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Tags: healthy recipes

10 May 2012

cookie cutter rice crispies

We have just made the cutest little desserts ~ fantastic for even a 4 year old to make! We made the Cookie Cutter Rice Crispies for a little playdate with another mama and her kiddo to celebrate…. a pre-mother’s-day day! Here’s to good times over ‘healthier’ rice crispies!

The recipe is inspired by the Rice Krispies Squares recipe ~ but for sure much healthier! That recipe is not healthy at all in my book so this is a wonderful way to still eat a great little treat but with much better nutrition value. Because to kids, they’re still amazing little treats – to mom’s, they are a great alternative that keeps everyone happy ;)

COOKIE CUTTER RICE CRISPIES

{gluten free, dairy free, vegan (optional), healthier recipe}

3 tbsp coconut butter
1 package (about 4 cups) of vegan marshmallows (you can purchase in health food stores or online)
6 cups Nature’s Path Crispy Rice organic cereal
1 tsp vanilla extract

Prep all the cutest cookie cutters in the house by laying them on wax paper or cutting board. In a large saucepan, melt the coconut butter over low heat. Add the marshmallows and stir until completely melted. Remove from heat and add the vanilla extract and mix gently. Add Crispy Rice Cereal and stir until it’s all well coated.

They need to be shaped right away as they will harden very quickly. If you do involve children in this fun process (and please do), check that the batch of the marshmallow rice mix isn’t hot but warm enough to shape. Get the children to squeeze into the cookie cutter shapes. Leave for a few minutes to harden and remove cookie cutters.

So easy, quick and fun….. oh and so delicious…. oh and healthier too than your original RK recipe!

This is a super sweet recipe to make for a playdate with other moms or for dad, aunts, cousins to make with the kiddos and to serve for Mom on her day!

I had a few packages of icing left over from some easter cookies (ok, I know that is not the healthiest part – but you can skip that if you want)…. and decided to use them up by creating a Do It Yourself station : I just placed the icing packets and sprinkles in a little bowl – kids love that and it was one less thing for mom to do! ;) Yay to clever moms everywhere who go with the DIY food stations ;P

I love it when delicious snacks are made healthier
~ and don’t suffer on taste!

By simply swapping the butter for coconut oil, getting better quality marshmallows and going with a simple pure rice cereal…. we created a super yummy healthy snacks. The cute effect with the cookie cutters is just a bonus ~ they do taste better when they’re so cute ;)

Wishing you a lovely rest of the week!

What are your favourite Mother’s Day treats?

Tags: healthy recipes

13 comments

17 April 2012

sweet seedlings from the earth : an earth day treat

:: hello friends. please take a moment to visit my facebook page and click ‘Like’ for updates on posts and other inspirational tips, quotes and links only shared on fb. thanks. ella

Hello earthlings! In celebration of Earth Day coming up on April 22nd, I have a cute treat for you all! These are Sweet Seedlings from the Earth we made as an Earth Day treat! Who said you can’t eat dirt!? Crazy delicious dirt that is! The treats were so fun to make with my own little earth-loving seedling herself. So if you do have little growing sprouts around, do include them in this earth-day inspired dessert. Here’s what to do:

SWEET SEEDLINGS FROM THE EARTH RECIPE

{vegan with gluten-free and ‘nut’ free option}

dark chocolate (dark as it’s naturally dairy free and has less sugar)
a choice of textured snacks and baking ingredients : we used:
hemp hearts (from hemphearts.com)
coconut flakes (unsweetened)
slivered almonds
pretzel sticks (can be gluten-free)
fresh mint leaves for your seedlings

Great alternatives would be : sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, goji berries, all kinds of chopped nuts : walnuts, pine, hazelnut ~ you could go nuts here ;) (see a note below about school safe options)
One thing to remember is that you need a fine grind ingredient such as the hemp hearts and some larger pieced for texture.

Directions :

Rinse and gently dry off your mint leaves with paper towel and set aside. You can store your mint leaves in a cup with water in your refrigerator for longer freshness. (being careful that the leaves don’t touch the water, so you may need to remove some of the leaves)

Melt the chocolate (I place mine in a bowl over a pot with boiling water- it does the trick pretty well – we then use the same bowl to mix our ingredients (so we don’t waste any chocolate! ;) For mixing, invite some children if you have any around. I had one and she did a pretty good job including the taste testing (ps. I did replace the spoon once she licked it off (although it was clean to my eyes) ;)

Scoop a spoonful of your chocolatey dirt onto parchment paper and shape into circles. Check below as to when the best time is to add your mint leaves as they will wilt if left for too long.

Adding Seedlings (Mint)

You will use the tops of your mint plants for the seedlings. Cut about 1.5-2″ down from the top (look for a natural leaf burst and cut so the shape looks even and resembles a seedling).

Serving in 30-60 minutes : Insert the stem of the mint plant (making sure it’s dry) into the centre of the chocolate earth, while still soft. Place into the refrigerator for about 20 minutes to set or longer – up to an hour. Serve immediately.

Serving next day : Use a toothpick to poke a hole through the chocolate earth and place in the refrigerator without the mint plants in them. You may want to re-poke them a few hours later so the still-soft chocolate won’t fill in the hole. Next day, just before serving, insert the mint leaf tops (stems dried off from the water).

School Safe Alternatives

Not all schools allow almonds, even though almonds are technically not considered nuts. An almond is the seed (pit) of a drupe, which is a fruit much like a peach. Nuts are hard-shelled fruit that have an indehiscent seed, meaning it doesn’t split open or separate at maturity to release seeds. To be safe, check with your school’s policy about almonds if you want to bring them to school. If you can’t use almonds, other options such as sunflower or pumpkin seeds, goji berries, sesame seeds etc. would also be great.

This doesn’t have to be a ‘cute’ snack for kids. Make a beautiful presentation for grown ups and they will sprout with excitement!

Hope you like this Earth-Day treat! Never thought you could be drooling over some dirt, did you now?

Have a beautiful Earth Week my friends!

“Be good to the earth and she will be good to you.”

Tags: healthy recipes

2 comments

26 October 2011

spiced apple muffins : gluten-free & vegan

These are some of the goodies that are coming out of our oven lately. I don’t think there’s anything more comforting than having a delicious batch of muffins in the oven (or something just as satisfying – although I don’t know what? ) as a hardy and healthy snack in these cooler (cozier) months. That scent of apples and spices slowly filling the house is unbearable…. making your stomach ache and mouth water at the thought of the deliciousness that awaits…

As you can tell, we like muffins around here. (or at least me and my daughter does – the husband – not And why not? They’re healthier, especially these with no cholesterol, good fats, filled with fibre and nutrients. They’re easy to combine, and fun to dopple into the muffin pans (yes, dopple – did I just make up a word?) my little 4 year old always likes to help with that. And best of all, they’re quick to bake – therefore, making them have a quick turn-around-time to enjoy.

Spiced Apple Muffins

{gluten-free and vegan recipe}

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Prep the muffin tins. I suggest using muffin papers (baking cups), otherwise you can grease it.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup of coconut flour
1/4 cup of buckwheat flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 cup of organic raw or brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon medium grind sea salt (if you use fine, use 1/4 teaspoon)
1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder OR 2 tsp baking soda with 3 tsp apple cider vinegar (pour the apple cider over the baking soda – mix it and let it bubble up and add to the mix)
2 tbsp of ground flax + 2 tbsp of warm water, mix and let stand for 2 minutes (this is a great all-natural substitute for 2 eggs or 2 teaspoons of egg replacer – for vegans or for people with sensitivity to the egg replacer or if you just don’t have eggs around ;)
1/3 cup of coconut oil (melted)
1/2 cup of apple sauce (or 1 apple peeled and cooked in 1/4 cup of water, mushed with a fork or blended)
3/4 cup of finely chopped apples (wash, and core the apples first, then cut them into small pieces)

Directions : Mix all ingredients until well blended, then stir in the apples. Let it sit for a few minutes so the binding ingredients absorb, mix again and scoop into a muffin pan and bake for about 25 minutes or until the tops are lightly browned and a toothpick comes out clean when poked in the middle of the muffin.

Allow to cool slightly and enjoy with a warm cup of vanilla flavoured almond milk with a dash of cinnamon stirred in – yum! And don’t forget to include the kids to help you ;)

Tags: healthy recipes

12 comments

04 January 2011

baking traditions

The Holidays have zoomed by ever so quickly this year – or I should say last year. My goodness, see what I mean? Well, there is a few things I want to share with you that is very special to us. One is a little baking session with the girls in our family. Well, at least it used to be girls – now we have a handsome little guy to help us bring some magic ingredients. I think the magic ingredients that the kids do bring each time is LOVE.
This time, the number got quite small, my little sister is living in Cambodia volunteering, my mom had to work, and the other ladies in our family don’t participate in our family traditions unfortunately. Between my sister and I, we had 4 recipes we wanted to pull off. Only 2 got done that evening. Which is still huge efforts with little kids making us work harder ;) We stayed over and enjoyed some morning tea with a few favourite cookies.

Here are the Recipes:

Folded Angels (traditional recipe)

Ingredients: 1.5 cups shortening, 1 sp sour cream, 1 packet of yeast, 1 egg yolk, 3 cups of all purpose flour, 1/2 cup icing sugar for icing, 1/2 cup of plum butter.
Directions: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Combine the yeast with the sour cream and leave in a warm place for about an hour. Mix the shortening, yolk, flour to combine. Add the sour cream with the yeast. Combine well to form a dough like texture (use more flour if you need to). Roll out the dough to about 1/8 inches and cut into squares. You can eyeball the size of the squares but we do them about 2 1/2 inches. (you can lightly draw out the squares on the rolled out dough and plan out how many can fit) To form the angels: cut the square corners inwards but not right to centre. Add a small spoon of plum butter into centre. Fold the top two inner corners into the centre (to make the head) press into the plum butter, and two corners from the sides to make the hands – press gently into the plum butter, enough so they stick or else they will open up when baking. Bake for 20-30 minutes (depending on what size your squares end up). Makes about 3 dozen cookies.

Gingerbread Cookies (gluten-free and vegan)

Ingredients: 2 3/4 cups gluten-free all purpose baking flour, 2 tablespoons ground ginger, 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves, 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg, 1/2 teaspoon sea salt, 2 teaspoons baking soda, 2 tablespoons ground flax seeds, 1/4 cup water, 3/4 cup coconut oil, 1/4 cup maple syrup, 1/4 cup unsulphured molasses, 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
Directions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Sift together gluten-free flour, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, salt and baking soda. In a separate bowl, whisk together flax seeds and water until it becomes slightly sticky. In a third bowl (or in my case I used a blender), mix coconut oil, maple syrup, molasses and applesauce. Incorporate the flax mixture into the third bowl. Once fully mixed, slowly add the flour until it is thoroughly incorporated. Drop the dough by teaspoon onto an ungreased cookie tray. Bake for 10 minutes. Cool and serve. Makes two dozen cookies.

Our tradition may sound like we’ve done it for ages, but really the first time we thought of baking together was when my Gabriella was 4 months old and it was her 1st Christmas. I felt stuck at home and my sisters thought it would be fun to come over and bake. We kept saying, how come we’ve never done this before? We have to do this every year!…. and a tradition was born.

Do you have any family traditions that you do over the Holidays? Please share, and if you’ve written about it (it doesn’t have to be baking) leave a link in the comments below ;)

Have a lovely day.

Tags: family fun, healthy recipes

10 comments

21 December 2010

quick, chocolatey and delicious

chocolate-snack-dessert

We made these delicious snacks the other day. My daughter had so much fun making these. For a three year old – breaking chocolate squares is even fun – so this is definitely a dessert making project you want to involve your little helpers.

chocolate-snack-dessert2

We used a variation of milk and dark chocolate. Some were one type of chocolate and some had both layers of chocolate in one. There are no rules – so make them as you wish. We started by breaking the chocolate bars into a bowl, I then put that on my ‘double boiler’ (which is a small pot with boiling water set on low heat – I stir the chocolate until all the parts are completely melted.) Remove the bowl from the pot and place on a tea towel so it’s not hot to the touch. Keep it away from the kids at this point while it’s still hot. They can have a go at scooping the chocolate a few minutes later. When I worked with my 3 year old, I scooped the chocolate for her and she layered her ingredients of choice.

For the ingredients we had: dark and milk chocolate, plain popcorn, Dried Fruit: sliced apricots, dried figs, dried cranberries, banana chips. Nuts: toasted and chopped almonds, walnut and pecan chunks. Use what you wish. This is great to customize for people with allergies too. For example both my daughter and I don’t eat dairy – so we used the dark chocolate for our treats.

chocolate-snack-dessert3

I used a silicone muffin pan to do these in. If you have one – that is awesome because it’s easy to take them out and handle with kids. You could use a regular muffin pan if you want the circular shapes, or any little plastic cups would do. Wait until the chocolate has completely hardened to remove. chocolate-snack-dessert4 chocolate-snack-dessert5 chocolate-snack-dessert6

These make great little gifts when wrapped nicely with a little cello and string. We made a few sets to give away. But this is definitely a repeat project I will do with my girl and a few of her friends when we have another play date over the holidays. I can just imagine how the kids will go nuts and bananas over the chocolatey fun ;)

As an alternative for adults only you can add a shot of your favourite liqueur ;) I used a mint liqueur on one batch – and it is heavenly topped with cranberries and almonds. Simply add the splash of alcohol to the melting chocolate and stir well. Enjoy my 19+ year old friends (umm 21+ if you’re in the States ;D)

Happy Holidays!

(pssst. 4 days left ;)

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