It's been a while since I've posted a recipe. So I figured, what's the best food to start up again? Donuts, of course.

I have this weird obsession with donuts and my goal in life is to make them as healthy as possible, but still taste good. Maybe when I master that, I will share my goodness (and by goodness I mean donuts) with the local folk.

So here are my sweet potato pie mini donuts. Gluten free, vegan, and maybe even paleo.

Ingredients:

• 1 large sweet potato, cooked
• 1/4 cup gluten free oats
• 1/4 cup almond milk (or milk of choice)
• 1/2 - 1 cup almond flour (if you want your donut more gooey-ish, use less flour)
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tbsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp cumin
• 1 egg white
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 drops of stevia sweetener (or 1/4 cup sugar)

Topping:

• Handful of gluten free and vegan marshmallows
• Small drizzle of almond milk
• Some cinnamon for garnish

Steps:

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Put all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. You can add more flour if you want your donut consistency to be thicker.
3. Pour your mixture in a donut pan, your Baby Cakes Donut Maker, or a muffin pan (like I did, just make sure to not add too much batter in each cup.
4. Let bake for 20-30 minutes until filling is cooked.
5. Take out of oven and let cool. 
6. If using muffin pan, pop out your little cakes and let cool. After cooled, take a water bottle top and cut out the middle. (thanks Undressed Skeleton of this neat idea).
7. Add marshmallows and milk in small bowl and microwave for 10-15 seconds or until melted (could take 30 seconds, but you want to make sure it doesn't burn, so only microwave for 10 seconds at a time).
8. Dip the tops of your cooled donuts in marshmallow and let cool. Place in refrigerator for quicker hardening. The tops are still a little sticky, but that's okay! It's ooey gooey goodness.

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One of the foods I miss eating is chicken fingers and chicken nuggets. Not like I was ever a fan of fast food chicken nuggets, but as a salad topper, chicken fingers are amazing. Below is a recipe for some delicious paleo, gluten-free, and dairy free chicken nuggets that can be eaten on its own or on top of your salad of choice (I would recommend like a chef's salad though).

For this recipe, I did not use specific measurements (sorry), but they all ended up tasting mighty delicious.

Chicken Nuggets
Ingredients:
Sliced chicken (to your preference, fingers or nuggets)
Gluten free flour (of any kind)
Eggs
Almond meal (not flour, you want some crunch)
Spices to taste (garlic powder, paprika, s and p, basil, dry mustard, Emeril's seasoning or you can use Lowry's salt)

Preheat oven to 350.

Get out your 3 bowls. Below is the order and what to put in each bowl. Once filled, dip your chicken pieces into bowls 1-3.
Bowl 1: Flour- Emeril's seasoning, dry mustard, basil, s and p, and garlic powder.
Bowl 2: Eggs, but make sure to whisk them with a fork.
Bowl 3: Almond meal- garlic, paprika, s and p, basil, dry mustard, Emeril's seasoning

Place your chicken pieces on a rack (like below) so chicken does not stick to pan. Sprinkle some more garlic powder and paprika on top and bake for 30-40 minutes until breading is brown and crispy.

For the honey mustard dip

Ingredients:
Grey Poupon's mustard
Honey

Mix these two beauties in a bowl. If you LOVE honey like I do, add some extra honey to your mix. And enjoy!

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Every weekend, I try to make the perfect pancake without the help of another recipe. This is a delicious pumpkin paleo pancake.

Ingredients (makes 2 pancakes)
1 egg
1/4 cup almond milk
2 tbsp pumpkin puree
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tbsp coconut sugar 
1/4 cup Outrageous Baking gluten free flour

---
1 tsp coconut sugar
1 tbsp maple syrup
handful of shredded coconut
drizzle some gluten free, dairy free chocolate chips

Steps:
1. In a bowl, mix the first 5 ingredients until well blended.
2. Add in the flour and mix. If the batter seems too dry, add some more almond milk.
3. On a medium heat, non-stick pan, spoon your pancakes and let fry for 4-6 minutes on each side. You'll know your pancakes are flippable when they look like they aren't sticking to the pan. Test this out by putting your spatula under it lightly.

4. To make the coconut maple syrup, melt your syrup in the microwave (about 10-15 seconds).
5. Mix in the coconut sugar and shredded coconut and pour on top of your pancakes.
6. Top with some chocolate chips.

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I can't find the exact post, but I remember coming across a similar recipe over at Stone Soup. Although not gluten free, I turned it into my own.

Ingredients:
Gluten free pizza mix
1/2 potato sliced thinly (I used a mandolin)
1 tbsp olive oil
1 (or less) sprig of rosemary
salt and pepper to taste
optional red pepper flakes

Steps:
1. Prepare crust as directed on package
2. Coat your pizza pan with a little bit of olive oil (I used a pan because my gluten free crust was really hard to work with)
3. Place crust on pan
4. In a small bowl, mix together your potato slices and olive oil
5. Place potato slices on top of pizza and sprinkle with s and p and red pepper
6. Place in 370 degree oven and let cook for 10 minutes
7. Take pizza out and put rosemary on top
8. Put pizza back in oven and bake for another 10-15 minutes or until crust is cooked throughout

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I came home today and had a craving for a chocolate chip cookie. A gooey one at that. So I made a delicious cookie in my mug in the microwave and in seconds!

Ingredients:
1 tbsp coconut butter
1/4 cup almond flour
1 tbsp coconut sugar
1 tbsp agave
1 egg
handful of Enjoy Life dairy-free chocolate chips

Steps:

1. Melt butter in mug
2. Mix in sugar, agave, egg in with the butter
3. Add in flour and mix again
4. Mix in chocolate chips
5. Microwave for 1 minute
6. Let cool

Easy as pie! Well.. easy as an easy chocolate chip cookie in a mug!

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I don't understand WHY I keep coming back to these combinations, but it's such an amazing taste, it's hard not to cook with them. Like my recent GF pear, fig, and prosciutto pizza.

I have to be honest though.. I have never eaten prosciutto EVER. But I was walking around Whole Foods the other day and I was like, that sounds like it would be good. So I bought a few slices, because let's face it, at $32 a pound for a meat I've never tasted, would be absolutely absurd! I'll stop rambling and get to the important part...

Ingredients:
GF pizza crust mix
1/2 sweet onion, sliced
1 Asian pear, sliced
1/4 cup dried figs, sliced
a few slices of prosciutto, ripped to pieces
drizzle of olive oil
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
optional: vegan or rice mozzarella cheese

Steps:

1. Make your crust as directed on the package and place crust on pizza pan
2. In a saute pan, add your onions and balsamic and let shrink/caramelize
3. After you see a good caramelization happening with your onions, throw in your sliced pears and coat with the balsamic vinegar- cook for about 5-10 minutes
4. If using cheese, put cheese as your first layer
5. Dump the rest of your ingredients on top of the crust
6. Drizzle the top with olive oil
7. Place in oven at 350 degrees and bake until crust is brown (usually 20-25 minutes)

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This dish was not planned in my weekly meals last week. And I know I sound crazy when I say that I plan out my weekly meals. But this came about when I wasn't feeling so well and all I wanted was a bowl of chicken noodle soup, knowing I couldn't have noodles. So here is my EASY version of an alternative to chicken noodle soup.

Ingredients:
3 cups water
1 cup quina (washed and strained)
Chicken bullion square
2 sticks of carrots (chopped into pieces)
1/2 onion (chopped)
1 tsp basil
1/4 to 1/2 cups of tofu squares (some packages come already cut)

Steps:
Put all ingredients except for tofu in a pot and bring to a boil.
Bring down temperature and let simmer for about 30-45 minutes, depending on how soft you want the vegetables.
Add in tofu squares and let sit for another 10 minutes.
Enjoy!

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I love experimenting with new flavors and combinations, but sometimes I also love trying out other blogger recipes. I've been following Culinary Karma for a little while and I somehow always end up making her rice krispy treats for a snack. To me, it tastes amazing. Just make sure to eat it when it's right out of the fridge, otherwise it may melt just a little.

Make sure to try out the recipe here.

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I saw this beautiful piece of fruit come across my Facebook page the other day. I must say though... I have always HATED grapefruit. Mainly because they are too tart. But it looked so pretty that I had to try The Forest Feast's recipe.

I tried this recipe at home in the oven first and I actually just recreated it in our office toaster (which has a broiler option too).

Ingredients/Steps:

• Cut your grapefruit in half
• Sprinkle brown sugar and cinnamon on top of each half
• Broil on med to high for 5-7 minutes
• And Enjoy!

Also, make sure to eat this with a grapefruit spoon or something OTHER than a plastic fork. It definitely makes for a messy snack during a work meeting :)

 This was my plate for my work meeting.

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These quinoa sushi rolls turned out delightful, if I don't say so myself. It was even super filling and I only had one roll! Saved the other for work the next day and people stopped me in the kitchen to ask me if I made them myself. Sure did.

Ingredients:

• Quinoa
• Seaweed sheets
• Sliced cucumber
• Sliced carrots
• Vegetable or chicken broth

Steps:

1.  Before you do anything else, put 1 cup of washed and strained (with those strainers with super small holes) in a pot with 2 cups of broth. I actually had a chicken cube thing that I put in with my water.
2. Bring to a boil and let simmer for about 10-15 minutes or until the quinoa absorbs all the liquid.
3. Take off of heat and let cool until sticky- may take 10-15 minutes (or stick in fridge)
4. Place your seaweed sheet on a sushi roller (or wax paper) and spread your quinoa across the top.
5. Place your vegetables in the middle and roll. 
6. Squeeze with your roller or wax paper until quinoa has stayed in place.
7. Cut into pieces.

Depending on how tight you roll and how sticky your quinoa is, you may get some messy pieces, but guaranteed, it'll taste delicious!
I paired this with some delicious shredded Brussels sprouts salad - recipe coming soon!

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If BabyCakes was my blog sponsor, I'd probably have to make doughnuts every day! But that wouldn't be hard.
Aren't these beautiful? They are dark because of the almond flour, I think. I made pancakes with almond flour and they were also darker after frying. Here is the delicious recipe:

Sweet Potato Paleo Doughnuts
Recipe inspiration: Pure and Simple

Doughnuts

• 3 eggs
• 1/3 cup cooked sweet potato (put it in the microwave for 5-6 minutes)
• 1/3 cup full-fat canned coconut milk
• 1/4 cup raw honey or agave
• 2 tbs coconut oil
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 1/4 cup almond flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tbs cinammon
• 1/2 tbsp nutmeg
• 1/2 tbsp all spice

 Steps:

1. Preheat your BabyCakes
2. Add eggs, sweet potato, milk, honey, oil, and vanilla in food processor or blender (I used my awesome Ninja!) and blend
3. Add the rest of the ingredients into the blender and mix until smooth
4. Put about 2 tsp batter into each doughnut slot and cook for 4-7 minutes or until brown
5. Place on cooling rack

Maple Vanilla Frosting

• 1/4 cup coconut butter
• 1/4 cup coconut oil
• 2 tbsp pure maple syrup
• 1 tsp vanilla extract 
• Optional if not paleo (2 tbsp powdered sugar)

Steps:

1. Heat coconut butter and oil over low heat
2. Turn off heat and stir in syrup vanilla (optional powdered sugar)
3. Mix well
4. Let sit 10 minutes
5. Dip tops of doughnuts into pan of icing and let cool

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I've never made a macaroon in my life. And I must say, these were delicious. Inspired by Martha Stewart, I made some awesome vanilla and chocolate ones. Along with Martha's recipe, I am going to include a healthier version.

I made one big batch of vanilla macaroons, split the mixture in half and added in cocoa.

Vanilla Macaroons:

• 2 egg whites
• 1 tbsp granulated sugar (substitute with coconut sugar)
• 2 1/2 cups sweetened shredded coconut (substitute with unsweetened)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• Pinch of salt

Chocolate Macaroons, add 2 tsp of cocoa powder to the entire mixture or 1 tsp to half.


Steps:

1. Pre-heat oven to 325 and line baking sheet with parchment paper (I did not do this b/c I have wonderful non stick pans, but you should do it)
2. In a bowl, combine egg whites and sugar and whisk until foamy
3. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well
4. With your hands, create mounds (like above) and place onto baking sheet
5. Bake for about 15-18 minutes or until golden brown

Enjoy!

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I have been doing really well at this whole no wheat and no dairy thing. But as you may have read in my butternut squash pizza recipe, I LOVE pizza and it was really hard to give it up.

Today, I made a pizza with the following ingredients:

• Udi's gluten-free pizza crusts
• Homemade tomato sauce
• Rice Dream dairy free cheese

You the know what to do next...

For the homemade tomato sauce I combined the following ingredients in a bowl. I don't give specific measurements as you can add as you'd like and taste along the way!

• 1 can of tomato paste
• 1 can of water
• garlic powder
• agave
• onion powder
• basil
• parsley

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This is NOT a gluten free or dairy free recipe, so I have NO CLUE how it turned out. I made it for Matt's parents for Easter and they all said it tasted delicious. Boy I hope so because it is HARD to duplicate a UK recipe, for some reason.

Recipe inspired from Oh So Sweet Baker. 
 
For the oat topping:
1 cup of rolled oats
1 cup of brown sugar
1/4 cup flour
3 tbsp COLD butter

Mix in small bowl, but smush the butter in with your fingers to create breadcrums.

For the cupcakes:

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This whole gluten-free, no wheat or dairy products, is really making me explore new ways of eating my favorite foods. As you can see, one of my favorite foods is PIZZA. I could probably eat pizza every day, so I made a compromise and made my own healthy alternative.

Ingredients:
1 butternut squash sliced into medallions (you can also use eggplant)
1 cup of canned pineapple
1 cup (or as desired) dairy free mozerella cheese
1/2-1 cup (or as desired) homemade sauce (recipe below)

Pizza Steps:

1. Put your sliced butternut squash on a baking pan and bake on 350 for about 30-40 minutes
2. Once soft-ish, take out of oven and put sauce on each medallion, put back in over for 5 minutes
3. Lastly, add cheese and pineapple to the top of the sauce and bake for the last 10 minutes

Sauce Ingredients:
1 can of non-spiced tomato paste (if you use one with spice, you probably don't need to add the below spices)
fill can back up with water and add to paste
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp basil
1 tsp parsley
1 tsp Emeril's seasoning (or Lowry salt)
2 tsp agave (or brown sugar)

Sauce Steps:

1. Mix all ingredients in a small bowl
2. Save (freeze) the sauce you don't use for future pizzas

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This cake helped me make my kitchen the messiest it's ever been. But I managed to bake this two layer bad boy all while my dad and I were watching Skyfall. I even managed to bring it with me to Black Hawk (casino in Colorado) without him even noticing.

Since I am not eating wheat or dairy and it was still Passover, I decided to use Yammie's flourless chocolate mountain cake as an inspiration.It's definitely gluten free.

Cake Ingredients:
1/2 cup coconut oil
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups dairy free chocolate (I used Enjoy)
6 eggs
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup coffee
1 tbsp vanilla
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp salt

Ganache Ingredients:
2 cups dairy free chocolate
3/4 cup coconut milk (you can substitute for heavy cream)

Cake Steps:

1. Preheat oven to 350
2. Grease 2-3  8 inch cake pans with coconut oil
3. Melt coconut oil, vegetable oil, and chocolate in a pan on med to high heat
4. In your mixer, mix eggs and sugar at high speed for 5 minutes
5. Add coffee and vanilla 
6. Add cocoa and salt and mix until combined
7. Mix in chocolate mixture and beat more
8. Pour batter into pans (divide by two or three) If you only have one pan, bake each layer separately
9. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until fork/toothpick comes out clean

Ganache Steps:

1. Melt chocolate and coconut milk on stove top
2. When melted, pour into a separate bowl and place that bowl in ice water and whip until it becomes more fluffy
3. Fill ganache between layers
4. Spread on to your cake and and decorate with coconut flakes 

If you want to make your cake taller, you can double the ingredients or use smaller pans.

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You know, I love experimenting with flavors. My only issue is, is that it's hard to experiment with making stuff at work (with no stove or oven!). But as always, I make do and today, I made a Pear, Apple, and Lemon Turkey Salad.

Ingredients:
Mixed greens (I love butter lettuce, so I included that)
1 avocado, sliced
1 pear, sliced
1 apple, sliced
1 lemon, juiced
Turkey (got it from King Soopers, the freshly cooked one)
Annie's Natural Lite Green Goddess Dressing (used very little)

Mix all of your fruits and veggies in a bowl or on a plate. Then squeeze your lemon on top, then add a LITTLE bit of dressing on top. I don't think I would have really liked the dressing without adding lemon to the mix.

Enjoy!

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This recipe was a complete experiment. I have never cooked fish before alone, especially without my mom's supervision. I'm just not a huge fan of the fishy taste, but now that I have cut out gluten AND dairy from my diet recently, I decided to go for making some fish. It turned out great, actually!

Now this is something I threw in spices to my liking, so do the same, here. Especially because almond flour is a little more bland.

Ingredients:

Bowl one:
2 eggs whisked
1/2 lemon squeezed
tiny bit of lemon balsamic vinegar

Bowl two:
1 cup of almond meal
garlic powder
onion powder
lowry's seasoning (or emeril's I love)
basil
cilantro
paprika
dry mustard

Steps:
1. Get your pan ready by adding some butter (or fake butter or olive oil) into your medium heat pan
2. Cut your tilapia filets in half and then drench in bowl owe with your eggs
3. Dip the fish into bowl two of almond meal
4. Put in pan and cook on each side for 5-8 minutes or until side is cooked
5. Before being fully cooked, squeeze some lemon over the top of the fish filets
6. Before taking off your fish, make sure the inside is filly white


Lemon Mayonnaise Sauce
Ingredients:
1 tbsp mayo (or fake mayo)
the rest of your lemon juice squeezed
1/2 tsp lemon zest
garlic powder
basil
dry mustard

Mix in small bowl and use very sparingly on top of your fish filets. Enjoy!

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Maybe not my "first" meal, but my first time cooking an entire Passover seder. The only dish I used a recipe for were the Matzo Balls (not the soup part) which was found on the back of the Matzo Meal container. Go me.

I have to say it is fun to cook without recipes and just experiment. Both of my parents had their favorite dishes: My dad, the soup and my mom surprisingly, the butternut squash "potato" pancakes. My favorite was the horoset, the apple mixture. Perhaps this is something I make other than on Passover.

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Lately, I have been making quick and healthy banana smoothies at work, but thought I would try something new. There are some great reasons why you should drink lemon and acids in the morning and La Jolla Mom explains it pretty well.


Some benefits of drinking lemon water in the morning are:

• Helps with weight loss
• Balances your pH
• Clears skin
• Freshens breath
• Relieves respiratory problems
• Keeps you zen
• Kicks the coffee habit
• and more

But I went one step further and made a revitalizing citrus juice green tea. Here is what I included:

• Juice of:
• 1/2 white grapefruit
• 1 orange
• 1 lemon
• 1lime

• green tea bag
• hot water
• drizzle of agave to take the tart edge off

I got one of these cheap juicer/squeezers, but mine was cheaper.  I leave it at work and it's great! I also left some fruits for me to juice at work and juiced them. I then took my green tea bag and let steep in a cup of water. When done, I poured my green tea into my juice. Then, I drizzled some agave in it to take the edge off. This is a great drink warm, but add a few ice cubes and you have a nice cold green tea lemonade-ish.


Enjoy!

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I was so excited to make this salad, words cannot explain. I like to go to Whole Foods and get small quantities of ingredients when I make my meals. And have a variety of yummy treats in one.
Ingredients:
1/2 onion
1 tomato
3-4 dried figs, sliced
1/4 cup of candied pecans, chopped
1/4 pound of sliced steak
bowl of romaine
2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 cup fig balsamic vinegar
drizzle of honey
s and p to taste
basil to taste

First, marinade your steak strips in half of your fig balsamic reserve. Set aside.

Next, cut up your vegetables like shown above. Place on a baking sheet and drizzle with a little honey. Bake at 325 until you're ready to add into your salad.

When getting your salad and figs all situated and sliced and cleaned, turn your stove on to medium heat and then add your steak to your pan. The steak should cook fairly quickly.

While cooking, add the remaining balsamic onto your romaine lettuce.

When steak look medium-rare, add your figs, pecans, and vegetables to the pan and stir to combine all flavors.

Next, top your salad bowl with your pan mixture and stir into salad. Add your garlic, s and p and basil for extra flavoring.

Enjoy!

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I don't typically enjoy peanut butter (I know, I'm insane, right?), but I am getting myself to eat more and more butter varieties including: sunflower butter, coconut butter, almond butter, and tahini. So I made these cookies adapted from my new favorite healthy food blog, Culinary Karma. Some of the recipe has been adjusted.
Ingredients:
1 cup of chickpeas
1 cup of milk (or milk substitute)
2 eggs
3 tbsp coconut oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup of coconut butter spread (coconut mixed with peanut butter)
1 1/4 cup almond flour
1/4 cup coconut flour
1/4 cup coconut sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp seas salt
1/4 cup of chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350.

In a blender, mix chickpeas, milk, eggs, oil, vanilla, and butter spread.

In a separate bowl, combine dry ingredients.

Pour your wet mixture into your bowl of dry ingredients and mix well.

Fold in your chocolate chips.

Put on baking sheet and bake for 15-20 minutes.

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Okay, Okay. I admit it. I had a major #cookiefail last night. They are a gift for my brother and his family for their birthdays this month, so I wanted them to be perfect. But, they turned square instead.

1 crushed package of snack sized M&Ms

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While we were waiting for the group to arrive, I was making conversation with the other group members about Cuban coffee called cortaditos and we decided to get a cup. What is a cortadito? A cuban espresso shot topped with sweet evaporated milk.
I thought I'd be loopy and/or wired since I haven't had coffee in ages, but this helped me out:
We started off our tasting menu with mini white sangrias and mojitos. Then we had mini empanadas (beef and veggie) which were so tasty, I couldn't resist having a couple more.
Then, we dug into our Cuban and veggie sandwiches served next to a yummy garlic sauce. Again, I definitely helped myself to these as well.
It's funny because I grew up in Florida and I've never had the taste of Cuban food. The owner, from Florida as well talked with us about how the food is prepared (the bread coming from Florida) and how she started the business in Colorado.
While waiting for our bread pudding, we snacked on some plantains, plantain chips, and then had a little taste of heaven when our caramel bread pudding arrived. We also got to try their flan, which to be honest, I haven't ever tasted either. Both desserts were SO good, I went and bought full servings to bring home to Matt. Surprisingly, I didn't immediately eat the whole thing, but if Matt had not been home, I just may have.
Thanks for reading about my experience tasting my first bite of Cuban food. It is a fantastic small place and I recommend you all try it. And hopefully someone buys me a real camera so I can phase away from these Instagram photos :).

Check them out here:
Website
Twitter
Facebook
Yelp

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