honey

Bee Happy!

/ Jodi / 48 Comments

Bee Happy!

Did you know that honey bees — wild and domestic — perform about 80 percent of all pollination worldwide. A single bee colony can pollinate 300 million flowers each day. Grains are primarily pollinated by the wind, but fruits, nuts and vegetables are pollinated by bees. Seventy out of the top 100 human food crops — which supply about 90 percent of the world’s nutrition — are pollinated by bees.

According to Greenpeace USA, bees are dying from a variety of factors—pesticides, drought, habitat destruction, nutrition deficit, air pollution, global warming and more. Many of these causes are interrelated. The bottom line is that we know humans are largely responsible for the two most prominent causes: pesticides and habitat loss.

So what can we do?  Greenpeace says these three things can give us a strong start:

  1. Ban the seven most dangerous pesticides.
  2. Protect pollinator health by preserving wild habitat.
  3. Restore ecological agriculture.

Just a few thoughts buzzing through my head about saving the bees as I share this recent watercolor painting.

Bee Happy and have a great day!

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

Crockpot Honey Balsamic Pork Roast

/ Jodi / 37 Comments

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Crockpot Honey Balsamic Pork Roast.

Oh my dear programmable crockpot – how do I love thee?
Let me count the ways….

All kidding aside, I do love cooking in the crockpot, and I love this new one I got that is programmable and then keeps dinner warm once its done cooking.  They have come such a long way since the first one I got oh so many years ago as a newlywed.  I use it at least once a week – especially in the colder weather months.

This past Sunday was a bit of a cold, lazy day, so this Honey Balsamic Pork Roast was just the ticket for dinner.  That hubby of mine is going to make a pork lover out of me yet!

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A tender white meat pork loin with a full flavored simple sauce that turns into a rich, easy gravy warmed up and filled our tummies – especially with a dollop of mashed potatoes and healthy serving of steamed broccoli.

Just look at that yumminess!  I am beginning to think pork is the “other white meat” Hubby keeps trying to convince chicken-lover me into believing.

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Here is the simple, yet hearty and flavorful recipe I slightly adapted from SixSisterStuff.   Hope you’ll give it a try.

Crockpot Honey Balsamic Pork Roast

Ingredients:crockpot-honey-balsamic-pork-roast-with-onions

  • 2-3 lb. pork loin roast
  • salt and pepper
  • 1/4 cup honey
  • 1 cup beef broth (I made using 1 cup water and 1 beef bouillon cube)
  • 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar (I realized I was out, so used Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing – I am the queen of improvising!)
  • 2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced (optional)
  • 1 large sweet onion, sliced (optional)
  • 2 Tbsp butter
  • 1/4 cup flour

Directions:

Place pork roast in crockpot and sprinkle generously with salt and pepper.  Drizzle honey over top of roast.  Add rest of ingredients except for the last two (butter and flour).  Cook on low for 8-10 hours or high for 4-6 hours.

When ready to serve, remove roast to cutting board to rest.  In a small saucepan, melt butter, then whisk in flour to create a roux.  When thickened, pour juice from crockpot into roux, and stir to incorporate and thicken into gravy.  Slice roast and serve with gravy.

Enjoy!

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

Homemade & Healthy Blackberry Banana Oat Bars

/ Jodi / 56 Comments

Blackberry Banana Oat Bars

Are you looking for a really yummy treat to give to your sweet for Valentine’s Day that is not only super delish, but also healthy?

These amazing blackberry banana oat bars have NO sugar and NO flour!  How about that?

blackberry banana oat bar

They are packed full of wholesome, nutrient rich fruits and superfood ingredients, while tricking your brain and tummy into thinking you are eating something decadent.

Give them a try!  Heart healthy, hearty, and from the heart for your sweetheart!

Blackberry Banana Oat Bars

  • Servings: 12 squares
  • Print

(adapted from recipe found here)Blackberry Banana Oat Bars

Ingredients:

Blackberry Chia Jam Filling:

2 cups fresh (or frozen) blackberries
2 1/2 Tbsp. honey (local if possible)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp fresh lemon juice
2 Tbsp chia seeds
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp freshly ground nutmeg

Banana Oat Crust:

2 ripe bananas
2 cups oats
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp freshly ground nutmeg
1/4 cup honey
1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:
To make the jam fruit filling, add blackberries and honey to a saucepan and boil over medium heat for about 10 minutes until fruit is mostly broken down and has released a lot of juice.  Add the other ingredients and boil for another 5 minutes until it thickens.   Allow to cool.

Next, make the crust. Blend up 1 cup of the oats into a fine powder (I used the Ninja).   Stir all ingredients together.

Spray an 8×8 baking stone or dish with Pam and then line with parchment paper.  Spread 2/3 of the oat crust mixture on the bottom of the pan. Spread jam fruit filling mixture evenly over crust. Use the rest of the oats to sprinkle over the top.

Bake at 375 degrees F for 30 minutes until the oats are golden brown.

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

Chewy Honey Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

/ Jodi / 32 Comments

chewy honey oatmeal raisin cookies 2

It’s cookie time!

chewy honey oatmeal raisin cookies
Not that I need an excuse, but Fall is a wonderful time to bake, and this week’s cookie recipe is a yummy crispy-on-the-edge, but chewy-and-gooey-in-the-middle Honey Oatmeal and Golden Raisin Cookie.

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Oatmeal cookies are one of hubby’s faves, and I also wanted to take a treat into the office for a meeting where we were having a special guest who enjoys my cookies, so Oatmeal it was!

chewy honey oatmeal raisin cookies 1
Your search for the ultimate oatmeal raisin cookie ends here! These are amazing! The touch of honey gives them just the right finishing touch to add that crisp outside texture with the tender inside. These cookies are out of this world! (And not just because I made them in Mars!)

Chewy Honey Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Ingredients:chewy honey oatmeal raisin cookies 2

  • 1 lb. (4 sticks or 2 cups) Butter (softened to room temperature)
  • 2 1/2 cups packed Brown Sugar
  • 4 Eggs
  • 4 tsp Vanilla
  • 2 Tbsp Honey
  • 2 tsp Baking Soda
  • 2 tsp Ground Cinnamon
  • 3 cups All-Purpose Flour
  • 6 cups Rolled Oats
  • 2 cups Golden Raisins

Directions:

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
  • In an electric stand mixer, cream butter. Thoroughly blend in brown sugar.  Then add eggs, vanilla, and honey.  Beat well.
  • Add in baking soda an cinnamon and mix.
  • Gradually add the flour and mix until just incorporated.
  • Remove from mixer and manually stir in the rolled oats and raisins.
  • Drop dough by rounded tablespoonful onto baking stone (or cookie sheet).  Bake 10-12 minutes until cookies begin to brown.
  • Allow to cool on baking stone 5 minutes, then remove to cooling rack to complete cooling.
  • TIP:  I like to chill my dough for at least one hour before baking.

Hope you enjoy!  Bake up some love this weekend!

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

Sugar-Free (Almost) Chocolate Oatmeal No Bake Cookies

/ Jodi / 32 Comments

almost sugar free chocolate no bake cookies 2

Do you remember these chocolately no-bake cookies from your childhood?

My Grandma’s friend and neighbor, Audrey, used to make these in the summer, and I loved them.

almost sugar free chocolate no bake cookies 3

I hadn’t thought about them or had them in a long time.  Then I noticed my friend, Janet, posted this healthy, no-sugar version on her Facebook page.

Yesterday was our first day home from vacation, and there were no cookies in the house.  That is something that doesn’t happen often around here! 

Knowing we were heading over to our oldest son’s and daughter-in-law’s house for a visit, I didn’t want to go empty handed, so I thought I would give this recipe a try.

almost sugar free chocolate no bake cookies 1

The original recipe from my childhood calls for 2 cups of sugar, 1/2 cup of butter and 1/2 cup of milk.

This recipe has NO sugar (except for what is in my peanut butter – but if you used natural peanut butter, it would have NONE!).  Honey is used instead, and I use local honey (Molinaro Apiaries here in Mars).  Have you heard that using local honey can help treat those with allergies as you ingest small doses of pollen the bees carry that is local to you and builds antibodies like getting a “vaccine?”

This recipe has no butter.  It uses healthy coconut oil instead.  And it uses no milk.

And best of all…. these “healthy” cookies taste DELISH!

almost sugar free chocolate no bake cookies 4

And… they take only minutes to make.

They are best eaten right out of the freezer on hot summer days.

The recipe Janet shared is from 12 Tomatoes, and they say the recipes makes three dozen cookies.

WHY do I always only get HALF the number of cookies any cookie recipe calls for?  I got exactly 18…. One and one half dozen.  Do I really make my cookies TWICE as big as everyone else!?!!???  🙂

It was good to be back in the kitchen – even if only briefly – and not really baking!

But it was even better to be with our “kids.”  And I played ladder golf for the first time.  Us girls ALMOST won!

Sugar Free (Almost) Chocolate Oatmeal No Bake Cookies

  • Servings: 1-1/2 - 3 dozen
  • Print

Ingredients

  • 3 cups quick-cooking oats
  • 3/4 cup honey
  • 2/3 cup natural peanut butter (I didn’t have “natural” so used Jif – thus the “almost” sugar free reference)
  • 1/2 cup coconut oil
  • 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions

  1. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
  2. In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, combine honey, peanut butter and coconut oil, stirring until well blended and smooth.
  3. Stir in oats, cocoa powder, vanilla and salt and mix well.
  4. Drop cookies by tablespoonful onto parchment-lined baking sheets
  5. Place in freezer for at least 15 minutes to set.
  6. Store in an airtight container or Ziploc bag either in the fridge or freezer.

Enjoy!

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

Rosemary Garlic Pretzels

/ Jodi / 13 Comments

rgp cover
My recent snack OBSESSION is Rosemary Garlic Pretzels.

Those that know me best know that even though I  L-O -V-E  to bake…………..

999,997.4 times out of 1,000,000, I would chose a salty pretzel over a chocolate chip cookie as a snack…

to go with my red wine or G&T especially.

rgp snack bowl

So lately, I have been making these SUPER simple, yet oh so DELISH Rosemary Garlic Pretzels.

All you need to do is take a bag of hard pretzels of your choice, break them into “bite-sized” pieces, and layer them on a baking dish.

rgp ingred

Then you simply drizzle with some olive oil, fresh chopped rosemary, garlic & herb (or your favorite) seasoning, and (the special ingredient) a drizzle of honey.

rgp pan

Bake at 250 for 30-40 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes, and voila!

rgp jar top

A yummy snack!

rgp jar

And you should probably NOT do as I do and put a jar full on your kitchen counter…..

Yummy for the Tummy

at Life In Between.

Cheers & Hugs,

Jodi

Kicked Up Teriyaki Grilled Chicken Breast Sandwich

/ Jodi / 2 Comments

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I LOVE Chicken!

It is so versatile.  There are so so so many different things you can do with it.  So many ways to prepare it.

Grilled, fried, baked, broiled, boiled, stir fried…

In pasta, in the crockpot, marinated, breaded, with vegies, with fruit, with sauce, in a wrap or in a sandwich……

The possibilities are limitless, and I make chicken at least twice a week.

So when I saw this AMAZING looking Chicken sandwich on Carlsbad Cravings’ Blog,   I knew I had to try it!

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Since  my dear friend Janet was coming over for dinner this past Monday, I thought this would be a great recipe to try.  (and being that Marty is not a huge teriyaki fan <SERIOUSLY?? – WHAT THE HECK!>, I knew he wouldn’t mind with Janet here 🙂 ).

From the sticky sweetness of the homemade honey teriyaki sauce with a kick of heat to the smooth coolness of the honey lime avacado yogurt sauce to the tangy sweetness of the grilled, marinated pineapple to the crunchy goodness of the crisp red onion, to the heat and bite of the melted pepper jack cheese to the juiciness of the marinated grilled chicken breast to the sweetness of the tomato………..

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SIGH…

Oh My!  Are you dying yet??

So many layers of wonderfulness on a grilled bun!

We all decided it might even be just fine without one or two of the ingredients, but totally enjoyed these delish, but a bit sloppy sammies that are totally restaurant worthy.

Have an extra two or three napkins on hand when eating this one!

We enjoyed with a large fresh tossed salad, and I have lots of leftover chicken for salads and sandwiches and wraps the rest of the week.

Check out the recipe Jen posted here for what she calls Honey Teriyaki Pineapple Chicken Sandwiches with Honey Cotija Avacado Spread and tweak to your own taste and enjoyment (i.e. I subbed Feta cheese for Cotija cheese, which I was clueless about…)

I’m pretty sure you are going to love this.  I know I did!

cs

Cheers and Hugs,

Jodi