Valentine’s Day

Almond butter chocolate chip oat cookies. Gluten free.

March 13, 2014 by Knead to Cook Filed Under: Cookies, Desserts, Gluten Free, Holiday Baking Ideas, Snacks, Valentine's Day, Vegetarian, Wheat Free Leave a Comment

Some days just require a cookie. Don’t you agree? Typically the end result would leave you riddled with guilt for imbibing on one, two+++ cookies but not with these. These little gems are a take-off of my chocolate peanut butter oat cookies. They are flourless, butter-less and gluten free! I wanted to make some my husband could enjoy (he’s allergic to cocoa – gasp!). So I made some of the batch without chocolate chips and some with. I used mini chips so they weren’t overly chocolatey but you certainly can if you desire.

Grab your coffee, tea or milk and get ready for cookie break!

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— Knead to Cook

Buckwheat and Hemp Encrusted French Toast.

March 12, 2014 by Knead to Cook Filed Under: Breakfast, Easter, Egg dishes, Gluten Free, Grilling, Valentine's Day, Vegetarian 1 Comment

I’m very excited and honored to be an ambassador for the Whole Grain Council. I partnered with them because whole grains are apart of a heart healthy diet. They aren’t only healthy but they also taste great! As a mom, I incorporate whole grains into my family’s diet each day from gluten free oats to quinoa, kamut and freekah. I was not financially compensated for this ambassadorship and do it happily because I believe in the power of whole grains in a diet. As a vegetarian, I eat many whole grains to fuel my very active life and my recovery from aggressive workouts.

This recipe is super fun and a great way to get more healthy ingredients into your kids/family without them really paying attention to the ingredients. This crunchy French Toast is great topped with fresh fruit or yogurt. My kids devoured it! Perfect weekend breakfast and leftovers store well in the fridge for quick weekday breakfast for on the go families.

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— Knead to Cook

Brown Rice Krispy Treats. Clean Eating.

February 11, 2014 by Knead to Cook Filed Under: Breakfast, Brunch, Desserts, Easter, Gluten Free, Holiday, St. Patrick's Day, Valentine's Day, Vegan, Vegetarian Leave a Comment

Valentine’s Day is this Friday and I’ll admit, I don’t get caught up in all of the pomp and circumstance like I used to. I know that sounds really lame but I like to think that I show my husband and family love throughout the year and not on one special day. Please no hate emails! I will make a special dinner at home, quiet and low key. I found the cutest gifts for my girls in January that I’m actually excited to give to them and my husband… my rock! I got him several pieces of Lululemon summer shorts/tees on sale and already gave it to him. Ha. I’m pathetic- yes I know.

With Valentine’s ready to go to school for my youngest, I did want to whip up a fun treat for my family to enjoy without tons of junk in them. So I thought of what was gooey and sticky and would work to grab ahold of these fun X and O sprinkles I had on hand. Rice Krispy treats! Perfect! Also, with the frigid temps we have… they would set up in seconds outside… and that’s exactly what they did! My daughter gobbled two down on the way home from school. Super cute! Super yummy and PROTEIN packed! Now there is something to LOVE {swoon}.

Customize these to your holiday or event. Would be perfect shaped like eggs for Easter, with green sprinkles for St. Patty’s Day. Let your mind go wild with fun ideas!

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— Knead to Cook

Dark Chocolate Chia Pudding.

February 6, 2014 by Knead to Cook Filed Under: Breakfast, Brunch, Desserts, Easter, Evolution Power Yoga 40 Days, Featured, Gluten Free, Holiday, No bake/cooking required!, Snacks, Valentine's Day, Vegan, Vegetarian, Wheat Free 7 Comments

I’ve been a chocolate aficionado for a very long time. It’s definitely one food passion of mine that I refuse to give up. I’ve curbed back and definitely avoid sugar-laden desserts with my cleaner eating over the past 15 months so changes had to be made. I needed to find better options to satisfy my love of chocolate. My kids are the same. They love chocolate. One loves milk the other follows my passion for deep, dark, rich chocolate. I’m not a fan of store-bought puddings filled with tons of sugar and other preservatives. My option: Make my own! I’ve been making chia pudding for several years now. In fact, way before the chia seed popularity took the world by storm. My farmer’s market that I go to year round sells bags of chia for a great price and I began experimenting with it after reading about how nutritionally packed it was – how couldn’t I?

Last year I had the opportunity to travel to New England twice in only a few months and popped by King Arthur’s crazy fabulous store (both times) and my friend Jenny suggested I buy this deep, rich dark cocoa powder because it was the best. I bought several bags and I concur, Jenny, my friend – you were right! It makes this pudding over-the-top delectable. My kids eat it for breakfast with a mashed banana mixed in. It is so good and it curbs all of those chocolate-crazed moments in our lives (and yes, we all have many of them DAILY!).

I’ve also made this pudding with some powdered peanut butter mixed in as well for a peanut butter cup type of pudding. I’ll add that suggestion below.

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— Knead to Cook

Crown Maple Syrup Sea Salt Bacon Bark.

December 20, 2013 by Knead to Cook Filed Under: Brunch, Candy, Gift ideas, Gluten Free, Holiday, Holiday Baking Ideas, Party Foods, Snacks, Valentine's Day 2 Comments

Various companies from time to time reach out to bloggers to help develop new or unique recipes with their products. Crown Maple Syrup reached out to me to and various other bloggers to create a sweet and savory recipe for the holidays. Coincidentally, they are also running a contest with said recipes and the winner gets to travel to their location and enjoy some fun benefits of being the chosen recipe. My family loves maple syrup so I felt compelled to participate. I always love trying new syrups and use it quite a bit in my vegan cooking and baking as well.

After waiting today at the oral surgeon’s office for my daughter to have her procedure, I was pondering some beloved holiday treats that I could transform using Crown’s maple syrup. Bacon was a definite as my husband proclaimed! Okay I can do bacon… and then bark came to mind. Okay… we got home, got my sweet girl settled and I got to work on my creation/submission. They sent me maple sugar (had to try) and three maple syrups. My mind was racing with excitement. I hope you love this as much as my family has already.

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— Knead to Cook

Homemade Madagascar Vanilla Extract. Gluten Free.

December 19, 2013 by Knead to Cook Filed Under: Gift ideas, Gluten Free, Holiday, Holiday Baking Ideas, Valentine's Day, Vegan, Vegetarian, Wheat Free 8 Comments

This year in light of my year of healthier eating, I wanted to make a holiday gift for friends (I normally do my eggnog bread with rum glaze) that wouldn’t add to their cookie stockpile that they already had (not that there’s anything wrong with that) and that would be a gift that they could use for several weeks or even months. I thought of homemade vanilla extract immediately! Now, if you haven’t had homemade vanilla extract it is far superior to the store-bought version. Even the fancy gourmet versions that you shell out an arm and a leg for. I also wanted to make a gluten-free version for my gluten intolerant friends – so I used potato vodka versus a grain-based. This is such an easy recipe that will be well-received by all of your bakers on your Christmas list. Also a wonderful gift for teachers, mail carriers and hostess gifts.

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— Knead to Cook

Clean Eating Peppermint Brownie Bites.

November 12, 2013 by Knead to Cook Filed Under: Breakfast, Brownies, Brunch, Cookies, Desserts, Gluten Free, Holiday, No bake/cooking required!, Snacks, Valentine's Day, Vegetarian, Vitamix, Wheat Free 8 Comments

This weekend we popped by the most enormous Trader Joe’s that I’ve ever seen and I was thrilled with their holiday section. I stumbled upon my favorite Peppermint extract and wanted to create something chocolate/pepperminty. The girls in my family are all huge fans of the combination. The flavor combination is reminiscent of the holidays and today, with our frigid temperatures, are also pushing me in that direction. Hard to believe that in just a few weeks we will have a Christmas tree in our house! Wasn’t it just summer?

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— Knead to Cook

Mini Chocolate Almond Butter Pies.

November 4, 2013 by Knead to Cook Filed Under: Desserts, Easter, Holiday, Holiday Baking Ideas, Nuts, Party Foods, Snacks, Thanksgiving, Valentine's Day, Vegetarian 5 Comments

I don’t think there is anyone on the planet that doesn’t love the chocolate/nut butter combination. I’ve been working on some Thanksgiving menu ideas, as I host this holiday each year, and wanted to make some fun – different than the typical apple or pumpkin pie, portion-controlled desserts. This way people can try a variety of desserts without overdoing it and being riddled with the holiday food regrets. Plus, mini food that is totally poppable (is that even a word? ~ well it is now) into your mouth makes it even better. These can made with homemade crust or store-bought if you’re in a pinch for time. Whip up really fast and can definitely be made a day or two in advance.

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— Knead to Cook

Double Chocolate Zucchini Bread Bite Cookies.

October 30, 2013 by Knead to Cook Filed Under: Breakfast, Brunch, Cookies, Holiday, Holiday Baking Ideas, Nuts, Party Foods, Snacks, Valentine's Day, Vegetarian 2 Comments

If you’re like me, you have quite a collection of cookbooks. I have those cherished ones that are all stained up from my relatives that they’ve passed down to me. Those cookbooks that are gifts from family or friends and finally the cookbooks I buy. I read them like a novel and scour each recipe. I mark recipes I want to try and guess what happens? I never get back to them. So they sit, collecting dust on my bookshelf in my kitchen and taunt me. So this weekend I pulled out three cookbooks and picked a few recipes to make. Now keeping to my true fashion, I adapt, change and evolve the recipe to suit my needs or my family’s taste. This recipe was no different. It was inspired by The Sprouted Kitchen’s Zucchini Bread Bites.

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— Knead to Cook

Muffin Pan Mini Apple Pies.

September 20, 2013 by Knead to Cook Filed Under: 4th of July/Patriotic, Brunch, Desserts, Holiday, Holiday Baking Ideas, Party Foods, Pies, Snacks, Thanksgiving, Valentine's Day, Vegetarian 15 Comments

Get your fork ready…

Yesterday made me stop and really examine the last two weeks of my life. I’m unsure if I’ve been really blessed (I’m leaning towards this) or someone is out there gunning for me. Two weeks ago I had a fairly routine operation on my finger resulting in a case of staph infection that landed me in the hospital with IV antibiotics and another surgery to flush out any remaining staph bacteria. The worse case scenario, the docs told me was that I would have a pic line installed and have to go to the hospital every single day for IV antibiotics for 30 days. Thank heavens this wasn’t the case. I walked out of the hospital with oral antibiotics and have been healing up, dealing with the pain of the surgery. This, the docs said was because I was in great shape and I’m very healthy. Okay great. Plus, I have been granted permission upon discharge to continue training, something very important to me and my mental health. I gain great enjoyment from working out and it is a simple way of keeping the endorphins flowing and me happy. Win! Win! So yesterday I headed out about 5:20 am for a ten mile run. I’m training for a half marathon that I have yet to determine (yes, I need to get on this). As I just hit the 9 mile mark, very close to my home, a car that didn’t see me (because the driver wasn’t looking in my direction) hit me. I was fortunate to act fast and catapult myself over his hood and land on the other side of the car. It all happened in slow motion. I landed on my feet and was partially in shock that this happened and that he was driving away! He then must’ve got a glimpse of me running towards the car and stopped. His comment “I never even saw you.” Are you kidding me? I turned and ran home finishing my ten miles in record time and a bit in shock. Long story short, I walked away from a car hitting me. I remember my hands on the hood of the car and thinking is this for real? The engine roaring underneath my palms, I was blessed with the thought of jumping on the hood an getting legs out of the way. I couldn’t make this stuff up if I tried. So I’m going with blessed! I escaped two situations that could’ve left me very injured or even dead. So what did I do… I shook it off, relished my ten mile run and made mini pies for my family. One-handed I might add.

I really prefer to live under the radar but lately that’s been quite difficult!

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— Knead to Cook