My Friend Friday Guests are VERY special guests :). THEY ARE MY DAUGHTERS 😃. This past Sunday was my birthday, not only did Nat and Kelle travel 4–5 hours to be with me for my bday weekend, but these two darling daughters cooked breakfast AND dinner for our family and it was AMAZING, so I wanted to share the recipes with you today. BUT FIRST…….. let me tell you some things about McKelle and Natalie. 

McKelle is a darling little mama to Hazel and is the wife of Garrett. She LOVES being a mom and is a natural. I’ve been so impressed with her taking on this new role. She is and always has been very scholastic in school, but took a semester off to be mama to Hazel. She has a scholarship to the University of Utah and is majoring in Dietetics (yes, my other daughter, Brianne, is a dietician too :). McKelle served a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Nashville, TN and loved every second. She is a very good writer too and has a blog of her own called wholesomeeats.wordpress.com. 

Natalie is an AMAZING Aunt to her 5 neices and nephews! She is our sunshine girl and has a heart of gold and would do anything for a friend, and she has a lot of those :). She earned her cosmetology license while attending high school and did hair for a few years, but the past two years, she has gone back to school at Utah Valley University and LOVES IT! She has a desire to learn like no other, well maybe her dad ha. She worked for UVU this summer creating and teaching curriculum for a coding class to 9th graders. She is one little smartie! All of my girls are very conscientious about eating healthy and are all GREAT chefs! I’m so proud of them!

Pictured are Brianne, Natalie, McKelle and Aspen (my daughter-in-law).  They are beauties inside and outside, aren’t they?!!!! 

Now THE DELICIOUS FOOD……..

The first and most important meal of the day—BREAKFAST!!

PANCAKES (recipe is adapted from the edgyveg.com)

Serves: 2

1 cup organic, unbleached flour 

1 tbsp cane sugar

2 tsp baking powder

⅛ tsp salt

1 cup almond milk

1 tbsp vinegar

2 tbsp coconut oil

Turn your griddle to medium heat.

Combine your flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a bowl. In a large glass or bowl add your almond milk with 1 tbsp of vinegar and whisk well. This will turn your regular almond milk into almond buttermilk!!!

Allow this to sit for about 5-10 minutes, then add the soy buttermilk and coconut oil to your mixture, and mix until smooth without clumps.

When your griddle is hot, grease with a tbsp of coconut oil and spoon your batter onto your cooking surface. Flip your pancakes carefully when you see that the bubbles have stopped opening and closing. Continue to cook until the other size of your pancake is cooked and remove from heat.

If you want to make PUMPKIN CHOCOLATE CHIP PANCAKES—add 1/4 c. Pumpkin to the batter. They are my personal favorite!

The next meal…….DINNER

Lentil and Cauliflower Rice Taco Filling

This recipe makes a lot, about enough for 21 tacos! It halves easily, though. Also, be sure you use mild chili powder–a combination of chiles, cumin, and other spices–and not hot pepper.

 Prep Time 30 minutes

 Cook Time 35 minutes

 Total Time 1 hour 5 minutes

 Servings 7

 Calories 145 kcal

 Recipe by Susan Voisin

Ingredients

1 cup brown lentils uncooked, or 3 cups cooked lentils (we used black beans)

3 cups water

2 cloves garlic minced

1 large head cauliflower

1 large onion chopped

4 cloves garlic minced

2 tablespoons mild chili powder divided

1 teaspoon salt or to taste

1/2 teaspoon cumin

1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika

1/4-1/2 teaspoon chipotle powder or cayenne pepper to taste

Generous grating black pepper

Salt to taste

If you’re starting with uncooked lentils, rinse and drain them and place in a medium-sized saucepan with 3 cups of water, 2 cloves of minced garlic, and a little salt, if desired. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, cover and cook until just tender, about 20 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.

Prepare the cauliflower “rice” by removing the leaves and bottom stem from the cauliflower. Grate the cauliflower using either a box grater or the food processor to produce rice-sized pieces. To use the food processor, cut the cauliflower into quarters and then cut or break each quarter into pieces. Process one quarter at a time, pulsing on and off, until grated. Be careful not to over-process or you’ll have cauliflower dust!

Once the cauliflower is grated, heat a very large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring, until it begins to brown. Add the cauliflower and garlic and saute for 3-4 minutes. Add 1 tablespoon of chili powder and continue cooking until the cauliflower is tender, about 4 more minutes.

Drain the lentils well and add them to the skillet. Add the remaining chili powder and all remaining seasonings. Cook on medium until heated through and flavors are combined. Add salt to taste.

Makes about 7 cups of filling. To serve, place about 1/3 cup of filling in a small corn tortilla and garnish with lettuce, tomatoes, and any other fillings you like. Serve with salsa. We also sautéed some chicken with garlic salt and onion salt and pepper for those who would like meat. These were amazing!!

Nutrition Facts:

Lentil and Cauliflower Rice Taco Filling

Amount Per Serving (1 cup)

Calories 145

% Daily Value*

Sodium 396mg 17%

Total Carbohydrates 26.6g 9%

Dietary Fiber 12.5g 50%

Sugars 4.4g

Protein 10.1g 20%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Both of those meals were incredible and vegan!