M.I.A.

Oh dear friends…I am so very sorry that I have been missing in action around here, but it is for a great reason! I have some exciting news to share…but not quite yet! Well, I will give you a sneak peek…it involves logo making, website design and lots of ideas! Ok, what the hay, I am turning this blog into an official one stop shop for all things health and wellness.

Over the past couple of months, I have had friend after friend ask me for advice about how to get their family to eat healthier as well as just living healthier over all. I don’t claim to be perfect, but I LOVE helping people and have decided that turning my ideas into an official website to compile all the info swirling around in my brain, would be a worthwhile idea.

But never fear, I have still been creating recipes (and eating and drinking them too!) and I am excited to share a few with you! So, here are a few of my fav’s from the past couple of weeks.

First up…my personal favorite… Ahh, it makes me transport into another place just thinking about it…

I honestly have no words to describe to you the amazingly awesome flavor of this oatmeal…{pause for a brief moment while I reflect on the memory of this wonderfully delightful bowl of goodness…}

This heavenly bowl of pure yumminess is just beyond words, so I will delay no further and tell you the secret ingredients…

Cobbler Oatmeal

• Rolled Oats
• 1 cup Frozen Organic Peaches
• 1 cup Frozen Organic Blueberries
• 2 Tbsp. Agave Nectar
• 1 tsp. or so of Cinnamon
• chopped walnuts (or any other nut)

In a pan on medium/low heat, add peaches and blueberries and stir until mostly thawed. Add agave and cinnamon and stir to combine and let fruit completely thaw and warm all the way through. Prepare oatmeal as directed on package and add fruit and nuts to the top. I know it sounds simple, but the taste is anything but!

Next up is my Protein Shake that Packs a Punch! It is chock full of good-for-you, plant based protein and is my all time favorite and simple must have shake to get me up and going in the morning!

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of Organic Rice Milk
• 1 hefty scoop of Almond Butter
• 1 scoop of Juice Plus Complete Vanilla
• 1 Tbs. ground flax seed
• 1 handful organic raw spinach
• handful of ice cubes
• 1 banana (optional)

Put all ingredients into a blender (liquid first) and liquify to desired consistency. Some mornings I add a banana, and some days I don’t…it’s up to you!

And last but not least, easy potato corn chowder for those cold, rainy days! Or any day really, just thought I would add that for ambiance! 😉 I made this gem of a meal on a whim today…and oh boy, was it a hit! And, it is in fact cold and rainy outside (odd, I know for San Antonio, Texas in May!), so here goes!

Sweet corn and red potato chowder:

• 1 small yellow onion, diced
• 1 cup of baby carrots, diced
• 2 celery ribs, diced
• 2 cloves of garlic, pressed or minced
• 4 medium red potatoes, quartered and cut into thick chunks
• 3 cups of organic frozen sweet corn
• 3 cups of organic rice milk
• 1 cup of water
• salt, pepper and dried oregano to taste

In a large pot, add 2 Tbs. of water and saute onion, carrots, celery and garlic until onions are translucent. Add all other ingredients and bring to a boil. Turn down heat to medium and simmer for approximately 20-30 minutes or until potatoes are soft.

I hope you enjoy all of these scrumptious recipes and be on the lookout for some updates soon!

🙂 Peggy

Can Heaven be condensed to liquid?

Well, if it could…it would taste like this drink, that is if you like the spicy, yummy flavor of Chai (you are crazy if you don’t!).

I feel like a blog copy cat lately, but it’s not really copying but rather serving as my point of inspiration! If you have not visited Katie’s blog, you are surely missing out! She is a pure genius when it comes to healthy, vegan friendly food and drinks. Of course this is where my inspiration came from for this cup of sheer deliciousness! I tweaked it a little to add a bit more healthiness to it, but you wouldn’t know it was healthy by the seemingly sinful flavor and texture!

Excuse the picture of the empty glass…it didn’t last long enough for me to get a picture of a full one! This is just reflective of how quickly you will want to ingest this goodness of a drink!!

Banana-Chai Liquid Heaven

• 1 frozen banana
• 1 cup of rice milk
• 1 bag of decaf chai
• 2 dashes of cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp grated ginger root
• a swirl of agave
• a spoonful of Vanilla Complete

Warm the rice milk and steep tea bag in it. Let rice milk cool and then add to blender along with all the other ingredients. Blend until all ingredients are liquified. Add to your favorite cup with some ice cubes if desired, and drink up!

*Warning…do not leave cup of drink unattended. Your child will quickly imbibe any remaining drink in your cup.

Purple-Peachy Smoothie….

Ok, I admit, it doesn’t taste that peachy, but I liked the “P” thing that was happening with the Purple and Peachy…I know, corny but hey, I am around kids all day! What do you expect?!

This yummy-licious beauty of a drink was my dinner tonight! We had a late lunch and I wanted something light so this is what I came up with! It was perfect and just enough to fill me up and satisfy my sweet tooth at the same time. Charlotte had what was left in the blender and she devoured it…so I thought it was post-worthy.

Smoothies are a great way to pack in nutrition, and if you add a good quality plant-based protein powder, then it becomes a healthy meal replacement too!  You can pretty much throw what ever you want in the blender and voila! You have a super yummy and healthy treat! As Charlotte would say “delicious and nutritious!”

Purple-Peachy Smoothie

• 1/4 cup frozen blueberries
• 4 or 5  frozen peach slices
• 4 large frozen strawberries
• 1 banana
• 1/2 scoop Juice Plus Complete Vanilla
• 1/2 tbs. ground flax seed
• 1 cup or more of water depending on consistency
• 1 tbs agave

Put all ingredients into a blender (our family uses a Blendtec, Vitamix is good too or any other blender will work fine). Blend until the desired consistency is reached. *Note, I would have normally added in a handful of spinach or kale but I didn’t have any. This addition would have made it even more nutritious!

Drink to your health!

🙂 Peggy

Peanut Butter Balls (p.s. they’re healthy!!)

Oh boy…are you prepared for these cute little round balls of sweet yumminess? Well, get ready…because they are amazing! And believe it or not, they are quite healthy too…well, unless you slather them in chocolate, which is a must in my book! Oh, and there is no cooking involved! Taste and simplicity?! SCORE!!

Peanut Butter Balls

• 1 cup organic peanut butter
• 3/4 cup Juice Plus+ Complete Vanilla (or Dutch Chocolate)
• 1 cup rolled oats
• 1 tbsp. flax
• 1/2 cup honey (or agave)
• optional: chocolate chips, unsweetened coconut flakes

Directions:

Mix peanut butter, Juice Plus complete, oats, flax and honey in a large bowl. Roll into 1 inch balls. For a super yummy treat that tastes almost exactly like a Resse’s Peanut Butter Cup, dip into melted chocolate chips and refrigerate for about 20 minutes (I would highly recommend this version…see picture below!). Store in an airtight container. **Note, do not refrigerate plain peanut butter balls unless you have dipped them in chocolate, this will cause them to get dry…also, I am not admitting how I know this to be true! 🙂

Enjoy, I did!!

Don’t have Juice Plus Complete shake mix? Feel free to use any protein powder, but I wouldn’t recommend it 🙂 You can visit www.riverafamilylovesjuiceplus.com to order!

Zucchini & Squash Fritters-who knew?!

It was one of those “oh no, what are we going to have for lunch?” kind of days…then I remembered, when we were at a friends house a few weeks ago, she made some cute and yummy zucchini fritters. But, the recipe she used called for egg whites, and not that we are boycotting eggs altogether, but if I wanted to double the recipe, it would take a total of 12 egg whites….yeah, you get my point! I wanted to save my farm fresh eggs that I just bought from Straight From the Crate for something else.

By the way…I know this is quite a rabbit trail, but if you are in San Antonio near Universal City, you must go in to this gem of a hole-in-the wall produce store…it is quite the treasure! (Oh, and thanks to my dear friend Danette Blair for introducing me!)

Ahem!…ok, back to the fritters! So, I tweaked my friends recipe a tad…well, a lot, and came up with these oh-so-scrumptious little cakes that my kids even ate! AND…I even brought out the “real” camera for these photos!

Zucchini Fritters:

• 6 Tbs. ground flax seed
• 1 cup of water
• 1/2 cup of quick oats (or rolled oats chopped)
• 1 zucchini (grated)
• 1 squash (grated)
• 1/8 cup garbanzo flour
• 1/2 Tbs. garlic powder
• 1/2 Tbs. onion powder
• 1 tsp oregano
• 1 tsp basil
• salt and pepper to taste
• coconut oil (or oil of choice)

Directions:

In a small bowl, mix flax and water and let sit. In a medium/large bowl add oats, zucchini, squash, garbanzo flour and spices and seasonings, then add in flax/water mixture and stir to combine. Heat a skillet or pan to medium-low and coat pan with thin layer of oil of choice. Once pan is warm, ladle small scoops of mixture onto pan like pancakes. Cook these low and slow so that they cook through but do not burn on the outside. *As a side note, they will “look” like they are not cooked through, but they are! When they are done, transfer to a platter lined with a paper towel to soak up any excess grease.

My family loved these topped with either ketchup or my daughter and I really liked it with Crazy Good Ranch Dressing from one of my favorite blogs! The only adjustment I make to the ranch recipe, is a little more apple cider vinegar and water and less dill.

Enjoy!

Just when you think there are too many…

You know when you are preparing dinner and you are just sure you are going to have enough to feed an Army plus leftovers? Well that was our dinner last night, only the Army was just 5 of us and there are no leftovers in sight! Although I am sad that I now actually have to prepare lunch, I am also glad to have made a successful dinner by all accounts (including the kiddos!). There were veggies, veggies and more veggies, which makes me even more giddy knowing that my family consumed all that super yummy goodness! The only picture I snapped of our meal was the before shot…we were all too starving when it was done that we just got to chowin’ down before I could take a picture! So here is the before, I know I am not much of a photographer, please accept my apologies…I usually just have my phone nearby to snap a quick pic so the quality is not great and it is turned on its side…but you get the picture (no pun intended!).

 Roasted Veggies and Brown Rice

• zucchini
• squash
• baby carrots
• red potatoes
• sweet potato
• cauliflower
• baby bellas (mini portobello mushrooms)
•  short grain brown rice (may sub for any type of rice or quinoa)
• Vegetable broth
• garlic powder
• sea salt
• pepper
• oregano
• basil

Preheat the oven to 400. Chop veggies and transfer to a large bowl. Pour approximately 1/2 to 1 cup of vegetable broth, 1tbs garlic powder, salt (to taste), pepper (to taste), 1tbs oregano and 1tbs dried basil over veggies and use hands to mix just to make sure all the veggies are coated with broth and seasonings. Transfer veggies to a large roasting pan or cookie sheet (note *do not use an insulated cookie sheet…it will take much longer and the natives will get very restless!) and cook for approximately 30-45 minutes. Serve on top of brown rice that has been seasoned with garlic powder, salt and pepper, and feel free to get creative with any sauce you would like to  garnish it with. Some of our favorites are, A-1 Sauce, Tabasco, Low Sodium Soy Sauce and my daughters favorite is Bragg’s Liquid Aminos .

I think your family will be pleasantly surprised at just how yummy this veggie-strong meal is! Oh and p.s. if you have never roasted cauliflower before, get ready for your taste buds to have a party!

You do have a green thumb, you just didn’t know it!

Do you know the quality of produce that you are getting from the store? Unless you grew it yourself, then the answer is a big resounding “NO!” But you might say “I only buy organic…” well, organic is great but the USDA website says that in order for something to be labeled organic, it just has to be 95% organic…what does that mean?! I know 95% seems like a lot and a pretty safe amount, but that is beside the point…*excuse the rabbit trail, I will now return to my point…The point is that there is a way to know exactly what kind of produce you are getting and you can be 100% sure there will be no salmonella or e-coli scare or pesticide residue, not to mention the added cost just to buy fresh produce these days! My sister-in-law just said strawberries in Japan are $5, holy moley! Well, here is our family’s solution…(drumroll please……)

This is the amazing Tower Garden by Juice Plus. This is not mine, but mine will look like that very soon (fingers crossed)! You can grow anything that does not grow underground or on a tree! And with the way my family goes through produce, we will more than cover the cost of this in one summer just in the money we will save not having to purchase as much produce from the store! You can read all about it on my link above, but basically it is aeroponic and requires no soil to grow these plants. And it sounds so peaceful too, like a fountain because you can hear the water trickling down and watering the roots! I’m having visions of sitting in a lounge chair next to it, reading a good book and picking berries from the tower…ahhh…Oh, and let’s not forget about our kiddos! Studies are showing that kids that are involved in the growing process of the produce are more likely to actually eat them!

So, get to gardening…well, minus the back breaking, weed-pulling, pesticide spraying, ground tilling work!

Seriously yummy cornbread casserole…

Ok, well when I find a recipe that my son will have seconds, thirds, fourths, well…you get the picture! I dog ear the page, write notes in the book and put stars all over it! We gauge how successful the dinners are based on whether or not he likes them. Well, just so you know he doesn’t like this one, he LOVES it! Although I have made some modifications, the credit must be given to Lindsey Nixon and her wonderful book Everyday Happy Herbivore. She is seriously amazing and makes some super yummy plant based dishes. I would highly recommend her book and blog. So, to make things easier on me, I have taken a picture of the recipe page straight out of her book (I know, its cheating…sue me!) But this first picture, although unappetizing as it seems, is really seriously good I just forgot to take a picture until after everyone dug in…oh well!

Cajun Cornbread Casserole:

So, I know you can’t read my notes, but here are the modifications I made…

1. I reduced the amount of Cajun Seasoning because my sweet daughter is super sensitive to spicy stuff! But if you reduce the cajun seasoning, make sure to add a little more garlic and onion powder.
2. I added 2 cans of beans and you can sub kidney beans for pinto or black.
3. I also added diced carrots, squash and zucchini just to up the veggie count!
4. It is also super yummy with Tabasco on the top for those that like an extra kick!

Enjoy!

Amazing Avocados…and all the other ingredients too!

Mexican food, well, let’s just say we eat A LOT of it around the Rivera household! Pre-plant based days, there were a lot of unhealthy additions to our Mexican meals, but they were delicious! But, what I have been oh-so-pleasantly surprised to discover, is that you can have mexican food all-day-every-day as a veggie eater and never sacrifice taste! This is just one of the fam fav’s. Don’t judge the appearance of my plate ok, I know it’s chipped…it has been loved well over the last 10 years and is about to get retired! Oh, you may be wondering why I titled this post “Amazing Avocados”, well let’s just say I know a little someone (finger pointing toward myself…) who has been known to cut open an avo and chow down with a spoon! 

Don’t worry! I know you see a lot of “green stuff” on the plate and I promised to be “family friendly” for those picky eaters, but you can customize this meal to each persons palate.

Yummy Texy-Mexy Salad

• Romaine Lettuce (washed and chopped)
• Brown Rice cooked and seasoned with cumin, garlic powder, onion powder, sea salt and pepper (can sub Quinoa for an even healthier addition)
• 1 Can organic black beans
• tomato (diced)
• Organic corn (can’t be havin’ no GMO!) frozen, canned or fresh
• 1 avocado (this is my favorite part!!) mashed and mixed with fresh pressed garlic, lime juice, sea salt and pepper
• cilantro, chopped
• green, white, red (we’re not prejudice!) onion, chopped

Prepare all ingredients and put in individual bowls or piles on a cutting board and let the fam assemble their salads however they choose! Don’t forget to drench each salad with lime juice for an extra kick! You can get creative and add other ingredients too like chopped bell pepper, jalapeños, roasted corn, etc…go ahead, use your imagination! What ever makes you happy!

Super scrumptious cukes!

Hmm, what shall I have for a light lunch? Let’s see what I have in the fridge…This is a little (and I say little in a big way!) cucumber salad that will make your tastebuds party, literally! It is light and delish and just enough when you just need enough to fill your belly while still leaving you feeling healthy!
Cool Cucumber and Tomato Salad:

• 1 cucumber (sliced lengthwise, very thin)
• 1 roma tomato (sliced thin)
• 1 onion (also, sliced thin)
• fresh basil, chopped
• sea salt, pepper and garlic powder to taste
• balsamic vinegar, enough to coat veggies

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and toss together! Voila! It’s that easy and oh yeah, it’s that good!! Enjoy!