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Healthy Eating/ Organizing/ RECIPES/ Sweets

No Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Freezer Slice

I will be making this recipe for years and years to come.  Yes, it is that good. It is the perfect chocolatey peanut butter treat!  It is healthy, easy to make, everyone loves it, and it keeps forever in the freezer.

It starts with nuts, and we all know how good nuts are for us.  They are full of protein and all of those good oils that help with digestion and make your skin shine!

There is no processed sugar in these, but they satisfy a sweet tooth and are plenty sweet thanks to the dates, raisins and honey that are in them.  The coconut oil adds a bit of sweetness, too.

Start with processing the nuts in a high speed blender or a food processor until crumbly.  I have a little one who does not like nuts, so I went pretty powdery with my nuts to keep her happy.  She devoured these and kept asking for more!

Add dates, keep processing until they are in small pieces & mixed well.

Add the rest of your ingredients.  Process until consistency can be rolled into a ball…a messy ball.  Keep scraping the sides of your blender or processor to help blend.

Make sure you lick that spoon!

Press mixture into a lined pan. I used my fingers but then smoothed my prints out with the back of a spoon to make it pretty for all of you!

Mix up the icing.

Are you drooling yet?  This is the best part.  Mmmmmm.

Top bars with icing.  Use a bit of water to thin if too thick.  If too thin, don’t worry, it will firm up in the freezer.

Slice it up and hide it in the freezer.  If you share it will be gone in minutes.

The texture of this slice is so satisfying.  It is chewy even when frozen, easy to bite into.  The frosting melts so creamy in your mouth.  I love that they are cold, too, which really adds to the satisfaction!

{Don’t Forget To Pin It!}

Chocolate Peanut Butter Freezer Slice

 
6-8 Fresh medjool dates
¼ cup of raisins
1 cup of nuts (they can be mixed nuts or not. I like to use macadamia nuts, Brazil nuts or walnuts)
pinch of good quality salt
1/2 cup cocoa
1/4 cup peanut butter
1/3 cup of honey
2 Tsp of water
 
Icing
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1 Tbsp coconut oil (melted) (no substitutes)
2 Tbsp honey
2 Tbsp peanut butter
1/2 tsp vanilla
pinch of salt
 

Directions
~Place your nuts into your food processor or high speed blender and process until crumbly.

~Add your dates and raisins and process again. 
~Now add your salt, cocoa, honey and peanut butter.
~ Process till it starts to come together. If the mix is too dry add a little water a bit at a time till the mix sticks together when pressed into a ball. 
~Press this mix into a small lined container. 
 
Directions For Icing 
Mix cocoa, melted coconut oil, honey, vanilla & a pinch of salt to bring out the flavor. Add water if too thick, if too thin, don’t worry, it will firm up in the freezer.

 

Pour or spread the icing onto the raw chocolate slice. Pop back into the freezer till the icing firms up, then slice and enjoy. This slice keeps great in the freezer if it lasts that long.

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This post was inspired by our amazing Raw Foods Contributor Teniel Moore from Addicted To Raw. She wrote about a similar chocolate slice minus the peanut butter and high raw.



Healthy Eating/ RECIPES/ Sweets

No Sugar Raspberry Puree

I am avoiding processed sugar for a bit.  I went a bit crazy with snacking on fun holiday treats and found myself having major sugar cravings.  Because of this, I have been looking for creative, whole food ways to sweeten up my food, and fruit purees have been a great way to do just that!
This one starts with a cup of frozen, organic raspberries.

I added 2 dates to help with the tartness that frozen raspberries often have.

Dates are amazingly sweet and a great way to add sweet in a nutritional way.

Don’t forget to take the pits out!  I left them in the first time I ever used dates in a recipe and my food processor was not happy with me.

Add a cup of filtered water.  Mason jars make a great liquid measure cup, as they are marked on the outside.

A good **blender is key to getting smooth purees, but if you don’t have one, don’t let that stop you from making this.  It will just be a bit more ‘seedy.’

Such a pretty color!

I used some of this puree on my chia oats, shared a shot of it’s goodness with my little one, then drank the rest.  It was so refreshing, with the perfect balance of sweet & tart.

Have you made my chia oat recipe yet? You can throw it together the night before, OR, if you do it in the morning just let it sit for at least 15 minutes for he oats to soften and the chia to expand.  You eat this cold.  If you are new to chia, you might want to read my post on 13 Ways Favorite Ways To Eat Chia.

I had my chia oats with raspberry puree, and Avery had hers with peanut butter and honey.
Delicious!
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Chia seeds and I are like best friends. I try to enjoy them everyday.
  Why?
~the are jammed packed with protein and minerals and healthy fats and fiber
~they provide more plant based Omega 3’s than any other food, even FLAX
~5 times the calcium of milk, plus boran which is a trace mineral that helps transfer calcium to bones
~8 times the omega 3’s found in salmon
~3 times more iron than spinach
~2 times the amount of potassium than bananas
~more antioxidants than found in blueberries
~they have 5 GRAMS of fiber PER TABLESPOON!
~the are a complete source of protein, providing all the essential amino acids
~can be stored for years without deterioration of flavor or color
~they are flavorless and dissolve in juice, soups, stews, shakes etc..
~they are low calorie way to get super FULL!

 

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**A Little Bit About Blenders
Professional Grade High Speed Blender
Some of the best money I have ever spent!
Vitamix Professional Blender and accessories
This is the model I have.  I drooled over it for a couple of years!
It was a splurge, but worth EVERY penny.  I use it 2-3 times a day.
It makes crushed ice in seconds.  It takes almonds to almond butter in seconds.  It makes the best raspberry fruit purees for pancakes and ice cream–obliterates all those little seeds into smooth puree heaven! We are eating 3 times the amount of fruits and veggies since purchasing this amazing blender, which I know is keeping us out of the doctors’ office and away from those expensive co-pays, so in my mind it has paid itself off.
Ninja Mega Kitchen Blender and accessories.
I’ve never used one, but have heard good things about them.  They are not professional grade like the Vitamix, but the price is much easier to swallow and they are powerful.
Oster and New Vitamix blenders in kitchen.
{my old Oster on the left, my New Vitamix on the right}
I had one of these for years and it does the job.  You can’t beat the price, and for smoothies, it works, although you have to blend much longer. You will still have chia and raspberry seeds in your smoothies, but if you don’t mind the extra texture, this one will do.  If you have had a high speed blender, you will not be happy with this one.  If you are looking for something to get by until you can get a high speed blender, and to just get those smoothies in you, this will do just fine.
RECIPES/ Sweets

Topsy Turvy Cranberry Cake

I hope you had a wonderful New Year’s eve & day.  We sure did! I’m eager to share how we spent our time & my NEW word for the New Year, but first things first.

Before all those beautiful bags of fresh cranberries go out of season, you MUST make this cake!  Next time you go to the grocery store, grab up a few bags and throw them in your freezer.

Cranberries are full of antioxidants, which protect our cells from nasty free radicals that cause disease.  I’ve read that extracts of cranberries killed breast cancer cells in a test tube…but it is unknown whether the same happens in the body.  I’d like to think so as I eat my Topsy Turvy Cranberry Cake!

This simple cake is a great way to get your all of that goodness and have dessert, too.

I made it 3 TIMES over the holidays, and it is so easy to throw together that one of those times I did it with a houseful of guests. It took no time & no concentration.

 The cranberries are tart, the cake adds the perfect amount of sweetness, and when you turn it topsy-turvy onto a plate, the cranberries shine! The cake is soft on the inside with just a bit of a crunch where the oven browned the top..which is now the bottom.  It is perfect for dessert, or even as part of brunch with a cup of coffee.

My husband has NEVER liked any type of cooked fruit dessert, but he tried this cake and ate it up!  I couldn’t believe my eyes.  Who knew that such a simple recipe would convert my husband to a cooked- fruit -dessert- eater after all of these years!  Makes my head a little topsy turvy!

Topsy Turvy Cranberry Cake (original recipe)

Butter for the pan
2 cups fresh cranberries, washed & sorted
1 cup sugar, divided
2 eggs (I’ve used chia egg substitute–that is what you see in the pics, little black dots of chia… and it works great)
1 cup flour
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter (I use Earth Balance)

Set oven to 350.  Butter a round or square 8″ pan.

Throw the cranberries into the pan, add 1/3 cup of sugar and toss.  Spread evenly in the pan.

In a bowl (I use a 4 cup glass measure) melt the butter in the microwave.  Add eggs, 2/3 cup of sugar, and 1 cup of flour.  Stir well.

Put on top of cranberry mixture and spread, covering the cranberries.

Bake 40-50 minutes or until golden on top.

When serving, flip topsy turvy onto a plate.  Can sprinkle the top with sugar for a pretty, sparkly finish.

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This can also be served right side up as a crustless cranberry pie. Here is an interesting read from The Boston Globe about this recipe:

This popular crustless pie is essentially a cake-y batter poured over fresh cranberries in a pie pan, baked until the cranberries make a saucy bottom for the buttery top. Cambridge resident Sandra Shapiro clipped this many years ago from The New York Times and writes, “I bake this in an attractive earthenware pie plate.” Her recipe was called “Mrs. Arthur Morawski’s Cape Cod Cranberry Pie,” and the clip said it was baked by Hester Griffin for the West Dennis Library. Similar recipes have appeared in The Boston Globe’s Confidential Chat, in Laurie Colwin’s “More Home Cooking,” where it was called “Nantucket Cranberry Pie,” and in Ina Garten’s “Barefoot Contessa How Easy Is That?,” in which she adds an apple to the berries.

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Enjoy!

Christmas/ RECIPES/ Sweets

51 Best Christmas Cookie Recipes

All 51 of these recipes can be found on New Nostalgia’s

Holiday: Christmas-Cookies Board on Pinterest. 

Click on this link to find all of these recipes!  They are listed below in the order they are found on my cookie board. Mmmmmm!



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White Chocolate and Cherry Macadamia

Christmas Wreath Cookies

Spritz Christmas Cookies

Star Pretzel Rolo Cookies

Dipped Peanut Butter Oreos

Cherry Chocolate Kisses

Candy Cane Kiss Christmas Cookies

Cherry Thumbprint Cookies

Reindeer Cookies

Anise Christmas Cookies


Cran-Pistachio Cookies

Patterned Mitten Cookies

Bourbon Salted Caramels

Red & Green Sugar Cookie Brittle

Sugar Sparkled Gingersnaps

Fudge Brownie Cheesecake Bites

Skinny Cranberry Bliss Bars

Scotcheroos Chex Mix

Christmas Candy Cane Cookies

Turron de Navidad – traditional Mexican Cookie

Fruity Chocolate Bark

Sugar Plums

Raw Gingerbread Cookies

Amaretto Snowball cookies

White Chocolate Cranberry Bark

Salted Caramel Butter Bars

Chocolate Graham Cracker Peppermint Bark

Candy Cane Snowballs

Pretzel Hugs

Peanut Butter Balls

White Chocolate Peppermint Crunch Cookies

White chocolate Rice Crispy Treats

Christmas Cookie Bars

Katie’s Pretzel Wreaths

Candy Cane Marshmallows

Sparkly White Chocolate Lemon Truffles

Reindeer Chocolate Doughnuts

Rolo Turtles

Dark Chocolate Cherry Thumbprints

Holiday Peppermint Chex

Swirled Sugar Cookies

Milky Way Teddy Sleds

Chocolate Vanilla Swirl Cookies

Hot & Spicy Gingersnaps

Candy Cane Kiss Kettlecorn

Andes Mint Cookies

Puppy & Kitty Chow

Christmas Crack

Candy Decorated Christmas Sugar Cookies

Triple White Chocolate Peppermint Blossoms

Mantecaditos-Traditional Puerto Rican Cookie

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What Christmas Cookie recipes do you make every year?

 

 

 

RECIPES/ Sweets

Ooey Gooey Salty Sweet Mallow Popcorn

We are going to put up our Christmas tree tonight! We usually have the typical tin of popcorn to munch on while we do it, but not this year!  I am making Ooey Gooey Salty Sweet Mallow Popcorn.

I’ve talked about how we save holidays, parties and special occasions to bring out recipes that are not so  healthy.  Putting up the Christmas tree is definitely a special occasion in our home, so bring out the sugar and butter!

This recipe is very easy to make.  You simply pop some popcorn, then melt butter and brown sugar.

Like so…

Add the marshmallows.

This is where it starts getting ooey gooey good!

Take a pic of spilled marshmallows because you think the reflection in the nearby pan is pretty.

Keep stirring until it looks like this.

Spread popcorn out on parchment paper.  MAKE SURE YOU REMOVE UNPOPPED KERNELS.  Coverd in mallow those will become tooth breakers.

Pour the ooey goodness on and toss a bit. Mmmm!

Ooey Gooey Salty Sweet Mallow Popcorn

1/2 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. butter
1 1/4 cups miniature marshmallows or 9-10 large marshmallows
12 c. popcorn.
Pour popped popcorn onto parchment paper and spread out.  Remove all unpopped kernels.
Put brown sugar and butter in a pan.  Heat on low to med, stirring until sugar dissolves.  Add marshmallows and stir until melted.  Pour over popcorn.

 

GF, Vegan & Raw/ HOME/ Organizing/ RECIPES/ Sweets

Amazing Apple Pie Bites

I had 2 weeks worth of delicious meal brought to our home while I was  We were so spoiled with great food, and these Amazing Apple Pie Bites were one of my favorite food items brought.
My friend Andrea brought a great meal for us.  She made us Rachel Rays Italian Sub Stoup.  The flavor of this stoup was SO good. It has been forever since I have had an Italian Sub, and this soup tasted just like one.  Andrea used ground beef instead of sausage, and did not use as much meat as Rachel does in the recipe.  She also skipped the garlic toast floaters and brought us some Beer Bread instead.  She brought the soup in a crockpot and cooked/kept the pasta separate until ready to serve.  She also brought us a simple cinnamon apple salad, which I will write about soon.  It was all so yummy.
On to the Apple Pie Bites!  They are so healthy, a nice protein snack, and really, really good.  I froze half of them and let another girlfriend of mine taste them when she came over.  She LOVED them and could not believe they were sugar free.  The dates make them a nice sweet treat, and the dried apple gives them a great texture and amazing REAL apple flavor.  There is just the perfect amount of cinnamon added.  They are truly the perfect treat.
I was sound asleep when Andrea delivered the meal, but my 3 girls couldn’t stop talking about this little cutie, Andrea’s little helper/delivery boy. How cute us he?  He melts me every time I see him, and the way my girls were gushing about him, I know he had that affect on them, too!
Amazing Apple Pie Bites {from Our Paleo Life}

1 cup pecans
1/2 cup almonds
1-1 1/2 medjool dates, pitted (about 10-12 dates)
3/4 cup dried apple slices (not apple chips) (no sugar added)
1/2 tsp cinnamon
pinch of sea salt

1. Combine all ingredients in the order listed, in a food processor.

2. Process until mixture resembles coarse gravel.

3. While the processor is running, add a thin stream of water, about 1 tsp, maybe less depending on the moistness of your dates.

4. Stop the processor and check the consistency of the mixture.  If it sticks together when you smush it, then you’ve got the right consistency.  If it’s still crumbly, add more water.  You don’t want to add too much water because the bites will be too sticky.

5. When you’ve go the right consistency, roll mixture into tablespoon-size balls.

6. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for a week or so.  Can also freeze them.

 

RECIPES/ Sweets

Teddy Graham Bear Treats Tucked In A Chocolatey Bed and Covered in Fluff

 

The non-profit my husband works for has been so very loving during this time of surgery & healing. The staff brought us meals for a week!  I cannot tell you how amazing it is to have people love us in this way.  I did not have to worry about cooking or feeding my family.  A HUGE gift.

My friend Melanie brought a great dinner of Chicken & Wild Rice Soup, bread sticks, salad & these cute little bear cups.  They made me smile so much and I immediately thought they looked like little bears tucked in bed.  She included a note that said “Kick back, relax & feel better soon.”

This started an argument between my hubs and I.  He said they were bears in a bubble bath.  I said they were bears tucked in bed, with a fluffy down comforter.  My 10 year old Avery just grinned as we argued and was delighted when she discovered under the fluffy “covers” was  oowy gooey caramel.

I had to message Melanie to see who was right, and darn it…Todd was.  The original recipe called these  Teddy Bears in a Bubble Bath.

I’ve changed the name, because I love my fluffy white comforter & my bed.

These are as delicious as they are cute.   The perfect little treat to take to someone who might be stuck in bed for awhile.

Teddy Graham Bear Treats Tucked In A Chocolatey Bed and Covered In Fluff

Ingredients
  1. 24 miniature cupcake liners
  2. 1 (18.25 oz.) box of chocolate cake mix
  3. 1 stick unsalted butter, melted
  4. 1 egg, lightly beaten
  5. 24 Rolo candies, unwrapped
  6. 72 miniature marshmallows
  7. 24 plain or chocolate chip Teddy Grahams
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line your miniature cupcake tin with the liners and spray with cooking spray.
  2. In a large bowl, combine the cake mix, melted butter and beaten egg. Stir until completely mixed together; it will be texture of playdough.
  3. Roll batter into 24 balls and place one ball in each cupcake liner. Gently press one Rolo candy into the center of each dough ball.
  4. Bake on center rack of oven for 10 minutes. Remove tin from oven and evenly place 1 Teddy Graham and 3 miniature marshmallows on top of each cupcake, pressing lightly to adhere to top.
  5. Return to oven for 2-3 more minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool for at least 10 minutes in tin before removing to wire rack to continue cooling. 

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