granola.

I love granola.  LOVE.

I've been looking for a great granola recipe online and this one I really do love (although I made some modifications)

cranberries, slivered almonds, rolled oats, sunflower seeds, ground flax

isn't it a beaut?

I doubled the liquid part of the recipe because I read that this recipe was really dry, and it was.

even with doubled binding agent.

but still delicious.

crumbs.

did you know you don't have to count the calories when you're eating crumbs?  

it's like a sweet little bonus ;)

strawberry salsa

I love strawberries.

I love salsa.

 What would it be like to combine them?

it would be a heavenly match!

recipe here.

edamame hummus

"Allison, you eat too much.  And you're starting to neglect crafting."

I know.  I KNOW!  I'll craft and post.  I promise.

my friend posted this fantastic edamame hummus recipe on her blog.  I've made it twice already.

It's super awesome.

crafts are a-comin'

roasted chickpeas

I went to a party for New Year's and these were served.  I knew the recipe came from Pinterest.  I knew it.  So I found the recipe and decided to make them myself for the Superbowl party we went to last night.

recipe here.

spices.

chickpeas (roasted).

spices and chickpeas.

not a bad snack when you're searching for a little something healthy!

puppy chow

have you ever made this before?

I used to make it all the time when I was in high school a century ago.  I kinda forgot about it and was in the cereal aisle the other day and remembered!  So I bought the Chex cereal and went to town!

1 box of Chex cereal (corn or rice.  I used rice)

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup peanut butter

1 cup chocolate chips

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/2-2 cups confectioners' sugar

(when I was young I omitted the butter and vanilla)

Melt butter, peanut butter and chocolate chips together.  Add vanilla.  Stir.

Pour chocolate mix over cereal and stir (or mix with hands) until coated.

Add confectioners' sugar to coat.  (if you put the mix in a bowl with a top that seals on tightly, you can put the sugar in and then seal the bowl and shake it up, baby!)

Next time I think I might replace the peanut butter with Nutella!

I know.  I'm wild.

;)

mummies!!

okay so Halloween's over... but I wanted to squeeze this post in.

My sweet little niece turned 5 yesterday and she had a Halloween birthday party.  My sister-in-law asked me, the vegetarian, to make these pig in a blanket mummies.  So here's my meat post.  The easy part was not eating them as I made them ;)  

uncooked mummies.

has this ever happened to you?  it just exploded out of the end!

snuggle bunny mummies.

leftover dough... it looked like a scary Halloween face, so I snapped a pic!

easy apple snack

We had craft night last Friday night (another blog post to com) and I was scrambling to make a snack.  Here's what I came up with...

apple havarti crescent bites

peeled, "cubed" granny smith apples

one block of havarti cheese

refrigerated crescent roll dough

honey (optional)

cut dough in small triangles (about half the size of the precut triangles)

wrap an apple cube and a small cut of cheese

for a slightly sweeter taste, add a small dot of honey before wrapping

Bake according to directions on crescent packaging

not one leftover!

yum yum to the tum tum!

when chocolate melts weird...

make truffles!!!

almonds + pears + dark chocolate = a happy palette

This dark chocolate bar caught my eye yesterday when we were shopping for groceries while in New Orleans. Dark chocolate infused with pear and almonds. What a fantastic flavor combination!

pistachios + dried cranberries = awesome

+ =

I love pistachios. I also love dried cranberries. Since I had some of both on hand this weekend and I'm experiencing a mild obsession with granola lately, I decided to try my hand at making my own pistachio cranberry granola.

my latest masterpiece... ready to put some milk on it!

yay smoothies!!

I have so much to blog about right now but right now but I don't want to just give it all away at once... it leaves no room for the times when I'm feeling not so creatively juicy. Soooo I'm going with my latest weekend passion. Strawberry-banana smoothies. Yes, a little trite in the realm of smoothies but I have perfected smoothie making. Check this out...

If you use frozen strawberries in lieu of ice, it makes your smoothie have much more flavor and you don't have to add as much sugar... or any, really. But hello? Why would you not put sugar in it? Here's the rest of my most recent smoothie experience...

fruit in... just add a little sugar, a little dairy and...


off we go!!!
it looks kinda gross... just bear with me.


ok much better.

I actually made a movie with David and John about smoothies this past weekend talking about things we like. Maybe I will blog about it. Two smoothie blogs in a row?? That may just be too sweet.