Hey Lou Writes

The Grey Matters

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New York Revisited {Part 1}

nyc, writing, new writer, short stories, the good

metro card

This past week of my life can and should be divided into three parts.

The good.

The bad.

The ridiculous. (and kind of ugly)

Today I will focus on the good.

Yes, I’ll admit it. NYC had a few good qualities. A few good traits.

And just like last time, one of those traits was family. I love my sibs in law. Chris and Melissy are the best and they were great hosts.

Another is the museum. I finally had a chance to walk around the MET. This art museum could takes weeks to walk through.

My favorite room was the Degas room. I grew up with his paintings all over the place and I was once a dancer, therefore, add on the nostalgia. His work is beautiful.

degas, nyc, met, art, writing

no flash allowed!

When we were standing among all the ballerina paintings, I exclaimed, “This is my favorite room!”

And Greg, almost in unison with me, said, “This is probably my least favorite room.” 

Go figure.

Anyway.

Another GREAT thing NYC has to offer? An outstanding farmer’s market. Chris, Greg and I walked around, bought some honey and strawberries, and sat in the grass to eat it all up. What a wonderful afternoon!

nyc farmer's market, honey, writing

happy as a clam

honey, nyc, writing

you know I <3 my honey (finished the jar while I was there. no joke)

Next up on the good things about NYC list…. LATTES WITH FOAM ART!!! woop woop  I can’t get over it. You could call me easily pleased.

foam art, lattes, nyc, writing

so pretty!

It’s become a tradition for me to get a bag of roasted almonds. I love these little guys. Do I want to think about how old and/or unsanitary these nuts just might be? Not really. So I indulge once a year and enjoy every last sweet and salty nut.

nyc, writing, roasted nuts

yes, I am nuts 4 nuts

Who knew? A beach in NYC? Call me an idiot, but it had never really occurred to me that the Big Apple was a place where bikinis showed themselves and ocean waves covered your feet. I only picture a dirt city. Being that there is so much coastline available, however, I came to realize that one great aspect to living in this city is, in fact, the beach. The weather was perfect. We played catch with a football. We had a blast!

nyc, beach, the good, writing

melissy aka mermaid

I finally got to pose like this:

nyc, beach, writing

yay

NYC is the only place where I can truly enjoy jazz music. (otherwise, you couldn’t really call me a die hard fan of the genre) We went up to a bar called Dizzy’s, listened to live music, had THIS VIEW the entire time, and I drank the best dirty martini of my life. That, my friends, was a lovely night in the city. I must give credit where credit is due.

nightlife, jazz, nyc

so prettttty

In order to have more to talk about in the upcoming NYC blogs, I will end here:

I LOVE THE FACT THAT YOU CAN WALK TO SO MANY PLACES!!!

I love walking. LOVE IT.

The train, not so much. But whenever we strolled a few blocks, had a few miles to go on foot, I had a smile on my face.

walking, nyc, the good, writing

walkin with meliss

That’s all for now, folks.

Love, Lou


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Coconut Oatmeal Bars!!!

Okay- I mostly stick to thoughts on writing, but hey, a writer’s gotta eat!!! I choose what I do eat very carefully. I buy organic, make the majority of what I eat from scratch, and enjoy every tasty minute!!!

One thing I’ve always justified buying, rather than making at home, were bars. Larabars, especially. They’re so good! They have simple ingredients! I love them. However, they aren’t necessarily organic and they can be a bit pricey if you rely on them almost daily for a quick snack. (I eat between each meal, a few times.)

SO! I decided to make my own bars. Yay! If you enjoy peanut butter, coconut, honey, oats, a little sweetness, and some raisins, keep reading :)

Coconut Oatmeal Bar Recipe (gluten free, vegan)

oatmeal bars, gluten free, vegan, writer, author, short stories

ingredients!

1) 1 c oats

2) 3 T ground flax

3) 1 c shredded coconut

4) 1/4 c + 1 T peanut butter

5) 3/4 c honey (local!!)

6) 1/2 c raisins

7) 1/2 c carob chips (vegan!)

8) Add these together, in this order, into a bowl. Mix it up. Keep blending and stirring until it’s all stuck together.

writer, bars, gluten free, vegan, short stories

yum!

9) Next, lay wax paper into an 8×8 tray (or any size, really… just add a little more ingredients or a little less to make due… super easy, guys!)

short stories, author, bars, gluten free

just makes it easier to get the bars out….

10) Put it all into the tray, flatten it out, and place in the fridge. (eh, 20 minutes should do it.) (I added some extra coconut on top!!)

short stories, author, hey lou writes, gluten free, vegan

flattened out

11) Cut up into whatever size “bar” you want!

coconut bars, gluten free, vegan, short stories

couldn’t get a clear shot!

12) Enjoy!!!!!!!!!! (If the bars are too soft and don’t stay together, just put it in yogurt and have an awesome snack, roll it all into balls, or simply eat right out of the bowl. You could also try adding less honey. When I kept mine in the fridge long enough, they stayed bars!)

I love these. I am so excited to make them over and over. Everything I used was organic, except for the carob chips. YAY!!!! Next time I’ll probably add banana and walnuts. Tell me if you tried them or any yummy changes you made! Thanks for stopping by Hey Lou!!!!!!!!!!!

Coconut Oatmeal Bars... Hubby Lou Approved!

Coconut Oatmeal Bars… Hubby Lou Approved!

<3

 

***coming back to this, the next day, I think I would have also sprinkled coconut flakes on the wax paper before laying down the bars. Also, they stayed together as bars much better after an overnight fridge sleepover haha let me know what works for you!


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Honey Almond Truffle Goodness <3

Okay! I finally made them!!!

gluten free, truffle, chocolate, honey

Bee Raw Honey, Almonds, chocolate… yummmmmm

Honey Almond Salted Chocolate Truffles

They’re gluten free!!! They’re vegan!! (If you’re the kind of vegan who eats honey… I know there’s controversy there!)

Best of all… they’re tasty!!

This is what a plate of them looks like (they kind of look like spiders. it’s just the picture!):

writer, short stories, poetry, author , gluten free, truffle, chocolate

Plate of Truffles!

Another view (with ingredients!):

writer, short stories, poetry, author, gluten free, truffle, chocolate

Bee Raw Honey! Almonds! Could life get any better?

Here is how I did this:

1. I used a coffee grinder to grind the almonds. -1 cup almonds

2. I put ground almonds into a bowl. Then I added the Maine Wild Raspberry Bee Raw Honey! ~2 Tbsp honey

3. I mixed it up with a spoon (honestly, I added a little more grounds, a little more honey…. just until it was a consistency that I could manipulate into a ball! It’s super easy! :) …)

4. Place on a plate! Drizzle with chocolate, sprinkle with a small amount of salt, or roll in coconut. I think any of these options would be great!! I used the Whole Foods 365 vegan chocolate chips and did the “double boil” method to heat up the chocolate… and then used a ziploc bag to drizzle, cutting a small hole in the corner!

5. Eat

This took me no more than five minutes to prepare. They were eaten in even less time!!!

Greg and I had my sister Meredith and the other member of Wildewood, Alex, over for dinner. Greg cooked something pretty gourmet and I was in charge of the dessert. It worked out!

author, new writer, poetry, writer , short stories, Bee Raw Honey , gluten free

I don’t know what Greg is doing!!

Enjoy!

:)


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Love for the Bees!!

One little fact about me: I LOVE honey.

I love bees even more.

Don’t believe me? Okay, so today a cute little bee flew into my house, hung out with me for a while, and then left. It didn’t sting me. It didn’t do anything but keep me company. We had a fabulous time.

You never need to swat a bee!!

If you keep your movement natural and slow, you’ll never be stung :)

ALSO: I’m guessing you wouldn’t do anything to try to kill say, a polar bear, or gray wolf… or anything endangered. Well, bees are going extinct!! There’s something so sad called Colony Collapse Disorder. There’s a great documentary called Vanishing of the Bees. Do your research! Each and every one is important!

They’re really cute and nice if you just get to know them :)

(one time a bee flew INTO my really hot water and died. I pretty much cried. I’m going to spend eternity trying to make up for it!!)

(Also, disclaimer, if you don’t swat a bee and you still get stung, don’t blame me! Accidents happen!)

FUN note: My favorite honey (other than LOCAL!!) is BEE RAW HONEY. Read up on the company’s blog, The Buzz, and learn all you can about these amazing little creatures!

:)