HOUSE FOR RENT

So we are renting our house out beginning January 1st. If anyone knows of somebody looking for a place to rent in the area leave a comment on my blog or send me a message on facebook (I don't want to put my personal contact info on here!) We are offering a $300 FINDERS REWARD!! Anyways, here is the ad:

Hello, We have a very nice, 1300 sq ft clean home available for rent. 2 bedroom, 2.5 bath, 2 car garage. It has a large kitchen, comfortable dining area, and cozy family room which connects to a small personal side yard. Both bedrooms are upstairs and both have their own full bathroom. A small, half bathroom, is downstairs. All appliances are included (washer/dryer, refrigerator, microwave, electric oven, and dishwasher. This house is wired with a full security system on all doors and windows.

$950/month + utilities

Available: January 1st.

There is a community pool & jacuzzi centrally located in the neighborhood and many parks throughout. 

It is located in East Mesa, Crismon and Baseline, just one mile from many grocery stores and a large shopping center with many stores, a movie theatre, gym (LA Fitness), and restaurants. 

If you have any questions, please contact me! Thanks!!!

Dipped Cookie Dough Balls

One thing you should know about me. I LOVE peanut butter and chocolate together!! They were meant to be combined!! 

Remember that peanut butter cookie I posted some time in August. Well I found a blog that turned it into a delectable cookie dough ball. Keep in mind, there are no eggs in it so you don't have to be considered with that like you do with other raw cookie doughs! I followed the recipe here on the "keep it sweet" blog. Loved that it didn't have any olive oil like the original peanut butter cookie recipe and instead used apple sauce! Cutting calories where I can makes me a happy camper! 

(Side note: I'm supposed to record everything I eat today and the next two days for my nutrition assessment class. Probably wasn't the best idea to make these while doing a diet record... my teacher is going to think I'm not suited to be a dietitian when he reads I had 4 peanut butter chocolate chip cookie dough balls! Sundays can be dangerous around here!)

 Too late :)

So here it is!

(It's unfortunate I don't take styled culinary pictures so the foods look more appealing but I swear they are delicious!! This sad picture was taken with my phone hence the cruddy quality.)

Adapted from Keep it Sweet.

Dipped Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Balls 

Ingredients

3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour

1 cup rolled oats

1/2 cup salted natural creamy peanut butter

1/3 cup maple syrup

1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup ghirardelli bittersweet chocolate chips + 1 cup for melting later on

Cooking Directions

Line a jelly roll pan with wax paper and set aside

Whisk together flour and oats in a medium bowl and set aside

Use an electric mixer to beat together all of the wet ingredients until well-combined

Stir in flour mixture until just combined

Stir in chocolate chips

Use a cookie dough scoop or spoon to scoop about two tablespoons of dough; roll dough into a ball with hands; repeat

Freeze until firm

Once the cookies are frozen. 

Melt 1 cup of bittersweet chocolate chips in microwave

 (I use ghirardelli chocolate because it is so good!!) 

Cook for about 45 seconds at a time, stirring each time until melted. 

Dip the tops of each cookie dough ball into the melted chocolate. Place on a sheet and allow it to set. Then place back in the freezer. 

Serve right out of the freezer and enjoy!

If it's an extra special occasion, chop them into a little ice cream. That would be down right ridiculously good!!

Tomorrow I'm attempting my first crock pot meal... wish me luck!

The Adventure on Half Dome!

Ever since I was little and have been going to my cousins house I would see this picture hanging on their wall .

It was a granite rock/mountain named half dome. My aunt had grown up hiking it and I wanted to too. She told me I had to be 13 before I could go up (it can be very dangerous) so I still had a few years until then. Over the years, I sat back and watched as she began taking my cousins there and I still wanted to do it. Finally, 3 months ago or so she asked me if I wanted to make the journey to Yosemite and conquer Half Dome? I immediately said YES! But of course I knew I needed to talk to Joey before I could totally commit to it. You see, Yosemite park requires a permit to go all the way up to the top of Half Dome. In previous years they had as many as 1500 people going up the side of half dome to it's summit in a single day. That's a ton! So last year they began the permit system and only 400 are issued per day. You have to get them well in advance and can only get up to 4 at a time. My Aunt got her 4 and I was so excited by the possibility being one of the select few to go. I talked to Joe and he was okay with it so I told her to count me in!! 

After waiting for a few months and after many conversations with family members who had done it, I was getting nervous. From the time I committed to going I think a total of 5 more people died there and each time a conversation with my Aunt would follow, with her trying to explain to me what they did wrong and why I would be okay. So finally, 2 weeks into the semester, I packed my bags and headed to Yosemite with my mom and my Aunt. We flew in to Fresno, got out rental car, hit up Whole Foods for a ridiculous amount of time (we love that place!!) and started our road trip towards Yosemite. After a 2 hour ride, with the final hour consisting of nothing but swirling mountainous roads, we made it Tunnel View, a little parking lot where you have a spectacular view of part of Yosemite. 

Gorgeous huh?!

We carried on and made it to Camp Curry where lots of squirrels were awaiting our arrival so they could dig into our delicious food we brought. 

I discovered they like peanut butter filled pretzels!

We stayed in tent cabins, which are exactly as they sound, a little cabin covered in canvas. It was perfect!

We explored the shops a little bit, had some pizza and rocky road ice cream cones :) One of my Aunt's friends met up with us that night and we all tried to hit the hay by 10 or so. After a rough night of pretty much no sleep, the alarm went off at 4 am and it was time to get ready for the big hike. By 5am we were on the trail beginning our 19 mile journey. 

This shows our path, 9 miles each way

We spent the first hour hiking in the dark (kind of scary when you know bears are lurking all around) and made it to the first Waterfall, Vernal Falls. 

The people in the picture are not us, I just found this online so you can have a picture in mind.

We carried on, just the 4 of us girls through the mountains of Yosemite. We made it to the next big waterfall, Nevada Falls. 

Again, we did not take this picture. Thank you everytrail.com! :)

After a few more miles and a lot of switchbacks we made it to Misery Hill, an "oxygen stealer" hill that was named by my aunt's dad. All feeling good and also nervous for what we knew lie ahead, the cables, we carried on up Misery Hill! Unfortunately my mom was kind of struggling by this point just due to the extreme height and cliffs that were on each side of us so she turned around and waited for us at the bottom of Misery Hill. I don't blame her, it was kind of crazy! It could be called the "pre-half dome" because the same goes for both - if your not good with heights... well you probably shouldn't go up! 

This was all of us before we went up Misery Hill

Yep, I'm in a skirt and proud of it! :)

Once you get to the saddle, there you see the cables right in front of you. It definitely makes you second guess going up them!

The faint line in the middle are the two cables. 

I sat on the saddle for a good half hour, talking to other people to see if they were going to do it. I texted Joey and told him "I don't think I can do this. It's so much more extreme in person." Luckily, being the motivating soul that he is, he told me I could do it! Why do we need to hear those little reminders sometimes? Because it helped! But I still was not 100% convinced. I was nervous as heck! So my Aunt and I sat there for quite some time discussing the matter (this was going to be her 9th or 10th climb). She asked if I'd regret it if I didn't do it. I knew I would be so ticked at myself if I didn't! She said we'd take it one post at a time. We threw on our harnesses and headed for the cables about 100ft away. We clipped on our carabiners and started up. At first I was a little scared, but I quickly became so comfortable and was absolutely loving it! All of my fears disappeared!! There are times when it is very slippery (it's granite for crying out loud) but my Brooks Cascadias handled it like a champ! Eventually we made it to the top! I believe the actual cables part is about 400 ft and it probably took us a good 15 to 20 minutes to climb up and it was so worth it! Here are a few pictures of the insane view!

I was flippin excited!

As we were up there, a guy climbed over the edge finishing up his rock climbing on the face of half dome. Seriously nuts. It took him 4 hours.

It was so fun seeing all these people up there that were so freaked out before going up and every one would cheer for ya and you just felt such a great sense of camaraderie. Loved it!

After getting some food in us, we began our journey down the cables. I thought that was going to be the scariest part, but by then I was just so in love with Yosemite and the absolute majestic place that it was that I didn't even care that I was going down the side of a cliff looking out at everything. More people were coming up by this time so we'd have to stop and hang out at some points to let other people pass. We made it down, safe and sound and I was ready to go right back up those cables! But instead we continued down Misery Hill to where my mom was anxiously awaiting our arrival 2 1/2 hours later. As much as I would have loved to have my mom come to the top with us, or even sit on the saddle watching us, I'm glad she stayed a little below and out of view from the cables. I would have been concerned that she might have a heart attack watching me go up there! So I think it worked out well for us all! 

We started the hike at 4000 ft elevation and reached the top of half dome which was 8800 ft. 

4 hours later we made it back to camp.  After 12 hours and 19 miles, we were happy to take our shoes off, eat some food, and shower off. After a cruddy night sleep the first night, we slept like babies, just passed out and cozy in our tent cabin. 

The next morning I got up a little early and went for a 5 mile run through the valley of Yosemite. Holy cow, most beautiful run ever. I expected my legs to feel heavy and beat from the adventure the day prior but nope, they felt more strong than they have in a very long time. I was on cloud 9! 

It was an absolutely awesome trip and I am so grateful I was able to go with my mom and my aunt. I love them both so much! The only thing that would have made it better was if Joe could have been there. He would have loved the hike and I kept thinking of him the whole time! We are absolutely going to go together hopefully next year! The next challenge, doing the big hikes two days in a row (my aunt wants to do it back to back in the same day!). Why you may ask? Well, we know we can do it so why not test ourselves a little more. It just seems appropriate! So cross your fingers those park permit people will give us passes two days in a row! 

This trip taught me that if you have the desire to do something and it is a righteous desire, then sometimes you need to put your trust in Heavenly Father that he will protect you (I said a lot of prayers on that hike!!) and let the person your with, who is also interested in your well-being, nudge you in the right direction. I needed to have my Aunt up there with me because she is darn near fearless and she got me to take that first step up the cables, which is exactly what I needed. 

I absolutely can not wait to go back!

My mom took this picture outside of our tent cabin. 

Love, love, love life!

Hi! So I want this post to be much better than my last one. No negativity. No fired up Kelsey. Just me being happy.
School has been very busy, already stressful, and so much more. But you know what? I'm grateful for it! The opportunity to learn is so important to take advantage of. If your given that opportunity, please do it! Learning enriches your life and excites the mind. I wish I could be an expert on all of the biochemical processes, enzymes, hormones, and substrates in the body. I wish I could be able to tell you all exactly how your body will process that salad you just ate or that gigantic cookie from paradise bakery. I may be able to tell you bits and pieces of the digestive and energy producing processes involved in your day to day life but  I'm definitely no expert. I'm trying to be the best version of myself I can be and this opportunity to learn is just another step in that direction of becoming my best self.
You know what makes me happy every single day (even when the chaos ensues)? Being able to spend my nights and with Joey. We both are so busy with life and it can be exhausting but it is my absolute favorite thing to know that at night we get to be together, even if we both may be studying (well he was studying, but I just now looked over at him and he is now snoozing.) I'm so grateful to be married to the man of my dreams. Literally the man of my dreams. It's how I was so okay with getting married so soon after we started dating (7 months total from first dating to being married). One of my brother's told me  a long time ago (after failed relationships), "Date someone for the seasons before you decide they're the one". I thought that was great advice and I decided I was going to do that. With Joey, I truly did not feel the need to date him for all of the seasons before I made my decision. I knew right away that I wanted to be with him forever.
And now today, 1 year and 3 months after we got married, I am happier than ever to be with him. We both are so blessed! We have the gospel in our life that anchors us. We have wonderful families who do so much for us and we have great friends. We have each other and will for eternity. And we love the temple.

Focus on the things that make you happy.

Goodnight for now.

A Needed Moment to Vent... Pardon Me.

I'm at school right now waiting for Joe to get out of class. And currently as I am sitting in the hallway waiting to surprise him when we walks out, I'm feeling bitter about school. I am grateful to be able to get an education, further my knowledge in nutrition, and gain intelligence. Well this semester they decided to move the nutrition program to a far away and strange place called downtown Phoenix (creepy place at times). Well, in order to save our car from the wrath of 60 miles round trip each day I have decided to use public transportation. The light rail or the intercampus shuttle that ASU offers. Today was my first time using the intercampus shuttle. I thought it would be pleasant, almost relaxing in cold air conditioning, and an atmosphere I could get some homework done. I have quickly learned that I will not be experiencing any of those things! I got on it and it was slammed full, people even had to stand just to catch a ride to the downtown campus from Tempe, and it was about as stuffy as could be. I didn't even want to breath in the gross air. Not to mention, I am one of those people who if I can't see the road while in a moving vehicle in a very short time I simply want to throw up, car sick! Today was no exception. I got to campus, slightly bitter about the experience I had just had. I went to my classes, got really excited for one of them - Macronutrient Metabolism! Then waited for the shuttle to bring me back to Tempe. I thought it would be better, there was hardly any people waiting to get on so I was happy. The bus pulled up, we piled on and I got a seat towards the front so I could watch the road. While I was happy to have my own two seats, the lack of air and terrible heat that existed was enough to make me want to tap that bus driver on the shoulder and say "Excuse me, I'm getting off here" and find a different way. I endured the ride and arrived to Tempe feeling like crud, nauseated, headache and unbelievably sweaty. This is only day 3 of school. And shockingly, I think I'm going to prefer the light rail from now on. Can't believe I'm saying that but it's true.

Just before I left campus, I sat down for a sec in the lobby to check something and this is what I saw on the background of a girls laptop next to me.

With the words:

"Stay calm and focused and Just Keep Swimming."

I better remember those words this semester. 

But for now, I'm just excited for Joey to walk out of his class so we can spend the rest of the evening together! Thank goodness for that!

Noodle Peanut Salad = Yum!

What a dinner we had tonight! For some reason since school starts this Thursday I feel like everything I want to make better be made by tomorrow night, because school starting simply means that most hobbies and extra time spent cooking/baking are all put to rest. Our life is going to be extremely regimented just to fit in all that we have to do. So since tonight marks one of our "last"nights until the chaos begins, I wanted to make a dish that we both would love, especially Joe! I found the recipe here at the Never Home Maker.  Such a great site filled with awesome recipes, I just want to make them all!


It is a Noodle Peanut Salad. Joe love's peanut sauce so I knew this would be right up his alley. I got home from a midday run (it was 110 degrees out when I did it, not recommended!) and started whippin up this delightful dish. There is a bit of prep time as you have to wash all of the kale, zucchini, carrots, and chop them all up. As well as squeeze the juice out of the tofu, get it cut up and make the peanut sauce, but it's all worth it.


Noodle Peanut Salad

Photo from neverhomemaker.com

For the sauce:

·       1/2 cup light coconut milk

·       3 tablespoons natural peanut butter

·       2 tablespoons soy sauce

·       5 tablespoons POM pomegranate juice (or rice vinegar)

·       2 tablespoons maple syrup

·       1 tablespoons grated ginger

·       1/4 teaspoon red chili flakes

·       1/4 cup unsweetened coconut flakes

·       2 cloves of garlic, minced

For the salad:

·      1/2 package udon noodles, cooked as per package directions

·      16 ounces extra-firm tofu, drained and cut into 1-inch cubes

·      6 cups kale

·      2 carrots, cut in the batonnet style(sliced)

·      1 zucchini, cut into half moons

·      1 tablespoon dried cilantro (or 1/4 cup fresh)

Method :

·      Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Set aside.

·      Cook your udon noodles, drain, and spray with some cool water. Set aside.

·      Heat a tablespoon or so of oil over medium-high heat and fry the tofu until golden. Set aside.

·      In that same pan, add a bit more oil. Throw in the vegetables (kale, carrot, and zucchini). Cook for five to seven minutes -- until they are soft, but still a bit crisp.

·      Pour half of the sauce mixture onto the veggies. Cook a couple more minutes, until saturated with flavor.

·      Add the cilantro once the heat is off. Stir.

·      Then toss everything together. Or, if you'd like it to look nice, lay a bed of veggies and top with half the noodles and tofu cubes. Drizzle more of the sauce on top for extra flavor.

Most peanut sauces are ridiculously awful on the calorie/fat scale but this one actually isn't too bad. Be sure you use light coconut milk because there is a HUGE difference in the calories and fat between regular and light.  Also I didn't have the POM Juice that it called for so I followed the recommendation of using Rice Vinegar instead. The sauce calls for fresh grated ginger but even if you hate ginger as much as I do, you must man up and use it because it adds great flavor. 


Not a fan of tofu? Unless you've had it cooked this way before and you've concluded you don't like it, then just give it a try! Joe is usually a hater of tofu (I haven't cooked it the best ways in the past) so I cooked him a chicken breast to have with his. And what did he do? He liked the tofu so much he didn't even go for the chicken! I consider this a victory. Next time I make it, I'm going to try to bake half the tofu to compare between the two methods. 


One other tip: The recipe says to saute the kale, zucchini, and carrot all together at the same time. I would recommend sauteing the kale for 1 minute or so, then adding the carrot - saute for another minute, then add the zucchini for the last couple minutes of cooking time. I like my vegetables to remain tender and not cooked to death.


Joe's tip: Sub shrimp in for the tofu. I just haven't braved shrimp yet. What can I say... handling meat of all kinds just grosses me out.


Stay tuned for dessert: Chocolate mousse (it's more similar to pudding in my opinion), but it's not your average mousse. It's thick, chocolatey, and doesn't leave you feeling sick after. Such a treat!

Salad Dressing, Ditch the Junk and Go For the Good.

I've been meaning to post this salad dressing recipe for a week now. It's pretty much our families go to every week for sunday dinners since Joe and I don't buy salad dressing. It's just way too easy to make your own and so much better for you. Have you looked at the back of your salad dressing bottle? First check out the insane amount of fat grams, sugar, and sodium. Even if the dressing doesn't have a major sweetness to it, it's likely that a main ingredient is high fructose corn syrup. Eww. Do you know why? Because it is one of the cheapest things for industrialized food corporations to purchase and use in their products as a filler and sweetener. Check out the rest of the ingredients as well. I bet there are tons and tons of others you've never heard of or have trouble pronouncing as well, maybe even a little monosodium glutamate (MSG) which is absolutely found in the American favorite, Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing (including the ranch packets you can use to make your own dressing or use as a seasoning for some foods).

Anyways, here is a Balsamic Vinaigrette recipe that is sure to please. It's strong and full of flavor.

Balsamic Vinaigrette

1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 to 1 Tbs Honey (depending on how strong you like it)
salt and pepper

Mix all ingredients together and allow the olive oil to emulsify with the vinegar using a blender. This will make it so the olive oil doesn't separate from the balsamic after you stir it together.

Olive oil is pure fat, it's true. But it consists of monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFAs) that actually have many health benefits to them. Both monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats assist in lower risk factors for heart disease. For instance MUFAs actually help to lower cholesterol, particularly your LDL (low-density lipoprotein) and also assists normalizing blood clotting. Obviously though, olive oil is still high in calories, so if your trying to lower your caloric intake, just lessen the amount of olive oil a bit in a salad dressing recipe and add a little more vinegar or even water along with some herbs and seasonings to enhance the flavor.

Olive oil can be used as a vehicle for so many different kinds of dressings. Interested in a little more of a citrus flavor? Then add emulsify the extra virgin olive oil into some lemon juice, lime, or even orange juice. Whatever you desire. We made a lime vinaigrette not too long ago, and it had cumin in it along with the lime juice, olive oil and S&P. and it was excellent!

Don't want to break out the blender? Just put all your ingredients into a mason jar, screw on the lid and give it a good shake then it's already in it's stored container and easy to pour on salad.

Is having some sort of Ranch Dressing a must for your family? Try this recipe instead of using a Hidden Valley Ranch packet or store bought dressing. I would ditch the mayo in it though and sub in plain greek yogurt, not only would it lower the calories and grams of fat, it would add a protein punch! If you do feel the need to use some sort of "Ranch Packet" for a particular recipe, I've noticed that the brand McCormack has a Ranch packet that is just herbs and seasonings, completely lacking the MSG.

Bottom line: Creating your own salad dressing is so simple! Don't waste your time with store bought salad dressing when making your own tastes even better.

Chocolate Fudge Cookies Stuffed with a Peanut Butter Cookie

That is quite the mouthful for a name of a cookie huh? Well I made these a few weeks ago after I saw a friend on good ole facebook post the link to it. I immediately was drawn to the cookie. I mean hello, two layers of chocolate cookie sandwhiching a peanut butter cookie...yum! Joe and I were watching our two nieces while their mommy was in the midst of delivering another adorable baby girl. They were both so helpful, adding things to the bowl for me and helping me form the little peanut butter cookies into little round balls. The recipe is found here at the picky-palate along with many other yummy sounding things. 

They are definitely sweet treats. And even just one tastes purely indulgent but hey, sometimes it's just necessary! My two nieces inhaled each of their GIANT cookies and they loved them. They were a hit with everyone else too, except for my mom and I just a bit too sweet and too much for both of our liking.  But if your having a serious craving for something super chocolatey matched with the goodness of peanut butter, then these are the ticket. Enjoy!

Chocolate Fudge Peanut Butter Cookie Stuffed Cookies

Peanut Butter Cookie Centers

1 cup creamy peanut butter

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 egg

____

2 sticks softened butter

1 cup granulated sugar

3/4 cup packed light brown sugar

2 large eggs

1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1 1/2 cups chocolate chips, I used semi-sweet

1 cup cocoa powder

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or a silpat liner.

2. Place peanut butter and sugar into a medium bowl, mix to combine then add egg, mixing until well combined. Set aside.

3. In a stand or electric mixer, beat butter and sugars until well combined. Add eggs and vanilla, beating until well combined.

4. Place flour, baking soda, and salt into a large bowl. Add to wet ingredients along with cocoa powder, and chocolate chips, slowly mixing until just combined. With a small cookie scoop, scoop peanut butter cookie dough into your hand. With a medium cookie scoop, scoop chocolate dough on top and on bottom of peanut butter dough.  With hands, press chocolate dough around peanut butter dough, forming into a cookie shape.  Place onto prepared baking sheet, about 1 inch apart from each other. Bake for 14 to 16 minutes, until cooked through. Let cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack. Serve with milk for sure!!

Makes 3 dozen cookies

A Great Weekend with a Muffin on Top

Finally a little getaway! One of Joe's mission buddies was getting married in the Gila Valley Temple in Thatcher so Friday morning we headed that way. It is so beautiful there, mountain ranges on every side of you, lush green farmland and a perfect temple. Joe went to school there for a year before his mission so he knows the area well! Our morning started out with the Temple Sealing.

(I definitely did not take this picture, it's just way better than the one my little camera took! And of course, there was no snow in sight while we were there either.)

We've been to a few sealings since we have been married and there are always so many wonderful reminders for us to apply to our own marriage. I always leave feeling an even greater sense of true love and appreciation for my husband and for our eternal marriage. 

After the sealing we ventured throughout Thatcher and some of the farm lands. It added so much color to the whole landscape and I just loved all the green crops! I have no idea what they are growing but it was everywhere. 

We had been looking forward to going out to lunch all week at one of Joe's favorite places there, Casa Manana.  It was just as yummy as we hoped it would be! Afterwards, we trekked up Mount Graham through the winding and steep mountain road. At the bottom of the mountain it was nearly 100 degrees, but as we moved upward through the climb the temperature became heavenly ultimately ending up in the low 60's with a light sprinkle of rain. With our windows down and being surround by the forest we were two happy kids! It's a 30 mile drive all the way up so we stopped at about 20 miles (my stomach couldn't handle the twisty roads any longer!) to just breath in the fresh air. LOVED IT! Needless to say, we were sad to be back in the 100 degrees just 20 minutes later. 

That night we went back to the Temple to do a session before our friends reception. It was the best way to end our little day trip. The Mesa Temple was closed for cleaning the past couple weeks so it felt so great to be back. Temple's are truly amazing places! 

Luckily, we stayed the night because we were beat after our fun day. After a great day and night, we jumped in the car for the 2 hour drive back home. I definitely needed this little getaway and am grateful we could go before school gets underway. 

One more thing. I love Sundays. And I love to cook/bake on Sundays. It makes me happy. So after taking a long nap after church I whipped up these delicious muffins. 

The counter top kind of makes it hard for them to stand out, but in real life they really do look awesome. I loaded each muffin liner and they just puffed up a perfect amount!  If you want the recipe, it's HERE on my mom's blog. The only thing we've changed since she posted that recipe is we add 1 cup of fresh blueberries tossed in some flour to the batter. Tossing them in the flour before adding them to the batter keeps the blueberries from falling to the bottom of the muffin once you scoop them into the tins. I also added about a half cup of unsweetened shredded coconut to the dry ingredients. These are also loaded with zucchini, banana, walnuts, and golden raisins. Held together with a couple eggs, coconut oil, honey, apple sauce, and a block of tofu, they turn out moist, satisfying and delicious! The batch made nearly 2 dozen and they freeze perfectly. It makes for a great little breakfast or snack anytime!