Fun Food Find Friday!!!

Each Friday I will post about a treat that I've found. There is no reason why the treats that we eat can't be healthier too. These treats are ones that I give to my children since we don't do refined sugar in our home. I am not trying to promote these companies or stores for money. I just want to share my knowledge with you on the healthier alternatives that are out there, whether you buy or make them. I hope you find Friday's useful! :]

First to make my list is Panda ALL NATURAL Licorice. If you like licorice and you haven't tried Panda you are missing out! The flavor is amazing. It is the best black licorice out there. I would know because I have always love love LOVED black licorice, and I've tried them all. They do have wheat in them, all licorices do. So if you have ciliactic's I'm sorry that you can't have these. I am gluten intolerant and I do just fine with eating a little bit, but it's hard to eat just a little. :]

You can buy Panda at the Health food stores, Good Earth and Sunflower Market, and most grocery stores. The grocery stores will either have it in their healthy section or over by their pharmacy where the protein bars are.

If you find some healthier treats, fill free to share them with me. I always like a good find!

Chicken Parmigiana

This recipe is so easy, a little time consuming, but oh so worth it!! For the original recipe click here. I really didn't have to change it that much. And if you're thinking, "Will my kids like this?" The answer is a huge YES! My 6 year old down to my 2 year old love this dish almost as much as I do.

Chicken Parmigiana

Ingredients

3 boneless skinless chicken breasts

1/3 cup finely crushed ritz crackers, or plain gluten free crackers

3 tablespoons dried oregano leaves

3 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese

2 beaten eggs

3 tablespoons rice milk

1/2 medium onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 tablespoons butter (ICBINB spray)

2 cans garlic and onion diced tomatoes, undrained

2 teaspoons evaporated cane juice

1/8 teaspoons salt

Dash black pepper

3 to 4 tablespoons dried basil leaves

1/4 cup parmesan cheese

1/2 cup shredded mozzarella/cheddar cheese (I only had cheddar and it was good)

Directions

Preheat oven to 400* F.

With a meat mallet, pound each chicken breast between two pieces of plastic wrap to 1/4-1/2 inch in thickness. Then cut into 1 inch strips and cut those in half.

In a shallow dish stir together cracker crumbs, 3 tablespoons parmesan cheese, and oregano. In another bowl whisk together the eggs and rice milk. Take a piece of chicken, dip it into the egg mixture and then into the cracker mixture to coat. Place on parchment lined cookie sheet. Continue for the rest of the chicken Bake for 20-25 minutes or until chicken in cooked through.

While Chicken is cooking,

For sauce, in a medium saucepan cook onion and garlic in butter/ICBINB until onion is tender. Carefully stir in the undrained tomatoes, sugar, salt, and pepper. Bring to boil, then reduce heat. Add dried basil and parmesan cheese. Simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes or to desired consistency, stirring occasionally. I like the sauce to be really chunky so I simmered it until the chicken was cooked. Plate chicken, pour sauce over chicken, top with shredded mozzarella and grated parmesan cheeses.

Whole Wheat Pancakes

My mom is an amazing cook!! Growing up we always had a day during the week where we ate her 'experiments'. Some were oh so good, others...lets just say we didn't see them again. Now don't get me wrong her 'oh so good' ones way out numbered the ones we didn't see again. There are several that I am going to share with you. Today it is her whole wheat pancakes and whole wheat pancakes mix. I love this mix because it has the same conveniences as the mix you get from the store; it's quick, easy, but so much more healthy for you.

Whole Wheat Pancake Mix

Ingredients

9 cups whole wheat flour

9 tbsp. baking powder

1 1/2 tsp. salt

Directions

Mix all of ingredients in large bowl very well. Store in #10 can. That's it, yep it's that easy!!

Whole Wheat Pancakes

Ingredients

1 cup whole wheat pancake mix

1 egg

1 cup rice milk (or regular milk)

1 tbsp oil

1/4 tsp. vanilla, optional

Directions

Mix all ingredients well. Pour onto a 375* griddle. Turn when bubbles begin to pop and edges begin to dry. Serve and enjoy!

Whole Wheat Waffles

For waffles you can use the same mix, just add a little more oil.

From the Kitchen of Diane VanDyke

Rice Crispy Treats

At Easter time and Thanksgiving I have an Aunt that always makes tons of rice crispy treats. This year I was excited to make these. A couple of weeks ago Alicia Silverstone was on Oparh. She has written a new cook book all about healthy food, after making these I would love to get a copy! I down loaded this recipe from Oparh.com that Alicia gave to viewers. I don't have a link to it because now I can't find it. :] I didn't really change anything. I added butterscotch chips. It made these taste so much like Scotcheroos, a rice crispy treat I loved growing up. So next time I'll put more of both carob and butterscotch chips in it. So yummy!

Alicia Silverstone's Crispy Peanut Butter Treats with Chocolate Chips

Ingredients

1 box brown rice crisps cereal

1 3/4 cups brown rice syrup

Fine sea salt

3/4 cup peanut butter or almond butter

1/2 cup grain-sweetened, nondairy chocolate or carob chips

Directions

Pour rice cereal into a large bowl. Heat the syrup with a pinch of salt in a saucepan over low heat. When the rice syrup liquefies, add the peanut butter and stir until well combined. Pour over the rice cereal. Mix well with a wooden spoon.

Once thoroughly mixed and cooled to room temperature, stir in the chocolate chips. Make sure the mixture is cool, or you will end up with melted chocolate instead of chocolate chips in your treats.

Turn the mixture out into an 8x8" or 9x13" baking dish. Wet your wooden spoon lightly and press the mixture evenly into the pan. Let cool for 1 hour- if you can- before cutting into squares or bars.

Spaghetti Squash

Winter is over, well at least the calender says it is even though there is still snowing, and I've been craving more and more of the fall harvest foods. So I've been eating a lot of squash! When I read about spaghetti squash there were so many negative things about it. I've had it before, it had been a really long time, and I didn't remember it tasting that bad. And really it doesn't taste bad at all. It doesn't have that much flavor to it, but it does absorb flavor really well! I've cooked it a few different ways. It's really good in stir fry! Other say it is a great noodle replacement. But I haven't tried it in spaghetti or alfredo yet. This way is my favorite so far. I didn't write down a recipe for it, I'll just tell you what I did for this time, for this picture. You can always add or take away any veggie you want to. Really the possibilities are endless! Be creative!!

Spaghetti Squash Chicken and Veggies

Ingredients

2-3 T butter (ICBINB* spray)

3 cloves garlic minced

1 cup cut up zucchini

Fist sized group of broccoli, cut up

1/2 red bell pepper, sliced thin

1/2 yellow bell pepper sliced thin

1/2 orange bell pepper sliced

3 cups cooked spaghetti squash

1 1/2 cup cooked carrots**

1-2 already cooked chicken breasts, cubed

Onion Salt

Directions

Saute butter and garlic in sauce pan on medium until garlic is tender. Add zucchini and broccoli and cover, stirring occasionally, for 2-3 minutes. If veggies start to stick too much to the bottom of pan reduce heat to medium low. Add Spaghetti squash and stir, then put peppers on top of squash and cover for another 4 minutes. Add chicken and carrots and stir all together. If it seems a little dry then add a little more butter and stir in. Finish off with a little onion salt for extra flavor. Ready to serve when chicken is heated through and veggies are done to your liking. Top of with parmesan cheese if desired.

*ICBINB -'I can't Believe it's Not Butter' spray

**I cooked the carrots before I added them because they take so long to cook. If you have the time I would add them with the zucchini and broccoli. It will add more nutrients to the dish. When you boil or steam veggies, some of the nutrients leaches out into the water.

Hummingbird Nests

Now these are not what I would call healthy, just fun for the holiday.

In our family we do most of our Easter activities tomorrow, Saturday. So I made these bird no bake cookies today. I thought they looked cute and there wasn't much to change so my family could eat them. I thought they turned out just like the picture from familyfun.com (that is where I got the recipe). These were very easy to do and my kids were so excited to eat them. If you like coconut you'll like these.

Hummingbird Nests Cookies

Ingredients

1 cup carob chips

1 cup shredded coconut

Evaporated cane juice jelly beans

Directions

Melt carob chips, following the directions on the bag. When the carob is smooth, stir in the coconut, then drop the mixture by the heaping tablespoon onto waxed paper lined cookie sheets. While the nest are still warm, use your thumbs to poke an impression into the middle of each. If they are too sticky slightly wet you thumb first. Cool, then fill with jelly beans for the eggs.

Chewy Chocolate Cookies

These cookies are so yummy! You can't even tell that they have added fiber in them! They are very chewy and have a cake like texture so they are wonderful to make homemade oreo's out of too. I got the original recipe from my Aunt Becky Oldham.

Chewy Chocolate Cookies

Ingredients
1/8 cup coconut oil, solid form
1/2 cup black bean puree * (you can use applesauce too**)
1 cup evaporated cane juice
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/4 cup LG flour mix
1/2 tsp xanthan gum
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp salt
1/4 cup cocoa

Directions
Heat oven to 350*F. Cream coconut oil and Evaporated cane juice in mixing bowl. Make sure there are no large balls of coconut oil. Then add bean puree and mix well scraping the sides of the bowl. Add egg and vanilla and mix again. In a separate bowl combine LG flour, xanthan gum, baking soda and powder, salt, and cocoa. Add to wet mix a little at a time scraping the sides of the bowl as you go. The mix will be very thick and sticky more like a brownie mixture. Drop by spoonful onto a greased cookies sheet. If the batter is too sticky, cool in fridge for a few minutes, or wet spoon to prevent sticking too much to the spoon. Bake for 8-9 minutes. Do not over bake! Cookies will be soft. They rise during baking and flatten upon cooling. Cool on a cookie sheet until set 1-2 minutes then remove and enjoy!

*When making a black bean puree use the liquid from the can. If you don't you won't be able to puree the beans.

**Applesauce works just fine but you will need to put dough in fridge for a few hours before baking. If you don't then the cookies will not puff up like cookies, they will just go flat! Most cookie recipes made with low gluten or gluten free flour suggest putting the dough in the fridge first.