Category: Treats

Fruit & Yogurt “Sliders”- An easy and healthy party treat!

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Happy Friday, everyone!! Thanks to everyone who’s entered the PJ’s Unique Peek Boutique: Bag Giveaway! I’m so jealous- I totally want that bag! You have until Sunday, so if you haven’t entered, there’s still time.

As I mentioned yesterday, last Friday I attended a gym friends party. I’m always worried about what to bring because I want it to be creative, healthy and something that everyone will like. I ended up whipping up this little treat in no time at all, and I think people liked it!

What’s great, is that it’s super easy to put together- and the combinations are seemingly endless!

fruit and yogurt sliders

Ingredients

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  • Cinnamon Pita Chips
  • 1 5oz. container of Greek yogurt (any flavor! I used Raspberry)
  • 1 cup (approximately- I didn’t measure) mixed fruit- can be fresh or frozen
  • Coconut sugar

Directions

1. Pick out the biggest, flattest pita chips from the bag and place them on a cookie sheet.

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2. Top each pita chip with a spoonful of yogurt.

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3. Place your fruit in a food processor and pulse so that it’s chopped into little pieces. You can also just use a knife if that’s easier!

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4. Top the yogurt with a spoonful of mixed berries.

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5. Sprinkle some coconut sugar on the top. If you’re not serving immediately, keep these refrigerated.

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The pita chips ended up getting a little soft from sitting out with the yogurt on them, but I think I liked that because it made it seem more like a cookie or pie crust consistency. As you can see, you can play around with the berries and yogurt flavors based on your cravings or what you have on hand! I think this is a great spring/summer appetizer or dessert to bring to parties, don’t you?

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Questions for you: What’s your favorite type of slider? What’s your “go-to” party treat?

Grain Free Granola

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It seems like grain free/gluten free is all the rage these days. I’m stumbling across recipes using almond meal or coconut flour in place of white or whole wheat flour almost daily, so last weekend I decided to stock up on some Bob’s Red Mill items while at Ocean State Job Lot (they have the best selection!!) so I could have the necessary ingredients to make some of the recipes I’ve been drooling over.

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I had 2 grain free recipes on the dock for last weekend:

Grain Free Granola

Grain Free Upside Down Apple Bread

While I followed Gina’s recipe for the Grain Free Upside Down Apple Bread to a T, I did change up the Grain Free Granola recipe a bit so that’s what I’m posting for you today!

Grain Free Granola

Ingredients

1 cup raw pecans (or walnuts)– I used raw cashews
1 cup raw pistachios (or almonds)– I used raw almonds
1 pinch sea salt
1/4 cup honey
3 tablespoons butter, ghee, or coconut oil– I used coconut oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup unsweetened, shredded coconut– I ran out of this so I skipped it. Next time I’m adding it because I think it would make a great addition
2 tablespoons chia seeds (optional)– I used these- chia seeds make everything better!
1/2 cup chopped dried apricots– I added these because I love dried fruit in my granola!

Directions

1. Soak the nuts in water with a pinch of sea salt for 8 hours. Apparently this helps release enzyme inhibitors that make digestion difficult. I don’t have an issue with digestion, but wanted to follow the recipe so I did this. I think you could leave this step out since it does add a lot of time to the recipe.

2. Place the nuts on a cookie sheet and let them dry in a warm, dry space for another 8-12 hours.

3. Heat oven to 225*. Place the nuts in a food processor or blender and process until nuts are roughly chopped.

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4. Combine the coconut oil, honey and vanilla and heat until the oil is melted. Add to the chopped nuts. Add in the chia seeds and coconut. The directions said to pulse these in the food processor again, but I didn’t think that was necessary as I like my granola crunchier.

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5. Bake for 45-60 minutes, stirring halfway through. Add in your dried apricots (or other dried fruit) once the granola has finished cooking. Serve with almond milk/milk/on it’s own.

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I think I could’ve added a little less coconut oil, as the end result was a bit oily, but otherwise, I thought it was delicious! The beauty of this recipe is the fact that you can change it up based on what you have on hand- nuts, dried fruit, other additions, using maple syrup or agave instead of honey… I love that part of the recipe! Next time I would try using maple syrup instead!

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I’m looking forward to putting this in my yogurts all week!

If you’re looking for other granola recipes, check these out:

I have a granola obession…

Quinoa Granola

Granola is one of my favorite snacks and I’m happy to add this recipe to the rotation!

Also, here’s a pic of the apple bread- it is delicious! I was very surprised… it’s got just the right amount of sweetness and doesn’t taste “healthy” at all. I love it!

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Questions for you: Have you made any grain free changes in your life? Any grain free “must try” recipes you want to share? What’s your favorite dried fruit?

Oatmeal Cinnamon Chocolate Chip Cookies

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I made some delicious cookies for the Super Bowl Party I went to a few weeks ago. Cookies? For the Super Bowl? Yeah, I got a few questions on that, but when I found out someone else was making a Buffalo Dip, I figured it wouldn’t hurt to make a dessert instead of a dip. So, I whipped up some oatmeal cookies with cinnamon chips and chocolate chips- and was happy with my decision. Oats+ Cinnamon + Chocolate is a really great combination if you ask me. It’s probably even worthy to make for your Valentine 😉

I’ve had this recipe for ages and I’m not sure where I got it, but I added/changed some things so I’ll just leave you with the recipe that I came up with after my alterations.

Oatmeal Cinnamon Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients

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  • 1 3/4 cups oats
  • 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
  • 1/2 tsp. baking soda
  • 1.5 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp sea salt
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 stick of butter, softened
  • 2 tsp vanilla
  • 3/4 cup cinnamon chips
  • 3/4 cup chocolate chips

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375*.Combine the dry ingredients (oats through the sea salt) in one bowl.

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2. Cream together the butter and brown sugar. Add in the egg and vanilla and mix well.

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3. Combine wet and dry ingredients and add in the cinnamon and chocolate chips.

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4. Make tablespoon size balls and place them on a cookie sheet. Bake for 6-8 minutes (or until cooked to your desire). Remove cookies and let cool… or eat one while they’re still warm 😉

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These cookies were a big hit… luckily, I saved a few for myself so I could have some to enjoy throughout the week 😉

Questions for you: What’s your favorite kind of cookie? What’s your “go-to” dish that you bring to a party?

Quinoa Granola

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Say, what?! I know, it sounds a little weird, right? That’s what I thought when my sister sent me an email with a link to this recipe from her favorite blog, Iowa Girl Eats, but after making it, I can promise you there’s nothing weird about it!

I made a number of additions/substitutions based on what I had in the apartment and based on what I thought I wanted to include in it, but using her recipe as a base was a great place to start. I never would have thought to have included quinoa in a granola recipe!

Crunch Quinoa Granola– Adapted from Iowa Girl Eats

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Ingredients

2 cups old fashioned oats
1/2 cup uncooked quinoa, rinsed
1/2 cup sliced almonds– I used 1/2 cup chopped almonds and 1/4 cup copped pecans
2 Tablespoons flax seeds– I ran out of flax seeds so I left this out
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
dash of salt
1/4 cup honey– I used a mixture of honey, maple syrup and agave. I probably used between 1/4 cup and 1/2 cup combined.
2 Tablespoons coconut oil, melted– Left this out since I didn’t have any. I added in 2 TBSP of almond butter instead.
1 cup raisins– I used craisins instead because I like them better

Directions

1. Pre-heat oven to 350*. Combine all ingredients except for the raisins or craisins.

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2. Spread onto a baking sheet and bake at 350* for 20-30 minutes, checking on it periodically and stirring to ensure that everything is baked evenly.

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3. When it’s cooked, remove from the oven, add the raisins or craisins and enjoy!

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Not surprisingly, I couldn’t keep my hands out of this granola. Ugh, it’s such an obsession! What I loved about this granola, though, was the extra dose of protein and fiber from the quinoa that helped kept me full and satisfied for longer. It was the prefect fuel for the run I did after eating it by the BIG handful.

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Needless to say, this batch didn’t last every long… whoops!

Questions for you: What’s the “weirdest”, but surprisingly delicious, recipe you’ve ever made? Do you prefer raisins or craisins?

Brownie, Pudding and Cool Whip Trifle Dessert- Holy Yum!

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Happy Friday, everyone! I hope you’ve had a great week. I feel like I’m battling the onset of a potential cold, but I’m trying to load up on Emergen-C and other things to nip it in the bud. We’ll see how it goes!

Anyway, I had to share this splurge-worthy dessert with you. Back in November, I hosted a Pampered Chef party as a way to get my friends together, while also growing my kitchen “inventory”. Having it before Christmas was an added bonus since most of my friends bought their family Christmas gifts! Not only did I get $140 of FREE stuff from the Pampered Chef catalog, I also got a free Trifle Bowl. When it came in, I have to admit that I thought it was a little silly; why would I waste space in my already limited cupboard space for something impractical like a Trifle Bowl? Well, my friends, I take those thoughts back! I can actually find a lot of uses for the Trifle Bowl, such as desserts, fruit & yogurt parfaits, layered dips and even a table centerpiece/vase.

For Christmas, though, I decided I would use the Trifle Bowl to make a layered dessert (they always look so pretty!).

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What I love about Trifle Bowl desserts is that you don’t really need a recipe; just pick some ingredients that you want to layer with and get layering! I was running short on time, so I totally copped out and bought mini containers of pudding which works when you’re in a pinch, but I would’ve preferred to have made a big batch of pudding. Next time 🙂

Ingredients

  • 1 Box of brownie mix- any kind you want. I chose one with peanut butter chips, which I wouldn’t do next time since it was too much crunch.
  • Pudding- either pre-made pudding containers or you could make 1 or 2 boxes of pudding per the directions on the back of the box. I chose fat-free/sugar-free to save on calories and you couldn’t even tell because there were so many other tastes going on!
  • 1 big container of Cool Whip
  • Chocolate Chips and White Chocolate Chips

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Directions

1. Bake the brownies according to the back of the box. If you are using box pudding mix, too, make that according to the directions on the back of the box.

2. Once everything is cooked, begin your layering! I did brownies, pudding (both vanilla and chocolate) and Cool Whip and then repeated that until I used everything up.

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At the end, throw on some chocolate chips and white chocolate chips and voila! you have a quick, easy, delicious and pretty dessert to bring to a party 🙂

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I got so many compliments on this dish and can’t wait to experiment more. I think for a brunch, I would do a fruit, yogurt and granola parfait in this- doesn’t that sound delicious? If you don’t have a Trifle Bowl, no worries- you can make this in any sort of big bowl/dish.

Questions for you: Do you have a Trifle Bowl? What is a dessert/appetizer/breakfast dish you would make in this? I need suggestions!