{healthy} Rice Krispy Treats

Yes, you heard me, HEALTHY (and vegan!)! No marshmallow, no butter. Just delicious, simple ingredients.

Baking just got a whole lot more interesting to me :) I keep finding ways to make my favorite treats healthier and better!

Recipe

8 Cups brown rice cereal (I used chocolate brown rice cereal)
1/4 cup ground flax seed
2/3 cup natural peanut butter (or whatever nut butter you want)
1/2 cup agave nectar or honey
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Directions

Lightly oil 13x9 pan with coconut oil.

Combine cereal and flax in large bowl, set aside. In medium sauce pan, heat remaining ingredients, stirring constantly, until liquefied (about 5 minutes). Poor over cereal/flax mix and combine until well coated. Dump into oiled pan and smooth out evenly.

Refrigerate for one hour before cutting into squares.

Makes 30.

San Diego, 2014

We just got back from our annual trip to San Diego, staying (practically on) Ocean Beach this round. Our hotel was comfortable and conveniently located! Everything was just 5-10 minutes away, 10 minutes being the very most (if even).

Ocean beach is beautiful, quiet, and they offer a dog beach, so we took Max! We didn't really do much, but we like being able to just wake up and go, relax, and not stress over time. Which is exactly what we did and we already miss it. We couldn't have asked for better weather!
 

                 

On our way!

Nervous pup

Arrived early in the afternoon, so we stopped for a quick trip to the beach!

   

 

   

 

At my Uncles' pub! They have done a wonderful, beautiful job!

Balboa Park! 

  

Balboa Park Playground

Getting ready to walk through Balboa, walking stick in hand

 

Squirrel!

 

 

 

Balboa Fountain

She fell in after this was taken.

Beach day! So much fun to have the two run around, though Max was already so tired! 

 

 

 

 

 

Easter Bunny came!

Easter morning on the pier at Ocean Beach!

 

Watching the surfers before we left

{super scrumptious} Chocolate Chip Coconut Zucchini Muffins

That's a mouthful, isn't it? It may sound like a lot, but they're so simple and the flavor is delicious! I had to look through a few different recipes to make one I thought sounded good, and I did awesome. Yes, I'm patting myself firmly on the back!

They're so good, in fact, my lovely daughter sneaked into the kitchen while they were cooling and nibbled the chocolate chips off about half of them! When I asked her what happened, she grinned ear to ear and said "are you mad, mom?" Hahah, no! Silly stinker, who could be mad at such a cute, chocolate covered grin? Then, she ate 2 whole muffins herself! I'd like to say these get 2 thumbs WAY up!

Recipe

1 cup whole wheat flour

2 cup unbleached all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup coconut oil, melted and cooled

1 cup white sugar

3 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup shredded coconut

2 cup shredded zucchini

1 cup chocolate chips

Directions
Preheat oven to 350, line cupcake tin with paper liners (Will make 24, though I made 1 loaf and 12 muffins)

Sift together flours, cinnamon, nutmeg, b. soda, b. powder, and salt in medium bowl and set aside. In large bowl, or bowl of stand mixer, beat the oil and sugar until light and fluffy. Add in eggs one at at time, followed by vanilla.  Slowly add in your zucchini, coconut, and chocolate chips. Mix well and then slowly combine sifted ingredients in 3 parts.

Pour into prepared liners and bake for 15-20 minutes, or until your toothpick comes out slightly crumby and moist :)

Enjoy!

***Healthy tip***

Cut the oil and the sugar in half, and add in 1 cup of natural and unsweetened applesauce. That will reduce the calories and sugar by a LOT.

Summer!

Yes, I know it's still spring, but it's also 100 degrees, so to me it's summer! This means it's POOL TIME!

I'm an Arizona native, I've had 28 years to get used to the heat. I'm not used it, you'll never get used to triple digits 9 months out of the year, but why would I complain about it? It's my home and I'm never leaving! We have a pool available to us all year (thanks apartment living), so we utilize it as much as possible!

Kenzie is almost 5, and because we love swimming, I decided to take her without wearing floaties. Kenzie swims like a fish with them on, she goes all over the place. I thought she'd do wonderfully without them. It's time she swims with the sharks! However, I cannot be the one to teach her. She is so stubborn (hmm, wonder where she gets that from), she doesn't listen to mommy.

We had our first round of "floatie free" swimming and she did OK. She just wants to jump in and GO, no patience (again, not sure where she gets that from). We bought her one of those kick boards, and we have noodles, but it was only day one. She has a lot of work to do, but she knows how to hold her breath, kick her feet, and move her arms. Now it's just a matter of coordinating them together and smoothing the rough edges.

We may just cave and get her into a swim school! There are a few good ones in the area that come highly recommended :) Hopefully by June she'll be pool ready!


P.s. You know the new movie, Frozen? How can you not? Anyway! Kenzie loves that movie, and loves Queen Elsa (white hair) and Princess Anna (red hair), so of course I had my talented friend crochet some hats! I'm Queen Elsa, and Kenzie is, of course, Princess Anna!

{homemade and amazing} Breakfast Bars - 2 Flavors!

Granola bars are delicious, we know that, but do you know what is actually IN the granola bars you buy? Can you pronounce the words listed? I can't, and that scares me.

So, naturally, I started looking for different types of homemade granola bar recipes, and found one I love! I'm still on the hunt, though, for different flavors.

This is the original recipe, but I pulled a "Hillary" and changed it to be my own (and also because I didn't actually have all the recipe called for). Crunchy peanut butter and dark chocolate granola bars? I ate most of them myself!

The Recipe

1 cup raw almonds

1 1/2 cup oats with flax 

1 cup mini dark chocolate chips

1/2 cup honey

1 cup natural, chunky peanut butter (the runny kind!)

Line a 8x8 pan with parchment paper, or wax paper.

In a food processor, pulverize almonds for about 10 seconds into small chunks. In large bowl, combine oats, almonds, and chocolate chips. Melt the peanut butter and honey in microwave for about 20 seconds, then pour into dry ingredients and mix thoroughly. 

Pour mixture into pan and refrigerate for at least 1 hour before cutting. Makes 16 squares.

The other breakfast bar I made are equally delicious, and they're the easiest to make!  They're date squares, and I LOVE them! I was a bit surprised, because I've never been a huge date fan, but these are fantastic. Not too sweet, and just enough salt. Incredible, you must try them!

The Recipe is found here, I didn't change a single thing! That's right, they're perfect as is! 

If you want to use melted butter, in replace of the coconut oil, that would work, but coconut oil is so amazing. It tastes awesome, and it's great for you!

P.s. I know my pictures are pretty boring, I never claimed to be a photographer ;) Just believe me when I say these are perfect! 

Until my next baking adventure, thanks for reading!

{healthy version} Banana Pineapple Muffins

Do you remember my post about the {super delicious} Banana Pineapple Muffins? They truly are super delicious, but I've once again  messed around with a few things and found out, they can be so much healthier for you and STILL super delicious!

I've very into eating "clean", aka eating real food. We've always made healthier choices in our home, but I'm more involved now to make sure my family eats nothing processed and full of sugar. We splurge, of course, but I'm much more aware of the gross, chemical infused stuff grocery stores try and sell me.

I'm a label reader, and if I can't pronounce what's in it, I don't eat it. WE don't eat it. I have a daughter to think about! You want to know what the best part about this is? Eating clean, eating healthy, and reading labels? It's more delicious than all that fake food available! It's real, it's full of natural flavors, and you feel better when eating it!

Don't these look incredible?

I turned my already delicious muffins into even more delicious muffins.

The Recipe

1 1/4 cup organic unbleached, all purpose flour

1 1/4 cup organic whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup organic unsweetened applesauce

2 cups pureed organic banana (food processor!)

1 cup organic crushed pineapple, with juice

1/4 cup organic agave nectar (or natural honey)

2 eggs

Organic brown sugar (optional)

The Directions

Preheat oven to 350, line cupcake tin with paper cupcake wrappers

Combine all dry ingredients in medium bowl and set aside. In stand mixer, slowly combine applesauce, banana, and pineapple. Then add in eggs 1 at a time, slowly. Finally mix in the agave or honey. Once mixed, add in flour mixture and combine well.

Divide into cupcake liners (I got 15 muffins out of this). 

Optional - sprinkle 1-2 teaspoons organic brown sugar on top prior to baking.

Bake for 15-18 minutes, or until toothpick comes out dry.

ENJOY!

5 Years Down...

John and I celebrate our 5 year anniversary on March 18th (today!), and what a crazy and exciting 5 years it has been. If you remember, we do things backwards in our life. First came baby, then came marriage, and then, 5 years later... we had our "wedding" pictures done.

Surprise!

I felt that I deserved the cutesy, lovey-dovey pictures that everyone else has, or had. It's only fair, right?

These last 5 years have been a roller coaster. I love John so damn much, even on days he does nothing but infuriate me.  He annoys me, but the annoying things he does make me laugh. We yell, bicker, and ignore each other to avoid confrontation. The feeling is mutual, we drive each other absolutely crazy sometimes. What kind of marriage is it if the bride and groom don't bicker? But, I love John and all his annoying crazy.

I love the way he hugs me, kisses me, and makes me laugh. I love how he fathers Kenzie. I love hearing him read to her, making her laugh, and watching him hug and kiss her. I love the way he eats ice cream, I laugh every time. I love that he's opened my mind to new adventure and thrill. I love that no matter what, Kenzie and I are his top priority. I love how hard he works to provide for his family, and I love that he excels in his work more each day. I love his wittiness. I love his patience and strength. I love that he is Mr. Fix It and creative. I love watching him succeed. I love the family I gained when I married him, and I love his huge, passionate heart. I love everything about this wonderful man, even all the imperfections, I love it all. Plus, his beard. I love the beard :)

Cheers to the next 50+ years!