Food & Drinks
Fabulous food and drink from NW Favorites! Who's hungry for great recipes, party tips, cocktails, and more?
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To Wine or Not to Wine? A Wine Tasting Party!
Need a fun weekend activity? How about throwing a wine tasting party? It’s so much fun and obviously the only approved kind of “Wine-ing!”
We began by inviting 8 people, and had each pair bring a bottle of wine wrapped inside a paper bag, Each bag was then given to 1 person (the sommelier) for the evening and the fun began!!
What you need…
- Friends…preferably friends who like wine, and talking about flavors would be a plus!
- 1 friend designated as the “sommelier” they won’t be as into the tasting as they’re somewhat “working” but they can still play along. Pick someone charismatic.
- Printable “tasting” notes cards…find one on the internet or make it up..!
- Snacks! cheese platter, grilled meat, and my all-time favorite, smashed potatoes
Viola, that’s it! I would say that’s an evening well done, don’t ya think?
Stay classy!
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“Healthy-ish” Peanut Butter Cups
These “healthy-ish” Peanut butter cups are really tasty, loaded with protein and refined sugar-free these peanut butter cups are sure to please. These are a great snack with a cup of tea or perfect for the kids lunches!
Makes 6-8 Peanut Butter Cups
Ingredients
Chocolate Layer
- 1/2 cup coconut oil, melted
- 1/4 cup cocoa powder
- 3 tablespoons maple syrup
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
In a mixing bowl, Mix together the coconut oil, cocoa powder, maple syrup and vanilla until combined. Layer into a square baking dish or muffin tin (since these are for valentines day you can use a heart shaped mold!). and place into the freezer for 15-20 minutes.
Peanut Butter Layer
- 1/2 cup coconut oil, melted
- 1/2 cup peanut butter (salted, chunky peanut butter)
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
- 2 tablespoons of chia seeds (optional)
- Powdered Sugar for garnish
Mix together Coconut oil, peanut butter, maple syrup and vanilla until combined. Pour on top of chocolate layer, Sprinkle with chia seeds. Freeze for 15-20 minutes.
At this point you can either slice with a warm knife or cookie cutter, or unmold!
Place on a plate and sprinkle with powdered sugar.
Enjoy!
xx,
T
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Light, Sunday Morning Banana Muffins
Sunday Mornings call for tasty treats and these muffins are de-lish! They are a great use for those sad brown bananas and are pretty quick to prep. Bonus – you can use only 1 bowl (less dishes to wash…yes please!). Most importantly, they are scrumptious!
When you allow bananas to turn brown and almost mushy, they become extra sweet, which makes them the perfect ingredient to use when trying to bake using less sugar. These muffins use agave nectar as a sugar substitution which adds a slightly “nutty” flavor. Slivered almonds the perfect complement if you are a nut lover.
Take to bananas out of the freezer about 15 minutes before you cook start prepping!
Preheat oven to 325 degrees
2/3 cups coconut oil
1/2 cups agave nectar
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups mashed bananas
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 tablespoon chia seeds
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cups slivered almonds or walnuts
Prepare your muffin tin by greasing all 12 muffin cups.
Melt coconut oil in the microwave until it’s fully liquid. Add agave and whisk, once combined, add 2 eggs and combine thoroughly. Add in bananas, baking soda, vanilla, chia seeds, salt and flour. Mix to combine and until dry ingredients are fully incorporated. Fold in nuts.
Divide batter evenly between 12 muffin cups.
Bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Let these babies cool and serve!
Enjoy the perfect little snack, quick breakfast or mid morning pick me up!
xx,
gracegrl
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Truffled Rosemary Monkey Bread Muffins
Upgrade your biscuit game with these incredibly delicious, simple and fun to eat muffins! I like to serve these with soup and they would be great at your holiday table as well! The cool thing is that because they’re cut into smaller pieces and tossed in the coating all the pieces have flavor!
Makes 12 large muffins
- 2- 16 oz packages buttermilk biscuits (you can find these at the local supermarket or my favorite store, Trader Joes!)
- 1 Tablespoon fresh rosemary finely chopped
- 3 Tablespoons butter, melted
- 2 Tablespoons truffle oil
- 1/2 Teaspoon salt
- 2 Tablespoons parmesan cheese
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Spray a muffin tin with cooking spray, set aside. Open biscuit packages and cut each biscuit into 6 pieces.
In a large bowl mix rosemary, butter, truffle oil and salt. Whisk together until combined, add biscuit pieces and toss until completely coated.
Sprinkle parmesan in the bottom of each muffin tin and fill with coated biscuit pieces until all pieces are gone. Press each one down slightly so the pieces stick together.
Bake for 9 minutes until the tops start to brown, then turn down the oven to
325 d egrees, cover with foil and bake for another 9 minutes.Remove from oven, let cool for 5 minutes before removing from muffin tin.
Enjoy these taste morsels of goodness!
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Baked Broccoli
This is one of our most favorite sides. Baking the broccoli brings out a somewhat “nutty” flavor and it can be the perfect addition to a salad, pasta dish or just have it as a side dish. This recipe is simple, foolproof and well, downright delish.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees
- 3 cups broccoli, trimmed into bite-sized pieces (I usually make them smaller if they’re going into a salad)
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 tsp salt,
- 1/2 tsp pepper
Place Broccoli in a mixing bowl, toss with olive oil, salt, and pepper.
Bake 20-25 minutes
Warning: Once this comes out of the oven a few pieces will inevitably be consumed by passers-by, for this reason, I always add a few more pieces than I think I need just to account for the missing florets.
Happy cooking!
xx,
gracegrl
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Fancified Avocado Toast
Step up your brunch game with this outside the box take on Avocado toast. Instead of using “toast” we opted for mini waffles. They sure are a crowd-pleaser, they’re hearty, healthy and they look super cute too!
Waffles
- 1 1/4 Cup all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
- 1 1/2 Tablespoons sugar
- 1 Teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4
Teaspoon salt - 1/2 Cup
- 1/2
Cup plaingreek yogurt - 4 Tablespoons butter, melted
Topping
- 4 eggs
- 3 small tomatoes
- 1 small avocado
- Salt
- Pepper
Place waffle batter in a large bowl, whisk all ingredients together until smooth and combined. Drop spoonfuls onto waffle iron and cook to your desired “done-ness”
Place 1 waffle on a plate, top with fried egg, avocado slices and 2 slices tomato. Sprinkle with salt and pepper!
Enjoy this tasty weekend breakfast!
xx,
T
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Corned Beef, Cabbage, and Sweet Potato Pizza!
This is a St. Patty’s day tradition in our house, I make it almost every year and we always say “we should make this more often”! It’s a fun twist on a traditional Irish classic! Making the dish in “pizza” form is fun and interactive, you could even do mini pizzas for a party too!
- 3 carrots, peeled and sliced into 1/2 inch pieces
- 4 sweet potatoes, peeled and sliced into 1/2 inch pieces
1 (about 3 lbs) corned beef brisket already brined. - 1/4 cup mozzarella cheese
- 2 cauliflower pizza crusts (you can use regular too!)
- 2 Tablespoons truffle oil.
- 6 cups water
- 1 lb bag shredded cabbage
- 1 tablespoon butter
- Salt
- Pepper
- 1/2 cup chicken broth
In a slow cooker, place carrots and sweet potatoes. Remove corned beef from package, and rinse (I like to rinse it to remove some of the saltiness). Place corned beef, fat side up, on top of vegetables add enough water to almost cover meat (about 6 cups). Cover and cook on high until corned beef is tender, about 6 hours on low.
Melt butter in a saucepan, once it’s heated add cabbage, salt, Pepper and broth, sauté until cabbage is translucent and completely cooked (about 5-10 minutes). Let cool.
Once meat is cooked, prepare pizza crust as directed on package. I opted for cauliflower pizza crust but you can use regular pizza crust too, Once crust is baked sprinkle generously with truffle oil and a light sprinkle of mozzarella cheese, now build your pizza! Start with veggies, shred beef and add that, then top completely with cabbage and the reminder of the mozzarella cheese.
Turn oven to broil and broil pizza on high, just until cheese is melted and browned.
Now let cool for 5 minutes, serve and enjoy with a cold Guinness.
Happy St. Patricks day!
xx,
T
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Rustic Cheesecake Bites
These cheesecake bites are rustic and delicious!
They’re lightened up so you can eat two or three and not feel guilty! They’re also not super sweet either, with just 1/4 cup brown sugar, you don’t have to worry about that sugar high. (wink wink) You can also make these ahead of time so they’re the perfect little bite for an afternoon tea or dessert with guests!
Makes 30 mini cakes
- 1 1/4 cups crushed Graham Crackers
- 4 tablespoons butter, melted
Preheat oven to 350
Line a mini muffin tin with mini cupcake liners. Put 1 package of Graham crackers into a Ziploc and whack with a wooden spoon to make crumbs! Mix crumbs with butter and place in the bottom of each baking cup, press firmly to pack and create the crust! Bake for 10 minutes, remove from oven and let cool completely (about 10 minutes).
For the Cheesecake
- 1/2 cup cream cheese at room temperature
- 1/2 cup Ricotta cheese at room temperature
- 1 cup fat-free yogurt at room temperature
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
- 1 egg at room temperature
Place all ingredients in a large bowl, mix together with a whisk until well combined and smooth. Using a teaspoon, spoon cheesecake on top of each graham
craker crust, tap gently ontable to remove any bubbles and ensure the tops are smooth after baking.Bake 20-25 minutes or until lightly golden brown. Remove from oven and let cool 15 minutes, remove cheesecakes from muffin pan and let cool an additional 10 minutes. Place in an airtight container and refrigerate at least 4 hours. Chill completely before serving (chilling ensure they’re properly set!).
Special note: The reason for the “room temperature” ingredients is that it helps keep the cakes from cracking after baking and further ensures that smooth top!
Enjoy these tasty morsels, if you want to get extra fancy, top each one with a fresh raspberry! Yum Yum.
xx,
T
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Green Goodness Smoothie
Need a great, nutrition-packed smoothie? This is just the ticket. It is really tasty, and you can make it sweeter depending upon your tastes (just add some agave nectar). Healthy, delicious and bursting with superfoods! This can be your new go-to recipe when you’re craving a smoothie.
- 1 cup vanilla almond milk
- 2 handfuls spinach
- 1 handful kale
- 1/2 large banana
- 1/2 frozen blueberries
- 1/2 plain or vanilla greek yogurt
- 1/2 cup orange juice
Ready for a really complicated process? Put everything blender, and… drumroll, please?
Blend it up! Pour into your favorite glass and savor the healthy, deliciousness!
Note: depending upon your blender you may have to add the spinach and kale in batches to ensure it blends smoothly!
Happy Healthy Eating!
xx,
T
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Butterhorn Cookies
I love the taste of Butterhorn cookies and have recently learned that they’re quite hard to find. I checked our local coffee shops, even Starbucks and Nordstrom cafe with no luck, so on a rainy Monday afternoon I decided to make my own, and I really liked the result (By liked the result I mean I ate 5 in the first 20 minutes of cooling!!)
Preheat oven to 350
- 2 cups flour
- 1 tsp. Salt
- 8 Tbsp Cold Butter (1 stick)
- 5 Tbsp. Cream Cheese (2.5 oz)
- 3/4 Cup Plain Greek Yogurt
- One Egg yolk
Filling:
- 3/4 Cups Brown Sugar
- 1 Tsp. Cinnamon
Mix flo
ur ,salt , Butter and Cream cheese until crumbly. Stir in Greek Yogurt and Egg yolk. Just until combined (You’re basically making pie crust!). Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for 3 hours or overnight. Remove dough from Fridge, Cut dough into 3 equal pieces and roll out into a thin 12” diameter circle.Mix Brown sugar and cinnamon together and spread about 1/4 cup onto dough being sure to reach almost all the way to the corners. Cut into 12 triangles with a pizza cutter, roll them up and pinch together. Place on a cookie sheet seam side down.
Repeat with all remaining dough and filling.
Bake for 18-20 minutes. Let cool completely before serving.
Enjoy with a cup of tea or coffee!
xx,
T (Peanut Butter & Jelly Chronicles)
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