Do you grill your fruit?

If your answer is no, you should.

Go run out to your closest farmer's market and get yourself some peaches. Grilled bananas is amazing too. And don't even get me started on grilled pineapple. Heavenly I tell you.

This was my dinner tonight. I'm being serious. Well, before the peach glory, I actually had a piece of peanut butter toast. I figured I got all of my main food groups, so I called it good.

Seriously. Look at the honey dripping off.

Here is what you do:

Peach. Slice it in half. Grill it for about 5 minutes.

Drizzle honey on both sides.

Sprinkle granola.

Enjoy and fall in love.

The brilliance of local

I swung by our local farmer's market yesterday afternoon and absolutely fell in love. There's something about them that speak to my heart. Knowing I'm getting better food grown by hardworking people that live 5 miles away from me rather than 3000. Supporting farmer's directly and ensuring that they are being paid fairly. It's such a different environment than a grocery store.

I walked around, chatting with each farmer... asked where their farm was, how to tell if their produce was ready, how long they've lived here and little pieces of their story. I love interactions like that.

I got to the corn guy and he had me take a bite of the corn. Raw. Seriously. He pulled down the husk and I took a bite right there in the farmer's market. It was Delicious. He said that corn sold in grocery stores is developed to ship; to be hardy and last a week or two. But true, local farm corn is grown to be eaten that day so it is much more tender and much sweeter so I could bite it right off. All it needs is to be warmed up enough to melt some butter on it. Fascinating, huh?

I liked him so I bought a lot of corn. Some squash and zucchini at another guys place. Fresh Colorado peaches at another. Green beans too.

And I could carry it all around in my cute pink tote!

Sassiness

Goodmorning, friends! I love the mornings- the chill that's still in the air, the quiet outside, the prospect of a new day and not knowing what it will hold.

Maybe I just woke up on the right side of the bed; I don't think I'm this chipper each morning. Either way, this is a beautiful morning!

This morning I wanted to share with you something that has revolutionized my week. I only discovered it a few days ago, but I foresee it having lasting power in my life.

It's from the Flat Belly Diet plan. I'm not on it, but they have a drink called Sassy Water. I'd drink it just for the name- how fun! It's supposed to be a drink that kind of kick-starts your diet, reducing bloat, aiding digestion, yada yada yada. I just think it's yummy.

It actually is really pretty and summerish too. If you're hosting a shower or party of any sort, it'd be perfect!

I have to tell you, I was even more inspired to make it after finding this:

Yes, that is mint. In my backyard. I was doing some yardwork the other day weeding and such and came across this. I thought 'Whoa! Those weeds are crazy overgrown, that'll take awhile!' Then, I stepped closer, smelled the beautiful smell, and realized they were not weeds, but were, in fact, mint.

In my backyard. All I could ever want. And that picture doesn't even capture all of it. It is Everywhere. Fine by me. Sassy Water and then some mojitos coming up!

Sassy Water:

2 liters water (about 8 1/2 cups)

1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger

1 medium cucumber, peeled and thinly sliced

1 medium lemon, thinly sliced

12 small spearmint leaves

Combine all ingredients in a large pitcher and let flavors blend overnight.

Drink entire pitcher by the end of each day.

Hope you guys have a great Friday and have some fun weekend plans ahead of you!

His secret ingredient

I have to admit that I am a health-food addict. I'm not crazy psycho about it, but I do love it.

Whole grains, black beans, quinoa, red peppers, and spinach speak to my heart. My mom calls my recipes 'weird' and 'different'. :) They're actually really yummy, but don't typically include cream of chicken soup. I try to limit eating dessert to once a week- I make myself EARN those suckers!

Most mornings I'll make a smoothie for breakfast- the ingredient list:

Organic, nonfat, plain yogurt

Tofu

Pure orange juice

Banana

Frozen strawberries

And protein powder if I'm feeling extra wild

It has taken some time, but I have been able to teach Lane this very complicated recipe. I have entrusted my breakfast to him a little at a time, and some mornings he will take over the breakfast-creating responsibilities.

This morning I went out for a run and before I left he told me that he would make our smoothies while I was gone.

This is how it went down:

I come back in huffing and puffing, grab the waiting beauty of a smoothie out of the fridge excited to replenish my body with some healthy strong stuff.

I get about halfway through and look over at The Boy who is grinning ear to ear.

Me: That make me nervous... What?

L: How's your smoothie?

Me: Delicious...

L: I put a secret in there... ICE CREAM! A couple scoops of it! Isn't it great!

I have no words for this. Apparently we still need to work on what exactly does, and does not qualify as a health food.

Seriously, it was THAT good

Hi, friends! Happy Monday to ya. Hope y'all had a relaxing, restoring, and fun weekend!

Mine was wonderful.

I don't really have anything of much consequence to share with you, but there were a few highlights that were so unbelievably epic that I feel I would be doing a disservice to not share them.

My Saturday morning had to, of course, include Garage Saleing. Is that a word? My spellchecker says no, but Saling is so wrong as well. You know what I mean. Garage Saling speaks to my heart. The thrill of the hunt. Turning another man's trash into your treasure. For CHEAP! Not knowing what the day will hold... I'm getting carried away just thinking about it.

So we hit up our first one (which was labeled an ESTATE sale, so I was THRILLED, but they deceived me- it was just a normal sale and I was mad at them) and they had okay stuff, but they had doors. As in closet doors. I'm semi-addicted to doors. I'll show you a picture of what I've done with one of them- she's beautiful. I needed more. But they were asking for 5 bucks a door and that was just too much for me because I wanted two of them. I was thinking more like 2 dollars. I'm cheap that way.

So I bypassed them with a broken heart not knowing when I would find a garage sale selling TWO of my beloved doors.

THEN! Last night we were driving back home and I passed by this same overpricing, lying house and the doors hadn't sold so they had them out front with a FREE! sign next to them! The stars aligned, heaven opened up and GAVE ME MY DOORS! I am beyond excited. I made Lane go home, get our bigger car and stuff those two doors in the back like there was no tomorrow.

At first he got annoyed with my FREE! sign loving shenanigans, but now he just accepts it. Many-a-thing have we taken from someone else's Free/trash pile. I'm not afraid.

That was awesome thing number 1.

Awesome thing number 2 was waking up early this morning and going on a long bike ride towards the mountains next to the river in the not-too-hot-early-chill with my hubster. It was gorgeous. I am in love with Colorado deeply.

And church was awesome too. Way awesome.

THEN. I made these:

Yes, my friends. You saw that right. Those are homemade bagels. They are life-changing.

And just to back up that point, read the note that I left on them for L to read when he came home.

It is a true statement.

Never again am I buying bagels from a store.

I made different toppings: parm, onion, garlic, sea salt. Next time I might experiment with the dough more. YUM!

And, the best part is how super easy they are. If you have a bread machine it's best, but a KitchenAid does the trick too.

Here's the recipe of the yummyness if you so dare to click. This is my warning. It WILL change your life.

Oh my.

Have I been doing a lot of food posts lately? Sorry. But I do love me some food.

I try to be aware of having varied posts and subjects each week, so sorry if this is just one too many yummy recipes.

But this one. This. One. Is so good.

I heard about this recipe about 4 years ago when I was going through my FoodNetwork stage. It was nothing but Paula, Giada, and Rachel for me. Seriously. We had just moved to Georgia and I had no friends so I adopted those three as my besties.

I've since grown and matured and moved on to HGTV but don't tell Giada.

The Matriarch of Goodness. The Mother of all that is Unhealthy. Paula Deen herself showed me this recipe 4 years ago and I have never really felt like I had a reason to make so much decadence.

But tonight was the night. We were having our YL college leaders over for dessert, so who better to pawn off a new recipe that might or might not make their stomach explode with sugar overload than starving college students?

It was a smashing success.

Here it is if you'd like to try it out yourself!

Chocolate Bread Pudding

1 lb loaf French bread cut into cubes

3 cups milk

1/4 c heavy cream

1/2 c coffee flavored liqueur

1/2 c granulated sugar

1 c packed brown sugar

1/4 c cocoa powder

1 T vanilla extract

2 t almond extract

1 1/2 t ground cinnamon

6 eggs, slightly beaten

8 ounces semisweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees

2. Grease a 13x9 baking dish and put the bread cubes in

3. Whisk the milk, cream, and coffee liquor (aka liquid gold) together. You better believe that I poured a little Kahlua in the measuring cup, a little in my mouth, a little in the cup, a little for me...

4. In another bowl, combine the granulated and brown sugars with the cocoa powder and mix well. Add this to the milk mixture and whisk to combine.

5. Add the vanilla and almond extracts and cinnamon to the beaten eggs and combine. Combine the egg mixture with the milk mixture and mix well. Stir in the chocolate chips.

6. Pour the mixture evenly over the bread cubes ; let stand, stirring occasionally, for at least 20 minutes.

7. Bake the pudding for 1 hour or until set.

And if you thought we were done, we most definitely are not. Because of this:

Let's say it all together: The Cream Sauce.

The immense yummyness that gets poured over the chocolate bread pudding. You don't have to use this, but believe me, you want to.

What you need, should you choose to accept:

2 cups heavy cream

1/4 cup Irish cream liqueur (I used my Kahlua again)

1/4 cup sugar

3 T cornstarch

Water, to dissolve cornstarch

1 t vanilla extract

Heat the heavy cream, liqueur, and sugar. Mix cornstarch with about 3 T water. Stir into the cream mixture and heat until thickened. Add vanilla.

Serve over bread pudding.

I just dare you to let this melt in your mouth. Mmmmmmm.

Have a great Wednesday, y'all!

For the love

I'm not even pregnant and I get serious chocolate chip cookie cravings.

It's bad.

And, I'm not one to brag, but I make just about THE best chocolate chip cookies in all of creation. I know that's a big statement, but I'm prepared to back it up.

They're chewy. They're gooey. They change your life.

Cast your eyes upon this:

And this, friends, was my dinner tonight.


It's not accidental that there's a travel book to Costa Rica sitting next to my cookies. It was out on our counter anyway, but then I found it so humorous that I had to include it in the picture.

Who in their right mind prepares for a trip to the beach and world of swimsuits by eating cookies?!? It's Tuesday. I leave Saturday.

I can't stop myself.

And now, for no reason at all except it's pretty, here is a picture of my sunset last night.

Beautiful. I try to just drink it in each and every night.

TGIF

Whew. What a week!

Last night at 10:30 I got a craving for one of my delicious homemade granola bars. I had to make them. Technically, my sister gave me the recipe, but that won't stop me from claiming them as mine.

Make them. Love them. Devour them.

I say that they're healthy. Ignore the sugar when you're pouring it in. Claim it as health food.

So, because it's Friday. Because Tim Tebow got drafted to the Denver Broncos today. And because these are Incredible. Here are:

Sarah's Yummy Homemade Granola Bars!

The Cast of Characters:

3/4 c brown sugar

1/2 c sugar ( I used more like 1/4ish and it turned out fine)

8 oz yogurt

2 egg whites

2 T vegetable oil

2 T milk

2 t vanilla

1/2 c flour (I did half whole wheat, half all-purpose)

1 t baking soda

1 t cinnamin

1/2 t salt

3 c oats

1 c dried fruit (Craisins were in the pantry)

Step One: Mix sugars, yogurt, egg whites, oil, milk & vanilla. Mix well.

Step Two: In another bowl mix flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Add to yogurt mix.

{Sometimes I forget to keep taking pictures along the way...}

Step Three: Stir in oats and fruit.

Step Four: Spread doug on bottom of ungreased 13x9 pan

{note: you can use a 13x9, but I feel like they come out too cake-y that way so I just spread them out on a baking sheet and I like the thickness more}

Step Five: Bake at 350 for 28-32 minutes. 30 is the magic number with my oven.

Portion for my company:

Portion for me!

Some of my favorite things

Life has returned to normal. Laundry has been done, bags unpacked, hours of sleep caught up on and newspapers read. Bed still has yet to be made, but I'm working on it.

Today, my friends, I am going to be sharing with you a few of my favorite things that highlighted my Saturday.

Round One: The Grocery Game... do any of you know about it? It is brilliant. Sometimes I have a love/hate relationship with it honestly, but then I look at my grocery bill and see how much I saved and that reminds me that it's worth it.

You go online and see what's on sale for the week and print out your list.

Then you go through Sunday papers past & present and cut out the coupons.

It is a bit of a time commitment cutting and clipping, clipping and cutting.

But at King Sooper's I saved 52% of my grocery bill! 46 buckaroos!

Round Two: Sweet, sweet Starbucks.

After the shopping of the groceries I generously let L stay home to work on taxes and I headed over to the Bucks. In full disclosure I prefer local coffee shops and will go there whenever possible but also in full disclosure I am unabashed about my true love for Starbucks, global chain that it is. However, my husband had given me a gift card for Starbucks along with some other sweet presents as a Thank You for everything I've done these last 6 months to support him in his new job. He's just cute like that. So me and my Cafe Misto hung out for a few hours on an oversized comfy chair full of sweet solitude and writing. Brilliant.

Well done, Starbucks. Well done.

Round Three: The creation of a new yummy appetizer recipe that I just discovered. We went over to a friends house for dinner and I had signed up to bring the munchies, and this recipe met the need with flying colors. Delish!

:::Sausage Wontons:::

The Major Players

3/4 Italian Sausage (I used about 1.5 lbs)

1/2 cup Salsa (I just dumped it in until it looked like enough)

2 oz diced green chilis (I used a 4 oz can)

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese (I poured in whatever was left in the bag)

1/2 cup Monterey Jack or Pepper Jack cheese ( I used a lot more than 4 oz)

Wontons (These things are just cool)

Some green onions (Thinly sliced; I used 3 stalks)

Sour Cream (Maybe a cup or so? It's for garnish)

Step One: Cook the Italian Sausage. This part I would change next time and try to buy it like hamburger meat. I have no patience and it took awhile to cook them like this and get them into bite-sized pieces.

2: Once the sausage is cooked and broken up, first drain the grease and then add the green chilis and salsa. Let them simmer together until the liquid has evaporated and the mixture has thickened a little. Let that cool and then add the cheeses and stir it up.

3: Place the wontons in a mini-muffin pan (press them down in the center, making them into cute little cups). Add the sausage mixture to each cup.

4: Bake in a 350 degree oven for ten minutes or until the wontons start to get golden brown. Then, take the sausage cups and put them on a baking sheet and bake for another 10 minutes to crisp up the bottom of the wontons.

5: Slice up your green onions and mix it into the sour cream as a garnish.

6: Put them in cute little rows and commence ADORING these things. Love love LOVE them.

L sometimes (every night) accuses me of not being careful enough when I cook and make things unnecessarily messy.

I, for one, can't figure out what in the world he's talking about!

My magic trick

I love cooking. I think it's just the coolest thing to take all of these separate ingredients and make something beautiful and delicious out of them. It's a life-giving thing for me.

I do always think it's funny though, around 5:30 or 6 each night I'll call L into the kitchen and he'll sit down at the table without asking any questions. The food just magically appears!

Take for instance the yummy meal I made last night. I tried my hand at making spaghetti squash for the first time and it was a smashing success, if I do say so myself.

You first have to roast the thing for 45 minutes in order to cut it in half:

I do have to say, this is one of the weirdest foods I have ever cooked. It literally looks like spaghetti. But it's squash.

People are so creative when naming their vegetables.

So you scoop the squash out after roasting it, and can eat it like that. But I got this brilliant idea from The Tasty Kitchen: Saute some onions in butter, add the squash, some parsley and parmesan cheese and voila! Delicousness is served.

This was the meal that resulted: My yummy spaghetti squash creation; roasted potatoes/peppers/onions tossed with EVOO, garlic, S&P, and parsley; then throw on some fresh greens on the plate and... Dinner!

I was bracing for cries of "Seriously... where's the meat! No, but really, did you forget it on the grill?" when L walked in but he didn't even miss it. My bacon-cheesburger loving, steak consuming, never-can-have-enough-cow carnivore of a husband ate a totally vegetarian meal, got seconds, and told me to put this at the top of our "Meals to absolutely cook again" list.

And so, Ladies and Gentlemen, if I hadn't already wowed you enough with my magical Make Food Appear On The Table trick stay tuned for my final act:

Make My Millions of Dirty Dishes Clean Again trick!

He doesn't even ask how it happens. I guess magicians really never do reveal their secrets!