Spinach & Artichoke Dip

Mondays always come way too quickly, especially when you had the best weekend ever. The maternity photoshoot went incredibly well on Saturday and I can’t wait to share it with you! Sunday I snuggled my baby, made apple crisp, did a little shopping (found out I’m a size smaller than I thought, woo!), and finished some meal prep for the week. 

This weekend my focus was on snacks that go together quickly. I went with spinach & artichoke dip, partly because I had all the ingredients already and mostly because I was craving comfort food. In the past I’ve tried straining the cottage cheese first to reduce the water content in the finished product, but it just wasn’t as good. 

  

This dip is light and makes a great snack for any occasion. It keeps well for about a week and tastes just as good reheated in the microwave. Best part, you can whip it up pretty quickly with just a few ingredients and it makes a large portion. I hope you enjoy it!

  

Spinach & Artichoke Dip
Prep: 10 mins, Cook: 20 mins
Makes 4 cups
Shapers: P1FT, serve with veggies or nut thins.

Ingredients:
6 oz. frozen spinach
6-8 artichoke hearts, chopped
1 ½ cup cottage cheese
2/3 cup plain greek yogurt
1 tbs garlic salt
1 tbs nutritional yeast
Sprinkle of paprika

Instructions:
Mix the cottage cheese and yogurt until combined, then mix in the garlic salt and nutritional yeast until well combined. Stir in the artichoke hearts. Stir in the spinach. Sprinkle the top with paprika. Bake on 400 for about 20 minutes, or until top begins to brown and the dip is boiling. If your spinach is still a little frozen, take the dip out after 10 minutes and stir it again to break it up. Place it back in the oven for the remainder. It will be a bit watery on the top. You can drain it quite a bit using a turkey baster. Serve with veggies or your favorite rice cracker.

Crock Pot Apple Crisp (No Sugar – No Butter)

This whole 40 degree-cloudy-windy-naked-tree mess that is Maine right now reminds me of fall. And slow cookers. I feel like we should be carving pumpkins and burning Autumn Spice candles and sipping on freshly pressed hot apple cider. Where are the spring feelings I felt yesterday?! I’m so confused.

Lately I’ve been trying to focus more on living in the moment and not worrying about yesterday or tomorrow. Since it’s fall today, I couldn’t think of a better way to practice that than by making slow cooker apple crisp. The only catch is there isn’t any sugar. Or butter. Or oatmeal. I swear it’s delicious! It can be served as a warm dessert or breakfast, with or without the yogurt topping.

Crock Pot Apple Crisp
Makes 8 servings
Prep: 30 mins, Cook: 4 hours
*Shapers – P1FT, omit oil if needed.

Ingredients:
7 small apples – peeled, cored, and chopped into uniform chunks
1 tbs of coconut or MCT oil
1/2 lemon
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup xylitol
1 tbs apple pie spice
1/2 tsp cloves
1 tbs arrowroot powder

Topping:
3 packages of Melba Toasts
1 tsp apple pie spice
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup finely ground xylitol (use coffee grinder if you have one)
2 tbs melted coconut or MCT oil

Optional:
greek yogurt (plain or vanilla)

Instructions:
Peel, core, and chop the apples and put in the bottom of your crock pot. Squeeze the lemon juice over the apples and stir them to coat. Stir in the coconut oil and vanilla. In a separate bowl, mix the xylitol, apple pie spice, cloves, and arrowroot powder until well combined. Pour mixture over the apples and stir until they’re evenly coated.

To make the topping, combine all ingredients in a food processor and pulse until the Melba Toasts are in small chunks but not ground up too finely.

Sprinkle topping on top of apples. Cook on low for 4 hours or until it’s bubbling on the sides and apples are very tender.

Optional:
Put some greek yogurt of choice in the freezer for 15-20 minutes before apple crisp is done. Don’t leave the yogurt in the freezer too long or it will freeze solid. Top the apple crisp with yogurt and garnish with cinnamon and apple peel. Enjoy!

Chocolate Covered Berries Smoothie

Just because it’s 8am, doesn’t mean you can’t have chocolate. When I was a kid, my favorite thing to drink in the morning was chocolate milk. I still love chocolate milk, but the scale doesn’t. So, improvise we must. This morning treat comes packed with benefits like antioxidants, iron, protein, and fiber to name a few.

I’m excited this morning because I get to do a maternity shoot in the forest with the most beautiful mama! It’s an F16 kind of day but get this: it’s MUDDY! Muddy in Maine at the end of February. Dear Mother Nature, we were supposed to be taking these photos in a winter wonderland…what gives? You know what, I can forgive as long as it’s true that spring is almost here.

Anyway, back to the chocolate. I find the fruit to chocolate ratio perfect, and the vanilla yogurt gives it enough sweetness. If you want more sweet, I suggest adding a tablespoon of xylitol or 1-2 of those heavenly Medjool dates.

Chocolate Covered Berries Smoothie
Makes 12 oz.

1/2 cup vanilla greek yogurt (I prefer Triple Zero brand because it’s sweetened with Stevia)
1/2 cup water
1 cup frozen mixed berries
1 big handful of spinach
1 1/2 tbs raw cacao

Blend all ingredients together until smooth, then taste test. Add sweetener if desired. Enjoy!

That’s all for today, I have an adorable baby belly to go take photos of! They don’t know the sex of the baby, but my bets are on boy. I’m smitten!

Have a happy weekend, everyone! Let me know what you think.

Kayla

Citrus Chicken Teriyaki Salad (Oil & Sugar Free Glaze)

If you’re like me,  you could eat salad for lunch every day. Maybe even twice a day. But after 2 weeks of the exact same salad, I get bored. It’s hard for me to find a salad dressing that I can actually eat due to all my restrictions, so when I create one that tastes great, it’s cause for celebration and sharing! This is more of a glaze than a dressing, but it gets the job done. I hope you enjoy it too!

Citrus Chicken Teriyaki Salad
Serves 1
*Shapers: this is P1 FT approved.

Ingredients:
Precooked chicken breast (however much you want, grilled or breaded with nut thins)
1 handful spring mix
1 clementine, divided in half
5 golden cherry tomatoes
2 tbs coconut aminos
1/2 tbs arrowroot powder

For the glaze:
Put coconut aminos and arrowroot powder in small sauce pan and whisk together on low-medium heat. Squeeze 1/2 of the clementine juice into the glaze. Whisk until you reach the thickness you want. Drizzle over salad and enjoy warm!

Kayla

No-Bake Dark Chocolate Tarts

If you’re reading this I must be alive again. It’s been a few days since I posted. My coffee maker broke, so I was pretty much dead that whole time. All is well now though, because I’m the proud owner of a new mediocre coffee maker. Make no mistake, a mediocre coffee maker is a million times better than none at all. Where I live, it’s at least a 10 minute drive to the nearest generic gas station coffee and 30 minutes to anything decent. I know, I know…tough life. I accept your sympathy.

While I was dead, I experimented a little with this vegan chocolate tart recipe. Needless to say, it brought me back to life, so I think it’s worth sharing. It’s the richest and creamiest chocolate ever and is easily my new favorite treat and Lincoln’s, too!

Thicker crust consistency. Be sure to taste test and add more syrup or cocoa as needed.

You don’t need to fill the whole cup.

I really don’t know where to place all these pictures so I’ll just leave them scattered about like so…

If nothing else, they are beautiful!

Dark Chocolate Tarts
Makes 8 – Takes about 20 minutes.

Ingredients & Directions:
Crust
3/4 cup coconut flour (you could use almond flour too)
4 tbs ground hazelnuts
5 tbs coconut oil, melted
2 1/2 tbs cacao powder
3 tbs maple syrup
Chocolate Filling
1/3 cup coconut oil, melted
1/2 cup cacao powder
1/4 cup unsweetened coconut milk (canned)
5 tbs maple syrup (add more to taste)

Crust:
If you have silicone baking cups, use those. If not, regular cupcake tins should work fine. Slowly warm coconut oil until melted on the stove but do not let it get hot. Set aside to cool. While the coconut oil is cooling, grind whole hazelnuts in a food processor. Whisk together the coconut oil, cocoa powder, and syrup until well combined, then add in the rest of the ingredients until the crust forms. I like the crust to be a little on the thin side, but if you prefer thicker, just add more flour. Spread a little coconut oil along the sides of your molds before filling with the crust. This will make it much easier to peel them off before serving. Press the crust into the molds and put in the freezer to harden while you make the filling.

Chocolate Filling:
Warm coconut oil on the stove, but again do not let it get too hot. Whisk the rest of the ingredients in until smooth. Pull out your crust and fill with the chocolate. Top with sliced almonds or chopped hazelnuts and fresh fruit of your choice. I prefer strawberries or raspberries. Chill covered for an hour or until solid. Peel the molds off and serve cold.

The filling consistency should be really smooth and glossy.

Top with hazelnuts, almonds, or any other nut of choice, then refrigerate.

If you like super rich dark chocolate, this is for you! I hope you guys enjoy & let me know how it turns out or if you have questions. 🙂

Kayla

 

 

 

Ever try making candied ginger with xylitol?

I don’t recommend it. I think candied ginger is just one of those things that have to be made with cane sugar. I fought a good battle, but ultimately lost that one. However, peeling and slicing 2 lbs of ginger by hand was not done entirely in vain because I got some good ginger broth out of it (is that even a thing?), and I’ll use all those sweet-ish ginger chips for my tea. The oil-free sweet potato chips are coming along though, hopefully I’ll have a recipe for you all real soon!

It’s barely 7:00, coffee is on and I’m salivating over it (thank you, Greenworld Coffee Farm and Jeff & Crystal for sharing this gem). Lincoln was up all night with congestion, therefore Jake was also up all night comforting him on the floor next to the crib. Best dad and fiancee ever. No one knows it yet, but I elected to stay home to take over sick baby duties so Jake can catch up on sleep today. Is there even such a thing? How does one catch up on MONTHS of lost sleep?

I hear little one’s tiny congested voice over the monitor, so I’m off. I hope everyone has a wonderful week, and I’ll have more to share later!

Kayla