Maple Pecan Walnut "cracker/cookies"

I wanted to bake another portable snack for the girls and whipped this up. Rory told me "you'd better write this one down"... If only you could have seen the look on his face after his first bite. Needless to say, all family members readily approved of this!

2 cup pecans

1 cup walnuts

2 tsp baking soda

scant 1/2 tsp sea salt

3-4 tbsp maple syrup

1/2 tbsp water

3 tbsp grapeseed oil

1. In a blender or food processor, pulse the nuts, soda and salt until finely ground.

2. In a bowl mix together nut mixture, maple syrup, water and grapeseed oil until well combined.

3. Spread onto a parchment or silpat lines cookie sheet.

4. To help get a uniform thinness, I put a piece of saran wrap over the top and used my hands to pat it into a rectangle shape that was about 1/8 to a 1/4 inch thick.

5. Bake at 350 for ~15-17 minutes.

6. Let cool then cut into squares.

Enjoy!

Pumpkin Noatmeal

I love fall. I pretty much love everything about it: crisp air, changing leaves, and of course... pumpkins! Pumpkin anything makes me happy. I opted for a "fall" breakfast this morning and was so pleased with the results.

handful of walnuts

handful of pecans

2 tbsp ground flax

3 eggs

1/2 cup pumpkin

1/2 c coconut milk

1/4 c water

2-3 tbsp maple syrup

1 tsp cinnamon

1-2 tsp vanilla

dash of nutmeg

dash of salt

In a blender, pulse the nuts until coarsely ground. Add in remaining ingredients and blend until mixed. Cook over medium heat stirring frequently until thickened and heated through.

I served Aubrey's with some raisins, a pat of butter, and extra drizzle of maple syrup. She ate up the whole thing!

No-atmeal

I enjoy No Oat Oatmeal from MDA, but I'm constantly switching things up based on what I have in my kitchen (you know me... I do that ALL the time!). Here's my little version this morning...

1 handful of pecans

1 handful walnuts

2 tbsp ground flax

generous dash of cinnamon

small dash of nutmeg

pinch of salt

3 eggs

1/3 c (ish... I eyeballed it) coconut milk (if you like yours a little runnier add a couple of tbsp water)

1/4 of an apple

1/2 peach (no need to peel)

1. In blender or food processor, grind nuts, flax, and spices until you get a nice pulp.

2. Add in remainder of ingredients and blend until desired texture. (I like mine fairly smooth with a few nice chunks of nuts).

3. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until desired thickness is reached.

Since I'm on a 30 day strict paleo challenge, I ate mine with some diced bananas on top on some melted coconut oil. Yum! For Aubrey, I did the same but drizzled honey on the top.

Bacon Wrapped Dates or Figs

As promised, I did indeed make bacon wrapped dates (I thought they were figs originally...oops!) for Christmas and again a few nights later. Caution-these are addicting!

Dried dates or figs

pecan halves

bacon

1. Stuff each date with a pecan. (Depending on the size I sometimes had to cut the pecan in half to fit it in.)

2. Wrap a piece of bacon around the date. This is where is gets a little tricky. I used some kitchen shears to cut the bacon. There should be plenty of overlap when wrapping the bacon around the date, otherwise when you bake them the bacon will come undone.

3. Bake at 350 until bacon is crispy. Be sure to turn the pieces throughout the cooking time to make sure the bacon cooks evenly.