Sweet Tooth Dreams

I've bookmarked so many tasty-looking recipes lately. Please, someone invite me to a party so I have a good reason to make some sweets!

...I actually did make this 2-ingredient chocolate frosting and it was dangerously good. I used it as a ganache while it was still warm, and it was gooey and amazing.

...These blueberry coconut pecan breakfast cookies look outstanding. We bought some pecans on sale at Whole Foods a few weeks ago, but they were too good a la carte to justify using a ton in a recipe. I may have to change my mind and go buy some more, though.

...My mom found this buckwheat pancake recipe on the back of her bag of buckwheat flour recently, and she's made them multiple times. I finally made a batch at home and they're great. Simple and hearty, and great with real maple syrup on top!

...Speaking of buckwheat, I'm going to scrounge up the ingredients for these muffins soon, on one of those nights when I just want a little something sweet-ish after dinner. (Who am I kidding? That's every night!)

...I'm going to need to find some sort of social occasion to make these brownies. Because I know if I just make them for the two of us, they'll be gone in 24 hours!

...These cookies are pretty similar to a recipe I've posted previously, but the peanut butter and chocolate combo never gets old!

...On the other end of the spectrum, these healthy almond power cookies look pretty good too.

...As do these chocolate buckwheat cookies. (This link is also full of gluten-free baking tips!)

...Finally, the best for last: homemade coconut milk ice cream. I know. I don't even recognize myself right now! Ice cream is the one dessert I can usually take or leave, but now that I've tried coconut milk ice cream, I can't get enough!

Resigned

Welp. I resigned from my job* 4 weeks ago. My last day was June 14. No, I don't have another job lined up yet. This is my first week home and it's been... odd.

Why is this so embarrassing to talk about?

I grew up in a very performance-oriented household. This served me very well growing up, because my inclination has historically been to quit when things get hard (AP Calculus, I'm looking at you).

I'm so grateful that my parents encouraged me to persevere through, for example, nursing school, despite my existential crises and numerous threats to change majors. In that instance, perseverance was a very good thing. But there's perseverance, and then there's stupidity (if you keep doing the same thing over and over again, you'll keep getting the same results, right?).

In the past few years, I've taken perseverance to the extreme: piling things on my plate and brute-forcing my way through them because I can. Until... I can't.

Like the country song says, you have to know when to hold 'em and know when to fold 'em. If you're anything like me, folding seems to be synonymous with failure. Like you didn't try hard enough. But sometimes, that's just not the case.

I'm excited and very anxious about where this path will lead. In the meantime, if you live nearby and want to hang out, let me know. My calendar is wide open!





*Disclaimer: This is NOT meant to be a reflection on my recent employer. It's very much the product of the progression of the last 2 years in my personal life. I am very at peace with my decision and I know it's the right choice at this time. Still, I'm sad that this job wasn't a better fit. I have had the honor of working with a truly esteemed staff of professionals. I would without a doubt go to this clinic as a patient because they provide such great care. I loved being part of a small but hard-working team. But at the end of the day, it wasn't the right place for me.

Peanut Butter Banana Muffins

Time to catch up on recipes we've been loving! This muffin is amazing. It's the most "normal" gluten-free muffin I've had to date. The texture is not too crumbly, not too dry, and not too eggy. Bonus: the peanut butter overshadows the banana enough that Ross actually eats these!

Ingredients:

1 cup organic peanut butter (use almond butter to make them Paleo)

3 organic eggs
2 ripe bananas, mashed
1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp coconut flour
1/4 cup honey or maple syrup
3/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla extract 

Directions:   

Preheat oven to 350. In a large bowl mix the bananas, eggs and peanut butter until smooth.  Add the remainder of the ingredients mix thoroughly. Divide batter evenly in a prepared muffin tin. Bake for 18-22 minutes. Remove from the baking pan and allow muffins to cool. Enjoy!

(They're especially wonderful with my grandma's strawberry jelly on top)