Carrot Cake Nest Cookies

Food Network's April cookie of the month is perfect for this time of the year! The cookies jelly beans remind me of Easter Eggs and the carrot cake flavor of the cookie is a bold spring flavor this year. Carrot cake is definitely a Spring flavor and when made right can provide the right amount of sweetness without being over the top sweet.

I made these cookies for a girls night at my friends house. It was a potluck so I thought what a good excuse to bake a fun treat and show my creative side, so that's exactly what I did!

This recipe is pretty easy to make. I baked the cookies earlier in the day and then before I headed out to my friends I whipped (literally!) the cookie filling up real quick, placed the jelly beans on top, and out the door I went. The girls loved them! I had a few left over so I took them to work the next day as a treat for my co-workers. Well I am sure you're dying to know how to make these, so let's get to it!

Cookie Ingredients:

• 1 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• pinch of ground cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 1 large egg yolk, at room temperature
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup finely grated carrots (about 2)
• 1/4 cup finely chopped toasted walnuts
• 1 1/3 cups shredded sweetened coconut 

For the Filling:

• 2oz cream cheese, at room temperature
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1/8 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup confectioners sugar
• Jelly beans for topping

Directions:

1. Position the oven racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven, preheat to 350 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper, set aside. Whisk the flour, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and salt in a medium bowl. Beat the butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar in a large bowl with a mixer on medium-high speed until light and fluffy (about 3 minutes). Add the egg yolk and vanilla and beat until well combined, then beat in the carrots and walnuts. Reduce mixer to low and slowly beat in the flour mixture until just combined.
2. Roll 1 tablespoon of dough into a ball, then roll in the coconut (you may have to press the coconut onto the dough). Repeat until all the dough is gone and rolled in coconut. Arrange cookies 1 inch apart on prepared baking pans. Make a deep indentation with the back side of your tablespoon or another spoon. Bake, switching trays halfway through, until the cookies are set and the coconut is golden brown (about 22 to 25 minutes). Let cookies cool completely on pan.
3. Make the filling: Beat the cream cheese, butter, and vanilla in a medium bowl until light and fluffy. Mix in the confectioners sugar until fluffy. Refrigerate until ready to use. Dollop a teaspoon of the filling into the deep indentation of each cookie. Fill with 1 teaspoon and if necessary you can go back and add extra filling to fill the indentation. Top with whatever color jelly beans you prefer!

I hope you have fun making this recipe! It's definitely kid friendly as kids could help roll the dough in coconut or top the cookies with whatever jelly beans they want. Choose different color jelly beans depending on what time of year you make them too coordinate with the season or holiday!

Have you made this? I would love to hear how it turned out! Share with me below!

Stay tuned for May's cookie of the month! We're making Macarons!

Cinnamon Chocolate Chip Energy Balls

I have 3 words for you: Easy. Delicious. Sweet tooth curer. 

Okay, so maybe that was more than 3 words, but still! I was so excited to throw these ingredients together the other night during meal prep time. I usually make the same kind of energy balls every time so I decided to scroll through Pinterest for inspiration. I combined a few recipes together these bad boys! Also, this is my first time making them with dried fruit and it did not disappoint.

Can we go off on a tangent for a minute and talk about how delicious dried fruit is? Oh.My.Gosh. I have been missing out! We were at Costco last weekend and of course we had to try the sample and it was so delicious and sweet that I realized it would be the perfect, natural healthy treat for me to have when I have an inkling for something sweet. 

Okay, back to the main topic here. These energy balls are perfect for a pre-workout snack, an afternoon snack, mixed with yogurt, dipped in peanut butter, dessert after dinner, etc. They are the perfect 2-bite treat and I don't feel bad about eating one...or two. 

Ingredients:

1 cup of oats (old fashioned or steal cut oats)

1/2 cup chocolate chips

1/2 cup diced Sunsweet Dried Plums

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter, melted

1/4 cup of honey

1 tablespoon chia seeds

1 teaspoon of cinnamon

Directions:

1) Put all ingredients in a bowl

2) Microwave peanut butter for 20-30 seconds or until nearly melted. Pour melted peanut butter over the ingredients

3) Mix everything together with a spatula. If you find the ingredients aren't sticking together, add a little more peanut butter. You want the mixture to be sticking together, but not too sticky that it's a wet mixture.

4) Roll into 1 inch balls and store in an air tight container in the fridge. Good for 1-2 weeks. 

Enjoy!

Did you make this recipe? I would LOVE your feedback! Comment below with how they turned out. 

Vegetable Egg Cups

Eating breakfast during the week can be challenging. I usually start my day off with my daily dose of Shakeology because it provides all of my nutrient needs, but sometimes I want to switch it up! I started flipping through one of my cookbooks called FIXATE, it provides recipes based on the 21 Day Fix portion control container system, and it has some great recipes. I turned to a page labeled Vegetable Egg Cups and thought perfect!

These little vegetable egg cups are perfect to put together on Meal Prep Sunday or Monday. They are great for a quick breakfast or packed in your lunch for a mid-morning snack. The vegetables I chose for my egg cups were spinach and diced orange peppers. You could also add chopped mushrooms, diced green or red peppers, broccoli, maybe a little cheese...anything you would put in your omelet! Also, you could make these with meat by adding crumbled bacon pieces or crumbled sausage. 

What you will need is a muffin tin, cooking spray, and the following ingredients below:

12 Large Eggs

1 medium orange pepped, diced

3 cups of fresh spinach

Salt and Pepper to taste 

Medium Salsa (Optional)

Instructions:

1. Heat oven to 375.

2. Coat a twelve-cup muffin tin with non-stick spray

3. Crack eggs into a large bowl and whisk until blended. 

4. Add in your chopped vegetables (and meat preference is you desire). Season with salt and pepper to taste.

5. Evenly pour egg mixture into muffin cups (See below for desired level of fullness).

6. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until a fork inserted into the middle comes out clean. 

7. Top each egg with 1 tbsp of salsa if you desire. 

Reheat Directions- Place on a microwaveable plate and microwave for 45 seconds. If using a toaster oven, set to 350 and bake for 3 minutes. 

If you are following the Beachbody portion control container system, 2 egg cups equals 1 red container. 

Enjoy!

7 Halloween Themed Recipes

Pumpkin, Jack-O-Lanterns, Costumes, Witches, Trick-or-Treating, 13 Days of Halloween, Spider Webs, Hocus Pocus, Candy, Candy, And MORE candy. That pretty much sums up what I think of when I think about Halloween!

Halloween is the first holiday that kicks off the holiday trifecta...followed by Thanksgiving and Christmas. Holidays bring unexpected amount of refined sugar, fat, alcohol, and lots of baked goods (not trying to make you depressed, but it's the truth!). Having all of that in the mix is what inspired me to come up with 7 healthy-ish Halloween Recipes. They're fun, spooky, and appeal to your sweet and savory taste buds without having to eat a whole bag of snickers.

Check them out below!

7 Healthy Halloween Recipes:

1. Jack-O-Lantern Stuffed Peppers
2. Sweet Potato Witches Fingers
3. Candy Corn Bark
4. Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread
5. Pumpkin Coffee Swirl Smoothie
6.Gluten-Free Protein Pumpkin Pancakes
7. Graveyard Taco Bake

Feel free to save your favorite recipe! If you make it, give me a shout out! Have a Spooky Halloween Season!

Graveyard Taco Bake

Halloween Themed Recipe #7- Countdown to Halloween!

Happy Halloween! We have reached our final day in this countdown to Halloween. 

Tonight's recipe brings us back to when we were kids. When we were younger we would dare each other to walk through cemeteries, especially since there was one really close to school. Cemeteries are creepy enough as it is, but on Halloween night they become even scarier. It's one of those places that is intriguing, but there is almost an invisible fence around it keeping you from entering. 

As I was putting dinner together, trying to figure out what spooky name to call dinner, I thought about this childhood memory all the while I was watching Tim Burton's A Nightmare Before Christmas. My boyfriend looks at me and goes it kind of looks like a graveyard with the meat and chunks of peppers on top. And walah! We had our name!

This recipe is extremely easy to make and perfect for Halloween night! Between getting home from work and getting the kids dressed up for trick or treating, you can throw this in the oven and in 20 minutes you have a healthy dinner to feed your family before getting out the door. What you will need is brown rice, ground turkey, multicolored peppers, an onion, and cheese. 

Cook the brown rice according to the package instructions. I made 4 servings of rice. You are going to want enough to cover the bottom of your pan. Next, in a skillet I drizzled olive oil and tossed in the chopped onion and 1/2 of a red pepper and 1/2 of a yellow pepper, just to give it more color. I sauteed the onions and peppers for a few minutes. Then I added in the ground turkey meat. Stir occasionally until cooked all the way. I like to use my stirring spoon and chop the meat into smaller pieces that way is spread evenly over the rice. Having big chunks of meat won't do the trick. 

Once the ground turkey is cooked I add in my taco seasoning and dried cilantro. Stir and let simmer for 2-3 minutes to allow for the meat to soak up the flavors, then remove from heat. Your kitchen will smell delicious by this point!

Using a 9x13 pan spread the rice out evenly on the bottom of the pan. Next, layer the turkey meat on top of the rice. If you are planning on eating this graveyard taco bake the same night as you are making it the next step is to top with a Mexican cheese blend and throw it in the oven for 20 minutes at 350 degrees. If you are prepping this meal the night before, allow the dish to cool before covering with aluminum foil and putting it in the fridge. When you are ready to bake it, remove the aluminum foil, top with cheese, and place it in the over for 20 minutes at 350 degrees. 

Serve with warm tortilla on the side and some roasted vegetables. Optional topping include: salsa, greek yogurt (or sour cream), jalapenos, extra cheese, avocado, etc. Serve immediately and enjoy! 

Ingredients:

1 package of ground turkey meat (or ground beef or shredded chicken)
2 cups of brown rice 
1/2 yellow pepper
1/2 red pepper
1 small onion
2 tbsp of olive oil
1 cup of Mexican cheese blend
2 tbsp dried cilantro
1 packet of McCormicks taco seasoning
Additional toppings. 

Directions:

1) Place skillet over medium heat with olive oil. Dice onions and peppers and add to skillet. Stir occasionally.
2) After 5 minutes, or until onions & peppers become translucent, add in the turkey meat. Stir frequently and use your stirring spoon to break up clumps of turkey meat. You want the meat to be in small pieces, kind of like Taco Bells' meat (don't worry this is just for visual purposes!).
3) Boil water according to the package instructions of rice to water ratio for cooking your brown rice. Follow the cooking instructions on the box.
4) Once rice is done, spread the rice out evenly on the bottom of your pan. Next, layer the meat mixture on top of the rice. Allow dish to cool before covering with aluminum foil and placing in the fridge.

On the day you are ready to bake this, preheat oven to 350. Top the dish with cheese and place in oven for 20 minutes. Serve with any additional toppings and serve immediately!

Recommendations:

~I found taco bake to be a little dry, due to the rice soaking up the moisture, top with a jar of salsa before placing in the oven, or while cooking the meat add a jar of salsa.
~Another idea is cover the bottom of the pan with a large can of refried beans, then layer the rice on top, and then finish by layering on the meat mixture. 
~If you want to make this dish scarier, cut gravestones out of tortillas. Bake on a sheet in the oven for 10 minutes at 350, or until edges are brown. Before serving stick the tortillas into the dish as if it was an actual graveyard. 

I hoped you enjoyed this healthy recipe countdown to Halloween! Thanks for following along and have a spooky evening!