DESSERT PIZZA: FRESH BLACKBERRY, GOAT CHEESE, THYME & HONEY

Yes I just said all of that in one recipe! Don't question me!

Amy found this amazing recipe for a dessert pizza that we then made for her birthday! We ended up making it with Red Mill gluten free pizza dough mix, but of course you can use it with any type of dough. It has very interesting flavors and is not difficult at all to make, much easier than a regular pizza. We also made a ricotta lemon-almond cake and prosciutto/arugula/pear pizza, but that's a story for another day! (An aside: For all you single goat-cheese-loving ladies, check out this recipe for goat cheese alfredo with roasted red pepper!)

JASMINE RICE SIDE DISH

 I found some jasmine rice on sale and was looking up some recipes and used this one because I already had anything! The bay leaf adds an amazing cool flavor to this dish.

INGREDIENTS

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons chopped onion

1/4th cup green peas

1 bay leaf

1 1/2 cups dry jasmine rice

3 cups water

salt to taste

DIRECTIONS

1. Pour 3 cups water into the saucepan and add the salt. Increase the heat to medium and let the rice come to a quick simmer. Reduce heat to low and let rice simmer lightly and sit uncovered until all of the liquid is absorbed. Cover the rice and remove from heat. 
2.  In a large saucepan over a medium-low heat, warm the oil. Add onion and saute for 3 to 5 minutes. Mix in green peas, bay leaf, and jasmine rice. Stir to coat the rice. 

SNOOZE BREAKFAST POT PIE

If you're reading this and you're from Colorado probably know about the restaurant Snooze. If you know about Snooze you also know it usually has an hour and a half wait. The first time we went I think we waited an hour and a half! There are several locations here, and only one other in San Diego. Every location does so well, I know it will take over the world soon. Look out Wal-Mart (allrightsreserved?!)! All of the dishes are so high quality but no more expensive than any other breakfast place. Another of my favorites to order is the sweet potato pancake with ginger butter!

Anyway this recipe is one of their most popular dishes, and what I order everytimeee. It is eggs over puff pastry and an amazing sausage rosemary gravy poured on top. It sounds weird, I know. I don't think I would order it from the description but I tried a bite of my friends and was hooked! Just give it a chaaaance! This recipe is dead on and tastes exactly like the restaurant, so if you don't live nearby you can do it yourself!

This recipe was slightly altered and actually released by one of Snooze's employees on a local news station. I chose to make individual servings so it was more like the restaurant but this was intended to make as a casserole to serve several people. I also could not find puff pastry so I grabbed some flaky biscuits! Also if you are vegetarian, you could try substituting the sausage with mushrooms.

Snooze Breakfast Pot Pie

INGREDIENTS:
1 sheet puff pastry (approximately 8x10 inch)
12 eggs scrambled
4 cups sausage gravy (see recipe below)
Egg wash (whisk one egg with 1 Tbs. water)

ROSEMARY-SAUSAGE GRAVY:
2 cloves minced garlic
2 leeks, cleaned and chopped (discarding leaves)
2 celery stalks (chopped)

2 large carrots (sliced)
1 sprig of rosemary (finely chopped)
1 lb. bulk breakfast sausage (browned and drained)
3 Tbs. unsalted butter

4 cups milk
½ cup Parmesan cheese (grated)
½ cup all purpose flour
Salt and pepper to taste 

DIRECTIONS
1. Melt butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add leeks, carrots, celery, garlic, and rosemary and sauté until vegetables soften (about 10 min). Preheat oven to 400F

2. Stir in flour and continue to cook until the flour is well incorporated. At this point, stir in the cooked sausage, milk and Parmesan cheese. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat and allow to simmer (stirring occasionally) until the gravy thickens (about 10-15 min). Season with salt and pepper to taste.

3. Pour thickened gravy into a medium sized casserole dish. Top with scrambled eggs. Cover the casserole dish with the puff pastry dough, crimping the dough around the edge of the dish.

4. Lightly brush the pastry dough with egg wash. Place in preheated oven and bake for approximately 30 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown.

Serves 6 to 8

-Jerica-

HOT SPINACH ARTICHOKE DIP

There are lots of cold spinach artichoke dips out there but nothing beats a warm gooey cheesy one! This recipe made a very hearty portion and a lot of the ingredients I had already. Feel free to substitute any of the ingredients with a low fat option as well. This is great when having people over, or devouring half of it yourself like I did. Whatever gets you off!

INGREDIENTS

• 1/2 (10 ounce) package frozen or fresh spinach, drained and coarsely chopped
• 1 (14 ounce) can artichoke hearts, drained and coarsely chopped
• 4 ounces cream cheese
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1/4 cup mayonnaise
• 1 clove garlic, grated
• 1/2 teaspoon chili sauce (optional)
• 1/4 cup grated parmigiano reggiano (parmesan), grated
• 1/4 cup mozzarella, shredded

DIRECTIONS

1. Simply mix everything and pour it into a baking dish. I also put an extra layer of mozzarella on the top before I threw it in the oven.
2. Bake at 350F oven until the sides are bubbling and cheese has melted and turned golden brown on top, about 20-30 minutes.

Original recipe found here.

-Jerica-

CHRISTMAS BRUNCH

For Christmas my sister requested a Christmas Brunch! So Christmas Eve as I did some last minute present shopping, I Googled some recipes and found a Goat Cheese and Caramelized Balsamic Onion Quiche and a Starfruit and Spinach Salad.  I got the original recipe for the Quiche here but made a few minor changes. 

Ingredients

2 pie crust (I used a store bought crust)

2 Onions 

1/3 cup balsamic vinegar 

3 tablespoon sugar

1/4  cup buttermilk

1/4 cup milk

8 large eggs

5 ounces goat cheese

½ tsp salt

¼ tsp black pepper

1/8 tsp nutmeg

1 tomato, sliced into ¼ inch slices

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. lay the pie crust into your baking dish

3.Bake the pie crust according to the instruction. While it bakes begin caramelizing your onions.

4. Slice onions and cook on the stove with balsamic vinegar, olive oil, salt/pepper, and sugar.

5.Take the crust out when it is done and let it cool

6.spread onions in the baking dish and crumble in goat cheese

7. In a bowl mix together buttermilk, milk, eggs, salt, nutmeg, pepper

8. Pour mixture into baking pan and bake until egg is set and golden. for about 40-45 minutes

My uncle has an amazing fruit garden and always send us tons of fruit. This time he sent us a huge box of start fruit. More than what we know to do with! So I threw some in with some spinach and almonds for a salad. For the dressing I mixed together some olive oil, balsamic vinegar, white wine vinegar, lime juice, minced garlic, sugar, salt and pepper. I didn't really measure it out exactly just poured and mixed until it tasted right! 

-Amy-

COCA COLA CUPCAKES WITH BUTTERCREAM FROSTING

My friend has this odd obsession with Coke. It's kinda ridiculous- maybe obsession is the wrong word... more like addiction. Well I am only fueling the fire with these Coca Cola Cupcakes. Since it is finals week he has been under some stress with studying so I decided to make him a treat to help him cope. I think it may just be a girl thing to want sweets, chocolate, and tons of food when under stress but maybe a guy might appreciate it as well! Either way I know he can't turn these down. I included 4 Coca Colas in the pretty glass bottles- the ones from Mexico that are made with real sugar! (I am not a soda fan but all my soda drinking friends tell me it is a lot better than American coke).

I got this recipe from an Australian blog, Grab Your Fork and made a few adjustments.

Ingredients:

1 1/3 c  flour

3/4 c sugar

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1 large egg

1/3 c Greek yogurt

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 c unsalted butter

4 Tbsp dark cocoa powder

3/4 cup Coca-Cola

Coca-Cola icing:

1/2 c unsalted butter, softened

2 c  powdered sugar

1-2 Tbsp Coca-Cola

2 Tbsp Cream Cheese

Decorations (optional):

gummy cola bottles

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 Degrees .

2. Mix flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, egg, yogurt, vanilla .

3. Heat butter, cocoa, Coca-Cola on low heat and mix.

4. Mix everything together and then fill each muffin tin 2/3 way full. Bake for 25 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.  Let cool.

5. For the icing- beat the softened butter with coca cola, cream cheese and powdered sugar.

6. Once the cupcakes have cooled, top with icing and gummy cola bottles.

-Amy-

LEMON RICOTTA PANCAKES

I was looking for a recipe that called for ricotta to use mine up, and a way to procrastinate from studying for finals, and I found this! Lemon Ricotta Pancakes. Who knew? The ricotta makes the pancakes extra moist inside and you whip the egg whites before adding, which adds so much volume and fluff. The end result is a pancake that melts in your mouth. Stop drooling!

LEMON RICOTTA PANCAKES 

INGREDIENTS

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup ricotta cheese
1 large egg
2 large egg whites
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
1 tablespoon canola oil

DIRECTIONS

1. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together ricotta cheese, egg, egg whites, lemon juice, lemon zest, and canola oil. Gently fold this mixture into the dry ingredients until flour disappears. Don't over mix. The batter will be thick.
3. Heat a griddle or a nonstick skillet over medium heat. Spray with cooking spray.  Drop about 1/3 cup of batter onto the hot griddle or skillet. Cook the pancakes until browned on the underside and beginning to set, about 2 minutes. Flip and cook the pancakes on the other side, about two minutes longer. Serve warm with maple syrup or fruit topping!

 -Jerica-

GRILLED SWEET POTATO WITH GARLIC BUTTER & THYME

 So I have made this snack 3 times since I discovered it... 3 days ago. Only a few ingredients, so tasty and soooomewhat healthy! This was one of the dishes Amy and I were considering for our Thanksgiving Dinner but it ended up not making the cut so I had six sweet potatoes on my hands! I didn't have rosemary so I just used some Thyme and it was delicious. The first time it was for my boyfriend and I as an appetizer, but I ended up eating the whole first batch myself. Whoooops.

 

INGREDIENTS

• 1 large (2 small) sweet potatoes, washed and sliced into 1/2-inch rounds
• 2 tbsp butter, melted
• 1 tsp finely diced fresh rosemary
• 1/4 tsp. garlic powder
• sea salt, sprinkled on top

DIRECTIONS

1. Wash and slice the sweet potatoes into 1/2-inch rounds and place on foil sheet.
2. Melt the butter in a bowl and add the chopped rosemary and garlic.
3. Stir and spoon/drizzle on each round.
4. Lightly salt the tops.
5. Place on grill and cook on low, about 5 minutes each side.

Recipe found here

-Jerica-

ALMOND PESTO & SPAGHETTI SQUASH

Almond Pesto with Spaghetti Squash

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 Cup Raw Almonds

1/4  Cup Olive Oil

1/8 Cup Truffle Oil 

3 cups Basil chopped leaves
3 Cloves Garlic
1/4 Cup  Parmesan Cheese
 1/2 Teaspoon Salt

1/2 Teaspoon pepper

1/2 Teaspoon Lemon juice

1/2 Teaspoon Truffle

1 Spaghetti Squash

2 Zucchini- shredded into thin strips  

2 links Italian Sausage

1/2 Teaspoon dried Basil

1/2 Teaspoon Garlic Salt

1/2 Teaspoon Italian Season

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F

2. Cut and take out the seeds from your spaghetti squash. Drizzle squash and shredded zucchini with a tablespoon of Truffle oil. Sprinkle with Garlic Salt, Dried Basil, and Italian Seasoning Roast, then place spaghetti squash in the oven for about one hour or until tender. Bake the zucchini for 30 mins.

3. Bake Sausage according to instructions as well! I do it all at once to save me some time.

4. Using a food processor blend together almond, basil, cheese, garlic, olive & truffle oil, lemon juice, salt/pepper, truffle until it forms a relatively smooth paste.

5. Shred your squash and mix with pesto and sausage!

6. Enjoy!

-Amy-

OLIVE GARDEN COPY CAT: CHICKEN GNOCCHI SOUP

I have done an olive garden copy cat recipe before, for their Zuppa Toscana soup, and it turned out so delicious. That one is made in the crockpot, and the main ingredients are Italian sausage, potatoes and kale. Amazing. However I must say that this Chicken Gnocchi recipe does not taste exactly like Olive Garden's (I don't think theirs has onions or thyme) but that doesn't mean it isn't great! This is a lot more creamy and filling than their Zuppa Toscana but I still don't know which is my favorite!

I tackled making some of my own gnocchi, which turned out to be super easy. All you need are potatoes, flour, and an egg. That's it! There is a nice little tutorial here, but basically all you do is bake a few potatoes for 45 minutes, remove the skin as soon as they come out, and grate it up with a very fine cheese grater. Then you add you egg and flour and mix it up! You cook them by rolling them up and placing them in a pot of boiling water, and when they  float to the top they are finished cooking.
Pair it up with some homemade garlic bread and you're good to go. Mmmmmmm carbssssss.

GNOCCHI

Serves 4

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 potatoes, peeled
• 2¼ cups plain flour
• 1 egg  

FOR THE SOUP

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 cup chicken breasts, diced and cooked (can use canned chicken or turkey)
• 4 Tbsp butter
• 4 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 quart half and half (can use evaporated milk)
• 1 14 ounce can chicken broth
• 1/2 cup celery, sliced
• 1/4 cup flour
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 cup carrots, shredded
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 1 cup fresh spinach, coarsely chopped
• 1/2 tsp dried thyme
• salt and pepper to taste
• 16 ounce package gnocchi (or make your own!)

PREPARATION:

1.In a large stockpot, saute the onion, celery and garlic in the butter and olive oil. When the onion is clear, add the flour and form a roux. Stir and cook a minute. Add the half and half.

2. In another pan, cook the gnocchi according to the instructions above.

3.Add the carrots and chicken to the stockpot. Stir often and when it gets thicker, add the chicken broth, gnocchi, spinach and seasonings. Cover and heat through. Enjoy!

Recipe from PassTheSushi

-Jerica-

PUMPKIN CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

Oh my goshhhh. As soon as I tasted these I knew this would be something I would be making regularly. It's such a quick and easy recipe too. These are super fluffy little cookies, almost like the top of a muffin, so not really like a cookie at all! They are also very orange, it's not just a weird picture :).

They taste just like fall; dead leaves, wind and Halloween! Exactly what I expect of all my recipes!

 

PUMPKIN CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

                                Makes 2 dozen

• 1 cup canned pumpkin
•  1 cup white sugar
•  1/2 cup vegetable or olive oil 
• 1 egg
•  2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt 
• 1 teaspoon baking soda 
• 1 tablespoon vanilla 
• 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

1. Combine pumpkin, sugar, vegetable oil, and egg. In a separate bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, baking soda, ground cinnamon, and salt.

2. Add flour mixture slowly to pumpkin mixture and mix as you go.

3. Stir in the vanilla, followed by the chocolate chips.

4. Spoon onto greased cookie sheet and bake at 350°F for approximately 12 minutes or until firm.

Original recipe found here

-Jerica-

HONEY ALMOND & LAVENDER CUPCAKES WITH SALTED HONEY CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

Happy Belated Birthday to my dear dear friend and co-blogger, Jerica! Actually her birthday was a while ago but she had been in Hawaii- putting a hold on her birthday celebration. We booked a hotel down in Denver for a sweet hotel soireeeee, had dinner at Linger (a restaurant that used to be a Mortuary), and a night full of festivities at the bars!

   Here is an adorable picture from dinner of Kyle, Jerica, and Alix!

I initially wanted to make a cake and bring it to dinner- but that seemed like it’d end up being more work than needed. So I went with a Honey Almond and Lavender (gluten free!) cupcake with a salted honey cream cheese frosting. Sounds like a bit much but it is really a lightly sweet and floral cupcake!

Honey Almond Lavender Cupcake
PREP TIME: 30 MIN. TOTAL TIME:  1 HOUR
MAKES A DOZEN

FOR THE BATTER:
   ½        cup organic butter
    2        cage free eggs
 1¾        cup gluten free all purpose flour
 1½        teaspoon baking powder
    2        teaspoon dried lavender
   ½        teaspoon sea salt
    1        cup organic raw sugar
   ¼        cup organic honey
    1        teaspoon pure vanilla extract
    1        teaspoon pure almond extract
   ½        cup vanilla almond milk

FOR THE FROSTING:
    8        ounces soften organic cream cheese
    3        tablespoon soften organic butter
   ¼        cup organic honey
   ½        teaspoon pure vanilla extract
    3        cups organic powder sugar
    2        tablespoon lavender
    2        teaspoon of sea salt

1. Let butter and cream cheese sit at room temperature to soften up.

2. Preheat oven to 350°. Set up the cupcake wrappers into a muffin pan to maintain shape. Whisk together all the dry ingredients in a medium bowl and set aside.

3. Beat ½ cup of butter with an electric mixer. Add sugar,  ¼ cup of honey, 1 teaspoon almond and teaspoon vanilla extract. Beat  on medium speed and slowly add in eggs.

4. Slowly sift the dry mixture into the beater. Add in ½ cup of vanilla almond milk. Beat on medium speed until all is blended into a smooth and creamy consistency.  Add more almond milk if needed.

5. Spoon batter into cupcake holders about ¾ of the way full. Bake for 12 minutes and cool before frosting. Double check the cupcake is fully cooked by poking the middle with a tooth pick- if it comes out dry than its done! If not leave in for a few more minutes to cook.

6. Prepare the frosting while the cupcake cools. Let the 3 tablespoon of butter and 8 ounces of cream cheese soften at room temperature. Beat together softened butter and cream cheese on medium. Drizzle in the ¼ cup honey and  ½ teaspoon vanilla. Sift in the powder sugar slowly and beat until smooth and thick.

7. In a small bowl mix together 2 tablespoon of sea salt and 2 tablespoon of lavender evenly to create Lavender Salt for the topping.

8. Once cooled begin frosting the cupcakes using a pastry bag and frosting tip. Sprinkle each frosted cupcake with the Lavender Salt topping mixture and toasted almond slivers for texture. ENJOY

 

BEER BATTER CHOCOLATE BACON MAPLE CUPCAKES

This is definitely a cupcake that is suited for the students of CU Boulder. Its the ultimate munchies cupcake- Beer Battered Chocolate Bacon Cupcake with Maple Syrup Frosting. Drooooool. I got this recipe from another blogger who was inspired by one of my favorite shows! Two Broke Girls.
I absolutely loveeeeeeee bacon. A few months back I made some bacon chocolate chip cookies and packaged them in some mason jars for some wonderful classmates that were super helpful in a group project (I’ll post that recipe up soon). As for the other chocolate cupcakes I made last time… meh. The flavoring was great but the texture was too dense. Once I tweak that recipe a bit I will post it!

-Amy-

CORN CHOWDER- FOR THOSE COLD DAYS TO COME!

Mmm today I made corn chowder from a recipe my friend Jessica gave me! I changed it up a little because it wasn’t as spicy as I wanted it to be. It was amazing though.

Vegetarian Chile Pepper & Corn Cream Chowder

2 TBS butter
1 C. Chopped Onion
2 Anaheim Peppers ( I used 4)
1/2 C. thinly sliced celery
1 pkg. frozen corn (16 oz) ( I also threw in some peas cause I love them)
12 oz. red potatoes diced
4 C. whole milk
6 OZ. cream cheese ( I used fat free- granted this is already unhealthy so it probably made no difference)
salt and pepper to taste
(Then I threw in some Cayenne peppers, chili powder, and garlic powder- to taste.)

1. melt butter in large saucepan over medium-high add onion, peppers and celery cook & stir 5 MINUTES
2. move into big soup pan and add corn, potatoes and milk. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium-low; cover and simmer 10 minutes or until potatoes are tender.
3. Remove from heat add cream cheese salt and pepper. stir until cream cheese is melted.
EAT AND ENJOY!

-Amy-

PORTOBELLO MUSHROOM BURGER

Gorgeous day to have lunch outside in Colorado. Made a delicious portobello mushroom burger with an avocado yogurt spread! So simple! Just grill the portobello with oil, sea salt, and black pepper. And for the spread mash together half an avocado, 2 tablespoons of yogurt, some minced garlic, salt and pepper to taste. Eassssssssy and quick.

-Amy-