Tag Archives: cooking

Healthy Low Calorie Coconut Protein Granola

07/07/2016 R.C. Liley 2 Comments

Do you love granola but not the stuff in most packaged versions? If yes, you’re not alone. Finding a good granola without added vegetable oils, is non-gmo (preferably organic), free of refined sugar, and doesn’t have too many dried fruits (with added oil and sugar) is not easy. Nevermind the high price of a tiny bag of most “gourmet” versions!

Similar to my coconut salmon cakes, this recipe takes the healthful deliciousness of granola to your kitchen? This greatly reduces cost while increasing nutrition.

High protein, gluten free, no refined sugar, and full of crunchy flavor, how can you NOT love it? This coconut granola will have you skipping the bags on the shelf and quickly making a second batch in your home.

Seriously, make a second batch because the first one will go quick. I speak from experience….

Healthy Low Calorie Coconut Protein Granola

Ingredients

2 cups puffed corn cereal; I used Arrowhead Mills
2 cups puffed millet cereal; again, Arrowhead Mills
1 T Cinnamon; I like it very cinnamon-intense, add only 1/2 a tablespoon if like
2 scoops vanilla protein powder; I use BiPro, a high quality whey sweetened with stevia
1/2 cup organic coconut flour
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/4 cup oat bran
1/2 cup organic pumpkin puree or mashed ripe banana
2 T milk of choice or water
1 T coconut oil
3 packets of stevia powder or 25 drops of liquid stevia; I don’t like it too sweet, so if you want add more to taste
1 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions

Preheat oven to 325.
Mix the dry ingredients together in a large mixing bowl using a wire whisk.
In a separate mixing bowl, add the pumpkin puree with 2 T milk or water.
Melt the coconut oil and mix into pumpkin mixture.
Add the wet to the dry and stir until well combined; this takes a while, be patient
On a parchment lined cookie sheet spread the mixture out evenly and bake for 30 – 35 minutes. Every 10-15 minutes stir and break up the granola for even baking.
Remove from oven once you see granola turning a deep golden color.
Allow to cool and enjoy however you would. The clusters make excellent portable snacks and smaller pieces can be used for your milk/yogurt “dressing”.

If you don’t care about the gluten free part, feel free to substitute rolled oats in place of the puffed cereal. Or you can use certified gluten-free oats. The oats will actually make for a crunchier granola.

I hope you try and love this healthy recipe, and maybe even share with others if can! Have a great Sunday!

Do you like granola or try to keep away?

What’s your favorite treat that you wish could be healthier? I might have a way to make it better if you share.

Food, Going Healthy

Sugar-Free Zucchini Banana Blender Bread

05/03/2016 R.C. Liley Leave a comment

Our weekly CSA order has been full of zucchini lately. It’s delicious when simply sliced and steamed with a little sea salt and pepper, but I wanted to use some of it in a different way.

sugar-free zucchini banana blender bread, healthy, baking, cooking, foodie

Since I already have my plate full (pun intended) with cooking the meals for our family, I knew it shouldn’t take too much time, but I still wanted stray from the norm. Hmmm, something different, something fast, and something zucchini; what to do…..

I quickly decided to make use of my favorite kitchen tool, the Vitamix! Then I’d really turn that zucchini into squash. Yes, pun intended once more.

Bananas are usually always around our home since Avery loves them and they are an easy and healthy breakfast. Especially when on the go since they have their own “built-in” wrapper.

Thus, this sugar-free zucchini banana blender bread was ~~born~~ baked. If you don’t have or want to use oats, try protein powder or peanut flour instead. The taste and texture will be different, but I think equally delicious. Actually, I might make a protein version soon.

Zucchini Banana Blender Bread

by RC Liley

Prep Time: 5 Minutes

Cook Time: 40 minutes

Keywords: bake bread gluten-free sugar-free

Ingredients (1 Loaf)

1 1/2 cups rolled oats
1 cup coconut flour
1 ripe banana
1 small zucchini or 3/4 of a medium to large one
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp aluminum free baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
12 drops regular or vanilla liquid stevia
1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/3 cup milk of choice
1/4 cup egg whites or 3 whole eggs

Instructions

Grease a 9×5 loaf pan making sure to get all the up the sides and corners. I used coconut oil.

Preheat oven to 350 F

Put the oats and coconut flour in your blender and blend until you see a fine powder.

Add remaining ingredients and blend until smooth.

Pour batter into the prepared pan and bake in the middle of the rack for 40 minutes.

Remove from the oven and let cool completely to room temp. This allows the bread to retract from the sides as it cools which makes it MUCH easier to remove.

Go around the sides with a thin rubber spatula or butter knife and turn upside down to remove from loaf pan.

Slice as thick or thin as you’d like and enjoy your healthy bread plain or with a pat of grass-fed butter. Better yet, smother it in NuttZo!

Have your kiddos help by throwing the ingredients in the blender and turning it on. Parenting tip: never actually use the word “throw” when asking your kids to do anything in the kitchen. Now that I’m at that point with Avery, kinda, this is an easy way to get her cooking healthy food with me in the kitchen.

When and if you give this recipe a try, come back and let me know how you like it.

Food, Going Healthy, Life, Parenting

Healthy Cooking With Daddy

05/02/2016 R.C. Liley 2 Comments

Finally, the time has come to teach our little girl the ways of healthy cooking! In our house, pants are optional….

healthy cooking with daddy, toddler, kids, teaching, food

I’ve thought of this before she was even born, and it warms my heart now that it’s becoming a reality. Oh, wait, that’s my shirt on fire!!

Okay, all better. So she’s not exactly ready to start slicing and dicing ingredients, but with a little help, she can add spices pretty well.

healthy cooking with daddy, toddler, kids, teaching, food

This was us making a lunch for Mommy to bring to work. Now if she calls sweating from a little too much cayenne, I can blame Avery. She knows that we add fresh ground black pepper to all of our meals and made sure she had a “hand” in that part too.

I had to hold the dish lower since her new non-slip Froggie Step Stool is not quite high enough for her to reach the counter. It’s called the Mommy’s Helper Step Up Froggie Stool, but looks like we just changed that to Daddy’s Helper, huh? Time for a product name change!

Product naming conventions aside, our growing toddler is using her stool for potty training and cooking training. Yes, we use a butter knife to stir in this house, but don’t worry, I was supervising.

I usually tackle several meal preps at a time, so I took the time to get her dinner plate ready as she posed for the camera. Or maybe she was watching the cat walk by….

Either way, she gets so excited if I ask her to help me, and even though she has a way’s to go before I can really trust her to do a few simple things, this is how it starts. For anyone who has cooked with kids, I’m sure you know they are more likely to eat the healthy food if they have a roll in helping prepare/cook it. This includes quality control of whatever we make.

And the verdict?

It’s an underwear-iffic win for dinner tonight!

Avery continues to put a smile on our face every day, and she seems to learn/grow more faster than we can keep up with. Soon, she’ll be stating things to us that we never knew. To those with older kids, when should we expect this?

When time allows, get your kids in the kitchen and explore a new food/recipe together. It will pay dividends well into the future in the form of bonding, healthy eating, and cooking skills.