My Top Secret Diet Weapon
Continuing the theme of my post-vacation shape up, I went home and drank my veggies for lunch in the form of a… Green Monster Spinach Smoothies are one of my top secret diet weapons, because although they’re packed with baby spinach, which make my skin, hair, nails, and overall self feel totally great, they do not taste healthy at all. I repeat, they do not taste healthy at all.
Oreo Truffle Stuffed Cupcakes With Cookies & Cream Frosting
After making cupcakes stuffed with peanut butter balls this weekend, I had to come up with a nut free version for my nut allergy kiddo, who was feeling all kinds of left out of the stuffed cupcake enjoyment. Since we love making cupcake pops with the Oreo Truffle recipe, I figured I would try that. Worked like a charm!
Recipes & Resources
Below are some helpful resources and meal ideas that don’t break the rules. Also, it is important to know when serving yourself “real food” you don’t need to eat as much as you would of the processed stuff! Get ready to fill up fast.
Summer Recipe: White Peach-Lavender Soda
What does one do when one receives a gift of perfect and oh-so-fragrant lavender from a friend's garden? If one is like me and has just finished writing a book of homebrewing projects and suddenly has free time to play with recipes not going into the book, one naturally thinks about making soda. Lavender became a bit of a nemesis when writing True Brews.
One-Pot Mac and Cheese
Well, I have to say, I LOVE this version of Slow Cooker Mac and Cheese! Why? You put the noodles in dry, uncooked!!! Yep, you read that correctly! For me, dumping in the ingredients and starting the crock pot is the whole point!!
Chipotle's Cilantro Lime Rice
I am a huge fan of the rice at Chipotle's. Here is my copycat version, it tastes just like the real thing. Of course, I used less oil. Makes a wonderful side dish for chicken, beef or pork. Make your own burrito bowl, with my quick black bean recipe, barbacoa beef, sweet barbacoa pork, pork carnitas, chicken ropa vieja.
Tis the Seasonings. . .
In the back of my mind, I have wanted to do this for a while. And, I finally did! I made my own taco seasoning, dry onion soup mix, and dry ranch mix. It was pathetically easy. Why did it take me so long to try?
Baked cheese balls
OK, so we did the experiment with the egg roll wrappers and string cheese to make baked cheese sticks and they turned out alright...but nothing to write home about. These, my friends, were not the same outcome. Yes, I used the leftover string cheese from the above recipe. Yes, I used the leftover mix of breading from my baked zucchini chips that I kept in an airtight container in the cupboard until I figured out what to do with it. And, yes, marrying those two ingredients together made the best homemade cheeseball I've made to date. Booyah!
How to Make Mason Jar Meals: Part 1
Last week I placed the following photo on Big Red Kitchen’s FaceBook Page and received an overwhelming amount of requests on how I made these Mason Jar Meals. I aim to please… How many of you have poured over the web looking at this photo or that wishing it was your house, or pantry, or wardrobe, or garden? I do it all the time.
Food
My brother recently celebrated his 30th birthday so I decided to make him a fun birthday cake. Since he loves sandwiches I went with a sandwich cake. Although it would have been nice to have the filling look like lettuce, tomatoes, cheese, etc. I've always been a big believer that it must taste great first and foremost.
Mix recipes
Having everyday and convenience food mixes on hand are a great way to save time (no running to the store for something to serve last minute guests) and money (brownies for $.50 instead of $1.50 or more) in the kitchen. Not to mention, making your own mixes allows you to control the quality and the ingredients making them adaptable to special diets or allergies. So where do you start if you want to stock your pantry with quick and easy mixes? First, look around your pantry and think about what convenience foods you would like to make mixes to replace. Do you love having brownies on hand for an after-school snack?
Chocolate Layer Cake with Cream Cheese Filling and Chocolate Buttercream
Every year, I manage to ruin Stephen's birthday cake. The first year we lived together, I decided to throw him a "surprise party". His family never made a big deal about his birthday when he was younger, so I wanted to give him the birthday party he never had.
Dirt Cheap Homemade Mixes from Budget101.com
Pumpkin Pie Spice mix is a blend of cinnamon, allspice, cloves, ginger and nutmeg brought together to bring out the wonderful flavor of pumpkin in all it's autumn glory. Unfortunately, it's not available everywhere, but don't fret, you can make it at home, here are a couple recipes for making your own. ...
