Energy Bites, Powerballs, and Monster Cookies

I've made the Energy Bites several times now and really like them!  They are great to pop in your mouth before or after a workout...or even to top off your lunch!  They are easy to make and full of yummy, nutritious goodness!  I haven't tried the Powerball recipes or the Monster Cookie recipe, but I hope to soon. To me, they are similar to the Energy Bites and I would enjoy having a batch made up and ready to consume in the refrigerator or freezer!

Have a good evening!
~Davis



No-Bake Energy Bites
(Gimme Some Oven*)
Ingredients (I made a couple of ingredient changes):
-old fashioned oats
-1/2 cup raw sunflower seeds and 1/4 cup raw pumpkin seeds (the seeds replaced the coconut flakes in the original recipe)
-peanut butter (I used homemade peanut butter)
-flaxseed and/or wheat germ
-raisins (which replaced the optional chocolate chips in the original recipe)
-honey
-chia seeds (I love chia seeds...so good for you!!!)
-vanilla extract

I recently read that when making energy balls, a helpful tip that will make them stick together better is to grind half of the nuts/seeds into powder first.  I think this is a great suggestion, because while the energy balls were delicious, they could use a little better binding.

*Gimme Some Oven, also has a recipe for Pumpkin No Bake Energy Bites (dates, honey, pumpkin puree, chia seeds/flax seeds, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, salt, oats, coconut, pumpkin seeds), which sound delicious too!



Powerballs
(100 Days of Real Food)
Ingredients for the Chocolate Peanut Butter Powerballs:
-pecans
-pitted dates
-peanut butter
-100% cacao

Ingredients for the Peanut Honey Powerballs:
-peanut butter
-honey
-rolled oats
-nuts or dried fruit
-crushed nuts, granola cereal or unsweetened coconut



Monster Cookies
(My Delicious Life)
Ingredients:
-almond butter
-coconut oil
-honey
-walnuts
-almonds
-pumpkin seeds
-unsweetened coconut
-vanilla extract
-sea salt
-almond flour/meal
-raisins

No Bake Energy Bites

Fiesta Chicken Casserole

Let's face it, anything that can be made in the slow cooker has an advantage over other recipes, right!  If you are like me, then you love REAL food that's easy to throw together, healthy and tasty!  I hope you use this recipe during a busy week you have coming up and relieve a little stress!

Enjoy!
~Davis


Fiesta Chicken Casserole in the Slow Cooker
(Stephanie O'Dea: A Year of Slow Cooking)
Ingredients:
-rinsed raw brown rice
-broth (I used homemade chicken stock)*
-salsa **
-canned corn (I used no salt added canned corn-ingredients were corn and water)
-black beans (I used dried beans.  I soaked and cooked them a few days in advance)
-chicken breasts
-fresh mozzarella cheese

*The recipe calls for 1/2 cup liquid, but next time I will probably use 3/4 cup, as it was a tiny bit dry.

**Not all salsas are created equal....make sure you read the ingredient label.  The salsa I used had no preservatives, additives and the ingredients were recognizable!

Fiesta Chicken Casserole

Vegetable Egg Souffle

For those of you who have read my blog post about eggs, you know that (unfortunately) I don't ever get a chance to make egg dishes.  However, when I found out my brother and his girlfriend were coming to visit...yep, you guessed it, I make a delicious egg souffle!!!  I served it for lunch with fresh watermelon and whole wheat banana bread, but it would also be perfect for breakfast or even served for dinner with a spinach salad.  The egg souffle was easy to make and a big hit!  Oh and for those of you who are wondering what my non-egg-eating husband ate for lunch that day....he had a peanut butter and jam sandwich. :)

Hope everyone is having a great day!
~Davis



Easy Vegetable Egg Souffle
(Homemade Mommy)
Ingredients:
-broccoli
-radishes*
-mushrooms
-tomatoes
-fresh basil
-butter
-eggs
-whole milk
-cheese
-salt
-pepper
-cayenne pepper
-turmeric

*Confession, I left out the radishes and just added more broccoli.  The reason....I am not real familiar with radishes, however, after talking to my brother's girlfriend,  I think I would really like them.  I wish I had used them in this recipe, but I am looking forward to familiarizing myself with radishes sometime soon!

Easy Vegetable Egg Souffle

Homemade Vanilla Extract

Take a minute to go look at the ingredient list on your bottle of Pure Vanilla Extract......

....so did any of you find corn syrup as one of the ingredients in your "Pure" Vanilla Extract?

I used to buy Publix  brand Pure Vanilla Extract.  I never bothered checking the ingredient list, because it's "pure" not imitation, so I thought there wouldn't be any extra and unnecessary ingredients, right?  WRONG!  Unfortunately many vanilla extracts have corn syrup added to it and I don't understand why.  I no longer buy Publix brand vanilla.  I switched to Spice Islands brand, which is all natural and without corn syrup (sold at Publix).  I used Spice Island for a while, but then switched again when I found a less expensive brand at Target: Rodelle's Pure Vanilla Extract ingredient list reads: Vanilla Bean extracted in water and alcohol.  I use a lot of vanilla extract (in larabars, yogurt, oatmeal, muffins, etc.!), so I was hoping I could buy my vanilla extract at Costco, but unfortunately the brand they sell has corn syrup added too.

Another option would be to make your own vanilla extract.  Did you know that it's SO easy to make?  All it takes is vanilla beans (I used 5 Madagascar vanilla beans sliced vertically), 1 cup vodka, a bottle and patience (8 weeks to be exact) - oh and shake the bottle occasionally during those two months.  You can buy vanilla beans at the grocery store, but I found them cheaper at Beanilla.  I just bought a little starter kit, so I would have a proper bottle to use over and over again.  It was really neat making my own vanilla extract.  You should give it a try!

~Davis

Day 1

After 8 weeks. 

Cinnamon Raisin French Toast Crunch

We had family visiting from DC this past weekend and this was the perfect dish to serve for breakfast!  You make it up the night before and then the morning you are going to serve it, just preheat the oven, cook it and enjoy!!  It was definitely a hit!  Super easy and very yummy...I'll definitely be making this one again!

~Davis



Cinnamon Raisin French Toast Crunch
(Food Babe)
Ingredients:
-Ezekiel Cinnamon Raisin Bread (in the freezer section of your grocery store)
-almond milk (I used whole milk)
-eggs
-apples
-walnuts (I didn't toast them)
-vanilla
-sea salt
-nutmeg
-cinnamon
-maple syrup
-butter

All ready to go into the refrigerator for the night. 

Just out of the oven!

Eat up! :)

Honey-Lime Fruit Dressing

I was introduced to this recipe a week ago at a mommy bible study group I am involved in.  Let me say that I prefer fruit without any added sweeteners (simply for nutritional sake), however, this dressing is great if you are wanting to do a little something extra with a fruit salad for a special occasion.

We eat fruit all the time.  I usually serve fresh fruit as dessert every night.  Each week, Publix has different fruits on sale, so I usually just buy what ever is on sale (this week their watermelon chunks were B1G1!).   Also, by serving a side of fresh fruit as part of supper, it makes your meals last an extra night or two (depending on how much fruit you serve)!

This is a fun and yummy way to add a special twist to your fruit and it's so easy!

Enjoy!
~Davis


Honey-Lime Fruit Dressing
(Oh! You Cook!)
Ingredients:
-honey
-lime juice

Strawberries and Red Grapes

Strawberries, Blueberries and Cantaloupe

Basic Honey Whole Wheat Bread

For those of you who own a bread maker, you've got to try this bread recipe.  We used to always make a Honey Whole Wheat bread, but we like this Basic Honey Whole Wheat recipe even better!  This Basic Honey Whole Wheat Bread recipe is just as tasty as the Honey Whole Wheat bread we use to make, but it's softer.  This recipe came with my bread maker  but I didn't try it until recently.  This is our new sandwich bread and we love it.  Hope you give it a try soon!

~Davis


Basic Honey Whole Wheat Bread
(Cuisinart)
Ingredients:
-water
-kosher salt
-olive oil (the recipe calls for butter, but I use olive oil)
-honey
-bread flour*
-whole wheat flour (one ingredient)
-active dry yeast

*I use King Arthur's organic bread flour which has two ingredients (certified 100% organic wheat flour, 100% organic malted barley flour), whereas the King Arthur's non-organic bread flour has 7 ingredients.  

Just out of the oven!

All sliced up and ready for sandwiches!