In honor of Easter and bunnies everywhere, Destination Nature wanted to share the brownie cake they recently made. (By the way, a BIG, happy thank you to Ray Ray for making it possible. She’s a genius.) How did we do it? Easy peasy! We made two large sheets of brownies and cut out a bunny shape complete with paws and big ears. We used Nutella to help hold everything together, strawberries for the inner ear, M&M for the eyes and nails, pecans for the teeth, bananas to line his carved out belly and the best banana chocolate walnut ice cream for inside the belly. To top it all off, we adored with whipped cream and more Nutella. It was completely and utterly amazing. Brownie bunny cakes should be an Easter tradition.

Sweet potatoes are surprisingly good for you. They have great potassium, vitamin A and beta-carotene. Just because you’re making fries out of them doesn’t automatically make them bad, either. We baked our sweet potato fries in the oven and added cilantro for even more great flavor. Give this kid-friendly recipe a try with your family.

Cilantro Sweet Potato Fries 

• 2-3 sweet potatoes
• 1-2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 teaspoon chopped cilantro
• 3 cups water
• 1-2 tablespoons cornstarch

Peel and slice the sweet potatoes into long strips. Place in a bowl full of water and soak for 20-30 minutes. Drain the water and then sprinkle with cornstarch, olive oil and cilantro. Mix together. (The soaking in water and sprinkling with cornstarch will help them not get too soggy. Place in a single layer on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake at 425° for about 30 minutes. Once they’re cooled, serve with your favorite dip. (We also threw some cilantro into our dips to add even more flavor. Try doing this with your favorite herb like rosemary, basil or oregano.)

Make cinnamon apple chips in the oven.

Here’s a quick recipe for making apple chips in your oven. You just need apples, cinnamon, water and some lemon juice. Dried apples are great, healthy snacks by themselves or in a trail mix. They can make a good handmade gift item, too! Here’s how you do it…

1. Peel and slice your apples thinly. Some people prefer to leave the peels on, so it’s up to you. Also, it doesn’t take too many apples. A couple will likely fill up an entire cookie sheet.
2. Once you slice the apples, place them in a bowl of water. The bowl should have about 2 cup of water, 1/4 cup lemon juice, 1 teaspoon of cinnamon and 1 teaspoon of sugar.
3. After the apples have soaked for 3 to 5 minutes, pull them out and lay them flat on the cookie sheet. Sprinkle with a cinnamon/sugar mixture, about 2 parts sugar to 1 part cinnamon. Remember that a little goes a long way. You don’t want to coat them. You just want to give them a little flavor.
4. Bake at a low temperature for several hours. It depends on how much time you have. Either bake them for 175° for 2 to 3 hours or 250° for an hour to an hour and a half. When you’re drying fruit like this, remember that it’s a slow process. Don’t try to rush it!
5. Flip the apples over halfway through. Then store in a dry container.
6. If you want to give them as a gift, consider putting them in a decorative tin with a bow.

A different take on peanut butter cookies...add Nutella!

So how do peanut butter nutella cookies relate to nature nature? Um…peanuts and hazelnuts and sugar?

Okay, sometimes you just have to have a cookie. Thanks to Ken’s mom, Janice, for the base peanut butter cookie recipe. Then we doctored them up with a little Nutella. We think the results are pretty awesome, and we’re hoping it helps Jack and Annabelle win a blue ribbon in the fair this weekend. Here’s the recipe:

Peanut Butter Nutella (PB&N) Cookies

½ cup butter

½ cup peanut butter

½ cup Nutella

½ cup sugar

½ cup brown sugar

1 egg

½ teaspoon vanilla

1 ½ cup flour

¾ teaspoon soda

¼ teaspoon salt

Cream together butter, peanut butter, Nutella, sugar, brown sugar, egg and vanilla. Then mix in flour, soda and salt. Form 1-inch size balls and gently roll them in a bowl of sugar. Place on baking sheet and flatten with a fork. (Kids love the rolling and flattening part!) Bake at 350° for 10 to 12 minutes. Let cool and enjoy! 

Roasted okra, fresh from the oven

Okra…either you love it or you’ve never heard of it. Okra is a very traditional southern dish and is often served fried. But during a recent trip back home to Oklahoma, I started experimenting with a healthier way to fix it. Here’s a roasted recipe I came up with that is oh-so-yummy. Give it a try.

Ingredients 

• 10 to 15 pieces of okra (slice or leave whole)
• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon Hidden Valley Ranch seasoning

Preheat oven to 425°. Place the okra in a gallon plastic bag. Pour in oil and sprinkle with ranch seasoning. Seal the bag and shake until the okra is evenly coated. Remove okra and place in a skillet or on a cookie sheet in a single layer. Heat for 15 to 20 minutes. Let it cool for a few minutes and then enjoy!

Use your imagination when it comes to roasting okra. Try your favorite seasoning mix or throw in a few fresh herbs, too. You really can’t go wrong with experimenting. Also, I like my okra whole and serving it like you would asparagus. But you could also try slicing it up and adding it to a salad as well.

Make your own rainbow fruit pizza!

We were looking for a fun way to make fruit pizza, so we decided to make a rainbow design. It was easy to put together with fresh fruit, and the kids had fun helping, too. Take a look at our recipe.

Rainbow Fruit Pizza

Ingredients 

• 1 package of place and bake sugar cookies (24 count)
• 4 ounces cream cheese
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1 cup Cool Whip
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• Fruit (we used strawberry, mango, pineapple, kiwi, blueberries and grapes for our rainbow)
• Marshmallows

Place sugar cookies on a round, cookie sheet, about an inch apart each. Bake according to package directions. As the dough heats up, it bakes together to create a cookie base. While it cools, mix cream cheese, powdered sugar, Cool Whip and vanilla together. Spread out on top of your cookie base. Place your fruit on, one layer at a time, starting with the strawberries. If you follow the arch of the cookie sheet, it’ll be easy to make the rainbow shape, going about 3/4 of the way down on each side. Once you have all of your layers of fruit on, add “clouds” at both ends with miniature marshmallows.