Back to School Pipcorn Snack Mix

It's September which means it's that time of year again - back to school. Schedules are falling into place, lunches are being packed, and that back to school traffic is back in gear. So how can we beat the back to school blues? It's simple really, with this delicious Pipcorn snack mix.

Whether you're packing lunch for your kids or yourself or even just looking for a quick and easy throw together snack for an upcoming Labor Day weekend party, this mix is perfect. It has that sweet and salty combo which will have you eating by the handful. I'd honestly even eat it for dessert. 

It takes just minutes to mix together. Then all you have to do is pop it in the freezer for about an hour, and you're ready to go. It doesn't get much easier. You can even make it in a dorm room (I see you college students). So let's get started!

Here's what you'll need:

1) Two cups sea salt Pipcorn
2) 1/2 cup raw pistachio kernels, lightly chopped
3) 1/4 cup dark chocolate bing cherries, chopped (dark chocolate coated raisins work just as well)
4) 2 tbsp original Essentially Coconut coconut butter, melted

Instructions:

1) In a large bowl, combine the Pipcorn, pistachios, and dark chocolate cherries.
2) Evenly pour about half of the melted coconut butter over the top. Mix the ingredients using a spatula. Pour the rest of the coconut butter in, and mix again.
3) Cover the bowl with aluminum foil or plastic wrap and place in the freezer for about an hour until the coconut oil has solidified.
4) Using a spatula, scrape the mix off the sides of the bowl and de-clump any huge clumps of the mix. 
5) Place in a serving bowl, and enjoy!

If you aren't going to eat the mix immediately, you can store it in the fridge. If you're taking it on the go, it doesn't need to be refrigerated, as the coconut butter will stay solid as long as it isn't too hot out. If you're serving it at a party, I might suggest at least doubling the recipe because it will be gone pretty quickly, trust me!

Let me know how you use this snack mix and what you think in the comments below!

Vegan Stuffed Poblanos (GF)

I headed to a local farm market yesterday afternoon with my niece. She gets to a point where she is just sick of being in the house (totally understandable), so she will find her shoes and come up to me and say, "GO". She's just under 18 months, so vocabulary is limited. But I'm pretty sure I've got this one figured out. Plus she's basically shoving her shoes in my face, so we put them on and do what she says, go.

Unfortunately it's been about 9723753892 degrees the past week or so, so the last thing I want to do is take her for a walk in her stroller. There are also limited places that I really want to take an 18 month old indoors, so I thought we could try this local farm that has a small market. I've taken her before. We spend 15-20 minutes looking at animals going over which is which. I let her walk about 5 feet until she tries to run away, and then I have to carry her to the little market.

But yesterday we got to the market, and I was already sweating. We walked over to the animals (half of whom were hiding in the barn because it was hot AF), she said goat, I took that as my cue to pretend I heard "go", and we headed to the farm's market. Seriously SUCH a relief! Once in the store, I felt obligated to buy something, but to my pleasure there was TONS of organic greens and other produce. I spotted some poblanos and instantly had a plan for these babies. So long story short, everything happens for a reason? I don't know. How about always say yes to organic, local poblanos.

Here's What You'll Need:

-4 poblano peppers
-2 cloves garlic, minced
-1/4 red onion, chopped
-8 oz cooked quinoa
-One 15.5 oz can chickpeas
-1 tsp cumin
-1/2 tsp Himalayan sea salt
-1/4 tsp black pepper
-2 tbsp olive oil, separated
-3/4 cup Herb 'n Zest tomato chive cooking sauce
-Salsa (optional)
-2 tbsp green onion, chopped (optional)

Serves 2-4

Instructions:

1) Turn your oven onto broil on high.Coat the poblanos in 1 tbsp olive oil. Cook the poblanos for 3-5 minutes per side until skin starts to blister.
2) Remove them from the oven, and switch it to bake at 375 degrees. Let the peppers cool. Once cool, remove the blistered parts of skin.
3) Use a small knife to remove the stem of the poblanos and make a slit down one side. 
4) In a skillet on the stove top, heat up 1 tbsp of olive oil over medium high heat.
5) Add in the garlic and red onion and allow to cook down for about 3 minutes.
6) In the meantime, strain and rinse the chickpeas. 
7) Add the chickpeas to the onion and garlic and cook for about 5 minutes.
8) Add in the sauce, cumin, salt, and pepper and cook until the sauce is heated (about 3 minutes).
9) Mix in the quinoa, and cook for an additional 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat.
10) Equally distribute the filling to stuff each pepper.
11) Place, the peppers in a lightly greased baking pan, cover with aluminum foil, and cook for 10 minutes.
12) Take the peppers out, remove the foil, add any salsa if desired, and place the pan back into the oven (uncovered) for an additional 10 minutes.
13) Remove the pan from the oven, plate the peppers, top with green onions if desired, and enjoy!

Besides the obvious subject (poblanos), the real star of the show is this Herb 'n Zest tomato chive cooking sauce. This is just one of MANY ways you can use this delicious sauce. All of their sauces and condiments are vegan, gluten free, and use non-gmo ingredients. If you'd like give them a try, you can use the code GET25ARLTH to get 25% off their home chef starter pack which includes 6 sauces. You can click the picture below to go straight to checkout.

If you use this code, you'll be entered into their summer giveaway worth $50 if you post a picture of yourself with a jar of Herb 'n Zest to Instagram and tag it with the hashtag #herbnzest. The winner will be selected 8/15/16.

I honestly LOVE these sauces (or I wouldn't recommend them), so the home chef start pack is a great way to give them a try! Plus who doesn't love the chance to win a giveaway?

Zoodles with Grilled Chicken in a Vegan Basil Cream Sauce + Rainstorm Wines

 Summer officially means zucchini season in my mind. It also means grilling season, so what better way to celebrate both than will a spiralized zucchini and grilled chicken dish. 

I decided I wanted to go a pesto-ish route because 1) I had basil and 2) pesto is freaking delicious. Instead of using raw nuts, I decided to go with the Artisana Organics walnut butter I had and make into more of a "cream" sauce. Toss in some sundried tomatoes and olives, pour yourself a nice big glass of Rainstorm Wines pinot grigio, and we have ourselves the perfect summery, spiralized meal.

Here's What You'll Need:

-1 zucchini, spiralized
-1/4 cup kalamata olives, halved
-1/4 cup sundried tomatoes
-1 chicken breast, grilled and sliced
-2 tbsp Artisana Organics raw walnut butter
-8-10 basil leaves
-2 tbsp olive oil, separated
-2 cloves garlic, minced and separated
-1 tsp lemon juice
-Salt and pepper to taste

Serves 1

Instructions:

1) In a food processor or blender, mix together the walnut butter, basil, 1 tbsp olive oil, 1 clove garlic, lemon juice, salt and pepper to make a creamy sauce.
2) On the stove top heat up 1 tbsp olive oil in a pan over medium heat.
3) Add in one clove of minced garlic and cook for 1-2 minutes.
4) Add in the spiralized zucchini and cook for 3-5 minutes, long enough to just heat the zucchini without cooking it down too much.
5) Add in the olives, chicken, and tomatoes.
6) Add in the sauce and mix everything completely, cooking for an additional minute.
7) Remove from heat, serve, and enjoy!

I paired mine with a nice refreshing glass of Rainstorm Wines pinot gris. It was the perfect compliment to this meal. It has a nice rich fruity flavor that played perfectly off the "creamy" sauce. Also zucchini and white wine just go hand in hand in my opinion, so I definitely recommend this combo!

Let me know what you think in the comments below.
 

Gluten Free and Vegan Chocolate Chunk Almond Butter Banana Bread and French Toast

I'm pretty sure it must be a written rule somewhere that if it's a rainy day and you have ripe bananas, you need to make banana bread. Well, at least it should be a rule. Baking and rainy days are pretty much a must, and ripe bananas obviously mean banana bread. So banana bread it was!

I recently started using the Neat Egg (as I mentioned previously) as an egg replacement in some of my recipes. It has actually been wonderful! I'm not personally vegan, but my mom is. So it's nice to be able to bake something that I can actually offer her a piece of. Plus, you really can't even tell that there isn't an egg in the recipe, so the non-vegans will never know. 

I was fortunate enough to be able to team up with Neat over on my Instagram to give one lucky winner a full Neat prize pack which includes the Neat Egg and two Neat meat replacement mixes (original and Mexican). You still have a little time to enter (about 2 hours), so go check it out! In the meantime, let's get to the recipe!

Here's What You'll Need:

-3 ripe bananas
-1 Neat Egg
-1 1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk
-3 tbsp Gone Nuts Date Me almond butter
-1 cup coconut flour
-1 tbsp baking powder
-Pinch of sea salt
-1/2 of a 3 oz dark chocolate bar (I used an 88% cocoa bar, but that may be a bit bitter for some. Use whatever you like), broken into small chunks

Instructions:

1) Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
2) Using a small hand mixer (or a KitchenAid style mixer works just as well),  mix together all of the ingredients except the chocolate chunks.
3) Fold the chocolate chunks into the mixture using a wooden spoon.
4) Pour the mix into a loaf pan that is either lined with parchment or sprayed with nonstick spray.
5) Bake for about 1 hour. Ovens may vary, so keep an eye on the bread. When it's ready the top should be golden brown.
6) Remove the bread from the oven, and let it cool completely before removing it from the pan.
7) Once cool, you can remove the bread and slice it.
8) Top with some additional Gone Nuts or the toppings of your choice, and enjoy!

A few things about the bread, there aren't a lot of added sweeteners like sugar or maple syrup because the Gone Nuts almond butter contains dates, vanilla, and coconut oil. If you're swapping out for a different brand, especially an unsweetened almond butter, definitely take this into consideration. I also didn't want an overly sweet bread because you can always add more almond butter or sweet toppings, but you can't take it out. If you prefer really sweet, feel free to add in some maple syrup or the sweetener of your choosing!

I also ended up using the bread to make some delicious gluten free and vegan French toast which I highly recommend! All you need is about 1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk, 1 tsp maple syrup, 1 tsp quinoa flour, 2 tsp nutritional yeast, and 1/2 tsp of cinnamon. Mix it all together in a bowl, and dip the banana bread slices into the mixture. Cook the slices in a pan on the stove top over medium to medium high heat, flipping half way through until each side is a golden brown. I topped mine with some maple syrup and more Gone Nuts, and it was SO GOOD.

Let me know if you give it a try and what you think in the comments below!

BBQ Cauliflower Steak

Cauliflower steak - lazy or brilliant? That's what I ended up asking myself as I was throwing this one together. To be honest, for me it was probably lazy, BUT it was just so good that I don't even care!

I was going to grill up a big veggie-filled lunch, and cauliflower was in the mix. I love BBQ roasted cauliflower, so I figured why not just try it out on the grill. I knew it would be delicious and take about half the time to cook. 

As I was about to prep it, cauliflower steak popped into my mind. I have heard of/seen it before, but never really looked fully into it. I was already planning to grill, so this was the time to go for it. It ended up cutting my cauli-cutting time probably by 1/10 - four easy cuts versus cutting each little cauliflower piece off the stem. Plus there was the added bonus of not wasting as much stem, and if you know me and broccoli stems, this is a BIG DEAL.

Here's What You'll Need:

-1 head of cauliflower
-1/4 cup olive oil
-Sea salt and pepper to taste
-1 cup all natural BBQ sauce

Instructions:

1) Remove the leaves from the cauliflower, and cut it into four slices of equal width.
2) Brush both sides of each slice or "steak" with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. You don't have to use all of the olive oil. You just want to lightly brush each side.
3) Toss the steaks onto a preheated grill and cook for 5 minutes per side.
4) Slather BBQ sauce onto each side of the steak and grill for an additional 3-5 minutes per side.
5) Remove from the grill, and serve with your favorite sides.

I hope you all enjoy this BBQ cauliflower combo as much as I do! Let me know what you think in the comments below!