mmmMonday :: easy peasy Energy Bars

Recently, Jack and I have been trying to eat healthier. Since moderation is not really in either of our vocabularies, we attempt to avoid starch, dairy and sugar Monday through Friday, noon. Once the weekend hits, all bets are off and we gorge ourselves stupid ...well, not really [okay sometimes].

This tends to work fairly well. Come 3pm however, things can get a little dicey. My heart beats a little faster, my eyes get dart-y and I can't concentrate. All my thoughts are stolen by daydreams of macaroons, lemon tarts, cookies, gummy bears and milkshakes - basically, anything and everything I'm trying to avoid. 

These bars are perfect for when you're jonesing for sugar but you're trying to layoff the cookies. I mean, what's more healthy than getting your sugar fix from dates. I don't know if you know this, they're fruit!! 

The original recipe only had three ingredients but since I'm full-time fancy, I threw in some coconut. If you add coconut you'll have to offset it with a few more dates. I added 1/2 cup coconut and then an additional 1/4 dates... so three, because they're massive.

INGREDIENTS 
1 cup pitted dates
1 cup craisins [or raisins]
1 cup almonds

If you have a good food processor, go ahead and throw all the ingredients in and set to chop. I forgot about my beautiful KitchenAid blender and used my chop-o-matic. It did nothing. Actually no, scratch that. It did the almonds and then broke. Just gave up. Enter KitchenAid blender.

I then added the almonds and coconut to the fruit and let it combine for another 2 minutes. It should be fairly sticky at this point. If it's not, blend a little longer. If it still isn't, add more dates or craisins - it should help. If there's still no luck, you probably weren't meant to eat these.

Once the texture is sticky enough to not crumble, roll into a ball and place between two sheets of saran wrap. Roll out to your desired thickness and then slice into bars. These guys may not look like much but they pack a punch so don't make them too big.

Since having these my 3pm sugar rage has subsided and my coworkers no longer avoid my meeting requests.

mmmMonday: Creamy Vegan Parsnip Soup

With winter settling in my thoughts have turned to soups, stews and all kinds of baked goods. Tracking down new amazing soup recipes is one of my favourite parts of winter! I used to stick to the classics - leek, broccoli or asparagus - but this year I'm using my old friend, food52 to keep things interesting. What I love the most about this site is all I've got to do is search my main ingredients and BAM! inspiration.

This particular recipe, Creamy Vegan Parsnip Soup, was beyond easy and needed next to no ingredients - perfect answer to a nutty week with zero time for groceries. PLUS it was vegan, so I got to feel super healthy and all kinds of fancy. 

INGREDIENTS

	3 small parsnips, chopped		1 cup white beans
	1 white onion		1t caraway seeds
	1t olive oil		1t mustard seeds

2cups vegetable stock

Heat the oil in a nice, big pot. Add the onion, caraway and mustard seeds. You may have noticed I used a full onion.. it wasn't a cooking decision but rather a lack of attention to detail during my first read of the recipe. It tasted fine; go with your gut. Add the stock once the onions have browned, followed by the beans and parsnips once the broth has warmed.

Bring it to a boil and then turned it down to simmer for about 20 minutes. Once the parsnips have softened blend the soup and add salt and pepper to taste. If you find it too thick, just add a little extra water until you find the right consistency.

Super easy & super delicious. Seriously perfect for busy week!

Food Friday: vegan brownies!

Let's just say these brownies are delicious. I'm just going to put that out there right away... you need to know what you're getting into. Right now you're thinking, I'm going to give these vegan brownies a shot because they're healthy-ish and I want chocolate. But you don't know. You don't know that they are actually the best brownies you will ever have. You are unaware that this no-bake, 4-ingredient brownie batter with a 3-ingredient icing will be the death of any summer-living healthy-eating pipe dream you had. Now you've been warned, so please, enjoy.

BROWNIE   1/2 cup cocoa powder 2 cups hazelnuts 1 cup pitted dates 1/4 cup maple syrup

ICING   1/4 cup cocoa powder 1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp maple syrup 1 medium avocado ...

This recipe is definitely much easier if you have a legitimate food processor. However, my little wannabe did me just fine. If you do have a food processor, pulse the hazelnuts until finely ground into a flour. Next, add in your dates, 1/2 cup cocoa powder and 1/4 maple syrup processing into a thick dough that sticks together.

If you don't have a nice, big food processor, do the same but in bunches that your little wannabe can handle. Slowly but surely. Don't get impatient, it's definitely worth it. I did the hazelnuts first, set them aside and then did the dates. Next I tossed the cocoa and maple syrup in with the dates and then began sprinkling in the hazelnuts. Just when I thought everything was lost, I tossed everything in a bowl and finished up with my hands. It looked perfect. 

Pack the dough into a ball and then roll it out between two sheets or parchment, shaping it to be cut into brownies. With a sharp knife cut the dough into equal sized rectangles. With the extra dough, re-form into a ball and repeat. 

I halved the recipe when I did it, so you'll likely have a lot more to roll our than what's pictured above.

Make the icing by blending the avocado, cocoa and maple syrup. Blend until velvety smooth and adjust the sweetness to your liking. Once the icing is ready, frost the brownies stacking pieces by two. Garnish with crushed hazelnuts.