Recipes

Pesto Chickpea Blender Soup

April 25, 2017 by ewankewellness 1 Comment

OK, so it may not exactly be soup weather, but it IS almost pesto weather, and what tastes better than fresh pesto?! Maybe pesto soup?! My friend Cortney created a superfast and flavorful black bean blender soup, which we make all the time because I almost always have all the ingredients handy and everyone loves it. I got to thinking about her soup today, and how I love that you just throw the ingredients in the blender and it’s done. So I decided to recreate it as an Italian/pesto version, using chickpeas as the base.

I’m going to keep this short and sweet, just like the recipe. You may say I’m lazy, but I say I have only a few minutes until the rest of the family gets back from the park, and so I write quickly now! This is seriously so easy, and only 4 ingredients if you use store bought pesto, 6 if you make homemade (which is what I use and recommend for best flavor but not necessary) If you don’t have a blender, you could use a food processor and it would work fine.

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Roasted Butternut Squash and Red Lentil Burgers

April 24, 2017 by ewankewellness Leave a Comment

Lately I have been thinking about how often we use the terms “easy” or “quick” for recipes, and how those terms are so relative. I’m always messing around in the kitchen and love cooking, so what is “simple” or “quick” for me may be different than what you consider a simple or quick recipe. So I’ll always be honest and let you know if there’s a recipe that takes a little more time (but is worth it, or else I wouldn’t post!) or one that is truly really quick and simple.

For me this one was “easy”, but it does have a few moving parts (i.e. cooking the brown rice, cooking the red lentils, and roasting the squash). To make it easier, any of these steps can be done ahead of time and then all ingredients assembled into one big bowl of sweet and slightly spicy “batter” when you’re ready to go. You can also make it go quicker by buying pre-cut butternut squash, and/or using pre-cooked or quick cooking brown rice.

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Creamiest Homemade Chocolate Ice Cream

April 17, 2017 by ewankewellness Leave a Comment

You may be thinking, why would I ever make my own ice cream, when they sell it all neatly packaged up at the store, in perfectly sized containers with drool-worthy flavor names and claims of low-fat and high protein and extra calcium?! So if that’s you, fine. And you may be right. It is easier to just buy it, I admit it. BUT, if you happen to be an appliance addict like me, or you have a husband with an ice cream sweet tooth, or you just like the idea of being able to make your own creamy frozen treats with control over the ingredients, then I feel you. Read on, my friend, read on.

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Black Lentil Sweet Potato Soup

March 27, 2017 by ewankewellness Leave a Comment

So apparently I am a little stuck on lentils lately. Could be worse. Pretty sure it has been. But this post is going to be short and sweet and packed with protein, so hang in there!

We had people over for dinner on Saturday night and yesterday I had an (uncooked) peeled and cubed sweet potato that was waiting to be used up, and this shiny new bag of black lentils just staring at me from the cupboard, so I figured let’s make some friends for these lonely little ingredients, shall we?

For some reason, I totally overlook black lentils. I use green and brown (both of which hold their shape well after cooking) and red (great for soups and sauces), but somehow have been pretty much neglecting black lentils. They are definitely the most beautiful of the bunch and look like perfectly shaped tiny black stones. And just like their brown, green, and red cousins, they are high in protein (clocking in at 13g per ¼ cup dry), fiber, folate, B vitamins, iron and zinc.

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Spicy Lentil Taco Salad

March 23, 2017 by ewankewellness 1 Comment

We’ve been moving a little slow getting back from vacation…as in, we got back early Monday and just finally finished unpacking everything this morning. For the most part. It’s a slow process whereby the suitcases sit on the floor in the bedrooms and we gradually extract items of clothing and such as we need them, until we realize that it’s still COLD in Ohio and the bathing suits and shorts and flip flops aren’t going to unpack themselves and also we just can’t stand the sight of the suitcases sitting on the floor anymore! Exhale. Deep breath.

So instead of unpacking, I have been busy cooking! Way more fun. This recipe is one of my faves for our family and I have been meaning to post but wanted to get better pictures. Aaaaaand, that still hasn’t happened so we’re going to make do with what I have. The pic below is just a small sampling of some of the ingredients you can add to this dish, so keep reading for the full scoop.

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Banana Oat Chocolate Chip Pancakes

February 17, 2017 by ewankewellness Leave a Comment

My daughter, who claims not to like pancakes or bananas, helped me come up with these banana oat chocolate chip pancakes the other day… and what do you know, she loves them! Although she still doesn’t like pancakes or bananas, of course 🙂 If you have a high speed blender, just throw all the ingredients (except chocolate chips) in there and blend until smooth, OR you can also use a food processor which works great too. A regular blender would get the job done too, maybe with just a little more milk added to keep things moving.

They turned out the perfect consistency, with enough sweetness from the chocolate chips and banana that you don’t even need syrup. Although a little butter is always good! My favorite is Kerrygold brand.

You can easily make these gluten free or vegan, depending on which oats, milk, and chocolate chips you choose. If you don’t like chocolate chips, blueberries are great in these too.

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