Best Guacamole Recipe

Best Guacamole

I love this guacamole! I eat a whole batch in less than 24 hours with little to no help! It’s just so ADDICTING! I hope you like this simple, easy, FANTASTIC recipe as much as I do!

Ingredients:

2 Ripe avocados

1 Jalapeno seeded and finely chopped

5 or so lightly chopped grape tomatoes

(If you like onions, add onions; I don’t like them in mine)

Salt and pepper to taste

Garlic powder to taste

Cumin to taste

Fresh cilantro if you have some (optional)

Directions:

Seed your avocados and scoop that deliciousness into a bowl. Mash up the avocado to desired texture. (I like mine chunky, and I use a butter knife to just sort of cut it all up) Add in your chopped jalapeno and tomatoes, and add your seasonings. Mix it up and that’s it! A delicious snack, side dish for your dinner, or even breakfast! (I love eating it for breakfast!) 

My Tossed Salad Recipe

Clean Simple Tossed Salad

When I don’t feel like cooking, and I don’t have any leftovers, I love to make this salad. It’s so fresh and it actually fills me up! I use an organic spring mix of greens for mine that I find at Aldi. It has spinach, kale, and several other good greens! You can use whatever you prefer. This is great on the side of a meal as well, or a snack, or however you want to eat it! I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

           

Ingredients:

          Greens of your choice

            Olive oil

            Salt and pepper to taste

            Halved grape tomatoes

            Handful of sunflower seed kernels

            1 Tbsp milled flax seed

            Optional: Raw almonds

Tossing instructions:

(Make this salad as big as you want!) Chop up your greens how you like them. I like mine good and chopped so that it’s easier to eat! Halve your tomatoes and toss them in. Sprinkle your sunflower seed kernels and flax on top for extra nutrients and deliciousness! If you are adding the almonds add them now. I love the almonds in mine, but I love a nutty salad! Just drizzle desired amount of olive oil over top. Salt and pepper to taste and mix it up! That’s it, now you have a fresh, delicious, nutty salad!

Famous Brussel Sprouts Recipe

Famous Brussel Sprouts

These Brussel sprouts are my most popular dish! I have to make them for my sister for her birthday now. Every time I bring leftovers to work everyone wants some. Let me tell you, they are AMAZING! If you’ve tried Brussel sprouts and don’t like them, TRY THESE! Just to throw it out there, Brussel sprouts make you very gassy… BEWARE!

           

Ingredients:

          Fresh, not frozen Brussel sprouts

            Minced garlic

            Olive oil

            Salt and pepper to taste

Cooking Instructions:

Cut your Brussel sprouts in half lengthwise. Pour some olive oil in a skillet on med-high heat. Put the minced garlic in the hot olive oil, and place Brussel sprouts face down in the oil. PLEASE be careful at this step. The hot oil will pop and it does not feel good! Season with salt and pepper and cover skillet with a tight fitting lid. You may want to turn the heat a little more towards medium. Let them cook with the lid on for about 15-20 min. until the bottoms are nice and brown. I could eat my weight in these things! Enjoy!

Smashed Potatoes Recipe

Smashed Potatoes

           

I love these things sooo much! Can we say comfort food? I was always a French fry lover, but as with my plant-based diet I’m trying to eat clean as well. These delicious crisp on the outside, creamy on the inside salty treats seriously hit the spot! You can eat them as is, or you can top them with ANY number of things! (sautéed mushrooms and onions, beans, cabbage, greens, anything!)

           

Ingredients:

          Golden potatoes (you can also use red, but I love the golden)

            Olive oil

            Seasonings to taste (I use salt, pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder)

Cooking instructions:

Bake your potatoes in the microwave, or however you would prefer, until soft. I usually microwave mine for about 5 mins. It really just depends on the size of your potatoes. I will start at about 3 minutes, and then 1 minute each time until they are done. Once they are done you want to take something with a flat bottom (I usually use a glass) and gently smash your potatoes. PLEASE be careful not to burn yourself. These potatoes are hot right out of the microwave! Turn the stove on med-high, put some olive oil in a skillet, and brown your potatoes on either side. Be aware that with the heat that high, the olive oil can get smoky! I season mine while they are in the skillet. That is it, they are done! I hope you enjoy these as much as I do!

Roasted Chickpeas Recipe

Roasted Chickpeas

I’ve got a few fans of these chickpeas! They are oh-so-good with a meal or just to snack on! My sweet 2 year-old niece even loves them. She commandeered my whole bag last time! You can make these babies tasted however you want, but below are a few of my favorite options!

Ingredients:

          1 can of organic chickpeas

            1 tsp Olive Oil

            Seasonings of choice (below I have some flavoring options for you)

Cooking Instructions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Cover a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Rinse your chickpeas in a strainer and PAT DRY. They will not get crisp if you do not pat them dry. Mix your chickpeas in the olive oil and seasonings. (I put them in a zippy bag for this) Place chickpeas evenly on parchment paper-covered pan. Cook at 400 degrees F for about 15 mins. If they are not quite to desired crispness, giggle the pan a little to distribute them a little more and cook for a few more minutes. See below for some flavor options that I love!

Salt N Vinegar

            1 Tbsp white vinegar

            Sea salt to taste (table salt is fine if you don’t have sea salt)

            Pepper to taste

           

Chili Garlic

          Salt and pepper to taste

            Chili powder to taste

            Garlic Powder to taste

            Cumin to taste

            (For extra heat add a dash of cayenne)

Best Black Beans Recipe

Best Black Beans

These black beans are AMAZING! They go so well with so much! I could eat these every day! They are very hands off, so very easy to make! I love to serve these over my quinoa rice blend.

           

Ingredients:

            1-2 cans of organic black beans (depending on how many you’re feeding or how long you want to eat on them for)

            Salt and pepper to taste

            Garlic powder to taste

            Onion powder to taste

            Cumin to taste

            Just a dash of cayenne pepper for a kick!

            (Optional: fresh cilantro, sautéed onions, chopped jalapeno)

Cooking Instructions:

Pour beans with juice from the can into a pot, over medium heat. Add seasonings and optional goodies if using. Once heated through, you can lower heat and let sit while you finish cooking the rest of your meal! Easy-peasy!

Quinoa Rice Recipe

Quinoa Rice

So I literally buy a quinoa rice blend at Aldi, but if you don’t have access to that. You can just blend it with your favorite quinoa and rice, or one or the other. I make it as the bag says, and add my flavoring. You can eat this with EVERY meal. Below I will tell you how I use this for my FAVORITE breakfast! I try to keep a batch made in the fridge at all times, because it goes with everything, and it’s just so good!

            Ingredients:

          1 Cup Quinoa and/or rice blend of your choice

            2 Cups water

            Juice from ½ lemon

            Salt to taste

            Garlic powder to taste

Cooking Instructions:

I cook this by the directions on the bag. It says to pour quinoa rice blend into boiling salted water, cover, lower heat, and cook for about 15 min. or until almost all of the water in absorbed. You will then let it sit for about 5 mins to soak up the rest of the water. Once I remove mine from the heat to let sit, I add my lemon juice and seasonings so that they soak up into the quinoa and rice. With the lemon juice, salt, and garlic; this will pair with ANYTHING!

My All-Time Favorite Breakfast, Plant-Based or Otherwise:

All I do is heat up some leftover quinoa rice blend until warm. (NOT LONG) I cut a few little grape tomatoes (about 5 or so) in half, and cube an avocado. I just put those babies on my warm quinoa rice, add a little salt and pepper to taste, and for added nutrients I sprinkle a tablespoon of milled flax seed and a handful of sunflower seeds on top. BOOM! Best. Breakfast. Ever.

Roasted Veggies Recipe

Roasted Veggies

This is the easiest/laziest of all my recipes. If you don’t feel like cooking, I promise you can manage this. The only prep-work is cutting up your veggies, then it’s mostly hands off!

I do most, if not all of my grocery shopping at Aldi. If you shop there, you know that they don’t always have the same stuff. I work with what looks good that they have there. For instance, I just made mine with onions, zucchini, potatoes, and mushrooms, because that is what they had at Aldi that looked good. You can make this with ANY veggies that you have that sound good at the moment.

You can season your veggies however, for whatever mood you are in. Want something spicy? Try using salt, pepper, garlic, chili powder, cumin, maybe a dash of cayenne for extra heat. Whatever you are in the mood for!

This is how I usually do mine when I make this. It’s comforting and delish!

Ingredients:

Sliced veggies of your choice/whatever you have on hand

            Garlic powder to taste

            Onion powder to taste

            Salt and Pepper to taste

            (again use whatever seasonings you want)

            Olive oil drizzled over top

Cooking Instructions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Place a sheet of parchment paper on a cookie sheet, and spread sliced veggies evenly on pan. Season with desired seasonings and drizzle olive oil over the top. Place pan in pre-heated oven, and let roast for about 45 mins. Enjoy!

(See, I told you it was easy!)

You can pair this with anything you want, but to make sure I get full and have enough protein, I like to eat this with my quinoa rice. (which I usually keep in the fridge, because I eat it with almost every meal) sometimes, I will eat some beans with this too, especially if I have some leftovers from a previous meal. 

How I Plant-Based Diet

Plant-Based Diet (It’s seriously not that hard)

So, I was speaking with my Aunt/Bff (she’s a dietitian and total health freak… in a good way) about my back pain. I have scoliosis and experience back pain every day, but I had recently injured myself while exercising and in more pain than usual. I also have joint pain, because I guess I’m an old 23 year-old. If it storms, I’m in pain. If the weather changes (I live in Alabama; this is a regular occurrence) I’m in pain. It’s something I have to live with. Anyway, we were talking, and she told me about how she recently changed to a plant-based diet for all of the wonderful health benefits. While doing her research on it, she discovered that this diet has great anti-inflammatory benefits. She told me to read up on it, and maybe I’d like to try it. If it helps with my pain, I’m all for it! Let’s face it, we’re also helping save the cute little animals out there! That’s a plus, right!?

I decided I would give this diet a try. It can’t hurt, and if I hate it or have a bad experience I can stop. It seemed so ridiculously complicated to do this at first. What do I eat when I’m out and about? How to I make sure I get all of the nutrients that I need? I need PROTEIN!! (There is PLENTY of protein in plant-based food. PLENTY.) Another thing; I’ve always planned meals based on meat, so I was unsure of how to begin planning a meal with no meat! (some kind of meat, a veggie, a starch; some kind of meat, 2 veggies; maybe a roll or bread with either of those) I would even season everything based on the meat I was cooking.

 When I decided to go on Pinterest and look up plant-based meal ideas, I got even MORE overwhelmed. There were hardly ANY easy/quick meal ideas. Everything had all of these crazy ingredients, and recipes trying to be non-plant-based foods. “Vegan Nacho Cheese Dip!” “Cauliflower Mac N Cheese!” “Chickpea Buffalo Wings!” It was just too much. You cannot dwell on what you can’t eat on this diet, and spend too many hours and ridiculous groceries making pretend mac n cheese that probably won’t even be worth it. Think about all of the delicious foods that you CAN eat. I love veggies. I mean I LOVE VEGGIES!

Once I got the hang of what I can/need to eat, I realized how easy it was. I’m a creative cook, always have been. Not everyone is that way, so I decided to share what I make, and how I get all of the nutrients that I need. The biggest tip I can give you for being able to accomplish this is LEFTOVERS! Make a lot of food for dinner and you can eat on it the next day for lunch and even breakfast. Sometimes I will make enough for the next night too! I don’t get tired of it, because I change it up! I feel better than I’ve ever felt. I feel great about what I’m doing. I have more energy for exercise and day to day activities. I have a better attitude. I’m never “hangry” anymore! (and let me tell you, I was the devil when I got hungry) I have a very high metabolism and I’m naturally thin, so I do have to eat A LOT. If you are doing this to lose weight and won’t eat as much, I still believe you will not feel too hungry. You’re getting all of the nutrients that you need, but I do recommend at least taking a daily vitamin. Anyone would recommend you take one on any diet though. I hope this helps you in your journey to go Plant-Based. You will feel GREAT!!