The ratio is not exact either – if you like a crunchier bar use more nuts and less dried fruit/dates. If you don’t have dates, use more dried fruit. If you want a sweeter bar, add honey or maple sugar. For nut allergies, swap out the nuts for seeds. As you can see, there is no limit to the changes you can make to this recipe. The key point is that it is easy and inexpensive and you control the ingredient. So stop buying granola bars full of added sugar and other garbage, get out your food processor or blender and make your own.

This can also be a family friendly activity if you get the kids to help measure everything and then help press the mixture into a pan to set. Or roll the mixture into balls or use cookie cutters to make fun shapes!

Ingredients
1 cup dried fruit (figs, apricots, pineapple, raisins, cranberries, etc)
6 dates, pitted and chopped
2 cups nuts/seeds (almonds, cashews, walnuts, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, etc)
2 tbsp hemp seeds (optional)
1 cup shredded coconut (optional)
2 tbsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp cold water (or honey/maple syrup for a sweeter bar)

Combine nuts, seeds and dates in food processor. Blend until fine. Add in dried fruit and blend until coarsely chopped. Add in hemp seeds, coconut and vanilla and pulse to combine. Add water slowly while processing (or honey/maple syrup if using) until mixture sticks together. You might not need to add all the water, or you might need more (depends on the kind and amount of dried fruit used).

Either form the mixture into balls, other shapes or press into a baking pan lined with parchment paper. Place in freezer to set for an hour or two. If using a pan, remove from freezer and cut into bars/squares. Store in ziploc bags, wrapped in plastic wrap or in a tupperware container. Store in freezer or fridge.

Enjoy and have fun creating your own signature bars!

I happened to have an eggplant, zucchini and part of a butternut squash in the fridge and realized they would make perfect lasagna noodles. That paired with some ground elk from the farmers market, cooked up with some crushed tomatoes and spices to make a delectable sauce and there you have it – lasagna sans pasta!

Ingredients
1 zucchini
1 eggplant
1 butternut squash
1 lb ground meat (elk, moose, bison, beef)
1 can crushed tomatoes
2 shallots, or 1 small onion
1 clove garlic, minced
Fresh basil
Oregano
3 cups spinach
1 cup grated mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Brown the ground meat in a pan with onions and garlic. Once thoroughly  cooked, add crushed tomatoes, basil, oregano and any other sea sing to taste. Meanwhile, slice zucchini, eggplant and squash into long, thin strips. This is easiest with a mandoline type slicer, but can also be done by hand.

In a 9 x 13 glass baking dish, spread eggplant in a layer covering the bottom. Cover with meat sauce. Sprinkle with a layer of spinach. Spread butternut squash over spinach so it is completely covered. Cover with meat sauce and sprinkle with spinach. Spread zucchini over spinach so it is completely covered. Cover with meat sauce. Sprinkle grated mozzarella cheese over top.

Cook in oven for 30 minutes, until cheese is browned and vegetables are soft.

If you are looking for a vegan or vegetarian option, swap out the ground meat for sautéed peppers, zucchini, broccoli or other vegetables in your sauce and skip the cheese on top.

Feel free to follow the recipe or make it your own. Next time I think I will skip out on the butternut squash and stick with eggplant and zucchini. Plus adding some extra veggies to the sauce wouldn’t hurt – I’m thinking bell peppers and broccoli would be a nice addition. No matter what you include in this dish, one thing is for sure – it will be so tasty you won’t even miss those pasta noodles!

Enjoy!

These are also a great pre- or post-workout snack as the dates provide lots of carbohydrate while the coconut and almond butter, coconut oil and cacao nibs provide lots of good fat and protein. Due to all of the butters and oils though, the calorie count on these gets pretty high, so limit yourself to one or two per day!

Ingredients
1 cup raw cacao nibs, ground fine
1 cup coconut oil, melted
1 cup coconut butter
1 cup almond butter
4 dates, soaked
2 tbsp shredded coconut + extra for dusting

Mix all ingredients together in a bowl. Place in freezer for 10 minutes to firm up. Roll into 1 inch balls. Roll balls in extra shredded coconut. Let set in freezer. Store in fridge and enjoy!

This meat sauce is super easy to make and doesn’t use any store bought sauces – just canned tomatoes, so you know it is full of whole, natural foods. And the pasta can be any type of julienned vegetable. The first night we had it over spaghetti squash and it was delish. I neglected to take a photo because I was too busy inhaling it! With the leftover sauce, I spiralized some zucchini using my spiral slicer and diced up some red peppers. The result: tasted just like spaghetti bolognese without any flour, dairy or added sugar. That’s a win in my book!

When choosing meat for the sauce, make sure to look for organic, free-range, grass-fed products. The best source is your local farmers market or a whole foods/natural grocery store (such as Planet Organic, Community Foods, Whole Foods, etc.). It is important to select organic free-range animal products to ensure that we are not polluting our bodies with hormones, antibiotics and steroids given to commercial meat. Also look for the leanest option, to reduce the amount of saturated animal fat being consumed. Wild meats like elk and bison are great options that are naturally lean.

To make this a vegan sauce, just skip the meat and throw in a bunch of diced veggies with the tomatoes!

Ingredients
1 lb ground elk meat (that’s what I used, but you could also use turkey, beef, bison…any lean ground meat)
1 can organic crushed tomatoes
1 can organic diced tomatoes
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped
1/2 cup coconut milk
Salt and pepper to taste

Brown the meat in a large pan. When it is cooked through, add in remaining ingredients. Stir to mix well. Let simmer for 10 minutes or so, until sauce is warm.

Serve over cooked spaghetti squash or any julienned or spiralized vegetable (zucchini works really well!) which has been lightly sautéed or steamed.

If you are anything like me and crave something sweet in the afternoon or after a meal, one way to indulge the craving without making a poor nutrition choice is to make your own treats that taste good and are still full of nutrition. These two cookies provide just that – one oatmeal raisin and one banana chocolate monkey cookie, provide lots of healthy fibre and energy with no processed flour, sugar, butter or dairy, all of which plug up the digestive system and offer no nutritional value.

Monkey Cookies

3 bananas
2 cups oats
1/4 cup nut butter
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/3 cup applesauce
1 tsp vanilla extract

Mash bananas in a large bowl. Stir in remaining ingredients. Using a small spoon, drop onto a cookie sheet. Bake at 350 F for 10-12 minutes, or dehydrate at 115 F for 4 hours. Store in an airtight container in pantry or fridge.

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

1 cup oats
1 cup raisins
1 cup almond meal
1/2 cup maple syrup
Cinnamon to taste

Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl. Add a little water or more syrup if mixture is too dry. Using a teaspoon, scoop onto a cookie sheet. Leave as mounds/balls or press down with a fork for a cookie shape. Bake at 350 F for 20 minutes, or dehydrate at 115 F for 4 hours.

Both of these cookie recipes will make about 20 larger cookies or 40 smaller truffle sized cookies (see difference in size in the photos). The smaller ones are about 30-40 calories per cookie, while the full size ones will be closer to 80 or 90. Either way they are a light snack that is full of nutrition! Just don’t eat the whole batch in one sitting!

Ingredients
1 tbsp coconut oil
1 shallot, diced
28 oz (796 mL) can crushed tomatoes
1 cup roasted red pepper, diced
1/4 cup fresh basil, finely chopped
2 cups vegetable stock
1/2 cup coconut milk

Melt the coconut oil in a large pot. Saute the shallot until tender and opaque. Add the tomatoes, red pepper, and basil. Add the stock into the pot. Bring to a boil, then lower the temperature and simmer for 10 minutes.

Remove from heat and puree the mixture with a hand blender or puree in batches in a blender or food processor. Return the soup to the lowest heat setting and slowly stir in the coconut milk. Enjoy!

This recipe makes about 6 cups of soup and at only 150 calories per cup it is a winner in my books! It will keep for a couple of days in the fridge, or can be frozen if you aren’t going to eat it all!

Notes on ingredients: If you don’t have coconut milk, you can use any other type of milk. The thicker and creamier the milk is, the creamier the soup will be. I have also made this with diced tomatoes in the past, but somehow the crushed tomatoes provide the best taste. But feel free to play around with it!

Ingredients
2 cups cashews, soaked and rinsed
3/4 cup coconut flakes
1/4 tsp vanilla powder or 2 tbsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cup cacao powder
1/2 cup agave nectar
2 tbsp melted coconut oil

Grind up cashews and coconut flakes in food processor until fairly fine. Add in rest of ingredients and pulse to combine. You should get sort of a crumbly batter mixture. Press mixture into a glass baking dish (should fill a 9×9 square). Place in freezer to set for a couple of hours or overnight.

Once this is set it will stay firm in the fridge or on the counter. These were not super sweet, which I liked, but if you like your brownies a little sweeter, you can add more agave nectar or play around with honey or maple syrup as the sweetener. Just taste the batter before you press it into the pan to set and adjust as desired!

I didn’t get a chance to take pictures before the potluck and only a few brownies made it home, which the husband promptly devoured before I could get a nice arty shot, so I had to rely on the good old hipstamatic app on my iPhone to jazz up a photo of the one lonely brownie that was left this morning. And then I ate it for breakfast! YUM!!

 

Ingredients

1 small bag baby potatoes – we used red potatoes, but you can use whatever you like
3 medium carrots
1 medium zucchini
1/2 eggplant

To Fry:
Shred/grate all of the vegetables with a grater, or in your food processor (NOTE: it is much easier if you have a food processor!!). Mix all together in a big bowl.

Put 1 tbsp of coconut oil in a frying pan/skillet and warm to medium heat. Form pancakes/patties out of the shredded veggie mixture and place carefully on the pan. After a few minutes, carefully flip over, trying not to destroy the pancake.

My husband did the flipping and said they were pretty flimsy and almost came apart, so you could try adding in an egg or something else to hold them together, but I thought they turned out perfectly!

To Bake:
Place shredded veggie mixture into a square glass baking dish. Bake at 350 F for about 45 minutes, or until potatoes are cooked. Broil for the last 5 minutes or so to crisp up the top.

These would also be great at breakfast to replace traditional hash browns and potato pancakes with something slightly more nutritious!

These are the quickest, easiest truffles to make and they are absolutely delicious. You can use any combination of nuts and your choice of sweetener and play around with other additions to make your own creation!

2 cups nuts
1/2 cup cocoa powder
3/4 cup sweetener (agave nectar, honey, maple syrup)
2 tbsp coconut oil

Grind up nuts in food processor or blender. Add in rest of ingredients. Chill in fridge until firm enough to roll into balls. Roll into balls and set in freezer. Balls can be rolled in shredded coconut or cocoa powder if desired.

Anyway, as I said already, the result was amazing! Even the hubby agrees that it is much better and his only suggestion was to add tuna – which kind of defeats the purpose of making it a vegan, no flour pasta, but baby steps!

Here is the recipe:

Sauce
1 medium carrot
1 small zucchini
1 medium shallot
1 cup cashews
1/8 – 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tbsp water

Mix in food processor or blender until nice and creamy.

Meanwhile, cut a spaghetti squash in half and roast it flesh side down for about 1 hour at 350 degrees F, until the skin gives way when you poke it. Scrape the  flesh out into a large casserole dish. Cut a large zucchini into small chunks – I aimed for somewhere between a macaroni noodle and a penne noodle. Aim for consistent size pieces so they cook equally.

Add the zucchini to the squash and then add the “cheese” sauce. Mix well so that the squash are completely covered with the sauce. Bake at 350 F for about 30-45 minutes, until the zucchini are soft.

Enjoy!!