SCORE! new favorite treat!!!

The journey at the Call house has taken another slight curve in eating style yet again,  It's really not too far from where we have been lately, but this little curve has turned up the heat in the kitchen, at least as far as planning goes.  This past week in the evenings we have been watching food documentaries.  Let me just say for the record... DON"T WATCH food documentaries unless you are ready to make some changes in the kitchen!!  So now that we are trying this vegan thing for a bit, food is constantly on my mind:  What will we eat for dinner? Does this fit in our new menu plan?  How can I make these veggies taste different since we have eaten them the last three nights?  What can I snack on?

I found one fantastic answer to this last question!  I have been sifting through so many websites, recipes, cookbooks... one site I have found a lot of good information on is http://ohsheglows.com/ I'm not at all sure how I ended up on this link, but it is now bookmarked and visited often.  Here is our new favorite treat from that site...

~you can make it in the time it takes to read this post.

~you only need five ingredients.

~all five ingredients are probably in your kitchen already.

~they'll disappear almost as quickly as you can make them...

Let's just double this one from the start because there is no reason to just have twelve of these when you are done.  So here is the doubled recipe the way we make it in our house...

~ 1/2 cup chunky almond butter (you could use about any nut butter you have on hand)

~ 2 tsp pure vanilla

~ 6 TBSP honey 

~ 2 TBSP chocolate chips (one's with non-hydrogenated oil)

~ 2 cups rice crispy cereal (We like these from Trader Joes, no preservatives, artificial colors, or flavors.  It is also free of all our allergens.)

 In a glass dish stir together the almond butter, vanilla, and honey then microwave for 45 seconds.  When it is done give it a quick stir and then add the rice crispy cereal and chocolate.  Stir it all up and you are almost done.  Wet you hands and roll the balls into golf ball size balls (a medium scooper works perfectly) place them on a parchment paper lined dish.  After licking cleaning off your hands the only step left is to place them in the fridge for as long as you can keep it a secret that they are prepared and you can dig in. Enjoy!!

Lauren's Ultimate Cookies

 A sweet friend sent me this recipe as a "must have" for our allergy journey. After tweaking it a little to make it work in our house with a peanut allergy it has become a staple in our home.  I couldn't agree with my friend more when she says these are packed with great things, and she doesn't mind the kids having them every day.  I encourage them often, sometimes even when we need a quick breakfast as we are running out the door.  

A few of the changes and why: I use almond butter instead of peanut butter, but I felt like that made them a little dry, so I added 1/2 cup of honey.  I swapped out the brown sugar for sucanat and lessened it to 3/4 cup.  Finally, with some controversy around xanthum gum (it being produced from wheat, soy or corn bothers me since H is allergic to 2 out of 3 possible sources) I felt safer using psyllium husks.

Let's bake!!

There are so many dry ingredients I like to gather them first, in a large bowl.  

2 cups flour

The gluten free flour mix used is 1/2 cup each oat flour and sorghum flour, 3/4 cup brown rice flour and 1/4 cup coconut flours.  (If your goal is gluten free you want to make sure all your oat products are specifically gluten free.) 

1 tsp cinnamon

2 tsp psyllium husks

3Tbsp shelled hemp seeds

2 Tbsp raw chia seeds

1/3 cup flax meal

 2 cups GF oats

1/2 cup oat bran

1 tsp sea salt

2 tsp baking soda

1 cup shredded unsweetened coconut

 In a mixing bowl mix the following:

1/2 cup coconut oil

1 cup almond butter

2 tsp pure vanilla

3/4 cup sucanat

1/2 cup honey

3 eggs (egg replacer also works if needed)

1/3 cup (or a little more if needed) water

Once these are mixed well, begin adding the dry ingredients.  Be warned the mixing bowl may run over!

 Add in 1/2 bag of chocolate chips and mix a little more.

 We make these very large cookies (my friend uses an ice cream scoop.)  The batch makes about 50 cookies minus the dough you happen to snack on as you roll the cookies out. 

 After baking 17 minutes at 350* they will be done.  Once they have cooled enjoy the cookie taste and the protein boost :)