Hi greenies! It's "What I Ate Wednesday" time again and the lovely Jenn, from Peas & Crayons has a fun new WIAW theme for the Month of October..."Spooky Snacks & Healthy Halloween Treats".
So today I'm sharing with you one of my favorite treats that I've tried to make a tad bit healthier, I call it "Naked Puppy Chow." It's gluten-free, vegan, and much lower in sugar than it's traditional counterpart because it's missing it's usual outer-powdered sugar coating...hence the name "naked!"
Let's get right into my gluten-free, vegan food for the day, as well as some adventures with Avery!
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| 5:00 AM: warm water with the juice from half a lemon I love starting my day with this! |
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Workout: 1 hour of yoga with Shiva Rea Yoga Shakti DVD...it's like a vacation in a workout with this rockin' video!
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| 7:30 AM Breakfast: Chocolate Ice Cream Smoothie Raw cacao powder, hemp seeds, chia seeds, spinach, rice milk, frozen strawberries, and frozen bananas. |
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| 9:15 AM: AM Morning Snack: Peanut Butter Larabar |
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| 10:15 AM: "Sneaky Spinach Pancakes" with organic maple syrup. |
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| 12:15 Lunch: "Broc and Mac" as we call it... The cheese recipe is "Cheezy Mac" from Vegan Diner, with 1 pkg. gluten-free Tinkyada noodles, and 1 head of broccoli. I like to top mine with ketchup, yum! |
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| 2:15 PM: Green juice: 1/4 of a pineapple, 1/2 a lemon, 1 apple, 2 stalks of kale, 2 stalks of celery |
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| "Got leaves to sweep? I'm your girl!" |
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| She's pretty good... |
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| ...when she's not laying in the leaves! |
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| "Brooms are fun to jump over!" |
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| "What? The leaves are all gone?" |
Then we came inside to have a smoothie...
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| 5:00 PM Pre-dinner snack: "Chocolate Vanilla Smoothie": 1/2 cup vanilla coconut milk, Chocolate Sun Warrior Rice Protein Powder, 1cup of spinach, 1 1/2 frozen bananas, 3 frozen strawberries |
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| Except I had to battle these two to get to it! |
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| And the winner was...Avery! |
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| Then we headed back outside while dinner was cooking to play with the dogs. |
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| She's such a Daddy's Girl! ( : |
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| 7:00 PM Dinner: "Cheesy Mushroom Broccoli Skillet"with brown rice, mushrooms, broccoli, and a homemade vegan cheese. I had some Rudi's Multigrain Gluten-free toast on the side. |
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| While playing we found some "big bows" as Avery calls them, and she insisted she wear one for dinner. |
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| She even convinced me to wear one! "Mommy bow!" she kept saying. |
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| What a fun night, with a fun girl! |
Now onto that puppy chow...
I've been a big puppy chow fan for many years now, but I started to notice that like most things full of sugar, I didn't feel so great after eating it. Aside from the sugar, all the extra butter wasn't super friendly for my waistline either. So I set out to make a little healthier alternative with no butter, no powdered sugar, but still the same yummy peanut butter-chocolate taste! Enter "Naked Puppy Chow". As I said, above I call it "Naked Puppy Chow" because it's missing it's usual powdered sugar coating...now it's just naked.
Something else I love about this recipe is that it's quick and easy to make, with only 3 ingredients that can all be mixed up in about 5 minutes. When I'm craving chocolate after a long day at work, I don't have time to make elaborate desserts, I want something that's quick and easy, and this puppy chow is perfect for that. Let's see how to make it...
Naked Puppy Chow
Makes 2 small servings
Ingredients:
Ingredients:
- 3/4 cup Rice Chex
- 1/4 cup Enjoy Life Mini Chocolate Chips (gluten-free, vegan)...you can use any type of chocolate chip you like
- 2 Tbs. natural peanut butter
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| My peanut butter looks different from the usual jar you get at the grocery store because I get mine from my local health food store, and it's been just "grinded". |
`Steps:
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| Gather your ingredients...1, 2, 3! |
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| 1. Melt your chocolate chips in the microwave for 1-2 minutes and stir until smooth. |
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| 2. Now stir in the peanut butter. |
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| 3. Add the chocolate/peanut butter combo to the Chex... |
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| ...and stir! |
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| Time to eat! |
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| With a spoon is probably the only way to eat this yummy treat! |
Any other puppy chow fans out there? What do you think about this "naked version"? I know it's different without the usual powdered sugar coating, but it's just enough peanut butter and chocolate to really hit the spot. Hope you like it! See you next week.
This post was also recently linked up to "Healthy Vegan Fridays" which you can find on any of these three blogs: Everyday Vegan Girl, Veggie Nook, and Carrie On Vegan. So get your "vegan on" and check out some of these great recipes and vegan cooking tips!
Recently this post was linked up to Frugally Sustainable as part of the "Frugal Days, Sustainable Ways Blog Hop." So check it out and find more ways you can green your plate, your body, and your home!
