Oatmeal Bites

Just like my Oatmeal Pancakes, I have been looking for more ways to eat lots of oatmeal, even when it's so hot! These are great for breakfast, dessert, or a 3 a.m. snack. They don't need refrigeration, but I think they're extra delicious that way. These are a good example of something that you can make to suit your mood: When I really want something healthy, I use oatmeal in the place of the coconut flakes and substitute all raisins instead of half raisins and half chocolate chips. On other days, I use these to indulge my sweet tooth and eat the recipe as written.

These are so easy -- just stir, scoop, and refrigerate for 20 minutes. Notice they require no cooking or baking, so I have made them countless times over the summer.

Berry and Cherry Muffins with Coconut Topping

Today I was thinking about contrast. In foods contrast is great. These muffins have tangy cherries and berries and a splash of lemon in them, paired with a sweet coconut topping. Delicious.


In life, some contrast can also be tasty. Today I woke up sleepy and stayed sleepy all while cooking and cleaning this morning. After lunch I thought about drifting off for a nap, but decided to push myself instead into some contrast. I put a leash on my miniature dachshund, and we went on a 2 mile adventure together, enjoying some sun. Recently it has been raining, raining, raining, cutting our daily walks short. I've had to watch the weather for a good window, and then drop everything when it's finally dry enough outside. Today the sun finally came out for a good time, so I carpe diem-ed it, dropped everything, and just walked for awhile. It was so much better than just trying to make do with exercise DVDs inside! And since my long walk I'm finally over being sleepy. The contrast of being outside is sweet.
The contrast of the sour cherries and sweet coconut are also a great pair.

Coconut Fudge No Bake Cookies

My mom always made no bake cookies growing up. In fact, they're one of my dad's favorites to this day. Sometimes when my siblings and I were teens and needed our dad to help us fix something or give us a ride, we'd use no bake cookies to sweeten the deal.
Last Father's Day I even combined his love of no bake cookies with coconut, which is this recipe.
This recipe is also friendly to those with milk allergies! The chocolate taste is so strong, I've never known anyone to notice when I sub milk free ingredients.