Clean Eating Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

I love this time of year. It's time for decorative Cinnamon Broom Sticks at Trader Joes, time for cuddling by the fire, time for sweaters, boots, and all of my favorite things. I decided that tonight was time for pumpkin cookies, and who am I to tell myself no?

For this recipe you will need:

1 Cup Pumpkin Puree

1/3 Cup Agave Nectar

1/2 Cup Coconut Oil (Melted..this is important)

1 Large Egg

2 Cups Whole Wheat Flour

1 Tsp Baking Soda 

2 Tsp Baking Powder

1 Tbs Cinnamon

1/2 Tsp. Nutmeg

1/4 Tsp Salt

1 Tbs Pure Vanilla Extract

1 Cup Chocolate Chips

In my mixer, I added the pumpkin puree, agave nectar, and coconut oil. I mixed them together until they were blended well and THEN added the egg and vanilla extract. The coconut oil will harden as soon as it comes in contact with something like a cold egg, but if you blend it in BEFORE adding the egg, it'll keep smooth and you won't end up with chunks of coconut oil in your cookie. :) 

In another bowl, I added the wheat flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. I whisked them together to get them all mixed up.

Then I poured my flour mix into my wet pumpkin mix and turned on my mixer. 

It didn't take long to mix the dry and wet ingredients, I just used a plastic spatula to push the batter that wanted to escape up the sides back towards the center and it came out nicely.

Then I added my chocolate chips. MMM. At this point, you can add walnuts, raisins, cranberries, anything! I went simple and just did chocolate chips this time. 

Fold the chips into the batter..

I used my tbs measuring spoon as a cookie scooper and got 29 cookies from the batter :)

The batter won't spread much AT ALL. The cookies are fluffy and almost cake like. I put them in the oven at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. (They just start to brown on top)

See. Fresh out of the oven.

I poured myself a little drink of almond milk and grabbed a couple cookies for myself. 

A chocolate chip cookie fresh out of the oven is JUST what I needed. 

As for nutritional information, please note that this is just an estimate. The nutritional value of your meal will vary depending on the ingredients you choose & portions you add. It should be used as a guide and not a definite.

The cookies weren't really pumpkin...y? The pumpkin was more as a fluffer for the cookie. You get a hint of the pumpkin pie type spices and then the creaminess of the chocolate chips...just....comfort treat for sure. I hope you guys enjoy them as much as I did! Happy eating loves!

Clean Eating Shrimp Tacos With Cabbage, Onions, & Chipotle Cream Sauce

As a stay at home mom, there are little to no days where my husband and I can sit down and have a nice dinner with just us two. Luckily, this weekend our 3 year old is camping with my mom and my 3 step babies are at their mom's house so I decided to make a celebratory meal for just the two of us. Seeing as how one of my FAVORITE cheat meals is usually Rubio's Fish Tacos, I decided I would clean it up and make tacos for us.

For this recipe you will need:

For the Tacos:

10 oz. Medium Raw Shrimp (Peeled & Deveined)

1 Medium Sweet Onion Sauteed in 1 Tbs Coconut Oil

1/4 Small Red Cabbage (Finely Chopped)

1/2 Tbs Olive Oil

Pinch of Salt

Pinch of Pepper

1-2 Tsp Paprika

Juice of 1/2 Lime

Corn Tortillas

For the Chipotle Sauce:

1 Cup Greek Yogurt

1 Tbs. Chipotle in Adobo

1 Tsp Lime Juice

1 Tsp Pepper

1 Tsp Salt

I started with the Chipotle Sauce. I put all of the ingredients into a food processor and blended it until it was all smooth.

 Do you like my fancy container? The husband and I call our paper plates and plastic containers "Fine China." To be honest, if it wasn't for photographic appeal, most of the meals I prepare would be on "fine china." With 4 kids, it's easier. :) ANYWAYS, this stuff is SPICY. We love spicy, but if you are going to be feeding this recipe to little ones, make sure you taste it first. You can add less chipotle, or add more greek yogurt, but this was perfect for us. (And it made a ton)

Once the sauce was in the fridge to set a little bit, I chopped up 1/4 of my cabbage and set it aside. Then I chopped up my onion and sautéed it in 1 Tbs of coconut oil. (Didn't take a pic of that sorry!)

While my onion was being sautéed, I tossed my shrimp in 1/2 Tbs of olive oil, the juice of 1/2 a lime, a pinch of salt, pepper, and 1 Tsp of paprika. I cooked the shrimp over high heat for about 3-5 mins. They turn a pink/orang-ish color when they're done.

I also picked up some canned black beans to make my life easier and because I love beans. To make them taste less like canned beans and more like homemade, I added 2 cloves minced garlic and 1 tsp of oregano, a pinch of salt and pepper. It was a nice way to put the fire out from the chipotle sauce on the tacos ;)

Here are my little tacos all assembled. I used about 1/2 Tbs. of Sauce on each taco and it was just enough. The tacos were spicy, and crunchy, and the sweet onion was such a nice addition to them. As a thank you for the dinner the hubby took me out for a walk around Trader Joes & some Frozen Yogurt. :) I'm a lucky, lucky lady. Hope you guys enjoy!

As for nutritional information, please note that this is just an estimate. The nutritional value of your meal will vary depending on the ingredients you choose & portions you add. It should be used as a guide and not a definite. The following is for the taco (excluding the tortilla)

TACOS

Clean Eating Zucchini Bread

I'm one of those people who is just a walking carb. I love bread. I love it so much. I would marry it if I could walk around with a bagel, hand in hand, and not have people cross the street when they see me, or shield their child's eyes. Anyways, when I am having one of those days when I just need to feed that carb lover in me, I usually reach for something baked and just a tad sweet. This week, I decided zucchini bread would fill that void. 

For this recipe you will need: 

2 Cups of Whole Wheat Flour

1/2 Cup of Nonfat Greek Yogurt

1 Medium Banana (Mashed)

1 1/2 Cups Zucchini (Grated)

2 Eggs

2 Tsp Cinnamon

1 Tsp Vanilla Extract

1/3 Cup of Sweetener (Agave..Maple Syrup..Honey) I used a combination of Honey and Maple Syrup to fill the 1/3 cup

1 1/2 Tsp Baking Powder

1 Tbs Chia

1/4 Cup Walnuts

Pinch of Salt

First you're going to mix the: Yogurt, Mashed Banana, Zucchini, Eggs, Vanilla & Sweetener (In my case 1/3 cup of a honey & maple syrup mixture) and mix mix mix until its all incorporated.

 

In another mixing bowl, add your: Flour, Cinnamon, Baking Powder, Chia, Walnuts & Salt and mix again..

 Now you get to mix the two mixes into one mix. Still with me? ;) 

 Now you get to make a choice: 1 big ol' loaf of zucchini bread goodness, or 2 smaller loaves. I made 1 big loaf because...just because I was too tired to find another bread pan HA! Make sure you spray the pan with some non stick cooking spray. 

 Pop this little guy in the oven at 375 Degrees for 50-60 mins. Check it at 50 and if you can put a toothpick in and it comes out clean, you're good to go. 

YUM

 YUM

 YUM

As for nutritional information, per www.myfitnesspal.com, the following was my results. Please note that this is just an estimate. The nutritional value of your meal will vary depending on the ingredients you choose & portions you add. It should be used as a guide and not a definite. Happy eating loves!

                                    Calories           Carbs         Fat       Protein     Sodium      Sugar

Total:	1,716	317	37	60	2,200	106
Per Serving:	132	24	3	5	169	8