Fruit

Spring Clean Eats: Day 1, Starting Small

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Scrambled eggs and mandarin oranges The first day of any challenge is always an amazing day. Full of motivation and eagerness. Let’s see how I feel on Day 15 or Day 20!

Breakfast this morning was 2 scrambled eggs and 2 mandarin oranges.  I admit that I have cheated and have been trying to have a protein centric breakfast for the past week now.  I throw in fresh fruit as much as possible and I have discovered that I love having fresh fruit in the mornings.

Back when I was having oatmeal all the time or yogurt and granola, I rarely put fresh fruit in those dishes.  A few exceptions like when blueberries and peaches are in season.  Fresh fruit starts my day off with a brightness that I don’t think I want to give up.

I cannot wait until peach season!

I also had two cups of coffee with about 1/2C of whole milk in each mug.

After breakfast and coffee, it’s been water for the rest of the day.

Exercise:

Today was a kickboxing day and I was feeling slow and winded during class.  I know this is completely related to yesterday’s (Sunday) eats. It was the last day before the challenge and also the last day of Birthday Week (for me).  We had some very yummy but not very nourishing eats.  During class, my body let me know it did not appreciate that.

Hard boiled egg and a sliced appleMondays tend to be a little weird when it comes to an eating schedule.  My kickboxing class is at noon and I don’t get back home until 1:30.  Then we run the dogs to the park and out for a walk.  By the time we are back home again and I’ve showered, it’s just about time to start making dinner.  We usually have a smallish snack and then eat a larger dinner.

I think I need to change that up a bit though and I’m curious how this challenge will influence that.

Today’s mini-lunch pre-dinner snack was a sliced apple and a hard boiled egg sprinkled with salt and pepper.

Chicken wings and cole slawI was totally ready to eat dinner this evening!  Chicken wings that marinated for about 20 minutes before roasting.  The marinade was:

  • Juice of 1 lime
  • Soy Sauce
  • Olive Oil
  • Honey
  • Salt and Pepper
  • Garlic Powder
  • Onion Powder
  • Chili Powder

Roasted at 400 for about 20 minutes.  I could have done longer to get the skin a little more crisp but I was hungry!

The quick cole slaw on the side had the same ingredients as the marinade at much less amount.

I don’t have any issues with small amounts of soy sauce or soy products and I consider it a clean eat.

Over all the day has gone smoothly and I have been feeling satisfied with each meal.  Now it’s couch time with the new season of Dancing With The Stars!  Totally guilty pleasure.  Shut it.

Here’s looking forward to tomorrow!

 

 

Daily Smoothie

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SmoothieScott and I have gotten back on the smoothie train.  I have been posting about our smoothies on Instagram using the hashtag #DailySmoothie.

In full disclosure, we don’t have a smoothie every single day, but close!  Some days I don’t have time to make them or we are out of some of the ingredients.  Some days we have premade smoothies, like Green Goodness from Bolthouse Farms.

My goal is to have smoothies often and to share that with you in the hopes that you’ll have smoothies too! Smoothies are a great way to get in some of your servings of fruits and veggies for the day.  They are easy to make with a blender and there are so many varieties and combos to use.

How #DailySmoothie works is, I post a picture of our smoothies on Instagram and Facebook along with the ingredients I used to make it. These recipes usually make 2 large smoothies so that Scott and I each have one.

They can be easily reduced to make one large smoothie.

I know that I always feel better and have a little energy boost when I can have that smoothie.  I also feel good knowing that I got in some additional servings of fruits and veggies!

Do you like smoothies?  If so, join the #DailySmoothie group!  Post and share your smoothies using the hashtag so that we can see what you’re making!

Peach Whiskey Crumble

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Peach Whiskey CrumbleIf you recall, I recently fell in love with some local Peach Whiskey.  We have already made a light and fun iced tea with it.

Now we need something a little bit more substantial and dessert sounds just about right.

Or breakfast.  This may or may not make for a great breakfast treat if you roll that way.  We don’t judge over here.

When I made this dessert, I used a mixed of peaches and nectarines because that’s what I had on hand.  However you can most definitely use all peaches or all nectarines in this recipe.

Colorado peaches are currently in season and what better way to highlight them than with some whiskey baked up in a very easy dessert.

Andrea’s Peach Whiskey Crumble

For the filling:

  • 2 Large Peaches, peeled and chopped
  • 4 Nectarines, peeled and chopped
  • 1/4C Cane Sugar
  • 2tsp Vanilla Extract
  • 1/2tsp Ground Cinnamon
  • 2TBSP Unbleached White Whole Wheat Flour
  • 1/2C Peach Whiskey

For the Crumble Topping:

  • 2C Old Fashioned Oats
  • 1C Pecan Halves
  • 1/4C Unbleached White Whole Wheat Flour
  • 6TBSP Butter, cubed
  • 1/2tsp Ground Cinnamon
  • 2tsp Vanilla Extract
  • 1/2C Whole Milk (or Half and Half, or non-dairy milk of your choice)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees and grease an 8×8 baking dish.  In a medium sized glass mixing bowl, add the peaches, nectarines, sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla.  Allow to sit for half and hour mixing every so often.

Then add in the whiskey and flour, gently mixing until everything combined.  Add this mixture to the baking dish.

For the topping, add the oats, flour, and pecans to a food processor.  Pulse about 4-7 times to start to break down the oats and pecans.  Add in the remaining ingredients and pulse until the mixture is crumbly but also starts to hold together.

Crumble this mixture over the top of the peach mixture.  There is a lot of topping so the whole dish should be covered.

Place in the oven and bake for about 30-40 minutes until the topping is browned and the peach mixture is bubbling.

Remove from oven and allow to cool for about 5 minutes before serving.

Peach Whiskey CrumbleIf you don’t have white whole wheat flour on hand, regular AP flour is fine.  I also didn’t use that much sugar in this recipe.  The peaches are already sweet and so is the whiskey, so only a small amount of additional sugar is needed.

Scott and I loved how this dessert came out!  Sweet, the topping gets a little chewy, and the whiskey adds just enough of a kick.

Now don’t you want to go get some peaches and whiskey?

Have fun guys, and remember, always play with your food!  Enjoy!

 

Christmas Goodies

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Rum Gingerbread Christmas is almost upon us! I didn’t do any baking this year. None. Oh I had good intentions of making some goodies but time quickly got away from me.

I still have plans to make some quick snacks this Christmas and if you’re in the same boat, I do have a few suggestions!

Rum Gingerbread is easy to make and pretty tasty on Christmas Eve or Christmas Morning.

Buttered Bourbon and Cider

If you’re looking for a drink to warm you up, how about some Hot Buttered and Bourbon Cider?

Christmas morning we always have a Breakfast Casserole.

Breakfast casseroleCheesy, eggy, and delicious! Prepped the night before and can be put in the oven first thing in the morning as you start opening presents.

Figgy Bourbon Refrigerator JamIf you need something sweet to go with an appetizer tray (and some brie!) or perhaps just something a little different for biscuits in the morning, Figgy Bourbon Refrigerator Jam is perfect.

Now I just have to decide what I’m making!

 

 

 

Breakfast Sweet Potato

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Meet my new breakfast, a sweet potato!

I’ve been sort of in a breakfast slump lately.  I’m not really digging on oatmeal anymore.

Well let me clarify that a bit.  I love oatmeal but I just don’t want it everyday.

I stumbled across Rachel’s blog, Two Healthy Plates, and saw that she posted about having sweet potatoes for breakfast.

Genius!

This was right up my alley and I immediately tried it out the following week.

I am in love with the breakfast sweet potato!

I top it with a little butter, yogurt (vanilla or Greek, your choice) and homemade granola.

Sometimes I’ll add on some sliced up banana as well and a drizzle of maple syrup.

Half a sweet potato with toppings is plenty of breakfast for me and it gets me through the entire morning.

The best thing about this breakfast is that it can be made ahead saving me time in the kitchen in the mornings.

I can roast several sweet potatoes at once and then keep them in the fridge for breakfast during the week.  When I’m ready for breakfast, all I have to do is slice, heat, and top.

Breakfast is done in minutes and it’s yummy!

It’s not a conventional breakfast, I know, but it is exactly what I was looking for.

Now I need to figure out how to make a breakfast soup and I think I’ll be out of my breakfast rut.

Figgy Bourbon Refrigerator Jam

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This is the recipe that got Scott to love figs. I have always had eyes for figs, even those silly Fig Newtons.

And once I had fresh figs sauteed in a little butter and sugar, I thought that was heaven.

Figs are in season now and I purchased a little pint of them to have for dessert one evening.

Scott wasn’t impressed.  He would eat them, he said, but figs weren’t something he would get excited about or look forward to.

Oh really?

The glove was thrown down.  I accepted this challenge and thought about how to make figs exciting for him.

Andrea’s Figgy Bourbon Refrigerator Jam

  • 12oz or One Pint of Fresh Figs
  • 3/4C Water, Plus another 1/4C
  • 1/4C Bourbon of your Choice
  • 2tsp Vanilla Extract
  • 2TBSP Dark Brown Sugar
  • 1/4tsp Ground Cinnamon

Split the figs in half and cut off the stem.  To a small sauce pan add, 3/4C water, figs, brown sugar, and cinnamon.

Bring to a simmer and simmer until the figs are tender and cooked through, about 10 minutes.  Remove from heat and place contents in a blender.  Add the other 1/4C water and blend until smooth.

The jam will be thick.

Scoop the contents out of the blender and back into the sauce pan.  Add in the vanilla and the bourbon and stir.  Heat pan over a medium-low heat just to thicken everything up a little more.  About 2-3 minutes.

Remove from heat and pour into a glass container to cool.  You can either eat immediately or cover in an airtight container and keep in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.

The bourbon flavor is prominent in this jam so you best like bourbon when you make it! It’s slightly sweet from the added brown sugar and has a nice vanilla background to it.

No canning involved since it’s refrigerator jam, it’s simple and super quick to make!

Guess who is excited about figs now?  Someone couldn’t keep his hands off this jam and demanded we get more figs at the store.

Figs 1, Scott 0.  WIN!

Other ideas for the jam:

You can eat it straight up on crackers or biscuits.  Or pair with a lovely extra sharp cheddar.

Maybe a little brie and prosciutto?

Or heck, drizzle a little on top of some vanilla ice cream!

However you choose to eat it, I’m pretty sure it will be tasty.

Have fun guys, and remember always play with your food!  Enjoy!

 

Hot Buttered Bourbon and Cider

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The weather is starting to get chilly and the leaves are falling. It’s apple season and you all know how much I love cider!

I wanted to come up with a drink that would be warm, spicy, and have a little kick to it with some bourbon.

Of course there are hot toddys and hot buttered rum drinks, so making something along those lines with bourbon seemed reasonable.

We had some lovely Kentucky small batch bourbon gifted to us by Lori (foodie friends rock!) so I busted that out for this warm drink.

Andrea’s Hot Buttered Bourbon and Cider
4C Cider

1/2 tsp Cinnamon or 2 Cinnamon Sticks

1/2tsp Ground Ginger or 1/2 inch of Fresh Ginger

1/4 tsp Ground Clove or 5 Whole Cloves

2tsp Vanilla Extract or 1 Vanilla Bean split

4oz of Bourbon split into 2 oz portions

2 TBSP Butter split into 1 TBSP portions

In a medium sized sauce pan add the cider, spices, and vanilla.  Stir and bring up to a gentle simmer.  Simmer for about 5 minutes.

In two mugs, put 2 oz of bourbon in each mug and 1 TBSP of butter.

Remove the cider from the heat and if you used whole spices be sure to remove or strain those out first before serving.

Fill each mug with 10 oz of cider mixture, pour right on top of the bourbon and butter.  Gently stir just to mix in the bourbon.

Serve warm and enjoy!

Serves two.

Scott and I loved this drink!  So much that I immediately made another batch that night so we could have another mug of it.  I highly recommend making extra because you’re definitely going to go back for seconds.

If you’re having a party, this recipe can be easily adjusted to accomodate more people.  You’ll just need more cider and to increase the spices a bit.  Each mug still gets 2 oz of bourbon and a TBSP of butter.

Though if you ask me, I would go ahead and up the butter amount to 1.5 TBSP.  You won’t be sorry.

Fresh and local cider is best if you can find it.  If you’re in Fort Collins, Ela Family Farms has great cider that you can get at the market on Saturday.

Sauteed Apples with Crushed Pecans

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Sometimes I want a topping for Sunday Morning Pancakes that brings a little more umph than syrup. I want something in addition to syrup.

Since we always have a fruit with breakfast (and lunch!), I decided to make that part of the dish instead of just a side.

Sauteed bites of apple with the sweetness of crushed pecans is a great topping for pancakes.

Andrea’s Sauteed Apples with Crushed Pecans

  • 2 Small – Medium Red Apples, chopped
  • 1/2C Crushed Pecans
  • 2TBSP Butter
  • 1tsp Olive Oil
  • 1/2tsp Cinnamon

In a medium sized skillet, heat butter and oil over medium heat.  When the butter starts sizzling, add in the apples and cinnamon.  Sautee for about 3 minutes and then add in the crushed pecans.  Sautee for another 3 minutes, remove from heat and serve!

Makes enough topping for 3 servings.

Perfect for pancakes!  The apples are warm but stil crisp since they are not cooked for very long.  Plus you’re starting you day off with a serving of fruit!

This is also great for a topping over ice cream, with some yogurt, or even on top of some oats.  Mix with some granola for some extra crunch!

Have fun guys, and remember, always play with your food! Enjoy!

Banana Nut Pancakes

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Me: What kind of pancakes do you want this week?

Him: Something with nuts!

Me: What kind of nuts, pecans or walnuts?

Him: What did we just have with the coffee cake?

Me: Pecans.

Him: Then we should have walnuts.

Me: Done

And this is how Banana Nut or what I lovingly call, my favorite pancakes ever, were born.

Andrea’s Banana Nut Pancakes 

  • 1C Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
  • 1C Buckwheat Flour
  • 1tsp Baking Soda
  • 1tsp Cinnamon
  • 2TBSP Sugar
  • 1C Walnuts, crushed
  • 1 Large banana
  • 1C Unsweetened Coconut Milk (the kind in the dairy section, not from a can)
  • 1C Water
  • 2tsp Vanilla Extract
  • 1/2tsp Apple Cider Vinegar

Preheat grilled over medium heat.  In a large mixing bowl combine the flours, baking soda, cinnamon, and walnuts and whisk together.  In a medium sized mixing bowl combine the water, coconut milk, vinegar, extract, and banana.  Mash the banana in the liquids as much as possible.

Add the liquid ingredients to the dry and stir until everything is combined.  Grease your griddle with a little oil and drop batter by spoonfuls.  The size is up to you!  Cook for about three minutes on the first side or until you start seeing several bubbles pop up in the center.  Flip and cook for another minute to two minutes.  Remove from heat and continue until all the batter has been used.

Serve warm and enjoy!

Most favorite pancakes to date.  These are slightly sweet, completely fluffy and full of flavor.  The banana keeps the pancake moist and the crushed walnuts add a little bit of crunch and texture.

Toppings are your choice, but clearly I used maple syrup for mine.

Leftovers can be frozen and reheated either in a toaster or toaster oven.

Two things are true, I’ve got leftovers and they will be eaten this weekend.

Have fun guys, and remember, always play with your food! Enjoy!

Bourbon Applesauce

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Yesterday, I talked about how much bourbon I’ve been using in baking and cooking lately. One of the things I mentioned was making Bourbon Applesauce.

I had some apples that needed used up and quickly! They weren’t good to eat, kind of mealy, a little too soft, and the skin was wrinkled.

I wasn’t about to toss them because I knew they could be used for something!  I thought it over for a couple of days and realized that making applesauce would be the perfect solution!

After cooking the whole thing gets pureed which takes care of the mealy and soft aspects of the less than perfect apples.  The skin gets peeled, so that problem is solved as well!

I’ve made applesauce before but I really wanted something a little different this time around. Something a little more spicy and something with a bit more kick.  Once I realized that I could use bourbon, well everything just fell into place after that!

Keep in mind the measurements for this are estimates because I didn’t write anything down.  Also applesauce isn’t an exact science, it’s very forgiving and easy to adjust amounts based on what you have on hand.

Andrea’s Bourbon Applesauce

  • 1lb Small Apples, Type is up to you but I would go with sweet and semi-sweet.
  • 1/2C Bourbon, split into 1/4C increments
  • 2C Apple Cider
  • 1TBSP, Packed Brown Sugar
  • Cinnamon
  • Ground Allspice
  • Ground Clove

Peel and cut apples into chunks.  Place in a medium sized sauce pan and add cider.  You want the cider to almost cover the apples.  Not completely but close.  Add in cinnamon, allspice, and ground clove along with the brown sugar.  For the spice amounts, go with personal preference.

Bring mixture up to a boil and reduce to a simmer.  Simmer until the apples become cooked through and very soft.  Add in 1/4C bourbon, slowly.  You don’t want a flare up.  You can remove the pan from the heat to do this.  Stir and let simmer again for about 3 minutes.

Remove from heat and place mixture in a blender.  Add in the remaining 1/4C Bourbon and blend until the mixture is smooth and creamy.

Serve warm or can be chilled.  Store in a glass container, will keep up to a week in the fridge.

This has easily turned into my favorite applesauce so far.  I decided to blend it because I wanted a really smooth and creamy applesauce.  Nothing chunky.

We like lots of spice, so I used probably around:

  • 1tsp of Cinnamon
  • 1/2tsp Allspice
  • 1/2tsp Ground Clove

Clove is our favorite and really brings a holiday feel to dishes which is what I was going for with this applesauce.  Using the bourbon makes it a little bit more special.

The deep color is from the cider and the spices.  Since the bourbon and the cider both bring sweetness to the recipe, this is why I only used 1TBSP of brown sugar.  There was enough sugar going on that this recipe really didn’t need any more.

Definitely give this a try for the holiday season!

Have fun guys, and remember, always play with your food! Enjoy!