Our 2 1/2 year old has a fascination with farms, particularly cows.  He says the word "cows" many, many times each day.  So, we headed out to a local'ish farm recently, which is where this recipe was inspired with a little bit of seasonal New England food.

While at the farm, I picked up some parsnips and spinach.  The only way I've eaten parsnips growing up was boiled and mashed in potatoes.  Many of the boiled type dinners I had consisted of a mashed potato and veg.  Parsnips or turnips would often be part of that mash.  I wasn't a fan.  I might get messages from some cousins on this one.  I can't help it- it just wasn't my thing. It turns out that parsnips are crisp, sweet and delicious roasted with a little bit of olive oil and sea salt.  Super simple.  Then I paired them with this tangy, blender made dressing that has orange, ginger and it gets its creamy texture from a couple of tablespoons of tahini. The flavor combination works well.  So let's get cooking this together.

Ingredients
-3-5 parsnips peeled and chopped
-olive oil drizzle
-sea salt
-spinach or other spring greens

For the dressing:
-1/2 cup sesame oil
-3 oranges juiced
-zest of 1 orange
-approx. 2 1/2 inch piece of ginger, peeled and chopped (you can use more or less depending upon how much ginger zing you would like)
-2 TBS tahini
-salt and pepper to taste

Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Spray a baking tray with cooking spray.  Peel and chop the parsnips and arrange in a single layer on the tray.  Drizzle olive oil and sprinkle sea salt.  Roast at 400 degrees for approximately 30 minutes.  Give them a little stir about 15-20 minutes into the roasting time.

While the parsnips cook, add the sesame oil, orange juice, orange zest, ginger, tahini and salt/pepper to a high speed blender or food processor.  Blend until all combined.  

Once the parsnips are finished roasting, serve them on a plate of spring salad greens, drizzle on the dressing and enjoy!

I've made banana oatmeal pancakes in my blender for years, but I just never got to putting pen to paper, measuring everything out and getting the recipe finalized...until now.  Maybe it took this quarantine to get this out of my head and onto the blog.  These pancakes are a weekend favorite around here and our toddler especially loves them.  They're easy to make ahead of time and keep in the fridge for a reheated, quick breakfast too and you can make these vegan or gluten free by subbing in GF oats and/or using a flax egg instead of regular eggs!

Here's what you'll need:

Ingredients
(makes 10-12 pancakes)

-1 cup vanilla almond milk (you can sub in your choice of milk here)
-2 eggs or flax eggs
-2 ripe bananas
-2 cups oats (sub in GF oats for GF version)
-2 tsp baking powder
-pinch of salt
-1-2 tsp cinnamon

Directions
Heat a skillet on medium heat and coat it with non-stick cooking spray.  In a high powered blender, add the ingredients in the order of the milk, eggs, ripe bananas and then the dry ingredients. Secure the lid and turn the blender on low and then increase speed to medium/high.  Once the batter is formed together, turn off the blender and pour out each pancake onto the heated skillet, approx. 1/3 cup batter at a time.  Allow to cook for approximately 2 minutes on each side.  You will see the edges forming, turning golden and bubbles appearing in the pancake when it's time to flip.  Continue the same on the second side.  Remove from the pan and continue until all of the batter is used.  Serve immediately with butter and maple syrup or store in an air tight container in the fridge for a quick breakfast another day.  Enjoy!

I was really late to the peanut butter game because it just wasn't a thing in Ireland, which is where I was born and lived for a short time until my family emigrated to Canada and then later to the U.S.  I could be mistaken but chocolate and peanut butter still don't seem to be a thing on the Emerald Isle and I'm pretty good at scoping out chocolate on each my trips (my last one was late 2017).  I don't remember exactly when the good old Reese's Peanut Butter cup first graced my lips but I do know that I'm thankful for it because wow.  Those things are dangerous.

It turns out that peanut butter packs some great health benefits, as long as you look for a brand that has minimal ingredients and no hidden preservatives or filler oils.  I actually have been a Vitamix owner for years and loooove that blender, but I only made peanut butter from dry roasted peanuts for the first time very recently.  I had this idea in my head that it was going to be a madly messy process so I just didn't do it.  I was wrong- it wasn't! It took me all of 3 minutes to go from a jar of dry roasted peanuts to a jar of creamy peanut butter and clean up was a snap!

With Valentine's Day around the corner, these dark chocolate bites filled with coconut and peanut butter would make a nice homemade treat.  They're rich, decadent and clean eating with no refined sugar or filler ingredients.

Here's what you'll need:

Ingredients
​(makes approximately 15-20 chocolates)
-3/4 cup unsweetened coconut (flaked or shredded)
-12 pitted dates
-1/3 cup unsweetened baking cocoa
-1/2 cup peanut butter
-2 TBS maple syrup
-1 x 10 oz package of dark chocolate chips (use a vegan dark chocolate if you want the entire recipe to be plant based)

Directions
Place the dates, peanut butter, baking cocoa and coconut into the bowl of a food processor and pulse/process until it begins to come into a crumbly mixture.  Then slowly drizzle in the maple syrup while you run the food processor on low until the mixture begins to come together and clean from the sides of the bowl.  

Line a cookie tray with parchment paper.  Using your hands, roll the mixture into balls approximately 1 TBS in size.  Once all of the mixture is rolled, place the tray in the freezer to set for approximately 30 minutes (it's fine if you leave them in longer- you can break up the steps here).  Start to melt the dark chocolate in a double boiler about 5 minutes before you plan to take the prepared mixture from the freezer.  Roll each ball into the melted chocolate and return to the parchment paper lined cookie tray.  Drizzle the extra melted chocolate across the tops and then return the tray to the freezer to set for 30-60 minutes.  Store the finished chocolates in the fridge in an air tight container.

Enjoy!