Yet another winner from Sarah Matheny’s Peas and Thank You cookbook! And no, I am NOT giving you the recipe for this amazingness, but I will break it down for you a bit. First of all, it’s called a Crack Wrap because after you have one, no – after you have a bite of one, it’s all you’ll ever want to eat. I’ve got it bad, man. The main difference of course is that as addicting as it is, it’s actually good for you, as opposed to crack, which I’m sure you’re aware is not at all good for you. Ahem.

So this recipe could be made using store bought ingredients, but I swear on a stack of Seventeen magazines that the from scratch deliciousness cannot possibly be replicated with bar codes. I repeat, not possible.

There are two recipes from the book that are actually part of this recipe, Crazy Good Hummus (totally lives up to it’s name) and La Hacienda de Peas Tortillas.

I started on the tortillas first. I have tried way. too. many tortilla recipes and they have all more or less sucked. However now that I have this one? I will likely not ever buy tortillas again. True story. They’re pretty quick really, and you probably have all the ingredients in your kitchen already.
Then I made the hummus, and again, I will likely always make hummus this way (though Mama Pea really is a bit of a slave driver with this one), because the difference really is crazy good. Then I did some other stuff that would be giving away the recipe if I posted all the pictures I took and just a few minutes later, I was chowing down on the yummiest treat in this book – SO FAR. I’m only like 11 recipes in and I already have what I think is the crown jewel. I only sound dramatic till you taste it, then you’ll be all ‘ooooooh, I get it now‘! In the book, recommended partners for this wrap are two Peas and Thank You soups. Good idea! When I get to those soups later this year, I will make this again. Because duh, I’m making it all the time anyway!

More love for Mama Pea today. One day I may make something from her cookbook and hate it, but so far everything is amazing. I have made more of her recipes than I’ve blogged about because duh, there’s a heap ton of deliciousness happening around here. Eventually, you’ll see it all and read my words of ass kissing wisdom.

Anyhoo.

You love chocolate, yes? Of course you do. Almonds? Natch. Cherries? Well, unless you’re my sister then you are probably also down with cherries (I swear sometimes her weird I love this I hate that makes it tricky to be an amazing kitchen goddess/sister but I try to work around it). I will not give you the recipe, because as I mentioned before, I am encouraging you to buy the book (and no, no one is asking me to push this book I just think it’s worth pushing). The very title of the recipe gives away the gist of the recipe, but there is more to it than you’d assume. Also, the commentary before each recipe is worth the book alone.

This is my new go-to for a post-workout chocolate craving. Well for any time of the day chocolate craving. Does anyone else work out really excessively and then want to wreck all their hard work with chocolate?! No. You’re a liar. A dirty liar. This smoothie is great for those times because it calms the chocolate beast enough to get on with your day aaaaand they’re mega healthy for you!

So so so good! I like to make it a little thicker than a smoothie and eat it like ice cream.

So I know this will sound like gushing, and we have only ‘bumped into each other online’ a couple of times, but I’m a little in love with Mama Pea of Peas and Thank You. If you read her blog with any regularity at all I have no doubt you are a little in love with her too. Last week, for example, ‘Tonight we all needed a little comic relief (or a horse tranquilizer)…‘, I read that and thought, HOLY CRAP!! THAT’S MY HOUSE! Also? One of her blog tags is ‘pissing and moaning’. Love!!

I know, I’m such a creeper but really I love her extra for these bars, she concocted a recipe for gluten-free vegan chocolate chip granola bars that Wee Ones #1 & #3 love. They’re called Zee Bars because she was lamenting in her post on these little babies about the food marketed specifically to kids and how it’s exactly the same as the food marketed to adults, except they’ve slapped a little chocolate on it and spelled kids with a z. Right?! Dammit, my kids can spell! Anyhoo, I am still cooking and baking my way through her cookbook (I made the Fabulous French Toast today for brunch actually….), and I’m still not going to post any recipes from her book. However, this recipe was posted on her website so it’s fair game.

They’re way easy to make and even easier to eat! All you need is:

1/2 cup oats
1/2 cup oat flour (just run 1/2 cup of oats through your food processor)
1/2 cup vanilla protein powder (or another 1/2 cup oat flour)
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 cup + 2 tbsp unsweetened applesauce
1/2 cup + 2 tbsp non-dairy milk (I used almond)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp cinnamon
stevia to taste (or be a cheater like me and use 1/4 cup brown sugar) I have stevia, but no one likes it!
1/4 cup chocolate chips (I also cheat with this and use 1/2 cup)

If you throw on a little drizzle after the bars are cool you’ll also need:

3 tbsp chocolate chips
1 tsp coconut oil

So first, preheat your oven to 350F and spray your 8×8-ish pan. Theeeeeen, mix the oats, oat flour, protein powder, salt, baking powder, cinnamon and your brown sugar if you’re using it.
Mix up the applesauce, vanilla and almond (or whatever) milk.	Now mix your wet into your dry.
Fold in the chocolate chips.
Bake for 20-25 minutes.	Mama Pea describes it as ‘pulling away from the pan’, when you know it’s done.
So so so good. I could knock back a tray of these in an evening – no problem!

So I mentioned last week that this year, I’m cooking and baking my way though Peas and Thank You‘s cookbook (you can grab the Kindle edition for 7 and change here). Usually I don’t start with the very first recipe but after my workout this morning I needed a smoothie and I had been wanting to try this one as soon as I read it.

I love this book so much, I’m not going to post any recipes from it. Yeah that’s right, I want you to buy it. I will however, give you the gist and tease you with photos of all the yummy creations I make from it. ‘Mama Pea’ as she refers to herself, is a fun and witty writer, her cookbook has about as many funny stories as recipes and I love it even more for that. The story behind this smoothie involves a whole lotta good natured teasing of her husband’s love for Tommy Bahama. Hi-larious.

This smoothie combines three things I love but have never put together; blackberries, ginger and basil. When I mentioned this to my dear friend Gill she thought it sounded like a winner, when I mentioned it to another dear friend who shall remain nameless I got ‘who knew??’ <- that's 2 question marks, people. So it's a flavor combo that might not sound amazing - but believe me, it totally is. I ment to have one small cup - I had two and then I insisted Wee One #3 finish off the rest of the batch to keep me from drinking it all. She liked it too! It's exactly the right kind of refreshing feeling I need post workout when I'm all flushed and pink and staggering off to the shower.

This is a winner and will definitely be used in full rotation in my kitchen!