Whole Food Snacks — The Greenbacks Gal

How to Make Cashew Butter

June 3, 2013 By Andrea Green 1 Comment

Here’s a new recipe with thanks to Jaime from Slightly Steady.

How to Make Cashew Butter

Cashew butter is a great multi-purpose product. It can serve as a replacement for peanut butter for people with peanut allergies and sensitivities, for one thing. It’s also used in countless vegan recipes as a replacement for dairy products such as cream, butter, and milk. Mostly, though, it’s just yummy. Just. Plain. Yummy.

I’m *not* allergic to peanuts, but I’m trying to maintain an alkaline diet to help my thyroid heal, and cashews are more alkalizing than peanuts. Sometimes, I admit, if the acidic version tastes better, I’ll still go for it – but cashew butter cups (instead of Reese’s) or cashew butter on pancakes? Um, yum. Just yum! I don’t even miss the peanutty goodness I used to love!

*Buying* cashew butter, though, is a bit of a challenge. It’s more expensive of course – but for those of us who live in rural parts of the country (me), good luck even finding it! It’s much simpler and cheaper to just buy your own raw cashews (or cooked, if you don’t mind the cooking oil, and possibly salt – I just prefer raw). It’s also a quick and easy process. All you need is a blender or food processor, and 2-10 minutes, depending on the strength of your equipment.

How to Make Cashew Butter:

Ingredients:

3 cups raw (or cooked) cashews

Water for soaking (if you’re using raw)

2-3 Tbsp of coconut oil

Optional:

Salt to taste

1 or 2 dates to sweeten

Instructions:

For raw cashews, soak them for six hours in enough water to cover them , then drain and rinse.

Soaking Cashews

Put all ingredients in your blender or food processor, and blend until smooth. This should take about 5-10 minutes (be sure to take breaks to prevent overheating!)

That’s it! I hope you enjoy!

Jaime is a Christian, a wife, a mom, a writer, an illustrator, and an aspiring homesteader. She loves trying to find new ways to save money and resources–but also save her time, so she can spend as much as possible with her family!

This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Homemade Gluten-Free Peppermint Mocha Brownies

May 8, 2013 By Andrea Green 4 Comments

Gluten Free Peppermint Mocha Brownies

May is Celiac Awareness Month, and Abe’s Market is hosting a Gluten-Free Sale. Save up to 50% off select gluten-free products.

Items you will find on sale:

Bumble Bars Pay just $11.00 for a 12 bar pack!

Bob’s Red Mill Mixes Includes Garbanzo Bean flour, Coconut flour and Hazelnut flour

Miracle Noodles Just $3.00/package!

Because it is Celiac Awareness Month, and because Abe’s Market is celebrating, they wanted to bring the brownies….virtually! They’ve shared a recipe for Gluten-Free Peppermint Mocha Brownies perfect for showing your friends/family gluten-free can still taste great.

Gluten-Free Peppermint Mocha Brownies

Ingredients

15 Medjool dates, pitted, soaked and drained
¼ cup water
9 T raw cocoa
¼ cup agave syrup
¼ cup coconut oil, soft, not liquid
1 can garbanzo beans, drained
4 eggs
½ tsp baking powder
1 tsp peppermint extract
2 T espresso, ground fine

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Blend dates (in a blender) and ¼ cup water on high until it becomes a paste
Add eggs, cocoa, agave, coconut oil, baking powder, peppermint and espresso; blend until smooth
Add garbanzo beans; mix on high until entire mixture is well incorporated, thick and smooth
Evenly distribute mixture into mini muffin tins (fills 30-32)
Bake for 10-12 minutes (until it passes the toothpick test); remove and cool on a wire rack

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I can’t wait to make these for my book club group next week! I have a friend who has been gluten-free for about a year now and I’m always looking for recipes I think she can partake in.

Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day with a Rainbow Fruit Parfait

March 11, 2013 By Andrea Green Leave a Comment

Rainbow Fruit Parfait

March 17th is St. Patrick’s Day. How will you be celebrating? How about starting your day with a rainbow that leads to a pot of gold?

This quick and healthy St. Patrick’s Day Rainbow Fruit Parfait is quick to assemble and will fill your family with healthy whole foods. (Ditch the skittles! This is the best way to taste the rainbow!)

All this recipe requires is a rainbow of fruit, granola and greek yogurt. Layer them in the glass as follows:

Fruit Rainbow

Granola on the bottom (your pot of gold)
Blackberries
Blueberries
Green Grapes
Pineapple (thaw some frozen or used canned if fresh is too expensive)
Clementine Slices
Strawberries, sliced
Top with a “cloud” of greek yogurt
Drizzle with a bit of honey if you choose

Warning: This is a highly addictive breakfast or snack that your kiddos will ask you for time and again! The good news is – it just doesn’t get any healthier than this!

Carrot “Chip” Nachos | Vegan, Vegetarian, Paleo, Gluten-Free, Whole Food

March 4, 2013 By Andrea Green Leave a Comment

Carrot Chip Nachos

These Carrot “Chip” Nachos are not your average nachos! But, if you are trying to eat healthier, to integrate more whole foods, and want something that tastes great, this fits the bill! Carrot chips, hummus and a cucumber tomato salad on top.

Nachos are one of my favorite foods. Seriously. I love the gooey, melty cheese and the crisp snap of the chips. I love pushing my chip around trying to load it up to get all the flavors loaded onto one chip without having it break.

These Carrot “Chip” Nachos give me that same experience but they are actually healthy. If fact, this is a great way to get a ton of whole food vegetables on one plate.

It is also the perfect food to serve when you have a group of people over – all with different dietary needs. Finding a dish that works for both Paleo eaters and vegans can pose quite the challenge! This dish works for them all. The key to having it work for all diets, is to make up a batch of beanless Zucchini Hummus. Of course, if you haven’t eliminated beans from your diet, you can substitute any hummus recipe or even use store-bought.

Carrot “Chip” Nachos

Ingredients

4 large carrots, julienned thick on an angle or sliced thick on an angle
Zucchini Hummus or store bought hummus
1 cucumber peeled and finely diced
2 tomatoes finely diced
1/4 cup red onion finely diced
2 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro
2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 clove garlic crushed
salt to taste

Instructions

In a medium bowl, toss together the diced cucumber, tomatoes, red onion, cilantro, and parsley. In a small bowl, whisk together olive oil, lemon juice, garlic and salt. Pour over cucumber salad and set aside.
On a large plate or platter, spread out carrots in an even layer.
Top carrots with hummus.
Top hummus with cucumber salad.
Enjoy!

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If you want to mix up this recipe a bit, use pita chips in the place of carrot chips. Or, use them both! This is an excellent after school whole food snack, during the game food, or even a Meatless Monday meal!

Bread Machine Honey Whole Wheat Soft Pretzel Bites

January 28, 2013 By Andrea Green 2 Comments

One of my favorite appliances for creating whole foods for my family is my bread machine. If you have a bread machine, try these Honey Whole Wheat Soft Pretzel Bites and you will quickly find out why. They are fun to make and the “hard” part of the recipe – the proofing of the yeast and the rising of the dough – are taken care of for you. Simply put the ingredients in the bread machine, set it on dough cycle, and in less than two hours you have the perfect dough!

Recently, Lisa asked this question on my Facebook Page:

Bread Machine Question

I love my Zojirushi. I’ve had it for 13 years and I give it a work-out! I know that you can get cheaper bread machines. However, this is the one I have, so I can only attest to it’s wonderfulness!

Hints for getting the most out of your bread machine:

Even though you are using a bread machine, you are still baking! That means you need to be meticulous in your measurements. Make sure you Measure Your Flour the right way every time to get the best results.
If you aren’t getting great results with your bread machine, use the dough cycle and bake it in the oven. The dough cycle allows you to add more flour or water if need be before baking. Plus, you can use a thermometer in your oven to ensure the correct temperature setting.

These pretzel bites use White Whole Wheat flour. Have you baked with it before? It is lighter in taste than Whole Wheat Flour, but has the same nutritional punch. If you’ve never baked with it before, grab a bag! In the recipe, I use half all purpose flour and half white whole wheat. However, you can make this with all white whole wheat flour, the texture will just be heavier.

Now, if you haven’t used your bread machine in a while, now is the time to pull it out and use it to make Honey Whole Wheat Soft Pretzel Bites.

Bread Machine Honey Whole Wheat Pretzel Bites

Ingredients

9 ounces water
3 tablespoons honey
1 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cups organic unbleached all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast
2 quarts water
1/2 cup baking soda
1 egg
1 teaspoon water
coarse salt

Instructions

Add water, both flours, honey and yeast to the bread machine pan in the order suggested by your bread machine manufacturer.
Select dough setting.
When dough cycle is complete, turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface.
Divide dough into 8 equal balls. One at a time, roll balls into a 20 inch rope. Cut rope into 1/2 inch pretzel bites. Repeat until all dough has been cut into bites.
Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
In a saucepan, bring water and baking soda to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer.
Drop pretzels a few at a time into water and poach for just 10 - 15 seconds. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels.
Place pretzel bites onto a large, greased baking sheet.
Beat egg and water together. Brush tops of bites with egg wash then sprinkle with salt.
Bake for 8 - 10 minutes or until golden brown.

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These need to be stored in an airtight container. Although in my house, they disappear so quickly, I’ve never had to store them in anything!