Pumpkin Pie Latte

Why pay for a high price and high calorie pumpkin coffee from a coffee shop when you can make one at home for a fraction of the cost and calories! Enjoy fall with this wonderful coffee!

Ingredients:
1 cup of organic coffee
4 oz organic milk or cream
2 ts organic sugar, brown would add a nice taste
2 TB pureed organic pumpkin (canned is fine)
1/2 ts organic cinamon
Dash each of organic nutmeg, ginger, and ground cloves

Whisk all ingredients together. Top with a scoop of homemade whipped cream if you desire. Enjoy!

Naturally flavor your coffee

Store bought flavored creamers aren't the only option for a yummy coffee treat. Not to mention if you read the labels on those creamers you are getting way more than just flavored coffee. Some have partially hydrogenated oils, some have high fructose corn syrup, and all have a bunch of ingredients most people can't pronounce. I'm a strong believer that if you can't pronounce the ingredient, then you shouldn't be eating it. Most of these would be "too taste", so play with them and figure out what's the best for you. But these are good starting points.

Mocha Coffee
Coffee
(Shot of espresso if you have it, but not necessary)
1-2 ts organic sugar ( Sucanat is the best option for sugar)
or 1/2 ts agave (Be careful with agave, a lot of them are synthetically made and terribly bad for you. Wholesome foods makes a good quality one.)
or 1 ts organic honey
1-2 ts organic cocoa powder
Organic milk or cream to taste, preferably raw

Vanilla Coffee
Coffee
Same sweetener options as above (If you can get vanilla flavored agave, that's super yummy)
A splash of organic vanilla extract
Organic milk or cream to taste, preferably raw

Chocolate Mint Dream
Coffee
Same sweetener options as above
1 ts organic cocoa powder
A splash of organic peppermint flavoring
Organic milk or cream to taste

Mint Dream
Same as Chocolate Mint Dream above, just omit the cocoa powder

Amaretto
Coffee
Same sweeteners as above
Splash of organic almond extract
Organic milk or cream to taste

Caramel Delight
Coffee
Sparingly use a sweetener, doesn't need as much as others
3 ts organic caramel syrup, or more to taste
Organic milk or cream to taste

Chocolate Covered Caramel
Same as Caramel Delight but add 2 ts cocoa powder

How to mince garlic - Video

Excuse my 7 year old videographer....not bad for a 2nd grader though =)

Guacamole Egg Rolls

This is a variation of a recipe I saw at www.mommybistro.com She has some great comfort food recipes, you should check it out.
These are fun! Serve them with a side of salsa. As for the egg roll wrappers, I found egg roll/spring roll wrappers in the frozen section but after reading the ingredients I put them back. I would have put them back just for the fact that bleached white flour was the first ingredient, but scroll down a little and there was propylene glycol (aka anti-freeze, ick). Then there was Sodium Benzoate, which is a pretty bad preservative. So I went over to the Japanese isle and they had some spring roll wrappers with something like 4 ingredients, none of which were a deal breaker, so I got those. The only hitch with those is they are hard and crispy. I had some in my house a few years ago that I could not figure out how to use. Everytime I tried to wrap anything they would snap. Now, if you know how to use these you're probably shaking your head at me right now. If you don't, you have to soak them in water for a few before you try to wrap anything. Boy did that make an amazing difference =) The first thing I ever successfully wrapped with them were bananas, chocolate, and almond butter...THAT was super yummy! Though I've learned since then to use more than one wrapper for each roll so they are less likely to tear while wrapping and cooking. This recipe will call for two wrappers for each roll, feel free to use more, honestly three might be better, adjust accordingly. A ton come in the package I got so I didn't even come close to using them all.  Here's a pic of the ones I got:

Ingredients: (Makes 8 egg rolls)
16 egg roll or spring roll wrappers (Please read the ingredient label!!!)
2 avocados, diced
1 medium tomato, diced
1/2 organic onion, chopped
Handful of cilantro, chopped
1/2 ts sea salt
1 organic egg, beaten
Coconut or olive oil for searing or deep frying (See instructions below)

In a large bowl, gently stir together avocado, tomato, onion, cilantro and salt.

Fill a plate with water and place 2 wrappers in the water to soak for a minute. Remove from water and place on a sheet of wax paper. Place a couple of scoops of avocado mixture down the middle.

Fold the bottom flap up a quarter to halfway up the mixture. Brush the beaten egg along all the edges.

Fold the top flap down, and roll up. Repeat with all rolls.
Now at this point, you could go ahead and deep fry them if you so desire. If you do, coconut oil would be the healthiest choice.
Or, you could heat a skillet with about 2 TB of coconut oil. Sear all sides of the roll, and place roll on a baking sheet. Repeat with all rolls. Bake at 400 degrees for 20-30 minutes, flipping half way through.

Grown Up Grilled Cheese

Jaz up grilled cheese night by stuffing your grilled cheese with onion, avocado, and tomato! Of course serve it with a side of tomato soup =)

Serves 4

Ingredients:
8 slices whole wheat bread
2 organic tomatoes, sliced
1 organic onion, sliced
1 avocado sliced
8 oz sliced organic cheddar cheese
Sea salt to taste
Garlic powder to taste
Organic softened butter

Heat a skillet over medium heat. Butter both sides of two pieces of bread and place in skillet. Warm for a few minutes and flip. Top one piece with the cheese. Then layer the avocado, onion, and tomato. Sprinkle with salt and garlic powder. Place second slice of bread on top. Cook, flipping often to avoid burning, until cheese is melted. Repeat for the rest of the sandwiches. Enjoy!

Yummy bread (no-knead bread)

This bread is so great! The only way I can describe it is it's ciabatta-like. Great to sop up sauces, great dipped in olive oil, great with butter. The directions may sound daunting but it really is pretty easy (Unless you take a nap and miss a step...not that I've ever done that or anything).

Ingredients:

3 cups organic white (unbleached) wheat flour
1/4 teaspoon yeast
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 1/2 cups warm water

You will need a covered pot that can go in a 450 degree oven (pyrex, cast iron, stainless steal, ceramic, etc)

1. Mix dough: The night before, combine all ingredients in a big bowlwith a wooden spoon until the dough just

 comes together. It will be ashaggy, doughy mess. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit 12-20 hourson countertop.

2. Shape & preheat: The dough will now be wet, sticky and bubbly. Witha wet spatula, dump the dough into 

a bowl that is coated in olive oil.Shape dough into a ball by folding ends of dough over and tucking it towards 

the middle.Keep your hands wet so that the dough does not stick. Cover dough withfloured cloth and let it 

rest for 2 hours. When you’ve got about a half hourleft, slip your covered pot into the oven and preheat to 

450F.
3. Bake: Your dough should have doubled in size. Remove pot from oven (Carefully).
 Holding the bowl of dough over the preheated pot, gently use a spatula toremove dough from bowl and 

dump it into pot. Doesn’t matter which wayit lands. Shake to even dough out. Cover (Carefully, don't forget

 it's hot!).

 Bake 30 minutes. Uncover, bake another 15-20 minutes or until the crust is beautifully goldenand middle 

of loaf is 210F. Remove and let cool on wired rack. If noteating right away, you can re-crisp crust in 350F 

oven for 10 minutes.

Coconut Macaroons

I never liked coconut until I made these! Hubby absolutely loves these! The kids gobble them up. So it's a winner all around!

Ingredients: Makes a dozen or so
2 organic egg whites
1/4 ts cream of tarter
pinch of sea salt
1/2 cup organic powdered sugar
2 cups organic shredded coconut
1 ts vanilla

Preheat oven to 335. With an electric mixer on high speed, beat egg whites, cream of tarter, and salt until soft peaks form. Slowly add in the sugar and continue beating until the mixture is stiff and shiny. Remove from mixer. Fold in coconut and vanilla. Drop spoonfuls onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake for 15 minutes, but keep an eye on them, don't let them burn, you just want light brown lines.