Flourless Lemon Cashew Cookies

Oh how I love a good lemon treat!  I was having a major need to satisfy my lemon dessert craving this past weekend and this recipe did the trick.  Plus these super soft cookies take like zero time to make since you just toss everything into a blender and then bake.  So in-between baseball games for Max and house projects, I whipped these delicious babies up in almost no time flat.

What you will need:

• 1 cup of cashew butter

• 2 tbs of almond meal 

• 1/2 cup of honey 

• Juice from one lemon 

• Zest from one lemon 

Directions: 

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Place all of the ingredients into a high powered blender (I love my Ninja Blender) and mix until you have a smooth consistency. 
3. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and drop rounded tbs size cookies onto the sheet. The batter will be super sticky but thats normal for this recipe. 
4. Bake for 12 minutes. 
5. Once they are cooled, add a little extra lemon zest on top for presentation and enjoy! :) 

These are super soft and the cashew and lemon are basically the perfect marriage for a light, spring time cookie. If you make these make sure to come back and let me know what you think!

See also:
Paleo Lemon Bars
Flourless Lemon Poppyseed Muffins

Things That Make Me Say Yeay

Getting all the stuff out and ready for my sister's, "Greatest Adventure" shower that I am throwing for her this Saturday.  She has flown all the way from Germany so we can celebrate, and it's going to be such a special day!

One of my favorite desserts in candle form, which is to DIE FOR.

The iRobot Roomba.  We got this during Christmas and I love it!   It goes under the bed, transitions from carpet to tile, gets under the dressers, and leaves my house spotless whenever it's on.  I am 100% on board with things that make my life easier.

We decided to hold off on getting a new deck and instead give our old deck a fresh coat of white paint.  Good as new :)

A heart shaped cactus the boys discovered on our property.

Have the best weekend!

Our Spring Garden

Every year the boys and I look so forward to getting our garden started.  It's always fun to get everyone's input of what we are going to plant that particular year.  Since it's an all day event we put on old clothes, lather up in sunscreen, blast some awesome music, and enjoy cold beers when all the work it done.  It's never a bad day that's for sure.

This year felt pretty special since it's the first garden planted in our new home.  Here are a few pictures from our day...

We planted strawberries, cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, baby bell peppers and swiss chard.  Fingers crossed that everything kicks butt and produces like crazy!

Crispy Parmesan Baked Snap Peas

It's almost SPRING.  I love spring and all the fresh in-season fruits and veggies it brings. Right now the most delicious looking snap peas are currently in season.  So I decided to give these sometimes overlooked veggies (in our house at least) a new little life and I am so excited to welcome them to the veggie chip/fry club! They did not disappoint.

What you will need:

• 2-3 cups of snap peas 

• organic coconut cooking oil spray 

• garlic salt to taste

• 2 tbs of grated parmesan cheese 

Directions: 

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
2. Wash and dry snap peas in cold water.
3. Spread snap peas out evenly on a baking sheet.
4. Spray them evenly with the coconut oil cooking spray. 
5. Season with garlic salt. You can add more or less depending on your taste. 
6. Sprinkle parmesan cheese on top. 
7. Place in oven for 30 minutes. Flip snap peas over at the 15 minute mark.
8. When they are nice and crispy and almost burnt looking they are done! 

These are best enjoyed fresh out of the oven and the crispier the better!  We dipped ours in a little bit of organic ketchup, and they were gone in a flash. 

This Arrived at My Front Door Yesterday...

I am so excited to share that my family recently acquired Harvest 2 U. Harvest 2 U is a brilliant company that delivers organic locally grown produce right to your front door.  I received my first box yesterday, and I am already obsessed!  It was FILLED with so many beautiful fruits and vegetables. The best part is that all of them were picked fresh from local farms that same morning.

I love supporting local farmers and this is the perfect way to do that.  It's also incredibly inspiring to cook with in season fresh veggies that I may otherwise not have purchased at the store.  Meals around here are about to get a lot more fun!

Harvest 2 U currently delivers to homes within Riverside County and North San Diego County. If you are local to these areas it is so worth it to give this a try!  You will love it!

Things That Make Me Say Yeay

A little outside painting sesh since the weather has been amaaaaazing.

Fresh lemons ready for picking at my mom's house.

I tried out a portable infrared sauna this week and it was pretty awesome!  It improves the body's immunity, resistance to illness, blood circulation and more! You sweat like crazy but feel super energized after you're done.

Diffusing oils in my house to help combat colds and boost energy.  So happy I purchased this, I love it!

What early morning splinter removal looks like at my house :)  Ronin was obviously terrified for what was about to go down ;)

Whew it's been a week.  Thank the sweet lord it's Friday and we have an extra long weekend (thanks presidents).  We have some pretty big changes that are happening in our lives right now, and it felt like this week in particular was extra stressful.  But that's how life goes.  You have to adapt and roll with the changes.  On an extra happy note...my best friend who lives in Maui is down visiting, and I can't wait to have some much needed girl catch up time over a generous amount of wine.

Have a Happy Valentine's Day!

Our Real Life Fixer Upper: Kitchen Reveal!

Our kitchen is officially complete, and I am so freaking excited about it!  As most of you may already know, our home was originally a horse barn with 12 stalls.  When we made the executive decision to fully renovate it, we knew we were going to have to have a ton of vision for each and every space, which wasn't always easy.  So to see things transform into what we had hoped is incredibly rewarding.

My original vision for our kitchen was a modern farmhouse space that was open, bright, and functional.  We love to cook and bake as a family so I really wanted a welcoming and happy space to do so in. This was by far my favorite room to design within our home.  I feel like it fits our style perfectly and I couldn't be happier with how everything turned out!

It gives me all the warm fuzzies! I foresee lots of wonderful memories being made within this space.

Sources: pendant lights | counter stools | quartz countertops | farmhouse sink | drawer pulls | faucet | rug (vintage) | cabinets | toaster |