banana chocolate chip oatmeal cookies

After Bailey was born I was HUNGRY. All the time. I made these cookies before I went into labor and was so glad to have them on hand for those middle of the night snack sessions. I’ve since made them a few times and am thinking I should make them again because they would make a good alternative to all the tempting holiday treats. These come together really quickly and taste pretty darn good for a “healthy cookie”.

yields: 18 cookies

INGREDIENTS:

2 ripe bananas, mashed

2 eggs

1/3 C almond butter

2/3 C applesauce

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cinnamon

dash ground cloves

dash ground nutmeg

2 tbsp coconut flour

1 3/4 C oats (i love the gluten free ones from trader joe’s)

1/4 C chopped nuts or seeds

1/2 C chocolate chips

1/4 C shredded or flaked unsweetened coconut

 

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside. Mix together the bananas, eggs, almond butter, applesauce, vanilla, salt and spices until well combined.  Add in the coconut flour, oats, nuts, chocolate chips, and coconut; stir until well combined.

Spoon a rounded 2 tbsp. of the cookie mixture onto the lined baking sheet, leaving an inch or two between each and flatten slightly. Bake for 20-30 minutes and allow to cool slightly.

Adapted from this recipe.

fall is for new starts

Some updates…

B is 6 months already! As cliche as it might sound, the last 6 months have flown by.

After a lot of thinking and weighing our options, I decided to not return to work and instead stay home with our little girl. It was a scary decision to make – in more ways than one – but, I’m 100% certain that I made the right choice for me, for our daughter and for our little family. I’m not sure where things will go from here. Maybe someday I’ll return to a full time job, maybe I’ll find a part time gig. Either way, I’m soaking up this time that I am so lucky and grateful to have with our girl.

Now that I’m home with a little extra time on my hands (nap time!), I am taking advantage and working on some projects that I’ve been meaning to get around to. I hope to share them here every now and again because I love being able to look back through this blog as a diary of sorts. It’s so easy to forget some of the little day to day things that happen.

Here are a few things that have been keeping me busy – aside from loving on B. 🙂

HAPPLEE –  I’m finally getting around to listing a bunch of tees in my Etsy shop. I’ve been working on taking better product photos which is definitely a slow learning process for me but they’re getting better…bit by bit.

WEDDING PROJECTS – It’s that season in our lives where there are at least a couple weddings each summer and I’ve been lucky enough to be able to help a couple friends with programs, menus, coasters, etc. for their celebrations. I’ve really loved working on these projects

EATING – I love fall especially for the FOOD. I’ve made a bunch of new recipes lately that I’m planning to add to the regular rotation this season. I’m starting a 21 day sugar detox in November to get back on track with some of my sugar cravings. Maybe I’ll post a bit on here about it.

MOVING – Aside from a walk every other day and a handful of hot yoga classes, I haven’t been getting much exercise in. When it comes down to it, sleep has been the priority but I’d really like to get back in the swing of things.

Well that’s all I can squeeze in for now. I’ve been meaning to post for a while now so I’m going ahead and publishing rather than trying to perfect this.