Four Faves

–Spring Sangria – I’m a fan of pretty much all sangria, but there’s something about a fizzy, bright sangria full of fresh fruit that really gets me in the mood for spring!  Here’s our basic recipe:  one bottle of wine, 2 cups fruit, 1/2 cup liquor, 1/2 cup fruit juice, 1 cup mixer, 1/2 cup sweetener (if desired).

Check out this gorgeous Peach Strawberry Sangria from Bon Appetit

–Funky Sunglasses – It’s finally bright outside again!  So it’s time to whip out some funky shades.  I love these cool rounded ones that don’t go full on Lennon. Not to mention they’re the perfect, not scary price point of $50!

Love this pair from Quay

Our recipe of Peanut Butter, Oatmeal Energy Bites from last spring. I found myself wanting to make a sweet treat, but also needing a filling snack to get me through afternoon hunger. Instead of making some sort of cookie or relying on excessive little snacks of fruit, chips and candy I decided to make a batch of our energy bites. Boy do these do the trick, they take mere minutes to whip up, require no baking, and they are also a treat without being packed full of processed sugar, gluten or dairy. One batch makes about 15 and they keep easily in Tupperware in the fridge.   

Rounding out our favorites for the week is The Master’s this weekend. Grant and I love watching this quitensential spring golf tournament. This year we are using it as an excuse to have friends over Sunday afternoon to “watch the Master’s and cook out.” Such an easy get together that will inevitably involve lots of time spent on our porch watching the gorgeous greens.. and golfers (kidding!) at Augusta – Hey Jordan! Hi Rory! As well as pimento cheese in some form or fashion, see the pimento cheese recipe from the Junior League of Augusta pictures below.  

   
 

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Snack Time – Peanut Butter Oatmeal Energy Bites

I am always intrigued by the no-bake, energy bites/balls recipes that I come across, but have never made them for one reason or another. Finally last week when @TracyShutterBean came across my Insta feed I knew that I wanted to make her Peanut Butter Oatmeal Balls. Once I pulled up her recipe I realized that I actually would because I already had all of the ingredients in my pantry. Wahoo!

They were easy as could be and are the perfect breakfast or snack. Today I had two with some raspberries as my late lunch/snack but they would be a great breakfast, dessert or pick me up at any time of day. Two was a splurge.. if I had eaten lunch at a reasonable time and just needed a bit to keep me going until dinner one would definitely do the trick.

To cut a few of the calories one could omit the chocolate chips and these would still be great.

If your PB is kept in the fridge then these will be easier to put together. If not they may start to feel like they are falling apart but just get as close as you can to a round ball and get in them in fridge.

  

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Energy Bites

makes about 15

1 cup rolled oats

1/3 cup honey

1/3 cup creamy peanut butter

1/4 cup chocolate chips (optional)

2 tablespoons chia seeds

pinch of kosher salt

Mix all the ingredients together in a large bowl until well incorporated. Form into balls and refrigerate! These will keep for at least a week in the fridge in an air tight container.