5 Fabulous Ladies and their 5 Rockin' Blogs!

Since I visit them all the time, I thought I'd share them with you!

100 Days of Real Food -- you've heard me talk about this one a lot!  Lisa read some Michael Pollan books and went wild with changing her diet and inspiring probably millions of other people to do the same!  AWESOME resource!

100 Days of Real Food

Some related posts: 18 Quick Kitchen Tips, Awesome Website, Starbucks Refreshers, Make Sense of Bread Labels, Amazing Dried Beans, Trader Joe's Treasures, Our Favorite Snacks, Rewards that Won't Fill Your Tummy, Tips and Tricks for Picky Eaters

Oh She Glows -- Angela started a blog as she was getting healthy several years ago -- she was posting twice a day, and these were (are always!) awesome posts!  She is very creative, funny, bright, and shiny!

Oh She Glows

A related post: Creamy Avocado Pasta :)

Chocolate Covered Katie -- Again, I talk about this one all the time, she was a college girl making healthy desserts, and now after graduating from college almost a year ago, she blogs full time!  She is coming out with a cookbook (hopefully soon!) which is certain to rock!

Chocolate Covered Katie

Here are some related posts: Dig into Dark Chocolate, My Favorite Blog!, Healthy Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough, Peanut Butter Fudge Eggs, and Try these Tots!

Hungry Hungry Hippie -- Elise just had a baby boy!  She is a vegetarian (with a non-vegetarian hubby) nurse who is also very creative in the kitchen :)  She has an e-cookbook for a special diet that helps with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).

Hungry Hungry Hippie

My Whole Food Life -- Melissa is very strongly opposed to genetically modified organisms (GMOs), and I just love her simple, tasty, and healthy recipes!  We'll save the topic of GMOs here for another day, and if you are trying to avoid them, Melissa will show you the products to avoid!  In fact, she does a "such and such exposed" for all sorts of products and yucky stuff in them to avoid :~

My Whole Food Life

COMMENTS: What are your favorites?  Please share!

HEALTHY Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough!

A recipe revisited, and SIMPLIFIED!!!

Healthy Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough

SO healthy you can feed an infant (without the chips)!!

I've already posted about this, but you know how I like to simplify!

Many thanks to Chocolate Covered Katie for an oh so creative and delicious recipe!  So, I just simplified a bit...

1.5 cups cooked white beans or 1 can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
1.5 cups pitted dates (30 pieces)
2 Tbsp ground flaxseed
6 Tbsp hot water
Tbsp vanilla
1/2 c semi-sweet chocolate chips (omit for babies!!)

Blend all ingredients but the chips in a food processor until smooth. You may need to wrap edges with a towel at first to avoid leaks.  Once smooth, stir in chips with a spoon, and enjoy!

To enjoy warm chocolate chip cookies in a snap, cook dollops of dough in the microwave ~2 min! You may then flip them and cook for 1 more min. Enjoy!

To bake, heat oven to 350 and cook for 20-25 min. You may need to flip and bake a few minutes on other side. If you can wait, let cook completely!

Here is a post about my FAVORITE blog, Chocolate Covered Katie!

This recipe is a great dip with some Brown Rice Crackers or some Whole Wheat Pretzels or apple slices!

COMMENTS: Do you like your cookies warm? Do you like leftover pizza cold or hot? I like my pizza warm, and cookies at any temp! Have a great day!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudge Eggs!

Happy Easter!

These are a fun treat I made for the kiddos for Easter -- Ha!  They don't realize they are healthy!

Right before bed, my 6YO asked, can we have a treat AFTER breakfast tomorrow?!  She was thrilled that of course she can!  We'd even go wild and let her eat candy before breakfast, but if she is happy to have breakfast first, fine with me!

PS- for the record, all 3 kids had candy BEFORE breakfast!  Still, it's nice that they're learning that it's smart to eat FOOD BEFORE treats!  What a lovely day we enjoyed!

Ok, so for the FUDGE!

Simply grind 1/2 c oats in a food chopper to form a flour.

Next stir together:

1/2 c oats
1/4 c unsweetened cocoa (you can reduce this and increase the oats so it's not as strong a flavor :)
3/4 c NATURAL peanut butter

Just mix and mix with a spoon and maybe a knife to cut through the peanut butter.  After a few minutes, a very thick FUDGE will form!  Fill container with mixture, flattening down solid.  You can use any container -- tonight I used a silicone cupcake pan!

Now freeze mixture for about an hour, and enjoy!

I got this basic idea a long time ago from the darling Chocolate Covered Katie!  She makes a million versions, I'm sure this one is similar to something she makes!  Check out her site for more delicious ideas at www.chocolatecoveredkatie.com !

COMMENTS:  Does the Easter Bunny come to your house?  What are your favorites that he brings?!

My FAVORITE Blog!

I've missed you and the blog while I was away, but I can't wait another SECOND to tell you about...

CHOCOLATE COVERED KATIE -- SHE is the sweetest baker I know!  She loves chocolate - wahoo!  And she is a runner, like me :)  Why are she and her blog so great?  AWESOME HEALTHY DESSERT recipes!  And the best part (on my healthy account) -- she doesn't like sugar!  SO she makes lovely creations -- she's a talented baker, photographer, and writer!

My favorite recipes?  Some on the top of my list -- I haven't even made yet!  But I know they'll be awesome!

Katie has always been making yummy recipes, many of which I have tried, many more of which I have thoroughly enjoyed reading all about!  The cool thing is that her ideas seem to be endless!  Her last few posts have just blown me away!  Check them out!

Chocolate mousse (just read about this one and the chocolate bars below tonight, after getting home from the Houston Marathon, and knew I couldn't delay this most for another moment!)

• 1 can coconut milk
• 1/4 cup plus 1 T cocoa powder
• 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• sweetener to taste (I used a little stevia, but any dry sweetener will do.)

Open the coconut milk, and leave the can (or transfer to a bowl) uncovered in the fridge overnight. (Don’t shake the can before opening.) It should get very, very thick. (If it doesn’t, you’ve gotten a bad can that won’t work for the recipe. I highly recommend Thai Kitchen, or especially Thai Kitchen Organic.) Once thick, transfer to a bowl (you can opt to leave out the watery bit at the bottom of the can, if you want it even thicker) and whip in your cocoa, vanilla, and sweetener with a fork, or even beaters if you want to be fancy. (For the photos on this page, I didn’t use beaters. But I did pipe the mousse out using an icing tip.) Stored uncovered in the fridge, the mixture gets even thicker.

Homemade chocolate bars

• 1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon cocoa powder
• 4 tablespoons unrefined coconut oil
• 1/4 cup agave or use NuNatural vanilla stevia drops (I use 10 drops. Triple or quadruple that amount if you don’t like extra-bitter chocolate.)
• optional: extracts, cocoa nibs, or other add-ins

Melt coconut oil, then add agave or stevia drops. Stir, then add cocoa powder (and add 3-4 T water or nondairy milk if using stevia.). Stir stir stir! Stir until it gets thick. Pour into any flat container (or candy molds or smush between layers of wax paper or in ziploc bags). Fridge or freeze until solid.

Thirdly, I just love the chocolate chip cookie dough!  Yum!  Baking with beans is such a cool way to add in extra nutrients,especially for people who don't eat beans otherwise!  Plus, my nephew, who prefers pasta and cheese to veggies and beans, LOVES this recipe!!!  SO cool!

Chocolate chip cookie dough

This is how I make it: Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough, and it's so healthy that my kids have had it before for breakfast!

Nutella

I tried, unsuccessfully so far, to make a "Laraball" in Nutella flavor, and the creation was yummy, but resembled coffee flavor more than Nutella.  Hard to match with the first ingredient being sugar!  Katie's recipe for Nutella has a little sugar, but I am confident that she has created a nice, healthy match, and if that's the case, AWESOME!

Here is her recipe, and click on "Nutella" or the image above to see the whole post!

• 2 cups raw hazelnuts (240g)
• 1 1/2 T pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder
• 1/4 cup plus 2 T agave or sugar (A sugar-free option is noted in the directions)
• 1 packet stevia, or 1 T more agave or sugar
• 1/4 tsp plus 1/8 tsp salt
• 2-3 tsp oil (Can be omitted, but it’ll be a little less smooth.)
• 1/2 cup milk of choice (I used Almond Breeze)

Roast hazelnuts for 10-14 minutes at 420 F. Rub them together in a paper towel to get the skins off. (It’s ok if a few stubborn skins won’t come off.) In a food processor, blend the nuts until they’ve turned to butter, then add all other ingredients and blend a long time until it’s smooth like Nutella! (I think I blended off-and-on for a full two minutes in my Cuisinart.)

Hope you enjoy my very FAVORITE blog!

WHAT DO YOU THINK?  Tell me in a COMMENT:  What is your favorite blog? What do you like about it?  Share with me and other readers!