Weekly Menu: February 24 – March 3, 2018

Hey everybody!

This week was much better than last week for me personally. I’ve still got a slight cough from my cold but it’s pretty much gone now. I’m packing and cleaning out the pantry and freezer to get ready for my move, 3 weeks from today. I’m really excited about the beef tacos and the sweet potato cinnamon rolls! Who wouldn’t be excited about cinnamon rolls FOR BREAKFAST?

And yes, life got away from me and I didn’t get around to making the RXBars… but they will get done today or tomorrow for later in the week.

What does your menu look like this week? Let me know in the comments!

Healthy Desserts with Surprising Ingredients

No one really wants to give up dessert when they choose a healthy lifestyle. Desserts are often high in sugar, fat and carbs, while also being nutritionally void, so we’re advised to skip them if we can, or replace them with fruit. But what about boosting the nutritional value of desserts while reducing processed sugars? That’s where these delicious recipes come in! Each one of these recipes contains a VEGETABLE surprise. Enjoy!

Sweet Potato Brownies (V, GF)

These are, in short, incredible. This recipe calls for the larger, more expensive Medjool dates, but I’ve made them with regular dates and they are so deliciously textured. I use brown rice flour instead of buckwheat flour and honey instead of maple syrup and get wonderful results every time. They’re rich, fudgy and sinful feeling without using any processed sugar.

 

Chickpea Blondies (V, GF)

These are good. Dangerously good. As in I ate the entire pan by myself in 2 days good. The best part is they’re not overly sweet, and there’s something really satisfying to me about the slight graininess of the finished product. It feels like it’s loaded with sugar while being totally natural. As usual I subbed out the maple syrup for honey and used regular non-vegan chocolate chips. I’d love to make these again next week but to be totally honest with you I don’t need a binge food just lying around the place. They’re THAT good.

 

Not Quite Banana Bread (GF, DF)

I adore parsnips. They’re sweet and floral and might just be perfect for dessert, and apparently during WWII bananas were scarce and housewives used parsnips as substitutes! Maybe I can adapt this to be pure parsnip bread someday. This recipe is dairy free and gluten free but not vegan as it does contain eggs. Although perhaps flax eggs could be substituted to convert this recipe to full vegan. I haven’t given this recipe a shot yet but I’m super excited about trying it!

Cauliflower “Rice” Pudding (Paleo, GF, DF)

I need to try this, for serious. Growing up, rice pudding was a regular staple in our house. My Gran’s rice pudding was always warm and rather thin, spiced with cinnamon, and often made with raisins. But rice pudding made from CAULIFLOWER?! Is there anything cauliflower can’t do? This rice pudding does contain egg to form the custard, but it’s dairy free. And it sounds SO GOOD. Can’t wait to try it!

So there are tons of interesting vegetable dessert recipes out there that are healthy for you to try! I even left over a beet cake because honestly I don’t like beets very much, but a quick Pinterest search will reveal plenty!

Even when eating healthy, you CAN have dessert!

Weekly Menu: February 18 – 24, 2018 plus PODCAST!

What. A. Week.

Allow me to catch you up, dear readers, on what’s been going on in my life. I’ve been spending the last month or so apartment hunting and planning a move. This past Monday my Boston Terrier, Bingley, had a dental cleaning and a small bit of excess tissue removed from his gums. Thankfully, that was entirely benign and he has recovered entirely from the dental cleaning. And, as of Friday morning I have an apartment! I’m getting a unit with an upgraded kitchen which I am SUPER excited to show you. I get the keys on the 15th of March and I will do my best not to disappear too much between now and then.

The next bit of exciting news is I am officially a podcaster!

Tune in to the first episode of Feast on History where Kari and I introduce ourselves and clue you in on what’s to come in our brand new podcast. I hope you’ll give it a listen and give us some feedback! And now, onto the menu!

I was underwhelmed by the sales this week so mostly this was a pantry cleanout week. I’m most excited about the Ham, Cabbage & Potato Soup and trying my hand at making homemade RX Bars. Oh and the DATE BARS. ❤ I’m getting hungry just thinking about them.

What does your menu look like this week? Let me know in the comments!