Chocolate Chip Gingerbread Chickpea Blondies with Maple Glaze

The following recipe is tested and made by my mom-in-law, Debbie, and has been adapted by the popsugar website:)
Don't be afraid of the chickpeas- they only make this recipe more delicious. There's nothing wrong with trying something new!


For these blondies you will need:

• 1 15oz can of chickpeas
• 1/2 cup cashew butter
• 3 tablespoons maple syrup or honey 
• 2 tablespoons blackstrap molasses 
• 2 teaspoons ground ginger or 1 teaspoon fresh 
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons ground flaxseed or chia seeds- (don't have either? almond or cashew meal)
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves 
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon salt 
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder 
  
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda 
• 1/3 chocolate chips 

1. Blend all of these ingredients easily into your food processor.
2. Spread into a greased 8x8 pan. 
3. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 25-30 minutes. 
4. Cool the bars before cutting into squares to enjoy. To top with glaze use the following recipe.

Glaze: 

• 1 tablespoon cashew butter 
• 2 teaspoons maple syrup or honey  
• 1 teaspoon coconut oil 
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon 
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger 

1. Mix together all ingredients in a medium sized mixing bowl. 
2. Transfer into a Ziploc bag and cut the tip of the bottom and pipe over the cooled blondies. 

Pumpkin Pie Smoothie

This smoothie tastes a lot like you guessed it- pumpkin pie. It's a nice morning treat with very little sugar (only maple syrup), the smoothie still holds a nice sweetness.

This smoothie consists of:

• 1/3 cup of canned pumpkin
• 4 dates (soaked in hot water at least 10 minutes- this will ensure they blend smooth)
• 1/2 cup plain kiefer (I like Sigg's Icelandic) (Can substitute plain yogurt)
• 1 tsp vanilla protein powder (I use a whole food powder from vitacost) this could be substituted with a tsp of ground flax seed
• dash of nutmeg 
• dash of cinnamon 
• 1/2 of a frozen banana
• 1 tablespoon (organic if possible) maple syrup 

Drain water from dates and put all contents in the blender and blend until smooth and enjoy! If the contents are too thick- add more yogurt. 

The Dinner Daily Challenge Part II

The following is a continuation of The Dinner Daily Challenge:

Wednesday night's meal was a southwestern style chili using very simple ingredients. This called for corn, which I skipped and added extra mushrooms- because I am a fan and don't use them enough!

Thursday night featured a crock pot chicken with root veggies. This turned out to be a perfect meal for a cold day that was way too busy to mess with dinner by the end of it! There are two in my family so this gave us plenty of left over chicken to use in salads and sandwiches for later in the weekend. 

 Friday night featured the easiest meal of all to make but for me could have been the most tasteful because I have an unending love for anything pasta.
Friday evening consisted of fresh garlic, baby spinach and tomatoes sauteed and tossed with pasta. I had some roasted red pepper in my fridge that I tossed in too and topped the dish with Parmesan cheese. A true Friday night dish my family could unwind with- Thank you Dinner Daily!
For more information on just what The Dinner Daily can do for your family's weekday meals visit their website (www.thedinnerdaily.com). For more information on how Lettuce Shoppe can  bring the makings of these meals to your home, visit www.lettuceshoppeforyou.com

The Dinner Daily Challenge

Lettuce Shoppe has made efforts with a company called The Dinner Daily (www.thedinnerdaily.com) to collaborate our two businesses. Their idea is for busy families to have accessible, healthy meals at their fingertips in roughly 30 minutes with a meal plan for each day of the week (Monday -Friday) and a grocery list to boot with sale items from grocery stores for a family of four for around $85 at your local grocery- no matter where you shop! They offer a crazy-low price for this service that offers flexibility like veterinarian meals, one for those who don't eat red meat and even one for families of two, which lowers the cost of your groceries buy up to 50%.

We, at Lettuce Shoppe (yours truly, Elizabeth McMullen and Renee Trainor) are featuring this weeks recipes from The Dinner Daily to show just how easy this can be. This list offers plenty of flexibility for substitutions. For example, Liz is not a fan of mushrooms or chunky tomatoes so she can substitute with other veggies. Renee, does gluten free meals so pastas and such are personally substituted with GF pastas or rice.

Follow us this week as we compare side by side our meals from the Dinner Daily highlighting what substitutions we made to suit our families personal preferences.

Monday night features a low carb and high protein Chicken Scramble with tomato and broccoli over a mashed cauliflower.

Renee chose to follow the recipe using ground turkey over chicken.
See our results ...

Tuesday night's dinner appealed to the more classic side of life with a delicious sockeye wild caught salmon (on sale!) topped with garlic and basil and served with roasted broccoli and brown rice. A healthful dinner for sure!
 A nice option with The Dinner Daily is that while they provide you with a complete shopping list, this doesn't have to stop you from adding your own flare to the menu. If it calls for steamed broccoli, certainly roasting it is not against the rules- since there are no rules in cooking. These are merely guidelines for enjoying the ease of not over thinking your weekday meals.

See the next post for Wednesday thru Friday continuation...

"Cookie Dough" Ice Cream

The following recipe is another success of my famous mom-in-law, Debbie. She used chickpeas to simulate cookie dough in this delicious ice cream. You will need an ice cream maker to produce this fine concoction, however, if you do not have one, you may add this "dough" to your favorite purchased ice cream or follow a recipe online for a machine-free ice cream :)
Bon Appetit
xoxo Renee

cookie dough:

• 1 cup cooked chick peas (remove skins and pat dry- I suppose you could use canned "no salt added beans as well, but this is up to your discretion and taste)
• 1 teaspoon coconut flour 
• 1/3 cup almond butter (you could substitute cashew or peanut butter)
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1/3 cup mini chocolate chips (or just chop into small pieces regular chunks) 

ice cream : 

• 2 cups heavy cream 
• 1 cup half& half 
• 1 cup full fat coconut milk, well stirred 
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla 
• a pinch of salt 

1. For the dough, puree all the ingredients minus the chocolate chips in a food processor until absolutely smooth. 
2. Add chocolate chips to the dough and mix. 
3. Dissolve sugar into half and half over medium heat. Cool. 
4. After the half and half mixture has chilled, add all ice cream ingredients into ice cream machine and follow manufacturer's instructions to make ice cream. 
5. While ice cream is mixing in machine, put 1/2 teaspoon  sized balls of cookie dough (using all the dough you've made) on waxed paper over a cooking sheet and place in freezer.
6. When the ice cream is finished in the machine, transfer to a freezer container and add as many or as few cookie dough bites as you like. Stir loosely and freeze to cure no less than a few hours.

Liz (Loves) Lemon Squares

The following lemon squares are made with Liz in mind. She loves lemon!


For the crust:

• 1 stick of butter
• 1/4 cup of coconut oil 
• 2 cups flour (I used 1 1/2 Bob's Red Mill GF blend and 1/2 cup cashew flour) 
• 1/4 cup brown sugar 
• 1/4 cup stevia blend 
• 1/4 cup powdered sugar (also set aside extra for dusting the top if you wish :)
• dash of salt 

For the lemon goodness on top: 

• 6 large eggs (farm fresh with those bright yellow yokes will really bring out the pretty yellow color in the squares) 
• 2 cups sugar (I used a 1/2 cup of stevia here, and the remainder regular organic turbinado) 
• 1/3 cup flour (again, I used Bob's...)
• 2 teaspoons grated lemon zest (I like mine extra lemon-y)
• 1 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice

Making these is a kind of like a 1-2 step. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. 

Grease a 9x13 pan that has been lined with foil. Using a food processor blend all the ingredients for the crust into it forms a dough. Put the dough into the lined pan and press with your fingers the dough into the full bottom of the pan. 

Put into the preheated oven for 25 min until it starts to lightly brown. 

Meanwhile crack 6 eggs into a medium sized bowl and using a sieve (optional) add sugar and whisk together. Add flour removing sieve continue to whisk. Add zest and lemon juice. 

After removing crust from the oven turn the oven down to 300. Add the lemon mixture onto the crust and return to the oven for 30 minutes or until just done in the center. 

Decadent Molten Lava Chocolate Cake

This recipe is adapted from a Food & Wine magazine. I like that it's chocolate that is the real star of the show for this warm, decadent dessert. I also used a rich chestnut flour from Italy, which has a sweetness to highlight the chocolate- this could be substituted with pastry flour or arrowroot flour- or whatever you have that's very smooth for flour.

To make this you will need:

• 1 stick of butter 
• 6 ounces of bittersweet chocolate
• 2 large eggs
• 2 egg yolks
• 1/4 sugar 
• a pinch of salt 
• 2 tablespoons chestnut flour, plus more for dusting 

Preheat the oven to 450. 

Using 6 oz ramekins, butter and flour them- tapping out the extra flour. 

Use a double boiler over simmering water to melt the butter. Add in the chocolate and turn with a rubber spatula to mix well. 

In a medium sized bowl, use an electric mixer to beat the eggs and egg yolks with the sugar and salt at a high speed until pale and thickened. 

Continue to turn chocolate with butter until smooth and glossy. Fold the chocolate into the whipped egg mixture along with the flour until just blended. Spoon this batter into the dusted ramekins and set onto a lipped baking sheet. 

Bake for 10 minutes. The sides should be firm like a cake and center- soft. 

Let the cakes cool a minute or two and then use a knife to release the cake around the edges. Place a plate on top of ramekin and turn up side down on plate. Let this sit for several seconds before pulling ramekin off the cake to serve. 

Bon Appetit xoxo Renee