{4 Ingredient} Gluten Free Peanut Butter Chocolate Cookies

These do not fall under the "clean eating" category, but they are definitely fast, easy, and delicious, not to mention gluten free. 

I found the recipe on Pinterest and Ryan (quite literally) made them 3 minutes later. My pictures aren't nearly as impressive because they were baked by an 11 year old, but do not let these little lumps of goodness fool you. They are fantastic!

4 Ingredient Peanut Butter Chocolate Cookies

1 cup peanut butter (or any nut butter)
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1/3 cup chocolate chips

- Preheat oven to to 350*.

- Combine ingredients in a medium bowl, until dough forms. Shape into 1-inch balls and roll in sugar (optional). Flatten slightly with your hand or a fork.

- Bake 6-8 minutes.

- Yields about 3 dozen cookies.

Perfect Vegetable Soup

Are you hoping to get a little healthier in 2015? I have a great tip…when you're hungry between meals, eat homemade vegetable soup!  

I got this tip from a friend a few months ago and it's saved me over and over again. I try to make it every weekend and snack on it throughout the week when I just can't seem to feel satisfied. It's great for a meal, but it's an even better NO GUILT snack between meals.

This is a very loose recipe, and all quantities can be adjusted up or down, depending on your preference. DO NOT be intimidated by the long list of ingredient…this is super easy!

Perfect Vegetable Soup

1 Tbsp olive oil (or avocado oil)

1 onion, diced

5-6 stalked celery, diced

6 oz. can tomato paste

1 bag baby carrots, cut in half or quartered

1 can diced tomatoes, with juice (15 oz)

3 cups chicken or vegetable broth*

2 cups water

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 tsp oregano

1 bay leaf (if you have one)

3-4 zucchinis or yellow squash (or combo), cut into coins and again in 1/2

16 oz bag frozen green beans (large handful)

** leftover meat or veggies

Add the oil, onion and celery to a large pot and cook until the vegetables are translucent. (about 5-7 minutes) 

Stir in the tomato paste (will be very thick), then add carrots, diced tomatoes, broth, garlic, oregano and bay leaf. Bring to a boil, cover, then reduce heat and simmer 30 minutes. 

Add zucchini, squash, and green beans. Simmer another 30 minutes, then taste the broth to see if it needs salt. If so, add 1-2 tsp salt to taste. (salt content will depend on the broth you use) Remove the bay leaf, when you find it!

* If there's not enough broth, add more. If there's too much, add more vegetables.

** You can change the flavor of this soup, week after week, by throwing in last night's leftover meat, diced, or any vegetables you have in your fridge. 

10 Minute Paleo Peach Cobbler {Raw, Vegan, Gluten Free}

As soon as I saw this recipe online, I had to try it. Peaches are so ripe right now and I had everything in the kitchen to try making this quick cobbler for dessert.

Even if you're not living a gluten free or Paleo lifestyle, this recipe will surprise you. Being that I'm coming off Whole 30, where no sweets hit my lips other than fruit, peaches are plenty sweet for me without the cobbler topping. But the consistency of this recipe is something that made me feel like I was indulging and it was delicious!

Ingredients

2 peaches, thinly sliced

1/4 cup walnuts

1/4 cup almonds

5 medjool dates, pitted (soaked for 10 minutes)

1/2 tsp cinnamon

pinch of salt

1/2 Tbsp flax seed meal or chia seeds (optional)

Directions

- Soak the dates in 1-2 cups of water for about 10 minutes. If you leave them in there too long, they could become mushy, so watch them carefully!

- Place soaked dates in the food processor and pulse dates until they are very small chunks. Transfer to a medium-sized bowl. 

- Add walnuts and almonds to the food processor and pulse until they are very fine chunks. 

- Pour nut mixture over dates. Add cinnamon, a pinch of salt and flax seed meal or chia seeds, if desired. Mix together until a crumble forms.

- Place sliced peaches in a bowl. If you don't care about eating raw, microwave peaches for 1 minute. 

- Sprinkle the "cobbler" mixture over the peaches and enjoy!

Store the crumble in the fridge for up to a week and sprinkle over fresh fruit whenever you want a sweet treat!

Clean-Eating Coconut Rice Treats (Allergy-Friendly and No-Bake!)

* This recipe is Vegetarian, optionally Vegan, optionally Dairy Free, Egg Free, Gluten Free, Wheat Free, Peanut Free, Tree Nut Free (though they do contain coconut), optionally Soy Free, and optionally refined sugar free.

This afternoon, I was looking for a no-bake treat to make for the kids because I didn't want the oven to heat up the house. I checked my Clean Eating Pinterest board and found this gem. I made some adjustments to use what I had on hand and the results were DELICIOUS!

Whether someone in your house is on a special diet or not, these will be a hit. My kids polished off 1/2 the pan and begged for more.

Coconut Rice Treats

Ingredients

• 1½  cups +  ¼ cup shredded, unsweetened coconut
• 6 Tbsp honey
• ½ tsp vanilla extract
• 2 cups Rice Chex cereal
• ¾ cup chocolate chips (optional: dairy-free chocolate chips)
• 2 tsp coconut oil

Directions

1. Lightly grease an 8x8 baking pan.
2. Place 1½ cups shredded, unsweetened coconut in a food processor. Keep processing until the coconut clumps and turns into a paste, about 3 minutes.
3. Transfer the coconut paste to a small saucepan and add the honey and vanilla. Whisk over medium-low heat until smooth, about 5 minutes. The mixture will be thick and sticky.
4. While the mixture is on the stove, add Rice Chex cereal to the food processor and pulse until they form small crumbs, about 20 seconds.
5. Remove the saucepan from the heat and gently stir in the remaining ¼ cup shredded, unsweetened coconut and the cereal crumbs. 
6. Press the mixture into the greased baking pan, using parchment or plastic wrap between your hands and the mix, if needed. 
7. Place the chocolate chips and coconut oil into a microwave safe bowl 30 seconds at a time, until melted. Stir until smooth.
8. Pour the chocolate mixture over the rice mixture and spread evenly over the top.
9. Chill 20-30 minutes until chocolate topping is set. Cut into squares. 
10. Yields 16 bite-sized treats.

Overnight Baked French Toast (easily made Gluten Free!)

I found this recipe on Pinterest with the comment "Perfect Christmas Morning French Toast". We've had our friends' kids staying with us for the past few nights and yesterday, I couldn't flip pancakes fast enough to feed our temporarily enlarged family. So last night, I decided to find a make-ahead breakfast. 

I messed with the original recipe to lighten it up a bit, including a few adjustments to make it Gluten Free. Our non-GF house guests loved the GF version and begged for more! Everyone had seconds, until the pan was scraped clean.

Ingredients

         1 loaf stale bread (I used Gluten Free)

         12 whole eggs

         2 cups milk

         1 1/2 cup almond milk (or use regular milk)

         3/4 cups sugar (reduce to 1/2 cup if using honey or agave nectar)

         2 Tablespoons vanilla

         1/2 cup all-purpose flour (or Gluten Free AP flour)

         1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar

         1 teaspoon cinnamon

         1/4 teaspoon salt

         1/2 stick (1/4 cup) cold butter, cubed

Directions

1. Grease a 9 x 13 inch pan.

2. Slice or tear the bread into chunks and place them in the greased pan.

3. Mix together eggs, milk, almond milk, sugar (or honey or agave), and vanilla. Pour the mixture evenly over the bread. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

4. Before heading to bed, prepare the topping. In another bowl, mix together the flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Add the butter and mix until the batter comes somewhat together, like little pebbles. (I used a food processor) Store in a plastic bag in the fridge.

5. In the morning, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

6. Take the pan with the soaking bread and sprinkle the crumb mixture on top.

7. Bake for 45-50 minutes.

Yields 8-10 servings.

This is what the pan looked like 15 minutes after it came out of the oven. We will definitely be making this again! Probably for Easter morning. Yum!

Easy Apple Fritters

I have been making these Apple Fritters for years. They are a Christmas morning tradition and an occasional Saturday morning treat. Make them this weekend…you will thank me.

I've experimented and tried to clean up the ingredients a bit and they turned out great! Then on Thanksgiving a few days ago, I made them with GF flour, Xylitol and also substituted the canola oil for coconut oil - I think I messed with them too much. The consistency wasn't quite the same, but they were still very good. So use substitutions as you see fit for your family's dietary needs. The skeleton of this recipe is hard to mess up!!!

Fritter:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour (GF all-purpose flour works, too)
• 1/4 cup sugar (or baking Xylitol)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/3 cup milk (coconut milk or almond milk works too)
• 1 egg
• 1 cup chopped apple (with or without the skin)
• canola oil (for frying)

Glaze:

• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1 1/2 tablespoons milk

Directions:

1. Pour oil into saucepan so that it is approximately 1 1/2 inches deep.  Heat oil on medium-high while making the dough.  Oil is ready when dough sizzles in the pan and floats to top.  
2. In a medium bowl, combine flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, cinnamon.  
3. Stir in milk and egg until just combined.  Fold in chopped apple.  
4. Carefully add dough to oil in heaping teaspoons.  Don't crowd the saucepan too much - the dough will expand a bit. (I cook 4-5 at a time in a 2 quart saucepan)
5. Cook until brown, about 2 minutes, then flip with a fork or slotted spoon.  Cook another 1-2 minutes, until both sides are browned.  
6. Transfer briefly to paper towels to absorb excess oil, then transfer to cooling rack.  
7. Make glaze by stirring milk and powdered sugar together in a small bowl.  Drizzle over apple fritters.  Best served warm.

I always double this recipe for my hungry family and serve next to eggs. I figure the protein will somehow balance the sugar overload to avoid late-morning meltdowns.

This is how they usually look - puffy and round. The first batches all disappeared quickly and by the time I took pictures, they all flattened out (as in the pictures on top)