fun eats & sweet treats: bacon wrapped stuffed dates

These bacon wrapped stuffed dates are a sophisticated hors d'oeuvre to offer at a Christmas gathering. They are nutritious, easy to prepare, can be prepared ahead of time & baked just before your gathering, and are low maintenance. Meaning, you could serve them right out of the oven, or they could sit at room temperature for awhile and they will still be delicious.

Bacon Wrapped Stuffed Dates

Using Medjool dates, slit them just enough to remove pit

Stuff with 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon goat cheese or cream cheese

Insert an almond into date

Squeeze date shut

Wrap each date with one piece of bacon*

Place date seam side down on baking sheet

Bake @ 400 degrees for 10 minutes, or until the bacon is cripsy

 (Turn each date at 5 minutes)

*Most recipes call for half a slice of bacon, but I prefer a full slice per date. Since the dates are fairly sweet & soft, the contrast of the salty & crispy bacon is perfect, why not go for the gold? I knew you'd agree. 

fun eats & sweet treats; homemade almond coconut candy bars

Welcome to fun eats & sweet treats; my mini series offering unique ideas for your Christmas menu!

This delicious candy, an organic take on the well-known Almond Joy, is extremely simple to make with minimal ingredients. The recipe calls for no sugar, as the coconut is held together with maple syrup. It is also a very kid friendly recipe. As in, they can help each step of the way, and feel a sense of accomplishment when they make these sweet treats all by themselves. Whip up a batch of these for your neighbor's goodie tray or the office Christmas party, and you will be the star of the show. Guaranteed.

Recipe by Carrie Vitt of Deliciously Organic

Homemade Almond Coconut Candy Bars

What you need:

2 cups unsweetend coconut

1/3 cup maple syrup

*12 whole almonds 

6 oz. dark chocolate chips

1 Tablespoon coconut oil

*Next time I will chop the almonds so as to get little pieces in each bite, instead of one big nut in the midst of enjoying your sweet treat. Also, don't be afraid to roast the almonds for 7 min. at 325 degrees to add more flavor to your sweet treat. Pecans would be a killer substition.

What you do: (this is my personal preference, for Carrie's specific directions, click the link above)

Blend or process the coconut flakes into finely ground coconut. Add maple syrup and pulse until it turns into a moist mixture. Using your hands, form the mixture into minature sized candy bars, and place on a Silpat mat or parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Set one almond atop each candy bar. Gently melt the coconut oil and dark chocolate chips over low heat, stirring constantly. To ensure that you don't burn the chocolate, use a double boiler method. Spoon the choclate over the coconut candy. Refrigerate at least 10 minutes to allow chocolate to set. 

My little chef, licking the chocolate stirring spatula. 

christmas time ponderings...

I have no food inspirations to offer today. Instead, I have late night ponderings from a tired mama who is holding onto the quietness & stillness of her sleepy household, but should be in bed too.

I just finished trimming the tree, admittedly; I enjoyed my time alone to carefully unpack, remember each ornament, and find it a perfect spot on the tree. My tree itself was gift, and most ornaments on it were gifts, or were purchased for special occasions so they have an "event" tied to them.

What is it about Christmastime that makes it so....wonderful? This question was consuming my thoughts as I decorated my tree. It is love, that came to the world in the form of God incarnate - Jesus Christ. Christmastime is a wonderful time in general, and the wonderfulness comes from the one wonderful gift, Jesus. Even if you don't know Him, or don't believe in Him,  you are experiencing His presence in this "Spirit of Christmas" as so many refer to it. He is the reason for the joy that exists within this season we call Christmas.

You can see it all around you if you stop and look; Salvation Army bell ringers, local toy drives, paying it forward at the drive-through window, genuine smiles from strangers, food pantry drives, thoughtful gifts from family and friends, Angel trees, Christmas Cards, setting aside time to connect with family and friends, handy men stopping in cold weather to assist with roadside emergencies, and my favorite - receiving a genuine "Merry Christmas"from a complete stranger. In essence, loving others.

I believe that God is pleased to see His son celebrated in the giving that goes on within this holiday. These are self-less acts, ones that I most certainly applaud. But for me, for this Christmas, I choose to focus on loving. Loving God, my husband, my beautiful children, my family, my friends, my church, and strangers.

What can happen? Only good. Only good comes from love. This may come out in some of the ways listed above; or it may be family time spent together, prayers for other, really listening to my three year old, encouraging a girlfriend, serving my husband, choosing others above myself. I don't know.... I don't have a list. I just have love.

those bananas are going, going.....

Herein are my top 5 favorite things to do with bananas that are going, going....soon to be gone.
Once they start collecting those speckled black spots, you've got two, three days max before they are "past their potential" in my opinion.

1) Pancakes.

We eat these delicious pancakes for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Yes, it's completely acceptable to have breakfast for dinner. Haven't you ever seen the Notebook? You can have pancakes any darn time you want.

Banana Spelt Pancakes

Dry ingredients:
1 cup spelt flour
1 3/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 to 1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg (optional, but oh boy - delish!)

Wet ingredients:
1 egg, beaten
1 cup milk     (I have used soy, rice, coconut & almond milk. Almond is my favorite.)
1 Tablespoon Sucanat OR Maple Syrup
1-2 well mashed bananas (Yes, this recipe is that flexible. Pure awesomeness!)

Slowly whisk dry ingredients into wet ingredients. Stir to incorporate & cook!

Add chocolate chips and you've got a perfect dessert.

2) PB&H

A peanut butter, banana and honey sandwich.
Spread on the pb nice and thick, layer banana slices all across the pb, and drizzle with honey.
Blueberries also work really well with this method.

3)Flambeed

This is really Garrett's specialty. He makes an exquisite bananas flambee. It involves brown sugar, cinnamon, Grand Marnier and vanilla ice cream. Yum. It's worthy of blog post on it's own though, so I will post it soon.

4)Banana Bread


5)Freeze

Peel, cut into chunks and freeze. Frozen bananas are amazing. You can make "ice cream"with frozen bananas and you don't even miss all that cream & sugar in store bought ice creams. Amazing. They also make a mean smoothie!

There you have it, my top 5 things to do with bananas that are going, going....... (better catch 'em before they're gone!)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving from our family to yours......

 We have greatful hearts today for the many blessings our family enjoys. 

Organic Pumpkin Spice Latte

I made this organic Pumpkin Spice latte this morning. It is the perfect fall indulgence. It's a bit of a production without an espresso machine and kids running around, but I will tell you this - it is absolutely worth it.

I changed the recipe ever so slightly; I increased the sugar to 1.5 Tablespoons and reduced the vanilla to 1 Tablespoon. I reduced the vanilla because I have pure Tahitian vanilla, not imitation vanilla. I also used almond milk instead of cow's milk.

I brewed extra (as in quantity) extra-strong Swiss Water Process Decaffeinated espresso so I can repeat this luxurious beverage tomorrow without the additional step of brewing coffee.

If you are feeling extra frisky, whip up a batch of my Dougnut Muffins to compliment your Pumpkin Spice latte.

de-Frenched Chicken Cordon Bleu

How do you de-French Chicken Cordon Bleu? Well, for starters, it's not fried in butter, half and half, or white wine. I also added vitamin & iron rich green leafy spinach. Don't get me wrong, I adore a good Beurre Blanc sauce. Seriously, don't get me started on French cuisine - I dream of Nutella stuffed croissants, creme brulee, crepes drenched with Grand Marnier, crispy & chewy perfectly baked french bread as well as all of their amazingly rich and decadent sauces, not to mention their cheese! Yum. However; French cuisine is not the type of food my family eats on a regular basis. So we press forward in our quest to eat well and still enjoy some kind of French influence in our meals. Because if there is one thing the French know how to do with flare and finesse: it's eat.

How to make de-Frenched Chicken Cordon Bleu:

Filet as many chicken breasts as needed & open the breast to receive the goodness.
Lay a thin slice of deli ham, one slice of swiss cheese and a healthy stack of fresh spinach leaves.
Close the breast. Drizzle with olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper, parsely, sage. Next, pile on the veggies, any veggies will do.

We added onion....

Add chopped carrots....

And peeled, cubed potatoes.

Drizzle with evoo again and seasonings again.

Bake @ 425 degrees for 30-ish minutes - perhaps longer if the potatoes are still crunchy.

Enjoy.