Peach Mango Salsa

It’s so important to try and boost your nutrition every time you eat. Think about how you can increase the vitamins and minerals in the foods you make and eat every day. By adding a variety of foods to our diets, we’ll cover a lot of our nutrient needs and help our bodies fight of disease.

One way to do this is by incorporating fresh fruits and veggies to our already favorite recipes. I came up with a way to use the fruit that is in season to create even more flavorful, nutrient-dense recipes of some old favorites. This one uses fresh peaches and mangoes to balance out the spice of jalapenos in this summer time favorite.

Read more over on the blog on The Power of Peaches. You’ll see why it’s so important to eat in season and incorporate fresh fruits into the diet.

1 lb tomatoes, diced

1 green bell pepper, seeded and diced

2 jalapenos, seeded and diced

1 purple onion, finely diced

1 # peaches, diced

½ # mango, diced

No Bake Energy Snack

Here’s an easy recipe for a quick, healthy snack using Barthel’s River Road Gold Maple Syrup as the sweetener. It includes basic ingredients most people have on hand. You can make a double batch and freeze one recipe and keep the other in the refrigerator for a good alternative to pre-packaged snacks that are heavy in processed ingredients. And the best part of this recipe is that it is easily adaptable to your taste preferences. In addition, it is gluten free, dairy (casein) free, soy free, and egg free. Enjoy!

Dry Ingredients:

1 C uncooked certified gluten free oats

2/3 C unsweetened coconut flakes

½ C golden flax meal

1 T chia seeds

½ C Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips

Wet Ingredients:

½ C Natural Peanut Butter

¼-1/3 C Barthel’s River Road Gold Maple Syrup

1 t vanilla

Directions:

Mix all ingredients together in a bowl thoroughly. Cover and refrigerate for at least 20 minutes. Once chilled, use cookie scoop or roll into...

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 3/4 sticks unsalted butter
• 1 3/4 cups packed dark brown sugar
• 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 egg + 1 egg yolk
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2 1/2 tbsp. maple syrup
• 3 tbsp. brown sugar + 3 tbsp. white sugar (mixed together)

DIRECTIONS:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees
• In a small pan, heat the butter over medium-low heat, swirling the pan often until the mixture becomes a light golden brown. Immediately remove from heat and allow to cool until semi-solid and soft. (Note: I quickly cooled my brown butter by pouring it into a large mixing bowl and placing it in the freezer for ten minutes).
• Cream together the butter and 1 3/4 cups dark brown sugar until smooth.
• Add egg + egg yolk, vanilla, and maple syrup, and mix well.
• In a separate bowl combine the flour, salt, baking soda and baking powder.
• Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir until well combined.
• Roll tablespoon sized balls of cookie dough in the...

Italian Style Soup

I made this the other night and we have a ton of leftovers. It’s easy to modify to your taste, too. It’s just a heartier twist on tomato soup with Italian seasonings. Sometimes, to break through boredom with meal-planning, it’s good to mix it up a bit. And, this time of year, I love to have soup leftovers or enough to freeze for a healthy meal on a busy night.

This recipe makes 10-1 Cup Servings and the nutrition breakdown looks like this:

156 Calories, 7.2 grams of Fat, 8.5 grams Carbs, 13.7 grams protein.

Enjoy!

1 # ground beef
3 oz sliced pepperoni
**You can use ground turkey or whatever meat or meat sub you’d like.
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 bunch green onions, choped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 t coconut oil
2 T tomato paste
1-28 oz can crushed tomatoes
4 C chicken broth
1 T chopped, fresh basil
1 T chopped, fresh oregano
1 t fresh, ground pepper

Cook beef and pepperoni in large saute pan. Rinse and drain. Set...

Hot Cereal

2 T unsweetened shredded coconut

1 T pepitas (pumpkin seeds)

1 T flax seeds

1 T chia seeds

¼ C walnuts

2 t ground cinnamon

1/8 to ¼  t sea salt

1 C boiling water (OR ½ C coconut or almond milk and ½ C water OR 1 C coconut or almond milk)

Combine all ingredients in food processor or blender. Blend until finely ground. Pour boiling water into blender and blend slowly on low then higher until cereal is smooth. Transfer to bowl. Garnish with other seeds, goji berries, etc. Serves 1.

Dry ingredients can be doubled or made into amount desired and stored in sealed container in the refrigerator for future use. To serve, add boiling liquid; blend and serve.

Honey spice cookies

This cookie recipe is delicious and right in with the flavors of the season! With the clove and allspice, this cookie is reminiscent from fall through the Christmas season. For those who are keeping sugars down (we all should be), I used a combination of turbinado sugar (sugar that is less refined and still contains some molasses) and monk fruit in the raw. Using the less processed version of sugar is better for the flavor and our health! Enjoy!

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

12 tbsp. unsalted butter, softened

1⁄2 cup packed (4 oz.) turbinado sugar (or ¼ Cup turbinado + ¼ C Monk Fruit in the raw)

2 tbsp. honey

1 1⁄2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1 tsp. ground ginger

1⁄2 tsp. ground allspice

1⁄2 tsp. ground cloves

2 cups (9 oz.) all-purpose  gluten free flour, plus more for dusting

1⁄3 cup finely chopped hazelnuts

1 tsp. salt

Heat the oven to 375°. Using a hand mixer on medium speed, beat together...

Egg Roll Bowl
Serves: 4

2 tbsp sesame or coconut oil
3 cloves of minced garlic
½ cup diced onion
2-3 tbsp of diced fresh ginger
1 pound ground chicken
Salt and pepper
1 tbsp of sriracha or other hot sauce
14-oz bag of your favorite coleslaw mix (I like rainbow slaw)
3 tbsp of gluten-free soy sauce or coconut aminos
1 tbsp of vinegar (I use apple cider vinegar but rice vinegar is more authentic)
Optional garnish: toasted sesame seeds.

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Toss in the garlic, onion and saute until the onion is soft. Add in the diced ginger and saute for 1-2 minutes.

Stir in the ground chicken, a pinch of salt and pepper and the hot sauce. Keep cooking until the chicken is done. Next, stir in the coleslaw, coconut aminos and vinegar and continue until the coleslaw is tender.

Sprinkle with optional sesame seeds and serve.

2 C warm water

2 T active dry yeast

2 t sugar

2 t salt

4 T Grape Seed oil, coconut oil or Extra Virgin Olive Oil

5 C flour

Extra flour for rolling dough.

Parchment paper

Optional: basil, oregano, or Italian seasonings to taste

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Pour warm water into bowl with yeast. Stir to dissolve. Add the remaining ingredients and mix thoroughly. Dump onto floured surface and knead dough for 2 to 5 minutes until smooth and no longer sticky. Add additional flour 1 T at a time if sticks to fingers, counter, or bowl. Cut lump of dough into two and place ball of dough between 2 pcs of parchment paper. Roll out to desired thickness of crust. Makes 2 pizzas (about 11-12”) with a thicker crust or 3 for thinner crusts.

ParBake: Place rolled out dough on bottom sheet of parchment paper in oven on pizza stone or pan. Bake for 3-5 minutes; not letting it brown – watch to not over bake. Remove from oven. Repeat with other dough ball. For all-purpose Gluten...

High Protein Breakfast Cookies

1/2 Cup Nut or Seed Butter

1 T Chia flour (or ground chia seeds)

1T warm water

3 ½ T Xylitol or Erythritol

1 T arrowroot, potato or tapioca starch (for a soft cookie) OR 2 T for a harder cookie

¼ t baking powder

1/8 t liquid stevia (optional)

Pinch of salt

2 T Cacao Nibs (optional)
3 T sunflower seeds (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a small baking sheet with parchment.
2. In a cup or bowl mix together the chia and water. Stir in with the nut or seed butter in a larger bowl. Add in the Sugar, Starch, Vanilla, Salt, Baking Powder, Stevia and your optional ingredients.
3. Divide dough into two portions. Shape the dough into the size and shape of a hamburger patty. Place on prepared baking sheet and bake 18-20 minutes.
4. Allow to cool completely before removing from baking sheet. (to speed up this process place cookie sheet in the freezer.)

Option: Use 1/2 T of Chia and only 1/2 T of starch if you want to limit starch/sugar intake.

...

Healthy Trail Mix

INGREDIENTS

½ cup cashews

¼ cup peanuts

¼ cup almonds

½ cup dried blueberries

2 oz dark chocolate chips

METHOD

Mix the cashews, peanuts, almonds, berries, and chocolate chips in a bowl. Store in an airtight container.