Coconut + Banana + Honey + Quinoa Parfait

One o'clock church is meant solely for sleeping in, catching up on some reading and of course, making a yummy breakfast!! This morning, I was for some reason feeling especially motivated to try making something up of my own rather than borrowing off of others blogs! Well...seeing as I'm still kind of new to this, it called for a little inspiration which I got from The Diva Dish blog! She made a yummy Apple Maple Cinnamon Quinoa Parfait which looked pretty delicious as well! I'll definitely be trying it out one of these days. But like I said...I was really determined to come up with something. So after staring at the pantry for a while and deciding what I could pull together...I came up with Coconut Banana Honey Quinoa Parfait! And it turned out great! And it's fairly simple to whip together and SO filling. Enjoy!

Coconut Banana Honey Quinoa Parfait 

Serves: 2 

Ingredients 

-1/2 cup quinoa 

-1 cup water 

-2 tablespoons of coconut oil 

-2 tablespoons of honey 

-Splash of vanilla 

-A few drops of almond extract 

-A medium sized ripe banana 

-Any type of greek yogurt (I used Chobani coconut flavor) 

Step 1: Make Quinoa 

• Bring 1/2 cup of quinoa and 1 cup of water to a boil 
• Turn heat to low, cover and let cook 15 minutes 
• Uncover, let sit for 5 minutes. 

Step 2: When there's about 8-10 minutes left of cooking for the quinoa, start on the bananas. Mix together 1 T. coconut oil and 1 T. of honey (heat for 15 seconds in the microwave) and then add a splash of vanilla and a few drops of almond extract.

Step 3: Slice bananas. Pour coconut oil/honey mixture into a frying pan and start heat on low. After it heats up a little, put the bananas in (if possible, try to have the bananas all spread out) 

Step 4: Sauté bananas until caramelized. Remove bananas from frying pan onto a plate and refrigerate while you prep the rest. 

Step 5: Add the remaining 1 T. coconut oil and 1 T. honey to quinoa and stir until the coconut oil and honey both are mixed in. 

Step 6: Layer the quinoa, yogurt and bananas and (optional) top with almonds, coconut flakes and anything else that you think might add a little goodness to it! :) 

Hope you like it! :) If you have any other questions on how I made it, just comment on the blog or send me a message. Thanks for stopping by! 

Your New Favorite Granola + 5 Ways to Use It

First official post on the blog! Woo! Okay so I've bene thinking about where I want to go with this whole food aspect of the blog. Let's put the facts out there:

• Most of the things I make are gluten-free and semi-dairy and sugar free...I mean...what's life without sugar. Am I right? (I generally don't use straight sugar, but I swear I use honey in just about every other thing I eat!)

• I try to make everything I eat clean. Not necessarily everything is going to be the healthiest thing ever but I just try to keep it clean. 
• Hopefully some of the things I post will be helpful to anyone reading the blog! 

• I love food/eating so I'll try posting my new recipes every week! 

Anyways, I'm super excited to start this up and thanks for stopping by! Now, enjoy one of my favorite go-to recipes and how you can use it. :) 

This granola. No words. I've struck gold stumbling upon this recipe!! I mean, as much as wish I was the one you could all thank for this but full credit for this tasty recipe goes to one of my favorite healthy food blogs: lovelylittlekitchen.com.
Okay so my family sometimes thinks I'm crazy for all this clean eating but not with this. They all love it! It's not everyday that I have my entire agree on a food that we all like, so I figured I may as well figure out multiple uses for it since it was becoming a staple in our family's week.
In this post, I'm going to share with you my favorite ways to incorporate this granola into some simple snacks and meals that are easy to throw together with ingredients you likely already have sitting right in your pantry. It adds the perfect crunch to all of your favorites! Enjoy!

                

[details: frozen raspberries//blue diamond almond-coconut milk (unsweetened)]

[details: fugi apple (or one of your choice)//skippy creamy peanut butter]

[details: blueberries//banana//spinach//flaxseed//blue diamond almond-coconut milk]

[details: kodiak cakes pancake mix//bananas//grade b maple syrup]

[details: spinach + oceanspray craisins + fugi apple slices]

Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoy your granola! :) And you can even make up your own creations with it too! 

2015

What's a good New Years resolution if it's not a few weeks late?

Well...I decided to start a blog!
Since you're here, you're probably wondering what this blog is all about. Basically, it goes along with some goals of mine and tracking them via social media/blogging will help me stick with them more diligently. I'm also hoping it might provide a little inspiration for others who might be in situations similar to mine or those who share my same interests. :) I'm crazy nervous about starting a blog but I'm hoping at least maybe my mom will read it here and there. ;)
Although I have many goals and hopes for this year, my main one is finding out a little bit more about myself and who I want to be. I'm almost 20, I just received my associates degree (insert balloons and confetti) which led me to the decision to take a semester of school off. And I want to make the best of this "break". I want to fill it with people I love, places I love and doing the things I love. But it's going to take more than just saying that to get it done. That's where the blog comes in. I'm going to be posting updates in these new experiences I'm taking on such as:

• healthy eating • fitness • lifestyle + travel • fashion • design + crafts • 

These are all things that I want to turn into little hobbies and interests into something more, something that will help me and something that [hopefully] will help you too! :)

Thanks for reading!! :)