we don't want your stinking lowfat crap

so remember last week, when i tried that recipe for homemade gnocchi for the first time?  i did say that i wanted to try a different version of it, and being low on ideas for dinner this week, i decided to go for it.  besides, it sounded really good and i was feeling pretty confident about this one.  instead of potatoes, this gnocchi had a base of ricotta cheese.  and none of that lowfat/nonfat nonsense - we're talking whole milk ricotta here.  the lineup:

i love trader joe's so much.  they're so reliable for carrying ingredients perfect for a clean eating plan. so many of their products are all natural with no preservatives or bad stuff.  like that ricotta - when i took the outer lid off of the container, i found this:

the dough came together really easily, although i did have to add extra flour before i could start working with it as it was super sticky.  but i kept at it, rolling and cutting, and before long i had a whole army of gnocchi.

into the pot they went, and after a few minutes in their boiling, salted bath they came floating up to the surface to tell me they were all done.

i'd decided to serve it up a little differently from that particular recipe, choosing instead to go for the gold with a rich, delicious cheese sauce to make gnocchi mac & cheese.  it was a pretty basic recipe, and in no time it came together in the pan and went into the oven.  i served it with our favorite warm brussels sprout salad and some grilled pork chops.

it is SO good.  it was even a bigger hit than that lovely tomato broth we ate last week, and i highly encourage you to give it a shot if you get the chance.

one more thing - i also tried out a super easy recipe for clean eating chocolate chip cookies.  no flour, mixed up in just one bowl, and only five ingredients - almond butter, an egg, a little baking soda, some brown sugar, and these:

while it seems crazy for ME to be buying and using stuff like this for my own family, it actually isn't so much.  when i read the list of ingredients of a regular bag of dark chocolate chips, it read like this - dark chocolate, nonfat milk, soy lecithin, natural flavors.  but these contain just unsweetened chocolate and cane sugar.  and since i'm all about "less is more" when it comes to ingredients these days, these were perfect.  not to mention, they cost the same as the bag of nestlé chips anyway.  no brainer.

without any flour to kind of "dry" out the dough, it looked a little greasy when it was all mixed up.

the recipe warns of this, though, and promises that it comes out perfectly when all is said and done.  and it didn't lie, because look:

the bean was the first to try them out, and she gave me a giant smile and a big thumbs-up with her first bite.  they're really good, and this recipe is definitely another keeper.

the way things are going, it's going to be really easy to keep up this whole clean eating lifestyle even after the challenge is over.  the wan family is going to be healthy!  hell yeah!