Two is Better than One (WIAW)

“So maybe it’s true, that I can’t live without you

And maybe two is better than one

But there’s so much time, to figure out the rest of my life

And you’ve already got me coming undone

And I’m thinking two, is better than one.”

What better way to start off a Wednesday than with lyrics from an amazing song? At least for me hearing a great song can make my day, especially a bad one, much better. For instance, on the way home from school a few weeks ago I was feeling pretty dreary. There was still snow on the ground and spring seemed a far off dream. I of course had on my favorite country music station, and when I was about 10 miles away from my house the song Honky Tonk Badonkadonk by Trace Adkins came on. Not exactly my favorite song mind you as in the presence of any other human being the lyrics make me slightly really uncomfortable.

Still, the phrase “slap your grandma” is so ridiculous that it makes me giggle every single time (Note: in no way am I recommending that you go out and injure an elderly person). Almost instantly that song brought me out of my funk and I was singing along in my car. There isn’t a better way to start the weekend than with a smile. 🙂

Let’s come back to the first song though. Now, obviously I can’t really relate to the whole love story part (aka- no significant other); however, I was still able to relate the song to something pretty important…

Yes. You guessed it. Food.

I truly believe that anything can be related back to food. Especially in this particular case, I’ve come to realize that when you only post one recipe, it’s impossible to cover all of your audience base. You post a recipe full of almonds and a nut-allergic person is immediately turned off. A meatza? Yep, you basically just wiped out over half of your audience of fellow bloggers who don’t consume beef on a regular basis.

For this What I Ate Wednesday post I have decided to take this factor into consideration and listen to the wise words of Boys Like Girls. Two is better than one. Or, two recipes are better than one. 😉

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In fifth grade my homeroom teacher had class try a sugar-free challenge where we had to try and be healthy for a month and give up all forms of sugar. I commend her for intentions, but there is no possible way that my fifth grade self would have been able to do it. I tried! I tried very very hard. I even had my mom go out and buy me a package of sugar-free Pillsbury chocolate chip cookie dough. They were made with Splenda (not good, I know), and they were horrendous. Of course I ate them all, but that doesn’t mean they were good.

Later that year my teacher made up for her sugar challenge by sharing with us her recipe for candy pizza. Yes, a complete 180 from sugar-free, but that’s okay because this recipe was not horrendous. It was absolutely delicious. I no longer have the recipe, but it’s a pretty simple concept and I have been making it probably a few times a year since fifth grade (and that would be… 8 years ago?).

This last weekend I made one for my brother and actually remembered to take pictures. The recipe is not a full out recipe, nor is it healthy in the slightest. However, I have included dozens of substitution ideas to make the recipe fit any diet (from Paleo to Vegan, from Gluten-free to Sugar-Free).

Candy Pizza (with options to make allergy-free)

Ingredients:

• large baked chocolate chip cookie*
• peanut butter*
• chocolate chips*
• candy toppings (I used Twix, Kit-Kats, and Reese’s Cups)*

Directions:

1. Bake a large chocolate chip cookie using your favorite recipe.
2. Once it is completely bake remove it from the oven and top with a few big globs of peanut butter and a very generous sprinkling of chocolate chips (so scientific, right?).
3. Place the cookie back in the oven and leave it in there until the chocolate begins to melt and look glossy.
4. Remove the cookie from the oven and using a spoon or knife spread out the peanut butter and chocolate to top the entire thing. Even if the chocolate chips aren’t completely melted, keep on swirling as they soon will be!
5. Then, add your choice of candy toppings.
6. Place in the freezer until the chocolate-peanut butter sauce solidifies. Cut and enjoy!

Allergy-free substitutions:

Chocolate chip cookie: You can use an allergy-free chocolate chip cookie that you like for the base of this recipe. A few good replacements would be Chocolate Chip Blondies (Grain-free, vegan, nut-free),  Paleo Chocolate Chip Cookies (Grain-free, refined sugar-free), Quinoa Chocolate Chip Cookies (Gluten-free, vegan, nut-free), and Chocolate Chippers (gluten-free, vegan). For those with corn allergies, there is an awesome sodium-free, corn-free baking powder available from Hain that I would recommend.

Peanut butter: For this you can use any type of nut butter like almond butter, pecan butter, cashew butter, etc. For those with both peanut and nut allergies, you can use sunbutter, pumpkin seed butter, or another seed butter. For those who can’t have any of aforementioned “butters” you could use soy butter as long as you don’t have problems with soy.

Chocolate chips: For both the chocolate chips in the cookie recipe itself, and for the chips that go on top, you could use Sunspire’s vegan carob chips (contains corn and soy), Enjoy Life’s chocolate chips (free of the top eight allergens), or the chocolate sauce recipe that I posted about previously (you can just use the sauce for the topping, and to replace the chips freeze and chop into pieces).

Candy topping: This is a pretty relaxed category as any topping you see fit should work. Any allergy-free candy would be great. Enjoy Life’s candy bars, nuts, seeds, gluten-free pretzels, leftover crumbly baked goods (like cookies, cakes, marshmallows, crackers or candies), marshmallows (store-bought, paleo, or vegan), granola or any other candy that you can have (like M&M’s, nut butter cups, etc. that fit your special diet).

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The second recipe that I have to share needs no introduction really as I have been mentioning it off and on for the past few weeks.

Grain-Free Pear Crisp

Grain/Gluten/Wheat-Free, Egg-Free, Dairy-Free Option, Peanut-Free, Nut-Free Option, GAPS/Paleo-Friendly

Ingredients:

• 1 cup nut flour (you can replace both nut flours with sunflour— I used 1 cup almond and 1/2 cup sunflour)
• 1/2 cup coarse nut flour (just grind 1/2 cup nuts or seeds until coarse, but not fine)
• 1/4 cup coconut flour
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1/4 cup ghee (butter or coconut oil would work here too)
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp + 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 6 pears (or apples)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
2. Grease a 8×8 or 9×9 baking dish with ghee or coconut oil (not included in 1/4 cup).
3. Peel and slice the pears. Layer them in the baking dish and sprinkle 1 teaspoon of cinnamon over top.
4. Mix the dry ingredients together (using the remaining 2 teaspoons of cinnamon).
5. Add the wet ingredients and combine well.
6. Crumble the topping over the pear slices and bake the crisp in the oven for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.

Note: If you don’t eat this immediately and refrigerate the crisp overnight the fruit may get a little watery. To prevent this my mom added an additional step when making the pear crisp. Before placing the slices of fruit in the baking dish she baked them for 20-30 minutes on a baking sheet in the preheated oven to get rid of some of the moisture. Thanks for the tip Mom 😉

Shared at Allergy-Free Wednesdays, Fat Tuesday, Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays, Gluten-Free Wednesdays, Thank Goodness It’s Monday.

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What song has been stuck on your mind lately?

Name two things that go better in pairs than alone.

Have you ever made Candy Pizza before?

What do you think of my new blog layout? Can you see the font alright?