Strawberry Margaritas

Last weekend, I bought 4 pounds of Strawberries. Ralph's Markets had them 4 lbs for $5.00, I could not resist the sweet red gems. I panicked a bit once I bought them, thinking I must not let them go to waste. I had decided that at least one box would turn into Chocolate Covered Strawberries. So when I got home from the market, I searched the web for recipes including strawberries. I found one for Strawberry bread, a trifle, shortcakes and some other weird ones I would never try.

Anyway, on Sundays we go to my Boyfriend's Dad's house for family dinner. I heard there was going to be a Taco Bar. I don't drink often at all and a Strawberry Margarita sure sounded refreshing and sweet. I cleaned and chopped my berries. Got my clear plastic cups and lids from the cabinet and started to get my Margaritas ready for blending. Here is my recipe...

Strawberry Margarita

Orange Juice
Strawberries
honey (from our friends hive)
Margaritaville Silver Tequila
Bols Triple Sec
Ice

I used 2 of my clear cups full of ice, 1 cup worth of berries with orange juice poured over them, 1 cup half Tequila and half triple sec, and a heaping tablespoon scoop of honey. Blended it and then poured it into my four cups, put the lids on and put them in the freezer. I had one with the tacos and I have to say it was AMAZING. My friend topped hers with a bit more tequila and enjoyed two!

*For my friends who do not drink, omit the alcohol and add more orange juice.

Omitting the alcohol and adding a little yogurt! This combo would make a delicious smoothie!

Quick Morning Scones

So many of us forget breakfast. We shouldn't. We need to be fueled to start the day. I am guilty of forgetting breakfast, I grab a Coke Zero or a cup of Folgers (that is all Rob will drink) and go. The other night I was craving a scone. So I opened the teeny tiny cabinet I call my pantry and pulled out a box of Bisquick. (Sorry scone purists, note the title of this entry says Quick Morning Scones) Digging through the top shelf of my pantry I found my supply of dried goodies and designed my Scone. Yum!

Quick Morning Berry Scones
2 cups Bisquick
2/3 cup buttermilk
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 packet instant oatmeal
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup dried blueberries
1/4 cup mini chocolate chips
Cinnamon Sugar for sprinkling the tops before baking.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a medium sized bowl mix Bisquick and buttermilk together. Stir cinnamon and oatmeal into scone mix. Fold in cranberries, blueberries, and mini chocolate chips. Using a soup spoon, scoop scone mix into little mounds and place on baking sheet. Sprinkle tops with Cinnamon Sugar and bake in oven for 10-12 minutes. Remove from oven and enjoy!

Jamie's Trail Mix

In the search for healthy foods and snacks, I have been inspired by my friend Denise J., who makes her own Trail Mix. So while at Trader Joes last week, I visited the nut and dry fruit aisle. One of my favorite isles at my local Trader Joes. I grabbed a bag of this and a bag of that until I had enough nuts and dried fruits to fill a brown bag. I use nuts and dried berries in my other healthy baking too. So here goes, my Trail Mix. Feel free to design your own.

Trail Mix that Jamie Likes

2 cups Trader Joe's Half the Salt Almonds
1 cup Dried blueberries
1 cup Dried cranberries
1 cup Sunflower seeds
1 cup Dark chocolate chips
1 cup Cashews
1 cup Pepitas

Dump all of the above ingredients into a large bowl. Stir until mixed together. Using a 1/2 cup measuring device, scoop a 1/2 cup full into a snack size Ziploc bag. Zip it and put your baggies in the pantry for a quick snack for work, watching TV, surfing the web, etc. Enjoy.

A New Twist On An Old Sweet

If you scroll down you will find a recipe for these really yummy Caramel Chocolate Bars. They are truly out of this world.

I went to Walmart the other day. There was a table with some Girl Scouts standing around it selling the yearly cookies. The sign on the table read, "LAST CHANCE FOR COOKIES". SCARE TACTICS at their finest. I was a bit sad thinking I would not be able to get a box of those delicious SAMOAS for one more year? How tragic. Then I thought about those Caramel Chocolate Bars and with that recipe below, I can recreate that caramel-ly, chocolate, and toasted coconut deliciousness whenever I want. I turned my frown upside down!

I simply placed some shredded coconut in a pan and toasted it in a 350 degree oven, checking it every couple of minutes for the perfect brown hue. It toasted pretty quickly. I set that aside and made the bars. I then substituted the toasted coconut for the sliced almonds. I have to say, when I served them as desert at dinner, people commented on how they were better than the Girl Scout cookie. So, if the Caramel, Chocolate and Coconut cookie is one of your favorites, you too can sleep better knowing you do not have to wait a year. Praise God, there is a placebo! :)

Healthy Cookies That Taste Good!?!

What? Did I just type that. Is that some sort of oxymoron? How could a cookie be healthy? Well, again trying to eat better, and being the sweet lover that I am, I needed to find a way to have a sweet but be healthy about it too. So wha-la here goes my attempt at a sweet that is relatively good for you.



Berry Nutty Peanut Butter Cookies

1/2 cup Organic Kirkland Peanut Butter from Costco
1/2 cup applesauce
1 egg
2 Tbsp. blue agave syrup
1 1/2 cup unbleached flour or wheat flour
3 packets of instant oatmeal (any flavor)
1/2 cup sunflower seeds or pepitas
1/2 cup dried cranberries or blueberries
1/2 cup sliced almonds
1/2 cup dark chocolate semi sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix first four ingredients together. Slowly add flour. 1/2 cup at a time. Add remaining ingredients until mixed well. Using a tablespoon scoop mixture and roll dough into a ball. Place on cookie sheet and bake 12-15 minutes. Enjoy! You will have a very soft, tasty, berry nutty cookie.

Cakes For Your Sweetheart

Sweets are great! Cakes are sweet, delectable treats. Lately, I have been trying to make my sweets without using items with preservatives or words I cannot pronounce. Minus the Caramel Cracker Bars of course. Believe it or not, since I started eating things with little or no preservatives I have lost 10 pounds, 5 of that finds me once in a while and then leaves again. So when I have wanted a sweet treat I use recipes with all fresh ingredients. The first recipe is a cake from scratch and my Sweetheart likes this cake and he doesn't even like sweets. The second is a cake from two boxes.

Robby's Orange Cake

(He has talked about this orange cake for years, we tried to get the recipe with no success... so I made one up with help from a regular white cake recipe)

2 cups unbleached flour

2 cups sugar

2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 cup butter softened

2 eggs

1 cup fresh orange juice

1 tsp. vanilla

1 orange peeled, chopped and skinned

1/4 tsp. zest from the orange for glaze

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine dry ingredients in the bowl of your stand mixer. Add orange juice and mix. Add butter and mix. Add eggs mixing between each addition. Add vanilla. Mix until batter is smooth. Add orange pieces and on low speed blend together.

Pour cake batter into a greased cake pan/s. Bake for 30-45 or until toothpick comes out clean.

While your Orange cake is baking and making your house smell amazing, make this glaze. It is very sweet but perfect with the orange cake.

1 1/2 cup powdered sugar

2 tbsp butter

1/4 cup fresh orange juice

orange zest saved from above ingredients for cake

Stir together. If you would like a thicker glaze add more powdered sugar, or if you want a thinner glaze add more fresh orange juice.

Remove cake from oven. Allow to cool. Poke some holes in the cake with a wooden skewer and frost with the glaze. Cut, serve and enjoy. You can serve this cake if you'd like with a little vanilla bean ice cream.

Jamie's Spiced Chocolate Bundt Cake

One box Betty Crocker Dark Chocolate Cake Mix

one small box Jello Pumpkin Spice Pudding

1/2 cup HOT water

1/2 cup canola oil

4 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1 cup sour cream

1/2 bag of miniature semi-sweet chocolate chips

Cinamon Sugar (C&H makes one in a cute little bottle, it's awesome)

Preaheat your oven to 350 degrees. In the bowl of stand mixer combine dry ingredients. Blend the cake and dry pudding mix together. Carefully add HOT water and mix. Add the canola oil and mix. Add an egg, one by one, mixing after each addition. Add vanilla and cinnamon and mix. Add sour cream and mix until all is blended smooth. Add the mini chocolate chips and mix on low until they are mixed in a bit.

Spray the bottom of your bundt pan with non stick cooking spray. Spray the bundt pan generously with the spray. Sprinkle cinnamon sugar on the bottom of pan. Spoon cake batter which will be thick into the pan. Level cake batter with the back of spoon when all batter is in the pan. Bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour. Check with toothpick.

Make a glaze out of powdered sugar, vanilla extract and a little water. A thin glaze is great for this cake. Once cake has cooled, sprinkle top of cake with cinnamon sugar and then drizzle with glaze. Sprinkle more cinnamon sugar on top of glaze.

Anything Wrapped in SWINE is Devine

Yep, unless you do not dine on swine, anything wrapped in bacon is simply devine. The first memory I have of eating bacon wrapped things is back in the 80's at my cousin Patty's house. She made Bacon Wrapped Dates. As a little kid the dates scared me. But I did not mind pulling the crispy, salty bacon off the date and eating it. The date actually gave my bacon strip a yummy taste.

My sister Jessica, who is a foodie too, has stumbled across 2 delicious Bacon Wrapped recipes. One is Bacon Wrapped Jalapeno Thingies and the other is Bacon Wrapped Crackers. I made both last night (for Superbowl as the assembly is time consuming) and they are fantastic. You must check this site out. http://www.thepioneerwomancooks.com/ The pioneer woman cooks, photographs and explains things in such a lovely way. Thank you Pioneer Woman.

My Boyfriends family makes a special Bacon-Wrapped Delicacy for family get togethers.

O'Brien-Fiello Family Bacon Wrapped Water Chestnuts

Thin sliced bacon strips cut in half
whole canned water chestnuts
toothpicks
teriyaki sauce

Take a water chestnut, wrap it with the bacon and fix it with a toothpick. Do this until your ingredients are used up. Put them in a tupperware container and marinate in the teriyaki sauce overnight in the 'frige or for a few hours before you plan to cook and serve them.

Place Bacon Wrapped Water Chestnuts on a cookie sheet and bake for 25-30 minutes in a 375 degree oven. If the bacon is not browned and sizzling, sometimes I put the appetizers on a plate and microwave for a minute or so.

Other suggestions for items to be wrapped in bacon are...

artichoke hearts
asparagus (you can have these little numbers at the Bengel Barbecue at DISNEYLAND)
scallops
shrimp
small pieces of chicken (pre-cooked)

It is also fun to try using different types of bacon; applewood smoked, maple bacon, peppered bacon. The possibilities are endless. I have NOT tried turkey bacon. I looked at it when I was at the market yesterday but I was a bit afraid to try it. SO, if you happen to try it, let me know how it turns out. Enjoy!

*** I tried the turkey bacon. It is a bit difficult to wrap. Tastes vaguely like pork bacon, but looks extremely processed. But, people did eat them. They did not disappear like it's pork relative but they were edible.