Veggie Staples

dairy free, gluten free, refined sugar free, plant based recipes

Archives for June 2015

Nut Free Strawberry Lemon Blender Muffins

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The other day my Mom & I went strawberry picking and we ended up with about 20 pounds of strawberries! It is definitely one of my favorite fruits… although, I never met a fruit I really didn’t like! I knew I had to act fast with my strawberries (I washed the rest and put them in the freezer), so my first thought was muffins. I kind of love muffins.

Jake does not like what he calls ‘chunks’, so I knew in order for him to taste test and enjoy them, they had to be ‘chunk’ free, hence the use of the blender. I didn’t mind though, it makes them easy. I also really love the combination of strawberry and lemon, (try my strawberry lemonade popsicles) so I thought I’d give that a whirl in putting these together. So, here they are, my nut free, strawberry lemon blender muffins. They are also paleo and gluten free, of course (not vegan, sorry). I love my eggs! What is your favorite flavor of muffin?

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Nut Free Strawberry Lemon Blender Muffins
Author: 
Recipe type: muffin
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 6 muffins
 
Ingredients
  • 3 eggs
  • zest of one lemon
  • juice of one lemon
  • 1 cup strawberries, fresh or frozen
  • ¼ cup coconut flour
  • ¼ cup non dairy milk
  • 2 tablespoons coconut oil, melted + more for greasing
  • 1 tablespoon stevia or coconut sugar (optional, for sweetness)
  • ¼ teaspoon baking powder
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees
  2. Wash strawberries if needed
  3. Put all ingredients in a blender or food processor and buzz until smooth
  4. Line muffin tin with liners or grease with coconut oil
  5. Disperse batter evenly among 6 muffin cups
  6. note: place ½ strawberry on each muffin for garnish if desired
  7. Bake for 18-22 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean
  8. *fill empty cups half way with water for more even baking
  9. Allow to cool & enjoy

nutfreestrawberrylemonmuffins

Paleo Takeout Review

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ptocover

Book review season is here! Be on the lookout for 2 more this week by some of my very talented friends, with whom I’ve had the privilege to do book reviews for!

First up is Russ over at The Domestic Man. His story is pretty incredible, and he’s used food to heal his mind and body. Who doesn’t love a story like that? And now he’s an amazing chef, with not one but two books out, and this one is going to blow your mind. Really. And if you head over to follow both me and Russ on Instagram, I’m giving away a copy until Wednesday, June 24th!

We’ve been lucky enough to try multiple recipes in the book, the hot and sour soup (amazing), the egg drop soup (recipe shared below), and my personal favorite, the blackened fish tacos. This is a book worth having, you will make these recipes again & again & again. We have at least 2 more planned for this week, including the Chipotle Burrito Bowls!

 

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Paleo Takeout Review
Author: 
Recipe type: Soup
Cuisine: Chinese
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 4 servings
 
Ingredients
  • slurry:
  • 3 tbsp arrowroot starch
  • 2 tbsp cold water
  • soup:
  • 3 cups vegetable or chicken broth
  • 1 cup water
  • ¼ tsp sea salt
  • ¼ tsp white pepper
  • ¼ tsp ground ginger
  • 2 large eggs plus one large egg yolk, beaten
  • 1 green onion, chopped for garnish, optional
Instructions
  1. Stir together the arrowroot starch and cold water to create a slurry, then set aside
  2. In a stock pot, combine the broth, water, salt, pepper and ginger and bring to a boil over high heat. Once soup is boiling, stir in half of the arrowroot starch slurry. Continue to stir until thickened, about 1 minute, adding the rest of the slurry if needed. Taste the soup and add more seasonings if needed.
  3. Reduce the heat to low and slowly pour the eggs through a fork in the soup. Once the eggs have been added, whisk gently with a fork to prevent clumping, then allow to cook through, 1 more minute.
  4. Serve immediately, garnish with green onion if desired

 

Meal Prep 101

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A lot of people have been asking me about meal prep lately. So here is your Meal Prep 101! I think regardless if you are trying to lose weight or not, meal prep is essential to keep the mind sane. Especially for someone like me, a full time working Mom who also has eight million other things going on (like working out)! I would never make it without pinterest, my cookbooks or one of these, then there are no guesses as to what is for dinner for the week!
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If you don’t have a meal planning magnet on your refrigerator, I highly recommend one! Even if I don’t make what I write down for a certain night, I know that I have all the ingredients to make anything on that list. Very Essential. It takes all of the stress out of knowing what I have planned for the week. A lot of people do meal prep, freeze and then defrost, but if the chicken or fish or whatever it is I’m cooking for the night is out, it usually doesn’t take me very long (I never pick labor intensive dinners).

If you aren’t on pinterest, get there! It’s seriously the best, and I get so many dinner ideas there! I usually pin during the week, and then by the weekend (Friday or Saturday night) I know what I’ll be making for dinners the following week. I would like to say that I vary my snacks, but I go through phases, and usually eat the same things for a month before I move onto something else. Take for instance, this month I am eating tons of coconut milk greek yogurt with gluten free granola mix. Check out my yogurt parfait recipe here! I’ve also been really into Practical Paleo’s Pumpkin Pancakes (Zoey loves them too)!

1. Start with finding your 6 or 7 meals. I always plan one night of eating out because I go to art class and Jake plays soccer.
2. Will you both eat the same thing? Awesome! If not, and you’re like me (because Jake eats meat and I do not) you might need to double plan some nights. It’s usually just something easy like when we make fajitas, Jake has steak, I have veggies, beans or fish. Or, if Jake wants something like pot roast or meatloaf, I plan on zoodles or a big salad (even eggs if I’m busy)!
3. Do you coupon? What’s on sale that week? (we get our circulars the week before). If there is grassfed beef or chicken, I usually stock up. You pay a little more upfront, but then there are weeks your grocery bill is cheaper because you don’t have to buy it. I try to get to trader joe’s when I can, and I make a lot of food and snacks from scratch. We save a lotof money by only eating out once a week, and we usually go somewhere inexpensive, or to a place that has specials or we use a groupon. Unfortunately for us, all of this saved money usually gets dumped into formula for Zoey (I can’t wait until she doesn’t have to drink it anymore)!
4. Make your grocery list. Check your pantry. What do you have that you could use (this cuts down on your grocery bill big time). What’s in the freezer? I know people that are notorious for forgetting all the marvelous things they have in their freezer, and then they go bad.
5. I usually eat the same thing for breakfast, lunch and my snacks during the week. This also keeps my grocery budget down!

So here’s some photos of my meal planning for last week:
Roasted veggies for my egg scrambles with salsa for breakfast:
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Other good breakfast ideas:
Paleo/Nut Free Lemon Blueberry Muffins
Easy Breakfast Egg Muffins
Chia Seed Pudding
Easy Morning Quiche
Cinnamon Almond Butter Pancakes (Make a big batch & retoast them all week)
Morning Frothy Monkey Smoothie
Pineapple Basil Smoothie
Green Monster Smoothie
Apple Cinnamon Smoothie

Snacks:
Homemade Kale Chips:
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Yogurt Parfait:
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Steamed chicken with 1 tablespoon coconut milk yogurt, low sugar craisins & celery:
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More Snack Ideas:
Nut & Seed Bars
Cocoa Cranberry Bars
Cinnamon Crunch Snack Bites
Homemade Fruit Roll Ups
Cheezy Chick Peas

And again, lunches and dinners vary.
These are some of my favorites that I make from my blog on a regular basis:
Springtime Vegetable Pot Pie
Stuffed Peppers
Chickpea Salad Sandwiches
Homemade Sushi
Cauliflower Tortilla Tacos

If I’m feeling like something salty at night, I usually make some homemade air popped popcorn (this air popper is awesome, and worth it if you eat a lot of popcorn, you can put any toppings on it), or I indulge in some so delicious coconut milk ice cream (they make lots of different kinds, including one with no sugar! It’s awesome!

So, I hope that is a good first start to your Meal Prep 101! It gets easier as you do it each week, so don’t give up, and good luck!

Paleo & Nut Free Lemon Blueberry Muffins

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It’s summer & it’s berry season! I’ve been super duper craving muffins lately, and I still have an obscene amount of blueberries in the freezer from last summer, and knowing that we’re going to go again soon, I want to use them up. So lemon blueberry muffins it is (and they are nut free)! That means lots of blueberry smoothies, etc! Although I love blueberries (and lemons), my favorite berry is the blackberry (I have a great recipe for a blackberry smoothie here and a great recipe for blackberry watermelon popsicles here). What is your favorite berry?

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Paleo & Nut Free Lemon Blueberry Muffins
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 5 muffins
 
Ingredients
  • 3 eggs
  • zest of one lemon
  • juice of one lemon
  • ¾ cup blueberries, fresh or frozen
  • ¼ cup coconut flour
  • 2 tablespoons coconut oil, melted + more for greasing
  • 1 tablespoon stevia or coconut sugar (optional, for sweetness)
  • 1 tablespoon non dairy milk
  • ¼ teaspoon baking powder
  • ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees
  2. Wash blueberries if needed
  3. Combine dry ingredients, sift thoroughly
  4. Combine wet ingredients (except blueberries) and mix well
  5. Combine wet and dry ingredients and mix well
  6. Gently fold in blueberries
  7. Line 5 muffin cups or grease with extra coconut oil
  8. bakers note: if you add water to empty muffin cups (1/2 full) muffins will bake more evenly
  9. Bake 18-22 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean
  10. Allow to cool before eating

paleolemonblueberrymuffins

Easy Breakfast Egg Muffins

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Being a teacher, breakfast for me has got to be quick. I am completely notorious for hitting the snooze button (more than once) before getting out of bed each morning. I am doing really well after my sugar detox (I lost 5 lbs, and I wasn’t super duper strict after the first week, to be honest, I was using stevia in my coffee…oops!). I highly recommend the 21 Day Sugar Detox if you are struggling with any kind of serious sugar cravings, or you just want to make your eating habits a little more healthy!

So I have been eating these breakfast egg muffins for the past 2 weeks in the morning. They are great for the mornings that I go to this new Crossfit/TRX class that I’ve been trying out at my gym. I can eat them on the way to work after I’ve gotten in the car! Perfect! The great thing is you can roast or saute any veggies of your liking (or even turkey bacon if you’ve got meat eaters on your hands) to put in the cups - and presto, you have a wonderfully delicious and quick breakfast! Low carb and full of protein to keep you full a long time! They are so good, I’ve been eating them cold, but they also reheat wonderfully! I hope you enjoy them just as much as I do!

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Easy Breakfast Egg Muffins
Author: 
Recipe type: breakfast
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 12 muffins
 
Ingredients
  • 12 eggs
  • 2 cups kale, washed and chopped
  • 2 red peppers, washed and chopped
  • 1 bunch of green onion/scallion, washed and chopped
  • 1 cup mushrooms, washed and chopped
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • coconut oil for greasing (or muffin cup liners)
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
  2. Wash and chop all veggies (including green onion/scallion)
  3. Saute vegetables until just cooked
  4. Add cooked vegetables and eggs to a large bowl and whisk until well combined
  5. Divide egg mixture evenly among the cups
  6. Place egg muffins in the oven for 20-22 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean
  7. Enjoy after the muffins have cooled slightly

 

paleo21dsdeasybreakfasteggmuffins