Snacks for your Hubby

If you have a husband like I do that needs 3 large meals and at least 2 large snacks every day, go ahead and throw one of these in there...

Cherry Almond Oat Snack Cake

1 1/2 Cups low fat buttermilk

1/2 Cup steel-cut oats (steel cut is key)

3/4 Cup whole wheat flour

3/4 Cup all-purpose flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

2/3 Cup packed brown sugar (I like dark)

1/4 Cup butter, softened

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

1 egg

1/2 Cup dried cherries

1/3 Cup (or more) sliced almonds (reserve some for sprinkling on top)

Combine buttermilk and oats; cover and refrigerate 8 hours.

Preheat oven to 375. Place sugar and softened butter in a large bowl; beat with a mixer or cream by hand until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and egg; beat until well blended. Stir in oat mix until well blended. Add mixed flours, baking powder, soda, and salt, mixing just until moist. Stir in cherries and most of almonds. Sprinkle remaining almonds on top.

Spray a 13 x 9 inch baking pan with cooking spray and spoon in mix. Bake for 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Cut into squares and put in your and your hubby's lunch.

Enjoy.

p.s. These have a slight maple flavor, even though there is no maple in them. If you wanted something a little sweeter, I think about 2 tablespoons of maple syrup, a teaspoon of vanilla, and a half cup powdered sugar wisked together would make delicious glaze (test out those proportions there until you get a consistency you like...add milk to thin it out). :)

Adventures, Kelley & Adam Style

I think it is impossible to drive through Connecticut in the fall and not think, "Man, God is cool." It is absolutely beautiful here! So, Adam and I went to our favorite park that we haven't been to since the trees changed to see if we could capture some of the beauty. Maybe God gives us all this beauty and perfect weather because He knows it will be dead and dreary soon after. All I know is that I am thankful for it right now. It makes me happy when I'm sitting in traffic on my way to work and relaxes me on my way home.


Now bear with me because we have been terrible about blogging lately and we have some catching up to do! I'll move backwards through the weekends...
Last weekend Adam and I finally got to go do some real NYC exploring. We had tickets for Manhattan by Sail, so we took the train out early to do some necessary playing. After arriving, we made our way through Times Square and on to Central Park. Since food trucks are becoming more popular and apparently have some great food, I had some mapped out. Lucky for us, 4 of them had set up shop in Central Park a couple days ago, and after our walk we were ready to dive in. I'd have to say that my favorite was the Rickshaw truck - fresh steamed dumplings, rock music playing out a small speaker, and "totally rad" painted on the side. We also tried the turkish taco truck right next to it, which were also delicious. We then made our way to the pier (ended up having to take the subway so we wouldn't be late...the subway system is confusing!) so we could catch our boat. Thank goodness God brought the sun out on what was otherwise a slightly overcast day - it was windy on that boat! But despite the wind, we had a great time and got to see the City from a cool viewpoint. What a fun day! And I have to say, I do like the trains. It's nice that after a long day of walking around a huge city you can just relax and let a train take you home.


Ok, last thing, I promise. A few weekends prior to this (we spent a couple weekends settling into our new home) we were able to go up to an orchard in Chesire, CT and pick apples. So fun. And cheap! (Adam has become an apple snob after tasting Honeycrisp apples, the most expensive kind, but these were all the same low price!) Equipped with a couple of bags to load up, we walked up to rows and rows of apples and peaches, all for us! You actually have to show a little restraint when you have all of those delicious apples hanging right over your head - I wanted to pick them all!












On our way home from the orchard we had to stop at a homemade ice cream shop, which was exceptionally delicious (and mine was somehow defying gravity).

We are having fun exploring up here! Feel free to come join us any time :)