Raw Apple Balls

Sometimes, I fail. Today is an example of having good intentions and thinking that I could make an awesome recipe, and instead… it flopped. I am sharing this with you in hopes that maybe someone can fix this recipe and make it edible? All the components are tasty and I am still eating my concoction, but it just isn’t right. I need HELP! (Comments/suggestions appreciated!)

apple

Apple.

In any case, for some reason, I am eating double the amount NOW versus when I was pregnant. I guess it is true that nursing a baby burns a lot of calories, but DAMN ladies, I am literally hungry ALL THE TIME! No matter how much I eat, I still want more…

I was craving a snack that is (1) itty bitty in size (2) sweet (3) healthy (4) easy to make (if you make it correctly).  My raw apple balls actually became raw apple mousse. The mousse *is* delicious…but it’s not the raw apple balls the recipe promised to be. The dough was just too sticky which made it impossible to form balls. I SWEAR IT IS DELICIOUS no matter what the form is, but they are not an easy snacks to eat. I want little balls of goodness!

Ingredients:

Ingredients

Apples, walnuts, dates, almonds, and cinnamon are always on hand in our kitchen. Thank goodness I didn't go to the store just to get these ingredients and then fail!

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Lemon-Mint Pasta with Bacon

Ken is guest-writing today.  Call it my “Welcome to Third Trimester” free pass.  And I don’t love pasta… Without further ado..  Here’s Ken…

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As the JG has discussed, we recently went on her “babymoon” to Antigua, where she posted on the trip and the food. One food/drink element that she didn’t include was a refreshing rehydration drink we concocted and proceeded to have about 10 of a day: seltzer water with crushed mint and a splash of cranberry juice.  Given her pregnancy and the heat, I was militant about her staying hydrated.  And the drinks we discovered were our go-to for three days straight.

We have been enjoying these drinks since we got back to New York, but as with all herbs, a fresh batch of mint is about 10X what you can actually casually use before it goes bad (pet peeve).  In an attempt to use up the rest of our fresh mint, we threw together a super-easy and quick dish: Lemon-Mint Pasta with Bacon.

The ingredients:

* 1 lb. pasta – We used organic whole wheat spaghetti. Not a huge fan of the whole wheat thing, but the JG is uber-healthy.  And she doesn’t love pasta. So we used whole wheat pasta, something we could both equally, slightly complain about.  Definition: “marital compromise”.

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Coconut Almond Flour “Cookies”

I am the world’s best (or is it worst?) picker. I love having nibbles and bites and picks of everything and anything. Mind you, it drives my family absolutely bonkers, but I can’t help myself. I just love sampling a little of everything here and there. So when I came across this recipe for bite size healthy alternative cookies, I was thrilled. And Cruzzie loves them too (he is also a picker and nibbler). It is the perfect snack to grab and have in each hand as I leave the house. A little perfect portable pick-me-up. Also — you can add whatever you want to make them more special and sweet. Isn’t it fun to change things up here and there? Peanut butter vs almond butter? M&M’s or chocolate covered raisins? Bare naked? No matter what you decide to throw into these cookies, they end up delicious.

Ingredients:

Ingredients all in a line.

* 1/2 cup to 3/4 cup unsweetened finely shredded coconut

* 1/4 cup of any kind of nut butter

* 1/4 cup agave nectar

* 1/4 cup almond flour

* 1 tsp cinnamon

* 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

* pinch of good quality salt

* any kind of chocolate touch you want to add. Chocolate chips, truffles, anything that you want to spruce up these little nibbles!

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