However, in the realm of cooking, I usually am not the daring one. I am the one glued to the recipe, following it down to the tee, for fear of ruining the flavor. However, this week, I improvised and went out on a limb on not just ONE dish, but TWO dishes! GASP! *applause*
I could not believe how exciting it feels to take that risk and to taste a dish that is nearly entirely your own! So, I have decided to share my two recipes with all of you, so you could try them out and possibly IMPROVISE for yourselves!
Skinny Dark Chocolate Almond Butter Cookies - Serves 16
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup creamy natural almond butter (or peanut butter)
- 1 small very ripe banana, mashed (about 1/3 cup)
- 1/3 cup honey (or natural maple syrup or agave)
- 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/4 cup milk (I used almond milk, but you could use soy or cow)
- 3 cups quick-cooking oats
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1/3 cup dark chocolate chips
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
Melt peanut butter and mashed banana together in a large skillet over low heat. Once it is fully smooth and melted, remove from heat and add in honey, cocoa powder, milk, oats, and salt. The mixture will be thick and definitely give you an arm workout! Mold into small balls (2 TB roughly) and flatten into desired shape onto the parchment paper. I added a few chocolate chips to each cookie, and then refrigerated for 2 to 3 hours before enjoying. (Ok, lies... I ate one while it was still warm and not set up, and it was DELISH, but I highly recommend waiting until they are firm from the fridge.)
Mexican Beef Quinoa Skillet Meal - Serves 2 (or 3)
**This recipe is served up as a skillet meal that you simply eat with a spoon or fork, almost like a Mexican chili. BUT, you could easily use some healthy tortilla chips to dip with or some healthy wraps to turn it into a taco! :)
- 8 oz. grass fed lean ground beef (We generally do NOT use red meat, but we missed it after using ground turkey for months on end.)
- Entire green bell pepper, diced
- Entire small red onion, diced
- 1/2 c. black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 cup chopped raw spinach
- 1/4 c. water
- *1 teaspoon of organic ketchup (*this is weird, I know, and would probably not exist had we had tomatoes on hand. We did not, and I noticed the beef was looking slightly dry so I added some water and a squirt of ketchup! Barely enough to even affect the calories, but enough to tell you about)
- 3/4 TB cumin
- 3/4 TB chili powder
- 1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder
- Dash of salt and pepper
- 1/4 c. organic red quinoa
- 2 oz. plain, no fat Greek yogurt
Rinse and rub the quinoa for 2 minutes to rid it of its bitterness and release its full flavor! Begin boiling 1/2 c. of water while you dice the pepper and onion. When water is at a boil, stir in the quinoa and reduce to a simmer covered for 15 minutes or until water is absorbed and quinoa is fluffy.
While the quinoa is simmering, brown your ground beef with a dash of salt and pepper and then drain grease. Once the beef is browned, stir in the black beans and spinach and cook for a few minutes over medium heat.
This is where I noticed the beef looking dry, so I added 1/4 c. of water and a small squirt (about a teaspoon) of organic ketchup to aid with the dryness. Had we had tomatoes (raw or canned) I probably would have added those in a heartbeat!
Then add the chopped pepper and onion and also the cumin, chili powder, garlic powder, and another dash of salt and pepper and allow to simmer, absorbing all of those juices and seasonings together until the quinoa is ready!
Remove the quinoa from heat and allow to stand for a few minutes. Then stir the cooked quinoa into the meat and veggie mixture and serve while it's hot with a dollop of plain Greek yogurt on top!
My husband and I devoured ours up in 5 minutes flat with just a spoon, no tortilla or chips necessary! :)
Thanks so much for reading and I hope you can step out of your comfort zone and improvise in the kitchen very soon! :) Stay hungry, my friends!
Courtney
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