Monster Cookies for Breakfast | a gluten-free, vegan, soy-free recipe

The first night that I arrived in Kamloops, I had an empty apartment and a NEED to bake. I needed to create something, to feel balanced and normal in the midst of a situation that was anything but. That night I make chocolate chip cookies; they were delicious and I ate them for a week, even when they got crumbly and stale.

Since that first night, I've been cooking, but I haven't really felt the urge to bake again until last night. I found myself leisurely perusing the pages of the few chosen cookbooks that aren't in storage but everything I felt even remotely inspired to make wasn't possible. I'm lacking much of my simple equipment from muffin pans to spatulas and my ingredient list is sparse to say the least.

Before the frustration kicked in however,  I remembered how simple and satisfying my monster cookies are to make and devour. A quick dig through the cupboards and I found all my little bags of goodies that I packed precisely for making these breakfast cookies.

This recipe comes together in a flash, requires only bowls, spoons and measuring cups and its completely customizable to your tastes and what you have on hand in your home.  

It's an adaptation from the ever fabulous Meghan Telpner's Breakfast Cookies that I have tweaked to suit my needs. I change up my add-ins depending on my mood but I always add the hemp hearts. They are a great boost of omega fats that will keep you (and your kids) full and I find when I eat a regular dose hemp hearts, my skin is happier and it plays a role in controlling my eczema. 

RESIST the temptation to add chocolate chips, I always want to, but never do, because I know they don't need them. Substitute what you have in your kitchen and what meets your dietary needs, these cookies will be fine if you use vegetable oil instead of coconut oil, if you don't have pure maple syrup, throw in some honey (that's what I did yesterday) and if you don't keep coconut sugar on hand, try a little bit of brown sugar. These cookies will be a little bit crumbly if you don't use the xantham gum, but I couldn't find mine yesterday and none of my coworkers complained when I brought them to our morning meeting. In fact, more than one of them asked for the recipe.

Be brave, go ahead and experiment a little, these cookies can handle it.

My kids dubbed these MONSTER COOKIES because they are so big and honestly, who doesn't want to eat a giant cookie for breakfast?

Monster Cookies

adapted from Meghan Telpner's Breakfast Cookies

gluten-free, dairy-free, soy-free, egg-free, vegan (can be nut free)

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup brown rice flour
• 1/2 tsp xantham gum
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
• 1.5 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 cup coconut oil, melted and cooled
• 2 tbsp ground chia seeds
• 1/4 cup coconut milk
• 2 Tbsp maple syrup
• 1/2 cup coconut sugar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 3/4 cup of gluten free oats
• 1/4 cup quinoa flakes
• 1/4 cup hemp hearts
• 1/4 cup chopped raw almonds
• 1/4 cup raw pepitas
• 1/4 cup cocoa nibs
• 1/4 cup dried cranberries

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 F.
2. In a large bowl mix together brown rice flour, xantham gum, baking soda, sea salt and cinnamon. Set aside.
3. In a seperate bowl mix together (or you can blend this to disperse the coconut oil more evenly) coconut oil, chia, coconut milk, maple syrup, coconut sugar and vanilla. Set aside.
4. In a third bowl place the oats, quinoa flakes, hemp hearts, almonds, pepitas, cocoa nubs and cranberries and set aside. You don't need to mix this.
5. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and use a wooden spoon to stir thoroughly. This will be thick, do NOT add more fluids.
6. Add the bowl of oats and add in goodies. Stir, stir, stir. The batter should be thick and a little sticky.
7. Scoop batter a 1/4 cup at a time and place onto a parchment lined cookie sheet. Press down lightly with the back of a spoon, or use moist hands to shape.
8. Bake your cookies for 12 minutes or until lightly browned.
9. Allow to cool completely (or they will fall apart).
10. Eat COOKIES for BREAKFAST!

YIELD: 8 monster cookies

Other add-in ideas: goji berries, raisins, chopped dried apricots, sunflower seeds, chopped dates, sesame seeds.

Zoku Quick Pop Bundle Sale on Well.ca

You may remember me oogling over the ZOKU Quick POP maker last year. In only seven minutes it creates three custom pops and can make a total of nine pops before the base needs to be refrozen.

That's right, you can make nine healthy and delcious pops in under half an hour and starting today, Well.ca is having a great sale where you can get a FREE Zoku Tool Kit or a FREE Zoku Chocolate Station with the purchase of your Zoku Quick Pop Maker.

I had almost forgotten all about the Zoku, until my friend posted a picture of her kids enjoying homemade quinoa and blueberry pops on Facebook and suddenly I found myself lusting after a Zoku again.

I just got a juicer and I'm imagining all the healthful deliciousness I could feed my kids in the guise of frozen pops if I owned a Zoku. Fortunately, its my birthday next month and I'm asking for the Zoku  Tool Kit bundle, in fact I'm sending the link over to my husband right now.

And because shipping is always a concern; Well.ca offers FREE SHIPPING within Canada on orders over $25.

If you want to see the Zoku Quick Pop Maker in action, check out this utube video demonstration!

I am an a member of the Well.ca Affilliate Program, however all opinions are my own.

Food.ee Snackbox | 50% off Coupon Code and Giveaway

Last week, I showed you a photo of my Food.ee Snackbox and promised you I'd report back on all that gluten-free deliciousness and share an awesome coupon code. Not only can I get you 50% off your first Snackbox, I'm also giving away one free personal sized Snackbox (that's the size I recieved) to one lucky reader.

Are you excited?

Like it or not, we all snack and sometimes even though we may remember to eat whole, healthy foods at mealtime, the lure of chocolate, chips and candy can be hard to resist in those snackable mid-day moments.

Food.ee Snackboxes solve that problem by shipping you a box full of gluten-free, natural treats (many of which are soy-free and vegan) each month so that you can safely nosh in good conscience.

Snackboxes are shipped out of Vancouver and you can expect your first box within about 4 days of ordering; subsequent deliveries will arrive around the 15th of the month. A personal sized box costs  $33 per month plus $6.95 shipping, is intended for one to two people and includes 15-20 servings.  The Family sized box is $67 per month (free shipping) for 30-40 servings and the Bounty sized box is $97 per month (free shipping) for 50-60 servings.

After plowing through most of my Snackbox in a mere week, I can say with certainty that your Snackbox will be filled with delicious, high quality, natural foods. And if you've ever bought packaged gluten-free snacks, you know they come at a premium cost; the price of a Food.ee Snackbox is not just reasonable, I think its a great deal.

The superstar of our sample Snackbox included the Hippie Foods Coconut Chips, after snacking on them Wednesday night, the first thing Bolt asked for Thursday morning was more Coconut chips. They were sweet and salty with the perfect amount of crunch, I will absolutely be buying them again. In fact I loved the brown rice and quinoa granola too; 'Hippie Foods' are yummy!

But I digress, if you're dying to try out a Snackbox for yourself, head over to getsnackbox.com and enter code MOMMASTUFF at checkout to receive 50% off your first Snackbox. Code is valid until April 31, 2013.

And don't forget to fill out the Rafflecopter form to be entered to win a personal sized Snackbox.
a Rafflecopter giveaway

I received a Food.ee Personal Sized Snackbox in exchange for this post; all opinions are my own.

Chocolate Zucchini Flax Muffins

I recently realized I hadn't posted a recipe in ages, and for that I apologize. I promise you I'm always gluten-free baking and these days, I have no shortage of helpers.

I found this recipe for zucchini flax muffins and using it as a base I was amazed at the soft fluffly muffins I created. In my mind, zucchini and chocolate go hand in hand so I adapted the recipe just a little bit more until I had a recipe that that's so good I've had more than one person tell me they never would have known it was gluten-free.

These muffins come together quickly, they are soft, springy and delightful in your mouth and I promise you even if you have an energy-filled two year old helping you out every step of the way, they will still be delicious!

Chocolate Zucchini Flax Muffins
(gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, soy-free)

adapted from Zucchini, Banana and Flaxseed Muffins by Martha Stewart

Ingredients:

• 1-1/4 cup gluten-free flour mix (I'm in LOVE with this one)
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup ground flaxseed
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 2 tsp baking powder divided 
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1-1/2 cup grated zucchini (~1 large)
• 1/3 cup ripe banana
• 3/4 cup coconut milk
• 1 large egg
• 1 tsp vanilla

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350F and line or grease muffin tins.
2. In a small bowl mash the banana, mix with 1 tsp of baking powder and set aside.
3. In a large bowl whisk together the gluten-free flour, cocoa powder, brown sugar, flaxseed, baking soda, the other tsp of baking powder and salt.
4. In a medium bowl whisk together the banana baking soda mixture, zucchini, coconut milk, egg and vanilla.
5. Gently stir the wet mixture into the dry being careful not to overmix.
6. Scoop muffin tins 3/4 full and bake for 20-25 minutes until top is firm and springs back from a light touch.
7. Cool completely on a wire rack and enjoy!

Yield: 15 muffins

Makes 30 mini-muffins, bake for 13-15 minutes.

Update: I accidently ommitted the flax from the recipe, but it has now been updated with the correct quantities. My apologies. a :) 08 April 2013

Loving 'Love Child Organics'

My kids love, squeezy, squirty fruit snacks and I love whole, natural, minimally processed foods; fortunately Love Child Organics satisfies everyone. I admit the very first time I saw soft pouches of applesauce I worried about sticky spills in diaper bags if the kids didn't finish eating them; that was in vain however since neither Bolt or Simba ever has leftovers.  When presented with Love Child Organics, my boys gobbled them up before I could even grab my camera.

I love that EVERY pouch contains one of my all time favourite super grains, Quinoa as well as acerola fruit which provides a natural source of vitamin c.  Add to that nutritional powerhouse a variety of organic fruits and veggies and local Whistler residents John and Leah Garrad-Cole have finally created a packaged food that I want to feed my children.

And perhaps more importantly, my kids can't get enough. The second I showed the boys' the squeezy pouches of goodness they were begging to eat them and surprisingly neither of them expressed a preference among the flavours. We tried out three of the six flavours; 'Mangoes and Apples', 'Blueberries, Apples and Bananas' and the 'Sweet Potatoes, Carrots, Apples and Blueberries' and I promise you, not one single drop was spilled.

For all of us living an allergy-friendly life, I love that Love Child Organics are produced in a nut-free facility and are naturally gluten-free, dairy-free and kosher. I remember travelling around Asia looking for gluten-free, dairy-free baby food for Bolt when he was eight months old, it was a total nightmare. You'd be amazed how many of the non-fruit baby foods include at least one of the two.

Just in case you're worried, the packaging is all BPA-free and although only the cap is recyclable, the packaging is still a sound environmental choice.

Our pouches use 80% less material than many alternative forms of packaging. An independent audit of the life cycle of our pouches has shown that the energy used, and the environmental impact made, when making, transporting and destroying them is significantly less than PET plastic bottles, Tetra packs and glass. When compared to the glass jars commonly used for baby food, our pouches can use as little as 8% of the energy requirements.

You can find Love Child Organics in Wal Mart Stores and you can also check them out on their Website, Like them on Facebook and Follow them on Twitter and Pinterest.

Have you checked Love Child Organics out? What did your kids think?

I received three packages of Love Child Organics products for the purposes of this review; all opinions are my own.

The Healthy Shopper

Eating healthy is hard. Not super impossible hard, but takes some effort and a little bit of planning hard. As you know I recently decided that it was time to get my eating habits under control. I loaded up on superfoods, participated in the Meghan Telpner Fab Detox and started to get my eating habits under control.

A few months ago when I was out grocery shopping I noticed The Healthy Shopper coupon book and was amazed how many of the coupons were for things I would and could actually use like gluten-free sauces, coconut milk and organic products. 

When I was invited to receive some product from The Healthy Shopper I was super excited and when I read the following quote I was simply inspired.

“We started the Healthy Shopper Picks to let consumers know that healthy choices are available in their own supermarket, and not just in health food stores – it’s all about reading labels and knowing what’s in your food,” said Boyer, co-founder of the Healthy Shopper.  

Have you tried any of these products? Have you seen them in your local stores?

Although there are a number of gluten-free tamari's available in stores, San-J
is my number one choice and I ALWAYS choose it over the other brands. It has a deep, rich flavour that is so much more intense (but not overpowering) than what I remember regular soya sauce to taste like. San-J gluten-free Tamari is fermented with corn rather than wheat, certified kosher, certified gluten-free and Non-GMO Project verified. Perhaps my favourite thing about San-J is that I find the price considerably better than the other gluten-free options.

Before I found out that Bolt was allergic to peanuts, San-J gluten-free Teriyaki sauce was a regular fixture in our house, in fact when my little brother realized his body was having trouble tolerating gluten, I promptly bought him a bottle for his gluten-free care package I was compiling for his birthday.  San-J has a number of gluten-free Asian cooking sauces including orange sauce, Szechuan sauce and a sweet and tangy sauce; unfortunately (for our family) they also have a peanut sauce and all the gluten-free sauces (except the Tamari) 'may contain peanuts' so we no longer eat them at our house.  That said, if you are gluten-free and peanuts aren't an issue for your family, San-J gluten-free sauces are amazing!

I'm also currently enjoying a wide selection of Simply Naturals salad dressing; I admit salad comprised entirely of vegetables isn't exactly my thing, but if you throw some quinoa, buckwheat or other nutritious grain into the mix, I'm all for it. Now that I have a cupboard stocked with delicious, organic gluten-free dressings (the Goddess dressing is the only one that contains gluten) grain salads come together in a flash. I've also been using the roasted garlic vinaigrette on my roasted potatoes and vegetables and the kids have been gobbling them up!

I'm also quite impressed with the quality and softness of the Natracare products I received in my Healthy Shopper kit. I'm really not sure why its taken me so long to realize that the products next to my sensitive nether regions should be both natural and organic. "Natracare products are made from certified organic and natural, plant-derived materials that are chemical and additive free, and biodegradable, containing only organic and natural ingredients sourced from sound ecologically managed producers and certified free from animal testing." Um, yes please.
Last but not least, I want to share a cool little book, Unjunk Your Junk Food which is devoted to helping everyone and anyone make better junk food choices. The book is divided into eleven chapters including chapters devoted entirely to chips, ice cream, cookies and of course, chocolate.

Each two page spread includes a photo, nutrition facts and ingredients for a bad choice on the left and a 'naturally savvy APPROVED' choice on the right. It de-mystifies and defines ingredients we see every day. For example did you know vanillin is an artificial flavour made from wood pulp (yuck) and it can be found in a variety of products, including Sun-Maid vanilla flavoured yogurt covered raisins?

If you are serious about getting your family's health in check and committed to making small changes that matter, then its time to check out The Healthy Shopper.

I received product in exchange for this post however, all opinions are my own.

Foods for Healing | Free Course Videos

I know I've been talking about Meghan Telpner and her new Foods for Healing program a lot, but she's amazing. Full of energy and knowledge plus she knows how to make healthy food taste good. I LOVED the Fab Uplift Detox and I'm so excited about Foods for Healing.

Head over to MeghanTelpnerTeaches to see a video introduction from Meghan all about Foods for Healing. 

Want to know if dessert can be healing? 

Find out in one (of two) FREE course videos in the 'All Access' area. Not only will you learn about food for healing, you'll giggle too; the girl says 'boogery' in the first 30 seconds and she's not talking about a kid!

Registration is now open and this weekend only Meghan is seriously hooking up people who sign up early. If you're even considering participating, go watch the videos and prepare to be inspired.

So here's the goods, direct from Meghan.

If you register between now and 7:00pm (ET) on Sunday, you will also get these sweet and sasstastic very helpful bonuses:

• Bonus 1: Immediately available for download: Audio lecture 10 Things I Learned Healing an Incurable Disease ($19.99 value)
• Bonus 2: Immediately available for download: eBook Superfoods for Super Health ($39 value) and includes a complete meal plan.
• Bonus 3: Exclusive access to join our the group coached call with Clinical Nutritionist Josh Gitalis and I on Thursday, November 22nd at 8:00pm (Normally only available to the deluxe packages)
• Bonus 4: Immediate access to our brand shiny new PRIVATE ONLINE FORUM so you can start connecting with us and each other in a private, free and easy online space.

Registration is open until November 19th and you can get 10% off your registration by entering code 'Mommastuff' at checkout when you register.

Wondering what exactly you get with registration?

The course includes:

• Over two hours of lecture style teaching with images, diagrams, and incredibly easy to follow explanations.
• Accompanying handouts of the slides to follow along and take notes.
• Additional documentation offering detailed information on specific healing protocols.
• 8 cooking demonstration videos showing how you can put what I share in the lecture, into practice in your kitchen and in everyday eating.
• A full 7 day meal plan + over 30 recipes.
• A full transition plan to help ease your way into a foods for healing mind set.
• Options to upgrade and get consultations and amazing kitchen equipment.
• Completely secure access to all your course materials.
• Flexibility to watch the videos and download the print materials at your convenience.
• Lifetime access to the course materials.

Don't forget, our MSB Giveaway to win FREE registration in Foods for Healing is open until 12:01am (EST) on Monday, so make sure you enter, share on Facebook and tweet to get extra entries!

Last but not least, if you have a little extra time, check out this guest post 10 Things I learned curing an incurable disease by Meghan Telpner, the nutritionista herself.

Chocolate Cranberry Granola Bars Recipe | Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free, Nut-Free, Soy-Free

We made it through my first week of work, unfortunately I did very little working, and not in the lazy way.  The baby woke up Sunday morning covered in vomit and as the week progressed the barfing seemed to increase.  My Mom is amazing, she only works on call and is usually able to watch the kids when I'm in need, unfortunately, she is currently suffering from sciatica and a day of holding, carrying and rocking my twenty plus pound little boy is near impossible for her.

In the end I worked two short days and stayed home with my barfy little man for two days.  As I told the hubs, it was a very long week, but not at all in the ways that I had expected it to be.  I spent hours cuddling, snuggling, rocking and soothing my little man this week; aside from a ridiculous amount of laundry the only other thing I accomplished this week was a batch of homemade chocolate cranberry granola bars.

These bars are easy to make (I made them with a crying baby on my hip) and I love that they use nutritious pumpkin as a secret ingredient to create moist, chewy and delicious granola bars.    This recipe comes from The Looneyspoons Collection by Janet and Greta Podleski (which I love and will be reviewing this month), though I have made a few minor adaptations to make it meet the dietary restrictions and tastes of my household.

You can change up the add-ins as you please, but Janet and Greta recommend that you keep the quantities the same and chop your ingredients small to keep your bars from becoming crumbly.  I  have used both gluten-free oat flour (ground up gluten-free oats) and my all-purpose flour mix and didn't find much difference in the end product; use whatever you have on hand, I'm sure it will work well.  For those of you who can tolerate gluten, the original recipe keeps these bars extra nutritious with whole-wheat flour.

(adapted from The Looneyspoons Collection by Janet and Greta Podleski)

Ingredients:

• 2-1/2 cups gluten-free quick cooking oats
• 1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
• 3/4 cup chocolate chips, chopped (or mini)
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries, chopped
• 1/3 cup gluten-free oat flour or all-purpose mix
• 1/4 cup ground flaxseed
• 1/4 cup hemp hearts
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1-1/4 tsp salt
• 3/4 cup pumpkin puree
• 1/2 cup honey or maple syrup
• 1/4 cup coconut oil (or canola)
• 1 tsp vanilla

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F and line a 9x13 pan with a large piece of parchment paper.  Allow the parchment to overhang on two sides to you can use it like a sling to pick up the cooked granola bars.
2. Combine all of the dry ingredients in a large bowl.
3. Whisk together the wet ingredients and then mix into the dry ingredients.  Stir well.
4. Pour mixture into the prepared pan and use your hands to ensure it is tightly packed into the pan.
5. Bake for 25 minutes until the top is light golden brown and dry to the touch.
6. Cool completely, in the pan, on a wire rack.  
7. Use the parchment paper to carefully remove the slab of granola.  Use a sharp knife and firm pressure (not a sawing motion) cut the granola slab into 16 equal bars approximately 1.5 x 4 inches. 
8. Wrap bars individually in saran wrap.  Bars can be stored on the counter or in the fridge.
9. Enjoy!