Yummy Stuffed Peppers

This is such a fun meal to make! The kids love to open the top and eat what's inside.

- 1 1/2 cups dry Jasmine rice (or your favorite rice), cooked
- 4-8 green bell peppers (quantity depending on how many you want to stuff)

Sauce:
- 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 5 fresh mushrooms, largely chopped
- 28 oz can organic diced tomatoes
- 6 oz can organic tomato paste
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1 1/2 Tbsp turbinado sugar or organic sugar
- small can sliced olives
- 3 Tbsp fresh basil, chopped

Make rice. In large pan, heat olive oil on low heat. Add onion and mushrooms and saute. Add diced tomatoes and tomato paste. Add salt and sugar and stir. Add olives and fresh basil.

When rice is done, add rice to sauce. Cut top off pepper and wash out inside discarding seeds. Fill each pepper with rice mixture and replace top.

Cook in 350 degree oven for 30-35 minutes or until peppers are cooked through. Be careful. Rice will be hot inside. Great to serve with fresh salad and Naan bread.

Healthy Pizza for the Whole Family

My kids love making their own pizzas and so do I! Here are two fun recipes...

For Me! - No Cheese Pizza with BBQ Sauce:
- Naan bread, whole wheat, or healthy pizza crust (Whole Foods sells great pizza crust)
- BBQ sauce (make sure you buy a brand without High Fructose Corn Syrup!)
- Fresh mushrooms, sliced
- Raw asparagus, cut
- Olives, sliced
- Sea salt, sprinkle on top

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake pizza for 12 minutes. Great to serve with watermelon.

For the Kids:
- Naan bread, white or whole wheat, or healthy pizza crust
- Tomato sauce (make sure you buy a brand without High Fructose Corn Syrup!)
- Cheese, shredded (I like Tillamook Cheese because there is no animal rennet in it)
- Any toppings they like such as olives

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake pizza for 12 minutes. Great to serve with watermelon and remaining asparagus from your pizza.

Delicioso Rice

This is a flavorful brown rice dish that will leave you satisfied.

- 1 1/2 cups dry brown rice, cooked (I prefer short grain brown rice)
- 2 Tbsp canola oil
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 1 medium green bell pepper, diced
- 1 medium yellow bell pepper, diced
- 1 medium sweet red pepper, diced
- 1/2 cup salsa

Seasoning:
- 1 Tbsp ground cumin
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 1/2 tsp onion flakes

Toppings:
- A spoon of salsa
- Fresh avocado
- Sour cream

Cook rice. In large pan, heat oil on low/medium and add diced vegetables and salsa. Add seasoning. Cook vegetables until tender. Add rice and mix. Serve with your favorite toppings. I love a little extra salsa and fresh avocado.

Capellini Pomodoro

This recipe is from Olive Garden, although I have adjusted it just a bit. Super easy to make and great to serve when you want something fast and refreshing!

- Angel hair pasta
- 6 Tbsp olive oil
- 8 medium tomatoes, cut into small 1/2" pieces
- 12 fresh basil leaves, chopped
- Salt to taste

Cook pasta. In large pan, warm olive oil on low heat. Add chopped tomatoes, basil and salt to taste. Do NOT overcook tomatoes. You just want them warm. If you do, it will turn into a watery mess. Serve on top of angel hair pasta.

Super Easy Spring Roles

Holy moly! These are good. I thought they would be hard to make, but a good friend of mine proved me wrong. Here's what you need:

- Spring roll wrappers (buy at grocery store by Chinese sauces; looks like pack of tortillas)
- Bean threads (located in grocery store by the spring roll wrappers; looks like dried noodles)
- Bag of shredded carrots
- Cilantro, chopped
- Sweet and sour sauce or your favorite Chinese dipping sauce

Set up a quick work station. This will make assembly fast. I used two cutting boards (one for cilantro and one for assembly) and a large pan filled with an inch of water.

First, steam the carrots. Second, cook the bean threads like you would pasta (boil for only a few minutes). Drain bean threads. Chop cilantro. Ok, here we go:

Place one spring roll wrapper in pan of water and let soak until soft (not too long or wrapper will break). Take soft wrapper out of pan and place on cutting board. Add carrots, bean threads and a pinch of cilantro. Wrap like a burrito. Place on second cutting board to dry (only takes about one minute to dry). Repeat until you have enough made. I made 12 with one small bunch of bean threads.

Dip in sweet and sour sauce. Enjoy!

Ps. I made these again, but this time added in one steamed asparagus tip per roll. Yum!

Sun Dried Tomato Bow Tie Pasta

This is super easy to make and so refreshing! Great to serve at a party or luncheon too.

- 12 oz box bow tie pasta
- 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 4-6 cloves fresh garlic, pressed or finely chopped
- 4 Tbsp fresh squeezed lemon juice
- 3 Tbsp sun dried tomato, chopped
- 1 Tbsp capers (capers located near olives in store)
- 1/2 tsp salt

Cook pasta as directed. In large pan, simmer garlic in olive oil on low heat. Do not burn garlic. Add rest of ingredients. When pasta is cooked, drain and add to pan. Mix well.

Note: Kids may not like sun dried tomatoes, so just push aside the tomatoes and they will love it.

Lemon Angel Hair Pasta

This is such a classy recipe that it can be served for a special event or anniversary dinner!


- Angel hair pasta
- 2 Tbsp unsalted butter
- 2 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
- 1/4 cup parsley, chopped
- 4 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
- salt to taste
- 1 cup fresh Parmesan, shredded (optional)
- 2 green onion, finely chopped
- 1 Tbsp walnuts for garnish, toasted or roasted and chopped

DIRECTIONS

Cook pasta as directed.

Combine butter, olive oil, parsley and lemon juice. Salt to taste. Add to the pasta and mix. Garnish with a sprinkle of green onion, walnuts and Parmesan cheese (if desired).

Great to serve with asparagus!

Roasted Vegetable Quinoa

Don't be scared of making Quinoa. It is so easy and so wonderfully healthy. You make it just like you would rice and it can be purchased just about anywhere.

- 1 cup dry quinoa
- 3 parsnips, peeled and chopped
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 6 medium carrots, peeled and chopped
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp Kosher salt
- 1 large sweet potato, peeled and chopped
- 6-8 sprigs fresh thyme

Dressing:
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 3 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tsp honey
- 1 tsp chopped fresh parsley
- 1 clove garlic, crushed
- salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 400° for vegetables.

To roast vegetables: Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Toss vegetables with olive oil, salt and pepper. Arrange vegetables in a single layer. Top with thyme sprigs and bake for 30-40 minutes until tender.

Prepare quinoa as per instructions on package.

To make dressing: whisk together all the ingredients in a medium-size bowl.

To assemble: mix the dressing and the quinoa, then add vegetables (thyme will fall from sprigs when loosened) and toss to combine.

Raw Power Breakfast

This is my favorite summer breakfast!

1/2 cup rolled oats (uncooked)
2 tablespoons organic raisins
1 tablespoon slivered raw almonds, raw walnuts and/or raw cashews
1/2 cup fresh fruit (strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries)
2 teaspoons honey or maple syrup
1/2 cup rice or almond milk (plain)

Simply add everything to your bowl, add honey and milk before serving.

Your Basic "Any Time" Pasta Sauce

I make this once a week, but change it up based on the additional ingredients and type of pasta. My kids love it! Note: Stock up on basic ingredients to easily make homemade pasta any time.

- Your favorite pasta
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 28 oz can organic diced tomatoes
- 6 oz can organic tomato paste
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 1/2 tablespoons turbinado sugar or organic sugar
- 3 tablespoons chopped fresh basil (secret ingredient)

Add any or all of the following:
- 1 tablespoon capers
- sliced olives (as much as you like)
- 4-5 chopped sauted mushrooms (sauté in olive oil before adding tomatoes)
- 1/2 cup chopped onion (sauté in olive oil before adding tomatoes)
- 1-2 cloves fresh chopped garlic (sauté in olive oil before adding tomatoes)

Cook pasta. While cooking, add olive oil to pan. Cook on low heat; just a simmer. Add ingredients in order shown.