Cashew Butter Cookie Balls ~ grain free, gluten free, refined sugar free & guilt free

Here is our latest ‘cookie ball’ obsession that I promised to share with you.

They are so simple to make and full of natural, healthy ingredients that you can feel good about eating. It is a little ball of energy when you need one!

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup cashew butter (see recipe below)

1 tbsp. coconut oil

1/2 tbsp. honey (more if you like sweeter)

1/2 scoop protein powder

1 tbsp. coconut shreds

1 tsp vanilla

Dash of cinnamon

Splash of coconut milk

DIRECTIONS:

Melt coconut oil and honey and mix it with cashew butter, protein powder, coconut shreds,  vanilla, cinnamon and coconut milk. Roll into balls and chill in the refrigerator or freezer. They are so good that you might want to eat them all up!

My daughter little z loves them as much as I do and if she sees me eating one she will say “hey, why didn’t you get me one?”

HOMEMADE CASHEW BUTTER

Puree 8-16 ounces raw cashews in a food processor for 10-15 minutes (the longer you go the smoother it becomes). Stop to scrap down the sides every few minutes. When you get toward the end, you can add coconut oil, honey, vanilla, cinnamon and/or salt to your liking. We like ours a little on the thick side with oil, honey and vanilla. So delicious and much less expensive then the store bought kind. ENJOY!

 

TODDLER EASTER CRAFTS

Here is a peek at some of our toddler easter crafts:

 and last but not least here is our version of easter peeps! We will post this homemade peep recipe soon. We had so much fun and lots of laughs!

Have you ever made your own nut butter?

What is your favorite kind?

We are experimenting with new flavors but right now this cashew butter with coconut oil and honey is my favorite! My daughter does not like almond but she will eat cashew and peanut butter. Maybe it is the color she likes?

 

What I ate Wednesday

I am excited to share with you my first WIAW! I love to see what other people are eating for ideas and inspiration. I hope that I can do the same for you. Here is a look at my day:

What I ate Wednesday #1

I woke up early with my little love bear z. She had her milk and I had  my favorite protein smoothie.  It was delicious and made me feel energized.

Next up I heated up a cup of chai coconut coffee while we snuggled and watched cartoons. I love the idea of having something warm after my  cold smoothie. The black thing is the Chai tea bag. Doesn’t look very good but it is.

I few hours later I was craving a little snack so I went with my favorite… almond butter and a banana. It totally hit the spot and keep me running after my two year old until lunch time.

 

Not quite as hungry for lunch so I had a little chicken, asparagus and yam. Another power combo and quick and easy to throw together because we had leftovers. (we love leftovers)

Dinner was chicken stir fry which is my go to dinner with a side of carrot slices.

And I always want something for dessert so I had my latest cookie ball creation.  Little z and I are obsessed so we each had 2. Recipe coming soon. Here is a different cookie ball recipe to hold you over!

I felt pretty good about every bite!

If you are interested in linking up to Jenn’s What I ate Wednesday then head on over to Peas & Crayons for more information and to get started. Thank you Jenn for hosting!

QUESTIONS:

Have you jumped on the raw cookie ball craze? What is your favorite?

Do you love almond butter and bananas as much as I do?

Orange Cream Protein Smoothie & A Workout

Happy Friday! I hope you all have a great day and enjoy your upcoming weekend. Here is some workout and recovery inspiration…

WORKOUT

Today was a quick sweaty workout. The focus was on the ‘back-side’.

Warm-up: 5 minutes of light cardio (treadmill, jog in place, jump rope, jumping jacks or elliptical)

Workout: Preform each exercise for 1 minute and repeat each superset  3 times before moving to the next superset

1. Alternating lunge /Squat jump
2. Deadlift /Jump rope
3. Alternating lunge into a squat (step back into a lunge and then bring feet parallel for a squat before switching sides)/Plyometric plié squats
4. Squat/Plyometric lunge
5. Back Row/Mountain climber
6. Reverse back fly/Superman

Use heavy/medium weights for the first exercise in each superset and you your own body weight for the second exercise in each set.

Cool-down: 5 minutes of light stretching and moving

If you move from one exercise to the next with little to no rest then it will take you 36-40 minutes without the warm-up or cool-down.

WORKOUT RECOVERY SMOOTHIE

Orange Cream Protein Smoothie

1 scoop vanilla protein powder

1/2 frozen banana

1/2 orange

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp maca powder

1 tsp royal bee jelly

1/4 cup coconut milk

1-2 ice cubes

Blend all ingredients until smooth and drink within the hour after your workout to get the most benefit. Full of protein and energy to get you through the morning. Enjoy! 

 

Now I am off to play with my little one as I hear her jumping out of bed. Kinda a rainy day here but we will find lots to do!

 

What is your favorite recovery drink/eat?

 

 

 

 

Chai Spice Carrot Cake Muffin

We love to have muffins at our house for a quick breakfast, snack or treat. I love knowing that we made them with fresh, healthy ingredients. I keep them in the fridge and usually enjoy them cold but they are also really good if you warm them in the toaster oven with a slather of coconut butter.

The smell of these muffins will make you want to gobble them up. They are grain free, gluten free, refined sugar free, full of fruits, vegetables, protein and fiber…what is not to love?  I have made carrot cake muffins before but the addition of decaf black chai tea made the flavors explode!

 

INGREDIENTS

1 ripe banana

1 carrot grated

1/2 apple grated

1/4 cup sweet potato or yam puree

2 farm fresh eggs

2 tbsp honey (or more if you like it sweeter)

1 tbsp vanilla

2 tbsp. melted coconut oil

1 tbsp coconut milk

1/4 cup Chai tea concentrate (try this or you can make your own)

1 scoop vanilla protein powder

1/2 tsp ground flaxseed

1 tsp chia seeds

1 tbsp. cinnamon

1 tsp baking soda

2-3 tbsp. coconut flour

1/4 cup raisins

DIRECTIONS

Mix banana, carrot, apple, sweet potato, eggs, honey, vanilla, coconut oil, coconut milk and chai until combined. Add protein powder, flaxseed, chia seeds, cinnamon and baking soda until smooth. Slowly add coconut flour, 1 tbsp. at a time until batter is slightly thick but not too much (you can add more chai or milk if needed). Add in the raisins and scoop into greased muffin pan or line with muffin wrappers. Bake at 350 for 18-20 minutes. Allow muffins to cool on a wire rack. ENJOY!

 

a happy girl and a tasty treat!

This might be our new favorite!

What is your favorite muffin?

Grain Free Fudge Brownies

Happy Friday! I want to share with you some GRAIN FREE FUDGE BROWNIES. They are Paleo but I hate to use that word in the title. I think that the paleo diet is great and has its benefits but I am a firm believer that you should allow yourself all things in moderation. You will find that a lot of my recipes fit into the paleo category but I also allow dairy (especially cheese) into my life. These brownies turned out so good. They are fudgy and delicious…you may want to eat them all!

INGREDIENTS

1 cup nut butter (I used 3/4 almond + 1/4 cashew)

3 farm fresh eggs

1 tbsp. vanilla

1 scoop chocolate protein powder

1/3 cup cacao powder

1 tbsp. chai seeds

1 tsp  ground flaxseed

1/2 tsp baking soda

2 tbsp. honey (more if you like sweeter)

2 tbsp. melted coconut oil

DIRECTIONS

Mix nut butter, eggs and vanilla until combined. Add protein powder, cacao powder, chai seeds, flaxseeds and baking soda. Mix until smooth and thick. Melt coconut butter with honey and add to brownie mixture. Pour into greased baking dish. Bake at 325 for 15-20 minutes. I like my brownies on the fudgy side so I took them out at 15 minutes and allowed them to cool in the fridge. Once cooled, it helps to slice with a plastic knife. SOOO YUMMY, ENJOY!

Question of the day:

Are you following the Paleo Diet? Why or why not?

 

Lemon Berry Bread + Barre Workout

 

WORKOUT

Today I was feeling a bit tired and decided to stick with a low impact workout. I choose “Physique 57 Total Body Workout“. It is a great at home workout and leaves you feeling sore all over by working with light or no resistance to overload your muscles to the point of fatigue. I love Barre workouts and try to incorporate them into my schedule once a week. (when I am lucky)

After my workout, I needed to refuel with something delicious and nutritious like “lemon berry bread”. I made it this weekend so it is easy to slice and eat with your coffee/tea or wrap it up to eat on the run during the week.

LEMMON BERRY BREAD

IDGREDIENTS

4 farm fresh eggs

2 tbsp. honey (or sweetener of choice and you can add more if you like it sweeter)

1 very ripe banana

1 tbsp. coconut butter

1 tbsp. vanilla

1 tsp almond extract

1/4 cup nut butters (I used almond butter)

zest and juice from one small lemon (use a large lemon if you like extra lemon flavor)

1/2 cup plain yogurt or sour cream (I used sour cream because I was out of yogurt but both work well)

1/4 cup coconut milk

1/2 cup coconut flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tbsp. ground flaxseed

1 scoop protein powder (unflavored or vanilla)

1 cup berries (I used blueberries, raspberries and huckleberries)

DIRECTIONS

Mix eggs, honey, banana, extracts, nut butters, lemon, yogurt/sour cream and coconut milk in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, mix flour, baking powder, flaxseed and protein powder. Slowely mix dry ingredients into wet ingredients. Move slowly so the batter does not get too thick. You can add a splash more coconut milk if needed. Pour into greased loaf pan.
Bake at 350 for 45-50 minutes. Let it cool in the pan for 15 minutes and then move to a wire cooling rack.

It tastes great on its own or slather with melt, coconut butter or nut butter. Enjoy!

yum!

Chocolates & Cookie Balls

CHOCOLATES

My little z and I ran into a chocolate store the other day while we were walking downtown.  It was filled with the smell of chocolate and every flavor you could imagine. I let little z pick out two of her favorites and one for dad. She was tickled pink to say the least and she even saved them in the bag until we got home. Here is a peek:

I had a little taste and they were good but personally, I thought they were a little too sweet. I thought they would taste better if I knew that they were full of healthy ingredients….so we decided to make our own and we call them cookie balls.

COOKIE BALLS

Better then the million dollar chocolates is sharing your healthy cookie balls with a two year old. Little z is actually a very good helper and a really good mess maker too. One of our favorite things is to create new recipes together.

I have been making different variations of cookies balls for my little z since she started eating solids. We like to keep them in the freezer and have one when we need a “nummy” which is what we refer to as a snack or treat. When she was teething it was a life saver to have something cold and healthy she could gum on. I am working on keeping all of the healthy ingredients with the perfect amount of natural sweetness.

Ingredients

makes 10 balls (maybe 12 but my helper was eating the batter along the way)

4-6 large dates soaked in warm water (I used 4 but if you like sweeter then you might try 6)

1 tbsp. chai seeds

1/2 tbsp. ground flaxseed

1/2 cup nut or seed butter (I used almond and sesame seed butter)

1 scoop protein powder (I used chocolate)

1 tbsp. coconut flour

1 tbsp. shredded coconut (more for rolling if you like)

1 tbsp. cacao powder

1 tbsp. chopped nuts (I used walnuts and pistachio; more for rolling if you like)

1-2 tbsp. chai tea concentrate (I used this but I am going to order this one for next time)

Directions

Blend dates + a little soaking water and chai seeds to make a paste. Mix in nut/seed butter until smooth and then add all protein powder, coconut, cacao and nuts. Slowly add the chai tea until you have the right consistency. You want it thick enough to roll into balls. You can use your hands or an ice cream scoop. Leave balls plain or roll in coconut, nuts, seeds or sprinkles!

Now, lets compare:

The one on the left is the million dollar super sweet chocolate full of ??? and on the right is our healthy cookie balls filled with goodness.

Which one looks better?

 

Grain Free Banana Chocolate Protein Muffins and a workout

Today I woke up early to sneak in a workout before everyone else was out of bed. I always feel so good to get sweaty first thing. My workout consisted of 30 minutes on the elliptical (with a magazine) and 15 minutes of weights. My weights today were lunges, squats, chest press, tricep press, pull-ups (assisted), dips (assisted), bicep curls, push-ups and lat-pull downs. I did 10-20 reps of each exercise and moved quickly from one to the next. It was a great workout, I felt good and sweaty but not too much. I am trying to keep my intensity down a bit for reasons that I will explain later. I took a quick shower and was ready to snuggle with little Z when she woke up.

After our morning snuggles, little Z and I decided to make some muffins. Sometimes we like to call them ‘cupcakes’ because then we can add frosting, sprinkles and a candle and pretend to have a party! These muffins are super moist and delicious with a hint of texture from the coconut shreds. They turn out very light and are easy to gobble up! It makes my heart sing as a mom when my little one eats one and asks for more. Full of protein and wholesome ingredients so eating two is no problem!

Grain Free Banana Chocolate Protein Muffins

2 ripe bananas (the riper the better)

1/4 cup honey (more or less to your liking)

1/2 cup natural almond butter (any nut butter would work)

1 tbsp. vanilla

2 farm fresh eggs

1 scoop chocolate protein powder

1 tbsp. cocoa powder

1 tbsp. chai seeds

1/2 tbsp. ground flaxseed

1 tbsp. shredded coconut

1 tsp baking soda

Mix bananas, honey, eggs, almond butter and vanilla. Add the remaining ingredients and mix well. Batter should be slightly runny. Pour into lined or greased muffin pan. Bake at 350 for 18-20 minutes. Remove and let cool on a rack.

Tastes really yummy with almond or coconut butter. Great breakfast or snack to take with you on the run. Enjoy!

If you like this one then stay tuned… I hove lots of other muffin variations that I would love to share with you in future posts…

 Yum yum!

Clean Rhubarb Raspberry Crumb Cake

I am so excited to share with you my first post! I hope you enjoy… 

I was having a craving for crumb cake/coffee cake the other day so I decided to give it a go. I had rhubarb and raspberries in the freezer and decided that the tart and sweet would make the perfect combination. It turned out so yummy! It is moist and delicious…and the best part is that it is healthy!

Rhubarb Raspberry Crumb Cake

3/4 cup almond butter
1 very ripe banana
1/4 cup honey (you can add more or less depending on how sweet you like it)
2 farm fresh eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup sour cream (or yogurt)
1 scoop protein powder
1/4 cup coconut flour
1 pinch salt
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup rhubarb
1/2 cup raspberries
1 tsp coconut milk (more if batter is too thick)

Topping: 1/4 chopped nuts, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp coconut oil (or butter)

Mix almond butter, banana, honey and vanilla. Add eggs and sour cream. Mix in protein powder, flour, salt and soda. Stir in rhubarb, raspberries and milk as needed. Batter should be slightly runny. Pour into square greased baking dish.  Sprinkle with topping. Can also be made into muffins or loaf. Bake at 350 for 38 minutes. Let is cool before slicing.

Tastes yummy on its own or slather with almond or coconut butter. Enjoy!