FOOD

B lived in the Dominican Republic for a couple years while he served a mission for our church and loves to make some of the food for us. We have favorites and this drink is definitely one of the them! It’s super creamy and filling, I love a little cup of it for breakfast. (Or as a treat any time.) We’ve always made it with lime juice, which is super delicious. This time, we had a bunch of oranges in the fridge and B decided to do a mix of the two juices. Yum did they go together well. Feel free to do 100% lime or orange, or a half and half mix. Either way, it’ll be great.

Prep time: 35 minutes

Servings: About 8 cups

2 cans organic evaporated milk

2 cups lime or orange juice, or a mix of the two

1 1/4 cups oats

2 cups water

1 1/4 cups sugar

1 1/2 cups ice

-In a pitcher, combine milk and sugar and put in freezer. In a bowl, soak oats in the water for 30 minutes.

-After 30 minutes, pour oat/water mixture into blender and process until smooth.

-Pour mixture through a fine mesh strainer.

-Stir together the milk, oat water and juice.

-Store in the fridge. Serve cold, over ice.

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I’m so excited to feature my first guest blogger! Brianne at NATURAL GIRL MODERN WORLD (love that) and I crossed paths on Instagram. I like to browse through my followers because I’m interested to see what kind of people I’m appealing to, and that’s where I noticed Brianne’s catchy name. As you can guess, our philosophies follow pretty closely with each other. Fresh, home-cooked, real food. It’s so fun to meet like-minded people that have the same passion as you! Anyway, I won’t talk your ear off. Moral of the story is that Brianne is super talented- her photography is BEAUTIFUL and her food looks delicious! This recipe for biscotti is at the top of my fall baking list (once Texas decides to change seasons :/)! You guys- meet Brianne!

Pumpkin Pecan Biscotti

Crisp, crunchy pumpkin pecan biscotti drizzled with dark chocolate. Perfect for dipping into your favorite tea or coffee as a mid-day snack or dessert. Fall flavors at their best! Vegan.

Thanks for the introduction Dafni! Beyond excited to be on this stunning blog. Dafni and I have such a similar approach to food, I couldn’t help but get excited the first time I stumbled across her site. I love how vegetables are front-and-center in her recipes, and how everything is quick and simple enough that you can do it while “wrangling 3 kids”.

While I don’t have 3 kids (just 2 mischievous kittens), over at NATURAL GIRL MODERN WORLD, I also blog about healthy and nutritious recipes. Ones that are practical and accessible so they can work within your life. I’m a professional eater at heart, but during the day I work a full-time job. I didn’t want life to be an excuse for neglecting my health, so over time, I’ve developed a knack for preparing delicious weeknight meals that can also double up as nutritious meals / snacks the next day. Eating healthy doesn’t have mean hours in the kitchen! I wanted my recipes to be as inclusive as possible, so all are vegetarian and many are gluten-free and vegan. And, because I’m all about striking a balance – you’ll find plenty of tasty dessert / treat recipes on my blog as well!

Take this recipe for instance: Pumpkin Pecan Biscotti. This scrumptious treat is perfect for dipping into your favorite coffee / tea (mid-morning coffee break? yes, please!). And not only is it packed with pecans and drizzled with dark chocolate, but I also made sure to load it up with healthier ingredients than you’d find in normal biscotti-fare (like coconut oil and spelt flour). The end result is a decadent treat loaded with ingredients you don’t need to feel guilty about!

If you’re not familiar with baking biscotti, I’ll tell you now, it isn’t nearly as intimidating as it seems! I’ll take you through it step-by-step, and trust me, you’ll be cranking out biscotti in no time. Biscotti is great because it keeps well for 1-2 weeks and is sturdy enough to pack as a snack on-the-go. Now you can have delicious, healthy fall treats at your fingertips any time of day!

Who else is craving some fall baking? Try this over the weekend! Let me know how it goes – I’m Dafni from A Kitchen Cafe.

I’m a total breakfast person and can eat it any time of the day. Breakfast is the best because it’s the most versatile meal. It can be sweet, it can be savory. Vegetables, proteins, fruit, cakes, pastries, breads… Love that. Sometimes I want a big omelet with tons of veggies, sometimes I want a pastry with some fruit. Or pancakes that almost taste like a macaroon. These pancakes are gluten free, sweet and delicious. We had them for dinner recently and I really liked them with a tart homemade raspberry jam instead of maple syrup because I didn’t want so much sweetness. But then I had them with syrup the next morning. Really, really good.

Prep time: 2+ hours

Cook time: 25 minutes

1 cup gluten free oats

1/3 cup flour (oat or almond for GF, regular if not)

1/2 cup finely shredded coconut

1 14 oz can coconut milk

1 tsp vanilla

3 organic eggs

1/4 cup real maple syrup

1/4 cup coconut oil

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp pink himalayan salt

-In a bowl, combine coconut, oats, coconut milk and vanilla. Allow to soak for at least 2 hours to overnight.

-In a blender, combine all ingredients and add in soaked oats. Process for 10 seconds.

-Heat a pan over medium high heat but reduce to medium low to cook. Grease your pan with organic butter and cook pancakes until edges start to bubble and look cooked, 4-5 minutes per side.

-Serve with fresh jam, fruit, yogurt, pure maple syrup or whatever else sound good!

Welcome Akitchencafe

I don’t like traditional chicken salad. I don’t like a lot of mayo and I don’t like mixing fruits and veggies. But I do like the convenience of chicken salad sandwiches for a picnic or trip to the lake. So I came up with this recipe- my version of chicken salad.

Prep: 15 minutes

Serves: 6-8 (Depends how you serve it. It’ll go farther on sandwiches.)

6 chicken breasts, grilled

5-6 scallions, diced

3/4 package bacon

1 1/2 avocados, cubed

2-3 tablespoons organic or homemade mayo

salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400 and bake bacon on a cookie sheet until slightly crispy. When finished, transfer to a lined plate and blot excess grease. Finely chop.

Grill the chicken (I used garlic, salt, pepper and onion. Pretty basic.) and let rest. Cube when cooled.

Dice scallions and cube the avocado. Combine all ingredients in a bowl and add mayo. Start small and add more if you need to. I don’t put very much at all, as you can tell in the photo. Just enough to give it a little moisture. Salt and pepper to taste and serve immediately.

Tks Akitchencafe.com

I love making cookies, but I LOVE making healthy cookies! Seriously, it’s so awesome to be able to make treats that are just as healthy as our snacks and meals. My girls and hubby love it, too, cause that means they get them a lot more often! These cookies are packed with protein from almonds and antioxidants from the cinnamon. Super yummy and one of our favorite cookies!

Prep: 10 minutes

Bake time: 7-9 minutes

Servings: approx 15

2 cups almond flour (or meal)

1/8 tsp salt

1/8 tsp baking soda

1 1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/4 cup coconut oil, softened (this is my favorite brand)

2 tbsp honey

topping:

1/3 cup coconut sugar

1/2 tsp cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350.

In a blender, combine flour, soda, salt and cinnamon. Pulse in the coconut oil and honey.

Roll 1 1/2 tbsp scoops into a ball and then roll through the topping. Put onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and flatten with a cup.

Bake 7-9 minutes and let cool. They may not seem done at the end, but they’ll firm up. If you REALLY don’t think they will, throw them back in for an extra minute.

Cook more here. Tks so much, see aslo my blog.