In honor of Valentine's Day taking place in a few days, I have a delicious dessert recipe to share with you all today. It all started when I heard about Davida's Valentine's Day Bake Off. Naturally, I wanted to participate, but there weren't any baking ideas immediately popping into my head....and then I thought of making a homemade version of Nutella. Since it's V-Day, the idea of strawberries were also on my brain. Technically there isn't any baking involved in this recipe, but I figure that there's no room to be a stickler for rules when chocolate is involved, right? ;-) I think many people would agree with me when I say that Nutella is heavenly tasting. I think it's slightly ridiculous that people see it as a "nutritious" thing to eat for breakfast, but I do not pass up the ... [Read More]
chocolate
[Secret Ingredient] Double Chocolate Pumpkin Muffin Bites
A couple of days ago, I was on a mission to come up with a mini-something recipe that could serve as a baby snack or dessert. An I'm-waiting-for-dinner-to-cook-and-need-to-eat-a-little-something-ASAP recipe. Also an I-just-ate-dinner-and-am-not-really-hungry-but-want-a-bite-of-something-sweet snack. Since pumpkin eats are constantly on my brain these days, I naturally incorporated some into the recipe - in more than one way. I think that including chocolate in a sweet recipe is always a good idea, so this recipe quickly became a combo of chocolate + pumpkin yumminess. And then there was the mini muffin tin I happened to see peering from my cabinet just waiting to be used, all of which resulted in these babies... Then comes the *secret ingredient* part... I wanted to omit use of any oil ... [Read More]
Chocolate Protein Squares
This is exactly how I felt when I woke up this morning! My family left for the airport today. It's always a bit sad to say goodbye to them knowing we won't see each other for awhile. My extra long weekend was packed with lots of fun, but I think it all caught up with me, because today I was exhausted! I'm sure all of the wine drinking didn't help. ;-) I'm glad that I did that three-day detox just about a week before they visited, because my liver took a beating with my family in town. Hey, it's okay if that happens once in awhile right? All I can do is take a nice break from alcohol and eat super clean moving forward - which is exactly what I plan to do! I also will be getting to sleep nice and early tonight. While my family was in town, I whipped up some yummy eats & drinks. Most were ... [Read More]
Dark Chocolate Cherry Almond Butter Granola
Lately I've been obsessed with cherries. It all started a couple of weeks ago when I stopped at a local farm stand and nabbed some dark sweet cherries. I've always liked cherries, but it seems my love for them has been on a whole new level since that purchase. Fresh cherries by themselves, frozen cherries in smoothies, cherry frozen yogurt (ate some last night!), cherries in my salads - I've been finding endless ways to incorporate cherries into my diet pretty much everyday. One day last week, I whipped up a new recipe and found yet another way to eat (dried) cherries: dark chocolate cherry almond butter granola! This granola will add some pizazz to yogurt or cottage cheese, and is a nice sweet treat all on its own. The only downside to this recipe, and to pretty much all kinds of ... [Read More]
Chocolate Bark with Pistachios & Dried Cranberries
Hi friends! This Friday night in my household is totally relaxed. I am still under the weather with an upper respiratory thing, and my hubby had a tooth pulled earlier today, so we both felt like being couch potatoes. Our evening has consisted of me making us a dinner of homemade tomato soup, getting some fro yo, and now we're currently watching a college football game. Even Harley's joining in on the laziness and has been snoozing. Between a workout first thing this AM, work, a long walk with Harley, and physical therapy while feeling crappy, I think I've earned some chill time tonight! ;-) Before officially moving forward from the holidays, I want to share one final dessert I made during Christmastime - chocolate bark with pistachios and dried cranberries: I found the recipe on ... [Read More]
Rich Chocolate Kahlua Cake
Greetings from the East Coast! I've been enjoying spending time with my family since I arrived in Jersey. Tonight my best friends and some of the ladies in my family are coming over for a jewelry party at my parents' house. For the occasion, I made a few fun things to eat, including this chocolate Kahlua cake. Let me just warn you, when I say that this blog follows my mostly healthy eats.... this cake is not one of the healthy ones! But it's worth the splurge, and may be one of the only recipes that I don't think I'd screw around with to make healthier. I only eat it once every year or 2 and it is just so moist and delicious! The recipe comes from our former neighbor, Priscilla Walsh. My mom started making this cake after it was published in a local newspaper for winning a recipe ... [Read More]