Maryann’s Honey Roasted Nuts

September 4, 2012 By

 

 

Don’t you just love the smell of those Bavarian roasted nuts you find in malls across America? I do too. But you know me, I had to find a way to control the ingredients, so I decided to make some myself. I have been struggling to remain ice cream-free in an attempt to help control my weight but sometimes I still wanted something a little sweet in the evenings, enter the Honey Roasted Nuts. And I don’t know about you, but one of my all time favorite salads makes use of some wonderful Honey Roasted Nuts to dress the salad just perfectly, so this seemed like a win-win-win situation. I could make my own, control the ingredients and use them in several different ways.

For the following recipe I used pecans since they are one of my favorite nuts, but you could easily substitute walnuts, almonds or peanuts if you like. I enjoyed making them, they leave your home smelling amazingly fragrant and if your kids are like mine they will be begging to try some.


Print
Maryann's Honey Roasted Nuts
Author: 
Recipe type: Snack
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
 
Easy to prepare Honey Roasted Nuts great for snacking, using in salads or giving as a gift during the holidays.
Ingredients
  • 3 Cups nut of choice
  • ¼ Cup sugar
  • ½ to 1 tsp cinnamon
  • ¼ to ½ tsp ground nutmeg
  • ¼ to ½ tsp ginger
  • ¼ tsp clove
  • ¼ to ½ tsp ground cardamon
  • ½ tsp salt
  • ⅛ cup honey
  • ⅛ cup maple syrup - or you could use all honey instead
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees
  2. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper, I used a sheet with sides
  3. In a large bowl mix the nuts with the honey and maple syrup until nuts are well coated
  4. Spread nuts in a single layer on the cookies sheet and roast for 10 minutes in the oven
  5. While the nuts are roasting mix the remaining ingredients, the sugar and spices in a bowl
  6. Once the nuts have roasted remove them from the oven and let them cool 2 minutes
  7. Sprinkle the slightly cooled nuts with the sugar mixture making sure to cover all side
  8. Serve or store in an air tight container
Wordpress Recipe Plugin by EasyRecipe

 

Post to Twitter

Bubble Tea Smoothie Recipe

August 30, 2012 By

Our middle son likes JUNK. Just ask him, he will tell anyone and everyone that he likes junk food more than real food. Argh, no matter what I do that kid just doesn’t want to eat healthy. Every morning my husband, the ultimate smoothie maker in our home, whips up a delicious smoothie for us for breakfast. This is what my husband and I eat for our meal, but we use it as a supplement to the boys’ breakfast. Each one has a glass, our younger two get small juice glasses filled with the nutritious drink, while Matthew gets a much larger portion. He actually really enjoys his smoothie. Usually Nico just leaves his sitting there and won’t touch it until it is time to go to school, at which point I just have to give in and let him go without it. Then I got smart. I decided to introduce tapioca pearls like they use in bubble tea and create a Bubble Smoothie. I gave Nico a good size straw and boom! The smoothie was gone. Now I simply add a few teaspoons of the tapioca every morning and no more untouched smoothie glasses.

Tapioca Pearls

Tapioca bubbles in simple syrup

Print
Bubble Tea Smoothie Recipe
Author: 
Recipe type: Drink
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 4 - 6
 
A great smoothie enhanced with tapioca "bubble" make this a kid friendly, nutritious drink!
Ingredients
  • Tapioca
  • ¼ cup dry large tapioca pearls
  • ¾ cup water (or more)
  • Simple Syrup
  • 1 cup water
  • 1 cup sugar, organic
  • Smoothie
  • 1 banana
  • 1 cup ice
  • ½ cup water
  • 1 scoop vanilla protein powder sweetened with stevia
  • 1 handful fresh spinach
  • 1 carrot
  • 5 strawberries
  • 1 Tbs natural peanut butter (optional)
  • additional fruit as you like (optional)
Instructions
  1. To make the tapioca bubbles place the tapioca and ¾ cup water in a sauce pan and bring to a boil.
  2. Simmer for 30 minutes or until the pearls become soft, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking.
  3. While pearls are cooking, make the simple syrup.
  4. In another sauce pan heat 1 cup water and sugar, do not boil, until sugar dissolves.
  5. Once tapioca pearls have cooked and gotten soft and translucent, drain and immediately store in enough simple syrup to cover.
  6. Refrigerate until needed.
  7. In a blender or VitaMix blend all ingredients for the smoothie.
  8. Divide into glasses.
  9. Spoon 1 to 2 teaspoons of tapioca "bubbles" into the glasses and enjoy with a straw large enough for the tapioca bubbles to pass.
Wordpress Recipe Plugin by EasyRecipe

 

Post to Twitter

Gazpacho Recipe

August 27, 2012 By

gazpacho recipe

My husband and I are trying to eat a lot more vegetables and we were hoping to get the kids to eat them too. For me, I have found I have a lot more luck if I drink my veggies, that is why we start off every day with a green smoothie. But getting them in through out the rest of the day still proved to be a challenge. So we opted to try soups. One of our first soups is the summertime favorite Gazpacho. Here is an easy Gazpacho recipe. We served it in little aperitif glasses to introduce the kids to the flavor and texture. It was a fun way to try Gazpacho and it also makes it the perfect way to serve it during dinner parties or at a bridal or baby shower.

5.0 from 1 reviews
Print
Gazpacho Recipe
Author: 
Recipe type: Soup
Prep time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 4
 
A zesty version of Gazpacho that allows you to get a lot of veggies in a easy to make raw, cold soup!
Ingredients
  • 2 large ripe tomatoes, chopped
  • 1 cucumber, seeded, peeled, chopped
  • 1 small onion, quartered
  • 1 sweet bell pepper, seeded
  • 3 cups vegetable juice - like V8
  • ⅓ cup white or red wine vinegar
  • several dashes hot pepper sauce
  • ¼ tsp salt
  • ¼ tsp pepper
Instructions
  1. Place all ingredients in blender and blend until smooth.
  2. Serve immediately
Wordpress Recipe Plugin by EasyRecipe

 

Post to Twitter

Pasta la Carbonara Recipe

July 24, 2012 By

My husband’s family is Italian and I am always looking for real pasta recipes that can be made gluten free. Here is one of my favorite, Pasta la Carbonara. We use gluten free mung bean fettuccine pasta, beautiful natural bacon, peas and a light egg yoke, cheese and cream sauce. Enjoy!

Print
Pasta la Carbonara Recipe
Author: 
Recipe type: Entree
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 4
 
Easy Gluten Free Pasta dish featuring bacon, peas and cheese.
Ingredients
  • 1 lb thick cut bacon, chopped into large pieces
  • 1 lb mung bean pasta
  • 4 egg yokes
  • ½ cup half and half or cream
  • salt (to taste)
  • pepper (to taste)
  • 1¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
  • 1½ cup peas, frozen
Instructions
  1. In a frying pan, cook bacon pieces until they are crisp, set aside.
  2. While bacon is frying, in a large pot bring water to a boil, and cook pasta according to directions.
  3. In a small sauce pan over low heat, combine egg yokes, half and half, salt, pepper and cheese.
  4. Using a flexible spatula constantly stir the mixture so that the egg does not burn, about 5 minutes or until slightly thickened and heated through.
  5. Drain pasta.
  6. Mix pasta, bacon, peas and egg mixture.
  7. Serve immediately.
Wordpress Recipe Plugin by EasyRecipe

 

Post to Twitter