Natural "Dye-Free" Easter Eggs

Easter is by far, my favorite holiday of the year. Celebrating our Risen Savior, family time, brunch, warmer weather, egg hunts, and candy-filled baskets- what's not to love! It's a time of new life that always leaves me refreshed.

Dying Easter eggs has always been my favorite activity of this season. It's a great chance to be creative with a blank canvas. Although it's super convenient to purchase pre-made dye, I really enjoy using and experimenting with natural, color creating ingredients. 

^^ First, start with hard boiled eggs. I boil mine for about 9 minutes, turn off the heat, and let them sit  in the hot water another minute or two. Then I drain the water from the pot and let them cool.

Do not worry about exact measurements when making natural dye. The goal is to achieve your desire pigment (darkness & lightness) by playing with the qualities of foods/spices. Have fun with it! If you discover more items that would aid in creating a certain color, just add them to the pot!

^^ For the yellow dye, I used a couple table spoons of turmeric, and two bags of green tea. 

^^ For the green dye, I used two handfuls of chopped spinach, green tea bags, and fresh basil. 

^^ For the pink dye, I used 3 cubed red beets, 1/2 cup frozen blueberries, and 8 oz pomegranate juice.

^^ Place the dye ingredients into seperate sauce pans and fill with water one inch above the ingredients. 

^^ Bring the dye mixture to a boil.

^^ Cover, and let simmer for 30 minutes to 1 hour- periodically check on them to see when your desired color is achieved. 

^^ Place a colander or strainer over a bowl and drain your dye. 

 ^^ Add 1/4 cup of white distilled vinegar to teach dye while they're still warm. 

Fill dipping jars with the dye, and lower the eggs inside using a small ladle or spoon. I used larger mason jars so that we could dye 2-3 eggs at a time. 

^^ Let the eggs sit for 15-45 minutes depending on the color you want. I let these sit for about 30 minutes, placed them back into the carton cups to drip dry, and then back into the refrigerator. (For egg salad tomorrow!) 

We had a lot of fun watching the white egg shells slowly turn into these beautiful colors. The best part of it all was that we 'made' these colors using natural ingredients! I really look forward to experimenting with new items each year, and I hope you have fun customizing your own colors, too!

Happy Easter! 

xo- Monica

Protein Banana Bread

Bananas don't usually hang around for long in my house. Between the three of us, we go through two big bunches a week. There is a rare case where a few bananas are left behind, turning brown, and I always take full advantage of claiming them for bread before someone else does. 

There is a certain nostalgia about banana bread for me. My Mom constantly kept a loaf in the kitchen to snack on. I remember my Dad coming home from a long morning on his feet at the hospital, my mom made a pot of coffee for them to share, and they sat and rested. This time is still a ritual for them and I love when I'm there to join in. 

^^ I let my "banana bread bananas" brown a few days after the first brown spots appear. This ensures the perfect mashing consistency so there are no random chunks of banana in the bread. For this recipe I used a combination of whole wheat flour and almond flour. Almond flour is literally blanched and skinless almonds that have been finely ground into a powder. I LOVE this almond meal because it allows me to make bread with out it being so dense and flour-filled. You can usually find it in the baking section or gluten-free section of the grocery store. 

I really love homemade bread. You just can't beat a slice of banana, pumpkin, or plain cinnamon bread paired with a cup of coffee in the afternoon. It's the perfect pick-me-up during nap time or work/school breaks. However, most bread recipes are full of butter, flour, and sugar. I've replace refined/processed sugars with maple syrup and honey. I've also replace butter and oil with apple sauce and yogurt. Lastly, the whole wheat gives this bread a great dose of whole grains, while the chia seeds and almond meal boost this bread full of protein. My banana obsessed baby & hubby can't eat this bread fast enough.

^^ Mash the bananas with a fork. 

^^ Add all wet ingredients to the bananas: yogurt, maple syrup, honey, eggs, vanilla, applesauce. 

^^ Combine all dry ingredients: almond flour, whole wheat flour, cinnamon, chia seeds, salt, baking soda. 

^^ Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet, and mix until combined.

** I didn't add nuts to this recipe because of the almond meal. If you like that extra crunch, roast 1/4 cup of sliced almonds or chopped walnuts and fold them into the mixture. 

^^ Spray loaf pan with a non-stick spray or melted coconut oil. I love this spray because it is versatile between grilling, baking, and cooking!

^^ Pour the batter into the loaf pan and sprinkle the top with raw oats. 

^^ Walaaa! Perfectly golden Banana Bread and it smells sooo good! For breakfast, I love topping a slice of this Protein Banana bread with crunchy peanut-butter! Enjoy!

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup almond flour
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons chia seeds
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 1/3 cup honey
• 3 ripe bananas
• 1/4 cup apple sauce
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 plain whole-milk yogurt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• oats for topping

Instruction: 

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray the loaf pan and set it aside.
• Whisk together the dry ingredients: flours, salt, baking soda, chia seeds, and cinnamon. Set aside.
• In a separate bowl, mash the bananas. Add in the honey, apple sauce, yogurt, maple syrup, eggs, and vanilla. Stir until combined.
• Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix until just combined. 
• Pour batter into the loaf pan and top with oats. 
• Bake for 40-50 minutes or until done- a tester inserted comes out clean. 
• Let cool completely in the loaf pan, then turn out to a cooling rack. Store in foil or in an airtight container for the week! 

Happy baking!
xo- Monica

Blueberry Muffin Overnight Oats

This may come as no surprise to you by now, but breakfast is by far my favorite meal. No part of my day can begin until I've had a cup of strong coffee and sustenance. Luckily, it must run in my blood, because little man is the same way. We wake up, and immediately head to the kitchen to fuel-up for the day. Although I love smoothies, eggs, yogurt, etc... oatmeal is my jam. 

My fav method of cooking oats is by using steel cut oats and almond milk over a stove. This is a 30-40 minute process which I generally have no time for, so... I started making over-night-oats! The mixture involves equal parts oats, liquid (milk), and sometimes yogurt; leave them in a jar in the fridge overnight, and ta-daaaaa... hassle-free oatmeal in the morning. I was skeptical at first, being an oatmeal extremist, but this method is such a time-saver and so good. 

There is NO COOKING involved at all...

Overnight-oat-base:

-1/3 cup oats

-1/3 cup almond milk

-1/4 cup coconut yogurt

This is the base recipe I use for all of my variations of Over-Night-Oats. I have fun experimenting with these each week, giving them a new spin with different ingredients. This week I made Blueberry Muffin Oats, and we devoured them.

^^ I used plain coconut milk and added vanilla extract to the oat mixture. The extract lends a vanilla flavor without having the added sugar of "vanilla flavored" yogurt.

^^ I like to use frozen blueberries, but you can also use fresh if you prefer.

^^ The finished product, come morning!

^^ This topping is totally optional. Although the overnight-oats resemble the taste of a blueberry pie, this crunchy topping really takes it to the next level! 

^^ This is essentially a small batch of simple granola. Just 5 ingredients and less than 10 minutes of baking. Store for the week!

Blueberry Muffin Overnight Oats

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
• 1/3 cup unsweetened almond milk
• 1/4 cup coconut yogurt
• 1/4 cup frozen blueberries
• 1/2 tsp chia seeds
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions:

• Put oats, chia seeds, blueberries, yogurt, vanilla, and almond milk in a jar with a tight lid. (I use 6-8 oz mason jars).
• Stir until all ingredients are combined, then cover tightly.
• Leave the covered jar to sit in the refrigerator over night. 
• In the morning, uncover, stir the oats, and top with the pie crust topping and more berries.
• *** I love these cold, but you can heat them up briefly in the microwave. 

"Streusel" Topping

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons old-fashioned rolled oats
• 1 tablespoon flour
• 1 tablespoon room temp coconut oil
• 1 tablespoon of raw sugar or maple syrup
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Instruction: 

• Preheat oven to 350.
• Combine all ingredients in a small bowl using your fingers to incorporate the coconut oil.
• Put mixture onto a glass baking dish and bake for 5 minutes, stir, and bake for another 3 minutes.
• Let cool completely, then top the Blueberry Muffin Oats and store in an airtight container. 

Enjoy!

xo- Monica