Chocolate Medication and Birthday Back To School.

Chocolate is amazing.

Everyone knows this. Every chubby cheeked child who ever had a chocolate smeared face, every teenager who refused to give up trick or treating, every adult who has tried the ultimate heart break remedy of dark comedies and dark chocolate.

Chocolate is beautiful,delicious,and classic.

But is chocolate ever healthy?

I know you see news reports about newly discovered benefits of chocolate. They ramble out a little science as the screen flashes from Hershey’s Kisses to M&Ms, shows images of mass production Butterfingers and stock piled KitKat Bars.

Chocolate may be good for us but vanillin, red 40, hydrogenated palm kernel oil, and polyglycerol polyricinoleate are not. I don’t even know that that last one is. I don’t think anyone really does except,perhaps, the makers of KitKat Bars.

So is the chocolate that the news shows us healthy? Of course not. But I’m pretty sure I’ve found the solution to the chocolate lovers dilemma.

Chocolate Medication.

I call this delicious little recipe Chocolate Medication because of it’s three main ingredients.

• Raw Coconut Oil – improves hair and skin health and supports digestion and metabolism.
• Organic Cocoa – lowers blood pressure, improves blood vessel health, brain health and cholesterol levels as well as being rich in antioxidants.
• Raw Honey – raises levels of antioxidants, promote better blood sugar, protects against bacteria, and fights high cholesterol.

That’s it! A little dash of salt and you have a delicious healthy chocolaty dream come true!

I eat this mostly for the coconut oil because my normal diet is rather low in fat. I’ve only just started but have already found my system has *ahem* “regulated”, my skin and hair have gotten softer, and my nails are stronger then before. I have one serving each morning with some dairy and protein such as yogurt or cottage cheese with fruit.

Chocolate Medication

• 1 tbsp raw coconut oil
• 1 tbsp organic cocoa
• 1 tsp raw honey
• a dash of salt

Directions

Combine ingredients and stir until smooth. Place it in the freezer for a few minutes and the texture will change from fudgey frosting to a smooth, melt-in-your-mouth chocolate bar.

This also works well when you want molding chocolate. I used this recipe for my uncle Tom’s birthday present. He’s a teacher so I made a little apple out of two heart molds. This would make a great back to school present too! I wrote out the description for him,

“Cinnamon Coconut Butter Apple with Salted Dark Chocolate Base on top of a Salted Pecan Brown Rice Crisp with Marshmallow Nametag.”

Everything sounds better when you say it with fancy words. And you know what?

He won’t even know that it’s the healthiest chocolate he ever ate.

Loaves and Kisses,

Maddie

Advertisement

Oatmeal Cookie Dough Truffles

This summer is FLYING by! After the Fairy festival and the Red Woods I was lucky enough to go stay at my aunt’s house in Cape Cod,Massachusetts. While I did a lot of amazing things like…

biking to Province Town with my mom

sunbathing on BEAUTIFUL beaches

and parasailing!

I realized that I didn’t cook quite as much as I expected to. Cape Cod is a different altitude then what I normally bake at and although I hadn’t expected baking to be very different,the final results really were. I made a few dishes such as my mom’s birthday cake (a apple spice cake which whipped cream and caramel sauce) but I mostly saved my time for more exciting things like the beach and beach boys 😉

So this recipe isn’t a vacation inspired treat. Instead it’s just a summer treat and that makes it still pretty cool if I do say so myself! Although this recipe is entirely my own invention,I’ve noticed that the finished product resembles (in appearances only) Chocolate Covered Katie’s fudge babies. This is a vegan and,most importantly for summer, a no-bake dessert. Here you are….

Oatmeal Cookie Dough Truffles

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup Organic Smooth Peanut Butter
• 3/4 Cup Organic Toasted Rolled Oats
• 4 tsp Maple syrup
• 2 tbsp+ 2 tsp coconut oil
• 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1/4 cup raisins
• 2 tbsp all purpose flour
• 3 tbsp brown sugar
• 1/3 cup walnuts
• Cinnamon,
• Vanilla, 
•  and Salt to taste
• 1/2 cup sweetened flaked coconut
• 1/3-1/2 cup almonds

Directions

1) Grind the oats in a food processor until slightly powdery. It’s OK if there are some peices bigger then others,it gives the truffles a better texture.

2) Pour the oats, peanut butter, maple syrup, coconut oil, flour, 1/4 cup flaked coconut, salt, vanilla, cinnamon and brown sugar into a stand mixer. Beat on low until combined. 

3) Chop up walnuts, chocolate chips, and raisins and add to oatmeal mixture.

4) Finely chop almonds and 1/4 cup flaked coconut and toast until fragrant. Set aside to cool.

5) Form oatmeal mixture into teaspoon sized balls, coat in cooled almonds mixture, and chill on parchment paper until set.

Makes about 20-30 truffles.

These cookie dough balls are soft when at room tempurature like actual cookie dough but become harder like traditional truffles when they’ve been chilled. I brought them to a party and every single one was gone long before the party was even over.

Loaves and Kisses!

~Maddie

Watermelon Smoothie

Omgosh! I’m finally back! The fairy festival trip was amazing and spontaneously turned into a trip to the Red Woods! Sadly I got pretty sick with what seemed suspiciously like whooping-cough on the way back so I’ve been out of commission for a while. That’s why there’s been no new posts and also why I don’t have all that much to show you.

Well….there is one thing.

Watermelon Smoothies!

This recipe is a great way to eat up any watermelon that is just on the edge of going bad. You know that stage where the texture is a little funky but the flavor is almost better because it’s gotten so sweet?  Well this is the perfect way to use it up! You still get the sweet refreshing quality without the slightly nasty texture.

Ingredients

• 1/2 of a small watermelon (about 6-7 oz)
• 2/3 cup milk (dairy or non-dairy)
• 1/2 tbsp Agar Agar
• salt
• cinnamon
• 

Directions

1) First you need to prepare your agar agar base. Place the Agar Agar and milk in a heavy sauce pan and let sit for 5 minutes. This blooms the Agar Agar (almost like yeast). Bring to a boil until it thickens. Let cool at room temperature until it is solid. If you didn’t boil it long enough that you can return the pan to the heat and bring to a boil again. Once the mixture is solid,store it in the refrigerator until needed.

2) Chop up your watermelon and put into blender with agar agar. Right now the agar agar will look completely unappetizing but hold on! Blend until completely smooth.

3) Stir in salt and cinnamon to taste.

4) Add a dollop of WHIPPED CREAM!

This smoothie is delicious on its own but it’s unbelievably tasty with a little dollop of my special whipped cream. I use this recipe all the time as frosting but it can be used just like whipped cream.

• Ingrediants
• 1 (8 oz) package of Neuchâtel cream cheese
• 2 cups of heavy whipping cream
• 1/2 cup of turbinado sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla extract.

Directions

1) Whip in a stand mixer the neufchatel, sugar, and vanilla until throughly combined. Add the heavy cream slowly to the whipping mixture until the frosting is firm and fluffy. 

This is super easy and makes a HUGE amount of frosting! It keeps well in the fridge and a little goes a long way compared to normal whipped cream because of how phenomenal the flavor is!

Without the frosting,this smoothie is only 117 calories so there’s room to indulge with a little cream.

Loaves and kisses!

Maddie

 

3rd Times’s The Charm

As I’ve already mentioned in my blog (does it count as a blog if I only have six posts so far?) I read this AMAZING recipe blog called Chocolate Covered Katie. Recently she started a challenge called “Hug A Vegan Dessert.” Other bloggers can make a new recipe, create a twist on a current recipe, or just blog about a sweet vegan product. Here’s a link!

http://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/2011/05/17/want-to-be-featured/

And I’ve been DYING to make a vegan dessert! I really want to get some publicity on this blog and I also love challenges (compeditive? me?) so this was right up my ally. But dispite my wanting to make a vegan dessert and blog about it, doing it was a completely different matter.

First off I’ve been feeling a major writer’s block comming on. As in painfully strong. Just typing anything is a little hard for me so excuse this slightly less charming post. I’m sure my delicious little creations will make it worth the read.

Secondly, and a littly more comicly, I am just AWFUL at writing down measurments. Baking for me is kind of like dancing, if I think too much about it, I’m an awful wreck. But if I just thow myself into it, shut my brain off, and just do it then it normally comes out great. That’s why I made two, yes, TWO vegan desserts before I actually had anything to blog about!

My first one was a play on a recipe for vegan brownies. By the end product, it didn’t even resemble the original recipe. My version had peanut butter banana frosting, melted dark chocolate mixed into the batter , and tons more cocoa powder then it called for. And it was DELICIOUS! Sadly, I had no clue what the measurments were so that recipe was a little kaput. ……Not that I would call it a complete waste of time! Nothing with that much chocolate goodness is a complete waste!

My second recipe was actually made for an occasion. Or maybe the occasion was made up as an excuse to make the recipe, I’m not really sure anymore. It was a quadrupled gingerbread version of Chocolate Covered Katie’s Single Lady Cupcake with gingerbread molasses frosting. Yes, I QUADRUPLED a single serving recipe. I know I’m insane, thank you for noticing. I then made mini-cupcakes and VIOLA!

Beautiful but completely undocumented so that was a no-blow too.

Then, one beautiful obligation free day, I made cupcakes! Vegan cupcakes! With written down measurements! and thus my evil concoction final masterpiece was born!

The Vegan’s Revenge! This recipe is undeniable proof that being vegan can be both unbeliavably delicious and decident!

Mwahahaha!

Ingrediants:

The Cupcakes

• 30 grams bread flour (1/4 cup)
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 2 tbsp turbanando sugar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1 tbsp applesauce
• 1 tbsp + 1 tsp water
• 2 tbsp cocoa powder
• 4 tsp coconut oil
• 30 grams chocolate chips (about 1/4 cup) + 1 1/2 tsp coconut oil
• 10 grams coconut chips

Frosting

• 30 grams coconut butter
• 1 tbsp coco powder
• 2 tbsp light brown sugar 
• 1 tbsp applesauce

Directions For Cupcakes

1.) About an hour before you start your cupcakes, place a jar of Artisina Coconut Butter in your refidgorator.

2.) Combine the flour, salt, baking powder, and sugar. Mix.

3.) Mix in the applesauce, water, and cocoa powder. There’s a hell of a lot of cocoa powder so don’t expect it to all mix in. That’s why the next step comes in!

4.) To add flavor and healthy fats, as well as help with mixing, melt 4 tsp coconut oil in the microwave and mix into batter.

5.) Measure into a small microwavable bowl 30 grams of vegan semi-sweet chocolate chips. I say vegan because some semi-sweet chocolate chips use a milk fat emulsifier.

6.) Melt chocolate chips and then mix in 1 1/2 tsp of coconut oil. Add chocolate mix to batter.

Now for the exciting part! Although if all that chocolate didn’t excite you,maybe you should go see a doctor.

7.) Take out your coconut butter once it’s been chilled. The coconut butter should now be solid. You can use the tip of a knife to chip out small peices of the coconut butter, thus making COCONUT CHIPS! I’m a genious! Measure out 10 grams of coconut chips and gently mix into batter.

8.) Preheat your oven to 330 degrees. Devide your batter into two cupcake tins lined with a pretty cupcake wrapper. Because everything is yummier when it’s been wrapped up in something shiny. Bake for 18 minutes. Cool on a wire rake.

Directions For Frosting

1.)Microwave 30 grams of coconut butter until melted then mix in cocoa powder,brown sugar,and applesauce. Mix until smooth. Frost the cupcakes when cooled. (wow,that was much shorter)

I know these recipes are far from fat-free or diet friendly but my goal here was to show how yummy vegan can be and I feel like I succeded. These cupcakes are super fudgy with a nice little crisp on the outside and little coconuty suprises inside plus the frosting goes wonderfully with them. Each super decidant cupcake is still only 409 calories with frosting.

Loaves and Kisses!

Maddie

Stuffed Mushroom

I go through phases with eating styles. Some weeks I’m a crazy carnivore! There’s nothing I want more than meat and the meatier the better! Other weeks, just the thought of eating meat makes me feel sick and if it’s bloody and rare then I’m running for cover. Lately, the herbivore in me has been rearing its greens munching head and calling for veggielicious foods. Tonight’s meal was all that and mooore!

Today’s post was tonight’s dinner. My parents got a chicken from Whole Foods and since chicken isn’t exactly “vegetarian” it sounded awful to me. We also had one left over portabella mushroom and I thought “Why not?”

This recipe tastes super decadent and was really fast and easy. It was creamy and filling as well as being chock full of veggies.

Prepare yourself for the ingredient list, it’s HUGE!

Ingredients

• 1 large portabella mushroom (2.5 oz)
• 1 oz of mozzarella cheese (I used a delicious brand of string cheese)
• 2.5 oz zucchini
• 1 oz onion
• 1 oz avocado
• 1 egg white
• 1 wedge laughing cow french onion cheese
• 1/4 cup low-fat cottage cheese
• 1 tbsp salsa
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp chile powder
• salt to taste

Directions

1.) Chop up the zucchini and onion into small pieces. Sauté at medium high heat until soft. Add salt, cumin, and chile powder.

2.) Once the veggies are soft, add the egg white and cook until completely done.

3.) Mix the cottage cheese and salsa into the veggies and cook until the cottage cheese is melty and hot.

4.) Take the pan off the heat and mix in the chopped avocado and Laughing Cow wedge.

5.) Stuff all the filling into your portabella mushroom. (don’t worry if it’s piled SUPER high) Cover top with mozzarella cheese.

6.) Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Place your overflowing mushroom on a lipped baking sheet and cook for 20 minutes.

I put my mushroom on a bed of spinach, which was DELICIOUS because there was tons of juice to soak up! (that’s why I said a lipped baking sheet.) Makes one yummy serving! For those who are wondering, this added up to 268 calories.

Loaves and Kisses,

Maddie

French Mayonnaise…oxymoron?

Nope! It’s actually not.  Aioli is the older more sophisticated cousin of mayonaisse. It’s the one with all the funny stories at the family gatherings. Mayonaisse is probably the cousin that’s in the bathroom smoking pot. Very not-classy.

Although a lot of people would pass of mayonnaise mixed with garlic as Aioli,the flavor and taste are a lot different. Maybe I’m just being a Aioli snob,but I’m OK with being a snob about my sandwich spreads. It’s one of those cases where snobbiness is totally necessary.

In case you didn’t notice,the Cauliflower Mashed Potatoes recipe is one of my classics. Aioli is an even more common recipe for me. Our fridge is very rarely lacking homemade Aioli and when it is,it’s because I’m too lazy to make another batch. I’m the only one that makes it in my house,just so you know. It’s not because it’s hard, since it isn’t. It’s because just in case I ever get extra annoying, my mom will know that if she kills me,she’ll never have her favorite spread again. That and she won’t have any idea how to open new tabs on her computer!

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 tsp lemon juice
• 2 tsp dijon mustard
• 2 egg yolks
• 3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 1/4 tsp chili powder
• 2 minced garlic cloves

Steps

     1) Whisk together the lemon juice,egg yolks, and dijon mustard until thoroughly combined.

     2) Slowly add the olive oil (about 1 tbsp at a time) stirring after each addition. When all the olive oil is added,the mixture should be thick and creamy.

     3) Stir in the chili powder,salt,pepper,and minced garlic. Store in the refrigerator. 

Aioli amazing on veggies such as broccoli and green beans. It also goes great on bread,pretzels,sandwiches and fish. For anyone interested in a raw diet,this spread is raw and makes a killer raw sandwich as the spread on Zucchini Raw Cheese”Sandwiches.”

With all the oil, this wouldn’t be considered a low calorie spread but, with it’s strong flavor, a little goes a long way. And with only 30 calories per teaspoon, Aioli is around the same calories as good ol’ fashioned butter and could be an extremely healthy replacement for it on bread. Although my mom would say that you should use both!

Loaves and Kisses,

Maddie

Mashed Potatoes?

Now I’ve noticed that I’ve made two posts and all I’ve mentioned so far has been sweet foods. Does that say something about me? Nah.  I figured it was about time to mention something that wouldn’t taste delicious smothered in maple syrup. Yes, I know that really limits my choices but I managed to find it! And the first ever savory dish on this blog is…..

Cauliflower Mashed Potatoes!

Fine, I admit that there actually aren’t any potatoes in this recipe. And by saying that, I know you all might hate me right now ….but give it a chance! Mashed potatoes are one super decadent side dish and, while I’m not anti-decadence at all, I am anti-guilt and pro-health. Besides, for anyone that loves spices as much as me, you might find you like this super flavorful mashed cauliflower even more then plain ol’ potatoes. I know I do!

Ingredients

• 1 head of cauliflower (roughly chopped) about 18 oz
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1/8 cup water
• 1 Laughing Cow Light Cheese Wedge
• Spices (example: My usual spice blend includes;
• Garlic
• Cumin
• Red Chile Flakes
• Herbs De Provense
• Creole Seasoning
• Chile Powder

Steps

1.) Roughly chop the head of cauliflower and throw it into a large pot with the milk and water mixture.

2.) Bring the pot to a boil.

3.) Reduce heat to medium and cook for about 15 minutes or until the cauliflower is tender.

4.) Add the cheese wedge and whatever spices you like and blend in with a stick blender or normal blender until creamy.

This recipe is addictive! I love it served with anything you’d normally serve with mashed potatoes. I’ve even used in as a replacement in recipes, such as Shepard’s Pie, that call for mashed potatoes. And the best…wait… not the best,the flavor is the best,the SECOND best part of this is that the WHOLE recipe is only 190 calories! The recipe makes enough to feed three hungry people or 1 extremely mashed potato deprived soul. Yum!

Loaves and Kisses,

Maddie

Sunday Pancakes!

I don’t know if this is a tradition for a lot of people or just for me but Sunday when I was little was the day of SUNDAY PANCAKES! My mom,who always has pretty healthy breakfasts like whole grain toast with almond butter would throw caution to the winds and cook a huge batch of pancakes and bacon. I always wanted chocolate chip pancakes which I would have to add myself because chocolate chips was still WAY to decedent for my mom to eat in the morning. Once my chocolate chips pancakes were ready,I’d happily smother them in maple syrup and butter and have a stomach ache after two bites.Oh, what fun!

Now a days, I’m a little more self-controlled and have a much lower tolerence for tummy aches. That doesn’t mean I don’t love pancakes! But since I was the only one around this morning, I decided to make my go to recipes for Lonely Single Girl Banana Pancakes. I normally add strawberries to this recipe but since I didn’t have any around,I boiled a frozen peach from my Aunt’s tree and tossed that in which resulted in….

Lonely Girl Peach Pancakes 

• 1/4 cup whole wheat flour  (I used unbleached bread flour this time because that’s all I had)
• 1/4 cup (2 oz) mashed banana (about half a banana’s worth) 
• 1 small peach (about 2.5 oz)
• 1 egg white 
• 1 1/2 tablespoon milk 
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 packet Truvia
• salt to taste
• lots’o cinnamon to taste 
• 1 tbsp maple syrup 

DIRECTIONS

1. Mix up all the dry ingredients.

2. boil your peach in a small pan until defrosted or if not frozen,until the skin slips easily off.

3. Meanwhile mash the banana and the skinned peach together and mix in all the other wet ingredients.

4. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix until thoroughly combined.

5. Heat a large pan on medium heat and spray with nonstick cooking spray.  Pour batter into pan. (mine made about 5 medium sized pancakes!) Once pancakes  are firm and have bubbles on the edge, 1-2 minutes, flip and cook until done.

These pancakes are soft and gooey on the inside,which is how I LOVE my pancakes. Once you pour syrup on them, they practically melt in your mouth. I also love this recipe because of how many pancakes it makes. I’ve tried lots of  pancake recipes and a lot of times,the serving size just isn’t big enough to feel like a breakfast. This recipe makes enough pancakes to stack and STILL cover your whole plate! For those who are wondering,these pancakes add up to 217 calories for the batch.

Loaves and Kisses,

Maddie

Hello world!

Ok,wow! Hello! This is my first ever blog page. I know this is where I talk about myself and do all the introductions but I really have no idea what to say. There’s a brief description of me in my profile but to sum it up. I’m fifteen. I love cooking. This is a food blog. Awkward attempt at humor. Enjoy!

Sooo…Recipe time? Yes. I think so. Wow,this is odd.

Today I made oatmeal. Yes! Oatmeal. I know you all must be terribly excited because no one on health food blogs ever talk about oatmeal. Does sarcasm come across on blogs? I sure hope so. Well this oatmeal was inspired by two events. The first event was less and event and more of a problem. I stay up way too late. I know! A teenager with bad sleep habits,aren’t I original? The other event was my terrible habit of reading recipe blogs that I know I shouldn’t. In this case, the blog was Chocolate Covered Katie.

Now in case you don’t know, I am NOT one of those lucky girls that can eat whatever they want and not gain a pound. I know some of those girls. I stand next to some of those girls. Therefore,I am sure I am NOT one of those girls. I am also not a vegan. So why do I read a healthy vegan blog with recipes I know I shouldn’t eat, made for a diet that I do not follow? I have no bloody idea. Maybe it’s because, not including my huge sweet tooth (can I get braces for that?) I have the same tastes as Chocolate Covered Katie. Maybe it’s because of her beautiful food styling. Maybe it’s just how much fun her writing is. Or,knowing myself, maybe it’s just because she talks about chocolate. For whatever reason,I found myself looking through her recipes thinking…well I wasn’t really thinking, more like ogling. Anyways, I ogled my way to a recipe called the Voluminous Oatmeal Trick. The recipe supposedly guaranteed TWICE as much oatmeal volume for the same amount of oats. Hmm…sounded intriguing. Then I saw that it could be made the night before. Another night time distraction? Hurrah!

I microwaved 1/3 cup of Bob’s Red Mill Organic Rolled Oats with 1 1/2 cups water. I did what Chocolate Covered Katie said she did and microwaved it for 4 minutes and let it sit in the microwave for 5 more minutes before I popped it into the fridge at night.

The next morning,after calling back my friend, calling back my aunt, making coffee, and feeding the dogs, I fed myself. I poured my oatmeal into a bowl my cousin Claire made for me called “Maddie’s Ice Cream Bowl.”  Everyone needs their very own ice cream bowl, don’t you know?

Then I mixed in

1/2 tbsp organic peanut butter

2 tsp Brummel and Brown Butter

1 tsp brown sugar

2 oz banana

1 packet of Truvia

Cinnamon 

and salt!

The oatmeal came out creamier then I normally make for myself but I still really liked it. The flavors felt a bit subtle but it was filling and healthy. Plus it was chock full of butter and banana! What more could you want?

For those who count calories, the oatmeal was 262 calories with all the fixin’s!

Loaves and kisses,

Maddie