Tonight, Mal and I enjoyed a delicious and healthy dinner at my sister’s house. My sis made a bunch of tasty recipes from the Clean Food cookbook, including Pineapple Guacamole, Black Bean Patties, and a Baby Spinach Salad with Mustard Vinaigrette. Everything turned out so well! I actually felt sort of spoiled enjoying all of this yummy, nutritious food. Who knew my sister could cook?! 😉
Before dinner, Murphy and Batman had some serious puppy playtime in the backyard. Even though Batman is only a few months old, he seemed to have his way with Murphy. (Maybe Murph is just too nice?) He sort of got his butt kicked by his little cousin.
LOL! 😆
Gah! Batman! Run! 😯
Murphy was totally fine in the end. He loves puppy playtime! 
Before dinner, we snacked on chips, salsa, and Pineapple Guacamole. The Pineapple Guacamole was made with fresh diced pineapple, avocado, roasted red pepper, jalapeño, cilantro, lime juice, and salt. It was delish!
I also enjoyed a small glass of white wine before dinner. (The wine glass was a favor from my wedding shower! 😉 )
Dinner
For dinner, my sister made Black Bean Patties, which were a mix of whole and mashed black beans, minced jalapeno, cilantro, garlic, salt, pepper, and flaxseeds. I topped my Black Bean Patty with a big scoop of Pineapple Guacamole. It was an awesome combo!
My sister also served sweet potato fries.
And a Baby Spinach Salad with fresh strawberries, roasted pumpkin seeds, and a mustard vinaigrette.
I loved the salty roasted pumpkin seeds with the sweet strawberries! Mmm!
I filled my plate right up with all of these goodies.
Since my sister offered to cook dinner, I brought dessert. I whipped up a batch of simple Peanut Butter Bars. I’m actually surprised that this recipe turned out so well considering how few ingredients I used. The bars turned out soft and chewy with lots of peanut butter flavor.
Peanut Butter Bars
Makes 12
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup peanut butter
- 1/2 cup old-fashioned oats
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp baking powder
- Cinnamon to taste
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350*F
- Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl
- Spray 8X8 baking pan with non-stick cooking spray
- Spread batter in pan and smooth out
- Bake for 20 minutes until cooked through
- Allow to cool before cutting
- Eat and enjoy!
I ended up eating 3 of these babies. They were really good!
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I played all day, so I’m spending the night catching up with work. Boo!
Good night, bloggies!
P.S. I created a “Best of” page on Carrots ‘N’ Cake. If there’s a blog post that you especially love or you think is helpful, please let me know. I’m trying to compile my best posts from the past 2+ years. Thanks, guys!
75 Comments
I love guacamole! Guacamole with pineapple…bring it on! I’ve been looking for good cookbooks and it seems like Clean Food might be right up my alley! Everything looked fabulous!
Aw, poor Murphy…haha. Looks like they both had fun though! 😀
The dinner looks perfect! Very light and summer-y! 😀
Oh yum! Everything looks so good.
Oh my gosh those peanut butter bars look AMAZING! I think I have to make those this weekend. And how cute is Murphy?! I’m glad he had a good time 😀
PS – You weren’t kidding – your sister CAN cook! I wish I were there to consume that!
That entire dinner looks DELICIOUS. I think I’m going to have to try the pineapple guacamole! We’re having some friends over for a “cinco de mayo” party in a couple weeks and I needed some Mexican themed food ideas…I think that will do the trick! Thank your sister for me! 🙂
Puppies playing makes my morning. Thanks!
hahahahaha!! i love the pictures of murph and batman fighting. murphy looks so spastic it cracks me up. and oh my goodness I NEED BATMAN. first of all, cutest name ever. second, could HE be any cuter?? dinner looks great!! i need to try those black bean burgers! yummm
Yum black bean burgers and pineapple guacamole sounds like the best combination! yum!
Hi Tina,
I’ve made sweet tater fries a couple times, but they’re always a little chewy. How do you get the crunch factor?
tina you always make me wanna bake!
What an amazing meal your sister made, she should be proud of her self. I have gotta check out that Clean Food cookbook. Several people have been using it. I love the simplicity of your pb bars. I’m definitely going to make those.
I love, love, love the puppy playdate photos! It seriously makes me want a puppy just so I can have playdates with people to see this cuteness in person. Murphy looks so big compared to Batman!
I’m obsessed with everything about this post! Murphy,for starters, is so dang cute. And then the black bean burgers and salad look SO delicious! I’m definitely going to be looking for the burger recipe in that book!
LOL, Murphy and Batman!
I’ve got to try those pb bars! They look so easy. I’d probably give them a try by subbing stevia!
MmMM! black bean patties! black beans and sweet potatoes are a match made in heaven.
those pups are so cute! i esp. love the one of batman on top of murph! haha. they ARE like brothers 😉
Oh man, that dinner looks amazing. I want to eat it. Everything just has these great ingredient combos and you can just tell your sister took the time to assemble a great menu and dinner. Yum, yum, yum! Ps – sometimes when I’m too busy to read everything I just quickly scan for Murphy pics – smiling ensues.
Murphy looks like he has gotten so big! Especially in that picture where he is sitting on Mal’s lap!
Too cute.
Love the puppy play pics! You know, I wasn’t a huge pug fan until I started reading your blog, but Murphy is so stinking cute (and his face so expressive!) that now I’m trying to convince my husband we should get one 🙂
Hi Tina! Just wanted to let you know that I made your peanut butter bars last night and they were SO GOOD. I knew as soon as I read this post that I had to make them. It was too late for a grocery run, and I was nearly out of sugar, so I ended up using 1/4 C raw sugar and 1/4 C mashed banana, and they came out so moist and delicious. I’m not sure how they’d compare to the recipe as planned (which I intend to try next time!) , but just wanted to let you know that the substitution yields delicious results, too 😉
I’m very late to the party, but just HAD to comment on those hysterical pictures!! Batman and Murphy make a wonderful team 🙂
Also, I’m definitely trying out those peanut butter bars tonight!
Those PB bars look awesome! That recipe is right up my ally, I love simple ingredients! 🙂
Awww how cute are the pups. You should have your sis cook more often – YUM! Although your pb bars…..um, yeah, I don’t think i can trust myself to make them 😉
I’m obsessed with everything about this post! Murphy,for starters, is so dang cute. And then the black bean burgers and salad look SO delicious! I’m definitely going to be looking for the burger recipe in that book!
Just wondering – saw this post and also the peanut buttery bars post you have in your favourites recipes?
This recipe has 1/2 cup oats and the other 1 1/2 cups – the rest of recipe is pretty much the same (only sugar instead of nectar) So just a little confused, is this recipe correct with only 1/2 cup of oats or should this have been 1 1/2 cup? Thanks!
Made these last night and they were fantastic. Added chocolate chips and they were so yummy. I have the same question as Roz though about the measurements. Didn’t quite fill up the pan when I followed these measurements. Thanks for the recipe!