Lunch Box treats

      It's only the first full week of school and I'm already scrambling for lunchbox ideas! I like to put some sort of treat in Sydney's lunch, but I don't want to load her up with sugar. I've had some success with these treats and plan to add them into the rotation!



 You know that I'm always on the look out for a good granola bar recipe that does not require lots of nut butters so I can bake for my nephew too. I found a recipe that used dates and banana. I totally revamped it to make something a little more exciting. We had a special Saturday Movie Night and with ice cream sundaes for dessert. We also happened to have a bag of freeze dried strawberries from our adventures at Aldi. I decided to run with the banana flavor and make a "BANANA SPLIT TOPPINGS" GRANOLA BAR. It was a huge hit!!

 1c dates
1c boiling water
1 banana
1 tsp vanilla
1/4c coconut oil melted
2 1/2c oats
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4c chocolate chips
2 TBSP crunchy all natural peanut butter (or sunflower seed butter)
1/4c butterscotch chips (or any other kind)
1/4c freeze dried strawberries
sprinkles for garnish

Soak the dates in boiling water for at least 5 minutes. Drain and place in food processor along with banana. Puree until it becomes a paste. Blend in vanilla and coconut oil. Place in a bowl and stir in oats, PB, and baking soda. Fold in the remaining ingredients. PRESS into a parchment paper line 8x* inch pan and bake at 350* for about 20 minutes or until slightly brown and set. Cool and slice. Store in fridge.

Love Me Some Cookie Dough!

Guys! I have faced soooo much temptation recently! Cookie Dough is almost constantly on my prep list for work!  Our batch is probably about an 8 times batch of your bake at home amount. One night, I had to make 6 batches of dough! I've got cookie dough on the brain!! This recipe popped up on facebook so I immediately zeroed in on it! I first made it for our super fun, but actually pretty healthy Sunday Family Breakfast, but I used the leftovers for Syd's lunch! It's basically hummus in disguise! (I used sunflower seed butter and it works well!)

sugar free cookie dough dip recipe

Brace yourself! Pumpkin is coming!

Who doesn't love finding cookies in their lunch box?? I know the Pumpkin Spice madness is just around the corner! I've started testing out recipes so that I can surprise my friends with healthier treats at fall gatherings! I used chia seeds in these, but I kinda wish that I didn't. Sydney noticed them eventually and then tasted a difference *rolls eyes* Next time, I'll choose something that blends in better!!!

oats and pumpkin breakfast cookies

GIVE. ME. CHOCOLATE.

     A little bit ago I had not one, not two , but THREE people text me within one hour, struggling with temptation and wanted to shove all any any chocolate in their faces! This inspired a search for a healthier treat to feed that inner PMS demon without giving her the power to destroy your self esteem with guilt! TAKE THAT PMS! Bam! Not gonna make me cry, well, yes, you will, but not over dessert!!
     The benefit to following several healthy food blogs is that the answer to your cravings will surely pop up on one of their pages!

Behold these chocolate Beauties

They are chocolate cookies with chocolate chips! Score! The main ingredient is almond butter so you get some protein and healthy fats! I reduced the coconut sugar a little bit. And she is really right about needing runny almond butter! Mine was a little dry at the bottom of the jar so I added an egg white to the recipe which is HERE

 Confession time! My PMS favorite is ice cream! I love halo top ice cream because it's high in protein and fiber and low in calories. It's expensive so it's a rare treat. It went on sale and I got several coupons at checkout. It was bad! Please don't look at my stash in the freezer! I'm thoroughly embarrassed by the number of times I went back to the store to use the coupons! YIKES!! If you want a healthy ice cream treat, but the store is out because I have no self control, here is an idea another homemade blizzard!!

Banana Peanut butter chocolate chip cookie Dough Rough Winter Storm

Start by slicing and freezing some very ripe bananas. Then make some "cookie dough" using this recipe or a healthy recipe of your choice!

1c dates (I soaked them in hot water and then drained it to help my food processor)

3/4c all natural peanut butter

1c oats

1 TBSP chia seeds

1/3c chocolate chips

Chop up the dates in a food processor until it forms a paste. Add in the almond butter and oats. You may need to add more peanut butter, depending on how runny or dry it is. Stir in the chia seeds and chips. Form into little nuggets and set aside until you are ready to make ice cream. This makes quite a bit so you could make some larger ones for an afternoon cookie dough break!

To assemble the ice cream: Puree up the frozen bananas in the food processor with a little bit of almond milk (or milk of your choice) Once it's creamy, fold in the dough nuggets and ENJOY! If you want a harder ice cream, you can throw it back in the freezer for a couple of hours too! 

Every cloud has a Cinnamon lining

Wait, what? Yes! Cinnamon! In the last week of the fitness program I'm doing, they took away my carbs... I cried for a little (lot) and then got creative! I've tried cloud bread in the past to make myself a sandwich without using up all my carb containers, but this time I decided to use them as personal cake layers! I took the original recipe and folded in some cinnamon and vanilla. The possibilities are endless!!

 "Carrot Cake"

 

 I added about a 1/2c of finely shredded carrots(pat dry) to the bread mix before I baked it.

The icing is plain greek yogurt and cinnamon. You could add honey or maple syrup to make it sweeter.

I added pineapple, but you could add walnuts.

 "Fruit Shortcakes"

 For this I used plain greek yogurt again, but I stirred in Almond butter.

You can use whatever nut butter and fruit you like. I'm going for peach/almond next.

" Cannoli Cake"

 This filling is ricotta cheese, a teeny bit of orange zest, cinnamon and pure almond extract.

It you are not on a stricter meal plan, you could add honey and mini dark chocolate chips. 

Raw almonds would also give it a little crunch.

Craving a good old PB and J

Not cake, but I was coveting my kids sandwiches so I took all natural peanut butter and slices of strawberries. Even cut it into triangles like an overgrown kid ;)

Vacation Treat Withdrawal

    What happens in the Outer Banks, stays in the Outer Banks, right? Wait, that's Vegas so I guess that I should come clean. I started out with the best intentions that we would stay strong and eat healthy on vacation, but mommy got a little too relaxed by the beach life! I still made date oatmeal bars, muffins, and banana Popsicles. The road trip snacks were also things like cheese sticks, frozen organic yogurt tubes, and unsweetened applesauce pouches. I gotta admit though, I ended up saying yes to a lot more treats/junk food than I planned. We are having a little trouble adjusting.

Actually Good for you Ice Cream

The number one thing that I give into: Ice Cream! It's my faaaaavooorrritee!!! We had quite a bit of ice cream on vacation. Sure, we burned off all the extra calories digging in the sand and swimming in the pool and it was a special time, but we now need a little not so painful sugar detox. Throwing healthy ice cream into the mix sounded smart, right? I searched the Team Beachbody Blog for recipes and then I got REALLY brave. You see, one avocado managed to make it down to the beach and back without getting ripe enough to eat. It was finally ready and I had nothing to go with it. A recipe with avocado popped up. I decided that if I gave it a super cool, awesome name, they would love it. It worked for the most part. One stinkin bit of spinach made it out without being pureed and it ended up in Syd's bowl, psyching her out! Make sure you blend and then blend some more!!!

Hulk Ice Cream Recipe

Almost as exciting as Duck Donuts

For those of you poor, unfortunate souls who have never had Duck donuts, let me explain. They taste like Heaven with extra toppings! They are made super fresh and come with all sorts of delicious glazes and tasty bits. THEY ARE STILL WARM WHEN WE GET THEM HOME!  It is a family tradition (and the only time that I ever eat donuts anymore!) Breakfast is just not the same after experiencing a Duck Donut! Momma had to get really creative to make a fun Sunday morning breakfast! I found and saved this pancake recipe because it had a sneaky way to add protein. It used cottage cheese, which I always have on hand as a good protein source for myself! I'm pretty sure that the mutant banana faces and peanut butter hair where the real selling points, but both kids thoroughly enjoyed our Silly and Special Sunday Breakfast! (and because you mix it in a blender, it's way faster than waiting in line for a donut!)

cottage cheese banana oatmeal protein pancakes

So about the too sugary granola bars from a couple of blogs ago

I admit it! I let them eat the store bought granola bars at the beach and in the car. They have been bugging me for them and they were conveniently 100% sealed for your sand protection! Now I had to find something new to get them excited again. Oatmeal raisin and chocolate chips were old news! I also knew that I would get bonus points if it looked like cookie dough! I turned to one of the regular blogs I stalk and found these. I did it with dates but they didn't glue everything together as well, so I ended up adding a little maple syrup and more peanut butter! I used freeze dried strawberries because a lot of  the dried fruit I found has added sugar.

no bake pb&j energy bites 

Cool Treats and Sweet Friends

    Our first "Park Hop" was a success. (I made a hot breakfast for everyone and met them at the park next to our neighborhood.  Then we hopped to a different park with packed lunches) I wanted to try it again but switch it up a little... Hallelujah! The HOT weather is here to stay! [I don't want to here it! All you summer haters!] Perfect time for frozen treats, right? Dessert BEFORE lunch is pretty awesome. Makes you a hero to the kids but..... my friends probably wouldn't love it if I got their children super sugared up before noon! Healthy Popsicles were the perfect compromise! Fun and Tasty! Gotta a little extra fruit in their diet and some extra protein for some! I made 3 different kinds:

So story of my life... Kids are crazy for watermelon. I stock up on watermelon. "Mom, I'm kinda tired of watermelon.I don't want it anymore!" Good thing that I stumbled upon this one! This recipe was SUPER EASY and quick! Here is the link:

watermelon popsicles

I love coconut! If I close my eyes really tight while eating it, I can pretend I'm somewhere tropical, surrounded by seashells instead of Legos. This was a two step recipe, where you had to let the first layer freeze for a couple of hours, but again super easy. Looks so pretty too. Since coconut is one of those absolutely LOVE or absolutely HATE kinds of flavors, I made the least amount of these. Surprisingly enough, my picky eater really liked them! The coconut was not too strong.  Recipe Link:

  vanilla berry coconut popsicles

This one was a variation of a recipe that popped up on Facebook. And yes, that is a poop emoji! I figured that I'll be able to be even more health adventurous with the popsicles in the future if they look like smiling piles of poop. Don't judge me! It's called knowing your audience!

Peanut Butter Banana Pie Pops

2 large bananas

1/2c plain Greek yogurt

1/4c all natural peanut butter

3 T mini chocolate chips

3 T mini dehydrated marshmallows (like the kind in hot cocoa mix)

2 T of graham cracker crumbs (or cookie of choice)

Blend together bananas, peanut butter, and yogurt. Combine the rest of the ingredients in a separate bowl. Pour a little banana mix into molds and then sprinkle a little chocolate mix on top. Repeat until mold is full and freeze for several hours or overnight.

Life with a boy..... poop fascination for days

But I'm still hungry!!!!!!

   So I've gotten a bit behind on my posts. The end of the School year is not for the weak!UGHHH!! Sooooo many events and field trips and things that require packing EXTRA things or certain types of clothing *growls* for special days. Then ALL the things come home and your house looks like a classroom exploded! I've been using my free time to sneak the not so special papers out to the trash can like a ninja!
    It's been a week since the last day of school so now we switched gears and we are in FULL STARVATION MODE. Lots of swimming = extra dinner and then a bedtime snack and then another because "but mom, I'm still hungry!" Lord, have mercy on my soul! They are driving me nuts! I've been searching for a few dessert-ish healthy treats because apparently [insert long dramatic sigh] that's what you are suppose to eat after you eat dinner (cue eye roll!)



This recipe popped up on Facebook as an ad for Quakeroats.com. They are Peanut Butter and Banana energy bites.

2 1/2c oats
2 T honey
1/4c peanut butter
1c mashed banana
1 tsp cinnamon

Just mix it all together, scoop, and keep refrigerated.

These were a little bit on the soft side so I called it a healthy cookie dough scoops. It's almost as good as taking a giant spoonful of the real stuff (I know the real stuff is bad for you but 33 yrs and no food poisoning yet! I think it might be some genetic super power!) Depending on the size of your family, you might want to make half of a batch at a time because the banana can be a little old looking and your pickier eaters will refuse to touch them.

This "cookie recipe" came from an IG account @nutritionologie. Sometimes... a lot of times.... I just like to stare at food on the Internet like a hungry weirdo!

2 bananas
1/2c soaked and pitted dates
1/4c coconut oil
1tsp vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon
1tsp baking powder
1/4tsp sea salt
2c oats (recipe called for GF but I used regular)
3T dark chocolate chips
dried cranberries or nuts (optional)

Put bananas, dates, coconut oil, and vanilla in a food processor. Once smooth, add cinnamon, baking powder, and sea salt. Then add 1 1/2c oats until processed. Stir in the remaining oats and chocolate (plus add ins if desired). Spoon mounds onto parchment paper and bakes at 350* for about 18 minutes (I flattened mine down) The kids loved these and thought they were getting an extra special treat for a Church snack!

Cookies with Quinoa!?!
      I was gonna post a photo, but their healthiness and my terrible photo skills left them looking rather *coughs* poopish! My last batch of quinoa was a little too big. It was on sale and I got excited. I found this recipe on the Beachbody Blog: peanut butter chocolate chip cookies
   I was nervous because you can definitely see the quinoa. I sold them as breakfast cookie first. They seem to think that the circle thingies were cool. The texture is a little different but how can you go wrong with chocolate chips and peanut butter!?! Hopefully, the protein will keep them going a little longer between snacks!!

Chocolate and Peanut butter Strike again!
    I know! I know! I have a problem! I can't resist anything with peanut butter! I'll work on it...later! If you follow me on IG then you know that we went to the zoo recently and the kids earned badges for learning about healthy living. It was a little toasty that day so I made some Popsicles before we left. This recipe popped up on facebook and caught my eye. I figured I would probably give them a treat at the Zoo so this would be the treat that's not really a treat to cool us off later. We each gave them two thumbs up and the kids felt super proud eating something healthy while sporting their badges. I should force them to wear them at every meal lol!
peanut butter fudgy pops recipe

Make yourself a dang kay-sa-dill-a! (quesadilla)

 

     Please forgive me! My weird is showing! The title is a quote from that "it's so terrible it's awesome" movie, Napoleon Dynomite. Man, I need to watch that again! okay, focus! If you work in the restaurant industry, there is a pretty good chance that your Mother's Day is gonna suck a little bit. Everyone takes mom out to eat so you're gonna be working extra hours. Sometimes I want to complain that they should be cooking for mom themselves, but those extra hours mean I can buy more workout clothes or avocados when the AREN'T on sale! 

      My weekend was crazy busy and then I spent a couple of days catching up on that to do list. On Wednesday, I found myself with a kid free morning and no urgent  projects looming over my shoulders. So what did I do? I made myself a dang dessert quesadilla for breakfast! Wait, what? I ate dessert for breakfast! Shame on me, trying to be a Beachbody coach and eating dessert for breakfast. Well, guess what! I got the recipe from The Team Beachbody website so it was completely fix approved. I just counted those containers and savored that slightly crispy, slightly gooey, and perfectly chocolatey goodness! Made myself an iced coffee with a splash of almond milk and I was in heaven! I highly recommend that you make it for yourself and maybe your family if you're feeling extra generous!  chocolate-peanut-butter-and-banana-sweet-quesadilla

Mother's Day breakfast Ideas

I'm sure that all the dads out there have everything all planned out already! But just in case there is someone out there undecided or an older sibling wanting to bake with a younger sibling for Mom, here are a few breakfast things!

 My precious Nathan helped me bake a cake for an order. A few days later, he was bored and I asked him if he wanted to bake. All he wanted to bake was a tiered Chocolate cake. "You know, Mommy! Cakes that you put on top of each other! Let's do that!" Well, I was not about to have a real tiered chocolate cake sitting around tempting me, so we made an extra big batch of a chocolate chocolate chip oatmeal muffin, using a recipe that I found on Brendid.com healthy chocolate oatmeal muffins recipe

 (side note: if you really want it to seem like you are giving mom chocolate cake for breakfast, ice it with a homemade, healthier version of that spread moms love so much! dark chocolate hazelnut spread)

I love, love, love baked oatmeal! Over the years, I have played around with the recipe. It got healthier as I got healthier. I decided to bake it in muffin pans so we could quickly grab them for school. This would be a nice brunch addition and you can easily make a variety of flavors. I made 3 different kinds for this round. I topped some with blueberries and then some sliced peaches (I poked a few pieces down in the center of each cup.) I took the last third of the oatmeal and folded in peanut butter before scooping it and then topped it with a few chocolate chips.

Baked Oatmeal:
3/4c unsweetened applesauce
1/4c honey
3 eggs
1 1/2 TBSP baking powder
4c oatmeal
1 1/2c almond milk (or milk of choice)
1 tsp vanilla
cinnamon to taste ( I'm always heavy handed with cinnamon)

Combine wet ingredients and add in oats and baking power. Bake at 350*  until it's set (about 30-40 minutes for a pan and maybe like 15-20 minutes for cups)

*it's also delicious with mashed banana instead of applesauce




Don't always trust the Internet!! You know, I had my doubts about this one, but they made it sound so easy! I should really be more cautious about a site that also tries to figure out what kind of unicorn I would be by answering these 6 questions. You were suppose to dip the bread in the egg/almond milk mix and then gently press it into a greased muffin pan. Magic would happen and you'd end up with cups you could fill with greek yogurt and berries. well, just look

started getting a bad feeling about it but they said....

.......THEY LIED

 I gave up! I used the 4 eggs to a 1cup of milk ratio and mixed in vanilla and cinnamon. Never again will I mess with the old fashioned, cook it in a pan method! I made it "fancy" for the kids by spreading some all natural peanut butter on the hot toast and then covered it with banana slices and a little honey. It was delicious! My tears from knowing I was going to clean that muffin pan might have made it a little salty! Just kidding! That would be gross! But I definitely said some words that my mother would not approve of when I tackled that pan!!

Mini Treats for Mom Part 2

I really don't understand this, but I'm told that there are strange people in the world who do not adore chocolate as much as the rest of us. It hurts my brain, trying to understand, but we'll be nice! Here are two non chocolate treats!

Banana cupcakes: My niece is one of my favorite people. She's super unique and I love her to pieces. She is NOT a people person but she is a cupcake person! I could not disappoint her! It's sort of our thing!  Banana is always a popular flavor and normally results in a moist baked good. I decided to cheat a little with banana muffins. Then I whipped up some cream cheese and sweetened it with maple syrup and cinnamon. Is cream cheese the healthiest? Not really, but it's way better for you than butter cream! This was a step in the right direction. The struggle is real when your kiddos and nieces and nephew are used to fancy Swiss butter cream! I found a "cupcake" Wink! Wink! recipe on the Cookie and Kate site here:healthy banana bread recipe


Mini Blueberry Lemon Shortcakes: The Beachbody blog posted a recipe for drop biscuits. I decided to mess around and make them sweet instead of savory. I added a lot of vanilla, some honey, and lemon zest. I had to play around a lot with it. You have to be very careful because I over mixed the heck out of the first batch and they were pretty chewy and tough to cut with a fork. Be very gentle and fold ingredients instead of stir up with a whisk. I also made them tiny to fit in cupcake liners. Next time, I'm thinking about trying a little coconut sugar instead of honey for a sweeter treat. To make the blueberry compote, I took about 4c of frozen blueberries and 1/4c orange or lemon juice and 1/4c of water and brought it to a boil. Then I mixed about a teaspoon of cornstarch with water (to make a slurry) and poured it into the boiling berries. Stir and let it boil for a few minutes to cook out the starchy taste. (if doesn't look like it's thickening enough when it's boiling, you can add more slurry and if it's too thick, thin out with hot water) I swapped vanilla greek yogurt for traditional whipped cream.
 beachbody biscuit recipe

Mini treats for Mom Part 1

It's almost May so HOPEFULLY you're starting to think about Mother's day! I'm giving you the mom look if you haven't at least thought about it a teeny tiny bit! If your mom is a chocolate lover, here are two recipes that I tried out. You can give her the chocolate with a little less bloat this year:) I made these for a bigger family gathering so I used sunflower seed butter for both. Yes, the peanut butter probably would have tasted better, but my love for my nephew is greater than my love for PB... so I love him a whole heck of lot!

Clearly I am not a photographer! Please pardon my knuckles :(

Chocolate Chip Truffles

 This is just a variation of the peanut butter eggs that I made for Easter. I processed 4 dates with 1 TBSP of water, and 1/2c sunflower seed butter. (you can add a little bit of cocoa power if you want a chocolate overload!) Then I folded in a couple of tablespoons of mini chocolate chips. How many you add depends on how healthy you want to keep it, but don't go too crazy or they will be hard to roll! Next I scooped and formed balls and let them chill in the fridge for about an hr. Dip was the same. Melted chocolate with a little coconut oil to thin it out. Make sure you place them on parchment paper to dry! Keep refrigerated!

Caramel Fudge 

 One of the best parts of going to the beach is buying some fudge on the Boardwalk. And who doesn't love caramel sauce/topping??? BUT you don't have to be a pastry chef to know that they are so extremely full of delicious evil sugar!!! This recipe was a Super Healthy Kids facebook post (FOLLOW THEM!) and I had to give it a try. I'm totally a sucker for the caramel and brown sugar types of desserts. A lot of my most popular desserts include it. When I make real caramel sauce, the pot is full of sugar! I needed to see if I there really is a way to make a healthier version! I could alter so many of my evil but delicious desserts into healthier versions! Here is the link:

 salted caramel fudge recipe

 Everyone seemed to love them. I thought maybe only the adults would go for them, but my kids picked them over the other treats. They've got a darker chocolate taste. I don't think that I let my caramel cook down as much as I should have. You burn sugar in a pot once and deal with an angry dishwasher, you get a little paranoid! Definitely watch that baby as it cooks! It takes a while so it would be good to do while you're in the kitchen making dinner or doing meal prep for the week! As for the taste..... Was I tricked into thinking it was the real thing. Yea....no! Will I use it for other recipe ideas. Yes!

Muffin Mania

When I signed up to be a coach, I made a promise to myself that I was going to get the whole family eating healthier or else.... Okay, not really like that, but it was time to change up some of their habits. They weren't living on pixie sticks and mountain dew, but I was always doing my fix approved separately from theirs and not putting a ton of effort into getting them to eat like me.... because... well... It was hard! They are picky eaters and.... and.... no more excuses! Don't think that I'm great (not that you do) I took the babiest of steps and started with breakfast! Super simple! Ditch the sugary cereals and cereal bars *coughs* and donuts *coughs*  and trick them with healthy muffins! I'm a pastry chef, I can do that! I have made about a million muffins since then. These are some of the winners.


These blueberry oatmeal muffins are my favorites so I put them first! After making several batches of muffins during my Challenge group time, I needed a muffin fix and I needed to be able to figure out my container counts to stay on track! The Beachbody Blog had this blender recipe and it didn't cost a lot of yellow containers (the glorious carb container!) I'm loving these blender recipes! Perfect for upper body fix days when your arms are dead lol!

How easy is that???

blueberry-oatmeal-muffins-recipe

Nathan only likes the extra bigger blueberries that are not baked. News to me! We had recently gone a little banana crazy so that option was out. I found this blender recipe and noticed dates listed in the ingredients. Dates are becoming an obsession and I'm sorry! Nathan ended up being very happy with these and we shared them with friends and they gave it a thumbs up too.

no sugar apple cinnamon healthy muffins

This next batch seems to be the ultimate winner! It's double chocolate so it feels like dessert! Like mommy lost her mind! They don't really know that zucchini is one of those "gross" veggies. I've made this 3 times so far. The first time (see photo) I peeled the skin and chopped the crap out of it in the food processor. Second time, I left the skin on but then chickened out and chopped it up like crazy. After them BEGGING for them again and rejecting the baked oatmeal I had made after only 2 mornings, I just grated it. I don't know if they were too tired or not but they didn't question the difference.

I took a photo of the batter because it was delicious! Just as good as brownie batter

healthy double chocolate zucchini muffins

Muffins are a super quick breakfast for "where are your shoes? We are gonna be late!" mornings. I'll let the muffin mania continue for as long as they want!

Not so insanely sweet Easter baskets

I promised myself that I wouldn't buy the kids Easter candy. No, I didn't become hardcore health nut overnight. I knew that their grandparents and aunts and uncles and honorary aunts and uncles and other various members of their fan club would be giving them treats. They would get plenty. I just wasn't going to add to the sugar pile. That lead to another problem. I also wasn't only gonna fill their baskets with that dollar section stuff or those expensive stupid blind bag nonsense. That is extremely hazardous to my health and maybe bottom of my feet ( curse you, shopkins and Legos!!!!) I needed to find balance.
    My family takes their peanut eggs seriously! We LOVE them! My grandmother always made tons! ( coconut and butter cream too!) Nothing like slicing yourself just one piece and then another and then another and another until you realized you should have just eaten the monster egg in one sitting because you have no will power. I decided to do something that would possibly get me kicked out of the family! I found a healthier recipe! One that didn't require a pound of powdered sugar. It popped up on Facebook ad for the High Def Health page. It was super simple! Just throw 7 dates, 2 TBSP of water and a cup of all natural peanut butter in the food processor. ( I added a squirt of honey... not a lot! Only the bit that came out of the bottle as I quickly muttered, "maybe they won't murder me now!") Blend it all up until it forms a dough and roll it into eggs. I let the eggs chill overnight in the fridge and dipped them in melted chocolate that I thinned out with coconut oil. *fingers crossed* There has been no tribal council meeting planned to vote me out yet!

Got a little scared at this point

looks normal-ish, right?

They'll never know! Looks just like Oma's ;)

I needed something else for that baskets that looked exciting and took up some space ;)  I saw rice krispie treats at a bake sale and decided to try Google again. A lot of recipes called for Brown rice syrup, but I needed to take a tiny break from stocking the pantry with all the new ingredients. Yes, I'm kinda cheap, I know! I found one that said I could substitute honey for the syrup. I also used peanut butter because the almond butter that was on sale definitely needed a lot of stirring. I had visions of shaping bunnies and butterflies, but it was too warm and not sticky enough. I put it in a pan,and let it chill in the fridge for about 40 minutes. Then I cut them up and made something that I would call a distant cousin of an Easter egg... My hands were a little too warm and my photo taking skills a little too slow! I had to throw them back in the fridge a few times. As long as they taste good and I let them have one for breakfast tomorrow, they'll be happy with the mutant eggs! Rice Krispie Treat Recipe

I'm brave but not that brave! Sprinkles are the perfect distraction

How cute are those demented overgrown eggs???

Side note: For our egg hunt, I could advantage of an awesome sale on organic snacks! Eggs filled and a head start on next weeks snack supplies. SCORE!!

Not store bought granola bars too?? The Sugary truth

 It's sooo easy and convenient to buy granola bars from the store and toss them at starving children or throw them in a lunch box! Or how about breakfast on the go!?! Oh wait, what's that? Oh crap, those healthy, oat-y looking things aren't as healthy as they say?  Nooooooooo! But I love them! At first I tried to live in denial, but the guilt! I stopped buying them and endured a million "can I have a granola bar?" (I'm pretty sure the kids think we have a magical pantry because they are always asking for things that aren't there!) Ugh! I really needed some granola bars to throw at them! I started googling and searching for recipes that did not have brown sugar or granulated sugar. I got scared by some of the ingredients. My kids were gonna totally throw them right back at me claiming that I was feeding them that stuff in the bird feeders. I have no idea where their dramatic tendencies come from??? Anyhoo, I studied several recipes and kind of merged  a couple for a hybrid, perfect for kids who are eating healthier but weren't exactly on board with plan yet. One day, they'll be eating super packed granola with all sorts of funny named goodness, but I gotta keep this journey gentle and torture free to succeed.


Chocolate Chip Peanut butter Granola Bars 
1 c peanut butter
1/4c-1/2c honey (I like less)
1/2c coconut oil
2 3/4c oats
3/4c flax seed ( or whatever bird feeder like food your kids won't notice)
1/2c mini chocolate chips

Line a baking dish with parchment (bottom and up over the sides.)
Combine oats and flax seed in a bowl and set aside.
Heat and melt peanut butter, honey, and oil
Pour over oat mix and stir.
Quickly fold in 1/4c of chips and them press mix into the pan.
Sprinkle the rest of the chips on the top.
Make sure everything is firmly pressed together and refrigerate.
Cut into bars and squares and store in a container in the fridge

First attempt and you would have thought it was my first time with chocolate! I put the chips with the oats and poured the warm peanut butter mix directly on the chips! Hid the flax seed real well though!!!

As usual, each kid likes something a little different so I went on a search for something else and stumbled upon The Minimalist Baker Blog. I got very excited about this recipe! DATES!! I love them! They make me think of my Oma's frosted date ball cookies and Christmas! I had to try this recipe! I feel like it required a little more muscle to mix but both kids and my inner kid gave them rave reviews!!!! I think that these are my absolute favorite. They held together well and weren't too sticky:)

healthy 5 ingredient granola bars recipe

My poor nephew has peanut and tree nut allergies. It seemed like almost all the recipes I found contained nut butters and nuts.  Most suggested swapping out the nut butters with sunflower seed butter, but my cheap self wanted to see if I could find a recipe without either before buying a jar for occasional visits. It took a couple tries. One recipe fell apart and became granola bits for yogurt. I found another one but it had frozen raspberries and they were too tart for the kids. I found this one from the blog Chocolate Covered Kate and it seemed to work the best. I baked them because to be extra cautious. I also added golden raisins and cinnamon to try and recreate something similar to the store bought ones Nathan adores.

Healthy granola bars recipes

I thought that making granola bars was going to be a giant pain in the butt. I was surprised to find so many recipes with so many options! I love how you can play around and create your own mix in combos (heaven forbid we like the same thing around here!!) It's also great for baking with kids! A lot of dumping stuff into one bowl. 

Nope! Nope! Nope!

I got so stinking proud of myself today! The kids were BEGGING me to bake more of the muffins that had zucchini in them! That's right... Zucchini! Look at me winning at life! I'm just the winningest winner ever! I'm gonna find me another hidden veggie recipe and just be awesome!

 I found a recipe for carrot and cheddar crackers that look like those cheddar ones in the store (rhythm s with wheeze its!) Sounded easy enough...

This was the point where you are suppose to be able to LIGHTLY FLOUR the counter and roll it out. It was a soft sticky mess. It stuck to my hands and the Rolling pin every. single. time! LIES! My counter looked like the Blizzard of '96 just to get it semi rolled and unstuck from fingers!!

Just a tiny glimpse of the mess. I think at this point I started muttering about how stupid life was and that'll I just buy a darn box of organic crackers. I don't care if the box costs a $100 because the cheddar comes from free range cows who graze on grass fertilized natural by unicorn farts. I was not well

Forget the nice neat squares! No way was that gonna work! I grabbed a heart cookie cutter. As you can see they are a little busted up like my poor battered new healthy recipe-heart

So it appears that I only violently stabbed some of the "hearts" because some are rather puffy.  Got to be a cracker archaeologists and dust away the buckets full of  the light flour dusting

 The kids tell me that after I dusted them off, they weren't bad. Not sure if that's the truth or just them seeing the crazy in my eye.  I guess we shall see how many days they are left in Sydney's snack pocket in her school bag.
 Will I try these again? Probably one day when my hands stop cracking and bleeding from the five thousand hand washings and I get over my overly overdramatic self and figure out what I did wrong;) Even someone with a degree in baking can royally screw up a simple looking recipe.