This is one of my favorite recipes and if you have a food processor very quick and easy!

I ended up using walnuts instead of pinenuts for two reasons. The pine nuts were hard to find and they were super expensive! As you know my goal is usually quick and easy and let's save some moola.

I made this into two meals because I'm one person:) I served it over some spaghetti squash, very yummy. Then I made a little cashew cream (another recipe for another time) and mixed this with the leftover pesto and served this over Trader Joes Cauliflower Gnocchi. Wow, delicious!

Let's get started.

What You Will Need

1 1/2 Cups of fresh basil

1/3 Cup of olive oil

1 Cup of walnuts

6 Cloves of garlic

Juice of one lemon

1/3 Cup of nutritional yeast

3/4 Tsp of salt

3/4 Tsp of Black pepper

What You Need To Do

Add all ingredients to the food processor and pulse until a somewhat smooth paste forms. Be sure to scrape down the sides in between pulses.

That's it! Store in the fridge for 3-4 days or freeze for...

That's right, I love soup. I just can't wait for the weather to get a little cooler so I can start eating it again. So I'm just not going to. This is my adult version of breaking all the rules:)

I haven't made this soup in a while and I'm not sure why it's one of my favorite healing soups. This recipe is the best and I always change it up a bit depending on my mood. Sometimes I add potatoes, green beans, sometimes I leave out the zucchini. It just depends. I always put the cabbage in. It adds a little sweetness to it and makes it more filling. You can also change up the kind and amount of beans you add.

One of the best suggestions I have for you is that if you're going to spend the time chopping and cooking make enough to freeze and then you have healthy, home-made soup always waiting for you at home. I put enough for two people in a quart-size canning jar and it's perfect. Be sure to leave about 2 inches for it to expand when it freezes.

Let's get cooking and chopping!

Fills...

Full disclosure, I was going to do Roasted Curried Cauliflower, not the Sweet Potato Fries but I wasn't in the mood for cauliflower and I had none in the house and I did not want to go to the grocery store so sweet potatoes it is! 

I love sweet potato everything and it goes so well with the lemon tahini dip it also goes well drizzled on mashed sweet potatoes!

I'm definitely having the leftovers for lunch today! So excited!

Servings 2

Prep time 35 minutes

Preheat over to 425°

What you'll need

2 Large or 4 small sweet potatoes cut into wedges (see picture) No need to peel

2 Tablespoons of avocado oil

1 Tablespoon Curry Powder

1/2 Teaspoon of Garam Masala

1/2 Teaspoon Salt

For the Lemon Tahini Dip

Juice of 1 lemon

1/2 Cup of tahini

1 Garlic clove

1 1/2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil 

1/2 Teaspoon Salt

1-3 Tablespoons of water (it depends on the consistency you would like)

What you need to do

For the sweet potatoes -  Place all ingredients in a bowl and mix...

The Ultimate Guide To Eating A Plant-Based Diet

 In this guide, I will go through the steps needed to successfully start eating a plant-based diet. I hope you enjoy and congrats to you for doing something healthy and positive for yourself and the planet!

Also, if you want to deep dive into plant-based cooking, batch cooking,  and meal prep? Join me for my FREE Plant-Based 3-Day Meal Planning Challenge with the link below. Learn to maximize leftovers and minimize food waste to save time and money in your plant-based kitchen.

Join The Challenge HERE!

-What does Plant-Based Diet mean?

 Removing all animal foods from your diet

Eating plant-based means removing all animal food products from your diet. This can be quite challenging once you learn some of the strange things that have dairy and some seemingly random animal-based ingredients in them. It's all about reading labels and learning what some of those ingredients are. Of course, it's a lot easier if...

Hi You!

Hope you had a great 4^th! I've decided to do something different this week.

I want to start giving you some batch cooking and meal prep ideas. A lot of these ideas are pretty simple. We just don't always think of it.

I heard a statistic the other day that shocked me. A third of the money we spend on food goes into the garbage! That's right, we are wasting a ton of food.

I'm very guilty of this myself. Just last week I threw away a whole zucchini!

I made a promise to myself I would stop doing this. Which means I need to plan, prep, and batch!

This week I have all these sweet potatoes sitting on the counter and before they start to go bad I decided to take action.

I peeled, chopped, seasoned them and stuck them in the freezer. I also took one batch and I'm baking them right now to throw on top of a salad later...I'll take pics!

I'll give you my recipe but remember if you don't like the seasoning I use, then change it up!

4 servings

Prep time 15 minutes

4 Sweet...

I was watching a TV show the other day and they created a salad using grapefruits and this is where this recipe was born. Except I wanted to use oranges because I love oranges! The oven roasted almonds paired well with the sweet oranges and the mustard dressing was perfect. I added the roasted golden beets because they match and I had them in the fridge, I'm not kidding:) That's why I named it the Sunshine Salad. It's so bright and cheery!

This is a great main dish salad. It's definitely hearty enough. If you would rather have it as a side salad you could make it lighter by removing the beets.

As far as greens, I always mix a bunch together. This one has green leaf lettuce, spinach, and arugula. You guessed it, that's what was in my fridge. Use what you like. I think Romaine would work very well also.

Serving Size 2

Prep Time 1hr. with beets. 15 minutes without the beets. You could always make beets ahead of time.

What You Will Need

- A couple of handfuls of greens

- 1 Orange

- 1/4...

I have to admit that these falafels were a bit challenging. It took forever to get the flavor I wanted. I just couldn't get it right! Finally, they tasted great and I'm pretty sure the one ingredient that made the difference was the Garam Masala. This is a mixture of coriander, black pepper, cumin, cardamom, and cinnamon. I also added cayenne pepper and loved the little kick it added.

I ate out recently and had a salad with the falafels on top served with hummus as dressing and it was perfectly delicious. This is my take on the salad. In the picture, you can see I thinned out the hummus a bit but I don't suggest you do this it was better just dipping my falafels and lettuce right into the hummus. Perfect! Use your favorite hummus recipe for the best option but if you're in a crunch for time just go buy some.

I also was challenged by the fact that I don't have a food processor or I should say its not here with me in NC. So I did a lot of chopping, mashing, and mixing. It's best if...

 This is one of my favorite lunches and I will also admit to eating this one for breakfast. This recipe is really for the tempeh bacon and can be used for so many different dishes. I made this into a wrap also and just added avocado without making the actual spread. I liked the spread for the sandwich because avocados always slide off the sandwich! In a wrap, they can't go anywhere. Let's get started!

Cook time 30-40 minutes. Marinate tempeh overnight if you can.

Preheat oven 375

Makes enough for 5 plus sandwiches or wraps.

What You Will Need 

For the tempeh bacon:

1/4 cup of liquid aminos, you can also use soy sauce or tamari.

1/2 cup of apple cider vinegar

1/4 cup of water

3 Tbsp of pure maple syrup

2 1/2 tsp of liquid smoke

1/2 tsp of garlic powder

1/2 tsp of onion powder

1/4 tsp of cayenne pepper

1/2 tsp of cumin

2 - 8 oz packages of organic tempeh

For the avocado spread:

1 avocado

1 garlic clove

1/2 tsp salt or salt to taste

1/2 lemon juiced

What You...

Yes, Another jackfruit recipe! Check out the last one HERE where I make faux pulled pork sandwiches. I'm loving working with jackfruit. It's very versatile and is a great meat replacement. The texture is perfect and it takes on the flavors of the spices so nicely.

This recipe is pretty simple which I love and has minimal ingredients besides the spices.

Let's get started

Servings - 6 tacos

Prep Time - 30 minutes

What You Will Need

For the jackfruit:

2 - 20oz cans of young jackfruit in brine prepped and shredded.

1/4 tsp cayenne

1 tsp chili powder

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp onion powder

1/2 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp smoked paprika (You can also use plain paprika)

1Tbsp. Coconut oil

For the salsa:

1 Red pepper diced small

1/4 Cup shredded purple cabbage

2 Roma tomatoes Diced

1/4 Cup of minced red onion

1/4 Cup Minced cilantro

1 Avocado, firm and diced

1/2 Lemon Juiced

Salt to taste

6 flour or corn tortillas

What You Need To Do

For the Salsa:

Add all ingredients in a medium...

My Son, Michael, is in the Dietician program at JWU and this is one of his creations. It was so delicious that I had to share. His version did involve a small amount of dairy (yogurt) so I did change it a little bit by using a plant-based yogurt. He also used oat milk and I used homemade cashew milk. Other than that it's the same stuff!

Let's get started and feel free to use whatever milk or yogurt you have.

Serving Size - 1 Smoothie

What you will need:

1 Orange, peeled and seeded.

1 Ripe banana

1/2 Cup of plant-based yogurt

1/2 Cup plant-based milk

1 Small carrot

1 Tbsp of flax seed

1 Tbsp of hemp seeds

Orange zest for garnish

What you need to do:

Put all the ingredients in a blender, preferably a high-speed blender. Blend on high until the seeds are well blended in. There will still be some speckles in there so don't worry about that. Top with orange zest.

It's that simple and super yummy!

Thank you, Michael, (This is Mike's pic above) for the great recipe. I'm sure there...