Peanut Butter Pumpkin Chia Seed Pudding

Okay....I'll be the first to admit. It doesn't :look: very pretty, but it tastes pretty amazing.

I'm a perfectionist when it comes to putting together a new recipe. I wanted to get the amount of ingredients just right, so this is actually my third batch. My other two batches didn't included peanut butter, it was actually a last minute idea. Glad I included it though!

This pudding includes Chia Seed (as you noticed in the title ;) ). Did you know that to the ancient Aztecs, chia seed was not only a food staple but was also regarded a valuable commodity or currency in the trade or exchange of other goods. Although they couldn’t have known the full nutritional and antioxidant value of the tiny seed, they did observe its effects and gave named the plant chia, which means “strength.”
 
Chia seed is equally valued today as a superfood because it is abundant in protein, essential vitamins and minerals, amino acids and antioxidants, including quercetin and kaempferol. In terms of fiber, a mere one-ounce serving (about 2 tablespoons) provides more than 40% of the recommended daily intake of dietary fiber.

Ingredients Needed:

1/2 cup of Organic Pumpkin
1/2 cup of Honey Roasted Peanut Butter (I get mine freshly made from Whole Foods)
2/3 cup Almond Milk (I use Vanilla)
1 teaspoon Organic Vanilla Extract
1 tablespoon Honey
1/4 cup Chia Seed
1/8 teaspoon Cinnamon (add more if you like a stronger cinnamon flavor)
1/2 teaspoon Pumpkin Pie Spice

Let's Get Started:
Mix your pumpkin, peanut butter and milk together first! Then, I add one spice at a time, mix well! Add vanilla extract and honey, mix! Add in your chia seeds and mix!

Pour into whatever bowl/dish you are using to store your pudding in (I use a glass casserole dish that has a lid) and let set in refrigerator for at least 3 hours.

And enjoy....

Gluten/Dairy Free Sugar Cookie Donuts

Sugar Cookie Donuts? Yeah, that's right. Oh they are SO yummy! They are so fluffy, almost like cake. I didn't make a topping for these, personally it tasted great as is...plus my son isn't big on stickiness on his hands. :sensory:  My son is on the gluten/dairy free diet and he LOVED them!

Ingredients:

1 3/4 Cup of Pamela's Sugar Cookie Mix
*Get the Sugar Cookie Mix here: Lucky Vitamin
2 Eggs
4 Tablespoons of Earth Balance Butter - melted
1 Tablespoon of Unsweetened Applesauce
1 Teaspoon Organic Vanilla Extract
1/4 Cup of Honey
1/3 Cup of Almond Milk

*Update: Add Chocolate Chips to these....AMAZING! Find them here: Lucky Vitamin

Ready?

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In mixing bowl (I used my electric mixer), mix 2 eggs, 4 tablespoons of melted butter, 1 tablespoon of unsweetened applesauce, 1/4 cup of honey and vanilla extract. After that is mixed together, add your 1 3/4 cup of sugar cookie mix and 1/3 cup of almond milk. Mix well.

Place batter in donut pan and bake 10-14 mins. I checked mine at 10 mins. and ended up doing 14 mins. total. My recipe made 9 donuts.

This little guy enjoyed 4 donuts. :)

Hope you enjoy these as much as we did! :)

Crock Pot Apples

OKAY.....I WILL be making this again. Soon. Very soon.

What I love about this recipe is that you can puree it and make applesauce OR it would make the BEST apple pie filling. This recipe is super easy and it makes your house smell like yummy apples.....who doesn't love that?

Ingredients:
10 Apples - I purchased a bag of Fuji Apples
1/2 Cup of Earth Balance Butter - melted.
1/2 Teaspoon of Cinnamon (or more if you like)
1/2 Teaspoon of Pumpkin Pie Spice (just for a little extra something tasty)
1/4 Cup of Brown Coconut Sugar
1/4 Cup of Honey

Having an Apple Corer/Slicer makes the apple cutting process SO much easier, trust me. You can pick one up at Walmart.

See how easy that is? And then use your knife to peel your apple skin. *You could probably leave the skin on if you wanted to.

Ready?
Once you have all your apples cored/sliced/peeled place them in the crock pot.
In a small bowl, mix your brown coconut sugar, cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice. 

 Sprinkle the mixture over apples. Top with your honey and melted butter. Mix to make sure all apple slices are coated.

Cook on high for about 2 hours. Stir occasionally to make sure apples are evenly coated.

This isn't a necessary step, but I took this cute little egg guy and mashed my apples (some).

Like I said, this would make the BEST apple pie filling, applesauce or even served with oatmeal. I foresee myself making an apple pie in the very near future. This tasted super yummy served over some of my Gluten/Dairy Free Granola. 

Hope you enjoy as much as I did!! :) 

Healthy Pineapple Sorbet

Healthy. Easy to make. 3 Ingredients. YUMMY. That's how I would describe my Pineapple Sorbet. Oh and it was a HUGE hit with my son. He has Autism and when it comes to food, he's super picky due to sensory/textures. He LOVED it. LOVED. ::that's a big deal you guys:: He inhaled almost 3 bowls, I had 1 1/2 and we had none left.

Ingredients Needed:

Needless to say, he was excited to help me make this recipe! :)

1 Fresh Pineapple - peeled, cored and chopped.
(here's a great tutorial to show to work with Pineapple if you are unfamiliar, like I was!)
1 Cup of Soy Milk
1 tablespoon of honey - optional, but does add some sweetness.

Who wants Sorbet?

So I peeled, cored and chopped my pineapple and froze the pineapple chunks overnight. You can use frozen pineapple if you prefer.
Combine the frozen pineapple, milk and honey. Blend until it's a sorbet texture. I use a Ninja Kitchen System Pulse. I :almost: needed something a little bit bigger, but I made it work!
Serve immediately.

IF you have any left over you can freeze in ice cube trays and you can use later for smoothies! :)
Next time, I'll make a double batch, because it was gone within 20 minutes. Yummy.

Yes, he's wearing a Christmas shirt in January. It's cute and he loves it! :)

We hope you LOVE this as much as we did! :)