Healthy Cookie Dough Dip!

I have been obsessing over baked goods made from unlikely sources such as black bean brownies. Well, I found this recipe recently and finally got around to trying it!

"Blondie Batter" Dip from Chocolate Covered Katie (recipe from her website)

1 1/2 cups garbanzo beans (1 can, drained)

heaping 1/8 tsp salt

tiny bit over 1/8 tsp baking soda

2 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 cup nut butter

1/4 cup plus 3T nondairy milk (or more or less, as needed) (Use less if omitting flax)

Sweetener 2/3 cup (brown sugar, maple, stevia, agave, etc)

1/3 cup chocolate chips

Optional: 1/4 cup flaxmeal for omega 3s and a fun texture (you can also add quick oats!)

The recipe does not call for cinnamon, but I seriously add it to everything!

Garbanzo beans

Food processor

Almond Butter

Hazelnut Milk

Baking soda, salt, vanilla extract, agave, and flax. Blend.

Add chocolate chips and stir.

Yumm.

Delicious, safe, and healthy cookie dough!

I refrigerated it overnight, and the consistency was way better after it set a little bit!

Sweet Potato Pancakes

For Father's Day, I made these delicious sweet potato pancakes for brunch! I hadn't ever made them before, but they turned out successfully. Next time, I will change a few things (and I will post the changes here).

Recipe (this is doubled, makes roughly 14-16 small-medium pancakes):

2 cups whole wheat pastry flour

2 tsp baking powder

4 Tbsp brown sugar (vegan, next time I plan to use agave nectar)

1 tsp nutmeg

2 tsp cinnamon

2 cups rice milk (next time, I plan to use hemp or almond milk)

2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar

2 small precooked sweet potatoes

2 Tbsp olive oil

2 Tbsp ground flaxseeds

4 Tbsp water

1 tsp sea salt

Mix the rice milk and the apple cider vinegar, and let it stand for 10 minutes.

In a separate bowl, mix the ground flaxseeds and the water, and let it stand too.

In the meantime, mix the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and sea salt).

In the vitamix, or any food processor, blend the two sweet potatoes with the skins! The skins are one of the best sources of beta carotene, providing four times the recommended daily intake! I used two Japanese sweet potatoes! They are delicious!

Nice and smashed.

Combine the two wet bowls (flax and rice milk mixtures), and add the sweet potatoes and oil. Then pour the wet ingredients into the dry ones very slowly. Mix, but do not overmix!

Perfect. If you over mix, you won't get fluffy pancakes!

Pour the batter onto pan or griddle (medium heat). When you start to see the sides roll and the middle bubble, flip the pancakes.

Yum.

Voila! Delicious sweet potato pancakes!

And maple syrup! Yum. Perfect brunch for father's day!

Mango-Banana-Strawberry Coconut Frozen Yogurt

Unfortunately, I do not have photos to illustrate how to make this. But, I can tell you. And hopefully in the future, I can show you!

Contents: Banana, Frozen Mangoes and Strawberries, one vanilla coconut milk yogurt, and a scoop of raw hemp seeds.

I was super impressed with how creamy this came out. If you click the photo to enlarge it, you can really see how thick it is! I will have to make this one again. So delicious!

Carrot-fruit Smoothie

A whole bunch of carrots.

And some banana slices.

And some ice.

Blend. The vitamin is so awesome. I loveeee it.

Last minute mind change. I added some frozen fruit (mixture of strawberries, pineapple, mangoes, and papaya). I also added a squirt of agave nectar.

And voila! Two smoothies... for K-man and myself.

Vitamix Addict.

So, my dad purchased a Vitamix a few years back. And every so often, he uses it. But, it generally sits in the cabinet untouched and collecting dust. Recently, I decided that with as many smoothies as I make, I might as well be using the Vitamix rather than a conventional blender. I have been experimenting with all sorts of vitamiX recipes. So, bare with me in the posts to come-- they will be vitamix heavy.

Contents: Vanilla Hemp milk, Banana, Frozen Blueberries, Spinach, and Carrots.

The verdict = Delicious! And let me just say how awesome this blender is. It took a whole thirty seconds to blend this smoothie. And there were no problems with the large pieces (the carrots, frozen blueberries). The Vitamix rules.

Peanut Butter Bars

Who doesn't love a good PB&J sandwich?

I found Peanut Butter Bar recipe online, and I copied it down. However, I forgot to bookmark the blog!! =[ I'm quite upset about this, but I don't know if I will be able to find it again via google. I found it randomly.

Anyway. I wanted to make something for my Spanish class, so I decided on these. They are vegan (of course), gluten free, and oh so delicious! They remind me of a PB&J!

Old Fashioned Oats, Walnuts, Peanut Butter, Preserves, Agave, Apple Cider Vinegar

In bowl, 1 cup peanut butter, about 1/4 cup agave (complete guess, I don't know how much I used. The original recipe called for 1 cup sugar, but I nixed that and replaced it with agave), and 2 tsp of apple cider vinegar.

Mix.

Spread on greased sheet.

Add a second layer using the fruit preserves. You could get fancy and even use apple butter or something of that nature. I will make these again and get experimental. I used peach, strawberry, and double berry (blend of marionberry and raspberry).

In bowl, mix 1/2 cup peanut butter with... less than 1/4 cup agave? I just guessed on measurements. Sorry for my lack of certainty.

Old Fashioned Rolled Oats- 1/2 cup.

Walnuts...

Chopped (1/2 cup).

Mix.

Spread on top. Bake for 15 minutes at 350.

Cut. And enjoy.

Mashed Cauliflower

Here is a healthy alternative to mashed potatoes.

Prepare head of cauliflower.

Chop into smaller pieces and rinse.

In boiling water, cook for 8-10 minutes.

Meanwhile, combine 1/4th cup soy or rice milk, 1/4 cup water, 1 garlic clove, 12 teaspoon of Italian seasoning, 1/4 teaspoon of salt, and some pepper, and put over medium heat.

Mix two teaspoons of cornstarch with two tablespoons of water. Add this to the milk/water mixture when it reaches a boil. Stir constantly until it thickens and set aside.

When the cauliflower is finished, strain it and (when cooled enough), squeeze as much water out as possible (the back of a big spoon works well).

In a food processor, mix the cauliflower for a minute or so.

Then, add the thickened sauce and mix until smooth.

I added chives, a little earth balance, some nutritional yeast, and some more salt & pepper. Delicious and healthy.