A Marvelous Monday Update! :)

Hey My Marvelous Rainbows!

Thank you so much for your comments. Each one of them really brightens up my day — I read them, and they really bring a smile to my face and makes my day that much more special. You truly are rainbows in my life, and I can’t thank all of you enough for all of support you have given me throughout all of this hecticness. My life has been occupied with my classes and assignments, but I will reply to you as soon as I can and catch up with all of the wonderful things you are doing.

Here’s some Marvelous Monday fun (and updates)!

I received this lovely package of Hemp Protein High-Fiber Powder in the mail from Amazon (love their free super saver shipping!) a few days ago. I was SUPER excited, as I had been looking forward to trying it out. It’s not my favorite in smoothies, but I love it mixed with vanilla soy/almond milk and cinnamon. (And it has some amazing stats, like 12 grams of fiber and 11 grams of protein! Nom nom.)

I just got a Pinterst account! I adore Pinterest already – even though I haven’t done it for long! (Warning: I have a board for kitty cats. Yes. I’m obsessed. )

I added a link to my sidebar under my Follow-by-Email button right here: —>

And along with the hemp protein high-fiber powder I got Jillian Michael’s 6 Week 6 Pack workout video. I had tried this workout through Netflix (love that site SO much!) and I have been wanting to get it for a while. And now I have it. Jillian loves me so much she doesn’t mind killin’ me.

I love Kohl’s. Especially when they send me little “gift cards” like this. They are so nice. I’ll get myself over there as soon as I get my college assignments done that are due in a few days. I’m thinking of getting some sterling silver earrings — my ears are really sensitive to anything but silver or gold, and I don’t have many of that kind. I really like wearing earrings, so it’s a little thing I can do  :)

I made some more of my Turkish-Inspired Hummus. It’s super simple to whip up in my BlendTec blender and is absolutely delicious with carrot sticks.

At the family camp my mom purchased a jar of raw honey from one of the families who attended. One of their sons has a beehive and actually harvested the honey himself. Nothing really beats the taste of fresh honey. (Now I feel like Pooh Bear! )

Some of the girls in my church requested I made some pumpkin chocolate chip cookies for an activity the next week. So I made some of Joy The Baker’s Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies. I followed the recipe exactly and they turned out beautifully! Their soft and delicate. Everyone loved them. <3

I also made me some more Homemade Sun Butter. (I went to the grocery store with my mom the other day and found out that a jar of SunButter costs $6.99!!! When a 12oz bag of raw sunflower seeds costs me a little under $2.50, I know making my own it worth it. I can get more the double (almost triple) the amount for the same price.) This batch I toasted the sunflower seeds a little longer, so it turned out with a nice toasty color. I had me some of this along with a sliced bosc pear (those are my FAVORITE kind of pear EVER!!). It was quite delicious.

I went to a dance this past weekend. The theme was Candy Land (the room looked like the Candy Land Game Board — I felt like a child again!)! I had SO much fun line dancing and hanging out with friends, but when I got home that evening I found out that I had lost my voice! Haha. I guess I deserve it when I decide to dance near the speakers.

I’m working on a recipe for Grain-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies. Tune in soon for some deliciousness!

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Are your ears sensitive? Can you only wear certain kinds of earrings, like ones made from gold or silver?

I used to wear other kinds my right ear would always start hurting and getting red.

What are some of your favorite things to dip in hummus?

I need more choices so I don’t turn orange again!

Have you ever lost your voice?

The house gets unusually quiet when my sister loses her voice….

with lots of hugs,

Vanilla-Nut Banana Cookies!

Hey My Vanilla-Nut Swirls!

Thanks for all of your comments on my post on my JRA. UPDATE: My knee isn’t hurting as much, the swelling is starting to go down (it’s slow, but steady), and it doesn’t feel as stiff, all of which I am SUPER excited about. I really didn’t want to have to go to the hospital, as I would have had to if it didn’t get better, so having the rest, Motrin, and no-peanut-butter/less-gluten-diet work almost brings tears into my eyes. I can’t wait to when I get to do planks and use the treadmill and workout with Jillian again. I have been doing the workout I shared, but of course I don’t want to do it every day, as the muscles need rest in between workouts to actually rebuild and become stronger, but it’s not the same as doing a full body circuit workout like the ones Jillian Michaels does.

Since I have been avoiding peanuts and cutting back on gluten (which are two foods that can cause inflammation, since the swelling in my knee is a kind of inflammation, I don’t want to put any more stress on my knee than I have to),I asked my parents to get me a BIG bag of almonds, made over a quart of this almond butter (but this time I didn’t use the vanilla in it) to take place of my peanut butter, and then baked this lovely treat because … well — just because I wanted to.

They are gluten-free, peanut-free, soy-free, and made with only five ingredients. And not only are they super easy to make, but they are also rich in fiber, have no sugar added, and are full of fruit and healthy fats!

What are they called? My Vanilla-Nut Banana Cookies!

Chop up your dates and almonds.

Add them along with the oat bran and cinnamon to your blender/food-processor.

Process them at medium-high speed

…until the mixture turns into a fine mill (flour-like).

Pour the mixture into a bowl and form a “well” in the center.

In the middle of the well, add the mashed bananas.

Stir it all up until it forms a dough.

Cookie-scoop the dough onto a non-stick or lightly sprayed baking sheet. You can use a fork to flatten them down if desired, but they taste great either way.

Bake at 350 degrees F (200 degrees C) for 9-11 minutes, or until lightly golden brown and set in the center. Let the cookies cool for a minute or two on the sheet, and then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.

SERVE!

Vanilla-Nut Banana Cookies!

Ingredients

• ½ cup almonds, sliced or chopped (or if your blender/food-processor is strong enough, you can use whole)
  
• ¼ cup chopped dates
  
• 1 cup oat bran
  
• 1 tbsp vanilla
  
• 3 bananas, ripe (with brown spots) and mashed
  

Directions

Chop up your dates and almonds. Add them along with the oat bran and cinnamon to your blender/food-processor. Process them at medium-high speed until the mixture turns into a fine mill (flour-like). Pour the mixture into a bowl and form a “well” in the center. In the middle of the well, add the mashed bananas and stir it all up until it forms a dough.

Cookie-scoop the dough onto a non-stick or lightly sprayed baking sheet. You can use a fork to flatten them down if desired, but they taste great either way. Bake at 350 degrees F (200 degrees C) for 9-11 minutes, or until lightly golden brown and set in the center. Let the cookies cool for a minute or two on the sheet, and then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.

SERVE!

Print This!

Note: to make completely gluten-free (for those who have those concerns), use gluten-free oat bran or gluten-free rolled oats in place of the regular oats.

These did not last long at all. (As they didn’t last long enough before they were all eaten, I’m sure they’d last for over a week or two, as long as they were kept in the fridge; they’d of course last longer in the freezer, which is one of my mom’s favorite ways to eat cookies – straight from the freezer.) They were all eaten within a couple days of me making them. Oh I guess that means I’ll have to make another batch.

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Do you like recipes with a short list of ingredients? I feel that the shorter the list of ingredients the better, and the easier to read and recognize the ingredients on a label the better.

What do you like to do to celebrate birthdays? Tomorrow is my Dad’s birthday and he wants to just go out for dinner. My birthday is coming up and hopefully we’ll get to go bowling! My AP tests will be done that day and by then my knee will hopefully be strong again. If not, I may just make a cake and have it at a game night (we’re thinking of having one at the end of May as an “End-Of-The-School-Year” game night. If that was it that would be enough for me.

How big is your water bottle? Mine’s a 20-oz bottle, but it has a tracker on the top that goes up to 6, so I can track right on my bottle how much water I drank that day.

xoxox,

There’s A Face In My Pumpkin Pie!!!

Hey My Lovelies!

Thanks for all of your comments on my Cookies N Cream Milkshake. I’m going to get you my recipes for a raw version of it, and I have some more delicious recipes for you soon.

Did you enjoy your Thanksgiving? I really enjoyed spending time with my family and reflecting on the things I am grateful for in my life, like my Savior, my family, Mother Earth and all of the creations here, my friends who have always been there for me, YOU, my cousins, my aunts and uncles, my grandparents, my teachers, my church leaders; I got to reflect on the blessings I have in my life. And I love how Thanksgiving gets us prepared for Christmas! Thanksgiving and Christmas are definitely my two favorite holidays of the year!

What did you make for your Thanksgiving Dinner? (If you celebrate Thanksgiving, as I know some of you don’t live in America)

I made quite a few yummies, which included:

Pumpkin Pie!

Can you see it?!

That face – look back up at the picture: can you see it? 

I made the pumpkin pie based on my last recipe, but better! I can share it with you if you would like.

I also made some Homemade Rolls! This is my Homemade Bread Recipe, which I want to do a new post on because I have learned some techniques and have improved the recipe so it’s even better – and I want to explain the process a little more – it’s not as hard as it seems!

Next, I made a Sweet Potato Mash. We washed, pealed (I would have eaten the peals if we had baked them in the oven, but alas, it was mashed potatoes), cut up, and boiled about four sweet potatoes. Then we mashed them up with a little smart balance light buttery spread (which is vegan — no milk, so no tummy ache for me) and non-dairy milk. Yum! Let me say that this Thanksgiving definitely did not help my orangeness problem. 

And then my mom made some Homemade Mashed Potatoes – with the skins. We just prepped the russet potatoes like we did with the sweet potatoes, but kept the peels on them.

I had a very enjoyable Thanksgiving.

I mentioned that I was making some goodies for some Thanksgiving Baskets. I really enjoyed having the opportunity to make them to give away. It makes me feel so good inside when I serve others and share my love of baking. I promised pictures, so here they are!

White Chocolate Chips Chocolate Crinkle Cookies – these are chocolate cookies with white chocolate chips, rolled in powered sugar before baking. They get all “crinkly” as they bake.

And then I made Carrot Cake Cupcakes with Homemade Vanilla Frosting.

I had so much fun decorating these. 

I also promised (on a previous post) that I would spill the beans on my date. And so, as promised:

MY DATE: I really had a fun time. He picked me up at 6pm and we went out to dinner to Jim’s. Then we headed for the football game – well, tried anyways. We got lost most of the way; haha, but we were laughing about it. Once we finally got there, I got to see my first football game live! Yep, that’s right: I’ve NEVER EVER been to a football game before. I’ve seen it on TV, but never in person. The teams that were playing weren’t even my own. I just cheered for my date’s team. Sadly, they lost; but I learned a lot about how the game works. (I bet he got tired of explaining to me everything….) AND THEN afterwards, we went to HEB (a grocery store) for dessert. I know, a grocery store for dessert?! Yep! Plus, it was like after 10 o’clock at night. And what did we get? Oreos. You heard it – Oreos. And when we got home (which was about 10:30), I did have a couple. I’m working on eating those kinds of things. It’s still hard. I really DON’T want to eat them, but I know I need to get over this obsession – and I’m doing better at it. Those were actually the first Oreos I’ve had in a very long time. And then, as such a great gentleman he is, he left the rest of the Oreos for mi familia. If there is any way to win over most of my family, it’s by doing that. You should have seen their faces: hahaha, it was priceless – their eyes said it all (and that smile that crept up their face – yep, it confirmed it). Overall, I really had a fun time. This was actually my second date; my first date was to Prom. I’m actually in no hurry to date. I’ve had made a personal decision not to date until I was 16 (which I am now) and that’s only double or group dating. I don’t really see a reason to date singly or seriously until I’m ready to get married (I’ve also made the decision to not single date until I’m 18). Group dates are more fun anyway, and you get to know more people (and be with MORE guys…. haha, jk! ).

Did you know I’ve always wanted to be a cake decorator? It’s something I’ve always wanted to do and just jump at every chance I get.

Did you see the face on the pumpkin pie? It’s like he’s blinking at me. Even with that face staring at me, he was still delicious. (hahahahahaaaa, *evil laugh* jk!)

Did any of you go Black Friday Shopping?! We went at like 7:30 in the morning to two stores: Target and Payless. We got some clothes, shoes, and stuff for college – we’re starting early: I can show you what we’ve collected so far if you would like. Right now I’m waiting for my college track schedule (I WAS ACCEPTED!!! ) to see if I’ll be going in either the fall or winter of next year.

xoxox,