Raw Energy Balls

The clan and I have been doing quite a lot of traveling around these last few weeks. Moving, visiting friends, flying to LA to spend a few days with my family, driving to the beach an hour away for some fun in the sun… all of our little excursions require that we have handy sustenance for the road. Fruit and nuts are our go to car snacks but sometimes it’s nice to have a special treat to nosh on to make that hour fly by more quickly. 

These bite sized date balls are that perfect special treat. They are sweet enough to feel like an indulgence yet healthy enough to gobble up 6 of them without feeling those all too familiar pangs of regret. I whipped these up in just under 5 minutes. How groovy is that? Groovier than bell bottoms that hug John Travolta’s perfectly sculpted butt in Saturday Night Fever, I reckon. 😉 

You can dress these up with any of your favorite extras. I rolled a few of them in raw cacao powder for an elegant antioxidant boost. You could dip them in melted chocolate if you wanted a more decadent dessert ball. I found that these satisfied my ever present sweet tooth just fine as is.

Raw Energy Balls

Ingredients

• 1 cup walnuts
• 1/2 cup Dates
• 1/4 cup almond butter
• 1/3 cup chia seeds
• 1/2 cup sunflower seeds
• 1/4 cup shredded coconut
• 1/4 cup cacao nibs
• 2 tbsp honey
• 1/4 tsp salt

Process

1. Place all ingredients in a food processor 
2. Process until ingredients are finely chopped and starting to stick together
3. Roll into bite sized balls and decorate however tickles your proverbial pickle. 

XO ~ Sam

Orange and Lemon Coconut Cookies

My daughter has been talking up a storm these days. Her favorite words seem to be Mama, Cookie, Please and Thank you; she prefers to use them in this order. Since I am such a dutiful servant mama I made her some cookies today when she asked for them. If you read my last post you will remember that I have just moved in with my parents in law. I now have many old and beautiful cookbooks at my disposal. One is titled simply, ‘Cookies’. I opened it up this morning and skimmed through while nearly drooling all over the pages. I found a recipe I liked and substituted a few things, honey for white granulated sugar, coconut flour for all purpose. The result is a very crumbly, very delicious, very toddler friendly cookie… My husband came home and ate 3 of them himself. I guess they are pretty husband friendly too. 😉

~Paleo, Gluten Free, Vegan, Refined Sugar Free!~

Ingredients

• 1 cup coconut flour
• 1/2 cup arrowroot flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 3/4 cup fresh squeezed orange juice
• 1/4 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
• zest of one orange
• 1/2 cup honey, sub maple syrup if strictly vegan
• 3 tbsp coconut oil, plus more for greasing

Process

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees
2. Line a large cookie sheet with parchment paper
3. Grease parchment paper with coconut oil
4. In a small bowl mix together all dry ingredients, set aside
5. In a small saucepan, heat orange, lemon juice, honey and coconut on low heat until it becomes slightly syrupy
6. Combine dry ingredients with wet ingredients
7. Scoop out little balls onto cookie sheet and slightly flatten with a spatula
8. Bake for 10 minutes
9. Nom nom nom!

These sweet little cookies are best with a cold, creamy glass of milk. I enjoy almond milk, my little one prefers goat milk. Any kind of milk will complement this cookie perfectly.

XO ~ Sam

Ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-changes and Cheesy Herb Bread.

Hi, my name is Sam. I’m 30 years old, married, have a 2 year old daughter and I am living with my in laws. This is a reality I could not have guessed for myself. Weren’t you supposed to have your life figured out at 30? Seems the older I get, the more I realize just how clueless I really am. Life is one big experiment and we’re all trying our best to thrive in each moment while dodging the inevitable catastrophic explosions. I won’t get in to the long story with you now but I will say this, my thyroid has been acting up and we had to rule out cancer. For those of you who aren’t familiar with that process, it’s an expensive one. Fortunately, very fortunately, I’m in the clear. Yay!! 😊 UN-fortunately, I’m down nearly 10 grand. Add that to the debt we were already nursing and you’ve got many thousand really good reasons to move in with your parents

As uncomfortable as it can be to share a space with your in laws, especially my in laws, there are enough perks that I think I can overlook the pitfalls for a few months. First, we’ll be saving nearly 3,000 dollars a month. Can you believe that? California, you are so obscenely expensive… good thing you are so effing purty. Secondly, living with my MIL means more help with my daughter. Get this – I was able to just up and drive off to my dentist appointment this morning. I didn’t have to bust my ass finding a sitter I didn’t trust or have to bring her along for a sweaty, traffic filled, hour long car ride. Nope. I.simply.went.by.myself. Gah! It was almost like I was a single unattached adult human again. Aside from the 10 minute tantrum she threw as she clung to my leg, begging me not to go of course. Trivial details darlings. Point is, having G-ma in the same house is granting me daily slivers of much needed freedom. I’m grateful to say the least. Thirdly but arguably most importantly, my MIL is a phenomenal cook. She is of Armenian descent but was born and raised in Turkey. Her cooking is fresh, vibrant, flavorful and I can taste her heritage and her love of food in every bite. She passed along this bread recipe to me yesterday. We baked together for nearly 2 hours. At the end of it I had dough in my hair, flour on my clothes and a belly full of cheese. Not a bad way to spend an afternoon, even if it is with your MIL. 😉

Gluten Free Cheesy Herb Bread 

Ingredients

• 2 1/4 cups gluten free flour, I used 1 cup buckwheat, 3/4 cup white rice and 1/2 cup garbanzo
• 3 eggs
• 1- 1 1/2 cup grated manchengo cheese
• 1/4 cup dill, finely chopped
• 1/3 bunch of italian parsley, finely chopped
• 4 stalks of green onion, finely chopped
• 3 tbsp sunflower oil
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt

Process

My favorite part of cooking with my Mama in law is watching the way she does things. She moves quickly, she makes a mess and she rarely measures anything out. She made a loaf with gluten – I watched her every forceful move and then copied her, sans gluten.

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees
2. Throw eggs in a bowl and using either a fork or an electric beater, beat until nice and frothy.
3. Add in herbs, onions, oil and salt and mix together until combined – I used my clean hands. It’s more fun that way. 🙂
4. Add in flour and baking powder and mix again until well incorporated. Since this recipe is gluten free you don’t have to worry about over mixing! You want to avoid over mixing wheat flour as it activates the gluten and can make your finished product firm, not fluffy and moist like you’d want. 
5. Pour batter into a greased loaf pan and bake for 45 minutes.
6. Let cool, slice and savor.

Happy cooking loves!

XO ~ Sam

PS- Here are some of the pretty things I get to look at every day now… Maybe moving in with your in-laws isn’t all THAT bad after all. 😉

Devilishly Delicious Angelic Eggs

I’m a big proponent of morning rituals. Starting my day with healthy routines can calm and center me for the busyness that lies ahead. I begin nearly every morning with at least 5-10 minutes of Vipassana meditation. I then enjoy a glass of room temperature water with lemon to get my digestive juices flowing. Next is breakfast. My daughter and I both adore eggs. She prefers hers scrambled, I prefer mine over medium. Two eggs with a thick golden runny yolk, dripping over a slice of perfectly toasted whole grain gluten free bread, slathered with ghee and chia seeds? Oh baby. My belly is happy, I’m happy, everyone around me is happy. 🙂

Although a nice consistent morning routine centers me, the adventurer in me gets restless every once in awhile. So this morning I was inspired to get a little creative. Wanting to stick with eggs, as I’ve noticed they provide me with the best fuel for my morning, I decided on deviled. I adore me some deviled eggs. If you ever happen to find yourself at a party with me and a platter of deviled eggs and you fancy a few for yourself, I’d advise not leaving them sitting around for too long. I have absolutely no self control around those things. I’ll have popped 6 of them before you take your first bite. I may have a bit of a problem. Is there a Deviled Eggs Anonymous? No, I think not. That acronym’s already been taken after all and I doubt advertising a DEA meeting would attract very many attendees. ANYHOO…

Although I do love the little buggers as they are, in all their mayo slathered glory, I decided to play around with a more wholesome version that would still dazzle the taste buds. I think what I came up with will excite you, I’m certainly a little twitterpated by them.   😉

Ingredients

• 12 hard boiled eggs, peeled and cut lengthwise
• 1 avocado
• 1/2 cup plain goat yogurt
• 3 tsp Apple cider vinegar
• 4 tsp Dijon mustard
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp cumin
• 1/4 tsp coriander
• 1/4 tsp turmeric
• 5 pepperoncinis finely chopped, I like this all natural brand

Process

1. Once hard boiled eggs are cool, remove egg yolks from egg whites and place in a medium bowl. 
2. Add in all other ingredients except pepperoncinis.
3. Using a hand mixer on low, beat until smooth and creamy
4. Add in pepperoncinis and gently incorporate with a spoon. 
5. Fill the hollow egg white halves with egg yolk mixture. If you have a pastry bag, this will look the most refined. If you don’t, no worries, a spoon will do the trick. 
6. Sprinkle the tops with a touch more of any or all of the spices used in the recipe. 
7. Voila! Serve these with a slice of toast for breakfast or next to a big salad for lunch/dinner. 

 

Happy Eating friends! 

XO~Sam