Beet Protein Brownies

I have added small amounts of beets to baked goods & smoothies in the past. As long as you don’t over do it, you may not even notice it’s in there.

I got small baby beets from the Farmers market, so I chopped up one & added it as an ingredient in these brownies. I could taste the beet slightly (more so in the raw version), but was glad that I could because it punches a little bite!

A cool thing about eating plant-based & vegan is that all the batter I make I can also eat raw without having to worry about bacteria & getting sick. Sometimes the raw dough is even better than the baked version 😉

Oooh did I have fun with these brownies. From the same batter I created 3 different meals.

1. I baked the batter into brownies & topped it with PB2 & sprinkled on some Maqui Berry Powder. – I ate this for breakfast 🙂
2. I made a dessert bowl with plain greek yogurt, cacoa nibs & bee pollen. (Greek yogurt & bee pollen are not vegan & are ingredients that I still use often. I will talk more about why I still use these products later. Feel free to replace with non-dairy yogurt. I like coconut yogurt when using non-dairy.)
3. Lastly, I scooped the dessert bowl into a jar to bring to work for an afternoon snack.

So to clarify, with the same batter I created a breakfast, snack, & dessert… #score.

• Servings: 6
• Time: 30 minutes
• Difficulty: easy
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Ingredients

• 1 box organic black beans (drained & rinsed)
• One baby beet (about the size of a big radish), thinly sliced
• 1 c oats
• 1 ripe banana
• 1/4 c pure maple syrup
• 1/4 c unsweetened plant-based milk (I used Silk, Cashew)
• 1 scoop plant-based chocolate protein powder ( I like Orgain)
• 2 T organic powdered peanut butter
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• pinch of himalyan salt
• 1 tsp baking soda

Directions

1. Add the black beans & beets to a food processor & process until combined.
2. Next add in the oats, scrape the sides of the bowl, & process.
3. Continue to add a few ingredients at a time (occasionally scraping the sides of the bowl & processing) to ensure that everything gets broken down & combined well, until no ingredients are left.
4. Now is the fun part! You can simply add the raw dough to a bowl or jar & be creative on what to pair & top it with. Or… pour the dough into prepared muffin tins or a pan & bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Let cool & then top with yogurt, nut butter, whatever you like. Enjoy!

What kinds of pairs and toppings would you guys use?!

Rhubarb Grapefruit Breakfast Cake

Has anyone else realized how far a small amount of rhubarb goes?! I picked up only 5 stalks of Rhubarb at the Farmers Market this past weekend, have already made 5 recipes with it, and still have 1 1/2 left! Not complaining…

It was my dogs birthday on Tuesday so I made him an Oatmeal Red Velvet Cake. He also got a tee-pee… the most spoiled. In case you all were wondering, his name is Batman, he is a 7 lb Yorkie, and he is the absolute best 🙂

While I was excited for him to have all the birthday fun he deserves, I wanted a treat too! So I decided to make a Breakfast Cake for myself.

You will love this recipe because it’s super easy. Only one bowl is needed to combine everything. It is also sugar, oil & cruelty free of course 🙂 Who doesn’t want to eat cake for breakfast?!

• Servings: 4-8
• Time: 25 minutes
• Difficulty: easy
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Ingredients

Ingredients:

• 1 c oats
• 1/2 c coconut flour
• 1 scoop plant based vanilla protein powder (I like Orgain)
• 1/2 c unsweetened cashew or almond milk
• 1 c natural apple sauce
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• pinch of himalayan salt
• 1 tsp grapefruit zest

Fold Ins:

• 1/2 of a large Grapefruit (de-seeded  & sliced into 1/2 in. pieces)
• 1 stalk rhubarb (chopped into small pieces)

Directions

1. Spray a cake or similar pan with non-stick spray.
2. Simply combine all ingredients together in a large bowl.
3. Fold in the grapefruit and rhubarb pieces.
4. Pour batter into pan & press with a spatula.
5. Bake at 375 degrees for 15 minutes.
6. Let cool before serving. Enjoy!

What would you guys add to a breakfast cake?

Spicy Tofu Tacos

Hi Guys!

Does anyone else have herbs growing this summer? I live in an apartment so on our balcony we have fresh herbs growing in railing planters. The ones I use the most are  dill, basil, mint, and of course cilantro. I think tacos are always best topped with some fresh cilantro.

I love vegan meat alternatives. Smokey maple bacon tempeh, Italian seitan, peanut butter tofu… yum.

For dinner last night I decided to make some tacos and had tofu on hand, so that’s what I went with and it turned out great! Of course I tried to make veggies the main ingredient 🙂

• Servings: 2
• Time: 30 minutes
• Difficulty: easy
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Ingredients

Filling:

• 1/2 red pepper, chopped
• 1/2 yellow pepper, chopped
• 1 carrot, thinly sliced
• Small handful snap peas, broken in half
• 1/4 medium red onion, diced
• 1/2 T chili powder
• 1/2 T paprika
• Pinch of Himalayan salt
• 3 Roma tomatoes
• 1/3 black firm tofu, drained & rinsed
• Juice of one lime

Additional:

•  4 low carb, high protein & fiber tortilla – fajitas
• 1/2 ripe avocado
• Fresh cilantro
• Red pepper flakes
• Nutritional yeast

Directions

1. Heat a little olive or avocado oil in a saute pan over medium heat. Add the peppers, carrots, snap peas and red onion. Saute for 5 minutes.
2. While that is cooking add the tomatoes to a blender. Blend into a tomato sauce, leaving it a bit chunky.
3. Add the chili powder, paprika and Himalayan salt to the pan. Saute for another minute.
4. Stir in the tomato sauce and crumble in the tofu. Cover and simmer until the liquid reduces and is mostly adsorbed (about 13 minutes), stirring occasionally.
5. Squeeze in the lime juice and stir.

To Serve:

1. Heat tortillas in a pan on each side, on medium heat, for about 10 – 15 seconds.
2. Scoop a bit of the filling into each warm tortilla.
3. Sprinkle with a few red pepper flakes and some nooch / nutritional yeast. Top with a bit of thinly sliced avocado and fresh cilantro.
4. Serve Immediately. Enjoy!

Try it out, adjust it, let me know what you think or how you made it your own!

Rhubarb Oatmeal Breakfast Bowl

It’s Farmer’s Market and Rhubarb season! Living in Wisconsin makes you really appreciate the warm Summer weekend mornings spent at the Farmer’s Market.  I went this past weekend. While the veggie selection isn’t too abundant yet I did pick up some gorgeous rhubarb, mushrooms and baby beets.

K, now let’s talk about breakfast! I loveee breakfast and I don’t understand how people skip it! Take advantage of weekends to create and try new recipes. In addition, do some food prep on Sunday so that you have a ready-to-go, yummy & nutritious breakfast all week. Right now I am obsessed with food prepping cauliflower oatmeal for the work week. You can check the recipe out on my Instagram @thekellydiet .

This particular recipe was from this past weekend where I have a little more time in the morning and could enjoy making a warm breakfast bowl. I love baking an acorn squash for breakfast and filling it with warm or cold foods like oatmeal, yogurt, nut butter, etc. Because I had picked up some rhubarb I decided to add it to my oatmeal and it turned out great!

• Servings: 1
• Time: 40 minutes
• Difficulty: easy
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I love this recipe because I get to sit down and enjoy a delicious, warm bowl of nutritious and protein packed food that leaves me satisfied all morning. Anytime I can add veggies to my breakfast is an extra bonus 😉

Ingredients

-1/2 of an acorn squash

-1/3 c oats

-1/2 chopped pear

-1/2 stalk of rhubarb, chopped

-1/2 c unsweetened cashew or almond milk

-1 tsp lemon zest

-dash of cinnamon

Directions

1. Cut an acorn squash in half and de-seed. Bake in the oven at 350 degrees for 35 minutes.
2. Add the rest of the ingredients to a small sauce pan and cook as you would regular oatmeal (occasionally stirring on low heat until all liquid is adsorb).
3. Once squash is done simply fill it with the cooked oatmeal mixture.

Easy, yummy, filling. Enjoy 🙂