Clean Pumpkin Oatmeal Bites

Anyone else love muffins? Unfortunately they are usually full of gluten, oil, sugar, and whatever else the companies throw in them. But I still miss them.
These little bites are healthy and heartyl great for a quick breakfast or an on-the-go snack!
Give them a try:

Ingredients:
- 2c old-fashioned rolled oats
- 3/4c chopped pecans
- 2 tbsp ground flax
- 1 tsp pumpkin spice
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2tsp baking soda
- 1/4tsp sea salt
- 1 ripe banana
- 15oz can pumpkin puree
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup almond milk (or other milk)
- 1/4 cup honey (or maple syrup)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 and grease muffin tin.
2. Mix dry ingredients in a bowl together. Set aside.
3. Mash the banana. Add the egg. Whisk in remaining wet ingredients (vanilla, pumpkin, milk, honey)
4. Mix wet and dry ingredients together.
5. Pour into muffin tins and bake for 25 min at 350.
*makes 12 medium-sized muffins

If you would like a sweeter muffin, add 1/4c brown sugar, or baking stevia, or sprinkle in a few chocolate chips!

Chipotle Chicken and Sweet Potatoes

Right now I'm working on perfecting what could potentially be the healthiest, most perfect blueberry muffin recipe known to man. With that being said, this weekend I baked 2 separate batches of muffins... Which means I've eaten 8 muffins over the course of 36 hours this weekend. Don't give me that look, I'm doing this for us.

In other news, I have a simple recipe bursting with flavour. My man was so thrilled with this meal that he scraped the baking pan clean. And with that, I will share my Chipotle Chicken and Sweet Potato recipe with you.

The smokey chipotle flavour perfectly compliments and enhances the natural sweetness of the potatoes.

This recipe can easily be doubled or tripled to serve more people, or to prep some tasty meals ahead of time.
Original recipe makes 2 generous servings.

Ingredients:
- 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 2 small sweet potatoes, cut into 1-inch pieces
- 1 tbsp olive oil
Rub:
- 2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, minced
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1/2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp honey
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1/2 tsp vinegar
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp salt

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400F
2. Toss sweet potato in olive oil and scatter across roasting pan. Lightly season with salt/pepper and roast for 15min.
3. While potatoes are roasting, mix ingredients for the rub.
4. Wash and dry chicken, rub both sides with seasoning, and place atop roasted potatoes. Bake for an additional 25-30 minutes.

Serve this dish alongside some fresh vegetables; this would work really well alongside some collard greens or spinach, I only had some green beans on hand and they paired up just fine.

Turkey Carcass Soup

Anything I can eat with a shovel-like took is a win in my books - maybe that's why I like soup so much. There's nothing like it.

If we ever have leftovers, we make soup. Sometimes we'll roast an entire turkey for meal prep - and the carcass makes a rich, delicious soup.

Ingredients:
- 1 picked-over turkey carcass
- 6 cups low-sodium chicken broth
- 1 large white onion, diced
- 3 celery stalks, chopped
- 4 medium carrots, chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1.5 cups wild rice
- 1 tsp sage
- 1/2 tsp rosemary
- 1/4 tsp cayenne
- 3 bay leaves
- 1.5 cups frozen green peas
- salt & pepper to taste

Directions:
1. In a large pot, combine all ingredients except the rice and peas. Add water to cover the bird, if needed. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium and simmer for 1 hour.
2. Remove bay leaves and turkey carcass. Clean remaining meat off the bones and return to pot.
3. Stir in the rice, bringing to a boil and reducing heat to medium for another 15 minutes.
4. Add green peas. Cook for another 10 minutes or until rice is tender.
Garnish with some fresh parsley and enjoy!

Apple Pie Baked Oatmeal

Alright, here's the story: my boyfriend and I were eating way too much junk. The crap we were eating was draining our energy, and ruining our progress at the gym. We know better, but sometimes bad food just tastes so good (I'm a pig).
We started cleaning up our diets, but food started getting repetitive and dull - and for a pig, that just won't do. Now I'm on a quest to find simple healthy recipes to knock our socks off, and I want to share them with you!

Dessert for breakfast? Is that even a question ... The apple pie baked oatmeal I cooked up this morning is exactly the recipe I was looking for to launch my blog. It's rich and bursting with flavour, anything baking with cinnamon is heaven in my books.

The recipe can easily be doubled, just increase the baking time to 35 minutes and use an 8x8 pan.
Original recipe makes 2 large servings.

Ingredients:
Wet mix:
- 1/3 cup of almond milk
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 tbsp ground flax
- 2 tbsp melted coconut oil
- 1/2 tbsp baking stevia (or sweetener of choice)
Dry mix:
- 1 large apple, peeled and chopped
- 1/2 cup rolled oats
- 1 tbsp brown sugar
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 cup almond milk (set aside)
Optional topping:
- 2 tbsp chopped walnuts, 1 tsp honey, sprinkle of cinnamon

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375F and grease 8x4 loaf tin.
2. Mix wet ingredients in a bowl. Set aside for 5 min.
3. Mix dry ingredients in a separate bowl
4. Combine ingredients in the loaf tin, spreading evenly.
5. Pour remaining almond milks on top. Sprinkle with walnut topping if desired.
6. Bake for 25 minutes. Broil on low for an additional 2 minutes.