Snickerdoodle Dip

This week has been a stressful one. Yesterday I developed an eye twitch. I overslept my alarm. I barely wore make up. It's been a long one.

I really wish that I was one of those people whose stomach, when stressed, just shut right down and refused to accept food. Instead, I got the kind of stomach that becomes a bottomless pit that can never be filled. And it doesn't discriminate either. Any food is up for grabs...that is, any unhealthy food is up for grabs. Somehow I don't think broccoli would cut it at a time like this.

So after seeing the hubs in quite a bit of pain, cleaning up blood (and an extremity) spattered all over my kitchen, taking a trip to the emergency room, refusing to ignore that we got a major wake up call on how quickly an accident (albeit even a relatively minor one like this) can strike at a moments notice...I'm spent. And so I was in dire need of an easy, sweet treat following Mandolingate (as my boss has deemed it). You know, a sweet treat that could double as dinner.

A few days before, I saw that Snickerdoodle Dip was making the rounds on the blogosphere and I just had to give it a whirl. And once I did, I profoundly declared it a perfectly delicious emotional edible. Not to mention its promise as a party food. Yes, I also realized that in the chaos of the week, I have failed to provide you with any football party foods in advance of the upcoming Superbowl. No worries, I've got you covered with this crowd-pleaser, along with a few others in the coming days.

Snickerdoodle Dip
*Adapted from The Wannabe Chef
1 15 oz can cannelini beans, drained & rinsed
1/4 C peanut butter
1/4 C maple syrup
1 tbsp Splenda brown sugar blend (or real brown sugar)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp cinnamon + more for garnish
honey, drizzled in to taste
graham crackers (my fave), apple & banana slices and any other dippers ya like!

Combine all ingredients in the bowl of a food processor.

Blend until creamy and smooth, adding more honey if desired for extra sweetness. Feel free to do lots of taste testing at this point in the process ;)

Scoop into a serving dish, garnish with ground cinnamon and enjoy with your dippers! I ate mine on some low-fat graham crackers and never felt happier :)

It may not have cured my anxiety or stress (sometimes I think medication is my only hope), it did a pretty delicious job of curing my sweet tooth over the last few nights :) So what do you think? Are you an emotional eater? Or do you lose your appetite when stress hits? And bonus question: Do you like sweet dips? Any more to share with me?

Roasted Vegetables + Lemon Feta Quinoa

Well it's Tuesday and I don't know about you but I feel as though it should be Thursday, no? Last night I worked a little late, came home and caught up on Shameless followed by Castle. Is anyone watching these shows? Castle is one of my favorites (can never get enough Nathan Fillion) and this week's Shameless really solidified its place in our TV viewing schedule.

Aside from wishing the weekend would hurry up, I want to tell you about how I hate cold lunch. It's true. I'm a hot lunch kind of girl. I'm typically not a big salad eater, unless its accompanied by something else on the side. So in order to keep the whole bring-your-lunch-to-work thing going, sometimes I have to get a little creative.

My current love? Roasted vegetables and lemon feta quinoa. Both can be made on Sunday and packed away for a few days of lunches. Oh and they couldn't be easier.

Lemon Feta Quinoa
1 shallot, finely diced
1 C quinoa
2 C vegetable broth (though since the cans are sold in 14 oz, I use that and a 1/4 C water to make up the diff)
1 lemon
1 tsp dried basil
1/3 C crumbled feta cheese
olive oil + light butter

In a small saucepan, heat the olive oil and butter. Add the shallots and cook a few minutes until soft. Pour in the vegetable broth and quinoa. Stir to combine and bring to a boil. Cover and turn the heat to simmer for about 15 minutes or until most of the liquid is absorbed. Stir in the juice of 1 lemon, basil and feta.

I also think this would be utterly fabulous with some chopped up tomatoes, string beans, asparagus or any other green vegetable! Perhaps even some spinach or kale!

Roasted Vegetables
*Adapted from Cooking Light
3 sweet potatoes, cubed
3-4 parsnips (depending on size - I had particularly dinky parsnips for this batch), peeled and sliced
1 1/2-2 C carrots, sliced
1 onion, chopped into cubes
1/4 C honey
3 tbsp olive oil
kosher salt
black pepper
Cooking spray

Preheat oven to 400 degrees and prep your vegetables.

With all vegetables chopped up, mix them together in a big mixing bowl. Add honey, olive oil, salt and pepper.

Coat a baking dish with cooking spray. Pour in the vegetables.

Roast for about 30 minutes or more, depending on size of the vegetables and until they are tender and starting to carmelize.

These are so delicious and reheat in a snap in the microwave. The honey really brings out the sweetness in these vegetables while the onion balances that out. Paired with a piece or fruit or Greek yogurt, this is a fabulous, filling and well-rounded lunch!

So there you have it. Two easy peasy recipes that are perfect for a quick lunch or even a weeknight dinner! What do you think? And for the question of the day: Are you a cold or hot lunch person? What are your go-to's?

Oat Bars: Peanut Butter Chocolate + Almond Cherry Coconut

Happy Friday! Thanks to everyone who entered this week's giveaway! Your outpouring of support for our blogoversary had me perma-smiling all week long :) I wish I could give a cookbook away to all of you, but stay tuned for more giveaways coming up! For the Rocco Now Eat This! giveaway, the winner is: Stephanie! Stephanie, please email me at theavidappetite@gmail.com with your address so I can get your goodies out to you!

This week completely flew by, but I'm not complaining! Meatless week is still going strong. Last night, I made a mushroom pizza and a peanut butter banana mousse that I can't wait to share with you - it's a chilled, pudding-like dessert that's actually healthy and delish. Sound good?

Meanwhile, in our quest to keep eating healthy and use up this ginormous canister of oats that Shaun brought home from the store for me (I love me some morning oats),

I decided to whip up some homemade granola bars.

Those Quaker ones just don't cut it in my book. They aren't nearly hearty enough and are so tiny that immediately after I inhale one, I'm still hungry. Not my favorite. So on Sunday, I whipped up two separate batches of oat bars, chocolate peanut butter and cherry almond coconut. And because they are so similar and super easy, I'm sharing 2 recipes with you today? Are you cool with that?

Almond Cherry Coconut Oat Bars
2 C oats
2 tbsp Splenda brown sugar blend
1/2 C dried cherries, chopped
1/4 C slivered almonds, chopped up
1/2C sweetened coconut
1/4 C honey
1 egg white

Preheat oven to 350 and line an 8x8 baking dish with parchment paper, with the sides hanging over so that you can pull the bars out after baking. In a mixing bowl, combine the oats, splenda, cherries, almonds and coconut.

Pour in the honey and egg white and mix until entire mixture is thoroughly coated. Press into parchment-lined baking dish. Bake for 20 minutes or until edges start to brown. Let cool in pan for 5 minutes and then transfer to a wire rack. This is where the excess parchment comes in handy - simply (and v. carefully) lift bars out of pan and onto wire rack to cool. Once completely cool, cut into bars.

Though these are a bit crumbly and the edges may fall apart, they are so delicious! A perfect breakfast on the go or mid-afternoon snack to get the juices flowing.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Oat Bars
2 C oats
1/3 C creamy peanut butter (I like Smart Balance)
1/2 C semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/4 C honey

Preheat oven to 350 and line pan as above. Melt the pb in the microwave. Mix ingredients altogether until completely combined...

Press into pan...

bake for 20 minutes, let cool and cut into bars.

So there you have it. 2 super simple recipes that Shaun and I both love. The best thing about these is that you can get totally creative and add any chocolate chips, nuts or dried fruit you want! What do you think? Have you ever tried making your own unprocessed snacks? What's your favorite on-the-go snack?

*Note, our giveaway winner was chosen at random by random.org. I also wasn't perked for the Rocco book, I just really, truly love it and want to share the wealth with my fantastic readers and friends!