Power Food Meals
Last week I gave you a review of Power Foods For The Brain by Dr. Neal Barnard. Today, I am going to give you some quick ways you can take action on those brain healthy recipes!
All of the recipes below were tested in my kitchen this past week and are from the book. I picked out the recipes that looked good to me and just started cooking. As with every recipe, read through it all before beginning and don't be afraid to make tweaks! Every time you step into the kitchen you are learning how to become more efficient and what works for you.
Missed the review last week? Check it out HERE.
The book has a baked oatmeal recipe on page 197. It calls for a few extra ingredients that could also be add-ins for a plain oatmeal recipe and requires some baking time. Below, I just cut down on the requirements so you can make this basic oatmeal recipe in 4 minutes instead of 30.
Breakfast can be easy. And to make it even easier, you can throw all this in a mason jar (seriously, no cooking required) the night before and grab it on the way out the door. Just don't forget your spoon!
Next up, I thought I would get a little fancier and show you folks waffles. Well....that didn't go as planned. Maybe skip that one in the book (I should have known better after it called for a frozen and then thawed banana. Weird.). Luckily for me, I managed to salvage what I could and turn the rest of the batter into pancakes. The kiddos thought both were equally yummy.
What you need to know is that healthy waffles are hard to come by. They require a lot of oil (fat) to get them to stick together and get good 'n crispy. I have several recipes that we like for waffles, but they aren't super healthy. We save those for an occasional treat. The Engine 2 diet has a super delicious waffle recipe that doesn't have any oil, but it calls for almost a cup of walnuts to get all the fat you need to make some waffley goodness.
My kiddos ate every bite of these stuffed bell peppers (page 234)! It originally called for oregano, but I had cilantro on hand. I also increased the quantity of some ingredients to fill up our family. Click on the picture for the recipe as I made it.
What do you call fake pasta? An IMpasta! Ha! I know, I know...reel it back in lady. This isn't lunch. No time for jokes.
My kids love pasta. Who doesn't? And these days you can get pasta in many varieties other than your usual whole wheat: edamame, black bean, chickpea, brown rice, lentil, and adzuki bean...Yep. I encourage you to mix it up! This recipe is on page 229 and calls for any extra veggies you like. Again, use what you have! Easy peasy. Coincidentally, I did use peas.
All of the recipes below were tested in my kitchen this past week and are from the book. I picked out the recipes that looked good to me and just started cooking. As with every recipe, read through it all before beginning and don't be afraid to make tweaks! Every time you step into the kitchen you are learning how to become more efficient and what works for you.
Missed the review last week? Check it out HERE.
Rise and Shine it's Breakfast Time!
Click on the picture for a Basic Oatmeal Recipe.
Breakfast can be easy. And to make it even easier, you can throw all this in a mason jar (seriously, no cooking required) the night before and grab it on the way out the door. Just don't forget your spoon!
Next up, I thought I would get a little fancier and show you folks waffles. Well....that didn't go as planned. Maybe skip that one in the book (I should have known better after it called for a frozen and then thawed banana. Weird.). Luckily for me, I managed to salvage what I could and turn the rest of the batter into pancakes. The kiddos thought both were equally yummy.
What you need to know is that healthy waffles are hard to come by. They require a lot of oil (fat) to get them to stick together and get good 'n crispy. I have several recipes that we like for waffles, but they aren't super healthy. We save those for an occasional treat. The Engine 2 diet has a super delicious waffle recipe that doesn't have any oil, but it calls for almost a cup of walnuts to get all the fat you need to make some waffley goodness.
Every Lunchbox Needs a Joke!
I put a joke inside my kiddos' lunchbox every Friday. I thought you might like one too. I also put a lunch in for them too, but sadly you don't get one here. I had every intention of trying out at least one lunch-ish recipe, but ran out of time.
It actually worked out perfect, because if you are crunched for time like me, these dinner recipes below will provide you with plenty of leftovers! ...which is exactly what I had for lunch this week!
Dinner Winner!
I want to say up front that both of the recipes turned out even better than I expected and lend well to mixing up the ingredients to accommodate your taste or what you have on hand. I love recipes that are flexible and still turn out well. Don't be afraid to make changes. These will be hard to screw up!
My kiddos ate every bite of these stuffed bell peppers (page 234)! It originally called for oregano, but I had cilantro on hand. I also increased the quantity of some ingredients to fill up our family. Click on the picture for the recipe as I made it.
My kids love pasta. Who doesn't? And these days you can get pasta in many varieties other than your usual whole wheat: edamame, black bean, chickpea, brown rice, lentil, and adzuki bean...Yep. I encourage you to mix it up! This recipe is on page 229 and calls for any extra veggies you like. Again, use what you have! Easy peasy. Coincidentally, I did use peas.
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| Click the pic for a link to the recipe! |
Sweet Endings!
This lady likes dessert. How about you? Since fall is upon us, kind of, pumpkin and spice are where it's at. This one came together super fast and I had everything already on hand. Bonus. I also feel so good about this recipe that my kids will definitely be having it for breakfast too. Double bonus.
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| It got two thumbs up from the kiddos! |
Power food for your brain. Looks good, right? Healthy food doesn't have to always be salad.
I encourage you to check out this book (I got my copy from my local library!) and give some of the recipes a taste test. The book includes nutritional information and many more recipes. Let me know how it went!
*If you are looking for more recipes and ideas, Dr. Barnard also has an on-line 21 Day Kickstart program (you can also find a hardcopy at any bookstore or Amazon) with 21 days of FREE recipes and a menu plan. Click here to find out more and see all the support and resources the plan offers. It follows the same guidelines as Power Foods for The Brain and are all whole-food and plant-based.
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