Four Ingredient Energy Bites

These are so easy and so good! They will satisfy your sweet tooth and are all natural. I actually hid them from my family so that they wouldn't eat them all. Shhhh!!!!

1 cup oats
1/4 cup natural peanut butter
3 TBS honey
2 TBS dark chocolate chips

Mix all ingredients together. Put in the refrigerator for at least one hour. Roll into bite size balls. Keep refrigerated. Enjoy!

Stuffed Peppers with Brown Rice and Turkey

I had never made these before and although they were slightly time consuming, they were so worth it! The recipe actually makes enough to stuff five peppers, but I really didn't mind having leftover "stuffing" to eat on the side for another meal...

1 cup long-grain brown rice
4 large bell peppers (I prefer the red), bottoms trimmed, caps cut off and seeds removed
1 large onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 TBS coconut oil
1 lb ground turkey
2 medium sized fresh tomatoes, diced (I used 4 Roma tomatoes)
2-3 tsp dried basi
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
pepper to taste

Cook brown rice according to package directions. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cut the top of each bell pepper and remove the seeds and whites. Trim bottom of bell peppers so they have a little flat surface to stand up on. Place cleaned out peppers in a baking dish lined with parchment paper. Heat coconut oil in a large skillet. Add onion and garlic, and sauté for 5 minutes. Add the ground turkey to the same skillet and brown. Add the tomatoes, spices and pepper. Mix well and cook for an additional 4-5 minutes to blend. Add the cooked rice to the turkey mixture and blend together. Stuff the mixture into the cleaned out peppers so that it's packed tightly into the pepper shell. Bake the peppers for 30 minutes. Enjoy!

Balsamic Vinegar

I absolutely LOVE balsamic vinegar! It is made from grapes and aged in wood barrels, and it has a great flavor. You don't need much to get a flavor boost...a little goes a long way!

I use it on all kinds of things....as a dressing for salads with a little olive oil; tossed with grape tomatoes, cucumbers and avocado for a quick lunch; even on a burger for a little kick. It can really help to change things up if you are feeling like something lacks flavor.

There are a lot of health reasons to include balsamic vinegar in your diet. First, it is very low in calories. You don't need much for a flavor boost and it is lower in calories than oil, etc. Second, it reduces hardening of the arteries and as a result, it is believed that it normalizes blood pressure. Third, it keeps your cholesterol levels in check. Fourth, it keeps your blood glucose levels steady...it is low on the glycemic index. This means that it is better for you than refined sugars. Plain and simple, balsamic vinegar is a "clean" food!

All of this is great, but overall I use it simply because I love the flavor that it adds to my food. It is probably my favorite of all vinegars...a perfect 10 of all vinegars!