My Favorite Healthy Recipes

One of the best things about being back in Sacramento is reconnecting with my Kaia tribe. Started up again in January with what we call a "BRIK" session, basically six weeks of fairly intense workouts and healthy eating. I decided to try to eat mostly vegan, whole foods, less processed, and minimize simple carbs. It went so well, I'm still doing it! Loving how I feel, how I look and that I am causing less harm to animals and our planet. Whether you want to try going full vegan or just cutting down on meat and dairy by substituting a few meals a week, here are some I tried and loved. I'm happy to share with you (as well as document so I can look them up for future meals! I always forget things I've loved in the past.) Sorry some are not very specific, I usually cook to the texture and flavor I like without paying attention to the details.

Breakfast

Steel Cut Oats are a fav. I usually make enough for the week each time. I usually add:

• Raw, unsweetened coconut
• Dried fruit
• Chopped nuts or seeds
• Cinnamon if it works with the other flavors

Leftover quinoa also makes a great bfast. I add similar stuff, in this case I had some fresh apples to throw in.


This recipe could be steel cut oats or quinoa. I add in the same stuff plus PB Fit with a little extra water to make it a pb sauce.


Sweet potato toast with avocado and white beans are delicious! I microwaved the sweet potatoes first until tender cause I don't have a toaster oven. Then I put in the toaster a few times through to crisp it up. You can sub any beans you like. I think I also added hot sauce, but took the pic before I did that.


I finally tried a tofu scramble recipe and can't believe I waited so long. I am not a huge fan of scrambled eggs, so I actually like this sooo much more than the non-vegan version.  Here's the recipe I used for inspiration. I subbed broccoli for kale and smoked paprika for tumeric and added black beans.


Smoothies are my go-to, especially right after a workout. My standard:

• Protein powder (2 scoops)
• Greens - usually arugula or spinach
• Fluid - almond, coconut, or hemp milk
• Frozen banana
• Frozen berries or cocoa and PB fit
• 1/2 avocado if one needs to be used in a hurry
• Optional tbsp of chia, flax, hemp seeds

Lunch/Dinner

I put these in the same category because one of the things I did during BRIK is try to eat my larger meal earlier in the day and no meals after 7 p.m. to give my digestive system some time off.



Lentil spring rolls got my BRIK off to a great start - never had lentils before that I was aware and was amazed at how yummy they were! Here's the recipe I used for inspiration, but I subbed romaine leaves for the rice wrappers and didn't use tomatoes.




If you like tuna or egg salad sandwiches, this one's for you. Here is the inspiration recipe. I of course adjusted - used pocket bread, subbed cilantro for basil, added chopped onion and red pepper.



Salads don't have to include lettuce. This one is cucumbers, kidney beans, tomatoes, carrots, cilantro, sunflower seeds and nutritional yeast, topped with a little lemon juice. Yum!


Marinara over zoodles or spaghetti squash- at least once a week! Sauce: saute onion and garlic with olive oil until translucent, add in broth and tomato sauce (less broth) or paste (more broth), oregano, salt and pepper. Zoodles - make sure you just saute a couple mins with olive oil and garlic, don't overcook, please don't boil like pasta.


"Meat" sauce over zoodles or spaghetti squash.
Sauce: saute onion and garlic with olive oil until translucent, add in cooked lentils, broth, and tomato sauce (less broth) or paste (more broth), oregano, salt and pepper. Squash recipe


Lentil chili - here is the inspiration recipe and I subbed carrots for corn and black for kidney beans. I also didn't have fresh jalapeno.


Quinoa spring rolls - here's the inspiration recipe and I added tofu and avocado and subbed carrots for peppers and peanut sauce for cashew sauce.


Basic veggie soup - this one saved my eating habits many a day. Start with sauteing the hardest veggies in olive oil (potatoes, carrots) and add in garlic and onions. When the veggies are tender, add in the softer ones (canned green beans, canned corn), broth and beans of any kind. Add in oregano, basil and salt and pepper to taste. Soup is better in the days after you make it.


Simplest recipe on here - canned tomato soup with avocado instead of sour cream. Who can't manage that?



Chickpea and potato curry over quinoa - here is the inspiration recipe (waaay different than what I ended up with!) Chana masala was way too expensive, so I substituted regular ol curry spice. I used ginger powder instead of fresh (don't recommend). I didn't have cilantro, green chilis, or tumeric. I also left out the tomatoes. Was really yummy though. I put it over quinoa instead of rice and added a softened, cut up potato in the blender process to thicken up the sauce.


BBQ jackfruit tacos - so I bought the jackfruit at Bel Air already seasoned. Super easy to heat up and use gluten-free taco shells. I actually didn't like this much....funny enough, the texture was too much like pork. Sharing in case you like pulled pork - it was very convincing and waaay less fat and calories.

Snacks

If you like black licorice, fresh fennel chopped up is a great substitute. Learned this one in Guate.


Acorn squash slices - carefully slice your squash and save the seeds. Toss the slices in coconut oil and oil up a baking sheet. Bake the slices and seeds until they are as crispy as you like. Salt to taste.


Almond Joy bites - these are a ton of work and soooooo good. Can't believe how delicious they are for how healthy they are. Here's the recipe I followed to the 't".

Not picture, somehow, is the air-popped popcorn I eat ALMOST EVERY DAY. I add coconut oil, nutritional yeast and salt. So good!

Looking for more ideas? I can't recommend The Minimalist Baker enough. I just got their hardcover cookbook and it is beautiful. Thanks for reading through these, hope they've inspired you to try your hand at a few of them. Let me know how it goes!
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