SNACKS
Semi Clean Sugar Cookies Yep, there is a bit of refined sugar in these cookies – specifically in the icing. I’ve tried several icing recipes, and to be honest, I can’t seem to find one that tastes, looks and acts like traditional sugar cookie icing. If you have a great “clean” icing recipe, please share.
Clean Eating Eggnog Oh.my.goodness. This is the real deal without all the nasty ingredients in store bought eggnog! I’d put this recipe up against any store variety. Have you ever read the ingredients in that stuff !?! Store bought organic eggnog is still full of questionable ingredients.
DINNERS
Creamy Avocado Spinach Pasta A beautiful and creamy pasta option that is ready in a flash. What makes an already great recipe better? One that requires only a stock pot and a blender.
Kale (or Spinach) Egg Strata This is a trickster recipe. Everyone in my family turned their nose up at the looks of this dish. However, my “two bite rule” saved the day. Actually, one bite is all it took to convince them that this recipe is a keeper. There’s just something about the slight bitterness of rye bread brings that works so well with creamy, cheesy goodness.
Lemon Ricotta Pancakes This is a favorite pancake recipe, so it was a no brainer for Christmas morning. It’s fluffy, lemony, & a tad bit decadent. It’s a sure crowd pleaser every single time.
Hope something makes your belly smile…
Smartphone users, scroll to the bottom of the screen to sign up for weekly recipe emails from We Eat For Real.
Semi Clean Sugar Cookies
Adapted from 100 Days of Real Food 
Cookie Ingredients
1½ cups white whole-wheat flour, plus more for rolling out the dough
¾ t. baking powder
¼ t. sea salt
½ c. organic cold butter (1 stick), at room temperature
2/3 c. organic coconut sugar
1 organic egg
4 t. organic heavy cream
1 t. organic vanilla extract
Directions: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and sea salt. In a mixer, cream together the butter and coconut palm sugar for two minutes. Reduce the speed, and add the cream and vanilla. Add one-third of the dry ingredients and allow it to combine. Add the remaining flour in thirds just until combined. Use your hands to form a ball of dough. Liberally flour a flat surface to roll out the dough. Use cookie cutters to cut shapes into the dough. Carefully place the cookies on a silicone line baking sheet. Bake for 7 to 10 minutes. Transfer to cool a cooling rack.
Icing Ingredients
1½ c. powdered sugar
7 – 8 T. organic heavy cream (alternative: orange juice)
2 – 3 T. orange juice
Food coloring, optional (clean dye: India Tree natural dyes)
Directions: In mixing bowl, stir the icing ingredients together with a fork. Adjust the texture with more/less powdered sugar. Pour icing into individual containers and stir in food dyes, if using.
Truth: I used some India Tree dye as well as some store bought food coloring with terrible ingredients. Here’s were the 90/10 rule of clean eating comes in to play. It’s Christmas, and we only use these once a year. I’m quite certain we will all live to tell about it 😏
Clean Eating Eggnog
Adapted from The Gracious Pantry 
Ingredients
2 c. organic milk (alternatives: almond milk, cashew milk, etc.)
3 organic egg whites
1/3 c. organic honey
1.5 t. organic vanilla extract
1/2 t. nutmeg
1/2 t. cinnamon + extra to sprinkle on top
Directions: In a medium saucepan, add all of the ingredients. Use an emersion blender to thoroughly combine the ingredients. (Alternatively, add all ingredients to a blender. Run at high speed to combine the ingredients before adding to a sauce pan). At near medium heat, stir with a whisk, almost constantly. Do NOT allow to boil or the eggs will scramble. Instead, aim for barely simmering. Cook at this temperature for 15-20 minutes. Once it begins to simmer you will notice the mixture beginning to thicken slightly. At twenty minutes, remove from the heat. Continue to whisk until simmering has stopped. Cover and refrigerate overnight (or at least 6 hours).
When ready to serve, some additional milk may be needed to thin the eggnog just a bit.
Creamy Avocado Spinach Pasta
Adapted from Jo Cooks 
Ingredients
10 oz. whole wheat spaghetti or fettuccine
1 clove garlic
1 avocado
1 c. fresh organic spinach
½ c. pine nuts
¼ c. organic fresh basil
1 T. fresh lemon juice
Sea salt/pepper, freshly ground
¾ to 1 c. salted pasta water, reserved
Sea salt and pepper to taste
Parmesan cheese, optional topping
Good quality olive oil, optional topping
Directions: Heat salted pasta water to boiling and cook pasta to your desired doneness. Drain the pasta, retaining the pasta water. Do NOT rinse the pasta.
While the pasta cooks, in a food processor or blender, pulse together the garlic, spinach, pine nuts, basil, and lemon. Add the pasta water slowly to achieve your desired sauce consistency. Season with salt/pepper to taste. (Note: sauce has no salt, so don’t be surprised by the amount of salt/pepper needed.)
In a large serving bowl, add the pasta followed by the sauce and stir to evenly coat the pasta.
Serve individual plates with some Parmesan cheese and a drizzle of good quality olive oil.
Kale (or Spinach) Egg Strata
Adapted from Nutritionist Reviews
Ingredients
1/2 loaf whole wheat rye bread, cut into bite sized chunks
2 c. organic kale, roughly chopped (alternative: organic spinach)
2 large organic tomatoes, chopped (alternative: 14 oz. can organic diced tomatoes, excess juices drained)
1 small yellow onion chopped or 2-3 chopped green onion or scallions
5 organic eggs
1/4 c. organic milk
1 c. organic plain Greek yogurt
1-2 cloves crushed garlic
1 t. dried dill, optional
1/2 t black pepper
1/2 t garlic powder,
1/3 c. shredded Parmesan cheese
Salsa, optional topping
Several dashes of hot sauce, optional topping
Organic plain Greek yogurt, optional topping
Directions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a 9×12 baking dish, mix together the kale, tomatoes, onion, and bread. In a bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, yogurt, garlic, dill, black pepper, and garlic powder. Evenly pour the liquid over the kale mixture. Bake for approximately 30-35 minutes or until the egg mixture has set up (no jiggles when you wiggle the pan). Remove from the oven and evenly top with the parmesan cheese. Serve as is, or add some salsa and/or a few dashes of hot sauce. If you’re feeling really adventurous add a dollop of Greek yogurt along with some salsa and/or hot sauce.
Lemon Ricotta Pancakes
Adapted from Sugar and Charm
Dry Ingredients
1 1/2 c. white whole wheat flour
2 t. baking powder
1 t. baking soda
1 t. sea salt
Wet Ingredients
6 drops or organic, organic liquid stevia (alternatives: ¼ c. honey or pure maple syrup)
1 c. organic milk (ideas: almond milk, cashew milk)
1 organic egg
1 T. organic butter, melted
1 t. organic vanilla extract
1 c. organic whole milk ricotta cheese
2 lemons, juiced
Zest from 2 lemons
Directions: In a medium bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients. In a small bowl, stir together the dry ingredients. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Stir just until combined – do NOT over stir. Make these pancakes as you would any other pancakes by adding a small amount of clean oil or organic butter to the pan (ideas: coconut oil, olive oil, etc.). Top with hot, pure maple syrup!
Tip: If you want to take the lemony flavor to the next level, squeeze some lemon juice in the maple syrup before serving!
Alternatively, heat frozen blueberries and mash them into hot syrup.
Serve with preservative free bacon.
weeatforreal.com 