King's

Mini Raspberry Ganache Tarts | No Bake!

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 06 Dec 2014 22:53:00 +0000

Have you ever seen anything so adorable in your life?!

So these little babies need 4 ingredients and take no time at all to make and will be the best thing you have ever eaten in your life. Overreaction? Maybe. But the first two things are absolutely true.

The only kind of weird thing that you need is a package of the small prepared pie crusts. Which aren't really weird at all. I found mine at target but I know they sell them in the baking section of most major grocery stores in the baking aisle right next to the other prepared pie pans. They are adorable and will make you never want a full size pie again.

After you have the tiny pie crusts you probably have everything else you need! Raspberry preserves, chocolate chips, and heavy whipping cream.

This is a three step process. Step one is to spoon some of the raspberry preserves into the bottom of each of the crusts. Step two is to make the ganache. For this step all you need is heavy whipping cream and chocolate. I used semi-sweet Ghirardelli chips because higher quality chocolate really does make a difference. Also, I like the contrast of the slightly bitter chocolate against the sweet raspberry preserves that make up the bottom layer of the tart.

So with the cream heated to just a boil pour it over the top of the chocolate and let it sit for a few minutes.

After it sits for a while whisk it up until it's smooth and then spoon it into the prepared crusts until it reaches the top.

I usually add a small amount of vegetable shortening to my ganache. This makes it shiny and so smooth it's insane. You could also add a little butter but neither is necessary, just a bonus!

After filling the crusts you can definitely stop there but I needed a garnish. Needed! For this I whipped my ganache after letting it come to room temperature until it was at stiff-peak consistency. Make sure not to over-whip because the chocolate and cream will start to separate and no one wants that. I piped a small amount of the whipped ganache onto the center and plopped a raspberry on top. Voila!

Now, since I am always going just a little too far I doused my tarts in powdered sugar because why not, right??

Honestly the rich, smoothness of the ganache paired with the slightly sweet preserves and crunchy graham crust may be worthy of eating a tart a night for 6 days and resting on the seventh.

Mini Raspberry Ganache Tarts

Makes: 6 mini tarts

Prep Time: 5-10 Minutes

Ingredients:

6 Mini prepared graham cracker pie crusts (they come in packs of 6)
1 1/4 Cups Chocolate Chips of your choice
1 1/4 Cup Heavy Whipping Cream
6-10 Tablespoons of Raspberry Preserves- amount depends on your personal taste
Optional- whole fresh raspberries and/or powdered sugar to garnish

Instructions:

Put chocolate chips into a medium bowl, set aside
Heat heavy cream to a boil in a pan over medium heat. Remove immediately once the cream reaches a boil
Pour over chocolate, let rest for 5 minutes- set aside
Spoon raspberry preserves into the bottom of each pie crusts. I made mine about a quarter of a inch thick which made for a good ratio with the chocolate
Stir chocolate and cream mixture until smooth and pour into prepared crusts up to the edge
Place in refrigerator to set for at least 10 minutes
Allow any remaining ganache to completely cool and then whisk until light and fluffy making sure not to over-whip, the cream and chocolate with start to separate if it is over-whipped
Pipe desired amount of whipped ganache onto chilled tarts
garnish with fresh raspberries and powdered sugar if desired!

Blogging Tips: 4 Easy Ways to Improve SEO in Blogger

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 28 Nov 2014 02:00:00 +0000

There are A LOT of tips out there for bloggers and how to improve SEO! This post is designed to be an absolute basic tutorial on how to improve a few post settings to increase visibility. If you do not know what SEO is, it stands for Search Engine Optimization and can be your best friend. It is an easy way to increase traffic for free and should be utilized by everybody!

If you haven't figured it out by now I am an obvious Blogger loyalist. I know WordPress has quite a following but I am so familiar with Blogger at this point that I can't imagine switching. These are a few things I do to each of my posts to help establish visibility.

Adding "Title Text" and "ALT Text" to Images
My first tip has to do with images. When you click an image the options bar shows up. You want to click on "properties":

Next you want to insert your desired "Title Text" and "ALT Text" into the boxes available. In these boxes you want to type a short description of what the image is.

The Title Text is what will display when someone hovers their mouse over the image like so:

and the ALT Text is what will display if there is some reason the image cannot load. It's also what blind people hear when they use a screen reader. So how does this help SEO? Well, Google, as advanced as it is, cannot identify what each and every picture is. The words help it recognize and categorize your photo making it more visible when people search for things.

Creating a Custom Permalink
Tip number two is about creating a unique permalink for your posts. Permalinks create the possibility of bringing people to your blog through search engines. Including key words relating to your post subject can grow visibility through searches and put your post towards the top of the results.

Here is how to make a unique permalink: On the right side of the page when you are creating a post, under post settings there is a tab that says "Permalink." Click on that tab and choose the "Custom Permalink" option. In this box be sure to include the complete title of your post excluding filler words like "an, a, the, of, etc." and separating each word with a dash. Click "Done" and voila! Custon link to your post.

Adding Tags to Your Posts
The third tip I have is to add tags to your posts. On the right side of the page you will see the "Post Settings" again and click on the "Labels" tab.

Tags are a huge asset for bloggers. They help organize posts within your own blog searches as well as help search engines index and rank your posts, also, they help make your posts more searchable.

Using consistent tags is important for bloggers. Just using a tag once will not do you much good. Before I tag something I make sure it would be a tag I would use at least five times. If I don't think I'll use it that much, then I don't add it. Avoiding excessive tagging is key to utilizing this feature of blogging. Over tagging really specific items like "salt" or "pepper" will not make your post stand out. I like to divide my tags into categories like meal type, difficulty level, flavors, and possibly one key ingredient like "garlic."

Utilizing Search Descriptions
Search descriptions are the little bits of information that display below your link in a search engine. If you don't use this feature it's not the end of the world but if you're like me and tend not to use very many key words in your first sentence then you should seriously consider starting.
If you're not sure what I'm talking about then here is an example: in the photo below my search description is "16 super simple appetizers with 5 ingredients or less! Perfect for any occasion."

It may seem like a simple concept but in those two short statements I included the post title, the word "simple" and the word "perfect". All of those features are searchable items that will boost my post's ratings.
In order to implement the search description feature you have to enable it. First on the blogger dashboard go to "settings" then click "search preferences." Make sure "yes" is clicked where it says "enable search description."

After you do this you will be able to add a search description to your blog as well as to individual posts like so:

And that is all it takes!

Each of these tips by themselves is a small improvement towards much better Search Engine Optimization!
If you have any other ideas or tips for bloggers leave a comment!

Blogging Tips: Ten and a Half Tips for New Bloggers

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 24 Nov 2014 18:00:00 +0000

Decide the direction of your blog and follow it

Choosing an over-all flow of your blog and content is crazy important, especially to create a solid readership. If people know what to expect as far as a subject area then they are more likely to come back to your site. Jumping all over the place with content is confusing and can make it hard for readers to find things that they are actually interested in since they will have to sift through a bunch of other stuff. This doesn't mean you have to be boring and predictable, it just means you should seriously consider not bogging down your site with stuff your particular readers aren't interested in, obviously, right?

Post Consistently

Posting consistently is an amazing way to gain readers! This doesn't mean you have to post every single day, it just means that you should not go months without posting then post like 3 things in a week! Having a consistent stream of content coming from your bog will keep a constant stream of readers coming to your site. Try to create a goal for yourself like creating a post once a week and then go from there!

Use Social Media

Social media is such an awesome tool for bloggers! I'm talking Pinterest, Instagram, Google+, Facebook! All of the above! Using social media to your advantage is one of the easiest things a blogger can do, especially when they are starting out. Follow as many other bloggers as you can find and interact with them. Social networks are free and so, so easy to use so why not, right?

Join Group Boards on Pinterest

So this is in the same vein as Tip #3 but it is strong enough to stand on it's own. Following group boards on Pinterest or becoming a contributor on one is a huge advantage you can give yourself. If you don't know what group boards are or how to become a contributor here is a link that will teach you all you need to know. Posting on group boards will expose your content to a much wider audience than just your followers. This will also promote people to visit your site through your pins so you can increase traffic through wider visibility. There are TONS of group boards for every subject area and you can always create your own and invite others to join.

Attend Link Parties

Ask any blogger about link parties and they will tell you that they are an amazing gift from the internet Gods... or something like that! These parties are hosted by bloggers and allow you to link your content on their site along with other bloggers and totally bumps up visibility. Some have themes which is fun and usually they will feature whichever link is viewed the most at the next party so you have the possibility of having some serious exposure. Link parties can gain a huge following so they are a great place to find other bloggers in your niche and create relationships with new readers. To find link parties to attend seriously just Google "[type of blog] link party" and you are bound to find some! To see some of the food blog link parties I attend check out my Linkup Parties page.

Plan and Schedule Posts

Planning posts is a must-do for the scatterbrained blogger out there. You know who you are! Coming up with the framework for an idea that will later become an entire post is an excellent use of spare time. I'm always jotting down notes or outlines for posts that will become full blown thoughts later on, but sitting down and trying to come up with something from nothing is HARD. Writer's block is more likely to set in if you haven't come up with any ideas at all so having planned content can make you become your own best friend. Along with planning future posts, coming up with a schedule for yourself is a good idea. Maybe set aside one day of the week for coming up with post ideas, then next day can be a research day, the day after that can be a design day, and then you can post after that. Or, whatever will work with your schedule, but coming up with a time frame for posting will give you more consistency.

Build Relationships with Bloggers and Readers

Bloggers really do have a strong community but it's not exactly a secret-password-protected-scary-initiation-club. Most bloggers are so excited to meet and interact with other bloggers. Don't be afraid to reach out and ask for advice or help with ANYTHING! And I mean anything. If you see something on someone else's site and you are interested in having it on yours, just shoot them an email and just be like, "Hi There! I saw this cool thing... I also want that cool thing. Tell me more about how I can have that cool thing! Thanks!" I mean, maybe try to be a little professional, but hey, we're all human! Building relationships with readers is equally as important as connecting with other bloggers. There are unlimited ways to interact with readers: respond to comments, invite readers to look at other posts that may interest them, invite them to follow you on social media or conversely, follow them, create email lists (don't spam their inbox) to tell them about new or updated content, etc. Readers are the reason for the season... wait, no, readers are the reason we do what we do as bloggers! Keep this in mind and things will go well!

Blog Every Day

This tip appears to be a little daunting but fear not, it's harmless. This does not mean you need to create a new blog post each day *yikes*, it just means you need to do something related to your blog everyday! By this I mean post to social media, respond to comments, reply to emails, read some blogs, update a post on your blog that needs updating, or any other little thing you can think of. Doing small things everyday will show your readers that you are around even if there isn't a new post!

Read Other Blogs

To some people this is a seriously obvious tip but it may not be to others. As Stephen King said "If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others; read a lot and write a lot." This is where the reading a lot comes in. Looking at other blogs can give you a huge insight into what other people are writing about. You can learn what works and what doesn't as well as what makes readers keep reading. Use these things to form your own blog into what you want it to be. Reading other blogs will also help with the part of Tip # 7 about building relationships with other bloggers. Some of the biggest fans of most blogs are other bloggers!

Don't Force It

DO. NOT. FORCE. IT. Trust me when I say: readers can sense when something has been forced, they're like bloodhounds but with blogging and they sniff out crappy writing! Which, if I may say, is definitely a crime. If you don't have anything to say, please don't dig for it. Let it flow out of you and if there's nothing a-flowin' don't try to make it happen! You will be much happier with your content and with yourself if you post things that you are interested in and genuinely want to write about. If you have something that you know you want to write about and nothing is coming you may be experiencing an adorable little thing we call "writer's block." Yeah, that old chestnut! Different people get over writer's block in different ways but my strategy is to leave it alone and come back to it when I have something to say. Easy peasy.

HAVE FUN

This is a half of a tip because it's not really a tip, but it's also not not a tip, you know? Honestly, I think this might be the most important non-tip you can receive as a blogger. You should be passionate about your subject and if you're not having fun then what's the point?

If you have any other tips for new bloggers let me know in the comments!

Grilled Honey Sriracha Chicken Skewers

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 24 Nov 2014 02:45:00 +0000

On most days I say that chocolate and peppermint is my favorite flavor combo but today it is honey and sriracha... and possibly every day hereafter.

This sauce gets all caramelized and sticky in the best way. Oh. My. God. I'm in love. It starts out sweet but not too sweet and then the heat creeps in. Oooh, that heat! I'm not one for overly spicy foods seeing how I don't like to sweat when I eat but this sauce has the perfect amount of non sweat-inducing heat. Also it can be tweaked for the individual palate so, I mean, it's basically perfect.

The sauce, which I love (just so that's abundantly clear to you), is versatile! Today, I used it on chicken but tomorrow could be beef or shrimp or ANYTHING I WANT. You can make it ahead of time and keep it in the fridge for up to a week, just reheat it when you're ready to sauce your meats.

This is a reduction-type-sauce which is the best kind of sauce. I reduced mine to the point where it was a little more syrupy than honey so that it could get to the perfect sticky consistency on the grill but feel free to cook this down until it's like tar if you want to!

Now, for the skewers this little grill worked perfectly for me but I know that a BBQ would make these seriously amazing. However, if it's Winter and you have no grill press, a frying pan would work just fine.

Hey! My words are down here, stop staring! Just kidding. Take your time... I'll wait.

Okay, so I made my chicken skewers with thigh meat because I love dark meat but chicken breast would be equally delicious because the chicken is just a vessel for the sauce. All I seasoned the meat with was some salt and pepper since the sauce doesn't need any help in the flavor department.

Since I used smaller chicken thighs my skewers were the perfect size for an awesome appetizer but I'm not saying I didn't eat all of them for lunch. So get crazy! Grill 'em for dinner or serve 'em up at a party with some extra sauce for dipping! Either way, you're going to have a good time.

Here is how the magic happens-

Honey Sriracha Chicken Skewers

Makes:8-10 Skewers

Prep Time: 5 Minutes Cook Time: 15-22 Minutes Total Time: 20-27 Minutes

Ingredients:

4 Chicken Thighs cut into strips (or 2-3 chicken breasts depending on size)
1/4 Cup Honey
2 Tablespoons Sriracha Sauce
1/2 Cup Water
1 Tablespoon Butter
1/2 Tablespoon Soy Sauce
1 Teaspoon Rice Wine Vinegar
1/2 Teaspoon Worcestershire Sauce
1/4 Teaspoon Onion Powder
Salt and Pepper to season the chicken

Instructions:

Whisk honey, sriracha, water, butter, soy sauce, worcestershire, vinegar, and onion powder together in a small sauce pan over medium heat
Bring to boil and reduce to a simmer
Simmer for 10-15 minutes until reduced by about half and syrupy and remove from heat, set aside
Weave chicken onto skewers and season with salt and pepper
Grill (or fry in pan) on medium heat for 3-5 minutes until almost completely cooked, turning once
Increase heat to high, brush sauce on both sides of chicken and cook until caramelized, turning once (about 2 more minutes on each side)
Remove from heat and serve. Top with toasted sesame seeds or chives if desired

Note: Soak wooden skewers in water for at least an hour prior to cooking to prevent burning

If you liked this recipe you might also enjoy:

Sticky Bourbon Teriyaki Seared Sirloin

Caramel Apple Pie Bars

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 23 Nov 2014 11:20:00 +0000

A few weeks ago I made this amazing creamy caramel sauce and I immediately knew I needed a vessel to smother with it. In the vein of how noodles are a vessel for sauce these bars were a way to put more of the caramel into my face. So I said "let there be caramel apple pie bars", and so it was, and it was delicious.

With bars you might think the filling carries the dish but like with most things, pastries not excluded, the foundation does all of the heavy lifting. In this particular case shortbread is where we start construction, from the ground up... And by "ground" I totally just mean the bottom of an 9"x 9" baking pan. You can also use an 8"x 8" pan for slightly thicker bars.

Shortbread is sturdy and stays super crunchy even when you put a whole mess of gooey, sugary, apple pie filling on top. There's nothing worse than a soggy crust. Know what I'm saying? You totally know. It's really easy to make and only has 5 ingredients and can be used for a ton of different recipes.

You can see from my x-large photos above that the dough comes together to form a ball which is awesome because that makes it easy to press into a pan. I lined my 9"x 9" pan with non-stick foil, which I highly suggest. This makes it easy to lift the whole thing out to be sliced. Any ways, just use your little paws to press the dough into the bottom of the pan and bake that baby while you mix up your filling and streusel topping!

For this recipe I used a really simple apple pie filling that I cut down by a third. I usually use about 6 apples for a pie, as most people do, so 2 will do it for these bars. Also, while we're talking about apples, I think using anything beside the granny smith variety is a baking sin. There are several schools of thought on this subject by I obviously subscribe to my own way of thinking because it has never done me wrong.

There is just something so perfectly perfect about a tart granny smith covered in sweetness that takes it to a whole other place. Plus I put a whole mess of caramel on top so a sweet apple would just be indulgent of me...

Now: Streusel! For this layer of goodness there are 2 things to remember. The first is to have your butter be COLD and the second is to use old fashioned oats not quick cooking. Cold butter and old fashioned oats in a streusel give it that amazing crumbly texture that a bar like this craves! I would suggest using a pastry cutter for mixing the crumble but if you don't have one two knives working in an X pattern will totally work.

I would totally put this streusel on top of yogurt but it has raw butter in it so I would make sure I was alone first.

Next the layers come together...

...and we bake, cool, smother in caramel, and eat the whole batch.

Caramel Apple Pie Bars

Makes: 9-12 Bars
Prep Time:10 Minutes Cook Time: 45-50 Minutes Total Time: 55 Minutes-1 Hour

Ingredients:
Shortbread Crust-

1 Cup All Purpose Flour
1/4 teaspoon Salt
1/2 Cup (1 Stick) Unsalted Butter- Softened
1/4 Cup White Sugar
1/2 teaspoon Vanilla Extract

Apple Pie Filling-

2 Large Granny Smith Apples- peeled and thinly sliced
2 Tablespoons All Purpose Flour
2 Tablespoons White Sugar
1 teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon Ground Nutmeg

Streusel Topping-

1/2 Cup Old Fashioned Oats (not quick cooking/instant)
1/3 Cup Packed Brown Sugar
1/4 teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
1/4 Cup All Purpose Flour
1/4 Cup Butter- Cold and Cubed

Creamy Caramel Sauce or caramel of your choice

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit
Line baking pan with non-stick foil- leave overhang (8"x 8" or 9"x 9" pans will work)

Shortbread Crust-

Cream butter, sugar, vanilla, and salt together
Add in the flour and mix until just combined
Press the dough into your prepared pan evenly
bake for 10 minutes and remove from oven- the crust will not be fully cooked, this will be finished later

Apple Pie Filling-

Toss apples, flour, sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg together until the apples are completely and evenly coated, set aside while you prepare the streusel

Streusel Topping-

Use a pastry cutter or two knives to combine the oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, flour, and butter together until large crumbs form

Assembly-

Increase oven temperature to 350 degrees Fahrenheit
Press apple mixture onto crust until even- the crust does not need to be completely cooled for this step
Sprinkle the streusel topping over the apples evenly
Bake for 30-35 minutes until golden brown- remove from oven and allow to cool to room temp.
Drizzle with caramel and chill in the refrigerator to allow filling to set
Lift foil out of pan and slice into bars- can be served warm or cold!

If you liked this recipe you might also like:

Apple Pie Moonshine

Mini No-Bake Apple Pie Bites

Sweet Brown Butter Cornbread

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 22 Nov 2014 13:23:00 +0000

As far as versatility goes, corn bread transcends the seasons... Summer, Winter, those other two! It can't be stopped. Bring it to a BBQ but keep a personal stash. Make a stuffing out of it but don't expect leftovers. I could go on but I have to finish the rest of this post then eat an entire batch of cornbread!

This particular incarnation of our superhero starch has a few trick's up its unitard sleeves. First, but not hardly the most exciting, there is sour cream all mixed in there for amazing moisture and texture. The acidity of the sour cream mixed with the baking soda makes this corn bread moist and light at the same time. Secondly, and absolutely the most exciting, is the addition of that old nutty friend, brown butter!

I'm not saying nutty like the butter is a crazy ingredient, which it could possibly be considered, I'm saying it tastes nutty. In that rich, deep way that only brown butter can achieve in a bread of this kind.

You get it. You love brown butter, and that's okay! Loud and proud, my friends.

Um... Here's how to make this.

Brown that butter up!! The key is to remove it from the heat right as it becomes golden and aromatic. Just like basically all foods, the butter will continue to cook for a while after being removed. Now, for this recipe I cooked all my stuff in a cast iron skillet. I'm not saying that this is the only way to make cornbread but I'm also not, not saying that.

Here's a skillet full of butter. You're welcome, Paula Dean.

Almost there...

...and here is a skillet full of brown butter You're welcome, everyone in the world who likes nice things!

But seriously, see that light golden tone? PERFECT.

Then you mix your dry ingredients in one bowl, wet in another and mix 'em up. Not too much though, overmixing is no good. Basic rule of thumb: don't overmix flour based batters unless you want them chewy. Mixing flour too much can activate the gluten molecules which causes more elasticity in pastries. This can be excellent in pizza crust, not so excellent in cornbread.

I melted some more butter in my skillet because I enjoy punishing my body for consuming something so delicious. Just kidding! I did it because I LOVE BUTTER! Then I baked and cooled and enjoyed with honey.

This cornbread is quite the specimen. Perfectly salty sweet and a little bit tangy from the sour cream. It has a nice crunchy edge from the melted butter in the pan along with the ideal amount of crumbly-ness that is always present in a good cornbread. Oh yeah, and it has BROWN BUTTER in it. Not to overreact, but brown butter is the nectar f the gods. If the gods drank golden saturated fat. It adds another flavor to this cornbread which sets it apart from its sad ordinary brethren that will make you never want to go back to the way things were. Did I overreact? You be the judge!

Don't worry, you can have the recipe too:

Sweet Brown Butter Cornbread

Serves: 6-12 (depending if I'm over for dinner)

Prep Time: 10 Minutes Cook Time:20-25 Minutes Total Time: 30-35 Minutes

Ingredients:

1 1/3 Cups Yellow Cornmeal
1 1/3 Cups All Purpose Flour
2 Tablespoons White Sugar
2 Tablespoon Brown Sugar
2 teaspoons Baking Powder
1/8 teaspoon Baking Soda
6 Tablespoons (plus some to grease the pan)
2 Large Eggs
3/4 Cups Milk (any percent)
3/4 Cup Sour Cream (full fat)

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit
Cook 6 tablespoons of butter over medium heat until browned, removed from heat immediately and let rest for a few minutes! This will take about 5 minutes. (butter will burn fast after it's reached a browned state)
In a medium bowl whisk eggs, milk, and sour cream thoroughly, slowly add brown butter. Note: if the butter is too hot the eggs with cook, allow butter to cool slightly after browning.
In a large bowl mix cornmeal, flour, white sugar, brown sugar, baking powder, and baking soda
Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and stir until just combined.
Pour batter into greased baking dish. Note: I used about 2 tablespoons of butter to grease a 9-inch cast iron skillet. You can also use an 8x8 baking dish or a cupcake tray sprayed with non-stick cooking spray.
Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden around the edges and springy in the center. Let cool before slicing

Blogging Tips: How to Create Better Graphics for your Blog

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 20 Nov 2014 02:00:00 +0000

I have gotten a few emails about how I create the graphics for my blog so I decided to make a post about my favorite online resources!

Graphics are an important part of blogging, especially if you are a Pinterest user. Luckily, there are like, a crazy amount of resources out there to create awesome graphics for your blog! The sites listed are basic photo editing or graphic creating sites. If you want a more professional tool there are some great downloadable software programs... like Photoshop!

Here are some of my favorite sites and their features:

PicMonkey

Super simple to use, especially for first time designers
A ton of free options and you can purchase the "royal" package for even more features
You can edit existing photos from your computer, start from scratch, touch up photos, and create collages
Access to fonts on your computer as well as theirs
Allows you to save in different file formats and has 3 different quality options
Does not require a log-in

Canva

Also, super simple to use
Drag and drop feature for stock images/graphics/logos/etc.
Design options including presentations, blog graphics, posters, social media posts, and sooo much more!
A whole mess of free options and the option to buy other options for $1
Option to save as an image or PDF file
Slightly more complex than picmonkey... but only slightly!
Requires a log-in

piZap

Option to create a new design, edit a photo, or make a collage
All features are 100% free, but there are a lot more adds on this site
Huge amount of design options including stickers, borders, filters, frames, and backgrounds
Some features are a little on the "clip-art" side and sometimes a little digging is required to find professional/clean looking stickers, etc.
Some really, really fun and kind of therapeutic sketching features
No log-in required for about 90% of the features

Fotor

Options to make a collage, edit a photo, and create a slideshow
About half of the features require a log-in but all are free
A lot of sticker and text options
Choose from different frames, filters, and lighting to create an image
Less creative features than other sources, geared more towards editing rather than creating

These are the most basic or basic sites to create graphics for your blog. I listed only sites that have the option to make something from a blank canvas. There are so many sites out there that have awesome editing potential but most offer "photoshop-like" experience rather than letting you make your own image out of nothing!
If you have ANY questions at all about any of these sites or know of any others that you love, let me know in the comments!

Blogging Tips: Starting a Blog in 3 easy Steps!

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 19 Nov 2014 02:00:00 +0000

OK- So obviously your blog needs a name, it seems simple but you should definitely put some though into it! Be creative to set yourself aside from other blogs but don't get too complicated. People should be able to remember it but not be confused by it- so complicated puns are out, sorry! Readers appreciate a good name- trust!

Along with the naming of the beast you need to decide on hosting. To start out a blog you should seriously consider free hosting- at least until you gain a following then you may find it worth the money to pay for hosting. As far as free blog hosting goes there are two big hitters:

Blogger and WordPress are by far the two most popular free blog hosts, and for good reasons! There are two awesome books that help out beginners for both Blogger and WordPress linked at the bottom of this post! Both are really simple to use and are perfect for designing and setting up your blog the exact way you want to, which brings us to our next step!

Designing your blog is more important than you may realize. Your design should be clean and bright. Too much clutter on a blog can be very distracting to a reader so only adding minimal elements- especially to start out- is a good strategy. Using a solid colored or minimalist background makes for a good base to build off of. Come up with a color scheme before you start and your world will be much easier. A good rule to follow for any color scheme is having 3 colors from one family and one color from a complimentary family (e.g., 3 blues and a shade of orange) and you can always throw white in there to offset everything!
As far as layout goes you want to make an easy reading experience the main goal. Even if you have ads or widgets you want to display prominently the main purpose of your site is the blog content and keeping readers coming back. After all, the only way to get people to click on all of your "extras" is if there are readers in the first place. Most people look at a page from the top left corner and scan across to the right bottom (even if they don't realize it). Keep this in mind when you design your layout. Put links to useful parts of your blog right up top for easy site navigation and go from there. Blog posts should be easy to find, placed in the center of the page, and have the most space dedicated to them. Everything else is built around the idea that the content is the most important thing... Oh, what a nice segue!

CONTENT! I cannot stress enough that content is the most crucial thing in making a blog successful. This may seem crazy obvious but there are some seriously important factors to remember.
First, strong subject matter- people want to read quality! If you are just pumping out fluffy blog posts about nothing then people are going to take your blog as just that: fluffy! I mean, fluffy is good in most cases (e.g., puppies) but when it comes to blog content, fluffy is a no-no! Create thoughtful and well written posts that you would like to read if you stumbled across your own blog.
Secondly, consistency in posting. If you want a regular readership and higher traffic it is vital that you post consistently. Set up a schedule for yourself and stick to it! If you can only blog on the weekends then try to post one blog each Saturday. If you have time to blog after work on the weekdays then see if you can post 2-3 times a week. If your readers know you have a posting schedule they are more likely to come back and see what you've got for them!
Lastly,proper grammar and punctuation are a must have. When you have errors in your writing it will be hard for readers to take you seriously. It is honestly so easy to proof read a couple times and check your stuff out for errors or you can even have someone else do it for you (you're probably too close to the project anyway). People on the internet LOVE pointing out errors, especially when you use words like they're, there, and their or your and your're incorrectly so watch out for that! It is only human to make mistakes so it is very likely that you will miss something, but hey, that's okay!

Keep in mind, these are only BASIC steps to starting up a blog. I will have more posts to come concerning social networking, SEO, and so much more!

Perfectly Chewy Chocolate Orange Brownies

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 18 Nov 2014 20:46:00 +0000

This is the kind of brownie recipe that makes you want to decorate a Christmas tree but also lay on a beach but definitely eat the entire batch. What I'm tying to say is that this recipe cannot and will not be pigeonholed. These milk chocolate brownies have the perfect amount of density with subtle orange essence and get all chewy around the edges in the best way. I am in love.

If you've never had a chocolate orange before, you have some catching up to do. Although, the concept is simple- an orangey chocolate confection- the beauty is in the execution. It begins with an orange or four.

You follow the instructions. Whack and unwrap it!

The slices blossom out and grace you with their delicious possibilities.

So after you eat about half of the slices, things start to become a little more clear. You can do anything with these that you can do with chocolate chips. Cookies, muffins, hot chocolate, BROWNIES, and more! Brownies are the star of this particular show but the others will have their day in the spotlight, I'm sure.
The first step in our process is to get everything all mixed together. I chopped my orange slices up to make it melt more consistently.

I found that about an orange and a quarter gave me the perfect amount of chocolate for the batter. Also, since this recipe uses milk chocolate and not semi-sweet chocolate chips or unsweetened cocoa powder like the average brownie recipe it is super important not to skimp on the salt. Sometimes when I'm baking and a recipe calls for a tiny bit of salt I'm like "hmmm, maybe not this time" but it does a serious balancing act in this batter.

Another note about brownies, while we're at it, is that I like to use butter to grease the pan. Sometimes I use shortening dusted with flour or just plain old cooking spray to grease my pans but for brownies, butter creates an extra chewiness around the edges that can make a good brownie, great.

Do you use the clean toothpick method to tell when cakes are done? Good. That's very good. However, with brownies a few crumbs sticking to the toothpick is perfect. Once you take them out of the oven the brownies will continue to cook before they cool so keeping them ever so slightly underdone makes them all dense and fudgy. I am a firm believer that brownies should never be confused for cake and I will do anything to avoid it.

After they are out of the oven, looking all gorgeous and smelling all orange-chocolate-divine, allow them to cool completely and slice 'em up! I shaved up some of the left over slices with my cheese grater and sprinkled it over top for serving. These beauties are the perfect dessert for fans of this classic holiday candy and are a surefire crowd-pleaser.
Just look!!

Don't forget a glass of milk!

Perfectly Fudgy Chocolate Orange Brownies

Makes: 9-12 Brownies Prep Time: 10 Minutes Cook Time: 20-5 Minutes
Total Time: 30-35 Minutes

Ingredients:

1 1/2 Cups Chocolate Orange- About 1 and 1/4 Chocolate Orange
2 Large Eggs
1/2 Cup White Sugar
2/3 Cup All Purpose Flour
2 Tablespoons Butter
2 Tablespoons Water
1/2 Teaspoon Vanilla Extracat
1/2 Teaspoon Salt
1/4 Teaspoon Baking Soda

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit
Grease a square pan with butter (I used an 8x8)
Bring sugar, butter, and water to a boil over medium heat in a medium saucepan, stir until sugar is dissolved and remove from heat
Stir in chocolate until creamy
Stir in vanilla and eggs until combined
Add flour, baking soda, and salt to batter and mix until smooth
Spread evenly into prepared pan and bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick place in the center comes out with some crumbs on it.

12 (hot) Holiday Cocktails

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 14 Nov 2014 02:00:00 +0000

Do you love having warm hands and also drinking alcohol? Then this collection is for you! It has 12 warm and seasonal drinks that will make you want to snuggle up by a fire and sip all night long!

Click on a picture to be taken to the recipe! Enjoy!

If you want chillier options for your holidays check out my collection of 12 Cold Holiday Cocktails!

Here is a complete list of the (hot) recipes:
Warm Caramel Apple Cider Cocktail from Real Housemoms
Spiked Mulled Cider from Jenny Steffens Hobick
Apple & Bourbon Punch from Tickle My Fancy
Salted Caramel Vodka Hot Chocolate from London Bakes
Cinnamon Toast Cocktail from Delish
Hot Pumpkin Pie Cocktail from the Cookie Rookie
Peppermint Patty from Divine Caroline
Cafe Barbados from About Food
Hot Buttered Hazelnut Whiskey from Adventures in Cooking
Pumpkin Spice Hot Buttered Rum from Set the Table
Adult Hot Chocolate from Will Cook for Smiles
Orchard Boulevardier from Serious Eats

Drink Responsibly!!

Each recipe is credited to it's owner, I have no claim to these images or recipes!

12 (cold) Holiday Cocktails

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 14 Nov 2014 01:30:00 +0000

Some would argue that the best part about the holidays is the alcohol. These same people are probably the smartest people you know... no correlation between the two, just an interesting coincidence. Here is a lovely collection of twelve uniquely festive drinks that are sure to warm up your holidays!

Click on a picture to be taken to the recipe! Enjoy!

If you feel like warming up your hands with something I also have a collection of 12 Hot Holiday Cocktails:

Here is the full list of (cold) recipes:
White Chocolate Peppermint Bark Martini from Will Cook For Friends
Honey Bourbon Apple Cider Cocktail from Hello Natural
Spiced Pumpkin Punch from Domesticate-Me
Apple Pie Moonshine from King's Bakery
Honeycrisp Apple Sangria from Sally's Baking Addiction
Sugar and Spice White Russian from Waiting on Martha
Fireball Cider Bomb Cocktail from What's Cooking America
Vanilla, Pear, and Vodka Cocktail from Two Tarts
Cranberry Bourbon Fizz from Style Me Pretty
Jingle Juice Cocktail from Fabulous Foods
Frozen Bailey's Irish Cream Hot Chocolate from King's Bakery
Pear Ginger Fizz from Brit

Drink Responsibly!!

Each recipe is credited to it's owner, I have no claim to these images or recipes (except the ones from this blog)!

16 Appetizers with 5 Ingredients or Less!

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 12 Nov 2014 09:15:00 +0000

The thing about appetizers is that they should be as easy to make as they are to eat. Each and every one of these amazing appetizers has only 5 ingredients or less! How is that even possible?!

Any one of these would be the perfect addition to any holiday, birthday, or dinner party no matter the season! There is something for everyone in this collection.

Click on an image to go to the recipe!

Here is a full list of the recipes:
Mini Cheese Ball Bites from Foodgio
Apricot Almond Appetizer from Reluctant Entertainer
Prosciutto Wrapped Asparagus from Damn Delicious
Caprese Tarts from The Cookie Rookie
Sweet and Savory Baked Brie from Dash of Savory
Drunken Grapes with Wine Poached Shrimp from ShowFood Chef
Mushroom and Swiss Pull Apart Bread from Wine and Glue
Easy and Delicious Stuffed Mushrooms from Chef in Training
Jalapeno Lime Dip from Mandy's Recipe Box
Mini Apricot Brie Bites from The Cookie Rookie
Cranberry Goat Cheese from Home Made Modern
Simple Peach, basil, and Ricotta Flatbread from Cookie and Kate
Warm Caprese Dip from By Stephanie Lynn
Chicken Rice Paper Rolls from Anyonita Nibbles
Parmesan Cheese Crisps from The Dinner Mom
Smoked Salmon and Cream Cheese Cucumber Bites from Baker by Nature

Each recipe is credited to it's owner, I have no claim to these images or recipes!

Garlic Roasted Asparagus

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 11 Nov 2014 08:06:00 +0000

Now, I don't say this lightly because it's an idea I am still trying to fully convince myself to believe, but, sides are the showcase of any meal. I mean, they should not be hiding in the shadow of a main course, they each need their own distinct voice, while still becoming part of a fuller complex melody... Too much of a choir reference? Not sorry! Obviously this concept is becoming truer as we convert into the new and vastly improved notion that our protein should make up only 25% of our plates at any given meal. I know I can't be the only one who grew up in a house where the chicken got 50% and the mashed potatoes got the other half! Talk about a hard habit to break. A delicious, buttery, habit...

I digress. Sides! Side dishes were, until now, the unsung heroes of meal time. This side in particular has the rare defining characteristics of being altogether easy, delicious, and healthy! A trifecta so perfect that it could probably share the stage with another famous trio: the mirepoix. Clearly, this simple oven roasted asparagus will NEVER EVER replace carrots, onions, and celery as the root of all things savory, but hey, we can dream.

Firstly, the ingredients. I find the fewer, the better when it comes to sides.

Yeah, I guess that's it. A few or four large fresh garlic cloves, 2 tablespoons of olive oil, a little seasoning salt, and a big ol' bunch of gorgeous asparagus!

There are only 2 or 3 steps to prep this baby, depending on how you feel about chopping 2 different things. As Ina Garten would say "How easy is that?!"

Step One: Choppin'!

A couple inches off of the ends will do.

I like big and chunky when it comes to roasted garlic. It gets all buttery and sweet and mild and I've found that I don't mind if I bite into a bigger piece but if you want to mince then by all means, mince!

Step Two: mix 'em up!

Toss the asparagus all up in that olive oil, salt, and garlic!

Evenly spread and let the roasting commence:

Here they are in all of there roasted glory! I don't use the word "food porn" very often but these close ups are about as real as it gets...

They key, I think, when roasting veggies (with the exception of potatoes and the like) is finding that perfect balance between cooked and crisp. I love having a little snap left in my asparagus which is why I usually take them out 2-5 minutes before I think their totally where I want them. They'll continue cooking for a little while after coming out of the oven and settle right into place. Here are some more close ups.

I love how much greener they get after begin cooked. And that garlic! Soft and mild just how it should be. All is right in the kitchen!

Right after they are out of the oven would be a perfect time to drizzle a little more olive oil or salt on them if you think they need it... But they probably won't!

Here are the instructions:

Garlic Roasted Asparagus

Serves: 3-5 people Prep Time: 5 min. Cook Time: 11-15 min. Total Time: 16-20 min

Ingredients:

1 Bunch of asparagus (about a pound)

2 Tablespoons Olive Oil

2 teaspoons Seasoning Salt (I used Johnny's)

2-4 Large Garlic Cloves

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F

Thoroughly rinse asparagus and cut or break off dried ends

Roughly chop the garlic

Toss all ingredients together in a medium bowl

Spread evenly on baking tray

Roast for 11-15 minutes or until tender but still slightly crisp, toss once during cooking

Creamy Caramel Sauce

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 11 Nov 2014 00:24:00 +0000

Um, yeah, it's from a can but not in the way you think. Like, honestly this might be magic. I'm all for "from scratch" recipes but if there's an awesome never-heard-of-it-before trick to try, I'm obviously going to try it. This is the trick: boil a can of sweetened condensed milk for 3 hours and voila! Sweet, sticky, magic!

The most important thing about this process is to make sure when you boil your water that it stays above the top of the can for the duration of the cooking process. I mean it when I say it's incredibly important, the can has a risk of EXPLODING if the water falls below the top. I think that everyone would agree it would be a waste of perfectly good caramel if it exploded everywhere!
So, yeah, not an incredibly fancy or "wow" inducing process but I still needed to try it. Here's some sweetened condensed milk in it's pre-boiled and unsuspecting state-

aaaand, here's some smooth, creamy, eat it by the spoonful, caramel-

So the key to getting from A to B is so simple that it's insane! Here are the steps:

Remove as much of the label from the can as you can, don't worry too much about getting every little piece
Boil water in a deep pot
Add as many cans as desired making sure the water level is about the tops of the cans
Boil over medium high heat for 2.5 to 3 hours- more for thicker, richer caramel and less for a lighter result. Add water as needed to maintain level.
Turn off heat and leave the cans in the water for 20-30 minutes
Remove the cans from the water and allow to cool completely
Scoop the caramel out of the can(s) and serve as desired!!

The caramel can be stored for months in an airtight container in the fridge! To reheat it is best to use a water bath because the microwave or stove can start to cook the caramel again.

There is nothing else to even say about this that it doesn't say for itself! Enjoy!

Cake Batter Cheesecake!

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 15 Oct 2014 19:36:00 +0000

Reasons I think you'll love this cheesecake: 1- You are a human being with a mouth and 2- You are not a monster.
First thing's first, you neeeed a springform pan for this recipe. I would love to be like "Hey, it'll probably be fine in a round cake pan!" but, no, the world is not a perfectly beautiful place... Unless you make this cheesecake then your troubles will melt like lemon drops. You can find a springform pan pretty much anywhere they sell cooking stuff. I'm pretty positive they even have them at Safeway! If you don't know what a springform pan is it's your lucky day because we live in a modern world and there is a Wikipedia page for EVERYTHING, even different types of baking pans! Here it is!
Once you have that one little gadget you are pretty much set to start baking this silky, dense, celebratory, beauty of a confection.

The ingredients may be things you already have in your house. Unless, for some weird reason, you don't always keep 24 ounces of cream cheese on hand. Otherwise, you'll be set!

I used my stand mixer to make sure that this was as creamysmooth as possible but a hand mixer will work as well. The only thing I will say is that you should be sure that your mixer has a relatively low speed if you go with a hand-held option. I know mine is pretty speedy even on the lowest setting and one thing about a cheesecake is that you do not want air bubbles. I mean, we want density people, don't get crazy!
This is a one bowl recipe; my fave! Just throw the cream cheese, sugar, vanilla, and cake mix in your bowl and mix it low and slow until it's all smooth goodness. After that you add an egg at a time making sure to get back to that smooth goodness after each one until you get something that looks a little like this (or exactly like this... because it should):

I know what you're thinking: "ummm, that is NOT enough sprinkles!" and you could not be more correct! Believe me, I threw in another quarter cup of sprinks after I saw the measly distribution of color in my batter. This is, after all, a cake batter cheesecake and it needs every little colorful bit of festivity that we can give it! Here she is all up in the pan ready to be baked:

Rewind a little bit to before I started my batter and you would find me prepping my crust. I used birthday cake flavored Oreo cookies for my crust because those exist so why wouldn't I? If you want to know how to make a cookie crust visit my Frozen Reese's Pie with Oreo Crust recipe to find out how I make mine. So I prepped my little buttery cookie crust and pressed it firmly into the bottom of my pan bringing it only about half an inch up the sides. This will help keep the batter from seeping out of the pan if that were to happen and will also create a seal just in case any water from the water bath were to sneak into the pan. "What water bath?", you ask. Well, the water bath that you bake the cheesecake in, of course!

A water bath creates a nice steamy environment for the cheesecake to bake in inside the oven. Think of it like a sauna for your cake. The steam keeps the cheesecake super moist and delicious. Water baths are used with other moist-type-desserts like custards and puddings and prevent them from getting rubbery and dry.Without a water bath the cake will still bake evenly but will probably crack on the top and definitely will not be as moist as it would if you use the water. All I'm saying is: water bath=goodgoodgood!

Soooo, now that we have that cleared up we can start baking. With the oven pre-heated, wrap foil around the outsides and bottom of the springform pan to keep any water from getting all up in your cake. To do this I just laid a few large pieces of aluminum inside the large baking pan I was using to pour my water in to, making sure they hung over the edges quite a bit then set my cheesecake pan in the center. I then wrapped up the sides of the springform like a li'l present and set the whole thing on a rack in the center of the oven. Pro tip: pour the water into the pan after you've placed it onto the oven rack rather than filling it then trying to carry it over to the oven full of water. Yeah, that was learned the hard way a while back by yours truly.

So, then we bake. Then we cool. Then we FEAST! This cheesecake is just the right amount of cake batter flavor with that familiar tartness of a classic cheesecake, plus there are sprinkles so everything is perfect!

OH MYYY. Here's the how-to:

Serves: 10-12 people Prep Time: 10 Minutes Cook Time: 1 Hour 50 Minutes
Total Time: 2 Hours plus cooling time

Ingredients:

For Cheesecake:

24 Ounces Cream Cheese- at room temperature
1 Cup Sugar
2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
5 Eggs
1 Cup Sour Cream
1 1/3 Cup Yellow Cake Mix
1/4 Cup Sprinkles

For Crust:

1/2 Cup Butter- Melted
23-28 Oreos

Instructions:

Prepare your crust in 9 inch springform pan- Instructions for crust HERE

Beat Cream Cheese, vanilla, sugar, and cake mix on the lowest speed of your mixer until smooth

Keeping mixer on low add in eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition

Fold in sour cream and sprinkles

Add batter to prepared springform pan

Cover the outside and bottom of the springform pan with aluminum foil

Place the pan inside a larger baking dish, fill the larger dish with enough warm water to come up half way on the springform pan

Bake at 375 degrees for 50 minutes, then turn off the oven and leave the cheesecake inside the oven for 60 more minutes. Do not open the oven door at any point!!

Remove cake from oven and water bath

Bring to room temperature on the counter for 1 hour

Place a paper towel on the top of the cake (to prevent drying out), cover with plastic wrap and place in refrigerator to cool for at least 6 hours

I know it's hard to be patient but it'll be worth the wait! Find the recipe on ZipList HERE

7 Minute Pan Seared Salmon

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 19 Jul 2014 22:18:00 +0000

You heard it here first, or second, you can cook a salmon dinner in 7 minutes. I mean, if you want to, it's totally possible. I'll tell you how...

First of all, start with some salmon... obviously. I have the amazing luck of living in the Pacific Northwest and have the privilege of having a father who is quite a fisherman. He is always calling me and letting me know he has a drawer full of fresh salmon, or crab, or halibut, or some other amazing that I can help myself to. So, naturally I drive right over and grab a beautiful, caught-that-day, king salmon fillet. If you can think of something that represents the western coast of Washington better than salmon I would be shocked. I mean, I guess there's Starbucks, and Micro Soft, and Amazon... But whatever, we're talking about SALMON, people, don't get smart!
In the beginning there was a salmon fillet:

I wanted to keep this simple, healthy, and quick. When the meat of a recipe is amazingly fresh and perfect sometimes adding too many layers of flavors detracts from the star of the show, which is the case with this dish. I began by lightly salting and peppering the fillet on both the meat and skin sides. I know some people are a little "iffy" with skin on fish but with the tenderness of this meat it is important to keep it on for the cooking process and you can totally take it off afterwards.

The next step was to start cooking this beauty up. You only need one pan and a little olive oil to cook this. Butter is totally an option to put in the pan but I wanted to keep this as healthy as I could so olive oil was my choice. I heated the pan to medium-high and put the fish in skin-side-up.

I put a few sprigs of fresh rosemary in with the fish to add a little bit of herbiness to the dish and let it sizzle away for about 4 minutes. After that I flipped the meat over and cooked the skin side for about 3 minutes. The flip is where keeping the skin on comes in handy because it holds the fish together.

The color should be a nice golden brown, try not to cut into the center of the flesh to check "doneness" because that will affect how moist the fish turns out. Just go with your instincts and timing, also, meat continues to cook after it is removed from the heat so this probably will never come out underdone.

After you take this out of the pan you could put a little more salt and pepper to taste and of course you could melt some butter over the top!
I garnished with fresh lemon slices and more fresh rosemary which both complement the flavor of salmon so, so well. This salmon tastes amazing, not fishy at all, and the meat is perfectly tender and flaky just like fresh fish should be.

If you are not usually a seafood lover, I would totally recommend trying a red fish like salmon because it is so flavorful and never fishy. Plus, king salmon is crazy healthy! It has about 6 grams of protein per ounce and 375 milligrams of omega 3 fatty acids per ounce. Not to mention all of the minerals it provides including phosphorus, calcium, and potassium. What's not to love?!

Here is the step-by-step-

Serves: 2 Prep Time: 0-3 Minutes Cooking Time: 7 Minutes Total Time: 7-10 Minutes

Ingredients:

Fillet of salmon
1 lemon
several sprigs of fresh rosemary (or a couple tablespoons of dried)
Salt and Pepper to taste
1 teaspoon of Olive Oil

Instructions:

Heat medium sauce pan to medium-high heat with olive oil in pan
Season both sides of the salmon with salt and pepper
Place fish in pan skin side up and cook for 4 minutes
Add 1/2 of your rosemary to the pan for flavor
Flip fish and cook for 3 more minutes
Remove from pan and let rest, garnish with fresh sliced lemon and rosemary, or as desired

Enjoy-

Garlic Citrus Green Beans

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 08 Jul 2014 21:53:00 +0000

Summer side dishes are in full swing in my house! They definitely take up more of the plate than the main dish and I usually make sure they pack a punch. These green beans bring more to the table than you thought possible for a little green veggie. Yum yum yum!

For a while now I have been using a lot of citrus in my cooking, I recently realized that I have been under-utilizing my zester and quickly remedied that situation by zesting EVERYTHING. This particular dish has a hearty dose of orange zest along with orange and lemon juice. I have always loved the sweet-tartness of citrus paired with savory flavors, so in this recipe I used garlic for the balance.

The ingredients in this recipe really just make sense, there's no denying!

All fresh and gorgeous and perfect! I think it's pretty rare to come across a recipe where the freshness of the ingredients can make you genuinely happy, but man-oh-man does this make me happy!

Prep work for this is easy-peasy! All you have to do is a little chop-chop to the garlic and onions. Then juice and zest the citrus, that's all!

The cooking starts with a quick steam of the onions and beans in a pan while the fruit juices are simmering and reducing in a pot with some honey and soy sauce. I love how green veggies get all bight green and gorgeous when they cook!

See how green they get! Beauty!

After the steaming was complete I threw in the freshly chopped garlic right at the end so it gets slightly cooked. Garlic can get pretty bitter if it's overcooked, so none of that here!

When the juice was done reducing I let it cool off for a little while so it didn't cook the beans at all when I poured it over top. One of the fantastic things about this dish is that you can eat it warm or chill it for a while and eat it cool! So delish! After it sits for a few, the flavors seriously start to mix and mingle to make some magic happen on the plate.

The combination of citrus and garlic may be my favorite of the moment. But, then again, everything I make is my favorite of the moment! The lemon and orange perfectly balance each other out with sweetness and tartness add the garlic in there and several layers of flavors work together to make each bite perfection.

It's done! Seriously, done!

Here are the ingredients and instructions for this-

Serves: 3-4 Prep time: 5 Minutes Cooking time: 10 Minutes Total time: 15 Minutes

Ingredients:

12 oz. Green Beans (fresh or frozen)
4 Green Onions
Juice of one lemon
1 Orange- Juice and Zest
1/4 cup water
3 tsp. Honey
1 tsp Soy Sauce
3 Cloves Finely Chopped Garlic

Instructions:

Finely chop garlic, set aside

Finely chop whites of onions and quarter the green stalks, set aside

Prep green beans by breaking off the end tips

Juice lemon and orange, zest orange, set aside

Add 1/4 Cup water to medium frying pan over medium heat

Add green beans and onions to pan, let cook for about 5 min until bright green

Stir in garlic

Remove from heat and set aside

In a sauce pan stir the lemon juice, orange juice, orange zest, honey, and soy sauce together and bring to a simmer

Allow to simmer for about 6-8 minute until reduced by about half, stir constantly

Allow to cool slightly, pour over bean/onion mixture

Serve warm or cold

Here it is again... just in case you forgot!

Happy zesting!

You can find this recipe on ZipList HERE

Bye-Bye

One Pan Prep: Orzo with Pancetta and Peas

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 28 May 2014 20:22:00 +0000

One pan prep is probably one of the best things to hear for a short-cut type of cook. It's right up there with "don't worry, the potatoes are already peeled" and "I think we'll just order pizza instead." It's the kind of thing that only produces a good meal every so often, but when it does magic happens. The kind of thing that dreams are made of.

This dish has a simple charm and is filled with kinda sweet and crunchy, salty bites that make you hope the bowl is bottomless. It starts with like, 3 or 4 ingredients and only one pan and will probably make your week a little/a lot better. Trust.

I dreamed this recipe up after making some prosciutto wrapped asparagus when someone asked me the difference between pancetta and prosciutto. I gave a sort or half guessing/half made up response and then decided it was silly that I didn't have a textbook answer. I needed to come up with a recipe for pancetta ASAP.
Here is the difference between the two:
Pancetta (pan-CHEH-tuh) is basically the Italian version of bacon. Instead of being smoked and cured, like bacon, it is simply cured with salt or spices or a combination of the two. It is sold raw and called to be cooked in most recipes. You can find pancetta sold in little cubes or slices, either will do for this recipe!
Prosciutto (pro-SHOO-toh) is an air-dried Italian ham cured in salt. It can be sold as two different types the first is called cotto which is sold cooked, and the second is crudo witch is "raw" but because of the curing process is ready to eat, similar to ham. Prosciutto is sold in paper thin slices and is delicious as an appetizer with fresh melon or figs or cooked asparagus.

For this recipe I used one whole package of pancetta and sliced in up into little squares to make the perfect crispy pieces to be tossed in with the pasta and peas.

For the prep there is almost no way to mess up this meal. All that needs to be done for the pasta is to cook it according the the directions on the package you buy. When I was cooking this orzo I found that it foams up a lot more than other pastas so it's good to break out that old trick, when you place a wooden spoon over the top of a boiling pot it will NEVER boil over. It will look like it is going to but it won't! Proof:

After I drained and set my pasta aside I coated it lightly with some olive oil so it would stay separated and not get sticky while I was cooking the pancetta. After the pasta is cooked this meal comes together in like 5 minutes, seriously, so easy!! since I used the whole package of orzo pasta my recipe cooked up enough for about 5 people but one of the great things about this course is that it can be chilled and served the next day pasta salad style! Yummm

The peas and pancetta compliment each other so well it's insane. The ever so slight sweetness of the peas next to the crunchy salty pancetta are a match made in Italian heaven. Throw some perfectly al dente orzo in the mix and you have a possibly flawless meal on your plate. If you are someone with an aversion to peas this recipe just might change you whole life. Give peas a chance.

When I served the pasta into individual bowls I topped it off with a mixture of Parmesan and Romano cheese. Let's just say that I may have heard some angels singing... or something like that.

So, I guess I'll let you know exactly how to brew this up! Remember, only one pot!

Serves: 3-5 Prep time- 5 Minutes Cooking time- 15 Minutes Total Time- 20 Minutes

Ingredients:

1 Package Orzo Pasta
1 1/2 Cup Peas (fresh or frozen, thaw if frozen)
1 Package of Pancetta (mine was 3 ounces)
1-2 Tablespoons of Olive Oil
Optional: Parmesan cheese for top

Instructions:

In large pot make pasta according to instructions on package

Drain and set aside

In same pot drizzle about 1 tablespoon of olive oil in the bottom of the pot and place over med-high heat on stove

Slice Pancetta into small pieces, add to pot and cook until crisp

Turn off heat and add peas to pot

Add pasta back into pot, stir until peas and pancetta are distributed evenly and drizzle remaining olive oil over top

Serve warm or save and serve cold, top with cheese if desired

and here you are, a finished product-

I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I do!

You can find this recipe on ZipList HERE

Thanks for reading and spending some time with me today, until next time.

Today's cooking play list included:

Brandi Carlile- That Wasn't Me

Brandi Carlile- Jolene

The Vaccines- If You Wanna

Raspberry Sweet Tea Bourbon

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 07 May 2014 02:18:00 +0000

So for this post I have another cocktail with raspberries! YAY! Obviously I'm on some sort of a delicious, Summer-y kick... You're welcome.

This cocktail is a sweet bourbon drink with a perfectly subtle hint of raspberry. It's sweet in a way that doesn't hog the spotlight but doesn't have a too-strong bourbon taste either. In this drink there is a gorgeous marriage of flavors that come together in a way that can appeal to a wide range of cocktail drinkers.
I love this drink because, even though I'm from the Pacific Northwest, it makes me want to sit out on a big front porch on a hot Summer night in the South and talk about the gals in the neighborhood. Weird? Maybe... But at least I would have a good beverage to sip on.

This is a no nonsense cocktail with 3 easy to find ingredients that comes together in less than five minutes. So why not make it, right?

Here is how to mix this up-

Serves: 2 Prep Time: 5 minutes

Ingredients:

4 Ounces Raspberry Sweet Tea
2 1/2 Ounces Bourbon
2 Cups Ice
Raspberries, toothpicks, and Sugar for garnish

Instructions:

Pour Raspberry Sweet Tea and Bourbon over ice in a cocktail shaker and shake firmly for 20 seconds
Pour cocktail over ice into two glasses
Roll raspberries in sugar and place onto toothpick for garnish

To check out another yummy cocktail featuring fresh raspberries go see my Fizzy Raspberry Lemonade Cocktail recipe HERE

This recipe can be found on ZipList HERE

And that's all-

Fizzy Raspberry Lemonade Cocktail

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 07 May 2014 01:23:00 +0000

First of all, I would like to say that I am so happy to finally be posting again! I was out of town for 2 weeks then really busy when I got back to real life. So, here I am, posting a cocktail recipe in the middle of the day on a Tuesday- just as it should be.

This cocktail is, to me, the ideal Summer BBQ drink! Fresh, easy, not too strong, and oh-so-yummy! Seriously, this can be whipped up in like 5 minutes or less and people will be like "Dang! YUM! Give me more"

The cool thing about a cocktail like this one is that you can totally leave out the liquor and it won't even seem like anything is missing. Although, I will say that this is probably as close to perfect as a Summer cocktail can get, you could easily swap out the raspberry lemonade for any other type of fruit juice and switch up the garnishes and it would be totally delicious.

I am in love with this drink and definitely recommend it for your next get together or the next time you feel like indulging in the middle of an afternoon- Like me! And just look how gorgeous it is!

Here is how to stir up this delicious brew!

Serves- 5 to 7 Prep Time- 5 minutes

Ingredients:

3 Cups Raspberry Lemonade (frozen juice okay)
1 Cup Vodka of Choice
1 or 2 Sliced Lemons for garnish- Optional
1 Cup Fresh Raspberries for garnish (frozen)- Optional
2 Cups Ice
Sprite or 7-Up

Instructions:

Mix raspberry lemonade, vodka, ice, lemons and raspberries together in a large pitcher

When ready to serve pour into glasses until 3/4 full

Fill glass the rest of the way with sprite

Place a slice of lemon and a few raspberries into each glass if desired for garnish

Drink up!

Skinny Taco Salad Lettuce Boats

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 10 Apr 2014 03:47:00 +0000

Something in my mind is telling me it's Summer time... I know in my heart that we're not quite there yet but because of the almost-everyday-sunny days we've been having here in the Pacific Northwest my mind has been tricked into thinking it's time for Summer food!

Here is a little view of the amazing sunsets we've been having in the upper-left USA-

Something about the sun makes me think I need fresh fruit and veggies, this is not a want but an absolute need! Also, I might add, it is of utmost importance that the fresh produce be served within other produce as often as possible. These little taco salad lettuce boats are setting the perfect example for all other Summer dishes to follow... They set a high bar indeed.

I'm not sure if these would be considered a "low calorie" food but there are some seriously good choices to be made in this recipe so I obviously titled them "skinny."

Lets get in to counting the calories in this recipe, shall we? Mind you, these numbers are all my best estimation based on information I've found, not a scientific source!

Greek yogurt- 33 calories
Romaine lettuce (6 leaves)- 15 calories
Cherry tomatoes (12 tomatoes)- 36 calories
Green Onions- 4... so basically none!
Lime Juice- NONE! YAY!
Cilantro- NONE! HUZZAH!
Lean Ground Turkey- 220 Calories
Taco Seasoning- 15 Calories
Total: about 323 Calories for the whole recipe

Now cut that in half since this recipe serves two and you've got yourself a pretty light snack, or a main dish! Whatever you feel like!

You would think the fillings are the stars of the show but really the Greek yogurt with lime juice and fresh cilantro on top is the unsung hero of this dish. I built this whole recipe around this idea I had for the sort of sour cream alternative.

Greek yogurt, fresh cilantro, and lime juice all mixed together make a perfectly cool and creamy topper for the boats. The tangy-sour lime juice with the fragrant cilantro leaves you wanting for nothing and makes it a lot easier to nix the heavy sour cream and cheddar cheese which usually accompany any taco salad.

The cool thing about this snack is that you can top them with whatever you love! I kept it pretty simple with green onions and grape tomatoes but you could use pepper, jalapenos, olives, salsa, black beans, or anything you can think of!

Here they are all assembled! After this I dolloped on about 1/2 Tablespoon of the Greek yogurt mixture and a little chopped cilantro on top of each and they were good to go! The combination of the fresh lettuce leaves and filling create the perfect crunchy, fresh, filling bite followed by the creamy yogurt with lime and cilantro to finish.

Here is how to get these babies going:

Serves- 2 Prep-5 minutes Cooking- 10 minutes Total Time- 15 minutes

Ingredients:

1/2 pound lean ground turkey
1/2 packet taco seasoning
2 tablespoons plain Greek yogurt
1 tablespoon roughly chopped cilantro
Juice of one lime
10-15 grape or cherry tomatoes, halved or chopped
2 green onions finely diced
1 head of romaine lettuce

Instructions:

Cook turkey according to directions on taco seasoning packet
Allow turkey to cool
Prep onions, tomatoes, lime, and cilantro
While turkey is cooling mix Greek yogurt, lime juice, and roughly chopped cilantro, set aside
Cut rood end of romaine lettuce head off, peel leaves apart
Assemble taco salad boats by scooping some turkey into each lettuce leaf and adding toppings as desired

You can always make a couple of these up and save the taco meat for another day and another recipe. Follow your heart :)

A little behind the scenes look at how I set up a photo

You can find this recipe on ZipList right HERE

Enjoy amigos!

Sticky Bourbon Teriyaki Seared Sirloin Steak

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 27 Mar 2014 00:08:00 +0000

This was my lunch today and I have to say that it was delicious! This sticky, smokey, rich, sweet, dark molasses sauce is an amazing complement to steak

I've been trying to cook out of my comfort zone recently and this recipe is a good example of how I am doing that. The sauce is a sticky-sweet reduction unlike anything I have tried before and I am pretty pleased with the outcome. It is too simple not to try and there is a lot of wiggle room for preferred flavor, which is just lovely!

I started this recipe knowing that I wanted teriyaki steak and went from there. On hand in my kitchen I had some Jim Beam Bourbon and some Kikoman Teriyaki Sauce so with those two ingredients plus some brown sugar, Worcestershire, garlic, and pepper I made a yummy glaze for some sirloin steaks with rice.

With all of those combined in a sauce pot I simmered, stirred, and reduced the sauce for about 10 minutes until it was a syrup-like sticky consistency!

Before being reduced

Simmered and Reduced and Ready to go!

Sweet, sticky, beauty!

After I made the sauce I trimmed the fat off the steaks because no one wants to eat that!

Instant Slim-Down!

When the steaks were trimmed I used half of the sauce to cover both steaks, seared them over medium-high heat, then reduced the heat to medium to cook them to a nice medium-rare! Searing the steaks gives them a beautiful smoky crust on the outside which is the perfect complement to the tender meat. After the steaks were done I removed them from the heat and allowed them to rest on a cutting board for about 5 minutes. It is important to remember not to cut into the steaks until after they have rested so the juices are kept inside, this keeps the meat incredibly moist and tender! It also allows for carry-over cooking after being removed from the heat which means the internal temperature will rise about 5 degrees and cook the meat a little more. After they were done resting I sliced up the steaks and served them over rice. Then, I drizzled the remaining bourbon teriyaki sauce over the steaks and was good to go!

Here is how to make this recipe:

Serves- 2 Prep- 5 minutes Cooking time- 25 minutes Total Time- 30 minutes

Ingredients:

2 Loin Top Sirloin Steaks
3/4 Cup- Bourbon (I used Jim Beam)
1/4 Cup- Packed Brown Sugar
1/4 Cup- Kikoman Teriyaki Sauce (Or your favorite teriyaki sauce)
1 teaspoon- Worcestershire Sauce
2 teaspoons- Granulated Garlic
1 teaspoon- Black Pepper

Instructions:

Whisk bourbon, brown sugar, teriyaki sauce, Worcestershire, garlic, and pepper together in a sauce pot.

Bring mixture to a boil and reduce to a simmer

Simmer for 10-13 minutes stirring frequently until sauce reduces to about 1/2 cup and reaches a think syrup-like consistency- it will thicken as it cools

Remove from heat and set aside

Use half of sauce to coat both steaks- set rest aside

Heat a frying pan to medium high

Add both steaks to pan and allow to sear for 1 minute on each side

Reduce heat to medium and allow to cook for 2-4 more minutes on each side (depending on preference of how well done you like it)

Remove steaks from pan and allow to rest on a cutting board for 5 minutes before slicing

Drizzle remainder of sauce onto steaks and serve with rice

You can find this recipe on ZipList Here: Sticky Bourbon Teriyaki Seared Sirloin Steak

Happy Reducing!

Stuffed Red Velvet Poppers

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 25 Mar 2014 23:05:00 +0000

This is the kind of day I'm having. The kind of day that isn't a bad day but a day that could be made better by the perfect li'l snack. With just the right amount of cream cheese frosting in the middle, these Stuffed Red Velvet Poppers make for a nice treat for a red velvet cake lover like myself.

Each popper is about the size of a 50 cent piece and a great excuse to indulge in a rich red velvet experience without digging into an entire cake... Which I obviously have never done...

I started by making a crazy easy 3 ingredient cream cheese frosting and dolloping it onto a cookie tray lined with wax paper dollops a little larger than a pea. I did this by putting the frosting in a plastic baggie, cutting the corner off, and applying pressure to the bag while slowly lifting up so that a little blob would form. I then placed the cookie tray into the freezer so solidify while I prepared the red velvet batter.

After I finished up the little blobbies of deliciousness I mixed up the batter. Like most cakes I mixed the dry ingredients and wet ingredients in two separate bowls then slowly added the dry to the wet until well combined. Needless to say this batter is a beautiful color!

Then, to make the stuffed poppers I put about 1/2 of a tablespoon of batter into each well of a greased mini muffin tin, added 2 of the solid cream cheese frosting dollops, then added just enough batter to completely cover the frosting.

I baked the poppers at 325 degrees for 15 minutes (until a toothpick came out clean). After they were completely cooled I removed them from the muffin tin and dusted with powdered sugar. I made about 2 dozen poppers with this recipe but had enough left over to probably make 2 dozen more!

Here is the recipe and step-by-step instructions for these Stuffed Red Velvet Poppers

Ingredients:

Cream Cheese Filling:

8 oz- Cream Cheese at room temperature
4 Tablespoons- Butter at room temperature
1 1/2 Cups- Powdered Sugar

Batter:

2 Cups- All Purpose Flour
1 tsp- Baking Soda
1 tsp- Baking Powder
1 tsp- Salt
2 Tablespoons- Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
2 Cups- Sugar
1 Cup- Vegetable Oil
2 Eggs
1 Cup- Whole Milk
2 tsp- Vanilla Extract
1 oz- Red Food Coloring
1 tsp- White Distilled Vinegar
1/2 Cup- Prepared plain coffee

Instructions:

Filling:

Mix together cream cheese, butter, and powdered sugar until well combined

Batter:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit
In a medium bowl whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, cocoa powder and salt. Set aside.
In a large bowl, combine the sugar and vegetable oil.
Mix in the eggs, milk, vanilla and red food coloring until combined.
Stir in the coffee and white vinegar.
Combine the wet ingredients with the dry ingredients a little at time, mixing after each addition, just until combined.

Assembly:

Generously grease mini muffin tin
Add 1/2 Tablespoon of batter to each tin
Add 2 of the prepared cream cheese dollops to each tin
Add just enough batter on top of cream cheese to cover it
Bake for 15 minutes (make sure not to overcook)
Allow to cool in muffin tin before removing

After that you are all ready to pop these babies in your mouth! They are so, so moist and delicious I am officially addicted!

Chocolate Chip Cookie Cannoli

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 21 Mar 2014 02:30:00 +0000

So... I'll leave that right there for you to look at...

To say that this is a simple recipe would be a lie. Well, sort of a lie, the recipe is easy but the execution takes patience and probably a full afternoon but these are so incredibly worth the time and energy you put into them. These are so good, the dough makes an amazing crunchy on the outside while chewy on the inside cookie and the whipped cream filling perfectly offsets the sweetness of the cookie in a "cookies and milk" sort of partnership!

I'd love to say I was researching Italian desserts and came up with this fully thought out and amazing creation but in all reality I just thought this would be cool and then it happened to work out after some trial and error (mostly error).

Here are some step-by-step pictures to help with the confusing instructions:

I started with a roll-out chocolate chip cookie dough which is different from a regular chocolate chip cookie dough because, like sugar cookie dough, it will stay put if you want to use cookie cutters on it. Here is a photo of the dough:

Then I rolled out the dough to about a quarter inch thickness by placing it between 2 pieces of parchment paper. If I was to make this again I would probably use mini chocolate chips to get a better distribution of chips throughout the dough.

Then, since I don't own any cannoli forms, I took a piece of aluminum foil and folded it over about 3 times until it was around 5 inches wide and 12 inches long and used my two index finders to roll up the foil (kind of like a Chinese finger trap). Then I cut a 3 inch by 5 inch rectangle of dough to roll up around the foil tube, which I sprayed with cooking spray.

After that I took another rectangle of aluminum foil, sprayed it with cooking spray and rolled it around the dough roll... here is a photo of that step and I apologize for the quality.

Next, I baked the cookie rolls/tubes/cannoli at 375 degrees for about 20 minutes, turning them a quarter turn every 5 minutes making sure each side got even cooking. After they were done cooking I unrolled the outer foil to check that there was no raw dough, if there was I re-rolled the foil around the dough and placed the raw portion of the dough facing down on the cookie sheet for another 5 minutes. I allowed the cookies to cool completely before unwrapping and filling them.

While the cookies were baking I whipped up some heavy whipping cream that was light on sugar since the cookies are so sweet and put it in the fridge until the cookies were cool. When the cookies were completely cooled I put the whipped cream into a freezer size ziplock bag, cut the corner off, and filled the cannoli. To fill the cannoli fill one half of the cannoli from one end and then fill the other half from the other end to make sure the filling is evenly distributed.

You can leave the cannoli just like that and they are fabulous:

Or you can drizzle melted chocolate and sprinkle powdered sugar on top to really take these over the edge:

Here is how to make these beauties-

Ingredients for Dough:

1 Cup- Unsalted Butter at room temperature
1/3 Cup- Granulated Sugar
1/2 Cup- Packed Brown Sugar
1 large egg yolk
2 tsp Vanilla Extract
2 Cups- All Purpose Flour
1/2 tsp- Salt
1 Cup- Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips

Ingredients for Whipped Cream Filling:

1 Cup- Heavy Whipping Cream
1 Tablespoon- Granulated Sugar

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 375 degree Fahrenheit
Cream together butter and sugars until creamy then add egg yolk and vanilla until everything is combined
Sift salt and flour together and add to wet ingredients one cup at a time until just combined
Mix in chocolate chips
Roll out dough between 2 pieces of parchment paper to 1/4 inch thickness
Cut out 3 inch by 9 inch rectangle and roll around a 1/2 diameter 5 inch with tube made out of aluminum foil or use cannoli forms
Roll large rectangle of aluminum foil around outside of rolled up dough
Bake for 20 minutes, turning a quarter turn every 5 minutes
Remove from oven and place on cooling rack until completely cooled.
While cookies are cooling whip cream and sugar together for about 5 minutes until firm and put in refrigerator until ready to fill (I over-whipped my cream slightly so that it would be a sturdier filling)

Filling:

Put whipped cream into larger ziplock bag and cut off the tip to fill (you could also use a pastry bag)
Fill one half of the cannoli from one end and then fill the other half from the other end

Optional:

Top with melted chocolate chips and/or powdered sugar

Hopefully, after all of that you have a perfect dessert to indulge in. If it didn't work out at least you can eat some cookie dough, right?!

Mini No Bake Apple Pie Bites

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 18 Mar 2014 02:09:00 +0000

So I have to say that this recipe was totally made up on the fly today because I had a wicked craving for apple pie but did not want to labor over an entire pie because I have other important things to get done, like browsing Netflix! Since it was made up on the spot there aren't any photos of the prep process, sorry... But there are pictures of these cuties all done and ready to be snacked on.

At first I didn't have any kind of a drizzle on top of the lil bites but I thought they looked naked that way so I threw some melted peanut butter on top in a cross-hatch pattern and the flavor definitely adds an extra hint of deliciousness! YAY! You could use any other drizzle you are in the mood for like chocolate chips, caramel, or Nutella but peanut butter was calling to me today.

The prep for these apple pie bites is super easy and the only "required" kitchen gadget is a mini muffin pan but you could just as easily make them in a regular muffin tin and they would be just as good and just a little bigger. Also, I will say that I had a little trouble getting the graham cracker crusts out of the tin so I would recommend lining the tin with either parchment paper or some plastic wrap or something in order to make prying these out of the pan a little less agonizing for you than it was for me.

This recipe made me a dozen little bites but I would recommend making a double batch since they are relatively small and oh-so- snackable.

Here is the step-by-step:

Ingredients:

Crust-

8 Graham Crackers
4 1/2- Butter (melted)

Filling-

1 Granny Smith Apple- Cut into very small bits (about 1/4 inch)
1 1/2 Tablespoons- Brown Sugar
1 Tablespoon- Butter
1 teaspoon- Cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon- Nutmeg

Optional toppings- peanut butter, caramel, Nutella, or Chocolate chips

Instructions:

Crust-

Place graham crackers into food processor or blender and process until they are fine crumbs
In a bowl mix graham cracker crumbs with melted butter
Pack about tablespoon portions into greased mini muffin tins making sure the mixture comes about 1/2 inch up the sides in order to hold the filling in
Set in fridge to cool while preparing the filling

Filling and Assembly-

Making sure your apple is cut into small pieces toss with brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
Melt butter in medium sized pan over medium-low heat
Cook apple mixture in pan for about 3-5 minutes until barely softened and coated with butter- stirring constantly
Remove from heat and allow to come to room temperature
Remove graham cracker crusts from mini muffin tin and fill each with enough filling to come up to the top edge of the crust
Optional- Melt a few tablespoons of desired topping (peanut butter, chocolate chips, etc.) in a plastic baggie, cut the corner off, and drizzle on top of the pie bites.

And that is how you make these cute Mini No Bake Apple Pie Bites!

Thanks for stopping by- Enjoy!