Extra Easy Hummus

The following post has nothing to do with hummus, and it certainly isn’t “extra easy” for me to talk about. I’ll share the recipe for this hummus at the bottom of the post, as usual, so feel free to skip the rest and scroll down if you’re looking for it. If, however, you read on and have any insight to share, please do. Writing from a dark place, I could use the perspective right now.

(Edit: I am SO sorry about the timing of this post. I was writing it from a musty hotel room over the weekend and it … Read more

No-Bake Cookie Butter Bars for #SundaySupper

No-Bake-Cookie-Butter-Chex-Mix-Bars 2--041715

It’s hard to believe, but change is beginning to settle in the thick, smoggy air. The days are getting longer, the cotton material of my shirt is sticking to my armpit to an increasingly embarrassing degree, and these days I can go until nearly 7:45 PM before the sun starts setting and I actually begin to feel guilty about all the work I haven’t done for the day.

In other words: summer is coming!

No-Bake-Cookie-Butter-Chex-Mix-Bars 4--041715

It’s hard to believe we spent the last two perfect weekends outdoors at two of the West Coast’s biggest book festivals–the Young Adult literature festival last … Read more

No-Bake Cookie Butter Avalanche Cookies

No-Bake Cookie Butter Avalanche Cookies 2--020515

So apparently one of my students lives next door to me.

Forgive me if I don’t jump for joy.

No-Bake Cookie Butter Avalanche Cookies 4--020515

Living next door to any of my students–as you can probably imagine–isn’t exactly my idea of a delightful development. I guess this means I’ll have to actually put on pants now when I open the windows.

Kidding. I’m totally kidding. (Except maybe on laundry day.)

No-Bake Cookie Butter Avalanche Cookies 7--020515

Though this news has made me self-conscious enough to stop blasting Taylor Swift out the open window at odd hours of the day now, weirdly enough, my first reaction when s/he asked me if I lived … Read more

Vegan Walnut Fudge {Raw + Gluten-Free}

Vegan Walnut Fudge 2--012815

I know I promised to share “something juicy” with you in Monday’s blog post about these awesome cookies. That just goes to show two things: that a) I probably shouldn’t make promises I don’t have a mind to keep, and b) for future reference, you probably shouldn’t trust me when I say I’m going to tell you something juicy. I didn’t even have time to blend a fruity drink and present it to you as a punny example of my exceptionally dry humor.

So nothin’ juicy today. Just me and this fudge that disappeared in about 30 minutes when … Read more

1-Minute Coconut Granola for Two (No-Bake)

Okay, so deal: why am I baking making granola for two when I’m only one?

1-minute Coconut Granola 2--102614

No, I’m not preggers, you sick Sherlocks, I know who you are and this isn’t a British teledrama episode called The Sign of Three.1-minute Coconut Granola 4--102614It’s the start of a new swim season around these parts, where outdoor pools reign supreme and the scent of chlorine wafts off my saturated skin in noxious waves. Our greatest fear is that winter is coming and heaven forbid the temperature drops below a chilly 68 degrees at night.

So naturally, I’m following Manatee Survival Rule #1 and storing … Read more

Raw Salted Chocolate Chip Oat Healthy Bars for #SundaySupper

I dare you to tell me this is “just another healthy oat bar” recipe. I triple dog dare you, and if you lose, I will bite the head off a hapless gingerbread man (is it almost that time of the year already? Sigh).

Raw Salted Chocolate Oat Healthy Bars with Dates and Coconut 2--100414

Apart from the mumbled ooh’s and aah’s these bars received when I brought them to my friends’ houses, this healthy snack alternative just knocked my socks off. I was messing around with the food processor last week because it’s been a solid 98 degrees all week here. Living in perpetual beautiful summertime may not sound like a … Read more

Healthy Tropical Bars (Raw, GF, Vegan) for #gradstudentbloggers

Your grad/undergrad student bloggers are back this week! Our mission: creating awesome recipes for the On-the-Go Student!

Grad Undergrad Student Bloggers Icon Small

Joining us this week: Bec from Daisy and the Fox, Nicole from PicNic, Shelley from Bacon Egg Cheese(cake), and Uru from Go Bake Yourself! (Zainab from Blahnik Baker is off doing crazy epic grad student things this week, but we’ve included her interview anyway.) Don’t forget to check out these lovely ladies’ blogs. (Want to learn more about these fabulous bloggers? Read Week 1’s interview here!)

But first, we asked our super multi-talented bloggers a few fun … Read more

Hot Fudge Chocolate Brownie with a Killer Choco Frosting (V, GF, Raw, No Added Sugar)–And the Importance of Meeting Strangers

My earliest memory of talking to a stranger goes back to Ala at age 6, standing in a ballet class, chatting happily and obliviously in her pink tutu to one of the nice ladies sitting near the side of the room.

Hot Fudge Larabar with Killer Choco Frosting 8--062914

“My mom told me not to talk to strangers,” I confidentially informed the lady, whom I remember now as friendly-faced and quite tall. “I’m Ala,” I continued, holding out my hand and solemnly shaking her, which was proffered with a smile. Then I added, just in case she didn’t understand, “Now we aren’t strangers anymore.”

And then I went … Read more

Healthy Peanut Butter-Stuffed Chocolate Date Balls (Vegan; GF and Raw Option)

Don’t forget to enter the Cuppow giveaway via our Eat Clean Challenge at the end of this post!

Dreams do come true.

I know because yesterday I shook hands with a Disneyland Imagineer for the first time. A real, living, breathing, down-to-earth Imagineer!

Okay, so maybe the “real living breathing” part isn’t that impressive–even I’m capable of those–but an Imagineer. Ohmygosh. Somebody get me my paper bag because I take back what I just said and I suck at breathing right now.

Healthy Peanut Butter Stuffed Chocolate Balls (Vegan, Optional Raw) 2--050214

My brain gets crazy addled every time I talk to someone for whom I have the highest … Read more

Healthy No-Bake Peanut Butter & Jelly Bars (Raw, Vegan, GF)

I’ve finally given in and gone to the dark side: Follow me on Instagram. I hear the dark side has some bomb PB&J bars… Life is full of hypotheticals:

My best friend may be the child of alien dodos.

Neil Patrick Harris may be secretly, madly in love with me.

And I may or may not be obsessed with peanut butter & jelly.

 Healthy No-Bake Peanut Butter and Jelly Bars 14--042514

As you can probably tell by the ridiculous amount of food porn in this post, that last hypothetical is so totally up for debate.

I mean, just look at that peanut butter pouring down and … Read more