Grain-Free Peanut Butter Cookies

Grain-Free Peanut Butter Cookies RecipePeanut Butter Cookies on a dreary, rainy day? Yes, please! When my 6-year-old suggested making cookies today, so we would have a treat to share with our visiting friends (and a treat for himself!), it sounded like a delicious idea. I modified my Almond Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies recipe (see HERE) to make a batch of Peanut Butter Cookies. I made classic Peanut Butter Cookies for me, and my son wanted Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies for him.… Continue reading

Healthy Snack: Fruit-Sweetened Green Chocolate Smoothie

Healthy Snack: Green Chocolate SmoothieWe love cold, milkshake-style smoothies on a hot afternoon. We haven’t made one all winter, and when my 6-year-old asked for one as a treat this afternoon, it sounded fantastic.

So we pulled out my on-its-last-legs high-powered blender, tossed in a bunch of ingredients, and then enjoyed our smoothies outside on the deck in the afternoon sunshine. This could also be a great breakfast smoothie, though I may add an egg or some nut butter to the mix for a bit more protein.… Continue reading

Easy Fruit-Sweetened Banana Ice Cream

Easy Fruit-Sweetned Banana Ice CreamWhat do you do when your kids are asking for spur of the moment ice cream? Find a way to make it with whatever you have on hand, of course. We had no cream in the house, so this is more of an Ice Milk recipe, but we call anything that’s a frozen ice-cream-like dessert ice cream in our house.

I try to keep our sugar consumption low, so this ice cream is entirely sweetened with fruit.… Continue reading

Homemade Bubble Solution

Homemade Bubble SolutionWe go through a lot of bubble solution in our house. It frequently gets knocked over or spills, my toddler dumps it, and we just all enjoy being outside making bubbles, so it gets used quickly. There’s something magical about watching bubbles fly about in the air, and we all love to partake. Buying bubble solution gets rather expensive, so we’ve been experimenting over the years with making our own.… Continue reading

Refreshing Sparkling Mint Drinks or Virgin Mint Juleps

Refreshing Sparkling Mint Drinks or Virgin Mint JulepsToday is the Kentucky Derby. As my horse-loving friend was preparing for the big race, we were discussing big fancy hats, Mint Juleps, and all things traditionally Derbyish. My 6-year-old was present for the discussion, and asked if I could make him a Mint Julep. I’m not big on giving kids (or myself!) lots of sugar, and I’m definitely not giving them Bourbon, but I did make us all a delicious, refreshing Sparkling Mint Drink using the mint in our garden (the one thing that reliably comes back for us year after year), sparkling water, and a bit of sweetener.… Continue reading

Simple Sun Tea Recipe

Simple Sun Tea RecipeAre you looking for a refreshing drink on for a hot summer day? One of our favorite summer time beverages, which works just as well on a sunny spring day, is sun tea. Sun tea takes no fossil fuels to make it; instead it’s made by pure sun power. It also tastes great, and is a zero- or low-calorie healthy drink (depending on if and how you decide to sweeten it).… Continue reading

Grain-Free Broccoli Breadsticks

Grain-Free Broccoli Breadsticks RecipeWhile I was searching for something new to try in our kitchen, I stumbled across this recipe for Broccoli Breadsticks. We could eat all the ingredients in the recipe, and I happened to have all the ingredients except fresh basil on hand. So I modified it slightly and we decided to give it a try.

I’m not sure what I was expecting when I made this recipe, but the breadsticks didn’t turn out how I imagined they would (perhaps I focused too much on the word “bread” in breadsticks).… Continue reading

Homemade Maple Vanilla Ice Cream

Homemade Maple Vanilla Ice Cream RecipeWe had the opportunity to get some more cream from our local dairy; in addition, we had friends coming over to visit. This combination seemed the perfect reason to make another batch of homemade ice cream (last time we made chocolate ice cream, see HERE).

This time, my 6-year-old requested that we make vanilla ice cream, but not the banana kind (I often use bananas to sweeten my ice cream.).… Continue reading

Easy Egg Salad

Easy Egg SaladHave you had enough of plain hard-boiled eggs? Here’s an easy way to transform your hard-boiled eggs into a simple egg salad. It’s great for making sandwiches, adding a scoop to a lettuce salad for a protein boost, using as a dip for sliced raw vegetables, or simply eating plain with a spoon. Egg salad makes a great lunch at home or on the go.… Continue reading