Pumpkin Pandemonium

Yes. I realize that title was a stretch. But just work with me here.

Since fall is in full swing (at least with this 65 degree weather it feels like it is!) I thought I'd do a quick pumpkin recipe round-up for all who are itching to get that pumpkin smell through their house!

Here we go...

Pumpkin & Dark Chocolate Muffins

Pumpkin Graham Smoothie

Pumpkin Pancakes

Pumpkin Pie Spiced Almonds

 

Pumpkin Waffles 

Wild Wednesday

Between a vacation last week and getting back into the groove of things with work and then a holiday yesterday (only in Utah...), I've neglected the dear blog. Sorry about that. I'll be back to writing again soon! Until then, here are some recent finds I thought you might be interested in!

Sweet Potato Chocolate Chunk Cookies - Who wants to try making these with me?!

 

 Is healthy food really more expensive? - or is that just an excuse?

 

This medicine ball interval workout looks pretty dang awesome!

How hard do you push yourself? And can you go harder?

 

Chips and salsa has always been my favorite food...and this combination of salt & lime and strawberry salsa seems to scream summer!

 

Catch ya later!

 

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Here's a recipe to keep for a gloomy day. Or a sunny day, because they'll still taste just as good :)
I got the original recipe from fellow Utah blogger Two Peas & Their Pod and just made a few modifications. Hope you like them!

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 1/4 c wheat flour
1 c oats
1/2 t. baking soda

1/2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. salt
1/2 c brown sugar
1/2 c honey 
1/2 c coconut oil (butter substitute is okay)
1 egg
1 1/2 t vanilla
1 T. milk
1 c. chocolate chips

In one bowl mix together the flour, oats, baking soda, baking powder and salt. In a separate bowl beat the coconut oil, brown sugar and honey together. Then add the egg, vanilla and milk to the egg mix. Finally combine the liquid and dry ingredients, and then mix in the chocolate chips. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-11 minutes. Let cool and eat up!

More Squash

I have a thing for spaghetti squash. As in, I could eat it every day. But last week we got some acorn squash from our co-op so we branched out a bit.

You can pretty much do the same thing you do to spaghetti squash. I just sliced it up (after taking out the insides), drizzled with olive oil, added some salt and pepper and then sprinkle with some parmesan cheese. You can also have some fun with adding some herbs like thyme or anything else you think would compliment it well. Bake at 400 for about 30 minutes, flipping over at about 20 minutes. It's a great addition to any meal!

When it's all done, just plate it and let people pull it off the skin. It comes off nice and easy since the squash is so soft and yummy. Enjoy!

Polly Wanna Cracker?

For the past few months I've had the privilege of hanging out with a 12 year-old neighbor boy each Saturday to do some health activities. I've loved being able to teach him what I know and learn from him about making healthy changes and having a positive attitude. I am so impressed with him and his desire to be healthy! Such a big deal for a kid his age. Another thing I love about those Saturday afternoons - he loves to spend time in the kitchen! So you betcha we have made some fun things. Last week it was a version of these homemade wheat crackers. They were a hit!

Here is the recipe we used...but be sure to check out that blog. She has tons of great info on there!

Homemade Cheesy Wheat Crackers
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup oats
3 T. sesame seeds
1/4-1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp. dried basil
1 tsp. dried Italian herb mix
1/3 cup water
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

In a food processor or blender, blend the flour, oats, seeds, salt and herbs until blended.

Then put that dry mix into a bowl and add the other ingredients until a dough forms. If you need to add a bit more olive oil to make it stay together, just add a little at a time.

(we didn't have shredded cheese, so we just used block cheese and broke it into small pieces. Worked great!)

After that, roll out your dough on a floured surface. Try to roll it as thin as possible without breaking the dough.

Then just cut the dough into the shape of cracker you want! We did stars. Place them on a greased or lined cookie sheet.

Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes. Then let cool - you can even transfer them to a cooling rack if you'd like. Enjoy!

Dunkable

I’m pretty sure if I were to pick my favorite snack as a little girl, it would be graham crackers and milk. And those graham crackers needed to be dunked in the milk until they pretty much fell in to the milk. Then I’d stick my little fingers into the milk and slurp up a mushy graham cracker. Ohhh so good.

Well, here’s a delicious recipe for homemade graham crackers! Very dunkable.

Graham Crackers

2 cups whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter, room temp
1/2 cup agave syrup or honey

Preheat oven to about 300 degrees and line two cookie sheets with parchment paper. Mix the four dry ingredients together and then cut in the room temperature butter. At this point, I used my hands :) It will start to get a bit crumbly. Then add the agave or honey and get it all well combined. Divide into two mounds of dough and roll out onto the two cookie sheets. Roll out to desired thickness (they can be pretty thin). It might help to flour your roller and pan. If you’d like, draw cutting lines with a butter knife and poke some fork holes into the crackers.

Bake for 20-25 minutes and let cool completely before breaking apart.

Get dunking!

Healthy Fat Cookies

Remember talking about avocados giving us healthy fats? Well I swapped avocado in my latest batch of cookies instead of butter. Ya know why?

Avocado has a quarter of the calories of butter and a fifth of the amount of fat. Two tablespoons of avocado has 50 calories, 4.5 fat grams, and zero cholesterol. Two tablespoons of butter has 204 calories, 23 fat grams and 61 mg of cholesterol. A bit of a difference, eh?

Healthy Fat Cookies

1 ripe avocado
1/2 c. agave or honey
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup wheat flour
1/2 cup oats
1 t. baking soda
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 t. salt
1/2 c. chocolate chips

In one bowl, whip the avocado, agave, vanilla and egg together. In a separate bowl mix the dry ingredients – then combine. I add the chocolate chips on top after scooping the dough onto the cookie sheet, but you can mix it in if you’d like.

Bake at 290 degrees for 15-18 minutes. It is a low temperature because the outside cooks fast due to the avocado. So keep the temp low in order to cook the inside too.

Enjoy! Have a safe and fun weekend!

Coconut Lime Cookies

So after cracking open my own coconut, I decided I would use it to make something yummy. And on our counter sat a plethora of limes. So coconut lime cookies were born!

*original recipe found on Peas and Thank You

Coconut Lime Cookies

1 cup oats
3/4 cup wheat flour
1/4 cup white flour
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 t. salt
1 t. baking soda
1/2 t. baking powder
1/2 cup shredded coconut
zest of 1 lime
1/3 cup honey or agave
1/4 cup milk
3 T. lime juice
1/4 c. applesauce
1 t. vanilla
1/3 cup chocolate chips

So first thing to do is shred the fresh coconut. You only need about 1/2 cup.

Then in one bowl, mix together the dry ingredients: oats, flour, sugar, salt, baking soda, baking powder and coconut. Then zest your lime into the bowl.

Next in a separate bowl mix together the wet ingredients: honey, milk, lime juice, applesauce and vanilla.


Now mix the two bowls together. Once mixed, fold in the chocolate chips. Bake at 350 for 11-13 minutes.

They come out a bit flat, I think because of some reaction with the baking powder/baking soda and the lime juice. But they sure taste good!

And it wouldn’t hurt to listen to this song while baking these cookies!
Hope you’re having a wonderful Wednesday!

Half and Half

Nope, we are definitely not talking about this stuff:

Instead, I’ve got a yummy cookie recipe for you using 2 kinds of flour…making up the half and half part! Usually I use all whole wheat or a mostly wheat and some white. I branched out and tried using almond flour!

Instead of going to the store to buy some, though, I just dumped some raw almonds into my blender and blended till I got a nice flour. Pretty dang easy! Just don’t blend for too long, or else you will get almond butter. Which definitely isn’t a bad thing…but just not what you are looking for right now!

       

After that, I used both wheat flour and almond flour to make these cookies. Let’s just say they were a hit at home!
*You could use 100% wheat flour, 100% almond flour, or try another flour like coconut or oat to put in this recipe – it is pretty versatile!

Half & Half Cookies
makes about 24 cookies

1 cup almond flour
1 cup wheat flour
1/2 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
1/2 c. brown sugar
1/2 t. vanilla
1/2 c. honey
1 banana
1/4 c. peanut butter (or almond butter!)
chocolate chips

Mix together the dry ingredients: flour, baking soda, brown sugar and salt. Then in a separate bowl mix the vanilla, honey, banana and peanut butter. Once mixed, combine with the dry ingredients. Scoop out the dough onto a cookie sheet and top each cookie with a few chocolate chips (you could mix some in, but I found that you use less if you just top with a few, and that is all you need!)

Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes. Watch them carefully so they don’t burn!

Let cool, and enjoy!

OOPS

Ever looking for a way to make a quick yet delicious dish? I have some great news for you. Just try adding OOPS.

Oh, you don’t know what OOPS is?

Olive Oil, Pepper & Salt (sea salt, please).

Seriously, it is all you need.

Put it on spaghetti squash, sliced red potatoes, some fresh salmon, sweet potatoes, kale chips, asparagus…you name it. It is a simple and healthy way to add flavor to your food.

As far as cooking method, you can even mix that up. Toss your potatoes in a little olive oil, spread them on a cookie sheet, sprinkle with pepper and salt and roast for 20-30 minutes.

You can grill your fish or asparagus after applying OOPS.

You can microwave your sweet potato and flavor with OOPS.

The possibilities are endless! Add some OOPS to your life :)