Jun 26 | Recipes
I’m starting to have quite the abundance of fresh basil growing outside in my little garden! Makes me so happy because I can put it to good use in delicious recipes! I love adding it to my Greek salads, but now I especially love using it in the cold pesto salad! Nothing beats a pasta salad with pesto on a hot summer day. This recipes is also a crowd pleaser. I brought it to a birthday party and there was hardly any left!
Cold Pesto Salad Ingredients
- 12 oz package of Farfalle (bowtie) pasta
- 1/2 pint grape or cherry tomatoes, washed and halved
- 1 Cup basil leaves
- 1 Tbsp minced garlic
- 1/3 Cup fresh Parmesan, grated + extra as garnish
- 1/3 Cup olive oil
Directions
- Cook the pasta according to package directions, about 10-12 minutes on a rolling boil, stirring occasionally.
- While the pasta is cooking, place the fresh basil leaves, garlic, 1/3 cup of fresh Parmesan and olive oil in a food processor (or blender) and pulse until the pesto reaches your desired consistency.
- Remove the pasta from heat and drain. Rinse the pasta under cold water and let it cool a few minutes.
- Combine the cooked pasta, tomatoes and fresh pesto. Mix well.
- Place in the fridge 1-2 hours to cool then serve.
- Garnish with fresh grated Parmesan.
*Makes 4-5 servings.
Doesn’t it look delicious? Try it out for your next BBQ or picnic!
This Cold Pesto Salad is sure to please young and young at heart at all your summer gatherings!
-
12
oz
package of Farfalle
bowtie pasta
-
1/2
pint
grape or cherry tomatoes
washed and halved
-
1
C.
basil leaves
-
1
tbs.
minced garlic
-
1/3
C.
fresh parmesan grated + extra as garnish
-
1/3
C.
olive oil
Cook the pasta according to package directions, about 10-12 minutes on a rolling boil, stirring occasionally.
While the pasta is cooking, place the fresh basil leaves, garlic, 1/3 cup of fresh Parmesan and olive oil in a food processor (or blender) and pulse until the pesto reaches your desired consistency.
Remove the pasta from heat and drain. Rinse the pasta under cold water and let it cool a few minutes.
Combine the cooked pasta, tomatoes and fresh pesto. Mix well.
Place in the fridge 1-2 hours to cool then serve.
Garnish with fresh grated Parmesan.
May 29 | Recipes
These Homemade Graham Crackers are super simple and so much better than store bought. You can enjoy them by themselves for a snack or even make some homemade s’mores.
Homemade Graham Crackers
I must admit, normally I buy crackers from the store, but trying my hand at making homemade graham crackers really intrigued me. Since they’re quite costly to buy, and I figured we might be going through a few boxes this summer making S’mores, I jumped right in to make them.
Homemade graham crackers are so simple and need very little effort. It’s easy to make a couple of batches in no time. You you will need is whole wheat flour, all purpose flour, brown sugar, honey, butter, cinnamon, and baking soda!
INGREDIENTS
1 cup softened Butter
3/4 cup Brown Sugar
1/2 tsp Salt
3 tbsp Honey
1 1/2 cup Flour
1 1/2 cup Wheat Flour
1 tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp Cinnamon
DIRECTIONS
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- In a large bowl, combine butter, brown sugar, salt, cinnamon and honey. Mix until blended.
- Gradually add in flour and wheat flour alternating between them until incorporated.
- Roll out dough between sheets of wax or parchment paper to about 1/8″ thickness.
- Cut/score into individual cracker sizes and use a skewer or toothpick to make holes in the crackers.
- Place in freezer for 30 minutes to harden.
- Line a cookie sheet with silicone or parchment paper.
- Separate cookies and place on prepared sheet.
- Bake until crackers begin to brown, about 10 minutes.
How do you like to enjoy graham crackers? Check out my simple recipe for oven S’Mores if you’re looking for a way to use your delicious homemade graham crackers!
-
1
cup
softened Butter
-
3/4
cup
Brown Sugar
-
1/2
tsp
Salt
-
3
tbsp
Honey
-
1 1/2
cup
all purpose Flour
-
1 1/2
cup
Wheat Flour
-
1
tsp
Baking Soda
-
1
tsp
Cinnamon
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a large bowl, combine butter, brown sugar, salt, cinnamon and honey. Mix until blended.
Gradually add in flour and wheat flour alternating between them until incorporated.
Roll out dough between sheets of wax or parchment paper to about 1/8" thickness.
Cut/score into individual cracker sizes and use a skewer or toothpick to make holes in the crackers.
Place in freezer for 30 minutes to harden.
Line a cookie sheet with silicone or parchment paper.
Separate cookies and place on prepared sheet.
Bake until crackers begin to brown, about 10 minutes.
May 15 | Recipes
Homemade ice cream sandwiches
These Homemade Ice Cream Sandwiches are like the store bought version, only so much better! Make this summer treat right at home and save some cash.
I thought for a nice after work treat, I'd try making homemade ice cream sandwiches because I know my husband would enjoy them. They're his favourite summer treat. Plus, my daughter and I happen to love them as well 😉
Store bought ice cream sandwiches are pretty tasty, but these homemade ones are better! They turned out really well. So well, I think I'll be making quite a few batches this summer!
I'm sure you could use homemade ice cream too, but well, I'm not quite there yet. 😉
How to Make Homemade Ice Cream Sandwiches:
INGREDIENTS
- 3/4 cup Flour
- 1/4 cup Cocoa Powder
- 1/2 tsp Baking Soda
- 1/2 cup Sugar
- 1/2 cup softened Butter
- 1/2 tsp Vanilla
- 1 egg
- 1 qt vanilla ice cream
DIRECTIONS
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Whisk together flour, cocoa powder and baking soda. Set aside.
- Beat together butter, sugar, vanilla and egg until blended and creamy.
- Add dry ingredients to the butter mixture and mix until combined.
- Line cookie sheet with parchment paper.
- Spread onto prepared pan.
- Bake for 8-10 minutes or until top is dry but still soft. Allow to cool.
- Carefully remove from pan.
- Use a knife and split sandwich cake in half.
- Take frozen ice cream and remove from carton.
- Using a knife that you ran under warm water, cut into 3/4" slices.
- Arrange ice cream slices on top of half of sandwich cake to cover it completely.
- Place other half of sandwich cake on top of ice cream.
- Wrap in plastic or parchment and place in freezer for at least 2 hours.
- Once ice cream sandwiches are firm, remove and cut into 8 rectangles with a sharp knife.
-
3/4
cup
Flour
-
1/4
cup
Cocoa Powder
-
1/2
tsp
Baking Soda
-
1/2
cup
Sugar
-
1/2
cup
softened Butter
-
1/2
tsp
Vanilla
-
1
egg
-
1
qt
vanilla ice cream
Preheat oven to 350.
Whisk together flour, cocoa powder and baking soda. Set aside.
Beat together butter, sugar, vanilla and egg until blended and creamy.
Add dry ingredients to the butter mixture and mix until combined.
Line cookie sheet with parchment paper.
Spread onto prepared pan.
Bake for 8-10 minutes or until top is dry but still soft. Allow to cool.
Carefully remove from pan.
Use a knife and split sandwich cake in half.
Take frozen ice cream and remove from carton.
Using a knife that you ran under warm water, cut into 3/4" slices.
Arrange ice cream slices on top of one half of sandwich cake to cover it completely.
Place other half of sandwich cake on top of ice cream.
Wrap in plastic or parchment and place in freezer for at least 2 hours.
Once ice cream sandwiches are firm, remove and cut into 8 rectangles with a sharp knife.
Apr 24 | Recipes
Copycat Starbucks Mocha Frappuccino
Normally when I hit up Starbucks I order an Americano with vanilla or a plain black tea. But every once in a while, especially when it’s hot, I get my mind stuck on ordering a Mocha Frappuccino. (Especially when they offer them for $2 or $3!) Chocolate and coffee. Those two things combined are hard to beat! Also, the whipping cream is a big seller to me 😉
Anyways, I thought that the Mocha Frappuccino would be a great thing to try to recreate at home so I could enjoy one once in while through the summer. I also happen to love to saving money on “luxuries”.
Here’s how you can create a Copycat Starbucks Mocha Frappuccino at home:
-
3/4
cup
Espresso Coffee
-
1/4
cup
Sugar
-
1
cup
Milk
-
1/2
cup
Dark Chocolate Syrup
-
pinch
Xantham Gum
-
4
cups
Ice
-
Whipped Cream for topping
-
Chocolate Syrup to drizzle over whipped cream
Make coffee according to directions.
While still hot, pour coffee into blender
Add sugar and mix until dissolved.
Add milk, chocolate syrup and xantham gum and mix another minute.
Place in refrigerator for 30 minutes to cool.
Add ice to blender and blend on high until smooth.
Pour into glasses.
Top each glass with whipped cream.
Apr 10 | Recipes
3 ingredient dairy free strawberry ice cream
Those with a dairy intolerance, have I got a recipe for you! You will love this creamy ice cream so much, you’ll actually think it uses milk products.
It’s no secret that I love ice cream. Like, really love ice cream. It’s my almost nightly treat. 🙂 My daughters also love ice cream and my husband will eat it if I offer to grab him a bowl. The unfortunate thing about ice cream is the fact that most brands you can purchase are not very healthful. That’s why this three ingredient ice cream is a hit with me. Can you believe you only need strawberries, bananas and a bit of sweetener to make this? You don’t even need an ice cream maker!
Here’s how to make delicious dairy-free Strawberry Banana ice cream:
-
1
lb
Strawberries
-
4
small Bananas
-
2
tbsp
Sugar
Peel bananas and freeze in freezer.
Hull strawberries and freeze in freezer.
Place frozen ingredients and sugar in food processor and pulse until it reaches ice cream texture.
Enjoy!
So what do you think, are you going to give this a try?
Other recipes you may enjoy:
Mar 20 | Recipes
Spring is here! We’ve been trying to get into the warm weather mood over here by creating delicious pineapple peach slushies! We’re big smoothie fans so a slushie adds a bit of “specialness” to the same old!
You’ll want to look no further than this if you’re looking for a refreshing cold drink. These Tropical Slushies with pineapple and peaches will have you totally refreshed and in the summer mood in no time. They’re super simple and use just three ingredients to create a perfect blend.
Tropical Pineapple Peach Slushie
-
1 1/2
cup
diced Peaches
frozen
-
1 1/2
cup
diced Pineapple
frozen
-
1
cup
Pineapple Juice
-
Maraschino Cherries for garnish
optional
Put pineapple, peaches and pineapple juice in the blender and run until smooth.
Pour into glasses and garnish with cherries.
Let me know what you think! I’ve got a couple more healthy treats coming up in the next little bit that you may want to look out for. 🙂
