Blender Mini Muffins (GF DF)

These turned out super yummy and are a big hit with the twins….and I am sure Elijah will love them when he gets home from his big trip!

 

1 cup natural peanut butter

2 medium ripe banana

2 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

4 tablespoons honey, agave nectar, or maple syrup

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

Unsweetened shreaded coconut to top with

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Spray a muffin tin with cooking oil and set aside.  Place all ingredients in a blender and blend until very smooth.  Fill each mini-muffin cup until it is almost full.  Sprink coconut on top. You can also add things like chocolate chips, blueberries etc! Get creative! Bake in the preheated oven until the muffins are cooked through, 8-10 minutes. Makes 2 dozen

Diary Free “Creamy” Blueberry Bars

Ingredients

• 2 cups creamed coconut or coconut butter (I could not find CREAMED Coconut at the store so I ordered it from Amazon.  
• 2 cups fresh blueberries
• 1/4 cup honey ( I use local)
• 2 tsp vanilla

Instructions

• Combine all ingredients in a food processor until the mixture is smooth.
• Line an 8x8 pan with parchment paper, leaving enough room for some paper to stick out the sides.
• Dump the mixture into the pan and spread it out evenly. The mixture is very thick and you may need to wet a spatula to help spread it evenly.
• Once the mixture is in the pan. Gently press down using the extra sides of parchment paper.
• Stick the pan in the fridge to firm up. This should only take about 15-20 minutes.
• Once the mixture is firm, lift the whole thing out by the edges of parchment paper.
• Cut into squares

Read more at http://mywholefoodlife.com/2014/08/13/blueberry-bliss-bars/#OZw76Mfoh6jjKcDH.99

Imitation IHOP Gluten Free Diary Free Pancakes

These are insanely good! Elijah and I have been eating the same recipe for almost a year but this is our new “go to” recipe. I adapted it from an imitation IHOP recipe.

1 1/4 c. gluten free  flour (I make my own and its wayyyy cheaper and better!)
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. Baking soda
pinch of salt
1 egg, beaten
1 can full fat coconut milk
2 Tbsp. melted earth blance
1/4 c. sugar
Put a the ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Pour pancakes onto griddle and cook, flip etc until done. you know….like how you would pancakes! Lol. Enjoy!

Pumpkin French Toast Bake

INGREDIENTS

• Cubed bread to overfill a 9x13 casserole dish. Crusty french bread works well but you can use Gluten Free too! Udi’s Gluten Free Hamburger buns would work well!
• 7 large eggs
• 2 cups Almond Milk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
• 1/4 cup canned pumpkin
• 5 tablespoons honey or brown sugar
• 3-4 tablespoons brown sugar for topping
• nuts, like pecan or walnuts for topping (optional)

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Coat casserole dish with nonstick spray. Cut bread into 1-inch cubesIn a large bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, vanilla, pumpkin, sweetener of choice and pie spice until well combined. Pour over bread and push down with a spoon or your hands until it's all soaked and mostly covered. Cover with saran wrap or lid and refrigerate overnight.
2. In the morning, preheat oven to 350 degrees, uncover and top with brown sugar, additional pumpkin pie spice and nuts (optional). Bake for 35-45 minutes or golden brown and no longer wet.
3. Serve immediately with maple syrup, honey or agave nectar. Store leftovers in the refrigerator covered for up to a couple days.

Gluten Free Pancakes

I finally found a yummy gluten free pancake recipe! These turned out perfect! I’m using Costco brand gluten free flour which is Namaste’s Perfect Flour Blend. The recipe was actually on the back of the package. I adjusted the directions to make them easier.

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups GF Flour

1 Tbsp Baking Powder

1/2 Tsp Salt

1 Tbsp Sugar

1 Tsp Baking Soda

1 1/4 Cup of Milk (you can use Almond Milk to make Dairy Free!)

2 Eggs

2 Tbsp Melted Butter

1/2 Tsp Vanilla

1/8 Tsp Nutmeg

1/2 Tsp Cinnamon (I added this and it was yummy!)

Combine all ingredients in a food processor or blender. Pour on skillet heated to medium/med-high in about 1/3 cup amounts. When top starts to look dry, flip. These took a little longer than your standard pancake as the batter is pretty thick. Be sure they are completely cooked all the way through.

Lactation Granola

My cousin made me a batch of granola in a postpartum care package for me and my boys. I have been on a granola kick lately and hers was the best I have tasted so I was inspired to begin making my own.  After my first batch, it occurred to me that this was the perfect treat for adding additional lactation support ingredients! And so, I added some and it was yummy with the added benefit of lactation support. The recipe is just a base. You can play with it and add things you might like to try or leave out some things that you could do without. I will put a * next to the lactation ingredients since I am always asked about those specifically.
*3 Cups of Oats
1 Cup of nuts (I like almonds or cashews)
1/2 – 1 cup of sunflower seeds
1 cup unsweetened coconut
1 1/2 cups dried fruit (raisin are a favorite but cherries and cranberries are really yummy!)
1/4 cup chia seeds
* 5 heaping tbsp BrewersYeast
*5 heaping tbsp ground flax seeds
1/3 cup honey
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup oil – coconut or sunflower are my favorites
1/2 tsp salt
4 tsp vanilla ( I tend to use more of this cause I love vanilla)
Preheat oven to 325. Combine wet ingredients and salt. Combine dry ingredients. Pour wet mixture onto dry ingredients and fold until completely coated.  Spread on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and press so that it is like one big flat granola bar. Bake for about 30-40 min. Keep an eye on it because you don’t want edges to burn. When finished allow to completely cool. Then break apart and store in a cool dry place. I put it in a ziplock bag. Great to be eaten as cereal!

Chocolate Refrigerator Oatmeal

I am always on the lookout for easy breakfasts. This healthy  chocolate oatmeal is super yummy, has lots of good stuff in it and you premake it so all you have to do is open the jar and enjoy!

1 cup Almond Milk, 1/2 cup almond milk yogurt or a mashed banana, 2 TBS cocoa powder, 1/8 tsp salt, 1/4 cup sweetner (honey, xylitol or whatever you prefer, 1 cup old fashioned oats, 1/4 cup protein powder

Combine in a bowl and mix with hand mixer. Put in mason jar overnight and enjoy!

Super yummy!

Granola Bars

These turned out terrific. The original recipe says it makes 28 but I am thinking it makes more like 16……They are really yummy though and I suppose you could cut them whatever size you prefer. I like them as a nice hardy breakfast on the go!

INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup honey
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup peanut butter (original recipe says crunchy but I like creamy)
1/4 cup Earth Balance
4 cups Quick Oats (not rolled oats) (I actually used a combination of rolled oats and quick steal cut oats and it gave it a nice texture.
2 cups crispy rice cereal
3 teaspoons vanilla
DIRECTIONS
In a large bowl, stir crispy rice cereal, oats together.
In a medium saucepan, combine honey, Earth Balance, peanut butter, vanilla, and brown sugar. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat then bring the temperature down to low, and simmer till sugar dissolves. Remove from heat.
Pour the hot mixture over dry ingredients. Stir until all ingredients are moistened. Press into  a 13 x9. Let cool then slice up!

Coconut Bars

These turned out really yummy. The original recipe called them “Toffee Bars” but there really isn’t anything “toffee” about them. It also called for a chocolate layer which I omit. I think these adjustments work better.

Ingredients

• 2 cups unsweetened shredded coconut
• ½ cup coconut sugar or raw sugar
• ⅓ cup coconut oil, melted
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ½ teasppon salt

 

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Line a 8x8 inch baking dish with parchment paper.
3. Mix together coconut, coconut sugar, coconut oil, eggs, vanilla and salt.
4. Press into baking dish evenly.
5. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until set and lightly browned.
6. Cut into squares.

Can be stored in fridge

Refrigerator Pumpkin Oatmeal!

I came across this recipe on Pinterst and knew I had to try to make it. What a great idea and it will so come in handy when the twins are born and I am short on time to feed myself! I may have to try to sub the pumpkin for something I can find year round but I love enjoying the fares of the season.

I double the batch and using mason jars filled 3/4 of the way (the oatmeal expands so you want to leave plenty of room!) I ended up with four jars of oatmeal. I will probably only be able to eat half a day or I could split it with Elijah!

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup steel cut oats
• 1 1/2  cups milk of your choice (I use coconut almond)
• 1/2 cup pumpkin puree (Trader Joe's has a great one!)
• 4 Tbsp chia seeds (These are part of my daily supplement anyway so I was thrilled these were included!
• 4 Tbsp golden raisins (I actually had plain old organic raisins and craisins so I used both)
• 1 Tbsp pumpkin pie spice
• 2 Tbsp coconut sugar or honey (I use local honey)

Simply combine all the ingredients together and put in jars. Put in the fridge overnight and in the morning, breakfast is served! 

Yummy oatmeal ready for the fridge!

Quick Italian Vegetable Pie

This yummy concoction was given to me by my mother in law who got it from an old friend of hers years ago. It is basically a quiche without the crust (so gluten free!). It turned out really yummy and you can get quite creative with it. I made the original recipe since I am eating diary through my pregnancy. (Poor Elijah had to have plain old scrambled eggs for dinner that night.) But there are ways to make this dairy free pretty easily and I will definitely do that after the babies are born and I am nursing!

Ingredients:
10 1/2 oz spinach - if frozen thaw and squeeze dry
OR 8 oz of broccoli or zucchini
Sliced fresh mushrooms (I love mushrooms so I used a lot!)
14 oz lowfat cottage cheese OR 8 oz plain yogurt. ( Coconut milk yogurt to make dairy free)
8 oz of shredded mozzarella (or non dairy cheese of your choice!)
1/4 cup of Parmesan. ( I omitted this altogether cause it just seemed like an awful lot of cheese)
2/3 cup of chunky salsa (drain juice) - I forgot to drain. Whoops.  Still turned out great.
4 eggs
1 tsp (or so) Italian seasoning or salt,pepper,onion powder,garlic powder,oregano ( I used the combo of spices and herbs so I could control portions and I always use a bit more than it says

Ready for the oven!

Directions:
Spray pie plate with olive oil or cooking spray. (I used a 9x9 pan and it worked beautifully. ) Mix together all ingredients. Put in pie pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 min to 1 hour or until set.  (I def recommend at least an hour. I left it in for a few minutes longer.

*Can be prepared ahead and refrigerate until time to cook. Can cook and reheat later!

I served with honey dew and breakfast potatoes. A yummy twist on dinner!