Veggie Staples

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

Gluten Free Orange Carrot Ginger Muffins

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My husband’s favorite cake is carrot (okay, maybe second to chocolate). I had him test these out with the new Enjoy Life Muffin Mix that I used to create these Gluten Free Orange Carrot Ginger Muffins. All I have to say about his reaction is Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner!! His eyes lit up when he took a bite of these!

They are super easy to put together, and they are just to die for! They are really great for a quick breakfast, but also for an awesome morning or afternoon snack. My daughter (who just turned 1), also devoured these, so kid friendly, especially because all those carrots are hidden!! The ginger makes is a little zesty, the orange makes it a little sweet - the perfect balance! Well, what are you waiting for, get to your kitchen to make these muffins!!

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Gluten Free Orange Carrot Ginger Muffins
Author: 
Recipe type: Muffin
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 9 muffins
 
Ingredients
  • 1½ cups Enjoy Life Muffin Mix (as prepared, I made mine with coconut oil)
  • ½ cup finely shredded carrots (you can use a cheese grater or a food processor)
  • 1 orange, zested
  • ¼ cup fresh squeezed orange juice
  • 2 teaspoons grated ginger (or dried ginger)
  • ½ teaspoon cinnamon
  • *extra coconut oil for greasing muffin tin or muffin liners
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
  2. Prepare the muffin mix (as directed)
  3. Shred carrots with a cheese grater or food processor
  4. Place shredded carrots in a bowl and squeeze & zest the orange, adding it to the bowl of carrots
  5. Grate ginger & add to the carrots
  6. Add cinnamon
  7. Add the muffin mix to the carrot mixture, mixing until well combined
  8. Divide the mixture evenly among 9 muffin tins
  9. Bake for 15 minutes or until a toothpick or knife comes clean
  10. Allow to cool before devouring!

 

 

 

glutenfreeorangecarrotgingermuffins

Perfect Summer Salad

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Summer is officially here! (well, it has been for a while). What is your favorite summer activity? It’s never officially ‘summer’ for me until we’ve headed to the cape at the end of June, and we stay the entire month of July. It’s been cool, but we’re having a great time so far!

Also FYI for anyone living around Marylou’s, they now carry stevia and almond milk!! Yahoo! Anyways….

This is the perfect summer salad - and my go to when I’m hosting dinner, or I need to bring something over to a party! Easy, simple, and a very light dressing to accompany it. You can make it this way, or make it your perfect summer salad by adding (or subtracting) whatever ingredients you like. Mine incorporates red onion, tomatoes, cucumber, peppers, avocado and carrots. Sometimes it’s nice to have a lettuce free salad! What is your favorite salad ingredient?

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Perfect Summer Salad
Author: 
Recipe type: salad
Prep time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 4
 
Ingredients
  • 1 avocado, sliced and cubed
  • 2 large tomatoes, washed and cubed
  • 1 cucumber, washed and cubed
  • ½ cup shredded carrots
  • 1 peppers, washed and cubed
  • ½ cup red onion, washed and chopped
for the dressing
  • 2 lemons, juiced
  • 2 tablespoons organic italian seasoning
Instructions
  1. Wash and chop all vegetables as needed or desired
  2. Place all ingredients in a bowl and toss with lemon juice and italian seasoning
  3. Serve immediately

perfect summer salad

Cinnamon Vanilla Donut Holes

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Let’s talk more donut holes. (see my recipe for the triple chocolate ones here). This will be the last sweet treat recipe for a while because today I started the 21 Day Sugar Detox created by Diane Sanfilippo. She’s also the author of Practical Paleo & Mediterranean Paleo Cooking! I have plateaued and haven’t really lost any weight in the past month, and I’m thinking I need a reset. I am super good about eating a clean diet, but I thought I’d try something new. We are talking eliminating every fruit or food that has sugar (or fake sugar) except for green bananas and green apples. I don’t eat a lot of fruit in general, so I’m hoping that this might not be too bad, pending the fact that at some point during the day I usually have some dark chocolate. 21 days isn’t too long, right?

These cinnamon vanilla donut holes are actually on the less sweet side, my husband didn’t like them as much as the chocolate (of course). But I thought they were awesome & would definitely eat these as a snack all. the. time.! And of course they are paleo and gluten free, so go make these - what are you waiting for?!!

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Cinnamon Vanilla Donut Holes
Author: 
Recipe type: Snack
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 15 donut holes
 
Ingredients
  • ¾ cup almond flour
  • ¼ cup unsweetened almond milk
  • ¼ cup coconut sugar, honey crystals, or stevia/truvia
  • ¼ cup coconut oil, melted
  • 1 egg
  • 2 tablespoons vanilla extract
  • 1 tablespoon cinnamon + more for dusting
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees if using a cake pop mold, or plug in your cake pop maker
  2. Beat egg & coconut sugar together in a bowl
  3. Add egg, vanilla extract, almond milk and coconut oil to egg/sugar mixture & mix well
  4. In a separate bowl, sift cinnamon, baking soda & almond flour together
  5. Add the flour mixture to the wet mixture & mix well
  6. Add batter to the mold or cake pop maker (I find you get the most rounded shape from overfilling the mold a little bit)
  7. Bake for 10 minutes in the oven, or 7-8 minutes in a cake pop maker
  8. Repeat for second batch (you should get 15-18 donut holes)
  9. When cool, remove from cake pop mold & dust with extra cinnamon

 

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Roasted Lemon Cayenne Cashews

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More snacks, anyone? I love my nut & seed bars, but I’ve been eating them for 3 weeks & I need a little break! Last week I posted a recipe for roasted cinnamon vanilla cashews, which are more dessert like! This week, I thought I’d bring you something savory, like these great roasted lemon cayenne cashews! Do you like roasted nuts? One of my favorite things to do in the fall is roast pumpkin seeds in sea salt from all our pumpkins (find that recipe here)! If you are allergic to cashews, or just don’t like them, you can always swap them out for almonds, or even seeds instead, using the same method. Do you ever soak your nuts in any extracts? What do you use and what is your favorite? Sweet or savory?

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Roasted Lemon Cayenne Cashews
Author: 
Recipe type: snack
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 4 servings
 
Ingredients
  • 1 cup raw cashews
  • ½ cup lemon juice
  • ½ cup water
  • 1 tablespoon cayenne (+ more if you like them extra spicy)
Instructions
  1. Place cashews in a bowl overnight to soak in ½ cup lemon juice & ½ cup water
  2. *add cayenne to water mixture if you like it spicy!
  3. In the morning, spread nuts out on a paper towel to thoroughly dry (a few hours)
  4. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees
  5. Place nuts on a silpat and spread out evenly
  6. Sprinkle with 1 tablespoon or more of cayenne
  7. Roast in oven for 3 hours

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Roasted Cinnamon Vanilla Cashews

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Do you need new snack recipe ideas? Per the request of followers & friends, I’m still on a mission to get you more snack recipes! These roasted cinnamon vanilla cashews are easy, but take a long time in the oven (and are totally worth it). I’m tempted to say a dehydrator might work, but I haven’t tested it yet, so I can’t be sure! These require you to soak, dry, and then bake for a few hours at low temp to get crunchy. But who doesn’t love the sweet combination of cinnamon and vanilla? Do you love the smell of roasted nuts like I do? It makes me think of my days living in Boston and New York City with the street vendors. Delicious! Although a little bit time consuming, the end result is magical! Feel free to double, triple or even quadruple this roasted cinnamon vanilla cashew recipe - or use almonds!

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Roasted Cinnamon Vanilla Cashews
Author: 
Recipe type: Snack
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 4 servings
 
Ingredients
  • 1 cup raw cashews or almonds
  • ½ cup pure vanilla extract
  • ½ cup water
  • 2 tablespoons cinnamon (or more, if you like)
Instructions
  1. Place cashews in a bowl overnight to soak in ½ cup vanilla extract & ½ cup water
  2. *add cinnamon to water mixture if you like extra cinnamon!
  3. In the morning, spread nuts out on a paper towel to thoroughly dry (a few hours)
  4. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees
  5. Place nuts on a silpat and spread out evenly
  6. *Sprinkle with 2 tablespoons (or more) of cinnamon
  7. Roast in oven for 3 hours
  8. Allow to cool before serving

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Chocolate Dessert Hummus

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I promised more chocolate in the last post I did (and there is still more coming… ). I am a huge fan of hummus. I eat it almost every day, sometimes I make it on my own, sometimes I pick it up at the store (I love cilantro/jalapeno). But going along with the sweet treats I’ve been posting, this is a great afternoon or evening snack with some fruit or graham crackers (I like this recipe). Hummus is easy, you throw everything in a blender or food processor and you’re done! Simple. Just what I like. Especially when you are hustling to get things done in the kitchen. This Chocolate Dessert Hummus is a great combination of bringing lots of fiber, protein and chocolate together. You can add coconut, peanut butter, or more chocolate chips and make your own flavor combos as well. Does it get better than that? I don’t think so….

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Chocolate Dessert Hummus
Author: 
Recipe type: Hummus
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
 
Ingredients
  • 1 can of organic garbanzo beans (15.5 ounces)
  • ½ cup raw cocao powder
  • ¼ cup enjoy life chocolate chips
  • 2 tablespoons non dairy milk (or more as needed if you like it a less thick)
  • 2 tablespoons vanilla extract
  • 2 tablespoons honey
  • 2 tablespoons tahini (or almond/peanut butter)
Instructions
  1. Place all ingredients in the food processor or blender and buzz until smooth (scraping down the sides as needed)
  2. Serve immediately or hummus can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 7 days

 

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Gluten Free Baked Zucchini Bites

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Working in a school I come across a lot of kiddos with allergies. Wheat, dairy, peanuts, you name it. Ian’s Natural Foods made a great infographic about it!
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Do any of these surprise you? I guess I’m more sensitive to all of these because of my own sensitivities. I always need to plan ahead with snacks and know where to go when I’m out to eat, or else I’m pretty much just eating a salad.

With the holidays coming up (see my awesome mini pumpkin pie scone recipe for parties, too) its easy to eat junk for just about 6 weeks! These are another healthy alternative, and just as delicious! This is a snack you can bring to a party that you will not feel guilty about! It’s also awesome with this creamy avocado dip (with optional added kick)!

4.0 from 1 reviews
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Gluten Free Baked Zucchini Bites
Author: 
Recipe type: Appetizer
 
Ingredients
for the zucchini bites
  • 2 medium zucchini, washed, peeled & sliced
  • 2 cups Ian's Gluten Free Original Panko Breadcrumbs
  • 1 teaspoon paprika
  • 1 teaspoon garlic salt
  • 1 teaspoon oregano
  • 2 eggs
for the avocado dip
  • 2 avocados
  • ¼ cup of cashews, soaked for 30 minutes or more in a bowl of water
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • salt & pepper to taste
  • 1 teaspoon - 1 tablespoon sriracha sauce, optional
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees
  2. Mix the breadcrumbs, paprika, garlic salt and oregano in a bowl and set aside
  3. Mix the eggs with a fork in another bowl
  4. Wash, peel and slice the zucchini
  5. Dip the zucchini pieces (one at a time) into the egg and then into the breadcrumb mixture
  6. Place the breaded zucchini slices onto a Silpat or greased cookie sheet
  7. Place in the oven for 10-14 minutes, flipping between 5-7 minutes for even cooking
  8. While the zucchini is in the oven, remove cashews from water and place all avocado dip ingredients in a food processor or blender and pulse until smooth
  9. Serve avocado dipping sauce with zucchini bites (while warm) and enjoy!

 

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Butternut Squash Shoestring French Fries

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It is the season of squash! These are so many uses for this awesome vegetable, but one of my favorites are these shoestring french fries. I make these every year in the Fall… almost never have the chance to take a photo because I want to gobble them all up! These butternut squash french fries are super kid friendly - taste just like french fries but much healthier! And your kids will love them, really! I can’t get enough when I make them. Hope you enjoy them just as much - perfect for snack or as a side dish at dinner! (these are the dipping cups I used, so cute!)

 

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Butternut Squash Shoestring French Fries

Ingredients

  • 1 butternut squash
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil or coconut oil
  • sea salt to taste

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees
  2. Peel and wash butternut squash and cut into long thin strips (like french fries)
  3. The thinner the better (thinner = crispier)
  4. Toss squash in a bowl with oil and salt, distributing evenly
  5. Place fries onto a greased cookie sheet or a Silpat spaced 1/4 inch apart
  6. Bake for 15 minutes in the oven
  7. Flip fries when time goes off and place in the oven for another 15 minutes
  8. Enjoy!
  9. Suggested homemade ketchup recipe: Holistically Engineered
http://veggiestaples.com/butternut-squash-shoestring-french-fries/

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