Caprese Skewers {using cupcake topper tooth picks}

For Sonja's birthday I wanted to use the basil from our garden so I decided to make Caprese Skewers and I found these adorable owl cupcake toppers {tooth picks} at Michael's Arts & Crafts of all places and here's a cute trick for anyone else planning an owl party or really any event with appetizers.

I picked SO much basil, washed it and assembled.

I started with a leaf closest to the owl so when they were done it looked like they were in a tree! 

then added a ball of mozzarella another leaf {I'm trying to use them up!} and an organic cherry or grape tomato! 

Aren't they adorable?!

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Organic Espresso & Cream Cheese Brownies {inspired by Cafe Solstice}

I made these for my sister's birthday, inspired by her favorite brownies in Seattle, from Cafe Solstice.

you're welcome.

Ingredients:
4 Large ORGANIC eggs
1 cup organic raw sugar
1 cup organic brown sugar
3 tablespoons FINELY ground organic espresso beans
8 ounces ORGANIC butter {but coconut oil would have been a good substitute}
1 1/4 cups organic cocoa powder
2 teaspoons {homemade} vanilla extract
1/2 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon salt {we use pink Himalayan}

Mix, use oil to coat the inside of the dish, pour in brownie mixture, then add globs of cream cheese mixture and using a toothpick pull up and down then right to left to create marbled effect.

for the cream cheese mixture;
1 tub organic cream cheese
1 cup powdered sugar
splash vanilla extract
blend until smooth

Bake at 300* F for about 45 minutes {I used an 8x8 as directed in my base recipe, but since I added so much a 9x13in would have been better, just check on it earlier so you don't burn anything}

Happy Birthday Brittany!
-Jenn

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Almond Milk & Almond Pulp Cookie Recipes

3 cups soaked almonds {overnight, rinsed, strained} 

4 cups purified water 

Splash of vanilla

Puree. Pour through nut milk bag. Squeeze. Refrigerate. Drink.

{save the pulp in the bag for cookie recipe below}

3 cups Almond Pulp 

2 1/2 cups flour 

1 tsp salt 

1 tsp baking soda 

1 cup Organic Olive Oil 

1 cup Coconut Sugar 

1 cup Caco Nibs (sweetened) 

1/2 cup flax seed (ground)

Splash Vanilla Extract

optional additions/modifications: peanut butter, coconut butter, shredded coconut, chia seeds

Combine. Bake at 350* F for 7-10 minutes.

Happy Healthy Snacking!

-Jennifer

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Organic Homemade Granola Bars

Here's a basic starting recipe, feel free to add more or less of any item:

2 1/2 cups Rolled Oats

1/2 Brown Rice Crispies {can find in the bulk section, like rice crispy cereal, only ingredient; brown rice}

1/2 cup Cacao Nibs {found in the raw section of the grocery store or here}

1/2 cup Coconut Sugar {optional}

pinch of salt

1/2 Organic Olive Oil or Coconut Oil

1/2 cup Coconut Butter {found in the peanut butter section}

1/2 cup Almond butter {or any nut butter}

1/2 cup organic Raw Honey 

pour of vanilla

3 tablespoons Flax Meal

1 tablespoon Chia Seeds

Combine dry ingredients {except cacao nibs} until mixed, add wet ingredients until WELL mixed and add more honey or oil until texture of mixture can be formed into balls and does not crumble. THEN add cacao nibs.

Bake at 350* F for 30 minutes. Cut and refrigerate,  Make about 20 bars.

Below is a modification of the above bars with non cane sugar cranberries {they're sweetened with apple juice} and topped with shredded coconut.  I also added way more chia seeds than the recipe above and walnuts, pecans and pumpkin seeds. Make sure to add more honey and oil when adding so many more dry ingredients.  I'm also going to add cooked quinoa to my next batch!

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Healthy French Toast Casserole.

For my sister in law's Bridal shower, her Aunt made an amazing French Toast Casserole, I ate the leftovers all week.  But I knew there was tons of fat in that version so I came up with this healthier option, which is still full of flavor, but not as much cream cheese.

Mix, 1 stick melted butter with 1/2 cup coconut sugar, tons of cinnamon, some nutmeg, 5 eggs and 1 1/2 almond milk.  

In a 9x13 pan place torn up slices of bread to fill the bottom, place pecan chunks on top of that layer then add another layer of bread.  Cover all the bread evenly with the egg & milk mixture.

Allow to sit for an hour to as long as over night.

Bake at 350* F for 30 minutes, if you'd like it cooked a little more maybe 35-40 minutes.

{I reheat ours during the week so I don't mind if it isn't fully cooked through}

It's actually sweet enough, you don't even need maple syrup!

Enjoy easy breakfast for a few days!

-Jenn

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Banana, Kale, Coconut Smoothie

My friend Michelle recently commented how @amysilvermanfitness inspired her to work out the other day and when I checked out her instagram profile, I was also super inspired!  I already started doing yoga postpartum, but now I want to start getting my booty back into shape before we head to the beach. I'm not the type to obsess over my body, but it's weird being pregnant and after because it's a version of your body but not YOUR body, if that makes sense.  So, I'm going to get more active and eat a little healthier to get MY body back!

...and this was the first smoothie with that mindset!

I used:
10 chunks of fresh COLD pineapple
1 frozen banana
handful of kale from our garden
a splash of coconut juice {made from the pulp of the coconut, not to be confused with coconut water}
and a scoop of vanilla whey protein.


Happy Healthy Smoothie Making!
-Jenn

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Winter Cookies {photo documentation and a gift idea}

This past week we made sugar cookies.  It's a tradition I loved with my mom growing up and wanted to continue the creative process with my daughter.  Aunt Brittany helped with the baking and below you can follow along with the whole messy process...

Before Baking.

After Baking.

Waiting to be decorated until tomorrow.

The recipe above is what I used, but I think since I used almond milk instead of regular it prevented the frosting from fully mixing properly.  It has little white specs in it as you might notice below, I would use regular milk next time.

I have a few of these wonderful non-toxic sprinkles, that I've collected over the past few years.

*editor's note: Like anything else, it can be difficult to make a more environmentally responsible switch when the cost of the better product is so overwhelming.  Each one of these lovely sprinkles is about $5 and can be found here.  So, I made the switch slowly.  I kept all my old sprinkles, dyed with who-knows-what and as they ran out, I replaced them with these natural ones.  

It's the same advice I give to families who are considering cloth diapering.  You don't have to do it all at once!  It would be so overwhelming to make such a huge change, when you're already in a routine.  But, maybe, use cloth at night {less likely for baby to poop}.  Its the longest time period for the baby to have a chemical free bottom.  Then, as you get more comfortable integrate them in more frequently, you can add more cloth time and less disposable.  Keep your stash of disposables and use them when necessary.  Some environmental contentious change is better than none.  And It's the same for switching to a paperless kitchen.  You don't have to get rid of paper towels.  Keep a secret stash so you can clean up too gross of messes with those, or when your laundry didn't get done.  But, by slowly adding to your collection of cloth towels and using them instead of paper, you'll make progress.  And that's how it is with everything in our home.  We're making slow shifts in the way we shop as to not destroy our budget, but to allow for gradual environmental responsibility and overall health.  Hopefully, this extra information will allow for you to consider a similar path to Organic, Healthy, Environmentally friendly products.*

Note to self; I thought the parchment paper would help contain the mess.

It did not. 

Above: the finished cookies!

As for the cookie recipe itself, here's what I used...
1 1/2 cups softened butter
2 cups organic coconut or raw sugar
4 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups organic whole wheat flour
2 1/2 cups organic white flour
1 teaspoon salt

bake at 400* F for 6-8 minutes.

I also made these for my nephews by cutting the above recipe in half and fitting into the larger ball jars.  I added a unique cookie cutter for each.  {I modified and added chocolate chips and brown sugar to the one on the left}

Happy Baking and Gift Giving!

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D.I.Y. Coconut Water Popsicles

These are so easy, I feel like it's cheating to post them here.

My Cupcake is always asking for ice cubes, so I thought she might enjoy these.

Using any ice cube mold, simply pour in coconut water, then add a stick.  I used bamboo skewers I cut in half {normally used for my cake pops} and froze them for a few hours.

And then Ta-Da! coconut water Popsicle.  yum.

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Rename Food is now part of D.I.Y. Cupcake!

Who wants to look for blog posts on two different blogs?! Not me! 

So, I exported my Food blog and then imported it here!  now ALL my posts are in one place, when we cook something or bake something you can now find it here.  

Here are all my previous Vegetarian Recipes

& here are my Vegan ones.

oh, and desserts too...

Hope you enjoy this new addition to my blog!

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Lentil Cakes!

I've been meaning to do a whole write up with our measurements and modifications but until there here is the original recipe for my new favorite dinner!

Martha's Lentil Cakes.

Spaghetti Squash with Kale and Walnuts {Easily Vegan and Anti-Candida}

1 Roasted Spaghetti Squash gutted
Bunch of Kale
Organic 8 oz Chickpeas
LOTS of Garlic
1 Onion
Splash of Evoo
Salt and Pepper to taste
Chili pepper flakes
Coriander
Walnuts as many as you like
optional; top with Pecorino Romano or Feta

* Thank to my friend Alex for sharing this awesome recipe!

Buckwheat and Quinoa Flour Crackers {Gluten free, vegan, anti-candida}

I'm still on my anti-candida diet and have been searching for edible crackers.  I found a recipe that allowed me to create these:

1 cup quinoa flour

3/4 cup buckwheat flour

1/2 cup olive oil

1/4 cup water 

pinches {or teaspoons} salt, pepper, garlic powder, rosemary, thyme, basil and any other herbs you love.

preheat oven to 360* F 

mix ingredients until well combined, knead with hand, roll into ball

place on well quinoa floured surface and roll out into 1/8 of an inch thick

cut into desired shapes and sizes bake for 10-12 minutes, flip over and bake for an additional 5-10 minutes.

I baked mine for about a total of 25 minutes because I wanted them crunchy, and I may have had more water or oil than listed, so make sure to check your crackers and bake to your desired texture. 

good luck!

Quinoa Flour Pie Crust (gluten free and anti candida)

1/3 cup avocado or organic olive oil (frozen)
1/3 cup ice water (freeze water 5-10 minutes before mixing)
3 cups quinoa flour
pinch or two of salt

mix with a fork until well combined.  roll out on {quinoa} floured surface until 1/4 inch thick. place crust into ceramic pie dish.  the pieces will break apart, just reassemble them in the dish and smooth out as best as possible.  I pre-baked for 10-15 minutes then filled with egg for a quiche like recipe, could be used for anything though, bake as directed for that recipe.

*will update with a pretty picture next time I make it. 

**UPDATE. I recently made this again and realized my previous measurements are slightly low. I added a few extra splashed of oil and maybe another 1/4-1/2 cup water to get the texture I wanted, I also mixed in some brown rice flour and coconut flour and reduced the quinoa flour keeping the same amount of total flour. Here's the result:

Lentil Leftover Coconut Soup {VEGAN}

I recently made Lentil tacos and ended up with a bit too many lentils left over, so after googling a few lentil coconut soup recipes I came up with this one...

A few blurry ingredients.

What You'll Need:

1 ball jar of cooked Lentils {buy them in the bulk section at the grocery store and cook at home}
1 {bpa free if possible} can of ORGANIC coconut milk
1 cup {and more if desired} of organic vegetable stock
1 organic red onion, chopped
3 organic carrots, chopped
1/2 bunch of organic celery, chopped
2 cloves organic garlic chopped
2 cups {and more if desired} water
pinch of coriander
pinch of paprika
pinch of Himalayan salt
pinch of curry seasoning
dash of red pepper flakes

and anything else you've got left over in the fridge, throw it in {I'm talking about veggies not take out}!

Combine into large crock pot and simmer for a few hours.

Serve with french bread, pita or tortillas for dipping.