cooking ala mel

healthy recipes and the occasional craft

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Coconut Berry Bars (Gluten Free)

This week at home has been so relaxing and fun.  Lots of movies, ice cream, reading (in the beautiful weather outside!!!), and some bike riding.  I was really pleased today to find out that I can still bike hills without dying, even though I’ve grown accustomed to Buffalo’s flat terrain.  A nice little nod to the fact that I’ve apparently kept myself in pretty decent shape, although I’ve cut down my workout time to 20-30 minutes a day, if that.  Hooray for high interval circuits and kettle bells!

With all the relaxing and hanging out with family I’ve been doing, I actually haven’t gotten in the kitchen very much (my dad made muffins this morning, and my mom came down telling me how good it smelled, excited that I made something.. my poor daddo, not getting any credit), but I do have these delicious bars that I made as another treat for the gluten free eaters of the family for our Father’s Day picnic.  [Read more…]

Chocolate Layer Cake (refined sugar free) with Chocolate Buttercream

I’m back in Pittsburgh for the week for a medley of doctor and dentist appointments, to visit with family, and to celebrate my best friend’s 21st birthday.  I kicked off the weekend by heading straight down to my grandma’s after arriving at my parents’ house so that we could celebrate Father’s Day with family on Sunday, picnic-style.  My dad loves, loves, loves chocolate cake, so I knew what I was making for him.

I went pretty simple with this cake, using half whole wheat flour, half unbleached all purpose flour (so that Dad wouldn’t notice), and a hefty dose of dutch process cocoa.  I sweetened it entirely with dates, which made it less processed and healthier.  The moisture the dates added to the cake was delightful.  I used a refined coconut oil in this cake so that there would be no coconut flavor, but you can easily use extra virgin if you want the coconut!  I made swiss meringue buttercream for a satiny frosting that doesn’t overdose you with sugar (and I did use regular unrefined cane sugar for that). [Read more…]

Quinoa Chocolate Chip Cookies (Gluten Free, Refined Sugar Free)

I’m considering my summer officially started.  Classes [have been] done, summer rotation done, and I finally get to go home this weekend to see family to celebrate Father’s Day and celebrate my best friend’s 21st birthday the following week.  Eeeeee!  Words cannot describe the excitement I feel at being just a mere 10 minutes down the road from my other half again.  My sister and I have also been plotting some recipe experimenting – it’s going to be a fantastic week.  In the meantime, I have some yummy cookies for you.

I definitely ate these cookies for breakfast a few days that I was on the run and needed to grab something fast.  It’s totally a wholesome breakfast, and really, who needs an excuse to eat a cookie?  These are sweetened entirely with dates – fruit!  Fiber!  Quinoa flour (I grind it in my coffee grinder so it’s a little more coarse than store bought for texture) adds protein, more fiber, and makes it gluten free!  Coconut oil for healthy fats.  Dark chocolate chips, always, for those antioxidants. 😉  Have I convinced you?

[Read more…]