Sweet Potato Burritos with Avocado Salsa Verde

9/6/20: I seriously still love this recipe! Still, I'm going to update it to reflect some of my tweeks. Since this is an involved recipe, I like to quadruple the spices and have my own "spice blend" in the pantry so I can just measure once and add 3.5 tsp of the blend to the sweet potatoes. Just a thought. Okay, on to the recipe...

California, how I miss thee. The wonderful weather, the self-driving Google cars, the parks every two blocks, and even the hipster eating trends. Okay, less so on the last one; I never even tried cold-pressed juice, and my first kale salad was in Utah, surprisingly.

Nonetheless, there seemed to be a self-awareness about healthy eating in our little town that a girl could appreciate. This meal makes me think of two things: California and Shay. Shay is the angel woman who brought me dinner not once, but thrice during those oh-so-difficult first months of new motherdom when SourPatch was so hungry and took such short naps. I have to say, this meal knocked me off my socks. It is amazingly delicious. It tastes fresh and flavorful, and it is packed with, well, vegetables. And the avocado sauce? It is sooooo good. So good.

I make this meal all the time, as, apparently, does Elin. I have to admit that it's tricky sometimes to avoid scorching the sweet potatoes. I've decided the key is to be generous with the oil and to check/stir the potatoes often. Also, if you've discovered the wonder of using silicon baking mats, I find they really help the potatoes achieve a nice, even roast without burning. Don't sweat it, though, if you accidentally let the edges get black. It's also a forgiving recipe. For example, Elin always leaves out the roasted red peppers, while I tend to omit the toppings. Sometimes I forget to buy cilantro and leave it out of the salsa, or my avocados are unusually large or small. Yet it always tastes delicious. Elin also uses corn tortillas and omits the cheese to create a gluten-free, dairy-free version which she prefers. So many options!

Also, I just spent a thorough 3 minutes browsing the internet to see if this recipe makes enchiladas or burritos. It seems to be a hybrid. I'm going with burritos? It's a big decision... kind of stressing me out.

Sweet Potato Burritos with Avocado Salsa Verde

Adapted from Cookie+Kate

INGREDIENTS

Burritos

4 medium sweet potatoes

¼-⅓ cup olive oil

1 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon paprika

¼-½ teaspoon cayenne

1 teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon black pepper

8-10 whole wheat tortillas (I use 8 inch)

1 12-oz jar roasted red peppers, drained and cut into long strips

2 15-oz cans black beans, rinsed and drained

2+ cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese

Avocado Salsa Verde

3-4 ripe avocados

2 cups mild salsa verde, jarred

4 garlic cloves, roughly chopped

2 limes, juiced (approximately 4 tablespoons lime juice)

½ cup packed cilantro leaves
Optional: 1 to 2 teaspoons fresh jalapeño, deseeded and roughly chopped

Optional toppings:

shredded romaine

diced red onion

sour cream

1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit. Rinse, peel, and chop the sweet potatoes  into large, bite-sized chunks, about 1.25x1.25x0.5 inches. In a separate bowl, mix the olive oil with the cumin, paprika, cayenne pepper, salt and pepper. Toss the sweet potatoes in the olive oil, making sure they are lightly coated in oil on all sides. Spread the sweet potatoes in a single layer onto two large baking sheets lined with foil or parchment paper. Bake for 40-45 minutes, stirring the sweet potato chunks every 15 minutes, until they are cooked through and caramelized around the edges. 

2. While the sweet potatoes bake, make the avocado sauce. In a food processor or blender, combine the avocado flesh, salsa verde, garlic, jalapeño (if adding), lime juice, and cilantro. Blend until smooth and well-combined.

3. To assemble the burritos: In the middle of each tortilla, put down a couple strips of roasted red pepper, then add 1/3 cup roasted sweet potato chunks. Add 1/4 cup black beans down the center and top with 1/3 cup of Monterey jack cheese on top. Gently roll the burrito. Assemble remaining burritos. Bake the burritos at 350 degrees for about 5 minutes or until the cheese is melted and the tortillas are lightly crisp and golden.

4. Carefully transfer each burrito to a plate. Smother it in avocado sauce and add desired toppings.

Beef & Barley Vegetable Soup - The Perfect Beginning to Autumn and Winter Feasting

Does anyone else get excited for soup season? That is what I just now decided to call when it is cool enough to start making delicious, aromatic, savory soups.

I adapted this treasure of a recipe from one that my mother-in-law sent me last year. Basically, everything about this soup is healthy (you can take out the beef if you want to) and it freezes really well. You can freeze it into single portions and take it for lunch.

Beef and Barley Vegetable Soup

2 c. pearled barley--cook per pkg. instructions while preparing the rest of the soup.

2 Tbs. olive oil

1-2 lbs beef stew meat (you can usually find chunks of beef that are perfect for stew in the meat aisle)

2 c. chopped onion

6 carrots, chopped

4 cloves garlic, minced

8 c. beef or vegetable broth

2 (14.5 oz) cans diced tomatoes

2 Tbs. tomato paste

1 Tbs. Worchestershire sauce

1 tsp. balsamic vinegar

1 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. ground black pepper

6 c. chopped baby spinach or 1 10-oz. pkg frozen spinach, OR 6 c. finely chopped kale (can substitute cabbage as well)

While barley cooks, brown the beef and saute onion and carrots in olive oil for 5 minutes (use a large stockpot--this recipe makes 8 three-cup servings).. Add garlic, sauteing 1 minute. Add broth, tomatoes, tom. paste, Worc. sauce, vinegar, thyme, salt and pepper. Bring to low boil, simmer 20-25 minutes until carrots are tender. Add greens and cooked barley, stir well. Remove from heat and serve.

Fudgey Brownies with Coconut Whipped Cream (Dairy and Soy Free)

Were you aware that you can whip coconut milk and it tastes AMAZING and provides a delightful alternative to real whipped cream when you are dairy-free, like I am right now? My friend recently whipped up some coconut cream for me and I just had to try it on some brownies. Here is the recipe for the resulting deliciousness.

Fudgey Brownies (Dairy-Free, Soy-Free)
Adapted from the Watkins Brownie Recipe found here

2 cups brown sugar
2 eggs
1/4 cup melted Earth Balance, Soy-free margarine
1/4 cup canola oil (or oil of your choice)
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup flour
4 tbl dutch cocoa
1/2 tsp salt

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Mix brown sugar, eggs, margarine, oil, and vanilla until combined. Add flour, cocoa and salt and stir until moistened. Pour batter into greased 9 x 13 pan and bake for 20 minutes (until an inserted toothpick comes out pretty clean). Remove from oven and let cool in the pan a for a few minutes before you cut.

Whip up some coconut cream (Whipped Coconut Cream Instructions) and sit down and savor this delicious dairy-free dessert!

Quinoa Crusted Pork Chops

Has everyone officially heard and tried some random recipe with this new "super" grain called quinoa? (Which is not in any way, shape, or form pronounced the way it is spelled. Unless you speak a Latin-based language, I suppose.)

Cooked quinoa

I tried a couple recipes containing quinoa a year or so ago and thought they were "okay" but didn't love them. Then I stumbled across this idea while I was googling quinoa recipes: use quinoa as a crust or breading for meat rather than using breadcrumbs. I must say I was intrigued, especially since I am breast-feeding baby #2 and have to go easy on the gluten to keep his tummy happy. I tried it and am here to shout to the world that using quinoa in place of breadcrumbs is AMAZING! You must try it. Here is the recipe I used and recommend:

Quinoa Crusted Pork Chops
Adapted from this Rachael Ray recipe

3/4 cup cooked quinoa (cook according to directions on package)
4 pork chops
1/4 cup mustard (I just used the kind you slap on hot dogs)
pepper to taste
a little olive oil and/or cooking spray

1, Cover a cookie sheet with aluminum foil, spray foil with cooking spray, and spread the cooked quinoa on the foil. Bake quinoa at 300 degrees for about 25 minutes or until it starts to lightly brown. 

2. Mix pork chops, mustard, and a few sprinkles of pepper in a medium bowl until pork chops are uniformly covered with the mustard. 

3. Roll pork chops in the quinoa until each pork chop is uniformly covered in the toasted quinoa. 

4. Drizzle a little olive oil in a 9''x 9'' pan or pie dish and put the quinoa-covered pork chops in the pan. 

5. Cook chops in 425 degree oven for 15-25 minutes, depending on the size and thickness of the pork chops. You may have to cut one open at some point to make sure they are cooked all the way through. Do what you have to do. 

Yum, yum, yum! My husband was afraid this would taste too mustardy, but he was pleasantly surprised. The quinoa doesn't allow the mustard to take over the flavor. I have used quinoa on chicken too, but I really prefer how it complements a nice, fat pork chop. Enjoy!

Sugar and Spice Cookies

Let me start with a disclaimer: we have actually been really healthy eaters as of late. I have mostly limited my baked-good making to healthy muffins and breads. I feel all warm and fuzzy when I send Jeffrey off to school with a blueberry oatmeal muffin or pumpkin pancake rather than a poptart. True, we usually add chocolate chips to the pancakes, but still...

Yet this recipe is definitely a dessert, no other way of looking at it. Yet it's also a wonderful, Christmasy cookie, and ever since our storage unit got flooded, prompting me to put up our Christmas tree several weeks early, Christmas has been on my mind.

Now, Jeffrey isn't usually much of a cookie-eater, but this recipe is possibly his favorite. It comes from his childhood best friend's mother, and it is super quick, easy, and delicious. AND it makes your house smell wonderful! So without further ado:

Sugar and Spice Cookies

Look at me! I totally did one of those "I'm going to take a picture of all the ingredients" pictures! Mostly I wanted to take a picture of the shortening sticks to comment on how I LOVE that they exist! I don't often bake with Crisco, but I would never use it if I still had to scrape it out of the giant tin cans.

• 3/4 cup shortening
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup molasses
• 2 cups flour
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 3/4 tsp cloves
• 3/4 tsp ginger
• 1/4 tsp salt

Cream together the first 4 ingredients: shortening, sugar, egg, and molasses (isn't molasses gloopy?)

Sift together the dry ingredients and then add to the creamed mixture. Combine well. (Full disclosure here: I rarely actually sift the dry ingredients together. Ergo there's no picture. I just added them individually to the same bowl. I just haven't ever noticed a difference from when I do sift and don't, you know?)

Form into walnut-sized balls and place on cookie sheet. Bake at 375 degrees for 7-8 minutes. If using a dark or coated pan (like I did), reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees. Actually, I reduced mine to about 360, which was perfect. But since when does a recipe ever tell you to bake things at 360? Never. Better not start now. Something drastic could happen.

They should come out cracked on the top and soft. I removed mine fairly promptly from the pan to cool, and they came out perfect. This recipe usually yields 20-24 cookies.

They're so good, I promise, and are disappearing embarrassingly fast from our house. Mmm...

Quick and Easy Beef and Broccoli

I have to admit that 90% of the food I make involves chicken. Don't get me wrong; chicken is inexpensive and delicious, but it's probably time to expand my cooking repertoire to include more beef, pork, fish, and vegetarian dishes.

One staple meal I already make that does involve red meat is a modified version of this Beef and Broccoli. It's quick, easy, and tasty!

Quick and Easy Beef and Broccoli

1 pound thin steak (I use different kinds depending on what I have. Flank or round work well.)
2/3 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tsp ground ginger
4 TB Cornstarch (divided)
1 cup + 2 TB water (divided)
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 TB Vegetable oil
4 cups Broccoli florets
4 servings steamed rice

Slice the steak across the grain into thin strips. This is easiest done when the steak is slightly frozen, or you can use kitchen shears like I did.

Combine the soy sauce, brown sugar, ginger, and 1 cup water in a small bowl; set aside.

Next, steam the broccoli! In a large saute pan (or wok, if you are lucky enough to own one), bring an inch of water to a boil. Add the broccoli and cover to steam for about 3 minutes. The broccoli should still be crisp-tender--whatever that means. (Basically you should be able to pierce it with a fork, but you still want it bright green and non-mushy!)

While the broccoli steams, combine 2 tablespoons cornstarch, 2 tablespoons water, and the garlic powder in a medium bowl until smooth. Add the beef and toss to coat.

Drain the steamed broccoli and set aside. Discard all the water from the pan and heat 1 tablespoon vegetable oil over medium-high heat. Once hot, add the beef and stir fry until no longer pink or until desired doneness. Depending on how thin you sliced your beef, this will take 1-3 minutes.

Whisk 2 tablespoons cornstarch into the soy sauce mixture.

Add sauce and broccoli to pan. Stir to combine. Simmer for 2 minutes.

Voila! Serve over hot rice and enjoy! Mmm...

Homemade Pesto

If you like pesto and haven't ever tried to make it yourself, it is time. Ever since a coworker gave me this pesto recipe years ago, I have not found a store-bought pesto that I like as well as this. Pesto is a simple and marvelous thing. It makes pasta, vegetables, tomato soup, and yes, even some pizzas, taste even better than before. Best of all, it is inexpensive and really easy to make.

So without further ado, here it is:

Homemade Pesto

1 cup packed fresh basil leaves
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
1/4 cup pine nuts or walnuts (I prefer walnuts)
1 large clove garlic, quartered (if you don't have any fresh garlic on hand, you can sprinkle a dash of garlic
    salt in there instead)
1/4 cup olive oil

Blend all ingredients in a food processor or a blender until it forms a smoothish paste. This is plenty of pesto for about 6 oz of pasta with chopped veggies. How much pesto you put into your pasta, veggies, soup, etc is really up to you and how strong of a pesto flavor you prefer. I would start by putting in a little pesto to whatever you are using it for, stirring everything up, tasting it, and then repeating until you have the flavor the way you like it. 

So I took several pictures of the finished pesto, but I couldn't bring myself to post any of them on the blog. Pesto by itself just looks gross. It is green and pasty. So instead, here are some pictures of the pasta and veggies that I made to go with the pesto.

I chopped up some baby spinach and tomatoes and grated some carrots. (This is also really good with chopped zucchini and yellow squash.)

Then I sauteed the tomatoes a couple of minutes and added the carrots and spinach until the spinach wilted a bit.

Finally, I added a few ounces of pasta and stirred in the pesto until it tasted heavenly.

Enjoy!

Fried Rice With Veggies and Ham - Dairy-free, Gluten-free, and Soy-free (if you so desire)

Does anyone else out there have a TON of leftover Easter ham? I do. So naturally, I have been looking for creative (and healthy) ways to incorporate into our meals. And then I happened upon this treasure. Fried rice. Yum. I love me some good fried rice. In this recipe, I used brown rice as my base, and then just threw in any vegetables that I happened to have in the fridge. The result was quite delightful--and it only takes 30-45 minutes to make. Here's what I did.

Ingredients:

1 cup brown rice (preferable Uncle Ben's brown rice)

2 eggs

1 cup chopped ham
1 small onion or 2 green onions

1-2 whole carrots, diced

1 cup baby spinach or cabbage, roughly chopped
1 zucchini or squash, diced

1/2 cup frozen corn and/or peas

soy sauce, to taste (optional)

Directions

1. First of all, cook up some rice (or use leftover rice if you have it). I like brown rice because it is whole grain, but some varieties are very dense and not my favorite to eat. However, this Uncle Ben's brown rice is SOOO good and somehow seems less dense as the other varieties I have tried. I love the texture and taste of this stuff. To cook it, put one cup of brown rice into a medium saucepan with two cups of water. Add a few sprinkles of salt. Cook on medium high for a couple of minutes until it boils, and then cover the saucepan and turn the stove down to low. Set the timer for 20 minutes and simmer on low. Voila. 20 minutes later you will have some delicious, whole grain rice.

2. Fry 2 eggs in a small frying pan and once they are cooked through, chop them up into smallish pieces with your spatula. Set aside.

3. Chop ham into small pieces and set aside.

4. Dice your veggies into small pieces. I used carrots (1 or 2 carrots (full-size) or several baby carrots) and spinach (about a cup of spinach, roughly chopped) because those are the veggies I had on hand. Frozen corn or peas would work well in this, as well as some zucchini and yellow squash. I kept wishing mine had some squash in it. Or chopped cabbage. Chopped cabbage would have been delicious.

5. Heat 1-2 tablespoons canola oil in a large pan. Add chopped vegetables and sautee in oil on medium heat until tender. (If you are using spinach, sautee the other vegetables first and then add the spinach until it begins to wilt. Add chopped ham and mix everything together.

6. Turn the heat down to low and add cooked egg and rice and mix everything together. Turn off heat. If you want this recipe to be soy-free, then it is ready to serve. Otherwise, add some soy sauce and stir, just a teaspoon at a time, until it tastes just right to you. (Be careful! I have over-poured the soy sauce before and there is no going back once it is in there. So really, just pour it in a teaspoon at a time.)

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Bars

Pregnancy creates a special kind of eating dilemma. Yes, you're supposed to gain weight but no, probably not as much as you're actually gaining. And yes, you're supposed to gain it from wholesome proteins and vegetables but no, it's not easy to quench your hunger with vegetables. And yes, cooked vegetables make you nauseated, and no, you never feel like cooking or baking anyways.

All you really want to eat is a bag of Cadbury mini eggs or 7 bowls of cereal.

At least, that's my experience. Therefore imagine my delight when I found this unassuming recipe on Pinterest. The peanut butter fulfilled my doctor's order for more protein, while oats and honey fulfilled my craving for carbs and sugar (but in a fairly wholesome, non-processed way.) Plus, it is maybe the shortest and easiest recipe in the history of ever, and it requires no baking. It's a pregnant woman's dream:

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Bars
1 cup peanut butter
3/4 cup honey (or up to 1 cup, if you'd like it a touch sweeter)
3 cups old fashioned oats

Melt peanut butter and honey in a medium bowl in the microwave (approximately 1 minute) and stir in oats until well combined. Press into a 9"x9" pan. Cover and leave in the fridge until set (a couple of hours.) Cut into bars and enjoy.

That's it. Easy-peasy. And one of these bars will fill me up for a while. I was feeling all warm and fuzzy about this solution to my insatiable hunger until I shared it with my mother. See, she and daddy are on this hard-core healthy eating kick, so instead of congratulating me on my happy internet find, she said, "Oh, don't those sound kind of bad for you?"

What??? Man, mom is always one-upping me with the high standards of her internal healthometer (which seems to cut out all foods but cheese, fruit, and cobb salad, by the way.) Still, I thought she'd find this recipe relatively benign. I mean lets break it down: oats. Oats are good for you. They are full of protein and fibery goodness. Peanut butter. Ok, all things in moderation, but George Washington Carver gave this great nation a precious gift with the invention of peanut butter. It is un-American to condemn it. Honey. Yes, honey is sugar (mmm...) but it's also kind of a nice, natural sugar, right? Look, Elder Ballard calls honey "one of nature's most beneficial foods" in this talk; he clearly backs me up...

I don't know why I felt the need to stick up for my bars. I mean, obviously they were already a step up from the girl scout thin mints or the frozen cookie dough which were also competing for my attention. However, I decided to do a lil math figure to approximate the nutrition facts. Here, good people, are the results:

Nutrition Facts Serving size: 1 bar Servings per recipe: 12
Calories	263
% Daily value (based on a 2000 calorie diet)
Fat	12g	18%
Saturated Fat	2g	10%
Cholesterol	0mg	0%
Sodium	92mg	4%
Fiber	3g	12%
Total Carbohydrates	36g	12%
Protein	7g	14%
Iron	8%
Vitamin E	7%
Niacin	13%

As far as snacks go, it's a pretty natural, non-processed, low-sodium one that also has a significant amount of fiber, protein, iron, vitamin E, and niacin. Plus, a quick Google search suggests that it has significantly fewer calories than an average peanut butter and honey sandwich, and mom sent me off to school many-a-time with one of those tucked into my brown paper lunch bag. I rest my case.

I'm sure my cravings will continue to change as I recover from pregnantdom (at least I hope so!) Yet I'm happy to have this recipe logged away as a quick, easy, fairly-guiltless snack.

Chocolate Banana Peanut Butter Shake

Let me start by saying that in my college days, I drank a lot of Jamba Juice. In the beginning, I preferred the fruit smoothies but I had a friend who would always get their "Peanut Butter Moo'd." It sounded disgusting to me so it took me a long time to be coaxed into tasting it. But after my first taste, I was hooked. It was something akin to a chocolate shake with a hint of peanut butter. Then, on one of my first visits to my husband's childhood home, my mother-in-law made us chocolate banana shakes. Basically, you blend up some frozen bananas with milk, cocoa, and sugar-and voila! Magic. I liked it. I liked it a lot. So much so that I started making them on a regular basis for me and my husband. For some reason, however, they were never quite as good as I thought they should be. The cocoa makes them taste kind of chalky. And I never understood why I was adding sugar when the bananas were definitely sweet enough on their own. Then, I remembered those "Peanut Butter Moo'ds" of yesteryear and I knew what needed to happen. So I omitted the sugar and added a spoonful of peanut butter. To be honest, I like this recipe better than the jamba juice version. Maybe it's because I can make them as thick as I want to. Maybe it is because I don't have to pay 4 bucks for them. Who knows. I've seen similar versions of this recipe online so apparently others have figured out the goodness, too. But for those of you who haven't, here is a delicious, cold, chocolaty treat that is relatively healthy and wonderful if you can't have dairy and/or soy:

Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Shake

1 very ripe banana, frozen
1 cup milk (or almond milk)
1 tablespoon cocoa
1 tablespoon peanut butter (if you are going soy-free, check the peanut butter labels. There are some that don't have soy.)

Blend everything in a blender and enjoy.

Tips: This recipe is for one serving. However, the size of the banana really does make a difference. There are  some bigger bananas (and I'm not talking about plantains) that I have purchased that make almost twice as much as a normal sized banana. For those, you will want to add more milk and a little extra cocoa. Also, it helps if you peel and break apart the banana before you freeze it.

Make a cake and eat it too! Even though it is dairy and gluten-free...

Four months after my baby girl was born, she started filling her diapers with neon green slimy poop.I could always feel bubbles in her tummy and no amount of burping seemed to eradicate the problem. Lucky for me, she was a sweet, easy-going child, despite any stomach discomfort she might have felt. The pediatrician told me she had a dairy allergy which meant if I wanted to keep breastfeeding, I would need to take dairy out of my diet. No problem. I could go without dairy for the next 7-8 months. Easy breezy. I mean, we live in a world with dairy substitutes like almond milk! Unfortunately, taking dairy out didn’t fix the problem. So then I read that a percentage of babies with the dairy allergy are also allergic to soy. So out went the soy. This turned out to be MUCH more difficult because as those of you who have tried to live without soy will testify, soy is in EVERYTHING. I went to open a can of tuna—it had soy in it. I wanted to have some peanut butter—it had soy. My pre-natal vitamins had soy listed as one of the ingredients.

Taking soy out of my diet definitely helped the problem but she was still occasionally pooping green. So then, I decided to take gluten out of my diet as well, to see if that would fix everything. And it did. The problem was, now I had to come up with meals that were dairy-free, soy-free, and gluten-free.

Why am I telling you this? First off, I am in no way a scientist, nutritionist, or food expert—but it seems to me that when it comes to things that your are ingesting, too much of one thing isn’t great for your body. The fact that soy was listed on the ingredients of almost everything I put my hand on in the grocery store was rather disconcerting. There are probably just small amounts of it in most things—but still! It is in EVERYTHING! 

Secondly, for those of you who are breastfeeding babies with a dairy allergy (and if they have soy and gluten allergies too...), there is hope! My little girl's digestive issues were pretty much fixed by the time she was 11 months. So I happily integrated dairy and gluten back into my diet again. Until you reach that point with your child, here is a recipe that will help when you are craving chocolate. It is dairy/soy/gluten-free. And it is fast and easy and delicious. (And I will post a few other recipes this week that are dairy/soy/gluten-free and that saved me from going crazy while I had these eating restrictions.)

 Chocolate Cake (Dairy/Soy/Gluten – Free)

*You will need 2 ramekins (I found my ramekins in the dollar aisle at Target) or 1 oven-safe wide-mouthed cup or mug

·   1/4 cup granulated sugar

·   3 tablespoons white rice flour (This is my preferred non-gluten flour)

·   2 tablespoons cocoa powder (natural or Dutch process)

·   1/8 teaspoon salt

·   1/8 teaspoon baking soda

·   3 tablespoons almond milk

·   2 tablespoons vegetable oil

·   1 large egg

·   1 tablespoon dairy-free chocolate chips, optional

·   powdered sugar

1.  Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease each ramekin with non-stick cooking spray. In small bowl, mix dry ingredients. Then, add milk, vegetable oil, and egg. Whisk until smooth.

2. Divide batter evenly between two ramekins or use all batter in one large wide-mouthed mug. Bake about 25 minutes, or until a toothpick can be inserted and removed cleanly. Remove from oven and cool for a few minutes. Sprinkle confectioners' sugar over cake and serve warm with almond milk! Yum!

Adapted from: http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2012/02/gluten-free-chocolate-cake-quick-recipe.html