Welcome!
Hi, I'm Tori! Welcome to Healthy Plate Happy Family!
I am a fun-loving, healthy-eating, wife, mom, holistic
nutrition student, aspiring yogi, SUP-enthusiast, living
and loving life on the beautiful coast of West Michigan.
Here you'll find all of the whole foods, clean-eating recipes
that I am cooking up to keep my family happy and healthy!
Thanks for stopping by!
We woke up to lots of new snow and a snow day for the kids this morning. Luckily, the sun was shining and it was such a great day to be outside playing.
Waist deep in snow!!
We have a pretty big hill in our front yard, which is great for sledding.
After many trips down the hill, a snowball fight with friends, and some snow angels, it was time to come inside for hot cocoa.
How do you make your hot cocoa?? Are you more of an instant packet type or do you make it from scratch? Do you jazz it up with little marshmallows or a candy cane stirrer???
For the past couple of years, I have been making hot cocoa for the kids by slightly modifying the recipe on the side of the Hershey’s cocoa powder container. There are a few simple upgrades that you can make to the recipe to make it a little healthier.
Start with some milk (your preference, we use non-dairy almond milk), either traditional cocoa powder or raw cacao powder, maple syrup or Stevia, and pure vanilla extract.
Cacao is the original source of chocolate and cocoa. It is processed very carefully at low temperatures so that it retains the vitamins and minerals and contains more antioxidant flavonoids than red wine, green tea and blueberries
In a small pan, mix 4 tsp. cocoa powder, 3T. maple syrup, and 1 T. water. Whisk over medium heat until it is bubbling, being careful not to scorch it.
If want an all natural zero-calorie sweetener, you can swap out the maple syrup for Stevia, which comes from a plant native to South America. It does have a unique taste but I don’t mind it in small doses. (swap out the maple syrup and water for 2 packets of Stevia and 2 T. of water).
When I am making hot cocoa for other kids though, I use the maple syrup for a sweet taste that they are more familiar with.
Add in 2 cups of milk and stir to combine. Gently heat milk to desired temperature but do not boil. Remove from heat and stir in 1/4 teaspoon of vanilla extract.
Enjoy all of the beautiful snow this weekend! Stay warm and stay safe!
Happy Wednesday! This is the one day during the week where I post pictures and details of everything I ate for the day in hopes of inspiring you to try something new 
I have been a bit stressed lately over some big changes coming up around here, so I wasn’t really all that hungry this morning. I waited until mid-morning and then decided to make one of my favorite comfort meal breakfasts. This is a slice of toasted Ezekiel Sprouted Grain Bread, topped with smashed avocado, slices of red onion, tomatoes, and an egg (over-medium in olive oil). I had half of a grapefruit on the side. I love it when comfort food can be nourishing and healthy too!!
After breakfast and before picking Jake up from school, I managed to squeeze in 3 segments (30 minutes) of this dvd – it is one of my absolute favorites!! It’s easy to follow and a little challenging with some high intensity plyometric bursts. It is structured in 10 minute increments so I can mix them up or just do as many as I have time for. I don’t think I’ll ever get sick of it!!!!
I am trying to mix it up a bit on What-I-Ate-Wednesdays but I can guarantee you’ll see this meal again. I am obsessed with this chickpea (“mock tuna”) salad and make it at least every other week.
Chickpea “Mock Tuna” Salad
(note: this salad is based on the flavors of traditional tuna salad but doesn’t actually taste like tuna fish)
1 can garbanzo beans/chickpeas, rinsed and patted dry
2 T. mayonnaise (I prefer the clean ingredients in soy-free Vegenaise, found at the health food store)
1 T. fresh lemon juice
1 tsp dried dill
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 rib celery, chopped
2 T. red onion, chopped
Rinse and drain canned chickpeas and pat dry with a paper towel. Place in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the “S” blade. Pulse a few times. Add in lemon juice, mayonnaise, salt, dill, celery and red onion. Pulse a few more times to mix. Don’t over process the mix or you will just end up with mush. Hand mix with a spoon if necessary. Adjust seasonings to taste.
Sometimes I have it on toasted Ezekiel bread, but since I had that for breakfast, I wrapped it up in red leaf lettuce wraps and had it with some kiwi and grapes. Served this way, with fruit, it’s a staple lunch for me in the summer time.
I played Uno with Jake most of the afternoon until he requested a snack of leftover “chocolate pudding” – if you follow me on Instagram, you know that this chocolate avocado “pudding” was a huge hit with the kids last night!!! I was happy to oblige
Later in the afternoon, I knew I had a long math homework date with Hailey and wanted to bake up a little treat for her to have as a special after school snack (that isn’t encouraging emotional eating, is it??? at least it was packed with healthy fats, fiber and antioxidants!!!) These are the Almond Joy Bars from Peas and Thank You (minus the artificial flavor extracts and I subbed in organic coconut sugar which I’m able to get at our Meijer). Needless to say, the temptation was just too much and I ended up having one too. Straight out of the oven, warm and gooey – they were dreamy!!!! And I can only imagine how awesome they would be topped with some vanilla (coconut milk) ice cream!!!
Dinner was one of Jake’s favorites – spaghetti and meatballs. I don’t care for the overly full feeling I get from having pasta for dinner so the if I have the time, I bake a spaghetti squash for me instead of the regular noodles. I was a little disappointed the first time that I had spaghetti squash because I actually expected it to taste like pasta – HA! It definitely doesn’t but it has grown on me…..a little…..this was topped with sauteed mushrooms and a couple of the meatballs. We had a simple green salad on the side with one of my favorite homemade vinaigrette dressings (recipe to come!)
I have lots of recipes coming at you soon – two healthy snack “dips”, my go-to salad dressing, butternut squash apple & curry soup, and overnight crockpot steel cut oats just to name a few. Since I can count on my fingers how many of you are reading this little blog, please feel free to leave comments on my posts!!!! I’d love to hear from you – what recipes you’ve tried, if it turned out good/bad, any questions about foods or ingredients I’m using, or perhaps what you’d like to see on here. And thanks for reading
That wraps it up for this Wednesday!
Did anyone else have lots of yummy party food for the Superbowl yesterday???
This football-obsessed household loves having an excuse to make some of our favorite tailgating recipes and party appetizers! In honor of the game being held in New Orleans, of course we had to make Gumbo (using organic chicken andouille sausage and amped up with lots of spicy creole seasoning), along with Caesar salad (dressing made with Vegenaise soy-free mayo and minus the anchovy paste), and soft pretzel bites with beer cheese dip (made with a local IPA and ground horseradish instead of jalapenos). Darren also made some buffalo wings for himself with a homemade spicy garlic wing sauce (hmmm….maybe after reading my post about the sketchy ingredients in wing sauce???)
Anyway, it was a fun and relaxing family day around here filled with lots of yummy food. I am such a sucker for salty snacks and good appetizers so I think the pretzel bites did me in!
As much fun as it is to indulge in a special meal every once in awhile, I know that I need to get back on track right away with a day of clean eating afterwards.
Today will be filled with lots of green juice for breakfast (this one has kale, romaine, celery, cucumber, an apple, a baby clementine, a squeeze of lemon and a teaspoon of spirulina)
A huge salad for lunch (romaine with lots of veggies and tahini/lemon/cayenne dressing just like this one)
Fruits and Veggies for snacks
Add in a good workout, loads of water, and a Meatless Monday dinner and I will be right back on track. This recipe comes from Peas and Thank You, one of my favorite sources for kid-friendly vegan and vegetarian recipes.
Starting line-up of antioxidant, protein, and fiber packed ingredients including veggies, beans, and tempeh. If you are not familiar with tempeh, it is a fermented soy product native to Indonesia. It has a nutty flavor and is versatile for vegetarian cooking. It is generally found in the refrigerated section of the produce department near the sprouts and tofu. This is a great recipe to try it out since it is crumbled up into the chili mixture.
Chop pepper, onion and garlic and saute over medium heat until soft, about 4-5 minutes.
Meanwhile, grate tempeh with a cheese grater into uniformly-size crumbly pieces.
Add tempeh and 3 tablespoons of water and cook tempeh for another 5 minutes.
Add spices, tomato sauce and beans let this simmer for about 5 minutes to allow flavors to combine.
In a separate bowl, combine cornmeal, flour, baking powder, and salt. Mix liquid ingredients together in a glass measuring cup and add to dry. Stir until just combined and add in corn. Forget to take pictures……
Spray a 2-quart baking dish with olive oil and add veggie/bean/tempeh mixture. Top with cornbread mixture and bake at 400 degrees for about 20-25 minutes, or until golden brown on top.
Top individual servings with sour cream, guacamole, and/or chopped cilantro.
Tempeh Tamale Pie
Adapted from Peas and Thank You
Ingredients for the filling:
1 medium onion or 1/2 of a large onion, chopped
1 cup red or green pepper (or combination of both), chopped
1 8 oz. package tempeh, crumbled
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 tsp salt (I used a little more since my tomato sauce had No Salt Added)
1 tsp maple syrup
1 14 oz. can tomato sauce (organic and BPA-free if possible!)
1 15 oz. can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
Ingredients for the crust:
2/3 cup cornmeal
1/3 cup flour (regular, whole wheat pastry, or gluten-free alternative)
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup non-dairy or organic milk
2 T. unsweetened applesauce (or substitute melted coconut oil, grassfed butter, or olive oil)
1 T. maple syrup
1 cup frozen corn (I prefer organic, non-GMO corn)
Optional Toppings:
1/2 cup grated cheese to add to top of cornbread before baking, sour cream, chopped cilantro, guacamole, olives, etc.
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Place a large skillet over medium high heat and spray with olive oil or non-stick spray. Add onion, peppers, and garlic and sauté until softened, about 4-5 minutes.
- Grate or crumble tempeh and add to the pan with the sautéed vegetables. Add 3 T. water to help steam tempeh. Cook for an additional 4-5 minutes.
- To the pan, add chili powder, ground cumin, salt, maple syrup, tomato sauce and beans.
- Allow bean mixture to simmer for a few minutes to combine flavors. Transfer to a 2-quart baking dish that has been sprayed with cooking spray or lightly coated with oil and set aside.
- In a medium bowl, combine cornmeal, flour, baking powder and salt.
- In a glass measuring cup, combine milk, maple syrup and applesauce.
- Add wet ingredients to the cornmeal mixture and stir until just combined.
- Gently fold in the defrosted corn.
- Spread corn mixture carefully and evenly over the top of the casserole dish.
- If using, top the casserole with shredded cheese.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes, until crust is set and starting to brown.
- Serve with desired toppings.
This was the third time I’ve made this casserole and overall it was pretty good. The filling was tasty but could potentially have a little more flavor with the addition of some fire roasted tomatoes. I am definitely going to experiment with a variation on the cornbread topping next time to get more of a traditional cornbread top – this was just a bit flat and grainy for my tastes. I’m thinking of switching to unbleached all purpose flour and coconut oil or grassfed butter instead of the applesauce. But this was good for a cleaned up and dairy-free/meatless version of the classic tamale pie to end my day of back-on-track clean eating.
