Scones

Just want to share one of my favorite Sunday morning treats with all of you.

I do love my coffee that just happens to pare really well with something lightly sweetened fresh warm yet popping with fresh fruity flavors like SCONES?  Well... maybe coffee cake!  

These two flavors are by far my favorite and I really think only best when served right out of the oven pipping hot.  Raspberry Lemon and Blueberry both with a sprinkle of sugar crystals or just sugar in the raw on top.  I like to use frozen organic berries out of season, they work nicely.  Looking forward to in season and fresh warm berries are by far much better.  That's almost a given that fresh is better than frozen, however sometimes you must do what you have to do.

Now, I do a few different types of scones.  When I do not have time to do from scratch yet I cheat and use a box mix.  When I have more time and am willing to take the time I do use bisquick mix.  I'll let all my readers know right now I am not the baker in the family at all.  When I do bake it's out of need and want for something sweet and tasty.  My sister happens to be the one that is our little baker in the family.  I enjoy more the savory foods than the sweets when it comes to making and creating.  

Again, this time I'm at a loss for a recipe to share with all of you, mostly just popping out some yummy ideas and photos, that is more up my ally.  Just so you all know the photo up above I took of my sisters home made Blueberry Lemon Scones.  Now, I hope you all enjoy these yummy creations and that they might spring some ideas into your head, and in my cooking world I believe that if you think of something that seems and sounds good and not sure if it will be... TRY!  You won't know unless you give it a go.  With my scones it's a basic mix and I just thought how cool it would be to have berries sitting on top that have been baked along with the scones.  These are best eaten fresh due to all the juice and the fresh berries on them.  Next day is okay, however they don't save as well as if you were to mix the berries in with the dough.   Just a helpful tip! 

Best enjoyed with good friends and family.

Now go and make you & your friends some scones and coffee, then enjoy your day!

Eat, Love, & Live

Quinoa & Chicken

Trying new this is fun.  Don't ever be afraid of something new and different.  This is a really good meal in your dutch oven pot and great for a house full or dinner guest.  

Tonight we tried something new.  Quinoa!  It was really easy, just like cooking rice.  Tasty and very filling, also rather pretty and light.  Perfectly paired with chicken veggies and tomato basil sauce.    Tonight I just wanted to post up a beautiful picture of our dinner and share the new food we tried with all of you!  No recipe this time, I just threw this together and it worked out rather well... Inspired by a recipe I saw, I changed it up to make it more our liking and we loved it... Served up with some left over fresh bakery bread from the other night dinner was a hit!  This meal only took me 40min. to make and that was mostly due to trying to figure out what all I wanted to add to the pot... I so love being about to just cook it all in one dutch oven and call it a meal.  Less mess and work on trying to watch other items in other pans pots etc. and hope nothing buns... Easy and simple whenever you can is a must!

We are still on a quest to eat even more healthy than we do now.  More white meats and sea food, fish, and much more veggies and fruits.  Looking for more flavors and more colors.  Food to fuel us and keep us going for as long as we can live.  To eating for a long healthier life!  If any of you have not tried this Quinoa I highly recommend giving it a go.  It's really quite good!  Get out there and try something new this coming week!  

Try Quinoa!

Eat, Love, & Live

Roman Chicken Saltimbocca

Tonight I just had to make something that would melt in your mouth and leave you wanting to lick the plate and want more.  I found it!  

I have everything I need, except lemon.  It never fails I have lemon and can't seem to use it up fast enough and when I do need it there isn't any to be found.  I ran to the store and grabbed up some lemon and fresh baked bread to go with dinner.

I can't take credit for the high light of this dish I found this recipe and just want to share it with you all because not only did it taste fabulous but looked really pretty too and was quick and easy to make.  Anyone could do this dinner and rock it.  The whole family no matter how big or small would love it to the last bite.

I have to give credit when credit is due.... Thank you goes out to Whole Foods for their amazing website and recipes that they post up.  Here is the link to their site if anyone wants to see where I found this fantastic recipe.  http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/recipe/roman-style-chicken-saltimbocca

I love finding things and changing them up most of the time.  This time I didn't want to change what they had done at all.  Only thing I changed was amounts of things due to the fact I only cook for two people.  We only each needed one chicken each so I cut the recipe in half.  However I did add extra sage because I love sage, and less butter.  We don't hardly ever ever use butter.  I remember tonight why I love butter so very much.  This little blog tonight I won't post up the recipe because you can all just use the link to Whole Foods site.  I came up with the sides all on my own and they went really well with the chicken.  The broccoli was olive oil salt pepper and some water, sired then steamed just while I prepped the chicken.  Having potato's was a must tonight we have a ton of them to use and they just sounded good.  They are olive oil, salt, pepper, and sage.  Baked the potato's in the oven like fries, roasted... Perfect sides.  Lets not forget the fresh bread I picked up at the store, it was some seed bread. Really good choice too.

I was proud of myself tonight for taking on a new dish tonight.  Thinking I was going to post step by step tonight I took pictures of it all. Guess I can still share with you all so you see how easy it truly was.  

Yes that sage isn't very big yet but it came from my herb garden.  The prosciutto was so good that I picked up from Trader Joe's two weeks ago.  I love foods that I can get and hold onto and use more than once or twice to make a dressed up dinner.  I bought my bottle of white wine there too!

Like I said just use the link I posted and get the how to on all this, it's simple.  I'm cooking the chicken here and that only took a matter of 8 min. tops.  

This was a first for me tonight.  Making a wine sauce, and thought all these years how scary and hard it would be to get right.  I'm laughing so hard right now because it was so simple and so easy anyone could do it and it totally made the dish.  That and the lemon slices to add to it once all was plated.

The chicken gets set aside on a pretty platter waiting, and covered for it's wine sauce to cover it and make it taste like a bit of Roman heaven in your mouth.

I so think anyone can make this for diner and feel classy having something so melt in your mouth for dinner.  We felt like we had gone out and had a really high end chicken dish.  Don't ever be scared of trying new things, this is how you can find something that you really enjoy and might just fall in love with.  This will be a chicken dish I won't have any problems making again.  Change up the side dishes and have it again soon.  

I even had a small glass of the wine with dinner to help add to the flavors, that is just not something I do often.  The wine was a nice complement with the chicken and the wine sauce.

Now go and cook, take your self out of your comfort zone and enjoy.

Eat, Love, & Live.

Carrot Pancakes

Home made anything is always better than anything else.  Today I started out thinking Id just have my normal breakfast (frozen waffle with peanut butter and organic jam).  Then it came to me that I wanted to just try something new.   I have a few things left in the frig that I wanted to use before they go bad like my carrots, almonds and milk.  It had to be "Carrot Pancakes"!  Easy to make and so good, no egg, all healthy and a good start to the day.

I can't imagine anyone not loving or at the very least liking pancakes.  Even if you don't like carrots these healthy cakes full of nothing but goodness will totally draw you in wanting more.  My rule of thumb is you should always try something you have never had once before you can JUDGE it!  This said, you won't know what your missing until you have had one, or maybe just a bite. That one bite is all its going to take to hook you into falling for these "Carrot Pancakes". 

Now, as always setting out everything you will need before jumping right in.  Main reason for this I can't tell you how many times I've started to make something and gotten part way, half way, or maybe right up to the end and one KEY ingredient I needed I sadly ended up not having.  Always good to know what you have to work with before you start backing or cooking like crazy.  That is a true time saver.

Here is what you will need:

1 cup Pancake mix

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon (I added a bit more to these)

3/4 cup milk (non fat, soy, or whatever you want)

2 tablespoons oil (coconut, canola, vegetable)

1/4 cup of raisins 

1/4 cup crushed pineapple (drained)

3/4 cup graded/shredded carrots

1/4 almonds

1 ripe banana

maple syrup

Simply mix the milk into the pancake mix, ground cinnamon and 1 tablespoon of oil, making sure it's all well mixed.  Then add everything else and mix together.  Note:  I left out the nuts because my boyfriend doesn't like almonds much and he isn't really into nuts in his food.  I ended up sprinkling them on top of the pancakes after I plated mine, leaving him nut free.  Heat a medium pan on medium heat adding ever little of the oil so that the pancakes will not stick.  I like mine a little less cooked, yet cooked all the way threw.  Making sure that they are nice and golden brown on each side.  You can make them any size or shape that you wish.  We like them to be almost plate size, so cooking one at a time is how I do it.

While each one cooks I have a serving platter set aside with a towel to keep them warm until they are ready to be served.

Once I was ready to plate these, my boyfriend came in happy to try them, the house smelled so good.  He added a fresh half a banana to each of our plates.  That made for an extra flavor and sweetness to the pancakes.  Then topped them off with almonds and light maple syrup.

Next time I make these I'll be adding the banana into the batter and topping them off with my pineapple basil drizzle of local honey and some almond butter.  I might even go as far as sprinkling fresh ground cinnamon on top too!

I think you should all put this on your need to try list.  

Kids would enjoy them and so will all of us big kids. 

These pancakes just might very well make you love your carrots just that much more too.  

Now go make create and enjoy. 

Eat, Love, & Live.

Gnocchi

Smoked Gouda Bacon & Sprouts

I've been wanting to make this for weeks.  Tonight I just made up my mind that we are having gnocchi and I'm going to try this twist on it.  What better to put with gnocchi than bacon and smoked Gouda cheese?  I think adding brussel sprouts made it even that much more amazing, and you have to have veggies to round out this hearty meal.

Making this is rather quick and simple.  I will let you all know it's a rather filling dish and if you wanted it to be a main dish and have a side I would say fix a side salad to go with.  Something light and crisp.  I came up with this on a whim.  All things I love, and even my boyfriend love in one dish.  Who doesn't love potato's cheese bacon and brussel sprouts?  I've been wanting to make my own cheese sauce from scratch too and tonight I accomplished it no problem.  I just eyeballed everything and it all worked out.  So simple I don't know why I don't make my own sauce more often.  Next time I make this I'm going to attempt to make gnocchi from scratch.  If you do not know what gnocchi is, it's a pasta made from potato's.  YUM!

Alright, this is how I went about making dinner tonight.

What you will need:

1 package of fresh gnocchi (or you can make from scratch)

1/2 cup of chopped onion 

1 chopped clove of garlic

4 slices of bacon

8 good side brussel sprouts

2 slice of smoked Gouda cheese

1/4 cup of sharp cheddar cheese

1 table spoon butter

1 table spoon of flour

1/4 cup of milk or heavy cream

2 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil

Always pulling out everything I'll need first and starting up a medium frying pan and putting about 4 slices of bacon into cook up nice and crisp.  While that is cooking up start up a large pot with water and 1 teaspoon olive oil to get a good boil going.  I put together cheese bread at this time too and popped into the oven to get crisp.  Then chop up all veggies and cheese, have the butter, flour, and cream ready to go too.  This moves rather fast.

I don't feel that we need to see the amazing pan of bacon cooking up, so here are the green goodness that is a pan full of brussel sprouts.  Healthy good tasty little green veggies and this is a great starter dish to try them for your fist time if you have never had them.  Let them fry up and get toast with the onion and garlic and that other teaspoon of olive oil.  I add a bit of water as I cook this up so that they don't burn and it helps get the brussel sprouts a bit tender.  I try very hard to use less dishes pans etc. so this was the same pan I used to cook the bacon.  You can leave the bacon bits in there just pour out the bacon grease I don't think that is to healthy for us to be eating if we can help it.

While the brussel sprouts, onion, and garlic are cooking up get out a small sauce put the butter and flour in let butter melt and work in with the flour then add milk stir and add both cheese all on medium to medium low heat stirring constantly while the cheese melts.  Once this is almost done and the veggies are looking done then put in the gnocchi to the gently boiling water for 4 min. or whatever the package tells you.

Drain the gnocchi put into a medium bowl add your cheese sauce then add the bacon crumbling it up as you add it.  Now add the brussel sprouts and gently fold everything together.

It's ready to enjoy, serve it up right away.

Eat, Love, & Live.

Pizza #1

Why not pizza?  Why not pizza at home with fresh veggies and hand made dough?  It's simple, tasty, easy, and quick to pull together in a short amount of time.  Family's with children this is a great dish to do and pull the little ones into to help in the kitchen along with you.  Perfect to have them get involved and learn about veggies, meats, and what they think tasty good together.  No need to fallow any rules when it comes to pizza, that is half the fun when having a pizza for dinner, or any meal.  Full of colors and flavors you love all together for a great way to use up things in the frig too.  Got left over chicken, bacon, sausage, shrimp, steak, or even random veggies?  Then pizza is perfect.  

I'm still trying to find a dough that my boyfriend and I really like.  I tend to cheat when it comes to dough after failing over and over again on making our own.  When I feel like it I just buy already made fresh dough from the grocery store, or market.  Our favorite is herb dough and second would have to be wheat, they have a lot more flavor than just a plan white dough. We have tried Bisquick mix, boxed just add liquids, frozen Pillsbury ones, already made Boboli pizza dough and to be honest have not loved any of them.  Needless to say we are still on a hunt down to find that perfect pizza dough or recipe.  I'm hoping that soon I'll be able top share a good recipe with you all.  This is kind of a big deal to us do to the fact that we really don't eat out and we make whatever we eat at home mostly from scratch.  Who doesn't love pizza?  With that said we love pizza and I just wish we could really love the pizza we make more!

The pizza I have here is a really good mix of fresh bell peppers, yellow and orange sweet bell peppers and ham onion cheese and pepperoncini some left over roasted garlic tomato sauce and I put some Italian seasonings on top with a dash of pepper.  We very much enjoyed this pizza and it really cleaned up the frig of a few things that otherwise might have gone bad.

Like I was saying though, you can totally do up or down whatever you want on your pizza.  Make it your own creation and enjoy.  One pizza pan, maybe a plate or two, meal in one!  I'm sharing this because I wanted to help others with good healthy ideas that can be put together in a quick fashion and totally enjoyable too.  Being a working girl and trying to be healthy eating at home and keeping things different fun and tasty can be a lot of work at times, but very worth while.  I find cooking to be very rewarding, relaxing, and even though it's only for the two of us I'm finding it to be part of a healthy and happy relationship too.  There are a few meals here and there when I'm trying new things that we don't totally love, so I learn from that and do better the next time.  Using fresh veggies, organic meats, cheese, as much as I can really helps too.  Don't forget that we are what we eat, so lets eat only the best that we can and make it enjoyable at the same time.  Food doesn't have to be blah boring and color less.  If you eat full flavored, colorful, fresh foods  you will be more satisfied and your mind body and soul will thank you.  Food should be a way of life, NOT a drive threw hurry rush it kinda thing.

This pizza below in the photo was my take on a pizza margherita.  We loved it!  I will make this again for sure this year when we have fresh tomato's from our garden.  

What is Pizza Margherita?

Simple.... Pizza dough, tomato sauce, tomato's, mazzarella cheese, and basil.

Her is what I did.  Fresh organic tomato's from our garden and fresh basil from my herb garden really made this amazing.  I used fresh organic mozzarella, had left over tomato sauce and this was a fresh ready to back herb pizza dough I picked up from the market.  In just 20 min. from picking the tomato's and basil putting the pizza together we had dinner!!!  The fresh mozzarella, tomato's, and basil also can make a fresh and amazing salad or appetizer too.  No need for salt or pepper, the basil and cheese really do the trick.  

Fresh is always best.

Now go make your self a pizza and have some fun with it, go crazy, get a little nuts, maybe ever sweet.  Whatever you do just remember to enjoy it.

Eat, Love, & Live

Grilled Chicken Corn Chili Salsa

After a busy day sometimes for gets forgot and one or two people become starving people.  This was beyond starving mod.  I knew I had a few veggies that just had to be used up and I needed to fix something that wouldn't take to long before we both fell apart from lake of food.  Tonight I came up with this little number.  

Trying new things can be fun at times.  Note at times! 

Tonight I took a few items I really needed to use up before they went bad and put this together.  It's sweet spicy and crisp and cool at the same time.  If you like corn, sweet corn this corn chili salsa is rather good stuff.  The fresh cilantro adds a nice clean crisp heat to the dish.  I really love cilantro.  The corn chili salsa I fond on my most recent trip to Trader Joe's.  It was a must try. 

Here is how I did this.

So here is what you will need:

(this is a dinner for two, you can add or cut down if needed)

1 jar of corn chili tomato-less salsa

2 organic boneless skinless chicken breast 

4 thin slices of ready to use polenta

1 teaspoon of menudo mix

1/4 cup of red onion

1/4 of fresh chopped brussels sprouts

1/4 of cherry tomato's

half of an avocado (sliced)

mixed shredded cheese 

fresh cilantro (for garnish)

4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil 

sour cream (we only use light)

salt 

pepper

I always when starting to make a meal set every thing out I'll be needed.  Then with this dish I started by putting 2 table spoons of olive oil into a medium frying pan heated up to a medium heat added the two chicken breast.  Once they are in add the menudo mix onto the chicken with some fresh ground pepper and a small amount of salt for taste.  The menudo mix is rather hot and spicy so easy does it if it's your first time using it.  I really enjoy the heat so I tend to over do it most of the time.  Cooking chicken until cooked threw.  While the chicken is cooking cutting up veggies and prepping the polenta. 

Now once all the veggies and polenta are prepped and ready and the chicken is cooked all the way threw, now you add the corn chili salsa to simmer with the chicken.  This can stay on a low simmer while you finish cooking the polenta and getting your plate ready for plating. 

Now you want the heat up a second pan to fry up the 4 polenta rounds in.  If you have never tried polenta before I really think its a must.  I've never bought it ready to use in a roll before tonight.  I always made it from a instant mix.  This is a must when it comes to short cuts.  Saves a lot of time let me tell you!  All I did for us tonight was grilled up a few rounds I cut off the tube of polenta, four total in a bit of extra virgin olive oil with a bit of fresh ground pepper and salt to taste. Then I put the rest into a zip lock and set into the frig for another night soon to cook up into something else! 

While the polenta is grilling now start getting your plates out and setting up for serving.

Once all of the polenta cakes are heated and grilled nicely on both sides to your liking you can sever all this up, chicken salsa on top of the polenta cakes then adding the fresh veggies to the side with a nice sized soup full of sour cream some cheese and cilantro on top.  I totally forgot while I was enjoying making this to keep track of the time it took to put this all together... I'll just say on the safe side 30 to 40min.   I hope you all give this a go and feel free to change it up and make it your own.  I'd love to hear what you all think so feed back is very welcome on any of my blogs I post.  Now go cook, eat, and enjoy!

Eat, Love, & Live