Making peanut butter eggs

I know Easter is past now, but I have had several requests for the recipe I used to make our peanut butter eggs so I thought I'd go ahead and share it here. You can always make peanut butter balls or reese cup shapes and have them any time of year really... Or you can just file this recipe away in your mind til next Easter. :) Up to you. :)

 16 oz confectioners sugar

1 cup creamy peanut butter

1/4 cup melted butter

1 tbsp. milk

8 oz semi-sweet chocolate 

1 tbsp. shortening

Beat together powdered sugar, peanut butter and butter. Add in milk if needed to get mixture to stick together and be slightly creamy. (I needed about 3 tbsp. milk, just add what you need but you don't want it to get to soft. It should be like a sticky firm dough.) Form into egg shapes (I made 16 but you can make them bigger or small, doesn't matter) and place on cookie sheet. Freeze for one hour. After an hour melt chocolate and shortening in microwave, stirring every 30 seconds until smooth and melted. Dip frozen peanut butter eggs into chocolate until covered, then lay on parchment paper to harden. Enjoy. :) 

Little hands kept reaching in while I was taking my pictures :) 

Don't just eat your veggies, love them too!

When I was growing up there were some veggies I knew I didn't like. Then there were veggies that I had never tasted, and didn't plan to. Then there was that small window of veggies that I actually liked. But how many times can you eat broccoli with cheese sauce and mashed potatoes and green bean casserole in your life without starting to get bored? (and eventually realizing that those aren't really the healthiest presentations of veggies anyway??)

This past year I have grown to LOVE vegetables. Like, love them so much that if I reach for seconds of something, it's likely going to be the veggies. Like, love them so much that half my cart is filled with vegetables every time I leave the grocery store. Love them so much that I plan my meals around my "sides" rather than my "main dishes"... love them so much that I don't think a veggie exists anymore that I don't want to try. I want to shout it from the rooftops, because I actually enjoy eating healthy food and don't feel one bit guilty about feeling full when I leave the table. So I thought I'd share some of my revolutionary, life-changing, full of deliciousness ways that I prepare vegetables now. Hmm... where to start, there are so many good ones! 

[One disclaimer before beginning... my main problem in becoming a food blogger is that I live in real life. Which means that I am typically preparing dinner at dinner time. In not ideal lighting conditions for those pretty, natural light food photos that make all our mouths water. And with four dudes waiting with hungry stomachs for whatever it is I'm preparing. It's really not cool with them if I pause to style a plate, take it to a natural light setting, and give it it's own mini photo session before sitting down at the table to pray and eat together. So, please understand my lack of pretty photos and just trust me that you want to try some of these things without the mouth-watering photo specifically of the dish I am talking about to convince you. I've instead chosen to include random photos of healthy things-taken in broad daylight and not whilst preparing dinner-as eye-candy only. Thanks for understanding. ;) ]

Let's start with cabbage. 

Honey Mustard Roasted Cabbage to be exact. 

1/2 head of cabbage
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon yellow mustard
1 tablespoon honey (orange blossom honey if you have access to it!)
1/2 cup bread panko crumbs 
sea salt + pepper

In a small bowl, combine 2 tablespoons olive oil with the honey and mustard. Whisk to combine. The remaining 1 tablespoon of oil can be used to coat your baking sheet.Slice the cabbage into thick wedges. Brush the wedges with the honey mustard glaze. Sprinkle on the bread crumbs. Then season with salt and pepper. Roast at 400°F for 35-40 minutes until the edges begin to turn dark brown and look crispy. [This recipe is adapted ever so slightly from A Beautiful Mess]

You guys. This recipe is amazing. It is so delicious and so, so easy. 

If you need to use up the rest of the cabbage I highly recommend this recipe for warm cabbage and noodle salad, also from A Beautiful Mess. I understand that ramen noodles aren't your most nutritionally loaded food or anything, but I am ok with that since you're adding all that cabbage, carrots, cilantro, peanuts, lime etc. It's like homemade lo mein only better. 

Moving on to more cabbage goodness, how about some sweet sesame lime cabbage salad? 
mmmm.... :) 

For the salad:

12 oz. shredded cabbage

1 cup shredded carrots
1/4 red onion, thinly sliced
large handful of fresh cilantro, chopped

(also good with kale or raw broccoli florets added as well)

For the dressing:

1/4 cup fresh lime juice
2 tablespoons diced sweet onion
2 tablespoons honey, or to taste
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon of toasted sesame oil, or to taste

Directions:

Combine all of the dressing ingredients in a bowl and whisk until smooth. Adjust flavors to taste.Combine the salad ingredients in a large bowl, and toss well with the prepared dressing. (I like to shake it together in a sealed glass tupperware.) Allow to marinate for at least 30 minutes in the fridge before serving. 

Ok, well I think I'll give cabbage a break and move along to: 

Roasted Root Vegetables. 

So many variations and flavors you can play with here. :) 

What you'll need: 
Assorted root vegetables (Start with carrots, onions and potatoes- red or sweet or both- then add in any other root vegetables you like... celery root, parsnips, beets, radishes, etc.) 
Olive oil (I use organic extra virgin) 
Seasonings (fresh herbs are best... rosemary, thyme and minced garlic and sea salt are my go to seasonings. I use fresh in the summer when I have them in my garden and dried in the winter) 

Chop chop chop. Spread your veggies out over a cookie sheet in a single layer. Drizzle olive oil over all. Sprinkle seasonings on top. Roast at 375 degrees for approx 45 minutes. Do not flip during cooking time... you want them to get that nice seared layer on the bottom, they will release from the pan once they are nice and hot. I usually make at least two cookie sheets full of this... We eat a whole one for dinner and then I love to warm up the leftovers for lunch the next day. 

And my other new favorite vegetable... 

brussel sprouts!! 

It is possible to quarter them, saute' them in olive oil with some diced onion, add a little minced garlic and top with crumbled bacon.... quite yummy... but my favorite way is as follows. 

Rinse, halve and spread brussel sprouts on a baking sheet. Chop 1 head of cauliflower and spread with brussel sprouts. Drizzle with olive oil, honey, minced garlic and sea salt. Roast at 375 for 45 minutes. If you want to turn this into a meal, you can also add cooked gnocchi and sprinkle with chopped pistachios. MMMM... (it's on my menu for the week!) 

Can we talk about 

tomatoes 

in a post about veggies? I know they are technically a fruit.... but lets just include them here too.

In the summer I love to slice them, spread them in a glass dish, drizzle with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, top with mozerella cheese and fresh basil and top with a sprinkle of garlic salt and italian seasonings. It's fancy name is Caprese. 

My other favorite, and very similar, way to have them is to chop up tomatoes into bite sized pieces, mix with chopped mozerella, and add the same seasonings (balsamic, olive oil, italian seasonings and garlic salt) and let it marinate in the refrigerator. The only thing different from above is that there is no fresh basil in this and that because it is finely chopped it can be stored in a container and used on salads or lettuce wraps or as a dip as you see fit. 

If you like green beans 

but need a new way to try them, saute' them (I use the thin whole green beans for this recipe) in olive oil with diced onion and minced garlic, when they are soft enough transfer to serving dish and top with slivered almonds (and pomegranates too!) 

Sweet potatoes... 

So delicious just wrapped in some foil with a little sea salt and butter and baked at 400 degrees for 2 hours. But if you want another fun version, chop them up, boil the pieces for about 5 to 10 minutes until they start to soften, then transfer to an iron skillet and saute' in olive oil with onion, minced garlic, rosemary, sea salt and a bit of brown sugar until it all begins to caramelize together and the potatoes are nice and soft. Oh my goodness... sweet potato heaven in your mouth. 

Juice

Lastly... We love to juice here. If you have a juicer I HIGHLY recommend using oranges, apples and a lime as your base, then adding some carrots and/or spinach. You can't taste the vegetables at all, and the orange/apple/lime juice is simply divine. Our kids love to help make it (and drink it!) too. :) 

I realize that was a highly disorganized post as far as layout and there was a lot of different recipes I threw out there. The ones I mentioned are as follows, if you missed them somehow you can scroll back through and find them :) 

Honey Mustard Roasted Cabbage
Warm Cabbage & Noodle Salad
Sweet Sesame Lime Cabbage Salad
Roasted Root Vegetables
Sauteed Brussel Sprouts with Bacon
Roasted Honey Brussel Sprouts & Cauliflower (with gnocchi and pistachios) 
Caprese (and it's refrigerated caprese salad version) 
Sauteed Green Beans with Slivered almonds and pomegranates
Baked Sweet Potatoes
Sauteed Rosemary Sweet Potatoes 
Orange Apple Lime Juice (with fruit and veggies) 

Hope this gets your ideas going for some new ways to start preparing your veggies so that they become your new favorite part of your meal! :) 

Rosemary Parmesan Popcorn!

(I already had this post written, so even though I'm 'taking off' I thought I'd still go ahead and share this) :)

 I didn't used to be that big of a popcorn fan. That has certainly changed over the past year or so. Popcorn is one of our favorite family snacks. We buy the bags of unpopped kernels and then pop them ourselves over the stove. It is so easy to do, and then you get to flavor them yourself. All you need is a few tablespoons of oil (you can use coconut oil, olive oil, vegetable oil, sesame oil... lots of fun options just in that choice!) and 1/3 a cup of kernels to make a good bit of popcorn. 

My current favorite flavoring of the popcorn once it's popped is rosemary parmesan. 

What you need: 

3 Tblsp vegetable oil

1/3 cup unpopped kernels

1/3 stick of melted butter 

1/2 to 1 tsp sea salt

1-2 tbps grated parmesan cheese

1-2 stalks of fresh rosemary, chopped finely

 Follow the directions on the bag to pop the corn.

Transfer the popcorn from the pot into your serving bowl. Pour melted butter over top, then season with parmesan, salt and rosemary.  Toss to mix all together. Adjust seasonings to taste. Put on your favorite movie and enjoy :) 

Raspberry Mint Lime Water

So this beverage was completely inspired by the drink my sister-in-law fixed for us on Mother's Day when they had us over for dinner. I'll share that recipe first, because it was HEAVENLY, and then I'll share this everyday version that I made too. :) 

So Steph's drink was fresh squeezed raspberry lemonade. It was so refreshing, perfectly tart, and absolutely delicious. To make a half gallon you need approximately 6-7 lemons, one little box of raspberries (1/2 pint?) water, sugar, and ice cubes. So first fill the pitcher partially full of ice cubes. Then use a citrus press to squeeze the juice from the lemons into the pitcher over the ice. Meanwhile make a simple syrup on the stove (the ratio is a cup of sugar to a cup of water, for this recipe she used 3/4 cup sugar and 3/4 cup water... to make the simple syrup you just boil the water and sugar until the sugar is dissolved in the water) Pour your simple syrup into the pitcher, mash the raspberries and add them, then top off with water. Stir to combine the flavors and mix the raspberry pulp throughout. 

Then pour yourself a glass, close your eyes, and taste the best thing ever :)

So I don't have a citrus press, and I don't like to have sugar in my beverages on a routine basis, so I made a different version of this yummy drink... I used a 1/2 pint mashed raspberries, fresh mint leaves from our garden, and the juice from a lime (more would have been better, but since I don't have a press I only used one) This was much less tart and not as sweet, but still very refreshing and a fun way to make dinner seem fancy one night. Not to mention it was just adorable in these tiny glasses and healthy as well :) 

Drew was watching me take these pictures and as soon as I was done he swooped in and grabbed the cup. I started to take the garnish off for him but he asked to keep it on because he liked how it looked :) 

Hope this inspires you to make a fancy drink sometime this summer. Even if it's not a special occasion and just for dinner one night for your family, it's such a fun treat and so simple to make something fresh like this. 

xoxo

My version of Bruschetta

My best friend Ashly made this for me the first time I ever had it, and it was actually the first time I ever enjoyed a tomato. Since then I now love them on lots of things, but I never liked them growing up. 

Anyway, we have a garden full of tomatoes right now, and while I'll use some of them to can some sauce and stewed tomatoes, I like recipes that use them fresh too. This one is simple and so, so good. 

What you need: 

One baguette

Block of Mozerella Cheese

Tomato (or two)

Olive Oil

McCormick's Italian Herb Grinder seasoning

Garlic Salt

Sea Salt

Slice the baguette into thin pieces and spread out on a platter. Drizzle with olive oil. Cut mozerella block into small thin slices and place on each baguette piece. Top with a tomato slice, then sprinkle on italian seasoning, garlic & sea salt. MMMM.... :) 

Because it's blueberry season!

Blueberry Pudding Cake

Fresh berries are one of my favorite foods. And my mom's blueberry pudding cake is one of my favorite desserts :) Since it's just starting to be blueberry season, I thought I'd share the recipe today. 

You'll need: 

4 cups blueberries

2 tsp cinnamon 

2 tsp lemon juice

2 cups flour 

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1 cup milk

6 tbsp butter

Topping: 

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 tbsp cornstarch

2 cups boiling water

Toss blueberries, cinnamon and lemon juice together and place in greased 9x13 baking dish. 

In a bowl combine flour, sugar and baking powder. Stir in milk and melted butter. Spoon over berries. Sprinkle sugar and cornstarch mixture over this. Pour boiling water over all. Bake at 350 degrees for 45-50 minutes. 

Hope you enjoy this if you try it, it's one of my favorites :)

How to turn leftovers into SALADS! (some of my favorites)

I have salad for my lunch more days than not. I love it. Partly because it's so good for you, and partly for the endless combinations you can come up with. While buying specific salad supplies can get expensive, I have found a way to have a variety of different salads, use up leftovers, and not break the bank... win, win, win. :) 

It takes a little creativity, but I'm pretty sure if you give it a try you can come up with some amazing new salad recipes too :) 

Let's start with this: 

Homemade Balsamic Vinaigrette.

If you (and or the baby in your belly) have a newfound love for vinegar, definitely give this a try. 

We were out of grocery money for the month and I was craving a good balsamic dressing so I came up with this from what we had in our pantry.

Ingredients: 

Balsamic Vinegar

Olive Oil

Salt & Pepper

Sugar

Italian Herbs

Mix oil and vinegar, about 2/3 oil to 1/3 vinegar. (I did half and half, but that might be too vinegar-y for some...) Then add ground sea salt, freshly ground pepper, sugar and italian seasonings to taste. For the best Italian Seasoning I recommend McCormick's Italian Herb Grinder- the taste is so fresh and good. You're probably going to need more seasonings than you'd anticipate to get the flavor all through the oil and vinegar mixture. Combine all in a container of choice (I used my glass dressing bottle) and shake well. 

Finished product :) 

Ok, so in order to make a variety of salads without making specific shopping lists and spending a ton, there are a few things I always keep on hand. 

1. Croutons (specifically texas toast caesar croutons)

2. Dressings (Caesar, french, blue cheese, raspberry vinaigrette and my homemade balsamic)

3. Craisins

4. Wontons/Tortilla Strips

5. Variety of Nuts (cashews, almonds, glazed pecans) 

6. Lettuce (obviously.... I love romaine but lately we've been using buttercrunch, spring mix, or whatever is in season that we can buy fresh)

The Dressings are easy, they last a long time. The croutons I use in some other recipes (like crunched up on top of chicken divan, or on top of some soups etc.) The nuts are another staple, Shaun loves to mix them together and take them as part of his lunches to work. And the craisins are an easy snack for the boys sometimes too. Wontons or tortilla strips seem to last a while for us too and are a fun addition to several different salads. 

K, now on to some examples: 

The one you see below was so yummy.... We had leftover chicken salad that I had made so I just tore up some romaine lettuce, piled chicken salad in the middle, and thought about what would taste good with the two that we had already.... I ended up adding some fresh strawberries, glazed pecans, and wonton strips. I used my balsamic vinaigrette as the dressing. Adding berries or fruit to salad is one of my favorite toppings. Strawberries, blueberries, and mandarin oranges are common ones I add. 

The next salad was to use up leftover chicken bbq and pico de gallo from dinner the night before. Again I used romaine lettuce, then topped it with slices of bbq chicken, spoonfuls of pico de gallo, some sour cream, shredded cheddar cheese and tortilla strips. Mmmm.... :) 

The one pictured below was my lunch today, and probably my favorite of all of them... The spring mix is from our friends' Jarrod & Kendra's garden and is SO. GOOD. I used leftovers from Monday's dinner, caprese chicken. I piled up my spring mix, added a few slices of chicken, then shredded mozzerella cheese and chopped up tomatoes to add. (Both of these were ingredients I had gotten to make the caprese chicken and had extra of) I finished it off with some caesar croutons, balsamic vinaigrette and a slice of foccacia bread (also leftover from Monday night dinner) 

As you can see, I love to add a little chicken to my salads. The protein in the middle of the day keeps me from feeling like I'm going to faint in the afternoon. You might have also noticed that most salads have some kind of cheese on them... I didn't have that on my list of things I try to keep on hand because usually we have some kind in our fridge just because a recipe called for it and I'll use that. Every now and then I will buy feta which I love on salads. 

Another example of turning a leftover dinner into a salad (this is probably what started me in the whole thing) is a taco salad. Just use extra taco meat and whatever else you had for your tacos (salsa, sour cream, tomatoes, crunched up tortilla chips etc) and pile on a salad. 

I kind of have a formula for what makes a good salad in my head: 

fresh lettuce.

something crunchy.

another fruit or veggie besides lettuce.

cheese and/or meat. 

Then, if my salad is mostly veggies, I'll use a more savory dressing. If it has fruits or the glazed pecans on it, then a sweeter dressing like raspberry vinaigrette is one of my favorites. But you'll figure out your own formula through trial and error too :) 

Last but not least, this one isn't made using leftovers as inspiration, but it's a definite favorite. 

Tomato, basil and Chick pea Salad. 

(especially good when the tomatoes and basil come from your garden!) 

Here's the link to the recipe: tomato, basil & chickpea salad. 

I only use one clove of garlic, and depending on how much basil I have I'll use anywhere from 10-25 leaves. You can just eat it with a fork, or you can scoop it with tortilla chips or use as a topping to grilled chicken etc. Our boys love it. 

Well, I hope you're feeling inspired to try salad in new ways and use up some leftovers in a healthy way!!! Let me know if you come up with some amazing new combinations! 

Happy Salad Eating :) 

soft pretzels

The other night we made homemade soft pretzels. I loved it because everyone could "help" especially with the rolling out part. 

They were really yummy, especially with dipping sauces. I have a few left over and I still want to try rolling one in cinnamon and sugar too. 

(love the little finger pointing in the photo above...)

Mmmmm.... :) 

 So I had copied and pasted this recipe onto my computer when I saw it awhile ago, and I have no idea now where it came from :( But here it is below in all it's copy and pasted glory in case you want to try making them. I'm sure there are lots of other good recipes out there too, and I think they are better the longer and thinner you roll out the dough. Also, I had trouble with my parchment paper smoking in the oven so I wouldn't use that if I make these again. Other than that we loved them!

Auntie Anne’s Pretzel’s Copycat Recipe

Ingredients

• 2 cups milk (I used 2%)
• 1 1/2 Tbsp active dry yeast (2 packets)
• 6 Tbsp packed light-brown sugar
• 4 Tbsp butter, at room temperature
• 4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus an up to an additional 1/2 cup as needed
• 2 tsp fine salt                   
• 2 cups warm water
• coarse salt, to taste
• 6 Tbsp butter, melted
• Dipping sauce for serving, optional*

Directions

• Warm milk in a microwave safe bowl in microwave (or alternately over stove top in a small saucepan) until temperature of milk reaches 110 degrees, about 1 1/2 - 2 minutes on HIGH power. Pour milk along with yeast into the bowl of an electric stand mixer and whisk together until yeast has dissolved, let rest 5 minutes. Add brown sugar, 4 tbsp softened butter, 1 cup flour and 2 tsp fine sea salt to milk mixture and using the whisk attachment, stir until blended. Switch attachment to a dough hook, add remaining 3 1/2 cups flour and kneaded mixture on medium low speed until elastic. Mix in up to an additional 1/2 cup flour, as needed, until dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and allow dough to rise in warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
• Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Line two baking sheets with Silpats or parchment paper (alternately you could grease them). Punch dough down several times to release any air pockets. Divide dough into 12 equal pieces (the easiest way to do this is to divide the dough in half, then divide the halves into halves then those and into thirds). Cover divided dough loosely with plastic wrap (just to prevent a dry crust from forming on the outside) and roll each piece out into a long, thin rope about 32 - 36 inches long (I found working on a non-floured to very very lightly floured surface worked best, I began with a lightly floured surface and realized it was much harder to get more stretch, plus it was much faster to roll them out when working on a less-no flour surface). Form dough rope into a pretzel shape.
• In a shallow bowl, whisk together baking soda and warm water then fully immerse pretzel into water mixture and allow excess water to drip off (I ended up shaping most of them into the pretzel shape once placing on the cookie sheet rather then doing it twice, I would just fold the rope into halves several times then immerse in water mixture then shape them on cookie sheet). Place on prepared baking sheet, reshape as needed and sprinkle to taste with coarse salt. Repeat this process with remaining dough. Bake pretzels in preheated oven 7 - 11 minutes until golden brown (note that you will likely only be able to cook 6 at a time among the two baking sheets) Remove from oven and brush top and bottom of pretzels with melted butter. Serve warm with optional dipping sauce. Reheat in microwave or in a warm oven once they've cooled, if desired.
• *Dipping sauces I would recommend are yellow mustard, marinara sauce, or honey mustard. For a sweeter option, try with a warm homemade doughnut glaze, caramel sauce or chocolate sauce. Alternately if you want another dessert option, skip the coarse salt step of the recipe and sprinkle instead with lots of cinnamon sugar.

(end copy and pasting)