I have made no-bake cookies twice the last, finally I caved and made some gluten-free ones. I HAD too, especially after that many times. Growing up, those were Cliff (my brother) and I’s favorite cookies. We would make them with my momma. I love my mother dearly, but she was not the cook in our house growing up, so these were special moments for us. My dad is a bomb cook, so sorry mom.
Cliff and I loved these cookies, though. I can still playback videos in my mind of us on stools trying to mix and make them ourselves. And then totally stuffing ourselves and ruining our appetite for dinner.
A few years ago I made my first batch of gluten-free ones. After some different experiments, I discovered that coconut and nuts made the perfect combination. The crunch of the nuts makes them perfect. And then I played with honey and coconut oil and coconut sugar. Finally I really hit the sweet spot. And I made them for my markets. They were a top, prized seller. But chocolately food can be a hot mess in the summer heat.
And so I just sort of forgot about them. But making them for a friend and the frat boys last week, had me craving them majorly. Plus my nephew Trenton loves my no-bakes, he says they’re the best. And I don’t take the opinion of a 7 year-old lightly, they are brutally honest. If he didn’t like them or thought they were bad, he would tell it to me straight. My nephew Gavin has straight-up told me before that something I made was awful. Continue reading “Gluten-Free Cherry No-Bake Cookies”
Finally I am adding exercise to this site! It has been in my books for month. For those who may not know me and my personal history, we’ll start there, but my degree is in Exercise Science. Previous to being a gluten-free baker, I was a kettlebell instructor to 10 years. I will be collaborating with my beautiful mother, who is the best kettlebell trainer I have ever met, so look forward to video posts coming soon with her.
Egg muffins have been one of my families favorite recipes for the past decade. We prepped them to take on every family vacation and travel trip. Dad and I both used them in cooking classes. What’s great about them, is the ability to customize them. This is something I think is essential to healthy eating success. I’ve worked with hundreds of people on eating programs. We are all unique individuals. So health is not always a one-size-fits-all. There are some super die-hards out there, who see in black in white when it comes to eating. I used to be one of them. But my perspective has changed. This black and white view is no longer serves me. There are so many variables to consider with health. Eating is key. I agree with that wholeheartedly. But being super stringent, I believe can be counter-productive. Stress I believe is just as detrimental to health as a poor diet. Stress rules the world. We are sucked up in busy, tight schedules. Stress. Jobs. Stress. Families. Stress. Exercise. Exercise is good but can be abused. Overexercising is not a positive. It places extra stress on your body. And then we stress and over-analyze everything bite we take. I used to do so much research, it honestly made me afraid to eat. My relationship with food really took a hit.
Last night Zach started telling some stories of what I have always referred to as a phase I went through. But it stuck in my head beyond the conversation. And reading this morning, the message I received ran deep.
Relationship goals.Let’s talk about it, because it’s almost Valentine’s Day and that time when we talk about love. I see this a lot, this term relationship goals.. Usually referring to some celebrity couple. One in which we see one instance, but know nothing of the actual dynamic. We see the pretty polished package to the world. Such is social media too. A slippery slope into comparison. Relationship goals are good, but how we idolize others and theirs, maybe isn’t as good. Relationship goals should be unique to us. When we embrace our own unique selves, then we don’t have to compare to others. Plus we can be content within our lives and our relationships, instead of wondering why our significant other isn’t like _______ (insert a celebrity or someone you look up to). We meet and love them as they are. We truly open ourselves up to loving that person with an everlasting love.