recipes | Girl Meets Life | a lifestyle blog by Gracie Gordon

chocolate covered coconut bars + how to make healthy desserts that actually taste good.

11 August, 2014 by Gracie 15 Comments

While I was away last month we had a little family reunion of sorts. My whole dad’s side of the family came over for a day of fishing/hanging out at the shore house.

As usual, we had a huge spread of delicious food – meatballs, lasagna, salads, appetizers, and of course desserts. I always try to contribute a dessert or two, but I tend to stick to more crowd pleasing ones…AKA those including butter, sugar, and all that good stuff.

This time around, though, I wanted to experiment with a bit of a healthier dessert and see how my family liked it.

…I found a winner.

Original recipe can be found here

Seriously – my entire family was obsessing over these coconut bars! Even my dad – who (very lovingly) can be my toughest critic

The bars are easy to make (no baking involved), include just a few ingredients, and most importantly – are ridiculously good.

This recipe also covered all the bases for what I think is key when it comes to making healthy desserts that people will actually WANT to eat.

1) Use real, natural sweeteners – not artificial ones!
Let’s be real – artificial sweetener in baked goods tastes like chemical crap. I’d much rather use local organic honey, maple syrup, or brown rice syrup. YES I know those are still sugar, but I personally think it’s a better choice than artificial (both taste and health wise).

2) Keep it simple.
If a recipe seems like it has a lot of wacky ingredients, it’s probably a red flag. I like sticking to recipes that have as little ingredients as possible, and ones that are recognizable/would make sense to be in a dessert. For example, I just can’t do protein powder in desserts. Things like dark chocolate, whole oats, and bananas? Those I can do.

3) Consider your audience.
On that same note, I knew I wasn’t going to win anyone over with protein flaxseed quinoa black bean brownies. I chose a recipe that was simple, had ingredients most people love, and looked/tasted like a “normal” dessert.

4) Go nutty.
Nut butters and coconut are your best friend when it comes to healthier desserts. They’re delicious and full of natural healthy fats and protein.

5) Take others’ word for it.
Last but not least, the best way to find a healthy dessert that tastes good is through word of mouth. I got the recipe for the Chocolate Covered Coconut Bars from my friend Jenn who swore by them. I also love the recipes on PaleOMG and Oh She Glows, as well as just browsing Pinterest.

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But then of course, there are the times that you’ve just gotta make the real deal (which, to me is most of the time when it comes to dessert!). In those cases, Cake Batter Blondies are always a good idea…

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Do you have a go-to healthy dessert recipe?

Celebrating Fourth of July with Tostitos.

26 June, 2014 by Gracie 6 Comments

Fireworks, barbecues, warm weather, parades, and all things red, white & blue. There’s no denying that Fourth of July is one of the best days of the year!

As I get older I’ve come to appreciate Fourth of July more and more. It’s one of the only holidays that takes place in the summer, so it’s the perfect time to kick back, forget about work, and just enjoy the time celebrating with friends and family.

Oh, and then there’s one of the best parts about celebrating Fourth of July – the food!

In addition to classic barbecue foods like burgers and hot dogs, Fourth of July is also all about the snacks. And when it comes to snacking, TOSTITOS® Original Restaurant Style Tortilla Chips are a must-have for my Fourth of July party! My family and friends love TOSTITOS tortilla chips because they pack a tasty crunch perfect for dipping with any of the tasty TOSTITOS dips.

TOSTITOS Original Restaurant Style Tortilla Chips also fit into my balanced diet, which is great in the summer when I’m trying to eat a little bit lighter. For this year’s 4th of July celebration I want to include lots of fruits and vegetables, with TOSTITOS Original Restaurant Style Tortilla Chips as the center of the delicious spread.

And to go with the TOSTITOS Original Restaurant Style Tortilla Chips, I’m going to serve a fresh and light pico de gallo. I followed this great (and simple) recipe. For an extra kick, I’ll throw in some extra jalapeños or habaneros!

The TOSTITOS Original Restaurant Style Tortilla Chips with the fresh pico de gallo pairs perfectly with a cold and refreshing cocktail. I love getting creative with cocktails for special holidays and celebrations, and this year I made a patriotic cocktail that my friends love – a Berry Margarita!

I followed this recipe and garnished with some strawberries & blueberries to make it look extra festive and patriotic.

I love serving cocktails in mason jars – and this blue tinted mason jar I found added another fun festive touch to the “red white & blue” theme.

I can’t wait to share these fun snacks and recipes with my friends and family! I know that they’ll add the perfect touch to our Fourth of July celebration in a few weeks.

How will you be celebrating Fourth of July this year? What’s your go-to festive recipe for the Fourth?

This post is brought to you by a partnership with Frito-Lay & Girl Meets Life. All opinions are my own.
Please note I was compensated for this post.

tropical overnight oats.

19 June, 2014 by Gracie 13 Comments

Overnight Oats is (are?) one of those things I started eating when I began reading “healthy living” blogs about 5 years ago. After a while, though, I started to kind of be grossed out by the famous OO’s, so I stopped including it in my breakfast rotation.

Fast forward to today, and I’ve fallen in love with Overnight Oats all over again….AND I realized what it was I didn’t like about them before…it was the yogurt!

While yogurt definitely adds a great thickness and creaminess to OO’s, I really don’t like the little bit of tart-ness it adds (no matter how much I try to balance it out with sweetness). I’m also not crazy about the texture – I prefer my oatmeal to have a bit of a chew to it.

I wasn’t sure if using just milk as the liquid would work, but it definitely did! And the result was delicious.

directions:

1. Combine the following in a bowl, jar, or tupperware:

1/3 cup rolled oats (quick oats will work too)
1 heaping tbsp ground flax
2/3 cup coconut milk
sprinkle of cinnamon (optional)

2. Stir it all together and let sit overnight in the fridge.

3. The next morning, mix in a tiny bit of sugar or stevia for some added sweetness (optional). Stir well. Then top with:

sliced banana
chunks of pineapple
shaved coconut
any other fruit, nut, etc. you want! I added a few blueberries to mine.

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Have you ever tried Overnight Oats? What’s your favorite combo?

homemade coconut walnut butter.

9 June, 2014 by Gracie 10 Comments

Anyone who knows me – and especially those who have lived with me – know that I’m a nut butter addict.

Peanut butter, almond butter, maple macadamia cashew cream butter with a twist of mocha chocolate…I never met a nut butter I didn’t like.

As far as venturing into the world of making my own nut butter, though, that’s something I’ve only tried once. In fact, I got a mini food processor specifically for that purpose. Even though my first go around was good (making maple almond butter), for some reason I never attempted it again.

Until now.

That would be Coconut Walnut Butter, and it is ridiculously good.

I chose to lead with the “Coconut” because there’s more of it in the mix than walnuts. From what I’ve heard, walnuts are the most difficult nut to make butter out of, so I figured I’d pair it with something that would be a complimentary flavor/texture. Coconut seemed to do the trick!

What you’ll need:

2 cups unsweetened shaved coconut
1 cup walnuts
food processor (I’ve found that a mini one works best)
optional mix-in ideas: pure maple syrup, cinnamon, ground flax

directions: Grind the coconut first until it reaches a creamy consistency – about 1-2 minutes. Then add the walnuts and grind for another few minutes until it reaches your desired consistency.

Walnuts don’t get as creamy as other nuts do, so you can expect a bit of a chunky texture (which I personally love!).

Homemade Coconut Walnut Butter

This didn’t make a ton of nut butter (which worked for me since I’m the only one eating it), but the recipe can easily be doubled or tripled. This amount made just enough to fit a ramekin-sized bowl. Store in the refrigerator.

You can definitely make this with other nuts as well! Peanuts, almonds, etc. It’s the perfect topping for toast, paired with a banana, and…well, I don’t think I have to tell you the many delicious uses for nut butter

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Have you ever tried making your own nut butter? What’s your favorite (homemade or not)?

the best use for avocado.

6 June, 2014 by Gracie 11 Comments

…other than for avocado toast, at least

Unless you’ve been living under a Pinterest-free rock, you probably know that putting some sort of filling in avocado is like, all the rage right now. And since I’m an equal parts avocado and Pinterest addict, I thought it was about time that I try this for myself.

Instead of trying a whole new new recipe, though, I went with an old favorite.

That was a good decision.

That would be my most favorite ever Cheesy Buffalo Chicken Dip. I didn’t think this stuff could get any better, but the avocado bowl proved me wrong.

You could pop these “bowls” back into the oven (I’ve seen recipes where the avocado is cooked), but I prefer the cool creaminess of avocado paired with the cheesy goodness of the buffalo chicken.

Oh, and this is very much low carb, if you’re into that sort of thing.

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Have you ever eaten out of an avocado bowl? What’s the last Pinterest inspired recipe/idea you tried?

2 ingredient strawberry soft serve.

4 June, 2014 by Gracie 8 Comments

You’ve probably seen Gena’s infamous Banana Soft Serve floating around the blog world for a few years now, but I’m going to resurrect it by making strawberries the star of the show.

Into the food processor goes:

1 big handful of frozen strawberries
1/2 frozen banana

Optional: some nut butter for extra flavor and thickness. You could also add any mix-ins you’d like! Chocolate chips, nuts, etc.

That’s it! I topped mine simply with some coconut, and it was the perfect dessert for an (almost) summer night.

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Have you ever made “ice cream” out of frozen fruit? What’s your favorite combo?

#LEAN14: white chocolate raspberry smoothie.

20 May, 2014 by Gracie 5 Comments

This is my go-to smoothie lately. Perfect for breakfast, a snack, or even dessert!

ingredients:

1 cup frozen raspberries
1 scoop white chocolate protein powder
1 cup vanilla almond milk
a few ice cubes
a small handful of white chocolate chips (optional)

Throw all of the ingredients into a blender and enjoy!

Celebrating Cinco de Mayo with Tostitos.

1 May, 2014 by Gracie 5 Comments

Over the past couple of years, Cinco de Mayo has joined the ranks of fun excuses to celebrate life with my friends. It’s very much an “eat, drink, and be merry” sort of day, and…well, what better kind of day is there?

This year I’m especially excited for Cinco de Mayo because after a long brutal winter, a reason to celebrate is more welcome than ever. Not to mention that Mexican food is my favorite cuisine, so I took the opportunity to try some fun new recipes to share with my friends.

Before throwing my little fiesta, though, I wanted to make the recipes ahead of time to make sure that they were winners. And oh, were they winners.

When it comes to a perfect Cinco de Mayo fiesta, I think it’s all about the dips. So I made some Revved Up Chili Con Queso and Classic Guacamole.

I followed The Pioneer Woman’s recipe for Revved Up Chili Con Queso, and it is k-i-l-l-e-r. Spicy, creamy, with big chunks of breakfast sausage (yes - breakfast sausage!).

And for the guacamole, I kept it simple by following this recipe for Classic Guacamole.

Clearly it’s important to have the perfect crunchy vessel to dip in the queso and/or guacamole goodness. And if you ask me, TOSTITOS® Original Restaurant Style Tortilla Chips are a must-have for that.

TOSTITOS® Original Restaurant Style Tortilla Chips are a great base for bold, fun dips, so it’s easy to get creative when serving them! They’re also perfect for making your favorite nachos, with melted cheese and your favorite toppings -like black olives, green onions and jalapeños.

TOSTITOS® Original Restaurant Style Tortilla Chips also pair well with salsa, sour cream and any other dips your guests might enjoy. I love having a variety of TOSTITOS brand dips available because everyone can find something that makes them happy. And isn’t that what a fiesta is all about?

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Will you be celebrating Cinco de Mayo? What’s your favorite dip?

This post is brought to you by a partnership with Frito-Lay & Girl Meets Life. All opinions are my own.

#LEAN14: vegan & gluten free cookie dough for one.

31 March, 2014 by Gracie 13 Comments

I’m a sucker for single serving recipes.

…especially when they include two of the best words in the English language: COOKIE. DOUGH.

Needless to say, when I saw this healthier single serving recipe for vegan cookie dough on Pinterest, I knew it was one I had to try.

I made some changes to that recipe because a) I didn’t have coconut oil and b) I wanted to see how it would taste with almond flour. The result was not only delicious, but also gluten free.

adapted from Vegan Cookie Dough For One

ingredients:

1 tablespoon real maple syrup
1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3 tablespoons almond flour
pinch of salt
1-2 teaspoons dark chocolate chips (make sure non-dairy if strictly vegan)

Just mix the first four ingredients in a small bowl, then add the chocolate chips last. That’s it!

I was planning on using some almond milk to replace the coconut oil, but it actually didn’t need it. The almond flour soaked the maple syrup up for a perfect cookie dough consistency.

I would like to try the original recipe too, which uses regular flour, but I must say I really did love the flavor and heartiness from the almond flour. The only thing I’d say I didn’t like about this recipe is that…it didn’t make enough! Seriously, I might double it next time

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Are you a fan of single serving recipes? Do you have a favorite? (I’d love suggestions!)

snapshots.

27 March, 2014 by Gracie 13 Comments

Yesterday I made a big batch of delicious Kale and Quinoa Minestrone. Since the Northeast is apparently refusing to leave winter, I figured I’d at least embrace one last chance to make a big comforting meal.

This recipe is a great one – definitely recommended.

I also went through piles and piles of old stuff in my parent’s basement that they’ve wanted me to go through for…years. I threw out most of it, but there were some gems to be found.

…like this proof that I was quite the poet and artist in middle school.

…and these arguably tacky (but now in style) chunky heels from an old Halloween costume. I’m totally going to be wearing these this spring/summer, FYI.

When I’m in PA my mom and I love running errands. We love it so much we’ll just make up things we need to do. It’s sort of our thing.

This is me driving us around. Clearly I don’t care about doing (or even brushing) my hair when I’m here…

We went to the health food store, where I naturally went straight for the gold.

(Has anyone tried Nuttzo? I haven’t opened it yet – hope it’s good!)

We also wandered around Target for an hour, then got mani/pedis. I usually go for weird colors, but this time I kept it pretty normal with a bright Barbie pink.