Asian-Style Green Beans

March 18, 2016March 17, 2016 / ktbuchs87 / 2 Comments

Are Chinese buffets still a big thing? I haven’t been to one in many years, but for a while when I was younger my family and I would go often. It was just easier because everyone could get what they wanted and it was good for my notoriously picky sister because there were always a few things like pizza and chicken nuggets. Which of course are Chinese. Asian-Style Green Beans | Life Healthfully Lived

One of my favorite things at the buffet were the green beans. They were crispy, crunchy, green, sweet, and salty. They had those huge granules of salt and garlic and they balanced so well with the other flavors. I would always get numerous helpings and could have easily made a meal of them.

Of course, they were probably SUPER high in sodium and flavorings that might not have been the best but when compared to the other offerings at the buffet (I’m looking at you General Tso’s chicken and crab rangoon) they were a pretty good choice. The other day I had a hankering for those green beans and decided to make my own healthier version and I’m pleased to say I think I got pretty close! Asian-Style Green Beans | Life Healthfully Lived

Fresh green beans are making their way back into grocery stores so you should be able to find them pretty easily. But if you can’t don’t worry, you can use frozen green beans too. Give these green beans a try at your next meal and I guarantee your family will polish them off. At least, my husband did….

Asian-Style Green Beans

2 cups fresh green beans, ends trimmed (if using frozen make sure to thaw them first)
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp dried onion flakes
1 tsp powdered ginger
1 to 2 tsp coarse sea salt (if you don’t have coarse that’s fine just adjust the amount so it’s not too salty)
2 tbsp coconut aminos (you can use soy sauce or liquid aminos too)

Heat a little oil in a large saute pan over medium-high heat. Add the minced garlic and swirl everything around the pan a few times.
Add the green beans to the pan and then add the onion flakes, ginger, and salt. Stir so everything is mixed together. Saute for 5 minutes.
Pour the coconut aminos over the green beans, stir everything together, and cover. Lower the heat to low and cook for another 2 minutes.

DIY Wednesday: Roasted Salsa Verde

March 16, 2016March 15, 2016 / ktbuchs87

After 2 years of Spanish in Jr. High, three years in high school, and two semesters in college I can say this with certainty: verde means green. Therefore, that means salsa verde is green salsa. Mind-blowing things revealed on my blog today, I know. DIY Wednesday: Roasted Salsa Verde | Life Healthfully Lived

In my brain I understood that salsa verde had to be made with some kind of green vegetable but I never really thought about it. I just ate my regular salsa and left my green dip needs to guacamole. Then I saw a sale on tomatillos at my grocery store, bought a few on a whim, and then headed home to figure out what to do with them. After a little research AKA Google search, I realized tomatillos are what make salsa verde, well, verde.

I also found out that roasting them was common and helped bring out their flavor. Since I am the Queen of roasting any and everything, I roasted them up, blended them up, and then ate them up.

That’s how simple this recipe is. If you’ve never worked with or had tomatillos before, don’t be intimidated. They come in a papery husk and kind of look like a giant green berry. Like this: DIY Wednesday: Salsa Verde | Life Healthfully Lived

All you have to do is peel away the husk, like this: DIY Wednesday: Roasted Salsa Verde | Life Healthfully Lived

Rinse it off and you’re good to go! I kept this really simple but you could add other things like jalapeno peppers if you want a kick, roasted apples if you want a little bit of sweet, or stir a little salsa verde into your guac for a delicious twist.

Roasted Salsa Verde:

3 to 4 medium-sized tomatillos
1 small onion, about 1/2 a cup cut into quarters
3 to 4 whole cloves of garlic
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/4 to 1/2 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350 and line a baking sheet with parchment paper
Peel the husk off the tomatillos and rinse with cool water. Dry completely.
Place the tomatillos, quartered onion, and garlic cloves into a large bowl. Drizzle a little olive oil and toss until everything is coated. Sprinkle with salt and pour everything out onto the baking sheet.
Roast everything for about 15 to 20 minutes until the tomatillos are a little brown around the edges and soft. It’s ok if they explode a little while roasting.
Remove from the oven and let everything cool for about 10 minutes. Then, pour the whole pan into a blender, add the chili powder and blend. Taste and adjust the seasoning.

This salsa is awesome on tacos, with homemade tortilla chips, and even as a dip for plantain chips! DIY Wednesday: Roasted Salsa Verde | Life Healthfully Lived

Slow Cooker Cauliflower Pesto Mac N’ Cheese

March 11, 2016March 10, 2016 / ktbuchs87

I’m having a bit of a thing with cauliflower right now. I buy at least three big heads of it per week and have been experimenting putting it into different dishes. I pretty much look at any recipe and wonder, “Could I do this with cauliflower instead?” Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t, but that’s kind of how life goes right?

Look, life lessons while making yummy food. Can’t get any better than that. Slow Cooker Cauliflower Pesto Mac N' Cheese | Life Healthfully Lived

Last week I had delicious taquitos (which you should definitely make immediately… after today’s recipe) that had a cauliflower filling and this week I’m doing a little bit of a twist on macaroni and cheese. Spoiler alert: there is no macaroni. Or cheese. There is, however, cauliflower, a delicious cheese-esque sauce, and a slow cooker.

Now, before you Mac N’ Cheese purists come at me with pitchforks and torches this recipe isn’t meant to taste exactly like Mc N’ Cheese it just uses a similar process. And if we’re on the subject of tasting like Mac N’ Cheese, apparently Kraft rolled out it’s new less artificial Mac N’ Cheese and told NO ONE and there were literally no complaints about it. So if we want to get technical, no one really knows what Mac N’ Cheese tastes like so who’s to say my version isn’t right?

Ok, that took a weird little turn but back to this recipe. I love the pesto-cheesy sauce on this and I like that I made it in my slow-cooker so there was minimal effort. You could easily prepare the sauce stuff before hand and then throw everything together in the slow cooker when it’s time to make dinner. It all tastes rich, creamy, and decadent yet you’re still getting a lot of nutrients and a big dose of vegetables. Talk about a win!

Cauliflower Pesto Mac N’ Cheese

1 large head of cauliflower, about 5 to 6 cups, cut into florets
1 batch of No Mozzarella Mozzarella
1 batch of Spinach Pesto
3/4 cup of full-fat coconut milk or any other non-dairy milk you like
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/2 to 1 tsp smoked paprika

Cut up your cauliflower and set aside. Make the No Mozzarella Mozzarella and the Spinach Pesto. You can do this the night before if you want or right before.
Lightly oil your slow cooker with a little olive oil and place cauliflower florets into your slow cooker. Sprinkle with the salt and pepper.
Meanwhile, in a large saucepan over medium-low heat, whisk together the mozzarella and pesto. It will be really thick but don’t worry.
Add the coconut milk slowly and keep whisking until you have a smooth and pourable sauce. You might not use all the milk and you might need a little more just adjust until you have the right consistency.
Pour the pesto sauce over the cauliflower, making sure to coat everything. Sprinkle the top with smoked paprika, cover, and cook on high for 3 hours or a little longer if you want super soft cauliflower.

Serve up and enjoy the goodness! Slow Cooker Cauliflower Pesto Mac N' Cheese | Life Healthfully Lived

Buffalo Cauliflower Taquitos

March 4, 2016March 4, 2016 / ktbuchs87 / 1 Comment

Buffalo Cauliflower Taquitos | Life Healthfully Lived Fun fact: I’ve never had taquitos. Ok, that isn’t really a fun fact but it is a fact. I’ve never had fresh taquitos, I’ve never had them from the frozen food section, and I’ve never thought, “Man, I could really go for a nice taquito right now.” Then as I was roaming around the internet I saw a few recipes for taquitos and they looked really good and simple to make.

And they are good and simple to make. Really good. Like so good I seriously thought about eating leftover taquitos for breakfast the next day. And if the taquitos were delicious, the dip I used was heaven. I could have stuck a straw in it and had that alone. Not even exaggerating. Buffalo Cauliflower Taquitos | Life Healthfully Lived

You busy people out there are going to like these too because you can make a big batch and then freeze them. Now you have a quick dinner ready to go on a busy night. Just take them out of the freezer and heat them up in the oven. Boom! Healthy dinner.

If you have time, you can make the filling beforehand and then when you’re ready to make the taquitos all you have to do is fill, roll, and bake. That sounds like a new dance craze that all the younguns will be into next week. Just remember, I started it here first.

Buffalo Cauliflower Taquitos

1 large head of cauliflower
1/4 cup of my buffalo sauce or your favorite brand
1 cup butternut squash puree, you can also use sweet potato or canned pumpkin
1 package of small tortillas, I used corn but you can use flour shells or a paleo version
1 batch of my dairy-free ranch with a few changes, recipe below
optional: guacamole, salsa, regular ranch or bleu cheese dressing

Preheat the oven to 325. Remove the leaves from the cauliflower and cut into florets removing as much of the stem from each floret as possible.
Place the cut cauliflower into a food processor or blender and pulse a few times until the cauliflower looks like rice. Scoop it out and place it into a bowl
Add the butternut squash to the cauliflower rice and stir so everything is coated. Heat a little (like about 1 tsp) olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.
Put the cauliflower into the skillet and saute for about 10 minutes. Add the 1/4 cup of buffalo sauce and stir to combine everything. You can add a little more buffalo sauce if the cauliflower doesn’t look like it’s coated enough.
Cook this for another five minutes and then turn the heat to low and cover the skillet. Let this sit for 5 minutes and then move to a large bowl.
Put a little skillet (about the size of your tortilla shells) over low heat. Don’t add any oil, you’re just using this to heat up the tortilla shells so the roll easily.
Heat the shells about 15 to 20 seconds on each side then add a large spoonful of filling and roll the tortilla up. Place it seam side down on a large baking sheet. Do this until you’ve used up all the filling.
Bake for 20 minutes, checking towards the end to make sure the tortilla edges aren’t burning. Remove from the oven and let cool then serve with fancy ranch (that’s what I’m calling it), salsa, and guacamole!

Fancy Ranch

1/2 cup full-fat coconut milk
1/4 cup cashews, soaked overnight or in boiling water for 15 minutes
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 tsp roasted garlic
2 tsp ranch seasoning
2 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp cumin

Blend everything together and taste to see if you need to add salt or pepper. This will thicken up even more in the fridge so don’t worry if it’s a little soupy.

DIY Wednesday: Paleo Porridge

February 24, 2016February 23, 2016 / ktbuchs87 / 2 Comments

DIY Wednesday: Paleo Porridge | Life Healthfully Lived Doesn’t the word porridge always conjure up old-timey meals like in Oliver Twist? Or at the very least make you think of Goldilocks and the only three bears on the planet that prefer a hot breakfast over raw carcass?

Just me? Cool.

Porridge is actually any type of oatmeal, grain, or cereal that is cooked with boiling water or milk. Most people go for oatmeal because it’s the most readily available but you can make porridge out of a lot of different things. But for the most part it’s usually made out of some kind of grain and if you happen to be following the paleo diet, grains are a no-go. So does that mean you can never enjoy a warm bowl of porridge on a cold winter morning again? DIY Wednesday: Paleo Porridge | Life Healthfully Lived

Of course not! Not when you’ve got me around.

Not only can you make porridge out of cereals or grains, you can also make it out of meals (as in ground up stuff) and that includes nut meals. Finely ground nuts make a great base for porridge and it is entirely paleo-approved! I decided to go with almond meal because it can be made savory or sweet and it’s what I had on hand. Also, almond meal is fairly easy to find so you won’t have to hunt through a specialty store to make your own paleo porridge.

I have a recipe for a sweet porridge and a savory porridge, both are essentially same, but the seasonings and liquid choices are a bit different. If you’ve been missing your morning bowl of warm, cozy porridge try this easy grain-free version!

Paleo Porridge- Makes two servings

Sweet Porridge

2/3 + 2 tbsp almond meal (go for meal instead of flour because you don’t want it too finely ground)
1 cup almond milk or any other non-dairy milk you prefer
1 tbsp honey, maple syrup, or coconut nectar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp sea salt

Savory Porridge

2/3 + 2 tbsp almond meal
1 cup vegetable broth or water
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
salt to taste

No matter what version you make, the directions are going to be the same. In a medium saucepan, bring the liquid to a boil.
Whisk in the almond meal and turn the heat to low. Keep whisking as the almond meal thickens. This will take about 5 to 8 minutes.
Add in the sweetener (if making the sweet version) and seasonings as you keep whisking. Once you’re porridge has reached your desired thickness, pour into a bowl and finish it with your favorite toppings.

If you’re porridge is too thin add more almond meal, one tablespoon at a time. If it’s too thick add more liquid, one tablespoon at a time. As for topping ideas? How about: