Thursday, June 6, 2013

Pinspired: No-Bake Brown Butter Quinoa Bars

I think I've mentioned a time or two on here my obsession with quinoa.  
I cannot get enough of it.
Fortunately my boys love it too, so no one in my house is complaining that we have it almost every.single.day.

Decided to venture out and try something new {something sweet!} with my quinoa.
Came across this recipe on Pinterest from one of my favorite blogs and was pinspired.

No-Bake Brown Butter Quinoa Bars

Ingredients:
1 cup cooked quinoa, cooled
1 1/4 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1 cup coarsely chopped raw almonds
1/2 cup ground flaxseed
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup honey
1/4 cup unsalted brown butter, lightly cooled
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup chocolate chips

Directions:
In a large bowl, combine quinoa, oats, almonds, flaxseed and salt, stirring to mix well.  Fold in chocolate chips.
Stir in honey, brown butter and vanilla extract, mixing well with a spoon until combined and entire mixture is moistened.  If it still seems too dry, add additional honey 1 tablespoon at a time, but you don't  want it to be too wet.

Line a 9x9 baking dish with plastic wrap or parchment paper.  Firmly press the mixture into the pan, into all corners and evenly top it off with a spoon.  You want it packed as tightly as possible.  Refrigerate for at least two hours, then remove and lift granola bars out of pan, cutting into 12 squares.  These work best refrigerated.

These were SO tasty!
Definitely a better solution to my sweet tooth than say ice cream or donuts {my downfall}.
My only complaint is I could never get them to stay in bar form.
Ended up being more of a crumble, but still oh so tasty!
Enjoy!

Tuesday, June 4, 2013

A Baby SPRINKLE!

I mean how cute are these??

A dear friend is expecting her second child and while she did not want to have a shower, we knew we still had to honor her and celebrate Baby #2.  What better way than a simple sprinkle?

With just a few jars of rainbow sprinkles and simple supplies we already had, we were able to host this sweet soiree.


We decided a light menu of sweet treats was the way to go.
Funfetti sprinkle dip

Chocolate and sprinkle dipped strawberries

And the best ever sprinkle cookies.
My friend Haley makes these, and they are dangerously delish!

Melt Away Cookies
Makes about four dozen small cookies.
Cookies:
1 18 oz box white cake mix with pudding in the mix
2/3 cup flour
2 large eggs
1/3 cup canola oil
2 T sour cream or plain nonfat Greek Yogurt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In a large mixing bowl, combine cake mix and flour.  Add eggs, oil and sour cream and mix on medium speed. Batter will be fairly stiff.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper (really important to keep cookies soft!). Roll batter into 1 inch balls and and gently flatten until about 1/2 inch thick.  You don't want the bottoms to be browned or you've overbaked these. Bake approximately ten minutes until just set. Let them cool about one minute on the pan and then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

Frosting:
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 T heavy cream
1 t vanilla extract
3-4 cups powdered sugar
1 T meringue powder (optional, useful if you want your icing to harden)
Food coloring or sprinkles as desired

Beat butter on medium speed for about two minutes until smooth.  Add cream and vanilla and beat about one more minute to incorporate.  Add sugar, one cup at a time mixing on low speed until incorporated until you reach the desired consistency.  Add meringue powder.  Frost cooled cookies and decorate with your favorite sprinkles! Store cookies in an airtight container.

And of course with cookies you need a good glass of milk!

I made this simple banner just drawing the letters on cardstock, outlining with glue and adding the sprinkles.  For added "sprinkles" Haley cut out circles from different colored construction paper and stuck on the wall.  Such a fun touch!

A little glue, sprinkles and ribbon make for an easy centerpiece.

 
 With all my leftover sprinkles, I just added to my votives for an extra touch of sprinkle.

Cheers to our sweet friend and Baby #2!

Monday, June 3, 2013

Scenes from the weekend...

What a weekend!  We enjoyed time with fabulous friends sans kids.  I love my little man more than you can imagine, but it is oh so good to have time away every now and then.

We ventured out to the lake Friday to celebrate a friend's 30th.  It was a weekend of fun and fellowship complete with delicious food {even homemade ice cream!}, tasty drinks {and mocktails for us preggers} and clever koozies {we love a good hashtag!}.  We enjoyed sitting out on the deck Friday night grilling and chatting and stayed up way too late for this mama.  Saturday was all about fun in the sun and time out on the water.  The boys surfed and wake boarded while the girls lounged on the pontoon boat.  It was so relaxing!  A quick storm delayed our sunset boat ride to dinner, but the rainbow afterwards was worth it.  
After another night of staying up too late, we headed home Sunday morning to see our little man.  A shaved ice treat and playtime at the park were just what we needed.  It was the perfect weekend!






















Friday, May 31, 2013

Five on Friday

Happy Friday friends!

I am so excited to be linking up with Darci over at [the good life blog] to share what five things I'm loving this week.



1. La Croix Mocktails

It's hard enough being preggers and not being able to indulge in a cocktail every now and then.  But being pregnant in the summer is the worst.  What is about warm weather and patios that just call you to sip on a little something something?
So, I have been all about some "mocktails" and was thrilled to find all the recipes on La Croix's website.
My favorites are the Mojito and Cran-Razzle.
I certainly enjoyed many of these at the beach!


I'm all about a tan.  However, I am not quite the sun goddess I used to be.
Definitely caught some rays at the beach but am so thankful for this Natural Glow to even things out.
This 3 day version is the best and keeps me looking sun kissed.
Plus, the new scent is so much better!  You can actually wear it out without smelling like the tanning bed.


Maternity clothes are definitely my friend these days, but I love finding non-maternity clothes.
I was thrilled to snag this Target maxi!
It's so comfortable, and I love that it's short enough for me to wear with flats.

Don't you just love summer produce??
We have been taking advantage of it and loving the fresh flavors.
Our go-to dish this week was the Farmer's Market Skillet from the adorable Iowa Girl Eats.
The basil just makes it!

5. Nap time
Now that I'm a SAHM I have never appreciated nap time more.
I love my little man and have so enjoyed my time with him, but oh do I enjoy nap time.
It's the one time during the day when I have time all to myself.  Catching up on Real Housewives, online shopping, cleaning or even a little nap for this tired mama.  
It's the little things friends.

So, any big weekend plans?
We are headed to the lake with friends to celebrate a big 3-0 birthday celebration.
Happy Friday!

Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Trip to Louisiana

Before we hit the beach we ventured to Louisiana to catch up with B's family and mine who met us there from Dallas.  Since I still have yet to upload all my pics from the beach I thought I'd share some from our time in Louisiana with family.  Each time we all get together I am just reminded and humbled by how blessed we are to have parents, grandparents and siblings that love our child so well.  We enjoyed such sweet time just catching up, playing outside and eating way too much.