Tag Archives: healthy

Cranberry Ginger Oatmeal Cookies

1 Reply
Jump to Recipe

A gift for you in the new year – wholesome, warming, nourishing cranberry, ginger + oatmeal snack cookies.

These are not traditional cookies – instead of being made with butter, sugar or flour, they’re made with oats, walnuts, almond flour, flax seeds, coconut oil, pure maple syrup, plus cinnamon, ginger and dried cranberries – making them naturally vegan, gluten free, and delicious.

Texturally, these cookies are dense, yet very soft and chewy. There’s a lot of texture in every bite – crunch from the walnuts, plumpness from the cranberries, chew from the oats. Taste-wise, they are ginger and cinnamon heavy, making them spicy and warming. They’re just sweet enough – they taste like a cookie, but not one loaded with sugar. There’s a toasty, nutty taste from the walnuts, a sweet tartness from the cranberries and an earthiness from the oats.

Here’s a little more about the nourishing ingredients that go into them:

Oats: Oats make up the majority of the base of these cookies, because well, they’re oatmeal cookies. 🙂 The oats in these make them hearty and filling – they make a wonderful mid-day snack.
Walnuts: I love the taste and texture of walnuts in baked goods, especially when they’re lightly toasted beforehand, as I do in this recipe.
Almond flour: Adding a bit of almond flour brings a softness to the texture of these, and makes them more cookie like. I like using almond flour in baking for that reason, as well as it’s a one-ingredient naturally gluten free flour.
Flax: Ground flax seed mixed with water is an excellent egg substitute in vegan baking. When mixed, the flax and water ‘gels’ and acts as a great binder in place of egg. I use the flax in this recipe for that reason, but I’m happy anytime that flax makes it into what I eat because of its nutritional value.
Coconut oil: Coconut oil is my fat of choice for these cookies, as well as for almost all of the baking that I do.
Pure maple syrup: Just as above, pure maple syrup is my sweetener of choice for almost all of the baking that I do. Be sure to use pure maple syrup rather than table/pancake syrup.
Cinnamon and ginger: I am obsessed with both cinnamon and ginger right now, and I do not skimp on the amounts in these cookies. I love the warm, grounding nature of these spices. They make these cookies feel comforting to eat.
Apple juice sweetened dried cranberries: I love the taste and texture of dried cranberries. I like to buy ones sweetened with apple juice only, like the ones linked here, but use whatever you have access to.

These cookies are made to warm you, make you feel good and nourish your mind, body and soul. I hope that they are able to bring you a taste of comfort and joy to your day, as they’ve been bringing to mine.

Print

Cranberry Ginger Oat Cookies

Naturally gluten free, vegan, and delicious, these healthified cranberry ginger oatmeal cookies are meant to nourish your mind, body, and soul!

Course Breakfast, Dessert, Snack
Cuisine American
Keyword cookie, gluten free, healthy, vegan

Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons ground flax
  • 4 tablespoons water
  • 3/4 cup walnuts
  • 1/3 cup coconut oil, melted and cooled
  • 1/3 cup pure maple syrup
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 2 cups rolled oats
  • 1 cup almond flour
  • 3 teaspoons ground ginger
  • 2 teaspoons cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup apple juice sweetened dried cranberries

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

  2. Make your flax "egg." In a small bowl, mix ground flax and water. Set aside.

  3. To toast the walnuts, add walnuts to a skillet over medium heat Stir frequently, until lightly toasted and fragrant. Set aside.

  4. Add melted coconut oil and maple syrup to a food processor. Process until well combined. Alternatively, you can just mix the cookies together in a bowl.

  5. Add flax mixture and vanilla extract to the food processor. Pulse until just combined.

  6. Add toasted walnuts, rolled oats, almond flour, ground ginger, cinnamon and salt to the food processor and process until mixture just comes together.

  7. Add dried cranberries to the food processor and continue processing until cookie dough is formed.

  8. Using a spoon and your hands, form dough into cookies and place on the parchment paper lined baking sheet. The dough will be sticky but will form easily into cookies. I use approximately 2 tablespoons of dough per cookie and get about 10 cookies from the recipe.

  9. Bake in the preheated oven for 12-15 minutes. When done, cookies will be lightly browned with a crust; still soft but no longer sticky. They will harden a bit as they cool.

  10. Enjoy! These are delicious straight from the oven, soft and warm, but are just as good kept over several days as well.

4 Ingredient Sesame Dressing

1 Reply

We love salads! We often have meal-sized salads for dinner, especially right now with all of the locally-grown greens we’re getting our hands on, but I’ve got to say – we’re pretty particular about our salads. They have to fill us up! They have to be hearty and include a variety of textures and nutrients so that we can feel satisfied after having a salad for dinner. Here are some of my favorite salad tips:

– Include both fresh and roasted veggies. I love raw cucumber and tomato, but I also love adding leftover roasted veggies to our salads. Roasted broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, or potatoes are favorites.
– Add a grain. I love adding a couple of spoonfuls of cooked rice or quinoa to our salads.
– Add toasted nuts and or seeds. This is a non-negotiable for us. I love a little crunch throughout the salad and toasted nuts or seeds are the way to go. We usually do sunflower seeds, walnuts, pecans, almonds, or pumpkin seeds. This will also add some healthy fats to your salad as well, which will help to make you feel satiated.
– Don’t forget the protein. This is also a non-negotiable for meal salads. We have been loving beans lately – raw or roasted chickpeas, red beans, black beans, lentils – but use any protein that you please!
– Don’t be afraid to season your salad. When I dress our salads with just a drizzle of olive oil and red wine vinegar, I always liberally season the entire salad. I mostly do salt, pepper, garlic powder, and dried oregano but it’s fun to get creative with dried herbs as well.
– Use fresh herbs. I love chopping and adding fresh herbs to our salads when I can. Any that you have on hand will do. They add such a complexity of flavor to salads.
– Make homemade dressing. Another non-negotiable for us. Like I said above, sometimes I do just a drizzle of olive oil and red wine vinegar, but oftentimes I make a small batch of homemade dressing. The honey dijon dressing in this post is one of our favorites, or this hemp dressing. Lately, we’ve been obsessed with this 4 ingredient sesame dressing that I’m sharing today. It is so easy to make and has a rich, Asian-inspired flavor. Homemade salad dressing is so easy to make, and I always say that once you start, you’ll never go back to the store-bought bottles.

The amounts listed below make enough dressing for 2 large meal-sized salads. Adjust as needed. Here’s the recipe:

4 Ingredient Sesame Dressing
3 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
2 tablespoons tahini
1 tablespoon coconut aminos
1 tablespoon fresh lemon or lime juice

Add ingredients to a bowl and whisk until the dressing comes together. Toss with greens, veggies, nuts, seeds, protein, etc. Enjoy your tasty salad!

Notes: I linked the toasted sesame oil and coconut aminos that I use in the recipe above for reference. If you’re curious about coconut aminos, check out this article. You could use soy sauce in place of the coconut aminos if you’d like.

The salad pictured below was our lunch on the day I took the photos and was delicious! It had mixed greens, toasted sunflower seeds, raw tomato and cucumber, chickpeas and the sesame dressing. Happy salad eating!

Use What You Have Granola

Leave a reply
Jump to Recipe

Here’s another use what you have recipe for you – use what you have granola! This granola is crunchy, nutty and just the right amount of sweet. It pairs well with yogurt, fruit, milk or just munching on it as is.

I have been making this granola weekly for years, using this same basic ratio and method. Every batch is slightly different based on what I have at the time. Rather than give a strict recipe (although for those who like a recipe, I give one below), I thought I’d provide the basic ratio of ingredients and method that I use. Here’s the ratio of ingredients:

4 cups nuts
1 cup seeds
1 cup unsweetened coconut
1/4 cup sweetener
1/4 cup fat
1/2 teaspoon salt

For the nuts, get to 4 cups using any of the following: cashews, almonds, pecans, walnuts, peanuts, macadamia nuts. I almost always use cashews and almonds but have used every nut listed above in different amounts.

For the seeds, get to 1 cup using any of the following: pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, chia seeds, flax seeds, hemp seeds. I almost always use pumpkin seeds but have used all seeds listed above.

For the coconut, I prefer unsweetened dried coconut but realize that a lot of people keep sweetened coconut on hand. I have never used sweetened coconut, but imagine that it would work just fine.

For the sweetener, I recommend either pure maple syrup or honey. I use both all of the time. I would recommend using a wet sweetener rather than dry like sugar because the wetness helps the granola come together.

For the fat, I prefer using coconut oil (at room temperature), but have used butter many times as well. You could also do a neutral avocado or olive oil.

Using 1/2 teaspoon of salt does give this a sweet/salty flavor, which I love. If you don’t like sweet/salty, I would recommend scaling the salt back to 1/4 teaspoon. I have also added up to 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon for a slightly different flavor.

The method: Add all of the ingredients to a food processor and process until well combined. The mixture should be wet and slightly sticky. Spread evenly onto a parchment paper-lined baking sheet and smooth down with the back of a spoon. Bake at 350 for 18-22 minutes or until lightly brown. The granola is delicious when it’s fresh out of the oven and still warm, but I like to let the granola cool completely and then break it into clusters. It will be crumbly if not cooled completely. I prefer to store this in the refrigerator.

One thing to note: if you are low on nuts, seeds, or coconut and cannot get to the amounts listed above, you can substitute rolled oats for any of the ingredients. Sometimes I am completely out of seeds or low on nuts, so I make up for it by using rolled oats instead.

Print

Use What You Have Granola

Crunchy, nutty, and just the right amount of sweet!

Course Breakfast, Dessert, Snack
Cuisine American
Keyword breakfast, granola, healthy, recipe

Ingredients

  • 4 cups nuts (any combination of almonds, pecans, cashews, peanuts, macademia nuts, walnuts, etc.)
  • 1 cup seeds (any combination of pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, chia seeds, flax seeds, hemp seeds)
  • 1 cup unsweetened dried coconut
  • 1/4 cup pure maple syrup
  • 1/4 cup coconut oil
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

  2. Add all of the ingredients to a food processor and process until well combined. The mixture should be wet and slightly sticky.

  3. Spread evenly onto the baking sheet and smooth down with the back of a spoon.

  4. Bake for 18-22 minutes or until lightly browned.

  5. The granola is delicious when it’s fresh out of the oven and still warm, but I like to let the granola cool completely and then break it into clusters. It will be crumbly if not cooled completely.

Enjoy!

Nourishment Lately – Beginning of Whole 30

Leave a reply

Hello dreaming foodie friends!

I wanted to pop on here today to share a bit about my first ever Whole 30 experience. I never thought that I would do anything like this, mainly because I am not big on following rules, especially when it comes to setting rules around food, but after hearing and learning more and more about the Whole 30 program, here I am, eleven days into my first Whole 30!

Day one for me was Thursday, Feb. 14, and day thirty will come on Saturday, March 16. I don’t have a lot of concrete reasons as to why I decided to give this a try, other than maybe just as a way to change things up, to try something new and different. I’m feeling like winter is getting a bit old and boring, and this seemed like as good a way as any to bring something different to the table. I was also drawn to it because of its lack of extreme rules or time period. It’s honestly not that different than how we normally eat, so I knew that the changes wouldn’t be overly extreme and it’s only a 30 day experiment and experience (although I do plan to do a reintroduction portion following that).

Here’s a summary of the things that I cannot have during my Whole 30 experience: alcohol, grains, legumes (beans, peanuts, etc.), natural or artificial added sugar, dairy. 

And here is what I have been eating:

Protein: eggs, beef, poultry, pork, fish

Veggies: spinach, kale, sweet potatoes, beets, butternut squash, Brussels sprouts, garlic, onions cauliflower, broccoli, carrots, celery, mushrooms, spaghetti squash

Fruit: blueberries, bananas, cherries, apples, oranges, dates

Fats: olive oil, avocado oil, coconut oil, ghee (clarified butter)

Extras: walnuts, almond butter, coconut milk, collagen protein powder

What you see above has basically been the extent of my ingredient list over the last eleven days. Breakfast has been either eggs and some combination of veggies, or a smoothie. Lunch and dinner have been a protein and a ton of veggies. For snacks, I have been having apples and almond butter, a date with almond butter, or an orange. One thing for sure that I am loving – how many veggies we are eating! We have always been big veggie eaters, but with lack of grains and legumes, we have been going super heavy on the veggies and I love it. 

As far as how I feel, I honestly don’t have much to say at this point other than that I just feel good. I just feel good. And I am enjoying what I am eating every day. I do want to say that I feel like I have slightly more energy overall, but I still think it’s too early to tell if that is true. So far, I am loving my Whole 30 and I plan to keep the blog updated with the rest! Let me know what questions you have in the comments below!

Grain Free Apple Cobbler Cake

Leave a reply

I wasn’t sure what to call this dessert. My intent was to make a healthified apple cobbler. It came out more like a cake – but yet not really like a cake. So it’s an apple dessert. A grain free, maple sweetened apple dessert. This recipe uses minimal, whole ingredients. It uses: almond flour, eggs, pure maple syrup, coconut oil, some salt, vanilla extract, lemon juice, baking powder, and apples. That’s it. It’s simple to put together and we have been loving it as a weeknight dessert or snack.

This apple cobbler cake has an incredibly moist and dense crumb. It is perfectly sweetened and the touch of lemon juice comes through pleasantly. The apples soften just right – they’re soft and pillowy yet still hold some crunch. You can eat this while it’s still warm, but I wouldn’t recommend it – it falls apart a bit when it’s still warm. It’s texture becomes amazing once completely cooled and that is how we’ve preferred to enjoy it.

Something to note. I absolutely love this dessert. It’s delicious and it makes you feel good + nourished after eating it. That being said, if you’re looking for a decadent, indulgent fall dessert, this is not what you’re looking for. This is for anyone who wants a dessert that’s grain free and naturally sweetened. We haven’t always eaten grain free and I don’t know that we always will, but right now that’s what we’re going with. As far as sugar, I’m doing all of my baking these days with either pure maple syrup, honey or dates. I love classic homemade desserts using all out sugar and flour, but this just isn’t that. This is whole food nourishment that tastes like dessert and I am loving it :).




Print

Grain Free Apple Cobbler Cake

Ingredients

  • 2 medium apples, sliced
  • 2 cups almond flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup coconut oil, melted and cooled
  • 1/2 cup pure maple syrup
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare an 8 or 9 inch baking dish by rubbing it with a bit of coconut oil.

  2. Layer most of the sliced apples on the bottom of the baking dish, saving a few apple slices for the top, if desired. Set aside.

  3. In a small bowl, mix together almond flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

  4. In a medium bowl, whisk together the coconut oil and maple syrup. Add the eggs, vanilla extract and lemon juice and whisk until well combined.

  5. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix until just combined. Pour batter into baking dish, covering the sliced apples. Top with remaining sliced apples.

  6. Bake for about 35 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Let cool completely before cutting and eating.