Can you call a quesadilla a quesadilla if there is no queso? Consider this my version of Hamlet’s, “To be or not to be” folks.
I get real deep about food. 
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healthy eating
DIY Wednesday: Sun-Dried Tomatoes
The other day, I wanted to recreate one of my favorite breakfast dishes from a restaurant back in Sycamore, Eggsclusive Cafe. It’s an omelette that has fresh basil, sun-dried tomatoes, and avocado slices on top. So simple but so good.
To the store I went to grab the things I needed that I didn’t already have, one of which was the sun-dried tomatoes. I didn’t want to get the ones packed in olive oil because they tend to make everything else oily and the ones at my store always have some other flavoring like jalapeno added. So I picked up one of the packages, despite the $5 price tag, and flipped it over to read the ingredient list. That’s where I was met with sulfates and sulfites and other preservatives to keep “freshness and color retention”.
No brand at my store had sun dried tomatoes without some kind of chemical or preservative and I didn’t want to spend $5 or more on something that I didn’t want in my body. I almost resigned myself to the oil packed tomatoes when I thought to myself, “Self, can’t you just make your own sun dried tomatoes? I mean obviously not in the sun, that would take too long and you don’t have a sunny spot in the apartment, but in the oven? And wouldn’t it be like way less expensive?”
Yes, my self was correct. I can make sun dried tomatoes in my oven and have fresh, preservative free toppings for my omelettes and whatever else my heart desires. If you have a food dehydrator you probably already know that you can make your own sun-dried tomatoes and it’s fairly simple. If you don’t, you can do like me and make them in your oven!
Sun Dried Tomatoes
- One 8 oz. package of grape or cherry tomatoes
- olive oil, optional
- salt, optional
* I made mine without oil or salt but you can, it just may take a little longer to dry out.
- Preheat your oven to the lowest setting. If it’s 150-170 lucky you, the rest of us will have to make due with 200.
- Wash and dry the tomatoes and then slice in half. Arrange the tomatoes on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a Silpat. If you want to add olive oil and salt, toss the tomatoes in a bowl and make sure they’re covered then arrange on your baking sheet.
- Place the sheet in the oven to dry out. Now, if your oven only goes to 200 you’re going to have to keep an eye on things to make sure the tomatoes don’t burn. I opened my oven every 10 minutes or so to let out some of the heat.
- Turn over the tomatoes every so often. Remember you’re just trying to dry them out, not roast them. They’re done when they look shriveled like red raisins. Take them out of the oven and let them cool completely before storing in an airtight container.
* Make sure the tomatoes are completely cool and dry before you store them because any moisture in the container will make them mushy and spoil sooner.
DIY Wednesday: Better For You Banana Chocolate Chip Mini Muffins
I was watching Friends the other day, a normal happening in my house and the two random episodes that I watched mentioned mini muffins. This then made me think of the little packages of Hostess mini muffins that were all the rage in middle school. You were someone if you had mini muffins.
Yeah, it was weird.
I usually did not have mini muffins because they were expensive and my mom wasn’t going to waste money on junk food. Because let’s face it, muffins, even in mini form, are generally not a health food. Especially when they’re made by Hostess.
But boy are they delicious. And something about them being mini made them even better. Little food is always better. That’s just science. I decided to attempt to make a better for you mini muffin that would still taste good but wouldn’t be full of all this stuff. That’s what’s in those little bites of happiness. Yum….
My favorite muffin was always banana walnut but I decided to switch the walnuts for chocolate because duh, chocolate. My version uses dark chocolate, but you can use whatever you have on hand. I also decided to add just a few chips to the top rather than mix them throughout because I thought they would be just a little too big for mini muffins. But you do you. And you should do these mini-muffins.
Banana Chocolate Mini Muffins- gluten-free, dairy-free, soy-free, and egg-free. I promise there is something in there! 
- 1 1/2 cup almond meal
- 3 tbsp coconut flour
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 2 flax eggs (2 tbsp ground flaxseed and 5 tbsp water mixed together)
- 1 large banana, very ripe
- 4 tbsp almond milk
- 3 tbsp maple syrup or honey
- 1 tbsp coconut oil, melted
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- handful of dark chocolate chips, optional
- Preheat your oven to 350 and mix together your flax egg and set aside. Line a mini muffin tin with muffin cups or grease with a little coconut oil.
- Put all of the dry ingredients into a large bowl and whisk together so there are no clumps.
- In another bowl, mash the banana so it is fairly smooth. Add in the rest of the wet ingredients, including the flax eggs, and whisk with a fork to combine and smooth.
- Pour the wet into the dry and use a spatula to combine everything. Drop about a tablespoon of dough into each well. These won’t rise a ton, so you don’t have to worry about them spilling over. If you’re using chocolate chips, press about 3 or 4 into the top of each muffin.
- Bake the muffins for about 10 minutes and pull them out to check. If they are brown around the edges and fairly firm in the middle you’re good. If not, bake for another 2 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and let cool in the pan for a few minutes and then place on a cooling rack to cool completely.
These will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for about a week or you can make a bunch and put them in the freezer to pull out whenever you need a mini muffin!
What were some of your favorite middle school snacks?
Roasted Pepper Vegetable Tomato Soup
You guys know I’m having a thing with soup lately. Especially now that Christmas and New Year’s are over. Brothy soups chocked full of vegetables, herbs, and spices sound pretty amazing right now. Plus, winter has finally decided to come out to play and cold temperatures always make me crave warm meals like soups or stews.
This is my soup of the moment because of two reasons. 1. It is absolutely delicious and 2. It is quick and versatile. While the base always stays the same, I can change the vegetables up to whatever I have in my fridge. Sometimes that includes mushrooms or leeks, other times it’s more peppers and some corn.
If you can’t or don’t want to do a certain vegetable I have in this recipe, then don’t put it in your soup. If you want to add a vegetable that I haven’t included, go for it! That is the beauty of this meal. As long as the main components are there, you can play around with the other flavors.
If you’re looking for a lighter meal that will still fill you up, give this soup, or any soup for that matter, a try!
Roasted Pepper Vegetable Tomato Soup
- 2-3 red or orange bell peppers
- 1 cup carrots, peeled and sliced
- 1 cup celery, sliced
- 1 cup onion, diced
- 1 leek, green top cut off and white part sliced thin
- 8 oz package of bella mushrooms
- 1/2 cup corn kernels
- 2 cans fire roasted diced tomatoes
- 6 to 8 cups vegetable broth or water
- 2 tsp smoked paprika
- 2 tsp chili powder
- 2 tsp roasted garlic or 3 cloves minced
- 2 tsp Mexican oregano (regular if you can’t find Mexican)
- salt and pepper
- Preheat the oven to 400 and arrange the peppers on a large baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a Silpat. Roast the peppers until the are slightly brown and starting to collapse. Remove and let them cool. Once they are cool, remove the skins and slice into strips.
- If you would like, you can toss the mushrooms with a little oil, salt, and pepper and roast those for 15 minutes.
- Heat a little olive oil in a large dutch oven or stock pot. Saute the carrots, onions, leeks, and celery until they are soft and starting to brown on the edges. Sprinkle with a little salt and add the roasted peppers, mushrooms, and corn. Stir everything together.
- Add in both cans of roasted tomatoes and then the vegetable broth or water. Make sure all the vegetables are covered with liquid. Add all the seasonings and bring the soup to a bowl.
- Once boiling, cover with a lid and lower to a simmer. Let it simmer for 20 minutes. Taste the soup and adjust the seasonings as needed.
Salted Caramel Chocolate Swirl Cookie Bars
Whew! Yes that is a long name, but I had to get everything in there so you can understand just how awesome these things are. I was really shocked when I came up with this recipe. I had been experimenting with making caramel out of dates and after the caramel pieces that I had planned didn’t turn out as I had hoped, I thought about making a no-bake cookie bar.
These aren’t totally no bake, you do have to cook the cookie base, but that takes less than 15 minutes. The rest you just stir together, pour, and swirl! Which makes this perfect if you realize at the last second you said you would bring a dessert to that Christmas party you’re going to.
I have a few other Christmas-y recipes and posts coming your way next week before the big day, so be on the lookout for those. I plan to spend the majority of my weekend in the kitchen. The only time that I will be out and about is to go see the new Star Wars movie with my husband. I have been getting a countdown for about two weeks now, so I think the man is excited. To be honest, I am too. While I might not be as passionate about Star Wars as he is, I really do enjoy the movies.
So if you’re going to see the movie this weekend, enjoy! Then come home and make some hot chocolate and eat these salted caramel chocolate swirl cookie bars! If the empire, hot chocolate, and cookie bars don’t put you in the Christmas spirit… you may have already crossed over into the dark side.
Salted Caramel Chocolate Swirl Cookie Bars
Cookie Base- slightly adapted from this recipe by Plated with Style
- 3/4 cup coconut flour
- 1/2 cup solid coconut oil (if your oil is liquid-y, put it in the freezer for a few minutes)
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- Preheat oven to 350. In a blender or food processor, pulse all of the ingredients together until you have one dough ball.
- Grease an 8 x 8 pan with a little more coconut oil. Don’t skip this step or you will end up with crumbled mess.
- Take the dough ball and press it onto the bottom and a little up the sides of the pan. You can use a cup if you’re having a hard time rolling the dough out. Make sure you have a fairly even layer.
- Bake for about 9 minutes or until it is golden brown. Remove from oven and let it cool before you pour the rest of the layers in.
Salted Caramel
- 10 Medjool dates, pitted and soaked in hot water for at least 20 minutes (preferably overnight if you remember)
- 1/2 cup full fat coconut milk
- 6 tbsp liquid coconut oil
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 tsp almond butter (could use cashew or peanut butter)
- 1/4 tsp salt (a touch more if your nut butter isn’t salted)
- While the cookie layer is baking, make the caramel and chocolate layers.
- Make sure that your dates have been either soaking overnight or in boiling hot water. You want to be able to remove the skins easily.
- Once your dates are done soaking, slip the skins off. Most of them will slide right off, a few might give you a little fight. As long as you get most of the skin off you should be just fine.
- Put the dates and the coconut oil into a blender and blend until you have a smooth and creamy paste. You may have to scrape down the sides a few times before everything comes together.
- In a bowl, combine the date paste and the rest of the ingredients. Mix until everything comes together.
Chocolate Swirl
- 4 oz dark chocolate (I used 100% chocolate)
- 2 tbsp liquid coconut oil
- 1-2 tbsp maple syrup (if you used 100% chocolate like I did)
- In a medium bowl, grate the dark chocolate so you have little shreds.
- Add the coconut oil and maple syrup and stir.
- In the microwave or a double boiler, melt the chocolate until it is all melted and smooth.
Putting It All Together
- Once the cookie layer has cooled, pour in the salted caramel and smooth evenly over everything.
- Pour in the chocolate swirl over the top. Using a chopstick, toothpick, or butter knife, swirl the chocolate throughout the caramel layer.
- Place the pan in the freezer for at least 30 minutes so the caramel and chocolate harden.
- To serve, Run a butter knife under hot water for a little bit and slice the bars, wiping the knife clean each time.
Ok, I know you’re panicking at this point because this does NOT look like a simple recipe. Trust me, this comes together a lot faster than it seems. I finished making this in about 30 to 40-ish minutes. And once you taste these bars, you’ll forget about this super long list.
Have a great weekend friends and may the force be with you!
Life Healthfully Lived 