Squash Tacos

We love tacos in this family, a lot.  I make them all the time with different variations.  One variation I have really been loving lately is with squash...mmm yum!  I love squash and this is a great way to make your tacos more hearty while getting more vegetables at the same time, it's a win win :)  Enjoy!

Squash Tacos

3/4 cup brown rice or quinoa
3/4 cup x2 vegetable stock (I don't know what 3/4 + 3/4 makes so it is easier to write it this way ;) )
half of a butternut squash peeled, cubed, and roasted
1 15 oz can black beans
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
lettuce
guacamole
olive oil
salt and pepper
corn tortillas 

Directions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Peel, deseed, and cube your butternut squash.  This recipe only calls for half of a butternut squash so save the other half for tacos next week :)  The smaller you cut the squash the quicker it will roast.  Place squash in a glass baking dish and drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.  Stir the squash with a spoon or using your hands to make sure oil and salt and pepper are evenly distributed.  Roast for 30-40 minutes.  

In the meantime bring your vegetable stock to a boil.  Once it is boiling add your rice, cover and reduce heat to low.  About ten minutes before rice and squash are done in a skillet heat 1/4 cup of water or vegetable stock (to give it more flavor) on the stove.  Rinse your can of black beans and add it to the water.  Let the beans simmer until there is no more water left (about 6 min) and stir frequently.  Once rice and squash are cooked add to the bean mixture and season with cumin, chili powder, and onion powder.  Serve with tortillas, guacamole, lettuce, and whatever other taco toppings you like. Recently we have used purple cabbage and alfalfa sprouts which has been something different then the normal taco toppings for us.  Hope you Enjoy!

Mexican Bean Salad

A couple of nights ago for dinner I wanted something that was really fresh, grain free, yet filling.  So I set out to find a bean salad that we could eat over a bed of leafy greens.  I found this at here at allrecipes.com.  This was so good and would be great as a salsa too.  Enjoy!

Mexican Bean Salad

1 (15 ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 (15 ounce) can kidney beans, drained
1 (15 ounce) can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed (I used great northern beans)
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 (10 ounce) package frozen corn kernels (I omitted this since I didn't have fresh corn)
1 red onion, chopped (I used half a red onion)
1/2 cup olive oil (I used 1/3)
1/2 cup red wine vinegar (I used 1/3)
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons white sugar (I used turbinado sugar and I used 1.5 tablespoons)
1 tablespoon salt
1 clove crushed garlic
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1/2 tablespoon ground cumin
1/2 tablespoon ground black pepper
1 dash hot pepper sauce (I omitted this)
1/2 teaspoon chili powder

Directions

In a large bowl, combine beans, bell peppers, frozen corn, and red onion.

In a small bowl, whisk together olive oil, red wine vinegar, lime juice, lemon juice, sugar, salt, garlic, cilantro, cumin, and black pepper. Season to taste with hot sauce (if using) and chili powder.  (I put mine in my blender and blended the the dressing that way.)
Pour olive oil dressing over vegetables; mix well. Chill thoroughly, and serve cold.

(No Sugar) Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Dip

I came across this recipe at greenshakesandgiggles.com.  The original recipe came from here though.  I love treats and especially a healthy treat so I thought I would give this a try.  I chopped up my dates and soaked them in water over night and blended this up this morning...mmm so good!  I'm sure your kids will think you are awesome if you put a bowl of cookie dough in front of them with some apple slices and tell them to eat up :)

Image from chocolatecoveredkatie.com

(No Sugar) Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Dip

1 1/2 cups chickpeas (1 can, drained) (250g)
heaping 1/8 tsp salt
tiny bit over 1/8 tsp baking soda
1 T plus 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/4 cup nut butter (You can get away with using only 3 T. If you use peanut butter, some people say it has a slight “pb cookie dough” taste, so you can sub oil if you don’t want that.)
1 and 1/4 cup pitted dates
1/3 cup chocolate chips (Enjoy Life brand if you want it to be sugar free)
2 T oats (You can omit)
nondairy or dairy milk as needed (depending on the consistency you want. I used a few T.)

Directions

In a bowl, cover the dates with 1/2 cup water. Let this sit for at least 8 hours. Then add all ingredients (including the dates’ soaking liquid), except chocolate chips, to a food processor and blend until very smooth.

This can be served as a dessert dip, as a spread (maybe in between apple slices or crackers?), eaten with a spoon, mixed into oatmeal, stuffed into cupcakes, or even used to top pancakes!

Cinnamon Bun Muffins

I had some left over almond meal/flour (same thing) in my fridge from the almond milk that I made this week and was wanting to use it up in a muffin recipe.  I found this recipe for a cinnamon roll type muffin at elanaspantry.com, another great site I have just recently discovered.  I wanted the muffin to be sweet and more "dessert like" but didn't want to use any butter or refined sugar in it.  I was excited to find this recipe and even more excited with how well they turned out and even more excited with how much Ryan loved them! (If you know Ryan you know he doesn't like sweet things).  This recipe is definitely a keeper and one I'm so grateful I stumbled across!  I have a feeling it just may become a staple recipe in our home :)

Cinnamon Bun Muffins

Cinnamon Topping:

2 tablespoon agave nectar
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon grapeseed oil

To make cinnamon topping, combine agave, cinnamon and oil in a small bowl
Set mixture aside.

Muffin Mixture:

1 cup almond meal/flour (you can make this by grinding almonds up in a food processor to a    sand-like consistency)
2 tablespoons coconut flour (same thing here- you can grind unsweetened coconut flakes in a food processor to a sand-like consistency)
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon sea salt
¼ cup grapeseed oil (can be found at a health food store and isn't very expensive)
¼ cup agave nectar
3 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Combine almond flour, coconut flour, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl
In a large bowl blend together oil, agave, eggs and vanilla
Blend dry ingredients into wet and scoop a scant ¼ cup at a time into lined muffin cups
Spoon topping onto muffins
Bake muffins for 8-12 minutes at 350°
Cool muffins for 2 hours then frost with Creamy Cream Cheese Frosting  (I didn't do this but I'm sure if you did it would be wonderful!)

Makes 9 muffins

*Little side note- I didn't have quite 1 full cup of almond meal/flour so I topped off the measuring cup with fresh ground whole wheat flour and they turned out great.  If you wanted your muffin to be completely gluten-free then you would need to make sure you have enough almond meal/flour for 1 full cup.

**One more thing- if you are using almond meal from making almond milk you will want to run it through a food processor for a few seconds to break up any clumps.