The First Date Shake.

There was never really an official first date, I guess. Weston never had to ask me out or even ask me for my phone number. We were two people in a group of friends who got to know each other a lot before ending up alone at a dinner together. The rest of our friends were going to a movie that wouldn't end until after my high school curfew, so Weston offered to stick around and take me to dinner instead of joining them. And that was our first "date".

We sat across from each other for dinner on a rainy Friday night in February. I had just stepped in a massive puddle in the parking lot, wearing ballet flats, and sat shivering at the table (always the epitome of grace) when I ordered my dinner - "Just a chocolate milkshake, please."

Weston stared at me. "That's all you're having?" Um, yeah, Weston. When you're alone at dinner with a boy you've secretly had a crush on for like, a year, it's a little nerve wracking and I couldn't exactly think of stomaching actual food at that moment. I didn't care how rainy or cold it was or how wet the bottoms of my pants were. Chocolate shake for me. 

Lately, my goal has been to maximize the amount of whole foods that I eat and minimize the amount of  sugar loaded processed stuff. The first week was easy but by week two, my sweet tooth was not being satisfied by fistfuls of fruit anymore and that's when Weston came up with this.

It's a chocolate shake. Made with almond milk, cocoa powder, and dates. And therefore we've come full circle.

On my first date with Weston, I had a chocolate shake. And last week, he made me my first date chocolate shake!

(Please humor me, I'm incredibly proud of this realization.)

If you like frozen, dairy free, chocolatey treats that can be part of a balanced diet… here's what you do...

In a blender, combine:

1 cup almond milk
1/4 cup almond butter
12 pitted dates
1 Tbsp cocoa powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 Tbsp coconut flakes
And ice - anywhere between a few cubes and a cups worth. The more ice you add, the thinner the drink will be. Just depends on your preference! I've been adding about two handfuls worth.

If you try it out let me know what you think!

And just for fun - since I shared a little bit about my first date with Weston… 

here's a picture from around that time, 6 years ago haha. Aye… look at these kids!

Kale Salad is a Big Deal.

When my dear friend, Arden, was in town a few weeks ago, I had the privilege of enjoying a lovely dinner with her family. I have never been the biggest fan of kale (as mentioned here), but her parents had made a kale salad that I absolutely LOVED. To the point where, last night, I even asked her for the recipe to make it on my own.

Granted, my version was not nearly as delicious as the one her family had made (isn't that always how it works?) but Weston claimed to like it and we both agreed that it was fresh, light, and summery.

I used our salad-making as an excuse to play with my new lens! It's not actually new, I bought it a few years ago but after only using it for a few months, it broke. So it's been out of commission for over a year since fixing it was going to be mighty expensive and I was still trying to save money after having purchased the lens in the first place! But I finally sent it out to be repaired and it's back in my life and we are just very happy together.

So maybe there will be a lot of little nothings becoming big enough deals to take pictures of for a while. Like making a salad.

This dinner had been advertised to Weston as one that I would be making, but as usual, he ended up stepping in to help haha. He grilled the squash and zucchini while I made the dressing and washed the kale. We are both still going strong on the whole "allergen free" diet. It's getting easier and harder at the same time. Easier not to miss the things I was missing a lot at first, but harder to find meals that we haven't already made. So even if my salad wasn't as good as I wanted it to be (somehow.. how do you mess up a salad, really?) it was nice to have something different for dinner than our usual rotation.

We also grilled peaches and topped them with dairy-free ice cream.

This was a great decision.

As much as I'm ready for it to cool down, maybe it isn't too terrible that summer is still in full force.

At least for a little bit longer.

P.S. Here's a quick little video because my lens is fixed and if you hadn't already heard, we loved playing with it. A lot. 

recipe for the salad : 

brush eggplant, zuchinni, and squash with olive oil, salt, and pepper - then grill.

remove kale from stalks and tear or cut into bite sized pieces. 

add cooked quinoa.

combine all with dressing and let stand 10 minutes before serving.

recipe for the dressing :

using a shot glass measure 1 lemon juice, 1/2 white balsamic vinegar, 3 olive oil. 

add salt and pepper. pour into jar with lid and shake.

Peach, Apple, Blueberry Cobbler : Gluten Free, Dairy Free.

I don't think I've ever bought a box of peaches without eventually wanting them turned into a peach cobbler.

Don't get me wrong, I love peaches on their own, but during the summertime, I crave peach cobbler like it's nobody's business. Since I eat gluten-free and I'm trying the whole dairy-free thing for a while, I decided to try to get creative and make a 'healthy' peach cobbler. I read a few recipes before starting, to get an idea of what people usually use, and tried to think of good, healthy alternatives for things like butter, flour, and sugar before concocting my own little dish.

And maybe it's because I haven't had a 'real' dessert in a while, or maybe it's because of how desperately I wanted a peach cobbler, but I thought it was pretty good! 

I wrote down the ingredients and measurements as I went, in case I wanted to make it again and I'm certain that I will. :) We all know that I'm not a chef by any sense of the word, so this is clearly a simple creation, but in case you feel inclined to try it, here it is!

Ingredients:

for the filling:                                                                                     for the topping:

- 6 peaches, sliced                                                      - 1 cup oats

- 1 apple                                                                   - 1/3 cup granola

- 1 cup blueberries                                                     - 1/2 tsp salt

- 1 tsp cinnamon                                                        - 1 tsp agave

- 1.5 tbsp honey                                                         - a dash of cinnamon

- tsp vanilla

- a dash of nutmeg

- 1 cup applesauce

1) Combine the peeled, diced fruit in a bowl with the cinnamon, honey, vanilla, nutmeg, and applesauce. Pour the fruit mixture into an 8x11 pan.

2) Combine the oats, granola, salt, and agave in a small bowl, then spread on top of the fruit mixture.

3) Drizzle agave and/or add cinnamon to the topping.

4) Bake for 20 minutes at 425 degrees.

Only thing I might tweak next time is adding a little bit of applesauce to the topping too.

Enjoy! Even for breakfast, if you'd like.. It's practically just oatmeal and fruit. 

I mean... doesn't get much more guilt free than that, right? ;)