Tuesday "Try" Remake Baked Cinnamon Breakfast bites...

 Cinnamon Baked Breakfast Bites

http://ohmysugarhigh.com/scrumptious-baked-cinnamon-breakfast-bites-recipe/

Here is all the ingredients I used for my version of the Scrumptious Baked Cinnamon Breakfast Bites I posted on facebook for "Syrupy" Sunday. I wanted to try these but I needed them to be Gluten and Dairy Free.

I used:

potato starch

tapioca starch

 brown rice flour

 organic sugar

organic shortening

earth balance

almond milk

brown rice cakes

The recipe called for 1 1/3 cup of all purpose flour so I used a combination of potato, tapioca and brown rice flour to equal 1 1/3 flour. I added in the baking powder and some xanthan gum ( about 1/4 tsp) because when your baking with gluten free flour it helps hold it together. 

I used part shortening and part earth balance because I didn't have buttered flavored shortening as the recipe suggested. I worked it in until it resembled crumbs.

Then the recipe called for crisp rice cereal which I did not have on hand so I used some rice cakes, put them in the food processor and ground it up.

Here is what they looked like. Just like crispy rice cereal!

Next I put the flour mix, rice cakes ground up, 2 Tb. sugar and incorporated them all...

Added in 1/2 cup of almond milk, and stirred until a fairly stiff dough formed.

I took the dough and shaped them into about 1 inch balls. I melted 1/4 cup of earth balance instead of butter and mixed the 1/2 cup of sugar with cinnamon. I dipped each ball into the earth balance and then the cinnamon sugar mix. 

Put them into a glass pie pan and baked on 325 degrees for about 12-15 min.

The finally results - GOOD!

What I would do different next time would be use a little less cereal and use all earth balance instead of half shortening half earth balance. And probable no rice flour because the cereal is rice based. It's fun playing with recipes. 

......If you need help with your recipes

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Friday "Fun"... Potato Skins

Potato Skin - Bacon Fat Chips

http://www.washingtonpost.com/pb/recipes/potato-skin-bacon-fat-chips/13608/

Yesterday when I was making garlic mash potatoes to have with our dinner, I decided to make these Potato Skin - bacon fat chips from the potato peels (which I scrubbed clean).  I found the recipe in a book ( I checked out of my local library) called Root To Stalk Cooking http://www.amazon.com/Root-Stalk-Cooking-Using-Vegetable/dp/1607744120. I love not wasting and it felt so good to have used every part of the potato. I could see the potential in a lot of different spice combos. Defiantly making these again, they tasted like potato chips!

First I soaked the peels in cold water while I continued with dinner. Then when I was ready I drained and dried them off on a towel.

Next I melted two tablespoons of bacon fat ( you could use olive oil, coconut oil, butter etc. ) put the potato peels in with the fat and blended to coat throughly.

I sprinkled half of the spice mix, gave it a toss, put all the potato skins on a baking sheet, added the other half of the spice mix and baked them in a 400 degree oven for 12-15 min. Then flipped them over and baked another 3-4 min. Watch those last few minutes, they will cook fast. I had a few a bit darker then others.

Original Recipe

1 tsp dark brown sugar 

( I used regular brown sugar)

1/2 tsp kosher salt 

( I used table salt)

1/4 tsp sweet paprika 

( I used whatever kind of paprika I had on hand)

1 tsp chopped fresh thyme, or 1/2 tsp dried

( I used dried, because that's what I had)

skin peelings from 4 russet potatoes

2 Tb bacon fat warmed until liquid or olive oil

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Tuesday "Try"... Pumpkin Bites

Pumpkin Bites

Yesterday I posted on my facebook page for Monday "Mention" 100 snack ideas. Today I decided to make the Pumpkin Bites which I picked from the many ideas. I changed it slightly for what worked for me. I used mostly no sugar almond butter and just a couple tablespoons of the natural peanut butter with added sugar.

Another trick I learned when I use to work in a bakery was to soak the raisins before you put them in with the ingredients ( you can drain them or if a recipe calls for liquid you can use the raisin water). It makes them soft and easier to eat, plus it adds moisture, because cooking will dry them out a little.

I then creamed the canned pumpkin, and the nut/ peanut butters together and added my nuts and seeds. I used walnuts, almonds, cashews and some pumpkin seeds.

Next I added all the remaining ingredients, and mixed together. Another alteration I made was adding half (2 Tb.) molasses and (2 Tb.) maple syrup instead of all maple syrup as the recipe suggested. 

I used mini muffin tins to bake the Pumpkin Bites. But before I put them in the oven I sprinkled a little coconut sugar on top.

This was my final product, a bit size treat. My daughter tried them and said they tasted healthy. I'm not sure if that is good or bad. Guess I'll find out if she ends up eating more. They can be made with banana instead of pumpkin, which I think I would try next time because I love the combination of banana and peanut butter.

Here is the original recipe:

Healthy Pumpkin Bites Recipe

http://www.snack-girl.com/snack/pumpkin-bar-recipe

(makes 14 or 28)
1/2 cup peanut butter (or any of your favorite nut butters)
1 15 ounce can pumpkin
1/2 cup whole nuts (choose your favorite)
1 ½ cup total of dried fruits (cherries, cranberries, apricots, raisins, coconut, etc.)
1 cup rolled oats
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice (optional)
4 tablespoons maple syrup (or to taste)

Preheat oven to 350 F. In a food processor, coarsely chop nuts and dried fruits. Mix nut butter and pumpkin until a well blended. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix. Taste to ensure the right level of spice and sweetness. Spoon into lightly greased muffin cups and bake for 30-35 minutes. Can be stored in refrigerator for 5 days.

For one pumpkin bite (14 in recipe) = 168 calories, 6.9 g fat, 25.2 g carbohydrates, 4.6 g protein, 3.0 g fiber, 47 mg sodium, 5 Points+

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Thursday 3 "Tips" to cut down on sugar...

Sugar and spice and everything nice, that's the feeling "sugar" brings to mind.

Sugar is not our enemy, and in moderation it can be our friend. Take a moment to read the ingredient labels on some of the food sitting on your pantry shelves, cabinets and in your refrigerator. Look beyond the obvious bag of cookies or can of soda, and check out the salad dressing, ketchup, peanut butter, yogurt, crackers, lunch meat, pickles, non dairy milk, creamer, cereal, bread, even gum, just to name a few. There is sugar everywhere (even in your medicines) and under many names besides the spelling, S-U-G-A-R.

To help bring awareness to how much sugar may be lurking in your food, here is just some of the other names that sugar can be found on your ingredients labels:

*high fructose corn syrup

*sucrose,

*glucose

*fructose

*lactose

*maltose

*dextrose

*honey

*corn syrup

*invert sugar

*invert sugar syrup

*molasses

*brown sugar

*evaporated cane juice

*dehydrated fruit juice

*corn sweetener

*fruit juice concentrate

*malt syrup

*raw sugar

*turbinado sugar

*sorghum syrup

*refiner's syrup

*beet syrup

*glucose syrup

*barbado's sugar

*muscovado sugar

*beet sugar

*carob syrup

*table sugar

*malt

*buttered sugar

*maple syrup

*rice syrup

*agave nectar or syrup

*powdered sugar

*corn syrup solids

*organic raw sugar

*golden sugar

*date sugar

*castor sugar

*golden sugar

*raisin sugar

*d-mannose

*sorbose

*galactose

*xylitol

*sorbitol

Don't let this list leave you discouraged, it's about bring awareness to the food we eat. So the next time you go to the grocery store try these 3 tips to help you start to cut down on some of the sugar consumed without even knowing it.

One

Read the label on that product your about to put in your cart to feed yourself and your family. Look to see if there is a another product comparable in price, that has less sugar with a similar serving size. 

Example -  if the product label reads 8 gram of sugar for 1/2 cup serving size

look for:

                  4 gram of sugar for 1/2 cup serving size

* or look for a label that may read " no sugar added" 

Two

When making a recipe that calls for sugar put less of the sugar then it requires. I do this all the time and I have rarely ever noticed a difference. And general speaking it doesn't usual effect the texture of consistency of the recipe.

Three

Start doing half and half with your food or drink.

Example - mix 1 pack of instant oatmeal (with 12 gram sugar) with 1 no sugar pack of instant oatmeal.

or

                 mix a bowl of yogurt (with 19 gram sugar) with a bowl of no or low sugar yogurt.

You will find over time that your palette will adjust to the taste of less sugar and you will wonder how you even use to eat so much.

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and visit http://wholefood-living.com/index.html to see how I can help you on your way to a healthier you!

Tuesday "Try" Cacao Nibs..

Candied Cacao Nibs

http://candy.about.com/od/chocolate/r/candiedcacaonib.htm

In honor of Valentines day this week I thought I would try something with chocolate ( any excuse to eat chocolate is good enough for me!) Cacao nibs are a healthier option then most chocolate consumed and they offer great benefits for your body http://www.livestrong.com/article/462015-benefits-of-cocoa-nibs/. They contain, magnesium, calcium and zinc to name a few, and what better way to get these minerals then through eating chocolate. Now with that said they do have a dark chocolate bitter taste and the internet if full of great ideas to remedy that without loosing all the good qualities. I found this recipe for candied cacao nibs, and it was easy to make and great to put away for later use, like sprinkling on my coconut yogurt, or grind them up and put in a smooth or just nibble on them, which I found myself doing and put the rest away before they were all gone.

This is what they look like. They have a rough crunchy texture with somewhat of a bitter taste.

I put the sugar ( the recipe didn't specify what kind of sugar, so I used my coconut sugar to add a more brown sugar/molasses like taste). Then put on med. high heat and continued to stir.

The recipe said to wait till the sugar was dissolved to put the butter in ( I used Earth Balance instead of butter to make it dairy free) but after a few minutes I put the Earth Balance in and it did fine. It got a caramel like coating on all the cacao nibs ~ Yum! Once it was all incorporated I spread them out on parchment paper and sprinkled some salt while still hot. I love sweet and salty.

~Happy Valentines Day~

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Tuesday "Try" ~ Gluten Free Product

O'Dough's Original Bagel Thins

http://odoughs.com/

I found these GF bagel thins at my local EarthFare store ( $4.99 for six bagels). Since I've gone Gluten Free I'm always in search of a product that delivers quality texture and taste. This one delivered all that and more because they are also non GMO and low in sugar ( only 1 gram for a whole bagel)! The texture was really soft but not gummy, and the taste was mild enough to not over power anything you would put on them. I was never a big bagel eater before but when I did eat them, I always had trouble with the amount of bread ( even GF ones) they are made with. So that is what sparked my interest when I saw these thin bagels. The first thing I made with one of them was a bacon, egg, and cheese ( for me - non dairy cheese). Oh boy was that good! Then next was a sandwich - Yum! And then one with non dairy cream cheese - Oh my! It is not something I would want to eat often ( because of price and it is still bread, and as you can see I've already had my quota for awhile) but every now and then - Oh yes! I will be on the look out for some of their other products. I think even those that eat gluten would like these as well.  ENJOY!

( I do not get paid to endorse this product)

Ingredients

filtered water

potato starch

soya flour

tapioca flour

chickpea flour

whole grain rice flour

cellulose fiber

glycerine

yeast

sunflower oil

sea salt

organic evaporated cane juice

Salba chia seeds

xanthan gum

baking powder

baking soda