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47 In Recipes

Pumpkin Bread & Brownies

Hello folks, hope this finds you well this Monday! I have two recipes to share with you today. Both come from my friend Tami and are what I deem share-worthy! Also included below is a coupon code from the kind folks at Kelapo who sell fantastic coconut oil and other coconut oil products!

pumpkinbread

Whole Wheat Pumpkin Bread

In the past I’ve had a hard time getting great results when I bake exclusively with whole wheat flour. It’s usually a challenge to get a smooth texture, as the whole wheat flour tends to be a little more “gritty”, turning out sorta dense baked goods.  Well this recipe is certainly the exception!

3 1/2 cups whole wheat flour {I used King Arthur’s organic}
1 1/2 cups sugar {I used organic evaporated cane juice sugar}
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp salt
Mix dry ingredients.

 

1 can pumpkin (15 oz)
4 eggs
1 cup coconut oil {I used Kelapo and warmed it so that it was a liquid, this take just a few seconds in microwave}
2/3 cup water
1 tsp vanilla
Mix wet ingredients.

 

Pour wet ingredients in the center of dry.  Mix together until well incorporated.
Pour into 3 bread pans that have been greased & floured.
Bake at 350 degrees for 45-1 hr, until a knife comes out clean.

kelapo

As I mentioned above, the folks at Kelapo have set up a promo code for y’all to use! Use code “FTOW20” (case sensitive) and you will receive 20% off your order valid through 11/10/11.  They also have a great page dedicated to recipes with coconut oil.

Now, back to that pumpkin bread… it’s delicious by itself, but it may be even better when topped with Maple Cinnamon Cream Cheese.

maplecreamcheese

I got the idea when I saw Marla frost a cake with cream cheese sweetened with maple syrup. I couldn’t whip some up fast enough to spread on the pumpkin bread. This is what I came up with:

Maple Cinnamon Cream Cheese Spread

8 ounces of cream cheese {softened to room temperature}
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
a couple drops of vanilla
3 Tablespoons real maple syrup {or more to your liking}

Whip cream cheese with mixer until smooth. Mix in cinnamon, vanilla, and maple syrup. {You can add more maple syrup but my opinion is 3 T is just right sweetness-wise.} Refrigerate until set and the best part is it’s always spreadable even straight from the fridge.

 Next up…

brownie2

Health Nut Brownies {aka Paleo}

This is my new “go-to” brownie recipe. It’s officially a “paleo/caveman” recipe, but I think “health nut” sounds more timeless and fitting since the main ingredient is almond butter. Just in case the paleo trend dies, I’m hoping my “health nut” brownies won’t die with it! Again, this recipe is from my friend Tami and they are delicious… no one can tell they’re flourless!

16 oz of almond butter {this is about a jar + 1/3 of jar, I use creamy
2 eggs
1 cup honey {don’t scrimp}
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 of a 3.5 ounce dark chocolate bar {I use 70% cocoa}, chopped

Preheat oven to 350.

Using mixer blend almond butter, eggs, & honey. Add in cocoa powder, salt, & baking soda. Fold in chopped dark chocolate. Spread into a greased {glass has best results} 9×13 pan & bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool before cutting.

Just to be sure we’re clear… this brownie recipe calls for no sugar and no flour. Until you try it, you’re gonna have to believe me that they taste divine!

brownie1

chocolate

ABbrownies

And since they’re healthy, I like to serve them warm with chocolate coconut milk ice cream {which you can even find at Walmart now!}

Enjoy!!

57 In Recipes

Peanut Butter Crispies & Curry Chicken Salad

Good Friday morning!

I slept with JM and Paige last night, or should I say they slept with me, or better yet, on me. That’s kinda like sleeping with two walruses. I rolled out of bed at 5:15 am to escape the bed of invaders and just as I sat down with my cup of coffee JM walked in at 5:20 am and said, “I’m honnngrey, I want some dereal {aka cereal}!” Oh dear, I tried to convince him that it was not “morning time” yet but that didn’t work. Then I spilled my entire cup of coffee, and presently I’m tucked in my chair in the family room and he is climbing around the chair like a monkey as I type… naked, of course. If I can’t pull this post off, at least you’ll know why!

Before I forget, the kid’s life jackets from yesterday’s post are called Puddle Jumpers by Stearns. They are US Coast Guard approved and we love them! We bought ours at Walmart or  here’s a link to their site!

pbsquare

I’ll start with the Peanut Butter Crispies and I believe it is my civic duty to inform you that these are great for breakfast. They’re basically a glorified rice crispy treat… minus the margarine and marshmallows. My friend Marla has gone Paleo and writes a fabulous blog that has me thinking hard about the foods we eat. These little treats are not Paleo but they are good and a much healthier choice over rice crispy treats! Now, I haven’t adopted this Paleo lifestyle myself, but I do enjoy healthy choices and we’ve definitely cut out a lot of white sugar, white flour, and processed foods around here {with the exception of a few kid things}.  This recipe was adapted from this one.

Ingredients: (Makes about 2 dozen treats)

1 1/2 tablespoons coconut oil
2 cups peanut butter (I used crunchy Smart Balance)
1/2 cup honey
4 cups rice cereal {I used Erewhon Organic Brown Rice cereal}
1 good handful (about a 1/2 cup) of mini-chocolate chips and/or shredded coconut

The original recipe called for agave nectar but because we are keepers of bees we have no shortage of the good stuff… so I don’t use agave.

This is sitting on the counter at the rental house.

honey

This is where I prepare meals when we’re there. I’m so thankful that it has a great {& pretty well-stocked} kitchen, makes meal preparations enjoyable. This was also taken when it was cleaned up, it usually doesn’t resemble this.

kitchen

Directions:

In a large pot on the stove top, melt the coconut oil and peanut butter on low heat.

Then, add in the honey and stir well.

Remove from heat and fold in rice crispy cereal.

mixture

 I used this peanut butter, not sure how “natural” peanut butter would do, if you try it let me know:

peanutbutter

 

And this cereal, if you can’t find it on the cereal aisle, it might be in the gluten-free section:

ricecereal

Once everything is well-incorporated, place in a parchment lined or greased 9×13 pan. While it is still warm I added the chocolate chips and pressed them down a little so they stick. I also added coconut to half the pan for myself! Let chill in fridge for 20 minutes before cutting into squares. I keep these in the fridge so they stay nice and congealed… otherwise they get really crumbly.

This is a picture of the adult version because my kids don’t like coconut. Did you know the coconut you find in the freezer section of the grocery store has a fraction of the sugar as the bagged sweetened coconut on the baking aisle? It’s true. {1 gram of sugar per serving}

grownup_pbbar

You should make them and at least try them for breakfast.

Next up, Curry Chicken Salad.

This has been my go-to recipe this summer, and it’s a winner! The only exception would be if you don’t like curry, and in that case, you may not like this recipe. We love it and it has been packed into many coolers this summer and kept us company on many boat rides.

curryapplechickensalad

This recipe was adapted from this one, it called for grapes and I’ve found that while I like grapes, I don’t like them in chicken salad because the next day they get squishy. The apples stay firm and crispy. It’s the perfect balance of sweet and spicy {but not a hot spicy, just a little curry kick!}.

Ingredients

serves 6-8

4 boneless chicken breasts
1/2 cup chopped celery
1 cup Gala apples, peeled and diced and placed in a bowl with orange juice to prevent browning
1/3 cup almond slivers, toasted
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup Greek yogurt
1 to 2 T honey
1 T orange juice
1 1/2 T curry powder
salt & pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Rub chicken with olive oil and generous amounts of salt and pepper. Cook for 30-40 minutes or until juice of chicken runs clear. When chicken has cooled shred chicken meat. Mix in large bowl with celery, apples and almond slivers and set aside.

In a medium size bowl, combine mayonnaise, yogurt, honey, orange juice {from apples}, curry power, salt and pepper.

Add mayonnaise mixture to chicken mixture and gently combine. Add more salt and pepper to taste. After it sits in the fridge for a day or two you may have to re-stir it, but it likely won’t last that long!

Serve however you’d like! We like it served with lettuce wraps of Boston lettuce.

I used these chicken breasts {purchased at Walmart, I don’t buy everything there but I do buy a lot of stuff there}.

chicken

I used this hydroponic Boston lettuce {also purchased at Walmart}. I’m laughing at myself because I didn’t photograph the front, just the roots. It says Living Lettuce across the front.

roots

hydroponic_lettuce

Even Morgan will eat this as a lettuce wrap, she’s my brave eater, the other two are weenies!

m

It’s also good in a whole wheat wrap, or on celery, or on a salad, or by the spoonful.

chxsalad2

Ok, times up…. Happy weekend, y’all!!

57 In Life/ Recipes

Our Visit, Birthdays & Recipes

DBandRover

A week rarely passes that I don’t wish my parents lived closer. I guess it makes our time together all the more precious because it isn’t every day {or very often at all} that we get to see them! They spent the last 2 and 1/2 days with us and it was PERFECTION! They’ve headed south to spend a few days with Erika and her family and I’m hoping for a little more time with them before they travel home.

boat4

I wasn’t surprised at all when I saw they had towed an OLD wooden boat with them {Chance’s Christmas present} and the kids were thrilled for entertainment it afforded.

boat3

roverboatmomandmorgan

Speaking of Christmas, we celebrated with my parents and the jury is still out on whether Rover enjoyed receiving the toys or Daddy Boy enjoyed giving the toys more.

DBandRover

Yesterday was Justin’s 33rd birthday and Sunday was Mom’s {39th 🙂 and holding}… we celebrated with his parents and mine over pizza and cake at a wonderful new restaurant in town, Fire Stone. It’s in an old art deco building they’ve restored outside and remodeled in. If you’re local, you should try it… and they have this wonderful dessert they call “Pot of Chocolate” {which I’m in the process of attempting to replicate}. A few weekends ago my friend Lindsey and I shared it… and we decided it alone is worth going for! Anyway, it’s not very often that our kids get to eat out for dinner {the hardest hours of a day for young kids} but they all managed to stay awake and kinda’ mind their manners.

DBandRover2

dinner

Rover managed to negotiate his construction hat in… fully equipped with a flash light in the event of a loss of power.

rover

We only had to ask him to turn his light off a few times… he not-so-happily obliged.

roverhat

morgan

I brought a semi-homemade chocolate Bundt {birthday} cake with poured chocolate icing for Justin and Mom and it was the perfect ending to a perfect night!

cakecarrier2

candles2

I will admit that a true test will be under way tonight… a test of my love for my husband, who wants to celebrate his birthday by packing up the 3 rovers for a night of camping out, in the woods, by a lake, on … the ground. Now, I love the idea of camping, but I don’t really want to do it. In a camper? Yes! In a tent? No. But tonight I’m going to prove my undying love for him and sleep on the ground, in a tent, with him, & 3 little Rovers. I’ll be sure to document the events.

Now… 2 recipes from last week before I start my internet search for Airstreams.

Both of these are compliments of a friend who is always so gracious to share her recipes with me… both were delicious and easy!

chewygranolabars

Homemade Chewy Granola Bars {unbelievably good}

1 C peanut butter* {or sunflower butter}
2/3 C honey
1/2 C coconut oil**
2 C oats
2 total cups of a combination of coconut flakes, sunflower seeds, & pumpkin seeds*** {or your own combination of nuts & dried fruit}
mini chocolate chips to sprinkle on top

In medium size sauce pan melt together peanut butter, honey and coconut oil.

Remove from heat and add oats, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds and coconut. Stir well.

Press mixture into pan {I used my “Perfect Brownie” pan that is 11″ x 7″}, if you use a 9 x 13″ you don’t have to fill it all the way, just spread to your desired thickness and sprinkle {while still warm} with chocolate chips. Chill for 2 hours in fridge and cut into bars.
* My friend tried with natural peanut butter but they didn’t set up well… I think un-natural peanut butter {you know, like Jif} is the way go in this recipe.
**I found coconut oil at Publix, it’s hard {almost like wax} I think it’s kinda important to the consistency of the bars, let me know if you have success with another oil.
*** I found my sunflower seeds & pumpkin seeds in the bulk bins in the Publix produce section. I love that you don’t have to buy a ton and I think their prices are great… and I LOVE their dried cherries!

And you can also cut this recipe in half, which is what I did originally but wished I had doubled, so I went ahead and doubled it for you!

Ok, here’s one more from her wonderful recipe collection. It’s very hearty and wonderful for chilly weather… which we have none of now, but I imagine it will be back soon!

beanandbarleysoup1

Hearty Bean & Barley Soup

1 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
handful of baby carrots, diced {I like petite baby carrots}
a couple tablespoons  of oil {for sauteing}
1 package of turkey Kielbasa, halved lengthwise and cut into 1/2″ pieces
2  32oz containers of chicken stock
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1 C pearled barley*
2 cans of Navy beans {or your favorite white bean}
1 can of diced tomatoes

In large sauce/soup pan, over medium-high heat, saute carrots, onion, garlic, carrots, and kielbasa in oil for a few minutes. Reduce heat and cook 5 minutes. Add the broth, Italian seasonings, and barley, bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and let simmer for 40-45 minutes {until barley is cooked}. Add beans and tomatoes and let simmer for a few more minutes before serving.

* I admit to not having ever cooked with barley before… and I love it, easy, hearty & inexpensive! If it’s new to you too, you can find it with the dried beans {in bags} in the grocery store! Or if you have any other barley recipes please share!

beanandbarleysoup2

Ok… let the camping begin! At least there aren’t mosquitoes yet!