COCOA BANANA MUFFINS

Have you ever seen anything as sweet and scrumptious as my kid?  Despite the fact that the muffins were sweetened with maple syrup, spiced up with cinnamon and nutmeg, and used barley and oat flours instead of white flour, she did not care for this nutritious treat.  But that's ok, she is cute.   

POPCORN FRIES

Home-made french fry potato type items just seem to take so long in the way of scrubbing, peeling, slicing.  Roasted with coconut oil and tossed with nutritional yeast, they were a nice little treat.  And kids ate them.

LEMON GARLIC PASTA

If you like garlic.  If you like lemon.  If you like toasted pine nuts.  Then you will go bananas over Lemon Garlic Pasta.  You might not win any friends or dates in the ensuing hours, but it is well worth the experience.  The author recommended linguine or spaghetti but my little one voted for Italian penne, thereby unknowingly creating an environment for half the toasted pine nuts to hide in every 2nd or 3rd noodle - just a noodle in that bite? Pine nut surprise!

WARM & CHEESY WHITE BEAN DIP

I liked this dip, but would not call it cheesy.  Nutritional yeast is a fantastic ingredient to prepare cheese-like sauce substitutes, but calling it 'cheese' sets up false expectations.  Along with the cannellini beans, this also had ground up cashews, savory seasonings like onion powder and garlic, and fresh lemon juice.  I liked the zingy twist the lemon added, but I think that level of zing precluded my kids from eating it.  Next time I will add less of the juice.

TAMARI-ROASTED CHICKPEAS

When you grow tired of edamame as your go-to salty and protein-full snack, this a pleasant substitute. When roasted with a little coconut oil, the chickpeas nicely absorb the rosemary, lemon, and tamari to impart a lovely flavor.

SOFTLY SPICED NUTS

There is no better line to utter upon walking into a low-key 30-something and our young kids soiree on a Saturday night than "I brought Softly Spiced Nuts!"  Instructed to use mixed raw nuts, I did equal parts pecans, cashews, and walnuts.  These guys were roasted with a nice little mixture of spices including cinnamon, vegan Worcestershire, chili powder, sugar, tamari, allspice, and nutmeg.  I was tempted to take the half-full container with me before leaving, but I took the courteous route and jammed a handful in my pocket, left the bowl there.

WALNUT, WHITE BEAN, & SPINACH PHYLLO ROLLS

"If you're new to phyllo, don't be shy, it's easier to use than you think, and very forgiving!"
Not so much in my case.  It was plenty tasty with its toasted walnuts and fresh basil leaves (clipped from a plant I bought from store and failed to keep alive for any additional growth), but also plenty unattractive.  My 6-year old was way better with the delicate sheets of dough than me.  That dough just punished me - I could not decipher the actual shape/length one sheet was supposed to be, it just ripped in my hands.  It has a lot of protein and healthy greens and the kids both ate it all up within a day.  Success.