So here’s my new morning breakfast routine. First, a green smoothie (or if I’m feeling really ambitious I’ll start the day with lemon tea:). After 20-30 minutes past finishing my smoothie, I need more sustenance. Enter the most delicious banana breakfast cookies, which go perfectly with coffee. It’s pretty much my new version of heaven. Plus, what is it about daily routine that is so predictable and comforting? It’s great to start the day off on a good note.

While they’re called “cookies” and do contain sugar (not refined – just honey!), they’re still packed with healthy ingredients, are gluten free, and can easily be vegan. They’re so delicious fresh out of the oven but what’s even better is they’re just as good after keeping them in the fridge. The cookies are soft and bread-like, and we enjoy them all week, being so easy to grab on the go.

Banana Breakfast Cookies

(gluten free and vegan; makes 2-3 dozen; adapted from Minimalist Baker)

Ingredients

• 2 medium ripe bananas
• 2 Tbsp. flax seed, ground
• 5 Tbsp . water
• ½ cup natural peanut butter or almond butter (we loved both options!)
• 2 Tbsp. coconut oil, melted
• 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
• 3 Tbsp. honey
• 1½ cup gluten free rolled oats
• ½ cup oat flour (ground from gluten free oats)
• ½ cup almond meal (ground from raw almonds)
• ½ tsp. baking powder
• ½ tsp. baking soda
• 3 Tbsp. raw walnuts, lightly crushed
• 2 Tbsp. shredded coconut
• 3 Tbsp. dried cranberries
• ½ cup semisweet or dark chocolate chips (use non-dairy chips to make these vegan)
• pinch sea salt (add more or less depending on saltiness of your nut butter)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a large bowl combine flax seed and water and let rest for 5 minutes for the consistency to thicken (this will achieve an “egg-like” texture).
Mash in the bananas until well combined, and then add nut butter, baking powder, baking soda, melted coconut oil, honey, salt, vanilla and stir.
Add oats, almond meal and oat flour and mix well.
Add chocolate chips, walnuts, cranberries, coconut flakes, and stir until well combined.
Drop cookies by spoonfuls of uniform sizes on a lightly greased baking sheet (simply use coconut oil to grease the pan!).
Bake for 15-17 minutes or until the cookies are slightly golden brown.
Let them rest on baking sheet for a few minutes then transfer to a cooling rack.

After completely cooled, store in an air-tight container in the refrigerator or freezer for even longer storage time.

So what do you think? Would you make these to enjoy for breakfast? (Ahem, they’re also great for an afternoon snack, too.) I also love that you can customize the ingredients however you’d like, adding more or less nuts/dried fruit/etc.

Hope you enjoy!

xoxo

 

 (photo via my Instagram)

Things have been pretty quiet around here…and I’ve been kind of bummed about it. Life has been crazy busy. Did I mention I started a new full-time job? I’m determined to keep up with everything on the blog lately but really I’m just way behind. And just plain tired. Overall it’s been a very positive change and life is good, I’m just trying to keep up…but then again, aren’t we all? :)

This is a project I’ve been meaning to share for a month…and one that I was so excited to complete! A DIY macramé plant hanger. Have you heard of macramé? It’s basically the craft of “knotting” and while it can be complex, it can also be super simple (hello, double knot).  Macramé was really popular in the 1970′s but it seems like it’s made really made a comeback in the last couple years. It’s also widely used for jewelry.

Some of the knots in macramé are insanely complicated and cool, but I wanted to start with something manageable (aka easy). We have so many plant hooks on the ceiling of our bungalow apartment and I’m determined to use each and every one. While I’m not there yet, my new macrame plant hangers are helping me reach that goal.

To do this project, you’ll need some type of macramé cord, rope, or twine, which was surprisingly hard to find . First I tried ordering a bright colored cord, but it was far thicker than I thought it would be. I found the cord I had hoped for  in the bead section of JoAnn Fabrics (I used 3mm natural cord). You’ll also need scissors, tape measure, and wooden beads, if you’d like.

I’m a visual learner, so here are the steps via photos…

Tie a knot joining 8 pieces of cord (I cut mine around 4′ long each – I would recommend overestimating according to how low you want it to hang it, as you can always cut off more later!). Separate by sets of two and begin tying square knots at about the same distance from the knot. Then connect new pieces of cord into two, around the same distance as the first set of knots. You will do this two more times until you essentially have a diamond inside of a square shape (shown above).

Once you’ve finished tying the base of knots, this is where you can get more creative. For additional flair, thread wooden beads onto your cord and tie square knots on each side of the bead(s). You could create patterns of beads with different colors, or even just do a series of intricate knots going up the cords (find ideas for more knots here). It would also be cool to paint or dye the cords ahead of time for pops of color!

Next, flip the knot of cords over so that the tassle is underneath. Place your potted plant inside the “net”. Gather all of the strings at an equal length so the plant is flat. There are many different ways to hang the top, but I chose to use a large metal key chain ring (these can be found at a hardware store). After watching tutorials, I tied a wrapped knot on the top to secure the ring for hanging. And voila! Suddenly the room feels like a tropical jungle.

It’s such an easy project with a big impact result! Again, there are so many different ways to create a macramé plant hanger, and this is just how I did it.

I hope you give this a try! Hanging plants are just so cheery, don’t you think?

xo

P.S. I’ve got some more fun garden posts coming up this month!

Happy Mother’s Day! To all of you mamas at heart…I hope you have a wonderful day.

If you need a card for today, I created this free printable for The Neighborhood. Simply print, cut, and write!

My heart is full as I’m so grateful for my own mom and my mother-in-law. It’s also been a joy to see my sister become a mother, as well!

I truly think every mama is a hero. This world wouldn’t be the same without you all.

Head on over to The Neighborhood to download this free card! I know I sure don’t thank my mom enough.

xoxo

AKA the best carrot soup I’ve ever had. Seriously, this was amazing. I told multiple people about this soup, maybe even repeatedly. I had it for lunch for about a week straight, and didn’t tire of it. This soup is the perfect combination of sweet and nutty with a little spice, but not too much. It was also just the right amount of creamy and I love the addition of basmati rice to make it thick and nutty.

Full confession: we got the idea for this recipe from our local co-op. We made a few modifications but overall the idea was positively brilliant. And if you’re still dealing with weather that feels less and less like spring…I hope you enjoy it!

Ginger Carrot Soup with Caramelized Onions

1 large onion, thinly diced
12 medium carrots, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1/3 cup basmati rice, uncooked
3 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
2 1/2 cups water
4 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon garlic, minced
1 tablespoon fresh ginger, minced
2 tsp. sweet curry
1 bay leaf
2 tsp. white pepper
1 tbsp. sea salt
1 cup half and half
4 tablespoons orange juice concentrate

Melt butter in a large saute pan over medium heat. Add the onion slices and stir to coat the onions with the butter. Spread the onions out evenly over the pan and let cook. Reduce heat, stir occasionally and cook for about 8 to 10 minutes, until onions are soft and golden in color.

Add carrots, rice, broth, bay leaf, salt, pepper, and spices. Cook until rice and vegetables are very tender. Remove from heat and cool slightly.

Puree soup using a blender or food processor – using small amounts at a time to avoid splashing hot soup.

After soup has been pureed, add cream and orange juice concentrate. Mix well to combine. Reheat and serve. Top with fresh cracked pepper and parsley, if you’d like.

Enjoy! :)

Who’s ready for spring? And by Spring I don’t mean gloomy April showers, like we’ve been having in Milwaukee. I mean the real deal with warm temperatures and bright sun. With all of this rain, I have to remind myself it’s not like this everywhere. So if you’ve already got warmth and sun, I hope you’re enjoying it to the fullest!

To celebrate the start of Spring, why not take an afternoon to go fly a kite? If you’re up for a quick and easy project, I made a free printable for The Neighborhood to make your own kite! It would be a fun project for kids or adults.

Head on over to The Neighborhood to check it out and make your own kite!

Hope you enjoy!

xo

I’m excited to be on Shayla’s blog today, participating in her Why do you blog?” series. I’d love it if you would head on over to check it out! Thank you so much to Shayla for having me.

I thought it would make a good excuse to share my semi-new workspace with you all. (Remember my old one? Yep, our dining table.:)  I was long overdue for a dedicated workspace and we decided to turn our guest room into a dual office.

I got an inexpensive white desk from Ikea and love how bright and clean is it. Macs just look better on white, they really do. Nick was sweet enough to help me set up a new monitor to my Mac so that I’m looking at eye level… and what a luxury! That little change has helped my posture tremendously. I also got my dream chair, which was a splurge, but I like to think the added productivity is worth it… plus it’s comfortable, too!

I knew I wanted to put lots of visuals and quotes to keep me inspired and I was also hoping  for a tack board. I anticipate I’ll change the wall art once in a while, but for now these were some great inspiring prints I had already! (Pictured above from left to right: “just be cool” by The Vaguely, “keep calm and blog on” by Shayla Grace, “you don’t need to sleep to dream” by Citizens for Optimism, & “feels good to get some stuff done” by Mary Kate McDevitt)

I also incorporated a bit of DIY- all super simple projects. I painted the border of a cheap corkboard from Ikea to be bright blue. It was an easy task that made a big difference!

Using washi tape, I created “frames” around my prints. They add a fun touch, are renter-friendly, and are easy to change up later!

Scattered inspiration boards are fun, but I need order. These categorized lists on my bulletin board help me feel organized.

This is my favorite…

Do you have a dedicated workspace? I’ll admit sometimes the couch and my laptop feels like a dream, but I’m so glad I now have a dedicated workspace as I feel so much more balanced.

I’d love to hear what you think and if you’ve tried any other DIY ideas for your office or workspace.

Hope you’re having a great week!

xoxo

It’s that time of year where I’m crying out for sunshine. Anyone with me? It has been practically two solid weeks of rain here, and I seriously wonder how those of you in the Pacific Northwest do it! I’m really grateful to be going to Florida on vacation next week but I’ll probably have some sort of sun shock (is that a thing?).  but I know it will feel glorious and I’ll finally have an abundance of vitamin D. :)

I love the sunshine and I think it’s necessary for good (not to mention happy) health with adequate levels of vitamin D, but I also worry about damaging my skin. I did some research and wrote a post for The Neighborhood about feeling the sunshine without damaging your health.

Summer will be here before we know it and I’m feeling a lot more prepared to enjoy the sun safely. I’d love to hear what you think and if you have any tips as well!

You can check out my tips over on The Neighborhood. Wishing you bright sunny days! :)

P.S. Do you live somewhere sunny? I heard Denver is supposed to have the most days of sunshine in the U.S… it’s definitely on my “potential cities” list.