Carolyn Braden: How to Make Oreo Pops

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5tfyZNwJ7Y

InStyle Mag: Wendy's Wunderbars by Carolyn Braden

I created Wendy's Wunderbars from InStyle Magazine and they are yummy. They are the perfect combination of sweet, sour and salty in a healthy snack. Here is the recipe (made a little easier by me). 

Place wax paper in a 8 oz. square baking pan, covering the entire pan. 

Melt 2 oz. dark chocolate (I used 71% cacao organic chocolate) with 1 oz. unsweetened baking chocolate in a double boiler. 

I created my own double boiler by melting the chocolate in a saucepan that was sitting on top of another saucepan filled with boiling water. 

While the chocolate is melting, finely chop 1/3 cup shelled pistachios with 1/3 cup toasted almonds (I toasted my almonds for 6 minutes on 400 degrees). 

Finely chop 8-9 oz. halved and pitted dates. You can use a food processor if you wish. 

Combine the dates with 1/3 cup dried cherries. Mix in 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract and 1/8 tsp. sea salt.

Mix all ingredients together (either in a food processor or by hand) and pour into the wax paper covered baking pan. Cover with wax paper and press all the ingredients firmly into the pan. Chill until firm. (About 1 hour). 

Remove from pan and use a serrated knife to cut it into 16 bars. 

Carolyn Braden: Clean Living and Eating, Humans and Animals

It's been almost a year since I committed my life to clean living. My husband and I have not felt deprived of 

anything since starting our new way of life.

We treat food as energy instead of an indulgence and that's what it's supposed to be.

The only big change we felt was not being able to eat out as much. That was actually a great change

because it saves so much money! We've found a few restaurants in Louisville that fit our way of life and 

whenever we travel, we do a little research before we go and can always find filling and good food. 

Fast food was an issue until I put together a meal plan for Wendy's. When you travel by car, finding a place 

to eat that is healthy is very difficult. We used to think Subway was such a great alternative to McDonald's but

that is so not true! Wendy's has baked potatoes that are just that; baked. They don't add anything to them prior 

to or during the baking process. I add a garden salad (dressing free) on top of the potato with a little salt (they

have sea salt) and pepper. 

Whenever possible, we pack a cooler with my homemade organic chicken salad, waters, Cliff or Kind Bars and 

kettle chips or Blue Diamond Nut Thins. 

Yes, people may think we are strange because of our new way of life but we don't worry about that.  I just 

don't think most people in the United States know much about health. When someone comes along with a

strong statement about health, they turn away because they hear it all the time. There's not a day that goes by

that news isn't saying something else will cause cancer. We are so numb to hearing terrible things so we don't

listen when it's actually true. After all the research my husband and I have done we know what to listen to and 

what not to. 

My clean living started with exercise, as it's always been a part of my life. Branching out into the clean world of

eating came next. Now I am starting to pay much more attention to the products I use to clean the house and

the products I use on my body. I switched to Natracare tampons recently. They are 100% organic cotton. I 

discovered my Playtex tampons were made with rayon and bleached cotton (and they never really did a great 

job) which is not a good thing to put in such an important part of the female body. The pure cotton ones are 

wonderful and not any more expensive. 

We are also very conscious about the food we feed our animals. We have our "kidney patient" cat eating 

Nature's Variety Instinct wet food, our Maine Coon on wet Wellness Core food and our dogs on Merrick wet 

and dry food. We're trying to wean our Maine Coon off of Core, but she's picky so it will take a while. Although, 

Core isn't a bad product. We just want her to eat on what our other kitty is eating to make it easier.

(He can't tolerate the phosphates in Core and will get sick if he eats her food).

People think eating organically and using healthy products is too expensive. I sometimes hear people in Whole 

Foods and Rainbow Blossom (the people that stop in, not their regular shoppers) gasping when they look at the 

prices. Eating clean actually fills you up longer because of the lack of preservatives and fillers. Thus, it is actually 

the better deal. But in reality, would you really put a price on your life and health? 

I know we can't rid our lives of everything harmful but we can try. I wish more people would truly take the time

to see what is going into their bodies. I still get sick sometimes and know my way of life doesn't make me 

perfect. I just know it is a smart thing to do. America needs to get on the bandwagon of other countries and

ban the GMO's. In closing, look that one up. See what a GMO is and why America sneaks them in.

 I'll give you one hint on why America allows them: Money. 

Two yummy organic and GMO-free meals: Quinoa Coconut Milk and Almond breakfast and Summer Veggie

Curry.

Clean Eating with Quinoa and Coconut Milk Organic Breakfast

I tried this recipe from Our Best Bites.

Here's the link: 

http://www.ourbestbites.com/2013/06/coconut-almond-breakfast-quinoa/

It was yummy and very filling. There's so much you can do with quinoa!

Summer Vegetable Curry #Organic and #GMO Free

I found a recipe for Summer Vegetable Curry on this site: 

http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/summer-vegetable-curry-recipe.html

I changed it up a little to make it a little easier to make. 

I added 4 tablespoons of coconut milk (the thick part at the top of the can) with 2.5 tablespoons of curry paste

and 1/2 teaspoon sea salt to a large pan. I brought it to a simmer on medium heat. I added 2 chopped green

onions once it was simmering. 

I cut about 6 small purple potatoes into small chunks and the rest of the can of coconut milk and let it all 

simmer on medium, covered, for 10 minutes. 

While that cooked, I cut 3 stalks of broccoli into florets and about 6 oz. of firm tofu. I added them to the potato

mixture after the first 10 minutes. I added about 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice, 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander

and 1/2 teaspoon fresh cilantro. I allowed everything to simmer on medium heat for about 5-10 more minutes. 

You can add any vegetable to this dish and add more or less curry and salt. Just taste as you go to make sure

you have it the way you want it. This was enough for 3 people to have a good sized meal. You can try serving

it over cooked quinoa so it will serve more.

Eating right can taste great! Just do a little experimenting and you can make delicious meals that are healthy for

your family every night of the week.            

The Best Gluten Free Organic Brownies: Wholesome Chow

I love Wholesome Chow's mixes. I recently made their brownies. I used coconut oil instead of butter. They were light and full of chocolate flavor. The fact that they are organic, gluten and GMO free is an added bonus. I purchased this mix at T.J. Maxx.

Gluten Free Sea Salt Caramel Brownies: #Pinterest Pin!

Yet again I have had another Pinterest pin success. This recipe is for Sea Salt Caramel Brownies from glutenfreefix.com and it proved to be great! They are very rich but so good. Next time I will make them without the caramel. I loved the sea salt and caramel but sometimes I just like a good plain brownie. Although these are gluten free and sweetened with honey, they are as good as my "best ever" homemade brownies I made in the past with regular flour.

Carolyn Braden's #Firetruck #Cake: #Birthday

Here is my version of a firetruck cake. I created it for my nephew's 3rd birthday. I haven't made a fondant cake in a while but it still turned out exactly the way I wanted. It was a fresh strawberry cake (I pureed strawberries and added them to the batter) with sliced strawberries as the filling.

Carolyn Braden: Wholesome Chow Cupcakes, #glutenfree

These are the best cake mixes ever. Wholesome Chow cake mixes are organic and gluten free but full of flavor. I've made their chocolate, spiced chai and lavender cake. All three are yummy! I wasn't sure I'd like the lavender but it really tastes good. The lavender adds a bit of a spice flavor. Two mixes made 22 cupcakes. I made my own organic buttercream for these cupcakes.

Carolyn Braden's Wholesome Chow Organic/Gluten Free Cupcakes

These were truly the best cupcakes from a mix! They may be gluten free and organic but you could fool anyone into thinking otherwise. I used Wholesome Chow's organic and gluten free chocolate cake mix and their vanilla icing mix. I purchased the mixes at a local T.J. Maxx. I was able to get 10 large cupcakes from the mix. I kept them in the refrigerator. To add my own element, I added organic chocolate pudding. I scooped some mix into the cupcake liner, then some pudding and topped it off with more mix. It really made the cupcakes extra moist.