Roy Swim

 Living in San Diego I always have a need for a great bathing suit, but I don't want to just settle for one at Target. So when royswim approached me I was pretty excited. Not just because her suits are custom made in the USA (She just moved from NY to Santa Cruz), or because they fit perfectly, but because in her plethora of colors and patterns, she has one that is all cats! Now I can be a beachy cat lady!

 Her fabrics are buttery soft and completely customizable and most designs are 2 sided! You want floral? tribal? stripes? gold? pink? BOOM! She can do it and it'll look gorgeous! I chose Kitten and Shiny Rust. I honestly can't rave about these enough. The suit fits perfect! I can't wait to rock my crazy cat lady beach getup all year long!!

Suffed Squash

 It's fall, so let's get festive with a stuffed squash recipe! In the future I think I'd add sausage or goat cheese to up the protein quotient. I also made half a dinner squash and half a dessert squash (butter and cinnamon sugar), and it was a great choice!

 

3 Acorn Squash
3 3 cups cooked grains (I used 2 cups rainbow quinoa and 1 cup rice)
1/3 cup chopped dried cranberries
1/2 cup chopped nuts
1 bunch of green onions, spring greens chopped
Dressing:
1 1/2 Tablespoons rice wine vinegar
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup fresh squeezed orange juice
1 Tablespoon orange zest
1/2 teaspoon tumeric
1/2 teaspoon tarragon
1/2 teaspoon thyme

Instructions

1. Slice Acorn squash in half and scoop seeds. Cook at 400 F for 40 minutes on a cookie sheet.
   
2. Cook grains according to instructions.
   
3. In medium bowl, add cooked grains, chopped nuts and cranberries.
   
4. Whisk dressing ingredients together and toss with grain mixture. 
   
5.  Fill squash halves with grain mixture and pop back in the oven for 20 minutes.
   
6. Garnish with green onion and cheese.
7. Dig in!
   

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chunk Cookies

In case you haven't been on social media, or in a Starbucks, or  just out in the world, I would like to notify you that it is fall. Any although it has been over 90 degrees here in Southern California, I wanted to get into the spirit so I baked up some delicious treats! I used a blend of almond and oat flour, which I really liked. The almond flour allows it to get a bit crispy and the oat flour gives it some substance.  For the chocolate, make sure you chop up a chocolate bar, and don't just use chocolate chips. It makes a big difference.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup Melted Butter or Oil
• 2/3 cup Sweetness (sugar, maple syrup)
• 1/2 cup all natural Peanut Butter
• 1 Egg
• 1 tsp Vanilla
•  2 1/2 cups Flour (I used 1 c oat flour, and 1 1/2 c almond meal)
• 3/4 tsp Baking Powder
• 1/4 tsp Baking Soda
• 1/4 cup unsweetened Coconut
• Dark Chocolate Chunks

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In medium bowl, add and blend Butter, Sugar, Peanut Butter, Egg and Vanilla.
   
3. Blend in Flour.
4. Add optional ingredients.
    
    5. Using measuring tablespoon drop by spoonful about 2 inches apart on cookie sheet.
     
   6. Using fork make criss-cross marks on cookie.
   7. Bake for 10 minutes. Should be slightly brown on edges.
    
   
   
   
   
   
   
   Enjoy!

Avocado Festival 2015

 

This weekend was the fantastic California Avocado Festival in Carpenteria! This year was the first time that I got the full experience: camping on the beach, avocado treats all day and music all night. Here are a few little gems from this awesome coastal festival.

 Robitaille's has been satisfying sweet-toothes for over 40 years. And the continue to deliver. My personal favorite are all the crazy gummy flavors, but they've also got chocolate covered everything and locally made fudge, along with candy from back in the day like pop-rocks, gummy pizzas, lavender gum, you name it.

 One of the best parts of the festival is that it's just blocks from the beach. There's RV and tent camping, but you do need to plan far in advance to get a spot for this weekend. But if you don't, bring your suit for a dip in the pacific, and maybe some gasoline for the tar. If you're not from coastal California you may not know that tar comes seeping out of the earth, and it's very sticky, and they easiest way to get it off of your skin is gasoline.

 

This is Murphy, he has nothing to do with the festival, but he's very cute.  Tip on how to make friends: walk around with a 60 pound puppy, everyone will want to talk to you. 

So that's the avocado festival, put it on your calendar and don't miss out next year!

GoPro video coming soon.

Gluten Free Pumpkin Mix

It's Pumpkin Season!!! and luckily since pumpkin is low FODMAP, we get to indulge as long as the other ingredients are aligned.  This gluten free pumpkin mix falls right in line!

 Overall, it's pretty good: moist, pumpkiney, doesn't make me feel sick. But it does leave a bit to be desired. It's a bit grainy, as gluten free stuff can be, but I think it can be remedied.

 Next time I would replace the water with some type of milk (probably almond). A little more fat and filler isn't always a bad thing.
Overall, pretty great!  Peace, love and Pumpkin Spice!