Tag: sugar free

My Kodiak Cake Berry Syrup

I happened to be at Costco on a day when they were giving out samples of Kodiak Cake pancakes. Yum! I really enjoyed trying the Kodiak Cake berry syrups that they had. I even reached to put a bottle of syrup into my cart but after looking at the nutrition label and ingredients I reminded myself that putting that much liquid sugar on my pantry shelf was not going to help my self control any nor was it going to add any nutrition to my kids breakfast. I also realized that I could probably make a healthier version of the syrup anyway. So I put the bottle down and slowly walked away.

We usually don’t use syrup on our pancakes because they simply don’t need any. The moisture and flavor from the ingredients I use in my Protein Pancakes helps them stand alone. But a few weeks after I had tried the syrup at Costco I found an bag of frozen berries in my freezer that had been taken out to thaw and put back in the freezer all juicy. The berries had frozen together into a chunk of berries that I would have had to use an ice pick to separate. I saw this as an opportunity to try and make my own take on Kodiak Cake berry syrup. It turned out exactly how I wanted it and my kids loved it. The best part was that it was quick, easy, and only has 3 ingredients!

berry syrup

photo cred: mom 4 real

INGREDIENTS

  • About 2 cups of fresh or frozen berries (I used strawberries, blueberries, and a few raspberries)
  • 1/4 of honey (or less depending on how much tartness you like)
  • 1/2 t vanilla

I like to have a few chunks of berries in my syrup so I just put my frozen berry goop right into a saucepan with honey and vanilla and brought it to a boil. If you want yours smooth or with few chunks of fruit, try using a food processor or blender to cut up your fruit.

This syrup tasted great fresh and it kept well in the fridge for a few weeks. We even used it a few times for peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and as jam on bread.

Even if the amount of carbohydrates or sugars in my syrup was comparable to what you could find at the store, I get peace of mind knowing what ingredients were used, where they came from, and that there were no preservatives in my syrup. And my kids and husband loved it just the same!

*If you want to use raspberries or blackberries in your home made syrup recipe, avoid the seeds by blending your berries in a food processor and then sending them through a strainer before adding them to your sauce pan.*

Guilt Free Strawberry Jam

Oh hey there! Long time no see. After weeks of absence I finally decided to write something:) And the first thing I thought I’d share was a delicious recipe for strawberry jam that changed my world. No really, it kind of did.

So I’ve always liked jam but have never eaten it since focusing on health. For years I’ve gone to family parties and avoided the homemade strawberry jam because I knew how much forsugar was in there. Jam was just never an option. If I was going to splurge it would be on chocolate, not jam.

A cute friend in my neighborhood knew we were limiting sugar at our house and brought over some simple, delicious, jam that was an instant game changer. With only 3 clean simple ingredients jam was back on the menu for my occasional Gf waffles, protein pancakes or PB&J.

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups washed, cut strawberries (stems removed obvi)
  • 1/4 c raw local honey
  • 2T chia seeds

Directions

1. Blend strawberries together until your preferred consistency (some people like chunky)

2. Mix in honey and chia seeds

3. Pour into a sauce pan and bring to a light boil. Stir for 5 minutes. Remove from heat, let cool, and store in jars in fridge or freezer.

….look at this delicious stuff. So yummy, simple and clean, no refined sugar or preservatives, and extremely easy to make.

Enjoy!

Homemade Protein Ice Cream

chocolate protein ice cream

If you want to be entertained, watch the video of my girls and me making homemade chocolate protein ice cream here: Part 1   Part 2

Ingredients

  • 2 cups whole milk
  • 1 cup cream
    • I just use 3 cups of goat milk because it’s creamy enough for our liking
  • 1-1/2 scoops of your favorite flavor of protein powder (2 scoops was a bit much for this recipe)
  • 1 t vanilla
  • optional* 1 cup fruit you may want to add to mix things up!

Directions

  1. Add ingredients (except fruit) together and blend until smooth.
  2. Add any fruit you may like and pulse your blender until fruit is chunky but not liquefied (the extra liquid will throw off the proportions of the other ingredients and could make your ice cream watery)
  3. Pour into an instant ice cream maker like mine or use an “old fashioned” homemade ice cream maker.
  4. Enjoy!

I hope you will indulge in a little guilt free ice cream and let me know how you like it! Please share with your friends if  this recipe got a ‘thumps up’ from you. Share what you did differently that you liked more/less.

Love, Katie

Sweet Potato Lava Brownies

My girls asked for a treat tonight and I had a sweet potato in the fridge and thought….well let’s find a recipe for sweet potato brownies! I made sweet potato brownies once before, a few years ago, but lost the recipe. After searching good old google and not finding any recipes that looked good or that I had all the ingredients for, I just made my own recipe…and… it turned out AWESOME! I was too excited to not share it right away.

A few weeks ago I was at Happy Sumo for sushi and decided to try out their “lava” cake for dessert. There wasn’t so much “lava” in it but it was moist and dense and delicious. My sweet potato brownies had the EXACT same consistency + a bit more lava. I have some friends who are always looking for desserts that are healthy but also tasty enough that their non-healthy friends will eat them. This recipe checks both boxes! Throw some vanilla protein goat milk ice cream on top and you’re golden! (I’ll share my goat milk protein ice cream recipe soon).

If you need a chocolate fix this recipe will do the trick! PLUS you can feel good about knowing you’re using wholesome ingredients + free of gluten and refined sugar. Try it out yourself or tweak the recipe like I did and tell me what you think! I plan to use applesauce instead of butter next time to see how it turns out and maybe even add a bit of protein powder too…hmm…

Ingredients

  • 1 cup baked sweet potato (bake 1 large potato at 400 degrees until its super soft)…now that I think of it, you could probably use pumpkin instead of sweet potato too… now my wheels are turning! ha
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 stick butter melted (sub 1/2 cup coconut oil or other “fat” and see how you like it!)
  • 1/3 c cocoa
  • 1/4 c honey (you could sub agave or pure maple syrup)
  • 3/4 c oat flower (I just put whole oats in my Vitamix and blend until flour-like)…try other flour substitutes and tell me what you like best!
  • pinch of salt
  • 1 t vanilla
  • 1 t baking powder
  • 1 c dark-no sugar added chocolate chips

Directions

  1. Pre-cook your sweet potato @ 400 degrees. Then turn oven temp to 350 degrees to prepare to cook brownies. Melt butter in a sauce pan.
  2. Combine wet ingredients and mix on low speed until smooth
  3. Add dry ingredients and mix until incorporated
  4. Add chocolate chips and stir in
  5. Pour into greased 9×9 baking dish. Cook at 350 degrees for about 22-25 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.
  6. Let cool for a few minutes before cutting + Enjoy!

 

Energy Balls

Let’s face it, I’m a sweets girl. I have a weakness for cookies, and chocolate. So when I’m off sugar and flour I definitely get my sweet tooth cravings. The longer I go without sugar and flour the easier it becomes to stay away from it but there are always those hard days along the way that really test my self control that I have to push past. For those days I LOVE to satisfy those cravings with Energy Balls! These nutrient packed “treats” are also great for taking on hikes or eating any other time you’ll need some satiating nutrients. My doula introduced me to theses goodies when she brought them to the hospital as a post delivery treat for me.This recipe is SO versatile I usually don’t even measure the ingredients; I just throw in a bunch of stuff that looks good and make sure it sticks together! I’ll post a fool-proof recipe below for you to try out. I’d love your feedback and your own personal variations!

Energy Balls

  • 1.5 Cups whole Oats (I get the big box from Costco)
  • 1 Cup unsweetened coconut flakes (Harder to find but I’ve seen unsweetened coconut sold at Walmart and Whole Foods stores. You can also order some Bobs Red Mill coconut online)
  • 3/4 Cups natural peanut butter or almond butter
  • 1/3 Cups ground flaxseed (this helps the mixture to stick together. Use more/less as needed)
  • 1/3-1/2 Cup raw honey or agave (I usually play around with this quantity to get the most stick out of the least amount of honey as possible)
  • 1 Tablespoon chia seeds
  • 1.5 teaspoons vanilla (this really makes a big difference in the taste so don’t skip this ingredient!)

Optional: Chocolate mmmm….

  • At the Whole Foods store you can find real dark chocolate chips that have no sweetener in them but still taste SO yummy. As much as I love chocolate my girls and I love these Balls even without it. When I put in chocolate I usually just end up picking out and only eating the chocolate 🙄

Directions: throw ingredients in a bowl and mix it all together. If you know how to stir you are certified to tackle this recipe. When ingredients are mixed evenly, use a tablespoon to scoop the mix out and roll into balls between your hands. They are ready to eat right away!

ut just in case these directions aren’t fool proof enough for you I took some glam shots today while I made my own batch! I hope you love these as much as I do and can find a way to make them your own by substituting other ingredients you love + then sharing!

Love, Katie