chocolate covered almond cookie dough bites

Sometimes I think I've got my priorities a little screwed up. Like how on most mornings, I have my first cup of coffee pulsing through my veins before I even put my glasses on, or how I waste way too much time scrolling through my Instagram feed before starting school. Or like that time (actually many times) when I went straight to the kitchen for dessert before even showering after a five mile run. Yah. Ew?

Side note: dark chocolate + run = so many endorphins. 

I've found myself baking a lot lately whenever I can find a minute to calm myself.  Most of the things I've been baking, although vegan, haven't really been super healthy. The aftermath of the holiday season has had my tastebuds getting used to sugar. I'm totally all about balance and moderation, but let's just say I've eaten my fair share of cookies. 

So in honor of the new year and getting back on track, let's eat some chocolate! Wait what? Yes! These bad boys are totally yummy and indulgent and can cure the strongest of sweet tooths (sweet teeth?) without any highly refined anything. I'll warn you, these things are dang addictive. But have no fear! They're full of good things. Healthily indulge away, my darlings! 

chocolate covered almond cookie dough bites (R, V, GF) 

3 tbsp. coconut oil, softened

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1/4 c. almond butter

2 1/2 tbsp. maple syrup or honey

2 tbsp. unsweetened almond milk

1/2 c. ground almonds

1/2 c. coconut flour

pinch of sea salt

1/2 c. dairy free chocolate chips 

1/4 c. raw almonds, roughly chopped 

In a small bowl, combine coconut oil, vanilla, almond butter, sweetener, and almond milk. Whisk until smooth. Add in ground almonds, coconut flour, and sea salt. Mix until well combined. Scoop and roll into balls (about 1 tbsp. each) and place on a cookie sheet lined with wax paper. Place in freezer to set about 5-10 minutes. Melt chocolate chips in a microwave-safe bowl (3-4 30 second intervals in the microwave, stirring between each). Roll balls in chocolate and sprinkle with chop almonds. Place back in freezer to set another 5-10 minutes. Store in freezer. Yields 10-12 balls. 

honey coconut date bars

It's weird to think back on how my life has changed so much in the last two and a half years since moving to Africa. Words can hardly even convey what I want to say, but let's just say I'll be going back a completely different person. 

It seems like just yesterday my school day lasted until about eleven, we would go to swim class with all our homeschool muchachos, and go to Wendy's for chicken burgers and Frosty's afterward. I remember hanging out with my friends before youth group every weekend and talking about how hard it would be for me to move half way across the world. Since then, I've realized what true friendships are. I've lost so many and gained many more. 

It definitely does not seem like I've been away from the life, family, friends, and surroundings I've ever known for two and a half years. These last years have been a complete roller coaster ride. There were months of absolute highs and "OHMYGOSHIFREAKINGLOVEMYLIFE." and there were many months of lows where I was so depressed I could hardly motivate myself to do anything but stuff my face hole with chocolate. But I've learned so much, mostly about myself, and have emerged from it all a completely strong and totally changed person. 

As our time in Africa is winding down to a close, I'm trying to prepare myself for the months that so unclearly lie ahead. Although I don't have too many people or relationships to detach from, it's hard for me to remember a life outside of this with a much faster pace. I've become so accustomed to down time and I've learned to secretly love it. How will I go back to having school, extra classes, running track, church and youth group, friends, and finding time for peace and BAKING? 

I'm also trying to prepare myself for the people situation. Like I mentioned, since coming here, it's been really hard to keep up relationships with people 9,000 miles across the globe. I know that when I go back, the whole dynamic of my friend group will have changed and I most likely won't go back to relationships I had when we left. 

For so many months, I wanted nothing more than to leave. I had fallen into a habit of looking to the next thing instead of soaking up the present. 

And although I still look forward to going home, hugging my G'ma, squeezing all the juices out of my gorgeous best friend, ordering a Starbucks latte, kissing my sweet puppy and breathing in her many aromas, and shopping at actual shopping malls with actual stores and actual quality clothing, I know there are many things I'll miss here. The gorgeous sunsets on my runs every evening. The stars glowing up in the sky, untainted from man-made anything. The cute kids with such gorgeous colored skin, flashing their big white smiles. It was here that I fell in love with health and wellness and discovered the path I wanted to travel with my life. Good things always come from seemingly depressing situations; no matter how deep you fall, you'll come out so much higher than you ever were before. 

Anyways, I really do nawwwwwwwt know how to transition from all that to all this. But if you could taste rainbows and puffy hearts, they would be these bars. 

honey coconut date bars {vegan}

1 c. roughly chopped dates

2/3 c. finely shredded coconut

1 c. oats, divided

2/3 c. wholewheat flour

1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/2 c. softened coconut oil

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1/4 c. + 2 tbsp. honey

4 tbsp. nondairy milk

Preheat oven to 350ºF and line a 4x9 in. pan with parchment paper. Place chopped dates in a mug or bowl and cover with boiling water. Let soak for 5-10 minutes. Drain and mash with a fork until smooth. In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, coconut, cinnamon, and 3/4 c. oats. Add coconut oil, vanilla, honey, and milk. Mix until combined. Press 3/4 of the mixture into prepared pan and spread dates in an even layer. Add the rest of the oats to the remaining dough and crumble on top of date layer. Bake for 8-12 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool before slicing into squares. Yields about 12 bars. 

seed & date power bars

Typically, I thoroughly enjoy turning not-so-healthy desserts into healthy ones and do my best to make them taste like the real thing. But sometimes those escapades turn into chocolate cookies that are an odd shade of matte brown with a taste somewhat resembling play-doh. BLEHHH. It's really disheartening when I'm craving something rich, chocolatey, and satisfying and don't want to feel like a whale. But then there's other times where I actually CRAVE healthy food. I crave spinach and big bowls of roasted veggies allthetime and bananas pretty much every day. I crave things that taste like they've been birthed from the earth {sorry, too much?} and taste natural and wholesome. That's when I whip up batches of granola bars, energy bites, and things like that to have stored away in the freezer {if they make it that far} for when the craving strikes. 

I made some bars similar to these awhile ago, but it was one of those days where writing down measurements and snapping photos was just about the last thing I wanted to do. Of course, it's those days where my recipes always turn out the best, so I decided to remake them for the blog because they were just that good. This is one of those recipes that can be made from whatever you have around. I chose some oats, coconut, sesame seeds, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, and flax seeds. I threw in a dash of cinnamon for good measure and just a teensy bit of honey because the dates already bring a lot of natural sweetness. I bake these for a few minutes just to set them up, but you could just as easily leave them raw since there's nothing that requires cooking in the recipe. I have to say though, straight from the oven, they're pretty bomb. 

These bars are packed full of good-for-you ingredients that leave you satisfied without a drop in energy an hour later. They're jammed with tons of superfoods, healthy fats, protein, fiber, and antioxidants all needed for a healthy, happy body! The bars are so soft and chewy {I want to say like a candy bar, but let's be real here… Dates = candy bar? No.} and taste very sweet and caramely thanks to the dates. Of course, this recipe is so easily adaptable, you could sub in different kinds of nuts, sweeteners, seeds, grains, or dried fruit. No matter what you fill them with, you have a healthy, nourishing, and satisfying snack or quick brekkie.  

date & seed power bars {vegan & GF}

1 c. dates 

2 tbsp. softened coconut oil

1 tbsp. honey

1/4 c. desiccated coconut flakes

1/4 c. sunflower seeds

1/4 c. pumpkin seeds

3 tbsp. flax seeds

1 tbsp. poppyseeds

1 tbsp. sesame seeds

1/4 c. quick cooking oats

vanilla {optional}

cinnamon {optional}

Preheat oven to 350ºF and line an 8x8 in. pan with parchment paper. Chop dates until fine and add a little bit of hot water to soften if needed. In a large bowl, mix all ingredients and stir until evenly combined. Pour into prepared pan and press down firmly with the back of a spatula. Bake for 8-10 minutes and let cool before slicing into 8 even bars. 

coconut, oatmeal, and cherry jam thumbprints

"You can't use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have." -Maya Angelou

Something I've learned as of late is that creativity is not something that can be forced. It must come naturally. When we force ourselves into something, it becomes a chore, something we dread. When we learn to change our mindsets to enjoy the process of creating, there's something, I don't know what it is, that goes into our creation that makes it beautiful. WAIT. Eureka moment. That thing is love and passion. 

Good ideas don't necessarily come when you're expecting it. They come in the quiet of dark mornings with an equally dark mug of coffee. In the shower after a long, stressful day of your brain working overtime. On a walk, with your eyes glued to the beauty of your surroundings. They come when we are at peace, calm, and have a happy spirit about us. Nothing good comes from having a bad attitude, and that includes creativity. 

When we put our good ideas to work, with a happy attitude and a joyful heart, we create wonderful things. Keep a smile on your face through the process, accept your faults and failures, move on, and do whatever it is you do to the best of your abilities.

As you've probably gathered, the context for all this creative chat is about my blog. I've noticed that when I take a step back and stop forcing myself to bake, photograph, write, and post, the creativity just flows. It comes naturally when I let go of all the expectations I have of myself that are way too high. These cookies came out of the blue. Actually, I lied. I was scrolling through my blog feed, I found these cookies. I'd been having that itch to bake all day, not knowing really what it was I wanted to make. Until I saw those gorgeous photos and simple ingredients. DING DING DING. 

These cookies have a short ingredient list, are so simple, delicious, chewy, and lightly sweetened. The base of the cookies is amazing and I can just picture them going perfectly with a cup of coffee or tea.

coconut, oatmeal, and cherry jam thumbprints 

1/2 c. oats

1/3 c. desiccated coconut

4 tbsp. melted coconut oil

3 1/2 tbsp. maple syrup/honey

1 tsp. vanilla extract

2 tbsp. flour

dash of cinnamon

cherry jam (you can sub any other kind of jam if you'd like)

granola for sprinkling (optional)

Preheat oven to 350ºF and grease or line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Add coconut and oats into a blender and pulse until a flour forms. Pour into a bowl and add coconut oil, sweetener, vanilla, cinnamon, and flour. Stir until combined. Roll dough into balls, gently pressing your thumb into the centers. Place a small spoonful of jam (about a tsp. per cookie) in each imprint; sprinkle with granola if desired. Bake for 10-12 minutes. Let cool completely before transferring to a jar or container. Yields 9 small cookies. 

coconut lemon poppyseed muffins

I was afraid these muffins didn't have a future as a published blog post. I was so excited to bake these and the batter was seriously amazing {IT'S VEGAAAAAN!!!}, so I knew they were at least going to taste great. 

But when I popped them in the oven, for some odd reason, they did not rise into the beautifully round, domed muffins I was envisioning. Instead, I got some flat, lifeless looking things.  When I took them out to cool, the paper cups were pulling away from the muffins and I was like yay close to losing my mind and falling into a crying pile of Sophie on the kitchen floor. 

It'd been a pretty horrible day, and I did not need a baking fail to top it all off. I look for therapy in baking! NOT MORE STRESS. If I was wanting more stress, I'd have studied for that quiz and that test that were technically due yesterday.

HOWEVER. All hope was not lost. When I tasted one I literally said "How the heck are these vegan and gluten-free?" Guys, they taste amazing. AMAZING. Fresh, lemony, zingy, coconut-y, and just lightly sweetened. 

The texture is also SPOT ON, and you'd never be able to tell that they're made from gluten-free flour. I think I added the perfect flour ratios. 

So since the texture AND the taste were so divine, I figured I'd let go of my dome-shaped-muffin-filled dreams because even my mom sampled these and loved them, saying I should post them. 

I like pretty food, so I did all that I could to try to make these look appealing. I removed the paper cups because WHY did they pull away from the muffins, I do not know. It was weird. That made them a lot easier on the eyes. 

But ya know what? Some foods are butt-ugly, but they taste fantastic. And that is these muffins. 

 

coconut lemon poppyseed muffins {GF & Vegan}

1/4 c. corn flour

1 c. ground oat flour

3/4 c. sorghum flour

1/4 c. tapioca flour

1 tbsp. baking powder

1 tbsp. poppy seeds

3/4 c. coconut milk

1/4 c. lemon juice

1/2 c. canola oil

2 tbsp. pure maple syrup

1/2 c. sugar

2 tsp. vanilla extract

2 tbsp. lemon zest

Preheat oven to 375º and grease or line a muffin tin; set aside. In a large bowl, whisk flours, baking powder, and poppy seeds until combined. Add coconut milk, lemon juice, oil, maple syrup, sugar, vanilla, and lemon zest. Stir until smooth. Scoop batter into prepared muffin tin. Bake for 25-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Let cool. 

honey peanut butter & coconut cookies

Recently, I've been having some major baking fails. I'm guilty of sticking to what I know, failing to think outside the box. But when I do, things go majorly wrong. Not always. But it's more common than not. Last week, I had a stressful day of school {oh wait. that's every day.} and went into the kitchen for some baking therapy. I made some cookies out of dates, cocoa, and oats, and oh my heavens. They were absolutely horrid. When I tasted one, they resembled the texture and taste of play-doh. Yup, I've tasted play-doh. Have you not?! 

Those obviously didn't satisfy my cookie cravings; play-doh just doesn't do it for me these days, ya know? I've been having some thoughts of these peanut butter oatmeal cookies for awhile, trying to come up with some sort of creative way to remake them. They're like little chewy, peanut butter-y nuggets of my dreams. AMAZING. And you guys seem to like them too! They're among the popular bunch of recipes on this here blog.

Although the original recipe isn't vegan, this one ALMOST is. You can easily swap out the honey for maple syrup and ba-da-bing ba-da-boom, you've got yourself a vegan cookie! These cookies are so simple {SO. SIMPLE.} and require very few ingredients, all of which you most likely have lingering around in the neglected corners of your cupboards. They're gluten-free, dairy-free, egg-free, naturally sweetened, and somehow they magically taste like totally normal peanut butter cookies! I love when that happens. 

P.S. Sorry about these photos. Love rain. Hate the light. 

honey peanut butter & coconut cookies

3/4 c. creamy peanut butter

6 tbsp. honey {or maple syrup for a vegan version}

1 tsp. vanilla 

1 c. oat flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1/3 c. desiccated coconut flakes

Preheat oven to 350ºF and line a baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside. In a large bowl, whisk peanut butter, honey, and vanilla until smooth. Add oat flour and baking soda. Stir until combined. Scoop dough into balls and roll in coconut flakes. Place on baking sheet and press down with a fork, forming a criss-cross pattern. Bake for 5-10 minutes or until golden brown. Yields 12 cookies. 

cinnamon spiced cocoa granola with toasted coconut & almonds

Ok, so before we get fly into chocolate and granola and all this greatness, I have a little bit of wisdom to share. Lame, I know. But bear with me… I reward with food. 

I seriously love walking to and from the gym, especially with the cold, rainy weather we've been having. Those short walks give me time to actually hear myself think {two brothers and a baby in the house. NOIZEEE.}. And the other day, I had this divine revelation… Or as my mother called it an epiphany if you wanna get all fancy-wordy-pants. 

On the way home from the gym, I was going over in my head what I had done for my workout that day. It wasn't much; I didn't do a million reps of a trillion sets of a zillion exercises {if you can do that, I applaud you.} But what I did do, I felt like I did really well and felt super good about it. I'm trying to apply that concept to every aspect of my life. 

To my school {my grades. Ugh.} I get so caught up in the amount of school I have to get done rather than focusing on how good I do. Plus the fact that I'm supposed to be done with 10th grade in March… I can slow down if I need to. To my devotions- it doesn't matter how much time I spend in the Word, but that the time I do spend is good and I learn something from it. You can spend hours upon hours with your nose in the Bible and not get anything out of it. But you can also just spent ten minutes or so reading and in prayer and come away from it feeling refreshed and renewed. To my friends- I seriously have no friends. People just suck and people move to other countries. But I'd rather have ZERO friends than a bunch of crappy ones. To my blog- I really need to work on this. But only posting the recipes that were top notch and with good photos. In the blogging world, you get so caught up in what everyone else is doing. "Oh she posts 6 times a week, so I should too." What works for other people doesn't necessarily work for you. 

What I'm trying to say is… Quality over quantity. Do what you gotta do and do it GOOD even if that means doing a little less or working a little slower. Do whatever it is that helps you to put your best work forward. For the record, tons of work does not mean it's good work. In fact, in the long run, if it's really not done well, you only get behind because you have to go back and fix your careless mistakes. I speak from experience.

Time for granola now! You're rejoicing, I just know it. 

Remember what I was saying about putting my best work forward? Well. This granola here truly is divine and I edited the pictures about 5 different times before they turned out how I wanted them to. Truly the worst thing ever is when you have one heckuva recipe and cruddish photos. 

I made some chocolate granola with toasted coconut sometime back in the yesteryears. Three empty bowls and a chocolaty mouth later, I really regretted not writing down the recipe. Of course, I just got to making it for the blog last week, but better late than never. 

I amped up this recipe by adding cinnamon which adds a nice kick and almonds for extra crunch {and fibahhhh and prahhhtein.} It's fantastic on it's own, but what's really insane is sprinkling it on top of smoothies. Or filling a bowl with half smoothie, half granola. You know how it is. 

cinnamon spiced cocoa granola with toasted coconut & almonds

2 1/2 c. oats {I use quick-cooking}

2 tbsp. flax seeds

1/4 c. unsweetened cocoa powder

2 tsp. ground cinnamon

3 tbsp. oil {coconut oil, vegetable oil, canola oil, etc.}

5 tbsp. pure maple syrup {or liquid sweetener}

1/2 c. raw almonds, roughly chopped

1/2 c. coconut chips

Preheat oven to 350ºF and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. In a large bowl, combine all ingredients except coconut and almonds. Pour onto prepared baking sheet and bake for 15-20 minutes, stirring through once during the baking time. Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack. Add coconut and almonds to a baking sheet and bake for about 5 minutes or until just lightly toasted and brown. Stir into granola. Let cool completely before transferring to a container.

coconut almond granola clusters

Oh you guys. This granola took up basically a whole afternoon of my life! Not like I had anything better to do. But I am stubborn and things gotta be what I want it to be. Thats sounds so horrible… Ehhh well. I took pictures in a different spot than I usually do. Those basically sucked, so I wasted forever and a day only to delete them. Then I retook them, edited them, deleted like a 100, uploaded them, and even now I hardly like them. Then I had this post all written up, closed the page because I thought my eyeballs might fall out since I had been sitting in front of the computer, staring at pictures of granola for about two hours. 

It gets even better. When I went back in, HEY LOOK. All my hilarious, witty writing was GONE. Nowhere to be seen! Shoot me in the face and kill all my dreams of unicorns and rainbows, why don't you. I almost cried. Not even kidding. {Hashtag blogger probs.} On top of that, because of all the shooting and reshooting and moving to and fro from different bowls and what not, the granola was so crispy that it kinda lost it's chunkers. UGH. I initially made it for my pre-gym snacks this week, but it didn't even make it to Tuesday.

So yah, this granola has to be a big deal for me to spend hooooooooours relentlessly working on a post. I think I'm becoming a granola expert, not to toot my own horn or anything. But just click on the granola tab on my sidebar and you'll see what I'm talking about. There's pages and pages {and paaaaages} of the stuff.

I am really picky when it comes to the granola I shove in meh face. It has to be crunchy, crispy, super duper sweet, and CLUMPY. I'm a clump-freak. And if you're a fellow clump-freak, this granola is for you. I've made far too many granola recipes that turn out basically like dry oats. That's disgusting and disappointing. So I set out on a journey… A journey to clumpy granola happiness. 

I did my research on granola and I came up with four steps necessary for that chunkage we just love and adore. NUMERO UNO- egg whites. I've never used egg whites in my granola up until now but have seen many recipes using them. The egg whites add crisp and crunch to the granola. We're heading in the right direction, amiright!? Secondly- quick cooking oats. As much as I love the rustic look of those huge rolled oats floating around my cereal bowl, they're not your friend in this situation. Quick cooking oats are smaller and thus will stick together easier than rolled oats would. We want our oats to stick together. Know what I mean?? Neeeeext- low and slow baking. This ensures that the granola gets evenly baked and all golden brown like we love. Last and most importantly- Minimal stirring. We all know I'm the most impatient lady around so this is where I basically have to sit on my hands, eyes glued to the oven, spatula out of reach. We only stir the granola ONCE through the entire baking process because we don't want to break up their happy little friendships that are being built. {Sorry, I'm tired.} Stick to those steps and you, my friend, are on your way to GRANOLA CLUSTER HEAVEEEEEEN. 

coconut almond granola clusters 

2 c. quick cooking oats

1/2 c. coconut flakes

3/4 c. raw almonds, roughly chopped

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1 egg white

1/3 c. dark brown sugar

1/2 c. maple syrup or honey

2 tbsp. oil

Preheat oven to 325ºF and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. In a large bowl, mix all ingredients until evenly combined. Pour onto baking sheet, pressing down with a rubber spatula like you would press down granola bars. Bake for 10-15 minutes. Remove from oven and lightly stir around. Press down again and return to oven. Bake for another 10-15 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven and cool before breaking into chunks. Store in a jar or airtight container. 

almond coconut crunch bars

The past few weeks, our life has been so crazy and school has definitely taken the backseat. It seems like there just aren't enough hours in the day for me, even though I feel like I have absolutely no life. Weeeeeeird. After two weeks of doing only a science or math lesson here and there, I'm back to school this week. UGH. I always tell myself if I keep putting it off, I'll pay for it later. And I am. I'm paying alright. After my morning run, I was literally plopped in front of the computer, sitting on my exercise ball for like 6 hours straight studying and catching up on the schoolwork I'd been putting off. The worst part was that I didn't have time to eat a good lunch {I'm so high maintenance.} and ended up eating a bowl of steamed veggies at 2 while studying science. Whenever I have such long days, I always ALWAYS end up in the kitchen. It's approximately 1909998º outside and still quite steamy in the house even though the curtains are closed and we have a million fans blowing in our house that looks more or less like some sort of dark dungeon. The only way to stay cool is by sitting in front of a fan ON HIGH, not moving an inch, with minimal clothing, and some ice on yerrrrr neck. What I'm trying to say is… Turning on the oven was tooooodes out of the equation unless I had a death wish. And I really hate summers in Africa. Yuck.

Ok, so these bars? Ugly, I know. They're definitely not the most photogenic things I've ever made. I absolutely hate when pictures don't turn out the way I'd like {or… Anything for that matter.} BUT. They're so unbelievably quick and easy to make, I'd be some kind of foodie criminal to not share them with you. I've seen recipes for homemade crunch bars popping up on Pinterest and food blogs like some sort of forest fire spreading. I was skeptical when I saw that the base was coconut oil and cocoa powder. GROSS? Nope. It literally tastes like you just melted a whole bunch of chocolate chips. I'm so excited to experiment with that base recipe and see what else I can come up with. But for now, these bars are pretty dang amazing. I feel like I say this every single post {I do, in fact say this every post.}, but these bars are surprisingly healthy, raw, vegan, gluten-free, and dairy-free. My family, who usually totally rips on all my healthy desserts actually loved these and they were gone in about 24 hours. You know they're good, you knooooow ittttttt.

P.S. If you're wondering, no. These are not three of the same picture.

almond coconut crunch bars 

3/4 c. melted coconut oil

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1/4 c. liquid sweetener {I used maple syrup, but you could use honey.}

1/4 c. + 2 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder

2/3 c. raw almonds

2 c. puffed brown rice

1/3 c. shredded coconut

line a 8x8 pan with parchment paper. in a large bowl, combine melted coconut oil, vanilla, sweetener, and cocoa powder. Add in puffed brown rice and almonds. Pour into prepared pan and spread evenly. Sprinkle with coconut. Place in freezer for at least an hour before cutting into squares. Store in freezer. 

toasted coconut banana smoothie

The temperatures are rising, and all I want is smoothies. Fresh, cold, icy, refreshing smoothies. Green smoothies, chocolate smoothies, strawberry smoothies, ALL THE SMOOTHIES! I could probably have one for every meal and would totally be a happy camper. 

I've recently become obsessed with toasted coconut. OBSESSED, I tell you. It's crunchy, crispy greatness has been adorning my breakfasts lately and I just can't get enough. You can't get shredded coconut around these parts other than "desiccated coconut" that's basically like snow. 

BLEHHHH. Def not as pretty as these big, chunky flakes I found at a grocery store when we were out of town awhile back. I got a big 'ol bag and it's almost gone. I sad. 

This smoothie is so simple and refreshing. Nothing fancy going on. Just a few bananas, coconut that's been lightly toasted under the broiler, some light coconut milk, ice cubes, and a little dash of cinnamon and vanilla extract for added flavor. Then ya throw it all into a blender and blend it up until all smooth, creamy, and luscious. 

I not only topped the smoothie OFF with the toasted coconut, but it also found its way into the blender. Coconut errrywherrrrrr. It gives the smoothie a little funkalicious texture that I absolutely adore. I also love when the shredded coconut that gets sprinkle atop the smoothie freezes and becomes extra crunchy. 

I'm a crunch freak. Crunch-a-holic. Crunch-o-maniac. Crunch-a-la-don. Sorry,  I'll stop before this gets weird. Errrr… Yah. 

What I'm trying to say is… You need this in your life. 

Have it for breakfast. Have it for a snack. HAVE IT FOR LUNCH! Been there, done that. I won't judge. 

toasted coconut banana smoothie

1/3 c. coconut flakes

2 bananas 

2 c. ice cubes

1/2 c. light coconut milk

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. vanilla extract

Spread coconut onto a lined cookie sheet. Place under your broiler for about 2-3 minutes or until golden brown; set aside. Place all ingredients {save a tablespoon or so of the coconut for topping if desired} in a blender and blend until smooth. Pour into two small glasses or one large glass and top with remaining toasted coconut. Serve immediately. 

{raw} banana & toasted coconut brownie pie

I don't what came over me, but the last few weeks my health-freak-ism has freakishly increased. The result? I got it in my big 'ol noggin that I could totally go raw for a week. 'Cuz, ya know. I have serious discipline and stuff. I messaged my friend on Facebook who's in the States at the moment {yay for fellow Freaks!!} and said I wish she was here to do it with me because, uhh. My family would never even think of doing anything remotely close to a diet. They love their pasta and doughnuts and Doritos way too much for that. My friend said she'd do it with me even though she's approximately 8236 miles away. Hey, whatever works, works.

If you don't know what a raw diet is, it's pretty self-explanatory. You just eat foods that are raw! It's mostly fruit and veggies, but also beans, nuts, and whole grains. I'm really getting creative with the grains. JUST KIDDING. The only way I can think of to eat whole grains RAW is overnight oats. So yes, I'll be living on raw oats for the next how many days. HA.

We started on Monday and about 5 minutes into it, I decided I needed coffee and cookies. It was the only way I could do to get through a morning of studying without passing out on my bed. Not even joking. I couldn't study in my room because I was afraid I was going to just fall over into a lack-of-coffee-coma. Don't worry though, guys. You know that serious discipline I mentioned? Turns out. It actually exists. I've gone 3 days without coffee and I'm still breathing! If you're not surprised by that bold statement I just made than you obviously don't know that coffee is basically what keeps me alive on a day to day basis. Well coffee and insulin.

Just because I'm going raw for a week does not mean I'll just eat spinach all the live long day and forget about the sweets. Uhh no. Sophie never forgets about the sweets. EVER. I need dessert every. day. whether that be ice cream with chocolate, peanut butter sauce, caramel, peanuts, banana, cherries, pineapple, and butterscotch {for the days when I'm feeling rather piggish.}, a smoothie, or some sort of healthy concoction like this herr pie. 

Remember when I made that chocolate peanut butter banana pie? That stuff is seriously, like… UGH. It shouldn't be healthy. But thank heavens it is because I could eat half the thing in one sitting. I seriously could. Don't test me. {although if ya wanted toooo….} I shnazzied up that pie and made this pie. GUUUUUYYZZEEEZ. It's better. The filling pretty much totally tastes like brownie batter. Yah. Brownie batter. And the crust is like a chocolate truffle. And the top if like crunchy munchy coconutty greatness. Don't you love the way I describe things? Har harrrr.

 I strongly urge you to make this pie. It's what dreams are made of!!! There's a little bit of everything in there. Peanut butter, chocolate {loooots and looooots and loooooots of chocolate.}, coconut, and banana. Plus it's no bake and super quick and easy. The only hard part is waiting. Which if you're kinda running low in the area of patience like yours truly, you could make this at night, pop it in the freezer, and it's ready to be chowed down upon for breakfast! Mhmmmm. 

{raw} banana & toasted coconut brownie pie 

crust: 

1 c. chopped dates

1/4 c. honey

3 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder

1/4 c. quick cooking oats

Blend all ingredients in a blender until the mixture resembles a coarse crumb. Press into a greased pie dish; set aside. 

filling:

2 bananas

3 tbsp. honey

1/4 c. unsweetened cocoa powder

1/4 c. creamy peanut butter

2 tbsp. soymilk {or any kind of milk will work} 

Blend all ingredients in a blender until smooth. Pour into prepared crust. Top with sliced bananas and toasted coconut.

almond joy popcorn

It is times like these I seriously begin question my sanity.

… And my self control which I know I have a minuscule amount of.

Seriously, you guys have mega permission to get yo juuuudge on.

I purposely made this popcorn in a small batch because I was home alone and knew I'd eat it up 'til the cows came home.

Just wait.
It gets better, you guys.

I'm well known for my patience {psyyyyyyyyyyych!} and decided I didn't want to wait, oh I don't know, an hour for the popcorn to set so I put it…

in the freezer.

Like I said. Judge.

And it still wasn't even that set when I took the pictures, but cha know what?

I like messy, chocolatey, almondy, coconuty, popcorn that gets in all the crevices of my fingers, in my hair, in the corners of my lips, and hey, what's that on my leg?!

Chocolate.

What's that up there tickling my brains?

An almond gone astray.

What feels like little baby dragons playing hopscotch in my ear?

Shredded coconut.

And because I'm doing everything humanly possible to justify the uhhhhh, quantity of this I shoved into my face hole, I'm calling this snack healthy. 

Popcorn is pretty low calorie. 

Chocolate is full of all sorts of shnazzy antioxidants. 

Almonds are a good source of protein and healthy fats. {sidenote: I just typed farts.}

Coconut is good for your… Umm…  Hold on while I google this… BLOOD SUGARS! 

Have I ever told you about the time I was Type 1 Diabetic? 

Well technically… AM Type 1 Diabetic. 

Come to think of it, I mentioned it once at least a year or more ago.

But that was back in the baby stage of my blog and no one knew my food-crazy self existed. 

Anyways, yah… I'm Diabetic. 

People always ask me if I can have sugar and I'm like, "Uhhhh…. why, yes. Yes, I can." while proceeding to consume twenty cookies, eight brownies, three candy bars, and a bowl of skittles. 

JUUUUST KIDDING. 

That's a little extreme. 

Just wanted to make that clear. 

Anyhoozles. 

I made some stinking good popcorn.

And I think you should make it. 

And be like me. 

And then eat the whole dang batch by your lovely self while proceeding to scroll through Pinterest and see totally unrealistic diet plans and workouts for "bikini bodies". 

Bikini body, shishini shoddy.

P.S. I'm taking part in a really cool "competition" of sorts put on by the lovely ladies behind White Lights on Wednesdays and Four Marrs and One Venus. The challenge was to come up with a recipe using chocolate, and this is my sinfully delicious contribution. Stop by their wonderful blogs to check out all the choco-liciousness :) 

almond joy popcorn {gluten-free}

4 1/2 c. popped popcorn {microwave or stovetop is fine}

2/3 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips, melted

1/2 c. raw almonds, roughly chopped

1/3 c. shredded coconut

Evenly spread the popcorn onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper; pick out any extra kernels. Drizzle with melted chocolate. Sprinkle on the almonds and coconut. Let set before serving.