Peach Pizza with Goat Cheese and Balsamic Reduction

Ingredients:
1 ball of pizza dough
1/2 clove of minced garlic
olive oil or avocado oil
1 white peach (or peach variety of your choice)
3-4 oz of goat cheese
1/4 cup of four cheese blend
1/2 cup of balsamic vinegar
2 Tablespooons of honey
A leaf or two of basil
Sprig or two of thyme

Directions:
Preheat oven to 425. Pour a tablespoon or 2 of oil on cookie sheet. Pull, stretch, press pizza dough into desired shape and place on oil covered cookie sheet. Rub a tablespoon of oil on top of pizza dough with minced garlic. Sprinkle the four cheese blend all over dough. Crumble goat cheese all over dough. Slice peach in thin slices after removing pit. Arrange them over the pizza.
Place pizza in oven for 10 minutes.
Put balsamic and honey in pot over medium heat. Stir occasionally with rubber spatula at first and then constant as it begins to reduce. Usually takes about 10 minutes to reduce. Remove from heat once reduced by half.
Once pizza is removed from oven, drizzle a little bit of the balsamic reduction over the pizza. Store the remainder in the fridge. Chop up basil and thyme and sprinkle over. Cut and serve.

S'more Cheesecake Cupcake

Adapted from: this recipe!

Ingredients:

Crust
18 crushed graham crackers
1 TB granulated sugar
3/4 cups butter, melted
mini marshmallows
warmed hot fudge ice cream topping
Cheesecake
16 oz cream cheese (2, 8 oz blocks), room temperature
14 oz sweetened condensed milk
2 tsp vanilla
3 eggs
1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup mini marshmallows, divided
Garnish
1-2 Hershey bars broken into pieces
1/4 cup - 1/2 cup Hot Fudge Sauce

 Directions

 Preheat oven to 325.

Mix GC crumbs and butter together. Use a tablespoon to spoon it into cupcake liners and then press down with glass. Place 5-7 marshmallows on top of each crust and then drizzle hot fudge sauce over that and set aside.
In bowl of stand mixer combine cream cheese and sweetened condensed milk, mixing on low speed until smooth. Add in eggs, one at a time and then vanilla.
Stir in chocolate chips and mini marshmallows. Pour over crust.
Bake for 30 minutes. Then remove from oven and sprinkle 5 more marshmallow on top of each cupcake and place back in the over for 5 more minutes.
Cool them down and once cool, drizzle with hot fudge and place a piece of Hershey bar on top.

Makes 24 cupcakes.

 

 

Broccoli Cheese Soup

 

Ingredients: 

1 Tablespoon melted butter
1 chopped shallot

1 Tablespoon of chopped chives

1 chopped clove of garlic
1/4 cup melted butter
1/4 cup flour
2 cups of whole milk
2 cups chicken broth

1/2 lb of broccoli
1 cup of chopped carrots

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
8 ounces grated sharp cheddar cheese

1/2 cup of asiago cheese
salt and pepper

Directions:

Saute shallot, chives and garlic in butter in a small pan. Set aside.
In a dutch oven, melt butter, then add flour and whisk constantly over medium heat for 3-5 minutes. Stir in milk and chicken broth. Simmer for 20 minutes. 

Add the broccoli, carrots, shallots, chives and garlic. Cook covered, over low heat 20-25 minutes.
Add salt and pepper. Use an immersion blender to get the soup to a consistency of your liking. Then add cheeses and stir in nutmeg.

Pour into bread bowls, sprinkle with leftover cheese and enjoy.

 

Brown Sugar Pumpkin Cheesecake Cupcakes

This recipe is adapted from one found here by The Hungry Mouse. :)

Ingredients:

1 package of Oreos

4 Tablespoons of melted butter

24 oz. cream cheese  (3 8-oz. bricks), at room temperature

1 3/4 cups dark brown sugar

4 eggs (at room temp)

1 15-oz. can 100% pure pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)

1 Tablespoon of Vanilla

2 teaspoons of pumpkin pie spice
1/4 cup flour

For the Crust:

Crush your oreos in the food processor and then pour in the melted butter. Spoon about a tablespoon or so of the crust into cupcake liners and then press down with a glass. 

For the Filling:

Beat the cream cheese in your mixer until smooth. Add the brown sugar and mix again. Break your eggs into another bowl and then break them up with a fork. Add to the mixer. Beat well. Add the pumpkin, vanilla, pie spice, flour and mix until well combined. Pour filling into crusts. Bake at 325 for 35 minutes then turn off heat and crack the oven door for an additional 30 minutes. Then remove from oven and cool in kitchen for another 30. Then refridgerate 6 hours or overnight. You can top with whipped cream or eat as is.

Makes 36 cupcakes

Chicken Sweet Potato Black Bean Baked Flautas

Ingredients:

9 Mission Carb Balance Flour Tortillas

1 grilled shredded or cubed chicken breast

1 sweet potato

1 cup of black beans

1 cup of corn

1/4 of julienned carrots

1/4 of mild salsa

1/2 of feta cheese

2 tablespoons of cream cheese

1 teaspoon of basil paste

1/8 teaspoon of cumin

1/8 teaspoon of garlic salt

a pinch of red pepper flakes

3 dashes of tabasco sauce

salt and pepper to taste

shredded mexican cheese

Directions:

Put oven at 425. Cover a cookie sheet with foil and spray with cooking spray. Poke some holes in your sweet potato, wrap in damp paper towel and microwave for 7 minutes. Grill your chicken breast and shred or cube. Place in a large bowl and add the insides of the sweet potato, add everything else EXCEPT the mexican cheese. Mix! Take a tortilla and sprinkle with mexican cheese, add filling, sprinkle again with mexican cheese and then roll and place seam side down on cookie sheet until all are made. Spray the tops with cooking spray and bake for 7 minutes. Then take out and flip and cook for another 8 minutes on the other side.

I served mine with avocado on top. Super delicious and fairly healthy dinner. Enjoy!

Heirloom Tomato Panzanella

This recipe was introduced to me by my sister in law. She adds lemon cucumbers and red onions. We have also discussed how good it would be with avocado. So start with the below base and add whatever you like. 

Ingredients:

One baguette, sliced into 1 inch cubes

4 heirloom tomatos (I prefer Cherokee Purple and Pineapple)

A few chopped basil leaves

garlic

Olive Oil

Balsamic Vinegar

Your favorite cheese (I used a garlic Jersey cheese from my farmer's market but my SIL used small mozzarella balls. You could also use feta or goat.)

Directions

Mix bread cubes with olive oil, salt, pepper and minced garlic. Bake at 375 until crispy and golden brown. 

Take them out and let them cool. 

Slice the tomatoes into bite sized pieces. 

Toss everything but the bread in a bowl with vinegar and olive oil to taste. 

Toss with cooled bread cubes and taste for seasoning. 

Serves 4-6 people

Coconut Vanilla Quinoa Pudding

1 cup of uncooked quinoa

1/2 cup of sugar

3 13.5 oz cans of coconut milk

1 teaspoon of Nielson-Massey Vanilla Bean Paste

pinch of sea salt

Rinse quinoa in cold water to get rid of the bitterness. In a medium-sized sauce pan, add the coconut milk, cream, sugar and vanilla bean paste. Set the stove to medium-high until the milk comes to a simmer. Add the quinoa and set the stove to low. Stir every few minutes for one hour or the milk reduces to your desired pudding consistency.
I like to serve mine with frozen berries or chocolate chips. 

Peach Ginger Lemonade Granita

16 oz of frozen peaches

2 cups of water

1/2 cup of sugar

5 lemons

1 inch chunk of ginger

2 apples

Place the peaches, water and sugar in a medium sauce pan on the stove on medium heat and bring to a boil. Turn down to a simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool. Take an immersion blender and blend until smooth.

Use a juicer to get the juice from the ginger, apples and lemons.

Combine all liquids together in a 9 x 13 baking dish and place in the freezer. Take a fork to the liquid to fluff every hour until it is to your preferred consistency.

Brown Butter Salted Caramel Mocha Cookies

These are adapted from Kevin and Amanda's recipe found here.

Ingredients: 

2 sticks (1 cup) of unsalted butter

1 1/4 cup of dark brown sugar

1/4 cup of white sugar

2 eggs

1 TB of Vanilla 

2 1/4 cups of flour

1 packet of Starbucks Via Mocha

1 teaspoon of baking soda

1/2 teaspoon of salt

1 cup of caramel bits

3/4 cup of Ghiradelli dark chocolate chips

Course sea salt for sprinkling

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Once the butter starts to foam, begin whisking constantly. When the butter turns brown, fragrant, and you see little brown bits at the bottom of the pan, immediately remove from heat and and transfer to a large mixing bowl. Set aside to cool (I threw mine in the fridge to cool).

Whisk together the flour, coffee, baking soda, and salt in a bowl and set aside.

Beat the butter and sugars until well combined, about 3-5 minutes. Add the egg, yolk, and vanilla until well combined. Add the dry ingredients and mix on low-speed just until combined. Add the caramels and chocolate chunks and stir until just combined.

Spoon golf ball sized dough on cookie sheet lined with silpat. Bake at 350 for 10 minutes. Sprinkle with sea salt. Let cool and enjoy!

Lemon Cheesecake Cupcakes

These babies are tart!

 

Ingredients:

2 8oz blocks of cream cheese

1 cup of white sugar

1 teaspoons of vanilla bean paste

1 packet of lemon jello

the zest and juice of 2 lemons

8 oz tub of Cool Whip

A sleeve of crushed graham crackers (9)

6 Tablespoons of melted butter

Directions: 

Mix crushed graham crackers and butter together. Spoon into cupcake liners and smash with a glass to make even.

In a mixer, cream together cream cheese, sugar, jello, zest, juice and vanilla.

Gently fold in cool whip.

Spoon batter into cupcake liners.

Pop in freezer for at least 4 hours and serve cold. Enjoy!!!

Turtles...

Dwight: Thanks for meeting me. 

Michael: Are you kidding me? I'd go anywhere to see a turtle. 

Dwight: There is no turtle. 

Michael: Man, now I'm going to have to go online and look at turtles. Otherwise I'm gonna be off the whole day. 

The Office, Season 7 Episode 20

Ham, Peas, Mac and Cheese

My friend gave me an old issue of Cooking Light magazine and I found this recipe. The reviews weren't great but I thought I could make it great. Below is my version.

Ingredients: 

12 oz of Eating Light veggie elbow macaroni
1 1/2 cups chopped ham
1 1/2 cups frozen peas 
Cooking spray
2 tablespoons of butter
2 tablespoons of flour
3 cups milk (I used one cup of heaving cream and two cups of organic whole)
4 cups of sharp cheddar
1 teaspoon of garlic salt
1 teaspoon of onion powder
1/4 teaspoon of paprika
1/8 teaspoon of crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon of italian herbs
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 cup of panko crumbs

Directions: 

Preheat oven to 400°.
Cook pasta in boiling water 6 minutes. Drain and rinse with cold water; drain. Combine pasta, ham, and peas in a large bowl.
Heat a medium saucepan over medium heat. Melt butter then add flour. Cook until flour has soaked up all the butter. Add milk; bring to simmer and whisk. Dip a spoon in and run your finger down the middle of the back. If sauce stays separate, it's done. Remove from heat; stir in cheese, seasonings, salt, and peppers. Pour cheese mixture over pasta mixture; stir to coat. Spoon pasta into a 13 x 9 glass baking dish coated with cooking spray.
Sprinkle panko over the top. Bake at 400° for 20 minutes or until lightly browned.
This feeds 8 people. Enjoy!

Favorite Things Post!

Here is a list of my favorite things right now, Oprah style, well not really Oprah style because I can't give the items to everyone in my studio audience... I also do not have a studio audience... Click the links for where to buy!

Pacifica - Pretty much any scent is amazing. Their body lotion is thick and creamy. My favorite scents are Hawaiian Ruby Guava and Island Vanilla.

Neutrogena Oil Free Acne Stress Scrub - This clears my face and makes it feel clean with a tingle.

Le Creuset French Oven
I cook many things in this. Pasta, soups, meat, etc.

Aladdin 20 oz Tumbler 
I drink water in these at work, goal is three a day. Helping me hydrate.

Alba Passion Fruit Nectar Chapstick - Smells delicious and heals my lips.

Kettle Honey Dijon Chips
Nuf said.

Nike Women's Free Run+ 3
Super light weight and comfy

Happy shopping and perusing.

White Chocolate Caramel Macadamia Nut Cheesecake Cupcakes

Ingredients:

3 8oz blocks of cream cheese

1.5 cups of white sugar

4 teaspoons of vanilla bean paste

8 oz of melted white chocolate (I half melted mine so there would be bits of chocolate to crunch into)

8 oz tup of Cool Whip

A sleeve of crushed graham crackers

6 Tablespoons of melted butter

Caramel

Macadamia Nuts

Directions: 

Mix crushed graham crackers and butter together. Spoon into cupcake liners and smash with a glass to make even.

In a mixer, cream together cream cheese, sugar and vanilla.

Add melted white chocolate while mixer on.

Gently fold in cool whip.

Spoon batter into cupcake liners, sprinkle with chopped macadamia nuts and caramel.

Pop in freezer for at least 4 hours and serve cold. Enjoy!!!

DIY Glitter Ornaments

I love the look of glitter. But, I hate glitter itself. It gets everywhere, falls on everything and it's hard to get rid of. Someone put glitter all over my co-worker's desk in June for her birthday. It's November now and she is still finding glitter.

I found this tutorial on Pinterest: http://www.plumadorable.com/make-your-own-glitter-ornaments/

They were so beautiful and the glitter was INSIDE!!!

I went to Joann's and picked up a 16 pack of glitter samples and 18 clear ornaments (one broke and the other I put extra glitter and some acrylic paint inside). Then at Safeway I got some MopNGlo. I have no idea why the MopNGlo helps the glitter stick but, it does.

Set up a station with newspaper or a cardboard box because this gets messy. I also used a shot glass to help rest the ornament if I needed an extra hand.

Remove the silver tops of the ornaments, swirl in some MopNGlo making sure to get the entire inside coated. Drain the remainder into the MopNGlo container. Use a Q-Tip to get rid of bubbles or excess in the opening. Pour in your glitter, shake to coat all areas, replace silver top and hang!

Frozen Nutter Butter Treats

These are delicious and addictive. Like biting into a light fluffy cloud of peanut butter goodness. They are adapted from this recipe.

Ingredients:

12 Nutter Butter Cookies

2 Tablespoons of Butter

1 8oz package of softened cream cheese

1/2 cup of peanut butter

1/2 cup sugar

2 teaspoons of Vanilla

1 8 oz tub of Cool Whip 

1/4 cup of melted dark chocolate chips

Directions:

Crush the nutter butters with a rolling pin in a ziploc bag and then mix with butter. Press onto bottom of cupcake tins lined with cupcake liners.

Mix cream cheese, sugar, vanilla and peanut butter until blended. Whisk in the Cool Whip and take 1/2 cup into small bowl. Blend in melted chocolate. Spread half the remaining cream cheese mixture over crust, top with layer of chocolate mixture and remaining cream cheese mixture.

Top with mini chocolate chips. Freeze 4 hours or until firm. Eat 3 in one sitting and then feel guilty but happy. 

Thai Iced Tea

Many years ago, while living in a small town, my brother and I used to go to a Thai restaurant for dinner. He would always order a Thai Iced Tea with Cream, so I did too. It is one of my favorite drinks. But, I hated that the only way to get it was to go to my nearest Thai restaurant. So, I went searching and found thai tea mix on amazon. This is how I make it at home:

Ingredients: 
8 tablespoons of Thai Tea Mix
1 Cup of Water
3 teaspoons of sugar
1/2 teaspoon of Vanilla
1/4 cup of milk or cream or half and half

Directions:
I use my Keurig to heat up my water and then my french press to separate the tea from the water. So first I place the tea mix in my french press and click the middle cup button on my keurig. Or use 8 oz of hot water. Let the water and tea mix for a few minutes. Then place the top on the french press and plunge down until the plunger can't go anymore. Pour the liquid in a separate glass that already contains the sugar. Stir. Add the milk, stir, then add lots of ice. Add a straw and consume. 

BBQ Chicken Quesadillas

My old neighbor used to make these for her family and I got the chance to try to them so I started making my own and now they are a Fowler Family Favorite. 

Ingredients:
6-8 flour tortillas
2 cups of shredded Mexican cheese 
2 chicken breasts
1 cup of Chicken Broth
Stubbs BBQ Sauce

Directions: 
I use two frozen chicken breasts from Costco that I place in a skillet with some cooking spray on medium heat. As they de-frost, I salt and pepper both sides. Cook for two minutes on each side, then add the chicken broth and put on the lid. Cook for 20 minutes or until cooked through. Once cooked, shred the chicken with a fork or slice into bite sized chunks. Add the chicken to a bowl and add BBQ sauce. I use about 1/2 cup of sauce but use however much you'd like and mix.

Heat a pan on low-medium heat. Take a tortilla and add a layer of the cheese on one side, then place some chicken over that and another layer of cheese. Close the tortilla and make a second. Either spray your pan with cooking spray or add butter. My husband likes butter more. Place both quesadillas in the pan and cook until browned on both sides. Continue until you've used all the chicken and enjoy! 

Frozen Smores

This Recipe is adapted from easybaked.net and was found on Pinterest!

A delightful summertime treat of Frozen Smores!

INGREDIENTS:

9 sheets of Graham Crackers

1/3 cup butter

1/2 cup Ghiradelli dark chocolate chips

1/4 cup whipping cream

 mini marshmallows

1 1/2 cup cold milk

1 3.9 oz box of instant chocolate fudge pudding

8 oz of heavy whipping cream (you can use an 8 oz tub of Cool Whip instead)

1-2 teaspoons of Vanilla 

2 teaspoons of powdered sugar

1/4 cup mini chocolate chips (as topping)

DIRECTIONS

Place graham crackers into a ziploc bag and crush into fine crumbs with a rolling pin. 

Melt butter and add to graham crackers, mixing until well combined to make crust.

Place 18 cupcake liners in your cupcake tins and evenly divide crust mixture into all 18 cups. I used a small glass to press my crust into the tin. 

Place dark chocolate chips and whipping cream into a small bowl and microwave in 30 second increments, stirring in between, until melted and smooth. Mine only took 30 seconds to become melted and smooth. Spoon chocolate into the center of each cup, on top of the crust.

Divide Marshmallows among cups. I used about 7 per treat.

Whip your 8 oz of heavy whipping cream with a stand mixer with whipping attachment until it starts to grow. Then add vanilla and powdered sugar and continue to whip until it is the consistency of whipped cream. (if using Cool Whip, skip this step.)

Mix cold milk with pudding on medium speed for 2 minutes. Fold in half of the whipped cream (the rest will be used as topping).

Spoon filling into the cups until it is level with the liner. 

Pipe a little bit of the left over whipped cream on each dessert using a decorating tip.  Then sprinkle the top with the mini chocolate chips.

Freeze for at least a couple of hours.

Serve cold right away– or put them in a sealed container and freeze until you are ready to serve.

Enjoy!