Summer Broccoli Salad

Hi Friends,
I love sharing healthy and delicious recipes with you and todays recipe is one of my favorite summer salads to make.  My recipe is a fun twist on a broccoli salad (except without the unhealthy mayo!)  This makes a deliciously light side dish for a summer barbecue or can be a tasty lunch by itself.  

I also appreciate this broccoli salad because it is packed with iron, something I'm always looking to keep naturally boosted and high in my system.

Ingredients:

• 1 large head of raw broccoli chopped small
• 4 stocks of celery chopped
• 1/4 cup of sunflower seeds
• 1/4 cup of raisins
• 1/4 cup chopped purple onion
• 1 lemon
• 1 tsp garlic salt
• 2 Tbs Coconut or Olive Oil

Directions:

• Add chopped broccoli, celery, and purple onion to bowl.  
• Mix in sunflower seeds, raisins, coconut or olive oil and garlic salt
• Squeeze juice of lemon over salad and mix
•  For a little extra lemon kick I love to put 1 tsp of the fresh lemon zest into the salad too! (I love lemon!)
• Chill for about an hour in fridge so the broccoli soaks up all the delicious flavors
• Eat and Enjoy! 

The Best Cookie Bar

Hi Everyone,
Happy Wednesday!  Today I'm sharing one of my families favorite cookie recipes and the best part on a cookie scale they are pretty healthy!  I'm serious - no butter, no eggs, and no sugar!  These cookies are made with raw honey and coconut oil (which I'm always trying to sneak more into my families diet.  - see below I'll give you a crash corse on Coconut Oil!) 
Let me talk honey for just a moment!  Raw Honey has many medicinal uses, is great for allergies, and makes a great face and body wash!  (yep it's true!)  However, honey at your local grocery store is NOT the best for your family.  Head to a local farmers market to buy honey or find a honey farm where you can buy directly from your farmer!  If you are struggling with allergies you want local honey because those sweet little bees are busy pollinating what is making your allergies go crazy - meaning when you eat this honey you fight your allergies from the inside out.  Moral of the story: Buy Raw Honey, you can taste the difference!
Alright now lets talk about coconut oil (I promise I'm getting to the recipe, but seriously these cookies are packed full of amazingness!)  Coconut oil helps brains function better!  (moms - we should be feeding this to our kids by the gallon LOL!)  Coconut oil also helps your body burn fat, help control blood cholesterol levels, can be used topically as a mild sunscreen and lotion, and it can kill viruses, funguses and bacteria which means a healthy body for you!

Alright now that I've given you a few of my reasons why I love coconut oil and honey lets get to the point of this post - COOKIES!!!

Recipe:

• 1 1/2 cups coconut oil
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract (you could use maple or almond too!)
• 1 cup RAW honey
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 3 cups of flour (I use whole wheat, but you can use any flour)
• 2 cups of oats (I use Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Oats , but again you can use any!)
• 1 Cup of White chocolate Chips
• 1 Cup of Butterscotch Chips (you can use anything regular chocolate chips, the cinnamon chips, you could add coconut, or dried cranberries, nuts - this is a super fun base recipe you can play around with and make all different types of cookies with, so have fun!

Directions:

• Put all ingredients into your mix and mix (I love recipes like this where you don't have to mix dry ingredients first!)
• Press into a 9 x 13 pan or you can roll them into cookie balls (I always pick the pan - it's quicker!  I've also found that we like our cookie bars a little thinner so this recipe can make a 9 x 9 and a 13 x 9 pan of thin cookies)
• Pre-heat oven at  350
• Bake cookie bars for 18 minutes
• Bake cookies for 12 minutes

There's the recipe hope you like it!  Post back and let us know how your cookies turned out and feel free to email if you have questions.
In His Grace,
Jenny
vintageburlapbarn@yahoo.com

Farm Printable

Hi Everyone,
Just had to share this cute printable I made for a homeschool farm workshop.  It's an animal sounds game!  You can have your pre-schooler match the correct sound to the correct animal.  Super easy fun game to play with little ones.  I love printables like this!  They are small and can easily be kept in you purse for quick entertainment in a pinch (eating out, waiting at the dr.)

I've posted this printable over at Grow.  It's my families homeschool group that I'm a part of.

Click Here to download the printable!

In His Grace,
Jenny
vintageburlapbarn@yahoo.com