Basil Hummus Dressing

June 15, 2016June 15, 2016 / ktbuchs87 / 2 Comments

Yes, I know I didn’t put DIY Wednesday in the title of this post. I’m not losing it. Or if you didn’t notice, I’m not a crazy person just prattling on about post titles. Ok, maybe just a little…

Anyways, I’m starting a new “series” if you will but it isn’t really a series at all, just more helpful recipes for the middle of your week. Wednesday is when most of us feel done with the week. We are exactly the same amount of days away from Friday as we are from Monday and for some reason, it feels like the weekend will never get here. We’re tired of work and we come home and realize we have nothing to make for dinner. That’s where many of us throw in the towel and order pizza.

Or maybe you’re like me and prep a few things on the weekend so you don’t have to figure out your dinners but you are getting bored of the exact same meal and want to throw a little variety into your food. That’s where these Wednesday recipes are going to come in handy. They are all things that are made with simple ingredients that you probably already have in your kitchen and can be thrown together fairly quickly. Basil Hummus Dressing | Life Healthfully Lived

I don’t have a catchy name for these recipes yet. I know DIY Wednesday was creative genius so I will have to top that one. But I do know this basil hummus dressing is amazing and goes well on anything. It’s like summer in dressing form. Just a few ingredients and a quick whir in the blender and you can use this for salad, coleslaw, chicken, fish, zoodles, or as a dip for vegetables. Plus, if you want to keep it bean-free you can just use a few tablespoons of raw cashews that have been soaked in hot water for 15 minutes to thicken your dressing. Basil Hummus Dressing | Life Healthfully Lived

See? I’m always thinking of solutions for you!

Basil Hummus Dressing

1 cup packed basil leaves
2 tbsp hummus OR 2-3 tbsp raw cashews soaked in hot water for 15 minutes
1 tbsp shallots, diced
2 cloves, garlic
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp fresh black pepper
1/2 cup full-fat coconut milk

Put all of the ingredients into the blender and blend until you have a smooth and creamy dressing. Taste and adjust any seasonings, especially if you used cashews instead of hummus.

You can use any type of hummus you would like whether it’s your favorite store brand or your own homemade. I just happened to have a little of my favorite hummus leftover so that’s what I used. Enjoy!

My Best Summer Recipes

June 10, 2016May 24, 2016 / ktbuchs87

Since summer is (almost) officially here, I thought I would share some of my best summer recipes to get you ready for the warm months ahead!

Tomato Cucumber Salad

I could eat this on repeat and never get tired of it. I love the bite of vinegar, the crunch of the cucumber, and the sweet of the tomato/basil combo. Make a huge batch of this and eat it throughout the week because it gets even better with time!

Curried Quinoa Salad

This is a great dish to bring to a BBQ or potluck because it makes a lot and doesn’t have to be served hot. Plus it’s free of gluten, dairy, eggs, and meat so it can please a lot of diets. Oh, and it’s delicious.

Even Better BBQ Sauce

This is a re-do of my original BBQ sauce and it’s one of my favorite things in the summer. I use it on vegetables, in marinades, and try to put it on every dish. It comes together quick and doesn’t have any funky ingredients.

Avocado and Corn Gazpacho

Ok, hear me out on this one. I know cold soup sounds really unappetizing and for a long time, I avoided gazpacho because gross. But when it’s really hot out and nothing sounds good because it involves heat in some way, gazpacho is really refreshing. And this one is super creamy and delicious and you can have a refreshing dinner quick.

Tahini BBQ Vegetable Bake

I like making this casserole ahead of time and then serving it up cold or room-temperature. It’s best if you do all of the cooking in the morning so you don’t have the oven on during the hottest part of the day. And the tahini BBQ sauce is finger-lickin’ good. Yeah, I said it.

Simple Ratatouille

Have a vegetable garden and 20 lbs of vegetables that you don’t know what to do with? Send 10 lbs to me and then use the other 10 lbs to make this ratatouille!

Key Lime Popsicles

If you like key lime pie and popsicles then boy are you in luck! These take a little bit of prep work but once they’re done you will be thankful you made them! Cool, tangy, and refreshing, they’re perfect for hot summer days!

My Favorite DIY Posts

June 8, 2016May 24, 2016 / ktbuchs87

Since I’m still on vacation, I thought that instead of a new DIY post I would share some of my favorites so you can get in on the DIY action. These are a few of the things that I constantly make so that I always have them on hand. They’re quick, easy, and most of all save me money since I don’t have to buy them at the store!

Coconut Milk

Seriously, I can’t stop making this and why should I? It’s cheap, the easiest non-dairy milk to make, and doesn’t have the additives that most store bought coconut milk contains. You also don’t need a high-speed blender and can even use an immersion blender to get awesome results. My coconut milk has been making its way into curries, my coffee, and my morning smoothie bowl. Speaking of which….

Smoothie Bowls

My Favorite DIY Posts | Life Healthfully Lived

Now that it’s starting to get warm, smoothie bowls are hitting the spot. You can make them with your favorite ingredients and get your daily fruit and vegetables. Here’s a simple guide to building a smoothie bowl.

Lemon-Ginger Tea

I have this every morning and I love it. Since I’m not a huge fan of plain water, this is a great way to get some water first thing in the morning without choking down a glass of plain water. Plus it’s good for your digestion and your skin!

Dairy-Free Ranch and Basil Dressing

Summer means more salads and fresh vegetables and what better way to eat them than with delicious dressing?! As much as I love my vegetables, I love my dressing even more. Don’t buy dressing at the store because not only is it more expensive but it can quickly turn your healthy salad into a calorie and chemical bomb. Whip up one of these dressings yourself and thank me later!

Caramelized Onions

This is the definition of an easy recipe. Your slow cooker does ~~most~~ all of the work and you end up with delicious caramelized onions that you can put in everything. I freeze the onions in ice cube trays and then just pull out what I need when I’m making dinner.

Coconut Chips

These are the best snack ever. A little sweet, a little savory, and all delicious. I actually made a huge batch of these before we left for Michigan because they make a great road trip snacks. I may have even shared a few with Adam… Maybe.

I have a ton more DIY recipes over on my recipe page so if you’re feeling the DIY vibe check it out!

DIY Wednesday: Parsley Cream Zoodles

June 1, 2016June 1, 2016 / ktbuchs87 / 2 Comments

This is quite possibly the simplest dinner I have ever made. On Memorial Day, I spent the day with my parents and got back home right around dinner time. I didn’t have much in the house and really didn’t feel like cooking. Many people might eat peanut butter straight from the jar and call that a meal full of “good fats” (totally not talking about me…) but I wanted to be somewhat of an adult. I had a few zucchini’s in my fridge and I had made this sauce earlier when I noticed my parsley was going a little limp. So I quickly spiralized my zucchini, tossed it with this sauce, and called it dinner. DIY Wednesday: Parsley Cream Zoodles | Life Healthfully Lived

Level: Adulting like a boss.

This is a great dinner for those nights when you don’t feel like cooking, it’s too hot to turn on the oven/stove, or you somehow forgot you need to eat dinner and want food fast. You don’t even have to use zucchini. You could use regular noodles, other vegetable noodles, even quinoa or brown rice. You could get fancy and add some cooked chicken, shrimp, or beef or you could add extra vegetables like cherry tomatoes, carrots, or summer squash. DIY Wednesday: Parsley Cream Zoodles | Life Healthfully Lived

The point is when you need food in your food hole NOW this is the meal you can turn to. Maybe that will be my new blog motto. Food for your food hole NOW…. Has a nice ring to it.

Parsley Cream Zoodles

1 cup parsley leaves, stems removed
1/2 cup cashews, soaked overnight or in boiling water for 15 minutes
2 cloves garlic
2 tbsp nutritional yeast
1 tsp dried minced onion
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
juice of one lemon
1/2 cup full-fat coconut milk or 1/3 cup water (coconut milk will make it creamier)
1-2 zucchini, spiralized or cut into thin strips (could also use regular noodles or some other vegetable like cucumber)

Put all the ingredients except the zucchini into a blender and blend until smooth and creamy. You don’t want any large chunks of cashew. You can also make this sauce ahead of time and keep it in an airtight container until you’re ready to use it.
Spiralize or cut your zucchini and put it into a large bowl. Pour in about half the sauce and stir to coat all the zoodles. Add more sauce if necessary or if you just want to be a rebel and eat all the sauce. You do you.

That’s it. You could be eating in about 10 minutes, less if you already made the sauce ahead of time. Don’t ever think you don’t have time for a healthy meal. That’s just a lie the pizza delivery guy wants you to believe 🙂

DIY Wednesday: Dinner Rolls

May 25, 2016May 25, 2016 / ktbuchs87

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DIY Wednesday: Dinner Rolls | Life Healthfully Lived My husband is a bread fiend. You know the saying “Man cannot live on bread alone”? Yeah, it doesn’t apply to him. I could put a hunk of bread down in front of him for every meal and he would be happy. I wouldn’t even have to change the kind of bread just get the carb-y goodness into his mouth as fast as possible.

He married a woman who doesn’t really eat bread.

Not that I don’t like bread, it just doesn’t like me back very much. Plus, if I ate as much bread as the man I married does I would probably be 600 pounds. 600 pounds of bread. DIY Wednesday: Dinner Rolls | Life Healthfully Lived

Over the years, I’ve made various kinds of gluten-free, dairy-free, egg-free bread and while they were good enough for me as a stand in for traditional bread, Adam never really took to them. Which is fine because while he also likes eating bread he really likes the process of making it too. But I wanted to make bread that both of us could enjoy and could get as close to real bread as possible.

I think I might have gotten it. Are these exactly like traditional dinner rolls? No. But Adam did eat 5 (or 6) of the 9 rolls I made and I think that’s good enough for me! You can make these rolls ahead of time and keep them in the fridge until you’re ready to bake them. You could even freeze a bunch and then just pull them out when you’re ready to use them!

Dinner Rolls- Makes 9-10 rolls depending on how big you make them. Based off these Honey Biscuits from Against All Grain.

1 3/4 cups almond flour
2 tbsp coconut flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3 tbsp ground flax seed
6 tbsp water
1/4 cup coconut oil, semi-soft (if your oil is liquid like mine always is, measure it out and then stick it in the fridge for a few minutes).
2 tbsp coconut milk or water

Preheat oven to 350 and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a Silpat. Mix the 3 tbsp ground flax seed and 6 tbsp water and set aside to gel.
Combine all of the dry ingredients, and seasonings if you’re using them, and whisk together.
In a separate bowl, combine the gelled flax seed, semi-soft coconut oil, and 2 tbsp coconut milk together. Mix it really well so that everything is combined.
Make a well in the dry ingredients and pour in the wet. Use a rubber spatula and mix everything together. You should get a very stiff dough and be able to form a ball. If not, add a little more coconut flour one tablespoon at a time.
Take out a little of the dough from the dough ball and roll into a ball. Place it on the sheet and slightly flatten it with the palm of your hand. Continue until all the dough is gone.
Bake for 10 to 15 minutes. Check at 10 minutes and if it’s golden on the edges take it out and let it cool for a few minutes before serving.