Clean Alfredo Sauce recipe..mmmm

I don't usually like Alfredo sauce, but this pregnancy has been interesting, and seriously I am craving clean, no sugar, healthy food, example I was drooling of the alfalfa sprouts in the store the other day (I know weird) So this time I craved Alfredo sauce but didn't want al the fat and "stuff" so this is what I came up with. I love it, I could seriously lick the plate clean.

(note I did not use oranges in my recipe, I was just to lazy to remove it)

Ingredients
4 cups cottage cheese (I used fat free)
1 ounce of neufchatel cheese
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese (The “powdery” kind, but fresh. The Kraft version is not clean.)
1 tbsp. garlic powder (1-2 tsp. if you have to talk to people the next day)
1/4 cup soy milk + some reserve (or any milk you’d like to use)
whole wheat fettuccine
chicken breast (I grilled some chicken breast on the side to top the Alfredo)

Directions
 Add all ingredients to a pot and turn on the heat. As the mixture begins to warm, blend in the pot with a hand blender. If you don’t have one, warm the ingredients and transfer to a blender.
 Blend till smooth, and the continue to warm until it’s nice and hot.
 Pour about a half a cup over your pasta and top with grilled chicken, and enjoy

I loved loved this sauce. Enjoy

Gluten free, sugar free, strawberry banana muffins

I seem to know a lot of people who have to eat a gluten free diet, I can't imagine what that must be like but it inspired this recipe, I don't know if I could do it all the time, but with a muffin this good well then hmmm.

Strawberry Banana Muffins

11/4 cups rice flour
1/4 cup potato starch
1/4 cup tapioca flour
1/2 tsp xanthum gum (it's a binding agent)
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
11/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt ( I use sea salt)
1/2 cup butter softened
1/3 cup of sucanet
1 egg and 1 egg white
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/3 cup of your milk prefered (I used almond milk)
2 bananas, peeled
1 1/2 cups stemmed and coarsely chopped fresh strawberries.


 In large bowl, sift together all dry ingredients, stir to mix. In a seperate bowl cream together butter and sucanet until smooth, beat in eggs and add vanilla, and milk, stirring well. Mixture will be very lumpy. Mash banana and fold them with strawberries into wet ingredients, then mix wet into dry to form a very lumpy batter.

Spoon 1/3 cup of batter into each muffin cup. Bake 15 mins, then turn muffin tin to ensure even baking and bake another 15 mins...all together it will be 30 mins baking. Cool on cooling rack and serve warm or room temp.

Feel free to pair up with my pumpkin spice latte.

http://joyfulmelody.blogspot.com/2012/04/clean-pumpkin-spice-latte.html

Clean Pumpkin Spice Latte

 I was craving some coffee but I don't want the caffeine nor the sugar, which I usually have. I wanted a pumpkin flavor hot coffee to go with my Strawberry Banana muffins I made (recipe to follow on the muffins) So I got to creating.

Ingredients  (makes 2 lattes)4 tbsp. ground coffee (decaf, if you want to be really clean!)
1 tbsp. pumpkin spice (no sugar added, just the spice mix)
2-1/2 cups water
2 cups unsweetened vanilla almond milk OR…
2 cups regular milk + 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 tbsp. pure maple syrup

Combine the coffee and the pumpkin spice and brew as usual with the specified amount of water
Pour the maple syrup in the bottom of your cup and pour half of the hot coffee over that.
Add 1 cup of milk and stir

Repeat steps 2-3 for the second serving.

Sip and Enjoy!

I paired it up with these muffins. (gluten free sugar free strawberry bananna muffins) recipe for muffins up tomorrow

Lasagna Roll ups

Yesterday was a busy day, in between Dr. appt's and pharmacy pick ups I was very thankful that I started my day with 2 green monsters

I was craving lasagna but didn't want the usual heavy kind, but the same taste lighter. I remembered my husband once tried to make lasagna roll ups and the idea was okay but I think it needed to be tinkered with to make it a tad healthier and not so heavy. I also skimmed a friends recipe blog..check her out sugarfree mom...she's got some great recipes. So after looking at her recipe I took hers and my husbands and made it into mine. So here you go

Lasagna Roll Ups

1 cup of spinach...I used frozen so I heated it up and drained excess water, but you can use fresh too.
1 cup of part skim ricotta cheese
1 lb of ground meat seasoned to taste...I had already cooked it and set it aside
Lasagna noodles...I used whole wheat
1 egg and 1 egg white...apparently my other egg disappeared from the picture
1/2 cup of mozzarella cheese (shredded) and more reserved to top
1/3 of shredded Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup to 1 cup of your favorite tomato sauce whether you make it of buy it...I used Muir's organic

First brown and season meat and set aside. Cook noodles and drain and set aside I peel them apart and lay them over the pan to help prevent a clump. (Also quick hint while I have the water boiling I pour a little of olive oil to help prevent sticking)

In a bowl mix ricotta, eggs, 1/2 cup of the mozzarella cheese, spinach and meat, salt and pepper to taste.

On a cooking sheet I lay ed out the noodles and smeared them with the filling, roll up and placed them in a deep baking dish with 1/2 cup of sauce on the bottom of the dish. After I rolled up all my filled noodles and placed in dish.

Poured 1 cup of sauce over then parm cheese and hefty hand of mozzarella cheese (I like cheese)

Baked at 375 cover in foil for 30 minutes, then last 5 mins I remove foil and allow cheese to melt into gooey happiness.

Enjoy

Quick lunch or snack for your cupacakes or even yourself.

I once saw this on my cousins facebook page and thought what is it, and asked. She said it was saltines with cheese melted.....light bulb went on and took the idea and ran with it...so to that Sue....thank you for the idea, my kids love it.

I use saltines, nitrate free ham,and provolone cheese....feel free to substitute. I have also made them for me with turkey havarti cheese and topped with avocado (so yummy)

Place crackers, ham and cheese on baking sheet.

Bake in the oven at 350 degrees, until cheese is melted, and serve. I served today's with a green smoothie. Very easy and yummy.

Here's also a couple of pictures of of our morning field trip. We visited a dairy, then stopped on the way home at a penny candy store. Lots of giggles and fun with the greatest kids.

Got to end the trip on a sweet note

Kindness...so overlooked in today's society

If you're waiting for other people to be nice to you before you are nice to them, then my dears you have it backwards. A lesson that I have been teaching my children regarding other children, and yet I believe to many adults have forgotten that lesson also. Kindness starts with you! You see, you can never control what other people will say or do, but you sure can control your own behavior. What a great lesson to teach children when young to control yourself versus allowing your flesh to behave how it feels. To many people behave how the feel instead of behaving in a way that is right. The bible tells us that we should never stop doing good as long as we live. Kindness is God's way, and honestly should be ours too. In order to be a kind person you must do kind things. Thinking of them isn't enough. Instead of barking at someone, speak in love no matter how much acid spit the spew control yourself and exemplify kindness back.


Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving, each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you Ephesians 4:32

Real Food Revolution

 I love making food from scratch, simply because it first tastes good and I know what is it it.I came across this list and seriously it's crazy what people eat. I'll be honest I've been guilty of doing so, out of convience.

Aspartame: An artificial sweetener commonly used in soft drinks and chewing gum. It's 180 times sweeter than regular table sugar.

BHA: A chemical added to food in order to preserve fats and keep them from turning rancid.

BHT: A chemical preservative found in cereals and snack food.

Calcium Peroxide: What they use to bleach flour and improve dough texture.

Disodium Guanylate: A flavor enhancer 100 times more potent than MSG often added to sauces and canned foods.

High Fructose Corn Syrup: A highly processed liquid sweetener and preservative consisting mainly of glucose.

MSG: a flavor enhancer commonly used in Chinese food, canned goods, soup mixes, and processed meat.

Partially Hydrogenated Oil: Oil that has been partially hardened through a chemical process and adds trans fats to food.

Polydextrose: A chemical additive used to replace sugar in many foods.

Potassium Sorbate: A preservative used to slow down the growth on mold and yeast.

Sodium Benzoate: A chemical preservative found in acidic foods like condiments, salad dressings, and carbonated beverages.

Sucralose: An artificial sweetener 600 times sweeter than regular sugar.

Xanthum Gum: Made using petrochemcials to create sticky dough.

Are you guilty of not label reading sometimes?