Avocado Sashimi

This delicious and super simple recipe was first discovered by my mom. She made it for herself and was raving about how fantastic it was, and as soon as I heard what the ingredients were, I was in! Avocado, lemon, a special spice, soy sauce, and wasabi. Winner! This is also a great way for my vegetarian friends to enjoy a sushi alternative.

I usually try to make recipes with ingredients that I usually buy or are easy to find, but this was one exception, as I specifically bought two ingredients (a spice and a fancy soy sauce) just for it. The original recipe came from La Fuji Mama. 

Spicy Roasted Chickpeas

I got this recipe from All Recipes. It's a nice, simple method that can be modified for whatever sort of spices you want to use. I'm sure it's no surprise that I made them spicy! This is a healthy snack that satisfies that crunchy, salty craving I usually have in the evenings. Much better for you than a bag of potato chips, and easier than baked kale!

Spicy Sliced Potatoes

As a part of my continuing my quest to use up everything that has been lingering in the back of my pantry and freezer, I came across a can of sliced new potatoes. I had bought them specifically for some recipe months ago, but never made it, and eventually forgot what that recipe even was. So, I decided to make up my own recipe to use them.

Well, I need to pat myself on the back, because these turned out great! And very easy to make without much hands-on work at all.

Pancakes from Scratch, and How to Freeze Extras For Later

As I've been reducing the amount of stuff cluttering my pantry, one of the things that I didn't replace after finishing was the box of pancake mix. Because, guess what? I've found out you can make them completely from scratch almost as easily with stuff that I already keep stocked. This recipe was adapted from Charles' Pancakes from Scratch at Cooks.com.

When I make pancakes, I like to make a lot more than we'll eat for one breakfast, so I can freeze the extras to reheat on hurried weekday mornings. Tips on how to freeze and reheat pancakes are included in this post. 

This morning, John had a craving for chocolate chips, so I added those to his for the same-day breakfast. However, I plan to eat the extras myself and like them plain, so most were chocolate-free.

Strawberry Banana Oatmeal Bake

Today's recipe from Inspired Taste, and is another one that my sister Jillian discovered. She made it a couple weeks ago and enjoyed it, but thought that it didn't have quite enough of the fruit. I took this to heart and doubled what the original recipe recommended. Great move! I was also out of walnuts, so I used almonds instead. And I'm not a big chocolate fan (I know! The travesty!), so I left out the chocolate chips. 

This turned out to be a lovely "big breakfast" item with plenty of delicious leftovers!

Black Bean Burgers and Spicy Sweet Potato Sticks

I had a hard time photographing this meal to look appetizing, and for that I am truly sorry. Because these burgers are SO. SO. GOOD. If you've never tried black bean burgers, this is the recipe to start with. I've tried others that are kind of blah or too mushy. But these! They're super flavorful, and actually hold together really well. You won't miss the beef at all, I swear! John is completely on-board with these too.

The Spicy Sweet Potato Sticks look a lot like french fries, but they have their own unique flavor, and aren't nearly as crunchy as they look. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE a crispy fry, but these are so delightful that I loved them even though they are a little soft. Kind of reminds me of mashed potatoes, disguised as fries.

Both the burgers and potatoes recipes came from the incomparable Budget Bytes.

Black Bean Quesadillas

Oh, Budget Bytes, what would I do without you? This was another ingenious recipe idea from my favorite inspiration source. If you can spot a theme with my blog here, it's that I love to make things that I can freeze for a quicker meal in the future. I can't believe I never thought to do this with quesadillas! These tasted amazing, and I've got 6 more in my freezer waiting for hunger to strike at the same time laziness ensues. This is also a great way to use the black beans that I cooked in my slow cooker.

I made my quesadillas this time with chicken, but that's only because I had some extra to use up from a previous recipe. This could just as easily be made vegetarian by leaving that out. (In fact, I made a couple without the chicken too, and you didn't miss it at all!)

Dry Black Beans in a Slow Cooker

This is another super useful (and easy!) method that I learned from Budget Bytes. 

There is something super satisfying about buying a bag of plain old dry beans, and turning them into a useful ingredient to keep stocked in your freezer or fridge. You can save a lot of money (she calculated that cooked beans from dry are about half the cost of canned), but I think the real savings comes in the fact that you can freeze in containers for whatever size you will need for a future meal. So, if you have a small family that won't use an entire can, you won't find yourself wasting (or overeating to finish it up) just because the cans are always one standard size.

Frozen Yogurt Cubes for Smoothies

After noticing that some yogurt in my fridge was nearing its expiration date, I had the bright idea to try to freeze it. It turned out to be a perfect way to spare it from the trash, as well as provide an easy addition to morning smoothies.

Overnight Blueberry French Toast

I saw this recipe floating around Pinterest quite a bit, and thought it sounded like a great weekend treat. I love making big breakfasts Saturday and Sunday mornings, and if I can do most of the work the night before, all the better! 

This was easy to make, and tasted pretty great! If you are a big fan of sweets, you will especially love the fruity syrup. It's also a great way to use up the heels of bread. The original recipe came from Chef in Training. 

Fruit & Nut Snack Bites

Ever since I first made these snack bites a few months ago, they have been a complete staple in this house. They're great for a quick breakfast if you're running late for work, a mid-afternoon snack, or even an appetizer when dinner is taking longer than expected. I have made many batches, and keep them in the freezer so they're always on hand. They're great both frozen and room temperature.

I did a previous quick post about these, but it was under the somewhat misleading title of "No-Sugar Cereal Bars". While it's true that I don't add any sugar, they aren't completely sugar-free, since it is in both the peanut butter and fruit. So here is a brand new post, with a better title and lots of pictures! The idea for the original recipe came from Snack Girl. 

Vegetable Lasagna Rolls with Roasted Red Pepper Sauce

This recipe came from a new source, Mother Thyme. I originally came across it on the Tasty Kitchen recipe community.  It had a very unique flavor, I think due to the red pepper sauce. It's quite a switch to have a lasagna with no tomatoes involved! It is also nice to have another delicious use of the superfood kale. 

This is certainly not a quick meal to prepare, but it is nice for the rare occasion when you have a little extra time and want to try something different.

Garlic and Thyme Quinoa Patties

Today's recipe came from a new food blog I recently came across: Cook Republic. I have only recently discovered quinoa, and am happy to find another way to incorporate it into a dish. This really would be better as a party appetizer or side dish, but I used it as a full meal this time. 

We liked these patties a lot, but next time I am going to make some sort of dipping sauce to go along with them. More on that later...

Banana Bread Oatmeal

I first made and blogged about this delightful recipe a few weeks ago. However, the only photo I took was a terrible one with  my phone, so I decided to revisit it for the blog when I made it again this weekend. This recipe originally came from Budget Bytes. 

Spaghetti Squash

This was a recipe idea I got from my cousin Heidi's blog, BananaBuzzbomb.com. Heidi is a vegan, and this would have been a great vegan dish, if I hadn't added parmesan cheese on top. Oops! My weakness! This still made a great vegetarian dish and would be a perfect "Meatless Monday" choice.

Crash Hot Potatoes

The other day, my sister Jillian was raving to me about the Crash Hot Potatoes she made for her family. She found the recipe on The Pioneer Woman, a recipe originally from Jill Dupleix. I had some some potatoes that needed to be used up, so I thought this would be great as a side dish this weekend. 

They look kind of burnt here, but I swear they weren't at all!

Freezing Omelette Ingredients

I feel like omelettes are one of the healthiest "big breakfast" items to make. (As long as you don't go too heavy on the cheese. We also use just egg whites, to cut down on the cholesterol.) 

The problem is that dicing all those veggies can kind of be a pain. This morning, as I was making omelettes, I decided to chop some extras and freeze them for later. 

Cheesy Garlic Bread for the Freezer

I often find myself buying those boxes of frozen garlic bread, to just bake quickly when making a pasta dish. The other day, I realized that these would be a cinch to make myself (and probably a lot healthier).

Black Bean Burgers with Corn Relish and Creamy Avocado Sauce

This recipe came from Elizabeth's Dutch Oven, a food blog by a friend of mine from high school. We have very similar tastes - she makes a lot of mexican-inspired dishes, which obviously John and I like too!  This is one of the first ones I've actually recreated myself. There are many more of her recipes on my "to-do" list!

These black bean burgers weren't my favorite that I've made (that goes to the ones I made from Budget Bytes), but part of that may have been that I left out the chipotle in adobo sauce. John isn't a fan of their smoky flavor.  However, the corn relish and creamy avocado sauce were fantastic! The only change I made was to roast my corn (directly on a cob) in the oven, rather than getting it from a can. Oh my, roasted corn is heavenly!

Applesauce in a Rice Cooker

Today, I made another batch of one of John's favorites: applesauce! He loves to eat it as a post-run recovery snack between his hour drive home from work and when dinner is ready.