Springtime, Missing Seasons, and Peachy Cinaamon Pear "Strudel" Baked Oats

I have an appetite for all things warm. I'm a flower child awakening at sunset. I'm a dragon fruit cactus that only opens up during nighttime, because nighttime is when all of the quiet and creepy animals and insects pop out into the fray of the moon reflecting its sliver rays onto the earth. I'm curling my toes hoping, wishing, and praying that the Fall weather will be delayed so I don't have to take my heat blanket out just yet. I need some balmy rain to heat me up- not the mysterious gloomy kind which only melts my happiness and leaves me feeling bitter and despairing inside. What can I say? I am attached to the weather. My mood is oscillating in the early spring time when mother nature is deciding which days will be wrecked with slush and rain, and which days will not be. I guess I'm spoiled. I take the heat for granted, and complain about the cold. I guess nighttime is when I should really be sleeping, but I lie awake at night dreaming about luminous sunsets and balmy winters at Disneyworld instead.

Today I will be sharing with you guys my favorite heat-me-up meal. I could tell you all that this is a meal to dream about at night, but I would rather you eat this in the day and fantasize your dreams at night. 

 These oats are perfect for rainy autumnal mornings when the weather isn't treating you well. In the background, there is a stack of pear and chai spiced pancakes topped with PB and raspberries. (Maybe I'll make a post on those pancakes one day :D) Anyway, strudels have never really been that great until this little beauty came along!

Peachy Cinnamon Pear Strudel Baked Oats (and what you'll need)

*2/3 C of old-fashioned rolled oats + 2 tsp. to sprinkle on top

*1 drop of stevia, or 1 Tbs. of pure maple syrup

*1/3 C each of any plant-based milk you desire (I used almond milk, but you can use rice, hemp, cashew, coconut, or even oat milk if you want!), and applesauce

*1/3 of a squishy-mushy overly ripe pear (Bartlett is the best kind in my opinion. bartlett is usually sweeter, softer, and easier to bite into)

*1/3 C of freshly squeezed peach juice. You may want to freeze a couple of too-ripe peaches that are too squishy to eat, and then microwave them. 

*1 tsp. each of date sugar, cinnamon, vanilla extract, and baking powder

*1/2 tsp. nutmeg 

Method:

1. mix all of the wet ingredients together in a medium sized bowl. 

2. mix all of the dry ingredients together and slowly stir and add to the wet ingredients. Pour into a ramekin, (I use coconut oil spray so it doesn't stick) and sprinkle a few baby pear slices on top. For a crispier effect, sprinkled the 2 tsp. of oats, 1/2 tsp. of coconut sugar and cinnamon on top. This makes it so the oats look like a cobbler/strudel. 

3. At 350 degrees, you should bake your "strudel" at around 18-22 minutes. Serve with more plant-based milk and enjoy!!

Blueberry Bushes Forever & The Blue-Miracle Bowl Straight From Heaven

Ahhh…. the simplicity of it all. Isn't it incredible how the simplest fruits and vegetables can color and fill your life up?

I need a blueberry bush in my garden. In my cozy, homie, and not-green-enough garden. I mean, my garden is very green, but I'd like it to be a bit more versatile- with snow peas and watermelon sprouting voluntarily in the summer and avocado trees and broccoli bushes showering me with love during whatever season they are best in. Overall, I would like a lot of things. I would like a kitten named Coffeepot, a new screen in replace of my shattered on one my phone, and a towering blueberry bush that would last forever.

My summer trip to Seattle was lovely (you can read more about it in one of my recent posts). Blueberry picking and sight-seeing was the highlight of the trip, but mostly blueberry picking. It felt super therapeutic to roam and skip through the large bushes that seemed never ending. The blueberries were ripe and juicy- almost too juicy not to eat every one of them! I was in heaven. I was in a grassy green land where I felt like I belonged somewhere. I belong in a blueberry bush! We took home 8 pounds of pure, unadulterated blueberries that evening. Picking the berries became a full-on competition to see who could grasp the biggest and juiciest berries, and I think I won. (even though I pretty much ate all of  the bluebs anyway! Teehee)

Blueberries actually are not my favorite fruit, it's just the joys of picking them. Simplicity is best, so lettuce (pun pun!) water our broccoli gardens and carry on with the blueberry picking and eating. You can learn a lot about yourself by finding therapeutic adventures you love!

THE BLUE-MIRACLE BOWL OF LOVELY AND BLUEBERRIES (along with the recipe):

For the Vanilla Lovely Ice Cream

*1 tsp. of vanilla bean paste and date sugar each

*1 scant tsp. of lemon juice- freshly squeezed or from the bottle

*3/4 tsp. of maple extract

*2 ice cubes

*1 3/4 spotty-dotty frozen banana

*1/4 C coconut cultured yogurt or greek yogurt

For the Pink and Pretty Ice Cream

*3 frozen bananas -spotty and dotty indeed

*Either 3/4 C of frozen raspberries, or even better, one frozen pitaya/dragon fruit packet 

*2 ice cubes

*1/4 C of pineapple and frozen orange each + the orange zest

METHOD:

1. In your Blendtec blender/food processor, blend the solids first for the vanilla part, and then add the liquids and pulse. If your blender/food processor has a difficult time doing this, then add 2-4 Tbs. of any plant based milk you prefer. (I use almond milk from Trader Joe's) Scoop that into a big bowl and place it in the freezer for at least 20 minutes.

2. blend the frozen things first for the pinky-party-whatever flavor. Add in the rest of the ingredients by pulsing and then fully blending. scoop this on top of the vanilla flavor.

3. Now you're ready to top your ice cream with toppings! I topped mine with (of course) blueberries, more berries, and desiccated coconut. Now Enjoy! 

***NOTE: this bowl is bigger than all of the other ones, but you can of course halve the recipe. I usually eat these rainbow bowls as my meals, so they have significantly more ingredients to fuel and fill me up for hours.***

Xxx, Alli

Seattle, sippin' fruit and juice, and lots of laughs!

                                                               Whether it's in Utah,

or Seattle, 

green smoothies make up at least 25% of my diet. I'm not going to tell you that they refresh my mind or that they let my inner organic shine through. Green smoothies make me happier-inside and out! I'm not sure what it is, but something about green makes me want to eat it and makes me not want to at the same time. You can literally make any kind of green smoothie taste good, no matter what shade of green! (I personally like lime green best, like the Seattle picture one) 

   In July, I took a trip to Seattle with my cousin Sarena and we went alone on a plane to see our dear aunt, Ching. Auntie Ching is a flight attendant who travels many places! She gets to explore Paris, Amsterdam, Alaska, and many more places that I cannot think of at the moment. Us three girlies had the time of our lives! AC (short for Aunt Ching) was so kind and lovely to have us. She really was the star of our trip with her great wit! We probably pulled muscles in our tummies from laughing so much.

                                         We went to Pike's Market and sampled the tastiest treats!

AC took us to her nail person and we brought her some lovely flowers from Pike's market!

To be morally honest, we spent most of our time there eating! I didn't mind that.

We at least bought 8 pounds of blueberries at this one blueberry farm. They were big and fresh, juicy and sweet, and probably perfect for a hangover for anyone who needs them, haha! XD

 Every morning for breakie, we slurped on some smoothies. AC had just bought a new Ninja Blender, so every night and morning was a blast of fun creating lots of smoothie recipes. I always took a green smoothie that was filled with lots of greens! At the Pike Market, greens were literally around every corner.

YASSSSSSS

   Anywho, the asian stores we went to had so many exotic fruits to behold and try. There was jack-fruit, pitaya/dragon fruit, lots of lychee (I kind of…. ate a whole bag myself! oops), berries that were insanely sweet, and even durian was there. Oh and the pineapple was good too, mmmm. Of course we had to experiment smoothie recipes, so below is the recipe we all came up with:

SEATTLE'S GREEN MONSTER DRINK-WHAT YOU WILL NEED: 

*2 celery stalks- cubed

*2-6 oz. of freshly squeezed orange juice

*1/2 a granny smith green apple 

*10-12 green grapes 

*3/4 of an asian pear

*about 5 strawberries (LEAVE THE STEMS ON. IT IS ADDED NUTRITION)

*1 whole cubed and diced cucumber- peeled

*a handful of both spinach and kale

BLEND IT ALL UP AND ENJOY! I SUGGEST YOU DRINK THIS BY A BEAUTIFUL HYDRENGEA BUSH LIKE I DID.

AT-THE-TOP-OF-THE-PAGE GREEN SMOOTHIE RECIPE-WHAT YOU'LL NEED:

*2 oz. each of almond milk and coconut milk (I used Trader Joe's) 

*1 tsp. each of date sugar, hemp seeds, and maple extract

*4 oz. of frozen pineapple and raspberries

*3 ice cubes

*HUGE handful of baby spinach (Yeah, baby! XD)

*1/4 each of a Fuji apple and a very huge and juicy orange

BLEND IT ALL UP AND THERE YOU GO HAVE A NICE DAY XD

Friends, going bananas, and lemon poppyseed pancakes!

 
   These girls plus a very wonderful friend from London, are some of my very favorite friends right now. I love making new friends out of nowhere and I find that my expectations towards how people should act are decreasing, as I have learned that everyone is different and nobody can read my mind. I used to fret when somebody would not smile back at me or if somebody accidentally commented something stupid on a very sensitive topic. I would fear for our friendship if someone would not text back in 24 hours. I used to, and I would worry about silly little things, but I have realized that the world does not revolve around me. Nobody can read your mind. Without asking or telling them, no one can know what you want them to say and do. YOU must do it for them. You must reach out and stop waiting for others to reach out to you. If you don't reach out, then you just might miss out on some great life experiences and friendships that could've been great life experiences and friendships.
   You might be surprised when I tell you this, but I was a very shy and timid little girl a couple years ago. I would not raise my hand in class when I had a question in fear of a wrong answer/dumb question. My little voice was my shield against the dark and bloody world. My very small and quiet voice was because I didn't want to be heard. I would try to talk and make great conversation with a new 'loud' and 'booming' voice, and you probably could have heard my loud voice booming with confidence at very rare moments- even though I really had none most of the time. I spent years following people around being ignored and used because I was (and still am) very gullible, and my sweet figure looked like I could've been easily shoved around. I had no real friends who actually knew me because I would not let them know me.
   I expected people to pry deep into my heart and find some gold and silver. When that didn't work I decided I would do it for them. I let others see the real me, not the superficial happy person mask I always put on. I became a real person with real friends; I took my mask off. I became a bright light in a dark world, and you can too! You can either choose to hide behind superficial masks, or choose to take off your mask and reveal the real you. THAT is how you make friends. The girls in the picture above cannot see through me anymore because I am real and whole. I cannot show up to school half of me and half of somebody else- because I am a whole. You must be 100% you and nobody else. Sorry, but even 75% does not cut it, sweetie.

   Any-who, lettuce get on with the lemon-poppyseed pancake recipe because I know you will all love it! These pancakes are fluffy, tart and sweet, and oh-so-good! You only need a few ingredients to make this stack of heaven, so lettuce begin!

WHAT YOU WILL NEED:
*4 egg whites from the carton (I used Kirkland)
*1 cold, spotty-dotty banana
*3 oz. of old-fashioned rolled oatmeal (I used Trader Joe's)
*3 Tbs. of freshly squeezed lemon juice and 1 tsp. of poppy seeds
*1/2  tsp. each of coconut sugar, vanilla bean extract, and baking powder
*2 Tbs. of any plant-based milk (I used almond milk from Trader Joe's)

HOW TO MAKE: 
1. Blend the oats, banana, and egg whites in your blender/food processor (I used my Blendtec)
2. Pour all of your ingredients into a big bowl and stir until the batter is thick and creamy. Pour about 2 oz. of the batter onto a preheated stove at medium-medium low heat.
3. Now you should have really fluffy and light pancakes! You can top them with whatever you'd like. You could use: sliced fruit, pure maple syrup, agave nectar, kisses, nuts, cacao nibs, soy/coconut milk yogurt (for vegans, or even for anybody!), greek yogurt, love, and any nut butters you desire. Happy eating!

                                                                    LOVE you all!

 

Peachy Pear and Plum Maple Banana Ice Cream (vegan, gluten free, vegetarian)

          Ahh yes. These are the wondrous days where I get to cozy up with a warm blanket and drink packs of yogi tea and eat pumpkin-spiced everything! I was at Trader Joe's last Sunday and I noticed that there was pumpkin everything! There was pumpkin cornbread, butter (that stuff is quite divine), granola, breads, pie pumpkins, pie, and even….. wait for it…. PUMPKIN BODY BUTTER!! Oh my goodness gracious-the body butter is the best stuff I've ever  slathered on! It has a perfect autumn aroma and a crisp pumpkin scent that adds sparkle to it. Anywho, am I making your tongue watery? I cannot wait to shower you guys with pumpkin recipes that are perfect for fall.

   Another fruit that is very compatible with the season are peaches! My favorite peaches in particular are Hale peaches; They are huge babies. A couple weekends ago, I went to the Sandy farmer's market with my grammy, my little twin-sisters Audrie and Arissa, and my adorable cousin Madi (Go check out her blog! It is http://madiriye.blogspot.com ). It was so fun walking around and piling wooden crates sky-high with the juiciest and most delectable peaches we'd ever seen. You can never have too many peaches, am I right? Pears were also abundant as I tried more samples than I should have. 

        Crisp fruits and veg are my favorite things to eat during this chilly season of black cats and ugly witches.

This recipe for Peachy Pear and Plum Maple Banana Ice Cream will literally melt you away. Blend it up and put in the freezer, eat it in a mason jar and jump outside into the pumpkin colored leaves, or even catch up on ANTM whilst snuggling up to a heat-blankie. Needless to say, Autumn has officially arrived and so lettuce make the best of it. 

What you will need:

*2 small or 1 very large super squishy and spotty-dotty FROZEN banana(s)

*1/2 frozen D'anjou pear and large Black Velvet plum

*1-2 very ripe and juicy Hale peaches or 3 small peaches

*1/2 tsp. each coconut sugar and vanilla bean extract (I use TJ for both) 

*4 oz. any plant based milk you desire (I use Almond Breeze almond milk)

*5 ice cubes

*either 1 tbs. pure maple syrup or 1 tsp. maple extract (I used the extract)

**OPTIONAL: 1 scant tsp. lucuma or maca powder

How to make this beauty: 

1. With your Blendtec blender(what I use)/food processor/vitamix, put in all of the ingredients except the coconut sugar and peaches. press the ice-cream or frozen yogurt button for 50 sec.

2. Add in the last two ingredients and pulse. You should have a really creamy and smooth ice-cream like texture.

3. Top with any ingredients you would like. You could use: coconut sugar, sliced nuts, granola, grawnola, maple syrup, agave, more delectable fruit such as apples or slice pears, pumpkin seeds, or even some carob sauce. My carob sauce recipe will be up with the next post.

4. ENJOY ;D