My New Favorite Summer Snack

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Frozen Watermelon Skewers

Anyone who's read my (Emily, here!) recipes before knows that I love ones that throw together quickly, are nutritious, and above all make me want to do a happy dance. This recipe does it all. It also couldn't be easier to make. These are perfect for hot hot hot days or times when you want a sweet treat but don't feel like putting in the effort to build a sundae.

Why do we love watermelon? First, it's 92% water? What?! Yes. Talk about hydration station. The rest of it is packed with significant levels of vitamins A, B6 and C, lots of lycopene, antioxidants, amino acids, and some potassium for good measure. And you thought watermelon was just fruit. (Psst it's okay, I did too before this post!) Read on for the recipe!

Ingredients & Instructions

+ cubed watermelon // between 1-2 inch cubes or rectangles like mine ;) + skewers // any kind or length works

note: I purposely left the amounts above blank, because it really depends on how much watermelon you have :) -- I used five skewers with a little over a quarter watermelon

Take your cubed watermelon and slide it onto your chosen skewers, filling it up with as many as you'd like. Lay them flat on a baking tray or plate, and pop them into the freezer. Leave them in there for about 4 hours - depending on the temperature of your freezer - or overnight. Once they are at your desired level of frozen, take 'em out and enjoy!

+ what's your favorite summertime snack?

I'd love to see what you make! Tag me on Facebook or @yourfriend_em on Instagram or Twitter.

 want support around controlling your cravings, making yummy and easy recipes, or finally feeling comfortable in making smart choices, let's work together!

Avocado Be Kidding Me // Fast Food Done Powered by Greens Style

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Avocado Toast: Simplicity at it's Best

Avocados contain loads of fiber and have great healthy fats, thus keeping our bodies healthy from hormone production and glowing with healthy skin, hair, and nails (amongst many, many, many other things). A great bread will give you a satisfying and beneficial carbohydrate source, more fiber, and depending on the nuts and seeds within, a varied nutritional profile. Pink Himalayan salt has been known to stabilize ph levels, blood sugar, and water levels in the body; detoxify your system; and promote good respiratory and vascular health. Hummus is filled with satisfying protein and nutrients for a happy tummy. Too good not to add, really.

When I'm in a rush and craving something yummy, nourishing, and energizing, I'm more than happy to toss these ingredients together, and hit the road. I hope you find this recipe easy and delicious.

Ingredients & Instructions

+ 1/4 - 1/2 Avocado

+ Slice of bread (I used an awesome gf & vegan bread from Sami's Bakery)

+ Pink Himalayan salt (regular salt works, too)

+ Pepper or other spices as desired

+ Variation: a tablespoon of hummus

Take your slice of bread -- toasted if desired, drop the avocado on top (for the variation, drop your hummus on there too), and with a fork mash it onto the bread. Top with salt and other spices if using, and take a huge bite. Enjoy! Seriously it's that easy.

+ have you tried avocado toast before? did you like it? comment below or on Facebook!

Halloween Recipe || Caramel ||10.30.14

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Halloween is upon us! In fact it’s tomorrow!!! Do you love Halloween as much as I do? Because my room is decorated with fake leaves, window stickies, and pumpkin paintings. I have been reading some great blog posts written by ladies who painted their pumpkins white to line their entryways and others who spread out huge cobwebs throughout their houses. In honor of our Health and Wellness Thursdays, here’s what I’m contributing to the best day of the year… Introducing a beautifying and delicious, blended to perfection caramel! And since I couldn’t decide just which one to make, I decided to make three and let you know how they all worked out! The recipes below are vegan, gluten-free, refined sugar free, and definitely so delicious your spoon will be diving back in for more.

Enjoy some of this deliciousness with apples (my personal favorite), on top of oatmeal, inside homemade peanut butter cups, or straight from the spoon. Imagine this stirred into a container of peanut butter … drool.

|| CARAMEL ||

date based, with oil or without, maybe some almond butter – all good

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first recipe //

Ingredients ||

  • ¼ cup maple syrup
  • ¼ cup organic coconut oil
  • 1/6 cup + 1 tbsp almond butter
  • 2 dates
  • 1 teaspoon honey
  • Dash of salt (to taste)

Recipe ||

  1. Add all of the ingredients to a high speed blender (I used my magic bullet – not the best, but hey, dorm room) and blend until all ingredients are incorporated, the texture is a light golden brown, and the consistency is smooth – easy peasy

Notes ||

Experimenting with this recipe was so fun, because the flavors individually are so far from the taste of caramel – but when combined I must kiss my fingers and say mmmmagnificent. At first I could still taste almond butter in one bite, maple syrup in the other, maybe a little date, but after letting the flavors sit and mingle, the flavor was more caramel than I ever imagined -- not exact but pretty darn close. Plus, it looks like caramel and has that gorgeous drippy texture that I was looking for in my little experiment. The original recipe uses vanilla, and I bet that would have added another dynamic, but I didn’t have some quality vanilla extract on me and since we were keeping this raw, I didn’t want any of that alcohol aftertaste. This one is great with apples. I had to restrain myself. Majorly restrain. I also made my almond butter in my Magic Bullet before I made this, so it was a little drier than the usual store-bought brands and that might have contributed to the original overwhelming almond butter taste.

tested and adapted from Nutrition Stripped

second recipe //

Ingredients ||

  • ¼ cup soaked dates
  • 2 tablespoons melted coconut oil
  • ½ tablespoon almond butter (can be omitted)
  • cinnamon
  • a dash of sea salt
  • water as needed

Recipe ||

  1. Send all of the ingredients to a high speed blender, like above, and let it do it’s thing --

Notes ||

Dates naturally taste very carameley – it’s awesome for quick snacks with a little chocolate chips and almond butter inside, but that's beside the point . This recipe had a very nice light flavor, an airy texture, and didn’t sit heavy in my stomach. It also didn’t taste rich and decadent which is what I was going for, but it would be awesome in a peanut butter cup inspired recipe with tahini and this caramel wrapped with raw chocolate. Yum. The almond butter wasn’t in the original recipe but just added a nice depth of flavor I couldn’t pass up.

 

tested and adapted from This Rawsome Vegan Life 

 

third recipe //

Ingredients ||

  • ½ cup of dates
  • ½ banana (or 2 tbsp coconut oil if not staying oil free)
  • 1 tablespoon maple syrup
  • dash of sea salt

Recipe ||

  1. Yep! You guessed right – throw them all in the blender and wait for smooth perfection --

Notes ||

This recipe looked the most like caramel, but unfortunately tasted too much like banana (duh em, there’s a banana in there). Nevertheless, I think this would be amazing swirled into a banana bread recipe or cookie rather than dipped with apples or eaten by itself.

tested and adapted from This Rawsome Vegan Life 

 

Overall, I love the first one for eating on its own and the other two for swirling into some delicious recipes. I really encourage you to tweak all the recipes, throw them all together if you want, and let me know what you think! I was playing with these during a really upsetting weekend, so it was a great relief. Just go in there with no expectations and let me know what magic you whip up?

 

[photos by emily friend]