-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
50 Activities To Do On a Day at Home
It can be hard during times like these to stay positive and excited about life when let’s face it, folks are a little down right now. But never fear, we’ve got a list of 50 activities to keep you busy while you’re stuck at home. Whether you’re busy working from home or are taking care of your kids, this list certainly has at least a few things to keep you busy during your homestay!
Spring Cleaning:
-Move furniture and vacuum behind and under it (Goodbye 3 year old dust bunnies!)
– Detail your car- Wash, Vacuum, squirt and spray, also while you’re at it top off all fluids!
– Clean gutters- it may not be fun but it’s certainly a good thing to do and you’ll be happy you did it too!
– Wash floors- Grab that bucket and a brush and scrub away!
– Clean Grout- While you have your bucket out from washing the floors, clean your tile grout too!
– Wash your windows, not sure about you but with the sun streaming in we’re definiltiy seeing windows in need of washing
– Tune up your lawnmower- There are tons of great lawnmower tutorials on youtube you can look at to make you mower function at its best.
– Tidy your laundry room, it’s probably one of the rooms you spend lots of time in, why not keep it clean and organized
Culinary Projects:
-Try to cook a new recipe with things from your cupboard/fridge
⁃Bake cookies- Chocolate chip, oatmeal, shortbread, so many options!
-Make homemade bread
-Try making homemade pasta
– Try a new cocktail recipe
– Make chocolates
Outdoor Activities:
⁃Do some gardening, finally prune those trees, weed that bed, org
⁃Have a picnic in your backyard
Staying Active:
-Jump rope- Good for your heart rate and it’s fun too!
-Walk with kids and make a game of finding/identifying flowers- Tulips, Daffodils, H
yacinths -Go for a bike ride
⁃Find a new workout app so you can workout at home (try fittbe!)
⁃Go for a walk
⁃Head to the local lake and go kayaking or paddle boarding
Organization Activities:
-Organize your digital or printed photos, something you probably rarely have time to do normally
-Organize your garage- it can be daunting but take it one section at a time.
⁃Organize your closet, go through clothes and figure out what you want to keep or not
⁃Organize cabinets/drawers- office and kitchen! Sort things to donate and keep!
Staying indoors:
⁃Watch a movie that you’ve been wanting to look at for a while
⁃Rearrange living room furniture
⁃Do soduko
-Make a flip book
⁃Learn a new card game, cribbage, euchre, gin, bridge
⁃Start that blog!
⁃Make seasonal cards
-Watch old family movies- you’re guaranteed a laugh or two during your trip down memory lane!
⁃Write a gratitude list
⁃Do a spa day, take a bath, paint your nails, do a facemask, drink tea and read a book
⁃Do a puzzle
⁃Tie Dye things
⁃Make homemade play dough
⁃Make homemade bath bombs
⁃Learn origami
-do your taxes (not fun but must be done!)
– Learn how to tie useful knots
– Do a funny photoshoot
– Decorate for the next holiday
Tech Things:
⁃Unsubscribe from junk emails
⁃Make a new playlist of songs for the upcoming season
⁃Organize computer files
-have a virtual happy hour with friends
-Listen to songs of praise
-research a DIY on YouTube
-
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)
-
Delicious Chickpea Salad
This Chickpea salad is divine! We made it last week to accompany grilled salmon and it was a winning combination. It’s packed with veggies, protein and goat cheese too! It’s super versatile and you can add whatever veggies or cheese you have on hand!
Ingredients
- 2 cans chickpeas drained and rinsed
- 1 cup grape tomatos
- 1 red bell pepper chopped
- 3 green onions
- 1 avocado
- 3 tbsp goat cheese
Start by rinsing 2 cans of chickpeas. Slice grape or cherry tomatos and toss them in.
Next, slice half a cup of green onions and add them to the bowl. Follow this with one chopped bell pepper. I love avocado, and bonus for those great healthy fats, so the addition of avocado was a must for me!
Add salt and pepper to taste, and dress with your favorite vinaigrette. For a creamy treat, sprinkle goat cheese on top!
Check out the video below!
Enjoy this delicious recipe, it evokes memories of summertime on the deck. Warm weather and a nice cool glass of rose! Now that takes me to a very, very, happy place!
xx,
gracegrl
-
Rustic Rhubarb Tart
I recently was given fresh rhubarb from a friend and I’ll tell you what, I couldn’t get home fast enough to bake it into something scrumptious! Tart, sweet, and well downright delicious, this will have you sitting by the oven like a child on Christmas morning!
Preheat oven to 375 degrees
- 1 package store-bought pie crust
- 4 Cups fresh rhubarb, sliced into 1/4″ slices
- 1 cup fresh strawberries, quartered
- 3 tbsp flour
- 1 tsp vanilla
- ½ cup of sugar
- 1/4 tsp orange zest
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
Slice rhubarb into 1/4 inch slices, place in mixing bowl, add sliced strawberries and mix with flour, vanilla, sugar, orange zest, and cinnamon. Set aside for 15 minutes so flavors meld.
Roll pie crust out into a 15″ diameter, place rhubarb/strawberry mixture in the center of the crust, leaving about 1.5 inches of crust around the filling. Fold crust over fruit creating the ‘rustic’ tart, brush crust with water (to keep it from burning) and sprinkle with granulated sugar if you’d like.
Bake for 35-45 minutes or until filling is bubbly and crust is browned, take out and let cool for 15 minutes before serving.
Serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.
Enjoy this tasty dessert!
xx,
T (Peanut Butter & Jelly Chronicles)
-
Fresh and Fab Carrot Orange Smoothie
This smoothie is SO delicious. It’s sweet and slightly nutty from the hemp seeds. Great for breakfast or a mid-day pick me up or just your daily dose of vitamins!
Makes 4 smoothies
- 1/4 cup Hemp Seeds
- 1/2 Teaspoon Tumeric
- 3/4 cup yogurt
- 1 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
- 1 scoop vanilla protein powder
- 1 scoop collagen powder
- 1/2 banana
- 1/3 cup chopped carrot
- 1/2 cup orange, peeled and cut into small pieces
- 1/2 teaspoon orange zest
- 1
cup frozen mango
Place all ingredients in blender, blend until smooth. Pour into glasses and serve!
Enjoy this tasty treat!
xx,
T (Peanut Butter & Jelly Chronicles)
