Easy Recipes To Make Right Now While Stuck At Home

Now is a really good time to share some of my easy-to-make recipes from past years on the blog.

Obviously, we know that I don’t create new recipes these days (unless you want to learn how I make a pizza bagel) but I feel that I did put in my time in the kitchen during the early years of my blog. While never a true recipe blogger (zero interest in the photography aspect), I do know what I’m doing in the kitchen when it comes to easy vegetarian recipes, baking, and goodies.

So maybe you are a new reader who never knew I had recipes up my sleeve. Or maybe you are a longtime reader who totally forgot about some of the recipes I’ve shared in the past. Perhaps you are looking for something different to cook or a new angle for what you already make regularly. Maybe you have some pantry staples and didn’t think to combine them in the way I’m listing below. Or even better, maybe you are looking to try more vegetarian recipes and didn’t know how easy it was to do.

Let’s start with a treat. My Cold S’mores. 

I call the recipe mine although I owe it to my son’s cooking class from when he was barely three years old.  Gosh, I miss taking him to those little classes at that age! We had so much fun. Anyway, the summer before my son turned three, we would go weekly to a cooking class for his age group. The first recipe we made was, in fact, Cold S’mores! Easy for kids to make, only requires four ingredients, and there’s no need for an oven. PERFECT.

This has to be the most perfect easy dessert recipe for right now. You likely have the ingredients in the house and you can make so many Cold S’mores from one recipe which you can freeze in bulk.

  • Chocolate Chips
  • Cool Whip
  • Mini Marshmallows
  • Graham Crackers

I’m all about food in bulk right now because I hate the fact that I can’t go food shopping whenever I want. This whole experience is leaving me feeling as though I need to stock up and fill my fridge, freezer, and pantry like never before.

cold smores

How To Roast Frozen Vegetables

As a vegetarian, I live on vegetables. Right now, it’s an issue to live on fresh vegetables because it does require me to order from the grocery store or dash on through a store once a week like an episode of supermarket sweep to grab what I need while praying I don’t catch the virus.

I do love frozen vegetables though. In fact, I find frozen vegetables much easier to digest than fresh vegetables most of the time. Years ago I came up with the idea to roast frozen vegetables. I had no idea it was a thing so I wrote about it, and well, How To Roast Frozen Vegetables  has become my most popular searched post to date. If you are stocked with frozen vegetables right now, you can definitely roast them!

how to roast frozen vegetables

Plant-Based Stir Fry

Talk about the easiest meal to make from the pantry and freezer! I created this plant-based stir fry recipe (if we can even call it a recipe?) using a bag of steam fresh vegetables, chickpeas, and brown rice. You can cook the brown rice you have in your pantry OR go with Trader Joe’s brown rice packs from their frozen section. The EASIEST and QUICKEST healthy meal there is, and it’s quite tasty too.

Plant Based Stir Fry Using Success Whole Grain Brown Rice

Vegetarian Power Bowls

I’ve written about power bowls so many times over the last seven years. I’ve even revamped my How To Make A Power Bowl post in recent years but the original infographic below is really useful as it lists ingredients ideas which are great ingredients for stocking up, with many able to store in the pantry (and freezer!).

build your own plant based power bowl

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Pancakes 

How about some pancakes? I created this recipe for Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Pancakes and immediately shared it because my son loved the pancakes, and he is not always so easy to please when it comes to my cooking.

peanut butter chocolate chip pancakes

6 Healthy Recipes Using Oatmeal

I rounded up some of my favorite recipes that I’ve shared on the blog in this post for 6 healthy recipes using oatmeal. I live on oatmeal even though I don’t speak about it as often anymore. This oatmeal recipe round-up includes my amazing oatmeal raisin chocolate chip cookies, protein balls, and oatmeal recipes for breakfast.

6 healthy recipes using oatmeal

And one more recipe round up! A few easier to make vegetarian recipes including delicious veggie burgers, power salads, and yummy cookies.

Round up of easy to make vegetarian recipes worth trying this week!

Please let me know which recipe(s) you decide to try and if you have any questions! I secretly hope that your first choice is Cold S’mores. 🙂

 

 

My Favorite Salad Right Now

I was originally planning to include my favorite salad as part of tomorrow’s Friday Favorites post. But then I was like, why not share it quickly today?!

As you know, I’m in a very basic phase right now with food. I’m still not really cooking nor am I that focused when food shopping. The only ingredients I need to keep in the house aside from oatmeal, coffee, and peanut butter are the ingredients for my favorite salad, which I make to eat almost every day. And okay, some food for my son but that’s not what this post is about today.

Anyway.

I’m living on this salad right now. It’s so ridiculously easy to make and always satisfies me.

Of course I could jazz it up and include more vegetables but again, the basic thing. I’m not in the mood to include anything else and really, it’s totally fine. This salad works the way I’ve created it. The less I need to buy, think about or prepare, the better.

When I was in Florida over the weekend, I told Heather’s friends about my basic way of eating and then mentioned my favorite salad.

Here you go.

  • Romaine
  • Tomatoes
  • Chick peas
  • Feta cheese
  • Avocado
  • Drizzle of Trader Joe’s  Champagne Vinaigrette

One of Heather’s friends loved this salad idea so much that she made it for dinner the other night and sent me a picture!

favorite salad

This salad really is so good and really is that easy to throw together in a pinch. I think it will become your new favorite meal to make at home too!

Salad Variation Ideas:

Add a chopped up Dr. Praeger’s veggie burger to the salad. I do it often for dinner.

Serve with a slice of pizza, bowl of soup, baked potato or plate of French fries.

Add cucumbers, peppers, or any other vegetable you like.

Lentils and/or quinoa would be a good addition.

If you aren’t vegetarian, I’m sure grilled chicken would work in this salad too.

[bctt tweet=”Try my favorite salad. Ingredients listed on the blog today! #salad #recipes #vegetarian #easyrecipe” username=”cookiechrunicle”]” username=”cookiechrunicle”]

What’s your go-to meal these days at home when you don’t feel like cooking?

Easy To Make Vegetarian Recipes (and cookies too!)

 

I decided to give my recipe section of the blog some attention by highlighting a few easy to make vegetarian recipes that I haven’t talked about in a long time! At least I do not think that I have?

I hope that one of these recipes inspires you to try a new salad combination or to cook something different. Oh, and I added two cookie recipes too…just because. 🙂

Round up of easy to make vegetarian recipes worth trying this week!

Let’s start with this Super Salad Recipe. 

The picture doesn’t look like much but trust me, the shaved Brussel sprouts, feta cheese, and dried cranberries combine to create a delicious meal.

Sometimes the most basic of salad ingredients need to be called out so we all realize how easy it is to make a great tasting salad at home.

I am definitely going to buy feta cheese this week and brussels sprouts so that I can make it again.

Dried cranberries with feta cheese = Always amazing.

super salad recipe

Once you have the feta cheese in the house, you can make this Power Salad too!

Another great salad recipe which is super simple to throw together. Of course you can always customize the vegetables (and even the plant-based proteins) but this is an awesome salad to use as a reference if you need a little assistance on your selections.

I like this power salad for making in advance too so that then you have it for lunches (and even dinners) for the week. If you eat meat, you can also add grilled chicken or steak to this salad and I’m sure it would be a winner.

I forgot how often I used to roast cauliflower!

power salad

Eggplant Cacciatore!

Oh this eggplant cacciatore was SO GOOD. Eggplant cacciatore is delicious and really easy to make. The most important thing is to remember to actually buy an eggplant and not forget it like I always do when I get to the grocery store.

I don’t find eggplants to stay fresh for long (even in the refrigerator, usually just a few days) so keep that in mind when you get one in terms of how soon you plan to make this recipe.

eggplant cacciatore

Sweet Potato, Black Bean, & Quinoa Burgers

These burgers were the best and so good for freezing! They held together really well and reheated without issue. I miss having them on hand in the freezer so I really need to make them again.

sweet potato quinoa black bean burgers

Coconut Flour Chocolate Chip Cookies

I LOVED this cookie recipe the first time I experimented with it. The use of coconut flour in place of regular flour made these cookies a bit crumbly but they certainly don’t fall apart. The texture and taste was on point. I definitely need to make them again.

coconut flour chocolate chip cookies

Oatmeal Raisin Chocolate Chip Protein Cookies

Yum. One of the best healthier cookie recipes I have ever come up with in my cookie baking history. I always use Skoop Protein Powder but I’m sure another vanilla protein power that you favor would work well too.

oatmeal raisin chocolate chip protein cookies

Honorable Mentions:

Quick & Easy Plant Based Stir Fry – Always my go-to lunch or dinner when I need to eat fast and don’t feel like cooking.

How To Make A Power Bowl – If you are looking to have no-brainer vegetarian meals on hand any day of the week, it’s important to know how to make a good power bowl.

Flourless/Grain Free No Bake Fudge Brownie Bites – I created this fudge brownie bite recipe on a whim and it came out terrific. The recipe involves sweet potato!

[bctt tweet=”Easy to make vegetarian recipes on the blog today! #recipes #vegetarian #easyrecipes #salads #cookies” username=”cookiechrunicle”]

Are you stuck in a cooking rut making the same meals over and over? Does it bother you or are you fine with your usual meal rotation?

Which salad ingredients are you using most often right now?

 

 

 

Salads I’m Eating Plus Lisa’s Chunky Lentil Soup Recipe!

 

 

I didn’t forget that we wanted the details for my friend Lisa’s Chunky Lentil Soup Recipe! While Lisa and I speak all the time, we FINALLY went into detail about her lentil soup recipe yesterday so that I could pull it together for today’s post.

As I put this chunky lentil soup recipe post together, I realized it’s the first recipe I am sharing IN FOREVER. I briefly questioned if my recipe plug-in was even still active or if I remembered how to use it. <- Blogger talk.

Before we get to the lentil soup recipe, let’s discuss the lunch salads I’ve been enjoying this week.

I’m all about lentils right now which coincides nicely with the timing of the lentil soup recipe!

I love to quickly (and so easily) cook lentils with quinoa as my plant-based protein source to add to a variety of meals. It’s a mindless process! You just rinse some quinoa and add it to a small pot with lentils in water and let them simmer. Of course you can cook them in vegetable broth but I just do plain water most of the time.

I store the lentils/quinoa mixture in the refrigerator for the week, adding a scoop to many of my lunches and dinners. The combo is perfect for salads, power bowls, and whatever else you are eating. The lentils and quinoa take on the flavor of any dish and add really nice texture while providing a complete protein with iron and fiber.

Lunch Salads:

I enjoyed this salad for lunch yesterday. It involves that Trader Joe’s Veggies & Greens salad mix which I keep mentioning to you in other posts. I love this salad mix for some reason. It includes kale, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, and radicchio plus a packet of ginger dressing, pistachios, and dried pear crumbles.

salad

I still like to bulk it up a bit more so I added the lentils and quinoa plus chick peas and colorful carrot coins. Sort of simple yet filling and delicious. One thing to note on the ginger dressing, the veggies in this salad soak it up fast so you need to add a decent amount from the packet!

And then this Veggies & Greens salad includes a chopped up Dr. Praeger’s Veggie Burger plus quinoa and lentils. This combination is seriously one of my favorites. There’s something about the chopped up veggie burger which ties  everything together.

salad

Okay, time for the chunky lentil soup recipe.

Lisa’s chunky lentil soup recipe calls for an Instant Pot. If you don’t have an Instant Pot, I bet you can combine these soup ingredients in a regular pot and just let it cook longer, my guess is about an hour uncovered on low.

Also to note, Lisa takes a short cut by using Trader Joe’s Mirepoix, which is the container of already chopped up carrots, onion, and celery.

mirepoixLisa and I both love this lentil soup chunky so that we can chew our food. She said if you want to thin it out, you can add more vegetable broth to the recipe or add some after the fact each time you go to reheat it.

lentil soup

This chunky lentil soup is awesome on its own or served over a baked potato. 🙂

 

chunky lentil soup
Cuisine: Soup
Author: meredith @ Cookie ChRUNicles
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
This chunky lentil soup is easy to make and absolutely delicious! Recipe makes several servings and is perfect for freezing.
Ingredients
  • Trader Joe’s Mirepoix (chopped carrots, onion, celery)
  • 1 Idaho potato, peeled and diced
  • 1 1/2 cartons of Low Sodium Vegetable Broth
  • 1 bag of Dry Lentils
  • 2 teaspoons Olive Oil
  • Bay Leaves
  • Salt/Pepper
Instructions
  1. Press Sauté on Instant Pot and add olive oil.
  2. From the mirepoix, sauté just the onions alone in the pot for 2 minutes.
  3. Add the carrots and celery to the onion and sauté for another 2 minutes.
  4. Add diced potato and sauté for 2 minutes.
  5. Add vegetable broth, bay leaves, bag of dry lentils and press SOUP on the Instant Pot for 8-10 minutes.
  6. When finished, add a pinch of salt and pepper. to taste.

 

[bctt tweet=”Salads I am Loving This Week plus my friend Lisa’s Chunky Lentil Soup Recipe! #ontheblog #lentilsoup #salad #traderjoes #instantpot” username=”cookiechrunicle”]

Do you have an Instant Pot? Do you use it often?

6 Healthy Recipes Using Oatmeal To Try Today

 

It’s all about round-up posts this week!

I really like to review old posts in order to see what I’ve written over the last 4 years. Actually it’s more like 4 and a half years now!

Although I really don’t create and share recipes anymore, it’s still important for me to bring my favorite recipes to life for those of you who missed them the first time around!

I decided to put together this round-up of 6 healthy recipes using oatmeal which contains recipes I have shared over the years here on the blog.

We aren’t just talking bowls of oatmeal today either! We are talking cookies and bites too which will provide you with recipes for excellent nutrition any time of the day.

Oatmeal is such a versatile ingredient. It can really be considered a blank canvas, used to create a nutritional powerhouse of a meal or snack. Adding fruits, chia seeds, nuts and/or nut butter and a protein source such as eggs, greek yogurt or protein powder combines to create the perfect post-run or anytime meal.

The combination of complex carbohydrates, protein and healthy fats not only taste great but also assists in repairing your muscles and replenishing your glycogen stores!

Keep in mind that although it is summer, you can enjoy your morning bowl of oatmeal served cold and I don’t even mean making overnight oats either! I always cook a few plain servings of oatmeal in advance for the week and store them in the refrigerator. In the winter I heat the cooked oatmeal but in the summer, I often eat my cooked oatmeal cold. I just mix in fruit and peanut butter (or whatever else) and enjoy it served cold. It’s so good this way, especially after a hot run!

6 healthy recipes using oatmeal

Blueberry Pie Protein Oatmeal – I make this oatmeal quite often! It’s super simple and really tasty too. You can use fresh or frozen blueberries in this easy recipe. I love this oatmeal served hot or cold!

Blueberry Pie Protein Oatmeal made with Skoop's Plant Based Protein All In One Nutritional Shake gives you everything you need to recover from your run and power you through the morning

Unbaked Baked Oatmeal – I love this oatmeal recipe since it involves mandarin oranges which aren’t always available all year. Once you see them in stores, get them to use in this oatmeal!

You will love it.
unbaked baked oatmeal

Autumn Oatmeal – This oatmeal is not just for the fall season! Apples are available all year long so make this easy recipe whenever you feel like warm cinnamon apples in your bowl. It’s really delicious.

autumn oatmeal made with roasted cinnamon apples and raisins

Oatmeal Raisin Chocolate Chip Protein Cookies – Okay so these oatmeal raisin chocolate chip cookies are not only healthy but absolutely delicious.

I still remember how shocked I was when I created this healthy cookie recipe so perfectly on the first try.

oatmeal raisin protein cookies

Peanut Butter & Banana Protein Bites –  Who doesn’t love a protein bite?

Bonus Recipe!! Gluten Free Oatmeal Raisin Chocolate Chip Protein Bites.

peanut butter and banana protein bites

Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies – I LOVE these cookies.

In fact, I stored these banana chocolate chip cookies in the freezer and enjoy them equally as well still slightly frozen.

banana chocolate chip cookies

[bctt tweet=”6 healthy recipes using oatmeal! #oatmeal #recipes #healthyrecipes #proteinbites” username=”cookiechrunicle”]

Talk to me about oatmeal!

Favorite mix ins?

Favorite type of oat?

Favorite way to bake with oats?

Favorite way to eat your oatmeal lately?

Top 5 Most Viewed Blog Recipes

 

I decided to take my top 5 most viewed blog recipes and put them all in one post for today!

Who remembers when I used to share recipes on a regular basis? I know, me neither.

These days I am lucky if I cook at all, let alone create a new recipe that requires pictures and accurate measurements to share on the blog.

BUT!!

In the past I did make a whole bunch of recipes and those recipe posts are still really popular every day.

top 5 most viewed blog recipes

How To Roast Frozen Vegetables

When I wrote this post about how to roast frozen vegetables, I had NO IDEA that I was creating my most popular post ever on the blog!

My method for roasting frozen vegetables is ridiculously simple.

how to roast frozen vegetables

Black Bean & Quinoa Chili

This is such an easy and delicious recipe for black bean and quinoa chili! This recipe is perfect for throwing together in a pinch and amazing for freezing.

I also included great chili serving ideas.

black bean and quinoa chili vegan and plant based

Peanut Butter & Banana Protein Snack Bites

These peanut butter & banana protein snack bites are viewed every single day! I’ve made this recipe several times and have also made a few variations like adding chocolate chips – do it.

peanut butter & banana protein snack bites

Oatmeal Raisin Chocolate Chip Protein Cookies

I LOVE this recipe for oatmeal raisin chocolate chip protein cookies!

Made with Skoop B Strong protein powder, the flavor and texture is out of this world. I am pretty sure you can use any vanilla protein powder but I think Skoop is the best. Just a warning, these cookies are addicting.

oatmeal raisin chocolate chip protein cookies

Honorable mention: Oatmeal Raisin Chocolate Chip Cookies (Dairy-Free)

Blueberry Loaded Blueberry Muffins

Oh these blueberry loaded blueberry muffins were really good! They include greek yogurt which isn’t an ingredient I often have in the house these days but I should really remember to get some next time I am at the store.

blueberry muffins

Honorable mention: Blueberry Pie Protein Oatmeal

Please let me know if you try any of these recipes!

[bctt tweet=”Rounding up the top 5 most viewed recipes on the blog! #recipes #vegetarian #muffins #easyrecipes #Skoop ” username=”cookiechrunicle”]

Do you like to bake often or do you go through phases?

Which protein powder do you use these days?

What’s for dinner tonight?

 

Eggplant Cacciatore (Recipe Challenge)

 

My plan was to tell you that we finally found the issue with my site. But now, as I sit here with the Jet Pack plug-in disabled, nothing is better in fact things might be worse. Ugh! I am pretty sure that on your end as a reader things are okay but I apologize if you experience any problems. I am working on it like you can’t imagine.

I am so excited that Laura and I are back to our recipe challenge! This little recipe challenge of ours, where we encourage each other to try different vegetarian recipes and then share our results with you, has helped me to break out of my cooking comfort zone.

I cannot stress enough how the accountability has made the difference in me trying the recipes that I pin rather than just eating the exact same foods every day.

Not to mention, the recipes we have chosen so far have been so good! I have loved having the leftover veggie burgers in my freezer and the vegan sloppy joe’s are now regular in my weeknight dinner rotation.

So for this week, we were deciding between trying another veggie burger recipe (because I need more for my freezer!) or a recipe that used eggplant. We chose to work with eggplant this week and decided on veggie burgers for next week.

Before I switched to a meatless diet, chicken cacciatore from Mother Kelly’s was my absolute favorite meal on the planet. I do not miss chicken AT ALL and have yet to crave it since giving it up almost five years ago now but when I see my parents and even my son order the chicken cacciatore from Mother Kelly’s, I certainly feel a pang in my heart.

In previous posts, you have seen that I end up ordering the baked eggplant with spaghetti squash from Mother Kelly’s while everyone else at the table has the chicken cacciatore.

Mother Kelly's eggplant and spaghetti squash

I usually end up taking the peppers, onions and mushrooms from my son’s chicken cacciatore just so I can sort of taste the meal that held my heart for over half of my life.

It’s no surprise then when I saw this recipe for eggplant cacciatore from Connoisseurus Veg that I felt like we had to try it at some point!

eggplant cacciatore

Preparation:

Super, super easy. I gravitate towards easy recipes that use ingredients I am familiar with so this was a breeze. I loved that this recipe required the eggplant to be roasted in the oven with the drizzle of olive oil < – so much flavor!

I then added the roasted eggplant to the pan that was cooking the onions, mushrooms and peppers. I also added some roasted butternut squash to the mix because I had it on hand.

eggplant cacciatore

Taste:

Delicious! Is it as good as chicken cacciatore from Mother Kelly’s? Of course not. I am not a restaurant. Mother Kelly’s has a distinct sauce flavor that no one can replicate. However, this dish was definitely flavorful and satisfying so I would absolutely make it again.

Overall Thoughts:

Eggplant is really not a nutritional substitute for chicken since eggplant is not a protein source. For this reason, I added chickpeas to the recipe to make this a plant-based protein satisfying meal. If you aren’t a meatless eater, definitely use this dish as an accompaniment to your main course OR add chicken to make things complete.

Serving Suggestions:

I did not make the pasta with this eggplant cacciatore as recommended in the recipe. I would however recommend this dish served with quinoa, rice or potatoes.

Previous Recipe Challenge Recipes:

Sweet Potato Pizza Crust

How to make a Power Bowl

Baked Falafel

Vegan Sloppy Joe’s

Sweet Potato, Black Bean & Quinoa Burgers

Be sure to check out what Laura thought of making the eggplant cacciatore!

************

Do you have a favorite Italian dish? Do you make it or is it from a restaurant?

What other types of recipes would you like to see us try?

Would you be interested in joining our recipe challenge if you offered a link up for it once in a while?

Back To School Cookies

 

So this is the back to school cookies round-up which I was supposed to share Tuesday, the first day back to school.

My site, which was down on Tuesday, is still giving me trouble. I want to SCREAM. In fact, I do SCREAM just like that in big bold letters via Live Chat and then go back to regular letters as I apologize for screaming at the poor live chat people.

I am hoping to resolve my hosting migration process today (because yes, that is a problem too) and then there’s an SEO issue that I haven’t figured out but the plug-in keeps telling me to figure out so hopefully I can figure it out without losing whatever is left of my mind.

ANYWAY.

The cookies. Back to school means afternoon cookies, doesn’t it?

Last year I shared a delicious (and healthy!) cookie recipe for banana chocolate chip cookies on the first day of school which reminded me that I should probably have some cookies ready for my son once again this week but then my site went down and time for baking cookies went down with it.

I did take a look through some of the cookie recipes I have shared in the past few years and chose to round those up for us anyway as the recipes tend to get lost in the blog post shuffle.

I have my standard cookie recipes memorized but I could use the recipe post reminders for some of the cookies I have made that are really good, and healthy too!

back to school healthy cookies recipe round up

Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies

I loved these Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies and my son did too. I made these banana chocolate chip cookies a few times and even stored the extras in the freezer which I recommend you do so that you can eat them frozen – so delicious that way!

banana chocolate chip cookies

Oatmeal Raisin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Please be honored that I share my beloved Oatmeal Raisin Chocolate Chip Cookies recipe with you. I spent years keeping it to myself because it is THE BEST oatmeal raisin chocolate chip cookie recipe there is.

Fun fact: This cookie recipe is the cookie recipe that started my cookie business several years ago when I actually had time to bake as well as the interest in selling my cookies.

oatmeal raisin chocolate chip cookies

So this oatmeal raisin chocolate chip cookie recipe is considered by my son as a “real cookie” as in it’s not exactly healthified but there is a dairy-free option if that is of interest to you. And really, in my opinion, oatmeal raisin cookies are healthy because they involve oats, raisins and in the dairy-free option, coconut oil. So there, I bring you balance.

Oh, and if you want, you can even bake this oatmeal raisin chocolate chip recipe in pie form so you don’t have to take the time to shape and bake actual cookies. I talked about that option in this post. You don’t need to adjust anything in the recipe other than find yourself a round pan or even a square brownie pan I bet would work well too!

oatmeal raisin chocolate chip cookie cake

Oatmeal Raisin Chocolate Chip Protein Cookies

If you are looking for a healthier cookie recipe and have vanilla protein powder on hand, you should definitely try this version of my  Oatmeal Raisin Chocolate Chip Protein Cookies. I have a feeling these are the cookies I will make later today as I recall them to be easy, quick, healthy and delicious!

oatmeal raisin protein cookies

Chocolate Chip Cookies (Gluten-Free/Dairy-Free)

I made these Chocolate Chip Cookies (Gluten-Free/Dairy-Free) last summer with coconut flour and LOVED THEM. Slightly crumbly but great texture and flavor.

I think about them often actually. I also made a version of these with pretzel m&m’s in the mix too which was more of a healthy monster cookie. What’s with me and the pretzel m&m’s by the way? I really like them these days.

chocolate chip cookies gluten and dairy free

Cereal Milk Oatmeal Breakfast Cookies

These Cereal Milk Oatmeal Breakfast Cookies were so much fun to make. Who doesn’t love the chocolate milk created from cereal? I grew up on the cereal milk created from Cocoa Pebbles. Fond childhood memories I tell you.

cereal milk oatmeal breakfast cookies

Samoa Cookie Dough Cups

Not quite a cookie recipe but it involved cookie dough so I am including it because these Samoa Cookie Dough Cups were so awesome.

samoa cookie dough cups

The healthy cookie dough used in this easy samoa cookie dough cups recipe is probably one of the best I have made.

I apologize if the Samoa Cookie Dough Cups recipe post appears a little weird when you try to view the photos – I am working on fixing whatever it is that went wrong this week to this particular post during my site issues. I didn’t want to leave the post out of this round up though, it’s too good to miss.

So tell me, which cookies will you be making?

What are you doing this weekend?

Favorite afterschool snack when you were a kid?

 

Recipe Challenge: Sweet Potato Pizza Crust

 

Get excited because Laura and I chose to try Pinch of Yum’s new 3 ingredient sweet potato pizza crust for this week’s recipe challenge!

sweet potato pizza crust

Preparation:

Ingredients wise, this sweet potato pizza crust recipe is super easy. The main ingredients involve just an egg, old-fashioned rolled oats and a sweet potato.

All you have to do is place the ingredients in a food processor (add garlic powder or fresh garlic) and pulse things up to form your crust mixture.

Some of the chunks of sweet potato kept getting stuck while I was trying to pulse the mixture so I had to keep opening the food processor, removing some of the sweet potato chunks, pulsing things a bit to then put them back and try again.

Towards the end of the process, I chose to remove some of the sweet potato chunks for good and prepared the pizza crust without them because my patience level for getting the potato pieces to cooperate was nonexistent.

This sweet potato crust definitely crisped up (especially around the edges, so good) and held it’s shape in the oven. I probably should have used more coconut oil to grease my pizza pan because the crust stuck slightly to the pan but not at all to the point where I couldn’t remove it.

sweet potato pizza crust

Taste:

I wish this pizza photographed better because it really was delicious!

While the crust does not mimic the flavor of a true pizza, I definitely like the taste and texture. It’s crispy for sure and the sweet potato combined with the oats gives off the flavor of corn flake crumbs. I know, right? That’s such a random comparison and makes no sense but it’s the first thought I had when I took a bite.

Even after a bunch of bites, I couldn’t help but think I was eating corn flake crumbs. My aunt is basically famous for making the best corn flake crusted chicken by the way. She uses French dressing combined with the corn flake crumbs to coat the chicken and no matter how I would try to replicate the recipe using the exact same ingredients back in the day, it never tasted as good as when she makes it.

Anyway.

You can totally top this sweet potato crust with any pizza toppings you wish! It is dense enough to hold the weight of your toppings so don’t worry about that.

I went super plain with my sweet potato crust pizza by sticking to just tomato sauce and mozzarella cheese mainly because I wanted something simple. Normally I would have made a roasted vegetable pizza but I was not in the mood for vegetables which happens to me fairly often, believe it or not.

I have come to realize that I go in cycles of salad after salad, roasted veggie after roasted veggie and then I wake up and say please no vegetables today.

sweet potato pizza crust

Would I make this crust again? Yes, I would!

I think it’s a great lunch or dinner and perfect to fuel the muscles the night before a run. This recipe is gluten-free if you use gluten-free oats and the ability to select your own toppings creates endless possibilities.

I would like to try making this sweet potato crust using a Japanese sweet potato next time just to see the texture difference.

Pizza Recipes of Interest:

Butternut Squash Pizza

Quick & Easy Whole Wheat Pizza Bites

Sweet Corn, Zucchini & Fresh Mozzarella Pizza

Thin Crust Pizza

Summer Corn & Tomato Vegan Pizza

Pizza Supreme on Cauliflower  Crust

15 Fall Pizza Recipes

Be sure to also check out Laura’s take on this week’s sweet potato pizza crust!

Previous Recipe Challenges:

How to make a Power Bowl

Baked Falafel

Vegan Sloppy Joe’s

Sweet Potato, Black Bean & Quinoa Burgers

And on a totally random Friday Flashback note, two years ago today I took my son out to the Hamptons for lunch just so we could check out the DASH Pop Up Store! Ha, that was fun and the post even contains a whole wheat peanut butter chocolate chip cookie recipe. 🙂

[bctt tweet=”Recipe Challenge: Sweet Potato Pizza Crust! @thisrunrecipes #pizza #recipes #sweetpotato #pinchofyum” username=”cookiechrunicle”]

3 things you are planning  this weekend?

Do you like making pizza at home?

Are there any recipes you are interested in seeing us try in our recipe challenge?

How To Make Power Bowls + Recipe Links

 

Laura and I began this week under the assumption that our recipe challenge for today would involve trying a new to us Power Bowl recipe.

I am no stranger to eating Power Bowls. Power Bowls (or Buddha Bowls, the terms are often used interchangeably) have been my favorite go-to meals ever since switching to a meatless diet well over four years ago now.

Why I love Power Bowls:

Great plant-based and vegetarian meal options

Easy to prepare

Minimal cook time

Portable (perfect for bringing to work!)

Can be prepared in advance

Delicious hot or cold

Power Bowls give me just enough variety while allowing me to stick to my usual favorite foods. As a runner, these Power Bowls give me my complex carbohydrates (sweet potatoes, brown rice or quinoa), good sources of plant-based proteins (beans, lentils and quinoa) and combined quality nutrition when you add in the veggies and healthy fats to support my mileage and recovery.

I even wrote a great Build Your Own Plant Based Power Bowl post which is one of my most popular posts each week ever since sharing it last year!

I highly recommend you check out the post so that you can read in detail how I go about building a plant-based power bowl.

build your own plant based power bowl

Laura and I quickly encountered an issue though when trying to locate a new Power Bowl recipe to try this week.

We realized that recipe pins on Pinterest always look different, new and exciting yet after close inspection, many of the pins are all the same recipes just with different authors and pictures.

Pinterest can be an overwhelming place.

You come across so many wonderful images that get paired with recipes and each time, you think you found a new recipe when really, it’s the same recipe you have already pinned just with different images from a different pinner. We often don’t realize this until we go to make the recipe!

This is not at all to say that the Power Bowl recipes we found on Pinterest aren’t terrific because they are, it’s just that Laura and I didn’t see anything that we personally hadn’t made yet.

Instead of showing you a new recipe that we tried this week, we have chosen to discuss our findings with you (since we like to be honest) and share with you some of the recipe we do think are of interest should you be interested in trying a new to you Power Bowl idea.

Power Bowls of interest:

Italian Style Power Bowls

Roasted Veggie & Wild Rice Buddha Bowl

Spicy Cauliflower Power Bowl

Build Your Own Plant Based Power Bowl

Buddha Bowl Recipe Round Up

A Feel Good Lunch Bowl

Mediterranean Quinoa Bowls

Worth mentioning again is the Power Salad that I made on Monday.

power salad

I want to formally share the recipe for the Power Salad since it closely relates to a Power Bowl. If you skip the lettuce and up the amounts of sweet potatoes, quinoa and roasted veggies, you can in fact create a more traditional Power Bowl. Leave out the feta cheese if you want to keep things plant-based!

[amd-zlrecipe-recipe:39]

 

Previous Recipe Challenge Posts:

Sweet Potato, Black Bean & Quinoa Burgers

Vegan Sloppy Joe’s

Baked Falafel

Make sure to check out Laura’s Vegetarian Power Bowl post today too!

[bctt tweet=”How to make a great power bowl plus recipes #powerbowl #plantbased #vegetarian #recipechallenge” username=”cookiechrunicle”]

Are you a fan of Power Bowls? What’s your favorite combination?

Do you find the pins on Pinterest to be overwhelming sometimes?

What are you up to this weekend?!

 

 

 

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