Healthy Cookies

An important element in the healing process, whether after having a baby, surgery, or some other life altering event, is to feed your body optimal nutrition. As I've been dealing with sleep deprivation lately, I've noticed a remarkable difference on the days where I eat for health, and exercise for energy - honestly, it's like night and day! The days where I follow a clean diet are smoother because I have even blood sugars, consistent energy, and a steady supply of the nutrients my body needs to continue the healing process. Throw in a heavy lifting session or interval training on the treadmill, and I am smiling! 
In my quest to keep all food healthy and clean [if you're wondering what it means to eat 'clean' foods, here's a handy site to get you started] I've developed a new cookie recipe to satisfy my sweet tooth, and feed my body essential nutrients. Sound too good to be true? It probably is; but either way, these are delicious cookies chock full of goodness, and void of guilt laden ingredients. These cookies are high in protein, have healthy essential fats, and contain enough sweetness to make them absolutely fabulous. And did I mention they won't leave you bloated or craving more like a traditional cookie? Yeah, these are awesome - Enjoy!

Healthy Cookies

an original recipe, developed by me

2/3 cups water
1/3 cup quinoa
1 cup coconut oil
1 1/3 cup coconut sugar
3 large eggs
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups fresh ground quinoa flour*
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp sea salt
1 1/4 cups rolled oats
1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
1/3 cup sunflower seeds, unsalted
1/3 cup fresh ground flax seed
1/3 cup hemp hearts
1 cup unsweetened raisins

Bring the water and quinoa to a boil in a small saucepan. Reduce to a simmer, cover and cook for 10 minutes. Turn the heat off and leave the covered pot on the stove for an additional 6 minutes. Remove the lid and fluff the quinoa with a fork, then set aside to cool.

Preheat the oven to 350*

Cream the coconut oil in a mixer, then add sugar and continue to mix until fluffy and fully incorporated. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix thoroughly.

In a separate bowl, combine the quinoa flour down through to the hemp hearts and mix well. Once fully blended, add to the coconut oil mixture and blend well. The mixture will pull away from the sides of the bowl when it's ready for the next step. Add in all the raisins and mix until incorporated.

Roll into 1 1/2 inch balls and place 2 inches apart on a baking sheet. Flatten slightly, then bake in the oven for 7-10 minutes until the bottom of cookies are golden brown [my dark pans took 7 minutes, while my light pans took 8. Every oven and pan is different, so watch your first batch of cookies closely.] Let cool on pan before transferring to a cookie rack. These store best in the fridge, or if you want them to last even longer go for the freezer. 

Since the recipe yielded about 5 dozen cookies, I put half in the freezer, and the other half in the fridge. Both Darius and Eli LOVE these, and will eat a few at a time for a snack, or as an addition to breakfast [these definitely fit the bill of a breakfast cookie!] I hope you enjoy them as much as we do!

*I ground my quinoa flour in a coffee grinder, but it can also be ground in a blender or grain grinder. I also grind my own flax in a coffee grinder - it's a really handy tool! Just remember that if you do drink coffee, don't grind your grains and seeds on the same grinder as your coffee - you need separate grinders for these.

Finger-Licking Good!

We read books in our house. A lot of books. If I sit down, it's as if I've signalled to my boys that I am craving a good long reading session, and so they oblige by bringing grabbing all the books off the shelf and hauling them over to my empty lap. We sit and devour each and every story, sometime reading the same book several times before moving on, until the boys are tired and needing to move to re-energise their sweet little bodies. While reading our 'Magic School Bus' collection [I have to say, they are brilliant books! Darius can tell you all about ants, bees, bullfrogs and more simply because of the Magic School Bus!] we grew tired at the end of our beehive exploration adventure. At the end of that particular story, the class makes honey buns and Darius thought that was a fabulous way to cap off our reading adventure as well! The only problem with his plan was I had just finished baking bread right before our marathon reading session, and I had no desire to bake buns sorry kiddo!  A friend of mine was going through a bit of a challenge, so I suggested we still head to the kitchen, but that we create something new and delicious! My sweet boy met my proposition with enthusiasm, and we skipped off to the kitchen! I felt like a mad scientist creative genius as we measured, crushed, and added more to the bowl. What resulted is a sweet and salty, creamy and crunchy, mostly healthy bit of heaven. My sweet friend gave them high praise and approval, so I thought it only fair to share the recipe and see what you think!

Pretzel Crunch Cookie Bars

an original recipe created by me!

6 tbsp coconut oil, melted
1 c. all natural crunchy peanut butter*
1 c. unsweetened shredded coconut
1/2 c. dark chocolate chips
3/4 c. broken pretzel pieces

3/4 c. dark chocolate, melted

4 tbsp raw peanuts, chopped
4 tbsp pretzel pieces, chopped

For the Base: mix the first batch of ingredients listed in a big bowl. Mix until all ingredients are thoroughly incorporated, then pour into a foil lined, and greased, 8x8 pan.

For the Chocolate Layer: Next, melt the chocolate in 10-20 second increments in the microwave, making sure to stir the chocolate often. Do not melt the chocolate past the creamy stage as the chocolate will 'seize,' becoming a thick, grainy like consistency. Pour the creamy melted chocolate over the base, spreading the chocolate evenly.**

For the Topping: sprinkle the chopped pretzels and peanuts over the melted chocolate, then put in the fridge for at least 3 hours to set.

Once it is all set up, cut into bars [I cut 28 squares out of the batch] and store in an airtight container in the fridge. Enjoy!

*natural crunchy peanut butter is a must! The crunchiness adds to the texture of the bars, and the purely peanut buttery goodness is out of this world good!

**if you want a clear division of layers, put the base layer in the fridge for a few hours before pouring melted chocolate over it. When both layers are creamy, they blend together a bit, but the blurring of lines is something that doesn't bother me one bit in this dessert!



Cleaning Up

My Mom is amazing, and one of her specialities is baking - cookies in particular. Growing up we often munched on delicious, hot out of the oven, gooey chocolate chip cookies. My siblings and I took for granted just how awesome my mom's cookies were/are, until we started having play dates at other kids homes and the cookies were...well, far below what our Mom had brought us to expect [sorry to all those Mom's whose cookies I snuffed at!] The first thing I learnt how to make in the kitchen was cookies. In fact, when I got married cookies were still pretty much the only thing I knew how to make. Oh, and brownies and cake. You get the picture? My Mom's recipe calls for refined sugars, loads of butter, and refined flour, and so I haven't baked a batch in, well, a very long time. As I was up with Eli much too much in the night, it occurred to me that I am more than capable of creating a clean chocolate chip cookie recipe that could [and does!] taste just like Mom's. So today that is just what I did! I baked up a batch of delicious cookies that bring back all the warm and gooey memories associated with my Mom's baking, but without all the animal products and refined goods! I hope these cookies satisfy your sweet tooth as they have mine!

Katie's Chocolate Chip Cookies

an original recipe created by Me!


1 c. coconut oil
1 c. unsweetened apple sauce
1 1/2 c. naturally creamed honey
1/2 tbsp pure vanilla extract


3 c. old fashioned rolled oats
3 c. stone ground whole wheat flour
1 1/2 tsp sea salt
3 tsp baking soda


2 c. dark chocolate chips [the better the quality chocolate the better - believe me, it matters!]


Preheat your oven to 350*F. Mix the wet ingredients [the first four listed] in the bowl of a stand mixer until creamy and fully incorporated. The mixture will lighten up as it mixes. Next, add the dry ingredients, starting with the salt and baking soda. Mix those two into the wet ingredients, then add the flour and oats and mix until dough forms. Now add the chocolate chips* [or chopped chocolate if you prefer!] and mix until combined. Drop the dough onto a non stick baking pan** using a cookie scoop***. Make sure the dough is about 1" apart on the pan to avoid cookies blending into one another. Bake cookies in preheated oven for approximately 8 minutes. The cookies will be golden, but look a little gooey in the centres still - don't worry, they'll firm up as they sit on the pan, resting on a cooling rack. Give the cookies 5 minutes before transferring to the cooling rack to cool completely. Yield approximately 6 dozen cookies.


*Substitute all, or half, of the chocolate chips with raisins for a oatmeal raisin cookie.**feel free to use a silpat pad, just avoid non-stick cooking spray as it makes the dough spread.

***a cookie scoop ensures uniformity of cookie size and shape, and provides portion control.

Aunt Terri's Underpants

Growing up in Vancouver, the schools were big on 'stranger danger' education. Every student had i.d. booklets, which included our finger prints, blood type, a recent photo and our stats [height, weight, etc]. As families we were encouraged to create a password, a code that could be used to ensure that the right person was picking us up from school, so that even those whom we were familiar with could not abduct us [sounds funny writing it down, but it's the sort of thing I'll most likely do with my boys when they go to school.] My families password was, "Aunt Terri's Underpants." It was ridiculous enough that we would never forget it, plus it involved the name of one our Mom's sisters, an aunt whom we loved - and still love! - to go and visit. Today is my Aunt Terri's birthday, and so Darius and I headed into the kitchen to whip up a treat in her honor. Aunt Terri loves sweets, and so it was only fitting to bake some cupcakes! Per her request we made then without sugar [well, we didn't use the refined stuff anyway; instead used natural sweetness in the form of honey and 100% fruit puree and juice] and they can be made without fat [her other request] however I put a bit of fat in ours since healthy fats are great for every body [in moderation of course.]

 Happy Birthday Aunt Terri! I hope you enjoy these as much as we enjoyed creating them [and eating them!] in your honor!

Mouthwatering Mango Cupcakes

an original recipe created by me!



1 cup fresh ground whole wheat flour

3/4 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp sea salt

1 tbsp cornstarch

1/2 c. naturally creamed honey

1/2 tbsp pure vanilla extract

1/4 c. unsweetened apple sauce

3 tbsp coconut oil, softened*

1/2 c. 100% unsweetened mango juice and puree

Preheat your oven to 350*F. Mix the dry ingredients together, then set aside. In your stand mixer, mix all the wet ingredients together until thoroughly combined. With the mixer on, slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet. Stop the mixer on occasion to scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl. Pour the batter into medium sized cupcake liners [which are in a muffin tin of course ;)] and place in preheated oven. Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the centre of the muffin comes out clean. Remove from oven to wire rack, and let cool for a few minutes before placing cupcakes directly on wire rack. Cool completely and then enjoy! Yield 16 cupcakes

* to make these fat free, simply add more apple sauce instead of the coconut oil

Double Double

While Darius and I were perusing my bloglist this morning, we noticed a recipe that begged to be tried. With all the goodness of a cupcake, and none of the 'badness,' we were drawn to these muffins instantly. Jotting down the ingredients, I bolted up the stairs after a very excited little boywhom was yelling, "chocolate! Chocolate!" as he pranced up each step and down the hall to the kitchen. Gathering our ingredients, we had everything assembled before openning the pantry to grab the zucchini. And what did we find? Mold! Covering our precious star ingredient! So, from frusteration sprung creativity. Having the rest of the ingredients assemlbed, we couldn't NOT make muffins, so we racked our brains, and came up with a suitable substitute replacement. Thank you apples for being an amazing pinch hitter! These cupcakes muffins are devine - and rather healthy to boot. But don't worry, you're kids won't know; they'll just think they have the coolest Mama around who gave them a cupcake in their school lunch! (Just think of all the fruits and vegetables you could put in these gems and serve up as a dessert, at a brunch, or anywhere really!)



Double Chocolate Apple Muffins

(adapted generously from cher stuff)

2 cups grated apple

1 1/2cup stone ground whole wheat flour

1/2 cup oat bran

1/2 cup good quality cocoa

1/4 cup fresh milled flaxseed

1/4 cup chia seeds

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp sea salt

2 tsp cinnamon

2 eggs

1 1/4 cup coconut milk

1/3 cup coconut oil

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup dark chocolate chips

Mix together the flour, oat bran, cocoa, flaxseed, chia seed, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, coconut milk, coconut oil, and vanilla. Pour over the dry ingredients and stir until dry ingredients are moistened. Add the shredded zucchini and chocolate chips and mix until combined. Spoon into 12 greased or paper-lined muffin cups. Bake at 375 F until the tops are firm to the touch, about 20-25 minutes. Cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes and then transfer to the rack to cool completely.

Yeild: 2 1/2 dozen (or 1 1/2 dozen large, plus 2 dozen minis)

 

Coconut Chocolate Popcorn

Yes, you read that right.

Coconut + Chocolate + air popped crunchy Popcorn = an addictive and highly satisfying treat!

Now that I have your full attention, why don't I explain how you can get your hands on a GIANT bowl of this delectable concoction.

First, you'll need the following:

 - a full bowl of air popped popcorn (roughly three pops, or 1/2 cup un-popped)
- 1 tbsp. + 1 tsp. coconut oil
- 3 cups dark chocolate (55-70% dark is great)
- 1 cup toasted coconut shavings (unsweetened)



Let's get started:

Place the coconut oil and chocolate in a glass bowl. Get this baby into the microwave, and set the timer to 3 minutes. Stop the microwave every twenty seconds or so, give it a stir, and pop it back in. Mine only tool 2:40 in the end, so watch yours carefully!

When it's completely melted it will look like this:



I wish you could smell this! Sooo good!



Please leave your air popped popcorn naked - no salt, no butter. Simply scoop it out of the bowl with you hands, and place on a rimmed cookie sheet covered with aluminum foil or wax paper. As you scoop it onto the pan, make sure you are sifting out all the unpopped seeds - these teeth breakers are not welcome in any popcorn dessert of mine!

Toasted coconut is fragrant, and very delicious. To toast your own, simply preheat your over to 500F (or 450F if using convection) and place your coconut in an even layer in a shallow baking dish. Toast on the top rack of the oven for roughly 3 minutes.



Golden brown is your goal when toasting the coconut

 

All the yumminess ready to be combined!

Simply pour the chocolate over the popcorn, and use a spoon to fully incorporate. Spread the popcorn out on the pan as evenly as possible once the chocolate is poured so that the popcorn can set. Sprinkle with the toasted coconut.

to speed the chocolate setting, place the pan in a cool room (like your cold room). DON'T put in the freezer as popcorn does not freeze well - it turns mushy when thawed.

Once the popcorn has set, break it into chunks and place in a bowl {for immediate enjoyment!}, Ziploc bags, or containers to give it away.

If you're looking for a Father's Day gift, here's one way to wrap up this popcorn for the amazing Daddy's in your life!

Do you have a favorite popcorn treat?



If I'm being honest...

I really don't want to do ANYTHING today. Earlier while Elias slept, I talked Darius into going outside (or rather I started to say 'outside' and he was out the door before I had fully articulated) and Eli woke up only ten minutes into our gardening. After rescuing my sweet baby from his bassinet (I know, I need to move him to his crib...it's just so nice to hear his soft breathing at night,) we lasted another ten minutes before the wind reduced Elias to tears, and we headed back indoors.
While Darius watched cartoons and Eli slept (again - he's such a great little sleeper!) I made No Bake Coconut and Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Bites (I'll post the recipe below) in an attempt to lift my blah mood. They are delicious but no amount of coconut and chocolate seemed to return the sunshine to my soul today. Being tired is probably contributing, or maybe its my massive 'to do' list hanging over my head...either way, today's just one of those humbling days that makes me grateful for my usual sunny disposition.
As a teenager I really struggled with depression, and have since formed a list of activities to do when I need a pick me up. Here's a little peep into my "down in the dumps" survival guide:

1. make a gratitude list

2. do something you love to do that's also creative - like baking, sewing, blogging, etc

3. run!

4. anything active (going for a walk, practicing yoga, working in the garden, etc)

5. watch a hilarious movie

6. get Darius to tell me a story (he's more entertaining than most comedians)

7. Sun! As Darius will tell anyone,"the Sun gives me vitamin D. Vitamin D makes me happy, and helps me to grow big and strong."

I've given a few of these a go already, which is why I'm thinking that I am just too tired today, but I will keep on ticking each trick off until a smile is plastered to my face.
If you find yourself in need of a lift today (or any day really) give this recipe a try that I found over at Love Veggies and Yoga. Averie has some REALLY delicious ideas!

source

No Bake Coconut & Chocolate Chip Cookie Bites (courtesy of Averie at Love Veggies and Yoga)

Ingredients:
2/3 c cashews (unsalted, and raw if possible)
1/4 c coconut flakes (unsweetened or sweetened)
2 tbsp oats (whole, rolled not quick cook)
3 tbsp agave or maple syrup (or combination)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp coconut oil (optional, and if using it and batter gets too wet after adding, add a pinch more dried coconut flakes, oats, or cashews and re-blend)

1/4 to 1/3 c chocolate chips or chunks
Yields: approximately 16-18 bites
Directions:
First add cashews, coconut flakes, and oats to Vita-Mix or food processor and grind into a fine powder. Then, add the agave, vanilla extract, and coconut oil, and blend again. Finally, the chocolate chips and either stir in by hand or barely blend/pulse until incorporated. Retain some texture to the chips or chunks.
Remove the dough and form into cookie bites. If dough is soft or hard to work with, refrigerate/freeze for 20 minutes prior to forming into bites.

Add dried coconut flakes to each bite by rolling them in coconut flakes at the end.

Store the dough bites in refrigerator or freezer.

What do you do to lift your mood? Do you have a list to pick and choose from (like mine above) or do you have one no-fail solution?