Reduced Ebook pricing!

Now that we are well into the new year, I wanted to re-post OUR EBOOK at an even lower price to help you keep going in your resolutions. By the end of January is when I'd rather let go of some of the 'uncomfortable' changes I've tried to make for myself. I hope that our book can give you some motivation to keep going, eat clean, add more fruits and veggies. You are worth it and I know you can do it, because you can do hard things.

Baby steps remember. Maybe add a few more vegetarian meals, a few more salads and work up from there. It doesn't have to be cold turkey on every guilty pleasure all at once!

Keep going, and hopefully this $0.99 book can help you along your way!

Creamy Peach Smoothie

Summer is in full force! Can we say HEAT WAVE! It seriously is so hot, which is why I love, love, love to whip up something to cool me off. Unfortunately most cool treats are high in processed sugars and calories. So how to we combat this....SMOOTHIE!!!

I love fresh peach it is so perfect in the summer with it's smooth flavor. I designed this smoothie to go along with my plan to lose the baby weight. I loved the result and so did my little people, they thought they were getting quite the treat.

The wonderful thing about the creamy peach smoothie is it is so simple and has very little ingredients to it.

If you want a wonderful, smooth, creamy, guiltless treat to survive this heat wave this is it. This smoothie would be the perfect smoothie pop for the kids...or you!

Creamy Peach Smoothie

1 chopped fresh peach

2 bananas

1 T greek yogurt

1 tsp honey or stevia

1/8-1/4 cup almond milk (depending on how you thick you like it)

a large handful of ice

Add peach to the blender, then a layer of ice, add bananas, then another layer of ice, add remaining ingredients. Blend until smooth. At least 90 seconds. Enjoy frozen as a popsicle or just drink the smooth, cool smoothie!

What are your favorite summer tricky treats?

Tastes Traditional Chocolate Chip Cookies

So last night was a major craving night! I really wanted a nice homemade chewy, chocolaty chocolate chip cookie! Well, I pulled out one of my old cookbooks to see how I could revamp the recipe...even though the craving was strong I couldn't actually bring myself to follow the recipe (2 sticks of butter and almost two cups of sugar...no thank you) So I had planned to use a bunch of different things like dates, applesauce- things like that. Well after a quick look at my pantry I realized it was time for a shopping trip, but I moved forward anyway. I used honey and some vegan butter I had, I used one egg and one flax egg, but you can easily use two flax eggs, I did add a few tablespoons of raw cane sugar, I used whole wheat flour and you know the end result was awesome! Seriously the cookie dough smelled and tasted like traditional chocolate chip cookies and the report Derek gave me was they were like chewy Chips Ahoy....he did say he will always love the bean cookies the best!

So some subs that origianally I had planned on using...

applesauce in place of all oils

banana or flax eggs for egg replacers

and I had planned on using date paste to use for sweeteners...but here we are and it didn't go according to plan...

...does that mean I didn't eat them...heck no I just didn't eat the three I usually eat in one sitting! These are wonderful, if you're looking to clean up your chocolate chip cookies a little here you go!!! Amazing!

Chocolate Chip Cookies

3 c flour

3 T vegan margarine or 3 T c applesauce

3 T sugar in the raw or 1/4 c date paste

1/4 c raw honey or pure maple syrup

1 tsp vanilla 

1/4 tsp almond extract

1 egg

1 flax egg or you can use only flax eggs

1 tsp baking soda

pinch of salt

1/2 c dark chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees! cream butter and cane sugar (if you are using applesauce and date paste just combine all wet ingredients and mix) add egg and flax egg to creamed butter, add vanilla and almond extract. Add in dry ingredients and to the wet ingredients. Mix well....this dough is thick, I had to get in there with my hands and knead it. Fold in chocolate chips. Bake for 10 minutes until golden on top.

Note: these didn't flatten very well so I would press the dough into a flat cookie before baking or just flatten them right out of the oven! Enjoy!

Crock Pot Peppermint Patty Brownies!

No dinner recipe to post this evening~ it's all sweet tooth tonight! These brownies have been made healthier, but still eat in moderation, the homemade sweetened condensed milk has some sugar in it! The good news....you can make these in a lot of different ways, I kept mine vegan, but you can use an egg, or real sweetened condensed milk, my version is just lighter in sugar than canned milk! It is much faster cook time in the oven for brownies, but you can't beat just throwing the ingredients in the crock pot and letting them cook themselves! And it was just kind of a fun shake up of things! These little babies are quite homely looking in my pictures, but they were so tasty, my kids wanted to eat all of them, I told them they had to save some for their dad who has been at school all day! I'd say these will be a nice treat for him to come home too!

The idea from crock pot brownies came from a blog I found on one of my many google searches for unique crock-pot meals! I obviously made some changes from the original to make it better for you, but I think they turned out as tasty as a brownie can be. 

Some ideas for revamping this recipe to make it your own, for your own tastes:

~ Blend 5 pitted dates with 1/2 C almond milk and throw that paste in for all sweeteners

~Use nuts instead of oats

~ add peppermint extract to the homemade sweetened condensed milk or brownie mix instead of using the candy peppermint patties

~ melt dark chocolate chips on top

~ Use a gluten free flour to make it gluten free

Wow, take your pick of how you make this, I'm sure it will still come out awesome!

Peppermint Patty Brownies

1 T vegan margarine

1 C water

1 chia -flax egg (1 T chia seed +1 T flax seed +3-4 T warm water)

1 1/2 C spelt flour (or any whole grain flour)

3/4 C cacao powder

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 C date paste (optional)

1/2 C oats

4-5 small peppermint patties

Homemade sweetened condensed milk

2 T vegan margarine

1/4 C raw turbinado sugar (sugar in the raw)

1 1/4 C vanilla soy milk

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon (optional) 

Add 1 T margarine to crock-pot while on low. While it is melting begin making the sweetened condensed milk. In a small sauce pan add margarine and melt it, in another sauce pan add soy milk and bring to a low boil. Add sugar to melted margarine and stir constantly until it is a rolling boil. Combine with soy milk and heat until low boil. Stir in cinnamon.

After the margarine is melted in the crock pot add the chia -flax egg, water and brownie mix (make sure you mix the dry ingredients together first) Mix until the dry ingredients are wet,

 add sweetened condensed milk and top with oats.

 Cook on low for 2-3 hours. Check with a fork and see if it is done. Add patties to the top and cook another 30-45 minutes. Enjoy

* if you use a date paste add the paste before the brownie mix then mix it well and don't add sugar to the sweetened condensed milk!

We did enjoy dinner tonight, we didn't just eat brownies I promise. I wanted to show how I was able to utilize some great leftovers and make a tasty healthy dinner! I used the leftover sauce from the zucchini boats the other night and cooked up some wheat noodles. I mixed in the sauce so it was lightly coated and let the noodles cool slightly, then I mixed in some spinach and carrot chips and topped it will a small amount of balsamic, or you can use a little Italian dressing. The sauce from the noodles helps create a dressing! And there you go! A tasty quick meal full of healthy ingredients! Use those leftovers! Has anyone been able to create something deliciously healthy using leftovers?

Healthy Waffle Trifle

Breakfast for dinner is a favorite meal from time to time! Why not shake up the dinner table with breakfast! This meal doesn't consist of sausage, hash browns, bacon or eggs! This is filling, fruity, sweet, gluten free, and full of fiber and protein! And you want to the know the absolute best part? Kids devour this! No problem. My kids couldn't get enough. Ever since I discovered the recipe for the whole grain blender waffles I've been wanting to try this, I found this remake of the waffles from wholefoodmommies, they never let me down! I was so pleased, I only made a few tweaks to the whipped topping.

I had originally planned to make waffle fruit pizzas, which I still plan to do, but unfortunately the first few waffles I ruined somehow. Really how is that possible it's not that hard to watch them on the waffle iron. Anyways, I ended up following the original trifle idea and it was wonderful. We are using these for "Y" day, yes I skipped "X" I mean really, that's a hard one. We're calling these "Yummy" Waffles! Okay, it works. I have a great "Z" meal planned....and yes it really does start with "Z"!

 I do think the pizzas would be fun though! After I put this together I thought "This is so pretty!" This is a perfect brunch or shower dish! No one even needs to know it's GOOD for them! Go ahead, be the talk of your next get together with this beauty!

Healthy Waffle Trifle

Waffles

 2 C water

1 T honey

1 C oats

1/4 C millet or corn meal

1/4 C ground flax seed

1/4 C raw almonds or cashews

1 T cornstarch

1/4 tsp salt

 

Combine all ingredients to the blender and blend on high until it is well combined. Pour generous amount to waffle iron. The waffles should be a dark brown, then they are done. 

 

Whipped Topping

 12 oz silken tofu

1 tsp cinnamon

1/3 C maple syrup

1/2 C non-dairy milk

1 tsp vanilla

 

Combine everything to the blender and blend until it is well mixed. 

 

Tear small pieces of waffle and spread onto the bottom of a trifle dish or bowl. Add desired fruit in a layer. I used mango, strawberries, and grapes. But any type of fruit would be awesome. Top fruit layer with whipped topping and repeat for two or three layers! Serve chilled. Enjoy

* If you'd like a vegan option take out the honey from the waffles and use 2-3 dates or agave

Vegan Chocolate Orange Brownie (GF)

Sweet, Tangy, mouth watering orange flavor perfectly balanced with rich dark chocolate is what will be in my personal heaven someday! I have had such a sweet tooth lately. I've been doing really well and haven't indulged myself too much! I decided to try and create something for alphabet days letter "V" that was a treat, but not full of sugar (I realize the only "V" in this is vegan). Even if I do use raw sugar, I still have to watch it.

Did anyone know that medjool dates are commonly used in place of sweeteners? I haven't used them for a long time, but today I was gung ho on using them to decrease my sugar amount in these decadent brownies! These were perfect to make use of my new cacao powder from my giveaway, be sure and enter, these products are sooooo worth it! Most of my gluten free brownies involve beans, not these ones these are very cake like and will be served often! The orange flavor was subtle, but showed it's self at the same time...perfection! I love chocolate oranges so I loved this flavor, however you really could use any flavoring you'd like, coconut, raspberry, almond, mint, peppermint...make these yours! The glaze is optional, but highly recommended. The reason it calls for being optional is...it does have sugar. I tried, but I have yet to perfect a good glaze without throwing in some powdered sugar. If anyone has any suggestions please feel free to comment at the bottom! You'll thank me later after you try these, preferably nestled next to some berry soft serve!

Vegan Chocolate Orange Brownies

1 1/4 white rice flour +1 3/4 all purpose gluten free flour

(or 3 cups of whole wheat flour)

1/2 C cacao powder (or regular cocoa powder)

1 1/2 T baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 C applesauce

1, 12 oz container of firm tofu

1/2 C non dairy butter, I used vegan smart balance

1/2 C pitted medjool dates

1/4 C agave

2 C almond milk

1 T vanilla

1 T orange extract

Glaze

1/4 C cacao powder

1/4 C powdered sugar

1/4 C agave

2 T non dairy milk

1 tsp orange zest

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine flour, cacao powder baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Add butter and pitted dates to blender or food processor. Blend together for 20 seconds. Add remaining wet ingredients to the blender. Blend well for about 2 minutes to make sure tofu and dates are well blended. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients in the bowl. Bake for 25-30 minutes until toothpick comes clean. 

while the brownies are cooling combine all your ingredients for the glaze. Once brownies have had time to cool spread the glaze over the top! Serve warm. Keep refrigerated. Enjoy

source: bring-joy.com

Vegan Strawberry Cobbler

Okay here is my promised, not forgotten "U" day! Alphabet days is coming to close. I switched up "V" day and today because I was so anxious to share the Rumbi Salad. This is also a stretch for the letter "U", I'm going to pretend to call it strawberry upside down cake, but really it's a cobbler...it's no big deal!

Have you ever sat in your quiet house, if you have kids, after the kids go to sleep and just had a craving for something sinfully delicious to enjoy while escaping into your favorite TV show? Introducing this cobbler! That is exactly what I experienced last night! I needed something sweet, but healthy so I could sit and soak up the drama of Army Wives....okay yes I love Lifetime shows, it's not a problem!!!! This was such a fast prep work I couldn't believe it, and the end result fit my need. This will not be as sweet as traditional cobblers, however the upside is you can eat two servings without so much guilt! I'm all for that. This would be delicious with some vegan ice cream snuggled right next to it, melting all over the place with the warm cobbler!

I'm going to try this cobbler in our dutch oven soon and see how the end result turns out. You can use any fruit you'd like. I was going to use peaches, but Derek requested that I didn't, he just isn't a peach fan that crazy guy! So I pulled out the strawberries. It was wonderful too. Please excuse the pictures, it was dark outside and my house lighting is just the pits, it looked amazing and tastes even better!

Vegan Strawberry Cobbler

Crust

3/4 C whole wheat flour

1/4 C coconut sugar (optional)

1/4 C agave

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cinnamon

5/8 C almond milk

1 tsp vanilla

Filling

4 C chopped strawberries frozen or fresh

1/8 C  coconut sugar

1 T chia seeds

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place all the filling ingredients in a 9x9 baking dish and place them in the oven to heat while you mix the crust ingredients.

 Pull baking dish out of the oven and pour crust mixture over the top.

 You can sprinkle top with raw cane sugar if you'd like but that is optional. Bake for 30 minutes until crust is baked all the way through! Serve warm! Enjoy

Raspberry Chocolate Freezer Bites

This summer has been perfectly mild most days. It has had a few scorchers, but I have felt that it has been sunny, comfortable perfect frozen treat weather.

As I said in my earlier post I had planned on making something involving raspberry and chocolate...okay the excuse was because we are learning the letter R but mostly it's because I am a fool for raspberry flavor...okay okay and chocolate!

In my mind the simple recipe was going to work out perfectly. It was going to form round little pieces of chocolate that would be sinfully delicious and put DOVE chocolate to shame :)

....this little dream land didn't work out so perfectly. My original thought didn't set up for some reason...it was crazy. It was just a nice tasting liquid blob for over two hours. So I had to really think and brainstorm on how I could get this creation to set up nicely. After some extra ingredients added in, I finally was able to get it to solidify, but if you leave them out too long they do start to thaw very quickly! They turned out really yummy and they will be a fun freezer snack whenever the urge hits for a sweet!

Raspberry Chocolate Freezer Bites

1 C fresh raspberries

3/4 C dark chocolate chips

1/2 C oats

1 tsp vanilla

2-3 T almond butter

1 banana (optional, banana can help things mold. I personally didn't use one)

Add raspberries to saucepan and heat over medium. Stir until they are a liquid. Remove from heat and add remaining ingredients. Stir until chocolate is melted. Spoon mixture onto cookie sheets covered in parchment or wax paper. Place in freezer for 1-2 hours to set up. Keep covered and store in freezer. 

 

*you could also use carob chips if you prefer

Silken Protein Shake

Is anyone not really a huge breakfast eater? I know sometimes I'd rather have a nice smoothie or something instead of something larger. In the blazing summer it's always nice to cool down with something cold and silky in your mouth! If you leave this in the refrigerator for a few hours it turns into a pudding! So you could make fruit parfaits or something for breakfast. I found this recipe here

I have a slight confession, I was terrified to try this! As some of you might be! The way it turned out....well it tasted like a peanut butter, chocolate protein shake! Ah, sigh of relief. My kids wanted it as a dessert they thought it was so tasty, (my little mad did get really frustrated with the slowness of a straw, we moved on to a spoon :)

I've taken a challenge through this blog to do things your afraid of during august. Oh this is so small, just trying something that sounds yuck to me. It's all about the principle behind it though. I'm learning through this lifestyle to branch out, try new things, go against social norms at times. It's increased my confidence to try new things as well as dig up old passions that I have let just kind of fizzle out!

One of those dreams and passions was to always be a published author. I'm finding that is a passion or desire for a lot of people! Well over the last few weeks my husband and I have been working on a project together. An eBOOK! We've designed a fun book on living a healthy lifestyle while living with a tighter wallet! I am so excited to launch this. I find myself just writing all my passion about healthy living into those pages and I can't wait to share them with a larger audience! It's going to a rip roaring party on here on launch day, it's still a few weeks away, we're still learning about all the marketing and things like that!

Anyways, this month if you'd like to share in her challenge. Step out of the box and do something you've pushed way back in your mind that you've always wanted to do or do something your afraid of! Even if it's as simple as trying a new ingredient in a recipe!

Silken Protein Shake

19 oz of silken tofu

4 T cocoa powder

3-4 T agave

2 heaping T of peanut butter

3-4 frozen bananas

Combine all ingredients into high powered blender. Blend on high for about 2 minutes until everything is combined! Refrigerate left overs. Enjoy

           

No Bake Pumpkin Mousse Pie (GF)

 Okay, this may be a somewhat fast post...we're on mini vacation and heading to the lake ASAP for some fun boating and tubing....so here we go!

We've been at my parent's house for the night and I made this with my mom in mind. She's really cutting back her sugar intake at the moment and also has Celiac Disease, so she is all gluten free all the time. I knew that for our alphabet day "P" I wanted to make something with pumpkin, I had originally set out to make pumpkin cookies, but this mousse pie sounded a bit more fun! I think traditional pumpkin pie needs to run for cover this Thanksgiving! I had my mom be my critic since she is a pro at gluten free. She said it tasted really nice and she felt like it was healthy with no guilt. The original recipe is made with vanilla ice cream, I made it with bananas. She said if you want more of a dessert taste than use ice cream. We both suggest Coconut milk Ice cream, it's lower in calories, fat, it's vegan and it's all around healthier. If you'd like a yummy tasting no guilt, really healthy treat, follow the original recipe. Some things that are officially on my budget wish list since staying with my parents, a nice food processor and a nice fandangled camera!!!! Love it!

No bake Pumpkin Mousse Pie

4 frozen bananas

1 C canned pumpkin

1 T vanilla
1/4 C almond milk

1/2 tsp cloves

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 C coconut sugar or agave

Crust

1 C almonds (or almond meal)

1/4 C brown rice Flour
1/2 C almond butter (or any nut butter)
1/4 C agave or honey
1/2 tsp almond extract

For the Crust: place almonds in food processor and process until they are a flour. It tastes better smoother and less chunky so if you'd like just use almond meal. Add processed almonds to medium bowl. Combine with brown rice flour. Combine agave, almond butter and almond extract to small bowl. Microwave for a few seconds until it's melted together slightly. Combine wet ingredients to dry ingredients. Mix well, you're probably going to have to use your hands, so get in there and get dirty! Smash crust on the bottom of a spring form pan.
For the Mousse: Add bananas, almond milk and vanilla to  food processor and process until you have a soft serve consistency. Add pumpkin, coconut sugar, and spices to the soft serve and process until completely combined. Spread topping over the crust and place in the freezer to set up. *Personally I liked it better thawed out and more mousse like, so after it has set up, I would move it over to the fridge so it thaws a bit before eating it, but it you'd like it frozen go for it! Store in freezer or fridge, it should keep for 2 days in the fridge. Enjoy

*remember if you'd like to use already made ice cream try the coconut milk ice cream instead of the bananas!

Fresh Raspberry Soft Serve

Ice cream. Do I miss not indulging in creamy, sugary ice cream from Farr's or Ben and Jerry? NO! Want to know why, because I can make this baby!

It's fast and it satisfies! It's also full of completely natural ingredients. Challenge yourself to try using bananas for your soft serve instead of using cream! It really is wonderful. So do I still think dairy ice cream tastes good....you bet I do. Is it worth it to me? Nope it's not. I'd rather eat a huge bowl of this and not finish it, than give myself two small scoops of other ice cream with maybe a small amount of toppings and then leave myself wanting more, but I can't have more because then I'll kick myself for it later! No thanks, it's more fun to eat as much as I want :) I made this after the kids went to bed because I was in a selfish mood and wanted it ALL FOR MYSELF! So I snuggled in from of the computer ate my huge bowl and worked on my eBook! Talk about De-stressing....for me at least. Enjoy this, I know you will!

Raspberry Soft Serve

1/2 C frozen raspberries

1-2 frozen bananas

almond milk, just until you get the consistency you want, I used about 1/4 C.

fresh raspberries to top it with

Place bananas and raspberries in the blender. Slowly add milk while blender is going until you reach the soft serve consistency. You may have to scrape the sides of the blender! Top with fresh raspberries and enjoy. 

Sub out raspberries for any fruit or berry you want!

Geeks Unite! Homemade Butter Beer!

Okay, here is my guilty confession...I am a HUGE  Harry Potter fan! I have read all the books 10 times each, and of course my favorite Christmas present last year was the entire 8 disc set of Harry Potter movies! Well to my happy surprise when I logged on to facebook this morning I learned it was J.K. Rowling and Harry Potter's Birthdays! So of course we had to have some fun and make a Harry Potter inspired recipe! Well, I thought Butter Beer, that is mentioned often in the books, why not try that out! Well of course I should have gotten a clue from the name that the recipes wouldn't be great for you. Well I'll tell you this, I did try to healthify this recipe and it turned out super great. However, it was still a little bit too much for me and I think my kids also after a little while. We aren't used to so much sweet in one wack. It tasted really good and it was worth it for the fun of it, but still it was a little too much. I can't imagine what the original recipe would taste like.

So if you're geeky like I am, this will be fun for you to try. I'm also linking the original recipe, which is actually a Harry Potter recipe page so it has other ones as well, I think some would be fun for Halloween time!!! So curl up with the Prisoner of Azkaban and Enjoy

Homemade Butter Beer

2 1/2 C Almond Milk

1/2 C butterscotch chips or sauce

Heat almond milk and butterscotch chips in saucepan until chips are completely melted.

For the topping

3 C confectioners sugar

4-5 T vegan margarine, soy free (you can also use another butter or margarine)

1/3 C coconut milk (or almond milk)

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp cloves

1/4 tsp nutmeg

Cream together margarine and sugar, slowly add milk and continue beating. Add in spices and beat until all combined. Spoon on top of the milk, it should eventually float to the top! Sugary, but still fun and yum!

This is the link to the original site

***** UPDATE****  my friend posted a yummy sounding sugar free version of this at her blog!!! Enjoy

Mini Double Chocolate Cookies

It's "M" day, so I must honor the Disney Freak in me!!!!

Today is all about mini size!!! 

I've posted before that when I first was discovering healthy alternatives for baking and recipes I found beans to use in baked goods. At first I was disgusted and was sure that they would be gross and your cookie would taste like a sugary burrito!

Well I finally was brave enough to try a recipe and have now since made many different bean baked goods, two of my favorites are the Heavenly Bean Cookies and Butter Bean Scotchies! 

So today I thought about making one of these cookies but just making them into mini balls, after awhile I thought...no. They are both white bean cookies that are quite similar, they're delicious, but I needed to go out on a limb and try a different type of cookie with a different bean! I've made black bean brownies before since I have a gluten free recipe and I made them for my mom (I just need to make them again, take a picture and post them, they're great), but I've never used the black beans in a cookie!

After the cookie making today I can now say that beans in themselves could have their own cookbook. 100 ways to use beans in baking and cooking!!!! They offer protein, vitamins and they don't bust out they're flavor and make your sweets all beany. They can be bold when they want, and invisible when they want!

So obviously we had another bean cookie hit! They were cute, tasty, healthy, and chocolatey! Yay! They are about 30-40 calories a cookie due to the size and it'll depend on how many chocolate chips you use!!! You can't beat that. My daughter settled in the second they were out of the oven with her glass of almond milk, and popped down two cookies!!!!

Be brave, try these! I am such a fan of beans in my cookies and baking. These are not gluten free, but there are so many recipes available that use beans instead of flour for those who can't have gluten! I also feel that beans are an important part of a natural diet, so what better way to get them in than through a cookie!!!

Mini Double Chocolate Cookies

1/2 C oats

1 cup whole grain flour (I use spelt)

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 C cocoa powder

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/2 C canned black beans

1 T bean liquid

1/8 C coconut sugar 

1/4 C Raw cane sugar

1/4 C agave sweetener

1/4 c unsweetened applesauce

1/2 tsp vanilla

4-6 T water

1/4 tsp almond extract (optional)

1/2 c. semi- sweet  chocolate chips

dash of salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine all dry ingredients in medium bowl. Add wet ingredients including beans to blender. Blend on high for one minute or until smooth. Combine wet and dry ingredients. Fold in chocolate chips. If it is too dry add some more water, slowly!

  Drop by 1/2 table spoons onto greased cookie sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes. You can make them smaller if you want, but just make sure you lower the bake time! Let them cool about 5 minutes before taking them off the sheet! Enjoy

Strawberry Sweet Bread w/ Strawberry Glaze

Are you ready to get your grain on? This sweet bread was marvelous, but it is full of yummy grains, and a surprise ingredient....quinoa! Yes, cooked quinoa! I have never used quinoa in a baking before. I've seen the quinoa flour and pasta, however I've never thought to use cooked quinoa.

This recipe is a combination of many searches and mashing them all together to satisfy my tastes! I found some ideas at ohsheglows.com, poorgirleatswell.com, and my best friend google!  I knew a few things I wanted, I wanted it to be egg less, healthy (obviously), I wanted a glaze and I wanted a berry or fruit. I couldn't decide between strawberries or cherries for awhile, finally I decided on the strawberries (I do think cherries would be great in this too, with a cherry glaze...maybe some chocolate chips....light bulb!!!! Cherry chocolate chip bread!!! To be continued...)

Well after I had compiled a list of ingredients I stumbled upon the idea of adding cooked quinoa to your baking, since apparently it adds moisture, more healthy grains, and flavor! Hmmmm, well the purpose of my blog is to think outside the box when feeding ourselves and our families healthy. So I decided to try it. Whenever I make up a recipe I get very unorganized in my baking, maybe I should do a post on how to simplify baking and cooking so clean up is easier...it will say..."Don't bake like ME!"

 

As I was starting the process of making the bread, I had those negative thoughts come into my head, just like with the veggie kabobs, I kept thinking, your taking a risk with just mashing together multiple recipes, you just finished doing a budget post and now here you are going to waste all your food!

Well I'm here to tell you when the negativity bug comes knocking, punch him! A lot of times when we have just a basic idea in mind, sometimes that is when we create our tastiest creations! I will admit I've never been awesome at glazes, they never seem to get really thick for me and they tend to absorb into baked good a lot, not that it hurts the flavor it just doesn't look as pretty. I let things cool and everything so if anyone has any tips let me know! This bread turned out really tasty! I really enjoy things where you can taste the health of it, but it still has an enjoyable sweetness to it! And this had it all for me. The glaze made some bites taste almost like a doughnut...I mean that is awesome right! It was a pretty pink color, so as soon as I saw it I thought, 'what a nice Valentine's Day Bread' and it would be, but we'll enjoy it in July as well :)  Okay enough chit chat, on to the recipe! Enjoy this, just save some for everyone at your house :)

Strawberry Sweet Bread w/ Strawberry Glaze

2 C flour (I used whole grain Spelt Flour)

1 C quinoa, cooked

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 T ground flax seed

2 T raw cane sugar (optional)

1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar

3/4 C almond milk (or any non-dairy milk)

1 C strawberries

1 tsp vanilla

1/4 tsp almond extract

1/4 C agave 

1/4 C raw honey (you can also use maple syrup)

1/3 C oil (I used olive oil)

Glaze

1/2 C confectioner's sugar (powdered sugar)

4 frozen strawberries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cook quinoa completely. Set aside to cool. Combine almond milk, vinegar, agave, honey, almond extract, vanilla, and oil to a small bowl. Set aside while you combine the dry ingredients. Add all dry ingredients, except strawberries, and including quinoa to a large bowl. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix well until blended, add strawberries. Be careful not over mix the Spelt flour, it's a delicate flour. Pour dough into a bread pan and bake for 30-35 minutes or until completely cooked through. Remove and let cool on a cooling rack. After bread has cooled slightly, begin to assemble glaze. Add sugar to a small bowl. Make sure strawberries are thawed (I actually microwaved mine for a minute to make them mushy) Smash out as much juice as you can and pour it into the sugar, try and keep as many chunks out as possible, I ended up with about 4-5 T of liquid. And after awhile I had even more, that I didn't use, so if you want a lot, keep mushing them! Pour glaze over the top of the bread! Enjoy

*Question for everyone, I've noticed there is a debate whether or not honey is vegan. I know it's made from Bees so I guess in that sense I see how it isn't, but I would love others opinions, I'm not sure if I should call things that use honey vegan?

Tootie Fruity Freeze Cups

It was a nice hot day today, so after dinner I wanted to make a treat that would cool us down. It still is "F" day for our alphabet days and we are honoring fruit today, so what more could I do than a delicious fruit cup. I wasn't sure how they would turn out, since I just invented them today :) Well, I invented the filling, for the crust I used the berry pie crust and just put in a cupcake pan instead of a pie dish! It worked out really great, they actually popped out easily, that's the part I was most worried about do you know what else is great, they are gluten free and vegan, what do ya know! 


*I also think if you want to do a revamp of the berry pie you could put it in cups like these and have mini berry pies!!!!

 I did a banana filling, and after you pop it in the freezer for a couple hours it comes out much like a banana Popsicle in a crust...Next time I think I'm going to puree all the fruit and turn the whole thing into a fruit freeze instead of topping it with the fresh fruit, not that it wasn't good, I just want to shake it up! Go ahead and play around with it, it's quite simple to make, it just needs time to set up, make it your own! Enjoy

Tootie Fruity Freeze Cups

1 recipe of berry pie graham pie crust (link above)

1 fresh banana

1 frozen banana

1/3 C agave or raw honey

2 T fruit jam (optional)

1/3 C almond milk, or any non-dairy milk

2 T cornstarch

1/2 tsp vanilla

1/4 tsp almond extract

1/4 tsp cinnamon

cut fresh fruit

Pre heat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare pie crust according to directions. Smash crust into cupcake pan. Bake for about 8 minutes. Watch closely, these are smaller so they will burn much faster! Set aside to cool slightly. Add frozen banana and almond milk to blender and blend until broken up and blended slightly. Add fresh banana, agave, jam, vanilla, and almond extract. Blend until very smooth and no banana chunks. Add contents of blender to a small saucepan, heat over med heat, add cornstarch and cinnamon, whisking constantly, until it seems quite thick. Pour banana mixture into the crust cups and put in the freezer for about 2 hours to set up. Remove from freezer and top with any fresh fruit you'd like. I used raspberries and nectarines! If you don't like it so frozen, take it out earlier so it more of a soft banana filling! 

*Just so you are aware, the filling thaws quickly. So if you have left overs cover and store in the freezer.

"D" day treats and snacks, Dip day!

I love a fun snack that really can be a whole family affair! This idea for Alphabet Days was really to involve my kids in learning, so these two snacks were really fun because they were able to help out a lot. Do you want to know something that makes it even better...no baking, I'm so sick of my hot oven in the middle of July...sweet. To go along with "D" day I decided to have a chocolate dipping sauce that would harden for a little extra sweetness. Don't be fooled though, the chocolate sauce is made with natural ingredients and the super bars are chuck full of nutrients! That's why I call them super bars, they have three major super foods all rolled into them! These were simple to make and kids can easily help you assemble them. The super bars just take some time to set up in the freezer before they are ready to be gobbled up! My family specially sets aside one night a week for a "family night" we teach lessons about values and we of course always have a treat, I thought this would be a perfect  family night snack! Enjoy

Graham Cracker Sandwiches

8 full graham crackers

All natural peanut butter

Break graham cracker pieces so they are in the smallest pieces they can be, spread peanut butter in desired amount. Sandwich peanut butter in between crackers. Set aside. Dip in fudge sauce (recipe at the bottom)

Super Bars

3 c oats

1 c chopped almonds

1 c chopped cashews

1 c dried blueberries

2 T ground flax seed

2 T chia seeds

1 c natural peanut butter or almond butter

2 T coconut oil

3/4 c raw honey, or mixed with agave

1/4 tsp vanilla (optional)

1/4 c chocolate chips (optional)

Combine all dry ingredients in large bowl. In small microwaveable bowl combine coconut oil, honey, peanut butter, and vanilla. Microwave for 30 seconds, then stir until all ingredients have melted together. Combine wet ingredients with dry ingredients. Stir and fold together until completely combined. Smash into a baking dish until the bottom is completely covered. Put in the freezer for about an hour to stand up. Take them out and cut them into squares. Dip in chocolate sauce if desired! Store in the fridge! These are great for workout recovery!

Chocolate Sauce

1 T peanut butter or other nut butter

1/4 c cocoa

1/4 c coconut oil

1/4 c agave

combine all ingredients into small sauce pan. Heat over medium, whisking continuously until all the ingredients have turned into a thin chocolate sauce. Pour into a bowl so you can dip your snacks. This might firm up in the fridge if you'd like to use if for ice cream or something instead, so you may have to re-melt it down!

yes we got some slobber mixed in with ours, our sweetie couldn't keep her hand off the chocolate! :)

*For gluten free option be sure and get gluten free graham crackers and gluten free oats!!!

Cashew Thumb Print Cookies

If you want a healthy cookie without loosing the sweetness...here you go! I loved these! They are adapted from this recipe at ohsheglows! They were awesome and such a fun cookie for the kids to help with! I love the nuts in this recipe and the flavor they bring, combined with the fruit filling, you've got a winner in my book! This is our double "C" cookie for our Alphabet days, Cashew Cookies!

Another Bonus of these little babies, they are gluten free! How great is that! I'll admit I'm not awesome at gluten free breads and most sweets, but these don't taste any different than other cookies! I'd eat these even if I didn't enjoy eating healthy :)

Cashew Thumb Print Cookies

1 1/3 c raw cashews

1/4 C brown rice flour

2 T ground flax seed

1/4 tsp + 1/8 tsp sea salt

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 c cashew butter (or almond butter)

1/4 c maple syrup (I actually used honey and agave mixed and it worked awesome!)

1/2 tsp almond extract

1/3 c coconut (optional)

1/2 c fresh berries

Place cashews in high powered blender and blend until they are ground into a flour consistency (you can leave it slightly chunky if you want more crunch) Whisk ground up cashews with all other dry ingredients. In a separate bowl combine wet ingredients. If the cashew butter isn't soft and drips, melt wet ingredients for 20 seconds in the microwave to make them soft! Mix wet ingredients into dry ingredients.

 Roll dough into small balls and place them on a cookie sheet. Puree fresh berries or fruit in blender until it is a sauce.  With your thumb push down into ball so there is a little bowl in the cookie.

 Fill bowls with fruit sauce.  Place in the oven and bake at 350 degrees for about 10-12 minutes! Watch closely! Let them cool in the fridge for 15 minutes! Enjoy

*If you don't want to use fresh berries, by all means use already made jam! It tastes great no matter way! Or you could put some chocolate chips in the bowls and melt them during baking so you have a chocolate cookie!