Coconut Flour Pumpkin Bars

One of the recent tasks I've been assigned to at my massage gig joint is to find, bake, and bring in a monthly recipe - ideally something healthy and relatively easy to make. Naturally, I was all over this like crunch on kale. I already had a ton of ideas, but it gave me even more incentive (not like I really needed it) to explore a bit more to find suitable and varied recipes. Pinterest was literally made for projects like this.

So last month, I went to an old stand-by recipe of mine - Banana Oatmeal Breakfast Muffins - which was a huge hit with both my coworkers and clients alike! For November, my thought was to switch it up a bit and maybe do some sort of crockpot chili.. until I came across a few recipes from one of my favorite blogs, the Detoxinista. (All of which were pinned immediately, of course.) Among them? Coconut Flour Pumpkin Bars. Gluten free, dairy free, added-sugar free. Perfect for November!


I've also been itching to find a good recipe for the bag of coconut flour I have in the pantry. Since I've gone mostly gluten free, I've been experimenting with different grain and flour substitutes (thank you Bobs Red Mill!), but I hadn't found a really decent use for the coconut flour until now. I already knew that it's best used for baking.. but the problem in this household is that anything I bake.. I eat. Because my husband is of one of those incredibly odd and rare species that "doesn't like sweet things". And I mean, I can't bake something and let it go to waste, right? Hence, the validity to my argument that he is inadvertently making me fat. (Just kidding, shmoop, I love you.) ;)


So anyway, once I found both a delicious and relatively good-for-you fall treat, I busted out the pumpkin and can opener (silly kitties thought it was breakfast time for them.. again). The best part is that this recipe is literally the easiest to make. Also? It tastes like crustless pumpkin pie. And really, who needs to bother with the crust anyway? It's all full of hard work and calories. No dice.

What's In A Name

Part of what I love about the name of this blog - as well as my developing health coaching practice - is the name. It's something that I had thought about for a while, and something that, ultimately, was decided by what I wanted my target market to be for said health coaching. (That, and it was what was available when I went looking for a domain name.)

I tossed around a ton of ideas for a good few weeks, but eventually landed on The Unveiled Life. It just worked, you know? It had the subtle bridal/wedding reference I was looking for, and it made sense with the health coaching aspect of my life.  I was actually also incredibly inspired by my friend Sara's blog - Fit for a Bride - and the relevance and catchiness of her title in relation to her content. (Btw, please go check her stuff out!!)

Side note: Sara has been an amazing person to bounce ideas off of, as we are both pretty much working towards similar goals with our blogs and websites. Health, fitness, weddings.. a few of our most favorite things! (Bonus perk is that we got to spend a ton of time together to chat about it all two weeks ago in Texas.. more on that soon!)

One of my goals is to have the feel of this site to be that of complete honesty - to be life, unveiled. As some of my past posts have already shown, there are high points and low points, good days and bad days. We're all human, and that means we're all real. And to me, that's where the real beauty lies. When we can be honest with ourselves and content with what we have in front of us - that's a good life. I might even go so far as to say, an unveiled life..?! ;)

And so, in the spirit of living said life, I'm starting a fun little series - "Sporadic Sunday". In other words, a few completely random, but completely honest statements about me and my life. Think of it as being akin to that fun little "Hey, it's ok.." column in Glamour magazine (that *might* be my most favorite part of the magazine most months...).

I'm 28, married, have four furbabies.. but I still love to go out and dance like I did in my early 20's. It's actually more fun for me now because I don't need to worry about the whole dating scene and can just have a good time!

I love wine. I mean, I really  love wine. And typically have a glass or two most every night. And maybe even a bit earlier in the day on the weekends. And I'm ok with it. Yum.

I gave up both red meat and pork for Lent about 12 years ago and haven't looked back since. My weakness? Hot dogs. So classy, I know. But OMG they are so good!

Any random tidbits you'd care to share about yourself today? Like.. what's your guilty pleasure food?? I know you have one!

The Decline of Halloween

A few things I learned this Halloween:


1. Being crafty has it's perks, leading to a partially DIY Batgirl costume this year.

Cape? MADE IT. Bat ears? MADE 'EM.

2. Bat ears give you the most awesome and intimidating shadow, ever.

3. I will gladly drive in any monsoon, snow storm tornado, sharknado, whatever, as long as I never have to drive on Halloween night (in the city) again. Children can be incredibly stupid.

4. There should be a law in place that prohibits kids from trick-or-treating sans costume. It's just.. not right. And shouldn't be allowed. Parents: get with the program.

5. I have a lot of faith in humanity, as proved by my set up at outside our house this year.

This ish was cleared. out. when I got home.

6. I think I'm getting too old for Halloween. As proven by leaving the bar at 10pm in exchange for the promise of my pillow back home.