Sunshine and Lemon Pops

Yay for summer! There are lazy days, trips to the beach, and kickball in the backyard. My kids love
summer and they love flavored ice pops. They also love gardening. We live in the city in an apartment
building. We have no backyard space for our dream garden. So we work with our little 12 foot by 3
foot patch of earth we can plant in. A few years ago we found Lemon Balm Herb at a local nursery and
couldn’t wait to plant it. After 3 years of having it grace our garden, this year I wanted to find a way to
actually use it other than to rub between my fingers for the incredible soothing smell. I knew you could
make tea with Lemon Balm leaves so I decided to try to make some ice pops for the kids to enjoy since
lemons, ice and summer go so well together.

It’s a simple, easy recipe that even your kids can help you with. Not to mention that there are
no artificial colors, preservatives or sweeteners like the many ice pops you get from the store. (And
these are lower in sugar too!) Start by cutting some lemon balm from your plant. Enough to fill two 20
ounce Mason canning glass jars (I just use the glass jars I save from when I buy store bought Classico
marinara sauce) Don’t be stingy-stuff that lemon balm in!

More Lemon Balm!

Fill each jar with boiling water. Let it seep for 20 minutes. Drain using a colander and/or cheesecloth (if
you have tiny pieces of leaves)

Add one teaspoon (or more to taste) of Agave syrup. You could also use honey. Stir well.

Now comes the fun part. Pick some fresh berries to add. Strawberries, raspberries, blueberries are our
favorite. Using ice pop molds pour in liquid and add some berries. We also used ice trays so we can
add some of the ice cubes to our summer iced tea. Freeze and enjoy!!

The kids like it more when they get to help!

No need for French fried guilt!

Roasted Garbanzo Bean Snack

Makes 2 cups

2 cans Garbanzo beans (Chickpeas) rinsed

3 T canola oil

1 t. cumin

1 t garlic powder

1 t coriander

½ t ginger

1 t paprika

¼ t ( or more) cayenne pepper

1-2 t sea salt

Toss all ingredients into bowl and mix well making sure the beans are covered with the seasoning.  Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Place beans on a baking sheet with a lip and spread them out.  Stir  the beans every 5- 10 minutes or so.  Cook until the beans are browned and crunchy.  This takes about 30-45 minutes.  Be careful at the end of cooking as the beans start to toast they will burn quickly.

These are a bit like toasted soybeans.  Yummy snack.  These would be great on top of a salad too.

Enjoy!

Jamie

Will you scream?

“What is your favorite healthy food ingredient?“– I am asked this question a lot.  I answer “avocado” automatically, no thought goes into my response at all because I know the question so well. 9 out of 10 times I hear about how the inquisitor does not like avocado at all as they recant a story of the worst guacamole they ever tried, the terrible texture etc. Honestly, I rarely give listen to the response–because the ones who do not like avocado are the ones who have never really had an avocado aside from some store bought pseudo food product green in color with the word avocado written on the label. I am sick of the reputation this wonder food has! I  can never find anything negative to say about this food–it works in almost any dish, from dessert to main course and anything in between. (Yes, dessert THEN the main course, those are the rules!) I have been known to open the fridge, grab an avocado, peel it and eat it as it. I don’t care–I am wild like that–the avocado and I are wild like that when we are together!

So, reading food blogs about ice cream I got to thinking about how wonderful a coconut milk and avocado ice cream would be. Could you imagine? The idea in my mind was just perfect, so smooth,complimenting and sweet. Both tree fruits ( I declare them tree fruits) can fit in any dish–I bet I could even put them in a pasta meal without you even noticing!  My only drawback was I did not have an ice cream maker–till now. (insert maniacal laughter once again)

Today we created a sugar free (meaning no added sweetener of any kind) dairy free ice cream. We did it and I will do it again!

Cherry Coconut Ice Cream
makes 6 scoops

1 whole avocado peeled and pitted
10 ounces coconut milk
1/4 cup frozen cherries (or fresh)
1/4 cup dark chocolate chips
1/4 tsp almond extract
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

In a blender or food processor combined all ingredients aside from the chocolate and the cherries. Blend well and add to your ice cream maker. Follow your ice cream makers instructions on when to put in the add ins.

Now on a lot of the blogs i was noting that their ice cream was melting as they were taking pictures so I put my ice cream in the freezer to really set firm before I served it.

The texture was smooth like the butter fat types of ice cream you get here in New England. It was a lot like Ben n Jerry’s Cherry Garcia in fact.  the almond extract complimented the frozen cherries really bringing out the flavor of the fruit. No sugar is even needed in this, the chocolate, the natural sweetness of the coconut milk and the cherries was perfect.  This is a great treat for the entire family to try! I cannot wait now to try out more ice cream recipes–tamarind ice cream perhaps?

Blogs I looked at for ice cream were:

• Dokuzuncubulut
• Kitchen Heals Soul

Cool off your summer days with Sorbet!

Strawberry Lemonade Sorbet

1.5 lbs fresh strawberries, trimmed
½ c lemon juice
¾ c water
½ c sugar- or less if your fruit is really sweet

Puree the berries and juice together in a food processor or blender.  Place the water and the sugar in a microwave safe dish and heat for a minute and a half and stir until the sugar is dissolved.  Once the sugar is dissolved, cool the mix in the fridge or add a few ice cubes to it.  Now add the sugar syrup to the berries and blend well.  Chill.  Now you have to follow the directions for your ice cream maker.  I added my fruit mix to the maker, surrounded the container with ice, turned it on and had a luscious sorbet in 30 minutes.

Jamie Wilson

How easy is this? How much better for you is this as well?  Clean eating ROCKS!

Farmer Market Cornucopia!

After an afternoon at the market we come home with bagfuls of goodies.  Tomatoes, peppers, onions, and lots and lots of peaches.    Inevitably upon our return home my children declare they are starving.  They want food and they want it now.  I want them to eat healthy.  I want them to have a summer of good foods and good fun.  And I want them to actually enjoy eating the food I make instead of them complaining or feeling forced to eat what they deem inedible.

The boys enjoying the snack--unaware of the goodness it delivers!

I decide to whip up some fresh summer salsa for them.  We all love salsa here and I make fresh salsa weekly.  But today I was feeling bored with the same old ingredients I usually use.  And the aroma from the fresh ripe peaches were tingling my senses.  That’s it!!  I’ll make peach salsa.  It was amazingly good and my children happily gobbled it up.  We didn’t even have any left over to refrigerate for later.   This salsa is sweet and tangy.  My 8 year old asked if there was sugar in it to which I replied no and he could not believe it.  The peaches give a sweet taste that combine with the peppers and onions to make a delightful treat.    If you are looking for a light but filling summer lunch, this will be a hit!

Fresh Peach Salsa

3 fresh tomatoes

2 peppers (one green, one yellow or orange)

1 red onion

3 -4 fresh peaches

1 T lime juice

1 tsp salt

Cut top off tomatoes and spoon out seeds.  Chop tomatoes, green pepper and onion and add to a large bowl.  Gently slice peaches into small bite size bits.  Add to bowl.  Add lime juice and salt. Stir gently.  Refrigerate for 30 minutes to allow flavors to blend with one another.  Serve with organic corn tortilla chips or for a fuller meal, top off a bowl of tuna and cottage cheese with the salsa and enjoy!

Beth is a work at home mom trying to raise her children with a better understanding as to what food is good and what foods are for “once in a while and of course the NEVER IN YOUR BODY food like items as well. She and I have been great friends for a decade now. We both are raising a Celiac child and love to explore new health and food trends together.  her husband is owner of DJNM Technologies and is my go to tech man–who I go to a lot–PC’s and I do not see eye to laser!

Thanks beth for such a great post to share!  ♥♥

You just can't go wrong with this!

Which is 100% no sugar added–kid you not. It passed the test with my 6 and 7 year old daughters. My 7 year old, also my Celiac child is a lover and seeker of the toothsome foods like her Mama. Odd that neither  of  us can eat wheat in any form yet we are sadly entwined in a love for the carrier of sugar and fats that it can bring to our palettes. She will curse all things wheat when she seems them frosted or sprinkled with sugary colored toppings.  Me, too, Baby Girl–me too. So, as I was explaining this cheesecake passed with flying colors with my daughters–each asking for seconds and looking forward to waking up in the morning for a breakfast slab of delectable treat.

Local Peaches and Raspberry Puree

Gluten free No Sugar Cheesecake
(adapted from South Beach Diet)
serves 12
6 large fresh eggs–room temperature and seperated
3/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 32 ounce container of part skim Ricotta cheese
2 tsp lemon zest
6 tbls fresh lemon juice

Preheat oven to 325 and lightly butter a spring form pan. In a glass or metal mixing bowl beat egg whites on medium speed for 1 minute allowing the whites to become frothy and air filled. Add the cream of tartar and beat on high for another 3 minutes until very stiff peaks form. Set egg whites aside.

Egg whites with perfect stiff peaks.

In a separate bowl beat egg yolks, lemon zest and 2 tablespoons lemon juice until creamy. Add in the ricotta cheese and blend until smooth.

Creamy Ricotta filling

Gently fold in about 1/3 of the egg whites to the cheese filling then add the rest of the whites and continue to gently fold in. Do not beat it in, fold it in, some missed areas off egg white is OK. It is better to under fold than to over beat.

See how fluffy it is when you gently fold?

Spread raw cake mix into the prepared spring form pan and set on the center rack to bake until golden brown and set–about 1 hour and 15 minutes–it is OK the wait will be worth it! Allow to cool on a wire rack for about a half an hour.

Golden brown and cracked means done

While cake is cooling simmer remaining 4 tablespoons lemon juice, stirring constantly for about 10 minutes,allowing the juice to reduce slightly. Spoon the reduced juice over the cake and into the cracks. Cover cake and set in the fridge to cool over night–or at the very least 4 hours.

Just before serving remove from pan and top with local fruits. I topped ours with fresh raspberry puree and local peaches.

Cheesecake for ME!

Calories Per Slice:  140
Fat: 9 grams
Carbohydrates: 5 grams
Protein: 11 grams

So, here is my alternative to your seduction–some coffee, come coconut oil, a scoop of cinnamon protein powder a little milk , a dash of stevia all added to a blender with some ice–which resulted in such a wonderful drink–let’s call it  the Cinnamon Dolce 2.0.

Cinnamon Dolce 2.0

2 tbl Milk (skim, whole, goat, almond whatever it is you like)
2 tsp coconut oil (melted)
1 scoop Cinnamon Protein Powder
8 ounces hot coffee
6 or 7 ice cubes

Add all ingredients to a blender and blend completely. Pour into a glass, sprinkle with cinnamon and indulge!

Other Good Ideas:

–Use chocolate protein for a Mocha twist

–Use vanilla protein and sprinkle cardamom, cinnamon and cloves for a Chai event

Calories Per Serving using whole milk: 276
Carbohydrates: 13 grams
Fat: 13 grams
Protein: 35 grams

So–let’s get on with it, shall we?

What the Fudge
1 cup natural peanut butter (crunchy or creamy)
1 cup local honey*
1 cup sunflower seeds
1 cup flax seeds
1 cup organic cocoa powder

Step 1: Heat the honey on medium heat for about 5 minutes then add peanut butter and mix in really well.  You can see in the first image here it is still separate, the honey and peanut butter are just swirling around each other not totally in love as of yet. So–keep mixing till it looks like the next image.

See how it is creamy and thick and rich looking in this second image–make it look like this.  This is the foundation of the fudge and making sure you cook it while doing this and stirring it until it is emulsified will give you that chewy texture that feels so good in your mouth!

Step 2: While still cooking stir in the cocoa powder until completely blended.  It looks good, doesn’t it? Well, do not sample it, it is HOT!

Step 3: Remove from heat and stir in the seeds–you have to fold them in really as mixing is very difficult to do at this point.  Once again, I want to remind you that this is hot…hot hot hot. (OK so I burned myself trying it, can you tell?) Press this seed mixture into a lightly greased pan and slice up while still warm into 1″ cubes. This really should be step 4 but I did not get a picture–you know, because I burned myself and was all preoccupied.

Other good ideas:

–Add some dried fruits like cherries
–Add in different seeds like sesame or some chopped nuts

In the organic whole food section of the store I purchased dates, almonds, dried coconut, dried cranberries, and more gluten free oats. At home I knew I had this protein powder in the pantry that was really unfriendly in most of the recipes I had tried with it. I guess I am not a banana creme lover after all–don’t tell the monkeys.

So, back at home I go–ingredients in the car and ideas in my head. First I knew I wanted to soak the almonds, oats and dates. The oats to remove some sort of acid a friendly blogger mentioned to me–what acid it was–no idea (details escape my ADHD brain). Perhaps she will be kind enough to chime in to remind me! I had to soak the dates to make them easier to use as a paste and the almonds were to be soaked to make them less flavorful–ok, just kidding, I soaked the nuts because it is the thing to do! ( I forgot why)

I am super glad I did soak all of them because the results were a benefit to the end results. The oats with the dates made a fantastic paste that just blended so well together. The soaked almonds added a different texture to the end result that made it feel more earth like and natural, more wholesome. I liked it! I soaked them all for 30 minutes, however, the dates were soaked in hot water, nuts and oats in cold water.

After the soaking and draining, I removed the pits from the dates and added those along with the soaked oats to the hand blender blender. (Dear Santa if you can see this, please may I have a food processor for the holidays?)The oats were really in no need of draining as they plumped right up and absorbed more water than I thought they even would! Once these were fully blended into a paste I added that paste to the stand mixer. I tossed in some dried cranberries, some dried unsweetened coconut and an egg and let that blend together.

While that was mixing I took out my handy dandy coffee grinder (which has never seen a coffee bean) and ground up those soaked almonds into a chucky meal of sorts. You can see how there are still considerable chunks in the grinder along with tiny little almond fragments. I added this right into the stand mixer as well. Then I threw in the protein powder and some cinnamon then watched as it made the dough. I was apprehensive and curious–like a mad scientist waiting to see if the creature would live. I thought about short circuiting the outlet to give the bowl a charge but thought better of it. I then remembered to add some xanthan gum to the batch to make sure once it was baked it would still all be as one versus a bunch of weird lumps of granola or something.

I lightly greased a pie pan ( do not use a pie pan, use a 9×9 pan) I dumped my new creation into the pan. You can click the image of the blob to see what it looks like. Very, um, blob like with lumps of goodies poking out. I then wet my hands (if you cook gluten free you should know this trick) and began smoothing out the dough with my wet hands. Wet hands do not get the dough stuck to them. Nifty, right?

I then took the pan and placed it in the oven and laughed maniacally while rubbing my hands together. I was alone in the house so this was OK behavior. I baked this for 35 minutes, until the edges were brown and the top golden. When I sliced this up and took some out I thought–hey these look like Biscotti! So, I plated some and took some pictures and then threw them onto a non-stick pan and placed them back in the oven to toast them up.

You could certainly serve these after the first baking, they smelled so wonderful and had great texture–chewy and crunchy. I just wanted to see what they would do if I baked them again. I left them in for 25 minutes with the oven still on 350 degrees and checked them for burning while they cooked.

I was very pleased with the end result, as were the kids and the hubby. This is a keeper for sure and I will be making these in batches to freeze for breakfast bars. These will now be a part of a healthy breakfast in our New Hampshire home!

Biscotti Protein Bars
serves 9
13 whole dates
1 cup oats
1 1/2 cups protein powder
1 cup raw almonds
Zest of 1/2 a lemon
1 cup dried unsweetened coconut flakes
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1 large egg
1 tsp xanthan gum
1 TBL cinnamon
2 tsp vanilla

Calories Per 2 cookies-360
Fat- 14 grams
Carbohydrates- 30 grams
Fiber- 7 grams
Protein – 32 grams

Gluten Free Apple Cinnamon Buns
serves 12
1 batch of raw GF bread dough + 1 tsp cinnamon added to the dough & 2 tsp vanilla
2 apples washed and chopped
2 tsp vanilla
1 tbls Agave Nectar
1 tsp salt
Topping- 8 ounces Greek yogurt I used no fat vanilla.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees slightly grease a baking dish–I used butter as really it is a scant amount but does add a flavor to the finished product. Add diced apples, cinnamon,vanilla, agave nectar, salt and cinnamon to a bowl and mix. The salt really allows the apples to “sweat it out” and adds a unique twist to the bun when finished. Since this is a lower in fat (naturally) as well as low in sugar recipe–the salt balances out what your taste buds may otherwise feel is missing.Set apples aside. Fill a 1/4 measuring cup about 2/3 full with the bread dough and place in your baking pan–repeat to make sure you have 12 even sized raw lumps of dough.

Next wet a wooden spoon and press out a center for the apples to be placed in the buns. The wet spoon prevents the batter from adhering to the spoon and smooths the dough out perfectly.

After the bread “bowl” is created you want to fill it with the apple mix. After filling all 12 buns you want to cover this and set in a warm area and allow to rise till about double in size–this takes about 45 minutes. I just cover mine and set them on the stove top while the oven preheats. Of course since it takes so long to rise–feel free to toss some potatoes into the oven to bake for your meals later in the day!

You can see here how much the dough has risen–air pockets can be seen and the dough has a “puffy” look to it. Perfect! Go ahead now and place these in the oven and bake for 50 minutes or until they are golden brown on the tops and edges.

These were served with warm so the vanilla yogurt really just melted and filled all the crevices. The apples were caramel like in texture and really flavor filled!

Calories Per Bun- 170
Carbohydrates- 36
Fiber-6 grams
Fat-6 grams
Protein- 2 grams

Other Good Ideas:
–bake large batches for bake sales and to bring to holiday events
–double the batch and freeze half of them so you can pop them in the oven without waiting for all the work to be done.
–try pumpkin filling instead of apples

Just for kicks there are 309 calories in a traditional cinnamon bun with 13 grams of fat, 42 grams of carbs with 2 grams fiber, and 5 grams protein. So we just about halved the calories and added in some more fiber and less fat and carbohydrates.