Baked Doughnuts - Need I Say More?

So I found this cute little doughnut pan at the store and I just had to try it out.  I had a great friend bring some healthy doughnuts to a play date one time and they were delicious. So I called her up and tested our her recipe.

These little things were a hit right out of the oven. Elli helped me bake them up and both kids helped me eat them.  No  questions asked.  We made chocolate chip baked doughnuts but you could add fruit or cinnamon or anything your heart desired (but you know my heart desired chocolate).

Single Serving Vegan Brownie

A quick post to share something so delightful with you.  

I just discovered this amazing single serving brownie tonight and immediately came to the computer to share it with you guys.  

So easy to make.

So fun to make.

A healthy twist on a brownie.

And...no huge pan of left overs to trip you up all week.

Summer Fruity Ice Pops

I don't know about you, but I'm ready for SUMMER!!  This was a long winter and spring has proven to be a damp and dreary one.  I'm soaking up these warm days, as few and far between as they are, until those lasting summer days emerge!  I'm always looking for a freezer pop recipe because the ones in the store... even the fruit ones... are just so dang packed with sugar, sugar, and more sugar!  Is it just me or do they have a weird aftertaste? Why would you need to sweeten already sweet fruit??  So, I was pleasantly surprised to find this little gem of a recipe.  It is a breeze to prepare and delightfully refreshing without all the extra BLAH.

Oatmeal Breakfast Cookies

These breakfast cookies are a big hit in my clean eating challenge groups. They are filling, delicious, and kid friendly.  Not only that but these cookies are completely clean and vegan so you know what you are eating and you know it is good for you.  I give these to my kids without any concerns.  I do need to admit - we don't actually eat them for breakfast - we eat them all day long!  I think they would make a great breakfast warmed up with a dab of peanut butter on top but we haven't tried it yet. We usually have these as an afternoon snack or a treat after lunch.  They really are a versatile cookie and you can use whatever you have in the pantry to make it work for you. I am going to include the original recipe but I'm writing up how I make them personally (and you know it is going to include some chocolate).

Super Easy (not just for breakfast) Breakfast Pizza

When I stumbled across this recipe I had no idea it would be so easy.  So so so easy.  Today it is snowing (again), my kids are sick, and we are bored.  I decided it would be a good day to pull up the thousands of recipes I have saved on the internet and start trying one out.  Elli and I decided the breakfast pizza was the way to go.  The reason this works is because you will most likely have all of the ingredients on hand.  If not, it is super versatile and you can make it however you want.

No more talking!  Let me give you this recipe that will 100% become a staple on our list. I envision it for dessert, for fun lunch, even for dinner (who doesn't love breakfast for dinner!?)

Here is what you need: (kinda because you can really do this however you want!)

-1/2 cup whole wheat flour

-1 tsp baking powder

-2 stevia packets (I didn't have anymore stevia so I used another sweetener we had on hand) or 2 tablespoons sugar

-1/2 cup water, juice or milk (I used 2% milk but to keep it vegan use almond or soy)

-2 tablespoons applesauce (or coconut oil, mashed bananas, vegetable oil...)

-1/8 tsp salt

-You can add any spices you wish. I added a dash or two of cinnamon but you could do pumpkin pie spice, nutmeg, you name it!

-And the fun part:  Add in a few handfuls of whatever you want.  We added in 1/2 banana sliced and couple handfuls of mini chocolate chips. You could do blueberries, strawberries, walnuts, raisins, chopped apples, and the list goes on!

 Here is what you do

-Grease a round pan really well so it doesn't stick.

-Mix all ingredients together and then pour into prepared pan

-Place in NON PREHEATED oven at 425 for 10 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean (mine took exactly 10 minutes)

It looks delicious even without toppings!

Now have fun with toppings. Today I melted the Cinnamon Cheese spread I had and spread that on top (just one wedge). Then I added sliced strawberries and powdered sugar.  Seriously - this is breakfast? Both kids loved it and ate it up.  

This was delicious on top but I'm sure any cream cheese would work.

Who WOULDN'T want to eat that for breakfast?

OK you try your breakfast pizza and tell me what you add to yours.  I'm thinking next time I'll add walnuts and top with bananas and cinnamon. Or what about mini chocolate chips topped with nutella and bananas?  Oh man or what about mini chocolate chips topped with peanut butter and banana.  Yep I have a lot of baking to do!  I may very well be making this tonight for dessert while my kids are sleeping since they ate it all this morning and didn't want to share very many bites with their mom.

I want to let you know the original recipe came from Chocolate Covered Kate. I love her blog. I use it all the time. She takes desserts and makes them healthy.  She is all about chocolate and all about health. She should be my best friend. Really.  I haven't tried a recipe from her site that I didn't love.  Check it out!

http://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/2010/04/12/the-breakfast-pizzert/

Happy Breakfast!

No Bake Energy Bites

I am always looking for something quick and easy as a snack option. I love snacking (and ps snacking is super important for your metabolism).  It is very important that we eat every couple of hours to fuel the fire we have burning from exercise.  Although snacking is important, I am not a huge fan of prepackaged granola bars and things - they are convenient but they never quite do the trick for me. I find myself still hungry after eating things like that and if I'm hungry you better watch out!

Enter - No Bake Energy Bites!

These little beauties only require four ingredients and are delicious.  Now, I know there are other recipes out there for no bake snacks and I plan to try more. The particular recipe I used this time included Shakeology which is the supplement I use as part of my daily routine.  It is PACKED full of vitamins (I don't take any other vitamins actually) so I loved that the recipe included this. I will be trying out other versions of this recipe for those of you who do not use Shakeology. Still, I had to share this one too - it is too delicious to pass up.

What You Need:

1 C all natural peanut butter

1/2 C honey

1 C quick cook oats

1 C chocolate Shakeology

What You Do:

Mix all the ingredients together in a large bowl.

Combine well.

Roll mixture into about 1 inch balls (should make 24-25 balls)

Refrigerate!  

Delicious. These snacks are perfect for my entire family. They aren't messy so my kids can enjoy them in the car and I can enjoy them when things ARE CRAZY in my house (which is 99.9% of the time). They also make a great late night treat if you are having a sweet tooth craving.

Enjoy!

Whole Wheat Pumpkin Oatmeal Muffins

I'm craving sweets.  Real bad.  Lots of sweets.  Anything I can get my hands on really.  And this is happening during one of the worst possible times of the year - Halloween candy is EVERYWHERE!!  I overdid it yesterday and felt it in the afternoon.  But, nonetheless I woke up this morning with more sweets on the brain.  Pregnancy, sigh.  After a quick look on Facebook this morning, I found that Team ACT had posted a picture of her Super Easy 2 Ingredient Pumpkin Muffins and decided it was high time for some pumpkin in these parts!  One problem.  No cake mix.  Doh!  SO, online searching I went.  These from Kitchen Treaty are moist and delicious, just like the pumpkin muffins Team ACT made, but they do require a little more time.  Good news, however, (Miss Team ACT :)) ... they're even better if you add chocolate chips to the mix!!

Super EASY Two Ingredient Pumpkin Muffins

I am trying to learn how to rid our house of as much processed food as possible. I'm not throwing away things, but I'm just researching and learning new ways of doing things.  It is fun and I like baking with my kiddies.  So you will see I have a clean chocolate chip muffin recipe I make every week that truly is good and clean.

I'm no fool in the thinking the recipe that I am posting today is clean.  It does have a nice can of pumpkin in it (pureed simple pumpkin) but the other ingredient is a box of yellow cake mix.  Ha!  But you know what? They are fun, fast, and easy to make.  The result is a fluffy pumpkin treat that everyone will love so I say GO FOR IT.

3 Ingredient Peanut Butter Bars

So I've been really working on finding home made snacks for the kids. I have played around a lot with various peanut butter bar recipes. So confession time - I actually like them more than my kids. They eat them OK - but I devour them. So good.  I've tried several over the past couple of weeks and will probably write up all of them. This is the one I made today.  I really like this one because it calls for less peanut butter than my other ones so it is cheaper in the long run.

What you need:

1. 1/2 C Peanut butter (original called for crunchy but I didn't have that)

2.  1/2 C Honey

3.  3 C cheerio style cereal

Chocolate Chip Muffins - Soooo Good and Clean

In our quest to start eating less processed food, I stumbled upon these chocolate chip muffins.  OK, first disclaimer, they can be any kind of muffin you want, but I am a chocolate addict so they are always chocolate chip muffins for me.  Second disclaimer, they could be completely vegan, but let's remember I call myself "mostly vegan" so those are real chocolate chips.  If you want them to be completely vegan you can choose another filler.

Back to the muffins.  I tend to make a dozen on Saturday or Sunday afternoon and then we are ready with a good clean snack all week. I always eat them as my morning snack.  Kids love them in the afternoon.  My husband takes them to work.  

I have made them so many times it has become a science.  My daughter LOVES to help me make them and it actually does kind of help. I put the amount in the measuring cup and she just pours it right in.  Of course her favorite part is licking the spoon!