Looking to satisfy your sweet tooth without wreaking havoc on your diet? Try making these 6-ingredient sea salt almond butter + chocolate chip stuffed dates! Halloween is next week, which means it's time for a few October holiday traditions in my house: My husband and I always have a little pumpkin carving contest with each other, when we text photos of our masterpieces to family members to have them vote for the best one. We also always eating caramel apples and watch Hocus Pocus and some sort of scary movie - one of the Halloween movies usually. Every year, we also have a tradition of dressing up Harley. It's always hilarious to dress her up, then have her scare all of the neighborhood children when they come to the house to trick-or-treat and she starts barking like a maniac in her ... [Read More]
dates
Cinnamon Almond Butter Date Truffles
Hey friends! Hope that you had a fabulous weekend. A highlight of my last few days included meeting up with my friend Trish and her little pup for a hiking doggie date.... Temperatures were in the 80s on Saturday, but it didn't feel too hot because it was nice and breezy. Harley wasn't slowed down by the warm weather and was her usual maniac, super friendly self. Another fun thing I did over the weekend was volunteer with a group called CropSwap. The organization is dedicated to harvesting produce from farms, which would have otherwise gone to waste, and getting it to people who can't afford to buy fresh fruit and veggies. As a health coach whose passionate about the importance of nutrition and eating a healthy diet full of whole foods, I wanted to get involved because I ... [Read More]
Peanut Butter Oatmeal Date Bites
Any time I have guests in town, I make sure to have some good meal ideas, ingredients on hand to prepare to prepare those yummy meals, and restaurants ideas for a couple of delicious meals out. I'm pretty sure that anyone that knows me expects nothing less - After all, I call myself a foodie for a reason! :) When my mother-in-law was in town visiting a few weeks ago, we enjoyed some pretty awesome eats. We strolled around at the Vista Farmers Market one day.... ... [Read More]
Mint Chocolate Chip Date Balls
Hey friends, how's it going? Greetings from the east coast -- my parents' house in Jersey to be exact. Things around here are pretty up and down. As I talked about in my last post, I flew here because my sweet little grandma is really sick. When I'm not at the hospital or working, I've been trying to do things that soothe my soul a bit and help me keep it together. This includes fitting in an at-home workout this morning, going for a long walk with my brother's girlfriend and their newborn baby yesterday, and having brunch with a close girlfriend today. Yesterday after being at the hospital, I wanted to try to take my mind off of my grandma for a bit, so I decided to spend time in the kitchen whipping up some snacks and dinner for my family. My mom got a food processor last year that she ... [Read More]
Goat Cheese & Date Panini
One of the reasons I love to experiment in the kitchen is that is allows you to be creative. Sometimes things turn out better than you expected, sometimes they flop, sometimes not everyone loves it. Creating meals is a form of art, and you can draw inspiration from anywhere. I love to walk around the grocery store and find something new that peaks my interest, then just go with it from there. This week while picking some things up at Trader Joe's, I spotted some fancy Medjool dates. Hmmmm what can I do with these? I asked myself. I chose a few ingredients to come up with a flavorful combo for a panini dinner - date, goat cheese, thyme, and honey on fresh whole grain bread. While I loved my panini and thought it was tasty and different, my hubby decided that he isn't a fan of dates. To each ... [Read More]
This Calls for Some Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Date Bars
''The more you praise and celebrate your life, the more there is in life to celebrate.” – Oprah It's officially been 5 months since my marine deployed, and as with the other monthly marks, I've taken it as a chance to acknowledge my being an awesome military wife. In other words, I reward myself for getting through another month without having a complete emotional breakdown! When he's gone, I try to just take it day by day and not think too much of how much more we have to go. But, once we get to this point, I envision the deployment as a mountain we've been climbing up, and feel good in thinking that it's all a downhill slope from here. Before I know it (or something like that...) my hubby will be home and we will have survived another deployment. To celebrate getting through 5 ... [Read More]