crazy food: grape ice cream

delicious and light. sweet and creamy. you can't really go wrong with something like this. i have always loved snacking on frozen grapes. they are little explosions of frozen flavor. i was sitting there, snacking away, wondering, "why have i never had grape ice cream?" come to think of it.... i've never even seen grape ice cream. i'm sure if there is a play dough ice cream, and a cotton candy ice cream, there is bound to be a grape one. i just have never experienced it. so being the lactose intolerant queen that i am, i decided to do one, with a my own touches.

so here it is folks! vibrant, and beautiful, cold, and delicious....

Grape ice cream

1 heaping cup of frozen grapes (i used seedless black)
1/8 to 1/4 cup vanilla soymilk
1 frozen banana

place all ingredients in high powered blender (such as vitamin, blendtec, ect). Pulse until ice cream texture is achieved. (our blendtec has an ice cream setting, if yours doesn't, pulse until creamy and combined; add more liquid if needed) ice cream should be stiff and still able to form peaks, so add liquid slow!

enjoy!

peanut butter cookies

bd requested peanut butter cookies tonight so i had to try and fulfill. i asked if he wanted my version of a cookie, or the traditional version. he chose mine ; ) i was a bit apprehensive at first, i've seen a few versions of gluten free peanut butter cookies online. i also wanted mine free of refined sugars. you can even go more extreme and try some unsweetened carob chips in yours. try these out. they are sure to impress!

gluten free, refined sugar free, peanut butter cookies:

1 cup coconut sugar
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup creamy almond butter
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking soda
dark chocolate chips to taste

preheat oven to 350. cream sugar, nut butters, egg, and vanilla. add soda, mix, add chocolate, combine. form into 1'' ball, slightly flatten, place on parchment paper atop cookie sheet. place in oven for 10-12 mins. allow to cool slightly. enjoy!

hope ya'll enjoy these as much as we did over here, chewy but soft, sweet but salty, these are sure to please. flour? nope, didn't even miss it.

crazy food: strawberry, apple, carrot jello

ok. before you freak out and start feeling ridiculously sorry for olive. i promise you she loves this jello! i wanted to make her some jello that was free of all the dyes and white sugar. so i got creative and she loves this jello. it has so many possibilities! if this flavor combo isn't for your family, then try tweaking it to cater towards your families tastes. olive LOVES carrot juice! at least for now. she has a sippy cup of it almost every day so this jello was right up her alley. plus carrot juice, naturally, is really sweet! so i promise, you don't have to feel bad for her.

strawberry, apple, carrot jello

2 envelopes unflavored gelatine

1/2 cup cold carrot juice (or juice of choice)

1 1/2 cups carrot juice, heated boiling (or juice of choice)

1 organic apple, grated

3 organic strawberries, cubed

in a 8x8 pan, sprinkle gelatine over 1/2 cup cold carrot juice. let sit 1 minute. add 1 1/2 cups hot carrot juice. stir until gelatin has completely dissolved. stir in apple, and strawberries. chill until firm, around 40 minutes. 

crazy food: pumpkin pie steel cut oats

i'm really starting to learn that not all oats are the same. so... of coarse i began to be creative to find a yummy way to incorporate steel cut oatmeal into our diet. regular steel cut oats are the very best for you. we like bob's red mill quick cooking steel cut oats because in a pinch, they cook up just as fast as normal oatmeal. it also reheats well without getting slimy (yuck) like others do; but we do also have the slow cook kind. if i'm really thinking ahead, we will use those. we simply soak them overnight and cook time doesn't seem to be an issue the next day.

pumpkin pie steel cut oats

2 cups water
1 cup quick cook steel cut oats
1/2 tsp vanilla
dash of nutmeg
dash of cloves
dash of cinnamon
dash of salt
1 1/4 cup pumpkin puree
1/4 cup flax seed
1/2 cup milk of choice (we use soy) for garnish
dash of organic pure maple syrup

cook oats per instructions on package (2 cups water, 1 cup oats, on med heat) once cooked through add remaining ingredients. enjoy!

olive scarfs this and asks for more before i even have the spoon out of her mouth. its a favorite around these parts.

crazy facts: coconut sugar

who us??? straight sugar addicts? no?! what gave it away? the snow cones? yeah... ok, you caught me. (side note. check us out! we had only been parents for a few weeks. how nostalgic.)

if you haven't already noticed, we are big fans of coconut sugar around these parts. i vowed to give up white sugar for one year. this may seem crazy -but it is for a good cause- at first it was simple (not) i immediately found myself going through sugar bends and ransacking my cupboards for anything sweet.  i was seriously addicted! i didn't know it, but my body sure wasn't happy when i took it away. it took me about three weeks of purging my body of processed sugar to finally get stable and in control of my cravings. sugar is in everything! high fructose corn syrup and sugars dominate our foods. you've heard this all before. the song and dance is not a new one; But! it sure was making my promise a challenging one. i had to rethink everything. even worse, if i even glanced at a dinner roll i would have "sugar shakes" for a day or two. i immediately found out that gluten was a problem. it would make me crash hard and left me with headaches and a starving stomach all day long.

this is why i've been going gluten free. this is why we have been eating cleaner at our home. this is also why we have been experimenting with fantastic new ingredients. ultimately i am loving the journey! we have been introduced to new and creative flavors and textures that have been exciting and tasty.

but... alas.... like i said before, everything has sugar in it. i needed something for baking muffins. i needed something to add a little summin' summin' to my oatmeal. i wasn't loving agave, and i was conflicted with the actual benefits of this sweetener. all the others, including stevia, were not really all that tasty to me. they tasted too artificial and left me feeling sick after. then i stumbled upon coconut sugar and things changed. i have been so happy with this sugar swap.

not only is it all natural. it is low on the glycemic index, has vitamins, minerals, amino acids, and doesn't leave me with sugar shakes. we order ours on amazon. we still try to stay away from the sweets as much as possible so it takes us a while to go through it. it hasn't seemed like an expensive swap out.

want to learn more about this great sugar? watch this dr oz video.

crazy food: chia seed coconut pudding

this pudding is similar to tapioca pudding in texture. served ice cold this pudding is a knockout. don't let the chia seeds throw you off. it seriously is becoming one of my favorite desserts.

chia seed coconut pudding

1/2 cup coconut milk

1/2 cup almond milk

2 tbs chia seeds

1 tsp vanilla

1 tbs coconut sugar (or sweetener of choice)

*diced mango

*shredded coconut 

*if desired as garnish

combine all ingredients in bowl (omitting garnish). cover, place in fridge overnight, or for at least 8 hours. add garnish. serve chilled. 

enjoy!