Organic Apple Rings: by Sweet Lavender Bake Shoppe

Because we're all into buying groceries these days, and eating healthy, (well, healthier) I chose to feature a little recipe by one of my lovely sponsors, Christina, from "Sweet Lavender Bake Shoppe".

The kiddos will not only  l o v e  this yummy treat, but  you're also not loading them with sugar and a bunch of synthetic ingredients, and that's something you can feel good about. Plus, you only need 3 ingredients that you probably already have in the kitchen. That's my kinda cookin'.

The above picture is what they're suppose to look like. Christina did a great job. I totally over baked mine, which you can see in the photos below. They were a little crunchier, and in comparison, don't look near as yummy as Christina's, but Fern (and our room mate Melissa) still ate them! ... all of them! So that really tells you something.

All you need are Gala Apples, cinnamon, and nutmeg. That's IT! Christina's are cored, which look so lovely. I'm lazy and dont have an apple corer, so I just sliced mine and removed the seeds. 

These little Apple Rings were the PERFECT mid-day snack.
I put Fern down for her nap, sliced them, put them in to bake, forgot about them (which wasn't in the directions), and by the time nap time was over, I had a great treat for Fern to wake up to.
She absolutely loved them. I love that I gave her something she loved that was really healthy.
I can't wait to try this again and really perfect the timing.

If you want the full recipe and directions, head over to Christina's Organic Apple Rings post.
While you're there, stay a while and look around. This lady not only has some very unique and fabulous recipes she shares on her blog, but she's also such a sweet lady, with a great eye for design. I'm happy to share her with you.
I'm a big fan of hers, and I know you will be too!

Fro-yo date

I gotta tell you, this momma is cheap. Usually our fro-yo dates consist of the two of us sitting on our front steps eating a pack of "tuberz" that I've put in the freezer overnight (which I highly recommend) Today was an extra special day because we just needed to get out of the house. We walked to lunch, and then right across the street for some fancy pants fro-yo at Orange Leaf. What a special treat. I just had to share these photos. This girl is just so entertaining. Do you like how she ended up with a spoon in each hand? Yep. She's mine.

Honeymoonin'

I mentioned in the post before that we were getting on wedding planning (finally). The hardest part of wedding planning, so far, (in my opinion) has been deciding on a honeymoon location. We could go anywhere! (not anywhere, but a lot of places) It was difficult to even decide what type of place we wanted to go. City, beach, woods, mountains? After much, and I do mean much, deliberation... and me deciding and re-thinking until I gave up and let Tristan decide and then re-decided for him... We finally both agreed on Boulder, CO.

photo credit

We decided on Boulder, because firstly, It's beautiful. It's beautiful and it won't break the bank. My only requirements were that it was affordable, and that I could easily access a decent cappuccino at any point in my day. Boulder offers both of these things. We're actually looking into a Coffee and Pastry tour which I am very excited about.

photo credit

We also found this really neat bike to farm dinner which includes a bike ride from downtown Boulder to the farm, dinner, wine tasting, and live music. 

A few other things we wanted to do while in town, are: visit the farmers market, eat at Beehive( a farm to table dining experience), hiking trails (obviously), a beer tour, and possibly a drop in yoga class on the mountain. I've also heard a few places in Nederland are highly recommended. 

We've been asking around about more favorite spots in Boulder. I've never been, and it's been a very long time since T has. He doesn't remember much about the city. Have any of you ever been to the area, or have any recommendations? 

Paleo

Okay, confession straight up: I'm not going on the Paleo diet anytime soon. Not because I don't want to, but because I just don't have the kitchen space at the moment to be cooking in, and storing my own ingredients, as we are living with Tristan's mom.  But! I will say, it is a distant goal of mine. My sweet friend Tillie, of "Hello Tillie",  has started a blog about her efforts to be a healthier version of herself, and I'm telling you what, guys. I'm so proud and inspired by this lady. I'm so excited about this blog, because this girl has good taste in food, and she's going out and finding, and tweaking recipes to fit into her new paleo lifestyle and they look AMAZING. She actually makes me feel like... maybe I could do that... one day.

 If you know me at all you know I have a mouth full of sweet teeth. Paleo just didn't sound like it would be down my alley. Let's get real, I love the idea of being healthy, but I love the idea of cake and brownies more.. sooo.. there's that. But now, with Tillie's wonderful recomendations, and recipe shares I really feel like Paleo and myself could have a beautiful friendship in the future.

These cookies are made with almond milk, dark chocolate, coconut oil, honey, and holy moly me oh my.

Good job Tillie! You're rocking this. :) 

If you're interested in Paleo, or just interested in the goings on of a sweet and motivated friend, you should go check out Tillie's blog. I'm just the biggest fan of this girl, and I know you will be too.


Have any of you tried Paleo? What do you think?