Healthy Homemade Almond Joy Bars

Do you like Almond Joy candy bars?  I sure do!  But I don't like the icky ingredients in the store-bought ones. Since corn syrup is the first ingredient in them, I decided to make my own using healthy, natural ingredients.  Ready?  Here's what you'll need:

1C Extra Virgin Coconut Oil
2 1/2C UNsweetened Coconut Flakes*
Almonds
1C RAW Honey, melted (not the honey bear kind)
1 1/2C Unsweetened Cocoa Powder (I highly recommend Ghirardelli...Hershey is kinda bitter)
1T Vanilla
Pinch of Sea Salt

Toss everything but almonds into a bowl and mix together.

Line a cupcake tin with 12 paper liners.  Looking back, I wish I had a mini muffin tin and liners because these are entirely too big.  I would imagine you could easily get 48 minis out of this batch.  Put desired amount of almonds in the bottom of each paper cup.  I used 6 per cup and put one on top later.

If using the same size tins I did, you can put 1/4C of the mixture in each paper cup and use it all up exactly as this makes about 3 cups.  You may need to stir in between additions because the coconut oil and honey tend to separate a tad from the coconut.

I decided it needed a little sprinkle of salt on top, too.  I'm glad I did.  It was a nice contrast.

I then put a single almond on top of each and threw the whole pan in the fridge to set.  As a side note, these should be kept in the fridge or they will get really melty and gooey because of the coconut oil.

Once they are set, dig in!  Because these have coconut oil in them, they are actually quite filling/satisfying, so a little goes a long way.   I try to restrain myself to only eat 1/2 to 1 per day.  Sometimes I'm really bad and eat two, tee hee hee.  But that's over the course of an entire day.  If you are not used to eating coconut oil, you need to start out slowly and work your way up or it may cause some major tummy trouble.  Not because it's bad, but because your body isn't used to the good stuff in it.

They were really yummy! I noticed the outside edge was a little bitter, while the inside was sweet and chewy from the honey.  Maybe that happened because I didn't melt my honey first.  I didn't mind at all.  These are not sicky sweet at all.  If you like things really sweet, you could always use some more honey.

If you cannot bear to have your 'almond joy' mixed together like this, I do have a solution for you, well, sorta.  You could always mix the coconut oil, honey, vanilla, coconut flakes and salt together, then pour into molds.  (As a side note, I have not done this, so the coconut oil and honey amounts may need tweaking)  For the chocolate, you'd probably have to melt 1 1/2C chocolate chips with a couple of tablespoons of coconut oil, then pour on top. Then add your almonds on top.  Or heck, go wild and sandwich them in between.  The reason I didn't do it that way was because I was trying to avoid processed sugar altogether.   *As for the coconut flakes, if you can't find unsweetened, you could probably use the normal kind with sugar, but then again, you'll have to adjust for that extra sweetness.  I bought my raw, unsweetened flakes at Tropical Traditions online.  They also sell coconut oil, but VitaCost is usually cheaper.

While these are not low-cal by any means, it is important to remember that not all calories are created equal, not by a long shot.  Let's talk about sweeteners, shall we?  The effects 1oz of HFCS (glycemic index of 87) has on your blood sugar is clearly worse than 1oz of raw honey (glycemic index of 35).  So, raw honey is the 'natural' choice, pun intended.  Raw honey also gives a nice chewy texture that I just love.  It's also good for your allergies!  Just make sure it's RAW, not the honey bear kind.  That kind doesn't work as it won't set up and you'll be left with a gooey mess.  Not to mention it has a higher glycemic index than raw honey.  See what happens when humans mess with mother nature?!  It's never good.  (unless you're talkin' about chocolate!)  Anyway, I get my honey at VitaCost, which has the best prices anywhere for healthy ingredients/vitamins.  If you want to get $10 off your order, contact me and I'll send you a referral link.  We can both save $10 that way....win/win!

Now on to the fats.  Some people believe fat is fat is fat.  Not true. Sure, it all has about 100-120 cals per tablespoon.  Let's say you were thinking of using canola oil instead of coconut oil, in any recipe.  Neither has any carbs...good deal.   So you might say..well, what's the difference then?  Well, aside from the fact that canola oil will not set up in this particular recipe like the coconut oil will, I will go on a small hater of all things canola oil rant if I may.  Canola oil is rancid rapeseed oil that was originally developed to fatten cattle (depending on who you ask), except the cattle developed metabolic disorders, cancer, depressed immune systems and cysts.  When the canola oil was discontinued, the cysts went away, but scarring remained.  So canola manufacturers said, hey! Let's bleach, refine and deodorize it using harmful chemicals similar to fuel oil, and shove it down unsuspecting Americans' throats, touting it as the 'healthiest' of vegetable oils out there.....yeahhhhh, right.

Canola started in Canada where rapeseed is the #3 crop, after wheat and barley.  The Canadian govt paid the US $50 million dollars to certify it as GRAS (Generally Recognized As Safe). Hmmmm, in my world, that would be called bribery.  Because RAPEseed oil sounds horrifying, they came up with Canola, which is short for Canadian Oil, Low Acid.  Nope, there is no canola plant.  Makes me wonder if anyone in Canada eats the crap.  They're probably laughing their way to the bank, sitting back and watching all of the fat Americans get sicker and sicker.  Sad, really.  Interesting little tidbit...one of the reasons it's grown so prolifically in Canada is that it's such a hardy crop.  Why so easy to grow?  Well, bugs won't even eat the plants!!!  That should tell us something!! A little not-so-light reading here by someone who knows a heckuva lot more about it than I do.  I will never touch the stuff again.  Hope I don't get sued like Oprah.  Good thing I'm broke.

Now, on to wonderful, beautiful, natural extra virgin coconut oil... According to Natural News, the healthy fat in coconut oil plays an essential role in regulating blood sugar: it slows the digestive process to ensure a steady, even stream of energy from your food by lowering the overall glycemic index of your meal. When you include coconut oil in a meal with carbohydrates, the carbs are broken down into glucose more slowly, so blood sugar levels remain steady even after you eat.  Take THAT canola!!!!  

See how important it is to choose healthy ingredients?....even when making a potentially unhealthy dessert, lol!  If you make these, please let me know what you thought of them!

Homemade Yellow Cake "Mix" and Fudge Frosting

This year, my husband's birthday fell on a day he was out of town.  Wanting to surprise him when he came home, Tommy and I baked a cake for him.  And by Tommy baking a cake with me, I mean he helped put on the sprinkles.  A dedicated sous-chef, that boy!

I knew I wanted to make the cake from scratch in order for it to be cheaper and chemical-free.  So, to the internet I went.  I found this recipe on Pinterest....where else? The original recipe called for powdered milk, but I didn't have any, so I used powdered buttermilk.  Turns out it was a happy accident because my hubby said this tasted just like his grandma's "Nana Cake".  It actually brought tears to his eyes.  (In a good way...I hope)

Here's what you'll need to make a mix:

1 1/2C Sugar
2C Flour
1T Baking Powder
1/2C Buttermilk Powder or Powdered Milk

Mix all ingredients together and pour into a gallon zip-top bag.  This will keep in the pantry for 6 months.  I put mine in the freezer, so I'm assuming it will last a good year.  I jotted down the rest of the ingredients and instructions on the bag.

To make the actual cake once you're ready, simply empty the mix into a bowl and add 1 stick of softened butter, 3/4C water, 1t vanilla and 3 eggs. (In case you couldn't read that on the bag above)

Mix on medium for two minutes. BTW, if you use buttermilk powder and you taste the batter, it will not taste very good like the fake, store-bought stuff with tons of additives does.  Don't worry, the end result is yummy.

Pour into a buttered and floured pan and bake at 350 for about 30 min.  I know it says 35-40 on the bag above, but I found it to be done in 30.  The recipe said to not over-bake or it will be dry.

While that's a-bakin', you can prepare the fudge frosting, also found through Pinterest.  You will need:

1 Stick room-temp butter
1/2C Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
5C Powdered Sugar
1t Vanilla Extract
1/3C+ Boiling Water

  Dump the cocoa and powdered sugar in a bowl and stir to combine.

Add in your boiling water, extract and butter.

Mix well.  You may need to add some more water if your icing is too thick.

Mine was super thick and needed more water, but I (stupidly) thought mine would melt onto the hot cake when I plopped it on.  It didn't.  I thought I was being resourceful (some might say lazy), thinking it would keep some moisture in the cake since Daddy didn't come home until the next day.  Live and learn, lady!

Even after spreading it around, it was super thick, like fudge.  I guess that's why they call it fudge frosting!!!  It's not the prettiest thing in the world if you leave it thick, lol!  Good thing my husband loves a good, thick slab o' frosting.  Seriously, this was about 3/4" thick!!!  Too much for my taste.

Afterward, let your child lick the spatula, instructing him to make a cute/happy face while doing so.  End up with this drooling goon face instead.  Good thing his momma thinks he's cute!  With his hoot-owl hair, puppy dawg eyes and Sponge-Bob teeth!  I love him, hee hee hee!

Decorate as desired.  Or, in our case, spell out Happy B-Day Dad in jimmies and sprinkle with colored sugar, lol!  As you can see, my husband is a large man, but I juuuusssst noticed how HUGE his hands are!!!

My husband was soooooo happy with this cake!  He said it reminded him of the cake his Nana used to make just for him on his birthday.  I'm happy I could bring back that memory for him and that he truly enjoyed it.  It cost next to nothing to make and took just minutes to throw together.   It took a lot less effort than dragging my butt to the store and didn't have all the creepy chemicals like the boxed ones do.  That makes me happy!  Sheesh, after all of that, I forgot to take a picture of a slice!

Upcycled Trash: Cell Phone Holder

My evil, evil friend Mary introduced me to Pinterest a while back.   Now I spend entirely too much time there, pinning super unhealthy foods I can't eat and looking up cool crafting ideas.  This just happens to be one of them...a lotion bottle turned cell phone holder/charger!  The version I saw had the final product mod-podged with some fabric and it was really cute.  I left mine plain because it suits my kitchen better, but if i find some fabric I really like, I may change that!  Here's what you do (and don't do)...

Find an empty lotion/shampoo bottle.  Make sure your cell phone can fit down into the bottom. I rinsed mine out well, then ran them through the dishwasher to clean them out.

This bottle had a removable label, so I chose to use it for this project because it was easier.

Draw around your bottle with a Sharpie, creating one side that is lower so you can take your phone out easily and one side that is higher by several inches so you can hang it from the wall socket.  I didn't take good enough pictures of that, apparently.  Look HERE to see a more in-depth description on how to do this, but please do not cut the hole in the back portion like she did.  That poor woman took so much flack for creating a 'fire hazard'.  That's why I did mine differently.  Please read on.

You can start to carefully cut along your line with a razor blade, but it's much easier to cut the rest of the way with heavy duty scissors.  Trust me on this one.

Don't do what I did and cut off a big hunk of the back portion thinking it would be more streamlined.  If you look at the very first picture, you will see it is sitting very close to the socket.  So close, that it's a little less than simple to get the phone in and out.  Had I left it longer, the holder would hang down further and give me plenty of room to put the phone in and out.  Sheesh, now that I think of it, maybe I should redo this tutorial entirely!  Anyway, lightly sand any rough edges.

Using a screwdriver, take off the switch plate.  As a disclaimer, it might be best to turn off the power just in case your hand should slip.

Hold your plastic contraption up to the bottom screw to see how far down you'll need to cut your hole.  I decided to do mine this way so there should be no fire or melting hazards involved.

I used my CropAdile to cut a hole toward the top. At this point, you can decorate your holder if desired. 

Remove the bottom screw and put it back in through the hole.

Screw the plate back on and you are ready to charge your phone!

 

This holder goes on a socket that seldom gets used, so it really doesn't bother me that the cord interferes with plugging anything else in.  The next time I have a nice bottle, I'm going to try it again with some modifications.  It was fun to make and I've been using it every day! 

"Reese's" Peanut Butter Bars

Ho-leeeee cow, do NOT make these because they will RUIN your my diet!!  I know no one forced to me to eat 3 of them in one sitting, but come on!  These are sooooo goooooooood, and I'm not even a huge peanut butter fan!  I found the recipe for these at the place where all good ideas spring from....Pinterest!  Darn you, Mary, for turning me on to it!  You will pay by making these bars and gaining two pounds overnight (like I did)!!!!     ;)

Here's what you'll need for a half batch (which is really pretty decent in size)

1C Crushed Graham Crackers
1C Powdered Sugar
1 Stick Butter, melted
1/2C + 2T Creamy Peanut Butter
3/4C Chocolate Chips (see note)

Place about 6-8 graham crackers in a baggie and smash them to smitherines.  The original recipe said to put them in a food processor, but I was too lazy for that business.  I did notice that the finer the crumb, the better they seem to stay together.

Melt your butter in a bowl then add the graham cracker crumbs, the powdered sugar and 1/2C of the peanut butter.

Mix well.  Mine had the consistency of very wet sand.  The tutorial I saw online showed theirs much thicker, where they actually had to press it into a pan.  Maybe it's different when you crush the graham crackers in the food processor.

I just smeared it into a 7 x 11 pan.  You could use an 8 x 8 or a 9 x 9, too.  If you double the batch, you can use a 9 x 13.  Gosh, I'm a wealth of pertinent and useful information, a mathematical genius.

Next, place your chocolate chips and remaining 2T peanut butter in a bowl and microwave for a minute or two to melt the chips.  NOTE: I used Milk Chocolate chips because that's what my husband bought.  It was really good!  We made a 2nd batch the next day (ah-hem...what?!?) and used Semi-sweet chips.  They weren't as good, which surprised me.  On a side note, we did take one third of that first batch to our TaeKwonDo instructor.  Does that redeem me?  No?  (Hangs head in shame)

Pour over your mixture already in the pan.

And smear in an even layer with a spoon or off-set spatula.

Put in the fridge for at least one hour, then cut into bars.

Mmmmmmmm, nom nom nom.....doesn't that look awesome?

Here was Tommy's reaction when asked if they taste just like Reese's...It's a light bulb moment!

And Daddy's reaction...hmmmmm, somewhat similar?  Can you tell they are related?  LOL!  What I want to know is when my husband turned into an Archie Bunker look-alike!  Eeeeedittthhhh, you DING bat!!!!

I thought these tasted even better than Reese's.  I've always thought the chocolate they use was too sugary.  In these, the peanut butter taste is really mild.  Be careful though...they're addicting!