No-Bake Energy Bites with Chocolate & Peanut Butter

So...you're pregnant and find yourself craving a cookie. Unfortunately, you're out of some essential cookie ingredients. Plus, it's a hotter-than-normal day, there's no AC in the house and you also have found yourself lacking the energy needed to actually bake cookies.

Solution: make some no-bake energy bites!

I found this recipe on a food writer's blog called All About Food. I originally stumbled upon her blog for work, but began following it for pleasure. I like her writing, her recipes and her occasional shout out to Scandinavian heritage and recipes (she's from Minnesota). If you're in CA and have a Meyer lemon tree [sad sniff], I suggest you try the Meyer Lemon Honey-Yogurt Tea Cake she featured. DELICIOUS!

The bites have been great little snacks to have in the fridge and one is enough to get me through a hunger twinge between breakfast and lunch or lunch and dinner.

Whether you're pregnant or not, I suggest making these and keeping a batch in the fridge. I can see where they'd be good to have around if you're a new mom (hello to all my new mom friends!), have a house full of kids home for summer break or just want to treat yourself with a not-so-devilish sweet treat every now and then!

Plus, how can you go wrong with a peanut butter & chocolate combination??

No-Bake Energy Bites

Recipe from All About Food.

·         1 cup old-fashioned oats

·         1/2 cup peanut butter

·         1/3 cup honey

·         1 teaspoon vanilla

·         1 cup coconut flakes

·         1/2 cup ground flax seeds (much cheaper if you buy whole flax seeds then grind them in a coffee grinder)

·         1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

Mix all ingredients together in a medium bowl until thoroughly blended. Let mixture chill in refrigerator for 30 minutes. Roll into 24 balls and enjoy. Store in an airtight container and keep refrigerated for up to 1 week.

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Garden Update

Ever wondered what broccoli looks like as it grows?

Well, now you know. It looks like....broccoli!

Isn't it cute? A little broccoli floret is the start of what I hope to be a prize-winner.

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In other news, the Brussels sprouts plants are huge. However, there are no Brussels sprouts anywhere to be seen. Do I have dud plants? Does it take forever for them to grow the edible morsels? Tell me your secrets, Brussels!

Mr. Lemon Tree is doing fabulously...I hope to get some great lemons soon as I'm thinking of making some Limoncello as Christmas gifts this year, pairing it with a recipe or two. C'mon lemons!

Moore Girls Visit Team Thompson (not more girls)

I'm sure you've noticed, but I'm roughly two months behind in posts...one of these days I'll get caught up and post updates when things actually happen vs. two months later.

We've been busy with home improvement projects, work, sleep and watching Doctor Who and Torchwood; two shows produced by the BBC. They're brilliant, darling. Absolutely fantastic. Spot on.

We've watched a lot of Doctor Who. 

But I digress.

Today, I'm taking you back to July again with this post.

Sunday morning, after Joe and Brianna's wedding, Justin and I woke early and hit the road to return to California. I drove most of the way as JT had been driving us everywhere else, so I could work in the car. On the way back we stopped to see the Stonehenge replica, a monument to fallen soldiers of Klickitat County who died during WWI built near the Washington/Oregon border; it's something I've always just driven past on previous trips.

 The mighty Columbia (that's for you, Nanny!), the Biggs Rapids-Sam Hill Bridge and Mt. Hood.

Yes, still sporting my wedding up-do. It was early, ok? And yes, I did see recently a 14-year-old at church wearing this same tank top. I'm not going to wear it anymore. At least not in public.

We also stopped for lunch at Deschutes Brewery in Bend for one last hoorah -- a hoorah which was dampened a bit by the unfortunate and too-late discovery of the presence of goat cheese in my toasted cheese sandwich. I can't stand goat cheese. Much in the same way JT can't stand squash. It makes my mouth water the way your mouth waters when you have the flu and you know you need to find a bathroom asap.

As we were in a hurry to get back on the road, I simply squirted ketchup and a lot of their house horseradish-honey mustard combo on the world's most disgusting grilled cheese, dunked it in JT's tomato soup and ate it as fast as I could, all while trying not to breathe through my nose so the flavor of the goatiness was not amplified more than necessary.

Back home we were forced to quickly return to our normal routine, but knowing we had guests lined up for our first weekend back was definitely something to look forward to!

Francie and MaryJane, two of the three "Moore Girls," my mom's first cousins, (Hi Francie & MJ!) came to stay with us for a night before heading down to Carmel to meet their sister Jill for a family wedding.

The ladies treated Justin and me to a nice anniversary dinner (Team Thompson rang in three years July 26th) at Billy Berks in downtown San Jose. We had a lovely time chatting about everything under the sun, and then some, at dinner.

 Francie, MaryJane and me.

The loveliness continued the next morning while hanging out in the kitchen while I made scones and the ladies got ready for their trip to Carmel. It was fun to get to show them around our place and the city we call home -- they're both loyal blog readers and were excited to see the place with their own eyes -- especially the lemon tree :)

They also stopped by the store to see me on Monday before continuing on to the rest of their vacation in San Fran.

Thanks for staying with us and visiting, ladies! It was sweet of you to treat us to dinner for our anniversary and we loved getting to hang out with you, even for just a short while :)

I am lemon tree, hear me roar

I've learned from working where I work that the North American citrus season is actually in the winter months, not the summer months, which I'd always just assumed. I guess I simply didn't pay attention or care to know when citrus was at its best.

I've also learned that while it's at its best in winter (because colder weather makes for sweeter citrus and better color...to a point; frost isn't good), citrus trees can produce year-round. Back home in Washington, fruit trees only produce once a year, so I assumed we would wait until early next year to be able to harvest from our little lemon tree again.

Wrong.

Around early April I began using lemons a bit more sparingly because I thought we were running low. Then, when my friend Sarah was in town, the tree was suddenly in full bloom.

Holy moley do we ever have a lot of lemons on our hands. New and old.

And I'm a happy camper.

Working Title

Have you ever wondered, "I wonder what Team Thompson does when they're tired and up finishing work projects late at night?"

Well, here's your answer.



Please keep your 'you're weird' and 'I'm not sure we can hang out anymore' comments to yourselves.