The First Green Smoothie That Didn't Make Me Gag

I know it's not the most attractive title, but it's true. Not only did it NOT send me running for the kitchen sink, I actually enjoyed it. I consider myself a fairly healthy person. I eat at least 4 fruits and vegetables daily, I drink almost a gallon of water, about 80% of my grains are whole, and we rarely eat processed food. I make my own bread twice a week, jam, ice cream, almond milk, and chocolate sauce, among other things.

We have a juicer, but throwing away all the fiber killed me. So we got a NutriBullet. Oh my gosh, I love this thing. Toss in fruits and veggies whole and it completely liquifies everything. Perfect! Now, I'll admit that I dumped a bunch of different green smoothies down the drain before finally conceding and just making all fruit ones. But I was determined to turn it all around and I recently accepted Desiree's 30-Day Love Your Greens Challenge from Unconventional Kitchen.

Oatmeal Almond Fruit Bars

I recently went to Trader Joe's for the first time. Among a million other cool things, I picked up a jar of Organic Super Fruit spread. It was hiding in a row of cute little jars on the very bottom shelf under the specialty peanut butters and I just had to have it. We brought it home and tried a tiny bit straight out of the jar to see how it tastes. While it was really, really good, it seemed a little too sophisticated for plain old peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. I had no idea what I was going to do with it, so it sat on the counter while I waited for my muse. Then I remembered we used to eat a lot of toaster pastries and breakfast fruit bars. I thought this might be just the thing I needed to create a homemade version that was versatile enough for breakfast or dessert. OMGosh - where have these been all my life??

Magic Double Berry Coconut Cobbler

I have been craving something fruity and summery lately. I wasn't sure what exactly I wanted, but I knew I'd know it when I saw it. Then I went to the grocery store and they had the most beautiful blackberries. Now I don't buy blackberries very often because I rarely see them for less than $5 for a tiny 6 oz. container, but they were on sale for two bucks! I got two of them and some strawberries and I knew a cobbler was in our future. To really up the ante on my summer craving, I used coconut oil instead of butter. It added such a nice touch to the sweet berries and the crispy topping. It was the perfect thing to tide me over these last few days of winter.

2-Ingredient Banana Ice Cream (no ice cream maker required!)

Come here, I want to tell you a secret. Closer... closer... that's close enough. Ready?

I hate bananas. I know, I know, you're so used to me telling you how much I love everything, but I really hate bananas. Totally despise the things. Really, really can't stand them. At all. I like banana flavored stuff - banana milkshakes, banana taffy, banana bread, banana pudding. But I absolutely, positively do not like plain bananas in their natural state. 

Whew. I feel better.

Now that we got that out of the way, I LOVE this. The baby loves this. Soon, you will love this.

Apple and Pear Crisp

There is usually a ton of fruit in our house - fresh, frozen, and canned. If nothing else, we always have lots of fresh apples and pears on hand. I even had to get a second fruit basket just for them. Because we eat so much of them, I am always trying to come up with special ways to use them up. An alternative to a labor-intensive pie, I love this crisp. It comes together quickly, it's not overly sweet, and it tastes just as good right out of the oven as it does cold the next morning.

Cinnamon Sauteed Bananas

Andrew is not a banana fan. He uses them in his green smoothies to make everything creamy, and he likes banana bread, but other than that, not so much. But, he said that if he HAD to eat bananas, this is how he would want them. Not the most eloquent compliment, but I'll take it.

Easy Perfect Apple Pie

As promised, I have another apple recipe for you. This one is super easy and makes the house smell so good, you're going to love it.

Andrew is an apple pie snob and only loves his mother's apple pie, but he officially declared this one the best he has ever had. And no, he isn't just saying that. He's completely honest about my food, too honest sometimes, and will be the first to tell me if I make something terrible. Thank him - he has saved you from some of my worst cooking disasters.

Maple Apple Pork Chops


I am always looking for new ways to dress up pork chops. I buy the nice thin ones that cook up in no time and everybody loves them. Sometimes I pan-fry them, sometimes I bread and bake them, sometimes I throw them in the crock pot. But I wanted to try something new. Since K doesn't like applesauce but loves apples, this was a winner.

Apple Pie Yogurt





So the organic apples I buy are usually upwards of $8 a bag, and this past weekend, they were on sale for $5.79. Score! However, this means that a lot of my recipes in the next few weeks will be apple-based. If you love apples like we do, come in, take a load off, stay a while. If not, feel free to come back in a few days when I have gotten it all out of my system. This has been a public service announcement.

Banana Nut Bread Muffins (aka The 3 Banana Tragedy)




This recipe was born the same way most banana recipes are born in my kitchen - by three bananas that were ready to kick the bucket. I'm not sure why, but no matter how many (or few!) bananas I buy, there always ends up being three left on my counter.

Every. Single. Time.



Flourless Banana Cookies




Every year for Christmas, I bake cookies for my family. They each get their own little tin filled with several varieties. Some classics, some new and different. This year, one of my sisters asked me for a banana cookie.

The Best Cranberry Sauce Ever



The only way I could capture the ruby red color of
this sauce was to hold it up to the light.
(I didn't think my family would appreciate me taking pictures
of their plates while they were trying to eat.)



The only cranberry sauce I have ever eaten came from a can. For Thanksgiving this year, I decided to change all that. I bought my first bag of cranberries, selected some sweeteners to combat all that tartness, and got busy in the kitchen.

Apple Spice Cake - 3 Ingredients!

If I could eat birthday cake every day, I would. I can't get enough of the stuff. But buying and/or making birthday cake when there is no birthday starts to seem a bit odd after a while.

Family and friends stop by and say things like, "Whose birthday is it?"

Then I say, "Nobody's..."

This is usually followed by awkward silence at the realization by all parties that I am eating a sugar-packed calorie-laden once-a-year treat on a Tuesday afternoon for no apparent reason whatsoever.

3 Ways with Angel Food Cake

I love cake.

I love a bargain.

I love recipes that require 4 or fewer ingredients.

This post combines them all, making me one very happy mama.

Slow Cooker Hawaiian Chicken - 3 Ingredients!

I have a slow cooker. I have a few of them, actually. But I really only use it for two things - chili and pot roast. I know I should use it more because it is so nice to have a home-cooked meal at the end of the day when all I had to do was spend five minutes throwing it together in the morning. So, to bring it out of hibernation, I added "Slow Cooker Thursdays" to the food schedule.

24 Hour Apple Butter

Andrew absolutely adores apple butter. (My 5th grade English teacher would be so proud of my use of alliteration there!) I buy him a jar for Christmas every year. We try out different brands, but they all pretty much taste the same. Since we recently went to a pick-your-own farm and came home with 40, yes 40, apples, the first thing I wanted to do was try to make this on my own. It turned out really well. I don't even like apple butter, but now I'm eating the stuff for breakfast every day on wheat bread. Which reminds me, I need to make some biscuits...

Tangerine Chicken and Veggies over Jasmine Rice

We are big on meal planning around here. My worst nightmare is eating the same 5 or 6 dishes over and over again, week in and week out. Since today is Try Something New Tuesday in our house, I had to get creative. I knew I wanted chicken, and I happened to have a dozen or so tangerines that were taking up space on the counter. A quick search online gave me this recipe from Rachael Ray (love her!). But since I don't like hot sauce or curry, I didn't have green onions or cinnamon sticks, and I have this love/hate relationship with couscous, I changed the recipe to my liking.

Sneaky Oatmeal Muffins

  If there's one thing I love more than mini muffins, it's easy cleanup. This recipe does not require mixing bowls or wooden spoons or hand mixers. The ingredients are all tossed into a blender or food processor. It doesn't get much easier than that! You officially have no excuse to not make these muffins. Go, go! Then tell me what you think in the comments below. Oh, and feel free to mix it up and swap in your favorite baby food (pears, sweet potatoes, whatever you want / have on hand).

Surprise Banana Muffins

  

Picky eaters in your house? These are perfect! I love that they have fruits and veggies in them. I am also dabbling in a gluten-reduction thing this week, so I used brown rice flour, but feel free to use whole wheat or all-purpose. You can freeze them (if they last that long) and use them for quick breakfasts or pack them with lunches. Your kids will think they are getting a special treat, and you'll know they are getting fruit and veggie goodness with every bite.

Frozen PB&J Banana Bites



We used grape jelly, which turned the PB&J part a very deep color.


I bought a big bunch of bananas last week for my daily Banana-Berry Smoothies and Peaches and Cream Smoothies. Unfortunately, I ended up in the hospital for a few days and when I came home, a sad set of bananas were waiting for me on the counter. I had to do something pronto. Since my son loves peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, I thought I'd give this a try. They are awesome! The bananas are so creamy because they are frozen and the peanut butter gives a nice little hit of protein. You could also skip the jelly and just do PB bites, or skip that too and use Nutella. Mmmm, Nutella...