Raw Nut and Seed Bites

Hello blog world!
Happy Monday!

I am at it again! I just keep on making little bite size snacks and we keep on eating them so darn quickly! Dan said these ones are his favourite, so I figured I should share the recipe with you. I hope you enjoy them as much as we did. 

This recipe makes 25.

Here is what you need to do. Start by processing the following ingredients in your food processor.

• 1 cup pitted, dried dates
• 1 cup lukewarm water

Once that becomes a paste add the following ingredients and process until all the nuts are in small pieces but not too long that they become a butter.

• 1 cup almonds
• 1/2 cup peanuts
• 1/3 cup sesame seeds
• handful of chia seeds
• handful of flax seeds

Lastly add in...

• 1 cup of oats

Now scoop out the "dough" and make cute little two-bite balls. That sounds bad, but I don't know how else to say it! Place them on some wax paper for a bit and then you are all done!

 Now I am off to read and then to get some sleep. We did a quick road trip to New Brunswick to visit Dan's brother and his girlfriend/my childhood friend Kelly. It was a nice trip, short & sweet. We drove through a crazy snowstorm yesterday (what the heck mother nature! It's SPRING!! Rant over) and it took us a few extra hours to get home. We are both exhausted today. So sleep time for me!

I hope you all have a beautiful Monday evening!

xo

Peanut Butter Chocolate Coconut Cookies

Can it get any better than this?
I am not sure, because these are pretty darn amazing.
A week and a bit ago I made these cookies & they were eaten pretty fast. Please don't judge, it's not just me who eats all the cookies although I wish I could. Dan & I loved these cookies so much that I decided to make them again but with peanut butter. Of course peanut butter makes everything better!!

Also, Happy Thanksgiving to all of my American friends! Most of my readers are from the states so I figured I should give a shout out to you guys! Canada celebrates thanksgiving in October. Enjoy your time with your friends & family.  It is always good to take time & be thankful for the wonderful lives we have. I hope you all enjoy your turkey dinners! :)

Here is the recipe :)

In a medium size pot on medium to high heat put:

• 1/4 cup peanut butter
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar (not super packed down)
• 1/4 cup of skim milk 
• 2 tbsps cocoa powder

Bring it to all to a boil. Set your timer & let it boil for a minute. Don't forget to stir ;)

Once it is done boiling take the pot off of the heat. 

Add these ingredients into the pot. Combine well:

• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/4 cup of non sweetened coconut (you can use sweetened if you want)
• 1 1/2 cups of quick oats (you can add a little bit extra if you feel it needs it)

OPTIONAL:

• add some raisins
• add some chocolate chips
• add nuts of your choice

SPOON out the cookie dough & place them onto wax paper to cool. Once they are cool they should harden up a it & look like little macaroons/cookies. This recipe makes 12 cookies.

Enjoy!

I promise you will!

xo

Coconut-Spiked Pork with Peanuts & Quinoa

Want to try a new Quinoa dish?? Well try THIS! I will for sure be making this again! Before I get to the recipe, HAPPY MONDAY EVERYBODY! Yay, it's Monday. I hope everyone is having a fab day! I went to my French course this morning and I improved my plus-que-parfait skills and my verbes pronominaux! If you all don't know what that is, don't worry about it! Be happy that you are not confusing your brain! French is a complicated language. Although everything I am learning in my course I have already seen(and learned), it is a good review for me. As soon as I think I understand something, they throw in a new exception or a new rule that I have to train my brain to follow!  As difficult as it can be sometimes, I am very thankful for the opportunity to improve my French. I know that it will help me out now and in my future. I feel myself improving and my vocabulary widening. It's a good feeling. We should have (hopefully) just another year here, so I must soak up everything! The French, the culture & the outdoors. I know the day that we move will be bitter-sweet for me. It will be exciting to move back to Ontario. We will be able to speak English {Everyday!!}, we will be closer to our family & friends and Dan and I will be able to study full time! On the other hand, I love Quebec. I will miss speaking French everyday, and the friends that we have made here. We have started our life together here, so Saguenay means a lot to me. We still have another year so I need to enjoy it!
Now back to my recipe :)
You will need:

• 2 leeks, white part only. Washed and sliced.
• 4 cloves of garlic, quartered
• 1 chile pepper, quartered
• 1 1/2 cups or chicken broth
• 1/2 cup of coconut milk
• 1/4 cup of dry roasted peanuts
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 4-6 pork chops, sliced
• 2 tsps ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper
• 1 can of diced tomatoes with juice
• 1 cup quinoa, rinsed and drained
• 1 cup sliced green beans

Sounds good? Let's get started.

Step one:

In a food processor, pulse the leeks, garlic, and chile pepper until finely chopped. {About 15 times} Stop and scrape down the sides of the processor bowl once to make sure everything gets chopped. Transfer to a bowl and set aside.

I actually haven't had the chance to show you guys my new food processor!Isn't she a beaut!! My amazing grandma gave it to me (us :) for Christmas this year! It matches our mixer! LOVE IT! Thanks g-ma!

Step two:
In your processor, process the coconut milk, the broth and the peanuts together. About 30 seconds. You don't need to rinse out the processor after you used it to process the leaks etc..

Step three:
In a wok or large skillet, heat the oil over medium high heat. Add the pork and cook until it lightly browns. Set aside.

Step four:
In your wok that's already heated up add the leak mixture. Cook and stir until softened for about 5 minutes.
Add the cumin, salt and pepper. Stir in and cook for another minute. Add the tomatoes and the coconut/peanut mixture to the wok. Stir and bring to a boil. Now stir in the quinoa and green beans and return it to a boil.

Step five:
After it comes to a boil, reduce the heat to low and cover the wok with a lid. Let it simmer until the quinoa is soft &cooked. It should be about 20 minutes.

Enjoy every bite!

xo

Peanut Butter Banana Muffins

My wonderful sister in law sent me this recipe. They turned out great! Dan ate two as soon as they were out of the oven :) Here is a high in fiber, low in fat and high protein muffin recipe! Thanks Claire!  Here's what you need:

2/3 cup peanut butter

1/2 cup mashed bananas

3/4 cup plain yogurt

3 tablespoons honey

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 eggs

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 cup sunflower seeds (optional)

2 tablespoons unsweetened strawberry conserve, or jam. (I used our apple cinnamon homemade jam..we didn't have any strawberry)

peanuts for garnish (optional)

Preheat oven at 400 degrees. 

Grease 12 muffin cups

In a bowl mix together peanut butter, bananas, yogurt or buttermilk, honey, vanilla and eggs

In another bowl combine the flour, cinnamon, baking powder, and baking soda, stir together and add to wet ingredients.

Stir in sunflower seeds.

Half fill the muffin cups, top with a teaspoon of conserve, then top with remaining batter and sprinkle with peanuts and sunflower seeds.

Bake for 20-25min until golden brown

Happy Tuesday everyone! (Sorry for posting a day late!)
Be ready for next week! I will be sharing some great Christmas baking!
xo
- Britt

Three Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies

Three Ingredients, HOW EASY IS THAT? I love this recipe, its so easy and quick! This will probably be my last cookie post for awhile... I've been making TOO many! hahah. Lets begin!
-1 cup of peanut butter
-1/2 cup of sugar
-1 egg
MIX EM ALL TOGETHER, AND VOILA!

Mixer in action!

Put cookies on a greased pan. Cook at 375F for about 15 minutes. Let cool, then EAT! mmm

xo