Living Healthfully: Undercover Candy Bars

Especially during summer -- when it seems like we attend parties or festivities multiple times each week -- I'm always on the hunt for quick and easy treats that are not loaded with sugar, preservatives, dyes and other things that go bump in the night and appear in my nightmares.

A friend shared this recipe with me and promised these peanut buttery bars would taste like a candy bar's long lost sister but without all the added gunk. 

I've heard that before, and my husband is notorious for all but dragging out the family tree records to prove, indeed, that the "cupcakes" I made were not even closely enough related to even have cupcake in the name; we settled the argument by calling them cuppins {cupcake muffins that were not good enough to make the blog recipe roll}. 

But this recipe? It's good. {I haven't tasted it yet since I'm still taking baby steps with sugar, but the boys have devoured these bars!}

It's so good, in fact, my hubby even calls them candy-like bars. {See? The word candy is in the name, so they are thisclose to being in the candy bar family.}

Undercover Candy Bars with Vanilla Mango No Cream Ice Cream

Ingredients: 

2 cups of peanut butter {we sometimes use The Peanut Butter Company’s White Chocolate Wonderful}

1 cup of honey

2 tablespoons of cocoa powder and 2 tablespoons of Maca root powder 

3 cups of rolled oats

Directions:

Microwave or melt on the stovetop the honey and peanut butter.

Mix in the cocoa powder and Maca root powder.

Stir in the rolled oats and mix really well.

Place in a 9 by 13 inch pan and refrigerate to set. 

Enjoy!

Living Healthfully: Quick, Easy and Healthy Summer Treats

We follow the 80/20 rule when it comes to what goes into our –the kids’ especially– mouths.

Eighty percent of what we (knowingly) feed the boys doesn’t come from boxes or packages; rather, their meals and snacks are filled with whole foods from the garden, the farm and the produce shelves at the store and farmers’ markets. We won’t talk about the other 20 percent that makes me shudder in horror while we’re enjoying family outings and festivities.

During the summer, though, the 80/20 rule could easily be buried under the mounds of sand we seem to track everywhere because there are simply too many festivities featuring tables covered with sugar-laden goodies and highly processed foods. We’re lucky to ... {finish reading}

Mango Banana non-dairy Ice Cream and Undercover Candy Bars

{Pop on over to CBS Local to gather five simple, quick and healthy recipes perfect for summer and festivities!}

Living Healthfully: Undercover Cookies

Tomorrow we're celebrating Bigger Picture Blogs SECOND birthday by engaging in two things we do best -- creativity and community.

But what's a party without goodies?

In celebration of our big day tomorrow, we thought it necessary to share our favorite uniquely flavored birthday treats as well as a little peak at the Creative Inspiration packages graciously given by Compendium Inc. Live Inspired for two members of our community who link up a special Bigger Picture Moment* here at the party tomorrow.

A delicious gift for a writer, isn't it?

Speaking of delicious, I'm sharing the recipe for my healthy Undercover {Breakfast} Cookies. We call them cookies, but, says hubby, they don't live up to their name if you're expecting crunch. This cookie is softer, like oatmeal, but holds up well after setting in the fridge.

And, of course, it's sweetened with Stevia, so those of us with inner body ecologies who need to steer clear of sugar can still enjoy a treat. Though my youngest picky eater, who indulges in fruit-sugar all the live-long day, loves these cookies and prefers them to even brownies.

Undercover {Breakfast} Cookies

Ingredients:
1 3/4 cups of water
1 cup of quinoa flakes
1 tablespoon of cinnamon
1 teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon of maca root powder {optional}
1 tablespoon of ground flax seed
1/4 cup of dried unsweetened coconut flakes
2 tablespoons of coconut oil
15 drops of liquid stevia
1/2 cup of dried unsweetened cranberries {optional because of the sugar content}


Directions:
Combine quinoa flakes, cinnamon, spice, maca root and ground flax in a bowl and mix together. 


In a pan atop of medium flames, boil water; add the dry mix, stirring continually until the mixture thickens (about 90 seconds). 


Add coconut oil, Stevia and coconut flakes. Stir well. Add cranberries. Mix well. 
Scoop large balls into a glass container, dividing the thick mixture evenly. Refrigerate until thoroughly cooled and well-formed. 


Link up YOUR favorite treat recipe -- old or new -- with This Heavenly Life today to help us celebrate!

*If you didn't sign up to be part of a Creative Duo and receive a prompt, no worries. You can still participate! We're creating to our second birthday musical mix, and the random card prompt is "For Me This is Heaven" by Jimmy Eat World. 

Living Healthfully: Curried Quinoa and Sauteed Vegetable Salad

This versatile dish has been a staple in our house since half of us have bid gluten a not-so farewell.

We love eating this curried quinoa and sauteed veggie dish for a variety of reasons: it's tasty, it's healthy and it's versatile, perfect for eating alone or atop a bed of greens.

We also love taking this dish, adapted from a Body Ecology Diet recipe, to parties and picnics because even gluten lovers think it's fabulous, so perhaps give it a spin this weekend as we celebrate Memorial Day. 

Ingredients:

1 cup of soaked {eight hours} quinoa

1.5 tablespoons of curry powder

1 teaspoon of Herbamare or sea salt

2 tablespoons of extra virgin coconut oil {you *could* use butter, but it's SO much better with coconut oil!}

2 medium sweet onions

1 zucchini

1 yellow squash

1/2 green pepper

1/2 red pepper

1 cup of peas

Directions:

First begin boiling 2 cups of water for the quiona. Add the quinoa to the boiling water with a bit of oil and simmer for about 15-20 minutes. Fluff the quinoa with a fork and allow the quinoa to sit and continue to fluff while continuing with the recipe.

Chop all veggies into small chunks and put each aside in separate bowls.

In a large skillet pan, melt the coconut oil and add the curry powder and Herbamare or sea salt. After about 30 seconds of letting the spices simmer in the oil, add the onions to the mixture. Simmer until translucent. Place in a separate bowl after cooking.

Add a bit of coconut oil to the same pan, sauteing the squash and zucchini. Mix the cooked squash and zucchini with the curry and onion mixture. 

Boil the peas until tender. 

By this point, the quinoa should be fluffy looking. Remember that sauteeing pan? Add the cooked quinoa to the sauteing pan with a bit of coconut oil and roast it for about 5 minutes. This brings out a nutty flavor. 

In a very large bowl, mix the quinoa with the curry and veggie mix. Add the peas and the chopped raw peppers and enjoy!

{For more awesome gluten-free recipes, like the artichoke asparagus salad pictured with the curried quinoa above, I highly recommend the Body Ecology Diet book! Please know that links to the Body Ecology site are affiliates and if you make a purchase through them {thank you!}, I receive a bit of commission.}

Indulgences: White Chocolate Peanut Butter Puppy Chow

Having gone dairy and gluten-free this fall, I started searching for recipes I could make and share at Christmas parties and holiday celebrations as well as, you know, eat with out doubling over in pain the next day.

But there are two rules of the kitchen by which I abide when making wheat-gluten and dairy-free treats:

First, it can't taste like a cop-out version of something like it; it must stand its own ground in taste and flavor.

And, second, it cannot contain a bunch of unpronounceable ingredients.

This White Chocolate Peanut Butter Puppy Chow -- both dairy and wheat-gluten free -- exceeds rule number one and pretty much meets rule number two with the exception of the slight amount of preservative in the Chex cereal. {I'm currently on the hunt for a Chex-like cereal that doesn't have anything gunky in it. Suggestion welcome!}

While it's not {I repeat, not} the healthiest recipe I've ever shared, it might be one of the most addictive; so you have been warned.

At any rate, it's a nice indulgence once or twice per year when you want to whip up something sweet and crunchy for a celebration.

White Chocolate Puppy Chow

Ingredients:

*1/2 Cup Coconut Oil
* 1/2 Cup of Peanut Butter Company White Chocolate Wonderful
* 1 Cup of creamy Peanut Butter
* 4 Bricks of {dairy-free!} Baker's Chocolate
* 1 Teaspoon of Vanilla Extract
* 8 Cups of crispy rice cereal like Chex
* 1/2 Cup of Powdered Sugar

Instructions:

A top of a low flame in a steel pan, slowly {sllloooooowly -- don't want it to burn!} melt the coconut oil. {We like both Nutiva and Spectrum, but having been using Spectrum more often because it's easily found on the baking aisle shelves of our local Super Target. Score!}

Next, add the baker's chocolate {dairy-free, of course, and also found on the shelves of the baking aisle at Super Target!}, slowly melting it while mixing it with the coconut oil.

After the chocolate and coconut oil are mixed thoroughly, add both peanut butter mixtures {One more huge score for Super Target, as the White Chocolate Wonderful is found there as well!} and stir like crazy, allowing it to slowly melt atop the low flame while blending with the chocolate and coconut oil.

After the mixture is thoroughly mixed, add the teaspoon of vanilla.

Turn off the flame, and begin mixing in the cereal one cup at a time, coating the cereal evenly with the wonderfully gooey mixture.

After the cereal is thoroughly coated, add the powdered sugar to a paper bag and then dump the cereal into the bag.

Fold the bag and make a tight seal before shaking to coat the cereal with powered sugar.

Let the puppy chow cool and enjoy.

Living Healthfully: Eating a Gluten-and-Dairy-Free Diet

I feel like a new person on the inside.

About a month ago, I severed my love affair with dairy, suspecting that it was adding to some GI issues I first started experiencing this summer after somehow contracting a parasite. (Don't ask; I don't honestly know how I got it, but I've been reassured that most of us live with many little buggers without really knowing it. My little buggers, well, they have been evicted.)

So anyway, out went the dairy and entered in its place almond milk, coconut and olive oils and some crazy, stretchy tapioca cheese-like substance that I'm not crazy about but like well enough when I want to make pizza. {Oh, pizza, why do you have to be so good and so evil?!}

While going dairy-free helped quite a bit, I still was experiencing GI issues, so a few weeks ago, at the suspicion of perhaps having developed a leaky gut during all the GI issues, I went to the next food culprit : gluten.

For my body, it was a pretty quick read: gluten is not my friend. Almost two weeks into my gluten and dairy free diet, I feel normal again. No more bloated, irritated GI tract and away with crabby wife and mommy as well.

Honestly, I feel so much better that I'm inclined to not even want to reintroduce dairy after the allotted time of gut healing has passed. Because who wants to go back to gross after feeling so good?

Been mulling a diet change of going cold turkey {mmm, you can still eat turkey!} with gluten and dairy?

Here are a few things that helped me through the first week:

* Find a friend or two who is willing to walk you through the emotional, chemical and physical changes that occur in your body and in your pantry. The support is key in knowing you can do this!

* Take a trip to Trader Joe's or Whole Foods Market and ask a crew member to brief you on dairy and gluten free options. Most staff members I've come across, especially at Whole Foods Market, have gone above and beyond to help guide me.

* Or browse Amazon for really wonderful gluten-free and dairy free foods like: Bob's Red Mill Almond Meal, apple pie Lara Bars, Bob's Red Mill gluten-free Oats, quinoa and a few other Bob's Red Mill staples that will provide whole grains in your diet without reeking havvoc on the gut.

* Find your happy place with fresh, whole foods like chicken, fish, fruits and veggies. This one is important. Whole, real foods are always better than anything processed, in my opinion!

We often snack on apples and cashews, enjoy slow-cooker chicken with Italian seasoning alongside green beans tossed with almonds and dried berries and sweet potatoes mashed with coconut oil for dinner; we feast on baked apple pie oatmeal for breakfast.

* Take a peak at some of the great foodie blogs for gluten and dairy free eating:

The Gluten-Free GoddessGluten-Free Girl and the Chef {must exchange dairy for almond milk, soy milk or rice milk}

* Find good substitutes for dairy. My favorites so far:

-almond milk in place of dairy milk {goat milk is great for the kids}
-hummus in place of cheese
-coconut oil in place of butter {you will never believe how good it is until you try it. Just do it!}
-olive oil in place of non-stick butters
-Daiya Tapioca is a good cheese-esque replacement for pizza
- coconut or almond milk ice cream in place of regular dairy ice cream

*If it's a packaged food, always double check for gluten by calling and asking if gluten is in the ingredients. Anything with wheat, bran, semolina, bulgar, spelt, tabbouli, orzo, couscous, farina, kamut and barley contains gluten. Defatted wheat germ also contains gluten, for any Standard Process supplement users.

As always, I'm happy to help, too. If you have any questions, feel free to ask.

{I was not compensated or asked to talk about any of the products I mentioned. I just like them a lot!}