cleverchickadee

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Recently someone on one of the food pages on Facebook that I belong to asked if anyone had a recipe for Indian Chickpeas, I do, but then when I went to make it, I realized that I had a head of cauliflower (gobhi) that needed to be used before it went bad, so I changed gears a little and made this instead.

It is a go to recipe for me, I’ve made it a few times recently because it has a heartiness that is nice for winter, but it is also pretty light, so while it fills you up, it doesn’t leave you feeling bogged down.

This recipe makes about 4 servings.

Here is what you are going to need:

• 3 tablespoons olive (or mustard) oil
• 4 chopped garlic cloves
• Spices:
  • 1 small chopped onion
  • 1 tablespoon cumin seeds
  • 1 table spoon garam masala
  • 2 teaspoons turmeric powder
  • ½ teaspoon ginger powder
  • ¼ teaspoon cinnamon powder
  • ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¼ cup of water
• 1 cauliflower head chopped into bite size bits, (I use the leaves and stalks too)
• 1 can fire roasted (diced or crushed) tomatoes
• Cilantro for garnish

You are going need a large frying pan (I prefer cast iron), heat it up and add olive oil and get it hot.

Add your garlic get it frying up a little and then add the onion.

Push the onions and garlic to the side and in some oil add your spices, let them get to temp and mix them into the garlic and onions and then add your salt.

Add your cauliflower and mixed it into the mix, get all the pieces as coated as possible and cook a bit, add the water and cover for a few minutes. When the cauliflower is about half cooked, add your tomatoes.

Cook it until all the cauliflower is a bit translucent, stirring occasionally.

Garnish with cilantro and serve over rice.

Be careful with this tho, you may find yourself hooked!

In my quest for less sugar and less processed snacks for my kidlet and well everyone in the house frankly. I came across a recipe for coconut flour carrot muffins. It had a little too much ick and not enough yum so I busted it up a little and in my opinion made it more kid palatable. Did any of you ever read that cookbook …ohh what was it called.. Deceptively Delicious? Anyway it was full of ways to trick your kids into eating things that were made with low fat products and included like a half a cup or so of vegetable puree or purees. I recycled it. Sorry. I think my kid needs good wholesome fats from good sources and I also think that a 1/2 cup of puree is not worth the effort. Trust me.. two cups of spinach, an orange and some blueberries and you are doing your kid a big favor. Plus it tastes like a Creamsicle for some reason. 🙂 Go figure. So, try the below in your kitchen, bust it up if you want, make it your own. Let me know how it goes! You might have ideas. My S.O. said “way good” but my son said “it’s like 65% good”. I told him he would love them when we had retrained his taste buds. That’s true right?

Ingredients

* 1 cup coconut flour
* 1 cup shredded carrots

* 1/2 cup ground flaxseed meal
* 1/4 cup agave or sweetener sub of your choice
* 1 tsp cinnamon
* 2 tsp vanilla extract
* 2 tsp baking powder
* 4 eggs (thank you Colonel Mustard, Diablo and Roho)
* 6 Tbs Coconut Oil – melted but not hot
* 1/2 cup whole milk
* 1/2 cup raisins

* enough chocolate chips to trick your kids, just

Directions

* Preheat oven to 350*F
* Throw all ingredients in a large mixing bowl, mix with vigor
* Line muffin tin with muffin cup paper thingies
* Pour batter into cups and bake for 20 minutes
* Allow to cool before enjoying, possibly with a nice pat of butter

Well it’s been about a dogs age since I last posted anything here. I doubt anyone noticed, but suddenly I got a burr in my sock. I guess I should say that this started with 3 things.

1) A very expensive diet where the people are not in possession of any magic, but did take my money happily.

2) Listening to someone’s Blog turned Book which is called something like”A Year With No Sugar”.

3) The listening of that book led to the watching of Dr. Lustig’s UCLA talk about the woes of sugar and how addicted we are.

A little reflection time helped me put some things in order and decide that my son needs better snacks. He deserves that. He deserves my time. Heck, I deserve it too. Where to start though, it’s always that. The starting. I decided to find something without sugar in the recipe which would be tasty to him and also provide a power up for me during endurance type exercises. Seems like a win win.

After some browsing on the internet and perusing the ingredients cupboard here’s what we get for our first power snack and I don’t have to feel bad about my kid eating it. Added bonus, I don’t have to fear having it pass my lips. Yay!

Someone posted a recipe for something called a Cocoa-Nut buddy. Great, a starting place for this hopefully delicious beginner snack.

I made only a few adjustments due to what was available and my sons issues with texture. 🙂 Certain textures.

Here’s what you’ll need:

-1.5 cups of unsalted almonds (I used raw and then gave them a quick sit in a hot dry skillet)

-3/4 cup of Central Market’s Organic Date and Coconut treats

-3 tbsp. (or more) unsweetened cocoa powder

-3 tsp. vanilla extract

-1/4 tsp. of sea salt

-1/4 cup of water, more on the side if needed

Okay, heat up a skillet, keep it dry. Add the raw almonds if that’s what you have and give them a light toasting.

Be careful not to get past that really delicate line of roasted and charred.

Put the almonds in a food processor (next time I will use my Vitamix), pulse or do your thing until the almonds are a nut butter or near to.

Put the almonds paste/meal into a food processor if it isn’t already in there and then add the rest of the ingredients.

When the “dough” starts to form a large ball then you can be done. This is like pulsing for about 2 minutes or just setting to high for a minute. You’ll know it when you see it. 🙂

Set out some wax paper and roll the “dough” into one inch balls. Let them air out for a bit, drying up ever so slightly. Store in an airtight container for up to a week in the refrigerator. Optional: dust lightly with more unsweetened cocoa powder or sinfully if you are so inclined you can dust with powdered sugar, but I swear they don’t need it.

I hope you make these.. they are super easy. If you can’t find Coconut Date Treats, just get some pitted dates (about 3/4 cup full) and some unsweetened shredded coconut (you can also leave out the coconut entirely).

If you do make these, or if you improve upon them, please write back here. As much as I love these for on the go snacks, I also love them to curb a sweet tooth. 🙂 Very pleasing!