Carrot Cake Lara Bars

I have a confession.  I am addicted to Lara Bars.  Specifically the Chocolate Chip Brownie Lara Bars. I love that Lara Bars use all real ingredients.  I eat one almost every day as a snack or dessert.


While pursuing the Lara Bar website I saw a Carrot Cake version.  However, I have not been able to find it in the stores. So I decided to create my own copy cat version.  It is amazing that a grain free and refined sugar-free bar can taste just like carrot cake.

Ingredients

10 baby carrots, organic
10 large dates, pitted
1 oz raisins (snack box size)
1 cup of whole raw almonds
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp cloves
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 TBS coconut oil (optional)
1 TBS maple syrup
3 TBS almond butter
1 TBS water (if needed)


In a high speed blender or food processor, chop the carrots until finely diced.

Add in dates, raisins, and almonds. Blend on high for several minutes.

Add all additional ingredients. Continue to blend on high speed, scraping down the sides as needed.

Dump contents on to a large piece of wax paper. Using hands or a spatula shape into a square. Refrigerate bars.

Homemade Apple Butter {Crock Pot Recipe}

Homemade Apple Butter is amazingly easy to make when you let the crock pot do all the work!  Well, you still have to peel, core, and dice a LOT of apples but then it is just a matter of time.

Each fall, we visit Huber's Farm to pick our own apples.  Wiggles and I went on Sunday afternoon and enjoyed the beautiful weekend weather.  Cooler temperatures and warm sun! I love the start of the Fall!

The varieties of apples depends on the season.  This year we were able to pick Golden Delicious, Red Delicious, Jonathon, and Mutzo.  I have no idea what a Mutzo apple even is.  ;)

Ingredients

12 cups of diced apples (peel, core, and dice) 
1 to 1-1/2 cups of sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp cloves


Start by washing the apples in a vinegar and water bath.  Rinse well.  Peel apples.  Remove the core and then dice.  Chunks do not have to be that small.

Place all apples in a crock pot.  Cover with sugar, cinnamon, and cloves.

Set crock pot to low.  Four hours later, stir the apples well and mash with a potato masher. Take a quick taste test to assess sweetness.  Add additional sugar if needed to suite your personal taste.  Replace lid and cook an additional 1-3 hours, stirring well every hour.  The apple butter will be dark in color when done.

I freeze my apple butter in individual Bell freezer jars.


Enjoy over pancakes, waffles, or biscuits.

Protein Packed Chocolate Vegan Smoothie

Several months ago my husband and completed 19 days of the 21 day Sugar Detox challenge.  Yes, I admit that we did not make it through the full 21 days.  :(

I would describe the 21 day Sugar Detox chalenge as a "Paleo diet on steroids".  It was a hard challenge!  I found that I did not miss bread or sugar at all.  However, I did miss chocolate!!! To get through this challenge my husband I both made ourselves chocolate smoothies using green bananas. They were decent at the time.

Now that the challenge is over I have modified our original creation to make it more appealing and higher in protein.  This smoothie makes a great post-work out drink!

Ingredients

1 cup of almond milk or coconut milk

1 very ripe banana

1 scoop Sunwarrior Protein Powder

1 TBS almond butter

1 TBS cocoa powder

1/2 TBS milled flax seed

2 cups ice cubes

Place all ingredients, except the ice in a blender.  Blend on high until smooth.  Add in ice and blend again.

Serve immediately. 

Black Bean and Corn Tortilla Pie

This recipe is kid approved!  My girls LOVE this and often ask for seconds.

I like to buy the Trader Joe's Truly Handmade tortillas for this recipe.  I have tried making my own but with mixed results.  I always have canned organic black beans on hand.  However, I prefer buying the organic dried black beans and then cooking them myself.  I freeze the extra in approximately 1 cup increments.

I make two versions of this recipe each time I make it.  In one I use real cheese and in the second I use Daiya dairy-free cheese.

Ingredients

6-8 tortillas
1 TBS olive oil
1/4 cup frozen onion
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 tsp ground cumin
4 cans organic black beans, drained and rinsed
1-1/2 cup of chicken broth (preferably homemade)
1 package of organic frozen corn
shredded cheese OR Daiya cheddar style shreds (about 2 cups total)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat.  Add the onion and heat until translucent.  Add garlic and saute an additional 30 seconds.  Add in beans, chicken broth, and cumin.  Bring to a boil then reduce the heat and simmer for 10-20 minutes, until most of broth has been adsorbed.  Stir in the corn and remove from heat.

Spray a deep casserole baking dish (I use two round, white casserole dishes) with cooking spray.  Place tortillas to cover the bottom.  Layer with 1/4 of the bean mixture and top with cheese.  Cover with an additional tortilla.  Repeat layering until the bean mixture is gone.  The top layer will be just beans topped with cheese.

Bake 20 minutes, cheese on top will be melted.

Notes-
1.  Recipe is naturally soy free (always double check the tortillas!).
2.  Use all Daiya cheese to make recipe dairy free.
3.  I make two casserole dishes each time.  One with real cheese and one with Daiya cheese.
4.  Recipe reheats well the next day for lunch.

Chocolate Cake {Vegan, Dairy free, Soy free}

This is the easiest chocolate cake you will ever make!  Just as simple as opening up a boxed cake mix and much healthier!  Plus I bet you have all the necessary ingredients in your pantry right now!

Have you looked at the ingredients list from a Duncan Hines Classic Dark Chocolate Fudge cake mix recently?  And don't think that Pilsbury or Betty Crocker's products are any better.
Ingredients- Duncan Hines Classic Dark Chocolate Fudge Cake Mix

Sugar, Enriched Bleached Wheat Flour (Flour, Niacin, Reduced Iron, Thiamine Mononitrate, Riboflavin, Folic Acid), Vegetable Oil Shortening (Partially Hydrogenated Soybean Oil, Propylene Glycol Mono- And Diesters Of Fats, Mono- And Diglycerides), Cocoa Powder Processed With Alkali, Dextrose, Leavening (Sodium Bicarbonate, Dicalcium Phosphate, Sodium Aluminum Phosphate, Monocalcium Phosphate). Contains 2% Or Less Of: Wheat Starch, Salt, Polyglycerol Esters Of Fatty Acids, Cellulose Gum, Xanthan Gum.

The number one ingredient is sugar! Yes, my recipe has sugar too but not nearly as much. They use partially hydrogenated soybean oil which comes from GMO soybeans. There is large list of words that are hard to pronounce like 'propylene glycol mono- and diesters of fats, polyglycerol esters, and cellulose gum' just to name a few. I don't know about you but I do not have cellulose gum in my pantry!

Real food tastes good but is not laden with chemicals and GMO products!

Chocolate Cake

This recipe is adapted from the book The Joy of Vegan Baking.

1-1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
3/4 cup of sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/3 cup coconut oil, melted
1 TBS white distilled vinegar
1 cup cold water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Lightly oil a Bundt pan or a 9-inch square cake pan.  Or if making cupcakes line a muffin pan with paper or silicone liners.

Combine the flour, sugar, salt, baking soda, and cocoa powder in a large mixing bowl.  Mix together vanilla, oil, vinegar, and water in a separate bowl.

Create a well in the center of the dry ingredients.  Mix in wet ingredients until just combined.

Pour into prepared pan.  Bake cake for 30 minutes.  Check cupcakes at 15 minutes as they cook much faster.

Makes one 9-inch cake or about 12 cupcakes.

Chocolate Fudge Frosting

1/4 cup non-dairy, non-soy, non-hydrogenated butter, softened (Earth Balance soy-free)
1/4 cup palm oil shortening
3 cups powdered sugar (approximate, may need more)
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp pure vanilla extra
3-4 TBS non-dairy milk (chocolate almond milk, plain almond milk, coconut milk)

With an electric mixer, cream together the butter and shortening until smooth.  Add in cocoa power and vanilla.  Then add in powdered sugar, one cup at a time, mixing at low speed until smooth.  Add in the non-dairy milk one tablespoon at a time mixing at high speed until the frosting is light a fluffy.

Allow cake to fully cook before frosting.  Store unused frosting in the refrigerator.



Allergy tip-  Freeze extra frosted cupcakes in individual plastic containers for a quick treat for class parties or birthday celebrations.  Cupcakes defrost quickly at room temperature.