Happy Meatless Monday everyone! Hope you all had lovely weekends and were able to stay warm and dry no matter what you were up to! I wasn’t feeling the best, so in between catchups with friends I had a lot of down time, watching the footy and pottering around at home. No matter how I’m feeling I always enjoy some time in the kitchen, particularly when it involves pumpkin!
I went through a stage quite some time back where I was experimenting with lots of different Bliss Ball varieties with traditional date & cacao balls, fig & goji bliss balls and apricot & almond balls all getting a run in my kitchen. I hadn’t made any in such a long time so when I was trying to think of a tasty snack to take to work I decided it was time to try a new flavour combination. I had a rather large supply of dried cranberries on hand so Cashew and Cranberry Bliss Balls seemed the appropriate way to go!
The other day I was perusing the aisles of the health food store near my work (please tell me I’m not the only one who does that!) when I spotted some black rice on sale and decided it needed to come home with me. I had seen a few recipes using black rice but had never eaten it myself, so after doing some research decided the first way I wanted to try it was in a salad. I picked the brightest coloured vegetables from my veggie delivery, and away I went!
Since participating in the Sweet Adventures Blog Hop by making white chocolate and macadamia cookies I have been thinking about cookies a lot, so had to make some more! These are a little more on the healthy side but are still deliciously moreish and are perfect with a mid-morning cup of tea. If you don’t have (or like) cranberries you could use sultanas or apricot instead, but I personally think the cranberries work extra well with the dark chocolate.
After seeing macadamia granola recipes on both The Sticky and Sweet and 84th and 3rd I decided it was time I tried making my own granola, but went with cashew as my nut of choice and threw in a good amount of both cranberries and coconut to sweeten the whole thing up. It turned out really delicious and I have been loving it for breakfast with some coconut yoghurt and berries, or sprinkling it on top of smoothies for a bit of crunch. It’s so easy to make so you can personalise it to your own tastes without having to worry about added sugar or other preservatives. I have a feeling I’ll be making this very often!