too busy to eat well!

I have a confession to make...today I finally looked through some food blogs, for the first time in weeks. The only food we have consumed in the past few weeks has been contained in small grocery bags on the banks of a river:








Or, eaten by a campfire:









Or eaten out of a cone right next to the ocean:







We also dined out at far too many chain restaurants in between all our trips & I am dying to eat some cooked at home food. To make up for all of the on-the-go eating, though, we spent some amazing time here:







(our view from our tent!!)

and here:







as well as some other very pretty places.


I'll have to wait to make any of your amazing recipes of course, as I am still in the midst of living between towns. I've just eaten some salad at Panera (more chains!!?? yes...well....they have internet...I don't). At least it was salad though. :) With strawberries & blueberries & pineapple...yum! I would take a picture, but, whoops! I ate it all in a hurry.

Honestly, I don't know when I'll have time (or cooking pans) to make yummy meals anytime soon, but hopefully at least I'll have more time near a computer!

Heidi's Big Sur Power Bars

Following a cue from 101 Cookbooks, I decided to make some power bars for our upcoming camping trip. Of course, unfortunately we won't be going somewhere as amazing as she did! But we are excited for our trip...a last hurrah before we move & have actual jobs. Ew.

I made a whole bunch of changes based on what I had in the house. I can't say whether they are as good as the original, as I've never made the originals. In particular, I had no brown rice syrup & only about 1/2 cup of honey, so I did a mixture of applesauce, pb & honey for the "glue" of the bar.

Protein Bars
adapted from 101 Cookbooks

1 1/4 cups rolled oats
1 1/2 cups brown rice crispies
8 Tbsp flax seed meal
1/2 cup pistachios
1/2 cup peanuts
1 cup almonds, chopped
1/4 cup sunflower seeds, hulled
2/3 cup coconut
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup natural peanut butter
1/4 cup applesauce, unsweetened
1/2 cup honey
1 Tbsp dark brown sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a baking pan with the coconut oil. If you like thick power bars, opt for an 8 by 8-inch pan; for thinner bars, use a 9 by 13-inch pan.

On a rimmed baking sheet toast the almonds, pistachios, peanuts and coconut for about 7 minutes, or until the coconut is deeply golden. Toss once or twice along the way. Mix the oats, toasted nuts, coconut, and the cereal, together in a large bowl and set aside.

Combine the honey, peanut butter, applesauce, brown sugar, salt, and vanilla in a small saucepan over medium heat and stir constantly as it comes to a boil and thickens just a bit, about 4 minutes. Pour the syrup over the oat mixture and stir until it is evenly incorporated.

Spread into the prepared pan and cool to room temperature before cutting into whatever size bars you desire.

Makes 16 to 24 bars.

I have munched on some of the crumbs & so far they're delicious! They of course do not hold together as well as Heidi's and they seem like they are probably softer, but I really like the nutty flavor. I froze a bunch of them to see if they hold up better, so I'll let you know after this weekend!

Wish you all a weekend of beautiful weather! So far so good over here. :)

Mexican Monkey Cake

Whew...I have been AWFUL at getting here lately. Well, this is one of the first recipes I found when I began reading food blogs...time sure flies, doesn't it? I finally had the occasion (& the bananas) to make it, and I was so excited. It was indeed as delicious as it seemed it would be, and even though only about 1/2 was eaten at the event I brought it to, we've managed to polish off nearly the rest of it in the past few days.

I especially liked the little kick that the chili powder added. I figured if it's going to be called mexican cake, I might as well add some chili!

Farmgirl's Mexican Monkey Cake
adapted from Farmgirl Fare

cinnamon streusel:
8 oz dark chocolate, chopped
2/3 cup light brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup oats
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper powder

cake:
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 1/4 mashed, ripe bananas (as ripe as they get)
2 Tbsp vanilla yogurt
1 Tbsp buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper powder

Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease an 8x8x2" baking pan. In a small bowl, combine chocolate, brown sugar, oats, cinnamon, and 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper powder; set aside.

In a large bowl, beat butter, sugar & egg with an electric mixer until fluffy. Add bananas, yogurt and milk & mix well. On low speed, beat in flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt & remaining 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper powder until just blended.

Spread slightly more than 1/2 of the batter in the pan. Sprinkle with 1/2 of the cinnamon streusel. Carefully spread the remaining batter over the streusel and then top with the rest of the streusel. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean, about 40-50 minutes. Cool in pan on a wire rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.


According to the original directions, the cake freezes well, but I wouldn't know since we ate it so quickly! This is definitely worth repeating, and I'm already looking forward to making it again! It was also so easy & looked beautiful. I made it in the morning before our "end of the semester" party & we were eating it by 11:30. If you are looking for something new to make, definitely try this one!