Oat Flour Birthday Cake (gluten free)

For Cohen’s first birthday I made the easiest gluten free cake out of oat flour. I’m shocked with how good it tasted. Oat flour is my favorite go to gluten free flour because it’s pretty healthy and easy to make quickly in my blender. I’m always double or tripling recipes (muffins, usually) so I make it in large batches dumping it into my vitamix and blitzing the oats until it’s flour. The cake looks dense in the pictures, but the texture was like a scone.

I used this vegan vanilla cupcake recipe from Feasting On Fruit and instead of making cupcakes I made two 9” round cakes. I think I doubled (maybe tripled?) the recipe. The first round cake I used a plastic cup to cut out the two mini layers and just stacked them on top of each other to make Cohen’s tiny cake. The second round cake I cut into slices (scone shapes) for everyone to eat with brunch. I hadn’t thought much about Cohen’s cake and decided last minute to try the new recipe. Cohen literally dove face first into the cake, so I really felt like it was a success :)

Thinking next time I make this recipe I’m going to try mixing-in maybe pumpkin, apple, or some ginger, molasses or cranberries! yummmm

Quick one pot dinner! Baked FAJITAS, 25 minutes

I threw this together hoping it would work and it did, surprisingly! I usually split up a container of chicken breasts and bake it two different ways to make two meals. I did a honey mustard chicken with half and the other half I wanted to do something spicy for fajitas. We had left over onions and peppers so I cut all of them up. We also had some green verde salsa from Trader Joes and some random hot sauce. I threw everything into a casserole dish (with the chicken sliced in the center) and poured salsa and hot sauce generously over everything. It looked like a mess, but 20-25minutes later and only 1 dirty dish, I was sold! These are the kind of meals that I end up making again and again because we don't have a dishwasher in our apartment! :) This was so easy and delicious! I would have added some green peppers for a little more color, but I used what we had.  Enjoy!

Oven baked faijtas:  25 minutes, at 400°

1. Slice 2-3 chicken breasts, lay in center of casserole dish. 2. Thinly slice onions & peppers, surround chicken with veggies 3. Pour salsa (any kind) over chicken and if you like it spicy, add hot sauce too! 4. Bake for 20-25minutes 5. Warm corn tortillas over stovetop the last few minutes that the chicken is cooking. You can also melt a little cheese on the tortillas if you want to! YUM!

SNACKS // healthiest, simplest, funnest snack around

For the 4th of July my mom made the cutest snacks--watermelon stars! So unexpected and fun! I've been meaning to post it and I figured even though I'm late, summer isn't over yet!!!! This cute idea would be perfect for any time of the year really: a fun breakfast addition or a kid's party or play date or just for FUN :) Good for adults too! :)

Directions: 1. // slice watermelon (or another kind of melon) into 1 in thick round slices 2. // press the cookie cutter into the round slice, carefully press out the shape 3. // discard the rind, eat the extra pieces! :)

You can find unique cookie cutters on etsy for cheap! Below are a few I thought were pretty cool. Also, I don't have kids, but I think any kid would love their name spelled out in watermelon letters, right?! Everyone loves seeing their own name :) :) Batman and lightning bolts are pretty sweet too!

cookie cutters via// cloud // batman // starfish // lightning bolt

Quick, Easy, & Perfectly Crispy Butternut Squash Fries

The Secret to Perfectly Crispy Butternut Squash Fries, 3 Easy Steps

There are a few easy steps to creating PERFECTLY crispy butternut squash fries! (You can also do these same steps for crispy sweet potatoe fries!) No one likes limp french fries. Here's the trick...

>>>> SLICE, BAKE then BROIL! <<<

I can't believe that last spring was my first time cooking butternut squash! It is so delicious and has become a staple in our diet. We love to cook it on the stove top with garlic, bake it in the oven then mash it up, make soup out of it, and slice it thin and make fries. Yum! This is our no fail recipe for perfect butternut squash fries, nice and crispy. I like to eat them with salsa, Grant likes to eat them with BBQ sauce and of course you can always use ketchup. Hope you get a chance to try it out this fall! They're delicious and squash is in season, so it's usually pretty cheap!

PREP TIME: 7minutes (slice, dice, toss!) COOK TIME: 25-30minutes BAKE + 5-7 min BROIL

INGREDIENTS 2 butternut squash 2 Tb. olive oil salt to garnish

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, then put your squash in the microwave for 45sec--1min to soften the skin, making it easier to peel. Cut the ends off the squash and peel the skin off. I recommend this peeler. It has saved me so much time! Slice the squash in half and scoop out the seeds. Then slice the rest up to resemble fries/wedges. For perfect technique check out this 48sec. Martha Stewart video on how to cut butternut squash.

2. Toss your fries with olive oil, add salt and lay out on a baking sheet.

3. Bake fries for 25-30minutes to cook the squash. Then turn your oven off and put the broiler on HIGH. Broil fries for 5-7minutes watching closely.This makes them nice and crispy! When they're as crispy as you like, pull them out. That's it, you're done! :) I don't bother flipping mine halfway through. Sometimes one side is more done than the other, but it doesn't make a difference at all. They are so good!!!

You can also sprinkle garlic salt on your fries or even cinnamon for a little sweetness.

P.S.  A few more delicious fall recipes: pumpkin doughnuts &  frittata pizza!