Chocolate Energy Balls -- lunchbox ready

Guilt free chocolate? You bet. This clever little concoction of cacao, ground up seeds, coconut, and dates gives all the illusion of delectable chocolatey goodness with none of the negatives. This well balanced combination will fuel you well whilst keeping your blood sugar stable. No drawbacks to these ones, friends.

For some reason, my child suddenly asked if we had any chocolate balls. The last time we made them was in the spring, so I'm not sure where he thought they might have been hiding. They just don't last that long in this house. So, we had no choice but to get busy in the kitchen. This time around, however, I tweaked the recipe. No nuts. Sunflower seeds and hemp hearts. And some chia. And half the usual amount of cacao. Which meant I could skip the stevia. Which means the flavour is a little more ... pure. So, here's a fabulous little snack that could go in the lunch box since there are no nuts. I rolled them in shredded coconut so they wouldn't stick ... pretty great. I one-two punch of high octane energy food to fuel your child without empty calories or preservatives, and super full of deliciousness. A perfect little pick 'em up when they need it. These are incredibly yummy.

ingredients:

1/2 cup hemp hearts  (1 cup)
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1 cup shredded coconut

1/4 cup ground chia

1/2  cup raw cacao
1/2 tsp sea salt
1  tbsp ground vanilla

1 1/2 cups pitted honey dates

1 or 2 tbsp vanilla extract or water

directions:

1. combine the hemp hearts, sunflower seeds, coconut, raw cacao, sea salt, stevia powder, and ground vanilla in a food processor, and process until as homogeneous as possible
2. add the honey dates and the vanilla and pulse and then process until it starts to form a 'dough'. Don't stop processing until this happens!! If you need to add more water for this to happen, add it just a bit at a time.
3. roll the dough into small balls.
4. if desired, roll the balls into shredded coconut to make them not as sticky on the outside.

As my child asked me yesterday: "What's brown and sticky?" Answer: A stick. Not these.

Black Sesame Crackers

Can't get enough of sesame right now. Don't know why. So, these. Sesame crackers.

ingredients:

1/2 cup water


1/2 tsp (rounded) sea salt
1 tbsp oregano
1 tbsp marjoram


1/4 cup  black chia seeds finely ground
1/2 cup light sesame seeds, finely ground
1/2 cup black sesame seeds, finely ground
1/2 cup ground hemp hearts
1 tsp baking soda
2 cups ground sunflower seeds




directions:

1. combine the ingredients in the order listed
2.
3. roll the dough  in two parts (between 2 sheets of baking parchment) and cut into squares trimming the  edges
4. bake at 345 in a preheated oven for 12 minutes then dehydrate for 2-3 hours at 170
5. cool and break into pieces
6. store in an airtight container

Chickpea Vegetable Soup

Well, Papa is coming over for dinner, and we're going to have a houseful for his birthday. So, in addition to eatables such as lasagna and chickpea flour flat bread, we'll rock this vegan crockpot.  Simple and delicious. Old fashioned diced veggies and chickpeas. Super delicious. And since it feels like fall, perfect really. We all enjoyed it.

ingredients:

2 tbsp coconut oil
1 onion, finely diced
1 cup green cabbage, very finely chopped

4 cups soaked chickpeas -- not cooked

1 tsp sea salt

2 cup diced carrots
2 cups diced celery
1 diced kohlrabi

1 tsp sea salt

4 cups diced white sweet potato

1 tsp sea salt
1 tbsp marjoram
1 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp chill powder

9 cups water

1 tsp sea salt


directions:

1. turn crockpot on to high, and set for 6 hours
2. layer ingredients in the order listed
3. let cook for 6 hours. I used dry chickpeas that had been fully soaked but not cooked. If you use canned or cooked chickpeas, you can reduce the cooking time
4. stir and taste, add seasoning if needed.

Maple Pecan Baby Cakes

Genius. Genius. Genius. Genius. That is all.

ingredients:

1/4 cup coconut oil

2 cups water

1 cup maple syrup
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar

1/2 tsp sea salt
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp ground vanilla bean
1 tsp ceylon cinnamon

1/4 cup ground chia seeds
2 tbsp arrowroot flour

2 cups almond flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup coconut flour

1/2 cup pecans -- little pieces

pecan half to put on top of each one
maple syrup to drizzle on top of each one -- just a few drops, really



directions:

1. combine ingrediens in the order listed
2. scoop into muffin cups
3. bake at 345 for 60 minutes

Herbed Crackers with Sesame

I seem to be on a cracker kick. These are great. Great for me. I don't know about you. Simple, crisp, and good for your gorgeous self. Vegan, gluten free. Grain free. Not sweet. Just a simple little cracker. Perfect texture. Love it.

ingredients:

1/2 cup water


1/2 tsp sea salt
1 tbsp oregano
1 tbsp marjoram


1/4 cup  chia seeds finely ground
1/2 cup sesame seeds, finely ground
1/2 cup ground hemp hearts
1 tsp baking soda
2 cups ground sunflower seeds




directions:

1. combine the ingredients in the order listed
2.
3. roll the dough  in two parts (between 2 sheets of baking parchment) and cut into squares trimming the  edges
4. bake at 345 in a preheated oven for 12 minutes then dehydrate for 2-3 hours at 170
5. cool and break into pieces
6. store in an airtight container

Vegan, Gluten-Free Brownies' Best Friend: Enter the Nut-Free, gluten free Brownies

I like to keep a well stocked pantry. Alas, sometimes I run out of stuff. I hate going to stores, so when this happens, I improvise. We had some pals coming over for dessert yesterday, and knowing that they are severely allergic to gluten and love brownies, our gluten free brownies were a no-brainer. And then I realized I had about 3 tbsp of coconut sugar left, and that's all. Fortunately, I had coconut nectar, and I thought the fudgey consistency of brownies and rich dark flavour would only be celebrated by this thick, sticky, low glycemic sweetener. In the interest of exploring my nut-free avenues, I decided to make them out of sunflower seed flour instead of almond flour.  (I made this myself by grinding raw sunflower seeds very finely in my small grinder (it's a coffee grinder that I use for seeds etc).  Anyway, I used the remaining coconut sugar to sprinkle on top before baking (this is a little bit magical, keep it up your sleeve for future baking references),  and reworked our fave brownie recipe as follows. Entirely delectably wonderfully successful. And now I have a fridge full of brownies. Tea party, any one?

Vegan. Gluten-free. Cane Sugar Free. Nut-Free. Grain-free. But wholly BROWNIE.

Sometimes people are surprised that -- not having allergies -- I force this gluten-free-ness on my poor family. They think I've drunk the kook-aid (bless you auto correct, that's so much better than kool-aid,) and have jumped thoughtlessly and mindlessly on the gluten-free bandwagon. Not so. I actually happen to believe that things like almonds, sunflower seeds, hemp hearts, and chia seeds contain more goodness than refined white flour. And if food doesn't send your blood-sugar sky-rocketing, that it is doing better for you than food that does. And that for a child, maximizing the nutritional content of their food can only help them. And there's the matter of how delicious it all is ... My non-conventional ingredients have the benefit of yielding moist and delectable baking. And that, my friends, needs no convincing.

ingredients:

1 1/2  cup pitted honey dates

1 1/2 cups boiling water

1/2 cup extra virgin coconut oil 

1 cup coconut nectar

2 tbsp arrowroot flour

1/4 cup chia seeds, finely ground

1 tbsp apple cider vinegar

1 tbsp ground vanilla 

1  tbsp vanilla extract 

1/2 tsp sea salt

1 cup raw cacao powder

1 cup sunflower seed flour

1/2 cup ground hemp hearts -- should practically be a paste

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 cup coconut flour

coconut sugar to sprinkle on top -- use plenty, it's awesome that way.

directions:

preheat the oven to 345

1. pour the hot water over dates in a bowl, and let sit for about 10 minutes to soften, along with the coconut oil, so it can  melt

2. add the coconut nectar, then puree the whole thing with a hand blender (immersion blender)

3. add in the apple cider vinegar, the ground chia seeds, arrowroot powder and the cacao, and mix very well

4. add in the vanilla, and sea salt, and mix well

5. add the ground hemp seeds

6. add the sunflower seed flour

7. add the coconut flour and the baking soda

8. mix well and thoroughly and rapidly

9. 

10. divide the mixture into 2 square silicone baking pans

11. sprinkle the top with a little coconut sugar (or a lot)

12. bake at 345 for 60 minutes

13. allow to cool in the pan before removing

Chocolate Muffins: Nut Free, Sugar Free, Grain free, Vegan, and delicious

ingredients:

1/4 cup extra virgin coconut oil (organic and unrefined)

1/2 cup coconut sugar
1/2 cup date sugar

3 cups hot water

1 tbsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar

1 cup raw cacao

1 tbsp ground vanilla bean

1 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp stevia powder

1 tbsp arrowroot powder
1/2 tsp xanthan gum


1 cup hemp hemp hearts, ground

1/4 cup ground chia seeds

2 tbsp ground black sesame seeds

1 cup ground sunflower seeds


1 tsp baking soda

directions:

1. combine the coconut oil, and hot water. Let sit for 10 minutes. 

2. add the cacao, vanilla, salt, stevia, hemp seeds, shredded coconut, and mix

3. add the egg replacer mixture

4. stir in the ground chia seeds, ground flax seeds, ground sunflower seeds, ground pumpkin seeds, followed finally by the coconut flour. Then add the baking soda

5. scoop into prepare muffin cups and bake at 345 for 60 minutes

makes 24 amazing muffins. Amazing.