Oatmeal Trail Mix Cookie

 

      My kids are heading back to school this month and we are all excited!!! My girls love to see their friends and to catch up on current events.  I enjoy my some time off from being the butler and chauffeur.   This year my girls wanted to take a more active roll in making their lunches. We have research this topic extensively throughout the summer.  We have been on Pinterest, Google, and have visited a couple of grocery stores that carry premade lunch packages. We made a list and we are ready to sit at the cool kids table.  But wait, what about the after school snack?  As a member of the Leftover Club http://www.savorysimple.net/the-leftovers-club/  this was our quest this month.  I was paired up with Faye from http://livebakelove.blogspot.com/p/about-us.html.  She has some amazing Monster Trail Mix Granola Bar that would be great as a snack for any hungry kid.

     The afterschool snack for us has to involve chocolate and cookies.  After a long day of reading, math, and science my kids need a sweet snack.  Our favorite snacks are oatmeal cookies and chocolate trail mix.  Popping nuts, dried fruits, and chocolate chips while watching your favorite cartoon, really hits the spot.  And dipping your cookies in milk while you catch up on the latest YouTube video is amazing. Then it occurred to me, why not combined them both.  A 'blow your mind' afterschool snack. Nobody suspected anything about my master plan this morning.  My kids saw me while I was making a oatmeal cookie batter.  And then I proceeded to take out my ingredients for our trail mix. "Your making cookies and trail mix. You rock mom!"  After  20 minutes I walked into the room with my surprise.  Needles to say, their minds were blown. At first I was worried because they would need their minds when they get to school. Then I remembered, it is just a metaphor. We good. It's all good! 

 

1c          Instant Oatmeal
1/2c       Whole Wheat Flour
1/4t        Salt
1/2t        Baking Soda
1/3c       White Sugar
1/3c       Brown Sugar
1/2c       Coconut oil/or Butter
1T         Vanilla
1T         Flaxmeal
1T         Water
             Chocolate Chips
             Assorted nuts and dried fruit to taste


Preheat Oven to 325.


Add flaxmeal and water to a dish and stir. Let rest for 5 minutes to thicken. This is your egg

Next add all the remaining ingredients in a bowl, your

flaxmeal egg and mix until blended.

Fill a small cupcake pan with liners and spray them with oil.

Drop in 1tsp of the batter mix into the cupcake liners and bake for 10 minutes.

After 10 minutes take out the cookies and add chocolate chips. I added 1/2tsp of small chocolate chips. And pop it back in the oven for 1 minute.   As the chocolate melts it will act as the glue for your trail mix ingredients.

 

 

Once the chocolate is melted, place your nuts and dried fruit into the cookies. I chose one almond, a cashew, and a piece of dried apricot.  I gently pressed them into the chocolate. 

 

And serve.

 

This is for members of The Leftovers Club to display their amazing treats that they sent to another bloggers to sample!

Click to visit

Confetti Cookies | Joanne Eats Well With Others

Click to visit

Chocolate Coconut Zucchini Bread

Click to visit

My Pixie Steps Towards Healthy Eating: Oatmeal Tra

Click to visit

No Bake Monster Trail Mix Granola Bars

Click to visit

Nut Butter and Chocolate Bars | Pretty Polymath

Click to visit

Peeanuuut, Peanut Butter and Jelly Cookies

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Garden Vegetable Bacon Egg Muffin

I was walking down the Costco frozen section, and I noticed zucchini egg muffins. They looked delicious and convenient. A quick pop in your mouth on your way out the door in the mornings. I looked at the ingredients and realized how simple they were.  "I can make them at home" was my finally thought as I put the box back and walked to the next aisle. When I got home I looked online for breakfast egg muffins recipes. There are so many variations. I also looked for quiche, and frittata's recipes. My recipe is a combination of various recipes found online and my favorites ingredients.  I placed the individual vegetables in the muffin pan instead of combining all in a bowl. This method will ensure that each muffins has the same quantity of vegetables.  

1/3c       zucchini  
1/3c       red onions
1/3c       kale
1/3c       red pepper
1/3c       diced potato with season salt
6            eggs
3/4c       coconut milk
1/4c       pepper
1t          salt
1/4t       garlic powder
12         slices of turkey bacon
 
Preheat oven for 350 degrees.

1.   Dice all the vegetables and keep them separated.
2.   Cook the potatoes in a pan until done, about 15 minutes. Season with season salt and garlic powder.
3.   Spray the muffin pan with oil
4.   Place the bacon around the inside of each muffin space.
5.   Add your vegetables and potatoes
6.   Whisk the eggs and milk.
7.   Season with salt and pepper and pour in each muffin space about 3/4 full.
             8.   Bake for about 20 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean.

I added goat cheese to my muffins after I took them out of the oven. I did not prefer it. The cheese changed the flavor dramatically. Good for me I only added cheese to that one muffin. Therefore add cheese cautiously and add your own risk.

3 Ingredients Granola Cookies

I was looking for a fast and tasty oatmeal cookie recipe that was also healthy. I found this at Pinterest, but modified the recipe.  The recipe called for instant oatmeal, but I only had steel cut. I stood in front of my pantry and saw granola cereal. I decided that would be a good substitute. My granola had almonds and vanilla extract. You can use your favorite flavor variety. Here is my version of the recipe:

2 1/2c      Granola (any variety) 
2              Overripe Bananas
                Chocolate Chip


Preheat oven to 350.

1. In a bowl placed all the granola and bananas.

2. With a fork, mashed the bananas with the granola until combined.

3. Form 1 inch balls and place them in a oiled baking pan. It should look like thick oatmeal. If you can't form a ball that holds, add 1 T of granola at a time.

4. Flatten the cookies with your fingers.

5. Insert 3 chocolate chips per cookie. This is a good way to control how much chocolate each cookie has. Even Steven !!!

6. Bake at 350 for about 15 minutes or until golden brown.

7. Move cookies to a wire rack and cool.

These cookies have no sugar and no flour. You can use dairy free chocolate chips for a vegan version. You can also use gluten free oats instead of granola if you are sensitive to those ingredients. 

Avocado Mousse/Pudding

 I love chocolate and I probably eat a few serving sizes in one sitting. Therefore I decided to look for recipes that are better for me.   There are varies recipes for avocado mousse in pinterest. I decided to use one that had the least amount of ingredients.Fast and simple was my idea. I also decided to use ingredients that are more beneficial to me. 

 

My first step was to upgrade to cacao powder.   Cacao has more antioxidant flavonoids than any food tested so far, including blueberries, red wine, and black and green teas. In fact, it has up to four times the quantity of antioxidants found in green tea. It also contains an abundance of magnesium and iron.
Read more: http://navitasnaturals.com/product/441/Cacao-Powder.html

I also switch to xylitol sugar. Xylitol is only slowly absorbed and partially utilized; therefore allowing a reduced calorie claim, 2.4 calories per gram or 40% less than other carbohydrates and none of the negative tooth decay or insulin release effects of sugar. It also has a low glycemic index (7) and has little effect on blood sugar levels. In addition, the body does not require insulin to metabolize xylitol, which has made it a widely used sweetener for the diabetic diet in some countries.
Read more: http://www.xlear.com/about-xylitol.aspx

The main ingredients is aquacate/avocado. Avocados contain a wide variety of vitamins, such as vitamin A, vitamin C and vitamin E, that have antioxidant properties to help ward off illness and disease. Avocados are considered a good source of soluble fiber. Soluble fiber is an important part of a healthy diet because it helps reduce overall cholesterol levels in the blood. Diets high in monounsaturated fat can reduce the risk of heart disease and other cardiovascular problems. About 82 percent of the fat found in an avocado is in the form of healthy monounsaturated fat.
Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/article/241640-avocado-nutritional-benefits/#ixzz2JqqHibPW

To make all the ingredient blend together I used coconut milk. I love the taste of coconut so I also added coconut oil. But you can omit this flavor and just use any milk. The reason I love coconut milk is it helps in controlling your weight.  Coconut milk makes you feel full very quickly because of high concentrations of dietary fiber. In addition, it aids in building strong bones. Coconut milk is not rich in calcium, but it is rich in phosphorus. Phosphorus is an essential nutrient that the body needs for strengthening bones. It is must to take phosphorus with calcium particularly to prevent bone loss because it supplies phosphate to the body. Coconut milk helps in warding off colds and coughs by keeping the immune system healthy. It supplies vitamin C to the body which boosts the immune system.
 Read more: http://www.drgranny.com/2011/05/05/benefits-of-coconut-milk/ 

OK now here is the recipe:

1/3 c          Cacao Powder
2                Avocados
1/4c           Xylitol Sugar
1/2c           Coconut Milk
2T              Coconut Oil (optional)

Put all the ingredients in a food processor and puree.  Add more milk to change the thickness of the mousse.

This is how it looks half way through pureeing . You can still see some avocado lumps. I added two more tablespoons of milk and continued to puree.

This is the final product. I loved it!!! It was creamy and had a rich chocolate flavor. I was able to make this snack in about  3 minutes.  I can definitely make this as an after school snack without the guilt of other chocolate treats.

Chickpeas Garden Sandwich

 

This is my favorite vegetarian sandwich to eat.   I love the kick the cayenne pepper gives to the chickpeas. Chickpeas also provide the protein to the sandwich.  Besides the fact that it is easy to make, it is very versatile.  You can add almost anything to this sandwich; cheese, spinach, cucumbers, avocado, etc.  The possibilities are endless.. This sandwich includes:

1c             Cooked chickpeas beans
1/2t           Cumin
1t              Cayenne (I used Piquin Chili Powder)
                 Salt/Pepper
2               Tomatoes slices
1/4            Shredded Carrots
1/4            Alfalfa Sprouts
2               Slices of your favorite bread

1.    In a pan under medium heat add the garbanzo beans, salt, pepper, cayenne, and cumin.
2.    Mashed the beans coarsely and set aside.
3.    In a plate placed your bread side by side.(toasted if you prefer)
4.    Add your mashed beans on each slice of bread.
5.    Then add sprouts and carrots to one side.
6.    On the other side add the tomatoes and salt and pepper to taste.
7.    Pick up the bread with the tomatoes and flip onto the other side.
8.    Enjoy!!!

Papaya Peppercorns

I love eating papaya. I have it with yogurt, in smoothies, and with lime and salt. But until now, I have thrown out the seeds. One day I decided to see if there are any health benefits to papaya seeds: there are numerous of them. So here I go again searching online, this time on ways to use those seeds. Now I know they taste peppery, therefore using them in a salad dressing was not surprising. I can across a couple of them that dried the papaya seeds to make into peppercorns. WHAT! Yes peppercorns. I was a bit thrown off by the time it took to dry the seed though...one site said overnight. No way I was leaving my oven on all night. So I can up with me version.  You probably have to adjust slightly the baking time based on your oven. But you can tell when it is done because they are hard as a (say it with me) peppercorn. Here are the instructions:

Seeds from a papaya


1. Set your oven to 250 degrees.

2. Cut the papaya the long way.

3. With a spoon slowly and gently scrape the seeds off the papaya and into a baking pan (no oil).  This procedure will ensure that you do not scrape some of the flesh with the seeds. If you do have a little, it o.k. The flesh will dry in the oven.

4. Spread the seeds throughout the pan and put it in the oven for 10 minutes.

5. After this time, shake the pan to rotate the seeds. Some seeds will get stuck to the pan. Don't worry, used a spatula to free them. 

6.  Bake the seeds for 15 more minutes. The seeds should be hard as peppercorns by now. If not, add  5 more minutes to your cooking time. That should do it.

7. Fill a pepper mill with your seeds and enjoy.

Research has found that papaya seeds are effective against E. coli, Salmonella, and Staph infections. Research has also found that papaya seed extract may protect the kidneys from toxin-induced kidney failure. There is evidence that papaya seeds eradicate intestinal parasites. In a study done on Nigerian children with intestinal parasites, 76.7% of the children were parasite-free after seven days of treatment with papaya seeds compared to only 16.7% of the children who received a placebo. In Chinese medicine, it is believed that a teaspoon of papaya seeds will help detoxify the liver. Papaya seeds are often recommended by natural doctors in the treatment of cirrhosis of the liver.

Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/article/543510-the-nutritional-value-of-papaya-seeds/

Flax Seed Tortillas

 

My family and I tried for 14 days to live without bread. The idea was to detox our body of the gluten found in our daily food choices. Then incorporate sprouted wheat items back into our diet, slowly. A quick substitute for us was tortillas. But the problem I can across while shopping for tortillas is that they are made out of corn or flour. I wanted an alternative to tortillas that were gluten free and corn free. I did not find any at the grocery stores, so I started looking for gluten free, corn free recipes for tortillas recipe online. I can across this recipe in Pinterest and loved it. I modified it a bit, so here is my version.

1/4c      Flax Meal

6 T        Hot Water

1c         Flax Meal

2T        Quinoa flour

1t          Salt

Combine 1/4c flax meal and the hot water and mix it and forget it. It will form a gooey paste. In a separate bowl add 1c of flax meal, flour, salt and your flax meal paste. Knead with wet hands and form 8 balls.  Flatten thinly under two parchment paper or two plastic bag squares. If you want perfect circle tortillas use a bowl to cut out your shape.  Lightly oil your pan and heat your tortilla under medium heat. Each side should be 15-20 seconds. The longer you cook the tortillas, the crispier.  Serve and enjoy.

UPDATE:

I had the idea to convert my tortillas into a gluten free Wasa like flat bread. I made the tortilla thicker and cooked it for about 30-40 seconds.  I top it off with peanut butter and jelly. AMAZING!!! The flat bread was crispy and the flax seed did not overpower the toppings. This is a great alternative to crackers. Its gluten free, dairy free and nut free.