Image Map

Thursday, April 4, 2013

Chocolate Carmel Coconut Macaroons

Hello my beauties!
Has it hit springtime yet where you are? I'm wearing shorts today and it feels so good!
If you happened to see my Easter post, or follow me on instagram you will have seen that I have been loving this new recipe, found over at The Craving Chronicles
Let's begin the play-by-play.
 You're going to whisk up 4 egg whites until they are nice and frothy.
And then add half of a 12-14 oz bag of sweetened coconut, and 7 tbs of flour.
 The consistency will be thick and sticky and will clump up when you stir it.

Then you're going to move to the stovetop.
 Silly me, I forgot to take pictures of this part, but you are going to melt 6 tbs of butter, and 2/3 cup of sugar in a large saucepan, stirring continuously. The sugar will dissolve, then the mixture will begin to turn a nice carmel color.  
 Once the mixture turns brown turn off the heat, and carefully add the other half bag of sweetened coconut, and 1/4 tsp of salt.  I say carefully because it might spatter from being so hot, so watch out.
If your mixture seems way too dry don't fret! I was tempted to add more butter because I thought that when I combined the mixtures, the macaroons wouldn't have enough moisture to hold together. Don't worry about it though, it'll all work out in the end.
 From here you are going to add the hot mixture to the egg mixture, 1/4 cup at a time, stirring well in between each addition. This is to prevent the egg from cooking, trust me nobody wants scrambled egg whites in their macaroons.
Remember when we were worried about the mixture being too dry? 
That seems silly now, look at how nice that is!
Now put some plastic wrap over the bowl and let it chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes (up to a few days if you want to make in advance).
 And when you get it out you are ready to scoop onto trays covered with parchment paper.
Look how pretty. 
These little guys are ready to go into the oven at 350 for 12-14 minutes. 
 My oven is a little touchy, so for me it took more like 20 minutes. Just bake until they are browned to your liking.
 Mmmm I can almost smell then through the computer screen.
You may want to stop here, when I made these for my family, my grandma stole a few before I put the chocolate on them, she prefers them in the nude.
But if you're a chocolate addict like me you're going to let your nude macaroons cool completely before carrying on. 
 When you're ready, melt 6-8 oz of chopped dark chocolate with 1/2 tsp of coconut oil (optional). If you have it on hand, I feel like it makes the chocolate easier to work with.
Get your cookie trays with parchment (or wax) paper out, here comes the fun part.
 CHOCOLATE
 Mmmm I'm in love.
From here you can go as crazy or be as conservative as you'd like. 
Then leave them alone until they are hardened, or if you'd like to speed up the process stick them in the fridge.
 Then hide them in your pajama drawer... I mean share them with your loves ones.
For the original recipe check out The Craving Chronicles, this recipe won the key to my sweet tooth heart.




Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Easter Recap

Hi all! I hope you had an awesome Easter weekend!  I know I did!
If you visited last week, you saw that I had high hopes for Sunday, and I am so happy to say that from the mimosa station to the dessert bar, my expectations were met!
We had fresh squeezed OJ and grapefruit, and not a bad selection of champaign if I do say so myself!
 The dessert bar was a huge hit - 
From left to right: coconut macaroons, carrot cake with cinnamon frosting, german chocolate cupcakes, and in front pastel colored meringues. 
All homemade. I was seriously worked on this for three prior to Easter, but it was so worth it.
My mom took this poor quality photo of me and my hunny. In all the craziness of Easter this is the only photo that we got, and he was being a goof ball. 
Of the 20+ family members over at the house, this is the only picture I have of human beings!
Oh well, at least we have memories...of watching Kevin Ware snap his tib-fib. 
Don't worry, I won't post a picture.
I am so proud of this cake, it was my second layered cake ever making and it didn't fall over!
I consider that a success.
 Mmm it was such a hit,  we only had a slice left. I got the recipe {here}, I recommend it to everyone, for all baking levels, it was so easy and turned out sooo good!!

How was your Easter celebration?

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Easter Inspiration!

Easter is just around the corner!! Are you excited yet? This is probably one of my favorite holidays!!
This year we have about 20 people coming over for brunch and it is totally bringing out the party planner in me!
Here is my inspiration board:
My mom and I are heading the operation. She is managing the main dishes and I have volunteered for table settings, and dessert. 
I have found some amazing table settings from some of my favorite bloggers.
I'm going for natural and simplicity.
Here are the ones I'm letting inspire me:
I love the lavender sprigs on the napkins, and the to go bags with menus printed on them. 
And this centerpiece has perfect soft blossoms in a rustic container. For me, this is a must this year.

Something I really want to do this year is a self-serve mimosa bar like this one I found at Small Shop Studio.
I love the idea of options, and letting people choose their own ratio of champaign and juice. I think I'll add a bowl of raspberries for garnish too 
And best for last, my dessert bar. I am so so so excited for this!! 
To the left of the bar I am going to place some coconut macaroons
To the right of the bar I am going to make some hummingbird cupcakes with pineapple flowers. This cake recipe is my mom's favorite.
On a small plate in front of the bar, I am going to scatter some pastel colored meringues 
And for the focal point of the dessert bar...
This gorgeous carrot cake
Let's hope mine turns out half as beautiful
And with inspiration from The Pretty Blog
I am hoping to make a bunting cake topper.
What are you planning on this Easter??

Saturday, March 23, 2013

Get That Chocolate Fix!

 I hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend! 
I just wanted to share a quick snack that is not only filling, but is my go-to when I'm craving some chocolate, but don't want the guilt of a candy bar!
For this simple smoothie I only use 4 ingredients- 

✼ 1 Banana
✼ 1-2 Table spoons of all natural peanut butter (or almond butter)
✼ Almond Milk
✼ A spoonful of Sweetened Cocoa Powder


And if you're going for really chocolatty, you could even do an extra spoonful or two ;)
Taylor it to your preferences, sometimes I add an extra banana, less peanut butter, or a few ice cubes.
Enjoy this guilt-free craving curb! 

Friday, March 22, 2013

Tuna Pasta Salad

I hope everyone had a wonderful first official week of spring! I am loving this change in weather, and all the beautiful blooms, I can not wait to get started on my garden.
Because I've been in such the spring spirit, a few days ago I woke up with this craving, for a light, refreshing, springtime, tuna pasta salad. 
I know right? Weird craving. 
I know what you're thinking.. No, I'm not pregnant. 

Anyways I must say with a little food network inspiration, I think I hit a home run with this recipe and I would love to share it with you!
The best part- it's great for you!

Ingredients
❤ 4 hard boiled eggs
❤ 1 6oz can of tuna
❤2 cups chopped celery
1 cup chopped carrots
❤1 cup Vegenaise (or mayonnaise)
❤ 1 Tbs Dijon Mustard
❤ Juice from 1 lemon
Spices
❤ 12 oz of whole wheat pasta (I used bowtie)
❤ Parsley (optional)
The eggs and the tuna are amino acid powerhouses. You are getting some quality protein in this meal thanks to these two ingredients. 
Just brush your teeth after.
I'm not sure if you're going to want to pack this one for lunch at the office...
Your celery and carrots, we are talking about some serious fiber! And who doesn't need more fiber, right?
Okay here's the sitch: Mayo has no place in my pantry. Not saying it is going to kill you, because it won't, but we all know it doesn't do anything for us. If you're getting the real good stuff, it will be made of eggs, oil and vinegar but when are labels ever that simple?
I'd like to introduce my solution: vegenaise. Egg free, dairy free, gluten free, made from canola oil.
But my real reason: think half the fat, same flavor.
This stuff is gooey gold.
Anyways, for the sauce I used 1 cup of vegenaise, 1 tablespoon of mustard, and all the juice I could get from a single lemon. Plus a dash of garlic powder here, a pinch of salt and pepper there. You know how it goes.
Whisk that all together and pour over your pasta, stir in your toppings and enjoy!

Thursday, March 14, 2013

Helloooo BlogLovin!

Hi all!! 
I'm sure you've heard the news about google discontinuing GFC on July 1st, so I just wanted to formally invite you to come follow me on BlogLovin!
It's a cute little site and once I get used to it, I think I'll even like it better than google reader.


Follow on Bloglovin

Thank you my dears, have a lovely spring day!!



Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Low Fat Lemon-Poppy Seed Muffins

If you're not excited yet, get excited. I love breakfast muffins, but the amount of sugar and butter kills me, so I played around with the recipe and here it is perfected- Lemon-Poppy seed muffins with no butter, and no sugar!
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
In a small bowl whisk together:
 1 cup of Whole Wheat Flour
❤1/4 teaspoon baking powder
❤ 1/4 teaspoon soda
❤1/4 teaspoon of salt
Then in a medium bowl, mix together:
❤1/2 cup of non-fat vanilla yogurt
❤ 3 large egg whites
❤1/3 cup honey
❤1 teaspoon vanilla extract
❤1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
 Then stir in the flour mixture until just combined.
 Add
❤1 Tablespoon of grated lemon peel
❤ 2 Teaspoons of poppy seeds
Spoon them into greased muffin pans, and pop them in your preheated oven.
 This will make 20 mini muffins, or 9 regular muffins.

 For mini muffins, bake for 9-11 minutes.
For regular muffins bake for 17-20 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean with a few crumbs.
 And there you have it!
They will store for about 3 days, in an airtight container.