Eating healthy meals is all well and good, except when you don’t have time to think about what to make or how to make it. Lively Days offers a bunch of delicious, easy healthy recipes to get you started. Here’s a menu for breakfast, lunch, dinner and all-important dessert.

Easy Healthy Recipes: Breakfast

Banana Nut Pancakes

Ingredients:

• 1 cup rolled oats (or oat flour)
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• pinch salt
• 1 mashed banana
• 1 cup water or non-dairy milk
• 2 Tablespoons nut butter (or coconut butter)
• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Blend the rolled oats in a blender, or use already prepared flour.
2. Heat a non-stick skillet (or lightly oiled frying pan) on medium/low.
3. In a bowl, combine the dry ingredients.
4. In a separate bowl, mash the banana and mix with the wet ingredients.
5. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ones, and mix thoroughly. Add a little additional liquid if the batter is too thick to easily pour onto the skillet.
6. Cook pancakes until bubbles appear on the surface, then flip to the other side.

Easy Healthy Recipes: Lunch

Sushi

Rice Ingredients:

• 2 cups short grain brown rice
• 3 ½ cups water
• 1 Tablespoon rice vinegar
• ½ teaspoon salt

Directions:

1. Place brown rice and water in a pot, bring to a boil, cover, and then cook on low for about 50 minutes.
2. Let it cool for a few minutes, then transfer to a large bowl and stir in vinegar and salt.

Tofu-Carrot Roll Ingredients:

• 4 oz extra-firm tofu (or store-bought tofu cutlets)
• 1 Tablespoon water
• 2 teaspoons soy sauce
• 1 large carrot (sliced lengthwise into thin strips)
• 3 sheets nori
• 2 cups cooked rice mixture (see recipe above)

Directions:

1. Slice tofu into long sticks to fit the length of three sushi rolls. If using store-bought tofu cutlets, skip to step 4.
2. Place tofu sticks, soy sauce, and water into a skillet and bring to a simmer on medium-low heat. Cook covered for 5 minutes, flip sticks, and cook covered another 5 minutes. Add more water if skillet is dry.
3. Uncover and cook off any excess liquid. Set aside to cool.
4. Divide tofu and carrot strips into three portions for filling.
5. See sushi rolling directions below.

Cucumber-Avocado Roll Ingredients:

• ½ cucumber (sliced lengthwise into thin strips)
• ½ avocado (sliced)
• 3 sheets nori
• 2 cups cooked rice mixture (see recipe above)

Directions:

1. Divide cucumber and avocado into three portions for filling.
2. See sushi rolling directions below.

Walnut-Raisin Roll Ingredients:

• ⅔ cup walnuts (chopped)
• ⅓ cup raisins (chopped)
• 3 sheets nori
• 2 cups cooked rice mixture (see recipe above)

Directions:

1. Divide walnuts and raisins into three portions for filling.
2. See sushi rolling directions below.

Sushi Rolling Directions:

1. Place a sheet of nori on cutting board or other flat surface and cover thinly with ⅔ cup of rice mixture. Leave about one inch of nori bare at the top (farthest from you).
2. For the walnut-raisin roll, evenly distribute walnuts and raisins over the rice mixture. For the other rolls, place filling in a horizontal line about ¾ inch from the bottom (closest to you).
3. Gently roll the sushi while pressing down until you reach the one inch bare strip.
4. Dip a few fingers in water and place on the bare strip of nori. Then finish rolling.
5. Let the nori set for a few minutes to seal and then slice into 6-8 pieces per roll.
6. Serve with soy sauce and wasabi.

Easy Healthy Recipes: Dinner

Pad Thai – Veggie Style

Sauce ingredients:

• ½ cup dates
• ½ cup water
• ¼ cup peanut butter
• 2 Tablespoons lime juice
• 1 ½ Tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 Tablespoon tamarind paste

Directions:

1. Place all the ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Add a little more water if needed to create a smooth consistency.
2. Set aside until stir fry is done cooking.

Stir fry ingredients:

• 10 oz. pad thai noodles or other pasta
• 3 cups chopped veggies (i.e. carrots, broccoli, etc.)
• 10-12 oz. firm tofu (cubed)
• ½ cup water
• ¼ cup chopped nuts (i.e. cashews, peanuts, or almonds)

Directions:

1. Cook pasta according to directions. Strain and rinse with cold water. Set aside.
2. While pasta is cooking, add veggies, tofu, and water to a frying pan and cook on medium heat with the lid on for 10 minutes (or until veggies are cooked to your liking). Be sure to stir every few minutes. Add a little extra water to the frying pan, if needed, to keep veggies from sticking to the bottom.
3. Once veggies are done, add pasta and sauce to frying pan, mix together, and heat thoroughly on low/medium heat.
4. After serving, top with chopped nuts.

Easy Healthy Recipes: Dessert

Berry Cheesecake

Crust ingredients:

• 1 cup nuts or coconut shreds
• 1 cup rolled oats
• ⅓ cup dates (packed)
• 4-5 Tablespoons water
• 2 Tablespoons coconut shreds

Filling ingredients:

• 3 cups fresh or frozen berries
• 1 cup cashews or ½ cup coconut butter
• ⅔ cup dates (packed)
• 2 ½ cups water
• 4 Tablespoons agar flakes or 1 Tablespoon agar powder

Directions:

1. For the crust, place the nuts or coconut shreds and oats in a food processor and pulse until finely chopped.
2. Add the dates and water and process until the mixture sticks together into a ball. Add a little more water if the mixture needs more moisture to stick together.
3. Grease the base of a 9″ pie plate, or similar sized glass dish and sprinkle the 2 T coconut shreds evenly on the bottom (to prevent the crust from sticking to the bottom).
4. Place the crust in the pie plate and evenly spread with your fingers to cover the whole base and an inch up the side. Set aside.
5. Place the berries, cashews or coconut butter, and dates in a blender.
6. Place the water and agar flakes or powder in a small saucepan and heat on medium, stirring often, until the agar has dissolved (about 5 minutes).
7. Pour the agar/water into the blender and blend until well combined.
8. Pour the filling into the crust and place in the refrigerator to set (at least 2 hours).

Love these recipes? Try Veggie Lasagne.