Chocolate coconut no-bakes

Ingredients:

1 cup coconut sugar

1/4 cup milk

1/4 cup coconut oil

1/4 cup raw almond butter

1/4 cocoa

1 1/2 oats, rolled (raw)

1 tsp vanilla

Directions:

Mix coconut sugar, milk, coconut oil, and cocoa in a saucepan. Bring to boil. Boil 1 1/2 minutes, while stirring. Add almond butter, vanilla and oats. Mix until smooth. Drop by 1 1/2 tbs onto a greased cookie sheet or parchment paper. Refrigerate for about 10 minutes. Eat. 

These are so tasty. I would tell you how long they last, but I ate them within 24 hours (i know.)

Did you know how good coconut oil is for you!?!?! There have been studies that show it halts, and even reverses Alzheimer's disease. AND reduces the risk for it.

To end with a bit of the Bachelor, Courtney totally dropped a bomb when she said "I am so sorry I hurt ben....I really cared about him..." Nice try covering up by saying you still do! I feel like she is conflicted because she does feel bad and wishes she was different, but I think a big part of it is she didn't realize how much it'd backlash on her. I still love her! haha! Seriously- why is everyone so harsh on her? She only says things in public that everyone says behind closed doors. Everyone said nasty things, as we saw tonight. Why is she the horrid one? She was confident, and there were times she DID try...I remember! And so I think all those girlies are just a little hypocritical and silly.

Things I always wonder when watching the Bachelor

1. Why don't the girls and Ben travel TOGETHER. Seems like such a waste of energy and gas and money to fly Ben separate from the girls. They are all going to the same place!

2. Aren't those mic's on their backs ULTRA uncomfortable? And I bet they ruin a lot of outfits too. How do they stick them on? What if they fell? What if they leaned against a wall and smooshed it? This lats episode I think it was Nikki who had a tight dress and her back looked like a cone-back.

3. What kind of people are running the camera's and mic's. I mean...they are ALWAYS around. What if they coughed, sneezed, burped, farted while the couple is having a really intimate/serious moment? What if one of the workers LAUGHED! How couldn't you?

4. You know when Ben was with someone on that mountain? What if it was freezing cold? I would probably be shivering. Not to mention...what if they are all the way up there and have to go pee? What if someone had DIARRHEA! Or on their period?! Yes...I think about these things! I mean...logistics on these dates are really confusing.

5. I don't really need to mention this cause its like the number ONE question on the fantasy suite date week...how would you like to be the 3rd girl? Really...she must feel really special and romantic.

6. I always wonder this one the first 3 weeks....WHAT in the heck do the women do when they aren't on a date?!! I mean...that's a lot of days loungin by the pool. Don't get me wrong- it sounds awesome. But it kind of makes sense why some of the girls get so close and become good friends...what else is there to do?!

7. What does BEN do when there's no date? I mean...sometimes there's like 3 dates. Are these episodes a week long? What does he do? Does he take breaks?

8. What if the food is gross? Sometimes on those dates- the food looks nasty to me. And sometimes people just don't like certain foods.

9. This one gets me EVERY episode. When do they do their confessionals?!?! Sometimes they are wearing the same outfit, sometimes its a different outfit, and sometimes I think...okay so they were just eating and kissing...did a producer say, "OKAY- time. Your turn to talk by yourself. Plug your ears Ben!" Cause that's another thing. Where is the other person? Probably don't another confessional in a different spot. But sometimes I just feel like...how is this going on?

10. When a woman goes home and the camera is in her face while she's humiliated and bawling...how freaking close is that camera? And how awkward does the camera man feel? Sometimes the cars seem really average size...so its like...yeah. Just awkward. 

Alright. Seriously- am I the only one wondering these things? I really really would LOVE to be on the set of the bachelor to just see how it all goes down.

6 things

1. I am sick! It is sucky. I think I'm on the mend though.

2. I made a gluten-free peanut butter cookie made with coconut sugar. They are really good.

3. Ben the bachelor is annoying as heck.

4. WHY ARE THERE NO EPISODES OF REVENGE UNTIL APRIL?! Tonight's episode had my heart beating out of my chest at the end! Seriously, if I were Emily...I think I'd die of anxiety. How does she act so calm ALL the time!?!!

5. I only have like...a month and a week left of school. THANK freaking GOODNESS. I'm so sick of it.

6. My kitchen is SO DIRTY. Oh well. I'm too tired to clean it and its 10 pm. Till Saturday...probably.

That's all. Just figured I'd update my life a bit.

GF/SF Chocolate Mint Cookies

 So I went through a phase where I ate these cookies all the time! Well, not all the time. But it was my treat of choice for a while. They are gluten free/sugar free. Made with quinoa flour, and coconut sugar.

 

Ingredients:

1 cup butter softened

1 1/2 cups coconut sugar

2 large eggs

1 tsp mint extract

2 cups quinoa flour

3/4 cup cocoa powder

1 tsp baking soda

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350. 

Cream the butter and sugar together in a large bowl. Blend in eggs and mint extract and stir until the mixture has a smooth consistency. 

In a separate bowl, combine the flour, cocoa, and baking soda. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and blend well.

Place about 1 1/2 tbs balls of dough on cookie sheet, about 2 inches apart. Bake for 8-10 minutes. Allow cookies to cool before eating. 

 Now personally, I LOVE MINT! Mint and chocolate are divine together. I really want to come up with a mint frosting to put ontop. I also want to replace the mint with vanilla and figure out some sugar free marshmallow to put ontop like chocolate clouds? Yum. 

But, for now...these are pretty durn good.

Life...has been all sorts of crazy for me. But that's okay. I am SO looking forward to May. Tax season will be over, my classes will be over, I will be a CPA, and all I'll have to worry about is fun stuff like a garden, cooking, sewing, etc. Can't wait. 

Our appointment went well. Not TOO much to report. Clay is basically the same, I mean...he's continually improving but basically on the same treatment plan. I am going to start weening off of antibiotics! Can I get a YAHOOOO! I can't wait! These next two months I'm going to be doing two weeks antibiotics, two weeks herbs, two weeks antibiotics, two weeks herbs, etc. I told my doctor everything about how I am basically symptom free but still have achey joints sometimes. Its often enough that I don't think its like normal people, but its a different kind of ache than I used to have. She said that the reason it feels different is because I don't have as much inflammation as I used to. She also said that there's no way to know if it's something I'll just deal with and have because the Lyme could have permanently damaged my tissues...or something. But she gave me this new pill that is supposed to repair cells, so hopefully that helps! I am overall pretty happy with how the appointment went. We are probably still looking at about a year away for thinking about having babies. Which is sucky, but that's okay. I am confident that my babies are up there anxiously but patiently waiting and rooting us on.

Well, I am going to go in the bedroom and get some well deserved tv relaxation time :)

Quinoa Granola with Almond Milk

So last weekend I made homemade granola. It was the best! I got the recipe from this site, but tweaked it a titch.

1 cup whole rolled oats

1 cup buckwheat groats

1/3 cup quinoa

2 T chia seeds         

3/4 cup raw almonds, coarsely chopped

1/2 cup raw pumpkin seeds

1/4 cup raw walnuts, coarsely chopped

1/4 cup shredded coconut

2 tsp cinnamon

1/3 cup golden raisins (or other dried fruit)

1/3 cup raisins

1/2 cup maple syrup

1/2 cup coconut oil, melted

In a large bowl, combine all dry ingredients. Mix well. Add maple syrup and coconut oil. Mix well!

Spread onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake for 60 minutes at 225 degrees.

Let cool completely.

Eat a lot of it. 

 So then I made homemade almond milk. HOLY SMOKIES this was so easy and delicious! I got the recipe and directions from the Little RedHouse. 

 I used an old peanut butter jar that I cleaned to put it in. 

Then, I ATE THE ALMOND MILK AND GRANOLA TOGETHER. Let me tell you, those bites were little pieces of heaven. LOVED it! 

I think the granola probably only lasts a week or less just because it started not tasting as good about a week later. That’s okay though. I doubt yours will last that long.

So so yummy. Clay calls it bird food. But he admitted it was tasty.

In other news, my life has felt quite crazy lately. So many things to do. But you know, somehow I'm still finding time for Revenge, Bachelor, Grey's Anatomy...and more...sadly enough. 

We have our doc appt in a couple days. I am at a point where I barely ever have symptoms, but I do sometimes and so I don't know if they are just human feelings that everyone gets, or if it's Lyme. I hate it. I just keep praying that I'll know the truth, if I'm done with treatment, or should keep going. I haven't quite figured it out yet honestly. A couple weeks ago I honestly thought I would tell my doctor I'm done, and have no symptoms. Then I started having achey joints. It's frustrating because lots of people have achey joints. My number one symptom was fatigue and that is gone. I am doing like...a billion things right now that could cause me to be soooo exhausted, and yeah I'm tired, but so much more energized than a year ago, when I was just working and coming and laying on the couch. So anyway, I am hoping that I can figure this out because the main way we decide to be done with treatments is based off of our symptoms. It's hard to know how honest I'm being with myself when I'm so sick of being treated and I want a baby so bad. Clay reminds me though that I am eating so close to perfect, I'm being active, and if I go off my pills and symptoms come back, I can just go back again. He reminds me that neither of us will ever be as bad as he once was. Never again. That is comforting. But it's still worrisome...to let it come back in any form. So, I will continue praying for wisdom and knowledge, staying in tune with my body, and discussing it with the smart doc :)

Surfboard Rugs

Hey guys! I just wanted to do a quick post to show you guys my sister and bro-in-laws awesome business. They sell SURFBOARD RUGS! How cool is that?! They have a website

http://www.rugboards.com/

These are just a few of the kinds they sell. They are hand made and super quality. And a really good price too! I think it'd be way cool to have one in my kitchen, bathroom, kids rooms. They just are really cool and you can even do custom ordering. They are a family owned business which to me is really appealing because I love investing in America and small businesses.

Check em out!

TRENDY PATTERNS SALE!

Big Sale! From now until February 20th, I am selling ALL my digital files for BUY ONE GET ONE FREE! I recently added a St. Patrick's Day one, for March. 

There's lots of holiday ones...

 And some fun ones for all year long!

And my sewing patterns are included too! Although, your free item must be of equal or lesser value. 

These work great for gifts! Grab a frame and put all the holidays in one behind another so that they can just switch them out each month! Also, colors are flexible, so if you have another color in mind, just convo/email me!

All of the digital prints are $4, which basically means you'd be getting a print file for TWO BUCKS with this deal! Get it printed at costco/sams for 5 bucks, and you have yourself a $7 decoration. Not bad at all.

Go shop!