No Bake Cookies! Perfect for the Busy Mommy.

I love, love, love, LOVE no bake cookies of almost any kind!

When I’m in a rush, they are my go-to dessert.

The best part? You can make them entirely allergy free.

For your kitchen tools, all you will need is a sauce pot, a spoon for stirring, parchment paper, plastic wrap and a cookie sheet.

First, add 1 cup honey, 1/2 cup coconut oil and 8 Tb unsweetened cocoa to your sauce pot.

On the stove, turn the heat to medium high and bring the mixture to a boil while stirring constantly. Continue to stir as it simmers and thickens for about three minutes.

Next, remove the mixture from the heat and add 1 cup peanut or other nut butter, 1 tsp vanilla, 1 1/2 to 2 cups gluten free old fashioned oats (gf quick oats will work too) and 1 cup shredded unsweetened raw coconut. I ran out of coconut, so we’ll just have to make believe we have some here. Stir well until all ingredients are mixed thoroughly.

On a parchment lined cookie sheet, drop mixture by spoon fulls. Go ahead and make them whatever size you want. No bake versions break all the rules.

Cover with plastic wrap if you’re a complete, nerdy clean freak like me. If not, still cover the cookies. It’s gross if you don’t.

Place the entire sheet in the freezer for 15 minutes or the fridge for at least an hour.

The rest of the instructions are listed below.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have some no bake cookies and a cup of green tea calling my name!

No Bake Cookies. Free of most major allergens.

• 1 cup honey
• 1/2 cup coconut oil (or another unrefined oil, extra light is best)
• 8 tablespoons cocoa powder
• 1 cup peanut butter or other nut butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup shredded, unsweetened coconut (preferably raw)
• 1 1/2 to 2 cups GF old fashioned oats (You’ll know you have too many oats if mixture becomes hard to stir. For this reason, add oats gradually to desired consistency.)

Bring honey, coconut oil, and cocoa to a boil. Turn down heat and simmer for three minutes or until thickened.

Remove from heat and stir in peanut butter, vanilla, coconut, and oatmeal. Drop by small to medium spoon fulls onto a parchment lined cookie sheet. Refrigerate until set. If you really want those cookies ‘NOW’, put them in the freezer for fifteen minutes. If you have any left (HIGHLY DOUBTFUL), Store in a ziploc bag or airtight container in the refrigerator or freezer.

Happy No Baking!!!!

Strawberry Milk – Healthy Style

I don’t know about you (well, I probably don’t even KNOW most of you!), but I am trying to avoid sugar at all costs.

I was entirely sweetener free for a year (including honey, agave, stevia, you name it) and it’s amazing what we DON’T need sugar for! For that year, everything was sweetened entirely with fruit, and I learned to like it. A lot!

Since that time, whenever I bake, the sugar is always reduced, and even then, some things are too sweet.

However, over the cold, bitter winter, I let myself slip and began consuming sugar again little by little.

And I don’t like how it makes me feel.

Neither does my family.

But that’s a little personal, so we’ll just keep moving on.

Getting used to ‘no sweeteners’ takes time; but with perseverance, it becomes the preferred way to go.

That being said, I love fruity smoothies, sweetened with only fruit. And I love strawberry milk, sweetened only with ripe, red strawberries!

This is how I do it:

In a blender, place 6 very ripe CHILLED strawberries, MOSTLY hulled (the leaves are actually good for you). Then take a picture. No, I’m just kidding. You don’t really have to take a picture.

Next, add your choice of  COLD milk. (I used Original Unsweetened Silk Almond.)

2 Cups is just the right amount for one serving.

At this point, if you like a little more sweet, add a Tablespoon of honey or agave. But not too much: you don’t want to mask the strawberries.

Blend well on medium high speed or on the ‘smoothie’ setting.

Pour into your glass and enjoy!

You really don’t need sugar, honey or agave to make things taste good! We Westerners were just raised to *think* that we do.

Strawberry Milk

• 6 very ripe, chilled strawberries – mostly hulled
• 2 cups your choice milk
• If desired, 1 Tb honey or agave

Place all ingredients into the blender. Blend well on medium high or on the blender’s ‘smoothie’ setting until combined.

Serve chilled.

Happy Being Sugar Free!

Allergy Free Peach Crisp? Bring It On.

Can’t have oats? No problem.

Can’t have flour? Again… no problem.

Can’t have almonds? Uhhhh….this could be a problem. But you could just switch out one ingredient. Problem solved.

Peaches which are crisped.

Peach Crisp: No Gluten, Oats, Dairy, Eggs, Soy, Etcetera

• 8 cups fresh peaches, sliced (I strongly recommend fresh, home frozen or home canned peaches.)
• 1 Tb cornstarch or other thickener, such as tapioca starch
• 2 Tb agave /or/ 3 Tb your choice of granulated sugar
• 1 cup almond flour/meal
• 1/2 tsp vanilla 
• 2 Tablespoons brown sugar or 1 Tb. raw agave
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1/2 (scant) tsp cinnamon
• 4 Tablespoons Earth Balance

In a large bowl combine the peaches, cornstarch and 2 Tb agave.

Grease a 9×13 glass casserole dish.

Transfer peach mixture to dish.

Rinse out the bowl and once it is dried, combine the almond meal, vanilla, brown sugar, salt, cinnamon and Earth Balance. Mix well with a mixer to combine. Don’t be afraid to plunge your hands into the mixture to get it thoroughly blended if the mixer doesn’t do the trick. 

Spread topping evenly over peach mixture.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until topping is golden and the peach mixture is bubbling.

Cool for at least 15 minutes on a wire rack before serving.

And don’t forget the Rich Whip! Or you could use chilled canned coconut milk. Just refrigerate the can, drain off the liquid and whip the solid milk.

 

See? Rich Whip is just like the real deal! Healthy? No! Delicious? YES!

Serve your peach crisp warm with a dollop of your favorite whipped cream replacer. Or just eat the crisp all by itself. It’s that good!

Happy Warm and Yummy Deliciousness!

Cold Beverages for HOT Summer Days!

My friends…

Don’t, don’t, don’t go blowing money at Starbucks.

Well, more than once a week anyway.

Although, I like the local Roastere’ better because they make me whatever I want with almond milk and honey and they don’t look at me strange. Oh, and they offer buy one get one free coffees six days a week from 2 – 4 p.m.

But I digress.

You can make your own little iced coffees right in the comfort of your home. And you can do that by saving up all the money you would spend at a coffee shop and buying yourself an inexpensive espresso machine instead.

And the recipe for iced coffee is simple:

* Brew two shots of espresso

*Fill a tall cup -not a glass or it will shatter when the hot brew hits it- (I like the ‘sippy’ cups with a lid and straw) with ice.

*If you want any sweetener in your beverage, stir it into the hot espresso. Sometimes I like to use a few tablespoons of honey along with unsweetened Silk Almond Milk. But you want to stir any sweeteners into the hot beverage so that they dissolve entirely.

*Pour your brewed espresso, sweetened or unsweetened, into the iced cup.

*Fill the rest of the way with your favorite alternative milk. I like Silk Dark Chocolate Almond Milk. If using the chocolate, no prior sweetening is needed.

*Stir, add a straw, and you’ve got a ‘coffee house’ type iced latte’ that will keep the heat away.

Oh, and before I go, one little helpful hint for going out for coffee, if you must:

If you cannot have soy and find that all of your favorite coffee places only offer such, then take one ‘baby box’ of almond milk along:

When ordering, ask for a double shot on ice in a 20 oz cup. They will look at you like you have just grown goat’s hair on your face, but that’s okay. Just explain you’ve brought your own milk because they are big, mean ogres for not offering anything but soy. Well, don’t say that, but make your point that they need to get with the times.

ANYHOW, once you have your iced espresso shots (which are usually less than 2 bucks, oh yeah!), open your little, bitty drink box and pour the contents in. Give it a good stir and put your lid/straw back on. Now you’re in business.

And you get to carry around a cup with some weird mermaid woman on it just like everybody else.

Happy Cold Sipping!

Getting Your Smoothie On

There is a lie.

A lie that says that in order to enjoy a smoothie, it must contain dairy.

How. Could. They?

You have been deceived long enough. It is time for your eyes to be opened!

Because you can make a smoothie without dairy. Yes. You. Can.

And the ingredients are simple. You will only need:

Non-dairy milk

Frozen or fresh fruit

Optional: Non-dairy yogurt or sorbet

Optional: Ground flax seed

::Measure into your blender::

1/2 cup semi-frozen berries or fresh berries

1-2 cups almond or other milk, amount depending on how thick you like your smoothie. (I like to use Silk unsweetened vanilla)

::If desired:: Add 1 container So Delicious coconut milk (or other) yogurt.

OR add 1/4 cup sorbet, such as Haagen Dazs or Julie’s

For a protein punch, add 2 tsp ground flax seed

Hit the smoothie button and let your blender do its thing.

 

Links for ingredients:

Silk Almond

So Delicious Yogurt

Haagen Dazs Sorbet

Julie’s Sorbet

Happy Summer Smoothies!