I can see him being a highly effective doctor. Seriously. I mean you just look at his face and you instantly feel better. Luckily my achy back/numb-tingly legs are feeling soo much better…but now I’m thinking I might need to feign a slipped disk or something.

So I have been wanting to make avocado fries for forever and I was sure the next non-potato-french-fry-creation I made was going to be those avocado fries. But here we are, avocado-fry-less.

There are worse things than a lack of avocado. Like when you are driving to your doctors appointment and you forget that you set Siri to help you navigate your way there and after saying nothing for like 17 minutes she all of the sudden shouts out the next direction and you fah-reak out because for a teeny-tiny moment you think someone is hiding in your back seat. And then you realize it’s not a creeper…it’s just Siri. Who, truth be told, always kinda freaked you out to begin with.

But then you get to your doctors appointment and spend your 2 hour wait looking at the Full House Episode instagram which is just one of the happiest things you’ve ever seen. And then, as was previously noted, your doctor looked like Bradley Cooper(!!!).

But we’ve already discussed his Bradley Cooper-ness…so moving on.

Okay so have you heard about this contest with Bob’s Red Mill?! I mean we all love oatmeal so I’m thinking everyone should enter. I definitely had no idea what a “spurtle” was but now I want one. Andrew is currently trying to beat me and is constantly texting me, “#immawin.” But I’m heading on vacation at the end of this week and will have plenty of time to daydream all about oatmeal…and what delicious things to add to it. So dear fiance, #immawin.

Since I’m leaving for vacation soon, if anyone is interested in writing a guest post send me an email to immaeatthat@gmail.com. The post would just need to include a healthy or wholesome recipe (with pretty, high resolution pictures of the recipe) and a fun story about you/your blog/your love for food/any random excitement in your life. In the email include your recipe idea and the name of your blog. I look forward to hearing from you!

And now back to the food. I made you Roasted Carrot Fries. They’re delicious and sweet and pair beautifully with ketchup (as does pretty much everything in life). Not that they necessarily need ketchup but without some ketchup action fries don’t really seem like fries. You know?

Roasted Carrot Fries

makes 2 side servings

3 large carrots

2 tsp olive oil

scant 1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

Preheat oven to 425F.

Wash, peel and slice carrots into large matchsticks. In a large bowl, toss together sliced carrots, olive oil, salt and pepper. Place a cooling rack onto a large baking sheet that has edges. Spread coated carrots onto the cooling rack so they are not touching. Bake for 10 minutes. Flip to other side and bake for an additional 10 minutes. Serve with favorite french fry dipping sauce.

If you add the word ‘rustic’ in front of something it’s okay if it has that whole rugged-good-looks look.

Because I totally get that these cinnamon rolls don’t look like the pretty ones that come in those pillsbury cans.  You know, the cans that claim to easily pop open but never really do?

I also used greek yogurt for icing so at this point you might be thinking, “that’s not icing…it’s yogurt!  What a total coup out.”  And if you are thinking that, I for sure hear you.  When I was grocery shopping I had powdered sugar on my list but when I was checking out I realized I forgot to grab some and venturing back into the jam-packed grocery store on a Sunday afternoon just didn’t seem worth it.

I considered making a cashew frosting for like .534 seconds but I’ve never been a really big fan.  And greek yogurt+honey is just so creamy and perfect and cinnamon roll top-able.  So greek yogurt+honey it was.

Also, these cinnamon rolls don’t unravel.  I feel like that’s a crime against humanity to call something a cinnamon roll when it doesn’t have layer after layer to slowly unravel.  You can still see the layers even if you can’t peel them open to reveal that doughy center.  I mean, you can still get to that dough center you just have to use a different medium…a fork.

Before these cinnamon rolls I would have judged you for eating a cinnamon roll with a fork but look at me now…I’m a changed, less judgmental person who is encouraging you to dig into this cinnamon roll via an Emily Post-approved means.  You could even put a napkin on your lap if you’re feeling fancy-smansy.

And you can pretty much forget all things Emily Post taught you if you ever tried to eat this sandwich because ohemmgeee.  I hope I’m not wearing white when I make a version of that.

So this recipe is for a recipe contest with The Recipe Redux that is being sponsored by the National Honey Board.  I love me some honey.  Almost as much as my little sister who keeps honey straws stashed in her purse because she loves the stuff so much (we found the straws at a farmers market one time and stockpiled them).

In this recipe, I substituted honey where I normally would have used brown sugar.  It added sweetness without making the rolls too sweet to serve as a breakfast entree.  And paired with the greek yogurt based frosting, I didn’t feel uncomfortably stuffed after eating them like I normally do after uber decadent cinnamon rolls.  Typically, cinnamon rolls seem like an unhealthy choice for breakfast but I totally would eat these again for breakfast tomorrow (and I will).  And then even have them for lunch.

Also, today is Friday which means it’s time for Ashley’s Breakfast Friday.  Be sure to tag any and all of your breakfast creations with #bfastfridayclub!

Overnight Rustic Cinnamon Rolls for Two

makes 6 little, cute rolls

1 Tbsp + 1 tsp water

1 Tbsp + 1 tsp almond milk

2 tsp coconut oil

1 tsp active yeast

¼ tsp dark brown sugar

In a microwave safe bowl, combine water, almond milk and coconut oil and microwave until everything is melted, about 20 seconds.  Allow to cool for ~10 minutes or until luke warm.  Add in yeast and brown sugar, stir for 1 minute until yeast and sugar are completely dissolved.  Allow to sit for 5 minutes until foamy and bubbly.

1 egg white

1 Tbsp +1 tsp honey

1/2 cup + 3 Tbsp oat flour, packed

¼ cup almond flour, packed

In a separate larger bowl, combine egg white, honey and foamy yeast mixture.  Add in oat flour and almond flour.  Mix until a sticky dough has formed (should be able to form a ball with it that holds it’s shape…if dough is too sticky/thin add 1-3 Tbsp oat flour).  Grease a separate bowl with coconut oil.  Roll dough into a ball and place it into the greased bowl.  Turn the ball once to coat with oil.   Cover tightly with plastic wrap and store in a warm, draft free place for 1 hour, or dough has doubled in size.

Filling

2 Tbsp coconut oil

1 Tbsp dark brown sugar

1 Tbsp honey

1/2 Tbsp cinnamon

While dough is rising, combine coconut oil, brown sugar, honey and cinnamon in a microwave safe bowl.  Microwave for 10 seconds, or until honey is thinned.  Stir until brown sugar dissolves.  Cover and place in the fridge until dough has risen.

Assemble Cinnamon Rolls

1/2-1 tsp cinnamon

Flour a flat surface with oat flour and dump out the dough.  Allow the dough to rest for a minute while you remove the coconut oil filling from the fridge.  The filling should have hardened on the top and become a jel-like consistency on the bottom.  Using a knife, cut the hardened coconut oil filling into squares.

On your floured surface, roll out your dough into a long rectangle.  Evenly disperse the coconut oil filling squares around the rectangle.  Sprinkle dough with an additional 1/2-1 tsp cinnamon.  Roll up dough from the long-end or the short-end of the rectangle.  I rolled mine up beginning at the long end so I could make 6 smaller rolls.  But you could roll yours up beginning from the short end to make 4 bigger rolls.  Slice of jagged ends.  Cut rolled up dough into 4 or 6 rolls.  Place touching in a parchment paper-lined baking dish.

Now you have 2 options:

1. Cover and refrigerate the rolls overnight and in the morning allow rolls to sit outside of the fridge for 30 minutes before baking at 350F for 30 minutes (this is what I did).

Or…

2. Immediately bake the cinnamon rolls at 350F for 30 minutes.

Frosting

1/2 cup plain greek yogurt

2 Tbsp honey

In a bowl, combine greek yogurt and honey.  Use to top warm cinnamon rolls.  Serve.

As the first and only recipe challenge founded by registered dietitians, The Recipe ReDux aims to inspire the food lover in every healthy eater and inspire the healthy eater in every food lover. Thank you for visiting. We hope you enjoy!

(Please note that this is a closed link-up for Recipe ReDux contest entries only. Any links added to this collection for non-ReDux posts will be deleted.)

Not in the food (necessarily), but lining the aisle in pretty bouquets with fluffy, white hydrangeas and baby’s breath.  And the boys could wear little rosemary + baby’s breath boutonnieres (definitely had to google the spelling on that one).  I found these. But with the cotton they’re just too umm southern.  And then this one is pretty but there isn’t even rosemary in it which is counterproductive.  But I’d add in rosemary and then take out the purple flowers and add in something pale pink…or nude.  Do they even make a nude flower?  I’m sure I’ll change my mind in like a week.  But for now I’m rosemary obsessed.

Also obsessed with that Taylor Swift Diet Coke Commercial where everyone is singing, “It feels like the perfect night, to dress up like hipsters”…that guy singing in the car kills me.  Love it.

What I don’t love is when I come out of the grocery store and forget what my rental car looks like and walk around the parking lot trying to act cool and not like someone who not only forgot where she parked her car but also forgot what the car looked like.  And the car is definitely not a minty blue.  It’s like a black-dark green-ish color.  Better than plain black but I think all rental cars should be a minty blue…think of how happy all rental car drives would be!(!!!!!)

Soo my birthday weekend was good.  I made ribs and drank a chocolate coconut water and ate dessert out of these cute, little jars.  Sounds like a joyous combination to me.  And somewhere during my birthday dinner my dad mentioned that he’s willing to give some financial incentives to whoever decides to keep their maiden name after they get married.  I have 2 sisters so once we are all married off our last name will end with our generation.  He’s just kidding…I think.  He’s still so excited about (possibly) having a grandson named, “Dennis Mitchell,” (as in the little kid from Dennis the Menace) to actually care about me keeping my maiden name.

Okay, onto what’s smooshed inside these jars.  It’s a fun and cute recipe mainly because it comes in this little, fun, cute jar.  Everything is more fun in a jar.  And yet again, this is one of those recipes where I make you make another recipe just to make this one…annoying (i know).  But I promise I’ll branch out and stop using that skinny brownie recipe…but first you must make these.  And this is like a super transportable dessert because of said little, fun, cute jars.

Also, this recipe has you make a date paste.  So that involves you letting the dates soak in some water for 12 hours (or overnight).  Just so ya know!

Chocolate Pecan Pie in a Jar

makes 9 8-oz mason jars

Crust Layer

3 cups Sunrise Crunchy Maple

2 Tbsp honey

6 T coconut oil, melted

Preheat oven to 325 F.

Use a food processor/blender to crush cereal into a flour.  Pour crushed cereal into a bowl.  Add in honey and coconut oil.  Stir until wet ingredients are well combined into the cereal.  You may need to use your hands.

Divide the crust mixture between 9 8-ounce glass mason jars.  Gently pack the crust down using a spoon.  DO NOT firmly press the crust mixture down because it will become WAY TOO hard and you won’t be able to eat it.  Bake gently packed crushed mixture for 20-25 minutes.  Or until beginning to turn a slightly darker golden brown than it already is.

Chocolate Layer

1 batch skinny brownies, crumbled (about 3 cups)

1/2 cup vanilla greek yogurt (I used chobani)

3 Tbsp peanut butter (no added salt or sugar)

In a large bowl, mix together crumbled brownies, greek yogurt and peanut butter.  Use your hands to pack ingredients together into a dough.

Pecan Pie Layer

19 dates, pitted

2 cups pecans

Allow dates to soak overnight in 3/4 cup water.  Once soft, pour dates + water into a high powered blender/food processor and blend until smooth to create a date paste.  Scoop date paste into a large bowl and set aside while you roast your pecans.

Roast pecans by laying pecans in a single layer on a plate and microwaving for ~1 1/2 minutes, stirring after every 20 seconds.  Once roasted, roughly chop half of the pecans.  Add both halved and chopped pecans into the date paste and stir until incorporated.

Assemble Chocolate Pecan Pie

Garnish: 1/2 cup vanilla greek yogurt + 9 roasted pecan halves

Evenly divide the chocolate dough layer in 9 balls.  Drop the chocolate dough balls into the mason jars on top of the pie crust.  Press the chocolate dough balls into a flat layer.  On top of the chocolate layer, add the date paste + pecan layer.  Top with a scant spoonful of vanilla greek yogurt and a pecan half.  Cover and allow to chill before serving (1 hour in the freezer or 3 hours+ in the fridge).

I woke up and did Tina’s Run Burpee Run workout which is such a fun workout.  So that wasn’t part of the Wednesday nonsense.  Because I obsessively love that workout. So that was the day’s high point.

Okay and then I showered and put on these new shorts that are a tiffany blue color and they kinda make me feel like an Easter egg.  I can’t decide what I think of them.  I mean,  I like Easter eggs.  I also bought the exact same pair of shorts in a pastel pink color.  Just because why not.  I mean sometimes everyone wants to feel 8 years old again.  And that’s totally okay.

So then while making breakfast I somehow lost my phone.  No idea how but it just disappeared so I finished making an oatmeal mug cake and then used our landline to call my phone.  And I heard it ringing…from inside the washing machine…that I had just started 10 minutes ago.

So I tore open the washer door and threw sopping wet clothes everywhere and ended up finding my phone wrapped up in a shirt.  Still don’t even know how the phone actually got into the washer.  Ugh.  I threw my phone in a bag of rice and miraculously, it still works.  Thank you, Mr. Otterbox.  You have redeemed yourself from the time I dropped my phone and it still cracked even though I had you on said phone.

So then I went to the grocery store and managed not to forget anything.  So I was all like thinking in my head…”what a completely successful day!” Or so I thought…because on the way home I got rear ended by a women in a Ford F-350 Truck.  Have you ever realized how big those trucks are?  I live in Texas which is full of enormous trucks (and people who don’t know how to drive them) and even I think they’re big. And when a lady rams hers into the back of your cute-little-only-6-months-old-toyota-rav-4 when you are sitting at a stoplight…it hurts.

My whole back window shattered and glass flew up to the front seat.  And I think my back door would have falled off if I would have tried to open it.  Actually, it was so smooshed that I don’t think it would have even opened.  And then the woman who hit me said (and I quote)…”I was talking to my lawyer and texting my daughter.”  I guess that was supposed to make it okay.  Not sure.  So today I got X-rays because of this pain in my lower back that has a tendency to radiate down my left leg.  And when the pain isn’t radiating my left leg just feels numb.

One of my greatest fears (and this is gonna sound selfish…) is not being able to run.  Just knowing that there is going to be one day when I won’t be able to run (days like now) is what makes me go run on days when I don’t feel like working out.

Hopefully the pain/numbness will go away soon.  Right now i’m in the anger stage of The 5 Stages of Grief but I’m quickly moving towards stage 3 (bargaining) and i’m sure stages 4 & 5 (depression & acceptance) will follow close behind.

But I’ll get over it.  And I’m sure I’ll be fine.  And today is gonna be faaareaking awesome because…today is my freaking birthday.  And everyone wants a rental car for their birthday, right? Right.  I hope it’s at least a pretty color rental car.  Like a minty blue color…which i’ve realized is a totally different color than tiffany blue.  Yes, because tiffany blue makes you look a little Easter eggy but minty blue just makes you look happy and awesome.

Just in case the rental car is a depressing color like brown, I have these here cake balls to keep everything exciting.  Even though these cake balls are also…brown.  But this brown is peanut-butter-and-chocolate-brown which, we all know, is like the most artful and beautiful combination of foods in the entire world.  For real.

So make these cake balls.  They take a little work because this is one of those annoying recipes where you have to make another recipe just to make this recipe but I promise they’re worth it!

Peanut Butter Frosting Covered Chocolate Cake Balls

makes 12 cake balls

Chocolate Cake Balls

1 1/3 cup skinny brownies, crumbled 

3 Tbsp vanilla greek yogurt (I used Chobani)

1 Tbsp peanut butter (no added sugar or salt)

Peanut Butter Frosting

1/3 cup peanut butter (no added sugar or salt)

2 Tbsp vanilla greek yogurt

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp honey

2 pinch salt

Optional Topping: unsweetened shredded coconut, cocoa powder, chopped peanuts

In a bowl, combine crumbled skinny brownies, greek yogurt and peanut butter.  Use your hands to make sure everything is mixed together well.  Roll mixture into 13 balls.  Eat one! Seriously, this recipe only makes enough peanut butter frosting to cover 12 cake balls.

Put chocolate cake balls into the freezer while you make your peanut butter icing.  In a small bowl combine peanut butter and greek yogurt until smooth.  Add in vanilla, honey and salt.  Mixture will be thick (…and delicious, try not to eat it all.  But if it happens, it happens…just start back at the beginning of this paragraph).

Okay, get chocolate cake balls out of the freezer.  Grab a small amount of peanut butter frosting and roll it into a ball.  Flatten the ball into a pancake and place the chocolate cake ball into the center of the flattened frosting pancake.  Fold the sides of the frosting pancake up around the cake ball and gently smoosh/roll the peanut butter frosting around the chocolate cake ball so it completely covers it.

Now roll the cake balls in your topping of choice (unsweetened shredded coconut, cocoa powder, chopped peanuts).  Eat immediately or store in the fridge or freezer for up to a week.  I LOVED these frozen!!

And if you have been saying, “that’s what she said…” throughout this entire recipe…me too.

Nothing like a like trickery and deception with your breakfast.

So this weekend Andrew and I did weekend-y things like eating froyo and going house hunting. I almost freaked out at Menchie’s because Andrew actually sampled a flavor instead of just immediately getting his typical tart yogurt + brownie bites (all while I sampled as many flavors as I possibly can in the 30 seconds I have until he’s standing at the cash register waiting on me).  He tried the Graham Cracker flavor and couldn’t believe it actually tasted exactly like Graham Crackers. He has so much to learn about froyo.

And just when I think I know my froyo places…this happens.

The “fast-food outlet” that I found most umm interesting (?) was the frozen yogurt place called, “Cups.” It’s supposed to be the Hooters of froyo.  I’m all for entrepreneurs so to each their own…but I think I’d rather go to Umami than Cups.  But I really love me some froyo.  So I’d probably still go to Cups.  Thoughts?

So house hunting was just one of the most fun things I’ve ever done. We saw a gorgeous kitchen in one home but that house wasn’t in the location that we (read: I) want to live in. Andrew is trying to convince me to consider another location by bribing me with the close proximity to the grocery store.

But before we make any big decisions we always check Google Maps to see how close our nearest Chipotle would be…priorities.  His location won the close-chipotle-proximity contest but my location is just more exciting/yuppie/historical houston-y/all round freaking awesome-er.  And when we turned onto me desired street…there was the cutest-lululemon-wearing young mom walking her dog while her little boy rode his bike with training wheels.  And we’ll become friends and we can exchange baking tips and we can plant gardens together and our kids can grow up together and we can walk to the farmers market on Saturdays together and…I was sold.

AND(!!!) the exterior of my house was mint chocolate chip color.  Which automatically trumps all other colors.

Speaking of colors…my friend is pregnant so we’re planning on hosting a Gender Reveal Party for her where you bite into cupcakes and the center will be blue or pink for the baby’s gender.  I just told Andrew, “We’re throwing a Gender Reveal Party!” I didn’t really give him in background on what that meant or who it was for and he just got this really confused look on his face…it was pretty funny. He was like, “What does that even mean?”

Other things that boys don’t really understand…Sample Sales.  BHLDN was having a Sample Sale in Houston this weekend so my mom, sisters and I went to see if we could find some bridesmaid dresses.  I was actually looking for a veil but those weren’t part of the sale…of course they weren’t.  We got there at 7 am and waited in line in the pouring rain for 1 1/2 hours until we finally got in.  Only to find…nothing.

But anyways, one girl had her boyfriend/fiance/husband with her.  How you gonna bring a man to a sample sale.  There are not enough dressing rooms and there will be half-naked girls walking around throwing on and off 80% off dresses.  Not the best environment for a guy.

We didn’t find any dresses…but we did go home and open my mom’s wedding dress which hadn’t been opened in 29 years.  And then we all tried it on.

So I made you muffins with yellow squash mainly because we just harvested about 36843 of them from my dad’s garden.  And he asks me every single day if I ate a yellow squash.  So I decided to go one step farther and put it in muffins…and then trick him into eating them.  I recommend making these muffins and then doing this to them.

*totally just googled “yellow zucchini” and there is such a thing.  Who knew?! Probably you.

Yellow Zucchini Banana Walnut Muffins

makes 16 muffins

[inspired by Martha Stewart]

2 cups oat flour, packed

1/2 cup ground flaxseed

1/2 cup stevia in the raw

1/2 cup brown sugar, packed

3 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1 1/2 cup yellow crookneck squash, grated

1/2 cup banana, mashed (~1 medium to large banana)

2/3 cup almond milk

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

1/3 cup walnut, chopped + additional walnuts to top

Preheat oven to 350F and line 16 muffins tins with paper liners.  In a large bowl, mix together oat flour, flaxseed, brown sugar, stevia, baking powder, salt and cinnamon.

In a small bowl, whisk together milk, egg, vanilla.

Add grated squash and mashed banana into dry ingredients.  Stir until squash is coated in flour mixture.  Now add in your wet ingredients and stir until just combined.  Avoid over mixing.  Divide batter among muffin tins and bake for 25-30 minutes.  You’ll know the muffins are done when an inserted toothpick comes out clean.  Allow muffins to cool for 30 minutes in the hot muffin tin before moving to a cooling rack to continue cooling.  If you take the paper off the muffins too soon, the paper will stick to the muffin and make the muffin look less than aesthetically pleasing.  Top with a nice spread of some peanut butter…or with this peanut butter icing.

So you better believe I didn’t do it.  Nope.  Maybe one day I’ll man-up and try one of the many black bean brownie recipes out there but the day is not today.

I shouldn’t even be wanting to bake brownies right now because it’s hella hot in Texas. Yet I somehow managed to make brownies, muffins and cake balls this week.  I’m fhhhreaking out about those cake balls.  Kinda how I’m fhhhreaking out about this bathing suit that is no longer sold.  It’s just gorgeous and perfect and everyone on my honeymoon would know me as the-girl-in-that-cute-classy-coral-one-piece.  And then I could get this cover-up and borrow some of my sister’s big sunglasses* and there we go…all set for Cado.

Actually, I’m not really feeling the back of that swimsuit, but I love V-neck one pieces.  Love, love, love.  Love them like I love oat flour.  Which is a lot, a lot, a lot.  I’ve never ever been a two piece bathing suit person.  I remember having a tankini thing in middle school and thinking I looked awesome.  Looking back, nothing quite looks ‘awesome’ in middle school.  Clothes aren’t quite made to fit the human body at that life stage.

My all time favorite swimsuit was this maroon V-neck one piece that was from Target.  If I ever found that swimsuit again I would stockpile like 58493 of them.  Kinda like how my dad stockpiles groceries.  You have to be very careful in replying when he asks you if you need anything from the grocery store.  The last time I asked for chicken I got 20-lbs worth of chicken breasts.  No joke…it’s all bagged up into individual baggies in our freezer now.  And then one time my little sister asked for cookie dough and we ended up with this 2 gallon bucket of cookie dough.  It was wonderful and terrible all at the same time.

But in all seriousness, I would at least get 8 of those swimsuits.  I don’t even know what happened to my first one?!  My theory is that my mom threw it away while I was sleeping.  It was probably for the best, it was pretty worn.  Worn into perfection and the optimal swimsuit fitting-ness.  Such a loss.  I’ll get over it…one day.

But not today.

But this is the day where I put oats, almonds and honey into my brownies.  All totally acceptable dessert-y things (in comparison to beans which don’t really scream dessert-y).  But these brownies are not fudgy.  They are more cake-like.  Wait, don’t go! They’re light and fluffy and they really tasted cocoa-y which I loved.  I wouldn’t say that they’re bitter, they just taste like dark chocolate.  You’re gonna wanna enjoy them with a glass of almond milk (or soy or rice or hemp or cow or coconut milk)>

*the sister who says things like “gossip girl is life.” She’s kidding…I hope.

Skinny Brownies

makes 1 8×8″ pan of brownies

2 Tbsp unsweetened applesauce

2 Tbsp coconut oil

2 tsp vanilla extract

1/3 cup + 2 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder

1/3 cup + 2 Tbsp honey

1 egg

2/3 cup almond flour

1/3 cup oat flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a 8×8″ baking dish with coconut oil/non-stick cooking spray. Set aside.

In a small bowl, stir together applesauce, coconut oil, vanilla extract and cocoa powder. The mixture will be dry and clumpy. Scoop the cocoa mixture into the bowl of an electric mixer and add in the egg and honey. Use the whisk attachment to vigorously whisk together the cocoa mixture until smooth.

In a separate bowl, combine almond flour, oat flour, baking powder and salt. Pour the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and whisk together until well combined (the batter will likely look a little lumpy from the almond meal/flour).

Pour the batter into the prepared baking dish and use a spoon to spread the batter evenly to all corners. Bake for 20 minutes. Allow to cool completely before slicing (like that’s gonna happen).

I’ll let you use that as an indicator for how wonderful the wedding was. So I decided I’m totally adding polenta, along with a goat cheese + arugula + walnut salad, to my foods-I-want-at-my-wedding list. This wedding ceremony was also outside in beautiful Colorado weather. At one point a bunny hopped across the lush lawn that the ceremony was on and I was like, “could this be anymore like a fairytale?”

But then, as was mentioned before, there was polenta. So yes, I guess it was even more fairytale-y. If I wasn’t having a wedding in Houston in December, I would have the wedding outside in a heartbeat. Even with the unpredictability of Houston weather in December (it could be 30F, it could be 80F), I still have this rather HUGE desire to have the wedding outside. I don’t want my guests to be freezing if it’s cold but we could serve hot chocolate and hot cider and have a speedy, quick ceremony. As much as I’m excited about grad school, having to plan a wedding/honeymoon around it is so beyond unfortunate.

Other than the wedding, the other highlight of this weekend was that I finally made it to Snooze, which I have been wanting to go to for 2 years. It was everything I hoped it would be. I got the Sweet Potato Pancake…so it goes without saying that it was good. But i’ll say it anyways…it was so good. I also split half an omelet which had been stuffed with goat cheese. Houston needs a cute pancake place like Snooze. I’m gonna get on that.

Until I open my pancake restaurant (half kidding/half serious), I just wanna keep making cookies. In particular, these PB & J Cookies that have been stuffed with a banana slice. They are kinda weird because they are super moist and sticky but they tasted(*) like a peanut butter + jelly + banana sandwich…which tastes like my childhood. And since we all know that nostalgia is the best flavor, you know they were good. These cookies reminded me of summer days spent at grandmas which meant eating french toast for breakfast, drinking ice-cold limeade in between hours of non-stop swimming and making pb+banana sandwiches for lunch.

These are easily my favorite cookies that I’ve made…ever. I love peanut butter. I love bananas. I love cookies. I love a little nostalgia. There was really no way they could have been bad.

*past tense because they have managed to all disappear

PB & J Cookies Stuffed with Banana Slices

makes 12 cookies

[inspired by How Sweet it is}

1 2/3 cup oat flour (buy pre-ground or just grind oats into a flour using blender/coffee grinder)

1/3 cup + 2 Tbsp dark brown sugar, packed

1/4 tsp baking powder

scant 1/4 tsp salt

3 Tbsp coconut oil, melted

1/3 cup peanut butter (no added sugar)

3 Tbsp honey

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/3 cup jelly/preserves of choice (I used strawberry preserves)

1/2 large banana, sliced into 12 slices

Preheat an oven to 350F. In a small, microwave-safe bowl, combine coconut oil, peanut butter, and honey. Melt coconut-peanut butter-honey mixture in the microwave for 20-30 seconds, or until melted. Set aside and allow it to cool slightly.

In a separate larger bowl, combine oat flour, brown sugar, baking powder and salt. In a (yet another) separate bowl, whisk together the egg and vanilla. Pour in the melted coconut-PB-honey mixture and whisk everything together. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir until a dough begins to formed. Once dough has formed, gently fold in the jelly using your hands. You want to leave streaks and ribbons of jelly and not just blend it completely into the dough.

Now you’re ready to make your cookies. Take a small ball of dough and flatten it into a circle. Place a banana slice in the center of the dough circle and wrap the dough up around the banana slice. If you need to, grab a little bit more dough to make sure there is cookie dough completely surrounding the banana slice. Place cookie ball onto a non-stick baking sheet and repeat 11 more times. Bake for 12-14 minutes. Allow to cool 1 minute on the cookie sheet before transferring to a cooling rack. Cookies will be sticky so be sure to transfer them to the cooling rack quickly! Since the cookies have quite a bit of moisture, store them in the fridge (not on the counter) for up to a week.

I went and ate froyo last weekend and the place wasn’t self-serve.  I didn’t even know that non-self-serve froyo places still existed.  I thought they were kinda like VCR’s and landlines in houses.  You know, outdated and replaced by technological innovation and whatnot.  But lo and behold, there it was.  And I’ve drawn the conclusion that non-self-serve froyo isn’t nearly as fun as getting to sample approximately 17 flavors and then filling your cup with cake batter flavor and covering it in mochi and peanut butter cups. 

Speaking of peanut butter cups.  I’m worried I’m getting boring.  Mainly because I looked at my “things I must make for serious” pinterest board and everything was brown.  Not even kidding.  My oat flour and peanut butter usage is out of control but more concerning-ly, it is far too mono-chromatic.  And it’s like the worst color to be mono-chromatic in…brown.  Eww.

So I decided to be that change I want to see in the word (less brown) and did something dramatic and uncharacteristic for me and made something without oat flour.  I know.  It’s like I’m a new person.  But then I’m not because my indecisiveness is still oh-so-very present because I have (yet again) changed our honeymoon location.

Now we’re going to Cabo San Lucas.  Which is appropriate because of my love for all things Laguna Beach.  Yes, the painful show with Kristen and LC and Jessica and Steven.  My love for the show is actually because my grandparents honeymooned in Laguna way back when and they loved it so much that my family has been going to Laguna every year since (like 50 years).  

But anyways, if you watched the show you should know that the cast would always go to Cabo and make questionable decisions.  And since I had this whole stuck-up-I’m-not-gonna-party-in-college-because-I’d-rather-pretend-I’m somehow-better-than-you approach (…seriously, took me awhile to get over myself and the whole save-face and never let anyone see you sweat thing), I think Cabo is the perfect place to start making questionable decisions…or at least that’s what they did on the show.  So that sounds just fun and perfect (just kidding, Mom).

But truthfully, a huge part of the honeymoon location determination (HLD?) was based around my desire to eat plateful upon plateful of Mexican Food.  And even though we can’t afford this place, this place or this place…I think I have found a place that we’ll be happy with.  Now we (read: I) just need to commit and make the reservations.

Geez, planning a honeymoon is hard work.  I feel like I’ve already been to San Francisco and Belize with the amount of time I’ve spent researching those places.  I for serious had lists with restaurants in San Fran and Belize that we would of HAD to go to.  But now I get to look up must-go-to restaurants in Cabo.  Actually, I already have.

In the mean time, I’ve already found like a hundred billion more restaurants I still need to go to in Houston.  I crossed Sweet Paris off my list this week and it was fabulous.  So fabulous that this happened and I am already planning on going back for my birthday…but probably won’t be able to resist until then.  And, it should be noted that they cater.  Hmm crepes as wedding party favors?  Now that is something to ponder.  But I’m still so beyond in love with this idea for wedding favors though.  Ugh, so torn.

Okay, back on track…this recipe is actually for a recipe contest.  Can I get an “awwyeah” for a little competition?  I feel like I’m on Chopped…minus the 15 minutes of fame and being on TV part.

This competition is hosted by Tastespotting and Dole.  The competition involved creating a Spanish-inspired dish using DOLE Salad blends.  I choose to use a 5-oz bag of arugula to make a Creamy Arugula Walnut Salsa which I used to top a Crispy Acorn Squash Infused Polenta Cake.  Oh and there was goat cheese and roasted, caramelized tomatoes involved too.

I love polenta.  I have been meaning to make polenta pancakes ever since I learned about polenta…which was like 2 years ago.  So I’ve spent two years building up unrealistic expectations about how polenta pancakes are going to be the most amazing thing I’ve ever tasted.

All this talk about pancakes brings me to this…I’m off to Colorado this weekend for a wedding.  Other than enjoying the wedding, my goal is to somehow end up here.  I don’t think they have polenta pancakes, but normal ones will work just fine.  Fingers crossed I can convince someone into taking me.  I have every intention of bribing my fiance.

Creamy Arugula Walnut Salsa & Polenta Tapas

makes 18 polenta squares (or 36 polenta triangles)

Acorn Squash Infused Polenta

3 1/2 cups water

1 1/2 cup cornmeal

1 3/4 cup acorn squash, roasted and mashed (~1 medium sized squash)

1 tsp rosemary, finely chopped

1 1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp ground black pepper

Line 2-8×8 inch glass dishes with parchment paper.  In a saucepan over high heat, bring water to a rolling boil.  Stream in cornmeal slowly and whisk constantly to avoid clumps from forming.  Reduce heat to medium.  Once all of the cornmeal is added, the mixture will quickly begin to thicken.  Continue to whisk for 1 minute until completely smooth.  Whisk in mashed acorn squash.  Finally whisk in rosemary, salt and pepper.  Divide polenta between two parchment paper-lined dishes.  Using a spatula, smooth the polenta out so the top is as flat and even as possible.  Allow to cool to room temperature (30-45 minutes).  Cover dishes with foil and refrigerate for 2 hours until completely set.

While the polenta is setting, make your creamy salsa.

Creamy Arugula Walnut Salsa

1 cup walnuts

3 Tbsp pine nuts

5 oz Dole Salad Blends Arugula

3/4 cup light coconut milk (from a can)

1 Tbsp lemon juice, freshly squeezed

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1 scant tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

First, toast your nuts by placing the walnuts and pine nuts into a dry skillet and heating over medium-high heat for 3-5 minutes, stirring CONSTANTLY.

In the bowl of a food processor/vitamix/high-powered blender, place toasted walnuts and pinenuts, arugula, coconut milk, lemon juice, garlic powder, salt and pepper.  Blend until completely smooth.

Assemble Tapas

2-3 medium tomatoes, sliced into ~1/2 inch slices

~1/4 cup olive oil, divided

salt/pepper

1/2 cup crumbled goat cheese

1 batch cooled and set Acorn Squash Infused Polenta (recipe above)

1 batch Creamy Arugula Walnut Salsa (recipe above)

Preheat oven to 425F.  Place tomato slices in a single layer on a foil-lined baking sheet.  Drizzle tomatoes with 2-3 Tbsp olive oil and sprinkle with salt/pepper.  Roast tomatoes in the oven for 20-25 minutes, or until crispy/brown/caramelized on top.

While tomatoes are roasting, remove the cold polenta from the 8×8-inch dish and place on a cutting board.  Cut large polenta square into 9-12 squares or 18 triangles (cut into 9 squares and then cut each square diagonally).

Heat 2-3 Tbsp olive oil in a heavy bottomed skillet over medium-high heat.  Once hot, swirl the olive oil around to coat the skillet.  Add polenta cakes and allow polenta to cook undisturbed for ~3 minutes, or until a nice, brown, crispy crust has formed.  Flip polenta cake to the other side and allow it to crisp up too.

Top crispy polenta cake with a spoonful of Creamy Arugula Walnut Salsa.  Top salsa with a roasted tomato and sprinkle with goat cheese crumbles.  Serve immediately.

I think I may have cried.

At the time, my 12-year-old self probably acted out irrationally and I might have said something along the lines of, “what happened to the whole treat others whole you want to be treated?” You can’t bring the most delicious-ice-cold-refreshing-fruit-stuffed juice to a party and then tell me I can’t have any.

What happened next is kinda fuzzy but I’m sure I threw a tantrum. Almost as bad as the tantrum I remember throwing when my mom made me wear this horrendous watermelon patterned outfit one Easter. Trust me, that tantrum was well-merited…it was a hideous outfit.

So one of the very best things about being all grown up is getting to drink a glassful of the most beautiful “raspberry lemonade” you have ever seen. This recipe takes fresh berries and orange juice and adds in some wine and mint and there-ya-go…delicious 3 Berry Red Wine Sangria!

If you’re really feeling ambitious you could go pick your own berries since that’s a very popular activity this time of year. However, I feel it only right to warn you that the hottest I have ever been was when I went berry picking with my mom and sisters when I was little. I remember thinking there was no way I was going to survive the 3287932 degree Texas summer heat. Totally not an exaggeration. I for serious think it was that hot. So I find it surprising that I even like berries still 1)because it was hella hot that day and 2)because have you seen a blackberry bush? They’re frightening.

But the thing about berries is they’re just so refreshing. So those frightening 2-inch-long-thorn-covered-blackberry bushes are totally worth facing. But you know what’s even better than blackberries? Raspberries. Mainly because they don’t grow on scary bushes.

Growing up I spent a summer with my best friend in Utah and we would eat fresh raspberries by the handful. You see these are happy berry picking memories because Utah weather, unlike Texas weather, doesn’t reach 3287932 degrees. Moral of the story: If you’re going to pick berries in Texas, you must go before the sun comes up…or you will in fact melt.

If you’re confused as to why I’m posting on a Tuesday instead of a Monday or Friday, this post is part of a recipe challenge called Recipe Redux. Each month, Recipe Redux contributors are given a food/theme that we are to create a healthier version of. Recipe Redux founders believe that healthier foods should still taste delicious…which is something I’m all about. There has been some incredible recipes that recipe redux contributors have thought of.

And even though there are some recipe modifications that freak me out and will likely always freak me out (like putting beans in my brownies or cookies), there are so many great ways to make recipes healthier and this a great way to share them. Maybe one day I’ll face my fears and try out some black bean brownies or garbanzo bean cookie dough, but for now both of those recipes sound almost as frightening as the thorns on blackberry bushes. Almost.

This week’s Recipe Redux theme was Brunch. And nothing quite says brunch like cute, little glasses stuffed with berries that have been soaked with fresh squeezed orange juice and red wine.

3 Berry Red Wine Sangria

makes 1 pitcher

1 bottle red wine, chilled

1 cup pomegranate juice, chilled

1 cup orange juice, fresh squeezed

8 ounces strawberries

1/2 pint raspberries

1/2 pint blackberries

2 Tbsp honey

1 cup club soda, chilled

3/4 cup red seedless grapes, frozen

Garnish: mint leaves, orange slices, strawberries

Combine red wine, pomegranate juice, fresh orange juice, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries and honey in a large pitcher. Cover and refrigerate overnight or at least for 2 hours. Just before serving, add club soda and frozen grapes into the pitcher. Serve in glasses garnished with mint leaves, orange slices and strawberry slices.

As the first and only recipe challenge founded by registered dietitians, The Recipe ReDux aims to inspire the food lover in every healthy eater and inspire the healthy eater in every food lover. Thank you for visiting. We hope you enjoy!

(Please note that this is a closed link-up for Recipe ReDux posts only. Any links added to this collection for non-ReDux posts will be deleted.)

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For instance, this weekend Andrew and I went and looked at houses to buy in Houston.  I was on my phone looking up all the houses that are for sale in our desired neighborhood and I had the price limit set so we stayed within our budget (or so I thought).

I was freaking out (in a good way) about all the cute, little homes with the gorgeous stone exteriors and was imagining us as that happy, young couple doing yard work together and going for runs on the trails near our new home and throwing block parties for all our neighbors and baking cookies whenever new people moved in on the street and everyone would know us as the newlywed couple in the cute, little (gorgeous) stone exterior one-story.

And then we would have kids (3 if you ask me and 2 if you ask Andrew) and they could play in the huge, lush front yard and then they would become best friends with another cute baby on the street and then we could have a basketball goal on our garage just like in Father of the Bride and then they would have just the best childhood ever.

And then I realized I had the price limit set at $3 million. UGH. Goodbye gorgeous stone exterior. Goodbye huge lot.  Goodbye basketball goal above the garage.  

I’m really not that depressed about the whole situation.  Mainly because I don’t like basketball that much.  I kid.  But I’m sure we’ll find a house by December.

Any who, while driving around I was also texting people back for Andrew since he was driving.  He never uses smiley faces in his texts which I find lame.  So whenever I’m typing out text messages for him I always want to add a smiley face after a manly man text like, “I’ll meet you at 5 for a beer.” Wouldn’t that text be so much better as, “I’ll meet you at 5 for a beer:)?” So much happier.  Just saying.  Andrew says “bro’s” never use smiley faces. No fun.

Other manly man things from this weeked, like excluding smiley faces, included Andrew getting bacon at Whole Foods while I drank my coconut water smoothie.  And then later I was making a big deal about how amazing the French Lavender Soap smelled at Whole Foods and Andrew was like, “my hands smell like bacon still….it’s awesome.”  I love me some bacon but it’s funny, in Texas most of the radio commercials for Whole Foods advertise for their meat.  They don’t talk about organic vegetables or whole grain decadent desserts or vegan goodies…nope, all the commercials are like, “we’ve got the best beef/pork.”  Oh, Texas.

But my favorite purchase from whole foods lately has not been the beef.  This is because my favorite snack in the entire world has become Chobani pineapple greek yogurt with chocolate chips.  Most of the time I’ll add in some Nature’s Path Vanilla Sunrise Cereal too.  The combination of the crunchy-vanilla cereal with the creaminess of the greek yogurt and the sweet-delicious-chocolatey-chocolate flavor ooohhhhh you’re gonna wanna just eat it everyday…so I do.  Or well, every other day.

And at only 4 ingredients, this ice cream might become what I eat in between the days i’m not eating the aforementioned snack.

It should be noted that this ice cream may quite possibly be the most refreshing thing I have ever eaten.

Pineapple Chobani Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

makes ~8 (1/2 cup) servings

1 can (13.5 oz) full-fat coconut milk, allowed to sit in fridge overnight to harden
3 (6 oz) containers pineapple flavored greek yogurt (I used Chobani)
1/4 cup honey
1/3 heaping cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (I used good ol’ Nestle)
3 Tbsp semi-sweet chocolate chips

In a large bowl, whisk together hardened coconut milk, pineapple greek yogurt and honey. Pour mixture into your ice cream maker and allow to churn for 10-15 minutes, or until it begins to resembles ice cream.  Mine didn’t completely harden to the thickness of ice cream.  Scoop slightly hardened ice cream mixture into a seal-able container.  Spread ice cream to corners of container and evenly sprinkle remaining 3 Tbsp chocolate chips over the smooth ice cream top.  Cover container and place in the freezer for 1-2 hours.  Serve.

[note: This ice cream should be made 1-2 hours before serving.  If left in the freezer overnight, it will get too hard.  If you do freeze it overnight, you can let it thaw a little and then scoop the ice cream but the optimal ice cream like texture will be achieved by letting the ice cream sit for 1-2 hours in the freezer immediately after making and then serving.]