Dilly beans are basically pickled green beans…and oh, so delicious in a bloody Mary or straight out of the jar! This recipe makes 4 pint jars; just enough to have on the pantry shelves for when you have unexpected guests, but not so much that you don’t have room in the pantry for anything else. These are easy to make, so they’re perfect if you’re new to canning…you can do it!

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs. green beans, cleaned, trimmed & cut into 4″ lengths
• 4 large cloves garlic
• 1 bunch fresh dill
• 4 tsp. mustard seeds
• 2-4 tsp. dried red chili flakes, like the kind you’d sprinkle on pizza
• 2 1/2 c. water
• 2 1/2 c. white vinegar
• 1/4 c. canning salt (I use this brand)

Directions:

1...

My good friend, Carrie, introduced me to Elena’s Pantry’s Zucchini Bread recipe a few years ago and I loved it. Since then I have made a few tweaks to my liking and the recipe is as follows. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

This past week I wanted a treat, but wanted to make something that didn’t make me feel guilty afterwards. I LOVE coconut candies, so I decided to do some research on homemade Almond Joy bars. I found two recipes from The Clothes Make the Girl and Living Healthy with Chocolate and merged them. Then, I tested them on my “guinea pig” coworkers and they LOVED them!

To make coconut butter:
Put 1.5-2 c. of unsweetened flaked coconut in a blender or food processor with 1 tsp. melted coconut oil, a sprinkle of sea salt and 1/2 tsp. coconut extract. Process for about 10 minutes, scraping down sides occasionally, until smooth...