Bacon, Cheddar and Chive Sheetpan Pretzel Nachos

'Twas the night before Christmas and cravings were kickin'

We decided it was time to cook somethin' quick in the kitchen...

Sprinkled pretzels atop a baking sheet with cheddar

Bacon and chives made it all even better...

Baked at 400ºF until melty and nice

Then added a bit of poppy seeds for texture and spice.

Sat in front of the fire, hot toddies in hand

And enjoyed this 8-minute appetizer with my sexyhawt man.

8-Minute Bacon, Cheddar and Chive SheetPan Pretzel Nachos

4 servings | 8 minutes

• 1 bag Pretzel Crisps
• 1/2 cup shredded cheddar
• nonstick coconut oil spray
• 2 pieces peppered bacon, cooked and crumbled
• 1/4 cup fresh chopped chives, divided
• 1/2 teaspoon poppy seeds

Heat oven to 400ºF. Spread pretzel crisps on a large baking sheet. Sprinkle with cheese, spray with coconut oil spray. Sprinkle with bacon, 2 Tbsp chives and poppy seeds. Cook for 6-8 minutes, just until cheese melts. Garnish with remaining chives. Enjoy immediately!

5-Ingredient Protein Breakfast Chocolate

I love healthy food. But I don't always love eating healthy. Mostly, I crave chocolate and Trader Joe's Scandinavian Swimmers. But that is a secret I don't divulge online. 

So this morning, in a fit of breakfast rage, I realized I didn't want to eat an egg or banana or smoothie. I wanted to eat chocolate.

So I made breakfast chocolate. In the blender. It's high protein, just a smidge of sugar. And it's freaking delicious. But don't take my word for it. Make chocolate. Eat breakfast. You deserve.

5-Ingredient High Protein Breakfast Chocolate

Read more behind-the-scenes story of this recipe on Instagram @cheekykitchen

4 servings | 10 minutes

• 3/4 cup creamy maple almond butter (vanilla or chocolate works, as well)
• 1 scoop plant-based chocolate protein powder
• 2 Tbsp raw cocoa powder
• 2 Tbsp chia seeds
• 1 Tbsp coconut oil, melted
• stevia (optional)

Place all ingredients in a blender. Blend until smooth. (If mixture isn't soft enough to form a thick, doughy ball, add melted coconut oil 1 tsp at a time until the right consistency). Form into a 1" high rectangle. Refrigerate or freeze until firm. Slice into 8 squares. Enjoy with coffee. 

FLAVOR BOOSTERS: This simple recipes benefits from all sorts of easy add-ins. Try one of these:

• Mocha Chocolate. Add 1 Tbsp coffee grounds
• Vanilla. Add 1 Tbsp vanilla bean paste
• Double Chocolate. Fold in 2 Tbsp mini Enjoy Life! chocolate chips
• Plant-based Protein. Add 1-2 Tbsp hemp hearts to the blender.
• Crunchy Coco. Add 2 Tbsp cacao nibs to the blender.
• Sea Salt & Chocolate. Add a generous pinch of Maldon salt flakes to the blender.

Make-Your-Own Cookie Dough Larabars

This August, I made a revolutionary decision: to stop making breakfast and lunch for my kids.

Attempting to balance the ever-growing list of Impossibles–cook, clean, work, volunteer, exercise, blog, photoshoot, launder, rake, run, write, read, suntan, automating two meals a day seemed an obvious solution to my general timecrunchedness.

So, I prepurchased a year of school lunches and bought a box of Cookie Dough Larabars. Our favorites.

Of course, buying a bunch of bars can get expensive. So I decided to conjure a quick and raw way to batch out our new morning staple.

Turns out, it’s absurdly easy to make Larabars at home. All you need in a hi-speed blender. And 7 good-for-you ingredients. Toss, pulse, enjoy.

These sweet treats are perfect for slicing and toting anywhere you desire. The best part? No added sugar, so they’re skinny body happy.

Happy kids. Yummy simple. Skinny body. What more could a mom ask for?

DIY COOKIE DOUGH LARABARS

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup soaked almonds
1 cup sesame seeds, milled
¼ cup honey or agave
½ cup coconut oil
2 cups hemp seeds
1 teaspoon vanilla
¼ cup cacao nibs

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a hi-speed blender or food processor, pulse together the first 6 ingredients until soft & doughy.
2. Press into a parchment-lined bread pan.
3. Firm up en fridge for 20-30 minutes before slicing.

Sex Bombs: Quick, Healthy Chocolate

Boost your boom-boom with a quick, simple, and totally delicious dessert. Sex bombs, baby.

In light of last month’s Sex Coffee success (radio shows brought in entire batches), HuffPo picked it up, Bustle even ran a review of the recipe.

What better way to celebrate, than cook up some more simple, healthy, sex boosting eats? I couldn’t think of a better way. So made Sex Bombs. With (warning:) more to come.

This recipe is raw, sweet, and perfect. Full of antioxidant boosting cacao. Dipped in rich, dark chocolate. You’ll love every bite.

And so will your bedmate…

Get the  recipe at YourTango.

Sushi-In-A-Snap Wraps

Looking for a raw-food lunch that really, really good?

These easy little Sushi Wraps are utterly yumtown. Inspired by my sister, who one day said “I can’t stop eating nori-wrapped avocado slices”.  To which I responded with a mad dash to the store, the purchase of nori and avocado with mango to boot. And a can’t-stop craving of my own.

Perfect for lunch. Perfect for detox. Perfect for those days when you feel like a fatty, but really want to eat the way skinny people should.

Amazing for those moments when you have exactly twenty-bucks to your name, and consider selling your oldest on Craigslist to find your sushi madness.

Cheap. Easy. Raw. Good.

Wrap. Roll. Enjoy.

SUSHI-IN-A-SNAP WRAPS

INGREDIENTS:

6 nori wrappers
1 tablespoon tamari or soy sauce
1/2 avocado, sliced thin
1/2 mango, sliced thin
1 tiny cucumber, sliced thin
Pea shoots

DIRECTIONS:

1. Sprinkle the wrappers with a little soy sauce.
2. Place avocado, mago, cukes, and pea shoots in the center of each wrapper.
3. Wrap and roll. Eat lunch.

SERVES 2.

The Fastest Healthy Chocolate Pudding on the Web

A podcast I was listening to last week was dedicated to Reminding American Women Why They Really Wish They Were Scandinavian Socialists. Is it just me, or are there a lot of these articles-podcasts-studies happening? And who else wants to charter a cruise ship to Denmark, stat?

If I ever refind the exact epi, I promise to post. But there’s a podcast-pudding connection that’s more important that proper sourcing.

Here it is: Some featured expert in said podcast said gender equality started to shift overseas with the advent of two things. One, was socializing elderly care and child care. The other was the advent of frozen foods.

When these two things happened, women were free of traditional womenchores. They were no longer tied to 24-hour menumaking and babywiping. They were now free to livestream Soaps from cupcake shoppes, visit sauerkraut buffets,  and interview for management positions with IKEA. Brilliance.

Hearing this inspired serious epiphany.

I realized, it was time I went all Scandinavian on my own ass.

I realized the only person still holding my actions to an age-old idea of the Guilt-Ridden 1950’s WomanMother With PinCurls & Pinterest Party Skills…was me.

It was time to let go a bit. Time to let convenience trump showgirl. Time to let easy in.

Consumerism has a lot of downfalls. Capitalism is seriously missing equality for all.

But, there are a few benefits about this world we live in. And one of those is…food can be so easy.

Why are we making it hard?

I’ve found myself getting so overwhelmed with all I have to do, that I melt into my Facebook feed and do nothing at all.

I’ve looked at lists of a dozen ingredients, and decided instead to take the kids out to dinner.

I’ve bought a candy bar, just because it tastes a shit ton better than the expensive-ass raw chocolate that makes me choke.

Slowly, steadily, inspired by those pretty Scandinavians, I’ve started doing simple. I buy more premade. I try to make my real life be my ideal life.

This recipe helps.

Two ingredients. 21 seconds. Pure. Healthy. Perfect. So I have more time (and more energy) to do the stuff I really wanna do.

Seriously so Scandinavian, it’s practically Ligonberry jam.

EASY, HEALTHY CHIA CHOCOLATE PUDDING

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup dark chocolate coconut water
1/4 cup chia seeds
stevia (optional)

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a bowl mix coconut water & chia
2. Wait 21 minutes.
3. Sweeten with stevia if you please.

NOTE: Feel free to swap in chocolate coconut, almond, hemp, or rice milk.
FLAVOR BOOST: Stir in 1 tablespoon of raw cacao powder.

Skinny Jeans Cereal

Here’s the thing. I could eat Cocoa Pebbles like they’re crack. They are definitely the gateway drug to Cookie Crunch. And super definitely the gateway to Cookie Butt. Don’t ask me how I know.

So, when I swapped my life to paleo primal Cavegirl eatage, I made a firm pinky swear that cereal would be avoided hithertofore. Or whatever the right legalese for those sorts of swears happens to be.

But a girls gotta get in her crunchy morning bowl of yumyum from time to time.

And so, I started hunting for an easy cereal swap. And here’s what I discovered.

SECRET SKINNY CEREAL

When you’re walking down the Baking Aisle of your local grocer, glowering at the preservatives in boxed cake mixes, and steering clear of fake frosting while alternately mouthwatering over fotos of Funfetti cupcakes, stop yourself midaisle. You know, in the baggy nuts section.

You can grab two or three kinds of nuts for less than $5 usually. I love me some sliced almond, pecans, walnuts.

Toss those all in a bowl with yo’ favorite coconut milk or almond milk. Add a bunch of berries. If you have quinoa sitting around from last night’s Ancient Aztec Eats dinner menu (is this even a thing?) do it. Drop like it’s hot. In the bowl. (Although twerking is tres acceptable, too.)

Then, berries.

Then, spoon.

Then, smile.

Then, skinny.

It’s really that easy. Swap out the Cocoa Crack. Slide into ye’ olde skinny jeans. (Or whatever the legalese is for that phrase.)

SKINNY JEANS CEREAL

INGREDIENTS:

2 tablespoons each sliced almonds, pecans, walnuts
1 cup berries
1/2 cup coconut milk beverage
1 tablespoon honey (optional)

DIRECTIONS:

1. Toss together in a bowl.
2. Eat.