eat! craft! live!

:: photo friday :: last of the harvest

:: photo friday :: macarons!

gelato!

We made delicious maple gelato in a faulty ice cream maker! Read about it and get the recipe over here.

It's been a busy summer, I hope you've all been having a blast!

:: photo friday :: tomato time

:: photo friday :: blueberry season

:: photo friday :: garden goodies

:: photo friday :: dilly bean season

coconut cream pie "laraballs"

Back when I was doing my Whole 30, I stumbled into a delicious "dessert" - whole dates with unsweetened coconut. I'd just put a bit of coconut in a bowl, add some dates and...that's it! It was simple, delicious, and while not exactly healthy, it wasn't that bad for you. (That's still a lot of sugar, yo, and the powers-that-be would probably frown on me having any sort of "dessert" at all. But anyway...)

A few days after that, I discovered Larabars. I know, where have I been? Well, to be quite truthful, Larabars are a little out of my normal price range. But, I had a coupon and they are almost all made with Whole 30 compliant ingredients, so I bought a few to take with us on a road trip to Connecticut in case we needed a quick snack in the car. One of the flavors I grabbed was the coconut cream pie flavor and oh my heavens, it was delicious. Very reminiscent of my dates-with-coconut dessert and I knew I needed to figure out how to make it.

Turns out if you Google "homemade larabars" there are a LOT of options out there... Mine isn't groundbreaking in any way, I'm just sharing because I can! The ingredients are simple - dates, unsweetened coconut, almonds, cashews and coconut oil. I formed mine into balls, just because that seemed the easiest. This recipe consistently makes 17 slightly-bigger-than-a-tablespoon balls for me.

coconut cream pie laraballs

• 1/2 c. raw almonds
• 1/2 c. raw cashews
• 1 c. pitted dates (I used 11-12)
• 1 c. unsweetened coconut flakes
• about 2 teaspoons extra virgin coconut oil, slightly melted (Normally I used refined coconut oil for cooking but in this case you do actually want the extra coconut flavor.)

Grind up the almonds and cashews in a food processor until they are crumbly, but not super fine. Set aside in a small bowl. Pulse the dates a few times, then add the coconut and nuts and pulse to combine. Drizzle in the coconut oil and combine. (Feel free to add more coconut oil, if desired.) The mixture will be crumbly but should stick together when formed into balls. I use my tablespoon measure to scoop out lumps of the mixture and form it into a ball. I keep them stored in a glass container with a lid, in the fridge. They will firm up upon cooling.

deviled eggs au gratin

Yum yum! If you have leftover deviled eggs, make them into a meal! (Or perhaps make a whole new batch, because really who ever has leftover deviled eggs?) I blogged a 75 year old recipe for deviled eggs au gratin over at the work blog...check it out!

mom's spinach lasagna

Oh, this lasagna.

This lasagna is easy, tasty, inexpensive. It is easily doubled and I often make two at once - one to eat immediately and one to stash in the freezer for some future lazy day. It's my go-to dish to bring to cold-weather potlucks, new parents, anyone who needs a little food-pick-me-up. It freezes well and reheats beautifully. I've been meaning to blog this recipe for ages but somehow hadn't gotten around to it...I was reminded to when I made it for a friend (and also our freezer) and also gave the recipe to another friend to make ahead for her freezer to prep for a new baby. I got the recipe from my mother, which is why I consider it my mother's spinach lasagna. But, she got from someone else, who likely clipped it from a magazine some 20-odd years ago or more. (Basically, I have no idea where this recipe originated.) And...apologies, but I have no photo of the finished product. Use your imagination, it looks much like any other lasagna.

mom's spinach lasagna

• 1 15 oz. container of ricotta
• 8 oz. shredded mozzarella
• 1 egg
• 1 10 oz. package frozen chopped spinach, thawed
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• 32 oz. pasta sauce
• 9 lasagna noodles
• just under 1 cup water

Preheat oven to 350°.

In a medium bowl, mix together the ricotta, egg, spinach, salt, oregano, and half the mozzarella.

In a 13x9 baking dish, layer 1/4 of the sauce, followed by 3 lasagna noodles and half of the ricotta mixture. Repeat. Top with 1/4 of the sauce, 3 more lasagna noodles, the remaining sauce and finally the remaining shredded mozzarella. (Got that? From the bottom - sauce, noodles, ricotta, sauce, noodles, ricotta, sauce, noodles, sauce, mozzarella.)

Finally, pour the water carefully around the edge of the pan. Cover tightly with foil and bake for 1 1/4 hours or until bubbly.

Mixing the ricotta mixture.

I used cheap sauce. Feel free to get fancy!

Sauce, with noodles on top.

Now with ricotta!

The final layer of mozzarella.

Now pour water around the edges...

...and you end up with weird, watery tomato-ness at the edges. It's OK. It'll all soak in and be delicious. I promise.