Tag: gluten free

Homemade Cinnamon Toast Crunch

Melissa King 89 Comments

I made you some Homemade Cinnamon Toast Crunch! One of my favorite things to do is to re-create healthy versions of unhealthy foods.  Cereal is one of those things I didn’t think I could try, but boy was I wrong!

This homemade cinnamon toast crunch came out awesome where homemade cereal is concerned!  I also made this homemade cinnamon toast crunch gluten free and vegan. 🙂

homemade cinnamon toast crunch

Not only does the store-bought cereal contain a lot of processed sugars and additives, it is also not gluten free.  My version is!  I am trying to make all my future recipes gluten free.

This was a big hit with my older daughter.  She will eat my homemade granola, but she liked this even better.  I’m not going to lie, this recipe is kind of involved, but it is worth it.  I promise!

Homemade Cinnamon Toast Crunch

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Prep Time 1 hr, 15 Cook Time 30 min

Why buy cinnamon toast crunch in a box when you can pull it out of the oven?

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350.
  2. Mix all the dry ingredients in one bowl and wet in another bowl .
  3. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix until combined.
  4. Once everything is combined, gather the dough into a ball and wrap in plastic.
  5. Stick it in the fridge to firm up (I waited about an hour).
  6. Once firm, cut the dough in half with a bench scraper .
  7. Put one half on top of a sheet of parchment paper that has been lightly sprinkled with flour.
  8. Take the plastic wrap the dough was wrapped in, and place it on top of the dough. That way, you can roll the dough thin without it sticking to the rolling pin .
  9. Roll the dough as thin as you can. It will probably cover the entire baking sheet. If you want to add the sugar coating, you can do it now.
  10. Just brush the dough with water, and sprinkle the cinnamon sugar mixture on top. I didn’t even do that and it was still good.
  11. Use a pizza cutter to score the dough. I cut mine into little squares, but they were not all uniform.
  12. Once you have done all that, repeat the steps with the second half of the dough.
  13. Bake in the oven for about 15 minutes.
  14. Then carefully flip each piece and bake for another 15-20 minutes.

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Recipe Notes

Watch the cereal carefully, because it can burn easily. Also I stored it in a glass jar in the pantry. It should last at least a week or two. Enjoy!

Nut Free Snack Bars

Melissa King 37 Comments

Let’s face it, a lot of schools are going nut free these days.  As a mom of a child with many food allergies, I totally get it.  That’s why I am trying to create some nut free snacks.  This one came out real good and it is so simple to make!

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They were a hit with my daughter and husband.  One of the other great things about this bar is that it is only fruit sweetened.  No added sugar at all!  It almost reminds me of an apple cinnamon KIND bar.  I cooked mine for a few minutes, but I almost thing they can be made raw too.

Nut Free Snack Bars

Nut Free Snack Bars

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Prep Time 10 min Cook Time 10 min

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350. 
  2. Mix the cereal, sunflower seeds, cinnamon, vanilla bean and sea salt in one bowl . 
  3. In the food processor , mix the apples, dates and water until a syrup forms.  It will be slightly thick. 
  4. Get a sheet or parchment paper a little larger than the size of your pan, so you have some hanging out the sides.  I used an odd sized pan.  I think it was a 5X13?  A standard 8X8 pan will work just fine.
  5. Once the syrup forms, add that to the dry mixture and mix well. 
  6. Once everything is mixed, transfer the mixture to your baking pan. 
  7. Make sure the parchment is lining the pan first. 
  8. Once everything is in the pan,  press the mixture down firmly. 
  9. Bake for about 10 minutes. 
  10. When it cools, remove the bars from the pan by grabbing the parchment paper sides. 
  11. Cut into bars or squares with a pizza cutter .

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Recipe Notes

I got about 10 bars out of my batch. These should last a week or two. You can even freeze them for longer storage.

Apple Cinnamon Overnight Oats

Melissa King 106 Comments

Apple Cinnamon Overnight Oats.  Fall is just around the corner.  That makes me think of warm smells like cinnamon and nutmeg.

I just love it!  This recipe is like having the fall flavors all wrapped up in one yummy breakfast!  If you have already made my Almond Butter Overnight Oats, you know that this recipe is super easy!

 

Apple Cinnamon Overnight oats

 

This oatmeal has a little crunch in the morning from the steel cut oats.  If you like more of a smoother oatmeal, then rolled oats may be better for you to use.

I make up a whole bunch of these and then just grab and go during the week.  I added no sugar to mine at all, but if you like your oatmeal a bit sweeter, I will put an option in the ingredients.

Check out this video for a pumpkin version of overnight oats.  For more videos, you can subscribe to my You Tube Channel.

 

 

Apple Cinnamon Overnight Oats

Apple Cinnamon Overnight Oats

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Prep Time 5 min

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. Throw all the contents into a jar and mix well.
  2. Stick in the fridge overnight.  

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Recipe Notes

I put mine in small mason jars . They work great! I eat mine cold, but you can certainly heat your up if you like. Enjoy!

Apple Pie Fruit Leathers

Melissa King 23 Comments

My kids love fruit leathers, but they are so expensive at the store.  So now I make my own.  It’s so easy and you can add in whatever fruits and spices you like.  I have peach fruit leathers on my blog already, and now I can add these to the list.

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The house smells amazing when these are cooking, kind of like when I make my crock pot applesauce.  The best part is that you probably already have all the ingredients in your own cabinets!  I used applesauce to make mine, but you can most certainly use real apples and puree them first.  Think about it though.  When your store has a sale on applesauce, you can stock up and make these.  It would save a lot of money and make your kids happy too. I used a dehydrator to make mine, but you can certainly try this in the oven as well.  You just need to keep an eye one them.

Apple Pie Fruit Leathers

Apple Pie Fruit Leathers

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Prep Time 20 min Cook Time 7 hr Serves 20 fruit leathers     adjust servings

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. If using an oven, preheat to the lowest setting or 135. 
  2. Put all ingredients in a bowl and mix well. 
  3. Line your baking sheets with parchment and spread the mixture out evenly. 
  4. Bake for about 4-6 hours, depending on how low the temp your oven will go. 
  5. If you are using a dehydrator , line the trays with parchment as well.  You can use the dehydrator sheets as well, but I think parchment is much cheaper and works great. 
  6. I baked mine in the dehydrator at 135 for about 6-7 hours. 
  7. Once it feels tacky, it’s pretty much done.  I got about 20 fruit leathers out of my batch.  Enjoy!

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16 Whole Food Recipes for Condiments, Dips and Spreads

Melissa King 23 Comments

When switching to a whole food diet, condiments, dips and spreads are the hardest things to find clean.  I usually make my own.  So here is a roundup of every recipe I have so far.

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Hummus

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Teriyaki Sauce

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Fruit Spreads

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Italian Herb Dressing

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Balsamic Vinaigrette

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Homemade Ketchup

sauce 2

Easy Crock Pot Tomato Sauce

ranch 1

Dairy Free Ranch Dressing

pb

Homemade Peanut Butter

dressing

Healthy Honey Mustard

bbq sauce

Homemade BBQ Sauce

beans 1

Homemade Re-Fried Beans

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Coconut Butter

dip

Healthy White Bean Pesto Dip

Hope these recipes can help you transition away from store bought versions!  Enjoy

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Toasted Sesame Asian Dressing

 

 

Gluten Free Herb Crackers and a Giveaway!

Melissa King 153 Comments

When I made my Homemade Wheat Thins the other day, a lot of you wanted a gluten free cracker as well.  This recipe is more for adults than kids, but it’s so good!  But first, let me tell you about the giveaway.

If you need help on your knife skills like I do, this giveaway is for you!  I used this mezzaluna from Joseph Joseph to cut the herbs in this recipe.  Let me tell you it worked so well!  Makes me wonder why it took me so long to get one!  Joesph Joseph is also going to give a mezzaluna to one lucky winner.

mezzaluna

All you need to do is:

Like My Whole Food Life on Facebook
Like Joseph Joesph on Facebook
Leave a comment under this blog post

Contest is open to US residents only. Winner will be chosen on  Tuesday, August 27, 2013.  Good luck!  Now onto the recipe.

This giveaway is now closed.

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Gluten Free Herb Crackers

Gluten Free Herb Crackers and a Giveaway!

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Prep Time 20 min Cook Time 30 min Serves 30 crackers     adjust servings

Ingredients

  • 2 cups cooked brown rice or quinoa
  • 1 /4 cup chia seeds
  • 6 basil leaves chopped
  • 2 T fresh parsley chopped
  • 1 tsp fresh rosemary
  • 1 tsp fresh chives
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • About 4 T water

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350. 
  2. In a food processor , blend up the rice and the chia seeds. 
  3. Then add in the remaining ingredients and pulse until a dough starts to come together. 
  4. Tear two pieces of parchment paper the size of your baking sheets . 
  5. Place 1 piece of parchment on the counter top. 
  6. Put half the dough onto the parchment. 
  7. Tear some plastic wrap to put between the rolling pin and the dough.  This will prevent the dough from sticking to the rolling pin . 
  8. Roll the dough out pretty thin. 
  9. Transfer the dough and the parchment paper to a baking sheet.
  10. Repeat these steps with the other half of the dough. 
  11. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes. 
  12. Remove the pans and carefully cut the dough into squares with a pizza cutter . 
  13. Carefully flip each square over and bake for another 15-20 minutes, or until crispy. 

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Recipe Notes

You can probably do the whole thing in the dehydrator as well if you want to keep them raw. I got around 30 crackers in my batch. Store them in a container with dry rice scattered at the bottom. The rice will absorb the moisture and keep the crackers crispy. Enjoy!