I'm back!

Hello everyone! I am SO sorry its been forever since I've posted! Around this time last year, I had gotten really sick with whooping cough. It lasted a solid 4 1/2 months. So during that time I couldn't really do anything else except school, sleep, and go to the doctor all the time. After I was recovered, I mainly focused on gaining weight back and exercising so I could get back into volleyball. For a while, this blog just totally slipped my mind. I am very excited to get back into it! I am now back in volleyball and playing the best I ever have, I am starting high school this fall, and very anxious to get started with the school year. For this school year, I will be super busy, but I will try to be eating healthy! So I will post what I eat to let you know how you can eat quick, healthy, and with the food restrictions I have. :)

Amazing egg breakfast.

You guys are in for a real treat today.


Doesn't it look tasty? :) It's a protein filled, veggie filled, breakfast!


YOU WILL NEED:

• 2 eggs 
• Handful of baby spinach
• Half of a baby red bell pepper
• 2 slices turkey bacon (or regular bacon if you wish)
• Half a ripe avocado
• Salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:
Make the bacon according to the package, then crumble into bite size pieces.  Set aside. Wash and rinse the spinach and bell pepper. Get a cutting board out and finely chop both. Set aside. Start cooking scrambled eggs like you normally would. Once the eggs look half done, add all the spinach, bell pepper, and bacon into the pan. Continue cooking until eggs reach their desired consistency. Put eggs on a plate, or bowl, cut avocado into cubes and add to the egg. Season with salt and pepper and mix well! Enjoy! 

"Fruit dip" and pancakes!

Helloooo people of the internet.

 I was eating an apple and it was a very boring apple. So what else could I have done other than make a delicious dip for the apple?! 

Serves 1.

YOU WILL NEED:

• 1 heaping tbsp of raw almond butter
• 1/4 ripe banana 
• 1 tsp almond milk ( or any non dairy milk)

DIRECTIONS: Place banana and almond butter in a small microwavable bowl. Heat in the microwave for about 20 seconds. ( It is not supposed to be melted, just softened.) Then mash with a fork until combined. Add milk and mix once more. If you desire cold dip, place in the freezer for 5-7 mins.

Enjoy!



Now, you are in for a little extra fun. :) SIDE POST TIME!

A couple posts back, I posted a recipe for a mug cake. Remember? Yeah, okay so a few nights ago I made that cake again, ( I make it  all the time because it is SO tasty!) and my mom suggested to try cooking the cake in a different shape. I thought about that.. and then BAM. It hit me. PANCAKES.

 Yes, I do have "newspaper" nails!! Cute, huh? :)

The only change I made was, I took away a tiny bit of the coconut flour, and added some protein powder. Other than that, I made the exact same recipe, but flattened the batter and cooked it for the same amount of time.

Sugar free frappe

Yes, you did read the title of this post correctly. SUGAR FREE FRAPPE.

These days, when something gets called "sugar free" it
usually means they took out the white sugar and put in some bad artificial sweetener.... but not today!! The recipe I will share with you uses all natural honey. :)

It is now time for a short story.

Where I live, it's now summer time! So ice cold drinks on a hot day sound heavenly. Unfortunately, all I could have was water and tea. A few weeks into summer,  I was at Starbucks ordering my usual unsweetened tea and I realized how much I was craving a sweet, cold, frappe. From that moment on, it was game time. I was going to go home and make myself a darn frappuccino.

And that's what I did! Hope you enjoy!

This recipe makes about 2 servings for a normal person... I however, drank it all.

YOU WILL NEED: 

• 1 cup coffee (I used decaf but you can use espresso if you want) 
• 3/4 cup unsweetened almond milk
• 3 tbsp all natural honey
• 2 cups ice
• 1/4 tsp xanthan gum (do not omit, trust me) 

 DIRECTIONS: Blend everything together and drink it up!

 P.S. Sorry for the bad quality pics! I was in the process of drinking it when I remembered to take pictures!!

Bean and beef patties

Hiiiii everyone!! School is now out for the summer so I should be on a whole lot more!

I am going to share a recipe with you that I prepared all by myself. All alone. No help. I must admit, I was pretty proud of myself.

It is basically a patty made out of ground beef, refried beans, and cilantro. :) IT WAS SO TASTY. You have to try it. Recipe can be found here.

To make this recipe GF friendly, all I had to swap was the flour tortilla for a corn tortilla.

Big news and a vanilla slushy

Hi guys. :) So the news is.... WE GOT A GERMAN SHEPARD! His name is Gabriel and he just turned 6 weeks old. He is quite a handful..but he is cute, right?!


Moving on to the recipe for today... It is a yummy vanilla slushy-ish type thing.  =D Summer is getting closer and I was craving something cold! Hope you like it!

YOU WILL NEED:

• 2 cups nondairy milk
• 1/4 agave
• pinch salt
• 1 and 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• optional: chocolate chips, or berries. 

DIRECTIONS: Mix all ingredients together, and freeze until solid. Once frozen, thaw it out. For this I just left it out on the counter for about 2 hours. Once it is able to come out of the container, place into an ice cream maker (I use Cuisinart) for about 10 minutes. (This step just helps to mix it) After that, you should have your "slushy!"


 

Pumpkin bars

Hi everyone. :) I want to say THANK YOU to everyone who has been visiting my blog. I now have over 1000 views! I have no clue who is looking at my blog though... you guys should comment and say hi!  Either way, thanks a ton! *gives whoever is reading this a huge virtual hug*

Now onto the pumpkin bars... The last time I had tried to make pumpkin bars, I failed. They turned out to be a big, gooey, nasty mess. So I was kind of skeptical about using this recipe. However... They turned out wonderful!! Soft, cake-y texture that melts in your mouth. If you like pumpkin you are sure to adore these!

Topped with coconut butter.

YOU WILL NEED:

• 1/2 cup of oat four
• 1 tsp cinnamon 
• 1/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp ground flax
• 3 tbsp and half a tbsp more agave nectar 
•  1/2 cup canned pumpkin 
• 2 tbsp milk of choice
• 2 tbsp oil ( I used coconut, but vegetable would work too.)
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS: Preheat oven to 350. In a medium bowl, combine all ingredients and mix thoroughly. Pour into a small, oiled baking pan. Cook for 20 minutes. Let sit for 10 minutes before cutting.

Adapted from here.

 

Rice crispy treats

These rice crispy treats are yum-yum in your tum-tum.

I really wanted to make something Easter related..but I couldn't find any recipes.. Oh well. These are very delicious and a billion times healthier than the store bought kind.
 

The recipe is super simple and can be found at this lovely blog.

I apologize for my lack of posting lately, I have some big tests coming up so I have been studying for those. Thank you all for not leaving me!! :) More recipes soon to come!

Baked avocado, kale chips, and blueberry salsa

If you read the "About me" section here on my blog, you would know that I am a Girl Scout. Well, yesterday at a meeting we were doing a "New Cuisines" badge. SO NOW I HAVE THE BEST RECIPES TO SHARE WITH YOU GUYS!

First, my friend Kiersten and I made a wonderful blueberry salsa.

This was so good I can't even describe it. It was just the right amount of sweet and spice together that make your taste buds go insane. You can find the recipe here.

Next, we had kale chips. These were surprisingly tasty... When you first try one you make a face and question what you are eating... but then you become curious... and then you take another bite.. and another.. and another bite. Until you finish the whole batch and you finally realize that you really like how they taste. Recipe is here. :)

Okay and lastly, is what I had for dinner tonight! BAKED AVOCADOS.

Need I say more?  No. I didn't think so. Here is the recipe! I used ground flax seed instead of bread crumbs and it was YUM-O-RAMA.

Carrot cake waffles

EVERYONE STOP WHAT YOU ARE DOING AND DO THE HOKEY POKEY.

I don't know why I just wrote that..but hey, the hokey pokey is fun so why not? ;) 

Today, for a super late lunch, I made... WAFFLES!! These were unbelievably good. The recipe is over here . On the "Chocolate Covered Katie" blog.. (Btw she is my cooking hero. She responded to one of my comments today and I am still SO happy that she acknowledged my existence! =D )

Okay now I will give you the recipe I used.

 (Serves 1) This recipe made 3 big waffles...and I ate them all.

YOU WILL NEED:

•  1/2 cup all purpose GF flour
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp baking soda 
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 2 tbsp agave 
• 1/4 cup shredded carrot
• 1/4 cup dairy free milk ( I used Silk soy milk)
• 1 tbsp oil 
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• (Optional: vegan carob chips. They add a little bit of a crunch and I think they taste good. :) )

DIRECTIONS: In a small bowl, combine the first 5 ingredients. In a separate bowl, mix all the wet ingredients together. Pour the wet into the dry ingredients and mix well. When your waffle maker is ready, (be sure to grease it) pour about 1/4 cup of the batter into the squares and close the lid and wait! :)


Sorry for the not-so-great pictures.. I was really excited to eat these so I just snapped a quick picture!

Super easy "flatbread"

Behold... A gluten free flatbread! To me it tastes almost like pita bread... Just saying. 

This is great for a sandwich bread, for dipping sauces, or just to snack on!

How I had it today was with mustard, lunch meat, hummus and lettuce on top. It was beyond amazing! (On the side of my plate I had corn nuts and blackberries.)

YOU WILL NEED:

• 1 cup all- purpose GF flour ( plus more for rolling out the dough)
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 tsp xanthan gum 
• salt to taste ( I used 1/2 a tsp, but next time I think I will do 1 tsp of sea salt) 

DIRECTIONS:  Preheat oven to 350 and get a cookie sheet with parchment paper ready. Combine all ingredients, form dough into a ball (the dough is very sticky) put into cling wrap and place in the freezer for 10-15 minutes. Once dough has been chilled, flour a cutting board and roll out the dough to your desired thinness. ( I cut mine into 3 strips before placing in the oven) Place onto cookie sheet and bake for 20 minutes.


Hope you enjoy it! Now I am off to try and turn this flatbread in to a sweet flatbread... Wish me luck! :)

Banana bread

This banana bread tastes so real. I could have sworn I was eating the real sugary, gluten, and butter filled stuff.  Of course it is sugar, gluten, and dairy free... IT IS JUST SO AMAZING. I have had like 3 servings...and it just came out of the oven like 15 minutes ago... Whoopsie.

You can hop on over here to find the original recipe. However, I will give you the version I made. :)

YOU WILL NEED:

• 1 large banana, ripe as possible. 
• 1/2 cup unsweetened apple sauce 
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup raw honey
• 1 tsp vanilla 
• 1/2 tsp plus 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 cup brown rice flour
• 1/2 cup all-purpose GF flour
• 1 tbsp tapioca flour
• half of a tbsp of cinnamon
• half of 1/4 tsp of nutmeg 
• (optional: carob chips and walnuts as desired.)

DIRECTIONS: Preheat oven to 350 and grease a bread pan and set aside. In a medium size bowl, mash banana, and then add all wet ingredients and mix well. Add the remaining dry ingredients while mixing thoroughly. Pour into bread pan and cook for 40 minutes. ( While it is baking, it might smell a little bit funny.. Don't worry though! It tastes fantastic.) Once it is done, let cool before slicing. 

Side post: I made a  single serving cookie last night. =) The recipe is here. All I did extra was add some carob chips to mine!  It is not the prettiest cookie, but hey, it still tasted great! :)

Mug cake

Hiii everyone! :) Sorry I haven't been on in so long. I'm on spring break and I usually don't like to open my computer during time I am off school... Haha.

While I have been on break, I have tried so many new recipes!! Some were good, some were fails. One of the really good ones was a rice pudding. IT WAS DELISH. You should go make some. Now.

But not RIGHT now. Because I have an awesome recipe to share with you.

Chocolate chip cinnamon mug cake. Yes, I did say mug cake. As in, you can make this in a coffee mug. In the microwave. This recipe is so easy. I have to say this was the best gluten free, sugar free, dairy free, cake EVER. It was so fluffy, moist, and just plain yum.

Adapted from here.

(serves one) 

YOU WILL NEED:

• About a tbsp of coconut oil
• A little bit less than 1/4 cup of coconut flour
• 1 egg
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 cup soymilk (any other non-dairy milk, or even water will work as well)
• 1 tbsp agave nectar 
• 1/4 tsp almond butter
• a few dashes of cinnamon
• Carob chips (use as many as your heart desires!)

DIRECTIONS: Melt the coconut oil in the mug and then coat the inside of the mug generously. Add in the egg and beat well. Put in the coconut flour and baking powder and mix. Next, add the milk, agave and almond butter and mix thoroughly. Lastly, combine the cinnamon and carob chips with the batter. Microwave on high for 2 minutes and 30 seconds. Turn the cup over onto a plate ( careful it will be hot!)  and there you have it! Your very own mug cake!

 

Oatmeal cookies

 I'm gonna give it to you plain and simple. I love these cookies. They were fantabulous. I had a major craving for warm oatmeal cookies straight from the oven and these did the job! :)

CAUTION: I personally thought these cookies were sweet, others however, did not. So if you have a sweet tooth you will not like these.

Adapted from here.


YOU WILL NEED:

• 1 and 1/2 cups of GF rolled oats
• 3/4 cup all purpose GF flour
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon 
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• pinch salt
• 1/4 cup agave nectar 
• 1/4 cup almond butter
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 1/4 tsp vanilla 
• 1 tbsp ground flaxseed 
• 1/4 cup unsweetened apple sauce 
• Your choice of add-ins. ( raisins, nuts, chocolate chips, etc. I used chopped pecans)  

 DIRECTIONS: Preheat oven to 375. Thoroughly mix all ingredients in a medium size bowl. Shape the dough into balls, or into flat cookie shapes ( work quickly because dough gets sticky!) and arrange on a cookie sheet and bake for 15 minutes.
 

Spaghetti squash

This stuff was amazing. I didn't think it would turn out good... I thought it would taste like gross healthy food. I was happily proven wrong. You can find a recipe right here.


It actually tasted like real noodles. You definitely won't regret making this. :) In the recipe we made, we used, black olives, tomatoes, onion and garlic. My parents also had cheese on theirs.

I thought it was very interesting how the insides of the squash came out like noodles.. It was rather entertaining to watch! 

Not the best photo, sorry!

Zucchini! :)

Lemme tell ya...This one was a keeper.

Stuffed zucchini boats.. Talk about YUM!

Recipe is here.

 In the ones we made, instead of using any cheese or sour cream I used guacamole. I wish I could have had it with cheese but it tasted wonderful with the guac anyway. :)

My finished plate.

             More recipes soon to come! =) 

Lunch

Todays lunch was SO good I just have to share it.

Basically, I used a GF pizza crust recipe without the pizza toppings.. Instead I used, hummus and avocado on one slice, and tuna fish on the other. :) For the crust recipe, I halved the measurements and it still made a good amount of crust for one pizza. :) So all in all,  IT WAS DELISH!

Fun fact: Even my brother liked the crust. That's saying something because he never likes anything I make. 

Keep reading for later recipes!
 

Big news and acorn squash!

Okay I have some "big" news here.... I went to a dietician today and got a meal plan and recommendations on what to eat. Apparently I need to gain 17 pounds... yeah, sorry but that's not gonna happen. In my opinion I am perfectly healthy in my weight but others beg to differ. Aside from that,  I am on a diet which consists of foods that are high in protein, lots of carbs, veggies and meat.  I have to eat a heck of a lot of food each day in order to fill out a certain log... It is quite overwhelming... Also, for the next 2 weeks I will be totally off of dairy products. Because my dietician  seems to think that maybe  one of the causes of my tummy troubles has something to do with dairy.. Which, now that my family and I have thought about it, could be VERY true. The bright side is, if the cause of some of this is the dairy and not the sugar, I can eat fruit again!! :) However, I would still stay off of sugar. So then this blog would be a gluten, sugar, and dairy free blog... Scary, huh? For anyone wondering, I am for sure gluten intolerant.  

Moving on to the fun part of this post... FOOD. New thing today... ACORN SQUASH. All you will need for this recipe is an acorn squash and cinnamon. :)

DIRECTIONS: Preheat oven to 350. Cut the squash in half (I was told this part was very hard to do so be warned)and sprinkle with as much cinnamon as you wish. Fill a pan halfway with water, cover the squash in tinfoil and place into the pan. Bake for 35-45 minutes until the inside is soft.

On mine, I also added raw coconut flakes. I have to say this was very filling and rather tasty!

Enjoy! :)

Biscuits and dessert!

Today I made biscuits by accident. Is it a good thing or bad thing?? Yeah, who knows. Either way they weren't half bad. So I guess I will share the recipe with you guys. :)


YOU WILL NEED:

• 1 and 1/2 cups of GF all purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking powder 
• 1 tsp xanthan gum
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 6 tbsp ( its the same as half of 3/4 cup) unsweetened apple sauce 
• 1/2 an egg (scramble egg in a bowl and then use half)
• 6 tbsp your choice of milk (I use almond milk)
• 4 tbsp coconut oil 

DIRECTIONS:  Preheat oven to 400. Mix all the dry ingredients first, and then add in the wet. Mix thoroughly. Roll dough into a ball and place in freezer for 10-15 minutes. While the dough is in the freezer, prepare a cookie cutting board by covering the board in GF flour (I used tapioca flour for rolling out the dough) and getting a drinking glass out for cutting the biscuit shapes. When the dough is ready to be rolled and cut, work quickly or else the dough gets VERY sticky. Once finished, place  on a pizza pan or a cookie sheet and bake for 15 minutes. (And yes, I know, the dough is kinda smelly. Just bear with it.) You can top with butter, jelly, peanut butter, or even whipped cream!



Short story time! :)

I was at Kroger with my mum today, and we happened across some tofu. Me being the person who is looking at all kinds of recipes 24/7.. I knew that tons of recipes called for tofu and I really wanted to try some out. Fast forwarding to after dinner time... I made... wait for it... CHOCOLATE MOUSSE. From this blog that I absolutely adore. :)  It was probably the sweetest desert I have had in a while! I loved it!

"Cookie dough"

I've been kinda busy lately so all I had time for today was a simple cookie dough recipe from this website.. I halved the recipe and it still made a good size amount. :)

I also omitted the chocolate chips and added a little bit of chopped pecans... Oh and I used a tablespoon of almond milk to make the mixture more "doughy." =) I must say these turned out quite fantastic.

 Then after I ate 1 or 2 I got an idea... To cover the cookie dough bites in something yummy.. So I got out my "icing" recipe from the Baked Oatmeal post, (which you can find here) doubled it, covered half of the bites with it, and stuck them in the freezer!

 And yes, I am going to make my own recipes soon, they just take time. Which I don't have a whole lot of these days..  I will find a day in which to make some new recipes though! Never fear! :)