Healthy Chocolate??

I titled my post healthy chocolate, because that's exactly what this little treat is...Healthy.  Chocolate and peanut butter goodness healthified!

I absolutely love Resees  peanut butter cups, but rarley eat them.  If your anywhere near my age let's just say pushing 40, then you can understand things like Resees become forbidden pleasures.  What do they say "a moment on the lips, a lifetime on the hips!"  Unfortunately this becomes more true with each passing year.

Which brings me to my new creation.

Vegan and high raw peanut butter cups!

these are some of the ingredients I used

and I can't forget my beloved coconut oil!

I mixed a couple of Tablespoons of PB with a little agave syrup and little ground flax to give it that Resees like consistency

I put a little of the chocolate at the bottom of cupcake holders, which is a combo of cocoa, coconut oil, and agave syrup.  I don't measure at all; I just add a little of this and that till I like the taste and consistency.  If I were to guess I'd say I use about equal parts cocoa to coconut oil.

then I top with the PB

I finish it off with another layer of chocolate.  Refrigerate after complete.  All my candies and desserts will need refrigeration because I don't use sugar, salt, or preservatives.  All of these ingredients preserve food.

Next I whipped up a batch of Vegan and high raw chocolates.  Using the same chocolate preparation as above; cocoa, coconut oil, and agave syrup.

I finished these off by adding some mint and lemon balm from my garden

lastly I made a batch of chocolate and poured it into a dish (same preparation)

I put it in the refrigerator to harden.

then I turned it out onto a cutting board

and coarsely chopped

You can use these to bake with, snack on, use as toppings, throw in smoothies, the sky's the limit.

As everything else, keep refrigerated.  Enjoy!

I'm linking up with Marla at Always Nesting

Shutterlove Tuesday with the Trendy Treehouse

Today I'm linking up with Shutter Love Tuesday, and sharing some friendship photos!  Check them out and be sure to vote for your favorite!

My boys about 5 years ago, I love this one because they rarely have their arms around each other!

sometimes enough is enough!

(my entry)

my sweet little boy

me and my best friend

my sister and I having a girls weekend

one of my best friends since high school

Also a deal for all the mommy bloggers out there, this Saturday 5/22 Old Navy has $1.00 FLIP FLOPS!

Get there early and stock up!

Vegan and raw chick'n salad cabbage wraps

I'm always experimenting with new ways of preparing food...trying to come up with healthier, quicker, more delicious, and more budget friendly ways of making familiar and unfamiliar dishes.    Recently I stumbled across a blog, Love Veggies and Yoga,  that really inspired me to try all kinds of new recipes and techniques in the kitchen.  Avery is a genius with healthy desserts.  She prepares most all of her food Vegan and raw due to food allergies and sensitivities, and an overall concern about optimal health.  I wanted to share this little creation I came up with recently, inspired by Avery.

to make these I started with raw almonds between 3/4 and 1 cup

Then I ground them using my magic bullet.  You could use a blender, food processor, whatever you have that will finely grind them.

Have you tried this dressing?  It is hands down the best ginger dressing I've ever had outside of a restaurant.

I poured this dressing all over my almond meal.  I used a third to half of a cup.

then I chopped veggies; cabbage, green onions, carrots, and celery

I mixed the veggies and almond meal with the dressing

I pulled a few cabbage leaves off the head

and viola! Vegan and raw chick'n salad cabbage wraps.

These were so delicious and filling!

More Bragging...

I posted recently about the fact that my oldest son Austin is graduating from high school.  Well, I've just received his senior pictures, and I'm so happy with them!

Check them out!

WooHoo! Wednesday

Today I'm WooHooing about my oldest son Austin who is about to turn 18.  He will be 18 and graduating from high school all in the same day.  I can't believe that this day is already here.  He will graduate from high school, and by summer's end he will have his associate degree as well.  

I'd say that's something to WooHoo about!  I've been busy getting ready for his special day, and I can't wait to see what his future holds, and what God has in store for him

WOOHOO!!!

I love you Austin; Dad and I are really proud of you!

I linking up with Marla  Always Nesting

Menu Plan

Hello All, Hope your enjoying this beautiful spring week!  Well at least it's beautiful here in Georgia.  

Over this past weekend I baked some potatoes, 5 lbs. to be exact.  We ate a few with our dinner Sunday night, but we had plenty leftover. You'll see those making a reappearance in some of my menus this week.

By the way this is something I commonly do.  If I'm going to cook something that takes a decent amount of time or energy, I cook extra- saving time, energy, and money.  Also another tip...if I am baking something (like potatoes) that take an hour or so in the oven, I always crowd the oven.  I put in a loaf of banana bread and roasted some broccoli and onions with the potatoes.  If your gonna cook, after all, you may as well make thee most of your time, right?

Here's what on the Menu this week:

Grilled eggplant sandwiches with marinara sauce, potato salad (used those baked potatoes) with fresh herbs from my back porch!
  The baked potatoes gave a really nice flavor to the potato salad.

Minestrone potatoes... This recipe has become one of my go to quick and healthy weeknight meals.  I heat these soups and pour them over baked potatoes that I've drizzled with a little olive oil & salt and pepper.  Sometimes I top with cheese.

Paella with venison sausage  -I don't eat sausage but I'll portions some out for me before adding the sausage.

Chili, Cornbread and Guacamole

Grilled Scallops, Grilled Chicken, Green Salad, Sweet Potato Fries or Rice

Fettucini with peas, capers and lemon zest, green salad

Enjoy!
P.S. I always love if you have recipes or cooking tips to share

How My Garden Grows

Spring its here, and it's fair to say that I've got a bad case of spring fever.  I'm just loving this beautiful weather, the sunshine, longer days, and everything coming to life.  I've been busy, busy, busy working in my yard and garden, but the results are well work the effort.

Here's what I've been up to:

I've been planting lots and lots of flowers

tomatoes and peppers

I planted lots of herbs, here is mint and lemon balm.  The smell is amazing!

Basil and Dill

greek oregano, lavender, and rosemary (my absolute favorite herb)

parsley

I painted my front porch

I found this spray paint with different colored speckles in it.  I really like the result.

Remember this rock project post?

Well, I continued with that same idea around the perimeter of my house.

My husband says I'm depleting our neighborhood's rock resources.  My boys think it's "outta control"  I tell them "You want to play XBOX; go get me 5 rocks."  Just kidding, sort of!

front view

continuing around

side view

back of house

I surrounded a fire pit with stones.  Watching the flickering fire at night is so relaxing.  Next I think I need to add a water feature. I can hear it now drowning out the sound of my boys, ahhh.

Also a future project is to paint the back porch.  I'll post pictures after I do it.

P.S.  I'm linking up to Marla at Always Nesting