Beat the heat with Healthy Snow Cones! (Dye Free, Syrup free!)

One of my all time favorite things on a hot Summer day is a giant rainbow snow cone.  

Every time we pass the isle in the store with the machine, those cute little cups and the shelves of rainbow syrups, Sylvia begs me to buy them.  I love the idea of making them ourselves, but hate the idea of the amount of sugar the kids would be eating.

Today I got inspired in the store when I saw those cute little cone cups on sale.  I picked up 3 different healthy juices in bright colors and rushed home.

Ice to snow in a few seconds in my awesome Ninja!!  

(I'm sure you can use any kind of blender.) 

Pack it nicely in the cute snow cone cup. (I used a rounded measuring cup)

I used a straw to insert the color juices

The kids inhaled them!  They had no idea they were healthy!

SUCCESS!!

Double Chocolate avocado banana flax cookies (Made with coconut sugar)

I discovered something new in the store!  Coconut sugar!  I've heard it mentioned a few times in mommy blogs as a healthier sugar alternative, but have not seen it before.  I found it today and it inspired me to make some extra special cookies for our toddler guest and his mom.  I know his mom really likes chocolate, so I knew I wanted to use the good stuff and make it extra chocolaty.

These turned out divine.  They are fluffy and soft, but super chocolaty.  You can't even taste the avocado and maybe only a hint of the banana when they are super hot, but once they cool the chocolate takes front and center.

I look forward to learning more about this coconut sugar too.  This is good stuff! It has a brown sugar vibe but the texture is lighter.  It almost has a coffee aftertaste. 

INGREDIENTS

1 bag of Dark Chocolate Baking Chips (Dark chocolate is better for you!)
1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
1 ripe avocado
1 ripe banana
1 cup coconut sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup unsifted white flour
1 cup unsifted wheat flour
¹/₄ cup rolled oats
¹/₄ cup unsweetened dark cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
4 TBLSP of flax seeds
¹/₂ teaspoon salt

INSTRUCTIONS

Heat oven to 375ºF. Stir flour with baking soda, rolled oats, flax seeds, cocoa powder and salt; set aside. In large mixing bowl, beat butter, smashed banana, avocado with sugar at medium speed until creamy. Add eggs one at a time and vanilla. Mix on low speed until incorporated. Gradually blend dry mixture into creamed mixture. Stir in chocolate chips. 

Drop by tablespoon onto parchment liked cookie sheets and smash down with wet fingers or back of spoon (These cookies do not flatten while baking) . Bake for 11 minutes.

The eating rainbow

I made a fruit salad snack for the kids.  They pretty much inhaled it (Marshmallows first, of course)

Orange, apple, kale & honey cupcakes

For the cupcakes:
2 cups, packed raw kale leaves, woody stalks discarded or two cups of baby Kale
½ cup unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup of honey
1/2 cup of applesauce
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 orange, zest and juice
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup white flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt 

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350F. Line or grease a muffin tray.
Tear kale leaves into bite-sized pieces and boil or steam for a few minutes until tender. Refresh in cold water, drain and puree in food processor. Set aside.
In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, and then beat in the kale, vanilla, applesauce, honey, orange juice and zest of entire orange.
Sift in the flour, baking powder and salt and stir to gently combine.
Fill the muffin cups ¾ full with the batter and bake for 18 minutes or until an inserted skewer comes out clean. Allow to cool in the tins for 10 minutes then remove and allow to cool completely on a wire rack. 

We served with some strawberry jam in the middle. Made for a healthier dessert alternative. The kids totally thought they were getting cake, but these cakes are filled with happy vitamins!