banana bread bites (with gluten free option)

I'm always on the lookout for dessert recipes that are both good for your body and your taste buds.

The "good for your taste buds" part is easy since most desserts involve some sort of sugar and most people happily eat sweet. But good for you too? Now there's a challenge.

When I first spotted this recipe on Oh She Glows, I knew I had to try it. Unless you add the chocolate chips, it contains no added sugar other than what is found in the fruit. Score on the "good for you" part.

And happily, the recipe met the "good for your taste buds" requirement. It's a hands down favorite, especially with family and friends.

I made a couple of slight modifications and have included some suggestions for additional mix-ins.

Bring on the bananas...

Banana Bread Bites (recipe notes follow)
dairy free, fruit sweetened, gluten free option, nut free option, soy free, sugar free option, vegan

2 large bananas
1/2 c. date paste
1/4 c. coconut oil
2 c. rolled oats, gluten free if needed
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. baking powder
1/8 tsp. salt
mix in suggestions (use 1/4 - 1/2 cup): dairy-free chocolate chips, cacao nibs, unsweetened dried cherries, unsweetened coconut, unsweetened cocoa* (suggest 1/4 cup if using), chopped pecans 

Add all ingredients to a food processor and process until thoroughly combined. If adding mix-ins, pour mixture into a bowl, then stir in mix-ins. Scoop out portions with a large tablespoon and drop onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. With slightly damp hands (the water prevents the mixture from sticking to your fingers), form each banana bread bite into a ball shape. Since these don't spread, you can place each bite as close as a 1/2 inch apart on the baking sheet. Bake at 275 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until the bottom of each bite is lightly browned.

Recipe notes:
1. I usually double this recipe, especially when making for more than our family of six. If, like mine, your food processor can't handle all the ingredients in one go, process 3 cups of the oats into oat flour and place in a bowl. Then process the remaining cup of oats with the other ingredients. Then add to the bowl and stir in the remaining oats plus any mix ins.
2. I think this recipe works best with perfectly to just a tad over-ripe bananas to avoid an overpowering banana taste.
*3. If you're adding unsweetened cocoa powder, I recommend blending this into the other ingredients with the food processor.
4. If you can't find date paste (I get mine at a middle eastern convenience/market store), use 1 1/4 c. firmly packed and pitted Medjool dates. If the dates are dry, soaking them in warm water 20 minutes before using.
5. I get my dairy-free semi-sweet chocolate chips from Trader Joe's and order my fair trade cacao nibs from vitacost.

roasted eggplant pasta with pine nuts and basil

So far, our somewhat anemic garden has produced two japanese eggplants. And what better way to use them than to put them in pasta?!

Here's a super simple recipe that is quick to prepare and yummy to eat. The measurements are for a single serving but you can easily double it, triple it or plan it for a crowd. These measurements are also only a suggestion. If you like more or less eggplant, pine nuts or basil, adjust away.

Feel free to use your favorite marinara sauce. I'll be including the recipe for my favorite sauce on the blog in the near future, but it's your basic tomatogarliconionoreganosaltpepper kind of sauce.

I think this works best with the smaller, skinnier japanese eggplants, mostly from the visual aspect of eating, but the standard eggplants usually found in a grocery store will work as well.

roasted eggplant pasta with pine nuts and basil (recipe notes follow)
dairy free, gluten free, oil free, peanut free, soy free, sugar free, vegan
1 japanese eggplant

salt
pepper
garlic powder
pasta sauce
1/8 cup of pine nuts
2 T chopped basil
brown rice fusili (or favorite pasta)

To prepare the eggplant:

1. Scrub skin well with a veggie brush, then slice into rounds about 1/2" thick.
2. Season with salt, pepper and garlic powder - as many dashes per your taste.
3. Place on a baking sheet or in a pie tin and put under the broiler, keeping a close watch on it so you don't burn the eggplant.
4. Cook 5-10 minutes, turning at least once, until each side is nicely toasted.

Meanwhile...
1. Prepare your pasta according to the package directions.
2. Warm your sauce, measure your pine nuts, rinse and chop your basil.

When everything is ready...
Spoon pasta into the bowl, add your sauce, then add the eggplant, pine nuts and basil.

Recipe notes:

• I usually use 2-3 dashes each of the seasonings
• I chose to roast the eggplant to keep this recipe oil free. No need to line or oil the pan or baking sheet. You could grill the eggplant instead if you like.
• I like the brown rice pasta from Trader Joe's for the price and the taste.

snack happy: raw apple crisp

Last week, I shared this recipe on raw granola.

It's the foundation for several recipes I'll share over the next couple of weeks. Recipes designed to help fight the temptation to reach for something sugary and to fill you up with whole food, God-given goodness.

First up: an apple crisp makeover.

As desserts go, traditional apple crisp is on the healthier end of the scale. After all, it's chock full of the fruit that claims to keep the doctor away. However, the topping, and sometimes the filling, contains a lot of sugar.

In this raw version, the raw granola mimics the flavors and sweetness of the crisp topping and the cinnamon and raisins in the filling add extra zing and sweetness. It's so good, I've started eating it at breakfast.As a snack, it's filling and sweet-tooth satisfying - crunching your way through all that apply goodness should convince your brain and belly that you've had plenty to eat. 

Hungry? Here's the recipe for a single serving but it's easily doubled, tripled, quadrupled...

Raw Apple Crisp
1 apple(your favorite variety)
1-2 heaping spoonfuls raw granola (recipe here)
cinnamon to taste
raisins (optional)

Roughly dice apple and sprinkle with cinnamon. Add raisins to taste and spoon on the raw granola.

3-ingredient raw granola with gluten-free option

I remember going grocery shopping with my Nan in my younger adult years. I reached for granola and she commented on the sugar content in said box of granola. My response?

"It doesn't matter."

Oh, the folly of youth! And how our elders must smile when we begin to preach their wisdom right back at 'em.

Because I'm learning how much sugar does indeed matter and how it adversely affects our bodies, I'm looking for tasty ways to cut it out of my diet as much as possible. Doing a sugar fast for at least one month is one sure way of breaking the sugar addiction, but at some point, sugar begins to creep back into a diet, especially during holidays, special occasions, when you are with other people...I've concluded that unless you are a hermit, interact exclusively with fellow sugar-shunners, or delivered of the sugar-temptation by God, the desire to eat something sweet will, at some point, present itself.
 
So how to resist the urge to incorporate sugar back into your daily diet? Find sweet alternatives (although if you really struggle with sugar addiction, asking God for help is the only sure-fire way to beat it).

I created the following recipe for raw granola as part of a snack experiment (snack recipes to follow next week). It's quick, easy and versatile and I've included some ideas for flavor alternatives which I've not tested yet, so you're on your own there.

Without further ado...

1-2-3 Raw Granola
1 c raw pecans
1/2 c. date paste
1 c. old fashioned oats, organic is best, gluten-free if needed

Yield: About 2 cups
 
1. Place pecans in a food processor and blend until the nuts stick together (it becomes pecan butter). This may take about 5 minutes.
2. Add date paste and process until combined.
3. Add oats and process until just combined. Store in an airtight jar in the fridge for up to one week.    

Taste options: While processing, add cinnamon or another favorite spice (start with 1/4 tsp and add more to taste) or try vanilla. After processing, stir in coconut, raisins, sunflower seeds, cranberries, raw pumpkin seeds or other dried fruit or nuts.

easy-as-pie dark chocolate dump cake

Gooey.
Chocolately.
Quick.
Easy.
Sugar free.
Oil free.
Gluten free.
Healthy.
Delicious.

Impossible to accomplish in just one recipe?

Not at all.

I've been experimenting with date paste and how to incorporate it into recipes to reduce or eliminate the need for added sugars, even unrefined sugars like maple syrup and agave nectar. Sugars suppress the immune system so cutting back on them, especially during cold & flu season, is one of my goals.

What I love about this recipe is that it takes just 5 ingredients for both the cake and the frosting.

There's only one thing that could make this cake sweeter: buying fair trade cocoa powder. 

 
Here's the harsh reality: Chocolate is a $2 billion industry. Want to guess how much the average cocoa farmer receives from these profits? Less than $2 per day - an annual income totaling less than $730. (See info from Oxfam here) That's my grocery bill, give or take a few dollars for one month!

Here's a harsher reality: It doesn't have to be this way. Anyone...you, me and every chocolate you know, can choose to buy chocolate only from companies that fairly compensate their workers for the cocoa they harvest. Look for the fair trade label and read about the company's practices on their labels and websites.

While fair trade chocolate costs more than slave chocolate, the cost not to do so is higher.

Here's one other free, fast way to further sweeten the deal: You can sign Oxfam's petition to tell Nestle, Mars and Mondelez (the three largest chocolate purchasers) to change their buying policies to make a positive difference in the lives of their farmers. Signing this petition takes less than one minute. Please consider doing so within the next 60 seconds.


And now, here's the recipe :):

Easy-as-Pie Dark Chocolate Dump Cake
3 c. date paste
3 c. almond milk (or other non-dairy milk)
5 T fair trade* unsweetened cocoa powder + 3 T for icing
1 tsp baking soda
2 c flour (I used spelt, for gluten free option, I used brown rice flour)

1. In a medium saucepan combine date paste and non-dairy milk and warm over medium heat until the date paste breaks down and combines with the milk to make a smooth paste. A potato masher works best to help break up the paste.

2. Remove 2 cups of the date/milk mixture and set aside

3. Dump 5 T cocoa powder, baking soda and flour into the pot and stir to combine.

4. Pour mixture into a greased 8 x 11.5 baking dish and bake in a 275 degree oven for 30-40 minutes.

5. While the cake is baking, make the icing by returning the 2 reserved cups of the date/milk mixture, add 3 T cocoa powder and stir to combine. If the icing needs thickening, stir over medium heat until the desired consistency for your icing is reached. Spread icing over cooled cake.