Sneaky Blood Orange Cacao Muffins

Because blood orange cacao muffins wouldn’t be good enough as it is that I had to make them sneaky. How? By adding a large cup of fresh kale to the mix. Seriously, if you didn’t see me baking these, you would have no idea that there was a healthy serving of greens in there. The kids were with me, so they saw, but it didn’t stop them from chowing down once they were out of the oven!

A a kid I did not like fruit in my chocolate. It was a flavor/texture thing. And I did not like nuts in my chocolate either. It was a waste-of-space thing. A big almond in my chocolate bar meant less chocolate. Ummm no thanks. My how times have changed!! I love chocolate so much I will eat it with almost anything. That is why it is so fun for me to come up with all kids of creations. Wether or not I am original in my pairings, it is still a fun process 🙂

I think blood oranges have a natural raspberry flare to them. Somewhat sweet, somewhat tangy. So last minute, once the batter was all ready to go into the muffin tins, I decided to accentuate that flavor by adding whole raspberries to the mix. A total win.

I won’t even lie and tell you that when my son didn’t feel like eating his salad for dinner, I justified not asking him to by saying “He had 3 muffins today, that’s a decent amount of greens.” Ha! Ninja parenting makes my life easier!

Ingredients:

• 3 cups flour ( I mixed garbanzo and buckwheat)
• 1/2 cup to 3/4 cup cacao powder, depending on how chocolatey you like things
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1tsp baking powder
• 1/4 cup ground flax seeds soaked in 1/2 cup water for 10-20 minutes
• 1 cup blood orange juice
• 1 TBS blood orange zest
• 1/2 coconut oil
• 1 1/2 TBS apple cider vinegar
• 1 cup chopped fresh kale
• 1 cup raspberries, fresh or frozen then thawed

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325*F
• grind flax seeds in coffee grinder if needed and soak in water
• combine first 4 ingredients in a large bowl
• combine the rest of the ingredients minus the raspberries, in a blender
• blend until the kale is well broken down
• mix wet ingredients with dry ingredients
• slowly fold in raspberries as to not have them break down too much
• grease your muffin tins
• bake for 10-12 minutes for mini muffins or probably around 18-20 minutes for regular size muffins

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Banana Bread Slices (raw)

This bread makes me soooo happy. Truly. It started out as an experiment and turned into one of my favorite quick breakfast foods. I have made it twice already, even before taking the time to share it with you guys. Some days having something quick to grab and go is essential. This bread satisfies my desire for rapidity without compromising my priority of health. In my opinion it resembles pretty closely the texture of sliced bread, but a little more dense. It is chewy, soft and thick and moist as to not be mistaken for one of my crackers 😉  The recipe itself is not too sweet as I like to use honey or fruit spread on my bread. Having new delicious breakfast foods to look forward to makes for a much more easy start to my day 🙂

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup ground golden flax seeds (I grind them in my coffee grinder), soaked in 1 cup of water for 20 minutes
• 2 cups lightly packed almond pulp (left over from making almond milk)
• 1/2 cup raisins
• 1 cup shredded coconut
• 2 bananas
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 3 TBS almond milk

Steps:

• while the flax seeds are soaking, blend bananas, milk and cinnamon (you can mash them for a thicker consistency)
• mix everything in a bowl
• lay on a dehydrator sheet about 1/4 inch thick
• score into pieces
• put in dehydrator at 105*F for about 2 hours
• flip onto mesh screen and dehydrate for another 2-4 hours, depending on the desired consistency.
• I love to eat mine with almond butter and honey, but they are delicious just as is.

• flip onto mesh screen and return to dehydrator for about 2 or 3 hours or until desired consistency
• the bread should be soft but not too moist on the inside
• store in the fridge for about 1 week if the almond pulp is fresh

Raw Onion Crisps

Thin. Crispy. Savory. Delicious. Like so many of my creations, this one “happened” because I had some soaked flax seeds left over after creating other recipes and just wanted to get something in the dehydrator in order to not have to either waste these flax seeds or have to come back to making something the next day. Unplanned recipes are sometimes some of my best.

I intentionally made these super thin, which makes them ideal to snack on by themselves or with a a thin layer of toppings.

Ingredients:

• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 cups soaked flax seeds (1 cup dry)
• 2 cups water
• 1 TBS salt
• 1/2 cup black sesame seeds

Steps:

• put everything but sesame seeds in blender and blend on high until everything is well incorporated and flax seeds have been broken
• pour in a large bowl
• add sesame seeds and combine
• spread a thin layer on a dehydrator sheet
• dehydrate at 105 F for about 8 hours
• flip on to the mesh screen
• dry another 6 hours or until completely dry and crispy
• store in an airtight container for weeks!

Raw Green Onion Crackers

I eat so many raw crackers, they are a staple in my house. So coming up with new flavors that I love is always awesome. This one didn’t mean to be so tasty. I just really needed to make some crackers as we were out and didn’t have much around so I just did what I could with what I had. What I had was a bunch of green onions. And now I have super simple, super tasty crackers 🙂

Ingredients:

• 4 sprigs of green onions
• 1 1/2 cups of flax seeds, soaked for a minimum of 4 hours in 3 cups of water
• 1 cup sunflower seeds
• 1/2 cup sesame seeds
• 1/4 cup tamari
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 cups water

Steps:

• Put the onions, flax seeds, tamari, salt and water in the blender and blend until the flax seeds are broken down
• Mix everything in a bowl
• spread on dehydrator sheet at least 1/4 inch thick
• dry on 105 for about 8 hours
• score, flip and finish drying until crisp, about another 8 hoursStore in an airtight container for weeks!!