Black Bean Brownies - No, really, they're GOOD!

While they sound completely random and probably a bit unappetizing, I gave this one a go and they were GOOD!  I found the recipe on DiseaseProof.com and tweaked it just a bit.

Black Bean Brownies

2 cups pitted dates, chopped (I maybe used a bit more than this - added until I thought the batter tasted right)

1 ¼ cup unsweetened applesauce

1 (15 oz.) can of salt-free black beans, drained and rinsed

¾ cup whole wheat flour (I used spelt flour)

½ cup dark cocoa powder (I used cacao powder)
1 large handful of sunflower seeds or 1 T. ground flaxseed
2 t. vanilla
1 t. baking soda

I also added in a ¼ cup finely shredded coconut just 'cause I had it.  Next time, I might put a banana in there, I was just unfortunately out.

Put the first six ingredients in a food processor. Turn it on and then gradually add the 2 cups of chopped dates, a few at a time until blended. Add the flour and continue to mix until everything is well blended.  Spread into a 13” x 9” pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes.

I put them in a muffin pan instead because I'd like to freeze some to pull out when I'm short on prepared food for the munchkin.  :)

And confession... I haven't been offering Silver as much of these as I have been eating myself.  As a tired, nursin' mama, I gotta have my chocolate fix.  :)





P.S. I meant to buy carob powder instead of the cacao.  After I used it I realized it wasn't what I thought it was... haha.  The joys of learning new cooking things.  I have never used either of them, but found the differences between the two to be pretty interesting.  I think we will be going with carob in the future because it's a "safer" choice.  It's broken down really well on KHolistic Nutrition.

Happy Birthday Cake! - Apple Spice Cake

So... Call me overbearing, call me paranoid, say I denied my child a certain rite of passage, I don't know - but I just didn't feel like loading my child's tummy up with sugar in commemoration of her first birthday.  Who decided that's what you are supposed to do, anyway?

We've done baby led weaning, which has been a-mazing, and I have always made sure to nurse Silver before offering her food since breastmilk or formula is supposed to be the prime source of nutrition for babies until they're one.  That being said, I'd say Silver is about 75-85% breastfed and the rest is made up of snacks of solid food (mainly veggies and fruit).  Since her diet has been fairly limited I thought it might be traumatizing to her tummy to load it up with so much sugar all at once.

And so... The quest went on to find a birthday cake I would be capable of making myself.  WholesomeBabyFood.com had quite a few recommendations, one of which especially stood out to me because it didn't sound too incredibly complicated :)  And there was no sugar or eggs - PERFECT.

I tweaked this recipe a bit:

Apple Spice Cake

1/2 cup molasses
1 1/2 cup applesauce
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cloves (I used Pumpkin Pie Spice because I was out of cloves)
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1-3/4 cup spelt flour
1 tsp ginger

Mix the molasses and applesauce in a large bowl. Add remaining ingredients and mix well. Bake in a nonstick 8 x 8-inch baking pan or one sprayed with a non-stick spray, in a 350° F for 30 to 45 minutes, or until it tests done.

As with any "non traditional" cake, the batter for this cake will not seem "right" so don't panic!

I used an oversized muffin pan so I reduced the cooking time quite a bit.

For the frosting I mushed up a banana and combined it with some pureed strawberries.  It didn't look too shabby (at least I don't think)!  :)

I sawed off the top of one of the oversized muffins with dental floss and then used a cookie cutter on one of the other muffins to cut out a little flower to put on top.

NOTE:
If this is your first time cooking with molasses (as it was mine) it is kinda stinky and smells like soy sauce.  At first I thought it must be bad or something but then googled and found out this is normal.  :)  I expected it to be sweet smelling...

Things I might have done differently:

I'm thinking I should have remembered to add the chopped dates I had in the fridge.  Might have made a nice addition and made the cake seem sweeter and a little spice-y.  Or I might have left out the cinnamon and just used the Pumpkin Pie Spice.  Either way, it still turned out quite delicious.  And Silver LOVED it.

More on the party to come!  :)

Banana Cookies - YUM!

Just made the BEST (and healthy!) cookies!  They are vegan and sugar free so suitable for the munchkin too.  Quite a bit easier than the other cookies I've made for Silver as well.

I found the recipe on allrecipes.com and adapted it based on people's suggestions:

Healthy Banana Cookies

3 ripe bananas
2 cups rolled oats
1 cup dates, pitted and chopped
1/3 cup applesauce
1/4 finely shredded coconut
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Sprinkle of cinnamon

Directions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
In a large bowl, mash the bananas.
Stir in oats, dates, applesauce, coconut, vanilla, and cinnamon.
Mix well, and allow to sit for 15 minutes.
Drop by tablespoonfuls onto a greased cookie sheet.
Bake for 15 minutes in the preheated oven, or until lightly brown.

*NOTE:
This was my first time cooking with dates.  I figured it would be easiest to chop them up in the food processor - and it was!  However, I kept chopping and chopping them until they coagulated together and looked very much like a Larabar.  So... don't over do it with the food processor.  :)  It made it more difficult to stir it all together.

They look granola-y but are really pretty soft.  Perfect for Silver who just has her six teeth in the front.

Carrot and Bean Cakes

These reminded me a lot of the Oatmeal and Bean Waffles but were WAY easier for me to make.  Will be doing them again soon.

Found the recipe on Homemade-Baby-Food-Recipes.com

Carrot and Bean Cakes

4 oz (1/2 cup) cooked, mashed carrot
8 oz (1 cup) cannellini beans (or other white beans), mashed well
1 garlic clove, crushed
4 tbsp flour
olive oil

Mix the carrot puree with the mashed beans, garlic and flour.
Form the mixture into little patties with your hands - if the mixture is too moist, add a little more flour.
Heat a little olive oil in a frying pan/skillet.
Fry the patties for 3 to 4 minutes on each side, until golden.
Serve with applesauce for dipping!

These were great and Silver loved them!  I omitted the garlic b/c I thought it might be too much flavor, although next time I think I'll do it b/c there wasn't a lot of flavor to them.

Also, I used spelt flour and think it turned out okay.  These cooked up a lot differently than the Oatmeal and Bean Waffles - much less hearty.  Probably easier for Silver to eat too.  I tried some in the waffle maker but think they did better as pancakes.

Oatmeal and Bean Waffles

Some of the moms in my mom's group have raved about their little ones loving these waffles/pancakes, so I had to give it a go.  I made waffles and Silver loved them!  :)

Oatmeal and Bean Pancakes

1 cup beans, soaked overnight in plain water (I used black beans)
1 2/3 cups water
1 tablespoon agave nectar
2 teaspoons canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract or 1 teaspoon maple flavoring
1/2 teaspoon salt (I left the salt out)
1 1/3 cups old-fashioned oatmeal
I added a handful of spinach

Place all ingredients except the oats in a blender and blend for 90 seconds on high speed. Add the oats and blend for 1 minute.

Use a little oil or non-stick spray - cook in waffle maker.

We ate one and froze the rest!

Sweet Potato Chips

I made sweet potato "chips" today. Silver LOVES them!

Here's how I did it:

•  Preheat oven to 400 degrees
•  Wash and peel sweet potato
•  Cut the sweet potatoes into thin slices
•  In a large bowl, add a tiny bit of olive oil
•  Put the cut up sweet potato slices into the bowl and stir so the potatoes
   get coated with the olive oil
•  Dump mixture onto a baking sheet
•  Cook for 7 minutes
•  Take out and flip chips over
•  Cook for 7 minutes more

If you really want them to be like chips, you should probably cook them a bit longer.  I still wanted the potato "meat" to be mushy instead of crispy so she could eat it more easily.  I ended up eating quite a few too... :)

Quinoa and Black Beans

Made another quinoa inspired recipe last night that was pretty yummy. And SUPER quick and easy. Wish I would have had fresh beans I had soaked overnight and had a fresh tomato... but, still. It was good like this! :)

Quinoa and Black Beans

1 c quinoa
1 can black beans (drained and rinsed)
1 can diced tomatoes with onion
5 chopped green onions
1 avocado, cubed
Juice of one lime

Place quinoa and 2 cups of water in a sauce pan and bring to a boil.
Reduce to a simmer, cover, and cook until all of the water is absorbed, approximately 10-15 minutes. (Quinoa is done when all the grains have turned from white to transparent, and the spiral-like germ has separated.)
Add green onions, black beans, lime juice and tomatoes.
Serve with avocado on top.
Yum!

Super Charge Me Cookies

A friend referred me to this recipe and these cookies are AMAZING.

SUPER CHARGE ME COOKIES

I substituted rolled oats for the quick oats and omitted the salt.  Also, instead of the chocolate chips I substituted sesame seeds and I also substituted sunflower butter instead of using peanut butter (Silver's not supposed to have that yet).

1 cup quick oats
2/3 cup spelt flour
1/4 tsp (rounded) sea salt
1/4 – 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/8 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
1/4 –1/3 cup raisins or chopped dried fruit
3–4 tbsp carob or chocolate chips (optional; or use more dried fruit, nuts, or seeds)
1 tsp baking powder
1/3 cup flax meal (not flax seed)
1/2 cup pure maple syrup
3 tbsp almond butter (may use cashew, peanut, hemp seed butter)
1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 tbsp organic canola oil

Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). In a bowl, combine oats, flour, salt, cinnamon, coconut, raisins, and carob or chocolate chips, sift in baking powder, and stir until well combined. In a separate bowl, combine flax meal, syrup, almond butter, and vanilla and stir until well combined. Stir in oil. Add wet mixture to dry, and stir until just well combined (do not overmix). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Spoon batter onto baking sheet evenly space apart, and lightly flatten. Bake for 13 minutes (no longer, or they will dry out). Remove from oven and let cool on baking sheet for 1 minute (no longer), then transfer to a cooling rack.

Recipe © copyright Dreena Burton (eat, drink & be vegan)

One other thing I did was substitute agave nectar for the maple syrup (to make them a little less sweet - don't want the munchkin getting a sweet tooth too soon...), but I've recently learned it's not as healthy as I thought it was (You can read about it here).  Next time I'll be going with date syrup.