Protein Power Blast Topper (Raw)

Topper on Yogurt

This is a fun topper that is loaded with protein. You can just store it in the fridge in an airtight container and have it ready to pour on top of , yogurt, fruit, hot cereal, and eaten alone too. It is a great way for you and your family and friends to add protein blast to your diet in a chewy yummy way. You can also mix a couple tablespoons with a couple tablespoons of your favorite nut butter and spread on apples, crackers, or rice cakes.

Protein Topper

Ingredients

1/2 C peanut butter or your favorite nut butter

1/4 C honey

1 1/2 C old fashioned oatmeal

1 C quinoa flour or whole grain flour

1/2 C shredded unsweetened coconut

1/4 C chia seeds

1/4 C ground flax seeds *optional
1 tsp vanilla

1/2 C Dark chocolate chips crushed up

Other optional additions

raisins or nuts

Protein topper on Oatmeal

Directions
1. In a bowl mix together peanut butter and honey until creamy.
2. Pour in the oats, quinoa, coconut, chia, flax seed, and vanilla. Blend until all crumbly. I used my hands some to get it all mixed together.
3. Stir in chips and *optional nuts and raisins.
4. Eat at once or store in airtight container in the fridge. Enjoy a yummy blast of flavor.

Optional: Mix a couple Tablespoons of topper with a couple Tablespoons of nut butter. Stir together until combined. Spread on bread, crackers, fruit, or rice cakes.

Tropical Green Smoothie

So it is that great time of the year to eat a lot of great fruits. I love making them into smoothies. If you add some greens and some other healthy ingredients you have a great meal or snack. There are so many yummy smoothie recipes. This is one that I came up with today when I was making my breakfast. It ended up being pretty thick you may need a spoon. Isn't it wonderful to get so much nutrition in one glass. A handful of nuts would be a great addition to the meal too.  It is a great way to start your day.  "Seize the day"!

Ingredients

1 C coconut milk or almond milk
1 handful of washed spinach
1/2 C frozen or fresh mangoes
1 frozen banana
1/4 C frozen or fresh pineapple
1/4 C old fashioned oatmeal
1 T chia
1 T flax seed


Directions Serves 1 to 2

1. Pour all the ingredients in the blender and let it whirl until all combined. Drink right away.  Enjoy

*For additional sweetness add a little honey. If you want it not as thick increase the liquid.

Green Berry Smoothie

Here is another breakfast option. We have this a lot. It is a great way to get a lot of nutrition in one glass. Using frozen fruits and vegetables makes a big difference. You can add other ingredients as well.

Ingredients: Makes 2-4 servings

3-4 C kefir or milk of your choice (almond milk)
1 C frozen berries (I use blueberries or boysenberries most of the time)
1 C frozen spinach (I buy it already frozen much cheaper :)
1 to 1 1/2 frozen banana (adds creaminess)
2-4 T flax
2 T chia
4 T coconut oil *optional
1 T whey protein powder * optional
1tsp cinnamon (today I tried pumpkin spice yum!)
(and whatever else you want to throw in)

Directions:

1. I pour the kefir in first and then the other ingredients follow. I use my bosh blender and it blends it all up with no problem.

Homemade Yogurt Parfaits

Sometimes you have to just smile. :) I made these parfaits for my families breakfast. As they came down to eat, they were a little skeptical of what it had in it. It made me smile to myself, and think about the fact they have gotten to be the guinea pigs of the family. I used to have 7 children at home, now I am down to 2. My cooking has changed a lot in the last couple years. For me it is a new adventure to try new things. It is exciting to have some things I have never made before. I love filling my grocery basket up with new things instead of buying the same old thing. The thing that comes with experimenting is new foods, of course, is trial and error. :/

My latest thing I am trying is goats' milk. I went to a dairy and bought it fresh. I have heard a lot of great things about it. I am making kefir out of it. I made goat cheese out of it last night. It turned out well. My husband had gotten some goat cheese a couple of weeks ago, I really enjoyed it. So I love the continual learning, but my children never know what they are going to be eating. It is nice to be able to smile and laugh about it too, which I did do with them yesterday. It felt really good to laugh too. They will have fun memories of this time, and hopefully they will take some healthier ways to eat with them when they leave home. I know some of my other children have, and that makes me happy. For now I appreciate their patience with my desire to create and make new things. Each day is a new adventure for them and for me. :) There is so much out there to learn. I have learned so much, and yet have so much still to learn.

These Parfaits were really yummy. We have had them before, here is another version to try. I made homemade yogurt the other night, so it was the perfect breakfast when we were on the run in the morning. It would make a healthy dessert as well.

Ingredients:

3 C homemade plain yogurt or store bought
3-4 T honey (depends on how sweet you want it)
1 tsp vanilla
3-4 T flax ground up
1-2 C homemade granola
1 banana
1 C blueberries or another kind of berry

Directions:

1. Mix yogurt with honey and vanilla.

2. Then get a dish and make layers. I started off with. a scoop of yogurt, sprinkled on a teaspoon of flax, then homemade granola, spoonful of berries, a few cut up pieces of banana, then do those steps again. End with granola sprinkled on the top.

I hope you are having fun learning and exploring too!

Healthy Power Bars in a Ball

This is for some of you that are looking for something healthy to eat during the holiday week end. The other option is eat it after the weekend after you are sick of the candy. =) This is loaded with lots of great nutrition in one ball. It could be a great snack, quick breakfast, or alternative for dessert.

I had a free sample the other day of some kind of "Healthy" bar that felt like it was going to break my teeth. There are a lot of "Healthy treats" or "Power bars" that are not healthy--read the labels. I am finding it is a lot cheaper and safer to make my own. I like all the textures in these balls. I hope you enjoy it as well. The nice thing is when you eat ones of these, it is very satisfying.

Ingredients

3 C Dates
4 C 6-grain rolled oats or oatmeal (the oatmeal would make it gluten free)
1 C Unsweetened coconut
1/4 C Chia (optional)
1/4 C Ground flax
1/4 C Cashews, chopped fine
1/4 C Almonds, chopped fine
1/4 C Sesame seeds
1/4 C pumpkin seeds
2 T Peanut butter
1/2 C Coconut oil
2 T Cinnamon (other spices could be good too)
1/2 tsp Salt

Directions

1. Put dates in a bowl with enough water to cover them. I have some harder dates so I left them in about 20-30 minutes.

2. Drain water into another bowl and pour dates into a blender and blend. You want it to be a paste when you are finished. You can use some of the water you drained off to help make the paste if your dates did not absorb enough. Add a little at a time. You don't want it to be runny. The goal is a thick, smooth consistency.

3. Then pour the date mixture and all the remaining ingredients into the bowl. Mix until all combined. Roll into balls. The recipe made 28 balls. Put them in the freezer to harden on a cookie sheet. I freeze the ones I can't eat right away in zip lock bags.

Peanut Butter Granola Cookies ( low Gluten )

You have a new thing to use your Homemade Granola for cookies. I had this idea a couple days ago and adapted a recipe. It was fun to have my son come home and love eating the cookie dough. He was scraping the bowl. He is one of my picker eaters. He liked the cookies as well. I was pleased how moist they were. :) They would make a great breakfast on the run.
1/2 C Coconut Oil (Or Canola Oil
1/2 C Sucanat or sweetener of your choice
1/2 C Water
1/2 C Dates
2/3 C Peanut butter
4 T Ground Flax seed *optional
2 T Chia *Optional
1/3 C Water
1 1/2 C Spelt Flour Mix*
1 tsp Baking powder
1/2 T Pumpkin Spice
3 C Granola (I used homemade)
1/2 C Dried Fruit* (If you want more)

1. Put Dates and 1/2 C Water in the blender. I let it soak about 15 min. Then I pulsed it till it was liquid. Then pour into mixing bowl.

2. Then add Sucanat, oil, peanut butter,to date mixture. Beat a couple minutes till smooth.

3. Then mix Flax, Chia and 1/3 C water In separate bowl and soak for 1 min. Mix in with the date mixture, until all combined. Then add all the dry ingredients. (You could put in a separate bowl first) Add the granola and *Optional dried fruit.

4. Drop on to cookie Sheet. Bake at 350. Bake 8-10 min. I liked them being a little soft, when I took them out. Don't over bake. :) Healthy too! Made 41 cookies

* I had them for breakfast they were great! :)

Multi grain Bread

Today I decided to make some bread with mostly wheat flour, and a few other grains. The dough was very easy to work with, to form into loaves.

6 C. Warm water (not hot)
2/3 C Oil (I used olive oil)
1/2 C Xagave or 1 C Honey
3 T Yeast
1 T Salt
2 T Gluten (I replaced this with 1 T White Vinegar)
1 T Cinnamon (Optional)
1/4 C Unsweetened applesauce
1/2 C Flax (Ground)
1 C 6 Grain rolled oats
2 1/2 C Buckwheat Flour
11-12 1/2 C White Wheat flour

1. In bread mixer pour water, yeast, Xagave. Let sit for 10 to 15 min till starts to bubble. If it doesn't bubble your yeast is bad. (It is nice to find that out in the beginning of the process.

2. Then add the rolled oats, so they can soften in the water for 5 min. Then add the remaining ingredients, adding the wheat flour last. Add just enough wheat flour for the dough to pull away from the bowl. Be careful to not let it get too dry. The dough will still be sticky. Knead in the mixer 6-8 min. (You can knead it longer when the spelt is not in it.

3. Let sit in the bowl covered till double.

4. Oil your hands. I used olive oil. and put oil on the counter and in the pans. From into loaves let rise till double.

5. Put into preheated oven at 400. Put the bread in turn down to 325. Bake for 25-30 min. If have a thermometer, stick it in the bread in the center. It should read 180 when it is done. I rubbed butter on the top. It has a really nice texture. I really liked it.

*I made a (1) 1/2 lb loaf, (2) 2lb loaves, (1) 2 1/2 lb loaf and (5) rolls. :) Plenty to share.

Multi grain breakfast cereal !

These were three of the grains I used in the cereal. I forgot to put flax in the the picture. The cool thing is there are so many nutritional benefits to each of these grains. They make a great combination. You can start out the morning with a great breakfast, so you will have energy for the day.
Sorry the lighting was bad on this pictures. It tasted soo good. I loved the combination of everything. I felt very satisfied. :)

4 C. Water
2/3 C. Oatmeal (Old Fashioned)
1/3 C. Buckwheat
1/3 C. Quinoa
1/4 C. Ground Flax Seed
2 tsp. Cinnamon
4 Tbsp. Xagave
1 C. Blueberries any kind of berries would be yummy, or rasins!
8 T. Unsweetened coconut flakes

Served about 4 depending on serving size.
You have a couple of options of cooking it.
1. Cook on the stove. Bring to a boil and then turn to low heat till softens.
2. Put in crock pot on low before you go to bed.
3. I cooked it in my pressure cooker. I set the timer for 7 minutes. When the timer went off I let it sit for 5 min.

Cook all the grains and water together. Then afterwards add the cinnamon. I just drizzled on the xagave in each bowl separately. Then put the blueberries and coconut on top of each bowl depending on preference of how much you want. You can pour a little milk over the top. :) It was wonderful!

* You can read on the side bar the nutritional benefits of these grains. :)

Oatmeal cookiest

These are healthy enough you can eat them for breakfast. My daughter loved the dough. :) I made them without egg and they worked out very well. They were nice and moist. Hope you enjoy them.
1 C Unsweetened Coconut
3 C Oatmeal
1/2 C Water
1 1/2 Tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 Coconut oil or oil of your choice
1 tsp vanilla or almond extract
1 C Sucrant or sweetener of your choice
1/2 C Ground Flax
1 1/2 c. Spelt, Groats, Brown Rice, Kamut I ground up 5 C Spelt 1 C Groats, Kamut Brown Rice
1 tsp. Guar Gum (Helps to make it less crumbly, and holds it together. You can get it at the health food store)
1 C. Dried Cherries, Raisins or Chips (I liked them best plain)

1. Heat oven to 350. Toast coconut. Till golden brown around 5-7 min .

2. Mix Oil, Extract and water together.

3. Mix all the dry ingredients together. Then add to wet ingredients. Mix until well blended.

4. Add Cherries, Chips or Raisins if you are adding them.

5. Bake at 350 for 8 to 10 min. Till done.

Almond Granola Bars

3 1/2 C. Old fashioned oats
1/2 C flax ground
1 C. Teff ground into flour Bob's Red Mill
3 C . Almonds chopped
1/2 C. Sesame seeds
1 1/2 C. Honey
2 Tsp. Vanilla or Almond extract
1/2 C. Coconut oil or other oil
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1 C. Dried apricots (chopped fine)
1 C. unsweetened coconut

1. Heat Oven to 350

2. Grease cookie sheet (rimmed cookie sheet)

3. Chop Almonds in food processor or blender

4. Place Oats, Flax, sesame seeds,and Teff on cookie sheet. Bake until golden brown turning often.

5. Meanwhile on the stove heat until all blended honey, and oil. Add Vanilla and salt, after you take off the heat.

6. Turn heat on the oven down to 300.

7. Take grains out of oven. Put in large bowl. Mix in the oil mixture then add apricots and coconut.

8. Place mixture back on cookie sheet. Press down until smooth and flat.

9. Bake at 300 about 20 min.

*Next time I will cook it a little less time. I would like it chewier. :)

Healthy Power Bar

It is fun to find healthy options for power bars. I went to a Bosch class recently, and liked this idea. I debated about taking a picture of it. Power bars aren't the best looking thing. Sorry! :/ The other thing I liked about the recipe was the fruit is the sweetener. Sometimes the ones you get in the store are loaded with sugar. :( It was fun to realize I liked dates. :) I like the natural sweetness they give, to food.

You just add equal portions of the following ingredients. I did it as follows.

1/2 C. Walnuts Or pecans, almonds. cashews etc.. ( I like them chopped fine)
1/2 C, Dried Fruit apricots, Cherries etc.. (I used Cherries this time)
1/2 C. Dates Pitted

Then I added

1 Tsp. Cinnamon

2 tsp. Chia or you could use flax * Optional

1T Honey *Optional (If it doesn't stick together, I didn't use it.)

1. Chop nuts

2. I blended in my blender the dates and Cherries.

3. Then I threw it all together in the blender, till combined.

4. Mash into a loaf pan. Let harden. You could put in the fridge. Cut into bars and wrap, in plastic wrap, individually. They will be ready when you are on the run. :) Yum! I like these fast easy and good. You can come up with your own combination. Enjoy!

Banana Bread!

I had cut a piece of bread for a picture. My daughter cut off a piece, before I found the camera. She didn't know I was saving it. I thought the picture would be evidence that it was good. She was asking for more. I have made some banana breads with whole grains that were dry. I was happy at the moistness of this recipe. I tried some with whole wheat and some with the Spelt flourI liked the Spelt flour better. :) I also liked it with coconut oil, not having the butter in it didn't effect it.

1/3 C. Coconut oil or butter softened or another oil
1/3 C. Honey
1 tsp Vanilla
2 eggs
1 1/2 C. Mashed bananas (ripe is best or over ripe even better)
1 3/4 C. Mixed grains (I grinded 6 c. Spelt 2 c. Kamut 1 C. Brown Rice 1 C, Oat groat) You could do a smaller quanties. I doubled the recipe. Use could replace the mixed grains for  any whole grain flour.
1/4 C. Flax (ground)
1/2 tsp kosher salt.
1 1/2 tsp. Cinnamon
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 C. Water

1. Heat oven to 325 degrees
2. Grease 9x5 loaf pan
3. Combine flour,soda, flax, cinnamon and salt in a bowl. Whisk and set aside.
4. In another bowl beat oil, honey, and xagave beat for two minutes, add eggs. Mix in bananas and water. (I mixed the bananas and water in the blender together. It is easier to get out after blending.) Add vanilla. Then add flour mixture.
5. Pour batter into pan bake 45-50 min.
6. Cool and then enjoy!

Berry Smoothie

I love this time of year. I went on a walk this morning. The colors were wonderful. :) I read an article today about the benefits of smoothies. 1. It helps to take off the pounds. :) 2. Fast and easy so you can take away the hunger pangs fast. 3. Packed with nutrition, if you put in the right ingredients; Like flax, berries, and yogurt. 4. The thickness takes up space in your stomach. Crowding out space for the junk food. 5. The study showed people consumed less calories in the day. The mixture I did was.....

2 C. Plain yogurt (I used the homemade)
3/4 C. Blackberries
3/4 C. Blueberries
6 Frozen Strawberries
1 1/2 Frozen Bananas *
1/4 C. Chia
1/4 C. Flax ground (I use a small coffee grinder)
1 T Xagave or Honey

Throw it all in the blender and turn it on for a couple minutes till all blended. It tasted great. It was filling. Three of us drank one recipe. If you don't want it as thick, you could add 1/2 water.*I peel the bananas and put them in the freezer, in ziplocks. They help to make the drink nice and creamy. :) Smoothies are a family favorite. I enjoy it better than ice cream. Also Drinking at least 8 glasses of water a day will make you not as hungry. I try to drink more than 8.

Multigrain Energy Bars

• 

1C. Chopped almonds (food processor)
1/2 C. Sesame seeds
1C. 7 Grain rolled oat Cereal (You can buy in bulk in healthy food stores.)
4 1/4 C. Old fashioned oats
1/2 C. Sunflower seeds
1/4 C. Flax seed (ground) *Optional
1/4 C. Chia (ground) *Optional
1 C. Honey
3/4 C. Water
1 C. Dried cherries (or dried fruit of your choice)
1/2 tsp Kosher salt
2 C. Natural peanut butter
1/2 Unsweetened coconut
2tsp.Vanilla extract


1. Toast the oats, 7 grain rolled cereal, almonds chia,flax and sunflower seeds in oven at 300 degrees. Stir often till light golden brown.
2. Put cherries in a food processor chop into pieces.
3. Mix oat mixture and dried fruit together, till completely blended.
4. Then add oat mixture to water, honey (I heated the honey), and peanut butter, add coconut , salt and vanilla. Mix till all blended. 5. Firmly press into a jelly roll pan. Compress to make it all level. You can use a spatula. Allow to sit till firm.
6. A great healthy snack. I loved the peanut butter flavor. You could add chocolate chips too. :)

Granola Treat!

This is another recipe Jeanie passed along. I love the big chips of coconut. I hadn't used those before. This recipe is very versitile, and you could add your other favorite ingredients to it. For example, pumpkins seeds or dried fruit would go with this well.

For the class that I taught last week, I used the granola to make parfaits, with just a layer of granola, a layer of yogurt, another layer of granola, and then topped with fresh fruit. They were gone very quickly!

Jeanie's Granola

Mix together in large bowl:

12 c. rolled oats
3 c. chipped coconut, unsweetened

2 c. almonds chopped in food processor
2 c. sunflower seeds
1/2 c. flax seeds ground (they also could be whole, but you get more health benefits from ground)
1/2 tsp. sea salt
1 T. cinnamon

Mix well in seperate bowl:

1/2 c. coconut oil or 1/2 c. olive oil
3/4 c. honey or 1/3 c. xagave & 1/4 c. honey (The honey makes it clump together well.)

Add 2 tsp. vanilla or 1 tsp. maple syrup or 1 tsp. almond extract. Pour over top of oatmeal mixture and stir through. Pour on to cookie sheets. Spread out. Bake 25 min at 300. I stir it about every 10 min.

Turn off oven and leave 3 hours or leave overnight. (I have done it both leaving it overnight and eating right after the cooking time. Both work! Both ways are yummy!)

All About Flax Seed

Flax is a little brown seed with lots of great omega 3 oils. But don't put it in your grinder! I did once and had disastrous results. Use a coffee grinder to break up the seeds to receive full nutritional benefits.

Health Benefits:

• Contains a plant-based omega 3 fatty acid, similar to that found in salmon
• Can help lower cholesterol
  
• Can help lower blood triglyceride levels and blood pressure
• Contains Lignan--an antioxidant that contains fiber and has been shown to significantly reduce cancer--especially breast cancer
• A great source of soluble and insoluble fiber

What Flax is great for:

I like to put flax in my breakfast smoothie each morning (about 1 T. per serving), but it is easily added to lots of foods. Sprinkle some on your cereal in the morning, on your salad, or in the dough you are baking. You don't need a lot to get the benefits.

Keep flax in the fridge or freezer to keep it fresh. This is a must if it is ground. Otherwise the oils will start to spoil.

Click here for my recipes using Flax