Acai Bowls Recipe

I've been sitting at my laptop for ten minutes trying to type something that adequately articulates my family's obsession with açaí bowls. And more specifically, açaí bowls from the tiny California chain Banzai Bowls. They are PHENOMENAL. Ohhhh the things my sisters and I have done for these açaí bowls. When we're at my parent's house in Laguna, we visit Banzai Bowls at least daily. Sometimes twice. In high school and college when we road tripped over monthly from AZ it was literally the first place we stopped. Every time. No point in getting to the house when we could be eating Banzai first? We researched their ingredients and drove to multiple grocery stores to find the exact açaí packets and granola they use. And just this last summer my younger sister even worked there! So this long explanation is to show that we know a good açaí bowl when we see one, and today I'm sharing our copy cat recipe! 

A few things: 

You really need to use a good blender in order to get the right consistency. The key is minimal liquid, which heavy duty Vitamixes and Blendtecs can handle.

On a similar note, you do have to blend these just one at a time or else your blender will be too full and not work great. So these are individually made with love!

Also if we had to guess *wink wink* we'd say that Banzai uses THESE Sambazon açaí packets from Sprouts or other specialty food stores. But I always use Trader Joe's açaí packets because they're cheap and similar!

Classic Açaí Bowl

(Makes one large bowl)

Ingredients:

- 1 packet açaí (Trader Joe's or other)

- 1/2 cup frozen strawberries 

- 1/2 cup frozen mango or pineapple 

- 2/3 frozen banana

- 4 oz apple juice (or hemp milk for less sweetness)

BLEND!!

Pour into a large bowl (or large empty yogurt container) and add toppings.

Toppings:

- hemp granola (HERE, found at Walmart)

- shredded sweetened coconut

- banana slices 

- strawberry slices 

- blueberries 

- kiwi slices 

- honey 

Enjoy!

Alfredo Chicken Pie

So I'm just an okay cook. Some weeks I think everything I make is bomb, others it's all too experimental and verging on gross ;). For some reason there's this mental block that if a recipe is simple or has less than 5 spices it's going to taste bland. (Even though that's not true.) Anyway, I'm okay at cooking. BUT.

I suck at baking. 

Like literally I don't know the last time I made a cake that didn't sink in or completely stick to the pan. I always under-bake banana bread. Dinner rolls are always doughy.

Hence the cookies on this blog must be pretty darn easy and good if they are going to pass my destructive skills! I can throw together a few simple cookie recipes and that's about it.

I say all this so you're a little impressed when I tell you - I MADE A PIE! From scratch! And it was edible!

I was pretty proud of myself, can you tell? ;)

It took a little extra effort and lot of love but it actually turned out awesome.

And please excuse my creepy/moody pictures. Weird afternoon lighting and an impatient photographer.

So as you're making the dough, I guess the key is to keep everything cold! I froze my butter and then grated it to keep it cool as opposed to cutting it into the flour mixture with knives. 

A million little butter shreds. Did I mention this recipe is calorie-free?

Refrigeration and filling break.

And voila!

We copied Crust Club on this one and went for an alfredo chicken and broccoli filling. But seriously any filling would be amazing with this crust! Savory, sweet, little hand pies, go for it.

I think another key to pies I've been missing is the quantity - to give it that awesome shape you've gotta load in the filling! 

SO YUMMY.

Alfredo Chicken Pie

Pie Crust 

Ingredients: 

- 2 1/2 c flour

- 1/2 tsp salt

- 1 c butter, frozen

- 1/2 c ice water

Directions:

- In large bowl, combine flour and salt

- Shred butter with cheese grater (working quickly)

- Combine butter with flour mixture until it resembles course crumbles

- Stir in ice water, 1 TB at a time, till mixture forms ball (amount of water will vary)

- Refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight

- Preheat oven to 350*

- Divide into 2 balls

- Roll out and press 1/2 into pie plate, the other half save as the top crust 

- Bake bottom crust in oven at 350* for 8 minutes

Filling

Ingredients: 

- cooked and shredded chicken

- steamed broccoli 

- cooked ziti pasta (al dente)

- jar of alfredo sauce

- pepper

- nutmeg

Directions: 

- Combine chicken, broccoli, pasta and alfredo sauce in a big bowl!

- Add a sprinkle of pepper and nutmeg 

- Pour filling into par-baked bottom crust

- The higher the better! 

- Place top crust over the filling, pinch edges and cut dashes on top

- Bake for 35-50 min at 350*

- Enjoy!

Recipes adapted slightly from here and here

Froyo Berry Bites

I posted these on my insta story yesterday and about 30 people asked me for the recipe! So instead of typing it out 30 times I thought I'd just post it here.

I had TONS of leftover yogurt, granola and berries from Cannon's blessing brunch, and instead of making a yummy berry dessert I wanted something a little healthier! I found this recipe on pinterest and I have to admit, they look a little better than they taste ;). HA. To the recipe's credit, I didn't make the almond crust like it calls for! But they're just a little icy... think frozen gogurt texture. 

Still a fun healthy treat though for hot summer days!

Froyo Berry Bites

Original recipe  here! I rarely measure anything so maybe just go off her recipe ;).

Ingredients: 

- granola

- coconut oil

- vanilla greek yogurt 

- honey

- chopped berries

Directions: 

- line muffin tin with parchment or silicone muffin liners

- mix granola with coconut oil, enough so it's slightly wet

- fill cups with a tiny bit of granola mixture (see pic)

- mix honey into yogurt to desired sweetness

- pour yogurt mixture on top of granola

- sprinkle berries on top

- cover TIGHTLY with lots and lots of plastic wrap

- freeze for 4ish hours

- SET ON COUNTER FOR 10 MINUTES TO THAW

- if you don't do this, it will be gross and icy and flavorless.

- Enjoy! 

I've been keeping them in the freezer and then pop one out a few minutes before I want a snack.

Lemon Pudding Chippers

Every time I go to make a dessert my first thought is chocolate. What can I say, it's my fave. But once in a while I want something lighter/different so I hit up pinterest! And these lemon cookies were a rare pinterest success story! Soooo yummy.

I like to make them bite-sized (Paradise Bakery chippers anyone?!) so people are more likely to grab a few :). Also don't be alarmed if the batter is suuuuuper thick and hard to stir! It was for me (broke my spatula?) so I was pretty doubtful but they turned out great. 

Lemon Pudding Chippers

Ingredients: 

- 1 c sugar

- 1/2 c softened butter

- 1 egg

- 2 T milk

- 1/3 c sour cream

- 1 small box lemon pudding mix

- 1/2 tsp salt

- 1/2 tsp baking soda

- 2 tsp lemon juice

- 2 c flour

- 1 (12 oz) bag white chocolate chips (mini might be better for chipper-sized!)

- zest from 1 lemon

- yellow food coloring (optional)

Directions:

- Preheat oven to 375* 

- Cream together sugar and butter

- Mix in egg and milk

- In separate bowl combine sour cream, pudding, salt, soda and lemon juice (warning: THICK!)

- Combine sour cream mixture with butter mixture and flour

- Mix everything until smooth

- Mix in white chocolate chips, zest and 1 drop yellow food coloring

- Place quarter-sized balls of dough on slipmat on cookie sheet

- Bake for 5-7 minutes, depending on oven (mine took 5 min and 45 sec)

- They should look gooey when you take them out! Smack down the cookie sheet and let them sit there for a minute, they will harden as they cool

- Transfer to a cooling rack or parchment paper

- Enjoy! :) 

Recipe slightly adapted from Butter with a Side of Bread ( here)

On-the-Go Snacks

These days I feel like I do most of my eating in the car. Ha! By the time I get Lydia breakfast, feed Cannon, work out, shower, and get all three of us dressed it's like 10am and we're rushing out the door for some activity. And by then I'm starving! So I've curated quite the list of on-the-go snacks. Anyone who hangs out with me knows I always have at least 2 adult snacks in my bag at all times - plus 3 kid ones - so basically I'm a walking vending machine. Because if I'm starving and don't have food I'm way more tempted to drive through Chik-fil-A, but we are poor! So snacks it is :). Here are my current grab and go favorites, typically paired with an apple/clementine/etc : 

Individual Beef Jerky Packets (here)

HEART EYES. This is my all-time favorite road trip item (along with a huge diet coke and leggings and The Format CD). But I never have time to measure out single servings from a bag, so these packets are perfect. High in protein while low in fat, carbs and sugars. Bam!

Think Thin Bars (here)

These guys are fantastic! I'm so glad there's a new wave of low sugar high protein bars out there - so many of the old "protein bars" had as much sugar as candy bars! Think Thin makes snack size bars, like this Cupcake Batter one (soooo yummy), and also bigger bars that can count as a breakfast or lunch. Other flavors I like are Lemon Delight and Chocolate Fudge.

Pure Protein Bars (here)

Another brand of great low sugar bars. These ones are more filling than Think Thin bars in my opinion! Good flavors include Chocolate Deluxe and S'Mores - and my mom always buys the Chocolate Coconut ones but those are weird so stay away ;).

I also love Oatmega bars! I think I ate one of these every single night the first few weeks I had Cannon and I was starving all the time, haha.

Trader Joe's Individual Nut Packets (here)

I wouldn't deem these as a health food but they're great to throw in your bag! TJ's as tons of different trail mix combinations, some with just nuts and fruits, some with chocolate, some with yogurt bites, etc. And again I'm all about the individual serving sizes! 

Yogurt Covered Raisins (here)

I'm a sucker for anything mini - these tiny boxes clock in at 60 calories, so even though they are straight sugar I don't feel too bad about it. And bonus it can be either Lydia's snack or mine, depending on who's hungrier! ;)

Energy Balls (recipe here) 

Michael requests these every couple weeks! They really are the perfect in between snack. Definitely dense in nutrients and calories, so go easy on 'em!

String Cheese

When I don't want something sweet, like most of these listed, I grab a string cheese or Babybel. Trying to please my inner 6-year-old.

Or of course you can always just grab a dark chocolate peanut butter cup and bottle of Coke Zero at 9am and call it a win! No judgement here :).

So there are some of my go to snacks as of late! And then I really try and pack in veggies at lunch and dinner to make up for the lack of produce in the morning. What do you guys like?? I always love new snack ideas since I feel like half my life I'm snacking, so lay it on me! 

Chicken & Veggie Honey Kabobs

Whenever my mom asked what I wanted for dinner I'd always tell her shish kabobs. I don't know why but I love grilled chicken and veggies. And bonus - it's healthy! As long as you don't totally drown your chicken in bbq sauce - like me ;). I'm a sauce girl. Not to be confused with a saucy girl, but I'm probably a little of that too.

First up, chop all your veggies and chicken.

Then mix together the marinade. This one is so simple and delicious! We made it for friends last summer and they loved it too!

Marinade your veggies and chicken anywhere from 2-24 hours.

Meanwhile soak your skewer sticks.

Then thread your skewers and grill away! 

Mmmmmmmm my fave. Serve with grilled pineapple and bread.

Chicken & Veggie Honey Kabobs

Ingredients: 

- chicken breasts

- bell peppers

- onions

- zuchinni

Marinade: 

- 1/2 cup canola oil

- 2/3 cup honey

- 2/3 cup soy sauce

- 1 tsp minced garlic

- 1/2 tsp ground black pepper

Directions: 

- Chop chicken and veggies into bit-size pieces 

- Place chicken in one zip lock and veggies in another

- Whisk together all marinade ingredients in a large bowl

- Pour half the marinade into the chicken zip lock and half into the veggies

- Marinade in fridge for 2-24 hours, flipping occasionally 

- An hour before grilling, soak skewers in water

- Preheat grill

- Thread chicken and veggies onto skewers

- Discard chicken marinade, save veggie marinade

- Grill skewers and brush with remaining veggie marinade

- Enjoy!

Recipe from Allrecipes (here)

Back in the Kitchen - BBQ Chicken Pizza

I've literally gone an entire month without making a single meal - minus a few smoothies and the one time I made eggs. Ha! We've been so lucky to have amazing moms and neighbors provide meals for us these last four weeks, but now I need to get back at it! I'm always on the lookout for super fast, moderately healthy, semi cheap and of course yummy meals - and this one fits the bill!

I actually used to make pizzas (thai chili, bbq, classic pepperoni, etc) about once a week when we were dating/newlyweds since it's so cheap and easy! I need to start doing this again now that my time is super limited. 

So here's what I made yesterday and you should too!

Put two really small chicken breasts in the crockpot with some water and seasonings for a few hours.

Shred yo chicken. 

Dice yo veggies and shred yo cheese.

And buy Trader Joe's dough! Or make this quick 15 minute dough (here!) that I really like or this simple all-day-rise dough (here!) that is totally delish.

Sprinkle some cornmeal on a baking sheet, roll out your dough, and get all saucy creating modern art.

(Side note: Michael walked by as I was writing this and was convinced this had some sort of inkblot test significance, ha. He thinks it looks like a baby smiling in the womb - whatever that's supposed to mean?!)

Anyways, now just smear all those inkblot imaginations away.

Cheeeeeese.

Chicken.

Veggies.

OH MY! (Extra drizzle of BBQ sauce for effect and for taste duh. More the merrier when it comes to sauces!)

Then just throw in the oven and remember how awesome you are cuz you just made dinner in 5 minutes!

BBQ Chicken Pizza

Ingredients:

- pizza dough

- shredded chicken

- mozzarella cheese

- bbq sauce 

- sliced red onions

- diced bell peppers

- any other veggies you want

- cilantro

- flour for rolling out dough

- cornmeal for sprinkling on baking sheet

- red pepper flakes & parmesan cheese for serving (optional)

Directions:

- Preheat oven to 475*

- On floured surface, roll out dough and pierce 10 times with a fork

- Sprinkle cornmeal on a baking sheet

- Place dough on cornmeal

- Cover with BBQ sauce

- Load on toppings (minus cilantro!)

- Bake anywhere from 10-16 minutes, depending on the thickness of your dough

- Sprinkle cilantro, red pepper flakes and parmesan cheese on top

- Enjoy!