Easy No Bake Paleo Energy Bites Recipe

Well, it's Friday (hooray!) and it's snowing again (so not hooray). Levi is currently on a nap strike, which, for the record, is waaay better than the nursing strike we survived a couple weeks ago. But still. Ain't nobody got time for a nap strike because hello, I am the Mama and I've got lots of stuff to get done! ;)

Anyhoo.

I shared this recipe years ago but this one is so good it bears repeating. We can't get enough of these things around here. They're the perfect afternoon snack when you need a little pick me up... or mid-morning, as is the case right now..., and they satisfy my cravings for sweets but don't have tons of sugary junk in them. The kids love them, too!

Here's What You Need
1 1/4 cup old-fashioned oats
1/4 cup wheat germ
1/4 cup ground flax seed
1/2 cup coconut (more or less, depending on your taste, but less keeps the calorie count down)
1/2 cup mini chocolate morsels
1 scant tsp vanilla
1/2 - 2/3 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup honey

 Here's What You Do
In a medium mixing bowl, stir together all ingredients until well combined. Just dump it all in there! Chill 20-30 minutes to make it easier to handle.

Once chilled -- if mixture is too sticky, chill for 10 more minutes; if too crumbly, you may need to add more peanut butter or honey to bind ingredients together -- then shape into balls. They're supposed to be stored in an airtight container in the fridge, but that has never applied to this family. They are g-o-n-e gone in twenty seconds flat! Enjoy!

This recipe is totally adaptable and allows for endless variations. We've added raisins, cinnamon, chopped almonds, dried cranberries...you name it, it goes in there! 

Yummy!
Hope you have a terrific weekend!

Adapted from this recipe.

5 Minute Grasshopper Ice Cream Cake & a Happy Birthday

Good Saturday morning! It's a cold, rainy one here, but that's not going to stop us from celebrating the man of the house today! Happy Birthday Daddy!

I shared the recipe for No Bake Freezer Peanut Butter Pie earlier this week, and I've got another recipe to share with you! The easiest, fastest, most delicious 3-ingredient dessert ever...5 Minute Grasshopper Ice Cream Cake!

Here's What You Need
18-22 full-size ice cream sandwiches
8 oz tub whipped topping, thawed
your choice of mint filling- I crushed some Grasshoppers cookies and mint-creme Oreos, but you could use Thin Mints or any other minty-chocolate cookie

Here's What You Do
First, crush the cookies -- I simply chopped them with a knife because I wanted "chunkier" crumbs, but you could easily process them or place them in a plastic bag and crush them with a rolling pin if you want finer crumbs.

Unwrap ice cream sandwiches (the most time-consuming part of this cake!) and layer them in a 13 x 9 dish to completely cover the bottom- you'll have to cut a few in half to fit them in. Next, spread half the whipped topping over the sandwich layer, and add a layer of cookie crumbs over that. And repeat. It's that easy! This doesn't need to set so it's ready to go as soon as you are. You may want to pop it in the freezer for a few minutes if it's a little too squishy, as was the case with mine- it was a hotty-hot day, and it was divine when we devoured it enjoyed a slice or two.

 I chopped up some Peppermint Patties for the top layer but I didn't care for the gooey texture -- the crunch was much better!

I was also a little worried that the ice cream sandwiches might, well, fall apart and sort of collapse when cut into, but they didn't at all -- they sliced beautifully!

So easy! So good! Go make one today!

Adapted from this terrific recipe.

Lastly, I thought I'd share some fun (or funny-looking, ha) pictures of the Man of Honor.

 

Have a great Saturday!

Sharing with//

Chef-in-Training 
Sugar Bee Crafts

Easy No Bake Peanut Butter Pie

I nearly died when I took a bite of this Peanut Butter Pie. In the good way. It was a cinch to make and it was certainly a crowd-pleaser! AND... it's easier than ever to shave off extra calories by swapping out low- or no-fat ingredients!

Here's What You Need
Oreos (I used DoubleStuf...is there really any other kind?)
1/2 stick butter or margarine
2/3 cup smooth peanut butter
1/3 cup sugar
1 Tbsp milk
8 oz cream cheese, softened
8 oz whipped topping, thawed
toppings & garnishes, such as M&Ms, Reese's Pieces, cookies.....

Here's What You Do
Crush 20 Oreos (or more if not DoubleStuf) in either the processor, blender, or in a plastic bag with a rolling pin. Melt butter in the microwave; combine and blend. Pat crumb mixture onto bottom and sides of 9" pie plate. You can add more Oreos with a smidge more butter if you want a thicker crust. Place entire pie plate/ crust in freezer.

For the filling, mix together peanut butter, sugar, milk, and cream cheese until smooth and creamy -- I did this by hand it was fine. I added in the whipped topping at the same time, but the original recipe recommends folding that in last. Either way, it will be sensational. Spread filling onto crust. I was in super crazy rush mode so I completely forgot to add the layer of toppings that's supposed to go in the middle of the filling. Whoops! You know what? Loved it anyway, it's so creamy and light and delicioso! Let set in the freezer for at least 4 hours.

The other change I made was simply a result of the grocery store not having a single bag of Reese's Pieces in stock. Like, nowhere to be found. So I settled with peanut M&Ms, as if that could be settling... I LOVED the pop of color they added to the pie, and the extra crunch was just perfect! I also crunched up some chocolate peanut butter cookies and a chopped up a couple Reese's Peanut Butter Cups to add to the mix. So SO good! The pie is all gone now, and we miss it. So so sad. Next time I may add a hot fudge drizzle (we're not big fans of chocolate syrup), but of course the calorie count will probably double.

Worth.It.

Adapted from this terrific recipe.

We were in the midst of such a heat wave this past weekend that we decided on a no-bake cake for the almost- birthday boy. This was the perfect solution! I think I'm on to something here...

This is a scaled-back Fiesta Forty. Long story.
I got some Coca-Cola glasses from the dollar store, and the smaller ones were .59 a piece. They looked really cute with the bright flowers.
See Caleb's foot pillow there? Poor thing.

 ***Do you also see what's different???
It's the floor! It's the floor! No more nasty carpet! Hallelujah!
Although next up is the kitchen. That's a whole lotta tile to take up!

Now go make some Peanut Butter Pie!  =)

Sharing with//
Lil Luna 
The Girl Creative 
Chef-in-Training 
Sugar Bee Crafts

Thoughts and a Fun Recipe

This transitioning business is hard stuff.
We knew it was the right thing to do to leave our forever-gone-there church, and then our home of over a decade, where we brought home newborn Caleb and 19-month-Isabelle four years later. Some days I move forward in our new church and home without so much as a glance backward, hopeful for what lies ahead. And then there are other days, days like this one. It's dark and raining today, which presented some additional challenges in getting Caleb and his broken leg and still-awkward crutches into school this morning. There was a behavior incident with Isabelle, so I needed to speak with her teacher this morning as well-- maybe I'll write more about that later. Not the greatest start to the day, that's for sure.
Then I decide to drive by our old house.
Big mistake.
I realize I've never told the story about the sale of our home on the blog before. Skip ahead if you want to avoid the drama, because I have a feeling it's going to be a doozy today.
If you've read for a while, then you know that we decided to put our house up for sale for three main reasons: 1) to secure the funds to complete another adoption; 2) to have a bigger yard; 3) our backyard neighbors had grown increasingly hostile towards us and our children -- and I think they are literally a little crazy in the head No, for reals.
Our house sat and sat. Minimal showings for 2 months, and we were really frustrated and discouraged. Then in late August we get an offer. It was an insulting, low-ball kind of offer from who we assumed was a single mother from Massachusetts, given the one name on the offer contract. For this reason, we decided to give her the benefit of the doubt and not write the offer off completely. She was also asking for the clubhouse/swing set and sandbox to stay, AND...for us to close on the house within 10 DAYS. We figured it was so she could get her children up here and settled before school started. We talked about it, prayed about it, and decided upon a counter offer price, and that we could be in 12 days. (We had been packing things up all summer long, and we'd arranged to stay with Bill's parents temporarily should the need arise.) We packed and packed and scrubbed and cleaned and cleaned again- I was literally in tears the day I walked out of that house for the very last time because it looked so beautiful! Not to mention all the memories...
Imagine our surprise when at the closing at the bank, in walks a neighbor and who we thought was a friend, without his wife. I didn't get it. I was completely dumbstruck. All that time I had it in my mind that we were helping out a poor single mother who was trying to start over, based on the information that had been given to us. Now we're hearing that his Mom wants to be closer to the grandkids. Fair enough. But then the story keeps changing. As it turns out, our friend's mother was purchasing the house for him, in her name and his, but not his wife's. That was the big rush, to complete the purchase while his wife was out of town. It had nothing to do with schools and starting over and helping single mothers. My heart sank so low that day it took a good week to feel it begin to lift again. I was heartsick over his wife - my good friend - and family. This man used information attained through friendship as a means to then use it all against us. Worse, we felt like we were co-conspirators. It was horrible. Then the house sat empty for the next three weeks.
So, back to today. I drive by the house and tears begin to spill before my brain can even register what my eyes are seeing. Every plant, every flower, every one of our children's special trees, demolished. The tree we wrapped in Christmas lights, gone. Our favorite shade tree in the back, now nothing but a slight indent in the ground, already covered with dirt. I know, I know. It isn't my house anymore. I have no right to be upset about anything like this.
But I'm human. And I'm spit-mad. I mean, would it really have been that big a deal to Facebook me and say, "Hey, so we're ripping out every living thing in the yard, anything you might want to come and get?"
I don't even have the right words. Disappointed? Betrayed? Belittled? Just plain sour. There is a consuming sourness about it all. One thing I forgot to mention- in my haste to get out of the house so quickly, I never went back and got snips of the special flowers, the Columbines from my mother, from her mother; those bigger-than-life peonies, given to me on my first Mother's Day as a Mama of three little boys; the beautiful lilacs and hydrangeas that I had to ask for help hoisting up into the car because of my Caleb-swollen belly that first summer we lived there. All those hours working, planning, digging, caring for, enjoying, studying, capturing in pictures, and memories.
And now seems like the right time to give in to the good cry so desperate to surface, and then to move on.
The owners of this house had kind of let things go, so we've been working hard. Just wait till you see all we've done in the yard here so far!

*****
Oh yes, the recipe. Just a little one that we've been enjoying a whole lot lately.

Sometimes (okay, all the time) I crave something sweet that I know isn't going to sabotage my efforts to slim down. I saw gazillions of recipes floating around Pinterest a while back and tried a few out. They were mostly referred to as "Energy Bites," and the ingredients were all fairly similar; however, a couple didn't taste quite right, and others simply fell apart on the plate. The recipe I liked the most still tasted a bit too sweet (I know, what?!?), and I wanted even more nutritional stuff in there, so I changed it up slightly. These are a great pick-me-up for tired or even grumpy little scholars after a long week at school. Make some and watch those frowns turn upside down!  =)

Here's What You Need
1 1/4 cup old-fashioned oats
1/4 cup wheat germ
1/4 cup ground flax seed
1/2 cup coconut (more or less, depending on your taste, but less keeps the calorie count down)
1/2 cup mini chocolate morsels
1 scant tsp vanilla
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup honey

Here's What You Do
In a medium mixing bowl, stir together all ingredients until well combined; Chill 20-30 minutes. Once chilled -- if mixture is too sticky, chill for 10 more minutes; if too crumbly, you may need to add more peanut butter or honey to bind ingredients together -- shape into balls. They're supposed to be stored in an airtight container in the fridge, but that has never applied to this family. They are g-o-n-e gone in twenty seconds flat! Enjoy!

This recipe is totally adaptable and allows for endless variations. We've added raisins, cinnamon, chopped almonds, dried cranberries...you name it, it goes in there!

Adapted from this recipe.

ps-  if you made it to the end of this post, I owe you some thanks! Have a great day!