Sweet and Kickin' Pecans

Welp, I am doing another mini-sugar detox right now. This time for 2 weeks before I'm off to Buffalo for a family member's wedding. I find detoxing is so much easier when you have a lot of items on deck, especially snack type food. One of my favorite go-to detox snack is nuts, but sometimes just eating plain nuts gets boring, so I decided to get a little creative and spice things up a bit.

The bag that inspired it all

My inspiration came from the back of a bag of pecan halves I got from my local Albertson's. Their recipe included corn syrup and sugar, so I had to make a few modifications to make my version 21DSD approved. I was a little nervous as I wasn't sure what exactly was a good substitute for corn syrup (and I am sure I could have just Googled it, but I was feeling lazy) and I wasn't sure how to balance out for omitting a half a cup of sugar (again, probably could have Googled it, but what's the fun in that?). Also, because I've never cooked nuts before.

I was pleasantly surprised with the results as there were quite a few moments of panic (Can you really use coconut oil instead of corn syrup? Where's my pure vanilla extract? Oh no! The butter just exploded in the microwave! Was that too much cinnamon? Was that too much cayenne pepper?). But my worries were unfounded as the final product was delicious.

Sweet and Kickin Pecans

16 ounces pecan halves
1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
3 tablespoons butter, melted
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 tablespoons cinnamon
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Preheat oven to 350.

Line a cookie sheet with greased aluminum foil. In a large bowl, mix together pecans, coconut oil butter and vanilla. Add the dry ingredients and mix until well coated. Spread onto the cookie sheet and bake for 5 minutes. Stir and continue baking another 5 minutes. Spread pecans onto parchment paper and let cool.

Mustard Pork Chops with Apples

A few months ago (is February considered "a few?"), I learned of the 21 Day Sugar Detox (21DSD). I successfully completed it then, completely fell off the wagon, and did a mini 10 day detox this summer. I have not stayed sugar free since then, but I have made some healthy changes and most nights our dinner are 21DSD approved (except for those nights when I am extremely lazy and I just cook up the 90 second microwavable rice).

The first go-round, I stuck to the meals provided in the 21DSD book and cookbook. Since then, I have realized that there are millions of other options and I don't have to go strictly by the book(s). Most are just simple recipes with meat being seasoned with spices and grilled or baked. I was feeling creative (but still lazy) when I decided to cook this up, my muse being an episode of The Brady Bunch.

And, to be fair, this concept wasn't all that creative as I had mixed mustard and apples before with my Apple Mustard Pork Chops. But just let me have this one, kay? Thanks!

Mustard Pork Chops and Apple Sauce

2 boneless pork chops
2 tablespoons gluten-free dijon mustard
2 Granny Smith apples
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 cup water

Preheat oven to 400.

Coat pork chops in mustard and let marinate in a plastic bag in the fridge for a at least 30 minutes. Place pork chops on a glass dish and bake in the oven for 30-40 minutes.

While pork is cooking, cut up apples (you can leave the peels in tact) into bite size pieces. Place in a pan, and cover with cinnamon. Add water. Cook on medium-low heat for 20-25 minutes, stirring occassionally.

Top the pork chops with the apples and enjoy.

Gluten-Free Peanut Butter Cookies - two ways

These little cookies might just be my new favorite - they are super easy, require only 4 ingredients, gluten-free and delicious. I've made these a few times and two different versions - Peanut Butter Kiss Cookies and Cris-Cross Peanut Butter Cookies. Both are great; it just depends on whether you want chocolate with your peanut butter or not ;). You can check out the original recipe here.

Peanut Butter Kiss Cookies

2 eggs
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups peanut butter
2 cups sugar minus 2 tablespoons
bag of Hersey Kisses

Preheat oven to 355 degrees.

In a small bowl, beat eggs and baking soda. In a mixer, blend peanut butter and sugar until smooth. Add egg mixture into the peanut butter mixture and stir well. Roll into 1 inch balls, place on cookie sheet and flatten. Cookies will flatten upon baking, so leave enough space between cookies on the sheet. Bake 8 - 12 minutes. Let cool on the cookie sheet for a couple of minutes before placing the Kiss in the center of the cookie. Remove cookies from sheet and further cool on a cooling rack or aluminum foil.

Cris-Cross Peanut Butter Cookies

2 eggs
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups peanut butter
2 cups sugar minus 2 tablespoons

Preheat oven to 355 degrees.

In a small bowl, beat eggs and baking soda. In a mixer, blend peanut butter and sugar until smooth. Add egg mixture into the peanut butter mixture and stir well. Roll into 1 inch balls, place on cookie sheet and flatten with a fork, creating a Cris-cross pattern. Cookies will flatten upon baking, so leave enough space between cookies on the sheet. Bake 8 - 12 minutes. Let cool on the cookie sheet for a couple of minutes before placing on a cooling rack or aluminum foil.

No Sugar Pumpkin Spice Cookies

I mentioned in my last post, I lost my mind and decided to do a 21 Day Sugar Detox. One part that was
especially hard for me, since I'm used to making sweet treats, was trying to avoid baking. I decided I *needed* to make something and found a Sugar Detox Pumpkin Cookie recipe. I read through some of the comments and saw that others had made some modifications to make them tastier, so I decided to come up with some of my own (on top of the high altitude adjustments).

They tasted good enough, but I felt like they were missing something, so I decided pair them with icing from a scone recipe in the 21-Day Sugar Detox Cookbook.

Obviously, they are still technically missing something (SUGAR), but I think they were pretty good, all things considered. They are definitely great if you decide to take the plunge and do the sugar detox. As an added bonus, they are gluten-free as well ;)

No Sugar Pumpkin Spice Cookies

3/4 cup pumpkin puree

2 teaspoons coconut oil

2 eggs

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 tablespoon coconut flour

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon nutmeg

1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

Icing 

(optional)

1/2 cup coconut butter, melted

1 tablespoon coconut oil, chilled and chopped 

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 teaspoons cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350.

In a mixer, whisk together pumpkin, oil, eggs and vanilla until well blended. Sift spices and coconut flour into the mixture and mix until fully combined. Stir in the coconut until mixed in thoroughly. Roll into 1-inch size balls and flatten slightly onto a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes or until browned on edges. Let cool on parchment paper or cooling rack. Drizzle icing on top or dip as desired (if desired, I don't want to seem like I'm pushing an agenda or something).

For the icing: Combine coconut butter and coconut oil and stir until oil is completely melted. Add vanilla and cinnamon until fully mixed. Drizzle over the cookies or use as a dip.

Bacon and Eggs Muffins

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So...the girl who has a blog about baking, mostly sweet treats, decided to do a 21 day sugar detox. It was tough; you would be surprised as to how many items have sugar in them that you wouldn't even realize. Never before have I looked at so many labels! It also forced me to plan ahead and prep a lot of food. It was a lot of work, but also a lot of fun (especially since hubby did most of the cleaning after I destroyed the kitchen almost nightly).

Most of the recipes I used were directly from the 21-Day Sugar Detox book and cookbook, although I did make up a few of my own and modified some from the books, one such modification is below. 

This Bacon and Eggs Muffin is an adaption of the author's Buffalo Chicken Egg Muffins, which are quite delicious, and that you should totally try.

I'm not what you call a dieter, although one time in college I did Atkins and I felt gross. Really gross. Having basically only meat and cheese and grease does not work for me. And neither does eating a set number of meals per day. 21DSD (that's what the cool kids are calling it) has lots of food on the approved list and you eat when you're hungry; which makes sense to me.

I suppose now you want to know my results. Well, my skin cleared up and I have been sleeping better.

And I lost 6 pounds.

 

Nope, this isn't one of those before and after photography tricks. I'd be much skinnier in the after if it was ;)

It was a great kick-start to getting out of "fat season" and getting back on a healthy track. While I don't plan to eat like this forever, I have picked up some good habits that I hope to continue.

Yup, I totally took a pic after I'd had a few bites

Bacon and Eggs Muffins

1 1/2 pounds bacon

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

12 eggs

1/4 cup sliced green onions (scallions)

sea salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 425. Prepare 12 cups of a muffin tin with parchment paper muffin liners (I've tried it with regular liners - does not work!).

Cook bacon your favorite way until fully cooked and chop into pieces.  In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs with the green onions, salt and pepper. Pour egg mixture into muffin cups, filling about halfway. Gently spoon about 1/4 cup of the bacon on top. Bake for 40 minutes or until the muffins rise and become golden brown around the edges.

Penis Cupcakes

First...sorry, Mom.

Well, actually, I guess it doesn't matter because my mom hasn't quite managed to figure out how to read my blog, but I'd like be prepared if and when that day does ever come.

As I have mentioned before, I play trivia at a local bar almost every week with a group of friends. The particular bar doesn't serve food, so I started to bring some sort of baked good with me every week for my friends and I to snack on while play. Every week I try to bribe our Quizmaster into giving us extra points. It never works, but I guess it's still nice to share.

Every now and again the Quizmaster will announce a contest for the next week. The week before Valentine's Day he announced that he would give a prize to the person who brought in the best Valentine. While I actually despise Valentine's Day and pretty much refuse to recognize it, I knew I couldn't resist this one, because I had an awesome idea...penis cupcakes.

I used the same recipe as for the Vanilla Cupcakes with Vanilla Buttercream Frosting, but this time, I used some lovely penis molds instead of the normal muffin tin. But for the Quizmaster, I used food coloring to make his cupcake pink and used sparkly white icing to decorate. The results were amazing...and delicious.

And yes, I did win the prize for best Valentine! Here's a pic of me rocking the prize crown with my team:

Also, I really enjoyed going around asking people at the bar if they would like to eat a dick =)

Blondies

My favorite blondie's favorite treat is blondies, so naturally, when her Birthday came around, I had to make them for her. I'd never made them before, and there wasn't recipe in any of my books, so I searched the interwebs to find a suitable recipe (or just did a Google search and clicked on a few links). I've had good luck in the past with Hersey's recipes, so I decided to give this one a go.

I don't really have much else to say about this. I already talked about the epic Princess Birthday party that took place...oh, oh, oh! I know! At said princess party there was an awesome piñata! Because, let's be honest, what party is a party without a piñata? Here's some pictures of the blondie Birthday girls having at it:

We didn't need blindfolds. Because alcohol.

Blondies

2 cups + 2 tablespoons flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1/4 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350.

In a small bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In a mixer, blend together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, milk and vanilla and beat well. Slowly add the dry ingredients, a little at a time, until everything is combined. Stir in chocolate chips. Spread mixture into a greased and floured 9x13 glass pan. Bake for 27 - 32 minutes. Let cool in pan on wire rack before cutting.

Sorry for lack of blondie pictures. Because alcohol.