Living Life To The Fullest
What You Need:
4 cups of oats
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
1 tablespoon of vanilla extract
A pinch of salt
1/3 cup of real maple syrup
1/4 cup of unsalted butter melted
Steps:
1. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Add all the ingredients in a medium mixing bowl and mix well with hands.
2. Scatter uncooked granola on sheet and bake at 300 for 45 mins, mixing one or two times in between. Allow to cool for 15 to 20 minutes.
Sprinkle on ice cream, top with yogurt, or eat as is! Enjoy!
Servings: 2-4 people
What You Need:
1 bundle of asparagus
3-4 tablespoons of olive oil
Salt and pepper (measure with your heart)
Italian breadcrumbs (measure with your heart)
Steps:
1. Preheat oven to 400 and line a cooking sheet with foil.
2 Place asparagus on the pan, drizzle with olive oil, dash with salt and pepper, then sprinkle with bread crumbs.
3. Get your hand in there and mix it up! Place in the oven and bake for 25 mins.
Enjoy!
Great custard recipe for filling pastries or donuts or eating as is with some fresh fruit!
What You Need:
4 egg yolks
1 2/3 cups of whole milk
2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1/4 cup of corn starch
2 tablespoons of unsalted butter
1/2 cup of sugar
Steps:
1. In medium mixing bowl whisk together the corn starch, salt, and sugar. Next add the egg yolks until well combined into a beautiful yellow color. Set aside.
2. In a small/medium pot add the milk and vanilla extract. Place on stove on a low/medium heat watching intently. When the sides begin to slightly bubble (not boiling) remove from the heat and slowly add to the batter. (Careful not to add quickly to the batter otherwise it could cook the egg yolks).
3. Transfer back to pot and heat on medium/low heat. Continuously whisk the batter in the pot until it begins to thicken into a custard consistency. (a few minutes).
4. Once thickened, remove from the heat and add the 2 tablespoons of butter immediately. Mix well. Cover with plastic wrap, and place in refrigerator until ready to serve.
Enjoy!
Servings: one puff pastry box will make 8 pastries.
Cut puff pastry into 8 squares folding in half (brushing egg wash on the inside and out) baking at 400 for 20 mins. Cut pastry open and insert custard and fresh strawberries. Top with powdered sugar! So yummy!
What You Need:
3-4 lbs of boneless chuck roast
1 sweet onion cut in 4 chunks
1/2 cup of apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1 tablespoon of unsalted butter
1 teaspoon of garlic powder
1 teaspoon of chili flakes
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1/2 teaspoon of pepper
1/2 teaspoon of turmeric
1/2 teaspoon of thyme
1 tablespoon of rosemary
1 teaspoon of parsley
1 tablespoon of soy sauce or light brown sugar (there was a time I didn’t have soy sauce so I substituted with brown sugar because it just seemed like it would be good and I was pleasantly surprised!)
Steps:
1. Place your meat in the slow cooker, along with the chunks of onion. In a small mixing bowl mix together the rest of the ingredients, except for the butter. Pour marinade mixture over the meat. Top the meat with the butter. Place lid.
2. Cook on low for 8 hours. Once the 8 hours are up shred the meat well and serve immediately.
Serve over white rice or with some corn tortillas. Enjoy!
Note: when putting away the leftovers I did drain a lot of the oil from the meat. We ate it for 3 days and every day was better!
I think I won some mom brownie points with these waffles this past weekend. They are scrumptious! And well, with a stick of butter of in there, of course they are!
Don’t you love when you try a new recipe and you are pleasantly surprised! Of course sometimes you try something new and you experience disappointment. But sometimes the recipe risk is the best thing ever!
I’ll be making these today and actually freezing them so my girls can eat them for the rest of the week. We topped our waffles with fresh strawberries, powdered sugar, and maple syrup. I hope you enjoy these as much as our family did!
For the direct link to the recipe CLICK HERE
What You Need:
2 cups of all-purpose flour
1/4 cup of sugar
1 tablespoon of baking powder
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1 1/2 cups of milk (preferably whole milk)
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
2 eggs plus 2 additional egg whites
1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted (original calls for salted, I’m just not a fan of salted butter)
Steps:
1. Mix the dry ingredients together (flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt)
2. Mix the wet ingredients (milk, eggs, egg whites, vanilla extract, and melted butter)
3. Combine the wet ingredients with the dry ingredients and mix well.
Enjoy!
Love when you discover a delicious recipe on accident! I call this a chili soup because my intentions were to make a chili but at the end of this whole thing the consistency was more like a soup, but I was not upset! This is so good! With the perfect amount of heat! I hope you enjoy this recipe!
Total Cook Time: 6 hours and 15 minutes
What You Need:
A crockpot***
1 1/2 – 2 1/2 lbs of chicken thighs (not breasts or tenders)
1 4oz can of green chiles
1 1/2 cup of chicken broth low sodium
5 poblano peppers
1 8oz block of cream cheese
1/2 to 1 cup of frozen corn
2 15.5oz cans of Bush’s Best White Beans in Chili Sauce
1 tablespoon of olive oil
For The Spices:
1 teaspoon of salt
1/2 teaspoon of pepper
1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon of onion powder
1/2 teaspoon of thyme
1/2 teaspoon of turmeric
1/2 teaspoon of basil optional
Toppings (Definitely Would Not Skip):
Freshly Diced avocados
Shredded Monterey cheese or Pepper Jack for even more of a kick
Fresh Chopped cilantro
Crushed up tortilla Chips
Steps:
1. Add your chicken thighs, chicken broth, Green Chiles, 1 poblano pepper with the top cut off and seeds removed, the olive oil, and spices. Set for LOW at 6 hours.
2. At 4 1/2 hours, line a cooking sheet pan with foil and place the remaining 4 poblanos on the pan. Broil both sides (3- 5 mins on each side) until charred. Immediately place the peppers into a large ziplock bag and allow to steam for 10 mins. After the 10 minutes, peel the skin and cut in strips.
3. By now there should be about an hour left to cook. Quickly open the lid and add the block of cream cheese, the 2 cans of beans undrained, the corn, and the roasted poblano peppers. Place lid back on crockpot adding about 15 to your cooking time. (Total crock pot time 6 hours and 15 minutes)
4. Turn crockpot off, remove lid, and begin to mix and shred the meat. Taste and add additional salt or spices as needed.
Serve immediately with fresh cilantro, Monterey cheese, and diced avocado!
So good!
Note: if this is too spicy, just add a dollop of sour cream to your serving. Enjoy!
What You Need:
12 lasagna noodles broken up into little pieces
1 pound of ground beef
1 pound of sausage
1 medium onion cut in half and sliced in pieces
4 garlic cloves chopped
1 6oz can of tomato paste
1 tablespoon of oregano
1 tablespoon of thyme
3 tablespoons of olive oil
1 teaspoon of Salt
1/2 teaspoon of pepper
4 cups and 3/4 of chicken stock
1/2 cup of heavy cream
Ricotta Dumpling’s so good
1 cup ricotta cheese
1/2 cup of Parmesan Cheese
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1/2 teaspoon of pepper
1 tablespoon of Italian seasoning
A few pinches or fresh chopped parsley
Steps:
1: In a large dutch oven pot sauté the onions with the olive oil, garlic, oregano, and thyme until softened.
2. In a separate pot cook the lasagna noodles as directed, drain, and set aside.
3. In the Dutch oven add both the ground beef and sausage, the salt and pepper, and cooking until all brown and mixed well. Drain the fat.
4. Next add the tomato paste, the can of crushed tomatoes, some chopped fresh parsley, and the chicken stock. Allow to simmer for 20 mins.
5. While the soup is simmering, in a small mixing bowl add the ingredients for the ricotta dumplings and mix throughly. Set aside. Taste it, it’s so good! Would be great on Bruschetta too!
6. Add the heavy cream and mix well. Then add the lasagna noodles and simmer for 5 mins.
7. Serve in bowls with dollops of the ricotta mixture.
Enjoy!
servings: 2 pizzas
baking instructions: bake at 500 degrees in a 9×13 glass dish for 10 to 12 mins or until edges are crisp.
What You Need:
1 pack of active dry yeast (2 1/4 teaspoons)
1 tablespoon of sugar
3 tablespoons of olive oil plus more for coating
3 3/4 cups of flour plus more for dusting
1 1/2 teaspoon of salt
Steps:
1. Whisk together 1 1/3 cup of warm water (you don’t want the water hot, it will kill the yeast) and the sugar. Then mix in the yeast and allow to sit for 10 mins until mixture is a little foamy and bubbly. Once the ten minutes are up add the tablespoons of olive oil.
2. In another large bowl mix together the flour and salt. Creat a well in the middle and add the water and yeast mixture. Knead dough for a minimum of 5 minutes adding more flour if necessary until dough is smooth and stretchy.
3. Divide dough in half creating 2 dough balls. Brush each dough ball with olive oil, placing each piece of dough in a bowl covered with plastic wrap. Allow to rise for an hour and a half.
4. Once dough is done rising freeze one and prepare the other. Rub olive oil all over a 9 x 13 glass dish. Arrange your dough in the glass dish leaving some space in the corners to spread. Add your sauce, seasonings, and toppings.
5. Bake at 500 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes or until nice and crispy on the edges. Remove pizza from glass dish and place on a charcuterie cutting board and serve while hot.
Enjoy!
These are delicious, you’ve been warned!
Makes 28- 30 donut bites
What You Need:
Start with 2 medium/large bowls and separate with wet ingredients and dry ingredients
Wet Ingredients:
3/4 cup of canned pure pumpkin
1 egg
1/3 cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup of milk
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
Dry Ingredients:
1 3/4 cup of all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon pumpkin spice
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
Steps:
1. Mix together dry ingredients in one bowl and wet ingredients in another bowl. The mix wet ingredients with dry ingredients into one bowl.
2. Butter 2 mini muffin pans and scoop a tablespoon into each muffin cup.
3. Bake at 350 for 8 to 10 mins or until toothpick comes out clean. Oven time may vary.
4. While baking warm up 1 stick of butter in a small bowl until completely melted and mix together 2/3 cup of sugar with 1 tablespoon of cinnamon in another bowl.
5. Once the donut bites are done immediately toss in butter then sugar and cinnamon mixture one at a time. Serve immediately.
Enjoy!
*** You can also make ahead. Batter can be left in the fridge for up to 3 days! ***
A great way to start Fall. Full of flavor and so yummy! Enjoy!
Servings: 10-15 large waffles or 20 to 25 small waffles
What You Need:
Wet Ingredients:
3 large eggs
1 1/3 cup of milk
1/4 cup pure maple syrup (the real stuff)
3 tablespoons of unsalted melted butter
1 cup of canned pumpkin NOT THE WHOLE CAN (save the remaining pumpkin for a different treat)
Dry Ingredients:
2 cups of all purpose flour
1/4 cup packed of light brown sugar
1 teaspoon of baking powder
1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
1/4 teaspoon of salt or “a pinch”
2 teaspoons of pumpkin spice seasoning
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
Steps:
1. In one large bowl mix together your dry ingredients. In another medium/large bowl mix together your wet ingredients.
2. Add the wet ingredients to the bowl of dry ingredients.
3. Heat up your waffle iron to a high setting and cook as directed to your waffle maker. ***Since these are made with pumpkin they can have a difficult time getting to that crisp texture but I have a tip below!***
serve these with whipped cream and a cinnamon apple recipe!
Waffle Making Tips:
• a good indicator that your waffle is complete is little steam or no more steam is present.
• waffle maker didn’t make them crisp the way you like it? No problem. Once waffles are complete pop them into your oven or toaster oven at 250 and bake them for a bit. Delish! (Toaster worker too if you made them enough)
• would definitely recommend freezing. Store in a freezer safe bag using parchment paper to separate the waffles. If you know you’re going to be freezing while making then definitely don’t aim for waffle perfection. Cook them a little soft so when they are reheated they are perfect! A yummy quick breakfast!
The Wild Gems 