than I ever have before.  The world of healthy food isn't nearly as terrible as I once thought it would be.  Not to mention I like having a place to store all of my favorite recipes since my husband seems to hate it when I leave browsers open with 15 different recipes I want to keep or try and have no where to put them! 

Anyways, this recipe is soooo good!  I love to make big batches of this and freeze them for my kids for weekday breakfasts.  This recipe has applesauce in that keeps the waffle moist.  Sometimes using oat flour in recipes the oats can get a bit dry so I like the addition of applesauce. This recipe is both gluten-free and dairy-free and my current favorite!

Just a quick note.  Coconut oil is temperamental to use so if you rather use butter or oil in it's place go ahead.  The coconut oil you have to melt since it is a solid at room temperature.  Then you add it into the cold milk and eggs mixture whisking very quickly to combine then quickly pour in your dry ingredients to try to not give the oil too much time to lump up and turn solid again, which it will do so you just need to move quickly with it.  

Apple Cinnamon Oat Waffles

3 c. old fashioned rolled oats
1/2 c. unsweetened applesauce
2 tbsp. sugar
1 1/4 c. original almond milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
2 eggs
2 tbsp. coconut oil
1 tsp. cinnamon


Place oats in your food processor and pulse until fine like regular flour.  To not waste an extra bowl go ahead and then add in your baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and sugar into your ground oats and give a pulse or two to combine.  Beat eggs in a separate bowl just lightly, then add in your vanilla and almond milk. Melt the coconut oil and quickly whisk into the egg and milk mixture.  Then add in the dry ingredients and mix until just combined.  Allow to rest 5 minutes before scooping out about 1/2 c. mixture into a pre-heated waffle iron.  If freezing allow to cool completely before freezing or they will stick together.   

Makes 6-8 waffles.

Nutrition Facts User Entered Recipe
6 Servings
Amount Per Serving
Calories		257.8
Total Fat		9.8 g
	Saturated Fat	4.9 g
	Polyunsaturated Fat	1.4 g
	Monounsaturated Fat	1.9 g
Cholesterol		61.7 mg
Sodium		61.2 mg
Potassium		83.7 mg
Total Carbohydrate		36.9 g
	Dietary Fiber	4.5 g
	Sugars	10.4 g
Protein		7.4 g

Nutrition Facts User Entered Recipe
8 Servings
Amount Per Serving
Calories		193.4
Total Fat		7.4 g
	Saturated Fat	3.7 g
	Polyunsaturated Fat	1.1 g
	Monounsaturated Fat	1.4 g
Cholesterol		46.3 mg
Sodium		45.9 mg
Potassium		62.8 mg
Total Carbohydrate		27.7 g
	Dietary Fiber	3.4 g
	Sugars	7.8 g
Protein		5.5 g