Larabars

I fell in love with Larabars sometime ago. They are expensive in this state of Alaska though. Sometimes I can get them on sale 4 for $5 but that is rare. I searched the net after eating a Pecan Pie bar knowing that I needed them more often than money would allow. Since I buy my dates and nuts at Costco I am sure my cost of making them is much, much less expensive than $1.25 a piece. Happy day! I don't have pictures for these recipes because #1. they don't last very long around this household and #2. larabars aren't really that pretty. I mean, they taste amazing but they just really aren't that pretty. Here are four recipes that I have come up with. The first two are tried and true. The other two I haven't tried yet but the measurements seem exact for yummy goodness and I will be trying them soon.

CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE DOUGH BAR
2 C raw cashews
12 medjool dates, pitted
1/2 c mini chocolate chips (the Enjoy Life brand is really good)
1/2 tsp salt

Blend in a food processor until it sticks together. Press in an 8x8 pan and the cut into bars. I store them in the fridge.

PECAN PIE BAR
1 C almonds
1 C pecans
12 dates, pitted
pinch of salt (optional)

In food processor blend the nuts until fine. Add the dates until it starts to stick together. Press in 8x8 pan. Cut into bars. Enjoy!

BANANA BREAD BAR
2 c. almonds
1 ripe banana
10-12 medjool dates, pitted

Process the nuts until fine. Add the banana and dates until it sticks together. Press in an 8x8 pan. Store in fridge.

COCONUT CREAM PIE BAR
1/2 c almonds
1/2 c cashews
1 c coconut
12 dates
2 tsp coconut oil

Process nuts until fine. Add the coconut and pulse. Add the dates and coconut oil and process until it sticks together. Press in an 8x8 pan. Cut into bars. Enjoy!

Honey Chocolate Chip Cookies- THIS IS THE ONE!!!

My mom brought these gems to family dinner at the beginning of the month and since then I have made them several times and eaten WAY too many of them. They are a really, really good substitute for regular chocolate chip cookies that call for white sugar.

Honey Chocolate Chip Cookies-

Cream-
1/2 C honey
1/2 C butter
Add-
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
Mix in-
1 1/2 C flour- You can use whole wheat
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking powder
Then add in-
1/2 C pecans, finely chopped
1 C chocolate chips- you can use dark chocolate or even organic. I also like the tiny mini chocolate chips

Drop by teaspoonfuls or use a cookie scoop on a baking sheet. Bake in a preheated oven at 350° for 9-12 minutes

Honey Brownies- SUCCESS!!! Finally!

I don't like cakey brownies. As a result I have gone through several different recipes for brownies made with honey with out any success. Oh, if I wasn't so picky! I found one and tried to once. Failure- I accidentally added baking soda AND baking powder when I was supposed to just add powder. Second try- increased flour and did not use baking soda. Almost but not quite what I was looking for. Third try- now this says something because I NEVER try a recipe three times. This time I changed the amounts of honey and maple syrup and PERFECTION! Even my husband who has not truly embraced the no sugar lifestyle I have introduced said they were really good and he ate several. Hooray! I will count that as success. I frosted them with this chocolate frosting- HERE.

Chewy Honey Brownies
Cream together:
1/2 C butter
1/2 C honey
1/2 C maple syrup- the REAL kind!
Add in:
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
Stir in:
1/2 C flour
1/3 C cocoa
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350°.
Grease an 8x8 in pan. Pour the batter mix into it. Bake for 20-25 minutes. The top will be glossy.
Frost when cool and enjoy healthy, yummy, chocolatey goodness.

Peanut Butter Popcorn with Honey

Yesterday was a peanut butter popcorn kind of day, but my other recipe calls for marshmallows and brown sugar which we are trying to avoid at all costs on this side of the world. I wondered if I could find some way to make it with honey. Well, where there is a will there is ALWAYS a way. This popcorn was so good and it made A LOT but it was all gone with in just a few hours of me making it. Perfect substitute for what we loved before!

Peanut Butter Popcorn with Honey

1 1/2 C honey
1 1/2 C peanut butter
3 T butter
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1 C unpopped popcorn kernels

Pop the popcorn. This makes a lot of popcorn. We filled up two very large bowls.
In a saucepan heat the honey, peanut butter and butter until it is smooth and runny.
Remove from the heat and add the vanilla.
Drizzle the peanut butter mixture over the popped corn. Stir to coat.
Enjoy!

Vanilla Almond Snackaroos

This weekend we were in Anchorage and went to Natural Pantry to see what fun stuff they had there. It was all really fun. There was a lot of real food there which was nice but the prices were outrageous. Seriously outrageous. Regardless of that we did pick up a few things. My husband got okra chips which were very interesting. We also left the store with Banana Coconut Snakaroos by Laughing Giraffe Organics. We immediately fell in love with them. Such a good, whole food that was perfect for a snack. The only problem was the price. After some internet searching I put together a recipe and tried it out today. This one is minus the banana but I will put the banana in next time I make them. They turned out perfectly!

Vanilla Almond Snackaroos

3 C unsweetened coconut
1 C whole almonds
1/4 C coconut oil
1 C honey- Here is where I will add the banana next time. Maybe 1/2 C banana, 1/2 C honey
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp kosher salt

In a food processor add the almonds and process until it is almost a flour consistency. In a bowl combine all the ingredients mixing until it is well incorporated. Using a cookie scoop shape them into half balls and place on a cookie sheet.

At this point I just have them sitting on the counter to dry out. I tried baking a batch of them but the honey ran everywhere and they did not stay together. Just leaving them out on the counter seems to be working very well.

Chewy Honey Oatmeal Cookies

My collection of recipes I feel are relatively 'safe' to eat is getting bigger and it makes me more comfortable with the lifestyle of no refined sugars. It is hard to change to that in this world we live in. There is so much crap added to everything that sometimes it is hard to tell and I am thinking that's why it is important to pray over your food. :)

Here is one that the kids loved. And so did I. I used dark chocolate chips which are not technically 'no refined sugars', but I can read all the ingredients on the package and know what they are. These would be really good with raisins though and I will try that next time I make them.

Chewy Honey Oatmeal Cookies
1/2 C butter, softened
3/4 C honey
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla
2 C oats- I used old fashioned rolled oats
1 C whole wheat flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 C dark chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Cream the butter and honey. Add the egg and vanilla mixing until smooth. Add the dry ingredients and then stir in the chocolate chips.
Bake for 10-12 minutes until the cookies are golden brown. Remove from the overn and let them cool on the pan for about 2 minutes. Then cool on a rack.

Optional alternative: add 1 tsp cinnamon and 1 C raisins in place of the chocolate chips for oatmeal raisin cookies!

Cinnamon Honey Graham Crackers

I am LOVING all the recipes I am finding that have no refined sugars in them. It is making my life much easier in the healthy eating department. I bet that soon I will have an entire collection which will make the transition very smooth. These were so good! And so easy to throw together. We even cut some into squares and they are in the freezer with maple whipped cream tucked between two of them to make 'ice cream' sandwiches.

Cinnamon Honey Graham Crackers

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 1/2 cup honey

METHOD:

1. Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.

2. Mix together flour, cinnamon, baking powder, and baking soda.

3. Mix the butter and honey together in a separate bowl, and then add into the dry ingredients.

4. Mix well (I used my mixer, but you can mix by hand easily) and drop onto a greased, parchment-lined baking sheet.

5. Roll or press with your hands, out to the corners with a rolling-pin.  (You could also roll out and cut with cookie cutters).

6. Bake for 8-10 minutes at 400 degrees. Watch carefully to avoid burning them.

7. Cut quickly when they come out of the oven. I used a pastry cutter on mine, but they would be so cute cut out with cookie cutters!

Optional add-in: TRY 1/3 C OF COCOA TO MAKE THEM CHOCOLATEY…

Chia Berry Pudding

The picture probably doesn't look so appetizing but this stuff is seriously so good and so easy to make. I think I am in heaven. I have been trying to eat more real food. Food that has not been made in a laboratory. This is a recipe I stumbled across and mixed it up last night with hesitation but now I am thinking it could become a staple in my diet. There are amazing benefits of chia seeds. They are now proclaimed as a super food. Anyway, if you make this hopefully you'll agree that it is SUPER!!!

Chia Berry Pudding- 
Serves 4

1 1/2 C coconut milk(use organic if you can)
4 T maple syrup or honey(I used honey this time but will try maple syrup next time)
1 T vanilla extract (vanilla bean would be really good too!)
1/3 C chia seeds
1/2 C berries

Whisk the coconut milk, honey, and extract until smooth. Stir in the chia. Chill in the refrigerator for 2 hours or overnight. Serve with mixed berries.

Next time I will try Chocolate Chia Pudding by adding 2 T cocoa powder to the recipe!

Peanut Butter Popcorn!

This is so good that I am thinking I will make a huge batch of it and give it for gifts to teachers and friends. Basically I ate it for dinner tonight! Yum!

Peanut Butter Popcorn

2 (3.5 oz) pkgs of microwave popcorn, popped (I just light butter, but plain would be good as well)
1/2 C butter
3/4 C brown sugar
1/2 bag of small marshmallows
1/4 C peanut butter

Place popped corn in a large bowl.
In a saucepan combine the butter, brown sugar and small marshmallows. Cook until smooth. Remove from heat and add peanut butter, stirring until melted.
Pour the peanut butter mixture over the popcorn slowly, stirring to coat.
Enjoy!

Peanut butter chocolate chip chewy granola bars

The other day, while picking up my high school daughter and some of her friends one of those friends gave her a chewy granola bar. She took a bite and declared that it tasted 'chemical' but she was hungry and ate it anyway. When she said that I remembered that I had copied off several chewy granola bar recipes from a website and there determined I would make her some. I made them last night and I am pretty sure I dreamed about them. :) She found them this morning and has eaten three already. I can honestly declare that these granola bars are rub-all-over-your-face good! I am going to have to double the recipe next time.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Chewy Granola Bars

4 T butter
1/4 C packed brown sugar
1/4 C honey
1/4 C peanut butter
2 C old fashioned oats
1 C crisp rice cereal
1/4 C semisweet mini chocolate chips

Line an 8x8 pan with foil.
Combine honey and butter in a saucepan over medium high heat. Stir in the brown sugar when the butter starts to melt and bring mixture to a boil. Boil and then lower the hear and simmer for about 2 minutes.
Add the peanut butter and mix in until smooth. Remove from the heat.
Add the oats and crisp rice cereal and fold them in until evenly coated.
Quickly fold in the chocolate chips and then press into the pan.
Let sit for 15-20 minutes to set and then cut. If you need it to hurry along put them in the fridge for about 5-10 minutes to cool down.

Watermelon Slush

This was a super yummy and cool way to spend the afternoon. If you are someplace that is hot, hot, hot you will love this. We are actually freezing from eating it right now- gotta love Alaska! ;)

Watermelon Slushie

2 1/4 C frozen watermelon
1/2 banana
3 T lemon juice
2 T maple syrup
1 C water

Blend in blender and enjoy!

Ranch Potato chips

The kids are missing chips in this "seven-week-no-grocery-shopping-adventure". I have potatoes though and I had a packet of ranch dressing mix. Well, we still need to perfect the crunch part but I deep fried the sliced potatoes in my fryer and then sprinkled the contents of the ranch dressing packet on the chips. A.MAZ.ING! My son was so excited that he was dancing in the kitchen!

I think the key to perfect chips is slicing them really, really, REALLY thin. We'll try again later after the grease has exited our bodies! :)

Kale Chips

I jumped on the kale chip bandwagon today. I had a pretty good crop in my backyard and wasn't eating it fast enough in green smoothies. I am also worried that our beautiful sunny days are going to be short lived and frost is just around the corner. So I picked a lot of what I had today. I needed more for the olive oil/salt ratio though. I should have halved that with the amount of kale. Anyway, this is what I did. Oh and they are good!

Kale Chips
Kale- lots
3 T olive oil
1 tsp salt
Mix the oil and salt. Then toss the kale in the oil/salt. Dehydrate for 4-6 hrs on 115 degrees. Mine took a little less than four.

AMAZING nut/seed/fruit mixture

Yesterday we were out and about and had lunch at the grocery store. In one of the aisles I found a product from a company called Back to Nature that was loaded with goodness. The price? Not so much goodness. For one 10 oz package it was $8. Ouch! There was a sale going on for two dollars off and it did have a $1 coupon attached that I could use immediately so I bought it.

After that it was all downhill. I ate almost the entire bag! It was SO good and there were no added anythings. Just nuts, seeds, and dried fruit. I decided that I loved it so much I had to make my own version. The only thing I was missing was the apricots that it called for so I used craisins. No more $8 a bag of Harvest Blend for me!

Ginny's Version of Back to Natures Harvest Blend

1 Cup each sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds(toasted until popped), pecans, raisins, almonds, and craisins
Makes 1lb 13oz of all natural goodness! :)

Chocolate Brownie Heaven

When I realized that I had never posted our favorite brownie recipe I. could. not. believe. it!!! WE LOVE THESE!!! Our family is a gooey brownie family. We love them super chocolatey and gooey- that is chocolate perfection. This recipe comes from a master mix- which is even better, because that means more brownies whenever needed.

Brownie Master Mix:

4 C Flour- I have actually used whole wheat for this!
6 C sugar (I didn't say it was healthy!)
2 1/2 C cocoa
3 tsp salt
4 tsp baking powder
2 C shortening
Mix in all ingredients except shortening and then cut in the shortening until it is completed combined. Store in a container in your pantry until needed.
To make the brownies in an 8x8 pan:
2 C brownie mix
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
Mix well. Put in prepared pan and bake at 350 for 20 minutes- or until desired doneness!

The best chocolate frosting EVER!!!

1/2 C butter, softened
2/3 C cocoa
3 C powdered sugar
1/3 C milk
1 tsp vanilla

Put all ingredients in a mixer and mix well until it is smooth and creamy. Top the brownies and ENJOY!!!

Flax seed crackers

I love trying to make new things that are healthy. These are so good, especially with Adam's all natural peanut butter on top and VERY filling. The recipe I tweaked said to 'cook' them in a dehydrater, which I did. But I won't do that next time because it took forever and I am not really a total raw naturalist. I will experiment with the oven next time. I had one of these for breakfast and it was so good I decided on another one for snack this afternoon.

Flax Seed Crackers

1 1/8 C water
1 C flax seed
1/3 C sesame seeds
1/8 tsp salt
1/4 C raisins
1/4 C dried cranberries
Mix all ingredients in a bowl and let sit for 20 minutes so the mixture can become a little gelatinous from the flax seed. Spread onto a baking sheet or onto a dehydrator tray lined with parchment paper. If dehydrating do it on 105 for about 3 hours and then flip it over and score in to 10 pieces. Place it back in the dehydrator and continue for 5-6 hrs.
In the oven I'll probably do 350 degrees for about 20 min or so.

'Raw'tella- my version

Last year we discovered the joys of Nutella- a chocolately hazelnut dream that we love to spread on crepes, toast and dip fruit in. I recently saw a recipe online for rawtella- a healthier version of the one we love. Well, I tried it last night and it was no good. So this morning I did some tweaking and came up with this version. Bri and I even pulled the real deal out of the cupboard and taste tested both. They taste almost identical, except my recipe is not nearly as smooth. I think if you could grind the hazelnuts into a meal or very finely than it would go together much smoother. Makes sure you refrigerate too. It tastes great cold with a banana!

Rawtella-

1 C hazelnuts (meal or just full)
abt 1 C water
4 T cocoa
1/2 C agave
1 tsp vanilla
1 T coconut oil
pinch of salt

In your high powered blender mix the hazelnuts and water until you get a smooth consistency. Add the remaining ingredients and process until completely combined. Chill and then serve.

Healthier Banana Bread

I set a goal this year to only have refined sugar 52 times- once a week. So when I made banana bread yesterday and the aroma of goodness filled the house I wanted some. But not enough to use one of my days. Today I tweaked my banana bread recipe and enjoyed two pieces of yumminess with out all the guilt.

Healthier Banana Bread

3 ripe bananas
1/2 c agave nectar
1 egg
1/4 c olive oil
1 1/2 c whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and prepare a loaf pan.

Mix the bananas and agave until smooth. Add the egg and oil mixing well. Mix in the dry ingredients and then place in the pan. Bake for 1 hour or until done when a knife is inserted. Let cool.

Fudge Babies Baby!

I survived the holidays! I didn't post anything new because we had all our usual fare. Today I decided to try another raw recipe that has been sitting in my stack of recipes to try. I wish I could remember where this one came from because I would love to kiss the person who posted it. These seriously taste like little brownie bites. So good and good for you! Unless you eat the entire batch and than that is probably not good for you.

Fudge Babies

(Serves… depends on how good bad non-existent your self-control is)

I rolled these into balls, but if you want true brownies, simply shape the dough into bars instead.

Ingredients:

• 1 c walnuts (120 grams)
• 1 and 1/3 cups pitted dates (230 grams)I use medjool dates.
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 3-4 tablespoons cocoa powder, depending on how chocolatey you want the balls to be (I used 4T extra dark)

Directions:

1. Chop/blend all the ingredients, using a food processor, Magic Bullet, etc.

2. Roll into cutey-pie little balls. (Use plastic wrap if you need to.)

Raw Donut Holes

I started my 80% raw diet(which I hate to use that word) about a week ago and I have already lost a considerable number of pounds and found some foods that I really, really like. This one I was a little cautious of. Even halving the recipe just in case it was nasty. But to my delight they were delicious and I think I ate 5 of them for lunch today. Give them a try if you are looking for a healthy snack that will fill you up!

Raw Donut Holes
1 cup almonds, dry (chop in food processor)

1/4 teaspoon sea salt (chop in food processor)

In a bowl mix by hand:
1 vanilla bean, scraped
1 cup dried pineapple, chop
1 cup pitted dates
3 Tablespoons dried shredded coconut

Add the almonds and salt and mix by hand until it all sticks together then form into balls.

Roll the balls in 2 T coconut

And ENJOY!!!

This recipe is one of Ani Phylo's. You can find her website here.