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@dulcedelicious-blog
pumpkin seeds!
Because of my grain free living I have really had to search for different things to keep me satisfied. One of the things I have found recently is pumpkin seeds (raw). I bought them at Earth Fare and although they are really good alone, I decided that I…
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Link for the Nutella Muffin recipe
Link for the Nutella Muffin recipe
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Peppermint Chocolate Chip Cookies and Nutella Muffins
I made these Peppermint Chocolate Chip Cookies the other day and took them to work along with the…
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Experimental Dinner
I experimented with my veggies tonight, I chopped some garlic, onions, mushrooms, zucchini and…
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favorite breakfast
This is one of my favorite breakfasts to make for guests or just for my fiance….it can be healthy…
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Santa! http://wp.me/s44loH-santa
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Grain free Vegan snicker doodles!!!
Grain free eggnog cookies
This was so random, but I decided to make my own recipe of eggnog grain free cookies. What can I…
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These are an awesome vegan, grain free treat, and so easy to make. Maple syrup, honey, sesame seeds and add a little spice if you want them to have a kick, throw in the oven and done!
I wanted to say that Christmas arrived early for me..or Hanukkah...depending on who you are asking. Kitchen Aid stand mixers were 30% off on Amazon about 1.5 weeks ago which meant ...why not get the Pro as it ended up being almost 50% off with other discounts. I haven't used it yet but I plan on making something this weekend. I have seen several recipes I want to try that are either going to be cookies brownies. I need to push myself back into the cupcake/cake pop arena but I need some solid time to figure out what I am going to make (I can never decide on recipes).
I haven't posted in a little while. The holidays are generally crazy for me with work, not necessarily family but work work work. I dislike traveling to colder weather, which is what I have to do during the holidays. I don't adjust well and then there is always the issue of going to a state where there is no gym and my bed isn't familiar....sigh.
Oh yeah, and here is a picture of my badly behaved dog on the table after dinner.
Anyways, back to the important stuff......I have to admit that I am addicted to Starbucks. I love their Blonde roast however it has way to much caffeine in it and I feel like I am going to jump out of my skin after a 1/4 of a tall sooooooo..I switched back to old faithful; the nonfat Caramel Machiatto or the nonfat Pumpkin Spice Latte (which I just discovered sadly). There are actually a lot of drinks that I like there but I try to keep my grande under 160 calories because I personally think that it is ridiculous to drink anymore than 200 calories in a coffee drink. I would also rather eat my calories than drink them which probably isn't bad but it does require a little work to get my fancy drinks to 160 or below. In addition, I don't really like to drink anything "skinny" because of the sugar free syrups that I believe to taste pretty gross (they are also not so good for you because they mess with your sugar alcohols which effect metabolism or something...my trainer explained it to me a while ago).
Back to the point of this story; I love Starbucks eventhough they are a big bad corporation and there is a select set of people who "hate on them". I have a friend who works at Starbucks and says the perks are awesome. Okay! now the point of my story.....drum roll please.....because my fiance and I are trying to buy a new house I am being forced to save money *Gasp* which means I had to find other means to obtain my caffeinated beverages without using my debit card. Enter.....SHOPKICK. Shopkick is an app i discovered on facebook about a year ago. Basically, you download the app for Android or Iphone (I have an Iphone), you make a log in and then you go to any of the stores listed and scan items with your phone. You will receive points for scanning the items and the points add up to gifts. I have only received Starbucks gift cards however they have a lot of different prized and you can save your points and get vacations and things of that nature. I can't save anything, so I basically get a 5-10 $ gift card several times a month. It's so amazingly easy, once you accrue points you click on the gift card option and they email you a gift card...DONE...THAT'S IT!!. With that said, I want to note that I only use this app when I am going into a store for something or if I am dragged into the store by my fiance. For example; he drags me into best buy, I open the app, I get points for walking in and I scan some stuff while I am there. Target is another establishment that is on the list consistently, you walk in, open the app, get points for walking in and scan some stuff. Last time I was there I left with over 800 points. This app is a nice way for me to get a free drink(s) and to utilize my time properly when I am in random stores. Okay so that is done...I felt like I should spread the wealth.
here is the link to the webiste, but it's just as easy to download the app
http://www.shopkick.com/
Speaking of neat things...another way to save money (if you have a Kuerig) is to buy the refillable K-cups. They have them at Bed Bath and Beyond or Amazon and I'm sure any other store as well. So you just dump your favorite coffee into the K-cup and brew, they are about 12-15 $ for 4 refillable cups which (if you do the math) is A LOT cheaper than the $1 per k-cup that you are usually charged for a 12 pack that lasts most people 1 week.
Salted Caramel Cupcakes......not my own recipe...so i am going to link this below..I usually do my own recipes but didn't feel like it. I had a friend over so we made these..the caramel sauce is the hardest thing to make because of the exact temp it needs to be to taste right. We were super nervous we were going to mess it up....but they were soooo good!!!!
Red Velvet Cupcakes with Milanos
I decided to make my first post my favorite cupcake recipe....so far.
15 cupcakes approx....
1 1/4 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon white vinegar (I actually used apple cider because I didn't have the white with me)
1/4 cup milk
2 eggs
1 tablespoon red velvet flavoring
1 teaspoon Madagascar Vanilla
Milano cookies for topping
Candy melts for topping
Frosting:
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
2 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup shortening
1.8 cup butter softened
2 teaspoons Madagascar Vanilla
In a bowl mix together the eggs, sugar and butter. I usually start with the butter and sugar and then add the eggs one by one. Add the flour and milk to this mixture and mix well.
Mix together the cocoa powder and the red velvet flavoring or food coloring into a pasty like substance..sighhhh usually mine isn't pasty and its more crumbly). Now!! Add this combination to the mixing bowl with the other ingredients and mix lightly, then add the baking soda and vinegar and mix again. Add salt and vanilla and lightly mix before spooning into cupcake liners.
For the frosting.....this should be really easy. The only reason I use shortening is so the frosting holds up when I am transporting the cupcakes otherwise you can just use more butter.
Place the cream cheese, butter (softened) and shortening into a bowl and mix. Start off slow because your going to have to wrestle a little to get the mixture creamy. Once this is mixed well and somewhat creamy, slowly add the powdered sugar (1/2 cup at a time or it flies all over), then add the vanilla. You can play around with this...if its to thin put it in the fridge to try to thicken it otherwise leave it out for a little if its to thick or you can add a teaspoon of cream or milk at a time to thin it out.
While you are waiting for the cupcakes to cool....place a couple handfuls of candy melts in the microwave and melt....Stir when you have removed them but be-careful because the bowl will be hot. Take your milanos and dip them in the candy melts then place on wax paper or aluminum foil. Once you have covered all of them (I covered half of each cookie) then place in fridge to harden.
You will insert these into the cupcakes prior to frosting them
Wait till cupcakes cool and pipe frosting on....
We went to South Carolina this weekend. I brought nuts with carob chips in the car for a snack, I still ended up getting a chicken salad from Wendy's and eating it with only a 1/2 of a pack of dressing. We were in the middle of no where Georgia and there was really no where else to eat other than McDonald's and I would take Wendy's over Mcdonalds if I had to eat fast food.
Most of the time we spent eating and I actually had to take a hiatus from from grain free diet because I really wanted to enjoy things like shrimp and grits. The food in south Carolina is freaking a-MAZING! So I did eat 1/2 of a cupcake (so good, so rich), and an awesome sandwich which I had with whole wheat bread. We went to the Blue Marlin, Grouchos, and a candy shop that had loose candy of all sorts. I got a bunch of candy to put on top of cupcakes, so as I make those I will post pics. Now that we are back home...with the dogs, I am planning my week of grain free eating again. I was actually feeling really good without grain in my diet. I felt like I had more energy, better digestion and I am excited to continue this journey to enjoy the other health benefits. When we got home I jumped rope and learned another cool jump rope trick. Jumping rope is awesome for burning calories and I think it has really helped my cardio levels and made weight training easier for me. It also keeps my attention because I can learn harder tricks. I am going to try to post some videos of my workouts later in the week.......
I am including some pictures of some really gorgeous statues and the state house in S. Carolina. There is so much history there and I had some good photo ops.
I am also considering adding some more green juices to my diet along with the boat load of nuts and veggies and fruit that I have been eating since giving up the grain.
I also made red velvet cupcakes today with chocolate dipped Milanos and cream cheese frosting....what what!! I couldn't eat these either which sucks but it gives the fiance something to take to work. Several of my frosting tips fell in the garbage disposal and got messed up so my frosting looked a little jacked on some of these cupcakes.
This is one of my favorite meals.......except now I can't eat bread
I've been eating a lot of chicken lately. This is DAY 3 of the no grain eating plan. I have bad bad skin and I have been on anti biotics, retin A and everthing and it hasn't worked consistently. So I changed up my eating plan and face routine, I talked to my mom who recommended a grain free diet for 3 weeks to see if my body is having a reaction. So, I am doing the grain free thing and I actually feel better, more energy, I don't feel near as bloated as I used to. I can eat Quinoa but no rice, flour or pretty much anything like rice, or couscous. I always eat whole wheat and I did the gluten free thing a while ago but stopped for some reason?? not sure what it was?? Anyways, here I am trying the grain free thing and if this works or even sort of works I will be so freaking excited it will be ridiculous. If it doesn't work then I am going to eliminate dairy after 3 weeks and see if that helps, if that doesn't help then I give up. The reason that I am doing this is because I have read a lot about grain allergies and how this can affect your digestion, energy and overall health. At this point it's worth a try and it's keeping me from tasting any of my baking.
So with that said, here is a recipe that includes whole wheat breadcrumbs that I can't eat right now. This is a recipe I made up a while ago for "breaded" baked chicken. It's really good, not fried or battered and tastes awesome as well. I use 2 eggs on the outside but you can use egg whites if you so choose.
1- 1 3/4 cups Panko whole wheat bread crumbs
1 tsp garlic salt
1/4 tsp rubbed sage
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper if you like spice
2 eggs
2 chicken breasts
1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan
1 tablespoon freshly chopped parsley
This recipe is soooo easy!!!
heat oven to 385 degrees
take chicken breasts and placed in baking dish or cookie sheet
taken eggs and beat in a bowl you can add hot sauce to the egg if you want to
put garlic salt, sage, pepper, cayenne pepper in a bowl with bread crumbs and parmesan
take each chicken breast, dip in eggs then cover chicken with bread crumb mixture and place on tray.
Place in over and allow to cook for about 35-45 minutes (depending on your oven and thickness of the chicken) or until done.
Sprinkle parsley on top when cooked
When they are are done, grate parmesan on top if you love cheese like I do....i hope i don't have to give up dairy....i'll be so sad.
Also, I made sweet potato fries and left them in a long long time to get them crispy (see recipe in previous posts) and steamed broccoli.