Sunbutter Banana Chocolate chip muffins

My boys are creatures of habit. They want some type of chocolate chip muffin every.single.morning for breakfast. Their eczema is flaring, so I'm trying to cut out all wheat and dairy again to see if it improves. Since I have a ton of coconut flour in the pantry, I experimented a little to come up with a filling muffin that still has their coveted (demanded) chocolate chips in it. These turned out great, and are going into our on hand freezer rotation! (Did you know that you can freeze any of our muffin recipes, and just thaw or microwave for 30 seconds? Makes preparing lots of muffins at a time well worth it!) ~ C

Ingredients
Wet Ingredients
3 bananas

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 cup Sunbutter* (or any nut seed butter)

1/8 cup applesauce

2 eggs
Dry Ingredients

1/2 cup coconut flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp sea salt
Add Ins

1/2 cup Enjoy Life chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease muffin tins with coconut oil.

• Preheat over to 350 degrees. Grease your muffin tin with coconut oil or use liners. 
• Mix all wet ingredients together in your mixer. Make sure the banana gets good and mashed up in the mixing process. 
• While your wet ingredients are in the mixer, put all your dry ingredients together in a separate bowl and mix together with a fork or spoon.
• Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients in the mixer. Mix until well blended. 
• Add the "add ins" and mix by hand, or on the mixers lowest setting.
• Pour into muffin pan and cook for 25 to 30 minutes. Muffins are done when toothpick inserted in middle comes out clean. 

*Note: Sunbutter may take on a greenish hue in the baking process. Do NOT be alarmed. In fact, your kids may think it's pretty cool. If you want to teach your kids a science lesson, check out this science fair winner on the Sunbutter website!

Easy Plantain Blender Pancakes (Grain free & Dairy Free)

If you're looking for a quick, easy fluffy, grain free pancake that tastes good, then you've found it! I've been experimenting with plantains as a flour substitute and so far I've been really happy with the results. Using green plantains does not add a plantain flavor, and the end result is a fluffy pancake with a flour like texture.

The great thing about this recipe, is all you need to do is dump the ingredients into a blender, then pour into the pan. Add any toppings as soon as you put in pan and you're all set! 

Depending on the type of blender you have, you may want to blend these at two separate times. First after the plantains and coconut oil, then after the remaining ingredients. 

Ingredients

2 green plantains, cut/broken into 1-2 inch pieces.

2 tbsp coconut oil

Blend

2 eggs

1 ripe banana*

1 tbsp coconut flour

1/4 tsp sea salt

Blend

Pour into frying pan, using coconut oil to coat the pan. I find they are easiest to flip sand dollar size.

Top with chocolate chips or blueberries (or other topping) as soon as you pour into pan. Let sit for a minute or two, to allow to firm on one side, before flipping. 

My kids and husband love these! Hope you enjoy them, too! ~ C

*I've been using a ripe banana in place of honey or maple syrup in my recipes and it's worked out great. No kid complaints here! 

Chipotle Black Bean Mango Salad

Lately I have been wanting Southwestern flavors non-stop, so I have been testing all kinds of new Mexican and Southwestern recipes to satisfy the craving. In my hunt I stumbled across this super tasty burrito bowl recipe from Damn Delicious. It is so tasty and a great substitute for my favorite Burrito Bowl from Chipotle, but it's a little heavy to eat as frequently as I want. I really liked the flavor combination and could seriously have eaten her burrito bowl everyday for lunch, so I have been tweaking her recipe and I finally came up with the perfect vegetarian salad I can eat for lunch everyday guilt-free. Here is my newest food obsession -

Chipotle Black Bean Mango Salad

Salad Ingredients: 

2-3 cups chopped lettuce of your choice, washed (I like red leaf or romaine)

1/2 cup black beans, rinsed

1 medium tomato, chopped

1/4 cup chopped mango

1/2 avocado, chopped

1/4 cup yellow or orange bell pepper, chopped (optional)

Cilantro for garnish, to taste (I'm a little heavy-handed with the cilantro as you can see)

Dressing Ingredients: 

1/4 cup plain Greek yogurt or sour cream

1/4 cup salsa of your choice (I like to use a fresh salsa)

1 tbsp fresh lime juice

1/8-1/4 tsp ground Chipotle pepper - more if you like it extra smoky (I use Penzey's) 

I'm heavy-handed with the Chipotle because I can't get enough of the smoky flavor. 

Instructions: 

In a salad bowl, layer the lettuce, black beans, tomato, mango, avocado, and bell pepper (if using). In a small bowl, stir Greek yogurt (or sour cream), salsa, lime juice, and ground Chipotle seasoning together until well blended. Pour the dressing over the layered salad, add cilantro, and toss ingredients until combined and coated with dressing. Enjoy! 

Because we all know I love my gadgetry, I just had to add a little plug for the value of a mango slicer. If you haven't invested in a mango slicer yet, you seriously should! I picked one up for $0.60 at St. Vinny's a few months ago, and we have eaten more mango in the past few months than I think I have in my whole life. It is SOOO handy; I just put it over the stem, press down, and voila - 2 perfect halves of edible mango. After it's cut, I just scoop the fruit out with a spoon, just like an avocado. Here's a photo from today (because I was, of course, making this salad for probably the sixth time in 2 weeks). 

Perfectly Sliced Mango!!

Grain Free Cauliflower Pizza Casserole!

I came across a pin of a healthy "Pizza Casserole" on Pinterest,  but could never find an actual recipe for it. (Isn't that the most annoying thing ever? Why pin it if you're not going to tell us how to make it??) Ok, rant over... It looked like it wasn't that difficult, so I threw this together for supper tonight, and was very pleased with the simplicity of it. The best part is that my boys are eating their veggies, without even realizing it!
--C

Ingredients:
4 cups cooked cauliflower, cut into bite size pieces.
1 cup freshly shredded mozzarella cheese
1 cup of your favorite marinara or pizza sauce
Toppings of choice. I used Boars Head Pepperoni

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a bowl mix the cooked cauliflower, marinara and 1/2 cup of the shredded cheese.
Pour into a 2.8 liter (3 quart) casserole dish.
Top with remaining cheese and any additional toppings.
Bake uncovered for approximately 20-25 minutes, until cheese is melted and bubbly.

Chipotle Black Bean & Sweet Potato Vegetarian Stew

I put this recipe together the other night while trying to figure out something to do with the dozens of sweet potatoes we keep getting from our vegetable CSA. I think my whole family is a little burned out on chili, so I decided to skip the meat and serve this one-pot meal over rice. 

You could easily add chicken, ground beef, or andouille to this one to change up the flavor. If you do, just brown it, cut it up, and mix it in when you add the chicken stock.

Chipotle Black Bean & Sweet Potato Vegetarian Stew

Ingredients:
1 tbsp olive oil
2 large sweet potatoes, cubed
3 medium carrots, chopped
¼ - ½ red onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 cans black beans, drained & rinsed
1 can diced tomatoes, drained
1 chipotle in adobo, finely chopped (add a tbsp of the adobo sauce for smokier flavor)
1 tsp chili powder
1 ½ tsp ground cumin
2 tsp dried parsley
salt & pepper to taste
1 cup vegetable stock (or any stock for non-vegetarian)
sour cream (omit for vegan) & prepared rice for serving 

Instructions:
In Dutch oven, heat oil over medium heat. Once oil is heated, add cubed sweet potatoes, chopped carrots, and red onion. Cook, stirring occasionally, for about 8-10 minutes, or until vegetables are slightly softened. Add minced garlic, and continue cooking, stirring continuously, for 30 seconds – 1 minute. Add rest of ingredients through salt & pepper, stirring to combine. Add stock, bring to a boil, and then reduce to a simmer. Continue simmering for 20 minutes, or until vegetables are completely softened and liquid has reduced. Serve over prepared rice, and top with a dollop of sour cream or plain yogurt. 

Easy Raw Almond Butter

Do you know how much raw almond butter costs? Seriously, that stuff is pricey! Last time I looked at whole foods it was $17 for a 16 oz jar. Say what!? I was so excited to see they had it, but my excitement quickly diminished when I saw the price tag! So, my $5.99 bag of raw almonds from Trader Joe's is getting some good use. I have made this about 5 or 6 times now, and finally learned the secret to making it a little quicker, and with my Ninja food processor.

All you need is a decent food processor, raw almonds, a little coconut oil or additions you want (salt, honey, maple syrup, coconut sugar, etc).

 I'm sure you can use this same process with any nut, and get the same result, but so far I have only tried almonds.

Ingredients:
16 oz raw almonds

1 tsp salt (more or less to taste, or you can omit)

Optional mix ins (Coconut oil, chocolate)

1) Put your almonds in the food processor and start it up. (Warning, it is going to be loud when you first start it up, but once they break up a little it won't be so bad. I have to warn my kids ahead of time though, so they can cover their ears!!)
2)My Ninja processor is the pulse one, so I let it run for about 30 seconds, then stop to see if I need to stir it up since they seem to stick the the edge the more it processes. I do this on and off for about 6-7 minutes.
3) Once it starts sticking together a little, you want to add any add ins, like salt, coconut oil, chocolate, etc. (see picture below of how it looks when it's starting to stick.)

4) blend again until it is mixed in well, and you have a nice nut butter consistency. The longer you blend it, the creamier it will be. I like it with a little bit of a gritty texture.
5) You're done! See how easy that was?!

I store it in my fridge, and scoop out what I need. It will harden a little when cold, but 30 seconds in the microwave is all you need to soften it back up! This lasts about a week or two, and then it's gone. I love it for my morning and afternoon snack with apple slices! Best stuff ever!

Slow Cooker Sweet Potato Chili- kid friendly!

It is Chili season in North Carolina! Cooler temps mean it's time to break out the Crock Pot and let it do all the work for me. I love chili this time of year!

My 3 year old has a bean/pea allergy so we avoid all legumes and lentils. I came across a recipe for sweet potato chili last year, and tried it, but omitted the beans the recipe called for. I've made it several times since then, tweaking the recipe a little each time. I finally got the perfect chili that we will all eat. 

Try it, you will not be disappointed! The sweet potato is the perfect bean replacement, but still gives you a similar texture. I actually double this recipe in my large Crock Pot so I have extra for the freezer.  --C

Ingredients:

1 lb of ground (beef, venison, turkey, chicken)

2-3 sweet potato, peeled and diced into cubes

1- 15oz can of organic diced tomatoes

1- 8oz can organic tomato sauce

1 Homemade Chili seasoning recipe (below)

Chili Seasoning*:

1 TBSP Chili Powder

1.5  TBSP minced onion

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp salt

¼ tsp garlic powder

¼ tsp ground pepper

Instructions:

Line your slow cooker with a liner to reduce clean up, if desired. (Totally worth the money to get these!)

Put meat in bottom of cooker (I put it in frozen, no need to thaw ahead of time!)

Top meat with seasoning, tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, and diced sweet potatoes. Cook on low for 6-8 hours. 

About an hour before eating, take a spoon and mix everything well, making sure to crumble the meat.

**I don’t add cayenne pepper to my chili seasoning, because my hubby and kids don’t like spicy foods. If you do want it spicy, add ¼ tsp cayenne, or more to taste.  I usually just sprinkle a little on the top of mine and then mix it up!

100 Days of Real Food and Against All Grain COOKBOOK GIVEAWAY!!!

We're doing a cookbook over on our Facebook page! Head over to Confessions of A Real Food Mom's Facebook page to enter. 

Need a little help getting back into a healthy eating routine after overindulging on a little too much Halloween candy and before the chaos of the holidays? Then head over to Confessions of a Real Food Mom's Facebook page to enter this cookbook giveaway, and check our blog regularly for easy, family-friendly, healthy recipe ideas. 

**This giveaway is in no way sponsored by Facebook, Blogger, Against All Grain, or 100 Days of Real Food. 

Sweet Potato & Ground Bison Sloppy Joes Recipe

Sloppy Joes are such an easy, quick, and kid-friendly weeknight dinner. While I always have these great aspirations to try something new with ground meat, 9 out of 10 times I come back to Sloppy Joes. ... and why wouldn't I? I know that they are nearly impossible to screw up even when left unattended for 15 minutes while I change a diaper or break up a fight, and  I know my kids will actually eat them, which is most often not the case for dinner at our house these days. 

I like to change them up by adding different root veggies or beans to the mixture. Not only does it add a little fiber and another veg to their plates, it also stretches the meat a little further. 

We currently have a whole bunch of sweet potatoes from our CSA farm share (read about what a CSA is here), so I took some inspiration from a Martha Stewart recipe and 100 Days of Real Food recipe to come up with this fantastic new Sloppy Joe recipe. This is my first time making "Real Food" rules approved Sloppy Joes and I will definitely be using this recipe from now on. 

Note: We like our Sloppy Joes to have a smoky flavor with a hint of heat; if you prefer a sweeter mix, you'll want to cut the amount of chili powder and cumin used. 

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium sweet potato, chopped
2 shallots, finely chopped (OR ½ small onion & 1 clove garlic, finely chopped)
1 pound ground bison (or any ground meat)
1 14.5 oz. can tomato sauce (no sugar added)
1 tablespoon honey
1½ teaspoons chili powder
1½ teaspoons cumin
Dash of cinnamon
salt & pepper

Directions

In a large skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Add sweet potato, cook for about 3 minutes. Add shallot, and continue cooking until both sweet potato and shallot soften, 2-3 minutes.

Add ground meat to skillet and brown until no pink visible, breaking up meat with wooden spoon while it cooks. Season with salt & pepper.

Meanwhile, in a separate bowl, whisk together tomato sauce, honey, chili powder, cumin, and cinnamon. 

Add sauce to browned meat and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, simmer for   5-10 minutes until most liquid has evaporated and mixture has thickened. 

Serve Sloppy Joes on whole wheat buns. 

*Adapted from 100 Days of Real Food Turkey Sloppy Joes & Martha Stewart's Turkey Sloppy Joes.*

Healthier Pumpkin Rice Krispy Treats

Our Halloween plans were changed last minute, so I had to try to figure out something for us to do this evening. We decided on a movie and treat, so I went to the store in search of something easy to throw together. My small town has limited health food stores, but we do have one grocery with a very small health foods isle. So, I picked up some organic brown rice crispy cereal and decided to make some version of pumpkin "rice krispy treats". I was not in luck with limited ingredient marshmallows, so ended up with the store brand. I need to check and see what Whole Foods has next time I am there.

(Side note: This cereal brand is allergen friendly, which was a great bonus!)

Now, keep in mind that I'm not very crafty, so it's ok to laugh at my finished pumpkin. ;) But, the important thing is that these tasted great and my kids loved them!

Ingredients:
6 cups of brown rice crisp cereal
4 cups of marshmallows
2 tbsp of coconut oil
1/8 to 1/4 cup pumpkin
1 tsp of pumpkin spice seasoning, (or just add to taste if you prefer)
A few chocolate chips for decorating (optional)

Directions:
Put the coconut oil in a large pan on low heat. Once it has turned to liquid, add marshmallows and stir. When marshmallows have melted, stir in pumpkin. Too much pumpkin will make them not as crispy, so somewhere between 1/8 and 1/4 cup works great. Also add seasoning.
Remove from Heat.
Add your rice cereal and stir well, making sure you get everything from the bottom stirred in.
Pour the mixture into a 9x13 and flatten with a spoon, making sure it's pressed into all the corners.
Once they are cooled they are ready to eat!

I ended up putting them in the fridge to get them good and cool. Then I used a small cup to cut out a couple of circles to make the boys each a pumpkin. Then we decorated them with the chocolate chips.  Well, they mostly ate the chocolate chips, but it was fun and the treats tasted great!! --C

Coconut Flour Pumpkin Muffins with Chocolate Chips!

I don't know about anyone else, but pumpkin is not just for fall at our house. I make these muffins year round for my boys, because they are their favorite! You can make these with or without chocolate chips! But as you have noticed, chocolate is in everything I make, if I have a say about it. 

4 eggs
1 cup coconut milk
1/2 cup cooked, mashed pumpkin or canned 
1/4 cup pure maple syrup 
1/2 cup coconut flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 tsp vanilla extract or 1 vanilla bean
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup enjoy life chocolate chips (optional)

Mix together wet ingredients, then add dry ingredients. If you are using chocolate chips, save them for last. Fold them in and pour the batter into a lined muffin tin.
Your batter will be pretty soupy, but it is supposed to be that way! 

Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes, or until toothpick inserted comes out clean. 
Enjoy!!
--C

Grain Free Chocolate Chip Cookies!!

Chocolate Chip Cookies- Grain free and Dairy Free

My oldest is coming home from college this weekend. He says he wants to trick or treat with his brothers on our camping trip, but I'm pretty sure it's because tomorrow is birthday. ;) So, his Nana is making his favorite cake, and the little kids and I made chocolate chip cookies since they are his favorite! These are perfect for satisfying that cookie craving, while following a real food, grain free lifestyle.

Ingredients

1 cup of almond flour

1 tbsp coconut flour

1 egg

1/4 cup melted coconut oil

1/4 cup raw honey

1 tsp vanilla extract or 1 vanilla bean 

1/4 tsp baking soda

Dash salt

1/2 cup of Enjoy Life chocolate chips

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350

Mix all dry ingredients- minus chocolate chips

Mix all wet ingredients

Combine the dry and wet ingredients and mix well. 

Fold in chocolate chips

Drop the cookies onto a lined baking sheet (I actually grabbed about a spoonful at a time, rolled into a ball, then put on the sheet. After I got them all placed, I flattened them out to the thickness I wanted.)

Bake for 8-12 minutes. For softer cookies, less time. For a crispier cookie, more time. 

Enjoy!! 

--C

Banana Chocolate Chocolate Chip Muffins Recipe

Banana Chocolate Chocolate Chip Muffins

My meal prep Sunday, carried over into Monday this week. Such is the life of a busy mom.  Since my 3.5 year old has several serious food allergies, I pack all of his meals for school: Breakfast, lunch and snacks. I needed to restock on breakfast muffins today. I had bananas that I needed to use, but couldn't find a recipe that I had all ingredients for, so I just converted my usual coconut flour pumpkin muffin into a banana muffin recipe. Sometimes we have to improvise! The best part, is that since I was using bananas, I didn't need to add any honey or maple syrup to sweeten them.
So, here is my newly created chocolate banana muffins! #paleo #grainfree #nutfree #dairyfree
Ingredients:
4 eggs
2 ripe bananas
1/4 cup melted coconut oil
1 tsp vanilla or 1 vanilla bean seed
1/3 cup coconut flour
2 tsp cinnamon
2 tbsp dark chocolate powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
Dash of sea salt
1/2 cup enjoy life chocolate chips (optional)

Preheat oven to 350.
Mix all wet ingredients until bananas are well blended. Add all dry ingredients, minus the chocolate chips. Once it is well mixed, stir in chocolate chips by hand.
Pour into lined muffin pan and bake for 30 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in middle comes out clean. 

Enjoy!
--C