Coconut-Almond Protein Snack

Do you ever have those Friday nights when you want to stay home and be a "homebody?"

Well, to my dismay I was craving sweets but did not want to leave the house.  I frantically searched the web for healthy desserts but I didn't have all the ingredients to make my first choice, raw fudge... But I had this, which seemed like enough.

Creamy Almond Butter
Coconut Oil
Whey Protein (non GMO, no additives, no artificial sweeteners)
Unsweetened Coconut flakes
Soy milk


So I experimented and my homebody sweet yet healthy snack turned out absolutely fantastic!  It's very simple and delicious.  It satisfied my sweet tooth.  I made a large batch intending to snack on it throughout the week... but I gobbled it up in two days!  ...This is why I can't keep sweets in my house.

Anyways, this is what I did... 

I mixed the following:

• Half a container of Jason's Maple Almond Butter
• 2 spoonfuls of room temperature coconut oil (it mixed well without warming)
• A few splashes of soy milk
• Half a scoop of non GMO, non artificial sweetener, vanilla whey protein (substitute for soy protein if you're vegan)
• If the mixture is too thick to stir add more soy milk and a little more protein powder (you want it to be thick but soft enough to stir without crumbling)
• Finally, mix in the unsweetened coconut flakes.

I made them into bite size balls then rolled them into the coconut flakes for decoration.  But it's not necessary.  

In fact, I became impatient and put the rest into a pan to make bars instead!  And sprinkled coconut flakes on top to make it pretty, of course.

I prefer these yummy treats frozen because I like how it's crunchy yet smooth! It does not get hard--you won't crack a tooth, I promise! However, the refrigerator is fine as well.  Just make sure you do one or the other... because of the milk!  You don't want it to spoil.

Last night I made this same snack but with Earth Balance's Peanut Butter & Coconut spread.  It's Peanut Butter mixed with Coconut oil so you get to skip a step.  And instead of using Soy milk, I used unsweetened almond milk.  I think I prefer this best because it's not as sweet.  Jason's Almond Butter has maple sugar as a sweetener which is why my first batch was a dessert that I couldn't stop eating!

So you can make it however you like.  I prefer frozen bite size balls... You could add cinnamon, chopped nuts, seeds, dark chocolate chips... I haven't experienced that much with it.  But if you do, please let me know what you've tried with it!  

I hope you enjoy my simple yet delicious discovery!

Substitute Sugar for Healthy Alternatives Without Ruining Your Batch!

Now this, my darling, is a godsend.

The PCC Natural Markets website has a page that shows healthy, natural sugars to substitute with white or brown sugar when baking.  I know people do the usual honey or apple sauce but this is great because it gives you more variety in regards to flavor and even better... it tells you how to adjust the moisture levels in your batch!  

I wish I had something like this years ago when I was experimenting with honey and made my batch too "liquid-y" when avoiding white sugar.  

Sweetener	Amount to replace 1 cup sugar	Adjustments to recipe
* If you use barley malt or brown rice syrups in baked goods, be aware that a natural enzyme in these sweeteners may liquefy the consistency of the batter. This is more likely when eggs are not used. To prevent liquefying eggless recipes, first boil the barley malt or brown rice syrup for 2 to 3 minutes, cool, then measure and use. ** For each 1/4 teaspoon baking soda, reduce salt by 1/4 teaspoon. *** Do not substitute more than half the sugar in a recipe with molasses; blackstrap molasses is not sweet. Tip: If the recipe doesn’t call for any liquid, add 4 to 6 tablespoons of flour for each cup of liquid sweetener substituted for sugar.
Agave	3/4 cup	Reduce liquid in recipe by one-third to one-half. Reduce baking temperature 25 degrees.
Barley malt syrup*	1 1/3 cup	Reduce liquids by one-fourth. Add 1/4 teaspoon baking soda for each cup syrup to help baked goods rise.**
Brown rice syrup*	1 1/4 cup	Reduce liquid by one-fourth and add 1/4 teaspoon baking soda for each cup syrup to help baked goods rise.**
Date sugar	1 cup	none
Frozen juice concentrate	2/3 cup	Reduce liquids by one-third and add 1/4 teaspoon baking soda per cup of concentrate.**
Honey	1/2 cup	Reduce liquids by one-eighth. Reduce oven temperature by 25 degrees and cook a bit longer.
Maple syrup	1/2 to 2/3 cup	Reduce liquid by one-fourth and add 1 teaspoon baking soda per cup of syrup.**
Molasses	1 1/3 cup sweet molasses	Reduce liquid by 6 tablespoons and add 1/2 teaspoon baking soda per cup of molasses.***
Stevia	Read labels for powder, liquid or concentrate.	Follow suggestions on product label.
Sugar cane juice (Rapadura, Sucanat, muscovado, turbinado, demerara)	1 cup	none
Xylitol or Zero, granulated	1 cup	none

You can find additional tips on their page, here.

Contributing Writer - Patch.com

Besides working on a fun topic for my thesis, my second favorite class is Magazine & Editing.  My professor is really great, talented, and personable.  He has written for many Wine magazines and has even been published in TIME magazine... but of course he didn't tell us that, he's too modest.  Like many talented people I've met thus far in California.

I am telling you this because I was assigned to write for an affiliate of AOL, Patch.com.  Specifically covering the Santa Cruz, CA community.  I have a couple stories coming up in the next week or two that you will find on santacruz.patch.com.

Almost everyone is surprised when I tell them Patch.com is owned by AOL.

"What? AOL is still around?"

Uh... yeah.  In fact, they recently bought Huffington Post.  As far as I know, Tim Armstrong has always been a smart businessman.  AOL has definitely headed down a different avenue now that there are superior internet providers these days.  From what I know about the CEO ,he's always been involved in newspapers so it's not surprising that AOL has shifted into being a news provider.

OH.

I can't believe I almost forgot to share what I am writing about--Natural Living.  Anything and everything that pertains to going green, holistic healing, and health that I can relate to Santa Cruz, CA... I will be writing about it.

I have a lot of fun stories in mind.  So far my awesome editor has been very excited about my vision.  I hope you don't mind me sharing them with you.

It's going to be a fun semester, for sure!

Simple, Mouthwatering Salmon

As winter break came to a close, I prepared one last meal for my family: Salmon.

This is another recipe I swiped from Pinterest.  It was definitely a SUCCESS, and a new staple of mine.  I splurged on the meat once again.  I bought the fish from an organic grocery store, Earthfare.  They had many options, so I simply asked the man behind the counter for a "mild tasting salmon."  I've always found it strange when people order fish at a restaurant to only take two bites because it tasted "too fishy." 

"I cannot eat this!  It's too fishy!"

It's such a common oxymoron... In fact, I've heard my mother say the very same statement.  Which is why I requested such a thing... and unfortunately I don't remember its name.

Anyways, here it is before I put it in the oven.  
Note to self: 2 slices of butter will suffice. 

When I took this photo my father walked by and asked...

"How'd you learn to cook like that?"

My response,

"Pinterest!"

Surprisingly, my father was not phased by my answer and just went upstairs.  Perhaps he knows what Pinterest is?  No way... Or could he? He's pretty knowledgeable in regards to popular technology and websites, so I suppose I shouldn't underestimate him.

According to Pinterest:

Place tin foil on the counter

Then place enough lemon slices to cover bottom of salmon

Lay salmon on top of bed of lemon slices

Place butter on top then season with salt and pepper

Wrap tightly with foil

Bake for 25 minutes at 250 degrees F.

What I did:

Same exact concept, except...
I just seasoned both sides of my salmon with Chef Paul Prudhomme's Magic Salmon Seasoning. 
side note: My mother uses this for all of her fish dishes.  I highly recommend this if you don't already use it.

After seasoning the salmon, I placed it on the bed of lemon slices

Then 2-3 slices of goat butter.  If the slices are thick, two is plenty.

Why goat milk butter?  The human body digests goat milk easier than cow milk.  If you find that you are gassy or bloated after consuming cow milk products this could be your case.  

I was very pleased with the goat milk butter it was very rich and definitely aided in how scrumptious this meal was!

And lastly, I cooked my Salmon for 25 minutes at 300 F.  Maybe my fillets were larger? But I like my salmon to be cooked medium.  My father likes his cooked well done so I left it in the oven for an additional 5 minutes and broiled it for 2 min before taking it out.  

I am a strong believer in giving credit where it is due but I found multiple locations with this recipe.  It's called "salmon in a bag."  Various pins on Pinterest have different links to blogs similar to mine.  

Go figure!  It's a fantastic recipe!

Thank You Pinterest For Making Me ALMOST Feel Like A Chef!

From my experience, recipes on Pinterest are ridiculously tasty 75% of the time.  At least, that's from my experience.  Now, don't go around quoting me, especially since I've only tried 4 and only 1 was disgusting.  Well, okay, it wasn't that bad.  I still ate it but my roommate was more than happy to throw it in the garbage after I made myself sick from eating the "caramel marshmallow popcorn" failure.--In retrospect, it doesn't even sound that great...

It looks better than it tastes, ya see?

ANYWAYS.

I'm still at home, enjoying winter break.  Classes don't start til Wednesday, the 23rd.  Being the considerate daughter that I am... I made OMG Chicken so my Mom would not have to cook after work... and my father wouldn't open the pantry door several times incase food magically appears.  I'm pretty sure I inherited trait from him, now that I think about it.  

"OMG Chicken"- Success!

Pinterest directions: 

"Just mix Sour Cream or Yogurt (1/2 c) and parm cheese (1/4 c). Spread over chicken breast in a baking dish, sprinkle italian bread crumbs on top and bake for 20-30 minutes."

& Here's what I did:

Mix organic greek yogurt (roughly 3/4 c) with parmesan cheese (1/4 c then sprinkled a lil extra).  Spread over 5 chicken breast, season with McCormick "Perfect Pinch" Italian Seasoning.  Cook at 450 F for 30 minutes.

I don't know about you, but I tend to cook dry chicken.  And this was extremely moist!!  My dad doesn't like anything that is slightly healthy and he really enjoyed this dish.  I may be biased but I really think using organic chicken made an enormous difference.  But if your budget doesn't allow you to splurge on organic food, I'm sure it'll taste just as good.

That's just my variation of Veronica Culver's recipe which uses mayo instead of yogurt and includes bread crumbs.  This was extremely easy to make.  The prep time was nothing! It was in the oven in minutes!

Vegan Fat-Free Banana Bread

My roommate and I exchanged gifts this year.  I met her on craigslist and we hit it off but we still haven't known each other very long so I just stuck to something simple: A set of nail polish and a small book from urban outfitters.  She couldn't think of anything for me so she asked me to make a list which I didn't mind because I got exactly what I've been eying the past month or so, The Everything Vegan Cookbook.

VEGAN FAT-FREE BANANA BREAD - SUCCESS
The first item I chose to make is banana bread.  The recipe is simple and included minimal ingredients.  I made one change: I used half the amount of sugar it called for.  I know it looks "blah" in my photo but after I took this photo the bread was still warm from the oven so I brushed honey on it and it looked gorgeous!  It was also very tasty too.  I ate this for breakfast with a bit of honey.  Mmm. 

TAKE 2: VEGAN FAT-FREE BANANA BREAD - FAIL

This second batch I also used half the amount of sugar... which may have been a mistake because I added almond butter and chopped almonds into the batter.  It was no where near as good as the original recipe.  It needed to be sweeter and perhaps could use more almond butter or bananaa?  It was very bland.  It seems as if the almond butter canceled out the taste of itself and the banana.  It makes me wonder if I would have had better results with peanut butter.

Oh, well... It's still fun to experiment.

It may look pretty but it isn't quite palatable!

Below is the original, delicious recipe.

INGREDIENTS

4 ripe bananas 

1/3 cup soy milk

2/3 cup sugar (I used less)

1 tsp vanilla

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

3/4 tsp cinnamon

Step One: Preheat oven to 350 F.  Lightly grease a loaf pan.

Step Two: Mix together the bananas, soy milk, sugar, and vanilla until smooth and creamy.

Step Three: In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking poser, baking soda, and salt.

Step Four: Combine the flour mixture with the banana mixture just until smooth

Step Five: Spread batter in loaf pan and sprinkle the top with cinnamon.  Bake for 55 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

...See I told you it was simple!  

And it's only 237 calories for 1/8th of a loaf... ZERO fat! Yup, zip-zip, nada!

A Couple Goodies From 2012

RASPBERRY CUPCAKES

I made delectable raspberry cupcakes for my best friend's birthday.  I used the website that I recommended in this 2011 blog entry.  Unfortunately I lost the photos but there is one with the recipe if you follow that link... which I highly recommend because those were some memorable cupcakes and my friends still talk them!!

Here is another favorite from 2012,

MELTED SNOWMEN COOKIES!

I actually made these with my colleague, Natalia.  She baked the sugar cookies at home then came over to my place where we iced cookies, nuked marshmallows, stuck them on the cookie then proceeded to decorate. It was a lot of fun and very easy.  We brought them to "game night" and our friends were tickled by the snowmen.  Not to mention they devoured them!  

Great idea Natalia!  I hope we do this again!