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I think everyone has a favorite no bake cookie. We called the one we grew up with, which my mom created, Carob Yummy. I re-created it very soon after I got married, and I’ll also post that version. It’s a very kid healthy, or skinny person healthy, snack. Just not so friendly on my blood sugar or weight. So the time has come to re-create, again. I guess I’ll give it a more sensible name than carob yummy, especially since there’s now no carob used! Chocolate, ya’ll! I’ll post my favorite, the one that has oats, first. This would be an E if following THM. Then I’ll post an S variation. And finally, I’ll leave you with the original, kid friendly carob yummy, which contains honey and all kinds of other goodies. We won’t mess with the name of those… 😉

No Bake Cocoa Oat Balls

1/2 cup water
1/2 cup beef collagen
1/2 cup powdered Gentle Sweet or my powdered sweetener: https://lotsalittlelambs.com/powdered-sweetener/
2/3 cup cocoa powder
2/3 cup defatted peanut powder
2 Tablespoons peanut butter
1 Tablespoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 cups quick rolled oats

Dissolve collagen in water. Mix and beat together all of the other ingredients except for the rolled oats. After beating, stir in the rolled oats. Roll into balls.

If you make about 30 small balls, 3-4 is a good serving size. You could have a piece of fruit along with this, or just a cup of almond milk.

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Here is the S version:

No Bake Coconut Balls

Use the same ingredients as the above recipe, except do not use the oats.

Beat in 1/2 cup coconut oil.

Stir finely shredded coconut in.

Roll into balls.

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And for the original, developed from my mom’s recipe!

Yummy, and great for kids, but if you are following THM, you would not want to use this version. 🙂

Carob Yummy

1 1/2 cups honey
2 sticks butter
2 cups peanut butter
1 cup milk
1 cup carob powder (or cocoa powder)
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 teaspoon salt
Quick rolled oats, about 10 cups

Instructions:
Mix all ingredients together except for oats. Stir or beat. Stir in rolled oats till about thick. Let set a moment then roll into balls. These are great stored in the refrigerator or freezer. We love them still frozen, straight from the freezer.

I’d love it if you’d check out my store. I offer the collagen and many other items!

Custom Collagen

Fruity, light and refreshing, with just a tang; don’t let the name of this fool you! You won’t be thinking vinegar, as this goes down real nice!

You can make it by the quart, by the gallon, or like I most often do; by the five gallon thermos. That way there is enough for my kids and husband to guzzle, too!!

You could probably use any type of herbal tea that you like. I used the Celestial Seasonings cranberry apple zinger. I’ve also used raspberry zinger before. These have hibiscus in them which I think really think adds to the flavor!!

These are the basic ingredients:

Vinegar Tea – (1 quart)

Clean quart jar
Boiling water
2 tea bags
1 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1/4 teaspoon THM stevia extract
Cold water and ice

Instructions:
Place 2 tea bags in the clean quart jar. Pour about a cup of boiling water into the jar. Cover and let this set for about an hour. Remove the tea bags and squeeze them out, then throw them away. Add the apple cider vinegar and the stevia extract to the tea. Fill the jar with cold water. Serve over ice.

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Vinegar Tea – (1 gallon)

Clean gallon jar
Boiling water
7 tea bags
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon THM stevia extract
Cold water and ice

Instructions:
(Follow instructions above for quart size.)

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Vinegar Tea – (5 gallon thermos)

2 gallons boiling water
20 tea bags (1 box)
3/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1 Tablespoon stevia extract
Block(s) of ice, ice cubes,
Cold water

Instructions:
Add the tea bags to the pot of boiling water. Turn it off. Cover the pot and let it set for a couple of hours or overnight. Pull the tea bags out of the pot of tea and squeeze them out well. Discard the tea bags. Add the vinegar and stevia extract to the tea. If you are using store bought ice, a block of ice and a bag of ice cubes are perfect. (Or make your own ice blocks by freezing water in plastic containers). Start by putting the block of ice in the bottom of the thermos. Pour the tea over the block of ice, then add the bag of ice cubes and finish filling with cold water.

I’d be pleased if you’d consider purchasing the stevia extract from my store. This is the one I used in this recipe:

THM stevia extract, 4 ounce

Cottage Cheese

I’ve wanted to try to make cottage cheese for some time.

Growing up, my family would visit the Amish. They had a real easy way of making cottage cheese. Which they loved… but, made me want to puke. I remember seeing the jar of milk, which they simply left to set on the cupboard till it curdled. This was then strained and called cheese. 🤢 Perhaps this is ‘real’ cottage cheese… and I need a stronger stomach, but, I am glad that a cultured cottage cheese, without a strong taste (or smell!) is also VERY easy to make.

I learned how to make this from another Amish lady, several years ago. I don’t know why I haven’t tried it before, myself. It has a very pleasant taste. Really much like store bought cottage cheese. My children were pleased! And so was I.

Cottage Cheese
Heavy bottomed stainless steel pan
1-1/2 gallons skim milk (cream removed and reserved) or fat free milk
1-1/2 cups buttermilk (I used 1%), or saved culture
Salt, to taste
Cream, reserved or 1/2-2/3 cup (optional)

Instructions:
Bring milk to about the temperature of baby bath water. (I actually started with cool milk…and didn’t warm it! 🙄) Stir in the buttermilk or culture. (I’ll tell you more about saving a culture, later.) Let set in a warm place, covered till it is set. This should take about 8-12 hours, I think. When I left it on my slightly warm cooktop in the evening, it was set by morning. When I left it to set in my cool kitchen, it still wasn’t set by the end of the day. Back on the warm cooktop, and the next morning it was set.

Cut the curd:
With a knife, score the set milk into about half inch squares. Cut straight down all the way through. Then turn your knife and cut again starting at the top and cutting toward the sides at an angle, towards the left all the way across, and then score again at an angle to the right. You should have rough cut squares or pieces.

Cooking:
Begin to warm the curd on medium low heat. Do not scorch. 😉 Give it a gentle turn with a spoon here and there. The curds will begin to separate from the whey. Let it continue to cook on low heat till the curds have mostly shrunk into about 1/4″ pieces, and the curds and whey are hot. Let cool.

Strain:
Strain the curds from the whey. You can save the whey for other uses. Rinse the curds gently, but well, in cool water. Drain.

Finish:
Salt the curds. Surprisingly, the flavor of the cottage cheese is mild, but it really needs enough salt to bring the flavor out.

If you want a fat free cottage cheese, just add salt, no cream. This will be more of a dry curd cheese. There may be something else you can add for moisture/flavor, but I haven’t tried any fat free options for this, yet. I plan to use the fat free cheese in baking.

For a more regular cottage cheese, salt the rinsed curds and add cream. I added about 1/2 to 2/3 cup of cream to a batch. I started with fat free milk.

The Amish woman who told me how to make this removed and saved the cream from her milk before culturing it. Then after the cottage cheese was made, she had that cream to add back.

Below, I have three batches setting.

Another lady told me that keifer will work as a starter. I haven’t tried that yet, but that sounds neat.

My Amish friend would save some of the whey from each previous batch to use as a starter in her following batch.

I hope you try this. It really is much easier than it sounds!!