Deep Dish Cookie Pie (Clean)

I got the original recipe from Chocolate Covered Katie (I think the sucanat turns it a darker color than Katie's using brown sugar, just a disclaimer), and tweaked it a little to make it "clean". The only major thing I'd change about this recipe is to get rid of the oats somehow (I have oat allergies, and I think it would be yummier without the oat flavor, but that's just me). If I figure out a way (maybe just wheat flour?), I'll post it for sure! :)

Reviews: My kids all LOVED it, Nate didn't (although he only ate one bite), but he doesn't love chocolate chip cookies either. Let me know what you think if you try it!!

Deep Dish Cookie Pie (Clean)

Here is my altered recipe:

Deep Dish Cookie Pie (Clean)

• 2 cans white beans or garbanzos, drained and rinsed (don't tell anyone, I promise they won't know!)
• 1 cup oats
• 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 3 tbsp oil of choice
• 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 ½ C sucanat (I think I would only use 1 cup if I made it again, it was too sweet for me)
• 1 C Chocolate chips*

Blend everything (except the chips) very well in a good food processor (results in a much smoother texture than a blender). Mix in chips, and pour into an oiled pan (I used a regular deep dish pie pan). Cook at 350F for around 35-40 minutes. Let stand at least 10 minutes before removing from the pan. (I ended up cooking mine only 30 minutes, but it was a little gooey, but oh so good still!)

*Here are two sites with recipes to make your own clean chocolate chips

http://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/2010/05/20/homemade-artisana-cacao-bliss/

http://wholenewmom.com/recipes/desserts/homemade-chocolate-or-carob-chips/

Indian Dahl with Spinach

I got my recipe for the Indian Dahl on Allrecipes.com, making just one or two changes to make it more clean and healthy (omitted the butter, and used canned lentils for the sake of time) but it was pretty healthy to begin with! Quick and easy, start to finish (minus cooking the brown rice, which I did in the rice cooker) was probably 15 minutes!

Indian Dahl with Spinach

Kickin' Turkey and Peppers (clean)

This dish gets its kick from jalapenos and cayenne pepper, which can both be adjusted to suite your 'spiciness level'. Super easy and quick!

Kickin' Turkey and Peppers (clean)

Serves approx. 8 (depending on how much filling you use)

Ingredients:

1.5 lbs ground turkey
1/2 tsp garlic powder, or 1 tsp minced garlic
1-2 T dried, diced jalapeños (you could definitely use fresh, just used what we had on hand)
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp sea salt
1 bag frozen peppers (again, you could use fresh, just what we had on hand)
1 tsp dried cilantro

Instructions:

Heat a large saucepan to medium heat and cook peppers just until tender. Remove from pan and set aside. (You could easily do this part in the microwave as well, 6 minutes covered.)
Adjust heat to medium-high and add the turkey, salt, paprika, cayenne and jalapeños. Cook until turkey is cooked through, about 10 minutes. Add peppers and cilantro and cook for another 3-4 minutes. 
Serve in warm, whole wheat pitas, with a little Greek yogurt inside, if you typically like sour cream.
The rest of my family used sour cream and cheese. The filling is even yummy just by itself!

Clean Turkey Meatloaf Muffins

I needed to make something easy tonight as I was running out the door, so I decided to throw these little guys together. They're ideal for a lower-fat meatloaf (and taste even better in my opinion!). I got the idea from Jamie Eason's recipe, but made a few changes to fit our tastes better. I think I've found a new favorite!!

Turkey Meatloaf Muffins

YIELD: 12 SERVINGS

 

PREP TIME: 10 MINUTES

 

COOK TIME: 40 MINUTES

 

TOTAL TIME: 50 MINUTES

Turkey meatloaf muffins

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs. ground turkey
• 3 egg whites
• 1 cup oats (I'm allergic to oats so I subbed with 1/2 C wheat bread crumbs)
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 diced onion or 1 tsp onion powder
• 2 diced celery stalks (optional, I don't like chunks of stuff in my meatloaf so I omitted)
• 2 T ketchup (all natural, HFCS-free) or tomato sauce

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 375 and spray muffin pay with some cooking spray (or coat with a little olive oil) .

Mix all the ingredients in one large bowl until well combined.  Roll the mixture into balls and place each one in the muffin pan. (She says each one should be about the size of a racquetball). If desired, add more ketchup or tomato sauce on top of muffins before baking.

Bake for 35 minutes, or until cooked through.

Makes 12 muffins.

Tikka Saag Recipe

We love Indian food at our house. This is one of our favs, so I adjusted a few things to make it "clean". If you want to add meat you can add cooked, diced chicken when you stir in the spinach. Let me know how you like it, if you try it!

Clean Tikka Saag

1 lb frozen chopped spinach 1/4 cup water 2 T oil (coconut or olive) 2 large onions, minced 5 cloves garlic, minced 1 (1 inch) piece fresh ginger root, minced 1 (14.5 ounce) can crushed tomatoes 1 teaspoon ground coriander 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper, or more to taste 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric 1 teaspoon salt 1/4 cup milk of choice (coconut would be great, I just used skim, if you're not eating clean, cream would be great) 1 teaspoon garam masala Place the spinach into a large pot with 1/4 cup of water, bring to a boil, cover the pan, and remove from heat. Allow the spinach to steam for about 10 minutes, then place into a blender, and blend until very finely chopped. Set the spinach aside. Place the onions, garlic, and ginger, ground coriander, cayenne pepper, garam masala and turmeric into the skillet and cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until tender, about 10 minutes. Pour in the tomatoes and salt and cook, stirring frequently, for 10 minutes. Pour in the milk, stir to combine. Bring the mixture to a simmer, and add the spinach. Stir the spinach in and cook until the spinach starts to stick to the pan, about 5-10 minutes. Serve over hot brown rice.

Clean Chocolate Mug Cake

My totally unpretty (it's a word), Clean Chocolate Mug Cake. Yum!

This recipe is from The Gracious Pantry (her picture is much prettier as well!). With only a couple small changes I made, here is the recipe:

Clean Eating Chocolate Mug Cake

(Makes 2 servings)

NOTE: You’ll need a large mug (a small or regular sized mug won’t cut it) or bowl

Ingredients:

• 4 tablespoons white whole wheat flour
• 6 tablespoons coconut sugar (I used Sucanat)
• 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 egg whites
• 3 tablespoons non-fat milk
• 1 tablespoon safflower or coconut oil

Directions:

1. Whisk together the dry ingredients in your mug. Be sure they are well combined.
2. Add the wet ingredients and mix well again.
3. Microwave for up to 5 minutes on high. (3.5 was perfect for mine)

Note: The cake will rise up over the mug during cooking. Don’t panic.

'This is me' challenge: Children

'This is me' challenge: Children!

I love my kids. They teach me new things every day. I'm definitely not the most patient mom, and I'm probably more sarcastic and silly than sweet and gushy, but I'm pretty sure they like me a little too. :)

*Give your children's names, birth dates and places.
Thor is 13, Erik is 11 1/2 (that half always counts!) and Annika will be 7 in a month. They were all born in different hospitals in Utah County.

*How did you choose their names?
We wanted them to be Scandinavian names. Thor was named after a great friend of Nate's named Thorval who died just before our Thor was born. Erik was what we had planned from the beginning and it just fit perfectly. When we finally found out we were having a girl we had a few different names we were playing with (we had always wanted a Bridget but she just wasn't one!), but Annika fit perfect when we met her.

*What were the circumstances of each child's birth?
Thor was 4 days late, and huge. So they induced me. He was 9 lbs 2 oz and 21 inches.
I was induced with Erik 1 week early and he was 9 lbs 4 oz 21 inches.
I begged them to induce me as early as possible with Annika, so she was 10 days early and was 9 lbs 6 oz 21 inches. 

*What are some funny/interesting things about each child?
Thor used to be completely OCD as a child. He would always line every thing up, from shoes, to toys, all in specific orders. We have some funny pictures of this I'll have to dig up! He was probably the cleanest kid in the world, would never get his hands dirty or his face. (If only that lasted ;)
Erik was our tough baby. He got really, really sick around 18 months old and was in the hospital for 10 days, had surgery at Primary Childrens, and had to learn how to walk all over again. He was so amazing through the whole thing. When he was first sick we didn't even know it, because he was so happy and good!
Annika is Daddy's little princess of course, and 6 going on 16, as they say.

*What do you love most about each child?  What are their strengths and weaknesses?
Thor, being the oldest, is definitely my best helper because I know I can rely on him to do things. He is becoming a really sweet buddy to have around. I think it comes from being the oldest, but he is extremely bossy. He's a great babysitter though!
Erik is very kind and sweet, and always willing to help, he's just a little (okay a lot) spacey and forgets what he was helping with seconds after he was asked ;) He is such a sweetheart and always right there when you're not feeling good or something.
Annika keeps me on my toes. She is very outgoing and adventurous. But she always wants her way, so I have learned I have to be consistent (still working on that!) with her so she doesn't end up being a spoiled stinker like those darn 'babies' always end up being ;) (I'm the baby of 8...I get told that all the time from my siblings!)

*What are your children involved in?
All three kids are yellow belts in Brazillian Jiu-Jitsu and love to sing.
Thor plays Junior Jazz basketball, and hopes to play his freshman year as well, and is already in the pre-football camp for Provo High.
Erik isn't all that into sports, but his favorites are football and running. He loves to draw and do anything science related, he's very creative.
Annika loves running and dance. She's always making something, out of paper or fabric, always designing new clothes for her dolls or crowns or cards.

*How do you spend your time with your children?
On a typical day, homework, chores, cooking (my kids love to watch/help me cook, and Thor is becoming quite the baker already), reading, and some quality Jeopardy time. Haha yes, Jeopardy! We love to learn the answers, and feel awesome when we already knew them ;)

*What are your favorite family activities?
All of the above. We love to play outside together, workout together, read great books (Nate is known for reading The Hobbit to everyone), cooking and baking. We haven't had too much opportunity for many family trips because of Nate's job in the past, but now that it has changed hopefully we'll be able to add traveling to this list!

Clean birthday cake!

No, we didn't have a birthday... I just wanted to bake, and be able to eat it too! :)

I decided to try this recipe from The Gracious Pantry (SO many great, clean recipes here).

Everyone seemed to love it, even my cake-hating husband, so I give it 5 stars!
I made the recipe as is, and topped with simmered frozen berries with a drizzle of honey on top.
Next time I think we'll try it with some chocolate frosting from Chocolate Covered Katie!

Clean Eating Birthday Cake

(Makes 8 servings)NOTE: This recipe makes 1 layer. Double it (using 2 cake pans) if you want a layered cake with filling in the middle.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 egg whites (or 1 whole egg)
• 1 tablespoon oil (I used olive oil, could use coconut, etc.)
• 3/4 cup unsweetened apple sauce
• 1/3 cup honey
• 1 tablespoons vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Line a 9 inch cake pan with parchment paper. Then spray the inside of the pan, including the parchment with a light coat of oil from an oil sprayer.
3. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour and baking powder until well combined.
4. Whisk in all other ingredients.
5. Pour batter in to cake pan and bake for 26-30 minutes. A knife or cake tester should pull our clean.
6. Allow to cool. Run a plastic knife around the edge to separate cake from pan and then remove.
7. If you made a second layer, cover one cake with filling or frosting and place the second cake on top.

Nutritional Content:
(Data is for 1/8 of the recipe – single layer)

Calories: 127
Total Fat: 2 gm
Saturated Fats: 0 gm
Trans Fats: 0 gm
Cholesterol: 0 mg
Sodium: 135 mg
Carbohydrates: 26 gm
Dietary fiber: 2 gm
Sugars: 14 gm
Protein: 3 gm
Estimated Glycemic Load: 13

Mmm Mmm Mmm!

I'm loving trying out these new recipes on my family because they all have different tastes and everyone still loves them (even Nate, who doesn't normally like dessert because they're too sugary!). Here is tonights treat if you ate all of your veggies ;)

Clean and Simple Blueberry Cobbler - single serving

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup blueberries (or any fruit of your choice)
• 1 T sucanat
• 1/3 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 T sucanat
• 1/2 tsp baking powder (I know that's not real clean, but I didn't have an alternative on hand)
• 1 T oil (I used olive, I'm sure coconut would be even yummier)
• 2 T milk of choice (I used skim, almond milk would be great too)

Instructions

1. Add berries to a mug/bowl (if using a bowl make sure the sides are high enough to allow for the cobbler to rise some). Add sucanat, stir to combine.
2. In a separate bowl, add the flour, sucanat, baking powder and mix to combine. Add the oil and milk and stir with a fork until combined.
3. Add the dough to the top of the berries.
4. Microwave on high for about 1 1/2 to 2 minutes. (Mine took 2)
5. If you're still working on that sweet tooth, you can drizzle some honey on top, but we found it was perfectly sweet as is!

               

                      Straight out of the microwave with a little honey

 

Clean eating challenge (and The Butt Book!)

Some people have asked me what this is all about, so here it is:

I really love working out. I go to Zumba at least 5 times a week, and lift weights at least 4 days a week. I also have the best lifting partner (my husband! Date night at the gym anyone? haha) who knows a lot about weight training and eating right, but between health issues or just not maintaining a great diet, I still have about 10-15 lbs to lose to be totally happy and healthy.
So in a renewed effort to ditch those pounds, I have decided to start a clean eating challenge. (Disclaimer: I have to tailor it a tiny bit to meet my kidney/allergy needs, but overall I can do it as is!)
I'll be honest, I got the idea from my current library book, The Butt Book: How to Build a Non-Cellulite & Fat-Free Butt in 9 weeks! Laugh at the title, I did ;) But it has some great exercises for the glutes, and the diet info to boot.

Basically, it's a diet plan of unprocessed, whole foods like fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean meats, and void of artificial ingredients, preservatives, "chemically charged foods," sugars, saturated fat, and trans fat.
To make it easy, you essentially only shop on the outskirts of the grocery store (that's almost always where the fruits/veggies, dairy and meats are, the processed junk is inside), minus the bakery section ;) 

"Foods allowed include a variety of whole grains, fruits, vegetables, lean proteins, nonfat dairy, and healthy fats -- preferably organic and eaten in proper portions every few hours.

The Eat-Clean Diet recommends avoiding all saturated fat, trans fats, overprocessed, refined foods -- especially white flour, sugar, sugar-loaded colas, juices, and alcohol.

The plan's guiding principles:

• Each meal should be between 200-300 calories.
• Eat a complex carbohydrate with protein (20-21 grams) at every meal.
• Drink at least 8 cups of water daily.
• Never miss a meal, especially breakfast.
• Consume adequate healthy fats each day."

Some of the clean diet lists say to avoid any type of sweetener all together, but I find that impossible with a few things (oats, bleh!). From what I've read (I've tried to research quite a bit about this way of eating so I can learn what's good, true or just unhealthy), some sweetener options are honey, pure maple syrup, and sucanat, making sure to account for those calories if you're keeping track.
Ideally, you eat every 2-3 hours, never longer than 3. The caloric limit depends on your body of course, so you plan according to that, typically 6 meals a day, for me.

A lot of people have asked for recipes, so I'll post those as I go along too (okay, I'm not promising, but hopefully I'll remember!).

Some of the things on my food list today:
Oats with berries, cottage cheese on the side
Kirkland nonfat Greek yogurt
Granny smith apples
Veggie Frittata: Turn your oven on to broil. Heat 1 T. olive oil in skillet (olive oil is recommended, but you could use cooking spray for zero calories and cheat, it's not "clean"). Throw in your veggies, I used broccoli and peppers. Cook until tender. Add 3 beaten eggs (most of the diets recommend just whites, but for my kidneys I need the yolks as well and less whites), salt/pepper, and nonfat cheese if you want, and mix those up. Let it sit for about 4 minutes until it's set on the bottom and the top is just starting to set slightly. Throw the whole pan in the oven on Broil for about 3-4 minutes until golden, and you're ready to eat! So easy, delicious, and super filling - I was still full when it was time for my next meal! It's pretty much adaptable to whatever you like, just keep in mind the calories of what you're putting in!