Small Changes make for some big changes in your life…a collection of some of my favorite “healthy” recipes

In my world there is an unwritten rule that you come when your friends need. So after I picked myself up off the floor and quick laughing after a great friend texted that bread “It’s the friend that likes to get you in trouble and lead you astray!” which kinda sounds a lot like me. Well only when my friends are under a strict no buying rule and I drag them to warehouse sales and other random junk type sales. So she mentioned that she needed to get healthy and I thought oh let me make a list of my favorite things I would like to text her; it's a lot to text so now she gets an entire post! I am not the authority on healthy eating because I am far from skinny, but I do make a concerted effort on most days to keep the preservatives and junk food out of both my own and my family’s diet. I have found that small changes in our food has allowed my son to get from and entire shelf of medication to just a single medication each day. I am far from perfect and will take the easy route if there isn't a fall back plan when life gets rough which means processed food and a backsliding effect or cereal; just because I can eat yellow box cheerios and bananas everyday doesn't mean this is a healthy choice or something my family could stand. So long story short these are some of my favorite go to recipes that keep me from backsliding too often. I apologize in advance for some not so great photos that I took with my iphone, but I wanted to share a lot of recipes at once and already had these photos for my own use, well maybe a lot are from Instagram.

 

My favorite quick breakfast food:

No Cook Oatmeal

½ cup quick oats

1 tablespoon chia seeds

1 tablespoon brown sugar


¾ cup milk

 

Put everything into a glass jar or microwave safe container (if you want it hot) and shake until well mixed and put in refrigerator overnight. In the morning microwave for 30-60 seconds for children and 90 seconds for adults. My secret is I make up a bunch of jars with the oats, chia seeds, and brown sugar in advance then add the milk and any add ins at night.

 

You can make this Cinnamon Apple Oatmeal by adding 1 teaspoon cinnamon, ½ teaspoon nutmeg, ½ medium apple cut into chunks.

We also like to add a handful of blueberries or a few fresh strawberries before putting it in the refrigerator.

You can see on the right that there are 5 whole strawberries in the larger jar and none in the smaller. This image is from early on in our kitchen overhaul and you can see how much processed foods I had in my fridge at the time this photo was taken. Remember small changes!

 

My favorite Smoothie:

Adapted from this green smoothie recipe.

Tropical Green Smoothie



1 cup coconut milk
1/2 to 1 cup of yogurt vanilla or plain (I like to use homemade greek yogurt as its thicker and less sugar but any vanilla variety greek or regular is still really good)
3/4 cup pineapple (this works out to 1/2 can of cubed pineapple so I eyball it)
1-2 fresh or frozen bananas (I buy the ones that are reduced then peel them and freeze them)
2 cups spinach
2 tbsp sweetened coconut
2 cups ice
1 tbsp chia seeds (only if fiber has been an issue)

 

 

After several trials with coconut milk we have come to rest on our favorite brand is So Delicious (certified organic); some of the others we have tried are super sweet which the kids love but I just don’t like the sticky sweet smell. Word to the wise put the ingredients in this order in a traditional blender and opposite order in a magic bullet type blender or its difficult to get it blended well!

 

What I do is pour ½ into a glass, then split the other half into glasses for my kids when we are pairing this with a protein source, typically nut butter on some type of whole wheat bread (not the kind you buy in the store but the kind where you see real nuts and grain pieces in it). If I am using this as a meal, I don’t share but drink it all myself.

 

You do get bonus points for drinking this out of a jar using a fun straw which just makes the day oh so much better. No this wasn't Easter time, but I love the bunny straw so much. Don't judge my massive collection of books in the background this is where the magic happens!


 

Our favorite indulgent snack mix:

You know I prefer to make my own cereal, but there are a few varieties that I buy just because they are yummy and I like them…..yellow box cheerios and bananas are calling my name....YUM!

Tyler’s favorite...Sweet & Salty Trail Mix

2 cups rice chex
2 cups peanut butter cheerios
1 cup banana chips

1 cup dried pineapple (I cut these into small pieces before measuring)
1 bag pumpkin seeds
1/2 cup sunflower kernels (optional we don’t always add these and it’s just as yummy)

Mix everything together in a large bowl. I then bag this into 1/4 cup snack size baggies as its super easy to over eat this!

 

 

My favorite Chicken Salad:

 

I literally threw this together in my kitchen while looking for an alternative to salad dressing because my daughter loves to drown her leafy greens in ranch dressing.
1 16 oz can chicken breast (I also like to use shredded chicken that I have made, it’s about 1 ½ cups chicken)

2 ribs celery, chopped

1 small fuji apple, chopped
3 stalks of dill, chopped
¼ cup greek yogurt, start with vanilla while you get use to it then switch to plain

Mix everything together and put on top of a large bowl of greens and you will think you are having dessert first when the apples and yogurt flavors co-mingle. You can also use this in a wrap for a great lunchbox treat.

 

This is super easy to vary if you are out of something or have something that is getting to the end of its usability. Remember that it's better to use it than throw it away.

 

I actually made this for dinner tonight using Chobani vanilla yogurt and even my veggie resistant daughter ate it without any griping and even packed some up for her lunch tomorrow. I call that a win!

 

My favorite Salad:

This is a tossup between a couple so I will give you both, neither of which have a catchy name but are high in the flavor department. 

The first I am not sure is actually a salad and is an adaptation from one of my main source for juicing inspiration when I began. The original can be found here.

 

Black Bean Salad





1-2 cups mixed greens (I like this at the office and will use the bagged salad variety that is typically kicking around the office fridge)

1 serving of refried black beans (check your can and be sure you stop at 1 serving)
1 serving of canned or frozen sweet corn (check to make sure you limit yourself to 1 serving and there is no added sugar. Yes I did say no added sugar, trust me it’s there more often than its not)
1 tablespoon shredded cheese (optional but I almost always opt YES)
2 tablespoons salsa


In this the only thing that I have to heat up is the refried beans, the rest I like cold. The mix of warm and cold makes this seem like it’s not a salad.

Strawberry Salad

1-2 cups mixed greens (I like this at the office and will use the bagged salad variety that is typically kicking around the office fridge, see the theme here)

4 ripe strawberries sliced
1 tablespoon shredded cheese (optional but I almost always opt YES)
2 tablespoons poppy seed dressing

I layer the salad, cheese, strawberries, then drizzle the dressing on top in this order everytime…it is an obsession.

 

 

Remember small changes!



For printable recipes click on the name below:

No Cook Oatmeal
Tropical Green Smoothie
Sweet & Salty Trail Mix
Healthy Chicken Salad
Black Bean Salad
Strawberry Salad

My Favorite Pound Cake

After a few warmer than usual days, today was not so warm and windy cold. Cold as in I had to get my coat and scarf to leave the house, cold as in my heat is on high in the truck, cold as in can I just get in bed and stay there! Cold as in it's a perfect day to think about summer while baking to warm up the house; when I think of summer I think of strawberry shortcake. Well it's only shortcake in spirit because I hate shortcake, but I sure do love poundcake especially light fluffy melt in your mouth poundcake. This one dish no matter where or when I eat it takes me to summer nights sitting on the patio with family and friends. Perfection!

I truly have never shared this recipe before, I have even hid the original recipe from my family to ensure that no one else would ever show up with the same dish to a potluck, because you can guarantee I will bring some type of strawberry and poundcake dessert. It is irrational but this is something that I worry about to the point that it will keep me up for several weeks knowing that a potluck is coming. But I have had my arm virtually twisted by my precious friend from design school. She is an amazing true Southern girl and has moved home to Mississippi, and I am in Texas....how can we have summer nights under the setting sun sharing a great summer dessert if we are so far apart.  So this is for you Angie, a truly amazing lady and true Southern Belle, we just won't think about everyone else who also have the recipe now!

Now down to the real reason we are here, the making of my favorite pound cake, this is by no means a healthy recipe so definitely enjoy in moderation.

First collect all your ingredients together, anything ingredient that is refrigerated will need to be room temperature. Everything is a basic pantry staple for most people with the exception of the cake flour and whipping cream. I have tried to substitute these for items that I typically have on hand, but once you have it this way you sure can't stand anything different. It has been so long since I tried to substitute the ingredients that I do not remember what works and what doesn't work substitution wise. If you come up with one that works, please share.

First you have to get your pan ready, I prefer using a bundt pan. Mostly because saying it makes me happy but this is also a good size recipe so you need to be prepared. I have a heavy aluminum bundt pan, which works wonderfully. I am not sure where you can purchase these, but mine came from an estate sale and was just a few dollars. If you are a bundt pan aficionado, my pan is to the right and I would love to know more about it. If you don't have one like this for years I used the cheapy one that my mother sent in UPC labels from syrup and it came in the mail....why do I remember this from so long ago...I really do not know why my brain retains so many random things. If you do not have a bundt pan or are making this with the intention of making a trifle with square pieces of pound cake you can use loaf pans. I have used 7 1/2"x 3 3/4" mini loaf pans using the same cooking time with great success. It is very important at this stage to butter and flour your pan or pans, yes you can use the spray as long as you use the one with the flour added. The outer texture will be a little different if you use the spray but not to the point of being noticeable.

 

Ever since getting a stand mixer, that is my go to piece of equipment when it comes to baking. My tip to you is never try to use your kitchen aid to attempt to break up cold butter....your whisk will get all bent up and you will have a deformed whisk for all eternity because replacing it is futile as you will do it again, maybe only I will do it again as I have bent a few lot of whisks beyond recognition with cold butter. I do have a new spare whisk for when mine becomes unrecognizable unusable. If you bend your whisk and all the wires are flattened out just do your best reshaping it and take it for a spin in your bowl to make sure it isn't hitting the bowl too bad.

Please note that when kitchen aid says
"Not Dishwasher Safe"
this isn't a suggestion it really should say if you put this in the dishwasher all the shiny pretty finish will become pitted and dull, so just don't do it. But maybe I am the only rebel out there who says I installed that dishwasher and I plan to use it for everything! In all seriousness the pitted top of the whisk and bent tines doesn't make my kitchen aid stand mixer any less of a excellent addition to my kitchen.

 

Now onto the important stuff, cream 3 sticks of butter and 3 cups of sugar together until it's light, fluffy and a pale yellow color.

Once it's light and fluffy add 3 cups of cake flour and 6 eggs alternating 1 cup of flour and 2 eggs until all the flour and eggs are incorporated and well mixed.

 

After the eggs and flour are incorporated and well mixed add 3tablespoons of vanilla extract. This is going to look like a lot, but trust me you will love the end result. After adding the vanilla mix on medium speed for 2 minutes or until the vanilla is incorporated throughout.

 

 

After everything is mixed together you should notice that the batter is getting lighter and fluffier. Add 1 cup of heavy whipping cream and mix for another minute. You may need to use a spatula to incorporate the cream at the beginning as it tends to splatter a lot. I just begin on low speed and work my way up to a medium speed. This will be very quick as once the whipping cream is added you are going to mix the batter for only 1 minute at which point this is what it should look like.

Once you have everything mixed together pour the batter into the pan or pans of your choice.

It is very important to preheat the oven to 325 degrees fully prior to placing the pan in the center of the oven. I have found that if you have many pans it is best to space them out so that there is plenty of air flow around the pans. Once you place the cake in the oven and shut the door do not open it again for 90 minutes, not even to peek until the time is up. This will be the longest time of your life, well maybe not but I am always glued to the oven door with the light on...I guess I am afraid it may run away..not really but I still tend to watch through the door a lot more than I would even check. The world won't stop spinning if you do open the door, but the cake will be denser, heavier, and will take longer to cook.

After the timer goes off, you can open the door and you should be able to see the top of the cake is golden and the edges are browned. I always like to check with a toothpick or butter knife in a location that won't be too noticeable if this is for sharing. If it comes out clean I transfer the pans to a waiting wire rack to cool slightly. Once the cake has cooled enough that I flip the cake out of the pan onto the wire rack to cool the remainder of the way to cool completely long enough that I can cut into the cake.

 

Once the cake is cooled completely, slice into pieces and serve with some strawberries and whipped cream while dreaming of summer nights with great friends and family.

 

I hope that you love this pound cake as much as I do and make a ton of great memories with friends and family while enjoying this on summer nights. Also please don't blame me if you show up to a potluck with it and there is none left when you get through the line, I tell my family if you want some you better get through the line early!

For a printer friendly recipe click here.