smoothie: chocolate-banana

This has become our go-to after school snack. A sweet treat full of nourishing ingredients to power the kids until dinnertime.

Chocolate-Banana Shake

(make about 4 cups)

• 2 ripe bananas
• 2-4 pitted Medjool dates (to sweeten)
• 2-4 heaping Tablespoons nut butter (I tend to use almond)
• 3-4 cups almond milk (or other non-dairy or dairy milk, of choice; our favorite is Calafia coconut-almond milk)
• 1-2 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder (or you could use a scoop of chocolate protein powder, if you have one you like)

Combine everything in a high-powered blender and blend until smooth. Store any leftovers in the fridge and simply shake or whisk before serving if the smoothie separates. 

what a week!

Oh my gosh, what a week!

THREE snow days or snow delays….

A successful launch of "Stock Your Freezer in a Snap - The Second Batch" {my second instantly downloadable ebook that guides parents, step-by-step, through creating a freezer stash of healthful, delicious family meals}. If you're a plan-ahead kind of parent, download it now and tuck it away for back-to-school because I am running a launch discount now!

And, as one last winter hurrah {please say this is the last snow day baking we'll be doing…}, we baked up a giant batch of our favorite Cinnamon-Chocolate Brownies with Chocolate Ganache for Vermont Alpine Racing's coach appreciation weekend...

I don't know about you, but I'm starting to think spring…. tidying the house up, de-cluttering, and shifting from comfort foods to lighter, fresher fare. With that in mind, I look forward to being in touch soon with my review of Mark Hyman MD's soon-to-be-released 10 Day Detox Cookbook which you can pre-order here.*

Here's to a fabulous weekend ahead, full of good food, family and friends!  And hopefully something delicious you can just pull from the freezer, during these last few weeks of winter, when we crave cozy, comforting fare. {That's a simple gluten-free lasagna pictured below, made with Stock Your Freezer in a Snap - The Second Batch's Broccoli-Arugula-Parmesan Pesto. Delish.}

*This post contains amazon affiliate links. You know the gig-- same price to you, small commission to me, which keeps The Full Plate Blog out of hobby status. :) 

gluten-free, nut-free version of my {totally decadent} cinnamon chocolate brownies as a school-safe birthday treat

I promise this is the last TREAT post for a while. I don't know about you, but I am feeling the need to dial it back a little. So, the next few posts will be all about delicious, clean eating ideas that are quick and easy. But not today!! Because today is my older son's 12th birthday, and this calls for a celebration-- and some of my {totally decadent} Cinnamon-Chocolate Brownies. {Which I made nut-free and gluten-free this go round, so they could be brought into his classroom and shared with his middle school friends who have allergies and food intolerances.)

To make them nut-free and gluten-free, follow my same recipe {found here} but use Ghirardelli chocolate {or other chocolate you know is gluten-free, I used this one} and King Arthur Gluten-Free Multi-Purpose flour.

Mmm, enjoy, either made traditionally or nut-free and gluten-free. Either way, this recipe is a keeper.

And if you happen to see this sweet kid around town today, be sure to wish him a happy birthday!!

snow day baking: banana chocolate oat muffins with almond meal

On a recent snow day,

when the playroom looked like this {by 7am},

I'd made my coconut oil coffee and

snuck into the living room to quietly read. Dinner was made, thanks to a well-stocked freezer. But something nagged at me. I couldn't go a whole day without cooking something…. and, truth be told, I wanted chocolate.

I'm not a big baker, but three ripe bananas winked at me from the kitchen counter. I had some cashew meal in the fridge, along with a few eggs and oats... Perfect, banana-chocolate chip muffins it would be. I improvised a recipe, adding a little of this, a little of that, while asking myself whether baking soda was really necessary? But imagine my dismay when I realize the bag of chocolate chips I thought I saw in the pantry was actually black beans. Dismay doesn't adequately describe my emotions at that moment. 

I blame Captain Holly Short for distracting me. {Artemis Foul reference, for those who aren't listening to the book on CD during drives to and from skiing this winter…} But the bananas were mashed, and the nut-based batter was ready to go. All I needed was chocolate.

I had some high quality, unsweetened cocoa on hand and, after a little more scrounging, I sprinkled the last of my foodie crush Cacao Prieto hot cocoa into the bowl.

And then I popped those bad boys into the oven and 

went back to my fire, as the smell of molten chocolate and baking bananas filled our house.

Oh my.

I ate more than my fair share. I gave some warm muffins to the snow plow guys. I had the kids walk some to a neighbor.

And continued to enjoy them for snacks the next few days.

They were so good that I was a little miffed that I hadn't jotted the recipe down. Who knew if I could recreate them?…

As a ate the last muffin, I decided this recipe was worth figuring out and saving.

The second go round, I made sure to have chocolate, not black beans.

I recreated the batter, while jotting down notes.

Then held my breath...

Actually, I didn't hold my breath. I took deep inhales of sweet goodness

and went back to recipe testing for the Second Edition of Stock Your Freezer in a Snap.

Batch two lacked eggs. Because I forgot to put them in. Apparently this recipe doesn't need egg(s). And now I knew how to make them again. And again. To rave reviews.

Banana-Chocolate-Oat Muffins with Almond Meal
(makes 24 muffins)

3 or 4 large, ripe bananas, mashed
2 cups almond flour or cashew meal
1 cup all-purpose flour (or gluten-free all-purpose flour)
2 cups oats (or gluten-free oats)
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup honey
4 Tablespoons butter, softened
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 Tablespoons vanilla
3 Tablespoons dark cocoa
1/4 cup dark chocolate chunks

Preheat oven to 350. Line muffin tin with muffin cups. Add all ingredients to mixing bowl and blend using a hand mixer. Divide evenly among muffin cups and bake for 20 minutes, or until muffins sprain back when touched. 

This post contains affiliate links, meaning same price of goods to you, but the small commission I earn keeps the blog from turning into "hobby" status.

homemade peanut butter-chocolate granola bars

When my family gets to go visit Meme and Papa in Idaho, one of our favorite destinations is Galena Lodge.

And, whenever at Galena, we pick up a Don Bar or two for the trails....  I have a complete crush on Don Bars. If there's a man behind the bar, then it's safe to say I have a crush on him too. But I'll be damned if every time I try to weasel a recipe out of the cashier up at Galena I get a hands-in-the-air, "he won't tell us the recipe either!" response.

Humph. Not one to be easily dissuaded by a culinary challenge, I made it my mission on New Year's Day to recreate the Don Bar. Instead of concocting a new green smoothie, or listing off all the ways I'd like to "improve" in 2013, I headed into the kitchen and hauled out what I thought were the likely ingredients....

oats, chocolate chips, honey, peanut butter and puffed brown rice. And then I set to toasting, heating and mixing.

heat

toast

toss

mix

press... voila

The verdict? Oh my. They're different than Don Bars, but boy, are they ahhhmazing. Now we have a new special after school treat, and an energy bar worthy of our East Coast winter weekend adventures. In coming days, I'll balance this decadence with some new healthy family dinner ideas, and probably a green smoothie or two. But, this was the perfect recipe to kick off 2013. I hope that your family enjoys it as much as mine does!!

Peanut Butter-Chocolate Granola Bars

(makes one 9x11" pan, or about 24 bars)

2 cups oats, toasted

16 oz jar creamy peanut butter* (2 cups)

1/2 cup honey

1/4 cup water (*optional)

2 cups puffed rice cereal

1 cup chocolate chips

Toast the oats on a rimmed baking sheet for a few minutes (6 minutes, or so, stirring once or twice), until golden brown. Set aside. In a saucepan large enough to hold all of the ingredients, melt the peanut butter, honey and water (if you are adding it) until combined and easy to stir. Turn off heat. Add the oats, puffed rice and chocolate chips. Stir to combine. Press batter into a parchment paper-lined 9x11" pan. Cover with parchment paper and chill in fridge for at least an hour, until firm. Slice into squares or bars. I individually wrap the bars for a simple grab-and-go snack. May be stored at room temp or in the fridge for several days (if they last that long). I am also going to try freezing them, and will report back on whether that works too...

*Ingredient-wise, you want to use peanut butter that is 100% peanut, nothing else. This type of peanut butter is really firm, so you can add a little bit of water to the saucepan to thin it a bit, as I did in the batch above.