Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies- Healthified

I'm sure you have seen the 3 ingredient cookie recipe going around. Well, of course I had  to try it and then make it my own with all the things I love. And guess what? 

They are FANFREAKINGTASTIC!

Super moist, super healthy and super yummy. My kid loves them! My husband loves them! And I love them! Total hit!

My goal was to make something sweet and treat-like without adding ANY extra sugars. This was it! Look no further my friends. I did splurge on last batch and add Vegan Dark Chocolate chips. Which put them over the top!

Recipe makes about 1.5 dozen

Ingredients:

• 3 ripe bananas mashed
• 1 1/4 cup gf instant oats
• 1/4 cups shredded unsweetened coconut flakes
• 1/4 cup raisins
• 1 scoop or serving of vegan chocolate protein powder (I use Shakeology well, because it's the best!)
• 1/4 cup unsweetened coconut milk
• *Optional-2 oz mini vegan chocolate chips (I use Enjoy Life)
• *Optional-2 tbs natural peanut butter

Directions:

• Heat oven to 350 degrees.
• Mash bananas in large bowl. 
• Add oats, coconut, raisins, chocolate chips, protein powder and mix well. 
• Add coconut milk and any other options you desire like nuts, pb, or dried fruit. 
• *(The more ingredients you add, you may need to add more coconut milk.)
• Scoop 1 large TBS on silpat matt cookie sheet. 
• Bake at 350 for about 12-15 minutes. 

• Remove from oven, let cool for 5 minutes and DEVOUR!

Refrigerate left over cookies in an air tight container for the rest of the week. These are a great treat, snack or even a quick breakfast bite! 

ENJOY!

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Gluten Free BanAppBerry muffins

When you discover a recipe that is SUPER easy to make, totally healthy, with no sugar added, and that the whole family loves... YOU SHARE IT!

These muffins were inspired by Autumn Calabrese cookbook, "Fixate". I love this book btw, so many awesome recipes! You can check out and purchase the book here. 

I still can't get over that they are gluten free,sugar free and YUMMY! That my 6 yr old & husband like them so much one batch is gone in 2 days. But...… they are. And you need to try these!

Perfect for breakfast, snacking or desert. You choose!

Ingredients:

• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 2 mashed medium ripe bananas
• 1 Tbsp grass-fed butter, melted
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 1/2 cups almond flower
• 3/4 Tsp baking soda
• 1 dash pink salt
• 1 dash turmeric powder
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon 
• 3/4 cup chopped apple
• 3/4 cup blueberries

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Prepare 9 muffin cups, coat with butter or spray.
• Combine eggs, banana, vanilla and melted butter in small bowl; mix well.
• Combine flour, baking soda, turmeric, cinnamon, salt in a medium bowl; mix well.
• Add egg mixture to meal mixture;mix until blended.
• Add apples and blueberry and mix until blended.
• Divide batter evenly between the 9 muffin cups.
• Back 18-20 minutes, or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean.

• Let cool for about 5 minutes and ENJOY! 

You can store these in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Yummy warm or cold. I hope you enjoy them as much as we do! Let me know when you do!

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Dijon Vinaigrette

One of my favorite foods EVER is a good ol salad.

 I really could eat one every day. So many options you can't get bored. However the thing with salads is, you can ruin the nutritional value by using high fat, high calorie processed dressing. Most of the time when you order a salad out in a restaurant you will be getting a salad higher in fat and calories than if you ordered a hamburger! It's crazy. You need to have an arsenal of home made dressing recipes on hand for each of your moods. 

This one is a great versatile dressing for any kind of salad. Add this to a great pasta salad, or drizzled over sautéed or steamed veggies! It's a PERFECT addition!

MMMMMMMM I am getting hungry!

INGREDIENTS:

• 3 TBS Red Wine Vinegar
• 3 TBS Fresh Lemon Juice
• 2.5 TBS Dijon Mustard
• 2 Cloves of chopped garlic
• 1/4 tsp of Pink Himalayan Salt
• 1/4 tsp of Black Pepper
• 5 TBS Exta-Virgin Olive Oil
  

DIRECTIONS:

 Mix Vinegar, Lemon Juice, Mustard, Garlic, Salt and Pepper in a small bowl; whisk.

Slowly add oil while whisking; Mixing well.

You can store left over dressing in an air tight container in the refrigerator. 

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Roasted Garbanzo Beans

Healthy snacking at its finest! I was a little wary about this snack when my friend started talking about it. But after seeing how much she loved them, I had to give it a try on my own. I found a yummy starter recipe on Eatingwell.com and revised it to my liking.

L O V E    A T   1 S T   B I T E

These are crunchy pieces full of flavor. 

I happen to add a lot of salt to make them even more cravable. MMMMM

All of a sudden I am seeing these sold at grocery stores everywhere. So with all the hype why not make your own? Healthier, cleaner, cheaper and you can make them the flavor YOU prefer. All in 30 minutes. 

Makes: 4 servings, 1/4 cup each

INGREDIENTS

• 1 15-ounce can Organic Garbanzo Beans, rinsed
• 1 tbs Ghee, melted Or extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 1/4 tsp ground allspice
• 1/2 tsp Pink Himalayan salt

DIRECTIONS:

• Preheat to 450°F.
• Rinse garbanzo beans clean and blot dry. 

• In a small bowl, add Garbanzo beans, melted Ghee, cumin, allspice and salt. Toss gently coating beans. 
• Place beans on a rimmed baking sheet in the oven on an upper rack. Not top rack. 
  
• Stir gently every 10 minutes. This will insure all beans are browned and crunchy. 
• Bake about 25 to 30 minutes. 
• Cool baking sheet for 5 minutes and ENJOY!
• Cover and store at room temperature for up to 2 days.
  

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Baking Bacon

What did we do before Pinterest? I mean really!? How did we discover cool new things to try, arts and craft ideas and how to bake Bacon!!! For real Baking Bacon! 

WHY HAVEN'T I TRIED THIS BEFORE?

 I Love bacon but I ABHORE cooking it. It gets grease everywhere, it smells up the entire house, (that may or may not be a bad thing), and removing the grease from the pan is always a pain. When I saw this article from Center Cut Cook I thought my oven would be splashed with grease and it would cause my house to smoke up. But oh how I was wrong! It was the perfect way to cook bacon. NO MESS! NO FUSS! And like the Center Cut Cook said, you don't have to baby sit it!

Discover, the best way to make perfect bacon!

INGREDIENTS:

• Hormon Free, Antibiotic Free Sliced Bacon 
• Maple Syrup ( optional )

DIRECTIONS:

• Line a baking sheet with tin foil. Make a small rim on the edges of the foil.
• Arrange the bacon in single layers. 
• Place the tray of bacon in a cold oven. 
• After bacon is in the oven, turn oven to 400 degrees. Bake until the bacon is cooked to your preference. Around 20 minutes give or take.  Pending on how thick your bacon is, the time will vary. Thin bacon cooks faster than thick. 
• When the bacon is to your liking and crispy, place bacon on a paper towel lined plate and softly pat grease off. 
• WALLA!

To make an extra special batch of bacon, drizzle some maple syrup on the bacon before you cook it! OMG! To die for!

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Original Recipe: http://centercutcook.com/how-to-bake-bacon/

Perfect Granola

I have been craving granola for 2 weeks! I LOVE oats and a yogurt parfait is one of my favorite foods. But all the store bought granola has things I don't like. Too much cinnamon, too many nuts, or just TOO MUCH! Not to mention preservatives and junk. So, I ventured into the kitchen and came up with this! THE PERFECT GRANOLA! What makes it perfect is it has everything I LIKE. It's simple and only has the flavors I enjoy. So when you use this recipe, add or remove ingredients to make it your own per your own tastes. It's the only way!

Make it YOUR PERFECT GRANOLA!

 You could add any other ingredients if you wanted to: Roasted quinoa, flax seed, sunflower seeds, almonds, cinnamon , etc. The choice is yours! What do you like? 

My perfect recipe consists of this:

PREP TIME:

5 mins

COOK TIME:

30 mins

TOTAL TIME:

35 mins

 Serves: 6-8

INGREDIENTS:

• ½ cup organic extra virgin coconut oil
• ⅓ cup organic local honey
• ½ teaspoon organic vanilla
• 3 cups gluten free oats or regular baking oats
• ¾ cup unsweetened shredded Coconut flakes
• 1/2 cup chopped nuts. I like walnuts or cashews
• 1/4 cup golden raisins
• 1/4 cup dried berries
• Dash of Himalayan pink salt

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. In a large bowl, combine oil, honey and vanilla and whisk together until well combined. Add oats, coconut, cashews, walnuts, raisins and cranberries. Stir to coat evenly. Add pinch of salt if desired.
2. Line a rimmed cookie sheet with parchment paper. Pour mixture and spread out evenly. 
3. Bake at 300 degrees for 30-35 minutes until golden brown. Stir every 10 minutes bake evenly.

4. Let cool and harden for about 10 minutes. Store in an airtight container. Large plastic bag works just as well. 

Sometimes I like to bake the oats without the fruit and nuts. Adding the coconut, cashews, walnuts, raisins and cranberries after baking the oats so it wont be as chewy. I like it both ways. Depends on my mood.

I can't stop eating it!

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