summer eats: apple 'cookies'

well summer is definitely in full swing around here. yesterday we hit our first day with triple digits. Lord, help us.

 

that will mean less time outside and more time indoors, which leads to more snacking.

or is it only in my home?

and with the temperatures being so high, we crave something fresh and yummy.

i'm not one to crave baked goods in the summer. leave that for sweater weather with a good cup of hot cocoa.

now i won't take credit for these. i saw them on pinterest, of course.

seeing that i had most ingredients in my home already, we gave it a whirl. and honestly, these were so yummy and just sweet enough to give any sweet tooth craving a good punch.

 

well summer is definitely in full swing around here. yesterday we hit our first day with triple digits. Lord, help us.

that will mean less time outside and more time indoors, which leads to more snacking.

or is it only in my home?

and with the temperatures being so high, we crave something fresh and yummy.

i'm not one to crave baked goods in the summer. leave that for sweater weather with a good cup of hot cocoa.

now i won't take credit for these. i saw them on pinterest, of course.

seeing that i had most ingredients in my home already, we gave it a whirl. and honestly, these were so yummy and just sweet enough to give any sweet tooth craving a good punch.

you'll need the above. simply spread peanut/almond butter on the apple slices, and then top with raisins and coconut.
you can do as many or as little toppings as you like! my daughter tried to even do mini marshmallows. nice try little one, nice try.

what snacks has your crew been snacking on this summer?

the 'from scratch' diaries: oatmeal and banana breakfast bars

sundays for me are for homemade breakfasts. period. 

lunch and dinner can be outside of the home, but nothing cuddles me more than a sunday breakfast at home. 

for our family, it is truly the only day where we can groggily roll out of bed, stumble into the kitchen with bedhead and just go about it slowly. 

anyone else with me on this?

the only problem i was seeing is the repetitiveness of pancakes, scrambled eggs, bacon and milk. 

sure it's only once a week, but variety is nice. 

variety though, means experimenting, stepping out of the comfortable pancake zone once in a while.

when i told this to my husband, he kinda raised one brow. see, he jokes that 50% of our groceries are used in experiments, which don't always turn out.

but what would life be about if we didn't try something new, and stepped out of our comfort zone, right? that's the beauty of it. even if it doesn't turn out, you tried. you can say proudly that you didn't crouch in fear of the outcome, but you actually tried.

 

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

i had seen a recipe for oatmeal and banana cookies which calls for basically those two ingredients, and i thought instead of making them into little balls, i would just flatten the mix out, bake it and cut it into little squares. 

lo and behold it worked. 

i mean there really isn't a whole lot of kitchen science going on here, but sometimes kitchen experiments can either be an epic fail, or a win. 

in this case they were a good win. 

not necessarily in the aesthetics department, i'll admit that to myself, but in flavor they were given two thumbs up by my people.

i can add oatmeal and banana breakfast bars to my resume now. 

oatmeal and banana breakfast bars

ingredients:

4 ripe bananas

1 cup or so of quick oats

cinnamon

2 pinches of nutmeg

1 cup of strawberries

honey

how to:

take 3 of the bananas and mash in a bowl, mix in cinnamon and nutmeg and quick oats thoroughly.

in a small baking pan, spray non stick spray or spread butter to bottom of pan to prevent from sticking.

spread oats mix and press down to make sure it's all even. 

bake at 350 degrees for about 25-30 minutes. 

for spread: in blender mix strawberries and banana with honey (about 2-3 tablespoons). it should be a yogurt type consistency. when bars are baked, spread strawberry and banana mix over bars. place in oven for another ten minutes or so.

let cool and cut into equal squares. 

makes approximately nine bars. 

enjoy!

 

 

don't forget to enter the one year anniversary giveaway!

 

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everything wild and lovely

the 'from sratch' diaries: sweet potato empanadas

you know what's funny?

after yesterday's post on Jesus being my niche, i went home thinking i should post a recipe for today.. you know to balance things out. though i know He said we must not live on bread alone... ;)

and as i stood over my counter top yesterday evening peeling and and cutting sweet potatoes destined for a brave attempt at empanadas, i looked down at my cutting board and found a peculiar beauty in my chopped produce.

to appreciate this, you must know that my first victory in the kitchen was successfully cooking corn dogs in the microwave for my love and i. that was many years ago, but the kitchen and i have not always had a love affair, as the kind i've developed recently.
especially when making things from scratch.

i could have just as easily gone down to the little market in my neighborhood and purchased the empanadas, saved myself time (not money) and that would have been the end of that.
but making, cooking, baking  from scratch results in a sweet harmony when our hands engage in creating something from almost nothing.

hence being made in the image of our Creator.

i won't lie and tell you that my back and feet don't hurt when i'm done, and that there's usually more mess to clean up. however, i will tell you that as i look at my mess, my flour covered t-shirt, and my finished empanadas for my family to enjoy, i am overflowing inside. i used my hands and time to create something from almost nothing. from scratch.

and that's the way He works too. making something out of nothing. not only in creation, but in our lives too.
He takes what seems ordinary and creates. a dream into reality. a hope into a promise. a possibility into a fact. only His 'empanadas' come out perfect.

to encourage myself and hopefully you to engage more in the making from scratch, this is the start of a new series here: the 'from sratch' diaries.

what do you enjoy most making from scratch?

 

 

sweet potato empanadas:

the filling

2 medium sweet potatoes

raisins

cinnamon

nutmeg

sugar

the dough

3 cups of flour

salt 

1 egg

2 tbsps of vinegar

1 cup of cold water

1/2 cup sugar

mix the egg, vinegar, and water in one bowl. 

in another sift together the dry ingredients for the dough. 

make a well in the middle of the flour mixture and pour in the wet ingredients. mix with a fork until dough is stiff. knead until dough is smooth. 

wrap in a plastic bag or plastic wrap and store in fridge for about an hour and a half. 

while waiting start baking sweet potatoes. peel them and chop them into big chunks. place them in cookie sheet and bake until tender at 350 degrees. 

mash the sweet potatoes and mix with the rest of the filling ingredients. 

when the dough is ready, (it should not be sticky), cut a handful of dough and roll out on a flour sprinkled surface. cut out a 4-6 inch circle and fill with sweet potato filling down the center.

fold like a quesadilla and with the tines of a fork, seal the edges.

at 350 degrees, bake your empanadas for about 20-30 minutes or until golden brown on both sides. 

let them cool, and enjoy. 

 

 

fish tacos + jicama slaw.

i've been on a fish kick lately. and so i made these tacos. the end.
just kidding. but i have on a fish kick. i don't know what gives, but coincedentaly on my last grocery trip, they had these big bags of tilapia priced pretty reasonably, so i grabbed it.

right now i'm out of chicken or turkey (we never really eat read meat), so tilapia is what's on the menu for the next few days. trying to figure out what to cook one day this week, i remembered i had a jicama in the fridge.
earlier my husband had asked if i wanted pizza or wings for dinner. psssshhh.
we're eating fish tacos baby. AND with jicama slaw. boom and you're welcome.

so if this weekend, you'd like to whip up something super easy and yummy. this is it.

 

you'll need:

 

4-5 tilapia filets (feeds five)

flour or corn tortillas

1 egg

bread crumbs

half of red cabbage head

half of medium jicama

little bit of cilantro

2 limes

roasted red salsa

 

what to do:

 

cut up the filets into bite size pieces. crack the egg and whisk it by hand in a bowl. in a separate bowl place bread crumbs for coating.

dip fish pieces into egg and then into bread crumbs.

in a medium pan, with medium high heat, cook fish pieces until golden brown on each side.

 

for slaw: cup up red cabbage and jicama into thin strips. chop up cilantro.

mix it with juice of two limes and season with salt if desired.

fill your tortilla with fish and top with slaw.

if using salsa, any salsa will do. the spicier, the better!

 

enjoy your tacos and your weekend!

 

peaches & chia seeds for breakfast.

 

some say when posting a recipe, it should be just that: the recipe. no story line with it, just ingredients, steps, boom.

 

i, however, do not fancy that method.

so i'll grace you with my story for the dish pictured above.

 

it starts with a pesky wisdom tooth that began making its stand sometime last week.

just started as a tiny voice going hey, hey, hey!

 

by the end of last week it made it pretty clear, being ignored was not up its alley.

having half of your mouth swollen is no picnic, since you really can't eat a whole lot without screaming outloud every time you chew, making your co workers wonder if you've developed turrets overnight.

because i couldn't go without eating, i had to find the softest thing to scarf down and appease my hungry tummy.

enter peaches and chia seeds with yogurt.

not only soft, easy to chew but super healthy, delicious and easy to make.

 

if you haven't heard of chia seeds, you need to.

they are packed with protein, fiber and so many vitamins.

the little black seeds turn into this gel like substance and are so filling.

i usually mix them into my yogurt. so, so good.

 

anyway, back to my story. this breakfast kept me sane and full. and honestly i ate it sometimes for lunch when i wasn't feeling like having soup.

i haven't yet made an appointment for the dentist. i'm a scardy cat.

thankfully, the swelling has subsided dramatically and the pain is slowly going away.

 until the next time it decides to be a diva.

 

what are some of your healthy breakfast/snack options?

 

 

ingredients:

 

greek yogurt

1 medium peach

about a handful of chia seeds

 

steps:

 

i mean really. just throw everything on a pretty plate and eat!

xoxo, leah 

guava mango popsicles. you're welcome.

if you follow me on instagram, you might have seen this little teaser which now looking at it, it's not so much of a teaser as you can totally tell they're popsicles.

moving on.

the weather here finally graced us with sunshine over the past week and we spent every possible minute soaking some vitamin d. that is until yesterday when we got a cold front and were slapped with gray skies, some winds and 54 degrees.

now i know some of you got snow, so i don't expect any pity from you as the weather i just described is what you call a normal day. but i'm from texas, and here in the lonestar state we have double digits nearing the hundreds by now. so, yeah.

so for those that don't really care what temperature it is outside to enjoy a nice healthier version of pops, here you go.

5-6 guavas

1 medium mango

2 cups greek plain yogurt

1/2 cup of organic brown sugar

peel mango and pure with yogurt. pour into a bowl. wash and cut off ends of guavas. blend on their own. strain out the seeds. they have a lot of seeds!

pour guava paste into bowl with mango and yogurt and pour in sugar. mix thoroughly or throw into blender again until it is all mixed in well.

pour mixture into popsicle molds. if you don't have one dixie cups are okay to use.

insert popsicle stick in the middle. greek yogurt is thicker so it should hold up well. freeze for a few hours, and enjoy immediately!!

do you guys have any plans this weekend? enjoy it and don't forget to smile!

going bananas.

fun. easy. healthier. done. 

the kids loved it. momma's happy. and there's that. 

with my sugar and anything unhealthy boycott, it's gotten me thinking about my kids' nutrition. i don't feed them fast food hardly as it is, but their appetite is so limited for anything healthy already, and i'd like for them to start being more conscious about their health. i know they're just kids, and i may be over doing it. maybe i just don't want to be the only one suffering alone! haha. plus those bananas have chocolate chips on them!

 but their nutrition is important and bad nutrition just results in other things i'd rather not deal with. insert high doctor bills and fatigue which equals temper tantrums here.

if you have any ideas for healthier kid approved snacks, send them my way!

have a beautiful tuesday beautiful friends!

linking up:

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not yo momma's salad. (healthy you, happy you link up)

oh, so you saw the word salad and turned up your nose?

don't. buhlieve you mean when i tell you i am in love, obsessed, fascinated with this salad. 

Cucumber Peach Salad

I won't be the first to say that I am genius in the kitchen, because I'm really not and my husband would probably agree. *ahem*

When the creativity bug hits though, it's usually a good thing.

This salad came to me after eating so badly for a few days. Think queso, pizza, tortas. I could go on, but I rather not make you gain five pounds just from reading.

I needed something light, yummy, and that wouldn't have my arteries dialing 911.

I realize that this may fit more as a summer salad, and kind of sticks out as a sore thumb among all the fall recipes, but go out on a limb for me.

enter fresh, light and yummy.

So simple but such an explosion of flavor in your mouth.

Ingredients:

2 medium peaches

2 cucumbers

1 avocado

1 lemon

red pepper flakes

Begin by peeling your cucumbers and with a peeler, slice them into ribbons.

Cut your peaches into medium to thin wedges. Cut your avocado into small cubes.

Toss all cut ingredients in a salad bowl. Squeeze lemon over salad and sprinkle red pepper flakes to your liking.

Super duper easy. No fuss and your arteries will be way happy. Hope you enjoy friends!! 

Until next time,