Cinnamon Sticks for Summertime ~ 10 Great Uses and 10 FREE Cinnamon Sticks (Through Wednesday Only!!)

Cinnamon Sticks for Summertime ~ 10 Great Uses and 10 FREE Cinnamon Sticks (Through Wednesday Only!!)

I have had the most fun day today. We bid farewell to the last of our graduation guests yesterday (sniff), then I spent the entire day today playing with cinnamon sticks.

Say what??! Trust me. I’m pretty sure you’ll want to spend a couple of hours playing with cinnamon sticks too after you read this.

My Cinnamon Sticks came from Olive Nation. I could tell a big difference in the quality of their cinnamon sticks – so big a difference that I took a picture of them side by side. Olive Nation’s sticks are bigger, more fragrant, and just overall much, much nicer than others I’ve purchased from other sources. This doesn’t surprise me. Olive Nation products always rise above the rest. (Yet their prices are still reasonable. I love this.)

I typically think of cinnamon sticks as something to use in the fall. This led me to do a little research. What can we do with cinnamon sticks in the summertime?

THIS is the part where I become giddy. I have found so many awesome uses for these this summer! Not to mention I’ve discovered that cinnamon sticks are wonderful for our health. Cinnamon can help lower cholesterol levels, aid in pain relief, help with digestion, help us avoid bladder infections, and help regulate blood sugar levels. And that’s just the beginning.

10 great ways we should all use Cinnamon Sticks this summer.

Special thanks to my son Asa who used his talent with his brand new camera to help me get some wonderful shots of our cinnamon projects today.

10 Ways to Use Cinnamon Sticks in the Summertime

1. Use Cinnamon Sticks as a Natural Insect Repellent.

Insects don’t like the smell of cinnamon (silly little bugs). Plus they don’t like the feel of powdered cinnamon. Grate a cinnamon stick then sprinkle it around any place (inside or outside) you’re trying to get rid of ants or other annoying bugs. You can even sprinkle it around your kids’ sandbox to keep the bugs away. Brilliant!

Want to avoid mosquitoes? Put a small citronella candle inside a jar. Tie or clue cinnamon sticks around the outside of the jar. Light the candle outside while you’re sitting around visiting and enjoying the summer weather. Insects are turned off by the smell of the cinnamon and citronella, and you can enjoy the scent plus the freedom from bugs!

2. Treat an insect bite.

Bugs already got to ya? Mix up a little bit of honey and ground cinnamon. It will alleviate pain and itching. At the same time, this honey/cinnamon combination will disinfect the area while moisturizing and healing. Amazing.

3. Make a Cinnamon Stick Flower Pot

This is not only a great way to repel bugs inside and outside – it is super adorable! Hot glue 25-30 cinnamon sticks around a flower pot. Tie a ribbon around the cinnamon sticks to complete the project. I can’t stop staring at my flower pot in all its cuteness!

4. Make Cinnamon Apple Infused Water for a refreshing detox drink on a warm day.

Or use fresh or frozen pineapple with cinnamon sticks instead. Either way, you’ll have a cool, refreshing drink that is good for your system. Simply slice one apple (any variety) into a quart jar. Add 1-3 cinnamon sticks. Fill jar with water. Allow mixture to sit for a few hours to infuse. Chill and serve.

5. Start a batch of Cinnamon Extract for Christmas gifts.

I am so excited about this one!! After all my years of making Vanilla Extract, I’m venturing out to make other extracts – beginning with Cinnamon Extract. (Watch for other fun extract recipes soon!)

How to Make Cinnamon Extract: Place three cinnamon sticks in one cup of brandy, rum, or vodka. Store in a dark place (such as a kitchen cabinet). Shake the jar about once each day for two weeks. Voila. Merry Cinnamon Extract Christmas to the family this year. (Don’t tell them how easy and inexpensive this is.)

6. Make All Natural Cinnamon Orange Cleaning Spray.

Here’s a fresh idea for non-toxic cleaning!

Fill a quart jar about 3/4 full of distilled white vinegar. Add 3-4 cinnamon sticks and 1-2 oranges worth of orange peel. Secure lid. Store in a dark place (such as a kitchen cabinet) for two weeks, then strain out cinnamon sticks and orange peel to transfer liquid to a spray bottle. This is so simple and inexpensive!

And here’s another great cleaning option: Put a Cinnamon Stick into a cleaning bottle with attached sponge (like the purple one pictured below) for a fresh, cleaning fragrance.

7. Grate a piece of cinnamon stick into yogurt or add it to a smoothie for a refreshing summer meal or snack.

What a great way to add deliciousness to a cool treat! You can also grate cinnamon into your coffee or tea.

8. Make Cinnamon Pancake and Waffle Syrup

Yes, yes, yes. Make this. Bottle it up for gifts or enjoy it at your own breakfast table. It is super easy to make and crazy delicious.

Cinnamon Pancake and Waffle Syrup Recipe

1 1/2 cups water

3 cinnamon sticks, broken in half

1 cup sucanat

Place all ingredients in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, then remove from heat. Cover and allow mixture to steep for 15 minutes. Remove cinnamon sticks. Store Cinnamon Pancake and Waffle Syrup in a jar in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.

9. Make Cinnamon Infused Sugar

It does not get any easier than this. I’ll be including a jar of this sugar with my Christmas gifts of Cinnamon Extract. I should also include a loaf of bread and a stick of butter – then my recipients would be set.

Cinnamon Infused Sugar Recipe

1 cinnamon stick

2 cups sugar, brown sugar, or sucanat

Put the cinnamon stick into a jar. Cover it with sugar. Secure a lid on the jar. Shake the jar once each day for two weeks. Use cinnamon infused sugar on buttered toast, in coffee, or any way you would typically use cinnamon sugar. Continue to refill the jar with sugar as the cinnamon stick will continue to flavor it for quite some time.

10. Boost your energy!

Feeling tired, lethargic, or low on energy? Pull out a cinnamon stick and give it a whiff. It’ll help you find your focus. Who knew? Easiest energy boost ever. From now on, I’ll be keeping cinnamon sticks at my desk. Hmmm…just took a whiff of one right now. Perfect.

You Can Reuse Cinnamon Sticks

Save $$. Get more than one use out of your cinnamon sticks!

To reuse your cinnamon stick, simply rinse it under hot water then allow it to dry. Run the stick over a grater a few times to release the flavor. Do this up to 5 times before discarding. Way to get a lot of bang for your buck!

A Discount Option:

For high quality, reasonably priced cinnamon sticks, I recommend Olive Nation. They are great to work with us here at Heavenly Homemakers. Here’s what they offer:

• Use the code home to receive 10% off your entire order.
• OR, if you spend $50 or more, you can use the code FREESHIP to avoid paying a shipping fee altogether. (Free shipping is always the way to go if you ask me. I love these cinnamon sticks so much and I super love the Olive Nation vanilla beans. I have gifts to make with cinnamon sticks and vanilla beans.)
• You may only use one coupon code per order, so figure out which is best to go along with your free cinnamon sticks: Get 10% off with the code home; or get free shipping on a $50 order with the code FREESHIP.

A Freebie To Go With These Cinnamon Stick Ideas!

Download a page of free printable labels to go with the gifts you might choose to make: Cinnamon Extract, Cinnamon Sugar, Cinnamon Orange All Purpose Cleaner, and Cinnamon Pancake and Waffle Syrup. Attach them to your jars and bottles, tie with a ribbon, and you’ve got an adorable, inexpensive, and useful gift!

Leave a comment to tell us what you’re going to make first!

Original article and pictures take heavenlyhomemakers.com site

Cinnamon Spinach Mini Flapjacks

Cinnamon Spinach Mini Flapjacks

GREEN. A color that screams bold and beautiful. Emeralds, pine trees, basil…But why does green in certain foods totally turn us off? Even if you know it’s good for you. If you saw spinach pancakes on a menu I highly doubt you’d be inclined to order them, but if you taste these cinnamon spinach mini flapjacks, you’ll never want the boring-colored pancakes ever again.

These mini flapjacks are not only cute and pop-in-your-mouth FUN, they are packed with a sweet, cinnamon flavor. Honestly, you can’t even taste a hint of spinach in these minis! It’s the best ‘PSYCH!’ you’ll ever play on your kids….or your husband…or your brain.

I loved creating an on-the-go breakfast that is packed with healthy spinach goodness, that both little humans and big humans can enjoy. Sweetened with ripe banana and cinnamon, these cute ‘lil jacks are gluten-free, dairy-free, refined sugar-free, and paleo. Oh yeah, and they are green. Green = good. Also good? A little flaxseed added to ’em (shoutout to the omega-3’s)!

My toddler scarfed these down like they were going out of style – sans any syrup. And I scarfed a few down like my toddler might not let me try one. Luckily I was able to sneak a few of the reject, oblong-shaped ones that didn’t make the cut for the big photoshoot. Imperfect jacks need some love too!

SPOILER ALERT! These cinnamon spinach mini flapjacks are only 10 calories each. T-E-N. Cross my green-loving heart. So make a big batch and pop ‘em in your mouth during your morning commute, serve them as snacks for the kiddos, or make a leaning tower of flapjacks when you’re bored.

Serve them with warm maple syrup or simply stack and snack.

Just when you think you’ve exhausted all options for healthy breakfasts: eggs – check, muffins – check, granola – check…refresh your a.m. eats with these green, spinach-packed beauties. Not only are they nutrient-dense, they are truly a fun, delicious breakfast you can feel good about!

Original article and pictures take physicalkitchness.com site

Cinnamon Apple Grain-Free Breakfast Porridge (Dairy-Free too!)

Cinnamon Apple Grain-Free Breakfast Porridge (Dairy-Free too!)

I’m in love, I’m in love and I don’t care who knows it!

I know I can be a bit overdramatic at times (okay, maybe a lot) … but it’s true …. I’m in love with this scrumptious Cinnamon Apple Breakfast Porridge! I can’t begin to tell you how much I’ve longed for a warm, creamy bowl of delicious porridge! Maybe you have too?

Since oats are a big no-no for those of us living grain-free, the question was how to capture the flavor and texture of oats without the use of that classic porridge staple?

So, similar to my scrumptious grain-free Almost Oatmeal Cookies recipe, I decided to use unsweetened coconut to provide a chewy texture similar to oats. I also based this recipe on a method for creating grain-free porridge that I learned from Danielle Walker in her wonderful cookbook Against All Grain – by grinding soaked nuts with sweet ripe banana you can create a consistency remarkably similar to porridges like Scottish Oatmeal and classic Cream of Wheat. (Danielle is so brilliant!)

Another secret to this unbelievably yummy grain-free breakfast porridge is sweet and fragrant bite-sized apples sautéed with a pinch of fresh ground nutmeg and the addition of chewy sweet raisins. The culmination of flavors creates the ultimate porridge experience – rich cinnamony-apple flavor delightfully paired with a creamy, oat-like chewy texture.

Still, even with all these tempting descriptions … Maybe you’re feeling a little skeptical – wondering if this interesting concoction of healthy grain-free ingredients might actually be capable of filling that void in your heart that longs for a warm bowl of creamy oatmeal?

Well, let me assure you that all of my doubts were tossed aside after one delicious bite … followed by two … then, three … then, oops! the whole bowl is gone! (Of course, it’s important to point out that technically speaking this isn’t a Whole30-compliant breakfast since it mimics cereal. But you’ll definitely want to add this to your reintroduction phase!)

It’s such a joy to be able to create delicious grain-free foods that capture the tastes and textures of favorite comfort foods, and even better is when they are SO good that even our family and friends eagerly enjoy them too!

That’s why I’m SO excited to share this delightful Cinnamon Apple Breakfast Porridge with you. I’m beyond thrilled to be reunited with one of my ultimate wintertime favorites and I’m certain you and your family will be too!

P.S. The lovely table linens featured in these photos are courtesy of my friends at Hen House Linens. I just adore their beautiful linens, and even more so, their mission to make mealtimes special by adding a touch of warmth and beauty to the table.

Disclosure: Some of the links in this post include affiliate links, providing The Nourishing Home a small percentage of the sale at no additional cost to you. Of course, you are not obligated to use these links to make a purchase, but if you do, it helps to support this site and ministry. Thank you!

You Might Also Like:

Original article and pictures take thenourishinghome.com site

Chronic Pain and Honesty with My Children

Chronic Pain and Honesty with My Children

I may receive a commission if you purchase through links in this post. - Danielle

So, I’ve been dealing with minor chronic pain and fatigue for years.

Going on the GAPS diet taught me so much about autoimmune conditions, and really listening to how my body feels… I now realize autoimmunity (at least partly) stems from having a compromised gut. I’m also not alone. More than 100 million Americans struggle with some sort of chronic pain and/or fatigue. Do you??

Another contributing factor is the fact that my back has mild curvature. Chronic back pain in addition to chronic muscle/joint pain, and fatigue….sigh.

Chronic pain is… well, it’s hard not to feel like your life is simply dictated by the amount of inflammation that decides to show up for the day. What kind of day is it going to be today? Am I going to get much done? Or am I going to cave in to the burning in between my shoulders, and middle back, joints, and muscles, as well as the rest of my body? Are things going to happen with ease, allowing me to feel normal? Or am I going to feel like I’m slugging through mud with every step?

I still haven’t quite figured out my triggers. It’s like being a character in the worst detective mystery ever written, where the culprit’s different in each scene and always on the loose.

And what’s worse, my family’s lumped into the story too.

I try to be honest with my kids. I can keep up with them for a *little* while, but most of my energy has to be spent on making meals, loading and emptying the dishwasher, changing the laundry, homeschooling, you know the drill. Most of the time, with the pain, I feel just. . . spent.

And so I tell them.

“I’m so sorry sweetie, I can’t pick you up right now. Mama’s back is hurting.”

“Okay guys, Mama’s feeling really tired tonight. Please, just be obedient and helpful and it will all go easier that way.”

I try to explain to them that I don’t know why my body hurts. I can’t figure it out. I tell them that God heals, and I know I will be healed. I tell them that I always love them, even if I can’t get down onto the floor to play Legos today. They ask and wonder, why is Mama always tired, why does your back hurt today, Mama?

I’ve always answered the best I can.

Until yesterday. Yesterday I started wondering if this is really the best choice for me to make.

I was tucking my 2 year old into bed for nap time. I read her a little story before I leave each time. Yesterday she got this frowny look on her face and said, “Hold me.”

“Okay. What’s wrong?”

“My body hurts.”

It honestly made me want to cry. It’s the same thing I tell her when I can’t keep up with her. My body hurts. She’s listening. And emulating me!

My eyes started to tear up. I held her for a while and read to her, and let her take her nap. Later that day, I told her to pick up a mess that she had made.

“I can’t.”

“Why not?”

“My body hurts.”

Ouch! Double ouch. Ouch because I truly am in pain each day, and even worse, ouch because my precious daughter thinks that she has to be, too. Or that it’s an excuse to not do something she needs to do.

It might be just a phase. Either way, I don’t want her to grow up thinking that to be a woman is to be in chronic pain. That when she becomes a mama, she won’t be able to do all her kids want because she feels burning pain in her muscles and joints.

Even though I always want to be honest and upfront within reason to my kids, I think I’m going to have to back off a little with my honesty. I’m not talking about faking anything. . . I just didn’t realize that they listen so well – especially my daughter, who is at the age where she is trying so hard to do the things I do.

She grabs her plastic dishes and fills up the bathroom sink, telling me, “I’m washing dishes.” When she sees me brushing my hair, she runs and gets the comb to brush her hair. She wants to wear necklaces and rings like I do.

But she won’t wear chronic pain. I’ll do my best to not let that happen. With God’s never-ending grace for me each day, I’ll grin and bear it and always have hope in healing.

Because she has her whole life ahead of her, not mine, in its current state. She’s going to change the world. <3 Chronic pain-free.

Love,

Danielle

Original article and pictures take 0fc5cb92f9783431f3abc5cf-ecffocieq.netdna-ssl.com site

Chores and allowance for keeping the house clean AND building character

Chores and allowance for keeping the house clean AND building character

One of the questions I hear most often from other families—blog readers and friends alike—is how we handle chores and allowance as a family. There are so many different approaches out there…

• unpaid chores as a contributing member of the family
• a regular allowance tied to age rather than chores
• paid daily chores
• paid optional jobs

As a family, we do a combination of all of these.

For us, chores and allowance offer more than just a way to keep the house clean; they’re also an opportunity to teach so many different values and skills for life—hard work and diligence, team work and entrepreneurship, money management and more.

At a high level that means that our approach looks like this:

1. Everyone pitches in with daily chores because we’re all members of the same family and we work together to keep the house clean and everybody fed.

2. Everyone has the opportunity to pick up regular paid chores that they do on a daily basis as well. My rule is that you get a say in whether you take the regular job, but once you commit it’s yours for a time. And if you complain, it becomes an unpaid chore.

3. We offer lots of job opportunities so that our girls can earn additional money based on their willingness to work.

4. For now, we don’t offer a regular allowance outside of those tied to their chores. In the future, I can see giving them a monthly allowance that they’ll need to budget for clothes, going out with friends, and other various odds and ends to help them practice money management, but for now we pay for those things just because they’re part of the family.

5. We require them to tithe and save out of the money they earn.

On a day-to-day basis, that approach looks like this:

1. Daily chores that we all share and rotate include straightening the house, loading the dishwasher, wiping the kitchen table, taking care of the animals, putting away groceries, straightening the front closet, helping with the babies, etc.

2. Paid jobs include laundry, wiping the kitchen cabinets (how do they get so dirty?), cleaning the bathrooms, vacuuming, etc.

3. Additional job opportunities include things like babysitting for a set period of time, helping me with computer projects, pulling weeds, washing pots and pans after we let it get out of control (which really only takes a day of cooking in this house!).

4. We have a weekly budget for groceries, eating out and other extras that include ice cream and movie dates, supplies for projects they want to work on, etc., so the spending portion of their earnings is almost exclusively for fun stuff they want to spend it on.

5. We talk about “living on 50% of their income” and setting aside the other half for tithes (10%) and savings (40%). I have a Capital One 360 savings account for each of them, and I’ll write them a check for their savings and let them help me deposit it via the mobile app so they can see the balance growing each time.

A couple of years ago I created this printable time card for them to use to track their earnings, and it’s one we still use. However, we’ve had issues with it getting lost or taken off the bulletin board, so we now keep it on a clipboard in the kitchen. If you lose it, you don’t get paid, so I highly recommend that they leave it attached to the clipboard at all times. (It’s also their responsibility to write down their jobs if they want to get paid.)

***

Although our chores and allowance routines have been in place for a couple years now, our top focus over the past year has been making sure that our girls are really helping with the chores it takes to keep our house clean because the workload is just too much for Sean and I without their help. While I have been very happy with the changes we’ve made so far, there are a couple areas where we’ve still been struggling:

• getting the bathrooms really clean
• knowing which jobs to assign when to keep the house decently clean on a regular basis

As I was selecting products for this year’s Ultimate Homemaking Bundle, I was selfishly looking at them through this lens. I wanted to find ebooks, ecourse and printables that would help reduce the stress of running my home, with the assumption that these things would help you as well.

Because I had early access to the bundle, I’ve been using several of the products for the past month or so to do just that, and I really love the difference these are actually making in our home:

Teaching Your Kids to Clean by Dana White ($5)

This whole ebook is wonderful, but tucked in the middle is the real gem—a photograph of a toilet with arrows and numbers to show kids exactly how to clean the toilet, making sure they clean the least germy areas first, prompting them to use new rags or wipes after especially germy areas, and reminding them to clean the oft-forgotten areas. Dana from A Slob Comes Clean included this for nonreaders, but I’ve printed it out specifically for my big girls because I was so tired of having to go behind them each time they cleaned the bathroom!

The Motivated Moms Chore Planner (May 2016-June 2017) ($8)

The Motivated Moms system takes all the tasks needed to run your home and divides them into daily, weekly, monthly and quarterly tasks, which are scheduled right on the planner for you. I’ve never used a chore planner like this before, but I love that I can just assign those tasks to our girls (adding them to their daily checklist) and feel confident that we’re keeping our home clean overall.

Cleaning Around the Seasons by Becky Rapinchuk ($10)

Becky, aka Clean Mama, truly is the queen of clean, and she wrote this ebook to help readers spring clean no matter how much time they had to devote to it—a day, a week, or a whole month. Although we haven’t had a chance to dive into it yet, it includes printable checklists and more to take the stress out of spring cleaning, and that will make it easy to divide these tasks among our family as well!

The Nester’s Cozy Minimalist Mom eCourse ($29)

Myquillyn Smith, aka The Nester, has been encouraging women for years that “it doesn’t have to be perfect to be beautiful,” and in this course she’s partnered with a friend to help moms address the clutter that comes with children and family to create cozy, beautiful homes around the Legos and Barbies and craft supplies. I am very much looking forward to this course to see if we can finally get on top of the persistent clutter that seems to take over the house every day despite our best efforts!

Grove Collaborative’s Special Bonus Offer

In addition to the products in the bundle itself, there are several amazing bonus offers, including a wonderful collection of products from Grove Collaborative! New customers will get a FREE Cleaning Kit, including Mrs. Meyer’s Soap Dish, Mrs. Meyer’s Multi-Surface, Grove Collaborative Glass Spray Bottle, Grove Collaborative Walnut Scrubber Sponges, plus a FREE VIP trial.

The minimum checkout for their cart is $20, but with the special discounts they’re offering, you’ll walk away with more than $75 worth of products for less than $30, including one of these handy cleaning caddies. We’ve purchased a few of these and love that they make it easy to keep cleaning supplies together and to carry them from room to room.

The resources I listed are just a few of the “Organization and Routines” section of The 2016 Ultimate Homemaking Bundle, which is just one category out of eleven to help you take the stress out of homemaking.

Although the bundle contains more than $1,000 worth of resources, it’s on sale this week only for just $29.97—and that makes it a sweet deal even if you only ever use a couple of 93 eBooks, eCourses and printables!

You’ll find resources that have been handpicked (by me!) on the things that truly matter to you:

• organization, routines & creating a cozy home
• recipes, grocery shopping and meal planning
• budgeting and saving money
• motherhood (no matter what age your kids are)
• cultivating a strong marriage
• faith (for you & your kids)
• and even self-care (like exercise, weight loss, life planning and coloring books!)
• and much more…

Click here to see everything that’s included. Don’t wait too long to get yours because once the sale ends on May 2nd, it’s gone for good. And with a 30-day money back guarantee, what do you have to lose?

Original article and pictures take lifeyourway.net site

Chocolate Whipped Cream on Strawberries

Chocolate Whipped Cream on Strawberries

My life has not been the same since I discovered this Chocolate Whipped Cream.

My men ban me from doing any work on Mother’s Day. They take over the kitchen, putting together all the meals in a way that is both hilarious and beautiful to me. Sometimes, I shout instructions from the living room. Other times I offer some quiet advice to help avoid culinary disaster. But they always do a nice job working together, and I’ve found it’s best if I simply walk away and let them do things their way.

Therefore, I needed a Mother’s Day dessert that was easy to make. I needed a Mother’s Day dessert that could be made ahead of time. I needed a Mother’s Day dessert that was low in sugar. And I needed chocolate. Obviously.

There’s nothing like inventing a recipe in my head, then writing it down and handing it to my boys to experiment with. Why give them a tried and true recipe when something else sounds better…inside my head. Right? Bless my boys. They are so used to how I roll in the kitchen, they didn’t even blink when I said, “For dessert, we’re going to try something new.” I’m sure they expected nothing less.

1. In a bowl, whip the cream until soft peaks form.
2. Add cocoa and stevia, and whip again for a few seconds until ingredients are mixed well.
3. Serve on top of sliced strawberries.

Everyone loved this dessert! The boys especially loved that I said, “Have as much as you want.” When do I ever say that about dessert? Never. But with this, since it is sweetened with stevia, I felt no need to limit how much they ate. This will be a great breakfast, snack, or dessert that we’ll surely be making over and over.

Now it’s your turn. Make this Chocolate Whipped Cream and sit back and enjoy it guilt free. Oh sweet happiness in a bowl.

What dessert did you request for Mother’s Day?

Original article and pictures take heavenlyhomemakers.com site

Chocolate Larabar Recipe (Nut Free, Allergy Friendly).

Chocolate Larabar Recipe (Nut Free, Allergy Friendly).

This chocolate larabar recipe is delicious – chewy and flavorful, and made without nuts! Enjoy making this favorite snack at home with this easy recipe.

Larabars – a favorite snack of those who follow a gluten free, grain free, or paleo diet. They have such appeal, don’t they?

They’re free of refined sugar (for the most part), they come in different flavors, and they’re great for packing in lunches or taking on trips.

But if someone in your family has a nut allergy, these delicious bars are not safe. Every flavor has nuts of some kind, so they’re off-limits.

But it’s actually super easy to make this nut free chocolate larabar recipe at home. You just need a few simple ingredients and a food processor. Even a mini food processor will do – you’d just have to split the recipe into two batches.

Now, what does this homemade larabar recipe contain? Simple ingredients:

• medjool dates
• pumpkin seeds
• cocoa powder
• toasted coconut
• vanilla extract

One question that often comes up is where to find safe dates. Of course, you should always call and check with the company to make sure any ingredient is safe for your diet. Sun Date is a brand that says they only handle and package dates in their facility. I’ve been able to find this brand at Aldi for a very reasonable price.

If you don’t like pumpkin seeds, you could also make these with sunflower seeds. And if you can’t do coconut, go ahead and leave it out – just use more seeds instead.

You can definitely make some different flavors with this recipe – you could add some mini chocolate chips for more richness, you could add dried cherries or cranberries for a bit of tart flavor, or you could leave the chocolate out and add cinnamon, ginger, and some dried apples for an apple pie flavor.

There are lots of possibilities with this recipe!

These homemade larabars are so delicious, you’ll be reaching for one for breakfast, and then a snack, and then maybe as a dessert…they’re hard to put down!

And if you’re more of an energy bite person, try these chocolate chip oatmeal energy bites – they’re an easy and tasty snack!

Original article and pictures take i0.wp.com site

Chocolate Drizzled Strawberry Marshmallows

Chocolate Drizzled Strawberry Marshmallows

What if I told you that making these homemade strawberry marshmallows is one of the easiest desserts you can make?! They are refined sugar free and the perfect go-to snack or yummy treat!

I have become utterly obsessed with making every flavor of marshmallow possible. Today, I bring to you: Chocolate drizzled STRAWBERRY marshmallows. Can you believe how heavenly these pillows of love look?

They are the perfect accompaniment to the Valentine’s Day holiday coming up right around the corner! If you want to surprise your loved ones with a special treat, look no further.

Would you believe me if I told you they couldn’t be easier to make and taste about ten million times more delicious than any store bought marshmallow? I have not used store bought marshmallows in years, since discovering how truly magical marshmallow making is!

You only need a few tools and a handful of ingredients, and you will be well on your way to marshmallow making kingdom. I’m pretty sure these strawberry marshmallows are my favorite flavor that I have made so far. There is something so light and refreshing about them; I couldn’t seem to put them down.

What’s even better is that the flavor options are truly endless. Since I incorporated the use of freeze-dried strawberries in this batch, you can buy any type of freeze-dried fruit you like and turn them into marshmallows.

Have at it, seriously. You will be in awe of the possibilities and flavor combinations.

My three biggest tips when making marshmallows are:

1. Invest in a candy thermometer. You can absolutely eyeball the mixture on the stovetop, but why second guess yourself when there is a fool-proof way to reach the BEST flavor and texture with one, easy-to-use and affordable tool?
2. Use a large and tall saucepan. When cooking the marshmallow mixture, it will bubble up and foam a lot. It will absolutely overflow in a regular saucepan. Make sure you are using one similar to this!
3. Be quick on your feet. The only difficult part of this process is being quick enough when transferring the mixture to your stand mixer and transferring the marshmallow creme to a baking dish to set. I cannot stress enough how quick you need to be after the marshmallow creme is done whipping, when transferring the mixture to the pan. It will start to set immediately, so be sure to have everything prepared and within an arm’s reach. This will ensure the marshmallows are smooth all over and symmetrical.

The chocolate drizzle really brought the strawberry marshmallows to another level of awesomeness; in fact, it was a level I didn’t think could be reached.

If you’re not a huge fan of dark chocolate, you can absolutely leave it off but it sure makes for a stunning presentation!

This recipe is perfect for a gift! Go ahead and pin it for later if you have a special occasion or birthday coming up. You can thank me later!

Original article and pictures take themovementmenu.com site

Chocolate Cherry Overnight Oats.

Chocolate Cherry Overnight Oats.

Start your day with an easy and healthy breakfast recipe – these chocolate cherry overnight oats are sure to be a favorite!

You know how I feel about the oven in the summer time, right? Keep it off as much as possible. Especially during a crazy heat wave like we’re having right now. And if I can keep the stove off, too, even better! I like to keep everything really cool in the house in times like these. It keeps everybody happier and more relaxed. :)

One thing that I find myself making more and more in the summer is overnight oats. Aren’t overnight oats the best? Especially chocolate cherry overnight oats – that’s my all time favorite variety I think.

If you’re like me, you’ll take any opportunity to eat cherries when they’re in season. This easy breakfast is a great way to enjoy them. And if cherries aren’t in season, any berry that you like will do! I also love this recipe with blueberries.

These chocolate cherry overnight oats are:

• gluten free and vegan
• delicious and easy to make
• perfect to serve on busy mornings
• full of fiber
• easier to digest than normal oatmeal

Do you love overnight oats as much as I do?

Original article and pictures take i0.wp.com site