My Foodie Call

Author Archives: myfoodiecall

• 

  Kale Salad

  Posted at 8:00 pm by myfoodiecall

  Oct 3rd

  Kale is tough.

  Tough, fibrous tough and tough in that you need recipe inspiration to know what to do with it.

  Kale chips. Many start their kale journey with kale chips. Good approach, but eventually you need to venture out.

  Smoothies? Okay if you have a high-speed blender, otherwise the leaves just do not get broken down enough and you are left with chunks. Not good. Nobody wants a blueberry-infused-kale-chunk smoothie. Bleck. The family will divorce you.

  Kale salad? Do you eat raw kale in a salad? Chances are if you do, you have discovered that it takes a good hour to chew down one bite.

  Unless….

  You massage your kale.

  

  Unmassaged kale.

  

  This is “massaged” kale. Yes, use your clean hands and rub the dressing into those fibers.

  If you have been eating raw kale, kudos to you, but boy have you been suffering.

  Here is  a great recipe for kale rookies that comes with an awesome, sweet dressing to satisfy even the kids in your family.

  

  This dressing is naturally sweetened with dates, raisins and OJ.

  

  Layer the dressing on your salad. Use about half and save the dressing for a later use. It’s that good!

  

  Massaged. Notice how it loses some volume. That’s a good thing.

  

  Add your remaining ingredients and stir.

  

  The longer the dressing sits, the better.

  Lightly modified from Raw Food Diet Inspiration here

  Kale Dressing:

  • 1 Cup of Orange Juice
  • 5-6 Dates
  • 1/2 raisins
  • 2 garlic cloves
  • 1 strip of celery
  • juice of one large lemon
  • 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
  • 1/4 tea of cayenne pepper
  • pinch of sea salt

  Pile into your Vitamix or high-speed blender!

  The actual salad:

  • 1-10 oz package organic kale
  • 1 cucumber, thinly sliced (go organic if possible)
  • 1 red pepper sliced thinly
  • 1 green onion, sliced thinly (only 1 if kids are eating. For adults?? Go with 2 or 3.)
  • 1/4 cup pepitas (pumpkin seeds)

  1. Add your kale to a large bowl. Drizzle dressing generously over the greens.
  2. Massage those greens! Let this sit as long as possible.
  3. Add the rest of your ingredients and mix well.

  

  Love those colors!

  Posted in Salads, Soups, and Sides | Tagged kale, salad
• 

  “Green” Berry Soft Serve

  Posted at 8:00 pm by myfoodiecall

  Oct 2nd
  Do you keep frozen, sliced bananas in your freezer? You really should. Smoothies and banana soft serve require a tad bit of prep work. Not a ton, but yes if you want to be that “healthy family”, frozen pre-sliced bananas is a required freezer staple.

  On that note, here is a healthy dessert for when that craving hits.

  Not a green smoothie. Not banana soft serve. Somewhere in between. 

  

  A satisfying dessert with spinach? Yes.

   

  • 1/2 of a fresh banana
  • 2 Frozen ripe bananas (peel, and slice into 1-2 inch chunks, frozen prior)
  • 1/2 Cup frozen berries (I used organic mixed berries)
  • 1 Handful organic spinach (conventional greens are nasty, go organic!!!)
  • 1 Tablespoon honey

  Pile into your food processor. Process until broken down and it develops a creamy consistency. You may need to scrape it down in between so that things can move freely.

  

  Bananas and berries.

  

  Add honey and spinach.

  

  Spinach? Nah.  

  Note: Don’t get busted by the family. Be sure to hurry and put the package back into your fridge before the family spies it. 🙂
  Posted in Desserts | Tagged banana, berries, dessert
• 

  Whole Grain Banana Nut pancakes

  Posted at 8:00 pm by myfoodiecall

  Oct 1st

  Story goes like this.

  Mr. Foodie Call goes on a ridiculously long bike ride…like 40 miles or something. No thanks.

  Anyhow,  I know the way to his heart is to have a nice breakfast waiting for him when he gets back from said ridiculously long bike ride.

  

  Mr. Foodie Call loves these.

   

  Although I can’t always make that a reality, when I can I try to hook a brother up. He loves Banana Nut Pancakes. The kids? They tend to balk at the idea of banana in their pancakes, and even throw mini tantrums at the idea of walnuts topping their pancakes.

  Luckily those nuts are easy enough to omit because they are not directly in the pancake. I kept the bananas in the pancakes, but not as a topping. A compromise.

  

  For the kids.

  Banana Nut Pancakes

  INGREDIENTS

  • 1 cup whole wheat flour
  • 1 cup rolled oats
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1 tablespoon honey
  • 1 cup almond milk
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 banana, finely chopped (for the batter)
  • Cooking spray for pan
  • 1/4 cup walnuts, chopped
  • 1 banana, sliced (for topping)

  DIRECTIONS

  1. In a bowl, mix the flour, oats, baking powder, salt, egg, cinnamon, and honey.
  2. Stir in the almond milk.
  3. Stir in the bananas.
  4. Spray your skillet.
  5. Pour batter into 4-inch-ish circles. Flip when bubbly.
  6. While the pancakes are cooking, hand chop the walnuts on a cutting board with a sharp knife.
  7. Slice another banana for topping.

  

  Here are two pancakes, layered with bananas and chopped walnuts.

  

  Sweet enough on its own, or add some syrup for an extra something something.

  

  Anything to keep the peace.

  Curious, do you get stuck modifying recipes for your families? Or are your kids pretty compliant?

  Posted in Pancake Day | Tagged oat, pancake, whole wheat flour
• 

  Healthy Cookie Dough Bites

  Posted at 8:00 pm by myfoodiecall

  Sep 30th
  

  Cookie dough bites.

  These things taste absolutely sinful.

  But are not.

  

  Egg-free. Dairy-free.

  Here’s how it goes…

  

  Gather this stuff.

  

  Dump your oats and cashews.

  

  Grind to a powder.

  

  Add your sweetener.

  

  Pulse to a ball-like dough.

  

  Pulse in your chocolate chips.

  

  After chilling your dough in the freezer, roll it baby!

  

  They multiplied.

  Cookie Dough Bites 

  • 1 cup raw cashews
  • 1/2 cup rolled oats
  • 2 Tablespoons maple syrup
  • 3 Tablespoons honey
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1/3 cup dark chocolate chips (I use Ghirardelli 60% dark chocolate chips)

  1.  Add cashews and oats to your food processor. Process until you get a flour-like consistency.
  2.  Add maple syrup, honey, vanilla. Pulse (not process) a few times until it forms a ball of dough.
  3. Add chocolate chips. Pulse a few times until they are mixed throughout.
  4. Place food processor bowl in the freezer for about 10-15 minutes so that your dough will be easier to roll, otherwise it will stick to your palms.
  5. Use a small spoon to scoop out the dough. Roll into a ball in the palm of your hands.

  

  That’s good stuff. Might want to hide these from everyone….

  Posted in Desserts | Tagged chocolate chip, dessert, vegan
• 

  Slow Cooker Vegan Autumn Chili

  Posted at 8:00 pm by myfoodiecall

  Sep 29th
  

  Warm, slow cooker meals. mmmmm…

  Love a good comfort meal. Especially this vegan meal with pumpkin and sweet potato. This one was going down.

  

  Look how easy…

  

  Chop your onions like so.

  

  Do the same with your red pepper.

  

  Stir up your spices and minced garlic.

  

  Chop those sweet potatoes.

  

  Combine your tomatoes and beans.

  

  1 cup of pumpkin. Sweet.

  

  The magic after 8 hours.

  Slow cooker sweet potato vegetarian chili

  Ingredients

  • 1 red onion, finely chopped
  • 1 red pepper, diced
  • 4 garlic cloves, minced
  • 2 tablespoon chili powder
  • 1 tablespoon ground cumin
  • 2 teaspoons unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
  • 2 14 ounce cans fire-roasted tomatoes
  • 1 cup veggie broth
  • 2 tablespoons honey
  • 1 15.5-ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed
  • 1 15.5-ounce can dark kidney beans, drained and rinsed
  • 1 medium sweet potato, cut into small pieces
  • 1 cup pumpkin

  Directions

  1. In a slow cooker, combine the onion, red pepper, garlic, chili powder, cumin, cocoa, cinnamon, 1 teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon black pepper.
  2. Combine the tomatoes (and their liquid), beans, sweet potato, pumpkin and 1 cup veggie broth. Add to slow cooker.
  3. Cover and cook until the potatoes are tender and the chili has thickened, on low for 7 to 8 hours  or on high for 4 to 5 hours.

  

  Add some crusty bread and call it a meal.

  Posted in Meatless mealtime | Tagged pumpkin, sweet potato, vegan

• You missed a call?

  • Make friends with…Bean Pasta.
  • Whole Wheat Flax ‘N Apple Muffins
  • Small changes…Eat what’s in season.
  • Whole Wheat Broccoli Mac N Cheese
  • What I pack my kid.

• Categories

  • Breakfast
  • Desserts
  • Make friends with…
  • Meatless mealtime
  • Pancake Day
  • Random stuff
  • Salads, Soups, and Sides
  • Small changes
  • Snacks
  • What I pack my kid.

• Want an email whenever I post?

  Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

  Email Address:

  Follow