Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal Cookies!

Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal Cookies!

I have been wanting to make these cookies for a while and today I finally got to! I used my absolute favorite regular (and healthified) oatmeal cookie recipe, but then made them Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal cookies! I'm gonna try to take this oatmeal cookie recipe and make tons of different flavors that are like the classic flavors of instant oatmeal (Maple Brown Sugar, Strawberries and Cream etc.) but make them healthy, yet so yummy cookies! :)



Recipe: 

• a little less than 3/4 cup of Coconut Oil 
• 1 egg 
• 1/2 cup of brown sugar 
• 1/4 cup of sugar 
• 1 tsp. of vanilla 
• 1 1/2 cups of flour: I used 3/4 of oat flour and 3/4 of all purpose) 
• 1 tsp. of baking soda 
• 2 tsp. of cinnamon 
• 1/2 tsp. of salt 
• 2 cups of oats 
• 1 small apple (diced) 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Beat the coconut oil and sugars together until creamy. Then add the egg and vanilla. Once combined, add the flour, salt, cinnamon, baking soda, and oats. Dice your apple into little tiny bits and then pour into the mix. Transfer onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake for about 12-15 minutes. Now enjoy! 

-Isabel :)

 On the first batch, I accidentally forgot the egg and I was wondering why they were so crumbly ;)

Yummy Quinoa Sweet Potato Burgers!

I've been really wanting to create my own burgers so since I haven't posted anything on the blog in so long time, I couldn't wait to make these today! They turned out SO delicious!

• 1 1/2 cups of cooked quinoa
• 1 cooked sweet potato
• A couple handfuls of sauteed spinach
• 1 (15 oz) can of Black Beans
• Spices of choice ( we used blackening and red pepper flakes, salt and pepper)
• spicy brown mustard
• 1 egg

Cook the quinoa as directed on package. Boil the sweet potato until tender, then sautée your spinach. Next drain and rinse the black beans. Now were ready ;) In a food processor, combine the spinach, quinoa, egg, spices, mustard, and black beans. Save about half of the can of black beans and about 1/4 cup of quinoa for after you have processed it, so that it will have more texture. Give the ingredients in the food processor a few good pulses then stir. Now add the sweet potato chunks, but first stir them in pretty well before processing them. Give it a few good pulses, stirring occasionally, the add in remaining quinoa, beans and a little more spice. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  Get out 2 pans covered with parchment paper and scoop the mixture onto the pans and then press down with a spatula. I made 5 big burgers and 16 small ones.  Put the pans into the fridge for about 10 minutes then put in the oven for 25 minutes. Once they are about half way done, flip them and then let them finish cooking. Now, enjoy!

-Isabel :)

Healthy Frozen Strawberries and Cream Pie!

I came home from school earlier than normal and really wanted to make a new recipe! I decided to try and create a healthy  frozen Strawberries and Cream Pie! It was very easy and turned out SO yummy!! It has no butter, refined sugar, or cream, but is an amazing dessert that you can feel good about eating!

For the crust/topping: 

• 2 cups of dry oats
• 3/4 cup of raw almonds (feel free to try another kind of nut!) 
• 2 teaspoons of honey 
• 1 tablespoon of milk 

Blend all the ingredients in a food processor or blender until its crumbly. Press the mixture into a 7 x 9 glass dish. You will use about half of the mix, press it into the pan and make sure its nice, smooth, and looking like a pie crust! 

For the strawberries and cream filling: 

• 2 cups of strawberry or vanilla Greek yogurt 
• 6-7 medium strawberries (cut the strawberries very small!) 

In a small bowl mix the yogurt and strawberries and mix. If you are using vanilla yogurt add a few more strawberries if you want! I used mostly strawberry, with a little bit of vanilla. Pour all of the filling over the pie crust and spread evenly. Top the filling with the other half of the crust mix. Now put in the freezer for about a 2 hours, if you want it completely frozen or just go ahead and eat it! Hope you enjoy this cold creamy treat! Please feel free to leave questions, comments, and suggestions below! 

-Isabel :) 

The BEST banana bread. EVER.

The BEST Banana Bread 

This morning I really wanted to make something, so I started flipping through some cookbooks for ideas for foods to make healthier and decided to make banana bread! I changed up the recipe from the Magnolia Bakery cookbook, and it turned out SO good!! It is healthier because I reduced the sugar, replaced the fat, and modified and added some ingredients, for example, greek yogurt instead of sour cream, but do not worry it is still crazy good!

Banana Bread: 

• 3 cups of flour (I used 1 cup of oat, and 2 cups of gluten free    all purpose) 
• 1  1/2 tsp. of baking soda 
• 1 tsp. of cinnamon
• 3/4 tsp. of salt 
• 3/4 cup of coconut oil 
• 1 cup of sugar (I used half a cup of Swerve and half a cup of sugar) 
• 2 eggs 
• 1  1/2 tsp. of vanilla
• 2 mashed bananas 
• 3/4 cup of yogurt
• optional: pecans, walnuts, coconut, chia seeds 

Glaze: 

• 1/2 cup warm coconut oil 
• 3/4 cup Swerve/Sugar 
• optional: cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and spray 2 nine inch loaf pans. In a medium sized bowl, combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. In a large bowl cream together oil and sugar. Next, add (in the large bowl) the eggs and vanilla. Now, add the bananas and yogurt and make sure it is very well combined, (The easiest way to mash bananas is to squish them while they are still unpeeled and then just squeeze them into the bowl!) Finally, add the dry ingredients until just combined and transfer to pans. Bake for 35 minutes, then enjoy! Try not to eat the whole thing at once ;) 

-Isabel :)

Homemade Larabars!

Last year we went paleo for a month and discovered that we love Larabars! Then we started making up our own recipes for homemade Larabars that are SO good!  There are a bunch of recipes on the internet but this is what we came up with...

Bar Base:
•10-12 pitted dates (if using already chopped kind, add 1  1/2 cups)
•1/2 cup dry oats
•1 tablespoon coconut oil (you can omit this if you want, but it makes it a lot sweeter and helps it stick   together better)
1 cup of nuts ( almonds, cashews, peanuts, or a combination)
•optional: 1/2 tsp of vanilla, a shake of salt :)



-after adding these ingredients you can add more nuts if you want it to be crunchy.   Blend the first three (or 5) ingredients up in a food processor and grind very well before you add the other ingredients. Add whatever combo of ingredients you want after that. The texture should be more like cookie dough than peanut butter, but it depends on what you prefer.  Once processed, press into a square Pyrex dish and put in the refrigerator for just a few minutes.  Enjoy!


Here are some of our favorite mix-ins: 

For chocolate: add 1/4 cup of cocoa and 2 tablespoons of chocolate chips

For peanut butter and jelly: use 1 cup of peanuts and 1/4 of dried cranberries, or freeze dried strawberries (whatever you have on hand, it doesn't really matter if you use dried or freeze dried)

For banana bread: add half of a mashed banana and a few walnuts

For cinnamon roll: add cinnamon and a stevia packet

For blueberry muffin: add dried blueberries or currants and a little cinnamon

Today for ours we added almonds, green superfood powder, currants, whole ground flax meal, freeze dried strawberries, and peanuts!

You want the texture to be more like cookie dough rather than peanut butter, but it depends on what you prefer.  Don't process too long!


-Isabel :)

Unreal: candy unjunked

My mom recently bought this awesome new candy! Its called Unreal, although this candy is not necessarily healthy for you it's a better choice when you do want candy! It's made with no artificial ingredients hormones, or preservatives, no GMO's, no hydrogenated oils, and no corn syrup. They are made with all natural ingredients like real milk, real sugar, and real oils! They taste exactly like the regular candies and make you feel so much better about what you are eating! My mom found it at Target, go check it out! :)

'Healthified' Cinnamon Roll Chex Mix

'Healthified' Cinnamon Roll Chex Mix 

My best friend Victoria made this recipe for Cinnamon Roll Chex Mix, then texted me and asked if I could make a healthier version, so I did! In my experience when I made recipes using Chex cereal, it was so good and caused me to eat so much of it that I was full and feeling very UN healthy after eating even a small amount. For this recipe I wanted to make it not so rich and more of a snack mix that you don't have to feel guilty about! 

Chex Mix: 

• 2 tsp. Brown Sugar 
• 1 tsp. Cinnamon 
• 1/4 cup Coconut Oil 
• 2 tablespoons Maple Syrup 
• 1/2 tsp. Baking Soda 
• 1 tsp. Vanilla 
• 1 box of Chex cereal

In a small pan on medium heat combine brown sugar,cinnamon, coconut oil, and syrup. Once it begins to boil, take off heat and add baking soda and vanilla. Pour cereal into a large bowl and then pour cinnamon mixture into the bowl. Stir until the cereal is evenly coated. Transfer onto a rimmed baking pan and spread out evenly. Sprinkle a little more cinnamon onto the cereal and pop into the oven for 30 minutes checking every 10 minutes to stir. To make it more like a "mix"you can add nuts, pretzels, other cereals, and more! Hope you enjoy! 


-Isabel :)
p.s. please feel free to comment and let me know about any recipes that you would like to see on the blog!!


Here's the yummy original recipe ;) 

Cinnamon Roll Chex Mix
thefarmgirlrecipes.blogspot.com

1 1/4 cups brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup corn syrup
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla
1 box Rice Chex or Corn Chex
1/2 cup white chips

Easy Homemade Crackers!

Easy Homemade Crackers!

When I got home from track I decided to test out some recipe ideas that I had written down in my recipe book, so I chose Homemade Crackers. I wanted to at least try and create something without the chemicals and weird ingredients of normal crackers. They were really easy to make and tasted great! 

Crackers: 

• 1/2 cup All- purpose Flour
• 3 tablespoons Dry Quinoa 
• 2 tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil (this gave it a saltier flavor) 
• 1/4 cup Water 
• 1/4 teaspoon Sugar 
• Salt/Pepper/Other Seasonings: I used salt, pepper, garlic salt, and our mixed salt seasoning. I didn't want to put exact measurments because it depends on what you prefer. I used 1/2 teaspoon of salt, 1/4 teaspoon of pepper, garlic salt, and mixed salt and they were very flavorful! 

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. In a medium bowl, combine all dry ingredients then add the wet to the dry. Mix until everything is just enough stirred in, do not over mix. Place about a tablespoon of the batter onto the baking sheet at a time and spread out with your fingers until very thin. My batch had about 10 crackers. Cook for 20-25 minutes or until crispy and golden. These really are SOO good!! Hope you enjoy! 

-Isabel :)

Fresh Veggie Quesadilla!

Fresh Veggie Quesadilla and Chopped Feta Veggie Salad

Quesadilla: 

I made this quesadilla last week when trying to find something new and easy (and delicious) to have for lunch!  I made this and loved it, so I made more for my mom and dad too!

• 1/4 cup diced onions
• 1/4 cup diced peppers 
• 1/3 cup crumbled feta cheese 
• handful of spinach or spring greens 
• 1/2 cup avocado or guacamole 
• tortilla (I used a brown rice gluten free tortilla) 
• seasoning of choice 

Take your tortilla and spread the avocado over the entire tortilla. Next sprinkle your diced veggies, greens, and feta on top of the avocado. Shake your seasoning on and fold. I used our sandwich press to cook this, but if you don't have one a stove top skillet would work well too! I let it get pretty crispy which takes about 5 minutes! Once ready, you can put some of this veggie salad on top and enjoy! :)

 Chopped Feta Veggie Salad: 

I use my chop wizard to make chopped salads all the time.  They are my favorite!

chop the veggies, mix in the oil, vinegar and feta and seasonings.  Stick in the fridge to cool for a few minutes or just gobble it up.  

• red pepper
• red onion
• cherry tomatoes
• cucumber
• salt and pepper to taste
• really good olive oil and balsamic vinegar
• feta cheese

The Best Brownies!

The Best Brownies!

This morning I was so excited about our new blog I wanted to try out as many of my recipes as possible, so I started with my healthy Hershey's brownies! 

I took the "Hershey's Best Brownies" recipe and changed it up! I thought about using garbanzo beans, but then decided to use half yogurt, half coconut oil instead of the two sticks of butter the Hershey's recipe required! (gross!!) 

Here's what I made: 

Healthy Brownies!

• 1/4 cup oil (I always use coconut) 
• 1/4 cup greek yogurt 
• 1/2 cup sugar 
• 2 tsp. vanilla 
• 2 eggs 
• 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa 
• 1 cup flour 
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder 
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/4 water or milk 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Melt oil, then in a large bowl, mix sugar, oil, eggs, and vanilla. Add the cocoa and stir in just enough. Next, add the flour, baking powder, and salt. My batter was a little to dry at this point so I added 1/4 cup of water. Now, pour batter into greased 8 by 10 pan. Bake for 20 minutes and let cool. Next ENJOY! :) 

Here's the original Hershey's recipe to compare my healthy recipe to: 

Hershey's best brownie: 

• 1 cup (2 sticks) of butter 
• 2 cups of sugar 
• 2 teaspoons of vanilla 
• 4 large eggs 
• 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa 
• 1 cup flour 
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder 
• 1/4 tsp. salt 

Happy New Year!

Happy 2013!  I thought it would be fun to look back at 2012 in food memories.  Isabel and I have done a lot of baking, tasting, experimenting and blog stalking over the last year.  We have discovered some new favorites...chia, dates, coconut oil, garbanzo beans...and revamped some old favorites like pancakes, granola, and chocolate chip cookies.  I have laughed at Isabel taking pictures of everything we eat but now with this blog it is coming in handy!  Here are some of our food highlights of 2012.

 Isabel had this huge, gluten free, peanutbutter and jelly pancake ready for me when I got back from a long, cold run a few weeks ago.  It was the perfect post run meal.  I think I ate the whole thing!

 Peanutbutter hot chocolate!

 Isabel made brownie/ chocolate chip cookie  cupcakes!  Oh my!

 We discovered macaroons in New York City this fall.  Gluten free yumminess!

 Another NYC find- Serendipity frozen hot chocolate!  It was even better than it sounds and worth the three hour wait.  We have been making this at home with frozen bananas.  Healthy, right?

Puppy chow.  I know everyone has had this but it was new to us and we had fun experimenting with different flavors.  This was peppermint but my favorite was cake batter with almonds :)

We got this from pinterest but I don't know who it came from!  Isabel made these for my first graders to go in their Christmas gift bags.  So cute.  They are teddy grahams in chocolate to stir your hot chocolate!

Isabel made these for teacher gifts.  Really cute and so good!  They came from http://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/2012/12/04/double-chocolate-chip-brownie-cookies/

Isabel's smoothie :)

One of our new favorites...quinoa salad.  It is good with almost anything but especially with avocado and black beans and feta cheese.  I guess anything is good with those ingredients.

Will's ice cream birthday cake.  We love to whip up some banana"ice cream" in the food processor!  This had Katie's magic shell on top!  Get the recipe here www.chocolatecoveredkatie.com/2010/05/20/homemade-artisana-cacao-bliss/

more banana ice cream.  Seriously good and it takes about a minute to make.  We made this almost every night this summer!

Jack's famous Christmas almond puff pastry wreath.  His grandmother taught him to make these a few years ago and they are his specialty.  I think they are his favorite part of Christmas. He ate at least three of them this year.   We need to figure out a gluten free version :)

Isabel made these little crispy chocolate chip cookies and filled them with coconut oil frosting.  Way better than the double doozies I remember loving in high school!  At least a little less sugar!


Happy New Year! We hope you will follow us in 2013 for more cooking fun!

Ashley