Category: Desserts

OG WFPB Cowboy Cookies

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(WFPB – Whole Food Plant Based)

This one is DELICIOUS!!! Seriously, I have been eating these for my pre-workout fuel haha. So YUM and so good for you! I have been trying to experiment with different sweeteners and I read something about date paste, so since I had some dates all ready in my refrigerator, I thought I would experiment–the most fun part, except when it doesn’t turn out lol. In this recipe I subbed out the sugar for date paste, equal amounts. It tasted amazing and not too sweet, which I love.

The reason why I call them cowboy cookies is because I have been thinking about my dad lately and these cookies just seemed fitting for celebrating him. It was his birthday this month and he was a tried and true cowboy though and though. I can picture him out on the range herding cattle and eating some of these cowboy cookies. Oh man, I miss that guy. Here’s to you, dad!

WFPB Cowboy Cookies

  • 2 T. Flax Seed
  • 6 T. Water
  • 3/4 C. Date Paste (see below for recipe)
  • 2 C. Natural Peanut Butter
  • 1/2 C. Apple Sauce
  • 1 T. Vanilla
  • 2 tea. Apple Cider Vinegar
  • 1/2 tea. Salt
  • 1/2 tea. Baking Soda
  • 3/4 C. Regular Oats
  • 1 C. Cup4Cup Flour (gluten free)
  • 1 C. Coarsely Cut Walnuts
  • 1/2 C. Unsweetened Shredded Coconut Flakes
  • 1 C. Enjoy Life mini chocolate chips

Mix flax seed and water. Let sit for about 5 minutes.

Mix all of the dry ingredients together and all of the wet ingredients together in 2 separate bowls. Gradually add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredient bowl and mix by hand. Mix well and add walnuts, coconut flakes and chocolate chips. Mix well until all ingredients are combined and refrigerate for 30 minutes to an hour.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Have 2 cookie sheets ready with a splat mat on each cookie sheet. Get about 2 T of the dough and roll it into a ball with the palms of your hands and sit each ball on the cookie sheet. After the cookie sheet is full, take a fork and flatten out each cookie so they resemble the picture below. I just kind of pat the fork around the ball until it is to my liking. I like mine about 1/4 – 1/2 ” thick. Whatever thickness you decided on, make sure they are all uniform so they cook equally though. Repeat this process for the remaining cookie dough.

I put 2 cookie sheets in my convection oven – one on each rack. Cook for 12 minutes.

Makes 3 1/2 dozen cookies.

Recipe for Date Paste:

2 cups of fresh dates, pitted (pack it down good)

1/2 C. Water (add a little more if too thick)

Mix well in food processor or Vitamix. I used the Vitamix and used the tamper to mix it up well and I stopped and started it in between tapping it down. It worked great!

Homemade Mother’s Day Reese’s Peanut Butter Chocolates

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Mother’s Day is in a couple of weeks and why not make your mother some of these delicious Reese’s Peanut Butter Chocolates. These are AMAZING!!! I have to tell you that NO THESE ARE NOT VEGAN!! I know, I know, this is a whole food plant-based blog, but sometimes I just have to use the best milk chocolate, BUT if you do want to make these vegan, ENJOY LIFE chocolate is vegan and delicious. My favorite milk chocolate chips are Guittard Milk Chocolate Chips. They are so creamy and delicious. I can’t help myself! I had to use these!!!

The recipe is very easy and can be made rather quickly for a delicious Mother’s Day treat. I made these for Easter so they are an egg like shape, but you could shape them however you want and they will be amazing. I’m sure they will be a hit!

Homemade Reese’s Peanut Butter Chocolates

1 c. Peanut Butter (I used Skippy natural)

1/2 c. Powdered Sugar

2 t. Vanilla

1 pkg. Milk Chocolate Chips

Mix together the first 3 ingredients. Really mix this well, so it’s nice and creamy and not too sticky. If it is sticky, add more powdered sugar. Put this in a bowl and freeze for about 30 min. After dough is cooled, take 2 T. of the PB mixture and roll in desired shape. Put on a splat mat or on parchment paper and place in freeze again for about 30 min.

While these are in the freezer, melt chocolate in a double broiler on low heat. If you don’t have one, which I don’t, boil water in a small pot and I have a large (make sure it is large so the bottom of the bowl doesn’t touch the boiled water) steel bowl I put the chocolate chips in and place that on top of the small pot. It works so great and the chocolate will not scorch or turn white after it is cooled. Stir constantly until melted. Add about 3 T vegetable oil or canola oil to the chocolate chips to prevent clumping. You have to thin it out a bit so it will go on the peanut butter smoothly. Add more oil if it is too thick.

Take one peanut butter ball from the freezer one at a time and dip with a fork in the chocolate mixture and place on parchment paper on top of another cookie sheet. Repeat with each additional PB ball. It does take a little practice to do this but it gets easier as you do it. Place in refrigerator or freezer again until they are set up. I put mine in the freezer for about 30 min and then transferred them into a snapware to the refrigerator. Enjoy!!

Please let me know if you make this recipe. I would love to hear from you!

Happy Mother’s Day to all Mothers!!

Much love,

Peg

FRIEND FRIDAY GUEST—Sarah Grace Spann

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Sarah Grace, Founder of Fresh Fit N Healthy, author of the book Chasing Freedom, a Certified Personal Trainer, Registered Dietitian with a MS in Exercise Physiology, ex-D1 athlete, both a UF and FSU alumni, and simply a young entrepreneurial woman that loves living a healthy lifestyle – mind body and soul.

Currently she works physically as the sports dietitian for Titus Sports Academy in Tallahassee FL, simultaneously running her own business online, coaching incredible men and women all over the world to help them become their best.

Through her business Fresh Fit n Healthy, she privately works with clients in creating unique and effective fitness & nutrition plans, offering online courses and webinars, meanwhile daily sharing free content on her blog, Instagram, and youtube channel to help people rediscover what living healthy truly means in a diet-focused world. Sarah Grace’s book, Chasing Freedom, focuses on her story of overcoming her eating disorder and finding freedom.

Her focus is on helping you reach your goals in a long-lasting way, without strict dieting. She is a big believer that nutrition is not one-size-fits-all, and in combining science with what makes you as an individual feel best. Healthy living should be freeing and fun, and that’s the lifestyle she is here to help you discover.

If you are an individual and wanting to work with Sarah Grace in creating a personalized nutrition/fitness plan, focused on mindset – nutrition – and fitness – head to this website here!


Black Bean Mini Brownies

1 15oz-can Black Beans, rinsed well

2 Eggs

⅓ cup Butter, melted (can sub coconut oil in)

2 tbsp Honey/Agave

1 tbsp Vanilla Extract

¼ cup Chocolate Vegan Protein Powder-  (or can use more cocoa powder, don’t use whey protein)

2 tbsp Cocoa Powder

2 tsp Baking Powder

⅛ tsp Sea Salt

1¼ cup Mini or Regular Chocolate Chips (you can decrease this and just add more honey for the sweetness if you’d like)

Additional liquid sweetener to taste

Instructions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F

Place black beans, melted butter, eggs and honey in blender or food processor and blend until smooth and beans are pureed.

Add in all other ingredients except for chocolate chips and blend again.

Stir in chocolate chips and spoon by the tablespoon full into mini muffin liners/trays

Bake for about 10-15 minutes, or until done in the middle. It’s better to under-bake then over-bake, as over-baking will lead to a dry product, and under-baked will just be rich and fudgy!

Store in fridge (or I even freeze some for later!)

Sarah Grace Spann, MS, RD

Founder of Fresh Fit N Healthy

Blog: FreshFitnHealthy.com

Instagram: @FreshFitnHealthy

YouTube: Fresh Fit N Healthy

Facebook: http://www.Facebook.com/FreshFitnHealthy

Twitter: @SarahGraceFFH

Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/sarahgrace1016:

FRIEND FRIDAY GUEST POST—SUMIKO MONSON!!

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My Friend Friday Guest today is one of my dear friends, Sumiko Monson!! If you talk to anyone about this dear friend, they will all tell you that “Sumiko, is the sweetest! I love her!” She has the most sweet, pure heart and is a great example of Christ-like service. She and her family have been dear friends of ours for about 17 years and we LOVE the Monson family!! Sumiko is such an amazing little chef and each time we eat a meal in her home, we come away lifted up in spirit and our bellies are full with the most delicious Japanese food. She is seriously a gem!


Just look at this awesome family! Sumiko is sharing with us today a couple of recipes that are some of our favs!  Here’s Sumiko…….

My name is Sumiko Monson.  I grew up in Japan and moved to Hawaii to attend Brigham Young University Hawaii, and met my husband while working at the Polynesian cultural center where we worked as Japanese tour guides.  He is a blessing from Heavenly Father and I love him dearly!!  We lived in Oahu and Maui for 16 years and Tokyo for 4 years before moving to St. George, Utah.  For the first 18 years of my life, I lived to play sports, namely basketball, tennis, track and swimming.  But marathon is whole another level of intense dedication and endurance.  I have much respect for Peggy and her fellow runners!

My husband and I have 5 grown children and the first 3 are married to amazing spouses, the other two are in college.  We have 7 precious grandchildren who melt our hearts.  Going on vacation with them is my favorite thing to do.

I first met Peggy in our church nursery room where her Caden and my Casey attended 15 plus years ago.  And when she told me that her husband served his LDS mission in Japan, they took special place in my heart J.  She is a super lady who can do anything and everything but is still humble and sweet.  I am blessed to have her as my friend!

The Chicken Katsu and Butter Mochi recipes I posted here are my children’s all time favorites!  They are Japanese influenced and very popular in Hawaii.

Chicken Katsu


2 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts-slice in half horizontally

½ cup flour

2 eggs, beaten, mix with half an egg shell water

2 cups panko

salad oil for frying

Pat chicken with paper towel. Dredge thin sliced chicken in flour, dip in eggs, and coat with panko. In electric skillet, heat oil to 375F. Fry chicken until golden brown; drain on paper towels. Cut into 1 inch strips. Serve with Katsu Sauce. Makes 6 servings.

* I slice chicken in half, horizontally, to make each piece thin.


Katsu Sauce
1/3 cup ketchup
¼ cup soy sauce
¼ cup sugar
1 ½ tsp Worcestershire sauce
dash of pepper
Combine all ingredients. Makes about 1 cup
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Butter Mochi

1 lb mochiko
2 cup sugar
1 tsp baking powder
½ cup butter, melted
1 can coconut milk
1 cup milk (I used 1% milk)
5 eggs, beaten
1 tsp vanilla

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Preheat oven to 350F. In a large bowl, combine mochiko, sugar, and baking powder. Add remaining ingredients to mochiko mixture and mix well. Pour into a 13 x 9 x 2 inch pan. Bake for 1 hour; cool. I cut mine into 1 x 2 inch small rectangle pieces.

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Friend Friday Guest — Dr. Tyler Nelson 

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My Friend Friday guest today is our friend, Tyler Nelson. Tyler is married to my dear friend, Kristen, who I love!! She and Tyler are incredible people and their children are growing up to be just as amazing. I’m so grateful to Tyler for taking the time to share one of his amazing recipes with us.  Trust me, everything he makes is DELICIOUS!! Here’s Tyler…….

I was born and raised in Southern California. After high school, I served a mission in Mexico City and attended Brigham Young University where I met my wife Kristen. We moved to Los Angeles for medical school and later to San Diego for a residency in anesthesiology. We came to St. George 12 years ago to join the Mountain West Anesthesia anesthesia group. We have five children ranging in age from 7 – 19.

I enjoy biking, both road and mountain, and I surf whenever I can get to the ocean. That being said, I can be talked into almost any activity outdoors. I love music and I run a small DJ business with my kids. My baking hobby started a few years ago. I learned quickly that nothing makes friends like freshly baked treats.

Baklava

1 cup water

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup honey

1 pound chopped nuts (I use pecans, but some prefer pistachios, almonds, or a combination)

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 16 oz. package phyllo dough

1 cup butter

Boil sugar and water until sugar is melted.

Add vanilla and honey. Simmer for about 20 minutes.

Then cool to room temp.

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Butter the bottom and sides of 9 x 13 inch pan.

Chop nuts and toss with cinnamon. Set aside.

Unroll phyllo dough. Cover dough with dampened cloth to keep from drying out as you work.

Place two sheets of dough in pan, butter thoroughly. Repeat until you have 8 sheets layered.

Sprinkle 2 – 3 tablespoons of nut mixtures on top. Top with two sheets of dough, butter, nuts, layering as you go. The top layer should be 6 – 8 sheets deep.

Using a sharp knife cut into diamond or square shapes all the way to the bottom of the pan. Bake for 75 minutes until baklava is golden and crisp.

Remove baklava from oven and

immediately spoon sauce evenly over it. Let cool. .

Leave uncovered while cooling.

YUM!!!