Dark Chocolate Mousse Cakes

Vegan, Gluten-Free, No Sugar Added, Nut-Free, Oil-Free

This recipe was adapted from the Molten Lava Cakes over at veggiegrettie.com. After searching for a vegan, sugar-free, gluten-free chocolate melting cake recipe to make for Kenny, I finally settled on that recipe. I didn't have all the ingredients and wanted to tweak a few things, so this recipe is the product of my experiment, and what happened to be in the pantry tonight. Although it didn't turn out as anticipated (with a gooey center), we both thought they tasted really good!! :) They weren't exactly Melting Cakes with the gooey center and cakey outside, but they had more of a mousse consistency throughout with a rich dark chocolaty flavor. I baked them for 13 minutes, so they might have came out a bit more cakey if I had baked them longer. Either way, this was my first time trying this recipe, and since we liked it so much I'm documenting exactly what I used and the result. 

Wet Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup Enjoy Life Chocolate chips
• 6 tbs. unsweetened Almond Milk
• 4 tbs. unsweetened Applesauce
• 3 tsp. Apple Cider Vinegar
• 1 tsp. Vanilla Extract
• 1 tsp. Chia Seeds

Dry Ingredients: 

• 9 tbs. Quinoa Flour
• 2 tbs. Cacao Powder (or cocoa powder)
• 6 Stevia packets
• 1 tsp. Baking Powder
• 1/4 tsp. Xanthan Gum
• Pinch Sea Salt

- Melt the chocolate chips in a double boiler, or in the microwave. If using the microwave stir every 30 seconds, and it should be done after about 90 seconds. 

- Stir together all of the dry ingredients, making sure there are no lumps. 

- Stir the rest of the wet ingredients into the melted chocolate. 

- Stir the dry ingredients into the wet. The batter will be quite thick like brownie batter. 

- Spray 4 ramekins with coconut oil and cocoa powder. 

- Fill the ramekins so they are half or 2/3s of the way full. Place the ramekins in a 9x13 inch pan, then fill with water until it reaches halfway up the ramekins. (If you're short on time and don't want to bother with the water you don't have to - it just helps it cook better from all angles.)

- Bake at 350 degrees for 10 - 14 minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes and Enjoy! :) 
   

Measurements to Double the Recipe: 

Wet Ingredients:

• 1 cup Enjoy Life Chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup unsweetened Almond Milk
• 1/2 cup unsweetened Applesauce
• 2 tbsp. Apple Cider Vinegar
• 2 tsp. Vanilla Extract
• 2 tsp. Chia Seeds

Dry Ingredients: 

• 1 cup + 1 tbs. Quinoa Flour
• 1/4 cup Cacao Powder (or cocoa powder)
• 9 Stevia packets
• 2 tsp. Baking Powder
• 1/2 tsp. Xanthan Gum
• Pinch Sea Salt

Healthy Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies ... or Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies!

Vegan, Gluten Free, Sugar Free, Fat Free, Nut Free, High Protein

Wouldn't it be great if you could have cookies that were packed with super-nutritious ingredients, so you could eat dessert totally guilt-free and still be happily nourishing your body? That's what I've wondered for a long time, and this recipe hits the spot in both regards! I stirred a few secret healthy ingredients in here that make these cookies high protein, low fat, low calories, but still really big and satisfying on taste! The special ingredients?  

• Quinoa Flour or Brown Rice Flour - works as the flour and provides a great source of protein
• Pumpkin - sweet vegetable that has a lower glycemic index, plenty of fiber, and is rich in important antioxidants, vitamins and minerals. It "is less in calories but contains vitamin A, and flavonoid poly-phenolic antioxidants such as leutin, xanthin, and carotenes in abundance" (see references below). 
• Chia Seeds - loaded with antioxidants, a great source of important omega 3 fatty acids, good source of fiber, and a high-quality protein source. These are very important to add in one's diet, and they can even replace the eggs in baking!
• Cinnamon - proven to help stabilize blood sugar, boosts cognitive function, improves insulin production, and can even reduce cancer cells. 

Wet Ingredients: 

• 1 1/2 cups pumpkin
• 1 cup applesauce (unsweetened) 
• 3/4 cup erithrytol (or sweetener of choice)
• 2-3 pinches stevia
• 2 chia seed eggs (2 tbsp. chia seeds + 4-5 tbsp. water)
• 2 tbsp. vanilla extract
• 2 tsp. imitation butter flavor (optional, if you want to keep it really pure leave out)

Dry Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup Quinoa Flour or Brown Rice flour
• 1/2 cup coconut flour
• 3 tsp. cinnamon 
• 1 tsp. nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp. cloves
• 1/2 tsp. ginger
• 1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
• pinch sea salt
• 3/4 cup Enjoy Life chocolate chips, or any other add-ins you'd like! (raisins, nuts, etc.)

*As many ingredients as possible should be Organic and trustworthy.

Stir the wet ingredients together, then mix into the dry ingredients. If the mixture looks a little too wet, then add in extra quinoa flour, and if it's too dry add in pumpkin or applesauce or even almond milk. It might look kind of wet, but that is okay and they should still turn out into solid cookies. You might get good results by putting the dough in the fridge for a while to firm up, but it's not really necessary and I didn't do it. 

Form the cookies into your desired cookie shape on a foil-lined pan. The cookies don't rise much at all, so form them into the shape you want now - bite-sized, or big cookies, whatever!
By using the dough as is, you will make Pumpkin Spice Chia Cookies (great for breakfast!), OR you can add in chocolate chips to make a gooey chocolatey dessert! Sprinkle the plain Pumpkin Spice cookies with cinnamon before baking, and they'll even look like snickerdoodles.

      Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Version: 
Stir 6+ tbsp. of natural peanut butter into the finished dough. The peanut butter taste of the final product will depend on the kind of peanut butter you're using, so use more or less than that amount depending on how strong you'd like the flavor to be. I used about 6 tbsp. of PB2 mixed with water, and the peanut taste was not too strong. Then stir in your chocolate chips and form the cookies.

Bake at 350 degrees for 16-19 minutes, or until golden brown/darker and the inside is mostly cooked through. You can still take them out if they are still pretty soft on the inside, since they will continue to cook on the pan, and they will just be softer and chewier. 













I obviously chose to make a lot more Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip cookies today, as that is Kenny's ultimate favorite flavor combination. He really liked the cookies, and I really liked their taste, soft chewy texture, AND that they are so healthy, will not spike our blood sugar, and have only ingredients that are GOOD for our bodies! :)

Reference: 
http://www.nutrition-and-you.com/pumpkin.html
http://www.organicauthority.com/health/11-health-benefits-of-cinnamon.html
http://www.organicauthority.com/health/11-health-benefits-of-cinnamon.html

Healthy Pumpkin Spice Chia Breakfast Bars

Vegan, Gluten-Free, Sugar-Free, Fat-Free, Nut-Free, High Protein

These pumpkin bars are a super tasty and nutritious treat that also happen to be packed with protein and minimal calories! The soft, chewy texture with sweet, warm pumpkin taste will hug you in a blanket of fall, and the healthy ingredients will nourish and restore your body. :)

I adapted this from the recipe for Paleo Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies at the "Making the World Cuter" blog. Those pumpkin cookies are amazing and it's a simple straight-forward recipe. I have tried to follow a more vegan lifestyle lately, so I wanted to adapt the recipe and substitute the honey, butter and eggs for something a little more plant-based. I also adjusted the coconut flour and added quinoa flour, as it has fewer calories and is a complete source of protein. The chia seeds replace eggs, are high in protein, and even offer a boost of omega-3 fatty acids. The unsweetened applesauce replaces the butter and can replace the fat component in many baking recipes. The honey is replaced by erythritol or stevia, whichever plant-based, natural organic sweetener you have access to. The nice part about this recipe is you can stir everything by hand in a mixing bowl, no blender or equipment required - super easy!

One word of caution is to check the ingredients list before buying anything, especially in regards to sweeteners. A lot of the "Stevia" or "All-Natural" products in the grocery store actually have dextrose or some weird chemical like malto-dextrin, etc. as the FIRST ingredient, with only a little bit of stevia at the end. (Stevia-in-the-Raw is mainly just dextrose - marketing scam!!) I have ordered erythritol online as it's zero-calorie, and from the research I've done on it does not spike blood sugar, cause any ill effects in the body, and is derived from plants in an ethical way. Erythritol can be found at some health food stores, and you can also find a few actual stevia products in certain grocery stores. As with anything though, it's best to do your own research and use the ingredients that are best for your body's needs and health goals. 

I hope you try and enjoy the recipe! :)

Wet Ingredients: 

• 1 1/2 cups pumpkin
• 1 cup applesauce (unsweetened) 
• 3/4 cup erythritol (or sweetener of choice)
• 2-3 pinches stevia
• 2 chia seed eggs (2 tbsp. chia seeds + 5 tbsp. water)
• 2 tbsp. vanilla extract

Dry Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup brown rice or quinoa flour
• 1/2 cup coconut flour
• 3 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 tsp. nutmeg
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. cloves
• 1/2 tsp. ginger
• 1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
• 1/4 tsp. xanthan gum
• pinch sea salt

Stir the wet ingredients together, then mix into the dry ingredients. 
If the mixture looks a little too wet, then add in extra quinoa flour, and if it's too dry add in pumpkin or applesauce or even almond milk. 

Spread the batter into a 9x13 inch pan and sprinkle with cinnamon. 
[This dough can also be formed into cookies to make delicious pumpkin spice cookies!! :D ]

Bake at 350 degrees for 18-20 minutes, until golden brown and a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Enjoy! :)

Burn the Boat

While at a Marriage Retreat sponsored by the Chaplains Religious Enrichment Development Operation (CREDO), Kenny and I learned some valuable lessons on marriage and communication. We had a great relaxing weekend, and I totally encourage every active duty military couple to take advantage of CREDO resources!! It was a paid-for weekend at a hotel with marriage workshop. It was led by CREDO's chaplain, a Christian, seminary-trained Naval officer who did a phenomenal job leading us with wisdom, understanding and humor. CREDO is one of the Navy's best-kept secrets, so if you're near San Diego check it out! One of the most salient messages I took away goes as follows:

Alexander the Great, born in 356 BC, was one of the world's most successful military conquerors. He secured the throne of Greece at the age of twenty and led many conquests to conquer much of the known world at that time. Alexander's armies were out at war conquesting for years at a time (and we thought 9-month deployments are bad!) There was no turning back; you either march, fight and survive, or die trying.  Upon reaching the shores of Persia, Alexander ordered the men to BURN all their ships. Legend has it he ordered, "We leave on Persian ships, or we die trying!" Their army was outnumbered by 5 to 1, yet at that battle they still won and conquered the city!! They defeated armies with more men and resources while on foreign ground over and over again. How? Success was their only option. They burned their means of escape pushing them to have the drive and motivation to move forward at all costs.
Alexander voraciously fought and extended his empire all the way from Egypt to India, through much of the known world at that time. His military tactics are brazen, and the speed and scale of what his armies accomplished is still unheard of today. His armies accomplished incredible feats which we can contemplate and learn from today. 

Once we get married, we need to burn the boat. 
We have made a decision, we're committed, we made a promise to that person before God and our families that we will be one with them for the rest of our lives. There is no turning back. The boat to our old life and old possibilities is BURNT and the ashes are blowing in the metaphorical wind! You press on to make the best of your new life with that person and do whatever it takes to THRIVE. 

With military marriages especially, this can be a hard thing to face up to and do. For the beginning of my marriage to my Navy husband, I had a hard time with this and didn't even realize it. With military life, there is SO MUCH UNCERTAINTY. He's gone and can't communicate with you, his orders are changing day to day, he's told to go here, there, then way over there, all while you're stuck feeling stranded in a place you never wanted to be in the first place. (familiar to anyone? yea...)
Then think about getting a job/ figuring out your own life? - HA that's hilarious! 
You went to college, worked your butt off, and have so many ambitions, but all the plans and dreams you come up with fall to the ground because each day [practically] his situation seems to change. When you finally are settled with orders, many of the programs and job opportunities you wish you could have are not available near the military base, the education program is too long/expensive, you'll be leaving in 1.5 years, or you wouldn't be hired for a meaningful position nearby because you're there for such a limited time. So you're left with taking whatever you can get, try to make the best of it and settle in as much as you can where you know no one or nothing. 

When in this situation, it's easy to develop a bit of resentment towards your situation/spouse's job (while still fully loving him!) ... thinking, "If only I could have gone there or studied there!", or "Wow that job looks so awesome! Wait, it's in X and I'm stuck in Y for who knows how long...", or "I wish I could do this program, oh wait, there's only openings here, there and there, which I'll never be able to go to" ... These are all realities of military spouse life, and last I heard about 80% of mil-spouses are unemployed. (that's a lot! granted a lot of them are probably parents or new moms, but still that's a lot) 

Thinking this way and getting caught up in everything you "can't" do can be a dangerous trap though! By the time he gets back from deployment you'll already be worked up and bitter towards your relationship/circumstances. You CHOSE this life. You knew what you were getting into when you said yes to him, and you are STILL proud of him for serving our country. Yes there are great challenges ahead, but please don't get caught up in looking back and thinking of all the other things you could have done. 

Doing that too much can lead people on the slippery slope to ending their relationship - when they fantasize having so much freedom and security from being in control of their own single life and "freed" from following their spouse. The truth is when you said "I do" you committed to be one with your spouse, to live life with them in whatever circumstances and orders may come, and to make the most of it. 


Addition from Kenny:

Along with choosing this path, we have to accept that once we are married that a new home is made. Your parents' home is no longer your "home" or fall-back option. Mark 10: 6-8 says, "But from the beginning of creation, God made them male and female. For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and the two shall become one flesh". While family is still family, we should also burn the bridge to fall back on our parents. Our home is the one create whether or not one is gone on deployment. This is not to say that we can't still visit our parents but I think we shouldn't view that as our home or "fall-back" option. The Bible mentions numerous times the importance of not looking back, and I'm learning this is especially true for marriage. Ecclesiastes 7:10 says, "Say not, 'Why were the former days better than these?' For it is not from wisdom that you ask this." I know each new duty station may not seem like "home", but your true home really needs to be wherever your spouse, even if they are gone on orders. 

There might be battles and 'Persians' ahead, but we must deliberately work and love each other to thrive in each and every new circumstance. There is no turning back, and we shall forge on to have victory in our new love-filled lives together!

I hope this little lesson from history has been as encouraging for you as it has been for me! (:

Love and best wishes,
Kim







** By the Way, for Military Spouse Career Resources, see:
http://www.careeronestop.org/militaryspouse/
http://www.militaryonesource.mil/seco
https://msepjobs.militaryonesource.mil/
http://www.ingearcareer.org/ (--> where I found my current job! :) )
http://www.msccn.org/
https://aiportal.acc.af.mil/mycaa/ (-->MyCAA scholarship for eligible spouses)


**Photos courtesy of: 
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/05/05/article-2139993-12EBD38F000005DC-694_634x496.jpg
http://ignorelimits.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Alexander-the-Great-Burn-Your-Boats.jpg
http://www.twptown.org/assets/images/2009%20Shows/21GunBurningBoat4_200x200.jpg

Zucchini Cilantro Hummus

Easy Cheap Hummus Recipe


If you've ever bought hummus from the store you know it is pretty expensive for just a little tub of hummus, a lot of which is holed out at the bottom. Basic hummus recipes consist of blended chickpeas, garlic, olive oil, lemon, and tahini - a sesame seed butter that is high in fat/calories, tasty, and also very pricey. Because of the tahini and olive oil the fat content and calorie count can be very high. 

Chickpeas are a great source of vegan protein, and since hummus is so tasty and easy to take on-the-go, I ventured to recreate the recipe with 2 main goals: lower the fat content, and boost the nutritional value with veggies + herbs. I believe I accomplished both!

Ingredients:

• 1 can organic chickpeas 
• 1 cup organic zucchini (or raw veggie of choice)
• 1/3 cup fresh cilantro (or fresh herb of choice)
• 2 tbs. Braggs Liquid Aminos
• 2 tbsp. filtered water
• 2 tsp. minced garlic
• Juice of 1 or 1/2 a lemon
• Everyday seasoning to taste (Trader Joe's brand)

Blend all ingredients in food processor until smooth. You may have to pulse it and stir a few times, and with patience it will all blend up. 

Garnish with herbs and a dusting of paprika or seasoning. 

Serve with veggies and store in the fridge. 

I brought this to a party and it received RAVING reviews! Everyone was asking for the recipe, which I thought was hilarious. I just whipped the chickpeas up with some veggies, herbs, and whaala! a beautiful flavor combination came out!

This recipe is very simple and versatile, and you could come up with TONS of veggie/herb combos to suit your and your family's taste. 

*Photo courtesy of GoToRawFood.com (http://gotrawfood.com/zucchini-hummus)

Herbed Chickpea Veggies

Chickpea Vegan Dinner

Chickpeas are so yummy, and when seasoned beautifully in this recipe they almost have a cheese-like texture with the warm veggies. 

Garlic + Lemon + Basil = Trinity of Herbs

Ingredients: 

• 2 cups chopped broccoli
• 1 chopped red onion
• 1 diced red pepper
• 1 can chickpeas
• 1-3 tbsp. crushed garlic
• squeeze of 1 lemon
• 1/4 cup fresh basil
• sea salt or Trader Joe's Everyday Seasoning to taste
• Braggs Liquid Aminos (optional)

In a large saucepan, saute broccoli and garlic over medium/high heat with a bit of coconut oil or water (to keep fat-free, coconut oil is a healthy fat though that does not change with heat). After about 4 minutes once the broccoli are more tender, add in the chickpeas, red pepper, red onion, lemon, and optional seasoning. You can smash some of the chickpeas while stirring to give it a bit of a sauce and different texture. Once the veggies are tender and cooked through take off the heat. Stir in the chopped basil (or fresh herb). 

I don't add the fresh herbs earlier since you don't want them to wilt too much in the heat and you want to preserve as much of the antioxidant/healing properties as possible!

To make this taste EXTRA Amazing, you can serve it topped with warm Tomato Basil Marinara sauce (no salt/sugar kind from TJ's). The marinara makes it taste like a decadent Italian pasta dishes with bits of cheesy chickpeas, bringing the garlic, lemon, basil combo together beautifully!

1 cup of cooked chickpeas/garbanzo beans contains 12 grams of protein, so again this is a tasty way to get your protein and veggies in.

Enjoy :)

Black Bean Artichokes

Bean Protein Vegan Dinner

This is a quick recipe that basically involves veggies and a vegan protein source - today featuring black beans!

Ingredients: 

• 2 cans artichokes (drained, no salt), or 3 cups fresh artichokes 
• 1diced red onion
• 1-3 tbsp. crushed garlic
• 2 cans organic black beans
• squeeze of half a lemon
• sea salt or Trader Joe's everyday seasoning to taste
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil

In a large saucepan, saute the artichokes with garlic over medium/high heat. You can use a bit of water or coconut oil to saute the artichokes, and the artichokes will take a little while to brown since they are wet to start out. Once the artichokes are slightly browned, add in the red onion and black beans with remaining herbs/seasonings. ... then done!

Black beans contain 15 grams of protein per 1 cup, making this a protein and flavor-packed vegan meal for the whole family! 

One-pan wonder :)