[ Chocolate Quinoa & Honey Mini Muffins ]

Please excuse my lack-of-manicure - but these are TOO amazing to not capture right now.  They are my "glory-hallelujah" - with no flour, no refined sugar ... and pure yumminess that completely hides any trace of "health".  TRUE. 

There's been a recipe that's been ALL over my FB newsfeed.  And then I tried a taste at my friend's place and was completely won over.  But when I went to make it today, I realized I didn't have coconut sugar (or organic cane sugar) - so I gave my attempt at using honey instead.  THIS terrified me.  Because if it didn't work, it'd be such a waste.  My cooking teacher in high school told me that baking is an exact science - and that's always intimidated me from trying to change recipes. 

I did a little reading, and altered the dry ingredient amount for the liquid honey ... and BOOM - hit that one right out of the park ...  

Also - I used mini muffin tins, and this recipe  is actually for a double-layered cake.  But who cares?  My kids are going to lose their minds when these show up in their lunch boxes next week ... 

Chocolate Quinoa & Honey Mini Muffins

2 cups cooked quinoa*
1/8 cup unsweetened coconut milk (or preferred milk)
4 whole eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup Earth Balance, melted (or butter)
1/4 cup melted coconut oil
3/4 cup honey
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (I used Hershey’s Special Dark)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 and 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions:  

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F 

2. spray muffin tins with coconut oil, or line with parchment 

3. In a food processor or blender, combine the eggs, coconut milk (or preferred milk) and vanilla extract then blend for ten seconds to combine.

4. Add the cooked and cooled quinoa along with the melted and cooled butter and coconut oil  then blend until completely smooth, about thirty seconds to one minute.  Add honey, mix again.
5. Sift together the dry ingredients in a large bowl cocoa powder,  baking powder, baking soda and sea salt.
6. Add the wet ingredients in the blender to the bowl with the dry and mix together until well-combined.
7. Spoon into muffin tins.

8. Cook for 18-20minutes

[ Coconut Quinoa Banana Bread ]

I'm always looking for SMART snacks to add to my kid's lunches.  This recipe promised to hide the quinoa taste completely ... so I thought I'd give it a go *grin*.  If it's up here - then it WORKED.  Special thanks to Pinterest yet again ... and let me mention that this is NOT my photo, and the recipe originally comes from http://www.coffeeandquinoa.com .

Yields: 1 loaf (about 12 slices)

Coconut Quinoa Banana Bread

1/2 cup uncooked quinoa (about 1 1/2 cups cooked)

3 very ripe bananas

1/4 cup coconut oil, melted

1/4 cup maple syrup

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup all-purpose flour ** I used Cloud 9 cup-for-cup flour replacement.  gluten-free

1 cup old-fashioned oats + another small handful for topping

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp kosher salt

*1/2 cup sweetened shredded coconut + another small handful for topping

1 tsp cinnamon ** my addition

2 Tbsp ground flaxseed

1/4 cup coconut milk

Directions 

1. Cook quinoa according to package directions. (I bring it to a boil with 3/4 cup of water, then simmer for 15 minutes and fluff with a fork, but I know some people prefer to use more water, probably depending on the stove.) Set aside.

2. Preheat oven to 350 and lightly grease a loaf pan.                                                                    

3. In a large bowl, mash bananas with a fork. Stir in the coconut oil, maple syrup, and vanilla extract.

4. In a medium-sized bowl, combine the flour, oats, baking soda, salt, shredded coconut, flaxseed, and cooked quinoa. Dump into the large bowl of wet ingredients and mix until thoroughly combined. 

5. Stir in the coconut milk.

6. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake until top of loaf is golden brown and sides are pulled away from the pan, 45-50 minutes.  Cool completely in the pan on a wire rack before serving. Keeps wrapped in tin foil in the fridge for several days.

* I LOVE the flavour of coconut, but not the texture of wet coconut.  In my opinion, the added coconut makes the texture less smooth - and I won't add it next time.  Maybe next time I'll add a tsp of coconut extract for some added coconut flavour. 

** when it comes to white flour, I am doing my BEST to try and avoid it at all costs.  I am just learning how to use coconut flour as a replacement - and could've substituted it for the flour in this recipe.  But.  I opted for Cloud 9 because ... well.  It was an easier learning curve *grin*.

[ Clean Broccoli Soup with Kick ]

I had no idea what to name this.  It's adapted from a recipe that I got off of Pinterest.  But honestly?  It was BLAND.  And yucky.  SO I added some stuff ... let it simmer.  And I've had it for the last two meals.  Mmmmm.  Pureed yumminess.

Clean Broccoli Soup with Kick

4 cups chopped broccoli
4 cups chopped cauliflower
½ onion, diced
1 tbsp coconut oil
½ small tin of organic tomato paste
Chicken stock
1 tin of coconut milk
3 tsp chipotle chilli powder
salt and pepper to taste


Directions:

1. sautee onions in coconut oil until clear.
2. add broccoli and cauliflower.
3. pour enough chicken stock to almost cover the veggies.
4. simmer until soft.
5. blend until smooth.
6.  add tomato paste and coconut milk.
7.  add chipotle powder, salt and pepper.
8.  simmer.

[ Mexi-Stuffed Yam Skins ]

I started eating "clean" ... basically, no more than 5 ingredients on a package - or I don't eat it.  Its actually REALLY easy ... the biggest change being PREPARING my snacks and lunches.    Our dinners are generally pretty "clean" - so that wasn't much of an adjustment.  

So, when my friend Char made these and gave me a tester?  I was BLOWN away.  I made them the next day - but had no goat cheese or cilantro, which were definitely missing from mine.  But I still ate two - and the rest are in the freezer for the day that I don't have a healthy choice to eat.

Photo cred :  I'm guessing it's Char's LOL

Mexi-Stuffed Yam Skins

3 medium sweet potatoes
1 can corn, rinsed and patted dry
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 tablespoon coconut oil (original recipe calls for butter)
½ yellow onion, chopped
2-4 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, minced or pureed (not the whole can!) or dry chipotle pepper to taste
1 ounce goat cheese (original recipe calls for cream cheese - Char suggested goat cheese)
¼ cup greek yogurt (original recipe callsfor sour cream)
1 teaspoon salt
½ cup cilantro, roughly chopped
6 tablespoons shredded cheese (I omitted the cheese)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake the sweet potatoes for 45-60 minutes.
2. While sweet potatoes are baking, place corn in a heavy cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat with no butter or oil. Sprinkle with salt and other Mexican seasoning (as much as you want). Do not stir! Let corn roast for several minutes before stirring. Let it roast for a few more minutes before stirring again. Continue this for about 10 minutes, until corn is browned and roasted on the outside. Set aside in a small bowl with the black beans.
3. Saute the onion in the oil over medium heat until soft and translucent. Set aside.
4. Remove sweet potatoes from the oven when fork-tender. Let cool for 5-10 minutes. Cut the sweet potatoes in half. Scrape the flesh of the sweet potatoes out, leaving the skins intact. Sometimes leaving a thin layer of potato inside of the skins helps them hold together better.
5. Mix the flesh of the sweet potatoes with the goat cheese, greek yogurt, chipotle, and salt.  When well-mixed, gently stir in the black beans, roasted corn, sauteed onions, and cilantro.
6. Scoop the filling into the skins and top each with 1 tablespoon shredded cheese. Broil for about 5 minutes or until cheese is melted.