Last Night's Veggies Cookies

Makes 20-24 cookies
Weird name for a cookie right? But that’s literally what these were. The first time I made Pineapple Pork Tenderloin I didn’t have peppers. Actually to be honest, I seriously needed to go grocery shopping and the only thing I did have was a big buttercup squash. So I made roasted squash with pineapple instead. We all ate it happily enough that night but none of us really felt like eating the leftovers. The frugal side of me couldn’t bear to throw them away so I made them into cookies. Normal people use their leftover dinner veggies to make cookies too, right? Regardless, we all loved them and these have since become a favorite cookie in our household. They are sort of like a pumpkin gingersnap but they're more cakey than crispy.

NOTE: If you are making something in your crockpot, you can chop up about a cup of winter squash/sweet potato and put it on a piece of tinfoil with about a cup of pineapple. Fold the foil into a pouch and stick it on top of whatever you're cooking. Obviously this wouldn't work if you were cooking a soup since the packet would sink. It only takes about 3 hours on low for the veggies to soften but you can leave it in there as long as your dish is cooking and just take it out at the end.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups whole wheat pastry flour (I use King Arthur's White Whole Wheat flour)
• 1 Tbsp ginger
• 2 tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• ¼ cup Earth Balance buttery spread or coconut oil
• ¾ cup canned pineapple, drained
• ¾ cup cooked winter squash/sweet potato
• 1 cup sucanat, divided
• ¼ cup molasses

ONE: In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, ginger, baking soda, baking powder and cinnamon. Set aside.

TWO: Puree the pineapple and winter squash/sweet potato together adding a small amount of pineapple juice if needed to create a puree the same consistency as canned pumpkin.

THREE: In a large bowl, cream together the buttery spread/coconut oil, pineapple-veggie puree, ½ cup of sucanat, and molasses using an electric or stand mixer. Gradually add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients, mixing until dough comes together. Chill dough for at least an hour.

FOUR: Preheat oven to 350 and pour remaining ½ cup of sucanat into a shallow bowl. Scoop out a generous tablespoonful of dough and roll it between your palms into a small ball, slightly smaller than a golf ball. Roll the ball in the sucanat until completely covered and then place on a cookie sheet. Using the bottom of a glass, lightly press the doughball to flatten. Repeat until all the dough is gone. Bake for 10-12 minutes until edges are set. Cool about 2 minutes on the cookie tray before transferring them to a cooling rack. Don’t leave them on the tray for too long if you want them crispy.

Freeze leftovers using the flash freeze method to feed your freezer stash.

NUTRITION INFO:

Per serving (1 cookie) - 89 Calories (16 Calories from Fat), 2g Fat, 0g Saturated Fat, 0mg Cholesterol, 130mg Sodium, 17g Total Carbohydrates, 1g Dietary Fiber, 3g Sugars, 1g Protein, 17% DV Vitamin A, 3% DV Vitamin C, 3% DV Calcium, 5% DV Iron

:)

Cantaloupe Cake Bars

Makes 12 Servings
My boys love, love, LOVE cantaloupe so they get VERY excited when I make this great little dessert. The original recipe used a box of cake mix and a lot of butter. I made my own cake mix based on how my great friend, Mandy, did in THIS recipe. Then I substituted some of the butter with olive oil, replaced the white sugar with sucanat and Agave nectar, and used whole wheat flour instead of white flour. The results were a delicious dessert that is still a bit indulgent but packs 4g of Fiber, 4g of Protein, 33% DV of Vitamin A, and 27% DV of Vitamin C. 

Ingredients:
Homemade Cake mix –

• 2 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour (I used King Arthur’s White Whole Wheat)
• 1 1/2 cups of sucanat (can use turbinado/brown sugar but it won’t be “clean”)
• 1 tbsp + 1 tsp of baking powder
• 1/4 cup of light butter, cut into small pieces

Crunch Bars -

• 3 cups cubed cantaloupe
• 1/3 cup lemon juice
• 1/4 cup Agave nectar (can use honey)
• 1 Tbsp whole wheat flour (I used King Arthur's White Whole Wheat)
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup olive oil

ONE: Preheat the oven to 350. Using a food processor or your hands, blend together the homemade cake mix ingredients until well mixed and the same consistency as packaged cake mix.

TWO: In a 9-inch square baking dish, mix together the cantaloupe, lemon juice, Agave, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla. Spread the dry cake mix evenly over the top.

THREE: Drizzle the olive oil over the cake mix. Bake for 45 minutes or until the top is golden brown.

NUTRITION INFO:

Per serving - 308 Calories (118 from Fat), 13g Total Fat, 4g Saturated Fat, 10mg Cholesterol, 196mg Sodium, 45g Total Carbohydrates, 4g Dietary Fiber, 8g Sugars, 4g Protein, 33% Vitamin A, 27% Vitamin C, 12% Calcium, 12% Iron

:)

Clean Eating Oatmeal Peanut Butter and Jelly Muffins

Makes 12 servings, 1 muffin each
I love, love, LOVE peanut butter and jelly. This is one thing about me that’s very American. We don’t really do peanut butter in England and my British family members think we’re weird that we like it so much. I never really thought about how central to my life peanut butter was until we took the boys over to visit our family in England. We literally flew over there in the cargo hold of a military plane and it took us DAYS to actually get to my family’s house. It sounds awful but it was free and most of the time it was actually pretty fun. However, when we finally got there, the boys had been on a crazy schedule for three days and had switched several time zones.


When we finally made it to the base in England, the first thing we did was run to the convenience store for a loaf of bread and a jar of peanut butter. We made a whole pile of sandwiches to take with us for the last leg of our trip the following day. We thoroughly enjoyed them on the numerous bus rides and still had a few left when we finally arrived at my family’s home.


At dinner that first night, Colwynn fell asleep in his plate. They always joke about people doing that on TV and stuff and I never thought it could really happen. Well it can… and it’s hysterical. Theron stayed awake but refused to eat anything but peanut butter sandwiches… for 2 days. The first night I was like, “Whatever, I don’t care as long as you’re eating something so I can put you to bed.” But by the end of the second day it was a bit ridiculous. Meanwhile, my family is thinking, “Wow. Americans really do live on peanut butter.” LOL!! Throughout the rest of our visit we had peanut butter other times as well. Not an abnormal amount or anything, just the odd piece of toast or sandwich here and there, but because it was an alien food to my family, it really made me notice how often we eat it.


This doesn’t really have anything to do with muffins except that it’s one more wonderfully delicious way you can enjoy your peanut butter :)

Ingredients:

• 1 1/3 cups whole wheat pastry flour (or King Arthur's White Whole Wheat)
• 1 cup rolled oats
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup sucanat (can use brown/turbinado sugar but they won’t be “clean”)
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/3 cup natural peanut butter
• 1 1/4 cups skim milk
• 1 1/4 tsp lemon juice
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 12 tsp all natural, no sugar added fruit jam (I used homemade peach jam… that I made in my breadmaker… from peaches that I got at the Farmer’s market last summer for almost free… and then I canned the jam myself… woohoo)

ONE: Pour the lemon juice into the milk and set aside; don’t stir. Let stand 5 minutes.

TWO: In a large bowl, mix the flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and sucanat.

THREE: In a small bowl, beat the egg and add the oil, honey, peanut butter, and vanilla.

FOUR: Stir the lemon-milk mixture and add to the flour mixture along with the other liquid ingredients; stir until just combined.

FIVE: Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease 12 muffin cups. Fill each one half full and plop a teaspoon of jam on top of the batter. Cover jam with another scoop of batter so that muffin cup is 3/4 of the way full.

SIX: Bake 18-20 minutes until tops are lightly browned and spring back when touched. Cool on a wire rack.

Freeze leftovers using the flash freeze method to feed your freezer stash.

NUTRITION INFO:

Per serving - 251 Calories (86 from Fat), 10g Total Fat, 2g Saturated Fat, 18mg Cholesterol, 119mg Sodium, 35g Total Carbohydrates, 4g Dietary Fiber, 10g Sugars, 8g Protein, 4% Vitamin A, 1% Vitamin C, 7% Calcium, 10% Iron

Clean Eating Apple Cake (OAMC)

Makes 20 servings, 1 square each
I have this amazing (and hysterical) friend, Mandy, and she makes a totally awesome apple cake. And I don’t just think it’s awesome because she baked it and delivered it to my door so that I woke up to fresh delicious apple cake (don’t you wish you had a Mandy?!). Everyone else thinks it’s awesome too. In fact, I’ll admit that I hid while I was eating it and didn’t share any with my kids. Don’t judge, you know you’ve done that too (like maybe when you were eating THESE). Since this cake was so delicious, I asked Mandy if she would mind me trying to clean it up and she of course said yes. However, if I was going to pick something that was worth eating white flour and white sugar for, it would be Mandy’s original recipe :)

How I “healthified” it:

• The originally recipe used white flour. I know Mandy used King Arthur’s White Whole Wheat instead and so did I. But you could also use whole wheat pastry flour.
• The original recipe used 1 ½ cups of white sugar. I used 1 cup of sucanat and ½ a cup of honey.
• The original recipe called for 2 eggs. I substituted 3 egg whites.
• The original recipe used 1 cup of chopped nuts. I reduced it to ½ cup and used sliced almonds. Then I substituted ½ of the vanilla extract with almond extract for a little extra almond flavor.
• Mandy’s version is topped with a caramel sauce which, although completely heavenly, is not exactly clean. I came up with two different drizzles for you to try instead (although I won’t tell anyone if you use Mandy’s caramel one, hehehe).
• The results - A decrease in calories, fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, sodium, carbohydrates, and sugars

Ingredients:
Cake -

• 4 medium apples, chopped into small pieces
• 1 cup sucanat
• ½ cup honey
• 3 egg whites
• ¼ cup of olive oil
• ¾ cup of applesauce
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp almond extract
• 2 cups whole wheat pastry flour (I used King Arthur’s White Whole Wheat)
• 2 tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp salt
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• ½ cup sliced almonds

Cream Cheese Agave Drizzle -

• ½ cup low-fat plain cream cheese
• 2 tbsp light agave nectar
• 1 lemon, finely zested and juiced, divided

OR

Peanut Butter Drizzle -

• 1/3 cup natural peanut butter
• 1/3 cup agave nectar
• ½ cup milk
• ½ tsp vanilla extract
• 2 Tbsp plain greek yogurt

CAKE - 
ONE: In a large bowl, stir together the apples, sucanat, honey, egg whites, oil, applesauce, and extracts. In a separate large bowl, blend together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nuts.

TWO: Pour the liquid-apple mixture into the flour-salt dry mixture. Blend well with your spoon until ingredients no longer have any dry spots. The dough will be thick.

THREE: Preheat the oven to 350. Generously spray a 9x13 inch baking pan with cooking spray. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 40 to 50 minutes.

FOUR: Remove from the oven and assemble your chosen drizzle (or eat as is!)

AGAVE CREAM CHEESE DRIZZLE -
ONE: In a small bowl, heat cream cheese on high in microwave until slightly warm, about 10 to 15 seconds.

TWO: Remove from microwave and use a rubber spatula to stir agave into cream cheese until smooth.

THREE: Add a pinch of lemon zest and 2 tsp lemon juice and continue to stir. Slowly add 2 Tbsp water, a bit at a time, until mixture is consistency of thick cream.

OR

PEANUT BUTTER DRIZZLE -
Whisk together all the ingredients until the mixture is smooth and lump free. Add a Tbsp or so more of milk if it seems too thick.

Freeze leftovers in individual servings using the flash freeze method to feed your freezer stash.

NUTRITION INFO:

Original Recipe Per serving - 250 Calories (95 Calories from Fat), 11g Fat, 4g Saturated Fat, 34mg Cholesterol, 226mg Sodium, 37g Total Carbohydrates, 1g Dietary Fiber, 30g Sugars, 3g Protein, 4% DV Vitamin A, 5% DV Vitamin C, 3% DV Calcium, 4% DV Iron

“Healthified” Recipe Per serving (plain cake) - 154 Calories (36 Calories from Fat), 4g Fat, 1g Saturated Fat, 0mg Cholesterol, 162mg Sodium, 28g Total Carbohydrates, 2g Dietary Fiber, 11g Sugars, 3g Protein, 2% DV Vitamin A, 5% DV Vitamin C, 2% DV Calcium, 5% DV Iron

Per serving (with agave cream cheese drizzle) - 172 Calories (44 Calories from Fat), 5g Fat, 1g Saturated Fat, 3mg Cholesterol, 190mg Sodium, 30g Total Carbohydrates, 2g Dietary Fiber, 13g Sugars, 3g Protein, 3% DV Vitamin A, 5% DV Vitamin C, 3% DV Calcium, 5% DV Iron

Per serving (with peanut butter drizzle) - 200 Calories (55 Calories from Fat),64g Fat, 1g Saturated Fat, 0mg Cholesterol, 167mg Sodium, 34g Total Carbohydrates, 3g Dietary Fiber, 16g Sugars, 4g Protein, 2% DV Vitamin A, 6% DV Vitamin C, 4% DV Calcium, 6% DV Iron
:)

Clean Eating Pear Oatmeal Cookies

Makes 18 regular cookies or 36 mini-cookies
Since we don't use white sugar or white flour, I'm always in search of baked goods that use healthy ingredients but still taste indulgent. One great way to naturally sweeten baked goods is by using fruit. Both of my boys love pears and, since they were on sale THIS week, I thought I'd try them out in a cookie. I found a recipe and "healthified" it. They were definitely different but we were all happy with the results. They are more of a cakey cookie (just how you like them, Mandy!) and we all thought they got better and better the longer they sat there. I think the flavor of the pears absorbed through the rest of the cookie as they sat or something. Because they're made with fresh fruit, you should probably store them in the fridge.

Bet you wish you could reach through your screen and grab one :)

Another plus is that these are resilient enough that your kids can help you make them. You know all those recipes where you have to use like 10 separate bowls and cream stuff together first and then sift the flour? I don't play that game. Maybe because I'm not a very sophisticated cook so I don't understand the benefit of mixing all the things separately. I'm just a Mom in a kitchen with one kid hanging on her leg and the other trying to eat the flour out of the bowl. I dump everything into one bowl and just stir it up. Sometimes that doesn't work but I let my boys and my crazy nephew help make these and they mixed.... and mixed.... and mixed the ingredients and they (amazingly) did not become hockey pucks when baked. They were soft and cakey and oh so good :) Enjoy!!

How I "healthified" it:

• The original recipe called for 1/2 a cup of butter. I used 1/4 cup of olive oil and, since mashed fruit can be used in place of oil/fat in baked goods (usually you see applesauce as an oil substitute), I rounded out the 1/2 cup with 1/2 a mashed pear.
• The original recipe was sweetened with 1/3 cup of honey, 1/2 cup brown sugar, and 2 pears. I increased the honey to 1/2 a cup and made up for the lack of brown sugar by adding an extra pear; half mashed as mentioned above and half diced. I also put a few chocolate chips on some of ours... but mainly because I just think everything is better with chocolate :)
•  The original recipe used white flour. I substituted an equal amount of whole wheat flour (I like to use King Arthur's White Whole Wheat when I'm making baked goods).
• The Results - A decrease in calories, fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, and sodium and a slight increase in dietary fiber and protein.

 Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 medium pears, diced (about 1 1/2 cups)
• 1/2 a pear, mashed (about 1/4 cup)
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla (my mom didn't have vanilla so I used coconut extract. Awesome if you like coconut!!)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1 cup whole wheat flour (I recommend King Arthur's White Whole Wheat)
• 1 1/2 cups rolled oats
• Chocolate chips (optional)

ONE: Dump the mashed pear, olive oil, honey, egg, vanilla, salt, baking powder and nutmeg into the bowl. Stir well.

TWO: Dump the flour and oats in and mix until it forms a dough (or for like an hour if there are three toddlers helping you and everyone wants a turn to mix... twice).

THREE: Add in the diced pears and fold it into the dough until evenly distributed. Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls (rounded teaspoonfuls for mini-cookies) onto an ungreased baking sheet. Press 4 chocolate chips onto the top of each cookie (2 for mini-cookies). (I do this instead of mixing them into the batter because then everybody's cookie has the exact same number of chocolate chips and there's no fighting over who got more).

FOUR:  Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 15 minutes or until the edges are light golden brown. Cool on a cookie rack and store in the fridge or freeze using the flash freeze method.


NUTRITION INFO:

Original Recipe (1 cookie) - 180 Calories (56 Calories from Fat), 6g Fat, 4g Saturated Fat, 25mg Cholesterol, 134mg Sodium, 28g Total Carbohydrates, 2g Dietary Fiber, 13g Sugars, 3g Protein, 4% DV Vitamin A, 1% DV Vitamin C, 3% DV Calcium, 6% DV Iron

New "Healthified" Recipe (1 regular cookie) - 151 Calories (38 Calories from Fat), 4g Fat, 1g Saturated Fat, 12mg Cholesterol, 96mg Sodium, 26g Total Carbohydrates, 3g Dietary Fiber, 11g Sugars, 4g Protein, 0% DV Vitamin A, 2% DV Vitamin C, 3% DV Calcium, 6% DV Iron

New "Healthified" Recipe (1 mini-cookie) - 75 Calories (19 Calories from Fat), 2g Fat, 0g Saturated Fat, 6mg Cholesterol, 48mg Sodium, 13g Total Carbohydrates, 2g Dietary Fiber, 5g Sugars, 2g Protein, 0% DV Vitamin A, 1% DV Vitamin C, 1% DV Calcium, 3% DV Iron

This is where my Mom put my niece while we were baking, LOL!!! Not at all related
to the recipe, but don't you think her expression says, "Hey, where's my cookie...
...and why are you all laughing at me in my cardboard box?"

Check out other sweet treats like these on Sweet as Sugar Cookies :)

Clean Eating Strawberry Oatmeal Bars

Makes 16 servings
This is a great recipe that tastes like a dessert but actually packs a lot of whole grains, protein, and vitamin C. At first glance, it will seem like this dish is high in fat but most of it is from the olive oil, which is actually high in essential fatty acids like Omega-3 and Omega-6, otherwise known as “good fats”.

This is slighty gooier than yours will be since I read my OWN recipe
incorrectly and used a whole pound of strawberries instead of half, LOL

Ingredients:

• ¼ cup of mashed strawberries
• 1/3 cup plus 1 Tbsp honey, divided
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 1/3 cup sucanat (can use brown/turbinado sugar)
• 1 ¼ cups whole wheat flour (I use King Arthur White Whole Wheat)
• ½ tsp baking soda
• ¼ tsp salt
• ¼ tsp cinnamon
• 1 ¼ cups rolled oats
• ¼ cup pecans, chopped small
• ½ pound strawberries, sliced

ONE: Combine mashed strawberries with 1 Tbsp honey. Set aside.

TWO: Mix the olive oil with the sucanat, remaining 1/3 cup honey, flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, rolled oats, and pecans until it resembles a coarse meal (I throw it all in my food processor and pulse it a few times).

THREE: Preheat oven to 350. Press 1 ¼ cups of the oat mixture into the bottom of an 8x8 inch baking pan. Spread the mashed strawberry mixture on top of the oat mixture followed by the sliced strawberries. Crumble the remaining oat mixture on top. Bake until golden brown, about 30 minutes.

Allow to cool completely and cut into 16 squares. (Seriously cool it completely or even refrigerate before slicing if you want bars... or eat it warm and it will taste divine but will be a bit crumbly.)

Refrigerate for 5 to 7 days and freeze fusing the flash freeze method to feed your freezer stash.

NUTRITION INFO:

Per serving - 174 Calories (59 Calories from Fat), 7g Fat, 1g Saturated Fat, 0mg Cholesterol, 76mg Sodium, 26g Total Carbohydrates, 3g Dietary Fiber, 8g Sugars, 4g Protein, 1% DV Vitamin A, 20% DV Vitamin C, 2% DV Calcium, 7% DV Iron

Clean Eating Peach Almond Crumble

Makes 10 servings
One of my favorite desserts has always been my Grandma’s Peach Crumble. It’s a great Spring and Summer dessert when sweet, ripe peaches are super easy to come by. My Grandma's recipe is simple and easy to throw together and I only made a few changes to make it a little healthier.

How I “healthified” it:

• In the original recipe, the crumble was made with white flour and white sugar. I substituted whole wheat flour for the white flour and sucanat for the sugar. Instead of using all flour, I substituted 1/2 a cup with rolled oats for some extra texture.
• The original recipe used ½ cup of butter in the crumble. I substituted 1/4 cup of the butter with extra virgin olive oil but the other half is still butter. I know butter isn’t an ingredient you see often in a “healthy” recipe but, the way I see it, butter is just cream and salt; two ingredients that I can pronounce and recognize. I would prefer to use this over a spread with a bunch of chemicals or unfamiliar ingredients in it, even if it’s supposed to be “healthy”. Besides, this is supposed to be a dessert so I don’t mind it having a little extra fat and calories.
• The original recipe called for white sugar in the filling. I substituted agave nectar and added a bit of lemon juice to brighten the flavor of the peaches.
• The results – A slight decrease in fat and saturated fat and a big decrease in cholesterol, sodium, and sugars. A slight increase in protein and dietary fiber. You'll notice that there isn't much of a change in calories. However, those calories are now coming from nutrient rich sources instead of being empty calories from white flour and white sugar.

Ingredients:

• 4 cups sliced peaches (about 4 large peaches)
• 2/3 cup sliced almonds (optional)
• ¼ cup agave or honey
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• ½ cup sucanat (A natural sweetener. Look for it in the organic section. Can substitute turbinado or brown sugar)
• ½ cup whole wheat flour
• ½ cup rolled oats
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• ½ tsp nutmeg
• ¼ cup butter
• ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil

ONE: Spray a shallow 8x8 inch baking dish with cooking spray. Place sliced peaches and almonds (if using) into dish and drizzle with agave nectar and lemon juice.

TWO: Mix sucanat, flour, oats, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a medium bowl. Cut butter up into small pieces. Add the olive oil and butter into the dry ingredients and mix with your hands until crumbly.

THREE: Spread the crumble mixture evenly over peaches. Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes. My Grandma serves it with whole cream poured on top.... yum... but I feed it to my boys with fat free vanilla frozen yogurt. Remember, it's a crumble, so it's basically cooked fruit with a crumbly oat mixture on top. When you're serving it you might want a bowl instead of a plate :)

Freeze individual servings using the medium/large portions method.

NUTRITION INFO:

Original Recipe - 253 Calories (113 Calories from Fat), 13g Fat, 6g Saturated Fat, 24mg Cholesterol, 66mg Sodium, 33g Total Carbohydrates, 3g Dietary Fiber, 20g Sugars, 4g Protein, 10% DV Vitamin A, 7% DV Vitamin C, 3% DV Calcium, 6% DV Iron

New Healthier Recipe - 252 Calories (121 Calories from Fat), 14g Fat, 4g Saturated Fat, 12mg Cholesterol, 33mg Sodium, 30g Total Carbohydrates, 4g Dietary Fiber, 11g Sugars, 4g Protein, 8% DV Vitamin A, 7% DV Vitamin C, 4% DV Calcium, 8% DV Iron