healthier pancakes

1 1/2 cups of whole wheat flour( or any flour of your preference 1tablespoon of coconut oil, or extra virgin olive oil 3 teaspoons of baking powder( I know it sound like alot but this is what gives it that store bought flavor) omit if you are dehydrating 1 tablespoon of flax meal(ground flax seeds) 1 cap of vanilla(1 tsp) mix together then add about 3/4 cup of almond milk and stir then keep adding til you have the consistency of a pancake batter, you can add fruit if you want then pour onto your hot pan( I use a big plug in skillet to make alot at once if you are dehydrating put on dehydrator sheets and make thin leave on til about 8 hrs then flip over and continue to dehydrate til you have the softness you want....

quinoa crackers

I cooked 1 1/2 cups of quinoa in a crock pot on warmer, but you can cook yours as directed so once it was super soft I added about2 cups in the blender( cooked quinoa) 1tsp of pepper 1-2 tsp of garlic 1-3 tsp of basil(this is personal choice on how much flavor you want) 1-3tsp of rosemary 1 tsp oregano 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil then add a little water just enough so it blends well then add salt to taste line a baking sheet with either parchment paper or freezer paper then score or take a pizza cutter and make your squares for what size you want your crackers then put in oven on 375 about 15 min then turn over and cook until crispy keep an eye on them for those that dehydrate throw them in the dehydrator for about 8 hrs or until they can be peeled off and turned over then another 6 hrs or until soft or as crunchy as you'd like

yummy pesto crackers my kids devour before me!!!

Baking instructions at bottom.....This is super easy I mixxed my creamy pesto sauce and my nut cheese together then added some flax meal til it made the dry pasty consistency, if baking I would add about 1 tablespoons.... then spread on parchment paper and dehydrated til it became crispy usually like 8-12 hrs my kids are always scarffing these down before I even get to eat them, they are delicious even for non raw eaters. For those who don't wanna dehydrate you can bake these, I would do 300 degrees for 15 min then flip them over and cook til crispy, time varies depending on how thick you make your crackers....

sun dried tomato crackers

This is for my raw friends but those also interested in making some healthy crackers. 1 carrot, 1 zuchini, 1 cup sun dried tomatoes, less than 1/4 cup of the creamy pesto, Celtic sea salt, dash of cumin, dash of chili powder, and about 1 teaspoon of garlic then blend then add flax powder til its kinda dry spread on sheet then score squares and dehydrate in morning turn over then do another 8 hrs til done....easy as that!! for those that wanna cook these I would put in the oven and bake at 375 for about 30 min but make sure you flip them over half way thru

yummy fresh salsa and guacemole mmmm

Getting ready for my Mexican night tomorrow night i decided to prep my salsa 3 tomatoes 1/2 onion 1 teaspoon garlic powder or minced garlic 1/4 cup cilantro or as much little as you want 1 pepper( I used the big one I scraped out the seeds) then salt to taste then blend til the consistency you like, I like mine linda chunky then here is my little zinger I add one cap of liquid smoke and yummmy!!! Then I take about 2-3 spoons of the salsa and add it to 2 avocados for a fresh yummy guacamole Mmm my mouth is watering just thinking about tomorrows dinner :)

"refried" black beans oh my!!

I love these beans I have been making them for years and I am prepping them for tomorrow night dinner to cook the black beans you soak your dry beans in water over night then you summer then til soft I am actually going to crock pot them first thing in the am on super low heat then drain them then you'll need 2 cups of black beans in a blender about a half a cup of vegetable broth about 1/4 cup of cilantro now here again I love cilantro so I like alot but by all means add as little or as much as you like and then add salt to taste then blend til smooth I use these beans for tacos, burritos, tostadas whatever I like the food for life corn tortillas but since I am doing a raw food plan I am dehydrating some home made corn tortillas that smell delicious right now for these if you want to make them 3 cups raw corn 1 cup ground raw flax 2 cups squash salt to taste I added 1 pepper ( the bigger ones than a jalapeno) the lady at our corn stand gave me an extra one cause she says these are good haha then you blend til smooth lay them out on parchment paper and either put them in your oven on the lowest temp leaving the door open a crack for air to help dry them out or put them in a dehydrator for about 3 hours each side

raw marinara, but you can cook it too

This recipe is super simple but tasted really yummy 1- 2 whole tomatoes 1 cup sun dried tomatoes either fresh or dried basil about 1-2 T 1 T oregano and sea salt to taste then blend til smooth I really like thu sun dried flavor this would taste really yummy paired with a rosemary bread if I was to make a pasta dish with this sauce I would toss some whole wheat or brown rice noodles with this and add some spinach and kalamata olives with it then sprinkle some rosemary on top maybe a little fresh heated parmesan cheese that would be delicious

healthier brocoli salad

I went to a restaurant the other day and saw their broccoli salad and I knew it was stuffed full of sugar and mayo which neither I eat so I thought I'm gonna make my own 1 head of broccoli chopped into small pieces 1 apple chopped into small pieces usually I use sunflower seeds but I didn't have any so I put in pumpkin seeds also they usually use raisins which I didn't have either so I added date pieces then for the sauce I used half a can of coconut milk 1 kal stevia scoop and 1 cap full of apple cider vinegar and poured over the top of the chopped fruit and veggies, it was delicious if you use dairy I would replace the coconut milk with Greek yogurt and add a little almond milk to make it creamier and then pour that over the salad mix

creamy pesto

This turned out delicious I did the fast version of this but I think it would probably come out better and creamier if I soaked my nuts but I didn't if you choose to soak your nuts they need to be soaked for 4-6 hours most recipes call for pine nuts but the price of pine nuts are WAY too expensive so I went with some cheaper nuts 1/2 cup hazelnut 1/2 cup pecans 1/2 cup almond milk fresh basil I actually ended up using the whole bundle but you want about a cup or 2 if using dried basil you'll use more like 2-3 tablespoons garlic you can either use the buds if so about 1 or 2 depending on how garlicy you like if using powder I would use about 1 tablespoon 1/2 cup olive oil then blend either in a food processor or blender if its too thick add in more almond milk, til its smooth and creamy, then add sea salt to taste, for me I like lots of flavor so I tend to add lots of salt, but you can toss this with zucchini noodles, or pasta or others veggies its yummy

bulk cooking in the kitchen

Today I am making lots if different things, a carrot cake(my first attempt at a raw one well raw anything as far as that goes) creamy pesto sauce, a nut cheese dip, raw crackers,a marinara sauce, I made those delicious mint brownies again yummo, they were gone that day...brocoli salad, cobbler oh my lots of yumminess going on..... Stay tuned for recipes and pictures....

tapioca pudding/rice pudding

I have always loved tapioca pudding for some, they don't like the texture, but that doesn't bother me, today I made my version ( healthy version) of tapioca pudding 1 can of coconut milk( have you noticed I use this alot, I love it) 3T of white chia seeds 1 tsp of vanilla extract 1 T of coconut flour stevia, honey or maple syrup which ever you desire to taste I prefer stevia myself you can either leave it at that or you can add cinnamon to make rice pudding I would omit the chia seeds and add brown rice and cinnamon maybe some nuts fried fruit etc....

mexican salad and pesto halibut

I made me a yummy Mexican salad raw corn cut off an ear cilantro ( this really is to taste I used alot cause I love cilantro) cucumbers chopped cabbage bell peppers leafy green lettuce avacado jicama I seasoned the salad with garlic Celtic sea salt and basil then added my ranch( this is a raw vegan ranch I made last week) then topped with pistachio the rest of my family ate parmesan basil halibut with corn on the cob and salad (same as mine my ranch I cooked the halibut in a pan once it was soft I flaked it apart and added parmesan cheese, a tiny drizzle of olive oil and basil and Celtic sea salt to taste

alfredo sauce

Elizabeth asks all the time if we can go to olive garden because she loves the Alfredo there, so ofcourse I was on a mission to make a healthy alternative, and well I think I succeeded quite nicely... 1 can of coconut milk( this will not make it have a sweet taste) 1/4 cup olive oil 1/2 cup parmesan cheese 1T garlic sea salt to taste then blend altogether I also added basil, pepper, cumin to taste now you might ask I thought she wasn't eating dairy, you are right, because I was on a mission to find that cheesy flavor I came across a dairy free, gluten free, non GMO parmesan cheese alternative, it tastes exactly like parmesan cheese yay!!! I will post a picture for you later... so the true test came to Elizabeth and my hubby because neither of these 2 eat anything healthy nor do they eat anything raw so I called them both in to taste Elizabeth said oh yum this tastes just like the one sauce I love I said Alfredo sauce, she says yeah that sauce, Randy said oh yeah actually I do like that sauce, I asked what does it taste like he said I don't know, I said Alfredo sauce, he said yes actually it does.....wahooo 2 plusses here I made noodles for them and if you wanna keep it raw put it on hot noodles it will warm the sauce that way, put the sauce on uncooked veggies and it was delicious, this time i used a spagetti squash and I just scraped out the insides and kept it all raw, I did place in the oven to the lowest temp in my oven which was 170 and kept the door open just long enough to give to take the chill off cause my sauce was in the fridge and so was my spagetti squash, it was really yummy, I was actually quite surprised with how well it tasted with the raw spagetti squash im not gonna lie I am skeptical about this raw food stuff myself, but if anyone knows me I can make anything taste good because I love to eat and i love it even more when it tastes good haha....

30 day raw food challenge

Ok ok so I wasn't going to even post this because I didn't wanna scare those people off that have enjoyed my cooked food but a friend of mine made the decision to do a 30 raw food plan, so because this is a dear friend of mine I decided to join her for support I figured why not try a different style for 30 days. Now for those that are following me who enjoy cooked food please do not stop following me because I will be posting both cooked foods and uncooked foods because my family will still be eating regular food as well, dang I hate saying regular food because uncooked food is regular food too, so I do not want to disregard people who enjoy this lifestyle....anyways anyone who wants to try this challenge is more than welcome, I will be sharing lots of great both cooked and uncooked food and even if you don't wanna join my challenge you can still give some recipes a try....lets rock this party, here's to a great adventure!!!!

trying some new things

Saturday I went to a cooking class, where she taught about raw foods, ok before I go any further there are a few things I wanna say about this, when my friend started telling me she is going on a raw vegan diet my first thoughts were ok that is just weird, why would anyone wanna eat raw food, but as I sat in this cooking class I started realizing that my diet already is very similar to eating "raw" or " vegan" already and what I eat is not weird, so when I talk about my recipes I do not refer to them as raw or vegan because I think people get a predetermined thought in their head ok I'm not gonna try that because raw and vegan food is weird, would you call a salad raw salad no but its raw food, do you call no bake cookies raw cookies no but that's what they are(well depends on what ingredients you use I suppose) green smoothies is a raw and vegan thing, so my point is alot of us eat alot of raw and vegan dishes all the time but we just don't call them that. so now that I got that off my chest lets talk about this class the girl teaching the class was Cynthia Summers. Super cute girl with a great passion for bringing health, nutrition , and good energy altogether to create a true balance from the inside out. You can find her here....https://facebook.com/?_rdr#!/profile.php?id=100324280089860&__user=1589905874 at this class she made these amazing no bake brownies relish, so of course I had to come home and make them for my family because I know they would like them too I had to make some changes because unfortunately I didn't have the same nuts she used so the recipe I used is as follows 1 cup of almonds 1/2 cup raw cashews(you don't want the salted and roasted kind) 1 1/2 cups chopped dates( I buy the medjool dates from Costco they are moist and so delicious) 1 tsp of vanilla extract 1/4 cup cacao powder(this is different than hershey's baking cocoa, the brand I used is sunfood superfoods it has a much better flavor than the bakers chocolate powder its worth getting this stuff cause it tastes better) 1/8 cup raw honey then a few drops of peppermint( I used doterra peppermint but you can use peppermint extract) then blend all ingredients together either in a blend Tec or food processor, if you don't have that then use a regular blender with small portions at a time then press blended mix in a glass dish ( I used a loaf pan to make them thicker) then put in freezer for about 30 min then enjoy....elizabeth kept coming back for more everytime I turned around and if I can win her over with these than we are golden cause she does NOT like anything healthy so that says alot....enjoy!!!

peaches n cream cereal

I am out of my chia seeds and I didn't have time to make up some extravagant breakfast so I took last night left over "rice" you can find that recipe here http://backtonatureonemouthatatime.blogspot.com/2013/07/lettuce-wraps.html?m=0 then I cut up a peach and necterine added some canned coconut milk a little stevia and mmmm Mmm good, the quinoa makes a nice add to this giving me the protein in lacking from my chia seeds, if you don't want to use the rice and you have chia seeds you could omit the rice and use 3 tablespoons of chia seeds add more kal stevia and vanilla and that would be amazing in your mouth too.

friday night treat nite

Since moving to Utah our luck has been, lets just say not the best, so we have been staying home alot more so it seems like Friday nights are always redbox movies and with that always comes treats, at least in our family. Tonight I made my yummy treat popcorn that I made up one weekend when everyone was pigging out on junk food and candy cereal sized bowl of popcorn 1 tablespoon of peanut butter( I always buy the all natural again whole foods is best) 1 tablespoon raw honey melt the peanut butter and honey so its creamy then drizzle it right on top of your popped popcorn the sprinkle with cinnamon mmmmm mmmm good!!

lettuce wraps

So tonight I am excited for dinner, I am doing a mixture between raw and cooked, 2 versions one with chicken or one without so Vegans out there can join in too. So for the inside of the lettuce we call the "meat" of the meal. I'm doing a mixture of raw and cooked " rice" the raw part is jicama chopped to the size of rice, then add pine nuts or cashews brown rice vinegar and raw honey to taste, we ate gonna add this with some cooked quinoa, for those that want meat I would chop up some cooked chicken you probably want it more minced for this dish for the sauce 1/4 cup Braggs liquid aminos( this is the healthy version of soy sauce) 1/4 cup coconut milk( canned) 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar or you could use rice vinegar 1 tablespoon of cilantro 2tablespoons coconut flour 2-4 tablespoons of sesame oil( I didn't have sesame oil I used olive oil) 4 tablespoons of raw honey( there is a difference between raw and clover raw is unprocessed and the normal store bought is processed) then blend you can spoon this over your lettuce wraps or dip this sauce is not cooked I'm using romaine lettuce for my wraps, you could also add some mangoes to your dish, or coconut flakes on top, I will post pics once I have them assembled This is definately a keeper my family loved it, my daughter who normally will eat a few bites of most meals ate like 3 helpings of this meal, HUGE plus :) yay go me!! haha

pesto talapia with watermelon jicama salad

I bought hese pesto talapia from Costco, I really like them alot, today I used my chopped salad from the other day chopped jicama, chopped cabbage chopped leafy lettuce cilantro cherry tomatoes cucumber I baked the pesto fish as directed then once its cooked I put that and scraped the pesto sauce off my baking sheet and put it on my chobbed salad Mmm made a nice talapia pesto salad for the side I cut some very delicious watermelon, and jicama then topped it with my poppyseed dressing I made the other day 1can unsweetened coconut milk 1tablespoon of rice vinegar( you could use apple cider vinegar) 1/4 of an orange kal stevia to taste then blend til smooth then add in some poppy seeds it tastes very nice with the watermelon and jicama lets talk about watermelon for a second, does any one know how to pick a good watermelon, I saw a stand the other day from a fresh farm watermelon and corn so I asked the guy what's the best way to pick the best watermelon, he said first you will find theses places where you are sap looking prices on the outside that's from the bees which means these are good, now if that isn't visible they guy said he looks for big yellow spots that means a good one too, well these had no sap spots so I went with the second choice of the biggest yellow spot one and yummy!!! Mine is delicious!! So happy watermelon picking :)

jazzed up oats

So today I made oats but I no longer cook my oats and make that sloppy soggy kind, and for those that like it that way by all means go ahead and do what you like. 3/4 cup rolled oats the old fashioned ones are much more healthy the quick oats have been processed down more and we are going for more whole in this case 2 tablespoons of organic chia seeds 1 tablespoon coconut flour 1 kal stevia scoop lots of cinnamon, cinnamon has alot of great vitamins and great health benefits I love it on alot of things then I pour almond milk or coconut milk over the oats so there is about a half an inch liquid above the oat mix then stir and let it sit for about 5 min to let the chia seeds and oats absorb the liquid to soften then enjoy either cold or room temperature chia seeds are an omega and have great healthy benefits as well and they are a great healthy protein which is why I love them so 😊

apple cider vinegar drink

There is always lots of talk about the benefits of drinking 2 tablespoons a day of Braggs apple cider vinegar, but if you have never tried it by itself its disgusting!!!so one day I had heard of a Braggs apple cider vinegar drink, I got one tried it and it was relish, now these drinks are like 2 bucks or more a piece and I don't know about you but I can't afford 2 bucks a day for a drink that's good for you, so I decided to remake it myself... for those that do not have a blend Tec or a vitamixer, you will need a juicer if ya don't have a juicer I guess you could always buy unsweetened apple juice how I made mine I cored one apple then added filtered water to my 32 0z mark on my blendtec added 2 scoops of kal stevia added some cinnamon and hit the whole juice button then added 2 tablespoons of Braggs apple cider vinegar for every 8 oz in this case I added 13 tablespoons to mine that's it when you store this drink it has to be stored in a glass container or it will change the balance of the apple cider vinegar just wanted to add that I was so surprised because my picky daughter loved it!! So both my girls drink it like apple juice

mmm summer in one meal!!

Mmmm lets start off by saying I love summer, I love the fruit that's in abundance the juicy delicious fruits. Today I felt like a salad and as I got making it more and more ideas kept popping my head. For the salad chopped leafy green lettuce chopped cabbage chopped cucumber chopped jicama chopped cilantro I had that salad already chopped and in the fridge from the other night but today some fruit sounded good so I added 1/2 nectarine 1/2 peach 3 strawberries cut up 2 slices then chopped up mangos a three finger pinch of cashews then unsweetened coconut flakes sprinkled on tp now for the dressing, it had to scream summer yummy creamy sweet tart citrus so I whipped up 1 can unsweetened coconut milk( these are in the Asian section make sure you find the ones with only good wholesome ingredients) 1scoop kal stevia 1/4 of an orange the blend til smooth then I added poppy seed to it and yummo a yummy summer salad I loved the hint of cilantro Mmm perfect flavors mixxed into one dish!!!! I was thinking this dressing would also be great paired with some shrimp or fish. Probably salmon, but any would be good!!!!

breakfast today was sweet potato almond delight

So what did I tell ya my 2 year old loves sweet potato chips and asked for some first thing this morning, so for breakfast I made chopped one sweet potato, then put in the frying pan with a lid over it, the moisture from the potatoes kind of give it the moisture it needs to not have any oil in the pan, once they are cooked about half way then I add a tablespoon of coconut oil to cook the rest of the way, today when they were soft I add some almond milk, cinnamon, Celtic sea salt, and a scooper of kal stevia and stored til it made a coating on it then added a little more than 1/4 of a cup of almond flour on top then a little more almond milk to moisten it a little more and ate that for breakfast yummy yummy

who doesnt love ranch!?

I think ranch has got to be the most popular salad dressing or dip known to man, I have tried many ways at making ranch, and all have been pretty successful but today I wanna try something new, usually I use dairy and mayo and both of those are no longer on my list of being healthy, so I have been looking into alternative ways to making ranch that does not use dairy or mayo,(mayo uses eggs and I'm trying to steer away from eggs) so with that said our base for making ranch is gonna be cashews, chia seeds, and almond milk, yes I know that doesn't sound very good especially to those that might be new to eating healthy, but you can't knock it til you tried it. you need to soak 1/4 cup of cashew in water for at least 4 hours then add your soaked cashews 1 cup of almond milk, 1tablspoon chia seeds 1tablespoon of basil 2tablespoons of onion powder 1tsp of Celtic sea salt 1tablespoon of parsley 1tablespoon of garlic blend all ingredients together til smooth if I can figure out how to add pictures from my phone I will upload pics to see how it turned out

roasted garbanzo beans and sweet potato chips

These recipes are 2 of my house favorites, my youngest(2 yrs old) loves my sweet potato chips that she actually asks for these on a daily basis. She even brings me my potato slicer asking for sweet potato chips. Sweet potato chips preheat oven to 450 degress slice one or 2 whole sweet potatoes peeling and all into thin slices I like to line my baking sheet with tin foil and also spray some non stick spray then place the sliced potatoes on the lined bakig sheet now this is where it gets fun i like a sweet savory yet a little spicy so i like to make mine as follows melt 1-2 tablespoons of coconut oil add one tiny scooper of Kal stevia(you can order this online i think its the best stevia out there cause it doesn't have the nasty after taste) you can order herehttp://www.vitacost.com/kal-pure-stevia-extract-powder-1-3-oz-2?csrc=GPF-PA-021245391005&ci_gpa=pla&ci_kw=&ci_src=17588969&ci_sku=021245391005&ci_src=17588969&ci_sku=021245391005&gclid=CLnosunrt7gCFRSi4Aodo1IAqQ this small container lasts a long time and it comes with a tiny little scooper inside and that little scooper goes a LONG way then I baste my sweet potatoes with the coconut oil stevia mixture then sprinkle celtic sea salt and cinnamon and then a tiny bit of red pepper then bake for about 10 min then take them out and turn them over and do the same thing you did on the other side baste with the oil and stevia and then add your seasonings and put back in the oven make sure you watch them closely so they don't burn, they will look like my photo when done... Roasted garbanzo beans I like to refer to these as healthy corn nuts, my kids actually prefer these over the real corn nuts, which of course is a huge plus:) preheat oven to 425 degrees line your pan like above i use canned garbanzo beans just because I find it faster but you could always cook your own I take about 4 cans of garnanzo beans drain and rinse them then add a little coconut oil you could also use cold press olive oil i just prefer coconut oil then put them on the baking sheet and in the oven these will take about an hour or so to bake, once the start to look brown stir them around so they don't burn, these are very important that they are cooked all the way so they are super crunchy or they aren't very good. once they are done you can season them however you'd like I have done ranch using a ranch packet, or bbq using some liquid smoke and other seasonings like cumin powder, celtic sea salt, chili powder, you can also use some nutritional yeast, it's a healthy version of like parmesan cheese, it's a powder form i have actually seen it in the bins at some winco's. you can always add a little more oil if they are too dry at the end.

welcome

There have been many people who have asked me to start a blog to share my healthy whole food recipes. I have always enjoyed cooking but it wasn't until I had some health issues(as I know others started here as well) that really got me looking into eating healthy, but the question i found myself asking what is really healthy. I believe that means foods that are in their most pure form,so we are talking vegetables, fruit, herbs, grains basically anything that grows from the ground. Now while others may argue about meat but I do believe that we should eat meat and fish sparingly. So what does sparingly mean I guess that can be translated in many ways from person to person but I believe a few days a week would classify a good time frame. If you noticed I did not say dairy or eggs yes even eggs because I personally don't believe they are pure whole forms nor do I feel they are healthy for our bodies. With this blog I really wanna share recipes with you, I will be including raw dishes, vegan dishes, meat dishes eggless dishes even great breakfast ideas....they will be things I learn along the way, recipes that I make up myself and recipes that others might share with me, point is this will be a great blog to follow to learn how to eat healthy and enjoy it too, so welcome!!!