My Sweet Tooth and A Low Sugar Gluten-Free Dark Chocolate Chip CookieRecipe

So I have a horrible sweet tooth, I always have. I love candy, and cookies, and cupcakes, and brownies, and I could go on forever. If it has sugar, you know I'll love it.

Eliminating sugar has been one of the hardest things about my diet. I also didn't realize how hard it would be to find a sugar free and gluten free recipe for Chocolate Chip Cookies so I kind of made up my own. And guess what, they came out pretty good! :) 

*They aren't completely sugar free, as they use Truvia Baking Blend, but they are a low sugar option.

Low Sugar Gluten-Free Dark Chocolate Chip Cookies:

1/3 cup Coconut Oil 

1/3 cup Truvia^® Baking Blend 

2/3 cup Dark Chocolate Chips

1 1/4 cup Gluten-Free All Purpose Flour

1/2 tsp. Salt

1/2 tsp. Baking Soda

1 Egg White

1/2 tsp. Vanilla Extract

1 tbsp. Almond Milk ( You may need another Tbsp. if the dough seems too dry)

1/3 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350° F. Spray baking sheet with baking spray.
2. In a small mixing bowl combine the flour, salt and baking soda.
3. In a separate medium bowl, combine the coconut oil and Truvia^® Baking Blend and beat using an electric mixer on medium speed for 2 minutes until the mixture is slightly light a fluffy. Do not over mix.
4. Add the egg, milk and vanilla. Continue to mix for 1 minute, or until all the ingredients are blended together.
5. Mix in the flour, salt and baking soda mixture until combined. Stir in the chocolate chips and walnuts.
6. Portion the cookies into 1 tbsp each. Place them several inches apart on the baking sheet. Press the cookies flat using the palm of your hand. They should be ¼” to ½” in thickness.
7. Bake the cookies on the center rack of the oven for 7-8 minutes, until brown at the edges. Rotate the cookies half way through baking.
8. Transfer the cookies to the top rack of the oven and bake for 1 addition minute, or until the top of the cookie slightly browned.

Recipe for Garlic Parmesan Quinoa

Garlic Parmesan Quinoa:

1 tbsp coconut or olive oil
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups chicken broth
1 cup uncooked quinoa
1/4 tsp salt, or to taste
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese


In a medium sized pan, sautee  garlic in coconut or olive oil over medium-high heat for 1-2 minutes. Reduce heat to medium low.

Add the chicken broth and quinoa. Cover, and allow to simmer until liquid is mostly absorbed and quinoa is cooked, about fifteen minutes.

Remove from heat, and gently mix quinoa to distribute any excess moisture. Season with salt to taste, and top with Parmesan cheese.

Recipe for Carne Asada Tacos

Carne Asada Tacos:

For Meat-
1tbsp. Olive Oil
1lb. Steak of your choice
2 limes
salt
pepper
garlic

For Tortillas- 

2 cups Corn Flour (Harina de Maiz)
1 1/3 cups water
1/4 tsp. salt

For Guacamole-
3 Avocados
1 jalapeno
1 tomato
1 lime
onion (optional)

garlic salt to season

                                                 

Sour Cream and Salsa for tacos (optional)

For tortillas, heat medium pan on medium heat on stove top. In a Medium Size bowl mix together Corn Flour, salt, and water. Mix with hands until masa resembles play-doh. Separate masa into 12 balls. Cover bowl with a damp dish cloth to hold moisture in. Essentially you should use a tortilla press, but I don't have one so this is what I did: Place one ball of masa between 2 pieces of wax paper. Roll out masa, trying to keep it as round as possible. Remove top piece of wax paper, then place back on top, but so it doesn't stick. Flip tortilla over and remove bottom piece of wax paper. Carefully place tortilla on pan and quickly remove wax paper from tortilla. Cook for about 30 seconds then flip tortilla and cook the other side for 30 seconds. Place in tortilla warmer or between a clean dish towel in a ziplock. Repeat with the other 11 balls of masa.

For Guacamole, you need to cut open the avocados and remove the seed. Remove peeling from avocados and mash them in a small bowl. Chop tomatoes, jalapeno, and onion (optional) into small pieces and mix into avocado. Season with garlic salt. Sprinkle with juice from 1 lime. Place one avocado seed back into bowl to avoid browning.

For Carne Asada, heat olive oil in large pan on medium to high heat. Place meat in pan and sprinkle with juice of two limes. Season with salt, pepper, and garlic. Cook until meat is cooked thoroughly.

Assemble Tacos and enjoy! :)

Recipe for BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwiches

 BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwiches:
(This is an easy Crockpot recipe)

1 Pork Roast (mine was about 2lbs.)
Garlic Salt
Your Favorite BBQ Sauce (about 1/4 cup)
Cooking Oil
Buns of your choice (I used whole wheat)

Lightly Grease bowl of Crockpot with oil.
Place Roast in crockpot and sprinkle with about 1-2 tbsp. Garlic Salt. Pour about 1/4 cup BBQ sauce over Roast. Cover with lid and cook on low for about 2 1/2 hours or until roast starts to pull apart. Pour remainder of BBQ Sauce on Roast and mix well. You can also season with other seasonings if you'd like. Roast will be done when it completely Pulls apart.

My Week in Meals

I have come to the conclusion that healthy eating does NOT have to be boring. I can still eat my favorite foods, just healthier homemade versions of them. :)

This week I made:

Gluten-Free Banana Nut Bread and Baking without Sugar

This week I've been cooking up a storm! With my new diet I am trying new recipes and trying to keep myself motivated by making food fun. I've been doing great so far and am already down 4.5lbs since I started! I know the diet is more for health reasons rather than losing weight, but it's definitely an added bonus.

I think the hardest part of my diet change so far has been avoiding sugars, not like processed sugars in candy and soda's but sugars in baking. As a baker I want things to look and taste the same as before, though I know that will not always be the case.

This week when my hubby and I went grocery shopping we came across Truvia® Baking Blend. While its not sugar free it does reduce the sugar content in recipes significantly and it has 75% less calories than sugar. I decided to give it a try. :)

The first thing I decided to make with it was Banana Nut Bread which is one of my favorite desserts. Not only is this Banana Nut Bread low in sugar its also gluten-free. 

Banana Nut Bread:
(Makes one 8x4 loaf; 12 pieces)

1 1/4 cups gluten-free all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 eggs 
1 cup mashed ripe bananas (I used 3 whole bananas)
1/4 cup Truvia® Baking Blend
1/4 cup apple sauce
1/4 cup chopped walnuts





1. Whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, and walnuts in a medium bowl. 
2. Mix together eggs, bananas, apple sauce, and sugar in a separate bowl. 
3. Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and mix until just combined.
4. Lightly grease loaf pan with cooking oil and transfer banana mixture to pan. 
5. Bake at 350° for 45-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. 
6. Cool for about 10 minutes before removing from pan. Set on wire cooling rack to continue cooling.

*FYI There are about 111 calories per slice according to My Fitness Pal. (That is just an estimate though) 

This recipe came out so good! My husband didn't even realize it was Gluten Free! :)

A New Year. A New Me.

I've debated writing this because diets and exercising is something I'm horrible at and rarely stick to. I am going to try my best to get into shape. I realized yesterday while in tears in the dressing room at Kohls that I am living a very unhealthy lifestyle. My clothes do not fit me and I rarely find anything flattering. I could blame McDonalds or Taco Bell, or even Hostess for making those yummy chocolate cupcakes, but who am I kidding. It is all me! I need to learn to have self control and get motivated. Hopefully by putting it all out there on the internet I will hold myself accountable for my actions and eating habits. I know I will probably never be a size 1 again, and that is ok with me as long as I am healthy! Being that it is the beginning of a new week (and a new year) I figured it start my diet first thing today!