Recipe: Honey & Pistachio Rice Pudding 🍚

As we’ve established in previous articles, winter is not the time to go on a deprivation diet nor feed our bodies with cold salads or smoothies. Instead, what we want to do is 𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐡 our bodies with warming foods which will enable it to better perform its detoxifying duties.

This Honey & Pistachio Rice Pudding recipe is just one of many in the upcoming Express Detox: Winter Edition. The masterclass includes recipes and menu-planning for the 10 days. We use real food, no weird supplements or energy powders. Enjoy this pudding as a breakfast, snack or dessert during these cold winter days!

Disclosure: some of the links below are affiliate links or discount codes, meaning, at no additional cost to you, if you click through an affiliate link and make a purchase, we may make a commission.

Cook time: 10 minutes

Ingredients

1 cup rice, cooked

1 can coconut milk

1 cinnamon stick (or buy in bulk like we did)

1/4 cup pistachios

1/2 tsp organic honey (optional)

Instructions

Cook the rice or use previously cooked rice (from package in link above or leftovers). In a sauce pan add the rice, along with the coconut milk and cinnamon stick. Simmer for about 10 minutes or until flavors have melded. Remove from heat and serve in a bowl with pistachios on top and a drizzle of honey. Enjoy!

10 Healthy, Plant-based Fall Snacks 🍂

Maybe it’s all the autumn activities or just the season of our lives, but we’re probably not alone in feeling like a squirrel on a sugar-high. Scattered. Busy. Trying to maintain a mental map of the yards where we hid our nuts. Okay, maybe not the last one.

Still, the increase in activity, even if just shopping on Early Prime Days, tends to lend itself to eating more snacks. And that’s okay. Let’s try to have some that land on the healthier side of the spectrum. Here are healthy, plant-based fall snacks that run the gamut from no-bake and about 10 minutes to delicious, baked goods that might have you salivating at the ding of the timer after 45 minutes of somewhat patiently waiting at the oven door.

Gold Mine Pudding

Celebrity Couple! Choco-cado Cookies

The Anytime Warm Apple Crisp

Gluten-free Cashew Coconut Bread

10TV Recipe: Cocoa-Maca Energy Balls

Just another Mochi Monday

Chocolate Chunk Tahini Cookies

‘Nacho’ Average Nachos

Death-by-Chocolate Zucchini Bread

Roasted Root Vegetables

Enjoy!

Why you Need to Eat Honeynut…Squash?!

Truth be told, the only ‘honey nut’ food item we had heard of, before a couple of weeks ago, was of the breakfast cereal variety. Luckily, one of our favorite organic produce stands at the farmers market added to our lexicon AND our playing with a new, rather cute food in the kitchen.

What exactly is honeynut squash?

Honeynut squash is the ‘child’ of butternut squash and buttercup squash. This crossbreeding gives it a flavor and shape akin to butternut squash, but it is sweeter and more the ‘pocket-size’ version of its parent. Perhaps think of honeynut squash as your own personal butternut squash.

Why you’ll want to eat it

It’s delicious. As mentioned above, it is sweeter than butternut squash- and spoiler alert! – even more so if roasted. And we haven’t even dove into why it’s great for your health yet…

What honeynut squash does for you nutritionally

As with most winter squashes, honeynut squash contains a high level of vitamin A and beta-carotene (which gives it the yellow-orange color). It’s also a wonderful source of minerals such as potassium, iron, copper, calcium and zinc. Known for helping with energy production, B vitamins are in good supply here in this squash too.

How to incorporate it

One of the best, and easiest ways to cook honeynut squash, just like butternut, is to roast it. Then you can turn it into caramelized cubes of golden-orange sweetness that can be added to a salad. It can also be added to pasta and even turned into a quick, blended soup.

Stay tuned! We’ll have an easy, delicious recipe for you coming up in the next few weeks.

Recipe: Homemade Chai Mix & Drink

Photo by Lauren Emond

It’s our inaugural guest recipe blog! So many of you have great recipes you’ve created – if you want to share your whole-foods and healthy recipes (especially the gluten-free, dairy-free ones), please reach out.

This recipe is really two-in-one: chai mix itself and then the drink you make with it. It’s simple, creative, and warms the heart. With a week left until Christmas, you still have time to make a few gifts to be enjoyed by loved ones over these upcoming winter months. Here Lauren Emond (@heart_appetit) shares her love of crafting homemade gifts, especially those including food!

“I may have ordered Chai from coffee shops over the years, but it wasn’t until I had a homemade cup of Chai, or Yogi Tea as she called it, offered by my Kundalini yoga teacher did I truly learn to slow down and enjoy this warm spicy beverage. After every class, she would pull out her mug of hot homemade Chai concentrate, and invite students to gather around in a circle and enjoy a cup.

Years later, I learned something new about Chai. In Hindi and many other languages spoken throughout India and Pakistan, “Masala” translates to spiced. “Chai” translates to tea. Therefore, masala chai is spiced tea. So Masala Chai, or Chai for shorthand, is one of the homemade gifts I like to make for friends and family.

I prefer to make a large batch so I can store it in my fridge and have a few cups throughout the week. This is what inspired my homemade gift for friends.”

Photo by Lauren Emond

Homemade Gift – Chai Mix

Ingredients for 1 quart of Chai:

• 1 T cardamom pods, crushed so they split open
• 2 tsp cloves
• 2 tsp of black peppercorns
• 2 cinnamon sticks (I prefer Ceylon Cinnamon)
• 1 black tea bag
• *1/2 tsp fennel
• *3 star anise leaves
• Mason Jar and ribbon to decorate
• Printed or handwritten instructions

*Optional

Add spice and black tea bag into a mason jar & add a ribbon or cloth to decorate. Include these instructions:

Homemade Chai

Makes 4 cups

• Remove black tea bag and set aside.
• Chop a 1 ½” piece of ginger root (washed and unpeeled)
• Add spices and ginger to a pot with 1 quart water.
• Bring to boil, then cover and simmer 60 minutes.
• Turn off heat, add tea bag and steep 5 minutes.
• Strain and store in a quart mason jar.

To serve, heat chai and add milk of choice and sweeten with maple syrup or honey.

Recipe: Chocolate Chunk Tahini Cookies 🍪

Do you miss chocolate chip peanut butter cookies? Well, with peanuts out-of-the-picture for many school kids (and adults), what can we do instead? Tahini to the rescue!

What is tahini? It’s sesame seed paste that is a great source of protein, healthy fats, and is reminiscent of peanut butter’s taste. With the 90% chocolate chunks and lower amount of maple syrup, this struck us a “healthy cookie” (i.e. not very sweet). Also, amaranth is a come-back grain (really a seed) after a rather sordid history of being banned because it was considered blasphemous (it also strengthened the people to fight against the invaders). Feel free to use chocolate with a lower percentage of cacao and a little more maple syrup, if desired, to fit your sweet tooth.

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 11 minutes

Servings: 12

Ingredients

1/2 cup tahini

3 oz dark chocolate, chopped

1 cup amaranth flour (for extra protein; or use gluten-free flour of your choice)

3 tbsp gluten-free oats

1/3 cup maple syrup

1-2 tbsp water (if batter becomes too thick)

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp sea salt

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In medium mixing bowl, combine tahini with maple syrup and vanilla. Then add in amaranth flour, gluten-free oats, cinnamon, and salt. Mix and then add chocolate chunks. If batter is too thick, add 1-2 tbsp of water or maple syrup (for those who want this sweeter). Scoop onto baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake 11 minutes. Cookies should be chewy and look underdone in the middle (they are vegan and perfectly safe to eat this way). Let set and cool for 10 minutes and then dig in!

Recipe: 8-ingredient Quinoa Salad

We initially debuted this 8-ingredient Quinoa Salad during National Vegetarian Month on 10TV with Valencia Wicker and Ross Caruso – watch here if you’d like. This dish is quick, delicious as well as gluten- and dairy-free! Enjoy!

Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 15 minutes
8 servings

Ingredients
2 cups cooked quinoa
1/2 cup chopped radishes
1/2 cup chopped cucumber
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup chopped red onion
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar

Instructions
Combine all ingredients together in a large bowl and mix well. Garnish with cherry tomatoes.