Recipe Review: Fluffy Nut Butter

 

Fluffy peanut butter and carrot sticks…yum! :)

This is a great way to make nut butter less calories and also make it last longer…doubling the amount of nut butter…so it’s frugal too.

 

I’m going to quote Chef Rachel’s recipe here but feel free to see it on her site here:

“Fluffy Nut Butter  
Prep: 10 minutes/ Yield: 1 cup; 8 servings

To make almond butter, peanut butter, and other nut butters more spreadable and less calorie-dense, you can emulsify them with warm water and add a little sea salt. After the mixture chills, it thickens and fluffs up making a delicious spread for bread, waffles, baked sweet potatoes, winter squash, cooked apple compote, or sliced fresh or frozen bananas. For a sweeter taste, see variations below.

Notes: Select a bottled brand of nut butter that doesn’t contain added salt, sugar, hydrogenated oil, or soybeans, or use homemade nut butter.Although it may be tempting to dilute an entire jar of nut butter––don’t do it, unless you plan to freeze most of it. Diluted nut butter will sour in the refrigerator after about 5 days if unsalted; 7 to 10 days if salted. It keeps well frozen.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup roasted, unsalted, unsweetened almond, cashew, or peanut butter  
1/2 cup warm filtered water
1/4 teaspoon finely ground, unrefined sea salt (Celtic, Lima, or Real Salt…)

See sweetener suggestion below if using this with frozen bananas

1. Don’t discard the oil on top of a new jar of nut butter. Process the contents of the jar in a food processor, a Vita-Mix, orin a bowl with a sturdy spoon until smooth. Return nut butter to the original jar and refrigerate what you don’t plan to use immediately.

2. Dissolve the sea salt in warm water. Add the almond butter and mix or blend until smooth. Scrape the mixture into a wide-mouth jar or small bowl. Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours (or freeze for 1 to 2 hours) until thick, before serving. Use within 4 days if unsalted, within 1 week if salted, or freeze for up to 6 months in covered glass jars with 1-inch of headspace at the top for expansion.

2 tablespoons: 109 calories, 4 g protein, 3 g carbohydrate (3 g fiber), 9 g fat, 89 mg calcium

Variations:

*  Sweet, Fluffy Nut Butter: To the recipes above add 2 to 3 tablespoons honey or agave nectar, 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract, and 1/4 teaspoon pure stevia extract powder or clear or vanilla flavored stevia extract liquid.”

 

This is really good! :) Give it a shot! :) I haven’t tried it sweetened yet…but I want to try again soon without salt/less salt. :)

Strawberry Jam

   Don’t you just love strawberries? I do. This is a picture I took of a few of the lovely jewels from the pick-it-yourself farm. Sweet. Vibrant. Little. Jewels. Delicious.

Mom was making freezer jam with most of these.  I wanted to make some that I could have……..

And I’m so glad I did.

      

The finished product. The lighting was a little weird on my camera, but anyways, the jam came out amazing. Never mind the fact that it’s gluten-free, dairy-free, and refined sugar-free, AND it doesn’t use honey/agave etc. Only a little fruit juice and stevia. That’s it, sweetie!

Plus, this jam is approved by my sister who thinks all my food is disgusting. Mom, is slightly less picky, liked it too.

 

 

Simply Sweet Strawberry Jam

• This recipe is for freezer jam but can be altered slightly for canned jam. :)

Ingredients:

• 5+ c. mashed strawberries
• 3 c. white grape raspberry 100% fruit juice (or 6 oz. concentrate and 18 oz water)
• 6 t. stevia
• 1 T. lemon juice
• 1 package of No/Low Sugar Added Pectin

Directions:

• Mash berries by hand one cup at a time. (It is easier to mash by hand about one cup at a time then all together.)
• Bring the juice to a boil. Add in pectin. Stir until dissolved. Remove the pan from the stove. Add in strawberries, lemon juice, and stevia. Stir well
• Pour into glass jars being sure to leave 1/2+ inch room at the top for expansion. Let cool for an hour+ on the counter or until cool enough to place in the fridge. 
• After about 24 hours, remove all but the jar(s) you are going to use for the near-future to the freezer.
• Take your “fridge jar” and enjoy it :) It’s great for….

                                

Bananas with Peanut Butter and Jam                               Dried Pineapple Dipped in Jam

 

                               

Strawberry Surprise Chicken (Recipe coming soon)         PB & J Energy Bites (recipe to come soon)

 

And, best of all, on a spoon! :)

My First “Sweet Milk” Muffins! :)-

      Don’t these babies look good?! Mmm..I wanted to reach out and grab them! Never fear, I won’t (literally make them and grab one) because they are not allowed on my elimination diet (yet.) But, I’ve been meaning to post for a while and thought it was about time I did! :) This is a modified recipe from this source…

Hidden Squash ;) Sweet Milk Raisin Muffins

Dry ingredients:
2 cups flour (GF mix or whole wheat)

2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1+ c. raisins (leftover from sweet milk)

Wet ingredients:
1 egg
1 1/4 cup shredded zucchini or shredded yellow squash (I used the second option!)  
1 T. lemon
1 1/4 cups sweet milk

Preheat the oven to 400 F. Mix the wet ingredients and then add the dry. Mix until just barley combined. Pour into greased (or papered :)) muffin cups. Cook for about 20 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. :) Enjoy (and glory in the fact that you used a vegetable that’s invisible and un-tastable and sweet milk in the same recipe!) :) Plus, by adding the soaked raisins, you are not wasting a thing! :) Frugality at it’s best!! :)

  

Did you make it? Let me know! :)

Ice-Cold Lemonade (Healthy and Calorie-Free!)+ (That doesn’t mean artificial sweeteners)

Here’s the simple, really frugal, recipe:

2 T. lemon juice

1/4 t. stevia (or to taste)

1 c. water

2 ice cubes

Mix. Sip. Enjoy.

Recipe Review: Another “Quick” Bread Recipe

Guess I’m really into quick, lately eh? :)

Anyways, this recipe is for a whole loaf of bread, but you don’t have to wait for it to rise or anything. (There’s no yeast.) 

The taste wasn’t quite like your typical bread but it still tasted good to me.

My best description of the flavor would be that it tastes like a “bread-like” pancake. Hard to imagine, I know! So you’ll just have to try it out and let me know what you think. (Note: It was however, good enough to post about and good enough to eat! :) It didn’t last long in my house!)

First off, I’d advise baking this bread in a smaller loaf pan (or double the recipe to use a regular sized loaf pan) with the rack placed in the top section of your oven.

Now, for the slightly altered recipe:

• 1 cup oat flour (GF if needed or another cup of flour/GF blend)
• 1 cup whole wheat flour (or GF blend) *I think this recipe would work well GF
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 tablespoons honey (or agave, maple syrup, etc) 
• 1 tablespoon oil (or melted butter/earth balance/coconut oil)
• 1 cup milk (or non-dairy alternative)

Preheat your oven to 450 F. In a medium mixing bowl, combined the oil and honey. Add the other ingredients (besides the milk) and stir well. Add the milk gradually, stirring frequently. You may not need the whole cup. Add the milk until a soft dough forms. If you add a little too much milk, you can add a little more flour. Grease and flour your pan (as this dough is quite sticky.) Once you’ve made a soft dough  (GFer’s :), you will especially understand how “soft” this can be), place the dough in the greased pan. Place pan in the oven for twenty minutes or until top is golden and the insides are cooked well (check this with a toothpick.) Place on a cooling rack to cool. Cut and enjoy!

And as the original author suggests, “It's pretty dense, but great when fresh from the oven. Especially with butter [or earth balance/coconut oil] and honey [agave] on cold [or any] mornings!"

Did you make this? Are you going to try it GF? If so, let me know! I’d love to see how it turned out for you! :)

Recipe Review: Really Really Quick Single Serving Bun/Bread/Roll! :)

Wow! These beauties are really! as quick as this digital “instant photo” is! I don’t know how I found the link to this recipe, but man, this recipe is certainly a “wonder”!

I played around with it a little bit and here’s what I found:

The seeds really will help the appearance and probably texture too!

These will work probably with any flour you choose…whole grain even! (and that is whether you are GF or not!)

Don’t be intimidated by the almond flour (if you don’t have it on hand.) I didn’t and I just subbed for it with another tablespoon  of flour.

Here’s the recipe with some little alterations/ suggestions:

Ingredients:

1 egg

¾ teaspoon molasses (or try honey or agave)

2 tablespoons flour (try any whole grain flour like teff, sorghum, brown rice, whole wheat, etc)

1 tablespoon almond meal(or another tablespoon of flour)

1 tablespoon ground flax seeds (or try chia seeds)

½ teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon cocoa powder (for a darker color, not taste. Sub with the same amount of flour if you don’t want the color).

a pinch of salt, if you want

1 teaspoon sesame seeds (or cornmeal or finely ground nuts or poppy seeds, etc) Ohhh! I can envision a lemon bun! with poppy seeds! :)

In a cereal bowl, beat the egg and molasses (sweetener) with a fork, for about a minute. Now, add the flour, almond meal, ground flax seed, baking powder, and cocoa powder (if you so choose). Add in the salt (if you are adding it.) Add the egg, stir until smooth. Oil a 10 oz Pyrex custard cup (glass)  and sprinkle seeds (if you like) on the bottom and sides.

Pour the batter into the cup. Top with more seeds if you like.

Microwave for 90 seconds. That’s it! 90 seconds to having bread in your hands! It’s so amazing! I only wish I had thought of it! :)

Slice in half and serve! (Topped with “butter” dairy-free/not, jam, etc!)

 

Recipe Review: Stevia-Sweetened Banana Bread

Here’s another recipe that I just changed up very slightly and am quoting almost from here. Though I didn’t find it to be the best recipe out there, I found the addition of chocolate chips made it ok. And, I wanted to review it so that you would know how I liked it too. I found that it was a bit too much “stevia-tasting” to my liking and also dry. Any tips for me about using stevia and that “stevia taste”? I use NuNaturals stevia- which I have heard is has less of an after-taste but I still find that when I make things like this, I definitely taste way too much stevia! Next time, I will experiment with using my sweet milk! (I made this before I found out about sweet milk!)

 

(Excerpted from Stevia: naturally sweet recipes for desserts, drinks and more!,Book Publishing Company )

1 loaf - 12 servings

2 very ripe, medium to large bananas

1/4 tsp powdered stevia extract

1/2 tsp stevia concentrate  (or more of the powdered stuff)

1 tbsp lemon juice

2 cups whole wheat flour (or GF blend)

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/3 cup oil

1 large egg

1/2 cup plain nonfat yogurt or buttermilk (or dairy-free yogurt or milk)

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup chocolate chips

 

Preheat the over to 350 degrees F. Oil a medium-sized loaf pan (7 1/2 "x 3 1/2 " x 2 1/2").

Mash the bananas in a small bowl. Mix the stevia extract, stevia concentrate, and lemon juice into the mashed bananas. Set aside.

Sift the flour, leavenings, and salt together in a bowl.

Beat the oil and egg together in a mixing bowl until creamy. Beat in the yogurt or buttermilk and the vanilla. Stir the mashed bananas into the liquid mixture.

Fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, stirring as little as possible. Mix in the walnuts just before the flour is completely blended.

Place into the loaf pan. Bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour until a toothpick or fork stuck in the middle comes out clean. Turn out the loaf and cool on a rack.

Note: For maximum flavor, use very ripe bananas (brown spotted).

Double B Muffins (Banana Blueberry Muffins)

I’m taking the time in the airport to catch up on some posting! :) Here’s a fun recipe to start out that I edited from here. Note: I found these a little bland without any sweetener. Next time, I would try subbing 3/4 c. sweet milk for the water or you can use honey/agave if you prefer. :) 

Double B Muffins

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour (or GF blend)
1/2 cup oat flour (make sure it is GF if you have celiacs)
1/4 cups flax seeds
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 T. lemon juice (or 1 t. lemon zest)
3 large ripe mashed bananas
3/4 cup water or sweet milk or honey or agave 
1 large egg
1/2 cup applesauce
1 cup fresh blueberries

Steps:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Using a whisk, combine flour, oat flour, flax seeds, baking soda, baking powder, salt and lemon juice in a medium bowl.

In another bowl, mash bananas, add water, egg and applesauce, mix well.  Mix batter until just moistened. Fold in blueberries. Do not overmix.

Fill lined muffin cups 3/4 full.  Bake for 18-20 minutes or until golden brown. Remove and cool. Makes about 2 dozen normal size and 1 dozen mini. :)

Cornmeal Banana Biscuits

(Topped with natural peanut butter :) )

 

I just tried this recipe from Happy Herbivore tonight. This is really a recipe review but I wanted to change the name for what I thought was a better title in my version. :)  Why? Because there is a light-hint of banana taste and cornmeal goodness throughout. Lindsay is a wonderful cook and I love her recipes. This is just one of the few. Try her others out at her site.

 

Anyway, here is what I used and did.

 

Ingredients:

• ½ cup cornmeal
• ½ cup whole wheat flour (or use GF blend)
• 2 tsp baking powder
• ¼ tsp salt
• ½ whole banana (or a small banana- as I used)
• ¼ + 2 T. sweet milk or non-dairy sweet milk

Preheat your oven for 425 F.  Mix all dry ingredients together in a food processor. Add banana and mix until crumbly. Add milk and process again in the food processor. Scoop onto a greased cookie sheet. Cook for 7  mins. Serve warm, topped with your favorite condiment such as a nut butter, or jam.

 

Thanks again Lindsay!

Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup (in the Crockpot!)

This is very frugal and very good! :)

This is my mom’s chicken soup recipes except I made it in the Crockpot. :)  First, I cooked the chicken in the Crockpot by placing it and water in the pot for several hours on low. Then when it was cooked, I drained the broth and saved it for the soup. I used the chicken for the soup its self. Then I cut up carrots (and celery-you can tell I was almost out at the time…:) ) and placed the carrots, celery, chicken, and broth back into the Crockpot. I let that cook on high for about 3-4 hours….or how ever long it took. After that was done, right before I wanted to serve it, I added the noodles (or/and I’ve done rice in the past). I let it cook for about 10 more minutes and voila! Dinner is served! :) This is especially great this time of year when it seems like everyone is getting sick (myself :( included). For an even more nutrient dense broth and frugal too, you can also add the chicken bones to the pot. The only reason I didn’t was because I didn’t have bone-in chicken this time…although I plan to in the future because it is cheaper and I also can use the bones to make nutrient-dense broth! :)

Here are mom’s ingredients……and then just follow what I mentioned above

2 medium carrots, sliced (1 c.)

2 medium stalks celery, sliced (1 c.)

1 c. uncooked noodles (GF/whole wheat) OR 1/2 c. brown rice OR 1/2 c. noodles and 1/4 c. brown rice

1 sm. onion, chopped (1/4. c.) (optional-I didn’t include it since unfortunately my body detests onions)

Chicken amount depends on how much you want. I used about a cup or so of shredded (it does that itself when cooked in water for a long time) chicken. For me that was approximately 1-2 chicken breasts (depending on the size.)

Enjoy! Serve with muffins, such as these! :) Mmmm, my favorite……soup and muffins for dinner! :)

Strawberry/Blueberry Muffin Love

I love muffins! My mom made them a lot growing up (one of the many signs of her love for us)  and I remember eating the meal (even if I didn’t like it) just so I could have a second muffin! :) This recipe is a slightly altered version of my mom’s homemade blueberry muffins. These are frugal since you make them yourself and a whole lot more nourishing and healthy than what you find in the store! These are also frugal because you can use any berry you have on hand, and it uses the juice from defrosting the strawberries instead of throwing it away.

 

Strawberry/Blueberry Muffins (or Raspberry Muffins, etc)

Prep Time: approx. 25 mins or less

Ingredients:

2 c. whole wheat flour (or GF mix)

1 T. baking powder

1/2 t. baking soda

1/2 t. salt

1/4 c. honey

2 eggs

1/4 c. oil*

1/4 c. strawberry juice (leftover from defrost of the strawberries)

3/4 c. strawberries and blueberries

 

Directions: Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Defrost and mash strawberries. (You don’t need to defrost the blueberries). Whisk together the wet ingredients (including the berries). Add the dry ingredients. Mix lightly and as little as possible until just barely combined. Spoon into greased muffin tins or papered tins and bake for about 20 minutes.

Yield: 1 dozen

*I’ve found the best results so far with grapeseed oil. But I’ve also melted organic palm oil shortening. Or you can use another oil. Or you can use butter or earth balance also as long as they are melted.

Chocolate Crepes with Chocolate Sauce and Strawberries

Just pretend I posted these for Valentine’s Day ok? This is what I had intended too….shhh…I’m a little behind….. :)

Whether for Valentine’s Day or for any occasion, especially those special ones….this makes a delightful breakfast or dessert.  Top with whip cream if you have it on hand and can eat it. :) Besides, this recipe is "frugallyrich" because you use what you have on hand and don't need to purchase any special ingredients...and it is healthy! as always! :)

The crepe recipe was altered from this recipe. The rich, dark chocolate syrup is my own creation.

Ingredients (crepe):

• 1 cup flour (whole wheat or GF mix)


• 2-4 tbsp  unsweetened cocoa powder (depending on how strong of a chocolate taste you desire-start with 2)


• 1 tbsp honey/sweetener


• 1 1/2 cups  milk


• 2 eggs


• 1 t. oil

Heat a pan on medium heat.   Mix wet ingredients. Then add dry ingredients. Grease pan. Pour scant 1/4 c. batter into pan and lift the pan off the burner, moving the batter around until you have a thin crepe.

Top and fill with strawberries and

Rich Dark Chocolate Syrup

• 3 T soft butter


• 1/2 c. cocoa


• 4 T. agave/honey


• 6-8 T. water (to your desired thickness.

Combine all ingredients and serve over crepes. Use leftovers for chocolate milk or ice-cream (cow, almond, soy, etc).

Healthy Chocolate Cookies with Homemade Peanut Butter Chips!

Or, How to get your chocolate peanut butter fix all in one stop! :)

Note: I made a small batch since I was adapting this from another recipe and also didn’t want too many cookies around. :) This recipe makes about 10 cookies though…Feel free to double or triple it according to your needs and wants.

Ingredients:
1/4 (~2T) banana, mashed
3 T. honey/agave

1 T. milk/water/dairy-free milk
1 T. cup melted butter/earth balance/oil

1/2 cup flour (whole wheat/GF flour blend)
1/4 c. cocoa

(Or if you want to make these as a basic cookie, use 3/4 c. flour and no cocoa)

pinch salt
1 /4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 c. homemade peanut butter chips

Preheat your oven for 325*. In a small bowl, (if you are making 1x the recipe, a cereal bowl can be used) mix together the wet ingredients and then add the dry (minus the chips). Spoon the dough onto a greased cookie sheet. Flatten the cookies if desired and then add chips. :) Cook for about 15 minutes.

PS. These are very satisfying with the chips added. If you don’t use the chips, they might be a little bland and not as sweet. I would suggest adding additional sweetener in that case.

Yummy, Homemade Use-what-you-have Pizza

My room mates went out for pizza and I decided since I was staying home, I’d make my own…healthier version with what I had on hand. (yeah-for double frugality! No money spent on going out, no money spent on more food supplies!)

I topped this with some frozen chicken pieces, bits of pineapple, frozen shredded cheddar cheese, and parmesan. Feel free to top it with whatever you have on hand (and can eat :)).

It was really yummy…soft, bread like, dough. It was very thick. I think next time I might split it into two pizzas.
 

No Rise Pizza and Crust – adapted from this recipe

 

Ingredients:

1 T yeast
1 C warm water

1 tsp. honey/agave
1 tsp. salt
2 T olive oil
2.5 C whole wheat flour or some other (GF flour) combo

Prepare the crust by mixing warm water, honey,and yeast in a small bowl. Allow yeast mix to sit for about 5 minutes.  Then add the oil and stir. After that add the flour and salt. 

Next knead the dough for a few minutes with your hands (or alternatively a kitchen aid/bread maker), then let it sit for 5 mins while you grease your pizza pan and gather the ingredients for the toppings.

Take the dough and put it on the center of the pan…stretch it out slowly until it covers the entire pan. Top it with your favorite sauce (I used straight tomato paste) and toppings.

Bake for about 20-25 minutes, or until the crust is done and the toppings (such as cheese) are done.

 

Naturally Sweet Double Berry Oatmeal

  You will notice the oatmeal looks a little purplish-almost gray especially compared to the background----but don’t fear! It’s because of how it’s made.

 

I discovered that I left a mug of herbal raspberry tea out and decided to experiment with using that instead of water in my oatmeal. I also added some strawberries. It was perfect. It gave it just enough flavor….oatmeal, strawberries, and a hint of raspberry flavor! :) Try it! :) You might be surprised. :)

 

I try to use as little sugar as I can especially on oatmeal so this was perfect option for me. :)

 

*GF’ers- be sure to use GF oats or quiona flakes!

Frugal, Filling, and Hearty Carrot Soup

The other week I noticed I had some carrots that were in dire need of use! I didn’t want to waste them so I decided to make something with them. I found a recipe for carrot soup and then modified it to fit my needs and what I had on hand. The original recipe doesn’t advise to use “older carrots” but I found it worked just fine.  It was delicious and so filling. I don’t know if I’ve ever had a soup this filling before! :)  I would definitely make this again, even with fresh carrots. :)  I like how frugal this recipe is too.

Carrot Soup

Modified by Ari, from this recipe

About +/- 10 carrots (use what you have)

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
3 cups+ water
1.5 T lemon juice (half a lemon’s worth)
fine grain sea salt (as much as you need)

cinnamon (as much as you want)

and or garlic (again, that’s subjective to you)

Peel, cut, and cook carrots in 3 c. boiling water. After they are soft, add lemon juice, salt, and cinnamon and or garlic. (I used a both- A little garlic gave it more flavor- and the cinnamon heightened the sweetness of the carrots.) Then use a potato masher to mash up the mixture.  If you want a smoother soup, use an immersion blender or if you don’t have that, do as I did and use a regular hand mixer. :) You could also  use a food processor or a blender to do the same thing. After mixing, serve! :)

The original recipe says it serves about four, I would say that is about right. :)

Sloppy Joe Boats

After finishing up my hamburger buns and still having meat left I decided to make a healthy, GF, low carb variation of my sloppy joes!

Viola! Take a leaf of lettuce (like Romaine), add meat, and sprinkle with cheese. Enjoy! :)

Still prefer the bun? Try these.

Mom’s Homemade Sloppy Joes

Mmm…sloppy joes! A classic American favorite. I just recently made my mom’s recipe and I will quote it here with some minor add-ins:

Sloppy Joes

Brown 1 pound hamburger with one diced medium onion.

Add one 6 oz. can of tomato paste,  1 1/4 cup water, and shake in a few shakes of dry diced garlic.

Mix well and simmer for 10 minutes stirring occasionally. Serve on hamburger buns.

That's it.  Easy, huh?  Yup, real easy. Real tasty!

This makes enough for our entire family.  (There are 7 of us) Her suggestion (if you are the only one eating it or have less people) is that  you may want to half it and then freeze it in baggies in 1/3 cup portions that you can pull out to eat quickly.  Or you could add it to spaghetti sauce to use it up.

Need a recipe for the buns? Try this one! It works great for hamburgers, sloppy joes, or sandwiches. :)

Soft and Chewy, Healthy! Chocolate Chip Cookies

WOW! This is the first time in years I’ve had a chocolate chip cookie! It’s amazing! And my first try worked! :) They were so good I ate way too many! and burned my tongue. :) I think these would be great too with the alterations listed but I was excited that they turned out so well with whole wheat flour and no refined sugar. Give them a try and let me know what you think!!! :)

They aren’t quite as sweet (just a little bit less sweet) than your normal cookie but they do the trick for me! :) Hence, the burnt tongue and disappearance of a 1/3 (ok…ok…1/3 sounds better…I ate 6! :) They were that good!) of my cookies! :)

Amazingly, Yummy, Healthy Chocolate Chip Cookies

by Ari (me) based of this recipe

1 cup whole wheat flour (or GF flour blend)

1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup honey (or maple syrup)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup melted butter(or melted earth balance, melted coconut oil, etc)

1/3 cup chocolate chips (I used grain-sweetened, which are sugar-free)

Preheat the oven to 350*F. In a large bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a separate bowl, stir together honey, vanilla extract and butter until well combined. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Stir in chocolate chips. Place spoonfuls of batter on cookie sheets and bake for 13-17 (no more than 17- the maximum actually gets you a very crisp cookie with a tiny bit of a chewy center) minutes for soft chewy cookies. I would guess 15 minutes is about perfect. Cookies will set up as they cool. :) Makes 12-15 cookies.

ENJOY! :) Serve with a glass of cold milk! :)

Mini Chicken Meatloaves!

MINI CHICKEN MEATLOAVES

I was flipping through some recipes I had saved and saw one that sounded really good! Of course, I couldn't just leave it like it was, soooo I Ariana'itzed it! :)

First off, I didn't have any ground turkey or chicken (if you want lean ground turkey or chicken, you have to pay an arm and a leg for it, so I never buy it. ) Instead I make my own.

How to make ground chicken or turkey in three easy steps:

First off, I used chicken breast that I half-defrosted and then cut into chunks.

2. Then I pureed it into

ground turkey in my food processor.

3. Put it all together. In the end, I ended up with about two cups of ground turkey. (I tried to

weigh it but my scale wasn't working.) Use it for this recipe or freeze for later use :).

Sorry if those pics are kind of unappetizing but it is so worth it in the end :)

The finished product, well, before cooking :)

Mini Chicken Meatloaves!

Yield: 1 Dozen Mini "Muffin" Size Meatloaves :)

Ingredients:

3 large chicken breasts (pureed into ground turkey)

1/2 c. chopped carrot (sneak some good veggies in there- your kids won't even notice)

1/2 c. breadcrumbs (I used GF ones I saved from my bread every time crumbs fall off and then put it in the freezer for future use)

1/2 c. sugar-free ketchup + (see my sugar-free recipe on that link :))

1 egg

1 t. marjoram

1 t. salt

sprinkle pepper

Preheat oven for 350. Mix all the ingredients. Distribute evenly into 12 muffin cups (about 3/4 full). Squirt ketchup on the top and place in the oven for 35 minutes. Enjoy!

See this and other entries here at the Simply Indulgent Carnival. Give it a shot! This weeks giveaway is perfect for the coming holidays! A $25 Amazon gift card!