Do not try this one at home!

This recipe for vegan sloppy joes sounded good, but it was not. I think it was the vinegar that jacked it up, but I'm not willing to try it again to find out. This dinner looks fantastic, but it was just too sour.

1/2 c uncooked lentils
1/2 c uncooked rice
1 bell pepper, diced
1 red onion, 1/2 diced, 1/2 sliced
3-4 garlic cloves, pressed
1/4 c vinegar (or NOT)
1 can tomato paste
1 T chili powder
1/2 T cumin
salt and pepper
1 avocado, sliced
1 tomato, sliced

Cook the rice and lentils (I had some leftover rice from a stir fry the night before.) In a frying pan, sauté the diced onions, garlic, and bell pepper. Add tomato paste, vinegar, seasonings, lentils, and rice and simmer for 5-7 minutes. In a separate pan, caramelize the sliced onion. Put the lentil mix on buns and top with onion, avocado, and tomato. (We put this on baked corn tortillas because of our gluten issues.)

This had such potential and the avocado was a really tasty touch. Isaac took one bite and looked ill. At first I thought he was being dramatic, but I probably had the same look on my face! Oh well.

Hippie Cookies

I saw this healthy cookie recipe on Facebook a while back and finally got around to trying it this afternoon! I have two reasons for not making them yet: 1- it's been 8 million degrees out so turning on the oven didn't sound too pleasant and 2- I kept eating all the bananas before they got ripe enough. Now that it's cooled off to a brisk 104, I thought it was time to do some baking.

These cookies are vegan, gluten-free, and don't use any sugar at all!

3 mashed ripe bananas
1/3 c applesauce
2 c oats
1/4 c almond milk
1/2 c craisins
1 t vanilla
1 t cinnamon

Stir together, bake at 350, 15-20 mins.

As you can see, I made these fairly small because I was worried they would be mushy inside. They were still mushy inside. Isaac was MMMMM-ing all over the place, saying these were SO good! Esther doesn't like craisins or raisins, so she didn't care for them. I thought they were...meh. They mostly tasted like over-ripe bananas, which aren't my fave. It was worth a shot and if Isaac likes them, they're a healthy snack. 

Chickpeas Simmered in Masala Sauce

Yes, more chickpeas! Love 'em!

I still have a big bag of lemons and this recipe used up a whole teaspoon of lemon juice. I also had some chopped tomatoes leftover from tacos, so this was a really inexpensive dinner to make! I'm telling you, you can't go wrong with beans and rice. Cheap, filling, and full of fiber and protein.

http://www.treehugger.com/easy-vegetarian-recipes/chickpeas-simmered-masala-sauce.html

I only used 1/4 tsp of cayenne and it was the perfect amount of spice...I thought it was spicy and Kyle thought it was "flavorful." The kids actually ate all their broccoli and rice, and Isaac ate the salad too. I convinced Isaac to try ONE bean and he said it wasn't terrible. That's progress, I guess.

This made enough for last night and we're having it again tonight. I'll probably make the kids a plate of sandwiches, fruits, and veggies.

Gluten-free lemon bars

My parents have a lemon tree in their backyard that produces these HUGE, juicy lemons, so we always bring a bag or four home with us after we visit. One of my favorite uses for lemons is to make lemon bars using my friend Amy's recipe. They are so good and tart! Since Kyle loves them too, I thought I'd search for a gluten-free version. They turned out great! I used King Arthur GF flour (which for some reason I've been calling King George on this blog.) It doesn't really have that gluten-free taste and doesn't require mixing a bunch of different flours together.

http://www.food.com/recipe/gluten-free-lemon-bars-425323

I know this isn't healthy, but for people who don't normally cook gluten-free, this is an easy option for when you're entertaining friends with special diet needs.

Instead of 2 tablespoons of lemon juice, I added 3. Next time I'll add even more to get that lemony zing!

I let the kids add the powdered sugar, so it was definitely sweet enough!

We couldn't wait to taste our dessert, which was a mistake. They were a big, grainy, gloppy mess. They still tasted great, but were MUCH better after being in the fridge for a few hours.

Close up of the yummy filling!

After cooling, the crust tasted like regular old crust and wasn't grainy at all. I'll be making this again for poor, dessert-deprived Kyle.

As you can see, this was a big hit!