In which I bake something gluten free.

I know I owe you a "vacation post," but that might make you vomit a little in your mouth, so instead I am going to give you something that decidedly will not make you vomit (unless you don't like chocolate or peanut butter in which case stop reading now to avoid soiling your screen).

After we got home from vacation I was struck with some sort of strange illness that made me want to cook and bake. 

Not only did I cook and bake, I made something that is gluten free (What the hell is gluten anyway?  I don't freakin' know.), and wheat free. 

I know. 

Is that even possible?  How does it cook in the oven if it doesn't have wheat?  I know.  These are all questions I asked myself, too. 

Read and learn, grasshoppa.  Read and learn.

So, you know I have a sweet tooth the size of Georgia, right?  I mean it's huge.  I can eat so much chocolate it's insane.  And, usually I can't stop.  So, when I started the journey toward more healthy eating for my family a few years ago I did not start with sweets.  I did stop buying sweets and I started only making them.  But, all the sweets I make are still pretty bad-for-you.

Until I found this recipe for peanut butter chocolate bites that sounded fairly healthy and weird.  Now, I am not really a fan of Reese's cups, but I am a fan of sweetness.  Again, where other people say, "Oh, this is too sweet for me."  My body sees that as a challenge.  I have never tasted something that was too sweet for me.  So, when I read this recipe I thought, "Hmm.  That sounds kinda good, very sweet, and abnormal.  I think I'll make it."  You'll see the weird abnormal part in a bit.

Here's the recipe. 
Grain-Free Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Bites (I called it Reese's Bites which is a whole lot more palatable in my opinion.)
1 1/4 cup canned chickpeas rinsed and patted dry
2 t vanilla extract
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons natural peanut butter
1/4 cup of honey
1 t baking powder
Pinch of salt
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips

In a food processor, combine chickpeas, vanilla, peanut butter, honey, baking powder and salt.  Mix until smooth.  Stir in chocolate chips.  Wet hands and form balls about 1 1/2 inch in size (small because they are sweet).  Place on a parchment lined cookie sheet and bake at 350 for about 10 minutes.

Nutrition info (which I actually have started reading): 140 calories (49.4 from fat), 8 g fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 150 mg sodium, 14 g carbs, 2 g dietary fiber, 4 g protein.

Okay, did you see the weird part?  Yeah, I don't think I've ever eaten chickpeas.

But, these are yummy, y'all. 

My kids loved them.  Especially Girl 1 - who has a sweet tooth as big as mine.  And, these have made homework for two days so much more bearable.

So, my point?  I guess we don't need gluten or wheat, but I'm not sure. 

I have made a few more voyages into uncharted food terrains these past few weeks, which I will post about soon.  Until then, I hope you are enjoying the beginning of school year 2012.  The past two days in our lives promises that it will be interesting if nothing else.  If you have a healthy sweet recipe for me - link it!  My waistline thanks you!

Healthy Diet and Exercise, or EAT THE CAKE FIRST!

As many of you know, I am going through a crazy-a$$ midlife crisis which at any given moment can range in depth and proportion but for the most part is centered around, "I need to workout like a mad and crazy woman so that I can have a healthy body which may not look great, but that down deep is muscled and toned, and I need to change my eating habits from things that taste great to things that are good-for-you."

I said this is a "mid-life crisis" which I will clarify by saying:
1. I am not even sure what that means, and
2. I am realizing as the days pass that it is irrational on some levels. 

Why?  Nothing profound and requiring years of therapy.  It is quite simply difficult to understand and irrational - because I have four kids.

Yesterday:  Case in Point

5:40 - Alarm rang
6:00 - I was up.  Head ached from lack of sleep and no IV for my coffee.
6:45 - Peeps were up, breakfast was underway, lunches were being packed.
7:15 - We headed out the door a full 15 minutes early because I was dreaming of a pre-ZOO FIELD TRIP WITH MY NINE YEAR OLD BOY workout.  HUH?  Yeah, I know.  Irrational on some level.
7:30 - I was back home and promptly popped in the Reebok girl with whom I planned on "stepping" for 35 minutes.
7:30 - 8:00 - I stepped, got sweaty, stopped (yes, stopped) a few times to help a two year old pee and poop, I thought about the million things that had to be done before I could drop said two year old off at MDO and get on to the field trip.
8:00 - I said good-bye to my stepping friend early because I was then feeling a little frantic about what had to be done.  I promised myself that AFTER the zoo field trip when I was fresh and perky (???) I would finish my workout or do an additional workout with KK (can you see irrationality rearing its ugly head?).
8:00 - 8:50 - I ate a bowl of healthy oatmeal and a banana, fixed a healthy lunch for myself for the zoo (two homemade California rolls, one two day old apple, water, and trail mix with just a little dark chocolate in it), fixed "lunch" for my two year old who never eats anything anyway, got her dressed, cleaned the kitchen, put in a load of laundry, brushed and fixed her hair, showered, got dressed, packed everything twice after the two year old was helping me and unpacked it all.
9:00 - I was on my way to the zoo.
10:00 - I ate the trail mix because I was starving.
10:45 - I ate the rest of my son's heavily buttered and salted popcorn to "lighten my load" because popcorn is heavy.
11:30 - We broke for lunch and I ate the California rolls.  Note to self:  these are only yummy when they are fresh.  And I attempted to eat the apple which was mealy.
11:30 - 1:30 - I walked around the zoo and resisted the urge to buy an ice cream.
2:00 - 2:30 - I picked up baby, did a frantic thing at home that we like to call, "get-kids'-stuff-ready-for-piano-lessons-prep-for-a-quick-yet-healthy-dinner-which-has-presumably-been-planned-load-up-the-Yukon-and-take-off!"
2:50 - My two girl children bounded into the Yukon with Mother's Day Cakes that they had made at school.  I am pretty sure that's when my mouth started to water and I realized I was starving.
2:50 - 5:45 - Kids complained about no snack, they completed their piano lessons, and I tried to focus while dreaming of how I could justify eating cake for dinner AND eating the Mother's Day cakes four days before Mother's Day.
5:50 - Hubby called and asked what was for dinner.  I said, "Biscuits?    And........Mother's Day Cakes?"
6:00 - 6:20 -  We arrived home to an unplanned dinner.  Chaos ensued.  Backpacks flew, kids rushed to "talk" to dad, I frantically heated up a serious modge-podge of leftovers (including biscuits), and we unwrapped and examined both cakes.  We all dutifully ooed and ahed over the cakes.
6:25 - I got out a fork.

All my kids exclaimed, "MOM WHAT ARE YOU DOING???"

I quietly said, "I am eating the cake."

All my kids shouted, "YOU HAVEN'T EATEN DINNER AND IT'S FOR MOTHER'S DAY???"

I quietly said, "It's MY cake and if you be quiet I will give you some before your dinner, too."

Silence ensued, I ate my cake and there went my healthy diet.

Later when all the peeps were in bed, hubby was at the gym and I was WAY too exhausted to workout with KK or the Reebok girl.  I blog-surfed and was in bed by 10:30. 

And that is how the exercise went.

Healthy day, my friends.  Cake is on the menu for breakfast this morning and may just turn into lunch.  :o)