Mule cocktails, which are made with ginger beer, are one of my ultimate favorite drinks. They have been ever since I met my husband and started having cocktails on special occasions. Knowing how much I love Mules, I wanted to come up with my own unique versions to serve my family and guests this summer. I’m calling them Orange Mules Three Ways and all three versions turned out to be sensational.

The three versions include a simple yet delicious Orange Mule, an Orange Blackberry Mule, and an Orange Pineapple Champagne Mule.

My personal favorite is the Orange Blackberry Mule, which has a unique, refreshing taste perfect for summer. The Orange Pineapple Champagne Mule has a more tropical flavor and is extra bubbly, and the Orange Mule is the most simple version yet still incredibly delicious.

For these drinks, I used Florida’s Natural® Brand Orange Juice. Florida’s Natural is made from just one ingredient—Florida oranges—which makes for delicious, fresh-tasting orange juice that is perfect for cocktails. 

Plus, one 8-ounce glass of orange juice provides nearly two servings of whole fruit, as well as essential vitamins and minerals like folic acid, potassium—and your daily recommended dose of vitamin C.

All in all, all three versions are exceptional and perfect for summer. I will be serving these to my family over the 4^th of July and am excited to see which version turns out to be the winner. I anticipate the blackberry version to be on the top, but we will see.

What will you be serving up this holiday weekend? If you don’t yet have a cocktail planned, these should be on your menu—simple, unique, tasty and refreshing. I promise your guests will not be disappointed.

Enjoy!

Mule 3 ways

Miryam's original recipe

Yield: 1 servings

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Total Time: 5 minutes

Ingredients:

Orange Blackberry Mule

• 2 ounces Vodka
• 1/4 cup Florida's Natural orange juice
• 1/4 cup ginger beer
• 1 tbsp fresh blackberries
• Fresh mint

Orange Pineapple Champagne Mule

• 2 ounces Vodka
• 1/4 cup Florida's Natural orange juice
• 1/4 cup pineapple
• 2 once Champagne
• A splash ginger beer

Orange Mule

• 2 ounces Vodka
• 1/3 cup Florida's Natural orange juice
• 1/3 cup ginger beer
• A splash of lemon juice

 

Directions:

Orange Blackberry Mule

In a glass, muddle the blackberries and mint. Add the vodka. Fill the glass with ice and add the ginger beer. Garnish with mint.

Orange Pineapple Champagne Mule

Fill a glass with ice, add the vodka, orange juice and pineapple. With a spoon mix to combine. Add the champagne and a splash of ginger beer. Garnish as desired.

Orange Mule

Fill a glass with ice, add the vodka, orange juice, and ginger beer. Add the splash of lemon juice and mix to combine. Garnish as desired.

The post Orange Mule 3 Ways appeared first on Eat Good 4 Life.

I must say, this gluten free lemon blueberry cake turned out great. We liked it so much that I made it two times in a row. I was also able to share it with some friends and they couldn’t believe it was actually gluten free. A keeper recipe for sure!

I have been experimenting with a new ingredient to make cake frosting. When it comes to frosting cakes, I hate using the conventional confectioners sugar because of all the simple sugars it add to cake recipes. I have been using a sugar free powdered sugar called Swerve confectioners sugar. that actually doesn’t add too much of an after taste. This has been my keeper ingredient when it comes to frosting cakes for me.

I know blueberry season is almost over, but just keep in mind that you can use frozen blueberries or even any other fruit you may like for this gluten free lemon blueberry cake recipe.

For gluten free cakes I have found that a combination of quinoa, almond and brown rice flour works pretty good. I have also made a poppy seed variation of this and while it was great we preferred the blueberry kind.

Well, I hope you get to try this amazing gluten free lemon blueberry cake. If you do let me know how you liked it. I am sure you will be pretty pleased.

Enjoy!

Gluten free lemon blueberry cake

Miryam's original recipe

Yield: 8 servings

Total Time: 45 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cup brown rice flour
• 1 1/2 cup quinoa flour
• 1 1/2 almond flour
• 1 cup Greek yogurt
• 1 cup maple syrup
• 1 cup coconut oil, melted
• 2 tsp aluminum free baking powder
• 1 tsp aluminum free baking soda
• 6 eggs, room temperature
• juice of 3 lemons and zest
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 cups fresh blueberries

Frosting

• 1 1/2 cup Swerve confectioners sugar
• 16 oz cream cheese, room temperature
• juice 1 lemon and zest. If mixture is too thick, add more lemon juice

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line two 8 inch round baking pan with parchment paper. Alternatively you can grease and flour them instead. Set aside.

Add eggs, maple syrup, Greek yogurt and coconut oil in a stand mixer and combine. Add the vanilla extract, lemon juice, and zest. Combine. Add flours, baking powder and baking soda and combine. Fold in the blueberries.

Divide mixture between prepared baking pans. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until the top becomes golden. Let the cake cool in the pan on a wire rack before removing the cakes completely from the pan.

In a stand mixer add the frosting ingredients. Pulse until you obtain a smooth homogenous consistency.

To assemble the cake, place one cake layer on a serving plate or cake stand. Spread half the frosting over the cake. Add the 2nd cake layer and spread with the remaining frosting making sure you frost the outside of the cake. Serve. Store in the fridge for up to 5 days.

Note: Also, if you don't have all the flour at home you can do a mixture of 2 of them. It will still come out great.

The post Gluten free lemon blueberry cake appeared first on Eat Good 4 Life.

This post has been sponsored by Santa Cruz Organic. I received product and compensation, but all opinions are my own.

I have just gotten done making these Blueberry Ginger Protein Bites for the kids that are starting school this coming Wednesday. I wanted to make something that would keep them satisfied for a while during the morning so since these are also easy to pack, I thought they would be the perfect snack.

These Blueberry Ginger Protein Bites are also really easy to make. From start to finish you will be done in just 15 minutes since all the ingredients are added to the food processor and mixed until you obtain a mixture that holds together. No complicated baking skills required!

Besides these bites being easy, these are also gluten free and vegan. Making things of this nature allows me to have access to healthy items to have on the go. These are perfect to grab when I don’t have time to have breakfast, and I have to run out the door.

Instead of using eggs, I used Santa Cruz Organic Apple Sauce Cups. This way it keeps the bites vegan, and you don’t have to worry about keeping them out of the fridge when you store them. They will keep in the counter in an airtight container for up to one week.

You can also boost your kids’ lunch boxes this back-to-school season with delicious, easy-to-pack items like Santa Cruz Organic Apple Sauce Cups. They are available in classic Apple and Cinnamon Apple.

To also increase the protein content of these Blueberry Ginger Protein Bites, I used Santa Cruz Organic Dark Roasted Creamy Peanut Butter. You can also find inspiration for the perfect PB&J with Santa Cruz Organic Dark Roasted Peanut Butters. They taste great!

Take the stress out of after-school snacking with products your kids will love and ingredients you can feel good about from Santa Cruz Organic.

Another awesome thing about these Blueberry Ginger Protein Bites is that they are extremely versatile. You can substitute any type of dried fruit or nuts you like. I have made these before using other combo of ingredients and they work really well. Try your favorite mixes.

If you are looking for a new snack this back-to-school season look no further. These Blueberry Ginger Protein Bites are the perfect solution.

Enjoy!

Blueberry ginger protein bites

Miryam's original recipe

Yield: 12 bites

Total Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

• 3 cups rolled oats, gluten free
• 1/2 cup pecans
• 1/3 cup maple syrup
• 1 cup dried blueberries
• 1/4 cup crystalized ginger
• 1 cup shredded unsweetened coconut
• 1/4 cup Santa Cruz Organic Dark Roasted Creamy Peanut Butter
• 4 oz Santa Cruz Organic Apple Apricot Sauce
• 1 tsp aluminum free baking powder
• pinch of salt

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350 F. Spray a muffin baking pan with oil. Set aside.

Add the nuts, coconut, and dried fruit in your food processor and pulse until they are fine. Add the remainder of the ingredients and pulse until the mixture starts to come together.

With your fingers, press about 3 tbsp firmly to pack and flatten each muffin space.

Bake for 18-20 minutes or until the sides begin to brown. Let the bites cool in the pan at least 10 minutes before releasing them from the pan. Store in an glass airtight container for up to 1 week.

The post Blueberry ginger protein bites appeared first on Eat Good 4 Life.

I was really excited to make this simple and super easy blueberry peach crumble today, given the fact that both fruits are in season. Often times, I crave something sweet, but don’t have much time to be in the kitchen baking, so I typically turn to making some sort of a fruit crumble.

If you are not much of a baker, don’t have much time or want to bake something simple, crumble recipes are super easy to put together. There is minimal prep work since you just have to mix a few ingredients together for the topping and place everything on a baking dish. Pretty much from start to finish, it will take about 10 minutes to prepare this dessert. What I also love about this recipe is that it is extremely versatile. Not only can you use any type of fruit that you would like, but you can also add other healthy ingredients to the topping.

For this recipe, I have added unsweetened shredded coconut, as well as chopped nuts. They both work great, so if you would like to add some crunch, go ahead and add any type of chopped nuts you like. I always try to reduce the sugar and calories in my desserts, especially when having fresh fruit as one of the main ingredients.

In this recipe, I used Truvia Nectar, a blend of stevia leaf extract and honey with 50% fewer calories than sugar, to add the taste and sweetness of honey to the fruit crumble while keeping the sugar to only 16 grams per serving! And since Truvia Nectar is twice as sweet as honey, you only need half as much (remember ½ teaspoon of Truvia Nectar is equal to 1 teaspoon of sugar or honey). For my diabetic readers who are managing sugar intake, and those wanting to reduce sugar in their diets, this may be a great option for you.

It was also a great addition in the topping, adding a touch of sweetness and helping to get the consistency just right! And since it’s a liquid, I avoided adding extra coconut oil, helping to keep the fat and carbohydrate content low. A win win.

I actually wish I doubled the batch of the crumble because it was just enough for 4 servings—next time I will! This could also be served with a little bit of yogurt or ice cream, though it is great on its own!

I hope you like this amazing, super easy and reduced-calorie blueberry peach crumble.

Enjoy!

Blueberry peach crumble

Miryam's original recipe

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients:

• 1 lb fresh peaches
• 2  cup fresh blueberries
• 1 cups almond flour
• 1/2 cup rolled oats, gluten free
• 1 tsp arrowroot powder
• 1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
• 1/4 cup Truvia nectar, maple syrup will work as well
• 1 tsp cinnamon

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 375 F. In a small mixing bowl combine the peaches, blueberries, arrowroot powder, and Truvia Nectar. Combine. Place the fruit mixture in a baking dish and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, mix the rest of the ingredients until you obtain a cohesive mixture. Spread this mixture evenly over the peaches.

Bake for 25-30 minutes or until the top starts to brown. Best if served warm or as we did with some ice cream.

The post Blueberry peach crumble appeared first on Eat Good 4 Life.

I wanted to keep the sugar content low so I only added 1/4 cup of sugar and also used bananas to sweetened the cups naturally. You can also use maple syrup or even honey in place of the sugar, anything goes.

I also added a few scoops of protein powder to increase the protein content. I will be having this as a snack for school or even for breakfast. Nowadays I pretty just have time to make a quick smoothie in the mornings and get going for school so these high protein baked blueberry oatmeal cups will be the perfect compliment to my smoothie.

My kids actually take them to their camp and have them with their milk. Since they are also high in fiber these keep them full longer until lunch time so I make sure that I always double the batch when making these and freeze some.

I used Silk Unsweetened Almond Milk. I always use unsweetened varieties. You can use almond coconut blend or even cashew milk. Any variety will work just fine. I never use dairy milk because I prefer the taste of nuts milk and so do my kids.

You can also sign up to receive the Silk newsletters for their coupons. If you use their products you should take advantage of their many coupons they offer. They have a wide variety of new products so I am sure you will put the coupons to good use.

I will be making these high protein baked blueberry oatmeal cups for time to come. Like I mentioned before, you can customize these to your liking, add any dried fruit, fresh fruit, chocolate chips….anything goes.

Enjoy!

Miryam's original recipe

Yield: 18 cups

Total Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

• 3 1/4 cups old fashioned oats, gluten free
• 1/4 cup unrefined sugar
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 2 tsp aluminum free baking powder
• 2 mashed ripe bananas
• 2 tbs coconut oil, melted
• 2-4 scoops of protein powder, I used vanilla
• 2 eggs
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 cups Silk unsweetened almond milk
• 1 cup fresh blueberries

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 12 cup muffin pan with cooking spray or line with paper liners.

Add the mashed bananas, oil, eggs, milk and vanilla to your stand mixer and mix until combined. Add the oats, cinnamon, protein powder and baking powder and mix through with the wet ingredients.

With a spatula fold in the blueberries. The batter is going to be sort of liquid like, this is normal. With a medium cookie scoop fill the prepared muffin cups all the way to the top.

Bake for about 25 minutes or until set and just lightly brown on the edges. Transfer muffing pan to a wire cooling rack and allow the cups to cool completely on the baking pan for easiest removal.

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Silk. The opinions and text are all mine.

The post High protein baked blueberry oatmeal cups appeared first on Eat Good 4 Life.

For this version I opted by adding some cream cheese frosting on top. I think this makes the cake to be honest. It is not often that I use frosting for my cakes but once in a while is OK and this one taste very lemony so I hope you like it.

My best friend actually tasted some of it and decided to have this cake for her daughter’s birthday party. She liked it a lot so I guess it was a total success.

Now keep in mind that this cake makes quite a big cake. I used a 9×13 baking cake pan. Like I said before, it is not often that I bake cakes that require frosting and are a little bit more elaborate so I opted for making quite a big one so that I could enjoy it for a few days.

Granted this cake is not to be consumed all the time but once piece here and there is perfectly fine. After all, this is not something we have on a regular basis.

On another note, I have about 3 weeks for the torture to begin, school. I hope I have enough time to keep the recipes coming. I anticipate to be able to at least post twice a week. Cooking and baking are things I do to decompress and relax so I know I will have to in order to keep sane.

Well I hope you like this whole wheat blueberry lemon cake. I sure will be making it again soon when I crave a cake and something sweet.

Enjoy!

Whole wheat Blueberry lemon cake

Miryam's original recipe

Yield: 16 servings

Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes

Ingredients:

• 4 eggs
• 1 cup unrefined sugar
• 1 cup coconut oil, melted
• 1 cup milk of choice
• 3 1/4 cups whole wheat pastry flour
• juice of two lemons
• zest of two lemons
• 2 tsp aluminum free baking powder
• 1/2 tsp aluminum free baking soda
• 1 tsp mexican vanilla extract
• 2-3 cups fresh blueberries
• Pinch of celtic salt

Frosting

• 16 oz cream cheese
• Juice of two lemons
• zest of 1 lemon
• 1 cup natural powdered sugar

 

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350F. Line the bottom of a 9x13 cake bake pan with unbleached parchment paper and grease and flour the sides. Set aside.

In you stand mixer add the sugar, eggs and vanilla. Combine. Add the melted coconut oil, milk and mix through.

Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and lemon juice. Mix until you obtain a homogenous mixture. With a spatula fold in the blueberries.

Place cake batter into the prepared baking pan and bake for 45-50 minutes or until a tester inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean. Let the cake cool completely.

For the frosting. Place all the ingredients in your stand mixer and combine until combined. Frost cake and serve.

Keep leftovers covered refrigerated.

The post Whole wheat Blueberry lemon cake appeared first on Eat Good 4 Life.