Basil Pesto

Basil Pesto

Yield: Coats two pounds of pasta, aprox 5 cups

Ingredients:

5-6 cups fresh Basil

2 cups Pinenuts

2 cups Parmesan Cheese

1 1/2 cups Olive Oil

2 garlic gloves to taste

Directions:

1. In your food processor add all your dry ingredients and blend.
2. While blending slowly add all your olive oil pulsing until smooth.
3. Separate into two batches to freeze one batch and use second immediately. The basil will start to turn brown if you let it sit for too long, so I always make it the same day that I want to use it.

Pesto pasta is something that I adore every summer! Yummy al dente penne paired with pesto made from the basil growing in my garden is divine! It is so fast and easy to make. I highly recommend whipping it up and seeing for yourself just how yummy it is!   

Virgin Watermelon Mojito

Virgin Watermelon Mojito
Yield: Serves 6-8

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups of cubed watermelon
2 limes
1/2 cup fresh mint leaves
1 quart sparkling water
2 San Pellegrino Limonata cans

Directions:

In your pitcher muddle together half your watermelon and your mint leaves. Add in the rest of the watermelon, all liquid and the juice of one lime. Slice the second lime and let float in pitcher. Serve in wine glasses or tall tumblers with a sprig of fresh mint. Enjoy this refreshing beverage on a hot day paired with some delicious BBQ.
I grew the mint in my garden and have tons overflowing in my beds, but if you don't have access to mint at home its fairly cheap at the grocery store. It is beyond easy to grow (it literally grows it self and is almost weed-like) so feel free to plant some and see what happens!! Enjoy!

PB2 Coconut Hemp Granola

PB2 Coconut Hemp Granola

Yield: 12 servings

Ingredients:

5 cups rolled oats

1 cup finely ground flax

3/4 cup coconut oil, melted

1 1/4 cup sliced almonds

1 tablespoon cinnamon 

1/4 cup hemp hearts

1/2 cup PB2

1 cup coconut flakes

1 tablespoon vanilla

1 cup maple syrup

Directions: 

1. In a large bowl add all your dry ingredients. 

2. Melt your coconut oil until clear and liquid. Drizzle your oil, maple syrup, and vanilla over the dry ingredients. Mix well until everything is blended together.

3. Divide your mixture between two lined cookie sheets. Bake at 300 F for 15 minutes. Take out, mix and move your granola around, and then pop back in the oven for an additional 15 minutes. 

4. Let your granola cool for about an hour before storing in an air tight container. 

I LOVE Granola! I'm just a little bit crunchy ;)

Pear Spinach Quinoa Baby Food

Pear Spinach Quinoa Baby Food

Yum!

Ingredients:

5lbs of peeled, sliced, and cored Pears

1 cup uncooked Quinoa 

4 cups Spinach

6 cups water

1 tablespoon cinnamon

Directions:

In your slow cooker, turned on HIGH, put all your ingredients in, pouring the water over and cover. Cook for 5 hours. Puree your cooked baby food, when finished cooking, until smooth. Divide up and freeze the extras in ice cube trays for easy access. Once your cubes are frozen you can pop them out and store in a Ziploc. Heat two cubes for 1 minute in the microwave in a mug when needed. 

Freeze the extras to keep that hungry baby happy!

Charlotte was a fan! She gobble it up as fast as she could! 

Parmesan Garlic Oil Pasta

Parmesan Garlic Oil Pasta

Yield: Serves 6

Ingredients:

1 Box Spaghetti

3/4 cup Olive Oil

1 head of garlic, minced

1/4 cup Parmesan

Directions:

1. Boil your spaghetti until al dente! No overboiling in to oblivion! 

2. In your large saucepan heat your olive oil, add in your minced garlic, and bring to a low simmer. 

3. When your spaghetti has finished cooking add directly to the garlic/oil saucepan with a ladle full of the pasta water included. Stir together for about a minute.

4. Add your parmesan cheese to the pasta mixture and turn off the heat.

5. Serve immediately and enjoy with a healthy dose of yummy veggies for an almost healthy pasta dish! :)

My husband is currently eating like a BEAST for Body Beast and I am eating like a BIRD for 21 Day Fix so I am trying to come up with cleaner recipes that I can add things to his portion and subtract from my portion. I served him up HALF of this pasta... yes, half a box of pasta all to his self. I added meat balls to his. Ten meatballs to be exact. The kids picked at their spaghetti, but they ate far more of the oil sauce spaghetti than regular tomato sauce... Over all win win! 

Power Salad

I recently started the 21 Day Fix, you can read more about that here, and one of the areas I was lacking in my diet was more green. I eat vegetables with every dinner, but your body needs more than that. I'm a busy mamma, as are  we all, so I decided to put together salads in containers to store in the fridge to be able to grab as I am heading out the door. This gives me NO EXCUSES! No excuse for not eating my salad that day! I bought the big bag of Kale and Spinach Mixed Greens at Costco, divided it up among the containers, adding Pumpkin Seeds and Sunflower Seeds, from Whole Foods to make the salad more hearty. I added a crumbling of Feta and Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO) to my salad when I am home, but left those out for my containers for fear of the Feta turning funky in a warm car (YUCK!) but if you have access to a fridge at work or something that you could go ahead and add it ahead of time. I have to admit, Kale has a bit of a funky taste... It takes some getting used too. I certainly will say it is not my favorite, but it is good for me. Adding the EVOO to the salad helps incorporate it all together without the added calories of a dressing! Enjoy your Power Salad on the go!

Oatmeal Banana Muffins

Oatmeal Banana Muffins

Yield: 2-3 dozen 

Ingredients: 

1 32oz container of Greek Plain Yogurt

4 cups rolled Oats

6 ripe bananas

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon baking soda

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 tablespoon cinnamon

chocolate baking chips (60% or higher)

walnut halves

Directions: 

In your blender, add all ingredients. Blend until smooth and creamy. Line your muffin tins with paper liners and pour your batter in about 3/4 way full. Sprinkle a couple baking chips and walnut halves on top of your batter. Bake at 350 F for about 18 minutes. Let cool and enjoy! Freeze the extras for a guilt-less treat later! 

I recently started the 21 Day Fix and these will count as a red and yellow. If you are interested in joining me in my 21 Day Fix journey, be sure to check out my page here!