Browsing the archives for the coconut tag.

Coconut Banana Granola Bars

Healthy

Early in 2011 my husband and I watched way too many documentaries on food and health in general. The three that affected us the most were Food Matters, then Food Inc, and then Forks Over Knives a few months later. Ouch. It was hard to watch as a meat / dairy / processed foods eating couple. Since then we eat a lot less meat and dairy, and the meat and dairy we do eat now is organic. I have always been really big on making as much as possible from scratch, but my concept of ‘as much as possible’ is a lot different now – even though with homeschooling and adventuring around LA we have less spare time than ever, it’s totally worth it to find the time. (it’s a good busy)!

Last year, I posted a recipe for homemade granola bars that I still use on the regular for the kids. They’re pretty good and only have one questionable ingredient – marshmallows and as I said in the original post, if you make them yourself they’re not all that questionable anymore! These granola bars are for anyone who likes banana and coconut. None of my littles like coconut – crazy right?! My husband and I looooove coconut so these babies are the grown up granola bar around here now. 😉

Coconut Banana Granola Bars with Chocolate Chips via Undressed Skeleton

1 cup organic flaked coconut
1 large (extra ripe) banana
1 cup whole grain oats
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup ground flax
1/4 cup almond milk
1 packet truvia (or whatever you use for sweetening)
*the original recipe used 2 tbsp vegan chocolate chips but I skipped them

Super simple and so good aaaaand no flour, no eggs, no dairy, no added sugar, no butter, no oils!

Mash the banana and add to a bowl with the coconut, flax, vanilla, oats and truvia. Slowly add the almond milk until it holds it’s shape and then just pat into a pan. If you’re using chocolate chips, now is the time to add them. It’s not runny so you can get away with using the middle of a pan (like I did) or you can use an 8 x 8 pan. Bake at 350 for 12 minutes and let cool before cutting.
2 Comments

Vegan Chocolate Oatmeal Tart

Healthy

Today, I’m linking up with Kate Says Stuff‘s Thankful Thursday, The How To Mommy‘s Tasty Thursdays, Obviously Marvelous‘ Thirsty Thursdays and Saved By Love Creations‘ Thrifty Thursday.

In the spirit of Thankful Thursdays, I am so very thankful to be here in Los Angeles. I’m thankful that all five of us are healthy, I’m thankful for my husband’s job and that they moved us here and not somewhere boring haha. Waking up to my husband saying ‘wanna go check out Hollywood?’ or our new friends saying ‘lets go peek at some sea urchins’ or our other new friends inviting us to cook in their Pottery Barn/Crate and Barrel-esque kitchen is pretty amazing, I’m not gonna lie. Also, when a bad day means we go swimming at the outdoor pool in our little apartment community instead of hitting the beach, there’s a lot to be thankful for.

Sometimes, I take on what looks like a simple vegan recipe and I’m trapped in my kitchen all day (not that I mind being trapped in there, really), and sometimes I roll up my sleeves to get into a new recipe and BAM, I’m done. This is one of those quickies I treasure (ha). The other amazing thing about this recipe, aside from how GOOD it is, is how inexpensive it is! I had all of these ingredients in my kitchen already! You likely do too, the only slight oddball in there is the flax, but even that is way more common that it used to be.

It’s equally good for breakfast as it is for dessert – chocolate chips and all!

Vegan Chocolate Oatmeal Tart

Vegan Chocolate Oatmeal Tart – via Oh, Ladycakes

1 cup banana puree
1/2 cup flax meal
1/4 cup shredded coconut
1/4 cup almond milk
2 cups rolled oats
1/4 cup mini chocolate chips

Vegan Chocolate Oatmeal Tart
Vegan Chocolate Oatmeal Tart
Mash up and measure your bananas, then mix the flax, coconut and almond milk.
Vegan Chocolate Oatmeal Tart
This is where I cheated and used about 1/4 cup of brown sugar. Now add the banana puree, then the oats and the chocolate chips. Bake at 350 for about 15 minutes and that’s that. It takes all of 5 minutes to pull together!
Vegan Chocolate Oatmeal Tart
1 Comment