Nutty chocolate coconut no bake snack bites

You're only four ingredients, five minutes and a food processor away from these healthy nutty chocolate coconut snack bites.

With Halloween just around the corner and frightened by stories from of trick-or-treaters arriving by the busload in our new neighborhood, I have a cabinet full of giant bags of snack-sized candy that are screaming out my name.

I can hear them in my sleep: "Eat meeeeeeeeee. I'm yummmmmmmmy. I'm sweeeeeeeeeet."

Little devils! So what's a Ninj with little willpower to do?

Healthy No-bake Snack Bites

Make a healthy sweet snack to stop the voices, that's what.

Pistachio chai muffins

Enjoy these simple, not-too-sweet pistachio chai muffins as a skinny grab-and-go breakfast or quick afternoon treat. 

So this is a thing I've been wanting to do for some time now...

When I go back and look at my recipe index, particularly the recipes I wrote about in the early days of this blog, I realize that there are a lot of easy, healthy, yummy, awesome recipes in there.

But they are horribly photographed.

When I started this blog six years ago (oh my goodness, SIX YEARS!), I didn't even know how to use the manual mode on my dinky point-and-shoot camera. So my posts really suffered. As did some of you, who have been supporting me from the beginning and willingly looked at those pictures!

Times have changed and so have my skills. Therefore, I'd like to give some of those awesome recipes a second life by re-photographing them to show you just how gorgeous they are.

And delicious. And worth your time.

Wasabi pea chocolate bark

Part salty, part sweet and part spicy: wasabi pea chocolate bark with nuts is a totally addictive snack treat that's easy to make.

I think you're going to be pretty darned happy that I'm taking a break from all my summer salad posts today.

(Seriously, peeps, it must be the heat. Every new recipe I'm coming up with is a meal salad!)

Put down your forks because today's feature is a tasty little snack that's part salty, part sweet and part spicy: wasabi pea and nut chocolate bark.

I know, right? It's a crazy combo. I love those fiery little wasabi peas: totally addictive little snack crack. And it's like a game every time you put them in your mouth, because you never know which one is going to be extra fiery and shoot that quick flash of heat right up your nose and into your brain. BAM!

So it stands to reason that, as much as I looooooove combining salty and sweet tidbits together, wasabi peas would be the perfect addition to chocolate bark.

And GUESS WHAT? They are!

No bake trail mix snack bars

While I have been compensated for this trail mix snack bar recipe by #CollectiveBias and its advertisers, all opinions are my own. Thanks for supporting the brands that support The Ninj! #CrispyComeback 

No-bake, low-guilt trail mix snack bars are an easy treat that can satisfy all your cravings at once: crunchy, chewy, salty and sweet.

Yes, I'm a health-conscious food blogger, but I get cravings just like everyone else.

That's why I'm so excited about these no-bake trail mix snack bars: They can pretty much satisfy whatever craving you have, be it salty, sweet, crunchy or chewy.

Oh, and did I mention that they're super easy to make, with no baking required? And since they're packed with oats, nuts, peanut butter, honey and other goodies, they rate low on the treat guilt-o-meter.

Brussels sprout and blue cheese salad with maple candied pecans

Brussels sprout and blue cheese salad is deliciously crisp and simple to prepare -- and even better when topped with 5-minute maple-candied pecans.

Remember last week's maple-candied pecans? Remember that I mentioned I made them to garnish a Brussels sprout salad?

Well, this is the salad. But I bet you could tell that by the awesome candied pecans in it. Because you are wicked clever, yes, you are.

I love Brussels sprouts. And not just because they are the cutest food, like little tiny wannabe cabbages. Totes adorbs. I love their earthy flavor and crunchiness, when they're raw anyway. In fact, I may almost love them more raw in salads and slaws than I do cooked. (Well, at least I thought I did until I had these crispy Brussels sprouts with lemon, pistachios and pecorino at a restaurant called Lumber Yard in Amherst, MA a few weeks ago -- ERMERGAHD, they were seriously delish!)

You're going to dig this salad for its simplicity: a tangy shallot dressing, sprouts, rich blue cheese and those candied nuts. It comes together quickly as a side for roast chicken or fish, but I like to eat it as the meal itself -- because I freakin' love Brussels sprouts! The only thing that's slightly a pain is slicing the little suckers. But you can also shred them quickly using a food processor, if you're so inclined to want to wash more dishes (I'm usually not).

Maple candied pecans

Make these 3-ingredient maple candied pecans in 5 minutes, then enjoy them on salads, with cheese, atop oatmeal or as a sweet-and-salty snack.

Sometimes the simplest things are often the best, don't you find?

Think of how many classics are little more than the combination of two ingredients: PB and J, rum and coke,  milk and cookies, Hall and Oates ...

(In fact, if you want to have your mind blown just a bit, check out BuzzFeed's list of insanely simple 2-ingredient recipes -- but be forewarned, some are just kind of creepy).

Anyhoo. I like to keep things simple. Which is why I often blow off little extra steps in recipe if it seems that they might slow down my dinner-making process -- steps like toasting some nuts to put on top of a salad. Pfffft. Sure, I know the nuts taste better toasted, but that's just going to add to both the prep time and the number of pans that need to be washed after dinner.

Yet in making a Brussels sprout salad last week, I felt that it needed a leeetle somethin-somethin to put it over the top, just a little bit of sweetness (Mr. Ninj said that removing all the Brussels sprouts would have made it perfect; I ignored him).

Sweet made me think of candied nuts. But with just a hint of salt. And, in the name of keeping it simple and fast, these maple candied pecans have only three ingredients: raw pecans, pure maple syrup and a finishing dash of sea salt.

Asian-inspired chicken and broccoli salad

Asian-inspired sweet-and-tangy chicken and broccoli salad, topped with apricots and cashews. A quick and easy recipe, perfect for weeknight dinners.

Hey, hiya! The Ninj's move to Kentucky is complete.

Well, let me clarify. Things completed are the the physical moving of goods from Vermont to Kentucky in a big-ass tractor trailer and my arriving in Kentucky by pulling off a spectacular pre-murder OJ Simpson run in high-heeled flip-flops through three concourses of the Charlotte airport to avoid (just barely) missing my flight, which had been dramatically re-routed out of my way by the good folks (kidding, really, they're asshats) at American Airlines who bumped me from my original flight to Louisville from Chicago in order to give my seat to a standby "medallion" passenger (oh no, I'm not bitter -- I love being treated like baggage by people who refuse to look you in the eye or answer your questions directly), thus arriving in Kentucky -- sweaty, stressed and sans luggage -- about 20 minutes ahead of my movers.

But I made it. And then so did our stuff (oy, the stuff -- so much stuff, even after giving so much of it away before we left Vermont). So, I am currently knee-deep in cardboard moving boxes and endless reams of packing paper on this end.

More than knee-deep, actually.  Let me show you my new kitchen.

No-bake healthy oat bars

No-bake oat bars made with just six ingredients and sweetened only with dates and honey: a super-easy recipe for a delicious, healthy snack both kids and adults (and dogs!) will love.

We all crave sweets sometimes. I admit it. As much as I try to eat healthy, sometimes I just want to cram a handful of cookies in my face.

I can think of no one, not even the healthiest eater I know, who has ever told me that, when she has a craving, she crams a handful of asparagus into her face.

So I try to keep a bevy of healthy snacks in my arsenal. Not eating crap involves learning how to satisfy your cravings and desires in more healthful ways. I don't believe in complete denial -- I think that just encourages binge eating.

Therefore, when I have a craving for a sweet snack, I indulge it -- with healthier snacks and in moderation. Always in moderation.

These no-bake oat bars are the perfect solution for those cravings. A little sweet, a little salty, packed with protein and fiber, totally satisfying and made with real ingredients and no refined sugar. Plus, no baking!

ERMERGAHD: possibly the world's most perfect snack!

DIY almond milk and a bonus fruit smoothie recipe

Learn to make your own almond milk (it's easy!) -- plus how to use it in a delicious fruit smoothie.

I've always been a little freaked out by nut milk when I see it in the store. Is it nuts or is it milk? And since there's no milk in nuts, what the hell is it?

Plus nut mlk always seemed a little too non-mainstream for me. You know, like it's something only vegans or latte-ordering hipsters would drink. Right up there with soy milk.

But I'm happy to report I stand corrected. Nut milk rocks. Specifically, almond milk rocks. And is wicked easy to make, which you know is criterion number one for The Ninj's favorite recipes.

Other than planning ahead the night before, making a homemade quart of nut milk takes about three minutes. Not kidding. It's simple: soak the nuts, pulverize the crap out of them, mixed with water and a little natural sweetener, strain the whole thing and -- VOILA! -- nut milk.

Sweet and spicy snack mix (aka, snack crack)

One bite of this sweet and spicy snack mix -- made with nuts, pretzels and a spicy maple glaze -- and you'll know why we call it snack crack.

Here's hoping you had a great Thanksgiving and are eating a kick-ass turkey sandwich on Black Friday buns while you're reading this post.

I'm so excited to share this sweet and spicy snack mix with you that I'm practically bouncing up and down in my chair. This stuff is freakin' awesome! So awesome, in fact, that Mr. Ninj told me last week that this snack mix is his “favorite food in the entire world, ever.” Seriously. You will not be able to stop eating it, which is why it has been dubbed "snack crack" at Casa de Ninj.

Today, I'm also sharing the recipe for this ahhhhhhh-mazing snack mix over at A Southern Fairytale, where Rachel is co-hosting the fourth annual Handmade Holidays extravaganza -- 30 full days of baking, crafting and sewing ideas from a fantastic group of bloggers.