Cucumber Mint Lime Sparkler

We recently tried the trendy Lemonade restaurant- super fun! And fell in love with their cucumber mint drink, but not so much the price :/ so I decided to try making it myself...so easy and delish! It's like summer in a cup and oh so refreshing.

Place in your blender 1 cucumber and a handful fresh mint, then pour in enough limeade (or lemonade) to fill container half full. ( we like the simply lime/lemonade brand) blend until smooth and frothy. Fill glasses with ice and a little sparkling water. Top with your cucumber mixture and enjoy outside with your feet up ;)

Strawberry Vanilla Bean Layer Cake with Strawberry Buttercream

This recipe is a shortcut using fabulous Trader Joes products. I have grown to depend on much of their staples and have fun trying to create new recipes using their all natural and tasty foods! This isn't exactly a health food :) but it is all natural and easy and what more could you want in making a yummy cake for a special occasion?!  My dear sweet college roommate just had a baby girl and we went for a visit this past weekend and it was Weston's idea to bake them a cake! I thought something pink would be fun.

If you have never tried the vanilla cake mix from Trader Joes you must! It is all natural, moist and there is actual vanilla bean in the batter. It's delicious. Another favorite treat from Trader Joes are the organic fruit spreads- sweetened with only fruit. I like to use them in oatmeal, plain yogurt and on toast. 

And the freeze dried strawberries are so much fun. (unsweetened)

Strawberry Vanilla Bean Layer Cake with Strawberry Buttercream

1 box Trader Joes vanilla cake mix

1 jar Trader Joes organic strawberry fruit spread

1 cup Trader Joes freeze dried strawberries finely chopped 

Strawberry Buttercream

4 sticks butter softened

about 1 lb. powdered sugar

To make the cake:

Prepare cake batter as directed from the package. Stir in chopped dried strawberries and 1/2 jar of the fruit spread. Bake in 2 round 8 in cake pans coated with butter and flour to prevent sticking.  cool 10 minutes and remove from pans to cool completely on cooling racks before frosting.

To make frosting:

In a mixing bowl combine softened butter and remaining half jar of the strawberry spread. slowly add the powdered sugar 1/2 cup at a time until fluffy and your desired sweetness. 

To frost the cake spread some frosting on the top of one of the layers, top with the other layer. Cover the cake with remaining frosting. You will have frosting left over which stays for a while in the fridge or freezer for another time.

Valentine's inspired meals

(Weston and his cousin Ava)

I love Valentine's Day so much and I have my mother and father to thank for that. My mom would always made a big deal about it starting when we were very young. She would make pink pancakes, buy us clothes covered in hearts and glitter, decorate the kitchen, fill our lunch sacks with confetti and dinner was in the same flair... My dad would buy my mom the biggest flower arrangement possible and half a dozen cards and chocolates, etc. So I grew up feeling that Valentine's Day was a holiday for families to celebrate their love for each other and I looked forward to it every year!

It wasn't until I was older that I realized that many people hate the holiday because it is all about having the right boyfriend/girlfriend or the most romantic date planned that day. And honestly, when I had a boyfriend on that holiday, they could hardly top what we had going at home and I love that!

So I want that for my kids too, to have a special day where they feel extra loved and special because they are our special blessings from the Lord!

Here are a couple festive recipes I have tried lately that would be fun to make around Valentine's Day for  your special people

Pan Seared Tilapia with an Orange Beet Fennel Salsa

 This recipe is super quick and refreshing! The salsa can be made up to one day ahead. I served the fish over some sauteed rainbow chard and snap peas, which was a perfect match.

Salsa:

1 large orange, sections removed

4 small cooked red beets, diced

1 small bulb fennel shaved or thinly sliced

2 T. chopped green onion

2 T red wine vinegar, or your fav vinegar

dash salt and pepper

Stir all the ingredients together, can be made 1 day ahead

Tilapia:

Heat 1 T. olive oil or butter in a large skillet over med/high heat

sprinkle 4 tilapia fillets with salt and pepper

cook fillets 5 min each side or until fish flakes easily

serve immediately topped with salsa

serves 4

Griddled Corn Cakes with Berry Syrup

This recipe is from "Cooking for Isaiah" by Silvana Nardone. I have only made a few things so far but everything has been so great! I highly recommend it if you are in the gluten free and dairy free crowd. The cornmeal in these pancakes give the best flavor and texture. I fell in love at first bite!

1 1/4 cups rice milk

2 tsp cider vinegar

1 cup GF pancake mix

1 cup cornmeal

1/2 tsp salt

2 large eggs at room temp lightly beaten

1/4 cup vegetable oil

syrup:

1 cup fruit jelly

1/4 cup water

In a small bowl stir together the milk and vinegar

Whisk together the pancake mix, cornmeal and salt. Add the milk mixture, eggs and oil, stir until just combined.

Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium heat and grease lightly with oil. Pour the batter about 1/4 cup at a time and cook 2 minutes each side or until golden and set.

To make the syrup, in a small sauce pan over medium heat cook the jelly and water until syrupy, stirring constantly

serves 4

Coconut Flour Cookies- GF

We had some GF friends come over for dinner so I thought I would try these and they turned out really yummy! Can't even tell they are GF and they have a lovely chewy texture, not dry like you would expect.

I slightly adapted this recipe from Bob's Red Mill:

Bob’s Redmill Coconut flour Cookies

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup butter softened

1/3 cup milk

2 tsp vanilla extract

3/4 cup rice flour

1/3 cup plus 2 T. coconut flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

Preheat  oven to 350

Cream together butter and sugar. Add vanilla and milk. In a separate bowl mix together dry ingredients. Add dry to wet ingredients. The batter should be moist and fluffy. Place by rounded tablespoons on a greased cookie sheet and bake 10-12 minutes. Makes 24

Peanut Butter Granola Bars

My friend Jenny let me borrow her collection of recipes and I found this little gem! I hope it's ok that I am sharing this here Jenny :)

These are so easy and yummy to have on hand for a quick sweet snack and you can add whatever you want. Perfect.

In my batches I substituted half of the peanut butter for some yummy chocolate almond butter from TJ's. It never hurts to add a little chocolate right?!

Peanut Butter Granola Bars


1/2 cup raw honey
2/3 cup all natural peanut butter ( or nut butter of your choice)
1 cup oats
2 cups rice cereal

any add ins: nuts, raisins, ground flax etc.

In a large pot melt the honey and peanut butter, stirring until smooth. Mix in the remaining ingredients and dump onto parchment paper on a cookie sheet. Coat hands with cooking spray and form into a rectangle. Place the cookie sheet in the fridge for 5 min to firm up the bar a bit. Cut the rectangle into individual bars and place back in fridge until hard. Store at room temperature in an air tight container.

Rhubarb Strawberry Apple Compote

I love the change of seasons and seeing what fun new things come in my produce delivery! I was so excited to get some Rhubarb this week- it always reminds me of my Oma and Opa who grow tons of it in their garden. 

This sweet/tart compote comes together quickly and is so delicious just eaten like applesauce or you can serve it over lots of different things- oatmeal, ice cream, grilled chicken or pork, toasted bread or like we did, on some GF pancakes :)

Rhubarb Strawberry Apple Compote

In a large pot combine 3 large Rhubarb stalks chopped, 5 apples peeled and diced, 1 small basket strawberries halved, 1/4 cup raw honey and 1/4 cup apple juice. Bring to boil then reduce heat to simmer until fruit breaks down and apples are soft. ( about 30 min)

Almendrados

These cookies come from a region in Spain where flour is scarce and almonds are plentiful. They are delicious, GF, and they taste very European :) not too sweet and go great with espresso!

Almendrados

2 cups whole blanched almonds

2/3 cup sugar ( honey or maple syrup)

4 tsp grated lemon rind

dash of salt

1 large egg

1 tsp ground cinnamon

24 whole almonds

preheat oven to 350

Grind 2 cups almonds in a food processor until finely ground. Add sugar or honey/syrup, lemon rind,salt and egg. Pulse 10 times or until dough forms a ball. Shape dough into 24 balls, about 1 T each. Place 1 inch apart on baking sheets coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle with cinnamon and gently press 1 almond into the top of each cookie. Bake about 15 minutes or until edges are golden. Cool 5 minutes on the pan then remove to wire racks. The cookies firm up as they cool.

( Adapted from Cooking Light)

Getting Ready for Easter...

We have had fun around here preparing for Easter and welcoming spring! I made and froze these yummy pink coconut cookies for our Easter celebration...they are rich and delicate at the same time with a melt in your mouth yumminess and the perfect balance between sweet and salty!

Here's the recipe:

Coconut Easter Cookies

2 sticks butter room temperature

1/2 cup powdered sugar, plus more for coating the cookies once baked

1 tsp coconut extract

1/4 tsp salt

1 3/4 cups all purpose flour

1 cup ground sweetened coconut flakes ( I used a food processor to do this)

2 drops red food coloring

Preheat oven to 350 F

Beat butter on high until fluffy. Add the powdered sugar and beat until combined. Reduce speed to low and beat in the coconut extract, ground coconut, food coloring and salt. Stir in the flour by hand just until blended.

Cover and refrigerate for 15 min.

Shape dough into 1 inch balls or egg shapes and bake 10-12 minutes or until cookies are pale golden on the bottom. Remove cookies to a cooling rack for 5 minutes and then roll in the powdered sugar. Let cookies cool completely on wire racks before storing. You can dust cookies again with powdered sugar before serving if desired.

Then I found a fun project in my Martha Stewart Living magazine to make coffee filter flowers to decorate for spring! They are easy and were free for me since I had a ton of filters and food coloring on hand.

Mix a few batches of colors in water in pie plates or shallow dishes.

Place a stack of filters in each color and allow them to absorb as much as you want. I used white and brown filters and mixed a few colors for some of them.

Keep the filters together as they dry on a rack. It took almost a full day for them to dry completely.

Once they are dry, trim the filters to make different kinds of flowers then using a glue gun to secure the layers.

Here are the finished flowers:

We have also had fun teaching Weston about Easter and the gospel, and I found this fun craft in Noel Piper's book " Treasuring God in our Traditions" to make an "Easter mountain".

Basically you make a big batch of play dough, paint and bake it in the oven to harden it. We made a cross from sticks in the backyard and the back of the mountain has a tomb with a stone to roll away :) He LOVED helping make this!

Most days he plays with the cross like an airplane, but he is beginning to understand!

Old Fashioned Caramel Cake

This cake is incredible! Sweet/Salty caramel and super moist cake topped with pecans...nothing finer! Goes great with a strong cup of your favorite coffee. I pre-sliced the cake and just drizzled the frosting over to make serving easier at our friends house. Also made transporting easier without worrying that a perfectly assembled cake would fall apart in the car :)

Enjoy!

Old Fashioned Caramel Cake

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

1/2 cup butter softened

3 large eggs

2 1/4 cups flour

2 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/4 cups milk

2 tsp vanilla extract

To prepare cake, coat 2 round cake pans with cooking spray and line with wax paper and coat again with cooking spray.

Beat sugar and butter until well blended. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each. In a separate bowl combine flour, baking powder and salt stirring well with a whisk. Add flour mixture to butter mixture alternately with the milk, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Stir in vanilla.

Pour batter into prepared pans and sharply tap once on counter to remove air bubbles. Bake at 350 F for 30 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in middle comes out clean.

Frosting

1 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup evaporated milk

2 1/2 T butter

2 tsp corn syrup

dash of salt

2 cups powdered sugar

2 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Combine brown sugar through salt in a saucepan and bring to boil over medium/high heat, stirring constantly. Reduce heat and simmer until thick, about 5 minutes. Stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and add powdered sugar and vanilla. Beat until smooth. Frosting thickens as it cools.

Sweet LOVE

What a fun day to celebrate those you love in your life today- & today we are celebrating these two little lovies!

They are just precious in their growing brotherly love for each other...they love being around each other now, wrestling ( yes, already!), playing, sharing, fighting, kissing, hugging and giggling!

We are having a "pink" party today, as Weston calls it, here at home since we just got back last night from Shaver. We have a few little presents and yummy treats to delight us through the day. Daddy requested a quiet night at home together...perfect!

This morning we started the day off right with a waffle cake! recipe and pics below.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Waffle Cake

Prepare 3 large waffles using your favorite waffle mix, making one batch.

Add in 1/4 cup strawberry jam and 2 tsp. red food coloring to the batter for the fun color!

Combine together 1/4 cup strawberry jam and 1/4 cup maple syrup and heat until runny. ( i did this in the microwave) Set aside.

Make the waffles.

Layer your cake by drizzling the first waffle with the jam/syrup mixture, topping with a few marshmallows and whipped cream , repeat with the next two waffles and you are done! Sprinkle top with red sprinkles and serve with more syrup if desired ( of course!)

Enjoy

Monster Cookies

My mom used to make a version of these when we were kids and we just LOVED them! These cookies are a combination of all the best cookie ingredients combined. They are big and full of yummy stuff...hence the name Monster :). I used an oatmeal cookie recipe that I got from school as the base for this recipe and then added all the yummy stuff.

Monster Cookies

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking powder

2 sticks butter softened

1 cup light brown sugar

1 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

3 cups rolled oats

1/2 cup each: mini chocolate chips, peanut butter, m&m’s, roasted salted peanuts

preheat oven to 350

Whisk together flour, salt and baking powder in a large bowl.

Beat butter until creamy. Add sugars and beat until fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time.

Stir butter mixture into flour mixture. Stir in oats and remaining ingredients until combined.

Chill dough 15 min.

Scoop dough onto cookie sheet using an ice cream scooper and bake 20-25 min or until edges turn golden.

The Recipe "Project"

One of my New Year's "projects" ( I am not saying "resolutions" this year because the word is much too scary for this stage of my life!") is to go through all of my saved recipes over the years and remake them to decide if they are worthy to keep or to toss...and then to create a family cookbook for us! I have always dreamed of a cookbook in which every recipe is something that I would love to make! A go-to cook book in which every recipe is tried and true and perfect for us. So I thought I would share with you all since I am going to be snapping pics and writing out the recipes on the computer anyways... here goes!

Berry Clafouti

This is perfect for brunch or dessert and you can put anything you like into it! It is a cross between a custard/crepe...very yummy and comes together in a snap.

( Thank you Martha Stewart for this recipe, I have made it with cranberries and blueberries and both are wonderful)

1 T. unsalted butter, to butter baking dish

1/2 cup plus 2 T. granulated sugar

1/4 cup plus 2 T all-purpose flour

pinch of salt

2 large eggs

1 cup chilled heavy cream

3/4 cup whole milk

2 tsp finely grated orange zest

1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries or blueberries

Garnish: powdered sugar for brunch or ice cream for dessert

1. preheat oven to 400. Butter a 1 quart baking dish, sprinkle 2 T granulated sugar over bottom. Sift remaining 1/2 cup sugar, the flour and the salt into a large bowl. Gradually whisk in eggs, 3/4 cup cream, the milk and zest.
2. Scatter berries into dish, pour batter over top. Bake until puffed, slightly set, and brown around edges, 32 to 34 minutes. Let cool on wire rack for 15 min. It will sink.
3. Whisk remaining 1/4 cup cream until soft peaks form. Dust clafouti with powdered sugar. Serve with whipped cream or ice cream