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Hand holding Pistachio Oat Square

Pistachio Oat Cookie Bar Squares

Pistachio Oat Squares on counter

Chocolate and Coconut + 6 = Easy~Quick~Yummy

These delicious Pistachio Oat Cookie Bar Squares can easily be made vegan and gluten-free and are so pretty!  Plus super quick and easy to make with only 8 ingredients including chocolate and coconut.  They’re quite different from your typical holiday cookie, and yes they do stand out in a cookie crowd!  Extra bonus they’re much healthier than your typical holiday cookie, but believe me no one will taste them and be disappointed.  Let’s talk about that…

Pistachios are among the highest protein and lowest-calorie nut

Pistachios for Pistachio Oat Squares Recipe

These squares are adapted from a recipe in Jessica Murname’s wonderful book titled “One Part Plant”.  Raw pistachios and oats are the main ingredients.  Did you know pistachios are one of the most Vitamin B-6 rich foods around?  Vitamin B-6 is helpful for blood sugar regulation and formation of hemoglobin.  They’re also a good source of potassium and antioxidants, are among the highest protein and lowest-calorie nut, and their essential amino acid content is higher than any other nut–one of them being L-arginine which converts to nitric oxide in our body.  Nitric oxide helps our vessels dilate improving blood flow.

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Chocolate Pumpkin Bread~Vegan and Gluten-Free

Oh Yum, this delicious bread is so moist and chocolaty!  Pumpkin puree gives it a nice richness, and cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger add a mild but lovely spiciness.  This is my first time baking with chickpea based gluten-free flour and I’m really happy with the texture and flavor.

Chocolate Pumpkin Bread in Red Loaf Pan

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Healthy Vegetarian Meatloaf

Fix It Plan’s Scrumptious Tempeh Meatloaf

Vegetarian Tempeh Meatloaf Dinner

There are a lot of good recipes out there for meatless meatloaf, but we particularly like this one because it has more bite to it–a real meaty texture.  Loaded with protein from tempeh and hemp seeds, deliciously seasoned with a tangy glaze, this is a favorite at our house.  And even the meat eaters enjoy it!

Tempeh is such a versatile food and often so misunderstood it seems.  While reaching for it in the refrigerator case at the store I’ve had people come up to me and ask what I do with it.  And when I tell them how good it is they look at me with disbelief!  I suppose it is rather unattractive in its sealed package, all pale and odd looking, naked and unadorned. Continue reading Healthy Vegetarian Meatloaf

Vegetarian Quinoa Chili

Vegetarian Quinoa Chili

Traveling to see distant family and friends during the holidays, we were touched by the care everyone showed to make sure Bill ate heart healthy! — potentially challenging since he (and me!) are still eating mostly plant-based and are now also wheat free.

Butter beans and field peas from Uncle Ernest’s garden, a hearty bean soup made especially for Bill at my sister’s home, along with a wide variety of fruits and vegetables everywhere we went kept us well fed.  I carried along plenty of fresh baked Sylvia’s Ozark Cornbread making sure I had enough to share.  (I’m pretty sure I converted some Jiffy cornbread eaters to this heartier bread along the way.)

Everyone’s thoughtfulness gave the holidays an extra-special warmth and feelings of being loved.  What could be nicer than that?  Continue reading Vegetarian Quinoa Chili

Late Summer Minestrone with Butternut Squash and Fresh Corn

Late Summer Minestrone with Butternut Squash and Fresh Corn

“There is nothing like soup. It is by nature eccentric: no two are ever alike, unless of course you get your soup in a can.”    ~Laurie Colwin, ‘Home Cooking’ (1988)

We really like soup.  Mmmm, a thing that cooks in one pot, gives off a wonderful aroma, and makes my home feel all cozy.  It promises a comfortable and comforting meal and it requires some sort of bread.  I served this soup with Sylvia’s Ozark Corn Bread and it was a delicious pairing.

Fresh corn wasn’t available, but everything else was fresh except the tomatoes.  (I find organic canned tomatoes are much tastier than the fresh ones, at least where we live.)  It was easy to prepare in part because of how everything timed out.  While the leeks, celery and bell pepper were cooking, I chopped the garlic and measured out all the spices in a bowl.  After adding the garlic, spices, tomatoes and liquid, the pot was left to simmer.  Continue reading Late Summer Minestrone with Butternut Squash and Fresh Corn