recipe: strawberry shortcake granola

I have gone back and forth as to whether to name this granola "Strawberry Almond Granola" or "Strawberry Shortcake Granola" ... in the end, I have decided upon "Strawberry Shortcake Granola" because when you get a bit with a dried strawberry, that is distinctly what it tastes like.

My sister, Jonna, created this recipe, and she has been graciously making batches for us. It is delicious with milk or yogurt (we prefer Noosa brand), and Raffa loves to eat it plain (okay, I eat it plain, by the handful, too).

For dry ingredients you will need rolled oats, sliced almonds, pecan pieces, sunflower seeds, toasted coconut shavings, salt, and cinnamon. You will also need dried strawberries, and I adamantly prefer Steve Paleo Goods' dried strawberries for taste and freshness.  (The strawberries will be reserved until after the granola is baked.)



For the wet ingredients, you will need honey, maple syrup, coconut oil, almond butter, and vanilla extract.

In a large bowl, combine the dry ingredients.

Measure and combine your wet ingredients in a separate bowl.

Take a quick break for a game of peek-a-boo, and then pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix well until thoroughly coated. Spread over a parchment lined baking sheet and bake at 250º for 60 minutes to 75 minutes, stirring every 15-20 minutes and until granola reaches desired level of brown-ness. Remove from oven and transfer to a large bowl. Add dried fruit and mix. Now enjoy your tasty granola.

Strawberry Shortcake Granola

dry ingredients:

3 cups rolled oats
1 cup sliced almonds
1 cup pecan pieces
1/2 - 1 cup sunflower seeds
1/2 cup pumpkin seeds
1 cup toasted coconut
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon

6oz dried strawberries

wet ingredients:1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup coconut oil
1 cup almond butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1-2 cups dried strawberries - we use a whole bag of Steve's Paelo Goods Paleo strawberries and chop them into pieces

method:Mix dry ingredients together in large bowl.

Mix wet ingredients together in smaller bowl.

Combine well, and spread on to a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.

Bake at 250º for 60-75 minutes, stirring every 15-20 minutes.

Remove from oven and transfer to a large bowl. Add dried strawberries and mix. Now enjoy your tasty granola.

cold brew coffee recipe

I had this assumption that cold brew coffee was difficult to make. That it must be time consuming and involve some precise process that would be easy to mess up. Wrong on all accounts.

Start with your favorite coarse ground coffee, I strongly suggest organic and some filtered water. You'll want a 2:1 ratio of water to coffee. Other supplies you'll need: a cheese cloth or nut milk bag, and two glass jar/container large enough for the coffee concoction.

I usually make my cold brew with 1 cup of coffee and 2 cups of water. Measure out the coffee and add it to the water. I don't have a funnel, so I pour the coffee on to a towel and use that to funnel it into the jar with pre-measured water.

Shake to combine. And then refrigerate for 12-24 hours (I typically leave it for 24 hours). Strain the coffee through the cheese cloth or nut milk bag into a clean jar. The cold brew will keep in an airtight glass jar for up to a week.

When you enjoy this cold brew coffee, keep in mind that it is more like a concentrate. So, you want to add water to achieve your desired taste. My preference is about 1.5:1 concentrate to water. You can serve it chilled, over ice, or you can heat it up.

cold brew coffee concentrate

1 cup organic coffee (I recommend any of Allegro's organic blends from Whole Foods)
2 cups filtered water

2 glass jars - one for brewing and one for storage
cheese cloth or nut milk bag

Measure water and put in to a glass jar. Measure out coffee and funnel into jar with water. Shake to combine. Refrigerate for 12-24 hours.

Remove from refrigerator, strain coffee mixture through cheese cloth/nut milk bag. Store coffee concentrate in an airtight glass container for up to a week.

To serve, combine coffee concentrate with water to taste. Serve chilled or heat. Add cream, milk, or sugar if desired.

recipe // mexican chicken chopped salad with chipolte yogurt dressing

This recipe was inspired by a prepared and packaged salad we got from Whole Foods. Although theirs was tasty, I had a feeling I could make it even better! So, I came up with this Mexican Chicken Chopped Salad with Chipolte Yogurt Dressing.

MEXICAN CHICKEN CHOPPED SALAD WITH CHIPOLTE YOGURT DRESSING

salad ingredients

• 1 package Organic Girl Romaine Heart Leaves or 8 oz package romaine leaves, cut into strips
• 2 cups baby spinach, cut in to strips
• 15 oz can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 3/4 cup Cotija cheese, crumbled
• 4 slice bacon, cooked, cooled, and crumbled
• 1 cup fire roasted corn (I buy it frozen from Whole Foods and thaw it out)
• white meat from a rotisserie check, removed from bird and shredded and chopped
• 1 avocado, chopped

dressing ingredients

• 1 chile in adobe + 1 tablespoon adobo sauce
• 1/2 cup Noosa plain yogurt
• 1/2 cup chopped scallions
• 3 cloves garlic

For the salad, place all of the chopped ingredients in to a large bowl.

For the dressing, place all the ingredients in to a food processor and process until smooth and combined.

Drizzle dressing over chopped salad ingredients. Toss salad with tongs until dressing coats salad completely.

Serves 4 dinner sized portions.

banana cream pie tarts

Last week I shared my raw banana cream tarts, and I mentioned I had another version of the recipe to share - here it is! Last week's raw banana cream tarts were 100% healthy (and 100% yummy) and had a cashew-based "custard" for the banana cream and a nut crust.

Today's banana cream pie tarts, are still healthy, but they aren't raw, do contain dairy, and do have a small amount of sugar. I still consider these banana cream pie tarts to be a lot less evil than your average banana cream pie, however, because in comparison to a typical pie there is dramatically less sugar. The sugar in my banana cream pie tarts comes in the crust, where you will find some graham crackers added to some walnuts to make a deliciously graham cracker-y nutty crust. The cream filling is sweetened with maple syrup.

BANANA CREAM PIE TARTS

this recipe makes 6 small (approx 5") tarts or one large tart // to make as a pie, double the filling ingredients

crust 
6 graham crackers (I prefer 365 organic brand)
1/2 cup walnuts (you can also use almonds)
1/2 cup coconut oil
2 tablespoons maple syrup
2 dates

Preheat the oven to 350.

In a food processor, process the graham crackers, walnuts, and pitted dates until finely chopped. Then add the maple syrup and coconut oil and process until blended well. Rinse your food processor and set aside to dry; you will use it for the filling ingredients. Scoop 1 1/2 - 2 tablespoons of crust into each tart pan. Press the crust into each pan tightly. Bake for 10-12 minutes until fragrant. Crust will be oily and may sizzle or even bubble. Allow to cool on a wire rack.

filling
16 oz container plain Noosa yogurt
2 - 2 1/2 ripe bananas
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1 tablespoon coconut oil

Process all ingredients in food processor until desired smoothness.

Pour filling evenly among tarts. Place in refrigerator for at least 12 hours to set.

Keep in refrigerator until immediately prior to serving. Garnish with chocolate chips, if desired. Filling will remain on soft side, but should hold form. Will stay good for up to two days in the refrigerator.

a note about the crust

When I make these, I sometimes have leftover crust. I roll it in to a ball, flatten it on a parchment lined cookie sheet and bake on 350 for 10-12 minutes. It makes for a delicious cookie, and I usually only have enough extra crust for 1-2 small cookies.

raw banana cream tarts

I have two versions of this tart to share - a raw, cashew "custard" version and a yogurt-based version. Today, I am sharing the raw, cashew "custard" version. I actually developed the yogurt-based version first, but then I was inspired by Juli and PUREmamas and her lemon vanilla custard tarts and set out to make this banana cream version.

This is a guilt-free dessert, made from all good-for-you ingredients and it contains no refined sugar. The beauty of it though, is that you can't tell it is guilt-free. That is a win-win!

RAW BANANA CREAM TARTS

crust
1 cup almonds
1 cup walnuts
4-5 dates
2 tablespoons coconut oil

filling
1/2 cup cashews - soaked at least 3 hours
1/2 cup coconut oil
1/3 cup maple syrup
1 1/2 - 2 rip bananas

toppings (optional)
chocolate chips
banana slices

Process the crust ingredients in a food processor until it is a course meal. Divide crust among six small tart pans (mine are about 5"), putting 1 1/2-2 tablespoons of crust in each tart pan. Press the crust into each tart pan until it is packed tight.

In a blender, blend the filling ingredients until smooth. Pour the filling in to tart pans, distributing evenly; you may have a little leftover filling. Refrigerate the tarts until filling is set; it will become pretty firm. You can refrigerate the extra filling in a small dish as well; it is good even without crust.

Before serving, remove each tart from its pan, arrange on a plate, and garnish with chocolate chips and/or banana slices.

Note: These tarts are best eaten within 24 hours after you make them. They are perfect made in the morning, and eaten late in the evening. You must keep them in the fridge to keep the filling firm. And, the longer they are stored, the darker the filling will get as the banana oxidizes.

I will share my yogurt version, a yogurt banana cream pie, soon - so stay tuned!

almond walnut coconut butter

We eat a lot of almond butter in this house, which means we go through a lot of almond butter {this is our favorite}.

So, I decided to make my own almond butter, which is so easy - basically you through the buts into a food processor or high powered blender and blend until smooth.

But, to get a little more specific, here is my recipe...

ALMOND WALNUT COCONUT BUTTER

ingredients:
1 1/4 cup organic roasted, unsalted almonds*
1 1/4 cup organic roasted, unsalted walnuts*
4 dates
2 tablespoons organic coconut oil

method:
Place all ingredients in food processor (or high powered blender) and process until smooth or to the consistency you like. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

We have been eating this on english muffins and waffles, in smoothies and oatmeal, and even with yogurt and by the spoonful.

almond flour banana muffins

I walked in to the kitchen yesterday morning and my almost-over-ripe bananas caught my eye. Raffa has been a very uncharacteristically finicky eater during the past week that he has a cold. I have been basically trying to get him to eat anything but plain Noosa yogurt. I had been wanting to make some banana muffins, something I had been craving, and I thought, just maybe, Raffa would eat them too.

Well, it turns out today Raffa's appetite was back (thank gawd!) but these muffins were amazingly delicious and a hit nonetheless. John and I are scarfing them down too.

ALMOND FLOUR BANANA MUFFINS

ingredients:
2 1/2 cups almond flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 teaspoon sea salt

3 eggs
1 large banana mashed, ripe or overly ripe is best
2 tablespoons maple syrup
2 tablespoons coconut oil, melted
1 teaspoon vinegar (white or apple cider)

large handful chocolate chips (optional)

method:
Preheat the over to 350 degrees. Line a muffin pan with muffin cups.

Mix the dry ingredients together with a whisk.

Mix the wet ingredients together with a whisk.

Combine the wet and dry mixtures; stir until combined.

Fold in chocolate chips (I opted to make some muffins with chocolate chips and some without so I didn't fold in the chips until after I had put some batter into the muffin pan).

Fill the muffin cups, about even with the top of the muffin cup. You should have enough batter for about 10-11 muffins.

Bake for 14-18 minutes or until lightly browned and toothpick inserted comes out relatively clean.

Devour and smile.

Recipe adapted from Power Hungry.

recipe :: chocolate cashew smoothie

I am utterly addicted to this smoothie for breakfast. It tastes too good, like so good you'd think it could not be good for you. But it is good for you - it is loaded with healthy fats and protein which not only are good for you, but also keep you full until lunch. One of the main stars of this smoothie, cashews, are packed with health benefits and are a nice alternative to almonds, which tend to be my go-to nut. You also get a nutritional kick from cacao powder, which just intensifies the chocolate flavor when combined with the organic dark chocolate protein powder.

chocolate cashew smoothie

• 1/2 cup almond milk
• 1/4-1/2 cup raw cashews
• 1 pitted date (soak to soften if the date it hard)
• 1 scoop Tera's Whey Organic Dark Chocolate protein powder
• 1 tablespoon cacao powder (not to be confused with cocoa powder!)
• 1 tablespoon almond butter (I prefer Kolat Blueberry Cinnamon Walnut Almond butter)
• 1/2 banana
• 4-6 ice cubes

Blend in your Vitamix or other high powered blender and enjoy! This makes one large glass or two half glasses (share the yum!).

ab+j oatmeal

I have a little update on my pb+j oatmeal ... a spin on the pb+j is ab+j = almond butter + jelly oatmeal. I use just plain old almond butter sometimes, but more often I have been mixing in Kolat Super Food Fusion's Blueberry Cinnamon Walnut nut butter. This nut butter is amazingly delicious ... and it is all natural and contains no added sugar. I like Justin's Nut Butter, but many of his flavors contain evaporated cane juice (SUGAR). Kolat's nut butters contain DATES as their sweetener. Much better!

So for my ab+j oatmeal I add in some of Kolat Super Food Fusion's Blueberry Cinnamon Walnut nut butter, some organic raspberries, and some banana slices. So delicious, so filling, and good for you.

PB+J oatmeal

Life with an infant, for me, means, oatmeal for lunch on plenty of days. Luckily, I happen to find oatmeal so tasty and it is said that eating oatmeal can boost the milk supply of breastfeeding mammas {I'll take the extra iron, anyway}.

Oatmeal doesn't have to be boring when you can add in any combination of nuts, berries, other fruits, spices, protein powder, etc. I find that a bowl of oatmeal fills me up and keeps me full for the rest of the afternoon {also important for a momma to an infant}. Most often, my favorite version is something I like to call PB&J oatmeal.

PB&J Oatmeal

• single serving of oatmeal {or however much you want to eat} - I like whole oats and steel cut and never use quick cook oats; some days I have one and other days another
• 1-2 tablespoons peanut butter {or other nut butter; almond is delicious - either way it is some great protein and fiber!}
• fresh berries {I like blueberries and raspberries}, however many you like
• 1/2 banana, sliced

I like to cook my oats on the stove top and I usually cook them in a mixture of one part almond milk and one part water according to the normal oatmeal-cooking spcecs. When finishes cooking, I pour the oats in to a bowl and add nut butter, stirring to combine. The heat really helps the nut butter to mix into the oats well. If necessary, I add a little extra almond milk as well. I sprinkle my berries and bananas on top and then eat!

The PB and berry mixture reminds me of a PB&J, although I will admit this does not actually taste like a PB&J sandwich. I plan to try mixing in some PB and my favorite jelly because that sounds delicious, too. But, I have to take advantage of having fresh berries in the summer; so I will save jelly for the winter.

Recently I have come across some oatmeal recipes that are savory and/or have an egg on top ... I am curious to try this. What are your favorite oatmeal toppings?

{thank you to Sarah Gleason for the idea of adding PB to my oatmeal ... and by the way, photo taken by me}