Clean, Gluten Free, Peanut Butter-Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ok, so don't get me wrong, these cookies in no way replace the awesomeness of buttery, sugary, milk chocolatey, yummy Toll House chocolate chip cookies. My husband's response to them was "you really think those taste good" Haha!! Yes, the do taste good. If you are trying to be healthy and you need a little sweet, they do the trick...for me anyway!

I adapted the recipe from Chef This Up, but I changed a few things.

I said on my Facebook page that these were vegan, I lied...I looked up the ingredients in the chocolate chips and it says "may contain milk"

Peanut Butter-Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies
6 tbsp of natural peanut butter ( I always use Earth Balance, it's clean and yummy)
2 tbsp of almond butter (I always use Justin's nut butters)
1 ripe banana
2 tbsp of coconut crystals
1 tsp of cinnamon
1/8 tsp salt
1/2 cup of 60% Cacao Ghirardelli Chocolate Chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Mash the banana until very creamy, mix in the nut butters, stir in coconut crystals, cinnamon, salt, and chocolate chips.

With a spoon, transfer clumps of the batter to a greased cookie sheet. Cook for 15 minutes. Let cool at least 10 minutes before serving.

Clean Chicken Taco Salad

This salad is super simple and super tasty! I have added the ingredients I used below, but not the measurements. I'll let you decide how much you want to put on your salad. Enjoy!

Clean Chicken Taco Salad
Field greens
Grilled chicken slices
Black olives
Cherry tomatoes
Diced avocado
Shredded low fat white cheddar
Drained black beans
Frozen corn thawed
Clean tortilla chips
Clean Chipotle Avocado Vinaigrette 

Happy Birthday Connor

Summer of 1999, I was living in the Virgin Islands when I got a call from my best friend Lauren, "I'm pregnant" She then went on to tell me that the baby was the size of an appleseed!!! 

I will admit I was a little upset. We were young and Lauren was in college and SO smart and I was just afraid at what might happen (I should have known better, she finished school AND got her masters). 

I threw her a shower. It was my first of many themed showers. Everything had to match and be in blue. I had the bakery scan a picture of his ultrasound on the cake. I remember I had that ultrasound picture framed in my living room for so long. (ok, now I have tears in my eyes) 

When Connor was born, Lauren and Gregg lived in St. Louis. I got the call that Connor was born right before I was about to go out on the town for a girls night. Since I couldn't be there, Gregg's mom invited me over to watch the home video that was taken at the hospital.

A couple of weeks later they drove down to Arkansas and I got to hold him for the first time. He was so beautiful, sweet, soft, and smelled so good. I was totally IN LOVE. 

Not too long after that Gregg, Lauren, and Connor moved back to Arkansas and I couldn't have been more excited. I ended up moving in with them. Connor had colic so I remember many sleepless nights for Lauren and she was in school so it was tough. One in particular, I came home and Connor was crying and I could tell Lauren was exhausted. I took Connor and put him in his car seat, turned on the bathroom fan, and rocked him as I laid on the floor until we both fell asleep. 

I remember when it was time to potty train him. He LOVED throwing cheerios or M&Ms in the toilet. It was hilarious. 

His first Valentine's Day was spent with me. I wanted his parents to have night out so Connor and I stayed home and watched a Justin Timberlake movie and he held my finger. 

When he started walking I worked in the same gym that Lauren worked in. When she would bring him in he would run down the long hallway, grinning from ear to ear, flapping his arms and screaming LALA, LALA, LALA, and that is how I got the name Lala!! 

I could go on and on about this little boy teenager. About how SMART he is, how kind he is, how responsible he is. He means so much to me and I can't believe today he is a teenager. I have so enjoyed watching him grow into what he is now and can't wait to see him grow into a man. (ok, now I have the ugly cry)

Connor Michael, Happy 13th Birthday! I love you so much and I am SO PROUD of you. 

The freshest hamburger you can get....

(These pictures stink...taken with my cell phone)

Since I got my kitchen aid  mixer I have been wanting to grind my own beef for hamburgers, but never really got around to it until recently. Since we moved up to the mountains I have started shopping at the Farm Store. It's a store at a local farm that sells grass-fed, hormone and chemical free beef and pork as well as fresh eggs and raw milk (for your pet) ;).

Since I have access to this amazing store, I decided it was time to grind my own beef! I did a little research and found the cuts I wanted to go with. The Shake Shack in NYC serves up some AMAZING hamburgers and I found out they use sirloin and brisket with the fat untrimmed. This is the combination I went with and it DID NOT disappoint. I used 1 pound of sirloin and 1 pound of brisket.

The other research I did was on preparing the meat. Number one, it has to be VERY cold. I cut it up in chunks, put it in a bowl, sprinkled some Pink Himalayan Salt on it, and stuck in the freezer for about 30 minutes before I ground it. I also took my grinder attachment and put it in the freezer about an hour before grinding. Keeping everything cold is crucial to getting good ground beef.

Once I ground all the beef I made hamburger patties. I did not work with the meat a lot. I just picked it up and shaped patties, it's best not to mess with it. I also didn't add a single bit of seasoning...just the salt I put on the meat at the beginning. The meat is so good you don't need anything!

I cooked them on my griddle on the stove top, but they would have been just as good on the grill.

Since I made 2 pounds of it I froze half of what was remaining tripled bagged and made hamburgers the next day for lunch again with the other half.

I added some fresh cut bacon from the farm store, a slice of fresh cheddar cheese from Sweetwater Valley Farm, and put it on a Martin's Potato Roll. AMAZING!! So fresh and yummy!

Ikea Fram Make Over

2 things...Number one, I have been wanting this picture frame from Ikea for probably 4 years now!  Number two, I had NEVER glazed anything until this project.

Not sure why it took me so long to buy this frame. It was only $29 and it's HUGE! Every time I would go to Ikea I would walk buy it and think to myself, "should I get it?" When we moved out to the cabin I decided I wanted to do a fun eclectic gallery wall above our couch. I knew this frame would be the perfect fit for the wall. With that said, my sister and I headed out to Ikea and that frame was actually on my list this time! When I got there I found out it was on sale for $27!! I am SO glad I bought it because I looked online and they don't sell it anymore. They do however sell a smaller, white version of it. 

Now to the glazing part. I have always had glazing visions in my head, but have never really had the perfect project for it. When I bought this frame I wasn't sure if I was going to leave it black or paint it. I wanted it to really pop off our pine walls so I decided to paint it cream and figured this would be the perfect time to glaze something. 

I bought my glaze at home depot. I read online somewhere that you needed to put the color paint in the glaze that you wanted it to be. I just assumed the glaze was brown, not sure why! When opened up the glaze much to my surprise it was white. Thank goodness I had some leftover stain from my project earlier in the day. So I dumped about 2 cups of glaze in a bowl and added a little stain to it. It became gray so added more stain until I really liked the color. To mix it I had to use whisk because the glaze is very thick and the stain was super thin. 

At first I was a little nervous since I had never done this AND did not feel like reading the directions! I took a little paint brush and started in the cracks. Then I just took a paper towel and wiped off what I didn't like. After about 1 minute I was no longer nervous and went to town on that thing!

Warning....glazing might be like meth, it only takes one time and you are addicted. 

2 side notes.... Number one, I needed about 3 tablespoons of glaze for this project, NOT 2 cups. Number 2, you can't really mess it up. I was so afraid at first I was going to mess it up, but as long as you have a paper towel there to wipe up stuff you don't like, you are good to go!

Pantry Crates.....

I went from a huge pantry with TONS of storage and doors to a small pantry with NO doors. That means that my pantry is open to everyone that walks in my kitchen. If you ever saw my old pantry you would know that no one should have to look at that kind of mess! 

Slowly I am trying to organize it and make it look good. I bought 6 of the above crates from Lucky Clover Trading for only $12 a piece. I decided to stain them dark and add chalkboards that I already had from my sister's baby shower 5 years ago....sometimes it pays to be a packrat right!?! The stain I used was from Home Depot and it was Kona.

Carne Asada

So there is this restaurant that Mike and I used to go to quite often. Ok seriously, one summer I think we went every Sunday for like 3 straight months. Back then there was only one in Alpharetta. Since then they have ventured out to places all over Atlanta and I think even moved into one of the Carolinas.  Unfortunately they have not ventured to the north Georgia mountains!

This restaurant is called Pure Taqueria.

I get the same thing every time I go to pure. Carne Asada tacos with cilantro and cotija cheese on corn tortillas. My mouth is watering thinking about it right now. I want to jump in the car and head down there.....that's not gonna happen!

So tonight I made my own Carne Asada. This is the first time I have ever attempted it. I bought a pound of grass fed skirt steak from the farm store down the street, Mountain Valley Farm. If you are ever in Ellijay, you HAVE to check this place out. I don't think I will ever buy my beef, eggs, or pork at the store again! It's pricey, but well worth it for the quality you get. The only part I didn't like was passing all the cute cows and knowing I was taking home one of their brothers!

It turned out pretty darn good, not Pure quality though....I have never had any better than Pure so that was gonna be tough to conquer! Mike when back for 3rds so I guess it's was good enough.

Tomorrow I will make some breakfast tacos with the left over....YUM!

Carne Asada
1 pound of skirt steak

Marinade
3 cloves of crushed garlic
2 tbsp of ground cumin
1 tbsp of chopped jalapeños
salt and pepper to taste
1 handful of fresh cilantro leaves AND stems chopped finely
1 tsp of smoked paprika
1/2 cup olive oil
3 tbsp of white vinegar
2 limes juiced (yes, I had to use lime juice because I had no limes)
1 tbsp of raw agave

Place meat on a cookie sheet. Mix all other ingredients in a bowl. Pour half of the marinade over skirt steak and rub into all crevices. Turn over steak and repeat with the other half of the marinade.

Skirt steak is a tough steak so you need let it marinate in the fridge for a minimum of 4 hours. I left mine in the fridge for at least 9 hours. Turning once every couple of hours.

You can cook your steak 2 ways, but it should be med rare otherwise it will be tough and you will ruin it!

Grilling....medium high flame, coat grill with oil to prevent sticking, grill each side for a couple of minutes depending on the thickness. Remove from heat and let rest for at least 5 minutes.

Cast Iron griddle.....med-high heat, coat griddle with oil to prevent sticking, cook each side for a couple of minutes depending on the thickness. Remove from heat and let rest for at least 5 minutes.

Once steak has rested slice into thin slices. I added mine to a corn tortilla with some cilantro, FF feta, and avocado. My husband likes his with all of that plus chopped onions.  Enjoy!