I don't know about you, but now that it's "OFFICIALLY" Fall, I am going P U M P K I N CRAZY!! Thanks to Robyn, I now have a new, favorite breakfast meal! I kid you not when I say that this is my new favorite you guys..... I felt like I should feel guilty for eating something so deliciously wonderful and moist so early in the morning! Yes, I could, and probably will, eat this for dessert, too! :) 

I topped my slice of heaven with Jiff's Whipped Peanut Butter, fresh banana slices,  MORE cinnamon (you can never have enough), and paired with a side of sugar-free maple syrup! Oh Fall.... how I love you so, can you stay forever? 

E N J O Y ! ! !

Preheat oven to: 350 degrees

Bake time: 35-40 min

Ingredients:

2 cups rolled oats

1 tsp baking powder

1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice [I used cinnamon]

1/4 tsp salt

 2 sweetener packets (I used stevia)

1 tsp vanilla

3 T warm water

1 cup of libby's pumpkin puree

1 2/3 cup of unsweetened almond or soy milk (I used Vanilla Almond Milk)

Directions:

First, mix together first 5 ingredients. Then, mix in the rest of the ingredients into the same bowl. Mix Mix Mix, and pour into a greased 8x8 pan. Bake! Let cool for 5-10 min. before diving in! :)

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What's your favorite Fall Recipe?

Healthy Oatmeal Raspberry Almond Breakfast Muffins

My Thoughts

Quick Fact: I don't make up my own recipes. I find them. Then I make them. I like to give credit to the maker of the recipes I make, because I think they are freaking awesome. I think it would be so hard to make up your own recipe, and figure out all the measurements to create something delicious! So.... kudos to you my friends :) I found this recipe on Pinterest (of course)! Unfortunately, I couldn't find Sarah W. anywhere..... so I can't link you to her page (sad day)! If you see this Sarah W, just know, I am giving all credit to you for inventing these yummy little things! I wanted to make these muffins so that I could have a quick, healthy, and nutritious breakfast-on-the-go for those times when you just..... don't have time to make a warm bowl of Strawberry Banana Protein Oatmeal. Now, these muffins are super yummy plain, BUT.... as you might know by now.... I am a complete and total lover of Jiff's Creamy Whipped Peanut Butter & honey. If you couldn't guess it already, I slathered a little bit a lot a bit of both on top, and ummmm HELLO they went from a 10 to a 100! :P Also, I doubled this recipe, and it gave me 11 muffins.  I hope you enjoy these little guy's as much as I do!

Greek Quinoa Salad

Ingredients: 

• 1 cup quinoa
• 1 1/2 cup vegetable broth
• 1 medium cucumber, peeled, seeded and diced
• 8 ounces grape tomatoes, halved
• 1 medium red bell pepper, seeded and diced
• 1 loose cup fresh parsley, minced
• 1/2 red onion, diced
• 1 cup kalamata olives, halved (optional)
• 4 ounces feta, crumbled or cubed (optional)
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon fresh dill
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1 teaspoon honey
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice

Directions: 

In a medium saucepan stir together quinoa and vegetable broth. Bring to a boil over high heat, stir once, reduce heat to low, cover and cook for 20-25 minutes or until the liquid is absorbed. Remove from heat and let rest for 5 minutes. Then fluff with a fork.

In a large mixing bowl, combine cooked quinoa, cucumber, tomatoes, red pepper, parsley, onion, olives and feta.

In a small bowl, combine olive oil, red wine vinegar, oregano, dill, salt, pepper, honey and lemon juice. Pour over salad and stir to combine. Refrigerate for at least an hour to allow flavors to meld.

My Thoughts 

I found this recipe over on Back to Her Roots blog! She has so many yummy-looking recipes, and this is just one of many that caught my eye. I love quinoa. Have you ever tried it? Quinoa is a great source of protein & fiber. Click here if you want to learn more about quinoa and it's benefits. This salad makes both my waist-line, and my taste buds happy. Recently I have been trying to "meal-prep" or "cook in bulk", because I don't have enough time to go home for lunch. I am at school for many hours, and being able to grab my already-made lunch each morning would be such a time saver! Hence, why I made this salad. As you can see in the last photo above, it turned out perfectly, and made a great addition to my lunchbox this past week! :)

Raw Sprouted Hummus

 

Ingredients:

2 cups sprouted chickpeas
2 heaping tablespoons tahini
2 heaping tablespoons olive oil
2 large cloves garlic
juice of 2 medium lemons
1/4 cup water + more as needed to thin
1 tablespoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon onion powder (if you don't have cayenne)
1/4 teaspoon garlic salt
dash of cayenne pepper

Directions:

Throw all ingredients into a blender or food processor. Blend until a creamy consistency forms. Add small amounts of water, olive oil, or lemon juice (1 tablespoon at a time) if needed.

My Thoughts

 Wow! Yep, that was my reaction. This was the very first time I have made my own hummus (let alone sprout my own beans), and I couldn't be happier with how it turned out! I wish I could take the credit for this awesome recipe, but then I would be living a lie ;) I acquired  this recipe over at The Simple Veganista's blog. If you want to sprout your own beans, (you can buy canned beans if you prefer) just click on her blog site above, and she will explain exactly what to do! My purpose for making this hummus was so that I could have a ready-to-go-snack each day while at school. I packed myself a little bit yesterday paired with celery sticks, and BAM, had a healthy, quick, and delicious snack already prepared! I highly recommend you try this :)

Lemon Coconut Cookies

So.....this happened today. Yep. Lemon Coconut Cookies. :) Believe me, you will want to make some of these ASAP. They are perfect in every way....fluffy, dense, and slightly crisp around the edges. Are you as much of a #lemonjunkie as me? Do you like lemon cookies, lemon bars, lemon cake, lemon scones, or lemon poppyseed cake....? If so..... these are your kind of cookies! :P

I wanted to make a treat for my sweet boss, and her lovely son. In the past two days they celebrated their birthdays. This called for some yummy treats. Sweets are the best kind of present, right?! Anyway... I hope they will enjoy them as much as I did! Love you both, and Happy Birthday!

Recipe is below.....go get your baking on, people!

Lemon Coconut Cookies 
Oven Temperature: 350 degrees
Cook Time: 12 min.
Yields: 20-24 cookies per batch

Ingredients:

1. 1 3/4 c all-purpose flour
2. 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
3. 1 tsp lemon zest
4. 8 Tbsp (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
5. 1 c granulated sugar
6. 2 large eggs
7. 3/4 tsp vanilla extract 
8. 2 drops lemon extract
9. 3/4 cup coconut
10. 1/2 c powdered sugar (for rolling) 

Glaze:

1. 1 cup powdered sugar
2. 1/4 cup milk
3. 1 tsp lemon extract

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray baking sheet with non-stick cooking spray. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together dry ingredients (flour and baking powder). Add zest and whisk it in. In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time and mix well. Add vanilla or lemon extract. Mix again. With mixer on low speed, mix in dry ingredients until just combined. Roll the dough into balls (using an ice cream scoop) and roll tops in powdered sugar. Place on baking sheet, leaving 2 inches of space between them (I fit 12 on a sheet). Bake for 12 minutes, or until puffed and bottoms just golden brown. Cool on sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer onto a cooling rack. 

To make glaze mix powdered sugar, milk, and lemon extract until smooth. Drizzle over cookies (using a spoon). 

Notes: When making the cookie dough base, I prefer to use BOTH lemon & vanilla extract, but you can choose to do one or the other. I used the zest from an entire lemon. Lastly, when making your glaze, it's better to keep adding milk (to make the right consistency), rather than adding too much right at first. If you make the glaze too runny it melts right into the cookie, and you won't be able to see it anymore.

If you try out these yummy cookies, comment on this post and let me know how you liked it :) 

Hope to hear from you soon!

Much love, 

--McKenna <3

Strawberry Banana Protein Oatmeal

If you love oatmeal as much as I do, then you should definitely try out this recipe!! I started making this for breakfast while I was in college. It started out pretty basic, but one day I decided to throw in a bunch of "stuff" that sounded good, and..... Tahdah!! The following bowl of deliciousness was produced. If you try it out comment and let me know how it turned out for you! :)

This is the same oatmeal recipe, but has blueberries instead of strawberries

Strawberry Banana Protein Oatmeal

1 cup water
1/2 cup (whole wheat) quick oats OR rolled oats
1 sweetener packet (stevia or truvia)
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon 
1 teaspoon honey
1/4 scoop strawberry protein powder
1/8-1/4 cup granola
1/8 teaspoon chia seeds
Fresh or frozen berries (slice strawberries)
Banana slices


Instruction:

Boil water over medium/high heat. Once boiling pour in dry oatmeal. Boil quick oats for 2 minutes, or rolled oats for 4-5 minutes. In the meantime, defrost frozen berries (ignore if using fresh berries). Pour oatmeal into bowl with berries. Stir in sweetener, honey, protein powder, cinnamon, and chia seeds. Sprinkle granola and banana slices on top. Enjoy!


Notes:

• Swap the strawberry protein powder for peanut butter (I used Jiff's Whipped), leave out the strawberries, and swap the granola for slivered almonds to make peanut butter banana nut oatmeal! 
• The protein I use is called PROTIZYME (Strawberry Crème flavor). I get it from a local store in my hometown called WARRIORS WAREHOUSE. Here is the link to their website if you want to check them out http://www.warriorswarehouse.com/Blog.html . 
• I use Bear Naked Fit - Vanilla Almond flavor for my granola (you can get it at Wal-Mart)

Picture of my protein powder and granola