Creamy Cilantro Lime Dressing – Gluten Free and Vegan

It’s summertime in Texas, which means is a jillion degrees outside and I’m not kidding even a little bit.

As you may know, when it’s a jillion degrees outside, it can be difficult to find the desire to eat.

Or run.

Or move at all.

As the temps soar, I tend to lose my drive to spend time in the kitchen.  Since there are people in my house who think they must eat every single day, multiple times even, I found myself in the kitchen just long enough to make this salad.

Go me!

The salad is really just leftovers piled randomly so you can get creative here.  I used romaine, spinach, baby kale as the base and topped it with a chopped vegan veggie burger, some roasted acorn squash and garnished it with guacamole and radishes.

 

After piling all the goodness in the bowl, it called for something cool and creamy.  Not wanting to undo all the hard work I’ve been putting into keeping healthy, I opted for a light vegan dressing with just the right amount of creaminess to think I was being bad.

Creamy Cilantro-Lime Dressing (Vegan and Gluten-Free)

Ingredients:

1 c. coconut yogurt (unsweetened)

a handful of cilantro

juice from half a lime

salt and pepper to taste

1 tsp. apple cider vinegar (optional)

Directions:

Place all ingredients except the apple cider vinegar in a mason jar or blender.  I went the mason jar route since I have an ancient blender and the blender blade and ring fits the jar.  Easy and no mess.

 

Blend until all the cilantro is chopped and the dressing takes on a uniform green color.

Taste to adjust salt and pepper.  At this point, add the apple cider vinegar if you want a tangy dressing.  You can also add more lime.  Whatever floats your boat.

Drizzle it on a salad for a healthy meal or use it as a healthy dip for fresh, seasonal vegetables.

 

For more healthy meal inspiration, visit my Fit Foodies Pinterest group board.  If you are interested in contributing to the board, leave a comment and I’ll be happy to add you!

Follow Sherry Lyle of TheSimpleHive’s board Fit Foodies on Pinterest.

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Easy Breakfast Smoothies

Just about every morning for the past 12 years, I’ve had a green smoothie for breakfast.  When I was running the rat race in Big D, my smoothie saved me from crashing and burning when Lunchtime was so sporadic that I sometimes had to rename it Early Dinner.  Although I am no longer spending my life in traffic, I still rely on my morning smoothie to help me out in the trenches of Homeschooling.

It’s a jungle in here, folks.

Healthy Lunch Ideas

I’m on a mission to feel better and have more energy and so far, it’s working!  I have been doing yoga on a regular basis and fitting a little running in when time allows, but mostly, I’ve been making healthier food choices.  Over the last few years, I have fallen into a bad habit of letting lunchtime get the best of me.  We homeschool so we can exercise healthy food choices, but we don’t always do it.  Some days we are knee-deep in schoolwork and don’t allow for a real lunch break.  We eat while discussing our latest math concept or history timeline.  That’s not always a bad thing, but doing these things over sandwiches and chips is not so great.

I’m not knocking sandwiches.  They are what you make them. For the chips, I have no strong argument.  I will say, there was a time in my life I didn’t eat chips.  I never even bought them.  Five years ago, after discovering the need to eat a gluten-free diet, I began substituting the wheat snack crackers I once enjoyed with chips.  What was I thinking?  I wasn’t.  It wasn’t thinking about the extra fat and empty calories until the extra pounds began layering themselves on my person.  It isn’t a daily thing, but I put chips on my plate more often than I care to admit and my thighs are angry about it.  They’re not gonna take it anymore!  (You’re singing Twisted Sister in your head right now, aren’t you?  Sorry.)

Easy Homemade Corn Tortillas

 

Here at the hive, we encourage kids to help in the kitchen.  From a home educator point of view, cooking helps kids gain confidence while practicing life skills.  From a busy mom point of view, cooking with kids gears them up for cooking my meals and serving me breakfast in bed.

I can dream.

The older kids have figured out my motives, but Baby Honeybee is still young enough to think it’s all kinds of fun to be in the kitchen.  Do not tell her of my plans, please.

In my defense, the people who live in this house think they must eat everyday.  We I spend much of my day in the kitchen.  When the opportunity arises to have a helper, I grab it!

This is one of those times.  Corn tortillas are so easy a child can make them, so she did!

Gluten-Free Vegan Recipe for Veggie Burgers & Meatballs

After IKEA announced its new vegan meatballs, I began craving meatballs.  Obsessively craving is a more accurate description.

Well played IKEA.

Because of this craving and the fact that the nearest IKEA is more than an hour from home, I rummaged through my pantry and freezer to see if I could satisfy the obsession.  What I ended up with was the most delicious veggie burger in existence.

Makes sense in my head.

To clarify, I did make some of the mixture into meatballs using a small scoop and baking them until firm.  They were a nice addition to top of some gluten-free spaghetti.  But I just couldn’t leave well enough alone and thought, what if?

That question usually leads me down a long and winding road, sometimes leading to success and sometimes leading to a new lesson learned.  This time it led me to an easy and delicious veggie burger.  If all roads were this easy to travel, my life would be less interesting.

Let me give you a little nutrient breakdown so you can fully appreciate this humble little burger.  With this knowledge, you can feel good about what you are using as fuel for the amazingly complicated machine that is your body.

The chickpeas and green peas pack a protein punch while providing iron, calcium, and vitamins A and C.

Kale is one of the most nutrient-dense foods on the planet, so sneak it in whenever possible.  It is high in vitamins A, B6, C and K and minerals such as manganese, calcium, copper, potassium, and magnesium.  Fiber and protein are some more benefits of kale, so eat up Buttercup!

Sorry I called you Buttercup.

Ground psyllium husks act as a binder to keep the form of the patty while providing fiber.  Fiber helps control blood sugar, promotes cardiovascular health and helps provide a feeling of fullness, thereby aiding weight loss.  It also helps to keep your skin healthy, did ya know?  It helps move yeast and fungus from the body so they don’t have a chance to be excreted through the skin, triggering acne or rashes.  Fiber also helps keep things moving along ifyouknowwhatImean.

Flax meal also acts as a binder while providing a healthy dose of Omega-3 fatty acids and lignans.  It also is a good source of fiber.  Again with the fiber!

cinnamon bun popcorn

Sometimes my sweet tooth gets the best of me. When it softly whispers that it wants something, I usually give in. Nobody wants an irate sweet tooth. At that point, I don’t think it can even be called sweet.

Our family deals with multiple food allergies. Pre-packaged foods are not a convenience on which we can rely. So, when our sweet teeth begin getting rowdy, we must make our own concoctions.

Today, that concoction is in the form of crunchy caramel goodness.

Since the youngest man-child and I are running in a 5k this evening, I figured the family could us a little treat afterwards.  It takes energy to cheer on the runners from the sidelines, right?

Thanks to Our Best Bites, our tummies and teeth are happy.  My thighs might be angry with me, but we can’t win them all.

Vegan Triple Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies

As simple as this recipe is, I can’t believe it’s so delicious!  I had to eat two just to be sure I wasn’t mistaken.  Maybe I should eat another just to be completely sure of its deliciousness.  I do what I can to ensure honest evaluations.  I’m here for you!

This recipe happened because the girls and I needed a little chocolate to push through our day.  Homeschooling can be hard, folks!

This was a perfect way to integrate life skills into our day.  The recipe is so simple, even a five-year old can do it and she did!  I have found that my little picky eater is more likely to eat the foods she helps make.  Get the kids in the kitchen and make these healthy chocolate cookies.

Easy Marinated Feta Recipe

One of the easiest and most delicious condiments in this wonderful world of ours is marinated feta.  There.  I said it.  It’s on the internet.  It must be true.

I love marinated feta on salads, but my favorite way to have it is on sandwiches.  I had the best sandwich of my entire live a couple of months ago at a local cafe and it rocked my world.  I have been recreating it and I will share it with you as soon as I have perfected the flavors.  One component of this life-altering sandwich was this marinated feta.

The recipe is simple.  I don’t think it can be called a recipe, but I don’t know what else to call it.  Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.

Simple Marinated Feta

Ingredients:

1 bottle of Italian dressing (or homemade)

1 block of feta cheese

2 bay leaves

Directions:

Crumble the feta.

Place the feta in a mason jar, wedging the bay leaves down along the side of the jar.

Pour the Italian dressing over the top and cover it with a lid.

Shake.

Refrigerate the jar and it will last for weeks, maybe longer.  Ours is usually eaten before then.

That’s all there is to it!  You can get as fancy as you want with the Italian dressing.  Make it from scratch if you want.  I went with a bottle of store-bought dressing  I had in my pantry since we keep it simple here at the hive, but I have also used homemade dressing with fantastic results.  Go with your heart on this!

Gluten Free Meyer Lemon Angel Food Cake

 

For several years, I have been eating a strict gluten-free diet.  For several years, I have been pining away over the loss of angel food cake.

Those days are over!

I finally hit on a good recipe for a gluten-free angel food cake.  It is what every angel food cake should be.  The fluffy, soft, spongy texture melts in your mouth and the Meyer lemon sauce lends a perfect amount of sweet and tart.  The blueberries are pure bliss.

Pure bliss, I say!

Because Easter is quickly approaching and this cake would make a lovely addition to your table, I’m sharing.

Fruit Gazpacho

I give all fruits equal opportunity, but I love when pineapples and mangoes are in season.  I play favorites.  It’s not right, but I do.

When my favorite fruits are available, I make them into gazpacho de frutas, or fruit gazpacho.

This is simple recipe that can be modified to suit your tastes or to use whatever fruits you have on hand.