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]
healthy dessert
Cashew Cake Batter Fruit Dip {Vegan + Gluten Free}
With the summer produce starting to pop up in markets around town, I've been loving all of the fruit lately. Sweet cherries, strawberries, and peaches have been my favorite. Nature's candy is the best! So naturally with all of my fruit consumption in recent weeks, I had to make fruit dip. Dipping fruit into a decadent tasting dip is one of my favorite desserts, especially when it's healthy like today's recipe! I've been making a lot of cake batter recipes lately, including a few batches of energy bites, smoothies, and now, this fruit dip. I also think that cake batter cookies may be in my baking future. To get that cake batter flavor, I combined cashew butter with shredded coconut, maple syrup, vanilla dairy-free yogurt, vanilla extract and cashew milk. ... [Read More]
Chocolate Pistachio Energy Bites [gluten free]
I'm such a sucker for any kind of place where high-quality food is the focus. Farmers' markets. Gourmet food shops. Italian markets. Bakeries. I love it all. It's no secret that I love experimenting in the kitchen, and finding new foods and ingredients gives me inspiration to try new recipes... plus I just love eating food, obviously. A few weeks ago, I was walking to a Starbucks to work for awhile before meeting a friend for dinner, when I passed by a spice shop. I've seen it before when it was closed for the day, but this time it was open. Naturally, I walked in the shop and moseyed around smelling and tasting things. I wound up leaving with some goodies - all that were new to me, with the exception of local cinnamon infused honey (I pretty much buy that whenever I see ... [Read More]
Healthy Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Cinnamon Cookies {vegan}
Does anyone else just all of a sudden get in the mood for baking sometimes? The measuring and mixing, pouring and stirring, baking and cooling. The smells of something delicious coming together and the anticipation of taste testing. It's therapeutic to me. Last week as I was jotting down a bunch of things to nab at the food store and planning out what healthy snacks I'd make this week, I got bitten by the baking bug. And I didn't feel like just following a recipe, I was in the mood for experimenting and getting creative. Today's recipe is a result of that baking bug. These cookies center around a few of my favorite things: the combination of chocolate + peanut butter & cinnamon. Cinnamon is without a doubt my favorite spice. I'm constantly sprinkling some on my fruit, in my smoothies, ... [Read More]
Healthy Apple Almond Crumble {vegan + gluten free}
Happy Friday! I felt like this work week has gone by so fast - not quite as fast as last week's three day work week, but still quick! I have a feeling that's how the entire month of December is going to feel. I don't know about you guys, but I always get in sweet tooth + baking moods on the weekends - especially in the fall and winter when it gets cooler out. One way that I satisfy it without getting off track with my daily macro and calorie goals? Baking healthy of course! A few of my healthy swaps are using fruit and cinnamon to naturally sweeten baked goods up, using oats instead of white flour, and including sweeteners like maple syrup instead of refined sugar. Today's recipe includes all of those tricks! I first made this apple almond crumble a few months ago. ... [Read More]
Chocolate Pumpkin Spice Cereal Bars [gluten free]
As a traveler, I'm not usually the person that seeks out the best shopping spots in a given area. I'm not huge into shopping and my husband absolutely loathes it, so shopping is never on our vacation checklist. While I prefer making memories, taking photos, and going on adventures while traveling, I do enjoy nabbing a souvenir that reminds me of the trip and is unique to the area. For instance, I picked up coasters in New Orleans that have the city's symbolic fleur-de-lis design on them. When I put my drink on one, memories from my time there come to mind. The last time I was in Italy, I bought a bracelet from a street vendor. Every time I wear it, I think of the magic of Venice. During my trip to Ireland a few months ago, the souvenir that I took home was a jar of locally ... [Read More]