nectarine plum tart

Really this dessert can be made with any stone fruit.  These are just two of my favorites, and I always end up with a ton of them.  This is a great way to use them.I don't add any extra sugar to my fruit, but if you want to lessen the tangy sweet tartness, go ahead and mix some sugar into your fruit.  The thing I like best about this recipe is that it really is a fairly healthy dessert.  Yeah, it does have a bit of butter and brown sugar, but it wouldn't really be a dessert without at least a little guilty ingredients, right?  :)

I call this a tart, but really, I don't know what to call it because it is a cross between a tart and a cobbler.

If you want to fruit to be featured more, but can half the batter recipe and not put any over the fruit.

This was inspired by Ina Garten's recipe here.

print recipe

nectarine plum tart

by Liesl June-19-2014

A sweet and tart guilt free summer dessert.

Ingredients

• 2 Cups whole wheat flour
• 3/4 Cup walnuts, chopped
• 3/4 Cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
• 12 Tbsp cold unsalted butter, diced
• 1 egg yolk
• 1/2 Cup water
• 4 nectarines, sliced
• 6 plums, sliced

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Combine the flour, walnuts, and sugar in a food processor until crumbly. Add the butter, yolk, and water. Press 3/4 of mixture into the bottom of a prepped springform tart pan. Bake for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, slice the fruit. Pull the tart out and arrange the fruit skin side down in a tight spiral from the edge inward.Evenly drop the remaining batter over the fruit in small bits. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes, or until lightly browned and bubbly. Remove from oven and let cool. Remove the pan and eat either warm or cooled.

Details

Prep time: 10 mins Cook time: 50 mins Total time: 1 hour Yield: 1 9 1/2" tart pan

creamy fruity protein smoothie

You know your kid is self sufficient when you get out of the shower and hear "Mommy!  I have a surprise for you!", the sentence that ALWAYS makes me nervous when Liam says it, walk to the kitchen and see this...

Luckily he was waiting for me to plug in the blender because he knows he's not allowed, but then he's not supposed to climb onto the counter either.  Hmm...

What's in a toddler made smoothie you ask?  Apparently anything he could reach.  He included an orange (with peel of course.  No knives yet!), some Crystal Light iced tea liquid concentrate, and some olive oil.  Three of his favorite things.  Yeah, he has weird tastes for a little kid.  Not that he has ever combined these three flavors before.  By the way, he not only pulled out the blender, filled it, and set it on the stand with the lid fully on, but he pulled a little cutting board out of the drawer for me!  I love the thought processes of kids.

I complied with his pleas to help him off the counter gladly, and he immediately put his hands up towards the blender and yelled, "Ta da!"

Naturally.

Once I rinsed the iced tea concentrate and olive oil out of my blender (sorry kiddo!) I added back the orange.  Peeled this time around.  I pureed this before adding the other ingredients because sometimes the pulp and other fruity pieces need a little extra blender time.

Once my orange was pureed I added two small frozen bananas, a cup of low-fat vanilla yogurt, and two scoops of vanilla cream whey protein powder.  If you don't have frozen bananas, just use room temperature ones and toss in several ice cubes.

This smoothie is very thick and creamy.  If you prefer yours to be a bit less so, just add a little orange juice to thin it out a bit while keeping the yummy flavor.

Can't smile.  Too busy drinking.  :)

ingredients:
1 orange, peeled
2 small frozen bananas
2 scoops vanilla cream whey protein powder
1 cup low-fat vanilla yogurt (I love Tillamook)

directions:
1.  Puree the orange solo.  Then add the rest of the ingredients and blend until liquified.  Add a bit of ice cubes, or orange juice to thin your smoothie out or make it icier.  Drink immediately.

Serves 2

Enjoy!

tamale pie

It is really crazy how little free time you get with a VERY spirited toddler, a teething baby, a huge "to do" list, an actual job (sometimes), and the list goes on...

I realized I hadn't gotten a chance to post for a bit.  Oops.  Honestly, I would love to have a new post daily, but lately there has been mad chaos in the house.  Fun chaos, don't get me wrong, but chaos none the less.

This tamale pie recipe is one of my go-to recipes for a quick dinner.  It takes less than an hour from start to finish, and most of that time is just baking.  This recipe is great because it only requires a few basic ingredients which I try to keep stocked anyway, and there are a plethora of great add-ins to try depending on your mood (or the state of your pantry!)  I've listed the basic version, but I'll give you a few good extras to try as well.

Another reason why I love tamale pie, well, a few reasons...  It has a yummy comfort food vibe, it is pretty healthy and balances well with a side salad and some fruit, and it makes for great leftovers.  Seriously,  this reheats beautifully which definitely cannot be said of all foods!

The topping looks a bit sparse here because I was in desperate need of a grocery store run, so I cut the topping recipe in half.  I include the picture anyway to show that that is in fact a viable option if you want to make this, but eat fewer carbs.

Since tamale pie makes for great leftovers, and I just love it anyway, I often make a double batch (which works perfectly size wise in a 9x13 casserole dish).

ingredients:
2 tsp vegetable oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 small can tomato sauce
2 tsp chili powder
1 tbsp cumin
2 cans (15 oz) pinto beans, rinsed and drained
1 cup corn
3/4 C corn meal
2 C milk (any percent)
1 egg

directions:
1.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  In a large wide pot heat the oil on medium heat and add the garlic, stirring to avoid burning.  Once garlic has softened, add the tomato sauce, chili powder, cumin, beans, and corn.  Stir to combine.  Take off heat and pour into an 8x8 oven safe dish.  Set aside.
2.  Meanwhile, in a small saucepan stir together the corn meal and milk on medium heat.  Continue to stir to avoid burning and sticking.
3.  In a small bowl crack the egg and whisk with a fork to separate.  Once corn meal mixture has begun boiling and has thickened remove from heat and quickly stir in egg thoroughly.
4.  Pour the topping over the bean mixture, trying to spread evenly.  It should cover or just about cover the entire top of the beans.  Bake for 40 minutes, or until golden.  The crust should still be soft.  Remove from the oven and let stand for 10 minutes.  Don't worry, this dish really holds the heat in.  Eat hot.  Serves 2-4.


extras:
you can change this recipe up a lot by adding one or two ingredients.  I'm sure you can think of plenty original ideas, but these are a few of my favorites.  I only add one of these specific things at a time to my recipe, but feel free to go nuts!

• 1 red bell pepper, diced (add in with the garlic)  SWEET
• 1 small can of sliced black olives (add with the beans)   SALTY
• 1 small can of green chilies (add with the beans)   SPICY
• 1 small container of ground meat (add with the garlic)   MEATY
• 2 C shredded pork (add with the garlic)   MEATY
• 1 C cheddar cheese (sprinkle over the corn meal topping)  CHEESY

Citrus Cocktail

Between Jack teething and my schedule being crazy lately, I have been exhausted for about the last two weeks straight.  Luckily Jeff is awesome and waaay better at making happy grown up drinks than I am.  I tend to play fast and loose instead of measuring, and wind up with all alcohol, barely anything else (not that I'm a lush, I'm just terrible at measuring).  Jeff balances the liquids far better.  This is a yummy girly cocktail, pretty, flavorful, not sickeningly sweet.  Perfection.

Yes, this does have a boring name.  I'm terrible at names.  Anyone want to help me think of a better one.

print recipe

Citrus Cocktail

by Liesl June-6-2014

Easy and delicious fruity summer cocktail

Ingredients

• 1 shot vodka
• 3 shots worth blood orange soda
• splash lime juice

Instructions

Add ingredients to cocktail shaker with a handful of ice cubes. Shake well to mix and cool down.

Details

Prep time: 3 mins Cook time: Total time: 3 mins Yield: 1 highball glass

Really, utterly simple, and yummy. And pink!

parsnip muffins

It never fails.  When I first offer anyone a parsnip muffin they look at me like I'm crazy.  But really, these are fairly similar to carrot muffins, and those are viewed as normal.  Make up your own mind, but these are amazing.  Sweet, super moist, and so worth a try.

If you are one of those people who has no idea what a parsnip is, or where to find one (I'm finding that many people fit into this category) you should look in the produce section of any respectable grocery store.  They look like fat white carrots.

This recipe is adapted from Alton Brown's fantastic recipe here.  I changed the muffins into mini muffins, which I like better, because 3 minis have the same amount of batter as one full-sized muffin, but it feels like you get more bang for your buck, eating 3 whole (mini) muffins.  Make sense?

I like my silicone wrappers because they are cute, but they are totally unnecessary.  If you don't have silicone, skip the paper wrappers and use a PAM style spray instead.

I grate the nutmeg fresh, and it makes such a difference!  You don't have to, just a suggestion.

 ingredients:
1 3/4 C AP flour
1 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
3 eggs
3/4 C vanilla yogurt
1/2 C vegetable oil
1 C sugar
1 1/4 C grated parsnips

directions:
1.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  Grate the parsnips and set aside.
2.  Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg, and salt.  Whisk eggs, yogurt, oil,and sugar in a large bowl.  Add dry ingredients into large bowl.  Fold in parsnips.  Spoon into greased mini muffin tins, and bake for 15 minutes.

Makes almost 3 dozen.

bruschetta

I'm pretty sure this is what heaven tastes like.  No joke.  The best part is, that unless you are the type of person who burns water, you can make this perfectly, and in only a few minutes.  I don't think I'm exaggerating when I say that I could eat this every day of the summer and not get sick of it.  Even better, there are only a handful of ingredients needed, and they are all beautifully fresh and easily accessible all summer.  Yay!

If your mouth isn't watering right now, you are clearly not a tomato lover.

ingredients:
2 tbsp olive oil
4 garlic cloves, diced
2 ripe tomatoes, cut into chunks
6 basil leaves, diced
salt and pepper to taste

directions:
1. Heat the olive oil in a pan on medium heat.  Add the garlic, and stir regularly to avoid burning.
2.  Stir in the tomatoes, and the salt and pepper to taste.  Keep on heat until the tomatoes have softened.  Remove from heat and stir in the basil.
3.  Spread liberally on bread and enjoy.

I love using the best bread for this.  In fact, this batch of bruschetta was spread onto a fresh warm loaf.  Heavenly.  You could toast the bread a bit first, but I was impatient.  And frankly, it tastes great on plain fresh bread too.  I've also spread the fantastic tomatoes over potatoes, pasta, and also just eaten as is.  In fact, I just made this last night and I've since run out.  Bummer.  I'm just going to go make so more now...

egg bake

I can see why these are so popular.  I don't eat them myself because honestly, I don't eat a single ingredient in this one in particular.  But I can see why others with "normal" food likes would love this.  First off, it's easy, fairly quick, and contains only a small amount of ingredients.  Intrigued?  You should be.

I used a square pyrex dish for this and served out what I thought was a decent sized piece, but then Jeff inhaled it and went back for another square.

I decided to go super basic and not add seasonings, to let the flavors of the food speak for themselves.  I tend to go crazy on seasonings, so I thought I should try making a dish or two without going overboard.

Without trying to sound gross, there is no need to prep the pan for this dish because the sausage grease will do the job for you.  When you cut into the egg bake to serve, it should easily separate from the pan.

ingredients:
1 roll of prepackaged frozen breakfast sausage
2 C thawed O'Brien potatoes
4 eggs
1 C cheddar cheese

directions:
1.  Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Cook the sausage in a skillet until browned and crumbly, then dip it out into the square pyrex, covering the bottom as evenly as possible.
2.  Evenly pour out the potatoes over the sausage.
3.  Whisk the eggs lightly and pour them evenly over the sausage and potatoes.
4.  Grate the cheddar and sprinkle it over the top of the dish.  Place it in the oven and cook for 25-30 minutes, or until the eggs appear to be cooked fully and the cheese has melted.  Let sit for 10 minutes, then serve.  It will still be rather hot.

Serves 2-4