Less sweet raw chocolate covered peanut butter balls

1. Grind in food processor and set aside

• 2 c. walnuts

2. Grind in food processor

• 2 c. (about 8oz) dates 

3. Add

• previously ground walnuts
• 1 c. powdered sugar (previously was 2 c.)
• 2 c. peanut butter

 Roll into balls and place on wax paper covered cookie sheet

4. Melt in 30 second increments in microwave

• 1 bag dark chocolate chips (Or semi-sweet if you want sweeter)

5. Dip peanut butter balls into melted chocolate, let cool and harden.

My taste buds are moving away from super sweet foods so this year made everything less sweet. Hope everyone still likes the cookies. However, I still made the traditional rice krispie treats so those are plenty sweet. This year I don't have a gluten free kitchen and was making everything downstairs before running it upstairs to bake. What a pain.

updated 4 ingredient peanut butter cookies with almond flour

15' at 350F, Very fragile until they cool
about 3 pans of cookies

Mix together

• 3 c. peanut butter
• 1 c almond flour
• 2 c sugar
• 3 eggs

roll into balls, place on cookie sheet, flatten with fork in cross hatch pattern

Raw Mango balls rolled in coconut

adapted from: https://minimalistbaker.com/mango-energy-bites/

1. Toast 8-12 minutes at 350F. (Not sure if this step is needed, but it made the nuts smell very nice.)

• 1- 1/4  c. raw walnuts/cashews combined

2. Pour hot water over and soak for 5-7 minutes till soft & pliable but not soggy.

• 4-5 oz (about 1 c.) package dried unsweetened mango

VERY IMPORTANT. Drain and pat dry before using or dough will be too wet

3. Grind toasted nuts to find meal in food processor. Remove and set aside

4. Use food processor to make paste/ sticky dough

• Soaked, drained mango
• 10 dates (I used Tunisian.) 

 5. Add to food processor

• ground toasted nuts
• 2 T ground flax (didn't have hemp) (Add more if dough too wet) (add more dates if dough too dry)
• 1/3 c unsweetened finely shredded (desiccated) coconut (can grind flakes to this texture)
• pinch salt

6. Roll about a teaspoon into balls

7.  Roll balls into mixture of

• 1/4 c. powdered sugar
• 1/2 c. desiccated coconut

These have a very delicate flavor and weren't very sweet that's why I added the powdered sugar. I wonder what would make the mango flavor more intense. Or maybe cinnamon would be good in these?

Store 3-4 days room temp, 1 week fridge, 1 month freezer

Coconut balls dipped in chocolate

adapted from: https://minimalistbaker.com/5-ingredient-dark-chocolate-macaroons/

8-10' at 350 F
Makes 18-20 small cookies
(I line baking sheets with foil to try to keep gluten contamination down.)

1. Use food processor to make into a rolling dough like consistency that can be squeezed into balls.

• 8 oz package, about 5 cups coconut chips (that's all we had available) Only 1 package fits in my food processor so made batch twice and combined them.

 2. Add through food processor opening while running

• scant 1/2 t. vanilla extract
• 3 T maple syrup

(Note: Do not put dough in fridge before rolling into balls. It gets very hard.)

3. Roll about a teaspoon of mixture between hands to make balls and put on baking sheet.

I didn't brush tops with melted coconut oil and sprinkle with leftover crumbs. Maybe that would have browned the balls.

4. Bake 8-10' at 350F, let cool. Move to wax paper covered cookie sheet.

5. Dip bottoms in

• 1/2- 1 c melted dark chocolate chips (I had extra so made chocolate "X" on top of cookies

This recipe looks interesting.
https://minimalistbaker.com/dark-chocolate-golden-milk-macaroons/

3 day soup; crockpot chicken to green soup to fish soup

Crockpot Chicken (Day 1)

Put in crockpot set on high:

• 1 onion chopped
• 2 celery chopped (some on top of chicken)
• 2 legs with thighs attached chicken
• Cover with water
• about 1 T salt

Then right before you leave, turn crockpot to low and cook till you get home.

When you get home;

• Add thinly sliced carrots to crockpot
• Add sliced celery
• Cube and cook some potatoes, then flavor with rosemary, butter, and salt. 

Put leftover soup in covered soup pot infridge for next day.

Green Soup (Day 2)

While soup is heating, add

• can white navy / northern beans
• 2 thinly sliced precooked hot italian sausage

Once soup is hot, add

• well washed, thinly sliced, bunch of kale or other greens

Then turn off heat. Soup is ready to eat when greens are wilted.

Put leftover soup in covered soup pot infridge for next day.

Fish Soup (Day 3)

While soup is heating, add

• precook 2 potatoes cubed
• 2 cut in cubes tomatoes
• oregano
• dry minced garlic
• cayenne pepper
•  about 1/4 c cilantro

Then add 2 pieces of fish cut in cubes and turn off heat.
Add juice from one lime or lemon.

Leftovers can be frozen for another meal.

Minimal effort, 3 different winter comfort meals after working in the cold all day.

 

Easy Black Bean Soup

Saute in (chop and add singly while cooking)

• Olive oil
• 1/2 onion minced
• 1 jalapeno minced, (seeds and veins removed unless want it spicy hot)
• 3 cloves garlic minced
• 6-8 cherry tomatoes, chopped fine
• ground cumin, abt 1/2 t
• unsweetened cocoa, about 1/2 t

Then add and heat

• 1 can refried black beans
• 1 can black beans with juice
• 1 frozen cube of lemon juice or about 2 T fresh

If available, garnish with cilantro, chopped radish, celery, red pepper....

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Original recipe from Kuner's refried black beans can
I don't like store bought salsa so modified the recipe

Saute

• 1 T oil
• 1 large onion chopped, cook 3 minutes
• 3 large cloves garlic chopped, cook 1 minute

 Stir in

• 1.5 c water
• 1 c salsa
• 2 (16 oz) cans Kuner's refried black beans with fire roasted chiles
• 1 (15 oz) can Kuner's black beans with cumin & chili spices (don't drain)

Bring to a boil, Reduce heat,

Stir in

• 1 T lime juice, simmer 10 minutes

Dark Chocolate Chia Pudding

Makes 2 servings
I blended using a ninja single serving blender, then split the recipe between 2 old vegemite glass jars with lids. By blending it in the blender, the pudding actually set up in about an hour, rather than overnight. I'd like to see if I can grind up the seeds to see if I can get a smoother pudding.

3/4 cup Unsweetened, vanilla flavored, cashew milk
1 Tbsp Maple Syrup
2 Tbsp Chia Seeds
6 Tbsp Unsweetened Cocoa
pinch salt

Add ingredients in this order, then blend about 15-30 seconds in blender. Or the other recipes just have you shake them in a mason jar.

I reviewed a lot of recipes but the flavor was not intense enough. I like dark chocolate better than milk chocolate. If you need it sweeter and milder, cut the cocoa powder by one-third or add more maple syrup.

ref:
https://minimalistbaker.com/overnight-chocolate-chia-seed-pudding/
https://detoxinista.com/chocolate-chia-pudding-vegan-paleo/
https://lowcarbyum.com/chocolate-chia-pudding-recipe/
https://ifoodreal.com/chocolate-chia-pudding-recipe/