PB&J Energy Bites

Yum.  You know those totally-amazing but completely-bad-for-you peanut butter balls that show up at Christmas time?  THESE are an excellent, good-for-you stand in the next time you're fighting a craving!

The "jelly" here is figurative and manifests in the form of dried cranberries.  Really you just want some kind of sweetness/tartness to offset the salty.

These called for chocolate chips, which would be amazing no doubt, but we're currently trying to avoid sugar, desserts, sweets, etc, so I opted for dried cranberries instead.

Ingredients:
-1 c dry oatmeal
-2/3 c coconut flakes
-1/2 c peanut butter
-1/2 c ground flaxseed
-1/2 dried cranberries (or chocolate chips!)
-1/3 c honey
-1 tsp vanilla

1.  Place oatmeal and coconut in the food processor and pulse to desired texture.

2.  Stir all ingredients together in a bowl until thoroughly mixed. 

3.  Let chill in the refrigerator for half an hour. 

4.  Once chilled, roll into balls of whatever size you would like. 

5.  Store in an airtight container and keep refrigerated for up to 1 week.

Credit:  Pinterest via Gimme Some Oven

Homemade Lara Bars

The ever-popular, ever-expensive Lara Bar.  Here is a homemade version.  These need to be refrigerated to hold their shape, but I prefer them even more out of the freezer.  Just sayin.

Ingredients:
-2 c raw whole almonds
-1/2 c chopped dark chocolate (or choc chips)
-3 c whole, pitted dates
-1 c dried, unsweetened cherries
-2 T almond butter

1.  Line a 9 x 13 straight-sided pan with a piece of parchment paper, so that the paper hangs over the long sides.
2.  Place the almonds in your food processor and pulse until finely chopped. Add the chocolate and pulse again until finely chopped. Pour mixture into a large bowl; set aside.
3.  Place half of the fruit in the food processor and process until a paste forms and clumps together. Add 1 T. of the nut butter and 1/2 of the almond/chocolate mixture; process until evenly combined. Scrape into the prepared pan.
4.  Repeat with the remaining fruit, nut butter and almond/chocolate mixture. Scrape into the prepared pan.
With slightly wet hands, press the mixture evenly into the bottom of the pan. Fold the excess parchment over the bars to cover, and use something flat and heavy to press down firmly on the mixture until it is smooth (I used a small cutting board).
5.  Chill for at least two hours. Using the parchment paper as a guide, transfer the bars to a cutting board. Cut into desired shape and size.

Credit: Pinterest via Donuts, Dresses, and Dirt

Banana Oat Breakfast Cookies

I've been wanting for awhile to make some fun, healthy, wholw-food grab-and-go breakfast and snacks.  This one is better served warm, but is sooooo delicious!  Folks, around here we have a couple of these and some yogurt and call it lunch :)

Ingredients:
-1 c unsweetened applesauce
-1 tsp vanilla extract
-1 tsp cinnamon (or more, to taste)
-1 1/2 c old fashioned oats, uncooked*
-2 ripe bananas, mashed or pulsed in the processor
-1/3 c raisins
-1/4 c chopped walnuts, toasted or not

1.  Preheat oven to 350.
2.  Mix vanilla and cinnamon into the applesauce.
3.  Blend applesauce mixture with all other ingredients and let sit for 10 minutes.
4.  Drop spoonfuls of cookie dough onto parchment paper lined cookie sheet and flatten cookies into rounds.
5.  Bake 30-35 minutes, until golden and done.
6.  Remove from oven and let rest for 5 minutes.  Serve warm.
7.  Once completely cooled, store in an air-tight container.  I suggest microwaving them for a couple seconds when you serve them, but it's not necessary.


*I pulse these in the food processor to give them a finer texture.

Credit: Pinterest via Watching What I Eat

Cheese Crisps

Is it a chip?  Is a cracker?  Does it matter?  It's delicious!!  Another winner from Carla Hall.

Ingredients:
block of gruyere cheese
sesame seeds

1.  Preheat oven to 350.

2.  Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
3.  Cut cheese into very thin slices.
4.  Put cheese on cookie sheet and sprinkle sesame seeds on top.
5.  Bake for 5-8 minutes until cheese is  melted, bubbly, and golden brown.
6.  Remove from oven and cool until ready to handle.

Enjoy!!

Rice Krispie "Treats"

Ingredients:
2 c puffed rice (or puffed quionoa)
1/2 c almond butter
3-4 Tbs agave
1 tsp vanilla

1.  Combine almond butter, agave, and vanilla.  If mixture is too firm, heat it in the microwave.
2.  Add puffed rice and stir to combine.
3.  Press mixture into a small container and freeze for 30 minutes.
4.  Cut into pieces and store in fridge or freezer.

Sesame Granola Bites

I'm baaaaack!  We've been so blessed since bringing honey #3 into our house; I haven't had to cook a meal since she's been born thanks to our VERY generous friends and family!!  But now, I'm on a rampage.  My almost-2-year-old wants to snack.  And snack, and snack, and snack some more.  Weary of giving him apple slices, string cheese, and gold fish, I wanted to come up with some more interested and fortified snacks to offer.  Here is one:

Sesame Granola Bites

Ingredients:
1/3 c oats
1/3 c shredded coconut
1/4 c almonds
1/4 c walnuts
1/4 c sunflower seeds
1/3 c sesame seeds
2 Tbs chia seeds
 4 Tbs ground flax
1/3 agave (can sub maple syrup)
1/3 c almond butter
2 Tbs mini  chocolate chips (optional)

1.  Line a 8x8 or 9x9 pan with parchment paper.
2.  In a food processor, pulse the oats and coconut flakes until finely ground.  Remove to a bowl.
3.  Then pulse the almonds and walnuts to your desired consistency.  (I have a toddler so I ground them fine, but older kiddos and grown ups might prefer a roughly chopped nut.)
4.  Add the ground/chopped nuts to the oat and coconut mixture.
5.  Stir in sunflower seeds, flax, and sesame seeds.
6.  In a glass bowl, combine the almond butter and agave and microwave for 30 seconds to soften.
7.  Stir butter mixture into oat mixture until well combined.
8.  Press into parchment-lined baking dish. Store in fridge.

Kale Chips

This will satisfy your craving for potato chips, I promise!  And now they are carrying a LARGE bag of organic baby kale at Costco - yippee!

Ingredients:
Baby kale
Olive oil spray
Salt

1.  Preheat oven to 350
2. Spread kale on a parchment lined cookie sheet
3. Spray lightly with olive oil and sprinkle lightly with salt.
4.  Bake for 5-7 minutes.  Watch them carefully, they can burn quickly!!

Raw Cookie Dough Bites

I'm baaaaaack. After my longest hiatus since starting this blog, I'm back in the kitchen!! We've been doing some pretty major remodeling at our house and my entire creative energy was poured into that project leaving me scrambling for my go-to recipes for dinner. I've been making some of the oldies but goodies posted right here on this blog.

HOWever, I'm back, and with my all-time absolutely favorite recipe of all time! I have a sweet tooth to end all sweet teeth and indulge WAY too often. One of my weaknesses is raw cookie dough - bad for you on so many levels. This recipe is a no-guilt, so-true-to-taste substitution. I'm enjoying my fair share, but I get a special kick out of giving these to my kids as a snack or dessert!! Trust me, make a double or triple batch while you're at it. They won't go to waste.

Raw Cookie Dough Bites

Ingredients:
-2/3 c raw almonds
-2/3 c raw walnuts
-2/3 c rolled oats*
-1/4 tsp cinnamon
-1/8 tsp salt
-1/4 c agave nectar
-2 tsp vanilla extract
-dark chocolate chips or chunks to taste

1. In a food processor, process the almonds, walnuts, oats, cinnamon and salt to a fine meal.
2. Add the agave nectar and vanilla and process to combine.
3. Next, add chocolate and pulse to just combine.
4. Rolle the dough into balls and place them on a cookie pan lined with parchment paper. Place the pan in the freezer for about an hour to firm up. Once firm, store balls in an air tight container in the freezer.

*Use Bob's Red Mill oats for a truly raw and gluten free option!

Raw Granola Bars

First, I challenge you: If this sounds like something you wouldn't like, I dare you to try it anyway. It's like nothing you would expect. I'm not a fan of coconut or dates, but I LOVE these!

Second, I can't wait to share this recipe with you! This is another recipe from our "raw food" theme week at Mom's Group, made by a friend. I am indebted to her for introducing me to these! What an awesome, healthy, easy-to-make snack for my granola bar loving family.

Seriously, try them...

Raw Granola Bars
Ingredients:
-2 c raw almonds
-3 c shredded coconut
-2 c chopped, pitted, dates
-1 Tbs coconut oil
-the zest of 1 orange or lemon

1. Put the almonds in the food processor and process until they become a fine grain/dust.
2. Add the coconut and continue processing until finely ground. Put the coconut/almond mixture in large mixing bowl.
3. Put the chopped dates and coconut oil in the food processor. Process until they create a paste. NOTE: The coconut oil is extremely important here. Without it, my processor moaned and groaned and almost broke the blade because the dates were too sticky.
4. Add date paste to the almond/coconut mixture. Add zest and thoroughly combine all ingredients. (I found it easiest to take off my rings use my hands.)
5. Press mixture into a 9 x 13 pan. Refrigerate. (You can serve them before refrigerating, but they are super crumbly. Refrigeration helps hold them together.)
6. Cut, serve, and enjoy!
3.

Apple Cereal

My awesome Mom's group meets weekly and each week they choose a theme for the refreshments and ask for volunteers to provide them. Always up for a challenge in the kitchen, I signed up for the "raw foods" week. Most of the appealing raw food recipes I found involved dehydrating something at some point. Now that was a little more of a challenge than I was up for this week. Then, happily, I stumbled upon this recipe. It was an interesting combination of ingredients and everyone seemed to enjoy it. While I'm pretty sure I'll never be on an entirely raw food diet (oh, how I LOVE my cooked food, especially in the winter!), this was fun and something I would definitely make again.

Fair warning, I'm not a fan of specifying ingredient quantities in something like this where you can really adjust according to your own tastes, so below is my best guess of what I included but you should feel free to adjust according to your own taste.

Apple Cereal (for a single serving)

Ingredients:
-1 apple, finely chopped
-1 banana, small dice
-1 palm full of almonds, chopped
-1 pinch of coconut
-splash of almond milk
-drizzle of honey
-sprinkle of cinnamon

Mix all ingredients in large bowl and serve immediately (unless you don't mind the appearance of browned apples and bananas!).

Bacon and Date Appetizer

Sorry, no photo for this one, but they were a hit so I couldn't resist posting!

1. Cut the date in half and remove the pit.
2. Fill each half with cheese (cream cheese or laughing cow).
3. Push an almond into the cheese.
4. Wrap with bacon (I cut my bacon strips in 1/2 and that was plenty to go around). Use a toothpick to hold them together.
5. Put them on a baking sheet and broil for 8-10 minutes until the bacon is done. (watch carefully so they don't burn, or set your fire alarm off :))

Zucchini Bread

This is a fun alternative to traditional zucchini bread. It's slightly on the healthier side. It also freezes well; I made it, froze it for a month and then thawed it for a special occasion and it was great! Enjoy!

Zucchini Bread

Dry ingredients:
• 1 1/2 cups whole-wheat flour
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
Wet ingredients:
• 2 eggs
• 1/3 cup canola oil
• 3/4 cup plain yogurt
• 1/3 cup buttermilk (or regular milk with a splash of vinegar)
• 1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 2 1/2 cups finely grated zucchini
• semisweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Oil a 9×4 inch loaf pan and line with parchment paper. Line a 6-cup muffin tin with papers OR oil a mini loaf pan.
2. In a bowl, sift together dry ingredients and set aside.
3. In a large bowl, beat eggs until foamy; beat in eggs, yogurt, buttermilk, oil, sugar, and vanilla. Combine well. Stir in grated zucchini and chopped chocolate.
4. Fold flour mixture into the wet ingredients and stir until combined.
5. Spoon batter into 6 muffin cups (or mini loaf pan) and pour the rest into the 9×4 loaf pan. Bake for approximately 50 minutes.
6. Remove from oven and cool 10 minutes in the pan. Loosen the sides and remove from pan. Cool loaf completely before cutting.

Fig Spread

Sorry, I don't have a picture of this one. We got figs in our CSA this week and I know a lot of people like to eat them straight up, but I've never enjoyed them that way. They also needed to be used ASAP so I made this spread and it was quite tasty. Had it on some toast tonight and looking forward to slathering it on my pancakes in the morning!

Fig Spread

Ingredients:

-20 fresh figs, stems removed.
-1/4 c water
-1/4 c lemon juice
-1 tsp brown sugar
-1/4 tsp vanilla

Put all ingredients into a food processor and process until smooth. Refrigerate and serve.

Not-So-Bad-For-You Blueberry Muffins

These have been a big hit around here this week. Combined with some yogurt or an egg and they make a decent breakfast. They also freeze well for future need-a-quick-breakfast mornings!

Whole-Grain Blueberry Muffins

Ingredients:
-1 1/4 c. whole-wheat flour
-1 c old fashioned rolled oats
-1/4 c flaxseed
1/4 c nuts (walnuts, pecans, almonds, etc.)
-1 tsp baking powder
-1 tsp baking soda
-1/2 tsp salt
-1 c plain low-fat yogurt (Greek yogurt would work, too)
-1/2 c brown sugar
-3 Tbs butter, melted
-1 Tbs grated orange zest
-1/4 c orange juice (or the juice from 1 orange)
-1 egg
-1 tsp vanilla
-blueberries, fresh or frozen

1. Preheat oven to 375.
2. Combine in food processor: flour, oats, flaxseed, nuts, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Process until finely ground.
3. Combine in a large bowl: yogurt, sugar, butter, orange zest, orange juice, egg, and vanilla.
4. Add flour mixture to wet ingredients and combine gently, do not overmix.
5. Fold in blueberries.
6. Divide batter into 12 greased muffin tins. Bake for 22-25 minutes.

Popsicles, Chocolate Covered Strawberry

One last hurrah for the popsicle stand here at our house. This is a good one and plenty of good stuff inside makes a no-guilt treat!

Chocolate Covered Strawberry Popsicles

Ingredients:
-1 c. vanilla yogurt
-1 avocado*
-6-8 strawberries
-2 Tbs. cocoa
-Splash of milk

Dump all ingredients in a food processor and blend until smooth and creamy. Pour into popsicle molds and freeze for 6 hours. Enjoy and good-bye, Summer!!


*Yes, avocado. I promise you can't taste it, but there is so much good stuff added when you include it and it gives a creamier texture. This is a great way to use up an avocado that's gone a little brown, unappealing to look at but still perfectly fine for consuming!

Amy's Super Simple From-Scratch Granola

I straight up stole this recipe from a friend. She granted me permission to post and all I can say is try it. Seriously. Today. It's that good. Thanks, Amy!!

From-Scratch Granola

Ingredients:
-Nonstick cooking spray
-3 cups old-fashioned rolled oats (not instant or quick-cooking)
-3/4 cup wheat germ
-3/4 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped (You could sub other nuts or seeds here, too)
-1/2 cup frozen apple juice concentrate, thawed (Any frozen concentrate variety will do here. Change it up for a subtle difference in flavor.)
-1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
-2 tablespoons vegetable oil
-1/2 - 1 cup dried fruit, such as dried cherries, dates, raisins, blueberries, or a mixture, halved or chopped if large

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Lightly coat a 9x13 baking pan with cooking spray. Add oats, wheat germ and walnuts, stirring to combine. Spread in an even layer and toast until mixture is lightly browned, about 25 minutes, stirring halfway through. Remove from oven.
2. Raise oven temperature to 350 degrees. Stir together apple juice, brown sugar, and oil. Pour over oat mixture; stir to combine, and spread evenly in pan. Bake until oats are crisp, about 30 minutes, stirring halfway through.
3. Let cool in pan about 25 minutes; toss with dried fruit. Granola can be stored up to 1 month in the refrigerator in an air-tight container.

Makes 5 cups

NOTE: This easy, delicious treat makes a great gift. Dress it up in a fun container and add a ribbon - viola! Think hostess, teacher, neighbor, family, who wouldn't love it? :)

Garden Salsa

I played around with this recipe a lot last year, but ultimately discovered that keeping it simple was the way to go for flavor, at least that's my preference. There really isn't anything like fresh salsa, and served up top these restaurant fajita leftovers - yum!

Garden Salsa

Ingredients:
-tomatoes, seeded
-onion
-hot pepper
-juice of 1-2 limes
-cilantro

Roughly chop all ingredients and place in food processor. Pulse until items are finely chopped to your desired consistency. Chill before serving.

Squashamole

Hold on to your hats, friends. This. Is. A. Good. One. Seriously, this is something I will be begging for come oh say, February! SO MUCH summer squash and zucchini coming in these days, this is a great, delicious, and no-guilt healthy way to gobble it up!! Thanks for the inspiration, RR!!

Squashamole

Ingredients:
-Several small summer squash or zucchini
-2 small onions
-head of garlic, separated but not peeled
-olive oil
-toasted walnuts
-shredded parmesan cheese

1. Slice squash/zucchini and onions lengthwise, toss to coat in olive oil and sprinkle with salt.

2. Wrap garlic cloves (unpeeled) in foil.

3. Grill items from #1 and #2 on low to medium heat for 10-15 minutes, turning halfway through.

4. Combine in food processor: squash/zucchini from the grill, garlic squeezed from skins, toasted walnuts, and parmesan cheese.

5. Blend until smooth. Chill. Serve with tortilla chips.

Delish!

Salsa Verde

There is nothing like fresh salsa. Nothing. Period.





Salsa Verde

Ingredients:
-6-10 tomatillos
-1-2 small onions, quartered
-1 jalepeno, halved, seeded, and deveined*
-cilantro**
-1-2 cloves garlic, minced
-salt and pepper to taste

1. Remove the husks from the tomatillos and boil the fruit for about 5 minutes, until it softens.
2. Put all ingredients in the food processor and process until desired chunkiness/smoothness.
3. Refrigerate to chill.
4. Serve. Straight up with chips. As a sandwich/burger topping. Mixed with mashed avocados and lime juice to make guacamole. The options are endless.

*Unless you like it REALLY hot, then leave in the seeds and veins. That's where most of the heat lives.

**I didn't plan my garden as well this year when it comes to cilantro. Ours is all gone to seed before our tomatoes are in :( I do like this freeze-dried option in a pinch, available at your local grocer.

Super Simple Garden Salad

I haven't been posting much lately and that's because this time of year my table contents are usually super simple. Fresh vegs, fresh fruits, raw, roasted or on the grill, I don't usually do too much to them because they are so delicious just how God made them! I do like this particular combination, though, and thought it worth sharing! And just in time for garden harvests. I don't know about yours, but ours is exploding with fruit - yum, yum!

Super Simple Garden Salad

Ingredients:
-Chopped tomatoes
-Chopped cucumbers
-Olive Oil
-Balsamic vinegar
-Parmesan cheese, shredded
-Salt and pepper

Mix all ingredients in a bowl. Best if you have time to let it sit in the fridge for a couple of hours before serving.