Recipe - marykatekopec.com

Recipe Revamp: Sweet Potato Oatmeal Bread

Sweet Potato Oatmeal Bread

Hey Beautiful Blossom! Looking for a hearty, filling, delicious gluten-free, no-added-sugar, nutrient-dense yummy for your tummy this fall?

This is here is my sweet potato oatmeal bread, and I’m addicted!

The Recipe Revamp comes from the base oatmeal bread I revamped from Hungry Hobby. I’ve used it for so many variations … it’s crazy delicious! If you missed my mouthwatering Fruit Bread version for French Toast, check it out here!

(I have so much gratitude to give to Hungry Hobby for their savory oat sandwich bread recipe! It saved my newly minted and ongoing gluten-free life. I needed “bread” options, and this recipe is a life saver!!!)

Once again, I’ve tweaked and twinkled to get a delightful, nutritious, good-for-me yummy! I make it year round, but with the cinnamon and nutmeg and sweet potato … it makes me think of Fall, Thanksgiving/Gratitude-Giving and happiness!

It seriously takes all of a few minutes to mix, 5 minutes to sit in the baking dish to set, and 45 minutes to bake. Then devour!

Ingredients and How-To:

2 3/4 cup course oatmeal flour
1/4 cup ground flaxseed
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 tbsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1 can sweet potato puree
1/8 cup milk
2 eggs

Mix all the dry ingredients in your big mixing bowl really well. Add in all the wet ingredients. Mix thouroughly, and dump/spread into greased/sprayed loaf pan. Let sit for 5 minutes to set up. Bake at 350 degrees F for 45-50 minutes. Cool, slice, devour!

For those of you not ready to cut out sugar, you could add up to 2 tbsp of sugar. But … maybe try without first.

This sweet potato oatmeal bread pairs really well with a hot ginger cinnamon tea/milk!!! OMG! Also pairs really well with turkey breast … drooooooooooooooool! It will definitely be part of my Gratitude-Giving Day dinner celebration!!!

Tower Garden by Juice Plus+. Mary Kate Kopec. Love and Big Hugs!

Recipe Revamp (no added sugar + fruity makeover) Fruit Bread for MK’s Fruit Bread French Toast!

Fruit Bread French Toast. gluten free. no added sugar. Mary Kate Kopec. Love and Big Hugs!

Fruit Bread for MK’s Favorite Food: Fruit Bread French Toast

Liberally coat glass bread pan with cooking spray (or could line with baking paper and spray that)

1 3/8 cup oat flour (I buy Bob’s Red Mill Oats, gluten-free, and grind in my food processor.)
1/8 cup ground flaxseed (Bob’s Red Mill, gluten-free)
1/8 cup chia seeds
3/8 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
½ cup finely chopped pecans (optional, but delicious)

1 cup frozen blueberries (I especially like the wild blueberries, as they are smaller, and more nutritious, and they get super distributed throughout the bread! Yummy!)
1/2 cup frozen cherries, chopped (as finely as you’d like … the finer you chop, the more distribution)
1/4 cup frozen peaches, chopped (as finely as you’d like … the finer you chop, the more distribution)

Snap of a double batch in progress!

1 ½ tsp vanilla
1 egg
1/2 c milk (can use water/milk substitute)

Double batch, mixed and sitting in bread pans for 5 minutes before baking.

Bake for 45 minutes to an hour. I look for medium brown loaf edges (thus, glass baking dish, no baking paper for me). I also use the toothpick test. Here’s the thing. You are looking for “dryer” but still crumbly on the toothpick. Depending on where you poke, the fruit in the bread can “lie” to you, making the bread look gooey wet when it isn’t. So try a few pokes. Mostly, in my oven, I just go for about an hour and call it good. The bread will likely be a bit moist, but it’s DELICIOUS this way.

Allow to cool in pan for a while (long enough you can handle touching the pan). Then use a firm, but pliable spatula (nylon, silicone) to dislodge sides and gently pry from bottom of pan.

Once completely cool, you can use a bread knife to cut into slices. (If you cut while hot/warm, it super crumbles … and although the crumbles still taste yummy, it’s harder to make French Toast … and even though I tried bread pudding to “save” a once crumbled loaf, it wasn’t as good as the French Toast … so patience, my beautiful blossom. Patience.)

Beat one egg with a hearty splash of milk
Individually dip 2 slices of bread into mixture and add to low heat pan with ghee (or oil/butter of choice for non sticking)
Sprinkle wet side with cinnamon
When bottom side down is golden brown of choice, flip and sizzle second side (may need to add a little extra ghee/butter/oil … the added cinnamon can “dry up” the oil.

In separate sizzle pan, add dab of ghee and “omelet up” or scramble the remaining egg mixture. I add cheese for a cheezy egg!

This recipe revamp comes from this delicious basic oat sandwich bread recipe I found online here. I dropped the sugar. Added a bunch of ingredients until perfection. And voila.

I have so much gratitude to give to Hungry Hobby for their savory oat sandwich bread recipe! It saved my newly minted and ongoing gluten-free life. I needed “bread” options, and this recipe is a life saver!!!

I have used this basic bread for SO many variations: “rye,” pumpkin, sweet potato, fruit, plain sandwich, & cinnamon raisin. I’m still planning to try variants with apples, and also I want to try an “oatmeal cookie” version using my highly sought after oatmeal cookie raisin recipe as a foundation. So … more to come … if you holla for more!

Now, in all honesty, I think this Fruit Bread is incredibly delicious!!! But my honeybun thinks it’s not yummy at all. The difference between us is the sugar. I don’t eat it any more, or much at all, and he still does. He’s still in love with all the old gluten things I used to be able to eat: cake, gluten bread, cookies … sugar. So … if you loves sugar, too, and fear you might not find this bread sweet enough, just add up to a tbsp of your sugar of choice.

One more quick note … in case you are comparing to the Hungry Hobby recipe and wondering why I added chia seeds … well … 2 reasons: 1. they are incredibly nutritious and OH SO GOOD for you, and 2. they absorb moisture like champions, so they help with the excess moisture caused by the addition of the fruit … win win!

And that my delightful dollops of Fruit Bread French Toasty goodness is it.

My favorite food!!! Second to this is my Incredibly Low Sugar Vanilla Pudding Soup … which I could gobble and gobble and gobble for days on end. I haven’t added the recipe here, cuz my honeybun be thinking that’s crazy … ain’t no one gonna like my “non” sweet nilla pudding. Well, if you think you might, holla, and I’ll add it here. Cuz to me, it’s INCREDIBLY good!

Happy nutritious eating!

Thanks for being here with me and sharing time and trying my happy things!!!

Love you so much!

Big huggin you tight!

Recipe: Nut & Seed Munch

Superfoods, Healthy Fats, & Yummy Tasting, … Oh My!

1-2 tbsp pumpkin seeds
1 tbsp hazelnuts
1 tbsp pecans
1 – 2 tbsp sunflower seeds
1 tbsp walnuts

Now you can put all of this in a chopper/processor to get a finer munch … I do, sometimes … it helps me not have to chew for a hundred years, lol, plus, it provides for a unified taste, which I love! Or you can keep the seeds and nuts whole, which I also do, sometimes. Your happy choice!

From here, I add:

3 tbsp of cacoa nibs
3 tbsp of coconuts chips
a heapful of freeze-dried strawberries and/or blueberries
sometimes I add freeze dried banana chips
sometimes I add dried apples rings
the possibilities are endless.

It’s worth noting I mix up the ingredients of choice all of the time, swapping in any variety of nuts and seeds I like: walnuts, sesame seeds, etc. Sometimes, I make efforts to cycle my seeds for improving hormone balance, but sometimes, I’m just happy to gobble.

Just in case you’re wondering, seed cycling means eating pumpkin seeds and ground flax seeds in the first half of your cycle to support estrogen production, and eating sunflower and ground sesame seeds in the second half for progesterone production. Feel free to web search this topic … it’s quite interesting … and I’m all about giving my body nutrients it needs to do all the hard work it is doing for me!!!

Also, my love muffin, Pauli, thinks this is “dry,” and he hates “dry” foods … so if you want to wet it up, consider yogurt, froyo, a lightly sweetened vanilla pudding, etc. I make my own vanilla pudding and have combined them … so good. So options for you!!! Although, having mentioned Pauli isn’t about “dry” foods, he has come to love his daily nut munch, and eagerly asks me to make some for him, too (admittedly, tho, he requests mini chocolate chips and raisins in his, instead of the berries) … but my honeybun is eating healthy goodness, and that’s WON-DER-FUL!!!

And of course, because gluten-free is essential for me, this is a gluten-free dish!

Oh, and just a quick side note for those of you who might be freeeeeeeeaking out about the “fat” in this dish … worried it’s gonna “fatten you up.” I can tell you this. I eat a big bowl of this practically everyday, along with my anti-inflammatory minded daily foods (and lots of them, cuz when you’re eat’n healthy, for nourishment and wellness, you get A LOT of room to eat LOTS of goodness, all while reaping the exciting benefits of achieving healthy weight. … Meaning, I eat this big ol’ bowl of “fat” along with a ton of other foods (Pauli marvels at how much I eat and calls me a bottomless pit), and my weight averages about 119 lbs for a 5’5″ person. (And I’m not over here doing hours of cardio to burn it all off, either. I do my daily yoga, meditation, 2 minutes of gentle rebounding, and about 15 minutes of gentle walking or dancing [spiced up walking] … remember, I suffer from fatigue issues, so I can’t be marathoning anything!) So … eat well, and don’t worry about “fattening up” … you’re body will heal and seek healthiness naturally. … I don’t know if this reassurance helps you not be afraid, but I can assure you this is a really nutrient dense bowl of goodness to eat. Love you so big!

Well, I sure hope you will give this a try, because, it is truly delicious and ridickerously good for you!

Sending you my biggest love and most gigantic hugs!

Recipe Revamp (Low Sugar) Spicy Orange Anti-Inflammatory Dream Crackers

Spicy Orange Anti-Inflammatory Dream Crackers

½ c butter (good fat of your choice, but butter tastes so good)
3 eggs
1 Tbsp blackstrap molasses
1 Tbsp turmeric
1Tbsp ground ginger
1 Tbsp ground black pepper
2 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp orange extract
½ tsp salt
½ tsp baking soda
1 ½ c cassava flour
4 small splashes of milk (it’s what I needed to help my dough stick together better, can try without and add at the end if you need/like)

In mixing bowl, add butter, eggs, molasses, orange extract, and milk. Mixy blend well.

In another small bowl, combine and mix well: turmeric, ginger, pepper, cinnamon, salt, and baking soda. Add to wet, and mixy blend well.

Finally add in cassava flour and mixy blend well. You should have a big ol’ clump of wetter than dry batter that you can roll out easily.

Roll dough flat (1/8″ – ¼” inch thick).

Devour!

MK thoughts and notes:

This recipe actually comes from my holiday search for cookies. I found this Paleo Anti Inflammatory Spice Cookie recipe at All the Nourishing Things website, and as I read the recipe, I thought …. Hmm, this could make a tasty cracker to go along with bone broths, soups, green drinks, etc. A quick scan of the ingredients and the decision to delete the sugar (except keep the molasses) and add a pinch of salt for baking, and I was off and running.

I followed Lindsey’s instructions, except that I found the dough to be a bit dry toward the end for me, so I added some splashes of milk to get it to hold together more (you could use water instead if you need to, or perhaps a bit more egg). I didn’t roll mine out so much as smoosh them flat with a spatula, and then cut with a pizza cutter. But they tasted SOMIGOSH GOOD, that I’ve already made a few batches and will keep making them. I’ve changed up the mixy directions a lil bit for ease and convenience to me, but pretty much, Lindsey is on point.

The short of it is this … if you want the cookie for a healthier alternative, keep the sugar … I’m certain you won’t be disappointed. And if you want an excellent tasting cracker (that sounds delicious with some cream cheese … next up on my list to try), then this Spicy Orange Anti-Inflammatory Dream Cracker is just the cracker you are looking for!

My very happy tastebuds give tremendous gratitude to All the Nourishing Things for making my dream cracker dreams comes true! Be sure to check out Lindsey Dietz’s website for more delicious goodies … she’s on this healthy thing SO GOOD!!!! And she gives great guidance and helpful healthy info along with her recipes!!!! I’m absoloodily thrilled to have found her!!!!

My plate of dream crackers with my green drink!

I sincerely hope you enjoy these as much as I do!

Living an anti-inflammatory life is the way to go for happiness and healthiness, and these crackers (or cookies, if you prefer) are a great addition to your wellness living!

Hugging you so big today!

Recipe Revamp (Low Sugar)
Peppermint Drop Cookies

2 tsp coconut sugar (This is 8 grams of sugar, total, for the whole batch, which means about ½ gram of sugar per cookie!)
¼ c butter
1 egg
½ tsp peppermint extract
½ tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp baking power
1/8 tsp salt
1 ¼ c almond flour

Add coconut sugar, butter, & egg into medium sized mixing bowl and blend with a handheld mixer until mixied up … about 30 seconds to a minute. (You could use a stand mixer, but this is a smaller sized recipe … so, maybe consider doubling if using a stand mixer.)

Add in peppermint and vanilla extracts. Mixy up for about 20 seconds.

Sprinkle salt and baking powder on top of batter (to distribute around a bit). Dump in almond flour. Mixy up until well blended.

You should have a softish batter that drops like little, perfect, lil magic cookie drops onto your cookie sheet.

If you like, line a cookie sheet with some baking paper.

Spoon dropfuls of cookie batter onto your pan a lil bit apart from each other. (They don’t raise up or spread out much, so you can place them lil bit close together.)

You should get about 15 – 18 cookies (depending on how big you make your drops).

Let cool for as long as you can stand to wait … then devour!

MK’s thoughts & notes:

Once upon a time, I used to eat cookies … lots of different, happy, delicious cookies, especially at the holidays!

But then, my health went super duper wonky, and I found out my inflammation markers were elevated. As inflammation leads to chronic diseases (none of which I want), I decided added sugar HAD TO GO!!! I started with a straight up elimination. If it had added sugar, no matter what kind, I didn’t eat it. Over the year, I’ve learned that some sugars aren’t quite so bad for you (things like coconut sugar, maple syrup, molasses, monk fruit, etc) as they have healthy nutrients not found in processed sugar. So for this past Christmas, I decided I would seek out recipes that could help me have some of my favorite cookies of old, but in a far more healthier and nutritious way.

I chose this original recipe from naturalpaleofamily.com, because I considered making cut out cookie shapes for the holidays. But I also wanted it for making a childhood favorite, peppermint candy cane cookies. In my sugar days, I used to simply take a sugar cookie dough and tweak it with some peppermint extract and some red food coloring (in half the dough) the roll out lil strands of red and white dough, twisty them together, and voila … candy cane cookies.

Long story short, the batter looked so droppable, I just decided to make drops. And since I only eat organic foods now (see above chat about inflammation and my desire to reduce mine), I didn’t add any food coloring.

These cookies have a super yummy light peppermint flavoring with just a hint of sweetness. The almond flour gives them a chewiness … meaning you have substance to chew on rather than the fluff of empty calorie/almost zero nutrition/inflammation promoting processed flour and sugar in the cookies of old.

Prefer more sweetness? You could add more sugar if you like … the original recipe calls for more. Play around with the sweetness, but use a healthier, more nutritious sugar.

I hope you love and enjoy these! They go really well with cupp hot chockit (pictured above: milk, vanilla extra, and cacao powder – a straight up superfood), and probably coffee (but yucko, I don’t like coffee, so you’ll have to try it and see.)!