he end of summer is near which means kids are going back to school, the sun is setting earlier, and stone fruits are at their peek season! We've curated a collection of stone fruit recipes

Date Brownies By Coach Cheryl

Look no further than this bake-less, whole food, nutrient PACKED, easy version of brownies for a treat that will give you plenty of energy and omega-3 fats!‍

Ingredients

• 1 ¼ cup medjool dates
• 1 ¼ cup walnuts
• ½ cup cocoa powder
• Pinch of sea salt‍

‍Steps

1. Remove pits from dates (if needed).
2. Place walnuts in the food processor, until finely ground.
3. Add in cocoa powder and salt, then pulse to evenly mix throughout.
4. Turn on the food processor, adding one date at a time -- will turn slightly crumbly at the end.
5. Line a small square dish with wax paper and press mixture into the desired thickness.
6. Place in the freezer for 10-min., cut to desired squares (ours made 6, big ‘ol thick ones), and ENJOY!

Stone Fruit Sangria Two Ways By Coach VA

It’s stone fruit season! It’s also the end of Summer, when you may be most in need of a fruit-filled and refreshing bevvy. So, Coach VA and Jarryd (Mr. Coach VA) are sharing their TWO favorite Stone Fruit Sangria recipes!

First, a Few Tips

• Don’t splurge on expensive wine for sangria.
• Make your sangria the night before you plan to serve it, so the flavors have time to combine.
• To minimize splashing, we suggest dicing your fruits and placing them in your sangria vessel before pouring the liquids over them.
• You can adjust the sweetness of your sangria one of two ways. If it’s too sweet, add brandy. Brandy acts as a flavor combiner and cuts the sweetness. If it’s not sweet enough, add granulated or coconut sugar.
• How much brandy or sugar you choose to add will depend on the sweetness/ripeness of the fruit, so it's worth dialing in this delicate balance for each batch.

White Sangria

Allow me to preface our white sangria recipe by saying: if you think you don’t like sangria, you may be wrong. If you aren’t making your own, it's far too easy for a restaurant or bar to dump 4-5 tablespoons of sugar, some OJ, and a bottle of wine together, add some superfluous chunks of fruit, and end up with a monotone, saccharine drink that tastes like a hangover and whose only whisper of refreshment comes from the ice cubes floating in it.

This is not that sangria. This sangria is all about layering sweet, sour, bitter, and savory flavors to create a refreshing cocktail that's velvety smooth, crisp, dry and refreshing. It's also a little outside of the box in that it doesn't feature citrus, but instead highlights stone fruit.

White Sangria Ingredients:

• 1.5 L pinot grigio (one big bottle or two 750ml bottles as pictured) 
• 1 cup pomegranate juice
• 1/2 cup brandy (or more to taste)
• 3/4 cup (6 oz) ginger beer (not ginger ale)
• 2 medium peaches, diced into ~1/2" pieces
• 1 red apple, diced into ~1/2" pieces
• 1 cup blueberries
• 10-12 basil leaves (attached to the stem is best; more for garnish if desired)
• 1 tbsp granulated sugar (or more to taste) (coconut sugar is a good alternative)
• (optional) club soda for topping off

White Sangria Directions: 

1. The night before your party, mix together all ingredients except for your ginger beer. Cover/close the container and let chill in the refrigerator overnight. 
2. The day of the party, just before guests arrive, fish out the basil. Add the ginger beer and stir.
3. Sample your sangria. If it's too sweet for your liking, add an ounce or two of additional brandy, re-sample, and repeat as needed. If, on the other hand, your sangria isn't sweet enough, mix in more granulated sugar 1/2 tbsp at a time until you've achieved your desired sweetness. 
4. Serve in wine glasses over ice. Top with club soda for additional fizz. Garnish with additional basil if desired. Make sure that each glass gets some fruit!

Red Sangria

We usually make a white and a red sangria for our summer get-togethers. As much as everyone loves the white sangria recipe above, this red sangria is always the first to disappear.

That’s mainly due to the cherries. Cherries might seem like an unusual and painstaking sangria ingredient because of the pits. But the pits are actually pretty easy to remove. Our pitting weapon of choice is a bendy straw from a travel tumbler.

Once pitted and halved, the cherries lend a wonderfully rich flavor to your sangria, and the cherry halves themselves become even tastier as they soak.

The other unusual ingredient in this recipe is rosemary. It lends a wonderfully refreshing aroma that hits you even before your first sip. More importantly, as with our white sangria, this recipe is all about balancing flavors--not just sweetening up a bottle of wine--and the rosemary serves as a counter-balance to the rich, dark sweetness of the cherries and blackberries.

Red Sangria Ingredients:

• 1.5 L pinot noir (one big bottle as pictured or two 750ml bottles) 
• 1 cup pomegranate juice
• 3/4 cup (6 oz) ginger beer
• 1/2 cup brandy (or more to taste)
• 6 oz blackberries or raspberries (one small carton)
• 1 orange, cut into wedges
• 18-20 cherries, pitted and halved
• 1-2 sprigs rosemary
• 1 tbsp granulated sugar (or more to taste) (coconut sugar is a good alternative)
• (optional) club soda for topping off

Red Sangria Directions: 

The night before your party, mix together all ingredients except for your optional club soda. Cover/close the container and let chill in the refrigerator overnight. (Note: with this recipe, unlike our white sangria, we suggest adding the ginger beer before chilling. The ginger flavor will infuse with the blackberries/raspberries!

1. The day of the party, just before guests arrive, fish out the rosemary.
2. Sample your sangria. If it's too sweet for your liking, add an ounce or two of additional brandy, re-sample, and repeat as needed. If, on the other hand, your sangria isn't sweet enough, mix in more granulated sugar 1/2 tbsp at a time until you've achieved your desired sweetness. 
3. Serve in wine glasses over ice. Top with club soda for additional fizz. Make sure that each glass gets some fruit!

BONUS: Upgrade your red sangria with plums!

When they're in season, plums make for a superb red sangria ingredient. Try using 1-2 diced plums in place of the orange listed in the recipe, and if you find that you miss the citrus, add a few ounces of lime juice before serving. We've tried the red sangria recipe above with both black and red plums in place of orange, and it's wonderful.

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Just Peachy Overnight Oats

The hardest thing about overnight oats is remembering that you have to make overnight oats the night before. Aside from that, this recipe is super easy, super delicious, and not to mention super good for you! It’s titled “just peachy” but I actually prefer nectarines...same same but different!

The vanilla extract adds a sweetness without adding the calories or sugar. A good quality yogurt goes A LONG way, so don’t skimp on that ingredient. I usually use Greek Yogurt, but coconut yogurt and Siggi’s yogurt brand is really good. ‍

Ingredients:

• ¼ cup of oats
• ¼ cup of milk
• ¼ cup of full-fat yogurt
• 1 Tbs chia seeds
• ½ cup chopped nectarines 
• ⅛ tsp of vanilla extract
  

Special Equipment:

• Mason Jar or re-use a pasta sauce jar
  

Steps:

1. Prepare this night before.
2. Put all ingredients in the jar. Put the oats first and make sure the oats are fully soaked. 
3. Have a great night’s sleep. 
4. The next morning, open and enjoy!