Hershey's Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies

We got a Hershey's cookbook when we were married.

I've tried making more recipes in the last couple of years than I had in the last 17 years!

But, this time I health-ify the recipes.

And they are really good! These are one of our favorite cookies.

Here's the healthy version:

Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies
1 cup butter, softened
2 1/2 cups coconut sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cup spelt flour
1/2 cup Cacao
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3 cups quick oats
1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all ingredients together. Drop by rounded tablespoons onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 11-12 minutes or until set; cookies will be slightly moist in center. DO NOT OVERBAKE. Pull these out of the oven before you think they are done.

Baptism

This sweet little girl got baptized! Can't believe she's already 8!

(Don't let this picture fool you - she really does have 2 legs)

She got to be baptized with her cousin (in the pink shirt).

Afterwards we had a party with donuts and fruit!!

Last JV game of the season

I love watching my boys play!

#9 and #25

Pumpkins and Ghosts

Quick and simple snack that works great for this time of year!

Our little guy woke up one morning requesting a ghost!

I love fun, healthy and easy snacks!

Thanks Pinterest!

Coconut Balls

I found this dish at Marshall's. I LOVE that store!

The chocolate balls are here. And the white balls I found at Marshall's too!!

This is what they look like (here). But if you can find them at Marshall's they are $3.00 cheaper.

They're pretty good too!

Bananas on a stick

This idea came to me when I was having fun with bananas back here.

These are a healthier version of the marshmallow on a stick with melted chocolate on top.

And these are a yummy treat!!

This was my breakfast one morning and everyone thought I was crazy because I made it just like this.

I put almond butter on top and dipped them in granola.

These would still be yummy without the sticks too :)

These are so good!!

Oatmeal Breakfast Bars

The original recipe came from the Enlightened Homemaker (here).

1 C Oatmeal
1 1/2 C boiling water
1/3 C coconut oil 
2/3 C honey
2 eggs
1 1/2 C whole grain flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 C shredded coconut
1 small apple grated

1. In a sauce pan boil water. Take off the heat pour in the oatmeal and let it sit for 15 min.

2. Cream oil, honey, and egg. Then add the oatmeal,flour, soda, cinnamon, salt, coconut and apple. Don't over mix.

3. Pour into a greased 9x13 pan. Bake at 325 for 20 to 25 min., or till done.

The kids voted this as a keeper!!

Pancakes and Blueberry Waffles

We aren't that big pancake eaters.

We would much rather have waffles around here.

But this is the recipe we use:

2 eggs
1 C whole grain flour
1 C milk
1 T honey (or coconut sugar)
1 T oil (or butter)
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda

Mix and cook until golden brown.

My husband made a twist on this recipe.

He used the same recipe but added blueberries. He used frozen ones, put them in some water to thaw them out and then drained the water. Instead of making pancakes, he made them into waffles.

We have one son (who will remain anonymous) who does NOT like waffles, but you should have seen his smile with these.

We made these a week later and he heard that we were having waffles. He did NOT want to eat them. He said that he only eats blueberry waffles. He was a happy boy to find out that we were having them!

Yum - O!

Pecan Granola

 

I found this recipe from The Enlightened Homemaker, here

PECAN GRANOLA

1/2 cup raisins

1 1/4 cup pecans (best if soaked overnight and dehydrated)

1 cup unsweetened, shredded coconut

1 tsp vanilla

1 Tb. coconut oil (do not melt)

2 T. honey

1/4 cup quinoa or millet

Put all in a blender or food processor and blend until just fine chunks. You can eat this raw at this point or you can put it on a cookie sheet spread into a bar about 1/2 inch thick. Bake at 300 degrees for about 10-15 minutes or until slightly golden. Allow to cool and then crumble. Serve warm over fruit or serve raw with fruit. You can store in the fridge or freezer for later use. Great with yogurt and plain as well. You can add all sorts of grains and dried fruits as desired.

 

This was so easy and yummy! 

 

I used this on bananas and in yogurt parfaits. So good!

Fish

This is what my husband made for lunch one day.

Red Quinoa
Salmon
Bell Peppers
Green Onions

Yum!

No Bake Cookies - Healthy Version

I love The Unrefined Kitchen!

That's where I got this recipe.

I had tried this recipe before - like maybe a year ago. No one really liked them but me.

I decided to make them again, but this time everyone liked them!

Awe-some!

You can find the original recipe here:

 N0-Bake Cookies

Ingredients:
1/3 cup honey
1 1/2 Tbsp. cocoa
1/3 cup coconut oil or butter
1/3 cup almond butter
1 tsp. vanilla
2 cups dried, unsweetened coconut

Directions:
1. Put honey, cocoa, and coconut oil (or butter) in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat.
2. Bring mixture to a boil. Boil for 1 minute and immediately remove from heat.
3. Stir in the almond butter and vanilla until it is incorporated.
4. Stir in coconut.
5. Scoop by spoonfuls unto wax paper or parchment paper and put in the fridge until hardened and set.

*Store at room temperature or the fridge.
 

Love these boys!

Homecoming

Homecoming was Friday. The team we were supposed to play cancelled on Tuesday. We couldn't get another team to play. So, the school decided to have a JV scrimmage, with the Varsity team acting as coaches and the chain gang (I think that's what it was called). The coaches were the refs.

I loved that idea because I love to watch H play ball.

 

He's #25.

And he's the Center. and a line backer (I think).

 

There's T holding the flag-thing watching his brother play ball. One time during the game, must have been after this picture was taken, H made a nice tackle and T gave him a little kick and said good job. Made me happy :)

There's the Freshman float that one 1st place!

H had a NICE tackle (well quite a few), but when I was taking pictures I didn't even think to take a picture! I was too excited watching him go after the runner. Ha! (that's one reason most of these pictures aren't that exciting.)

Nice 10, huh?

 

Now how's that for health? It feels good to be outside, have a clear mind and watch someone you love do something they love. What a fun game!

Disclaimer

I started really getting into health about 6 or 7 years ago when I started having problems with my thyroid. Since then I have been learning about health in all sorts of ways.

Eating - how food affects you, what you should and should not eat. We've changed a lot of things for the good.

Thinking - how your thoughts affect your life. This is a big one!

Drinking, exercising, resting, breathing. Doing things you love doing.

This blog is just a place for me to put my thoughts and record the recipes that we like.

Most of the recipes I have gotten from other places (which I will link to). I am way too busy to be creative on my own right now.

I will post about my family occasionally because that is where I get the most joy. That is where the Fun Health Adventures are (even my kids don't always think they are fun).

I am still learning all the time.

And I'm certainly not perfect at any of this.

I don't have all the answers, but I do know that we need to take responsibility for our own health. If we don't do it, no one else will, and that's scary!

But I had to laugh at this picture that my son emailed me:

 

He just knew I would like it :)

Between Conference Sessions Fun!

Swimming in our pond!

T pushed H in and H pulled T in!

G went in on his own and K got pushed in too (she was not happy about that either!)

Me and Ky and M stayed nice and dry :)

Then we had lunch - Tostadas!

Done just in time for the afternoon session.

Perfect day!

General Conference

The anticipation of General Conference is almost as big as Christmas!

It is SO much fun spending time together as a family to listen to the Prophet, Apostles and leaders from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints speak.

Life just stands still, without a worry in the world.

The big kids bring out their beds, we print off conference packets (from here), and we pull out the food from our 72-hour kits to use as snacks.

Sometimes I'm not that great at changing out the food from our back packs so the kids kept asking me if the food was still good. And it was this time! The snacks are only 6 months old. Now time to replenish!

I LOVE that my kids enjoy conference! They listen and take notes and we all just stay here and hang out. It is heaven on earth!

Even our little guy can make it through it. We're doing an awesome train with all of the speakers.

{Just in case you were wondering... Yes, we have a knock-out in that back wall that the TV fits into exactly. However, last June we decided to take the TV out. So it has been sitting in a corner of our bedroom since then. At first the kids thought they were going to DIE without it (although the only thing we had to watch was movies). But after the first few weeks no one has really noticed it being gone. So we pull out this table and the TV - temporarily and it works just great!}

I love that Conference comes TWICE a year!

You can watch it here.