Diet, Dessert and Dogs

Welcome back to Wellness Weekends!  Did the weekend seem to come up more quickly than usual this week?  Here in Toronto, we had a short work week and a first week of school–enough to make any week zip by.  And now that September’s in full swing, hope you’re all ready for more healthy, delicious recipes, courtesy of. . . . YOU!

Last week’s event was one of the best ever.  It was incredibly difficult to choose top picks from among all the wonderful entries!  They were all fantastic, but here are four I really liked:

• Gluten Free, Yeast Free Pizza Crust from The Healing Kitchen (never enough pizza crust recipes, right?);
• Tomato Tart with White Bean Puree from Resistant Nikki (another great pizza-like dish that uses the tomatoes of the season);
• Sweet Potato Maple Biscuits from Allergy-Free Vintage Cookery (how could I pass up anything with sweet potato?); and
• Lentil Cookies from Saffron Crush (any sweet with legumes sounds good to me!)

And the Reader’s Choice post goes to. . .

• Single-Serving Low-FatPeanut Butter Muffin from Misadventures of Fat-Free Baking (which is making me think I need to try that muffin with almond butter!).

Thank you to every one of you who’s played along by submitting your recipes! I love seeing what you all make each week.

I’ve also got my own healthy recipe post up on One Green Planet this week!  They’re featuring my Veggie-Based Faux “Meat” that’s great in everything from lasagna to pizza to tortière.  I’ll be posting more articles and recipes for the site over the next few months, so stay tuned!

Please join us this weekend! There are so many options for healthy foods. . . whether or not you’re vegan, remember that many salads, veggie side dishes, pasta dishes, desserts, smoothies, and more are naturally vegan and can all be included! 

Here’s How to Participate (PLEASE READ THESE GUIDELINES CAREFULLY BEFORE LINKING UP!):

1. The event occurs once a week, starting Thursdays at 8:00 PM my time and running until Monday at midnight.
2. Simply link up a recipe you made (and posted about) within the past week that contains health-supporting ingredients (see list below). Use the Linky Tool at the bottom of the page.
3. Please link the post with your recipe, NOT your blog’s home page.
4. You may submit more than one recipe, but please follow the guidelines for each one individually.
5. Please be sure to mention this event and include a link back to this post so that others can find all the recipes posted!
6. Feel free to use the blog badge, above (or see the left sidebar of this page–if you need the html code, let me know and I’ll send it to you). Many thanks to Adrienne of Whole New Mom for setting up the badge code for me!
7. As always, I hate to remove links, but will do so if they don’t comply with the guidelines.

What your recipe CAN contain:

• Any good-for-you, whole foods, especially those with antioxidant properties or “functional foods” (ie, offering naturally medicinal or health-promoting qualities–such as garlic, coconut oil, all vegetables, fruits, herbs, etc.)–but any fresh, real food is welcome!
• Natural sweeteners (coconut sugar, agave, brown rice syrup, maple syrup, stevia, Sucanat, rapadura, coconut nectar, yacon syrup, etc.)
• Vegan ingredients (even if you’re not vegan, OF COURSE you can still play along! You’ll be surprised at how many foods are naturally vegan; and if not, there are many subs you can use for eggs, milk or butter–include vegan options and we’re good to go!).
• Note that this is NOT AN ACD-ONLY EVENT.  Any real food ingredients that are sugar-free and vegan are more than welcome–so use that maple syrup, those mushrooms, that nutritional yeast, miso, etc!  I’m just looking for healthy, whole foods recipes.

What your recipe cannot contain:

• White flour, white sugar, or any highly refined, highly processed ingredients
• Anything almost entirely artificial (ie, most boxed mixes, fast food, unnaturally colored cereals or other foods, etc.)
• Animal products (meat, chicken, fish or seafood, or their by-products, gelatin, eggs, dairy, butter or honey)

“Hey!  Why was my entry removed?”

• The major reason entries are removed is because they don’t adhere to the guidelines: either they contain ingredients that aren’t listed here, they are a re-post of a blog entry that is more than one week old, or they contain neither a recipe nor anything directly related to food preparation.  If you render a recipe vegan-friendly by adding a vegan option to your ingredients, your post will be good to go!  For older posts, you’re welcome to re-post them during the week of the event, or choose a newer recipe.
• Another reason posts are removed is because the link leads to an advertisement or a business blog. Please do NOT link up posts that are merely referrals to a different post or the home page for another blog event.
• I hate to have to remove links! PLEASE read the guidelines before posting!

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