Helloooooo my little scrumptious foodies! It has been so so long I can't even believe it and I am a little ashamed. Sometimes even when you love doing something so much, you find yourself at a road block. I had a food/writer block. I have also been needing a new laptop pretty bad so that's been turning me off from blogging. I finally get a beautiful camera for my pics and then my laptop decides to suck. Such is life... Since my favorite season is upon us, the inspiration juices are really flowing! I am ready to start anew and get back to playing in the kitchen. This week I came home from work to find a large box of goodies waiting for me at the door. Manitoba Harvest Hemp Foods was so sweet to send me some wonderful products for me to try out. 

Over Christmas I got a new food processor, and I am just beside myself at everything I had been missing in life.... seriously, did you know you could make INCREDIBLE froyo at home?! Without an ice cream machine?! I feel like I've been sleeping my whole life. Helloooo world! This is my first of many food processor recipes I plan to make. Nut butter anyone? Believe me when I tell you, I never will buy froyo at the store again. This stuff is dessert gold. Only a few simple healthy ingredients and a few minutes in the processor! Check out the two different kinds I made over the weekend....

This bad boy was made reminiscent of a rich hot cocoa with marshmallows on a cold winter day! So decadent and satisfying and guess what??! Its guilt-free. I made this for a friend who is gluten-free and used coconut flour. YUMMY!

The perfect dessert to make this Easter weekend! Perfectly sweet light and fluffy. I loved pairing it with some whipped cream and a coffee. Isn't it perty?!

Boozey baking? Yes and yes. 

Welcome spring! I love you... So I will celebrate you with a sweet treat. 

OK OK.... I know what you're thinking!!! Whats up with all these #cheattreats lately, I thought we were doing the skinny thang?! I'll have you know that I only ate one slice of this beautiful bread! It was one of the most difficult things I've ever done! ....besides last weeks one cookie from the Bailey's White Chocolate Chip Cookies. Now, that was tough. St. Patrick's Day and only one indulgence?! Sigh... Its been a tough yet rewarding little mission! I feel great, the gym has me feeling strong and energized and like I can do anything. If you read my last post about my thoroughly thrilling journey with anxiety [could I be any more sarcastic?], you know what I have been working on besides the "getting fit plan". The funny thing is, both endeavors are working together to bring me to a very blissful state! Being at the gym or even taking a run outside is SO freeing, makes me feel SO good about myself, makes me smile, makes me laugh.... I really get the obsession of some people to be at the gym all day long. I wouldn't go that far... an hour a day is all the medicine I need :)

Happy Valentine's Day lovers! Today is the day we celebrate each other, the love we have for not only our significant others, but also the love we have for family, friends, our fellow human beings. Life is about love. Without it, this world would have imploded already from all the chaos and hatred. Every day we must strive to show compassion to one another. Even with just a smile. When we show compassion towards one another, really it is US who is purified of negativity and filled with love. If you want to be happy in this life, you must show the love, people! And don't forget one of the most important people in this world to love. YOURSELF. You are #1 in your life, whether you like it or not. You can't love others until you love yourself first and that is one of the most important things I have learned in my 29 years....

So I know I have confessed this before, but yes, I hate peanut butter. I don't jump up and down over candies that have it or even peanuts for that matter! So yea, I could care less about Reese's cups or Snickers or peanut M&Ms etc. I don't know what it is... the oiliness, the saltiness, not sure?! I have tried, believe me. People have given me awful looks when I share my feelings about peanut butter, as if I just told them their baby is ugly. For a long time, I thought I might give other butters a chance, Nutella has won my heart forever ago BUT this isn't nutritious by any means. I wanted to find a butter that fit me, one that I could eat and feel good about, not just with flavor but also with my health. I finally tried almond butter when my best friend brought it over to my house to snack on apples with. Suddenly, I felt that I met "the one". Not only are almonds packed with vitamins but it tasted AMAZING to me! I think I was in silence for about 5 minutes, eating this new butter, and running a movie in my head of all the amazing things I could put this on and in and at times I just pictured me, a spoon and a jar of this creamy goodness. And so this banana almond butter muffin was born... 

Ahhhhhh I hear the birds chirping and the fast beating of hearts in love. Valentine's Day is coming! There's nothing sweeter than making your honey something in the kitchen. For my honey, its anything sweet, especially cookies. I went with these red velvet cookies with white chocolate chips. The packed brown sugar made this cookie so soft and chewy and rich, almost like a red velvet fudge. The white chocolate gave the cookie a different dimension of sweet. I love white chocolate... you can use milk chocolate too :) Make these for your Valentine next week and I promise they will become hypnotized with you and your sweet creation :)

As I sat down over the weekend to brainstorm about a Valentine's Day cookie recipe I wondered what it was as a child that I loved so much. Growing up in Peru, we had different treats... tons of chocolate, unreal tasting fruits and an addiction to condensed milk and dulce de leche AKA manjar blanco. I used to eat fruit like bananas or strawberries completely drenched in condensed milk. I could seriously take a can and drink the milk from it which would cause a major sugar headache and tummy ache but I didn't care... it was so good it was worth it. I find that in the US, condensed milk is not as widely loved as it is in Peru and that really baffles me! It really is NOT healthy in any way thats for sure... but seriously, if I had to choose 2 foods to eat for the rest of my life it would be pizza and condensed milk. Maybe not together though ;)

I absolutely love sweet breads. They make me want to make a frothy cappuccino and relax with a warm slice. I recently made several banana bread loaves for co-workers and having seen pumpkin puree in my pantry, I wanted to give this combo a try. It came out better than I thought! As much as I love pumpkin everything, I was rather pleased that this bread didn't have a strong pumpkin flavor. Sometimes pumpkin can overpower other ingredients... but this bread was wonderfully balanced. I had to throw some walnuts in for crunch and of course my favorite ghirardelli chocolate chips! 

Panettone is a traditional Italian sweet bread during the holidays. It was first made in Milan and it now has become a staple on holiday dinner tables all over Europe and South America. In Peru we always had our Panettone after our meal with coffee or hot chocolate. Panettone has a kind of croissant flaky texture and it is filled with fruits. Simply serve it with a little butter and it is perfect on its own but this is a more decadent dessert and wow am I glad I made it this Christmas! The caramel sauce on top made the pudding extra moist! I am in love <3 

Christmas eve is 5 days away and the stress of getting everything ready for it is intense! Luckily I got most of my shopping done, just a few things left. I have to venture to IKEA tomorrow and I'm sure that's going to be madness. If only IKEA had a bar I could spend all day there with no problem! ;) I wanted to make one more batch of Christmas cookies before my banana bread baking bonanza began. I will be baking about 5 loaves of my banana bread for everyone at my office so my house is going to be nutty monkey heaven! My fudgy cookies turned out big and soft, the perfect cookie to leave out for Santa on Christmas eve :) Click "read more" to see the recipe and more pictures!

Finally, a cold day in Florida! And when I say cold I mean 50 degrees... So you northerners are probably laughing at me ;) Last night we did a little grilling outside and set up the fire pit to roast marshmallows. With Christmas music playing I kept thinking about Christmas cookies and after some poking around online I decided on shortbread with strawberry filling because it would look and taste so festive. These cookies turned out so tasty and sweet and would be perfect with a cup of coffee or even hot chocolate if you have a major sweet tooth! So buttery and delightful for a cold winter day <3