No-Bake Energy Bites

This is just a quick post! I'm running around packing and getting everything ready for a trip to South Texas, yay! I can't believe it's already been 10 years since I graduated high school. I'm looking forward to seeing all my friends and visiting the Academy again. Hoping for a fun weekend!


So when you travel with kids, you MUST have snacks. For this trip I packed:


- Individual hummus cups
- cut up veggies
- various rice crackers
- sliced apples
- individual peanut butter cups
- Babybel cheese
- Laughing cow cheese wedges (Levi LOVES these with crackers)
- pretzels
- rice cakes
 - Individual almond vanilla milk
- Individual So Delicious chocolate coconut milk


That's already a pretty good list, but as I was browsing through Pinterest today these little Energy Bites started calling my name. I'm so glad I decided to try them! Levi has eaten 4 already!


So my rating for these? Another 5. DELICIOUS and so good for you. I did make a couple of changes to the recipe, though. First, I ran out of peanut butter and added almond butter. So it's about half and half of each. Second, I reduced to amount of flaxseed meal to 1/4 cup and added 1/4 cup of chia seeds. I also didn't chill the mixture before rolling into balls. It worked fine. Now, when I make this again I think I will cut down the amount of honey. It was a bit sweet for me. If you have a sweet tooth this might be fine. Levi enjoyed it this way :)


This is the recipe I used. Found on Pinterest. 

No-Bake Energy Bites 

(makes 18-20 bites)

1 cup oatmeal

1/2 cup peanut butter (or other nut butter)

1/3 cup honey

1 cup coconut flakes

1/2 cup ground flaxseed

1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

1 tsp vanilla

Mix everything above in a medium bowl until thoroughly incorporated.  Let chill in the refrigerator for half an hour.  Once chilled, roll into balls and enjoy!  Store in an airtight container and keep refrigerated for up to 1 week.

Next time I might also change things up a bit and add nuts or dried fruit. It's a very forgiving recipe!

Graham Crackers

Graham crackers are a staple in a toddler's diet. I've tried a few gluten free graham crackers, but none of them have really been any good. Since we were going camping - and you can't camp without smores - I decided to try to find a good recipe that we would all enjoy. 

These are amazing! Found them on Pinterest :)

Gluten Free Graham Crackers

2 ¼ cups gluten-free flour mix (see below)
½ cup packed brown sugar
1¾ teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon gluten-free baking powder
½ teaspoon xanthan gum
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
7 tablespoons butter or margarine, cut into pieces
3 tablespoons cold water
3 tablespoons honey or agave
1 teaspoon vanilla

1. Mix together gluten-free flour mix, brown sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, xanthan gum, baking soda and salt.

2. Using your fingertips, work butter into dry ingredients.

3. Stir in 3 tablespoons cold water, honey and vanilla. If dough is too dry, add a little more cold water, a teaspoon at a time.

4. Gather dough into a soft ball. Cover in plastic wrap and refrigerate for an hour.

5. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Lightly grease a cookie sheet and line with parchment paper.

6. Cut two zip lock bags (gallon size) down each parallel side so that each opens out into one long sheet. Roll a piece of dough between the two sheets to about ⅛-inch thickness, depending on how thick you like your graham crackers. Cut into 2 x 3-inch pieces and prick lightly all over with a fork. Remove top zip lock sheet. Take remaining sheet with dough on it and turn it over. Lay it flat, rolled dough side down, onto prepared pan.

7. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until golden brown. If cookies spread and bake together, re-cut while still warm and loosen them. Let cookies cool slightly before transferring to cooling rack.

Gluten-Free Flour Blend

MAKES 4 ¾ cups

1 cup sorghum or chickpea flour
1 cup tapioca starch
1 cup potato starch, corn starch or arrowroot
½ cup amaranth, millet, quinoa or oat flour
½ cup fine brown rice flour
¾ cup sweet rice flour
Mix ingredients together until well blended. Keep refrigerated until used.

These graham crackers were perfect. This is another 5 star recipe for sure. The ONLY thing is, I wish the recipe would state that the crackers crisp up significantly as they cool down. When I first took them out of the oven, they seemed much too soft, so I baked them for a bit longer and it made them crisp up TOO much. My second batch was much better :)  Only bake them for the directed time, no matter what! They should look slightly golden, not really browned in any way. My 1 year old is absolutely crazy for these, AND they made amazing smores!

Meatless Monday

So to change things up, I decided to start reviewing recipes from Pinterest. Regardless of how the recipe was written originally, ALL recipes will end up being gluten free :)

I hope this helps some of you to a) be able to convert some of those popular Pinterest recipes, and b) know what recipes are worth trying!

For "Meatless Monday" I decided to go with Lentil Soup. Warm, comforting, and extremely healthy, it's a great choice for a vegetarian meal. Here is the original recipe (first seen on Pinterest).

Lentil Soup

• 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 carrots, chopped
• 2 stalks celery, sliced
• 1 onion, chopped
• Salt and pepper
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 dried bay leaf
• 1 can (28 ounces) whole tomatoes, with their juice
• 4 cups water
• 1 cup lentils, picked over and rinsed well
• 1 tablespoon wine vinegar (I omitted this)

Directions 

1. In a large pot or Dutch oven, heat oil over medium heat. Add carrots, celery, onion, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Cook until onion is translucent, about 5 minutes. Add garlic, thyme, and bay leaf, and cook until vegetables begin to soften, 2 to 3 minutes longer.
2. Add tomatoes with their liquid, breaking them up with a large spoon. Add water and lentils, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer, partially covered, until lentils are tender, about 30 minutes. Just before serving, stir in vinegar.

I decided I should probably rate the recipes too. Why not, right? The ratings will be from 1-5 (5 being excellent) and it will be based on taste, sight, ease of recipe, and how kid-friendly it is. 

So how do I rate my first recipe? 5 for sure. The taste was wonderful; earthy and warm. It looked beautiful with all the colors of the vegetables mixed in with the lentils. It's a very easy recipe to recreate, and my kids gobbled it up! In fact, they both had seconds. 

Served with brown rice and a fresh salad, this makes a hearty and complete meal. Delish :)

Granola

This is hands down the best granola I've ever had. Every time someone tries it they want the recipe. I'm not sure where exactly this recipe came from, it's just been in my family for years.

You can easily customize this recipe if you prefer different ingredient. Or make it gluten free as I did.


This is the ORIGINAL recipe, with my gluten free modifications included.

Granola


4 cups oats
1 cup brown sugar, packed
1 cup whole wheat flour (I use 1/3 cup millet flour, and 1/3 cup brown rice)
1 tsp. salt
2 cup unsweetened coconut, shredded
1 cup wheat germ (I use 1 cup rice bran or oat bran)
1 cup sesame seeds
2 cups chopped nuts (I use sliced almonds)
1/2 cup canola oil (I use 1/2 cup melted coconut oil)
2/3 cup warm water
2 Tbs. vanilla
1/2 cup honey

Preheat oven to 225 F.

In a large bowl combine dry ingredients. In a small bowl whisk wet ingredients. Mix everything together. Place in jelly roll pans and bake for 2 hours, stirring occasionally, until golden. Enjoy!

Ramen

Such a comfort food for me. I pretty much survived on it through college (which probably explains why I felt SO SICK throughout my college days) and miss it so much sometimes. Not the msg, sodium, or wheat, though. Nope. Needed to come up with my own copycat recipe.

This was my first attempt and it was a good one. Not perfect, but good. Levi loved it :)

"Ramen"

8 oz. Rice noodles (I used pad thai style)
8 cups chicken broth (you could use vegetable)
1 Tbs. GF tamari sauce (or to taste)
1/2 cup mushrooms, chopped
1/2 cup frozen corn
1/2 cup frozen peas
2 Tbs. scallions, sliced
1/4 tsp. freshly grated ginger
1 garlic clove, minced
Sea salt to taste

Combine all ingredients except rice noodles in a pot. Bring to a boil. Add noodles and simmer for a few minutes until noodles are soft, about 3 minutes. Enjoy!

Manic Monday

Another delicious weekend! I don't know why I never remember to take pictures of our Sabbath meals. It's probably because we're all starving and everything's sooo good we just dig in. No thoughts of cameras whatsoever. Take my word for it, though, it's good stuff :)

So Levi loves nuggets. So.much. The good? I found some excellent gluten free nuggets by Applegate Farms. By far the best I've had - and that includes the gluten-filled ones. The bad? They're EXPENSIVE! 

After going through 2 boxes in less than two weeks, I decided I'd try my hand at nugget-making. How hard could it be? Turns out, not hard at all!

Since I was just experimenting, I don't have a very specific recipe, but take heart! I will do it again and write down exactly what I'm doing. For now, here's what I did:

8 chicken tenders, cut into bite-size cubes

In a shallow bowl, whisk 1 egg with a splash of milk. Set aside. 

In another bowl, combine approximately 1/4 cup of each: oat flour, quinoa flour, and brown rice flour. Add paprika, garlic salt, onion powder, and some freshly ground pepper. 

Heat a bit of oil in a saucepan. 

Drop the chicken into the egg mixture, then dredge them in flour mix. Fry in hot oil until golden brown. 

The verdict? DELICIOUS! No, really. These were excellent. I'm never, ever buying chicken nuggets again! Yay!

Here's a picture of my handiwork:

mixed veggies, pasta with olive oil and parm, chicken nuggets, and strawberries

Cheese Crackers!

Finding good gluten free crackers is nearly impossible. They all have a strange texture and even worse flavor. Rice crackers are really good, but sometimes you're just craving a Cheeze-it.

This is the first copycat cheese cracker recipe I've tried, and I'm impressed! VERY easy to make, few ingredients, and fabulous results. David even asked me if I'd put crack in them. He couldn't stop eating them and he's not even gluten free. That's how you know it's good :)

This is the recipe I used.

Cheese Crackers

3/4 C. shredded cheese (I used 1/2 cup cheddar and 1/4 cup Monterrey Jack)
3 Tbs. butter, room temperature
3/4 C. cornstarch
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp xanthan gum
1/2 tsp. baking powder
2 Tbs. milk ( I used whole)
sea salt to taste

- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or lightly grease pan.
- In a bowl, combine cheese, butter, cornstarch, salt, xanthan gum, and baking powder until mixture is crumbly.
- Add in milk and stir until dough forms (I just tossed everything in the food processor and pulsed until combined. I also had to add more milk to form a dough. Maybe an extra Tbs. or so.)
- Sprinkle a small amount of cornstarch on a flat surface. Roll out dough until 1/8-inch thick.

- Cut into squares. Poke each square with a toothpick in the center (I didn't do this)
- Transfer squares to baking sheet. Sprinkle with sea salt.
- Bake for 10 minutes, or until edges are just barely golden.

Last night's dinner:

Garlic noodles and cucumbers with lemon, basil, and parsley.

The kids also shared a banana split for dessert, but I forgot to take a picture of that. This is the recipe I used for the noodles. It was SOOO good! Both kids gobbled them up; we had no leftovers!

Today's lunch:

cheesy pasta, ants on a log (celery with PB and craisins), blueberries,  broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots (steamed)

If you're wondering, I do usually eat whatever the kids eat. EXCEPT in situations like these when the main dish consists of pasta, cheese, and butter. Yeah, pass. I had a huge salad instead, with baby spinach, butter lettuce, grape tomatoes, artichoke hearts, kalamata olives, garbanzo beans, and feta cheese. Yum. I did eat the vegetables and blueberries, though :)

Interesting story, I had a "friend" accuse me of feeding my kids cancer (aka animal products such as meat, dairy, etc). Yeah, she actually used the word cancer. It was strange. I sort of...stared at her. Waiting for a punch line or something, but nope. Dead serious.

Ok, so how do you respond to that? Thank you? Teach me, oh wise one? I had a million things running through my head, but I just shrugged and told her a vegan diet hadn't worked for me and changed the subject. She was REALLY surprised that I'd been vegan, and even more surprised that I didn't think it was the ultimate way to eat. 

Here's a though, crazy friend: everyone is different. I honestly didn't like being vegan. Not only did I find it incredibly isolating, but I just didn't feel great. I always felt hungry and started grazing more, instead of being able to eat 3 meals a day. I was constantly daydreaming of burgers, scrambled eggs, and grilled salmon. Haha. And quesadillas. Omg. Vegan cheese is just....not the same at all. 

My vegan diet officially came to an end when I found out I was pregnant with Sophie. My morning sickness was awful and I craaaaved meat. After 6 months I said goodbye to being a vegan and haven't looked back since. 

How do I feel now? Amazing. Truly, my body functions much better on a high protein, low carb diet. Gluten free also, of course. I started drinking dairy again (organic skim) and eating eggs (organic, free range) and it made a world of difference to me. My energy levels are up, my head feels clear and I'm much happier. So is my husband! Poor guy SUFFERED through my vegan months. We're all much happier, I assure you. 

Now, am I feeding my kids cancer? I hope not. I try my best to feed my family everything organic. From the meat, to the veggies, to the fruit. The beef we buy is also grass fed, and the chicken free range. It's much more expensive, but that just means we eat less of it. The bulk of our meals consist of vegetables, fruits, and grains. I think, nosy friend, that it's safe to say we eat healthy enough. 

Are we going to get cancer? Who knows. But just so you know, your vegan diet doesn't exempt you either. I just didn't bother to tell you that because, oh, you know. It's none of my business. 

Manic Monday

We had a pretty relaxing weekend. It was cold, so we pretty much stayed inside and watched movies, played games, and read lots of books. Good times.

I was just thinking this past week that we consume entirely too much produce. I'm not even sure how it happens. Every time I get back from the store I think, "there's no way we're going to finish all this, I finally bought too much." and nope. Gone before the week is over. Here's an example of what I got this week:

1 dozen apples
1 dozen pears
1 dozen plums
1 dozen white nectarines
1 dozen kiwis
1 dozen tangelos
3 lbs. grapes
Huge box of blueberries from Costco (not sure of the exact quantity)
2 quarts of strawberries
3 lbs. lemons
6 lbs. bananas
6 broccoli crowns (yes, 6!)
1 head cauliflower
1 lbs. green beans
1 bunch of kale
1 bunch of romaine lettuce
1 box of organic baby spinach

And a few extras like onions, garlic, celery, etc. Well, from ALL that stuff above, here's what we have left:
2 apples
1 pear
2 plums
1 kiwi
1 tangelo
2 lemons
2 bananas

Seriously! It hasn't even been a week! That's going to last us until tomorrow. Ugh. I like grocery shopping once a week only because I feel it cuts back on spending and I don't waste time and gas going back and forth to the store. Good thing I have frozen mangoes, peaches, berries, and some vegetables. That will have to do until Wednesday.

Another thing we devour are eggs. I buy 2 dozen organic, free range eggs every week! We don't eat eggs every single day, but I do use them for baking, and when the kids eat them for breakfast they easily eat 2 eggs each. Plus, I like having a few harboiled eggs in the fridge as a high protein snack for the kids or just to add to my salads.

If we go through this much food now, how will I keep up with them when they're teenagers?! Hold me.

Baby cucumbers, cheddar cheese cubes, blueberries, black bean patties with sour cream, eggplant sticks

White nectarine, carrot ribbons, EnviroKids cereal, cream cheese and cucumber heart sandwiches

Pear, peas, black bean patties, grilled cheese sandwich (cut up for Sophie)

Coconut water! Yum!

coconut with chile and lime. Mmm....

Gluten free onion rings for the Super Bowl

gluten free pizza

Yummy snack

blueberries, strawberries, and grapes

Gluten free chocolate cupcakes

Black Bean Patties

I just threw these together to use up some leftover beans. They're good!

1 cup black beans (if canned, rinse and drain)
1 Tbs. cornmeal
1 egg
1/2 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. garlic salt
1/2 tsp. paprika
Salt and pepper to taste.

Whiz everything together in a food processor. Heat olive oil in a skillet and drop by spoonfuls. Fry a couple of minutes on each side. Serve with a dollop of sour cream.



For the Onion Rings I used this recipe and it was fabulous!

Slacker

Yeah, I know it's been a while. Here are a few good eats:

Brown rice made in the oven. Soooo amazing!

Quesadilla, green grapes, mini turkey pepperonis 

Eggplant sticks, cubed grilled salmon, green grapes, peas and corn,  Kinnikinnick chocolate animal crackers

Gluten free flour tortillas

Plantain patties, beans, rice, roasted green beans, brownie bites, green grapes

Annie's Rice Macaroni and cheese, apple cut-outs, baby carrots with ranch, peas 

Homemade corn tortillas

Cream cheese-cucumber sandwich hearts, Envirokids cereal, carrot ribbons, white nectarine

Gluten free Miracle Bread

Baked Brown Rice
I used this recipe by Alton Brown. Seriously amazing, and I don't even like brown rice!

Eggplant Sticks
I sort of just "wing" these. But this is basically the recipe:

1 medium eggplant
2 eggs, whisked
1 cup breadcrumbs
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
1 tsp. Italian seasoning

Preheat oven to 400 F.

Spray cookie sheet with cooking spray.

Cut eggplant into matchsticks. Try to make them all approximately the same size so they cook evenly. You can peel it if you want to; I don't.

Put whisked eggs and set aside.

In another shallow bowl mix breadcrumbs, parmesan cheese, and italian seasoning.

Dip a few eggplant sticks in the egg, then roll them in breadcrumb mixture. Arrange in cookie sheet in a single layer. Spray the tops with cooking oil. Bake for 15 minutes and flip over. Bake another 15 minutes until browned.

*Both my kids LOVE these. We usually eat them with marinara sauce, but recently Levi has requested ranch with them. No matter what you eat them with, these are awesome.

Good News!

Levi went to see the nutritionist yesterday and he gained a little over a pound and grew an inch! His weight went from the 5th percentile to the 25th! Yay :)  

The nutritionist said to pretty much keep doing what we're doing; he's gaining well and is active and happy. I feel SO much better.

Here's yesterday's lunch:

Levi's lunch - clementine, baby carrots, milk, leftover pizza

Sophie's lunch - blueberries, shredded baby carrots, leftover pizza (cut up), sippy with milk

Haircut!

Wordless Wednesday - Happy Birthday to Me!

Levi's favorite: cheddar, turkey, and pickle sandwich on GF bread 

Breakfast of champions: shredded potatoes with eggs, green peppers and onions, raisins, strawberries, and milk

Red Velvet cupcakes from Sprinkles

GF pizza from Mellow Mushroom

Bleh

I've been on a cooking strike. Had to bake, though, we were out of bread =/    We've been surviving on leftovers, sandwiches, oatmeal, and cereal. The kids don't mind at all.

For dinner today I did make Adobo Chicken and it was soooo good! We ate it over some steamed rice with a side of veggies and it was truly delish after some time at the gym.

I started Weight Watchers today. Sigh. I HAVE to lose 10-12 pounds. I'm just not looking forward to counting points and watching every.single.thing I eat. I've done Weight Watchers before and the first week is always the hardest, so I know I just have to push through...and find more snack options!

Low point snacks I love:
- frozen grapes
- rice crakers
- fruit (it's FREE!)
- cucumbers with lime and chile
- hummus with veggies
- banana smoothie
- fat free greek yogurt with berries and a drizzle of honey
- chips with salsa

and my FAVORITE:

Blueberry Slush
Fill a 6 oz cup a little more than half full with frozen blueberries. Pour light vanilla soymilk over the blueberries to cover them. Stir with a spoon until slushy. Enjoy!

Arroz con Gandules

It's what's for dinner :)

Most of you probably know I spent a majority of my childhood in the beautiful island of Puerto Rico. Arroz con gandules was a dish we ate quite frequently while living there, and every time I make it I'm reminded of some wonderful happy times.

Funny related story.

When we first moved to Puerto Rico and tried arroz con gandules my mom immediately asked for the recipe. Well, the lady who gave it to us said it was her family's "secret recipe", but she'd give it to us anyway. Well, when we got a can of Goya gandules to make the rice, we noticed that the recipe in the back of the can was....the exact same "secret recipe" the lady had given us. LoL. Over the years we have, of course, tweaked it slightly, but the idea is basically the same.

Arroz con Gandules (adapted from Goya)

1 Tbs. olive oil
2 slices turkey bacon*
1/2 cup onion, chopped
1/2 cup green bell pepper, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 15 oz. can Goya Gandules, undrained
1 packet Sazon Goya con Culantro y Achiote
1/2 cup tomato sauce
3 cups water
2 cups rice**
1/4 cup sliced green olives (optional)
Salt and pepper to taste

Heat oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add bacon, onions, and peppers; cook 3 minutes. Stir in garlic and cook 2 more minutes. Add rice and cook 1 to 2 minutes until toasted, stirring frequently. Add remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes. Turn off heat and leave covered for another 20 minutes. Fluff rice and enjoy!

*To make this a vegetarian dish, simply omit turkey bacon or replace it with a vegetarian bacon.
**I use parboiled rice and find it works the best in this recipe.

Happy birthday, mom!

I didn't cook a thing today :)  Well, I assembled some crepes, but I don't think that counts - I made the actual crepes yesterday. This is the recipe I always use and they're always wonderful. Anyway, we filled them with nutella, applesauce, and sliced bananas...sounds weird but they were soooo good!

For lunch we went to BJ's to celebrate my mom's birthday. We go there a lot because they have really great gluten free pizza that Levi loves. Also the gluten free Pizookie. Omg. Pretty sure I go just for that.

Then for dinner we just had leftovers. Ta-dah! Easiest day ever :)

Yummy crepes:

Sophie's crepe :)

Potato Rolls

Yes, they were so good they deserve to title my post. I used this recipe and they turned out AMAZING! Soft, chewy, and absolutely beautiful! Here they are fresh from the oven:

We ate them with homemade chicken noodle soup. Levi is coming down with whatever bug I just got over, so I thought it would be appropriate :)

Levi helping me make the soup

Focused

Chicken Noodle Soup
1 small onion, diced
1 stalk of celery, diced
2 carrots, diced
8 cups water
1 bay leaf
2 chicken breasts
6 oz. noodles (approx.)
Salt and pepper to taste

In a large stockpot, heat a bit of olive oil and brown onion, celery, and carrots. When veggies are tender, add water, bay leaf and two chicken breasts (I used frozen this time). Bring to a boil, cover and simmer until chicken is fully cooked; about 30 minutes. Remove chicken breasts and shred with two forks. Return chicken to pot and bring broth to a slow boil. Add noodles, cover and simmer about 20 minutes until noodles are cooked. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Basic, easy recipe :)