Homemade Gummies

ingredients:

• 2 cups fruit juice (I often use Lakewood Black Cherry, Blueberry Blend or Grape)
• 1-2 T lemon or lime juice
• 1/2 cup gelatin powder (I use Great Lakes Gelatin)
• 1 - 4 T maple syrup (depending on desired sweetness)

directions:

• Bring fruit juice and maple syrup to a simmer
• Slowly add gelatin to the simmering juice, use a whisk or immersion blender to avoid clumps
• Once gelatin is dissolved pour mixture into silicon molds 
• Put gummies into the refrigerator or freezer till the gelatin is set

Energy Bites

Pulse together in food processor till ingredients form flour like texture:

• 1/2 cup rolled oats
• 1 cup cashews

Add and process the following till a sticky dough like texture is formed:

• 12-13 pitted dates
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 T hemp seeds
• 1/4 tsp sea salt

Pour mixture into a bowl and work the following into the dough with your fingers:

• 1/2 cup peanut butter (or more till desired consistency) 
• 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips, raisins or craisins

Roll into walnut sized balls. 

Roasted Chickpeas

Delicious and easy snack!

ingredients:
1 can of chickpeas, drained or about 1 1/2 cups cooked chickpeas
1 T coconut oil, melted
salt and favorite seasoning

directions:
preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Place chickpeas on a baking sheet, dry chickpeas with a paper towel, napkin or cloth
Drizzle with oil, then bake for 30-40 minutes till crispy
Once crispy sprinkle with sea salt and desired seasoning (ie: curry, garlic salt, garam masala, cinnamon sugar, ect...)

Enjoy!

Oatmeal Breakfast or Snack Cake (or cupcakes)

Here is a great recipe from Sarah (my sister-in-law). It's super good and super easy.

Ingredients: 5 cups rolled oats 2 1/2 cups over-ripe mashed bananas, measured after mashing 1 tsp salt 5 TBSP honey or maple syrup 2 1/3 cups water 1/4 cup plus 1 TBSP coconut oil 2 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract Plus lots of cinnamon and nutmeg You could also add nuts or dried fruit or chocolate chips Directions: Preheat oven to 380 F. In a large mixing bowl, combine all dry ingredients (oatmeal, salt, spices) and stir very well. In a separate bowl, combine and stir all wet ingredients (including banana). Mix wet into dry, then pour into a cake pan (or bake as cupcakes. Start with 15 minutes if making cupcakes). Bake for 20-27 minutes. You can also broil for a minute to make the top more crispy.

Coconut-Cranberry Avocado Pudding

Avocado is a great texture for pudding and the taste is quite mild that you can add almost anything and make a simple snack.

ingredients:
1 avocado
2 T shredded coconut
1 T dried cranberries

Mash the avocado and stir in coconut and cranberries. Enjoy!

Baked Kale Chips

Tried this for the first time today. Everyone loved them...even the 2 year old!

Ingredients:

1 bunch of kale, cleaned and roughly chopped *also works well with kohlrabi or broccoli greens

1 or 2 cloves of garlic, crushed

about 1/4 tsp salt

about 1 tsp olive oil

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees

2.  Place kale on a baking sheet (lined with parchment paper if you want). Drizzle oil over kale, sprinkle with garlic and salt. Mix together and bake for 10-15 minutes till crispy. 

No Bake Nut Butter Balls

1 cup nut butter
6 Tbs honey 
1/2 cup coconut flour 
dash salt
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/3 cup chocolate chips

In a bowl, combine the peanut butter, honey, coconut flour, salt, vanilla extract. Stir until uniformly combined. Stir in the chocolate chips. Roll into balls using your hands.

Refrigerate or freeze to harden.

Roasted Garbanzo Beans

Ingredients

2 cans garbanzo beans or about 4 cups cooked chickpeas from dried beans
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic, crushed
salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Prepare the beans for roasting by draining and rinsing them, then letting them dry on a towel until most of the excess moisture is absorbed.

Mix together: oil, beans, 1-2 cloves of garlic crushed, salt and pepper to taste.

Spread on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper (optional). Roast the garbanzo beans in the oven for 45-60 minutes or until the beans are crunchy throughout (just test one- if they are still mostly soft on the inside and there’s no crunch, keep baking).

Granola Bites

I make them different every time, but here is the general idea.

Stir together in a large bowl: 2 cups rolled oats, 1 cup rice puffs,  1 cup mini choc chips (optional: you could use dried fruit instead) , 1 ½ cup shredded coconut, 2/3 cup flax seed (grind the seeds), ½ cup of seeds (I use a variety of seeds (sesame, sunflower, chia, pumpkin seeds…does not really matter what type)

Stir together in a smaller bowl: 1/4 cup honey or maple syrup, 1 ripe banana (mashed) and 1 1/2  cups or more nut butter (peanut butter/tahini/sunflower butter), 2 tsp vanilla, 2 tsp cinnamon

Stir all together and shape into balls, place on cookie sheet, chill . . .or press onto cookie sheet to make bars, chill in the freezer or refrigerator

Might need to add more honey/syrup and/or nut butter if the balls won't hold shape

***optional additions:

·         food process ½ cup whole, pitted dates and ½ cup walnuts, pecans or almonds

·         2 T cocoa powder

·         Raisins, crasins or any chopped dried fruit

·         Other spices: cloves, nutmeg, allspice

·         ½ cup pumpkin puree

·         For lower sugar, just leave out sweetner…you might need more nut butter to hold it together

Always just add more nut butter is the mixture is not sticky enough to hold

Mini Sweet Potato Pies

Ingredients

5 sweet potatoes (small to medium)
¼ cup sugar
2 T cinnamon
2 T oil
1/2 cup maple syrup
¾ cup orange juice
4 cups rolled oats

Wash ad scrub sweet potatoes. Pierce with a fork and microwave on high till soft. About 8 minutes. Preheat oven to 400 degrees
Cut potatoes and scoop out flesh and place in a large bowl. Add sugar, cinnamon, oil, syrup, juice and mix together. Stir in oats.

Grease a mini muffin pan. Pour mixture into muffin pan. Bake 10-15 minutes. Let cool 10 minutes. Enjoy!

Apple Dip

From: Clean Eating Magazine

Makes 1 1/4 cups apple dip
Ingredients:
4 pitted dates
1/4 cup raw unsalted cashews
boiling water (enough to cover dates and cashews)
1 cup cooked chic peas
1/4 cup plain almond milk
1/4 tsp pure vanilla extract *or maple flavoring is also delicious
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 pinch of sea salt
apples for serving

Directions:
Combine dates and cashews in a small heat-proof bowl. Cover dates and cashews with boiling water and set aside for 30 minutes. Drain and transfer to a blender or food processor. Add chic peas, almond milk, vanilla, cinnamon and salt. Blend/process until smooth. Serve with sliced apples. 

Granola Coconut Bites

This recipe is a delicious variation of the No Bake Granola Bar recipe. Quick easy and a tad bit elegant.

ingredients

dry:

1 1/2 cup oats 

1/2 cup rice puffs

1/2 cup shredded coconut + (1/2 cup finely shredded coconut for coating)

1/2 cup raisins (date chunks, cranberries, craisins, dried cherries, mangoes, apricots, etc.) 

1/2 cup chocolate chips (Enjoy Life Brand is dairy and soy-free) 

1/4 cup chopped nuts (peanuts, almonds, walnuts, pecans, filberts or cashews)

1/4 cup ground Flax

optional: 

2 T flax, pepitas or sunflower 

Seeds 2 T chia seeds  

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

wet: 1 ripe banana (mashed)  

1/2 cup maple syrup or honey 

1/2 cup nut or seed butter (almond, peanut, cashew, sunflower seed butter, etc.)  

1 tsp vanilla extract (use alcohol-free since you will not be baking)

directions:

1.  Combine all dry ingredients in a large bowl. 
2.  In a smaller bowl, mash ripe banana, and add all wet ingredients.3.  Pour wet ingredients into dry, and mix well.4.  This is messy! Use plastic gloves if you want to or just lick your fingers when you are done...like I did. Roll the mixture into bite size balls. Place balls onto a cookie sheet. Freeze for about 1 hour. 
5.  Then roll balls in a bowl of the finely shredded coconut to coat each bite sized ball.
6.  Put the coated balls back into the freezer till  you are ready to serve. Store leftovers in the freezer or refrigerator.

Variation: add 1 T unsweetened cocoa powder to the coating coconut. 

Maple, Nut Butter Popcorn

• This recipe has been drastically altered from the original Jiff recipe. This one is great.
• ingredients
• 1 cup sucanut
• 3/4 cup pure maple syrup
• 1 cup sunbutter, peanut butter or almond butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 10 cups popped popcorn
• 1-2 cups peanuts, pecans or walnuts
directions:
1. HEAT oven to 250ºF. Combine sucanut and syrup in medium saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture begins to boil. Remove from heat. Stir in nut butter and vanilla until smooth.
2. PLACE popped popcorn and nuts in an extra large bowl. Pour  mixture over popcorn,; stir until evenly coated.
3. SPOON popcorn mixture in an even layer on two foil-lined jelly roll pans. Bake 10 minutes, stirring after 5 minutes. Remove from oven and cool completely in pans on wire racks. Break into bite size pieces. Store in airtight container.

No Bake Granola Bars

Store your granola bars individually for quick to-go treats.

Here is a delicious and easy homemade snack. I just whipped up my first batch, combining the ingredients took about 5 minutes, now they are firming up in the freezer and they will be ready to sample later this afternoon. You can tailor the ingredients to meet you preferences. The varieties are endless.

This recipe is reminiscent of a no bake oatmeal cookie I used to make with a good friend. :)

ingredients

dry:

1 1/2 cup Oats 

1/2 cup Shredded Coconut

1/2 cup Raisins (or date chunks, cranberries, craisins, dried cherries, mangoes, apricots, etc.) 

1/2 c Chocolate Chips (Enjoy Life Brand is dairy and soy-free) 

1/4 c chopped nuts (peanuts, almonds, walnuts, pecans, filberts or cashews)

optional: 

2 Tbsp Flax 

Seeds 2 Tbsp Chia Seeds  

1 1/2 tsp Cinnamon

wet: 1 Ripe Banana (mashed)  

1/2 cup maple syrup or honey 

1/2 c nut or seed butter (almond, peanut, cashew, sunflower seed butter, etc.)  

1 tsp Vanilla Extract (use alcohol-free since you will not be baking)

directions:

Combine all dry ingredients in a large bowl. 
In a smaller bowl, mash ripe banana, and add all wet ingredients.
Pour wet ingredients into dry, and mix well.
Spread mixture into 8x8 or 9x9 baking dish lined with plastic wrap or waxed paper. Press until flat.
Place dish in freezer for a few hours, or until firm. Remove from dish and carefully cut into 15 squares/bars or logs. For easy grab-and-go snacks, wrap bars individually in plastic wrap.
Store in fridge or freezer for up to a month. These bars soften quickly at room temperature.

Maple Popcorn

Popcorn is a fantastic gluten-free snack. Every once in a while I have a  serious "sweet snack attack." I think this Maple Popcorn may be an easy solution.

ingredients
1 cup pure maple syrup
1/2 - 1 cup walnut pieces or pecans
9 c. popped popcorn, plain

directions
Heat maple syrup over medium heat until syrup reaches 236 degrees on a candy thermometer. Lightly oil large bowl. Mix popcorn, nuts and syrup with lightly oiled spoon. When mixture cools, break off and enjoy.

Peanut Butter Balls

This recipe was created by my friend, Pam. These Peanut Butter Balls are a delicious and fairly nutritious snack that can be enjoyed by all ages. I love them, so I am adding them to my blog, so that I never loose the recipe. (6.) I am thankful for friends to share recipes with!

The recipe is pretty flexible so I'll just give approximate amounts. Eyeball it, you don't need to measure them out.

In a blender or food processor, combine:

1/2 cup dried fruit (could be any combination of raisin, figs, cranberries, apricots)

1/3 cup nuts (I usually use almonds, walnuts, cashews)

Process until everything is cut up into pretty small pieces. Dump into a large bowl.

Add:

1/4 cup quick oats, or old-fashioned oats, pulsed a few times in the blender

1-2 Tbsp of wheat germ

1-2 Tbsp of dried unsweetened coconut

Can also add 1 Tbsp ground flax

Mix well and then scoop in about 3/4 cup peanut butter. Mix together until it starts holding together, you may need to add more peanut butter. You should use your hands near the end of the mixing here, to check the consistency. Form small balls, anywhere from marble to ping pong ball size, depending on your preference and what size mouths are eating them. (I usually make mine too big for my kids and end up splitting them in half with my hands right before they pop one in!) Place balls on a plate and freeze for 10 minutes, or refrigerate for 20. Enjoy! Any balls you don't eat right away will store well in a tupperware in the fridge. I haven't frozen them, but I'm sure you could do that, too.

Apple Slices and Dates...In Drewski's Honor

Looking for a yummy, but natural snack? This combination was suggested by my brother, Drew. (AKA Drewski) Thanks buddy!

Try an apple sliced up, topped with a date or pieces of dates. The mixture in your mouth tastes almost just like a caramel apple. (5.) I love natural sweetener! Dates and Apples!