We have been crazy for scones around my house lately. I just can’t get enough of them. I’ve been making a few batches every week. I love them with coffee in the morning, or as a snack in the afternoon. They even make a great snack for my son’s lunchbox. I’ve been making lots of different flavors, and these tangerine and mixed fruit scones are my latest creation.(...)
Read the rest of Mixed Berry Tangerine Scones (77 words)

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

This is a really simple idea you can use for your pizza on Super Bowl Sunday. You can find this football pepperoni pizza on Babble’s Family Kitchen.

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

This Sunday is Super Bowl Sunday. It seemed to sneak up on me this year. I’ve just started menu planning for the big day. Along with pizza and wings, I’m making some fresh guacamole to snack on. It’s a must have snack for Super Bowl Sunday in our house. This year I’m making a big batch of roasted corn guacamole. It’s loaded with sweet roasted corm, ripe tomatoes and lots of fresh cilantro.  For my avocados, I always use hass, and right now the freshest in season avocados are coming out of Chile. Be sure to look for the Chilean sticker on your avocados when you pick yours up at your local market this week.(...)
Read the rest of Roasted Corn Guacamole (111 words)

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

I have been addicted to iced tea for as long as I can remember. I’m sure mom even put it in my baby bottle. But we weren’t the type of southern family who went crazy for overly sweet tea. My mom put just enough sugar in to cut some of the bitterness, which wasn’t much. Now I have started using a sugar substitute in my tea so I can watch my sugar intake. I’ve also switched almost exclusively to green tea.

Because I love green tea so much, I was so excited when I found out that Lipton has a new Green Tea Superfruit line. There are 3 fun and delicious flavors, a white mangosteen and peach, a purple acai and blueberry and a red goji and raspberry flavor. I love these types of flavored teas, because you don’t have to add any sugar to them. These teas are really good hot, but sometimes I will brew them as a hot cup of tea, and then our it over ice. Either way, they are amazing!

Hot tea has been so comforting during these cold days, and it’s nice to have a little snack with your tea. So yesterday I decided to make some scones. I used some fresh Florida oranges and craisins to flavor them. They paired wonderfully with each of these three Lipton teas, but especially the red goji and raspberry flavor.

These scones super flavorful and not too sweet. They will fill your whole home with a beautiful orange scent. They make a great breakfast item or a delicious afternoon snack.

I just started making scones, and was extremely surprised at how quick and easy they are to make. If you can make a biscuit, you can definitely make these. Scones might even be easier because there’s no biscuit cutter needed. Just cut your scone dough like a pizza, and then place dough slices on a baking sheet.

Cranberry Orange Scones

Ingredients:

2 cups self-rising flour
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup very cold butter, cut in pats
1 tablespoon orange zest
1 large egg
1/2 cup milk or cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup dried cranberries

Directions:

Preheat oven to 450°. Combine flour and sugar in a large mixing bowl. Mix well. Add orange zest and butter. Using a pastry knife, incorporate the butter in the flour until it is grainy.

Add egg, milk, vanilla extract and cranberries. Mix until just combined. Use hands to finish incorporating flour into the dough.

Form a disc with the dough on a lightly floured surface and cut into diamond shapes.

Transfer scones to a parchment or nonstick surface on a baking sheet.

Bake at 450 degrees for 12 - 15 minutes, or until golden brown.

Now that I have shared what I would pair with these refreshing Lipton Green Tea Superfruits, I want to know, how do you enjoy your tea? The first three commenters will be sent a sample of one of the three teas shown above!

Share your tea time must haves for a chance to win a year’s supply of Lipton Tea, a tea kettle, a tea box, a mug/saucer set, a travel tumbler and a $50 gift card to Amazon.com!

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Lipton Green Tea Superfruit. The opinions and text are all mine. Official Sweepstakes Rules.

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

Over the holidays one of my favorite neighbors brought me a goodie basket full of sweet treats. Along with some of the best fudge I have ever had, and some amazing Christmas cookies were these magic cookie bars. I have had them years ago, but had long since forgot about them. I enjoyed them so much, I asked for the recipe and made my own batch last week.

This recipe is based off the original from EAGLE BRAND®. For my recipe, I just added a bit more coconut and some dates. You can play around with the toppings for these cookie bars however you like. You could do dark chocolate, butterscotch, white chocolate or a combination. You can also add whichever type of nuts and dried fruit you have in your pantry. I used pecans because they’re my favorite, and I couldn’t resist adding some dates.

Magic Cookie Bars with Dates

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter (1 stick), melted
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1 - 14 ounce can Sweetened Condensed Milk
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
1 1/2 cups flaked coconut
1 cup chopped nuts
1/2 cup chopped dates

Directions:

Pr-heat oven to 350°. Either line a 9 x 13 pan with parchment or lightly spray with non-stick cooking spray.

Combine melted butter and graham cracker crumbs on a bowl and mix well. Press into baking dish. Pour sweetened condensed milk over graham crackers and spread out evenly. Then layer chocolate chips, coconut, nuts and dates.

Bake for 25 minutes, or until lightly browned.

This post NOT compensated, I just love Eagle Brand condensed milk .

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

One of my favorite memories of college wasn’t the excessive drinking, clubbing or whatever else type of trouble I could get into, it was our class potlucks. I know it sounds corny but I really looked forward to having potlucks, exchanging recipes and cooking for others. And don’t worry, I wasn’t a deprived youth, I worked in clubs to finance college, so nearly 40 hours of every week back then was a party.

In my dental hygiene class, we use to have a potluck every time it was someone’s birthday, or a holiday, so there were plenty. There were so many wonderful dishes that were shared, but the one that I have made most often since then is a blueberry cake that a good friend had surprised me with on my own birthday. It’s a 3 layer white cake with whipped cream and cream cheese icing, and blueberry pie filling poured over the layers and then again over the top of the cake. It’s light, not too sweet and so good.

Here I have transformed that wonderful cake into a little jarred layered cupcake. These make wonderful additions to a lunch cooler for a picnic at the park or beach, and even for a gift.(...)
Read the rest of Vanilla Cupcakes, Blueberry and Whipped Topping Jar Parfaits (64 words)

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

Sometimes you just need a good old-fashioned stew, like this classic beef stew. You can find my recipe for easy beef stew over at Babble’s Family Kitchen.

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

Saffron can be pricey, but I found a cheap trick to tasty and beautiful yellow rice. You can find this cheap and easy recipe for yellow rice over at Babble’s Family Kitchen.

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

This is one of those super fast and easy weeknight dinner ideas. I served this with sauteed spinach and a little yellow rice. You can find this recipe for sweet chili glazed salmon over at Babble’s Family Kitchen.

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

A couple of weeks ago we had lunch with my husband’s grandmother. She picked one of her lunchtime favorite spots, Olive Garden. Even though it’s not our favorite spot, I knew we could find something on the menu that wasn’t that bad. We told her we hadn’t been there in years and asked her to suggest something good.
(...)
Read the rest of Zuppa Toscana (140 words)

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh