Good Morning Protein Smoothie

In the morning I get a good workout in and then I love whipping up my Good Morning Protein Smoothie. It is one of my favorite breakfasts. Making this smoothie is easy, it’s quick and I put it in an insulated cup with a big straw(not shown) and head out the door for work. It’s nutritious and delicious and filling. I buy all of the ingredients at Costco, but you can get these ingredients at your local grocery store (maybe not the protein powder). This plant based protein powder really is the best. I’ve tried other brands and I like this one best.

Good Morning Protein Smoothie Recipe

  • 1 C Unsweetened Almond Milk
  • 2 Scoops (1 serving) of Orgain Organic Vanilla Protein Powder
  • 4 Large Frozen Strawberries
  • 2 Handfuls of Kale (I like to freeze mine)
  • 1/2 – 1 C Water

Put all ingredients into a high speed blender (I use a Vitamix) and mix on high until ingredients are all mixed in and it is smooth. If the mixture is too thick add more water. Pour into an insulated cup or into any cup. Makes a good size smoothie. Approx. 20 oz.

Please let me know if you try this recipe! It’s a good one! Cheers!

XOXO

Peg

OG WFPB Cowboy Cookies

(WFPB – Whole Food Plant Based)

This one is DELICIOUS!!! Seriously, I have been eating these for my pre-workout fuel haha. So YUM and so good for you! I have been trying to experiment with different sweeteners and I read something about date paste, so since I had some dates all ready in my refrigerator, I thought I would experiment–the most fun part, except when it doesn’t turn out lol. In this recipe I subbed out the sugar for date paste, equal amounts. It tasted amazing and not too sweet, which I love.

The reason why I call them cowboy cookies is because I have been thinking about my dad lately and these cookies just seemed fitting for celebrating him. It was his birthday this month and he was a tried and true cowboy though and though. I can picture him out on the range herding cattle and eating some of these cowboy cookies. Oh man, I miss that guy. Here’s to you, dad!

WFPB Cowboy Cookies

  • 2 T. Flax Seed
  • 6 T. Water
  • 3/4 C. Date Paste (see below for recipe)
  • 2 C. Natural Peanut Butter
  • 1/2 C. Apple Sauce
  • 1 T. Vanilla
  • 2 tea. Apple Cider Vinegar
  • 1/2 tea. Salt
  • 1/2 tea. Baking Soda
  • 3/4 C. Regular Oats
  • 1 C. Cup4Cup Flour (gluten free)
  • 1 C. Coarsely Cut Walnuts
  • 1/2 C. Unsweetened Shredded Coconut Flakes
  • 1 C. Enjoy Life mini chocolate chips

Mix flax seed and water. Let sit for about 5 minutes.

Mix all of the dry ingredients together and all of the wet ingredients together in 2 separate bowls. Gradually add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredient bowl and mix by hand. Mix well and add walnuts, coconut flakes and chocolate chips. Mix well until all ingredients are combined and refrigerate for 30 minutes to an hour.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Have 2 cookie sheets ready with a splat mat on each cookie sheet. Get about 2 T of the dough and roll it into a ball with the palms of your hands and sit each ball on the cookie sheet. After the cookie sheet is full, take a fork and flatten out each cookie so they resemble the picture below. I just kind of pat the fork around the ball until it is to my liking. I like mine about 1/4 – 1/2 ” thick. Whatever thickness you decided on, make sure they are all uniform so they cook equally though. Repeat this process for the remaining cookie dough.

I put 2 cookie sheets in my convection oven – one on each rack. Cook for 12 minutes.

Makes 3 1/2 dozen cookies.

Recipe for Date Paste:

2 cups of fresh dates, pitted (pack it down good)

1/2 C. Water (add a little more if too thick)

Mix well in food processor or Vitamix. I used the Vitamix and used the tamper to mix it up well and I stopped and started it in between tapping it down. It worked great!

OG Scrumptious Bombdiggity Vegan Enchiladas

This is one of my favorites!!! I think I say that about all of the recipes that I blog about haha, but I only post the very best for you. My goal is to teach you how easy cooking whole food plant-based food really is. It’s amazing the flavor you can get when combining whole food with some delicious spices and some cooking techniques that are tried and true. It’s truly one of the best decisions my husband and I have made in this life. We feel better, are heart healthy and LOVE the delicious food we make. Give this recipe a try and tell me your thoughts. I would love to hear from you!

Recently, I took dinner to my neighbor who just had a baby and this is what I made for them. They are meat eaters so I was really nervous that they wouldn’t like a dinner without meat, BUT I got a text from her the following day and she said that they LOVED IT!!! WAHOO!!! IT MADE MY DAY!

This original recipe came from my daughter which was for sweet potato black bean enchiladas, but I like to change things up a bit, so I modified it and added some ingredients to make it better :). I loved the changes and I don’t even miss the cheese that is in the original recipe. This recipe has a lot of homemade ingredients so it takes a bit of time, but I do it in stages, so one day I’ll make the pinto beans in the instant pot and then use it for another recipe, like tacos and then I’ll bake the sweet potatoes earlier in the day so they cool off a bit before putting them in this recipe. Don’t get overwhelmed with it–just take it one step at a time. Please read the whole recipe before beginning.

Vegan Cauliflower Hamburger/Sweet Potato/Pinto Bean Enchiladas

You can make a bunch of these to feed a crowd. I like making two pans–one for me and one for a neighbor or you can freeze these in the pan after assembling them but don’t add the enchilada sauce until the end of the cooking time. This helps your enchiladas stay a little crispier instead of soggy. (Put aluminum foil on them before freezing and use within a few weeks)

For the Cauliflower Hamburger:

  • 2 packs of Frozen Cauliflower Rice (I get them from Costco), cooked for 3 min in microwave to soften
  • 1 small package of white mushrooms (grated in food processor)
  • 1/2 c. chopped walnuts
  • 1 T. Cumin
  • 2 Teaspoons Chili powder
  • 2 Teaspoons Salt
  • 1 Teaspoon Pepper

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425 Degrees. Mix all ingredients in a large bowl. I like to wash my hands really good and mix it up with my hands. Taste it and make sure the spices are to your liking. Add a little extra of what you want. Take a cookie sheet and put a splat mat on it. Put cauliflower mix on top of the spat mat and cook for 15 min. Remove from oven and stir it on the mat and put it back in the oven for 15 min. When it comes out it should resemble hamburger–looks a little brown and delicious. Set aside.

While hamburger is cooking, cook the sweet potatoes one at a time in the microwave–poke holes in sweet potato with a fork all over the sweet potatoes (I prob do this about 4-5 times around the potato–cook 4 minutes for a medium one or 5 minutes for a large OR I like to cook the sweet potatoes earlier in the day or the day before to prep for this meal. Here is the oven instructions for cooking sweet potatoes:

Sweet Potatoes

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Poke sweet potatoes with a fork and put them on a cookie sheet with a splat mat on and bake for about 45-50 minutes until they are soft. I like to poke mine with a fork and if they are fork tender, they are done. I just have the urge here to say to you, “STICK A FORK IN IT!!!” LOL!! Set aside to let cool and then peel them and mash them with a fork. Sprinkle with cumin and chili powder and mix the spices in with a fork until it is well mixed. Taste and make sure the spice is on point to your liking.

Pinto Beans in the Instant Pot

  • 3 C. Raw Pinto Beans
  • 6 C. Vegetable Broth
  • 1/2 Onion, diced
  • 3 cloves Garlic, crushed
  • Jalapeño (optional), cut in very small dices
  • 1 T. Cumin
  • 1 -2 tea. Chili Powder
  • 2 tea. Salt
  • a few sprinkles of pepper

Rinse pinto beans and pick out the beans that are duds. Add a little of the broth to the instant pot and put on saute setting. When it is hot, add the onion, garlic and jalapeño (if using). Saute for about 5-7 minutes until onion is translucent. Add cumin, chili powder, salt and pepper. The smell should be very fragrant and make your home smell so good! Just saute the spices for a couple of minutes and then add the beans and remaining broth. Stir well and turn off saute setting.

Put lid on instant pot and cook on regular pressure cooker setting for 55 minutes. After beans are done cooking let them sit for about 15 minutes before releasing the pressure.

Now you are ready to assemble the enchiladas.

These are the items you need to have in an assembly line to make the process streamlined:

Tortillas (I like the flour kind from Costco, but make sure you cook them well so they aren’t soggy, but you can use corn for these too if you need gluten free)

Sweet potato

Cauliflower hamburger

Pinto Beans

1 Brown Rice Package or as many as you need, cooked in microwave for 90 seconds (see picture)

32 oz. Green Enchilada Sauce, mild (I like LaVictoria or any other brand that is a favorite)

Put a bit of the enchilada sauce in the 9×13 pan–enough to cover the bottom of the pan.

In each enchilada put a little of the sweet potato mixture, a little of the cauliflower, pinto beans and brown rice and with a large spoon put a spoonful of enchilada sauce on top and roll up by tucking all of the ingredients in and roll it up.

Add rolled tortillas to pan and bake for 30 min on 400. Add remaining enchilada sauce on top of the enchiladas after 30 min and cook for 5 more minutes. Remove from oven and top with your favorite toppings.

Here are a few of our favorite toppings:

Pico

Cashew Cream:

  • 1 C. cashews
  • 1 tea. apple cider vinegar
  • 1 tea. lemon juice
  • 3/4 tea. salt
  • 3/4 C. water

Mix in high speed blender until well blended. This is delicious and one of my very favorite foods!!!

Avocado

Fresh tomato

Mateos Salsa (from Costco)

Corn and Chile Salsa (Trader Joe’s)

This is amazing Salsa!! I hope you enjoy these enchiladas. They are a lot of work, but trust me–THEY ARE AMAZING!!

Peanut Butter Energy Bites — sooooo good!

St. George is hosting the World Ironman Championship this weekend and I couldn’t be more excited! This city is BUZZING with enthusiasm for the athletes competing. They come from all over the world and we couldn’t be more proud to host. I have four friends that are participating, so I made each of them a goodie bag that included these scrumptious energy bites. When I did the IM, I loved having these on the bike portion because they are real food and they didn’t make my stomach upset. I wish all of the athletes GOOD LUCK!!

These are good for a quick snack, quick to make and made from wholesome, delicious ingredients.

Peanut Butter Energy Bites

1 C. Natural Peanut Butter

1 C. Old Fashioned Oats

1/3 C. Honey or Maple Syrup

1/4 C. Flax Seed

1 Teaspoon Vanilla

1/2 C. Enjoy Life Mini Chocolate Chips

1 C. Coconut (I like Trader Joe’s unsweetened shredded), toasted (I’ll give instructions)

For the Coconut:

Take a large skillet and add coconut. Put heat on medium, stir it, and watch closely. It won’t take long until the coconut starts to brown a bit. When it gets to this point, watch very carefully because it can burn quickly. Continue to stir and turn down heat until it browns nicely and then remove from pan to cool. MAKE SURE COCONUT IS COOLED COMPLETELY BEFORE ADDING TO THE REMAINING MIXTURE.

I like my coconut a little bit more fine so I put it in my food processor and give it a couple of pulses until it looks like this:

Next, add all of the above ingredients together except the coconut. I like to wash my hands and mix it with a wooden spoon.

When coconut is completely cool, add to mixture with your hands. Go ahead, don’t be afraid, just grab it and squish it. Haha. It’s great!! And a great way to take out any frustrations you have in the day lol.

Please let me know if you make these and how they turn out for you! I love hearing from my readers. You’re all the best!

XOXO

Peg