Easy, Nourishing & Delish Recipes

healthy, easy, simple and tasty recipes for busy people

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An Ode to a Legend: Elvis Peanut Butter Banana Pies

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I really wanted to make pop tarts , so I adapted a recipe to use.  Halfway through the making I realized   I had an itching to make something a little different, hand pies.  Thank God the poptart dough worked perfectly for the pies!  This kind of thing happens on a regular basis, I set out to make one thing, but while making it I decide to do something else ( thats just how my mind works)!  Point aside, you can thank Elvis for the heavenly combo of peanut butter and banana (no bacon YUCK)!  I’m sure the King would be proud of this creation and he would not feel guilty eating it!

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Click HERE to get your all-natural unrefined Cane Sugar!

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Elvis Peanut Butter Banana Pies

Make 14-18 pies

  • Recipe adapted from Foodie Fascio
  • 2 1/4 cups brown rice/gluten-free flour
  • 2 1/2 tsp. baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp. salt
  • 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
  • 5 Tbsp. apple sauce
  • 3/4 cup almond milk
  • 1/4 tsp. vanilla extract
  • 1 tsp. apple cider vinegar
  • 1/4 cup all natural unrefined cane sugar ( I used Chancaca)

Filling

  • 1 banana ,sliced
  • peanut butter

Chocolate sauce

  • 1 Tbsp. coconut oil
  • 1 Tbsp. cocoa powder
  • 1/2 Tbsp. agave/honey
  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
  2. In a large bowl, combine first 4 ungredients.  Mix well.
  3. Add applesauce to mixture and use a fork to smash it into the mixture until flour is coarse.  Place in fridge for 10 minutes.
  4. Once out of fridge, add remaining ingredients (not filling) and mix well, or until a dough forms.
  5. Turn dough onto floured surface and knead a few times.  Divide dough into 28-32 equal sized pieces.  Roll each piece into a ball. 
  6. Press each ball down with your fingers.  On half of them add a banana slice.  On the other half add about 1/2 tsp. peanut butter.  Combine halves together until you have 14-16 pies.
  7. Place pies on cooking sheet lined with parchment paper.  Press sides down with fork.
  8. Bake for about 12-15 minutes, or until pies are done.
  9. For chocolate sauce combine all ingredients in a bowl and drizzle over pies.
  10. Enjoy!

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Health Benefits

Brown rice flour

  • High in fiber
  • Rich in B vitamins
  • Gluten-free
  • Whole grains
  • Contains selenium, manganese and magnesium 

Recipe as a whole

  • All natural
  • No refined sugar
  • No preservatives
  • No processed ingredients
  • 100% clean
  • Vitamins
  • Minerals
  • Antioxidants
  • Protein
  • Fiber
  • Healthy Fats
  • Gluten-free
  • Dairy-free
  • Vegan
  • Vegetarian 

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Heavenly Nut Butter: Justin’s Vanilla Almond Butter Review!

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Boy oh boy am I excited to share this amazing product with you guys!  Justin’s Vanilla Almond Butter is simply outstanding in taste, quality and nutrition!

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Price: A little pricey, $6.49 for a 10.0 oz jar, but well worth the splurge ( the quality is amazing).  Personally I get it only once in a while because I have plenty other nut butters to eat, but if I didn’t I would get it more often.  

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Ingredients: I’m pretty impressed with the ingredients, all natural , no preservatives, gluten-free and vegan..  There is a tad bit of organic cane sugar and palm fruit oil, but it is way better than the high fructose corn syrup and trans fats you see in processed nut butters. The remaining ingredients are dry roasted almonds, organic cocoa butter, and sea salt, all pretty clean.

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Nutrition Facts: The nutrition facts are pretty much similar to any type of nut butter, 180 calories and 14 grams of fat per 2 Tbsp. serving.  The fat is about 2 grams lower per serving than peanut butter, 14 grams vs. 16 grams.  I like that there is a hefty 3 grams of fiber and 5 grams of protein per serving, more than peanut butter and a great way to sneak it in to your diet.  There are 6 grams of sugar per serving, but not a bank breaker because its coming from all-natural ingredients.

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Taste:  Wow such an amazing sweet taste!This literally tastes like vanilla coated almonds crushed up into a nut butter!  Not to sweet, the sea salt balances out the flavors nicely.  The vanilla flavor tastes all natural, not a even  hint of artificial vanilla flavor like in some prepackaged foods.

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Consistency:  The texture is PERFECT!  Super creamy and delicious!  No grainy or gritty texture like some almond butters can have!

This product is AMAZING!  Use it in anywhere you would in peanut butter!  Perfect in fruit smoothies, over top your oatmeal or yogurt, in a pb&j sammy, spread on a banana or apple, or simply eaten out of the jar!  

Use it in recipes that call for nut butter as well!  Try it with Our Nut Butter filled Chocolate Coconut Flour Munchkins!

Salted Caramel Cappuccino Mousse

by 1 Comment

We have have our favorite flavors, for some it could be chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, but for me, its salted caramel. What’s better than that, salted caramel and coffee, let me tell you, they are amazing together. I wanted to make something that combined my two favorite flavors into a clean, healthy, luscious dessert, so yeah, i did. Salted Caramel Cappuccino mousse, everyone, heavenly. You won’t even guess it’s healthy either, nothing processed, 100% clean, all natural ingredients. I am so happy to have found an all natural, unrefined raw cane sugar, called Chancaca from Karis Naturals that taste exactly like brown sugar to help this recipe reach an iressistable caramel flavor, it’s my new favorite product, especially because it’s pure and much sweeter than sugar, so you only have to use a fraction of refined sugar! Also They have an awesome Pure Pink Bolivian Salt which I also adore because it’s so flavorful that you, again like the sugar, only need an extremely small amount for big flavor, and it’s all-nautral unrefined! So get yourselves some of this Chancaca sugar and Pure Pink Salt from Karis Naturals and make this wonderful mousse! You will be WOWED! 🙂

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Click Here to Get Chancana

Click Here to get Pure Pink Salt

Salted Caramel Cappuccino Mousse

  • 12.3 oz firm tofu
  • 10 dates, soaked in water for at least 2 hours
  • 1/8 tsp. Pure Natural Pink Salt (I used Karis Naturals) 
  • 2 Tbsp. unrefined cane sugar( I used Chancaca)
  • 1 tsp. instant coffee granules
  1. Place tofu, drained dates, slat, sugar and coffee granules in a food processor.  Blend for about 30 seconds, or until smooth.
  2. Sprinkle with a little more Chancaca if desired!

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Health Benefits

  • Fiber
  • Protein
  • All-natural
  • 100% clean
  • Vitamins
  • Minerals
  • Antioxidants
  • Low-glycemic
  • No processed ingredients
  • No refined sugar
  • No artificial ingredients
  • Gluten-free
  • Dairy-free
  • Vegan
  • Vegetarian

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Paleo Donuts:Peanut Butter Filled Chocolate Coconut Flour Munchkins

by 11 Comments

I used to love going to Dunkin Donuts when I was a kid to get munchkins!  So sweet and yummy, you could pop ten in your mouth in a minute no problem.  There is a big problem with that,  because one baby munchkin contains between 60-70 calories and 3.5 grams of fat ( Yes this the nutrition facts for only one)!  I missed these guys so much but not the extra baggage that came along with them, so I knew I had to do something.  So glad I came up with this recipe!  In my opinion they are so much tastier  (not to mention healthier)  than munchkins!  Chocolate and nut butter is the perfect combo, and in these donuts they are even more heavenly!  So go ahead, make these and eat a few,  you don’t have to feel guilty eating munchkins anymore!

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Click HERE to get your all natural unrefined Cane Sugar!

Nut Butter Filled Chocolate Coconut Flour Munchkin (adapted from Healyeatsreal.com)

Makes about  15-20 munchkins

  • 1/3  cup coconut flour
  • 2 eggs, beaten
  • 3 Tbsp. coconut oil
  • 1/4 tsp. baking soda
  • 2 Tbsp. raw cane sugar  (I used Chancaca)or honey
  • 1 Tbsp. cocoa powder
  • nut butter ( I used Earth Balance Creamy Peanut Coconut Spread)
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Blend all ingredients in food processor until a dough forms.
  3. Roll dough into half circles ( should make about 30-40).  Make an indent with finger in the middle and add a 1/4 tsp. peanut butter( make sure you don’t over flow it).  Place another half circle on top.  Repeat with remaining ingredients until you make about 15 munchkins.
  4. Bake for about 10-15 minutes, or until done.
  5. Enjoy!

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Health Benefits

Coconut Flour

  • High in fiber
  • Wheat-free
  • Gluten-free
  • Healthy fats
  • Packed with Protein

Coconut Oil

  • Healthy fats
  • Unrefined
  • Rich in vitamin K and E

Recipe as a whole

  • All-natural
  • Protein
  • No preservatives
  • No refined sugar
  • All natural
  • Gluten-free
  • Dairy-free
  • Wheat-free
  • Non-GMO
  • 100% clean
  • Vegan
  • Vegetarian
  • Whole 30
  • Paleo

Click HERE to check out my review on the most AMAZING Peanut Butter!

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The Most AMAZING Peanut Butter Product Review

by 3 Comments

You all know that i’m pretty obsessed with peanut butter as I eat at least 2 tbsp. per day, yeah it’s an addiction. Today I stumbled across a great find at my grocery store, Earth Balance Coconut and Peanut Spread, and I got creamy and crunchy,  I am pretty excited to share these wonderful finds with you guys.

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PRICE: First off, this peanut butter was not very expensive at all, the price is pretty much identical to Smucker’s All Natural peanut butter, which is great because other gourmet peanut butters can reach up to $8-9 per jar!

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INGREDIENTS: I am pretty impressed with the ingredients, not many plus it’s Non-GMO, Vegan, and gluten-free. The first ingredient is peanuts, which is good because it’s called PEANUT butter! Extra Virgin Coconut Oil is second, hence the flavor of this nut butter is called Peanut-Coconut spread. It also lists agave nectar as the third ingredient, which is a better option rather than sugar to sweeten this spread, also there is probably not much of it since there is only 2 grams of sugar per serving. The last ingredient is Palm fruit oil, which I’m guessing lends to the texture and salt. So not bad for a grommet nut butter!

NUTRITION FACTS: The nutrition facts are identical for both creamy and crunchy. The serving size is the same as Regular PB, a pretty hefty 2 tbsp. Cals are around the same as PB. Fat is high, like regular PB, but good fats coming from the nuts and coconut oil. Sodium is pretty low. Total carbs isn’t bad, only 2 grams of sugar per serving which isn’t bad considering there is a little bit of natural sweetener in it. 

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CONSISTENCY: Both Creamy and Crunchyy have a thick and creamy consistency, but obviously crunchy has chunks of peanut in it. It’s very easy to spread and is not runny at all. I defiantly think that coconut oil lends to the somewhat “firm” and smooth texture of this nut butter. The texture of these nut butters are similar to that of JIF peanut butter, minus the hydrogenated oils. I used to have JIF all the time until I looked at the ingredients, so anyone who has hesitated trying all-natural peanut-butter, will defiantly love this!

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TASTE: I’m in love with this peanut butter! It has a great peanut flavor with a hint of coconut, which I love, from the coconut oil. I like that it is slightly sweet, but not overly sweet which lets the peanut and coconut flavor shine.This is defiantly the best gourmet nut butter that i’ve tasted, plus I love that it is all natural and made with ingredients to help fuel your body, no chemicals or additaves.

I am in LOVE with this product, you can use it instead of peanut butter in pretty much any thing, yogurt, toast, smoothies, ice cream, you name it, and it will taste amazing. Like today, instead of having my natural PB in my greek yogurt, i replace it with some of this for a little hint of coconut to change up my morning breakfast. Or you can use it in one of my many recipes that include Peanut Butter! Enjoy!

Try it in our Peanut Butter Banana French Toast Roll-ups!

Chocolate- Peanut Butter Larabar Dumplings

by 1 Comment

 

Larabars  are my favorite go-to snack.  They are all natural and only contain a few ingredients, and they fill me up really quickly.  I wanted to be creative so I took the larabar to a whole new level, and turned it into a peanut butter and chocolate filled dumpling!  So easy to make and so satisfying!  Replace this as your afternoon pick-me-up or for a light satisfying dessert!

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Chocolate-Peanut Butter Larabar Dumplings

Makes 2 dumplings

  • 1 cashew cookie larabar
  • 2 tsp. peanut butter
  • 4 vegan chocolate chips
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Split larabar into 4 equal pieces.  Using your fingers, press each piece into a flat circle.
  3. spread 1 tsp. of peanut butter on two circles and top with 2 chocolate chips.  Place other two circles on top of filled ones.
  4. Press sides down of top and bottom circles so it makes a dumpling.  Repeat with other dumpling.
  5. Bake for 10 minutes, or until golden.
  6. Enjoy!

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Health Benefits

Larabar

  • All natural ingredients
  • Only two ingredients: cashews and dates
  • No added sugar
  • No artificial ingredients
  • Rich in fiber
  • Naturally sweet from dates
  • Hearty protein from cashews
  • healthy fats from cashew
  • Gluten-free
  • Dairy-free
  • Soy-free
  • Non-GMO
  • Vegan
  • Vegetarian
  • Kosher
  • 100% clean

Peanut Butter

  • Protein
  • No added sugar
  • Healthy fats

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Peanut Butter and Banana French Toast Roll-ups

by 18 Comments

I love french toast, it may be better than pancakes!  I have made so many healthy pancake recipes that I decided it was time to try something different, french toast roll-ups!  These babies have been going viral through Pinterest and other social media websites lately, but if course they are not healthy. My mission was to create the same lovely recipe, but clean it up a bit nutrition wise.  The cinnamon-sugar is a key part in making this dish, so I added all natural unrefined cane sugar that I got from Karis Naturals!  To make it even better, I added peanut butter and banana because who doesn’t love that combination?  

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Peanut Butter and Banana French Toast Roll-ups

Slices of bread are rolled thin, filled with peanut butter and banana, rolled up and dunk into egg mixture, then coated in a cinnamon sugar mixture.  If you like french toast, you love these peanut butter banana french toast roll-ups even more!

 

Peanut Butter and Banana French Toast Roll-ups

Print Recipe

Ingredients
  

  • Makes 10
  • 10 slices ezekiel bread/whole-grain bread
  • 1/4 cup natural peanut butter
  • 1 cup mashed banana about 2 large bananas
  • 2 eggs or 1 egg and 1 egg white, beaten (or 2 flax eggs)
  • 1/4 cup almond milk
  • 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
  • 1 1/4 tsp. cinnamon
  • 1/4 cup coconut sugar

Instructions
 

  • Take crusts off of bread and roll each slice with a rolling pin until flat.
  • Spread peanut butter on each slice then spoon on mashed banana.  Roll the slices up and repeat for all.
  • In a shallow bowl, combine eggs, almond milk, and vanilla.  Mix well.
  • In another bowl, mix the cinnamon and sugar together.
  • Heat a skillet on medium-low heat with coated with cooking spray.
  • Dunk rolls in egg mixture, then add to skillet, cooking them until golden them turning over to the other side.  Repeat with remaining roll-ups.
  • Once out of the skillet, immediately roll in cinnamon sugar mixture.
  • Enjoy!

 

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Health Benefits

  • Protein
  • Fiber
  • Healthy fats
  • Vitamins
  • Minerals
  • All-natural
  • No preservatives
  • No processed ingredients
  • No refined sugar
  • No artificial ingredients
  • Gluten-free
  • Dairy-free
  • Vegetarian
  • Vegan
  • Low-glycemic

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Cinnamon Pumpkin Oatmeal Brûlée

by 12 Comments

 

This healthy Cinnamon Pumpkin Oatmeal Brûlée is a nice change from regular oatmeal and tastes like dessert for breakfast!!!

I always try to come up with different variations of my favorite meals, like oatmeal.  While I love adding pumpkin to it, I wanted to take it up one notch by making it  brûlée-styled.  I was lucky enough  to receive tons of amazing product sample of Karis Naturals, one of them being cane sugar.  Not any kind of can sugar though, this stuff is unprocessed and all-natural, having almost the same health benefits of honey.  It is totally unrefined, and one of the only ones of its kind marketed in the U.S.  Such an amazing find, this can be replaced as refined sugar in recipes to give them a nutritional boost.  I’m telling you, this stuff is amazing!

This healthy Cinnamon Pumpkin Oatmeal Brûlée is a nice change from regular oatmeal and tastes like dessert for breakfast!!!

Click HERE to get your all-natural unrefined sugar!

 

 (adapted from Taste of Home)

Cinnamon Pumpkin Oatmeal Brûlée

Print Recipe

Ingredients
  

  • 1/3 cup oats
  • 1/3 cup almond milk
  • 1/4 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/8 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 Tbsp. pumpkin puree
  • 1/2 Tbsp. golden raisins
  • 1/2 Tbsp. chopped walnuts
  • 1 tsp. all-natural raw cane/coconut sugar
  • Maple Ginger Cream
  • 1 Tbsp. greek/soy yogurt/ricotta
  • 1 tsp. maple syrup
  • 1 Tbsp. almond milk

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  • Combine oats, milk, cinnamon, vanilla, pumpkin, raisins and walnuts in a ramekin. Mix well.
  • Bake for about 15 minutes or until oatmeal is finished cooking.
  • Take out of oven and sprinkle sugar on top.
  • Heat oven to broil (550 degrees) and put oven in oatmeal for about 1 minute, or until sugar is caramelized (watch closely).
  • Combine all ingredients for cream and spoon on top.
  • Enjoy!

This healthy Cinnamon Pumpkin Oatmeal Brûlée is a nice change from regular oatmeal and tastes like dessert for breakfast!!!

Health Benefits

  • Fiber
  • Protein
  • Healthy fats
  • Vitamins
  • Minerals
  • 100% clean
  • No processed ingredients
  • No refined sugars
  • All-natural
  • Vegan
  • Vegetarian
  • Gluten-free
  • Dairy-free

This healthy Cinnamon Pumpkin Oatmeal Brûlée is a nice change from regular oatmeal and tastes like dessert for breakfast!!!

This healthy Cinnamon Pumpkin Oatmeal Brûlée is a nice change from regular oatmeal and tastes like dessert for breakfast!!!

Guilt-free Dessert for Breakfast:Gluten-free Strawberry Cheesecake Muffins

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Who doesn’t love the creamy rich taste of cheesecake?  Its one of the most classic and versatile desserts ever created, so many different flavors!  The calories in cheesecake though, is not acceptable in a clean eating diet, which is why I made a version that is!  Why not have cheesecake stuffed in a muffin for breakfast?  It is clean as can be, with only 1 1/2 Tbsp. agave nectar for the whole recipe!  Gluten-free hearty flour creates a bulk of fiber to keep you full for a while.  And the strawberries and a beautiful taste when added to the cream cheese and muffins, not to mention loads of vitamins and fiber!  So replace these as your dessert when you crave some cheesecake,  They will satisfy your cravings without the added calories!

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Gluten-free Strawberry Cheesecake muffins

Makes 16 Muffins

  • 2 cups brown rice flour
  • 2 cups oat flour
  • 2 tsp. baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
  • 1 cup apple sauce
  • 2/3 cup mashed strawberries
  • 1/2 cup almond milk
  • 2 egg whites, beaten (or flax egg)

Filling

  • 6 oz. fat free/vegan cream cheese, softened (could substitute greek/soy yogurt)
  • 1/2 cup strawberries
  • 2 Tbsp. agave nectar
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Combine flours, baking powder and cinnamon in a large bowl.  Mix well and remaining ingredients, stirring well after each addition.
  3. Place ingredients for filling in a food processor.  Blend for 15 seconds or until mixture is smooth.
  4. Add muffin liners to 16 slots on a muffin tin.  Add 1 spoonful of batter on the bottom of each one.  Then add a spoonful of cream cheese mixture.  Add remaining flour mixture on top, then add remaining cream cheese mixture.  Repeat for all muffins.
  5. Bake for about 30 minutes or until muffins are done.
  6. Enjoy!

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Health Benefits

  • Fiber
  • Protein
  • Vitamins
  • Minerals
  • All natural
  • 100% clean
  • Low glycemic
  • No processed sugar
  • No artificial ingredients
  • Gluten-free
  • Dairy-free
  • Nut-free
  • Vegan
  • Vegetarian

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Green Tea Pistachio Oat Scones

by 7 Comments

I Love any kind of pastry for breakfast!  So good with a giant cup of coffee or tea.  But of course I only eat the pastries that I make, because the store-bought ones are fat laden and full of empty calories.  These ones though have all the good stuff in them, fiber to keep you full, protein and healthy fats to keep you energized and natural sugars to make you feel alert.  There is also green tea to keep you awake with its high caffeine content!  These are perfect dunked into your big’ ol cup a joe, or your breakfast tea blend!  These babies are the perfect go to breakfast, pop one in the microwave and out the door you go!

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Green Tea Pistachio Oat Scones

  • 1 1/2 cup oats
  • 1 cup oat flour
  • 1 tsp. baking soda
  • 1/4 cup pistachio meal (pistachios finely ground up)
  • 1/2 cup apple sauce
  • 1/2 cup green tea
  • 1 1/2 Tbsp. agave nectar
  • 1/4 tsp. cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp. vanilla
  • 1 egg ( or flax egg)
  • 1/4 cup golden raisins
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl.  Mix ingredients together well, scraping the bottom of the pan each time.
  3. Place parchment paper on top of cooking sheet and spoon on batter into a large circle. Using a knife, cut circle into eighths.  Bake for 30 minutes of until golden.
  4. Enjoy!

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Health Benefits

  • Fiber
  • Protein
  • Healthy fats
  • Vitamins
  • Minerals
  • Antioxidants
  • All natural
  • 100% clean
  • No preservatives
  • No processed sugar
  • Gluten-free
  • Dairy-free
  • Nut-free
  • Whole-grains
  • Low-glycemic
  • Vegan
  • Vegetarian

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