Banana Chocolate Muffins

I made the healthy version of these muffins this week and they were delicious!  They were so delicious, we actually had them for dessert.  I made mine with the stuff in parentheses except I did raw sugar instead of the cane juice. The recipe is from Talkin' Chow, Playin' House.  Click here to find the original post.  Here is the recipe:


1 1/2 cups all purpose flour (whole wheat flour)
1 cup granulated sugar (evaporated cane juice)
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
3 medium ripe bananas
1/3 cup vegetable oil (grape seed oil)
1 egg
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
(1-2 tablespoons flaxseed)


In a large bowl, combine the first 6 ingredients.  In a small bowl, combine bananas, oil and egg.  Stir the wet mixture into the dry ingredients in the large bowl just until combined.  Fold in the chocolate chips.  Fill greased or paper lined muffin cups 3/4 full.  Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes!  Recipe makes about 1-2 dozen.

Faux Caramel Sauce

My distant cousin just sent me this recipe and I intend to make it as soon as I get more dates (I completely ran out from making date balls so many times... haha).


1/4 - 1/2 cup almond milk (or other nut milk)
1 cup dates (pitted and tightly packed)
1 tsp vanilla
dash of salt

Blend in a high-powered blender until smooth. Serve with sliced apples. You can't believe how much this tastes like caramel!

Raw Banana Dessert

From the same lady who brought us the Happy Shake comes another great recipe: Her Banana Roadkill is deelish!  You just squish up two bananas between sheet of plastic wrap and form in the shape of a cookie then sprinkle honey, cinnamon, walnuts, goji berries and it was supposed to be cacao nibs, but I ran out and I'm pregnant and wanted some chocolate.  So I did regular milk chocolate chips :) freeze.  Break into pieces and eat!

Date Balls

I got this recipe from my cousin, Jamie, and I am in love!!  I made them yesterday and Jocelyn snitched 3 of them while she thought I wasn't looking.  I don't know if they are a dessert or just a snack, but they are raw (the way I made them).  I have never tried Emily's Date Balls, so I'm not sure how similar they taste.

1 cup dates
3/4 cup almonds
pinch salt
1/2 cup oats (optional, but good fiber)
Dark chocolate chips (optional)
Craisins (optional)
Dried Apricots (optional)
Cinnamon (optional)

Make sure your dates don't have pits and combine all the things you want to use in a high powered blender or food processor.  Blend until everything is in small pieces.  Feel the mixture.  If you push it together and it crumbles apart, put more dates in.  When it stays together, roll them into balls and set out on waxed paper for a while until they become less sticky.  You can also roll them in coconut, raw sugar, whatever.

I did everything except the dark chocolate chips and I gotta say, it didn't need the chocolate.  I didn't roll them in anything.  I did put quite a bit of cinnamon in and they were deelish!

Pineapple Banana Sorbet

This is from the recipe section of Disease Proof Your Child.  We made it last night and it was fantastic!  On top of that... it's just fruit!  Woohoo!  I'm thinking this would make some good popsicles too.

1 frozen banana

1 (4 oz.) can of pineapple (drained), or fresh pineapple

Blend in blender until it's the texture you want and serve immediately.

One Success and One Failure

Let's go with the failure first... get that out of the way... This morning Aly and I decided to make zucchini bread. Yummm! But I wanted to incorporate all of our new goals so I couldn't use our standard recipe. I started by finding a no-sugar recipe HERE. Then I thought... okay how can fat-free-veganize it?!? So I used applesauce instead of oil, and a combo of baking powder/water for the eggs. IT WAS DISGUSTING! Like... WOW. So, so gross. Bummer!

Now here is my success story: Chocolate Pudding! Original Recipe HERE. It was quite tasty indeed. I doubled it with just a few adjustments... not too many... and it worked out great. Aly and I loved licking the spatula this morning, and I can't wait to serve it to the whole fam after dinner. It is chilling in the fridge right now in darling little ceramic bowls that are the perfect size! I have had these bowls forEVER, and never had a use for them. Now I do! The thing I am most excited about: Jack will eat it, I'm positive, and that is good because he has NOT liked avacados in normal form- on top of mexican recipes and whatnot- but I know he needs those good-for-you-fats! Okay enough chatter. Here's the recipe:

Vegan Chocolate-Avacado Pudding
(2 servings)

In a blender blend thoroughly:

1 peeled and pitted avacado
3 heaping tablespoons raw cacao (I used normal cocoa powder because I had it on hand)
1/3 cup agave nectar (I think this must TOTALLY depend on avacado size. Mine were medium and I got away with less... plus also, since I was doubling, I did half agave, half honey... you could definitely taste the honey, but I didn't mind it)
1/2 teaspoon sea salt (I used kosher, and again- less)
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 cup water (I was tempted to use almond milk, but it didn't need it, it was VERY creamy)

Serve right away or chill for later :)

I thought her suggestion of using this as a fruit fondu was great. It would go with any kind of berry or banana or kiwi etc. beautifully! If you happen to try this Shay, I hope Jocelyn likes it! Maybe call it something different than pudding?!? To not associate it with the memories of the puddings she didn't like? I'm curious... did YOU like the puddings you made?

date balls

1 1/2 almonds
3/4 cup dates
1 tbsp of honey or agave
pinch of salt

Put in food processor until well mixed.

Roll into little balls.

Rolls balls in finely shredded coconut (unsweetened).

Eat!

You can put them in the fridge if you want.

PIE

You need a food processor and blender. You might be able to get away with just a blender.

PIE

Crust

1 1/2 cup of your favorite nuts (I like almonds, cashews or macadamia).
3/4 cup dates
1 tbsp of honey or agave
pinch of salt

Put in food processor until all ground up and fine. Put in pie pan,smash it all down with hands, put in freezer until next step.

Filling-

4 mango's
2/3 cup coconut oil (melted)

Put in blender until creamy. Pour filling over crust. Stick in reezer until firm. Then eat!

I made this once using fresh pineapple and strawberries instead of mango. You could do any fruit you want. Good luck and let me know how you like this.

You could also just make the filling, put it in your freezer and eat as an ice cream or put in your fridge and eat as pudding. There is so much you can do with this simple recipe:)

Kefir

Sorry for all the posts today.  I'm on Spring Break, can you tell?

So, I have been trying to include Kefir into our diet more.  Even though it is dairy and we've been trying to get off dairy 100%, Cory and Jocelyn are about to begin an aggressive pro-biotic treatment through this specialist that we've been working with, and I thought I'd do whatever I could to help it out.  Have any of you done those little shots of pro-biotics that they have in the refrigerated section of whole foods stores?  Just wondering if they would help/work.

So we made these waffles (I won't repost, but here's the link), which were a hit.  We used Maple Syrup for the sugar which gave it a nice flavoring. My cousin tried it and didn't think they were that great, but we thought they were good... I guess take my review with a grain of salt.

And then I've been making extra smoothies with Kefir in them and freezing them for popsicles.  This particular kind has blueberries, blackberries, strawberries, banana, almond meal, ground flax seed, etc.

In my research, I've also found that you can substitute Kefir in any recipe that calls for Buttermilk.

But what I'm wondering is how you gals feel about Kefir?  I'm so new, but it seems that doing the little bit of dairy in Kefir is worth it if you want/need the pro-biotics.  Also, my question is, does cooking the Kefir alter the effectiveness of the pro-biotics?  I can't find the answer anywhere online.  Thanks in advance for educating me!

Whole Grain Pie Crust

I haven't tried this yet, but I found this while looking for a decently healthy pie crust to make a quiche, and I wanted to remember it.  It is from cooks.com and it has quite a bit less butter and more whole grains than other recipes I found.  Let me know if you try it.

3/4 cup whole-wheat flour
1/2 cup old-fashioned oats, finely ground
2 teaspoons granulated sugar (or sugar replacement)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup cold butter, cut into small pieces
2 to 3 tablespoons very cold water

COMBINE flour, ground oats, sugar and salt in medium bowl. Cut in butter with pastry blender or two knives until mixture is crumbly. Sprinkle with water; blend together with a fork until mixture holds together.

SHAPE dough into ball; place on lightly floured sheet of wax paper. Top with additional piece of wax paper; roll out dough to 1/8-inch thickness. Remove top sheet of wax paper and invert dough into 9-inch deep-dish (4-cup volume) pie plate; slowly peel away wax paper. Trim excess crust. Turn edge under; crimp as desired.

Quiona

Make your quiona like normal (water and quiona, bring to boil and then let simmer until soft).

When it is done cooking add a little bit of honey, cinnamon, and fruit.

I like putting blueberries and strawberries in mine. I think apples, bananas or pears would be good too.

Sometimes I add other spices like ginger, nutmeg and cloves.

This is a yummy treat and filling. Ayo and Simeon even like it.

Raw Chocolate Pudding

This is yummy and super healthy. You can eat it just as pudding or for dipping fruit. Enjoy! This recipe is from, "All Recipes.com". I love that site.

Chocolate Pudding

Ingredients

* 1 avocado - peeled, pitted, and cut into chunks
* 1 banana, peeled and cut into chunks
* 1 cup unsweetened soy milk
* 1/4 cup raw cocoa powder
* 2 tablespoons agave nectar
* 1 teaspoon lemon juice
* 1/4 cup shredded unsweetened coconut (optional)

You can even sprinkle a little cinnamon on top (optional)


Directions

1. Place avocado, banana, soy milk, cocoa powder, agave nectar, lemon juice, and coconut into a blender. Cover, and puree until smooth. Divide into small containers, and store in the refrigerator 1 hour until set.

Raw Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies with Raw Cashew Cream Cheese Frosting and Easy bake Banana Cookies

Raw Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies with raw cashew cream cheese

Cookie

1 3/4 c almond meal
...1/2 cup pumpkin
1 dash cayenne pepper ( optional)
1 Tbsp Cinnamon
1 tsp ginger
1 cup Raisins
1/4 cup water
1 tsp vanilla
1/8 cup coconut oil
1/8 cup agave nectar of honey
1/4 cup chopped nuts

Put in food processor until dough like. add chocolate chips and more raisins. place in food dehydrator about 108-116 degrees for 2-4 hours, desired texture. I did mine for 2 1/2 hours. I like them a little soft. If desired, put cream cashew cream cheese on top of cookie and eat.

Chocolate chips

Need rolling-pin, pizza cutter, mixing bowl and spoon

1 cup cocoa
4 Tbsp Agave nectar or honey
2 Tbsp cup coconut oil
2 tsp vanilla

Mix chocolate by hand. Place on wax paper, fold wax paper over the chocolate, roll chocolate out
place in freezer for 20 minutes, take out of freezer, peel back wax paper, cut chocolate into bit size pieces.

Cashew cream cheese

Soak cashews in a bowl of water for 4 hours before making cream cheese.

1 C cashews
1/8 cup water
6 Tbsp honey
Juice from one tangerine or half and orange
1 tsp vanilla

Put in food processor until well mixed. NO chunks.
Put in fridge. You can put this on top of cookies. So yummy!



Banana Cookies

2 1/2 cup oats (you can use gluten free. best price i have found is sun flower market $5.99 for two pounds)
3-4 bananas
1/4 cup canola oil, olive oil, coconut oil (the type of oil is up to you and your taste buds)
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla
pinch of salt (optional)

Bake 400 8-10 minutes

I like to add chocolate chips and raisins. If using coconut oil I like to add coconut, craisins and chocolate chips. The sky is the limit.

Lots of Love,

Emily

Apple Crisp

It has been way to long! I have a recipe and it is not healthy but it is the best apple crisp I have ever eaten in my life. The recipe is similar to others but it is the way you prepare it that make is so dang good. Almost cookie like. You can use apples, peaces, pears etc.. for the fruit.

8-10 Apples- Peeled and sliced
3/4 cup white sugar
1 Tbsp flour
cinnamon (as much as you want)

1 1/2 Cups oatmeal
1 Cup butter (you can use Earth Balance butter (vegan) if you want)
1 Cup brown Sugar
1 1/2 Cup Flour

Put sliced apples in bottom of glass 9x13 pan, mix sugar, cinnamon and tbsp of flour and sprinkle over apples.

In bowl , mix oatmeal, softened/melted butter , brown sugar and flour.

Mixture will get lumpy and sticky (like cookie dough).

Drop clumps of mixture over apples- don't smooth out.

Bake 350
30-40 minutes

This is so yummy and perfect for the fall.

Enjoy!

Just Like Cheese Cake

Every person that I have given this to loves it. I hope you will too!This really does not take that long to make and it it really easy. Good luck!

Ingredients

Crust
2 Cups raw macadamia nuts (I use a mixture of nuts with macadamia nuts because macadamia nuts are expensive)
1/2 cups dates (pitted)
1/4 cup dried coconut

For the cheese
3 cups raw cashews
3/4 cup lemon juice
3/4 cup coconut oil (I use coconut milk)
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp salt

For sauce
1 bag or two cups of frozen berries
1/2 cup dates

Directions

Mix crust ingredients in food processor until well blended. Put in cheese cake spring board pan and press down.

Mix cheese sauce ingredients in food processor until well blended. Pour over crust. Let chill in freezer for one hour.

Put sauce ingredients in food processor. This will take 5-10 minutes. You might have to stop it and mix it up again, turn it back on a few times. You will know what I mean when you make it. You want the sauce to be just like a smoothie. No chunks!

Raw chocolate chip cookies (cashew's)

My sister send this recipe via facebook. I love it so much. It takes no time at all and gives you one more way to eat nuts.


• Ingredients:
Cookie dough:
o 1 3/4 cups ground raw cashews
o 3/4 cup ground raw oats
o 1/4 cup Agave Nectar
o 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
o 1/4 cup coconut oil
Raw chocolate chips:
o 2 Tablespoon coconut oil
o 1/2 cup carob powder
o 1/2 cup cocoa powder
o 4 T agave nectar
o 2 teaspoon vanilla
Directions:
Dough: Grind up raw cashews and raw oats in a food processor or blender. Place all cookie dough ingredients into a large bowl and mix by hand or with a spoon. OR simply place all ingredients in the processor and blend (why didn’t I do this!? lol). Mix until a dough forms and you can make a large ball. Refrigerate dough while you make the chocolate chips.
Chips: Mix all chocolate chip ingredients together in a medium sized bowl. Roll the dough out onto parchment paper and place in the freezer for about 30 minutes. Optional: Half way through at 15 mins., flip the chocolate sheet over for even freezing.
When chocolate is frozen, cut into chips. This is the fun part! I used a pastry slicer and it was SO fun making the chips.
Mix chips into dough and have fun!
Place in fridge (if you have any left that is) to harden for about 30 mins. They get real hard! Make sure to refrigerate them on parchment paper or they will stick to the plate.
Notes: If you don’t have carob powder you can substitute it for cocoa powder just as easily. Alternatively, you may be able to sub the agave nectar for maple syrup or honey. If you try this and it turns out let me know!

Emmy's Chocolate Joys

Two months ago I drastically changed my diet. I have always eaten pretty healthy but I needed to make further changes for a few reasons. Many of you know that I am a huge chocolate lover and cannot live without it. I came up with this recipe by looking at others similar to it but not quite what I wanted. Trial and error.

This treat is 100% healthily for your body. It doesn't matter if you are vegetarian, vegan, eat raw or just eating a well balanced diet because you too can it this.

You need a food processor to make this or a really really good blender.

The Glue

3/4 cup coconut milk (comes in a can, usually found by the Asian food).
1/2 cup cocoa powder or carob powder (I use cocoa)
1/2 cup honey or Agave (I use both, 1/4 c honey and 1/4 c agave)
1 tsp pure vanilla
3 cups coconut
2 dates
1/4 cup raisins (if you don't want dates just use more raisins)

Nuts and Seed

You can use whatever nuts and seed that you want. Just make sure that the measurements stay about the same as mine. You may need to add more or even a little less depending on what nuts and seeds you choose to use. You do not want this runny.

1 cup Almonds
1/4 cup Pecans
1/4 cup Cashews
1/2 cup Sunflower seeds
1/4 cup Pumpkin seeds

Throw all of the ingredients in your food processor and let it rip. Make sure it is nice and blended.

Get your cookie sheet and cookie scoop out. Plop the batter on the cookies sheet and refrigerator for at least one hour. You can even freeze these.

Again, these are so yummy and good for you. Feel free to mix things up to your own preference's.

Agave is at any grocery store. You can get twice as much (literally) for $1 less at costco. Unlike honey, maple syrup and sugar Agave is gluten friendly. It does not mess with your blood sugars. When eating it they will stay the same. You can also use Agave in place of honey when eating a sandwdich, on waffles or in yogurt etc. (I am not diabetic.These are just some fun the facts).

Raw Chocolate Shake

This recipe is perfect for one person.

Raw Chocolate Shake

1 1/2 cups of water
1 ripe banana
1/2 teaspoon raw cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon agave nectar

Blend! Adjust measurements to suit your taste. I like to go easy on the cocoa powder and then add more if necessary. Enjoy this raw chocolate shake recipe!

--Emily

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies

I made these yesterday and they were very good.

Ingredients
3/4 cup canola oil or any oil
2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla

1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon whole flax seeds
1/2 cup soymilk or cows milk

2 cups all purp flour ( I did 1 cup white and one cup wheat)
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup chocolate chips


Directions
Preheat oven to 350 F.

Grind the flax seeds on high in a blender until they become a powder. Add soymilk and blend for another 30 seconds or so. Set aside.

In a large bowl sift together flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt.

In a seperate large bowl cream together oil and sugar. Add the flax seed/soy milk mixture and mix well. Add the vanilla.

Fold in the dry ingredients in batches. When it starts to get too stiff to mix with a spatula, use your hands until a nice stiff dough forms. Add the chocolate chips and mix with your hands again.

Roll dough into 1 inch balls and flatten into a disc that's about 1 1/2 inches in diameter. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet about an inch apart.

Bake for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool for about 5 minutes, then set them on a wire rack to cool completely.

Variations:
For chocolate chocolate chip cherry cookies, replace 1 teaspoon of the vanilla with almond extract, and replace 1/2 the chocolate chips with dried cherries.

For chocolate nut cookies, replace 1 teaspoon of the vanilla with a nut extract (almond, walnut, what have you) and replace the chocolate chips with 1 1/2 cups chopped nuts (hazelnuts, almonds or walnuts all are good).

Fudge Drops

Holy Crap, I made these this morning and they are do good and easy to make. You do not have to use Soy yougurt or earth balance butter. Just use normal yogurt and normal butter.

Vegan Balsamic Fudge Drops
(adapted from Habeas Brûlée)

Balsamic vinegar is the secret ingredient, but the only sign it's there is the deeper, richer taste it gives these cookies.

1 cup unbleached white flour (or use gluten-free baking flour)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
5 tablespoons Earth Balance margarine
1/2 cup plus 1 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder (not Dutch-process)
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup dark brown sugar
1/3 cup soy yogurt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar (see Note)
Vanilla sugar (I did this the quick way by pulverizing a vanilla bean with sugar in my blender)

Preheat oven to 350 F. Cover two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.

Mix the flour, soda, and salt together and set aside. In another bowl, mix the cocoa with the sugars and set aside.

Melt the margarine in a medium-sized saucepan. When it is completely melted, take it off the heat and add the sugar/cocoa mixture and stir to combine. Then add the soy yogurt, vanilla extract, and balsamic and stir until mixed. Finally, add the flour mixture and stir just until it's combined—don't over-mix.

Using a cookie scoop or tablespoon, drop tablespoons of the dough onto the baking sheets about 1 1/2-inches apart. Sprinkle lightly with vanilla sugar, and place them in the oven. After 5 minutes, switch the pans around so that the one on top is on the bottom and the front sides are in the back. Check again in 4 minutes. Be careful—depending on the type of pan you use, they can go from underdone to burned in seconds (I found out the hard way!) They shouldn't need more than 11 minutes and will look soft on top, but they'll harden as they cool.

Remove from the oven and transfer onto cooling racks. Makes about 2 dozen cookies.

Note: I used regular (i.e. cheap) balsamic vinegar, but I'm sure you'd get more effect if you follow Danielle's instructions to make reduced balsamic.

Per cookie: 77 Calories (kcal); 3 g Total Fat; (29% calories from fat); 1 g Protein; 14 g Carbohydrate; 0 mg Cholesterol; 66 mg Sodium; 1 g Fiber