Simple Mills Paleo Cake

Hello cupcakes!

I shared a picture of my healthy cake on my social media sites a day or two ago, so I am excited to finally share the recipe with you. I received both the pizza dough mix and the vanilla cake mix from Simple Mills. Here is a link to their website: Simple Mills. If you would like to know more about the ingredients used in the mixes, follow this link: Simple Mills Ingredients. If you would like to know more about the Simple Mills team, follow this link: Simple Mills Team. Simple Mills also has a store locator on their website. You can follow this link:Simple Mills Store Locator. Now on to the fun part & my favorite part... BAKING!

Let me show you the Vanilla Cake Mix box: 

The cake is, once again, very simple to make. There are only 4 ingredients you need to add to the mix to make the cake: eggs, oil, water, and vanilla. 

Here is the ingredients label. This mix is gluten free, grain free, soy free, dairy free, GMO free, refined sugar free, & free of emulsifiers and gums. Check out that ingredient list on the mix. There is only 6 ingredients and I personally know the name of each ingredient. This is something I look for when buying packaged foods. 

Step 1: Gather ingredients & baking supplies. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Step 2: Measure ingredients

Step 3: Mix wet ingredients. I decided to try using coconut oil to make my cake, so that is why you see some chunks in the mixture (this will cook out when baked).

Step 4: Add vanilla cake mix to wet ingredients and stir to combine.

Step 5: Scoop batter into a prepared baking dish & place pan into preheated oven.

Step 6: Bake cake according to box directions. 

Step 7: Let the cake cool and top with desired toppings. I decided to make my cake colorful and I added different fruits to the top of the cake. Next time I think I will frost it with a protein frosting before topping with fruit. 

Tip: To make your cake last longer (if you have leftovers), keep the cake stored in the refrigerator. 

How cute is this cake? So delicious now makes a diary free whipped topping that would be bomb on top of this cake! Here is a link you can follow to purchase some cake mix for yourself: Simple Mills Vanilla Cake Mix

I think this cake mix is definitely a win in my books. I love the simplicity of the mix as well as the healthy ingredients used. I don't feel bad about eating this cake. The cake comes out spongy and not overly sweet. I give it a 9 out of 10. This is the best dairy free, gluten free cake mix I have ever tried. 

What is your favorite holiday treat?

Later Taters

"It's a beautiful day, don't let it get away."

Paleo: Simple Mills Pizza Crust Mix

Hello cupcakes! 

Sorry I haven't been posting as much, but I've been trying to spend time with family and friends during the holiday season. I wanted to share a healthy pizza with you that I made for one of my Christmas get-togethers. I used Simple Mills pizza baking mix. Here is a link to their site so you can get some for yourself: Pizza Dough Almond Flour Mix

Here are the directions. Do you notice how simple the pizza dough is to make? All you add to the mix is oil, apple cider vinegar, and water. 

The nutritional stats are pretty good as well! If you like short ingredient lists, you will LOVE this mix. One thing I look for in packaged foods is a short ingredient list with ingredient names I can pronounce. 

This mix has only 8 ingredients: Almond flour, arrowroot flour, flax meal, cauliflower, baking soda, organic oregano, cream of tartar, and organic garlic. This makes the mix: gluten free, dairy free, & soy free. The mix is also free of refined sugars, gums, and emulsifiers. The mix is paleo, vegan, certified kosher, & Non-GMO. 

I'm going to walk you through the pizza I made:

Step 1: get all supplies and ingredients out 

Step 2: whisk oil, water, & vinegar in a bowl

Step 3: stir in pizza mix 

Step 4: spread the dough out on a baking stone (or pizza pan). I used my fingers to press it out flat. 

Step 5: bake the crust in the oven for 5 minutes. Once done, take the pizza crust out and top with toppings. 

I used mushrooms, onion, peppers, hot sauce, homemade guacamole, & turkey sausage (technically not Paleo because sugar is in the ingredients, but it was the only thing I had in the fridge to use)

This was so easy. Everyone who tried it was raving about the pizza! I had to tell everyone what I used for the crust. Simple Mills did another one right with this mix! Their team is seriously so amazing! Here is a link to their website of all the mixes they offer: Simple Mills Baking Mixes

Later Taters 

"It's a beautiful day, don't let it get away." 

*I am only writing this post to inform my readers about products I truly care about. I am not getting paid to promote products on my blog. My readers are very important to me, so I like to share some of my favorite things!

Recap: food, surgery, & home

Hello cupcakes,

I apologize for being MIA for a few days. I finished my finals for grad school and then drove home to my parents' house. Then I had surgery on Friday (more details to come). 

Let me start this little recap with some food! Thursday morning I made a bomb breakfast. I had two slices of turkey bacon, one dippy egg as I like to call it, and 1/2 of a Paleo waffle with simply fruit jelly. Oh my gosh guys it was heaven! 

 

 

One thing I love about coming home to my parents' house is all the Christmas decorations. It really gets me into the Christmas spirit. My mom's tree is very classy and elegant. 

 

Friday morning before my surgery, I woke up to this beautiful view in our back yard. 

 

 

I had to be to the hospital at 11:45 and my surgery was scheduled for 2:15. I had the exact same surgery on my left foot about a year and a half ago. I will be on crutches for 6 weeks with no weight on my foot and then 6 weeks in a boot. Then eventually physical therapy. If anyone knows me well, they know that this long recovery process is going to drive me crazy. I love being in the gym and working out. I also love being in the kitchen baking and cooking. I am also very independent and I like to do stuff on my own. Not being able to do things on two feet really makes you thankful for having two legs and feet to use daily. I think we take it for granted. Here is a picture of me post surgery. 

 

One thing I did before surgery was prep a bunch of meals. This makes it easy for me to stay on track with my healthy eating. I also did it for my family so heating up meals for me would be easy. Here is one of the meals I prepped:

 

I also prepped some zoats (zucchini oatmeal: recipe at bottom of post), Paleo waffles, and my healthy pizza. Last night my family had a movie night and we watched the Scorch Trials.

 

 

My boyfriend's mom came to visit me yesterday and bought me an adult coloring book! My grandma and grandpa came to visit me yesterday and brought me a bag of fruit. My grandma knows how much I love fruit. My other grandma came to visit me yesterday as well! It's nice to have visitors when you are stuck in a chair all day. My uncle and his girlfriend came to visit me Friday night and we played some games. 

I have set some goals for myself during this recovery process. I will be doing circuit workouts consisting of sit ups, push ups from my knees, and some Pilates moves for legs. I will start these probably a week after surgery once the pain starts going down. 

My other goal is to continue my healthy eating and also eat less since I won't be working out as much. 

 

Zoats: Zucchini Oats

 

Ingredients:

-1 cup gluten free rolled oats

-1 cup unsweetened cashew or almond milk

-1 cup water

- egg whites

-1 zucchini

-Smucker's Simply Fruit Jelly

 

Directions:

Bring 1 cup of milk and 1 cup of water to a boil. Add in the oats and cook on low until desired thickness, stirring occasionally. While the oats are cooking, use a food processor to chop the zucchini into tiny shreds. Once the oats are cooked, scoop half of them into a bowl and half into another bowl (this recipe will make 2 servings). Add 1/2 of the shredded zucchini to each oat bowl. I like to add 5 T. of egg whites to each bowl. Stir to combine ingredients. One bowl at a time, microwave the zoats for 1 minute. Take the bowl out of the microwave and stir. Cook for an additional 1 minute. The egg whites should be cooked by then, but if not you can continue to cook for 30 second intervals. I like to top mine with a spoonful of Smucker's Simply Fruit Jelly.

I am pretty much obsessed with zoats right now. I got the idea from Brittany Dawn's YouTube video. Here is the link: Brittany Dawn's Zoats

Since I will be stuck in a chair for awhile, is there any topics you would like me to cover in some blog posts?

Later Taters

"It's a beautiful day, don't let it get away."

Healthy Chocolate Cake with Protein Frosting

Hello cupcakes!

This week is finals week for me at graduate school. My roommates and I have been studying our butts off, so I wanted to make something tasty and delicious for us to enjoy last night. My goal was to make something that was a treat, but also make it as healthy as I could. I came up with the idea of creating a healthy brownie. I also have been dying to use my Bodylogix chocolate protein powder for something. Here are the stipulations I had to work with: the treat had to be-

1) Dairy free

2) Gluten free

3) Free of tree nuts

4) Vegetarian

I can't have dairy and I try to stay away from gluten. My roommate cannot have tree nuts and she is also a vegetarian. 

It turned out to be more of a cake than a brownie, but it was still BOMB!

Here was the final product:

Now... who wants the recipe?

Ingredients:

-2 eggs

-1/4 c. of olive oil

-1/4 c. honey

-1/4 c. dark chocolate cocoa powder

-1/4 c. cassava flour

-1/4 c. coconut flour

-1/4 c. arrowroot flour

-1/4 tsp cream of tartar

-1/4 tsp baking soda

Directions:

Whisk the eggs in a bowl. Next, add the honey and olive oil and combine. Add the dry ingredients and stir together. If the batter is too think, you can add some unsweetened milk of choice (almond milk, cashew milk, coconut milk, etc.). If the batter is too thin, you can add more flour a little bit at a time (whichever kind you choose). Grease a small pan and spoon the batter into the pan. Bake in an oven at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes or until the cake is set up. 

While the cake is baking, you can make the frosting.

Ingredients:

-Bodylogix Vegan Chocolate Protein Powder

-milk of choice (I used unsweetened soy milk so that my roommate could eat it) 

Directions:

Place 2 scoops of the protein powder into a bowl. Add 2-4 T of milk and stir until combined. If the frosting is too thick, add more milk 1 T at a time until desired consistency is reached. If the frosting is too runny, add 1/2 scoop of protein powder and  stir to combine. The consistency should be thick and fluffy like frosting. 

Let the cake cool, and then spread the frosting on top. 

This made 6 slices of cake. 

If you would like more information about the protein powder I used, check out this blog post: Bodylogix Vegan Chocolate Protein

Later Taters

"It's a beautiful day, don't let it get away." 

Healthy Pizza

Good morning cupcakes!

Yesterday I had a perfect idea...Healthy Pizza! This pizza is dairy free, gluten free, & paleo. You can also create it however you would like by adding your own topping ideas.

Ingredients for pizza dough:

3/4 c Almond flour 

1/4 c arrowroot flour 

1/8 c cassava flour 

1 egg

1/4 c water 

2 T coconut oil

1/2 tsp garlic powder 

1/4 tsp baking soda 

Directions:

Pan fry your toppings to give them flavor. I chose apples and healthy chicken sausage because that is what I had in my fridge. Get creative! You can make whatever kind of pizza you would like. 

Next, combine the pizza dough ingredients.  This is what mine looked like:

Here is the pizza toppings once they were cooked. I added some pieces of turkey bacon. 

I used a 1/3-1/2 container of tomato paste for the pizza sauce. I stay away from those pre-made pizza sauces because they have added ingredients, such as sugar, that I do not want to consume. I love the flavor of tomato paste. 

Spread the pizza dough onto a baking sheet or pizza pan. I lined mine with parchment paper for easier clean up. Next, I placed the dough into a preheated oven (400 degrees) for 10-15 minutes or until the crust is fully cooked. Here is what it looked like after baking:

I spread the tomato paste on top of the crust.Then, I added the toppings onto the tomato paste. I think this combination of pizza toppings would be awesome with some onion and avocado!

Lastly, place the pizza in the oven (400 degrees) for 5-10 minutes. Here is the final product:

My pizza made 4 slices.

I think this would make a great appetizer for some holiday parties or relaxing weekend nights. I ate mine while watching Christmas movies last night!

I hope you all have a fantastic Sunday!

Later Taters!

"It's a beautiful day, don't let it get away."

Healthy Breakfast Sandwich

Hello beautiful cupcakes!

Who wants the recipe for this delicious, healthy breakfast sandwich?

Here is what you will need: 

• 1 box of Simple Mills Artisan Bread Mix
• Eggs
• Apple cider vinegar
• Water
• Bacon
• Avocado
• Chosen Foods Avocado Spray

Here are the links to some of the name brands:

Chosen Foods

Simple Mills

Above is what the bread mix looks like & it is gluten free & dairy free!

There are three different ways to make the mix: flat bread, bread, or rolls. I decided to make the mix the bread way. Next time, I want to try this using flat bread for the breakfast sandwiches. 

I simply followed the box directions for the bread. It took 4 eggs.

Here is what it looks like with all the ingredients in the bowl before stirring.

I greased a pan with Chosen Foods Avocado Oil Spray & preheated the oven according to the box directions. 

Here is what the dough looks like in the pan prior to baking. 

And here is what the bread looks like when it is done. I love how fluffy it looks. I think this is a great healthy alternative to regular bread. It has more nutrients as well. 

I cooked up some turkey bacon (technically not whole30 or paleo, but you can find a brand that is!)

I also fried up some eggs in a skillet. 

I sliced up an avocado. I love avocado and eggs together!

Then, I assembled the breakfast sandwich. I simply stacked all the pieces together and I got this beauty! The combination of all of these things makes my mouth water just thinking about it! I had my roommate try it and we both have been dreaming of eating this all day every day! 

What are you making for breakfast this morning?

Happy Saturday

Later Taters

"It's a beautiful day, don't let it get away."