Store mixes have so many added ingredients and oils. This homemade recipe is so fresh and flavorful. Perfect for fall.

Ingredients: 1 can of pumpkin purée, 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour, 2 eggs, 1/4 cup oat or almond milk, 4 table spoons light butter, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, 1 teaspoon baking soda, pinch of salt, 1/2 cup honey, 2 teaspoons pumpkin spice powder, 1-1.5 teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all ingredients together thoroughly. Spray pan and pour mix in. Add dark chocolate chips or nuts on top if you’d like 🙂

Bake for 35-45 minutes or until you stick a knife through the bread and it comes out clean. Let cool before removing from pan and enjoy xo 🍞

This recipe uses clean ingredients and tastes so good- even better than a restaurant! I even used tomatoes fresh from my gardens. The ingredients I used were: tomatoes, onion, garlic, limes, jalapeño (if you want), cilantro, cumin, sugar, and salt.

First I rinsed all the ingredients. Then I added the onion and garlic to a food processor. Next add the other ingredients and pulse it to the consistent that you like best. Use as much or as little of each ingredient as you’d like 😋

I’ve done quite a bit of reading on clean and healthy eating and it really is simple (theoretically haha). Whole, clean foods. When I eat simple/whole foods and skip the chips or frozen foods- I feel so much better. My face doesn’t feel puffy. I don’t feel sick to my stomach or dehydrated at the end of the day. Companies nowadays process food with so many added chemicals/ingredients, sugar, and salt. Some of the chemicals are so addicting too. Since March, I’ve slowly been cutting less and less processed food out of my diet. I find myself craving a fresh bowl of fruit rather than a cookie. I cut out it all out cold turkey at first and it was a disaster. Processed/refined food really does have addicting ingredients. They will never stop doing that, so my best outlook is read the ingredients. Read how much added sugar or salt there is. Choose the brown rice pasta over the enriched flour one. You get the gist. It can be so fun trying new types of produce each season and working with new recipes to create beautiful, wholesome, light meals.

I didn’t try any new recipes this week, so I figured I would share some of my go to meals and snacks lately that I eat to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Healthy eating doesn’t have to be complicated and the majority of these meals are very simple. If you feel like you are in a rut with your meals/snacks lately, this post is for you and hopefully you will get some ideas from it. I’m not going to include every single meal from this week (because that would be too long haha), but more so going to include the highlights and some of my favorites. Enjoy! Xo, Shan

This is a great lunch/dinner option. I sautéed a bunch of veggies with olive oil, garlic, lemon, and a sprinkle of salt and pepper. I cooked a veggie burger on the stove top (you can healthier ones at most grocery stores like Aldi’s and Trader Joe’s) on a toasted piece of Food for Life bread with a little Sriracha on top.

This smoothie I made has: 1.5 cup spinach, 1-1.5 cup water, 1 cup papaya, and 1 banana. This is so refreshing in the morning and a great way to get some greens in.

I grilled some chicken, used whole wheat tortillas, and sautéed some peppers and onions. I put some avocado on top too.

This is a very simple lunch. I cooked a veggie burger and put it over a bed of arugula. I made some salad dressing with olive oil, white vinegar, lemon, garlic, and a sprinkle of salt and pepper.

A delish breakfast. I started with a big bowl of fruit (papaya, watermelon, and blueberries. I toasted two pieces of Food For Life bread (seriously the healthiest bread around) with some vegan cream cheese, crushed red pepper, and some avocado.

This was a salad I had on the go- some spinach on the bottom, carrots, spoonful of hummus, half of an avocado, and some of my homemade dressing. Simple, but filling and delicious.

This was an afternoon snack I had the other day- two types of chips- bean and quinoa (on the left from Trader Joe’s) and blue corn chips (can find just about anywhere). I added some carrots and a spoonful of hummus. I made some guacamole with avocados, lime, garlic, tomato, and a sprinkle of salt and pepper.

This was one of the breakfasts I had this week. Whole grain and dairy free pancakes (recipe coming soon) with blueberries and drizzled with a little bit of maple syrup.

I grilled some chicken and then added some green beans and an arugula salad with some mozzarella on top. If you don’t have a grill, there are some great ways to cook chicken on the stove top or oven. Chicken is a great source of protein. I drizzled some homemade dressing on top.

This is my favorite dinner for summer. I marinated some chicken and grabbed a bunch of vegetables that I like and then put it on screwers and grilled. I ended up using zucchini, bell peppers, mushrooms, grape tomatoes, and onions. Whatever vegetables you decide to use, make sure you use onions. The juice provides excellent flavor to the rest of the vegetables while they’re cooking.

I read through many recipes online, but this one I found seems be the healthiest option. The bread came out super fluffy and had great flavor. This a great breakfast option with a side of fruit when you are sick of oatmeal/yogurt/traditional breakfasts. I will link the recipe down below but just wanted to let you know- I used coconut oil and opted for whole wheat flour. I also added a 1/2 cup of dark chocolate chips (chef’s kiss👌🏼) and extra cinnamon on top for added flavor. Also- make sure you chop the zucchini in very small pieces for best results.

https://cookieandkate.com/healthy-zucchini-bread-recipe/

This recipe I’m sharing is perfect for summer nights and so flavorful and healthy. Chicken has great protein and is a lot leaner and better for you than red meat. If you are a beginner at cooking chicken (like me lowkey😂) – you can do this one!! It’s truly not hard and you could prep a lot at once and then put in the fridge for future meals for the week. It’s important to include dark leafy green vegetables every day. Spinach specifically is a great source of vitamin K, vitamin A, and vitamin C. Lemons make dishes very flavorful and offer vitamin C.

Ingredients

Chicken breast (# of pieces is up to you), olive oil, frozen spinach, 2 lemons, salt, pepper, paprika, garlic

Steps

1. Brine the chicken: fill a bowl of lukewarm water and stir some salt in. Put chicken in there for 15 minutes. After that rinse chicken and pat with with paper towels.

2. Line glass pan with a bedding of spinach. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

3. Fill a medium size bowl with 4 tablespoons of olive oil. Brush olive owl all over the chicken. Move oiled chicken to a new cutting board area and sprinkle and massage in the paprika, salt, and pepper. Chop some garlic while your at it. Use as much or little as you’d like.

4. Place seasoned chicken evenly over the spinach in the pan. Add a little bit more olive oil on top if the chicken doesn’t look wet and moist enough. You don’t want it to come out dry!! Drizzle lemon evenly all over the chicken and sprinkle the chopped garlic all over. Place a couple lemon slices in between chicken pieces.

5. Place in oven for at least 40-45 minutes. Flip chicken breast halfway through and add some more spinach if necessary. After the cooked time cut into chicken and make sure it looks cooked and isn’t pink.

Let cool and enjoy 😁 I paired this with some lemon/pepper seasoned asparagus, but could also be great with some whole grain pasta. Consider breading the chicken with some bread crumbs. I will be doing that next time I make this to add more flavor/texture to complete the dish.

I will be showing step by step on how to create this delicious and nutritious breakfast option. These are high in protein and have great nutrients from the vegetables. I personally used red bell peppers, spinach, and broccoli, but you can use whatever vegetables you like best! This recipe makes 12 frittata cups.

Ingredients

6 eggs, 1/3 cup of milk (whatever kind you prefer to use/I used almond), 1 red bell pepper, 1 cup brocoli, 1 cup spinach, 2 tablespoons garlic, 1 teaspoon of pepper, sprinkle of salt, sprinkle of nutritional yeast on top (optional- you could throw some cheddar or Parmesan on top if you’d like)

1. Chop vegetables into small pieces

2. Whisk eggs with milk, pepper, and sprinkle of salt

3. Preheat oven to 375

4. Spray muffin tin with olive oil and fill it with the egg mixture about 3/4 full

5. Add vegetables and garlic on top

6. Sprinkle nutritional yeast on top and more pepper if you’d like

7. Put in oven and cook for 15-18 minutes or until you put a knife in the middle and it comes out clean with no egg on it

When you need a snack that’s a little more filling, these granola bars are a perfect and healthy option. I was at Target the other day and was debating about purchasing some granola bars because they would be a great snack for after working out or at work. Then, I began reading the ingredients on the back. There’s so many types and brands of granola bars that claim to be healthy, yet they literally have 20+ ingredients and so much added sugar and salt. Don’t be fooled. This prompted me to make my own with cleaner ingredients. This is a very simple recipe and you can make a lot of them at once and then store them in the fridge/freezer. I decided to make two types- Chocolate Coconut Almond and Cranberry Chia Chocolate. Also- I used all natural peanut butter that only has one ingredient (peanuts)- but feel free to use any type or brand of butter (almond, sunflower, etc.) Keep in mind you can also use different types of nuts/fruit/toppings! I just used the ones I liked best. These ended up being like the width of a Nature Valley granola bar for reference, SO if you want a thicker bar, use a smaller tray. It really comes down to preference.

These are the ingredients you need! I forgot to add honey in this pic, so don’t forget that. It’s a key ingredient to get the bars to hold their shape.

Step 1: line a 9×9 pan with tinfoil or parchment paper.

Step 2: put 1.5 cup coconut oil, 2-3 table spoons of honey, 1 table spoon vanilla extract, and 2 cups of peanut butter in a pot on the stove. Stir once in a while on low heat. When it starts to bubble like this and everything is mixed and melted, take off and turn off stove. Let it cool for 5 mins.

Step 3: sprinkle some rolled oats in the pan. Make sure they are spread out evenly.

Step 4: pour in the coconut oil/pb/vanilla into pan evenly.

Step 5: this is the fun part. So I made two types so half the pan I sprinkled: dark chocolate chips, coconut flakes, cinnamon, almonds, and a pinch of sea salt. The other half of the tray I did dark chocolate chips, cranberries, and chia seeds.

Step 6: put tray in freezer for 1.5 hours. After that, take it out and cut bars into rectangles or squares. For best results, store in fridge or freezer so they don’t melt and stay fresh.

There’s so many recipes out there for pesto, but I love this one from Kenzie Burke. It is completely nut free and uses nutritional yeast which has protein and tastes like a cheese. It’s only $5 and usually is in the health aisle at the grocery store. You could opt out and use Romano or Parmesan cheese instead of nutritional yeast if you’d like. Her recipe doesn’t call for garlic, I personally added some for flavor. Pesto sauce is great for: on top of pastas, salad dressing, on top of chicken, and so much more. There’s very limited ingredients in this recipe. Most store made pesto has double the ingredients and too much salt. When you make your own, you know exactly what goes into it. Clean ingredients and no chemicals. Recipe post from Kenzie Burke is linked below and I added some of my pictures from when I made it most recently. Enjoy xo

Kenzie Burke’s Golden Pesto Sauce Recipe (Click green text for recipe link)

I kid you not I have read and tried so many different banana bread/muffins like most people during quarantine haha. That said, I have experimented how many bananas are needed to provide the most flavor, what flour is the tastiest but nutritious, butter or no butter, oil or no oil, etc. I have compiled ingredients and measurements that I personally think taste the best, while still providing it some nutrition/healthier take and not treating it so much as a dessert. I hope you try and I hope you enjoy xo.

Ingredients: (makes 12 muffins)

3 bananas

1 egg

1 table spoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon baking soda

1.5 cup whole wheat flour (or almond flour)

2 table spoons olive oil (this is the butter alternative)

1 table spoon cinnamon

2 table spoons sugar

Pinch of salt

3 table spoons light brown sugar

1/2 cup of dark chocolate mini chocolate chips

(Feel free to also add chopped walnuts/pecans/any type of nut if that is your vibe)

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350. Mash bananas and throw in microwave for 20 seconds. Combine mashed bananas with the other ingredients and mix well. Add dark chocolate chips/nuts lastly if you decide to add those. Spray and pour into muffin pan. Put into muffin pan and cook for 15-18 mins or until golden.