Green Leaves and Jam

Yummm! That is usually the first word that pops into my mouth when I think about chocolate and peanut butter together. I am such a fan of these two as a combo. Usually when you hear those two together it usually means pretty unhealthy too. I think Reese’s, puppy chow/muddy buddies, no-bakes, you get the idea. Well the best part about these muffins is that they are about as healthy as they can get while still tasting delicious! There isn’t too much sugar, but they still taste like they have quite a bit.

Chocolate and Peanut Butter Swirl Muffins

Prep time

7 mins

Cook time

20 mins

Total time

27 mins

Makes 12 muffins. These are adapted from sallysbakingaddiction.com's Skinny Chocolate Peanut Butter Swirl Cupcakes

Author: greenleavesandjam.com

Serves: 12

Ingredients

¾ cup non-dairy milk of choice
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 cup whole wheat flour
½ cup cocoa
1 tsp vital wheat gluten
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1½ tbsp flax
4½ tbsp water
2 large very ripe bananas, mashed
2 tsp vanilla
½ cup chocolate chips
¼ cup peanut butter

Directions

Heat oven to 375 degrees. In a bowl, stir together the non-dairy milk with the apple cider vinegar and set aside for a few minutes. In a large bowl stir together the flour, cocoa, wheat gluten, baking powder, baking soda, and flax. You may want to sift in the cocoa so you don't end up with chunks of cocoa in your finished muffins. Add in the water, mashed bananas, and vanilla and stir until well combined. Add in the chocolate chips and give it another mixing. Pour batter into greased muffin tins (or you can use cupcake liners if you wish to skip the oil). heat the peanut butter in the microwave and then spoon about a tsp of it into each muffin. Using a knife or a toothpick, swirl the peanut butter around a bit. The swirling turned out best for me when I did 3 different glops into each muffin and then swirled them. Bake in the oven for about 20 minutes at 375 degrees.

Chocolate and Peanut Butter Swirl Muffin2

Hope you enjoy these tasty chocolate and peanut butter swirl muffins!

Kristin

Daniel is the hero of the Book of Daniel in the Bible and is best known for being protected by angels after being cast in the lion’s den. (Maybe you’re familiar with the Veggie Tales version of the story or here’s a video “Daniel in 30 Seconds”.)

Today, in our modern society of plenty, we all feast like kings every day. Instead of feasting on special occasions like most of our ancestors did, every day is a feast day. Dr. John McDougall refers to the average American diet as a constant feast and recommends that we return to practices in the past and choose only a few special events a year in which to indulge in rich foods, if we do it at all.

Back to Daniel…his caregiver was worried about angering the king by not providing the foods that the king had ordered for these boys in training. Daniel proposed that he and his friends eat their plain plant-based foods, grains, seeds and water for ten days and that they then be compared to the other young men to see if they weren’t healthier on their simpler diet.

The test was agreed to and after ten days Daniel and his friends were judged to be healthier than those eating the king’s meat and wine. (Daniel 1:8-16)

Dr. Michael Greger tends to think that doctors may be more successful at getting people to commit to a healthier plant-based diet by telling them that “the bible told them so.”

Enjoy! Julie

My pictures really don’t do these justice. Every single time my husband and I had theses there was a 10 minute discussion about how we needed to start a restaurant with these babies! They are a MUST TRY! So good. I even loved them with just the sub, sauce, meatball and nutritional yeast. No fuss with the peppers or onions. Seriously though, you’ve got to try these! My mouth is watering just looking at the pictures.

First off, I want to give you the lentil meatball and spaghetti recipe that we LOVE to make. I use this recipe over at theppk.com I stumbled upon it about a year ago, and it’s become one of our regulars. I love the sauce too. It’s a little sweet and kinda cheesy tasting. It’s fabulous with the savory lentil meatballs. I will say though that for the meatballs I always end up adding more breadcrumbs than it calls for. I like my meatballs to be a little less gooey when I eat them, so I add about 3/4 cup instead of the 1/2 that it calls for. The dough is also easier to work with that way.

Lentil Meatball Subs

Prep time

5 mins

Cook time

3 mins

Total time

8 mins

Author: greenleavesandjam.com

Serves: 6

Ingredients

6 of your favorite hoagie's
1 batch of the lentil meatball recipe from theppk.com
spaghetti sauce (I use our favorite store-bought one)
nutritional yeast for dusting
opt: grilled onions and peppers

Directions

Cut the hoagies in half and toast them. Spread your favorite spaghetti sauce over the insides of the hoagies. Place some meatballs on top. Sprinkle a little nutritional yeast on them and close your hoagie. Your wonderful creation is now ready to eat!

Once you’ve tried these lentil meatball subs, pop back over here and let us know what you think! Bon appetit!

Kristin

I LOVE Chocolate Chip cookies. Let me start off by saying that these cookies ARE NOT HEALTHY! They have oil and sugar galore! However, they are probably the best vegan chocolate chip cookies that I have had to date. And I have tried a lot.

You would probably only want to have these cookies on holidays (like memorial day), or like my husband and I do sometimes, we only have one of these cookies each after dinner (with the occasional cheat of having 2 each). I just place the dough in a ziploc baggy and throw it in the freezer and then cook the amount I want when I need to.

These cookies are gooey in the center, but have that wonderful crisp outside that I love about chocolate chip cookies. One of my favorite elements of these cookies are the chia seeds. I have made this recipe in the past with flax meal as the egg-replacer, but loved them even more when I used chia seeds instead. This is because the flax meal changed the flavor a bit, while the chia seeds did the same job, but didn’t change the flavor much at all. Which is EXACTLY what I was looking for.

Chocolate Chip Cookies, The Best Vegan Ones Out There!

Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

6 mins

Total time

16 mins

This makes approximately 30 cookies.

Author: greenleavesandjam.com

Ingredients

1 stick plus 2 tbsp vegan butter, or coconut oil* (10 tablespoons total)
½ cup white sugar
½ cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon chia seeds
3 tbsp water
1 tsp vanilla
1¾ cup wheat flour
½ tsp salt
½ tsp baking soda
chocolate chips (the more, the better...)

Directions

Heat your oven to 375 degrees. Mix the butter and the two sugars together. Add in the chia seeds, water and vanilla and mix again. In a separate bowl (sometimes I don't do this and they turn out fine), mix together flour, salt and baking soda. Add in the wet ingredients mixture and stir until combined. Mix in chocolate chips. Bake the cookies for 6 minutes at 375 degrees.
**I have subbed coconut oil in this recipe, and although it works, you will be sacrificing that flavor that only butter can give. Your choice.

I hope you enjoy these oh-so-tasty vegan chocolate chip cookies!

Kristin

I have had many friends ask me about my daughter’s eating habits and if I have any great ideas for how to create good eating habits. Here are some of my thoughts on the matter.

The other night at dinner my daughter not only ate her bowl of salad, but asked for a 2nd, 3rd and 4th bowl. Let me just tell you that this was a VERY momentous occasion. She will open her mouth for salads and usually does alright with the bowl she is given, but she NEVER asks for more! My husband and I watched in awe as she downed bowl after bowl.

It’s these little triumphs that you have to celebrate. Teaching your child to eat vegetables, especially ones that have different, and sometimes strange textures takes time and patience. There have been lots of things that she has in the past refused to eat, but with much persistence on my part, she is now finally eating them, and most of those she’s even enjoying now.

My advice for moms whose children refuse to eat certain foods: keep trying. Give them to your child in multiple different varieties, with different types of seasonings, or cooked in different ways. Don’t settle with the idea that your child “just doesn’t like it,” That phrase is a lie! I believe it was Dr Furhman who said that he doesn’t believe in the idea that people don’t like something, they just haven’t tasted it enough times, or in enough different ways. Just don’t give up! You can do it! There were so many times that I thought to myself “she’s refused this so many times! Why even try?!” But then a few more tries later and she actually ate it.

This was shortly after nap-time, thus explaining the Einstein hair..lol

It may come as a surprise to you, but some of my daughter’s favorite foods are broccoli, green beans, carrots, sweet potatoes..etc. She would take broccoli over any spaghetti, toast, or even apples any day. These were all things that I had to really work with her for her to like. I remember probably about 9 months ago complaining to my friends that the only things my daughter would eat were canned green beans(Yuck!) and pb&j’s. After contemplating what I was feeding my daughter, I realized that this was mostly my fault. Yes, I do believe that my daughter was trying to exercise some agency here in telling me no to foods, but I was also to blame. If she wouldn’t eat what I put in front of her, I broke the golden rule and made her something else! NEVER DO THIS! It creates bad habits. If your kids are hungry enough, they WILL eat. Trust me. It may not even be at that meal, but hold out and realize that they won’t starve. They’re just like any other creature on this planet, they want to survive, therefore they will eat! I believe my daughter has only gone without maybe one or possibly two meals ever because she didn’t want to eat what I had given her. Once she realized that I was serious though she started eating, and now she will at least take 5 or so bites of anything.

I hope this helps someone out there. As much as I’m sure you hate to hear it, be patient! You can do it, and so can you little one, it just takes time.

Kristin

We are happy to announce that we will have another addition to our family of 3! This will be our second child and we couldn’t be happier! With our first we weren’t following anything close to a plant-based diet. We basically followed the average American diet, but perhaps even a little better than the average. I say better because we were poor college students who never went to fast food restaurants AND we had home-cooked meals for dinner and packed sack lunches everyday.

When my husband and I decided we were ready to have another baby, I started researching to see if it was ok to be on a Plant-Based diet while being prego. I had the hardest time finding good info, so I thought I would keep you updated on my pregnancy and let you know the little tid-bits of knowledge that I gain about it while I go through this pregnancy. Keep in mind that I am NOT a Dr! These are just some of my own personal experiences and thoughts.

First of all, I want to let you know that when I told my OB Dr that I ate a plant-based diet, he didn’t have any problems with that. To be honest, I was nervous to tell him because most of the time when I tell Dr’s they look at me funny and usually have a thing or two to say about it. I went ahead and told him and he had no issues with it.

One big question that I had for a while was if it is harder to get pregnant when you are plant-based or vegan. To be honest, I’m not sure. We tried to get pregnant for a year before being blessed with the exciting news that we were in fact pregnant. So, just so you know, you can still get pregnant while eating this way. I’m not sure if the year of waiting was just the Lord’s timing for us, or if the diet made some kind of a difference somehow, but we are pregnant so it all worked out. My Dr told me that a change in diet shouldn’t affect you being able to get pregnant as long as your body isn’t going through the major changes right then (such as the change in diet or weight loss). I had been plant-based/vegan for about a year and I had lost some weight, but had been at that steady weight for about 6-7 months when we started trying to get pregnant.

A perk of being Plant-based while pregnant: I don’t have to worry much about what I’m eating and if it’s ok for the baby. It’s great! During my last pregnancy I had been eating lots of tuna sandwiches( that’s what I was craving) then I found out a few weeks later that that wasn’t ok. I also found out like 20 different other things I wasn’t supposed to eat. It’s nice when someone starts to spout of things you need to stay away from when you’re pregnant, and you’re able to say “I don’t eat that” to pretty much everything. So that’s been one nice perk about this lifestyle during pregnancy.

Perk #2: Let me start off by telling you a semi-embarrassing story. My last Dr told me that I was ok to gain about 30 lbs. I actually ended up gaining about 40 lbs, but they never seemed concerned or anything. When this new Dr asked me how much I weighed before my last pregnancy and how much I weighed at the end, he made a funny face. It was one of those moments that you didn’t realize you should have been embarrassed until after the other person reacts. Whoops!lol Long story short, this Dr told me that the goal is to only gain around 20-25 lbs (I know every Dr is different, so listen to what YOUR Dr says for you!). The good news is that I think it’ll be a lot easier this time around to do that! So far I have gained between 1-2 lbs, whereas, with my last pregnancy I had already gained like 5-10lbs. I remember reading that pregnancy e-mail update that said “now you should gain about a lb a week for the rest of your pregnancy” and I was like What?!? I wasn’t supposed to have already gained this much?? Whoops.

Don’t get me wrong, I am eating when I am hungry. I snack between meals, and I am getting enough food for me and this baby. I just don’t think that I will have the issues of gaining as much as last time because the fat content in the food that I eat now is so different. Before, I used to eat some kind of a cookie or sweet treat( like 3 cookies or more, or brownie ice cream sundaes with homemade chocolate fudge on top) after lunch AND dinner! Now, my husband and I eat just one cookie and only after dinner. That alone will probably help a ton!

The only con I can think of as of right now: I actually crave LOTS of non-vegan things. Especially cheese and dairy desserts. That’s pretty bad. No, I don’t just go out and get them, thankfully. But it has made it harder the last little bit to have motivation to eat my salads that don’t sound good because I’m nauseous.

Anyway, I hope that somewhere along this journey that something I say can help someone out there!

Kristin

We have had so many cold days in Kentucky this “spring”. It was still in the 40s in the mornings up until just a couple of days ago. So while generally we’re not thinking about warm soups this time of year, I was still looking for food to warm me up. Do you ever have vegetables left over from dinner? Maybe a little, sometimes a lot? Sometimes there’s not enough to use in another meal but you don’t want to throw them away. Sometimes there’s a lot left over but the idea of eating them again tomorrow isn’t appealing either. Here’s a solution for your leftover veggies – make a soup. Designate a container in your fridge for short term storage or better yet, in the freezer for long term storage of cooked veggies to be used later. Continue to add to your freezer container until you are ready for a hearty soup. Make a soup base with vegetable broth, stewed or diced tomatoes, and tomato sauce, add your mixed vegetables, spices, pasta and beans and you have a quick meal. Recently, my husband made a large pot of spinach, kale and mushrooms. We ate as much as we wanted of it and then I decided to use the rest for a pot of soup. The complete recipe is below.

Left-over Vegetables Soup

Prep time

5 mins

Cook time

15 mins

Total time

20 mins

Use your left over vegetables to make a homemade soup. In this recipe I used spinach, kale and mushrooms but almost any left over vegetables will work.

Author: greenleavesandjam.com

Serves: 6

Ingredients

left over vegetables (I used 1 pound of spinach and kale and 6 oz of slice mushrooms with minced garlic)
1 15 oz can stewed tomatoes
1 6 oz can tomato paste
1 quart vegetable broth
6 oz cooked whole wheat penne pasta
1 15 oz can kidney beans
2 tbsp Italian seasoning
salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Cook your pasta.
Place all the ingredients in the pot and heat thoroughly.
If your mixed vegetables are frozen you will need to heat a little longer or defrost them in the microwave first.
Enjoy!

I really like to have healthy peanut butter but I hate paying the price for the healthier versions. I thought to myself the other day “why not make it?” So i did. I just used my food processor and blended the ingredients and it was super tasty. I don’t think that I will always be homemaking my own peanut butter from hear on out, but I’ll probably make it every once in a while when we run out of store-bought peanut butter. There is just something so awesome and kind of satisfying about having your own homemade peanut butter. I was so proud of it, just ask my husband!lol

I used sea salt though and I felt that it was too salty for my family’s taste buds, so I would recommend using normal salt and adding it in slowly while tasting it as you to to make sure it’s not too much for you.

Homemade Peanut Butter

Cook time

10 mins

Total time

10 mins

This made 2 small jars full, or probably one large jar.

Author: greenleavesandjam.com

Ingredients

4 cups peanuts (I used roasted)
4 tsp agave or maple syrup
½ tsp salt
up to 3 tsp oil

Directions

In a food processor or blender, blend your peanuts until they are smooth. This took about 7 minutes in my food processor. Add in the remaining ingredients and blend again until they are all mixed in. For the salt and the oil, add them in slowly. Only add the amount that you think your peanut butter actually needs.

I hope that when you’re done making your homemade peanut butter that you will be just as proud of it as I was! Enjoy!

Kristin

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Green Leaves and Jam, a Plant-Based Diet

Chocolate and Peanut Butter Swirl Muffins

Bible Support for a Plant-based Diet

Lentil Meatball Subs

Chocolate Chip Cookies, The Best Vegan Ones Out There!

Feeding Kids a Plant-Based Diet: A Journey

Pregnancy and a Plant-Based/Vegan Diet

Leftovers Vegetable Pasta Soup

Homemade Peanut Butter