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Apple Cinnamon Quinoa Breakfast Bowl

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Quinoa for breakfast?? What?? Oh yeah, it’s for real and it’s amazing!

I recently went in to get tested for food sensitivities (Kari talking here). I have struggled with migraines for a very long time and have tried everything to get them under control.  I decided to get tested to see if there are any foods that I am sensitive to that might be triggering my migraines.  Turned out that oats were at the top of my list!  Major deal breaker for me considering I eat oats daily.  The doctor wants me to remove oats from my diet for a couple of months and then slowly re-introduce them.  So, not the end of the world, it’s only a temporary oat ban!

It was time to figure out a new breakfast addiction.  That’s when I stumbled upon the quinoa breakfast bowl…boy, I have been missing out!  Courtney has made a quinoa breakfast before but it was a first for me, and I’m in love.

You can treat a quinoa breakfast bowl just like hot oatmeal.  I boiled quinoa with almond milk (instead of water) and fresh chopped apples.  When the quinoa was done I added raisins, sweetened it with pure maple syrup and a pinch of kosher salt to bring out the flavors.  Lastly, I topped it with a dash of nutmeg.  This quinoa breakfast bowl is packed with protein and literally tastes like apple pie in a bowl.  You need to try this for yourself, it might be your new favorite breakfast addiction too!!

 

Apple Cinnamon Quinoa Breakfast Bowl
 
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Serves: 2
Ingredients
  • ½ C quinoa, rinsed
  • 1 C almond milk
  • ½ red apple, diced
  • ¼ tsp cinnamon
  • ¼ tsp kosher salt
  • 3 tsp pure maple syrup
  • 2 Tbsp raisins
  • dash of nutmeg
Instructions
  1. Add quinoa, chopped apples and almond milk to a saucepan and bring to a low boil. Cover and reduce to simmer for 15 minutes.
  2. Remove from heat, add cinnamon, 2 tsp maple syrup, salt and raisins and stir until combined. Transfer to a bowl, drizzle with remaining maple syrup and add a dash of nutmeg if desired. Serve immediately.

Toasted Granola Bars

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Anyone out there feel like their kids live off of granola bars?? Life is busy and if your house is anything like ours, we are constantly shuffling between sports and activities and the kids are catching quick snack breaks in the car.  Granola bars are a staple in our house because they are quick and easy and protein packed but a lot of them are filled with way too much sugar. Next time you have 45 minutes to spare, whip up a batch of these homemade granola bars. They are filled with protein and healthy fats and they hit the spot every time!

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Since everything tastes better toasted, you first need to toast the oats for 15 minutes. Once the oats are toasted, add them to a bowl and mix in raisins, chopped nuts, chia seeds, hemp hearts, etc.  You really can add whatever ingredients that sound best to you, change it up adding different nuts or dried cranberries instead of raisins. The binder consists of maple syrup, coconut oil, almond butter, honey and vanilla. Melt those ingredients together in a saucepan and mix together with the dry ingredients.

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Line a 9 X 12 casserole dish with parchment paper and press the mixture into the pan until tightly packed.  Bake for 20 minutes, remove from oven and sprinkle chocolate chunks over the top.

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Return to oven for about 5 minutes until the chocolate chunks have had the chance to melt, remove from oven and allow to cool to room temperature and then place in the freezer for about 10 minutes.  Lift the parchment out of the pan with the bars on the parchment and place on the counter, cut into squares like this.

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Store the bars in an airtight container in the refrigerator.  The only problem with these guys is that you will never want to buy store-bought granola bars again…they will go fast!

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Toasted Granola Bars
 
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Serves: 24 squares
Ingredients
  • 2 C rolled oats
  • ½ C raw, unsalted cashews, coarsely chopped
  • ½ C raw pecans, coarsely chopped
  • 2 Tbsp chia seeds
  • ¼ C hemp hearts
  • ½ C raisins
  • ½ C golden raisins
  • ¼ C unsweetened coconut flakes
  • ½ C almond butter
  • ¼ C pure maple syrup
  • ¼ C honey
  • 1 Tbsp coconut oil
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • ½ tsp kosher salt
  • ⅓ C semi-sweet chocolate chunks
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Spread oats out evenly and bake for 15 minutes.
  2. While the oats are baking add chopped nuts, chia seeds, hemp hearts, raisins and coconut flakes to a large bowl. Remove oats from oven and add them to the bowl. Turn the oven down to 325 degrees.
  3. In a small saucepan over medium low heat add almond butter, maple syrup, honey, cononut oil, vanilla and salt. Stir frequently until melted and smooth. Pour half of the sauce over the oat mixture and mix. Add the other half and mix until incorporated.
  4. Line a 9x12 caserole pan with parchment paper. Spread the oat mixture evenly in pan and press down.
  5. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle chocolate chunks over the top and place back in the oven for 5 minutes, until melted. Allow to cool to room temperature and place pan in the freezer for at least 10 minutes.
  6. Remove from freezer and cut bars evenly, store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
  7. Good Thyme Tip- This recipe allows for a lot of modifications. Use any type of nut you prefer or omit if you prefer nut free. You can substitute the almond butter for peanut or cashew butter as well.

Cinnamon Raisin Balls

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If you know anything about us here are GTK, you know that we are pretty obsessed with making things into balls. These delicious cinnamon raisin balls are the latest in our recipe development endeavors and we’re pretty sure you are going to freak out.  They are so so good and really easy to make.  I mean, who wouldn’t love a no-bake oatmeal raisin cookie?  That’s pretty much what these guys taste like.  You can whip these up in about 15 minutes and have them on hand for your snacking needs.  The reason we love making balls so much is because they are the perfect, filling snack.  We both always make a batch of balls before a family road trip or when we are going to be out all day at the kid’s sporting events.  They freeze really well which is perfect for making large batches to have on hand.

For the cinnamon raisin, you literally only need oats, pecans, dates, molasses, raisins, chia seeds and a little coconut oil and cinnamon.

All you have to do is to mix the pecans and oats in the food processor and pulse until they are totally broken down.  Add the dates and mix until they are nicely incorporated.  Then add the rest of the ingredients except for the raisins, and pulse on high for about 1 minute.  Transfer the mixture to a bowl and add the raisins.

Now,  it’s time to get busy.  Use your trusty hands to get in there and start the rolling process.  This is a piece of cake and takes no time at all.  Make sure you roll the balls into equal sizes.  I mean ,I suppose if you don’t care, we don’t care, but we just like them to be equal. Place them onto a cookie sheet as you roll them out then pop them into the fridge for at least 30 minutes to set up.  Then you can transfer them into a air tight container to store in the fridge or freezer.  If you freeze them, they thaw out after just a couple minutes so you can eat them up.

We hope you love these cinnamon raisin balls as much as we do.

 

Cinnamon Raisin Balls
 
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Serves: 20
Ingredients
  • 1 C pecans
  • 2 C rolled oats
  • 12 medjool dates, pitted
  • 1 Tbsp molasses
  • 1 Tbsp coconut oil
  • 2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 Tbsp chia seeds
  • ¼ tsp kosher salt
  • ⅓ C raisins
Instructions
  1. Using a food processor add pecans and mix on high until broken down. Add oats and mix until processed and powdery. Add dates and mix for 30 seconds on high. Add all remaining ingredients except for raisins, pulse on high for 1 minute, stopping to scrape down the sides.
  2. Transfer to a large bowl and add the raisins, mixing with your hands to incorporate. Roll into equal size balls, line on a small rimmed sheet pan and place in the fridge to set for 30 minutes. Transfer to a tupperwear container and store in the fridge for up to one week.

Nana’s Bran Muffins

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Nana’s bran muffins are all the rage around our house.  My Nana’s recipe has been in the family for years and my kids are so happy when I whip up these sweet treats.  There is really nothing better than having fresh, homemade muffins to snack on or eat for breakfast on the go.  This recipe is really easy to make and is also very versatile so you can have some fun with it.  You can switch up the dried fruit ingredients, swap out the cane sugar for coconut sugar, add nuts and also make them gluten free if you want.

Begin by mixing the all bran cereal with boiling water and the dried fruit (unless you are using blueberries, those guys don’t need to soak or they will get too soft).   Set the bran mixture aside and get going on the rest of the ingredients.

In a separate bowl, mix the eggs, buttermilk, oil, almond extract and sugar then add it to the cooled bran mixture.  Sift the dry ingredients together and add it into the bran.  This is where you’d add the blueberries if you are using them instead of dried fruit. Just fold them into the bran mixture gently.  You can either cook them immediately, or keep the batter in the fridge for up to a week and bake them as you go.  We have to cook up the whole batch at once in our house because they don’t really last that long.

Line a muffin tin with paper liners or grease the inside of the muffins tins and fill with the batter.  Bake for 18-20 minutes until cooked through.  We know that you are going to love Nana’s muffins as much as we do!

Check out some of our other favorite muffin recipes here:

http://www.goodthymekitchen.com/lemon-poppyseed-muffins/

http://www.goodthymekitchen.com/carrot-apple-zucchini-muffins/


Nana’s Bran Muffins
 
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Serves: 24
Ingredients
  • 3 C All-Bran cereal - original
  • 1 C boiling water
  • 2 eggs, slightly beaten
  • 2 C buttermilk
  • ½ C canola oil
  • 1 tsp almond extract
  • 1 C raisins (can sub dates, dried apricots or blueberries)
  • 1 C sugar (can sub coconut sugar)
  • 2 tsp baking soda
  • 1½ tsp kosher salt
  • 1½ tsp cinnamon
  • 1 tsp nutmeg
  • 2½ C flour (can sub whole wheat or GF flour)
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
  2. Mix bran with boiling water and dried fruit and set aside (if using blueberries fold in at the end).
  3. Mix eggs, buttermilk, canola oil, almond extract and sugar together and add to the bran when cooled.
  4. Sift dry ingredients and add to the bran mixture, mix well. If using blueberries gently fold into mixture.
  5. Either bake immediately or leave batter in an airtight container in the fridge for up to one week and bake as you go.
  6. Place liners in muffin tins or grease the inside of muffin tins. Fill with batter and bake 18-20 minutes.

Yogurt, Granola, Berry Parfaits

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Sometimes I just want a really pretty breakfast and these yogurt, granola, berry parfaits are the perfect solution.  First of all, they are beyond simple to make and secondly, they are super delicious.  These parfaits are perfect for entertaining as well.  Think, wedding or baby shower, brunch with friends, holiday guests staying at your home.  The list goes on and on…but basically, we are just saying that you can serve something as simple as a yogurt, granola and berry parfait and look like a total rock star!  You can go as far as making the yogurt and granola homemade (we happen to have a delicious recipe for homemade granola right here at GTK) but you can also skip the making it yourself process and buy the ingredients for a time saver!

If you want to make your own granola, you are in luck.  We love our homemade GTK granola.  Double the batch so you have plenty to last you thought the week!

http://www.goodthymekitchen.com/homemade-granola/

 

Yogurt, Granola, Berry Parfaits
 
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Serves: 2
Ingredients
  • 2 C 0% Greek yogurt or yogurt of choice
  • 1 C granola
  • 2 C berries (strawberries, blueberries, raspberries)
Instructions
  1. Spoon 1 C of yogurt into 2 cups , divided. Top with ½ C granola and 1 C berries, divided. Repeat to make a second layer. Serve immediately
** Can also add granola forst followed by yogurt and berries if desired.

 

Carrot Apple Zucchini Muffins

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These muffins are a family favorite!  We happen to think it’s a total WIN when we make something that is totally delicious AND good for you!  The kids love these muffins and well, so do my husband and I.  They are not overly sweet but have the perfect amount of sweetness that comes from the shredded apple and the golden raisins.  I love to have these on hand for an after school snack or to throw in the kid’s backpacks for a quick snack at school.  I don’t know about you but my kids are ALWAYS hungry!!  It’s kind of mind boggling actually.  I have one teenager so I guess that just comes with the territory and also an extremely active 10 year old boy so I feel like I live in the kitchen….who am I kidding, I DO live in the kitchen.  It really is my happy place!  Anyway, it’s recipes like this however, that are fun to have on hand.

It’s just too easy to shred vegetables up and sneak them in to recipes like this.  Shredded veggies also add a great texture in something like a muffin or a bread loaf.

These healthy muffins are a cinch to throw together and only take about 15 minutes to bake.  They taste like they are a guilty pleasure but no guilty feelings when you’re eating these muffins!

It’s like salad in a muffin!  Try this recipe out for yourself and let us know what you think!

 

Carrot Apple Zucchini Muffins
 
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Serves: 24
Ingredients
  • 1 ½ cups flour
  • ½ cup ground flax seed
  • ¾ cups oat bran
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 tablespoon cinnamon
  • ¾ cup milk (we use almond milk)
  • ½ cup raisins
  • 1 large apple peeled and shredded
  • 1 cup shredded carrots
  • 1 cup shredded zucchini
  • ¼ cup coconut oil
  • 2 eggs beaten
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350°
  2. Grease miffin tins (using cooking spray or softened butter). Mix all dry ingredients in a bowl. In another larger bowl, mix almond milk, eggs, oil and vanilla and stir in the dry ingredients. Fold in the raisins, apples, carrots and zuchinni until well combined.
  3. Fill miffin tins ¾ full with batter and bake 15 minutes or until test stick comes out clean. Allow to cool on a wire rack.

Challah Bread Overnight French Toast

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Can we get a holla for the challah?? Ever since we made this ridiculously amazing challah bread overnight french toast I’ve been wanting to say that!  What is wrong with me? It’s okay, you can keep those comments in your own mind…it’s a loaded question, I know.

So really anything that takes 10 minutes to throw together is a huge bonus.  Once you put everything together you get to wrap it up in some foil and let it sit in the fridge overnight so the liquid is able to really absorb into the bread.  The next morning you pop it in the oven for 40 minutes and you will be treated with a light, fluffy, slightly sweet slice of the best french toast you’ve ever had.  I must admit that we had a couple of recipe fails with this, it definitely took us a few tries to get it right. In our opinion after much trial and error we achieved the perfect combo of not overly sweet, light and moist (yes, I said moist) challah bread overnight french toast.  Oh, and there’s a splash of Gran Marnier added too which is always a bonus!

Stephanie Heymann Photography

One thing to note is our recipe calls for pure maple syrup…we are talking about the real stuff, not the stuff made with high fructose corn syrup.  Spend the extra money and buy 100% pure maple syrup, it’s a HUGE difference in taste and of course any chance to stay away from high fructose corn syrup is a win. Trust us on this one!

This recipe is perfect if you are entertaining and want to serve it for brunch or a family holiday, or if you’re feeding a house full of kids on a Sunday morning. It’s a nice treat and it feeds a lot of mouths! Side note but how much does this amazing drizzle photo make your mouth water? Sorta obsessed with this photo, it makes me want to just drizzle syrup over everything!!

Stephanie Heymann Photography

 

Challah Bread Overnight French Toast
 
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Serves: 10-12
Ingredients
  • 1 loaf Challah bread, cut into ½ inch slices
  • ¼ C coconut oil
  • ½ C pure maple syrup, plus more for serving
  • 1 C milk
  • 1 C half and half
  • 6 eggs
  • 2 tsp vanilla
  • 2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 tsp kosher salt
  • 1 Tbsp Gran Marnier or Disaronno
  • ⅓ C raisins
Instructions
  1. In a bowl whisk coconut oil and maple syrup. Pour into a 9x13 casserole dish.
  2. Use the same bowl to whisk milk, half and half, eggs, vanilla, cinnamon, salt and gran marnier.
  3. Layer Challah bread slices in the pan over maple syrup/coconut oil. Sprinkle half of raisins over the first layer and the other half over the second layer of bread. Cover all holes by tearing bread into pieces to fill the holes. Pour egg mixture over bread, coating bread evenly. Sprinkle top with remaining raisins.
  4. Cover with foil and let sit overnight, the bread with soak up the milk/egg mixture.
  5. The next morning remove the french toast from the fridge and preheat oven to 350. Bake for 40 minutes uncovered until golden brown and puffed. Cut into squares and serve with additional maple syrup, fresh strawberries, powdered sugar, etc.

Make Your Own Trail Mix

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This is an absolute staple in our house!  Really, ever since the kids were little, I found that if you mix a bunch of healthy items in a bowl or a baggie, it’s just more fun to eat!  You can’t deny that adults feel the same way.  Why is trail mix so fun?  If you don’t feel this way, then maybe it’s because you haven’t tried making it for yourself!  I am a huge fan of having a snack like trail mix on hand at all times.  It’s so easy to make up a big batch and then toss some in a baggie and run out the door.  The best part about making your own trail mix is that there are no rules…no right way or wrong way.  Just simply combine a bunch of your favorites (healthy choices please) into a bowl and snack away…(just don’t eat the whole bowl at once okay?)  These were some of the items we had on hand today so that’s where this delicious combo came from.  The creamy yogurt raisins are the perfect compliment to the cashews, banana chips and dried cranberries!  Yum.  We like to make up a big batch because this stuff goes quickly in our house.  Now it’s your turn.  Go get your creativity on and experiment away!


Make Your Own Trail Mix
 
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Serves: 8-10
Ingredients
  • 1 C roasted cashews
  • 1 C banana chips
  • ¼ C dried cranberries
  • ½ C yogurt covered raisins
Instructions
  1. Mix together in a bowl and enjoy. We like to divide the trail mix into individual snack bags for a quick snack on the go.
*Note- we used ingredients that we had in the pantry. Make your own combination using any type of nuts, seeds, dried fruit, and something sweet like dark chocolate chips.

Meusli

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By now you know our obsession with overnight oats. They are an answered prayer to those of us that want breakfast ready and waiting in the morning but don’t want to actually have to make it! Somehow having breakfast at your finger tips almost calling your name in the morning makes your day that much brighter. Meet overnight oats older sister, her name is Meusli. Meusli is a little more complex and sophisticated but don’t let her fool you, she’s easy just like her sister!!

I first had Meusli on one of the most memorable girls trips ever. I went to this super cool wellness resort outside of Tucson, AZ called Miraval. The resort experience is supposed to teach you how to gain greater self-awareness and experience personal growth. I did sucessfully climb way too high up a pole and shimmy across a tight rope, although I almost peed my pants during the process. I don’t know if I really accomplished any of the personal growth stuff. However, I had a blast with my friends and we ate a lot of awesome food! Isn’t that really the point of a girl’s trip anyways?

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The Meusli, along with the merengue cookies which is a must share as well, stuck with me and I have been making it ever since! It’s basically the same base as overnight oats (rolled oats combined with nut milk or dairy milk soaked overnight) but being the sophisticated older sister, Meusli has the added zip of orange juice and chopped apples. The citrus gives it an unexpected zing, in a good way! Just like Meusli’s little sister, Overnight Oats, you can’t help but fall in love with both of them…they really are great girls!

mesuli

Stephanie Heymann Photography

Meusli
 
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Serves: 6
Ingredients
  • 1¼ C rolled oats
  • ⅔ C unsweetened cashew milk - or milk of choice
  • ⅔ C 0% greek yogurt
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • ½ tsp ground cinnamon
  • ⅔ C orange juice
  • 3 Tbsp pure maple syrup
  • 1 apple peeled and chopped into ¼ inch pieces
  • ¼ C unsweetened coconut flakes
  • ½ C raisins
Good Thyme Tip ? - Also great to add sliced almonds, chia seeds, oranges...be creative!
Instructions
  1. Mix all ingredients thoroughly in a bowl. Cover and chill in refrigerator overnight or for 6 hours before serving.

Oatmeal Cookies with Chocolate, Raisins and Coconut

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I think since we added raisins, coconut oil and Greek yogurt to these cookies then they should be deemed as healthy, right? I know it’s a little bit of a stretch but hey, sometimes a girl just needs have a cookie, or 4….I mean I’ve never done that, I’ve just heard of people that have done that.

In the grand scheme of cookies these are A LOT healthier than most and they are D to the Lish. You can see that I had a little cookie monster on this particular baking day, which made it even more fun. It’s always better to taste test cookies with a friend so if someone asks where all of the cookies went you have someone else to blame!

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These cookies are every bit as good as they look. Gooey chocolate chunks with flaked coconut and sweet raisins. So good you might just have 4!

oatmealcookiesloane

oatmealcookies

Oatmeal Cookies with Chocolate, Raisins and Coconut
 
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Serves: 24
Ingredients
  • 1¼ C rolled oats
  • 2½ C unbleached all-purpose flour
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • ½ tsp kosher salt
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • ¾ C melted coconut oil
  • ¾ C dark brown sugar
  • 1 large egg
  • 2 tsp vanilla
  • 1 Tbsp Fage 0% greek yogurt
  • ½ C shredded coconut (either sweetened or unsweetened)
  • ½ C semi-sweet chocolate chunks
  • ½ C raisins
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl mix dry ingredients together (except brown sugar) and set aside.
  2. In a large bowl with an electric mixer, beat coconut oil and brown sugar. Add in egg, vanilla and Fage and continue to beat until smooth. Slowly add in dry ingredients until well incorporated. Add in coconut, chocolate chips and raisins until mixed together.
  3. Using a cookie scooper, drop cookie dough onto a un-greased cookie sheet. Bake 9-11 minutes. Remove from oven, let cool for 2 minutes before transferring to a wire rack.