Right up my alley - a chocolate treat that is easy and dare I say, good for you. I'm not the creator, I found the original on Pinterest, with credit to The Big Man's World, but made a few modifications, and absolutely loved them. Chocolate wins around here, so I had to share.

To be straight - these are not your typical brownie. But they are super decadent, fudgy & very rich - without any butter, oil, or wheat flour, but a sweet potato & cocoa base.  I have a serious sweet tooth, and thought 2"x 2" squares would be a good size, I ended up cutting them in half, into 1"x 2" rectangles because they are so rich. These are Paleo, gluten-free and can be made dairy-free & vegan very easily.

Gluten Free - No Bake - Protein Brownies

For the Brownies 

1/2 cup coconut flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder (these are made with dark/dutch process cocoa, but you can use any cocoa)
1 scoop chocolate protein powder (I chose Casein)
1/3 cup nut butter of choice (I used peanut butter)
1/2 cup raw honey (can sub maple syrup, agave or brown rice syrup)
1/2 cup mashed sweet potato (can sub for mashed pumpkin)*
1/4 cup milk of choice

*With everyone in love with Fall, I could not find canned pumpkin - I'm not a fan of canned sweet potato, and I was too impatient to bake a sweet potato - so I used baby food. For reals. I picked up a 4oz pouch of pureed sweet potatoes for these and it worked perfect! #momwin

For the Protein Frosting

2 scoops chocolate Casein protein powder (can sub dairy-free protein)
approx 1/3 cup milk of choice

Instructions:

1. Line a small, deep baking tray with parchment paper and set aside. I used a 4"x 8" loaf pan.

2. In a large mixing bowl, add your coconut flour, cocoa and protein powder and set aside.

3. In a microwave safe bowl, melt your nut butter with the honey, stir until combined. Add the wet mixture to the dry mixture and mix until fully incorporated. Stir through the mashed sweet potato until fully incorporated and batter is even.
 - If batter is too thick, add a tablespoon or more of milk of choice until a very thick batter is formed. If batter is too thin, add a dash more coconut flour.

4. Pour batter into the lined baking dish, pressing evenly with a spoon into the corners & sides. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes to firm up. While no bake brownies are firming up, make your frosting.

5. For the Frosting simply combine the casein & milk in a bowl and mix until fully combined and thick, & spread on cooled brownies.

Pull out by the edges of the parchment paper and cut into squares. Keep these in the fridge in tupperware to keep the frosting in place.

These are fantastic sub for more calorie & sugar laden treats. Aria, our two year old, inhaled a whole square the other night and I didn't feel even a sliver of guilt. If you are working these into a diet, or are watching your macros, these are a great post workout. The macro breakdown is below.

I'd love to hear your feedback on these! Comment at the bottom, and be sure to share with your friends on Pinterest & Facebook!

Macro Breakdown (with my modifications): 

• For the almond butter, we LOVE Justin's Vanilla Almond Butter (I really just want to eat it by the spoon).  
• Spinach has been the winner for Aria, but I prefer it with kale. 
• I've added avocado to Aria's for extra calories and healthy fats - she has no idea ;) 
• Regarding milk, this is completely up to you. I have used Trader Joe's canned organic coconut milk, So Delicious & Dairy Free Vanilla Coconut Milk, So Delicious & Dairy Free Almond Milk Plus Protein.. you name it. 
• For protein (see variations below), I prefer adding vanilla protein, but we've added chocolate and it was great too! 
• I'll make a batch of these when I have a chance, just stuff all the ingredients, except the milk and protein, into individual blender cups, seal and throw in the freezer. Then when you're ready, add your protein and top up the cup with milk, blend and go! 

Every once in awhile I start to crave fish, strange.. maybe. But we eat a lot of chicken and beef in this house, so I just have to change it up. I frequent Costco, I love Costco. I purchase majority of our protein there, and last week I scooped up some a couple huge fillets of fresh wild caught sockeye salmon.


This may be my new go-to for salmon, the meat was flaky, moist and flavorful. The salsa added a bright and fresh contrast to the fish. This could go with any number of sides.. I happened to have rice made ahead and steamed the green beans while the salmon was baking.

Sockeye Salmon & Pineapple Citrus Salsa

First, I have never made ratatouille.. and I always think about the Disney movie with the little mouse, don't you? In reality it is a French vegetable stew made of tomatoes, eggplants, zucchinis, bell peppers, garlic and onions.

I am a proud new owner of the latest Whole30 book by Dallas & Melissa Hartwig. They are awesome. I honestly poured over every page in two evenings, stack of post-its close by.

Part 1 outlined our first attempts with dairy; cheese shreds, a little yogurt.. we went slow and did alright. We did experience a couple days were we determined we gave her too much too soon and would go back to dairy free for 2-3 days before going back to cheese and yogurt.  Part 2 outlines our steps to a successful reintroduction.

Aria just turned a year old. After a mommies-only night out a couple nights ago, it seems there is agreement that the first 3-5 months went by sooooo sllllooooooowwwwllllyyyyy that there may have been moments where time stood still. I say this with happiness and exhaustion at the same time. I wanted time to stop when she slept all snuggled into my arms or on my chest where I could take in her warm little baby smells forever. And the not-so-moments where the crying seemed to never end - I would have happily called in a referee to move the clock forward.

Yesterday I was talking to a friend of mine about how hungry Aria has been recently, I started packing her lunches for daycare to make sure she eats enough. She asked what I pack for her, my response was what I had sent her with the day before.. a quarter of a baked sweet potato topped with ground beef (small bits) and a diced up quarter avocado. She was stunned.

Whether dairy has been a lifelong issue for you or you find out you suddenly can no longer have it, finding a nutrient dense and good tasting milk alternative can be a challenge. Enter: Cashew milk.

I'm a die-hard coconut everything fan. I've found there is some alternative product in just about any category made from coconut. But I like to change it up. I know folks who love Almond milk, but I have yet to fall in love with it as I feel it offers a very distinctive flavor.

Looking for something neutral, I have found hemp milk, rice milk, coconut milk and more recently that cashew milk are great options. Hemp milk and rice milk tend to be of thinner consistency, coconut milk is more viscous and acts like milk in recipes, but cashew milk is creamier.

What is a plantain? A nice little tropical treat that happens to be a good source of carbohydrates and soluble fiber. No, it's not a banana..

When you start counting your macros (short for macronutrients), ie; carbohydrates, proteins and fats, you start to scrutinize the foods that contain them. I found that I was really putting a little more thought into where they were coming from and how they would fill a block (more on that later) and my plate.

Breakfast. It's either a daily ritual, where you prepare a meal for yourself and/or the ones you love or its something that if it happens, great, if not, you're in the snack drawer at work or downing 3 cups of coffee in the next 2 hours.

It's overlooked, and often less exciting than the dry piece of toast crumbling on your plate. It can also be pretty boring. Eggs. Bacon. Sausage.. omelets, maybe pancakes and waffles with sugar-laden syrup. Or cereal and maybe a piece of fruit.

I often wonder why we eat what we do eat for breakfast.

I can no longer eat eggs, they haven't agreed with my since being pregnant with Aria. Eggs were my go-to for so long, that when I realized I could not eat them, I dove head first into a bowl of oatmeal. Not good.

When someone mentions gelatin, two things typically come to mind, orange Jell-o and cow hooves.. that's as much exposure as I had had up until recently.

It started with a recipe for bone broth. Everyone raving about how the stuff is so great, so good for you.. etc. I just wanted to know why, so here's the scoop.

First, there are several types of gelatin and different ways to get it into your system. There's regular gelatin, such as this one. This is for 'gelling', making desserts, healthy gummies and the like. It's harder to digest, not recommended as a supplement.

Collagen Hydrolysate is another form. It's comes in powder or capsule form and is easier to digest. This one is cold water soluble, does not gel and can be used in place of or with protein powders and shakes.