Tag Archives: Food

Orange Creamsicles

How to make Homemade Orange Creamsicles–How to make Half and Half bars

Watch my How to Video above, there is a cameo appearance by my daughter Page

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Another favorite frozen treat of mine when I was a little girl was orange creamsicles. We used to call them half and half bars, because that’s exactly what they were, half juice pop and half cream center.  Whatever you call them, I think we can all agree that they are super delicious. Unfortunately creamsicles are not made the way they used to be made, they have a ton of ingredients in the boxed versions in the store, none of which contain real juice or cream. This recipe takes care of that.  I used freshly squeezed orange juice for these, but if you can find some fresh juice in the store that does not have added sugar and preservatives, then go for it.  If you decide to squeeze the juice yourself, just make sure that the oranges that you’re using are very sweet, that way you don’t have to add sugar to sweeten the juice.  If heavy cream isn’t your thing (my vegan friends) don’t fret, I’ve done these with coconut cream, and they are just as yummy if not more.  Lastly, I purchased the Zoku Quick Pop Maker to make these, it’s the only way to get a true half and half bar, with that creamy center filling, but if you don’t want to spend the $25 (for a single), $38( for the duo), or $50 (for the triple) pop maker, you can still make these, but you’ll have to blend the mixture, or just pour half juice and half cream into regular molds, ( I used Zoku Classic pop molds), you’ll get a verticle half and half bar–still delicious.

Prep time: 10 minutes
Ingredients:
1 cup of freshly squeezed organic orange juice
1 cup of heavy cream or coconut cream
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract
2 tablespoons of maple syrup
Directions: Add the cream, vanilla extract and maple syrup to a cup, mix well and set aside.  If using classic pop molds, place all ingredients in a blender and blend until well combined.  Divide mixture evenly among molds and freeze for 6-8 hours or until frozen solid.
If you are using the Quick pop maker, Pour the orange juice into the molds and allow to set for 2-3 minutes.  At the 3 minute mark siphon out the remaining unfrozen juice with a straw or a unused infant aspirator–I purchased one just for this.  Zoku sells a tool kit for $20 which includes a siphon tool, but the aspirator is $3 and does the job equally as well.  After you have removed all of the juice, pour cream into the molds, and allow to set for another 4-5 minutes, then follow the directions for removing the pops.
Orange Creamsicle

Orange Creamsicle

image If you aren’t going to eat the pops right away, you can store them in sandwich size zip lock bags and place them in the freezer until you’re ready to eat them.  These never last longer than a few hours in our house, so I can’t say how long you could store them that way. These are the Orange and Coconut Creamsicles that I made using the classic Zoku popsicle molds:  

Fudgesicles

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Coconut Fudgesicle

Coconut Fudgesicle

One of my favorite treats as a kid was a fudge pop. Back then they were sold as the low-fat, low-calorie version of ice cream.   Not that any of that mattered to me , I was 7!  I just really enjoyed the creamy chocolate treat!  Back then fudgesicles contained 3 or 4 key ingredients, Milk, chocolate, and cream.  That is a far cry from the ingredient list we see today on a fudgepop box.  When formulating this recipe, I wanted to stick to what made fudgesicles great when I was little, a few ingredients and not much else.  I switched out the milk for coconut milk, and added some coconut cream for richness, the result—-Heaven–creamy fudge heaven!  I didn’t add any extra sugar to this, for my palate it didn’t need it.  My daughter and husband both loved these without any added sugar as well.  However, if you like fudgesicles on the sweeter side, add 2 tablespoons of maple syrup to the mix before freezing.  Although I used coconut milk and cream as a base for these, you can use milk and cream, or just use milk.  You can also use my recipe for Chocolate Tofu Pudding just freeze and enjoy!

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Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 5 minutes

Freeze time: 4-6 hours

Makes 4-6 pops

Ingredients: 2 ounces of semi-sweet chocolate chopped

1 tablespoons of unsweetened  cocoa powder

1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

1 cup of coconut milk

3/4 cup of coconut cream

Special equipment: Popsicle molds

Directions: Add the milk, cream and cocoa powder to a sauce pan over medium heat, and whisk until well combined and mixture is just below a simmer–DO NOT BOIL!!! Remove from heat.  Add in chopped chocolate, and whisk until all the chocolate is melted, stir in the vanilla extract. image Divide the mixture evenly among the popsicle molds image Freeze for 4-6 hours or until solidly frozen. Follow your popsicle molds instructions for removing pops from molds and enjoy!   image

Grilled Cumin Spiced Chicken Kabobs

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Grilled Cumin Spiced Chicken Kabobs

Grilled Cumin Spiced Chicken Kabobs

I made these chicken kabobs over the fourth of July weekend, and everyone loved them.  They were super easy to make and didn’t require a lot of time or effort to marinate. They’re a perfect quick fix dinner item, so I’m giving you the recipe.  My husband is still raving about these.  It just goes to show that a great meal doesn’t require a lot of time or ingredients.

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Prep time:10 minutes

Cook time:15 minutes

Total time: 25 minutes

Ingredients:

1lb of boneless skinless organic chicken thighs–cubed

1 teaspoon of cumin

1 teaspoon of paprika

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1/4 cup of flat leaf parsley, finely chopped

Sea salt to taste

Directions:  In a large bowl mix the ingredients for the chicken kabobs together,

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then place the chicken on skewers.

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Grill chicken on a hot grill until cooked through, about 10-15 minutes.

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Serve and enjoy!

Marinated Mushroom Steaks

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Marinated Mushroom Steaks

Marinated Mushroom Steaks

 

I make an entire meatless meal at least once a week.  Going vegetarian, or vegan, even once a week is great for your health, excellent for your pocket book, and a very environmentally friendly thing to do.  One of my favorite and I mean FAVORITE vegetarian meals is faux steak, with beans, rice, salsa, and plantains.  It’s simple–yes! But so delicious, and it reminds me of the delicious dinners I had while in Puerto Rico.  I switch out the steaks for marinated, grilled mushrooms, and the result is perfection!

 

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Prep time: 30 minutes

Cook time: 7-10 minutes

 

Ingredients:

2 large Portabello mushrooms, undersides and stem removed

1/2 teaspoon of worcestershire sauce (optional)

1 large garlic clove sliced thinly

1 tablespoons of olive oil

1 tablespoon of white wine vinegar

sea salt and black pepper to taste

 

Directions: Mix together all the ingredients for the marinade in a small bowl.  Pour over Mushrooms and let marinade for 30 minutes.

 

Grill on a hot grill for 3-4 minutes on each side, remove from grill and serve!

Marinated Mushroom Steaks

Marinated Mushroom Steaks

Cherry hand pies

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Cherry Hand Pies

Cherry Hand Pies

 

 

I am not a fan of baking, but every now and then I get a craving and I drag myself into the kitchen and have a go at it. Baking involves a lot of science, and only after one has mastered the science, can one move onto the artistry of it. In cooking you can add a little here and there and the final result will not be drastically altered, with baking, well let’s just say, baking is much less forgiving, and that my friends is why I avoid it if I can. There is a reason why chefs on top chef avoid doing desserts–sooo many things can go wrong. This recipe took me several tries before I was happy with the final product. I tried this with puff pastry and I was less than impressed. I moved on to a gluten free, do-it-yourself pie crust, and was highly disappointed. It was my fault really, the dough was good, but I used way too much butter, and the dough spread and wouldn’t stop spreading.  Finally I gave in and bought ready made pie crusts, the kind you roll out–not the kind already in a pie tin–and I was very pleased with the result.  These little hand pies make a great addition to a picnic, they’re small, mess free, and you don’t have to worry about having a knife to cut the pie because these are single serving.

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Prep time:10 minutes

cook time: 30 minutes

Makes 6 pies

Ingredients:

2 cups of fresh cherries, halved and  puts removed

1/2 cup of maple sugar (cand use maple syrup, cane sugar, or sweetener of your choice)

1 tablespoon of lemon juice

1  teaspoon of vanilla extract

1 tablespoon of arrowroot powder (can sub with xantham gum, cornstarch or flour)

1/8 teaspoon of sea salt

1/8 teaspoon of cinnamon

1 package of ready made pie crusts–the kind you can roll not the ones in a pie tin.

directions: add the cherries, lemon juice, sea salt and sugar to a sauce pan over medium heat.

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Cook until cherries begin to release juices, about 5-7 minutes.

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In a small bowl mix together arrowroot and 1 teaspoon of water, add it to the cherry mixture, stir and cook until mixture thickens.

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Remove from heat and allow to cool to room temperature. Once mixture has cooled. Pre-heat oven to the recommended temperature on the box for the pie crust you are using. Roll out your pie crusts, then cuts out your desired pie shape. I used a tarlet tin to cut out tarlet pie shapes, two circles for each pie. Fill one of the shapes for each pie with 2-3 tablespoons of the cherry filling, top it with the other pie shape, seal it by pressing the borders with a fork. Use a knife to cut a few slits on the top of the pies for ventilation. Place the pies on a silicone/parchment lined baking sheet and bake until golden brown– about 20-30 minutes.

 

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How to make Condensed Milk–Condensed Coconut Milk

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How to make Condensed Coconut Milk

How to make Condensed Coconut Milk

 

It’s not often that a recipe that I concoct requires the use of condensed milk.  Condensed milk is definitely one of those products that has a very specific use.  When I was a little girl I remember looking in my grandmother’s refrigerator and always seeing a can of the Eagle brand condensed milk.  Given that the same can was always in her refrigerator, I don’t think she had many recipes that required it’s use either.  I’m not exactly sure what is in the super sweet concoction sold in the can now, but when  I was making up the recipe for my Coconut chocolate bars, I decided that I needed to prepare my own. I’ve done this with almost every kind of milk, cows, coconut, and almond.  All come out perfectly.  If you are going to do this, then I suggest doing so when you have a few hours to spend at home.  Doing this over low heat, allows you more freedom to do other things while it cooks.  If you want to speed up the process, you can use higher heat, but that will require much more from you in terms of stirring and keeping a watchful eye.

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Prep time: none

Cook time: 2 hours

Total time: 2 hours

Ingredients :

2.5 cups of coconut milk (or milk)

3/4 cup of maple sugar (can use whatever sugar you’d like)

1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

2 tablespoons of butter (optional)

Directions: Add milk, and sugar to a sauce pan and simmer over low heat for 1.5-2 hours, or until the milk is reduced by half.

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Once the milk has reduced(condensed) whisk in butter and vanilla extract. Pour into a container and let cool.

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It will thicken on it’s own as it cools. Allow the milk to cool completely before adding it to a recipe.

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Strawberry Apple Fruit-roll ups

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Strawberry Apple Fruit Roll-Ups

Strawberry Apple Fruit Roll-Ups

Now that summer has arrived we are constantly on the go.  Which means that we spend much more time in the car.  My daughter does surprisingly well on car rides, however, she does better if I am armed with plenty of games to fill her time, and of course snacks don’t hurt.  She is extremely fond of apple strings–apples that I run through my vegetable spiralizer on the spaghetti attachment, however they oxidize so quickly after making them, I like to save those for home snacks.  Enter fruit roll-ups, she loves them and they are extremely travel friendly.  If you follow this blog, then you know I have several recipes for fruit rolls ups my tropical punch fruit roll-ups are my absolute favorite, but the pineapple, or strawberry fruit roll ups are equally as delicious!

 

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Ingredients:

10 ounces of strawberries stems removed

2 medium sized apples, cores removed

Directions: Place the strawberries and apples in a blender and blend until smooth.

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Pour the mixture out onto a parchment lined sheet and smooth into a thin layer.

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Place in a dehydrator on 134 for 4-6 hours, or in a oven on the lowest setting for 4-6 hours.

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Fruit roll-ups are done when you can peel them off of the parchment without them sticking.

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How to make Cherry Lemonade–Made with Real Cherries

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Lemonade is as American–especially Southern American–as cherry pie–see my upcoming blog about that–and I’d be remiss if I didn’t share one of my favorite summertime drinks–Cherry Lemonade. Cherry season is almost at an end here, so I thought I’d give the last of my cherries a brilliant send off, by highlighting them in two recipes. If it’s too late in the season and you can’t find a fresh cherry anywhere–then use frozen cherries–skip thawing them, and blend them frozen with the lemon and the sugar. Doing so will allow you to omit the use of ice cubes.

Ingredients:
1 cup of fresh cherries (pits and stems removed)
1 cup of fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup of maple sugar (can sub other sugars, and if you like your lemonade on the sweet side use more sugar)
3 cups of water
ice for chilling

Directions: To a blender add the cherries, lemon juice, and sugar and blend until well combined. Add this mixture to a pitcher, with the water and some ice, mix well, serve and enjoy.

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D.I.Y. How to make Powdered Sugar–How to make Powdered Maple, Coconut, Date, and Palm Sugar

How to make you own powdered sugar–Yes even Powdered Maple, Coconut, Date, Palm, Agave, or Honey crystal Sugars

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How many times have you been in the middle of baking, and found that you were lacking one vital ingredient–Powdered Sugar. If you’re anything like me, the last thing you want to do is run out and buy a bag of powdered sugar. If you’re really like me, you probably prefer to use a less processed form of sugar, like maple sugar, coconut sugar, date sugar, or palm sugar but have failed to ever find a powdered version of either of those sugars in your local grocery store. Well now you will never have that problem again–unless of course you don’t have any form of granulated sugar in the house at all, then this can’t help you. But if you do have granulated sugar, then this DIY tutorial will help. All you need is sugar and a spice or coffee grinder –any type of granulated sugar will work–even Maple sugar, Coconut sugar, Date sugar, Palm sugar, Agave sugar, or honey crystal sugar. Watch this video and I’ll show you how. Then use the sugar to make my recipe for Flourless Chocolate Meringue Cookies

White Bean Salad with Lemon Cumin Vinaigrette

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White Bean Salad With Lemon Cumin Dressing

White Bean Salad With Lemon Cumin Dressing

This salad represents all that this blog is about.  It’s lazy in every sense of the word lazy and it’s fresh and vibrantly flavorful.  I was talking to a girl friend  of mine the other day about food and little ones.  She was in need of some advice about healthy choices for her little one. We went through the list of what she currently feeds her little one.  On her list was a simple salad of canned white beans drizzled with lemon juice and olive oil.  I thought it sounded delish, and I set out to make my own version of that salad.  I make a lentil salad that is similar to this, but I think this one is much better.  Pair this salad with a crusty piece of sourdough rubbed with a little garlic and grass-fed butter and you’ve got a rustic and delicious meal,which didn’t require you to turn on the stove.  Lazy–yes, absolutely! But it tastes anything but lazy–that counts right?;-)

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Ingredients:

15 ounce can of Organic White beans (drained and rinsed)

1/2 cup of feta cheese crumbled

1/2 cup of organic rainbow radish diced

1/2 cup of cherry tomatoes quartered

1/2  cup persian cucumbers diced

1/2 cup of red bell pepper diced

1 Tablespoon of fresh organic Thyme leaves

Sea salt and black pepper to taste

 

Vinaigrette

5 Tablespoons of fresh lemon juice

3 Tablespoons of olive oil

1/2 teaspoon of cumin

1 medium clove of garlic finely chopped

Sea salt to taste

Directions: Add all of the ingredients except for the sea salt to a large bowl and toss well.

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Add all the ingredients for the vinaigrette to a mason jar cover and shake until well combined.  If you don’t have a mason jar, just whisk together all the ingredients for the vinaigrette in a bowl, and set aside. Salt the salad ingredients just before serving, this will prevent the tomatoes and cucumbers from becoming soggy, toss, then drizzle with a generous amount of the vinaigrette, toss  again to combine, serve and enjoy!