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Ingredients Archives: Almond Milk

Guilt-Free Cinnamon Raisin Biscuits

As a kid, I always got excited when I heard the ice cream truck. Since it was summer, I was generally in my black and rainbow striped swimsuit running through the sprinklers with half the kids in my neighborhood. We’d hear the music and run toward the truck with all our might and quarters. Aside from that, there was another truck that brought joy to my heart: the Schwan’s truck. We’d get so excited when the “Schwan’s man” would come each week. My mom always bought two things (she bought more but I wasn’t really interested in raw chicken breasts and salmon patties). One, push-up ice cream pops. Remember those? I can still taste of that delicous peach ice cream combined with the taste of plastic and cardboard as I licked the tube trying to get every last drop. The second things she always got; cinnamon raising biscuits. These things were so addicting. Many a Sunday morning, I’d wake up smelling those delicious biscuits. The fact that they came with a tube of frosting made them that much better.

Maybe I was feeling nostalgic because it was close to mother’s day, but a few weeks ago, I was craving these biscuits, but didn’t want to eat something that I’d regret later. Then I realized, since I know how to make healthy biscuits, I could easily recreate these!

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I started with my healthy drop biscuit recipe. To them I added cinnamon, vanilla and raisins. As with the drop biscuits, I was way too lazy to roll and cut them, but you certainly could if you had the motivation. Since I wanted them to have that round look the ones from my childhood had, I rolled them and shaped them with my hands.

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We ate these before I could get a picture, but to simulate the frosting, we drizzled a bit of coconut butter of the top of a few of them. These were so good, I considered putting the black and rainbow swimsuit back on and running through the sprinklers eating one. But then I’d be the neighborhood freak. Oh well. They tasted just as delicious as they did when I was 7.

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The Healthy Wendy’s Frosty

Girls’ night in college usually involved my roommates and I going to a movie, getting dessert at midnight in a restaurant, daring each other to do something really stupid and then dancing until 2 a.m. when someone would suggest making cookie dough, which we’d do, and then eat the entire bowl before falling asleep on the couch about 4 a.m. Now that I have a daughter, we do regular girls’ nights. Though these days, they usually involve painting nails, watching Angelina Ballerina and making a treat together. I have to say, I prefer these girls’ nights.

Last Friday after our nails were sparkly turquoise and Angelina was having a dilemma about being jealous of another mouse ballerina, we decided it was treat time. Giving my daughter loads of sugar right before I send her to sleep does not make for a happy ending to girls’ night. Instead, we made this healthy version of a Wendy’s Frosty with only 3 ingredients, all of which are healthy and easy to pronounce.

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Just throw the frozen bananas, cocoa powder and a milk of your choice (we went with almond milk) in a blender and you’re good to go! I really want to make some sweet potato fries to see how they taste dipped in. Come on. You know you used to dip your fries in your frosty.

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Healthy Grain-Free Biscuits

I’m the youngest of three kids. The oldest is my brother. While he was a fabulous big brother (no really, he was) and is still one of my heroes, he was still a big brother and had to mock and tease me without remorse. In fact, now that we’re grown, he still feels it is his duty to mock me. It’s alright. I can take it.

So when I was a kid, whenever I did something I was particularly proud of and announced it to my family my brother would respond with, “Want a biscuit?” So now whenever anyone in our family tells us something they did, we respond with, “Want a biscuit?”

Hey speaking of biscuits; aren’t they delicious!? Yeah they are. A few nights ago we had soup for dinner and I thought “Yes. I DO want a biscuit!” But biscuits aren’t that fabulous for you. Because they are so dense, they are really loaded with processed, white flour which doesn’t provide any actual nutrients. I took the challenge to make a delicious, healthy biscuit and am happy to say, was very successful.

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Plus these come together quickly which is great since I usually decide I want bread 20 minutes before dinner.

My mom used to make biscuits by sifting the dry ingredients in a large metal sifter with a turn handle. I take the lazy way out and just whisk everything together.

Then add in some butter. Since the butter has to be cold, I cut it into small cubes before I add it. To cut it in you can use an actual pastry cutter, but I don’t have luck with pastry cutters. They seem more like medieval torture devices, so I just stick with smashing the butter in with two forks. For those of you who are wondering, “What in the world is she talking about with ‘cutting in?’ ” All this means is incorporating the butter into the dry ingredients. Rather than softening it and  beating it in like you do with cookies, you want to still see bits of butter. Your dough will look a bit like small pebbles when you finish this step.

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Traditional biscuits don’t always call for eggs, but since almond flour has no gluten, you really need the eggs to bind the biscuits together. As far as milk goes, I used almond milk but you can use coconut milk, cashew milk or regular milk or cream. Just use what you have and what works for you.

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You could roll these out and cut them into nice circles but that’s an extra step I’m not willing to take. That seems like far too much effort so I did these “drop biscuit” style. Sorry about the picture. I forgot to take one before I put them in the oven. Thank goodness I’d cleaned my oven earlier that week…

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After these cook, you definitely want to let them sit for a bit to cool. This helps them set a little better so they don’t crumble.

And now you can have bread with your soup without guilt.

Want a biscuit?

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Healthy Pico Frittata

Last week we were supposed to have chicken for dinner. About an hour before dinner, I realized I had failed to thaw said chicken. This always leaves us with two options: Go out to eat or throw together something quickly with what we have on hand. In the past I would have boiled some pasta and topped it with canned sauce. That amounted to very little protein, lots of sugar, and basically just a lot of processed junk. So I needed a solution that would give us a protein and vegetables without loading us down with processed ingredients. The solution: eggs. Eggs are packed with protein, vitamins, minerals and iron. It’s hard to beat the nutrients of an egg. Plus, turning it into a frittata makes it seem more fun and elegant. If I were Fancy Nancy I’d say, “We’re eating frittata. That’s a fancy word for eggs.” Can you tell I spend a lot of time with a 5-year-old girl?

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Brown a pound of turkey sausage. Let this cool a bit or the eggs with scramble as soon as you add it.

Whisk together the eggs and almond milk. Stir in some Pico de Gallo. Pico is so versatile and adds all the seasoning this dish needs. Add the sausage and mix everything together.

I like to bake this in a pie dish but you could also bake it in a 9×9 pan or an oval casserole dish.

This dish is great because it’s so versatile. Add whatever meat you want or leave it out completely. If you’re not a fan of pico, switch it out for different vegetables. Use what you have on hand and what your family likes.

This goes great with roasted veggies, a green salad or sliced fruit.

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Creamy Cauliflower Soup

I love to trick my family by adding healthy things to their food. I add beans to their brownies, avocado to their frosting and now cauliflower to their cheese soup. I gave them the soup, listened to them “ooh” and “aah” and never said a word about what was in it. Mwa ha ha! I love the small victories.

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Start by steaming the cauliflower. I got this lovely steaming basket at Ikea years ago. It’s one of my favorite kitchen tools because it fits in any pan and is dishwasher safe.

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While the cauliflower steams, cook the onion and garlic in the butter and avocado oil. Do this right in your soup pot. Add the salt, pepper, almond milk and chicken broth and heat this all together.

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Add the steamed cauliflower and puree with an immersion blender. I love my immersion blender for the same reason I love my veggie steamer. It’s extremely versatile and dishwasher safe.

Add the cheese and continue to cook the soup until the cheese melts.

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Top each serving with green onion, turkey bacon and more cheese.

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Healthy Twist on a German Pancake

For years, we’ve had breakfast for dinner every Friday night. That often meant huge grocery-store muffins, sugar-loaded cinnamon rolls and French toast made with processed bread. Yum… I knew when we switched to a healthy lifestyle, my family would not be okay nixing the Friday-night breakfast tradition. Nor would they accept omelets every Friday. I quickly realized that with a few tweaks I could revamp some of our favorite recipes. That’s my favorite part about eating healthy; finding ways to still eat the foods we’ve always loved but in a healthy way. This German pancake is packed with protein, comes together in just a few minutes and lets us still have our Friday-night breakfast tradition.

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Rather than melting butter in advance, just stick the butter in a 9×13 pan and put in in the oven while it preheats. I always love the chance to cut out a step.

Whisk the eggs and almond milk together. Then add the almond flour and whisk the heck out of everything until it’s totally smooth. You can also use an immersion blender or a stand blender to get a really smooth consistency. I just don’t like extra dishes, so I stick with the whisk.

Once the butter is melted just pour the batter into the pan and bake it for about 20-25 minutes. You’ll know it’s done when it’s golden brown and puffy in spots.

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My husband and kids like to eat this with pure maple syrup but you can also use peanut butter or honey. I like to just toss some berries on top and eat it all together. That’s a great way to get in some added nutrients.

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