You know that time......that comes.....when you REALLY need a snack and you want it to be everything: sweet and salty AND crunchy? Yep, me too! These babies are perfect! So YUM!
Chocolate Dipped Almond Butter Pretzel Sammiches
Ingredients:
Glutino Gluten-free pretzels
1 cup almond butter
3 Tbsp. maple syrup
1 to 1 1/2 cups chocolate chips
Directions:
Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Fill bottom with one layer of pretzels. Whip almond butter and maple syrup together with handheld mixer. Grab a very small portion and form into a ball. (It's not easy to roll between the palms of your hands, but you can kind of form it with your finger tips.) Place ball on pretzel. Place another pretzel on top and smush it down. Repeat until almond butter mixture is gone. Place in freezer for about 20 minutes to harden. Melt about 1 cup of chocolate chips in double boiler on stovetop. Dip half of almond butter pretzel sandwich into melted chocolate. Place on cookie sheet to firm up. Enjoy! :)
With summer finally here (or at least sort of coming....at least it's not cold and rainy anymore), I have been craving fresher, colder foods. I finally got up the gumption to make my own salsa cuz garlic hurts my stomach and pretty much every salsa out there has garlic in it! I do eat it sometimes, but then always regret it because of my stomach. Anyways, this is a little spicy and pretty fresh & delish! :)
Fresh Salsa
Ingredients:
9 (or so) red Roma tomatoes, chopped into four parts each
1 small onion, chopped into chunks
1 chipotle pepper, canned in adobo sauce
1 Tbsp. adobo sauce
1 handful cilantro
Cumin, salt, pepper to taste
Directions:
Place 1/2 of the tomatoes and the rest of the ingredients into the food processor and blend thoroughly. Add rest of tomatoes and pulse a couple of times. You want some tomato chunks left. Enjoy!
I made this dessert to take to my aunt's house for Father's Day lunch. I ended up not staying because they were having a really late lunch, so I haven't tried it yet, but they assured me it was pretty good! ;) My aunt said it was like sorbet with a crust and I was kind of thinking it would be like a frozen smoothie with a crust. Anyways, I think it is a totally guilt-free dessert. All it is is nuts and berries! That's it! I got the recipe from the Delicious Magazine that I get free at my local health food store.
Raw Berry Pie with Nut Crust
Ingredients:
2 cups raw cashews
10 pitted medjool dates (soak in water if very firm or dry), divided
1/2 cup macadamia nuts
3/4 cup raw walnuts
1/2 cup dried cranberries (soak if dry, drain)
1/2 teaspoon oil
1 1/2 cups small to medium fresh strawberries, hulled, divided
Soak cashews in water for at least 4 hours. (VERY important!) Rinse and drain. Place 3 dates in a bowl and cover with 1/2 cup water. Let stand for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, in a food processor, combine 7 remaining 7 dates, macadamia nuts, walnuts, and dried cranberries. Process on high until mixture starts to form a ball, scraping sides as needed. Lightly coat a 9 inch glass pie dish with oil. Press nut mixture evenly into dish, crimping top edges. Chill. Remove dates from soaking water, reserving water. In a food processor, combine soaked and drained dates and cashews, 1 cup strawberries, 2 cups mixed berries, honey, and vanilla. Process 3 minutes until smooth and creamy, adding soaking water from dates if needed. Add remaining 1 cup mixed berries and pulse until berries are chopped but still visible. Spoon filling into crust, smooth top, and freeze for 1 hour. Remove pie from freezer and arrange remaining 1/2 cup strawberries (sliced or whole) around perimeter. Slice into wedges and serve. If making ahead, remove from freezer at least 30 minutes before serving.
I just got the new Whole Living August issue and am super stoked to see fresh, quick, healthy raw recipes on its cover! Can't wait to try some of them out!
Aaaaaand, since my sister thinks Schuyler Fisk doesn't exist ;), here's one of her songs. I couldn't find the one I wanted to on Youtube, so I had to settle for this one. It's still a pretty good one! :)
That's all for now! Oh, wait in the past 9 days, I've worked out 7 of those days. Woot, woot! :D
Oh, lots of stuff. ;) I had a dinner party last Friday for my birthday (2 weeks early) and invited the most important ladies in my life to it. We had: Creamy Tomato Basil Soup from here
Ice Cream from here (kinda...i tweaked it a lot so if anyone wants the recipe, ask and i can post it)
Aaaaaaaaand My Favorite Cupcakes from The Kind Life book
It was great. We had an awesome time, everyone loved my food, and are loving that I am getting healthier. :)
What else? Hmmm...made summer rolls! Yum yum yum! They're like spring rolls, only uncooked.
Other than that, I've eaten too much (all plant-based food, of course), not lost any weight, and didn't exercise enough. LOL I'm still tryin though! :) I started exercising again on this Friday and have exercised on Sat and today too.
Right now, I'm eating taco salad (just like a regular salad, only I add black beans, vegenaise mixed with lime juice to kinda taste like sour cream, and salsa) with Pico de Gallo corn chips. Mood= satisfied :)
Oh, and random happy fact of the day: I bought 2 cucumbers yesterday for 40 cents! Who couldn't afford that?!
Creamy Tomato Basil Soup from 
Other than that, I've eaten too much (all plant-based food, of course), not lost any weight, and didn't exercise enough. LOL I'm still tryin though! :) I started exercising again on this Friday and have exercised on Sat and today too.