Citrus Chard Juice

Makes about 3 cups (24 oz)

Ingredients

• 1 carrot
• 1 lime (peeled)
• big bunch of Swiss chard (enough to fill a large bowl)
• 2 apples (cored)
• 1/2 tsp ground fresh ginger (not the dry spice) (or 1" piece of ginger root)
• 1 medium cucumber

Directions

Add all ingredients to juicer, except ginger, unless using whole ginger root. If using the ground ginger, whisk it into the juice at the end.

Oatmeal Cookies with No-added Sugar

If there ever was a 'healthy' cookie, this one might fit the bill...
No added sugar, just the natural sweetness of dates, raisins, and bananas. Rolled oats, flaked coconut, ground flaxseed, cashews, and defatted powdered peanut butter, add some healthy fats, protein, and fiber. 

This was an experiment really, so I wasn't sure how it would turn out. But, I think they turned out pretty great for something I just threw together (that's why I had to estimate quantities in the recipe).
Makes 26 cookies.

Ingredients
1/4 cup raisin paste (about 1/4-1/3 cup packed raisins, processed into a paste/purée — another good idea might be to boil and soak the raisins to soften them, and then puree them. You could just use more dates and puree those, but raisins are cheaper!)
2 1/2 cups rolled oats (not instant)
3/4 cup chopped pitted dates
1/3 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
1/3 cup (P2B) defatted, powdered peanut butter
3/4 cup roasted, salted cashews
1-2 tsp cinnamon
1 very ripe banana
1 tsp baking powder

Directions

Preheat oven to 350. Line baking sheet with parchment.
Pulse/ process banana, raisins, cinnamon, baking powder, peanut butter powder, coconut flakes, dates, until fine/smooth. Add cashews and pulse until pieces are small to medium sized.

Add mixture to a bowl and stir in oats until well mixed together.
Form 1.5" sized balls and place onto baking sheet. Flatten slightly.

Bake for 15 min until cookies are golden brown on edges. Remove cookies from pan and let cool on wire rack.  

Coconut Lime "Tarabars"

I love Larabars, but I wanted to find a way to make them myself to save $$, and to devise my own favorite flavor combos! 

These are made much like the Figgy Walnut Bars I posted previously, but I was going for a 'key lime' kind of flavor. I think it came together pretty great, and I hope you do too! 

So without further ado...

Makes 12 'Tarabars' :)

Ingredients

1/2 cup rolled oats

1 1/2 cups dried pineapple chunks

3/4 cup coconut flakes, unsweetened

1 cup whole almonds

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/4 tsp coconut extract

1 tbsp lime juice (or to taste; zest might be even better)

2 tbsp ground flaxseed

1 tbsp coconut oil

1. Combine everything into a food processor. Process until it forms nice clumps, and holds together well. 

2. Line a 8x8 pan with plastic wrap with enough to wrap over the mixture. Press mixture evenly into pan. Wrap with plastic. Pop into fridge for 15 min (helps to firm it up, and make it easier to cut).

3. Cut into 12 bars.

Store these in a cool place (fridge is best for longer storage, and to keep them firmer), wrapped individually, or layer wax paper in between the bars to prevent them from sticking together. 

I think they should keep for several weeks if they are wrapped well, since it's just dried fruit & nuts. And the citric acid in the lime juice is a natural preservative too, so that can't hurt ;)

Figgy Walnut Bars

Though these are quite similar to Larabars, the orange extract used in them makes them delightfully different from any of the available Larabar flavors. I made these based on a recipe from Whole Foods.

Dates and figs are naturally very sweet, so they are great for us folks with the occasional sweet tooth, but, as fruits, they are also healthy for you! (Certainly more nutritious than plain ol' table sugar! Blech).

Ingredients

10 oz medjool dates, pitted

10 oz Turkish figs (hard stem part removed)

1 cup walnuts

1/4 tsp orange extract

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp cinnamon

In a food processor, combine all the ingredients. Process until you get a small crumb.

Remove half of the mixture. Set aside. 

Process the rest until it looks close to a paste, and sticks together easily. 

Now. Press it into a baking pan lined with wax paper. 

Once it's all smooshed evenly, cover it with plastic, and set in in the fridge to firm up, about 2 hours. Lift out with wax paper, and cut into bars. Wrap individually or separate with sheets of wax paper for storage. Keep refrigerated so they keep their shape. 

I'm sure there are many fruit/nut combos we all could come up with for these bars... So I look forward to using my own creativity and hopefully hearing from you about what you did too! 

Maki sushi

So... This year started with my first homemade veggie-filled sushi rolls... And since I bought a package of nori with 10 sheets in it, not really thinking about how quickly I would need to use it before it absorbed moisture and became stale or unusable...  Well, that led to what has felt like a LOT of sushi rolls this month! Today I finally finished off the last roll, and needless to say, as yummy as they were, I don't think be making these again for quite a while!

Sweet potato, cucumber, & avocado for New Years Eve dinner

Sushi overload!

Carrot, avocado, and ginger

To make Sushi rice: 

These quantities makes enough rice to make 5 rolls. Though I didn't really measure it, it ends up being about 3-4 cups cooked. I used about a 1/2 cup to 3/4 cup of rice per roll.

• 1 cup sushi rice (short grain white, sticky)
• 1 1/2 cup water
• Seasoned rice vinegar

Directions: Add rice and water to a pot on the stove. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to simmer, and cover. Cook for 20 min. (Make sure heat is low enough so the rice won't burn on the bottom; it will stick, but you shouldn't need to stir the rice at all) Remove from heat and let stand, covered for additional 10 min. (This finishes cooking the rice by steaming and will also release any rice stuck to the bottom of the pot). Fluff with fork; drizzle about 1/4 cup seasoned rice vinegar over rice and mix to distribute.

To make the rolls, I used:

• 8x7" sushi nori sheets
• Assorted vegetables, julienne-cut
• Sushi rolling mat

If you check out Allrecipes' YouTube channel, they have a great tutorial video for assembly (I found it much easier to watch how to do this instead of reading instructions):

http://youtu.be/XKUSI8ElgRc