Almond Joy

Spring break? Someone needs to remind me what that even means since both of my teachers scheduled exams the first week classes resume. So you can find me sitting at my desk rotating study guides and staring out my window. I know this sounds sad but on the bright side it also means I can make delicious munchies! I've got the perfect spring break snack break recipe!! Almond Butter Cookies with absolutely NO FLOUR. All you need is:

1 Cup of Almond butter(you can either make your own HERE or buy a jar) @ room temperature. I left mine out a couple of hours and gave it a stir.

1 Large Egg

1/2 Cup Brown sugar (I used the sugar in the photo and the cookies turned out great)

1 Teaspoon Baking soda

1 Cup Semi-sweet chocolate chips or dark-chocolate chips (I used "everything free" semi-sweet chocolate chips [as pictured] and they were a little tinier than other chips I've used before so I only put in 1/2 a cup)

Preheat oven to 350F degrees and line two large baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, beat the egg. Add the almond butter, baking soda, and brown sugar. Mix everything together very well. Depending how thick and/or cold your almond butter is, you'll have to use some arm muscles.

Fold in the chocolate chips until combined.

Proceed to scoop the dough, about 1 tablespoons each, onto prepared baking sheet. Bake two batches - 6 cookies on each baking sheet each. Gently press down on the dough mounds with the back of a spoon.

Bake for 8 to 10 minutes. The cookies will look very soft and under-baked, but that's ok. For crispy cookies, bake for up to 12 minutes. Allow the cookies to cool for 10 minutes on the baking sheet before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

FIND THE COMPLETE RECIPE @: Sally's Baking Addiction

With only 5 ingredients these cookies came out airy, crunchy, full of flavor and simply irresistible. After making this recipe using store bought almond butter--in the future I would like to make my own with my food processor using the recipe I linked above. You can also use this recipe with peanuts.. I'd like to try that!! Let's talk about the health qualities of ALMONDS

Brain Food

Cholesterol regulator

Healthy for your bones

Good for your heart

Boosts your energy

and the list goes on!!

SO all in all I'd say that this is a pretty healthy alternative to your CHIPS AHOY cookie :) and a great inbetween studying

TREAT

.

Jelly Fishing

Here's a little something about me, I absolutely love breakfast! I usually eat the same thing for breakfast everyday… as I am one who easily gets into routines. Today I decided to make something and change it up a bit. A nice little parfait w/ my chia seed jelly was going to be just perfect. The main focus of this post is this "chia seed jelly." Blueberries, sweetener, and chia seeds. I know what your thinking… three ingredients? Yes, T H R E E and all together it is amazing! The all american jelly you purchase from the store is packed with an overload of sugar and that can really hinder its health qualities.

I had to find an alternative that was simple to make and taste delicious. In my search I discovered this recipe on a wonderful blog called:EATING BIRD FOOD and decided to give it a try. The first time I made it I used fresh strawberries, honey, and chia seeds. WOW it blew my mind. I put it on toast, pancakes, yogurt, and the list goes on. Apparently it is said that the jelly/jam can stay fresh up to 2 weeks I think, but mine barely made it to a week and a half--it was that delicious. This time I chose to make it with blueberries that were frozen and maple syrup to sweeten it.

So I took 1 cup of thawed blueberries and mashed them up until they were like a jam consistency (when I made the strawberry jam I added water, but since the blueberries were previously frozen they had a lot more liquid… you can also throw it in a blender if you want more of a "jelly" feel possibly you might have to add more chia seeds though). I then added a tiny bit of the maple syrup and basically sweetened the mixture to taste. After all of that I added 1 tablespoon of chia seeds and stirred the mixture up. Lastly, I poured the mixture in an airtight jar and put it in the fridge to set for at least 60 mins. During that 60 mins the chia seeds magically cause it to thicken… amazing. and viola.. thats it! So now instead of eating something that's packed with SUGAR and who knows what else--you can rest assure that what you're putting on your daily piece of toast is packed with: fiber, omega-3, magnesium, protein, and just an overall good vibes.

ps. ill probably add more chia seeds to my next jelly experience.. going to try it with mixed fruit and a blender.

Coconut Virgin

As I was getting ready to head to class yesterday, I was in the middle of my morning routine and thought I'd share with you a tiny little miracle I discovered + or - six months ago. Way back possibly during the summer of '13 I ran out of both my MAKEUP REMOVER and my SPF DAILY MOISTURIZER. Since recently going back to school and jumping on the "healthy" train-- one, I had limited funds and two, I was really into checking ingredients... especially on products that I was putting on my face. After doing many google searches I stumbled across some very useful information! Apparently there are tons of uses for COCONUT OIL and not only was it a great makeup remover but it was also a great moisturizer and had SPF properties! At this point I wasted no time into adapting coconut oil into my daily morning routine and nighty ritual. In the morning I splash my face with water, put a chunk of coconut oil between my palms, and rub it all over my face. After that I proceed to the normal application of makeup if i choose to wear it that day. During the night before I head to bed, again place some coconut oil in-between my fingers and smooth it over my eyes (while closed) and wash it off with face wash. So simple. The oil makes my face feel smooth, smell like im on vacation,and have a natural glow. I am and will forever be in love <3 (ps. im pretty sure I wrote cocobut somewhere in this post:D )

To read more about the uses of COCONUT OILCLICK HERE

What am I doing here?

--This will be a blog dedicated to healthy living with recipes, advice about stuff, my weird routines, and probably photos of my dog. Since I live in an area where there are not a lot of gluten free or vegan products readily available to eat, I started experimenting in creating some of my own from home which I will be posting frequently. Also i have recently dedicated myself to be GMO (genetically modified organism) FREE! This means I try really hard to stay away from processed non-oraganic foods and strive to be as "simple" ingredient minded as possible. Basically my goal is to try and stay simple when it comes to food, beauty, and whatever else there is :) .