I love Brie

I love Brie. I am always searching for a new way to prepare and serve Brie. This is my new fav.

Recipe:

1 baguette, sliced into nice little bites (1/4 inch pieces)
Brie cheese, cut in 1/4 inch squares (I use the Brie that is shaped like a tube of Brie)
Apricot preserves, 1/2 cup
Pomegranate seeds, about two handfuls
1 jalapeno, no seeds, minced
Splash of Moscato wine :) Just enough to make it easier to mix

 ~Mix the Apricot preserves, Pomegranate seeds, Jalapeno and a splash of Moscato (or water) to make a nice topping
~Place a piece of brie on the bread and top the Brie with the marvelous topping
~Place in the oven at 400... You just want to melt the Brie... So just a few minutes like 7ish. If you are really in a hurry try Broil but keep a close eye on the little breads.
Yummy!!

Baked Salmon

Baked Salmon

Bake at 450 degrees for 12-15 minutes

Simply top a slab of Salmon with minced garlic, thinly sliced lemon, fresh parsley and small amount of butter or drizzle of olive oil.
Easy. Enjoy!

Stuffed Bacon Cheese Burgers

Top left: How to stuff burgers. Make a ball with you burger. The put a thumb hole half way through the ball. Then add your ingredients such as cheese and bacon bits.
Bottom left: Close the ball over the stuffing's and carefully flatten. Then add a small thumb print to the middle of the burger. Add a little Worcestershire sauce to the top. Then they are grill ready.
Top right: Yummy grilled stuffed bacon cheese burgers.
Bottom right: Two onions (white and red). Put a tablespoon of butter on top then add a beef bullion cube and wrap in foil. Through on the grill for about half an hour. Best onion for your burgers.

To the ground beef I added: chopped fresh cilantro and parsley, 1 packet of dry ranch dressing (this is the secret weapon), steak seasoning, pepper, grated onion (about 1 tablespoon).

Uncle Les's Cobbler

Triple berry honey roasted almond cobbler. Inspired by Uncle Les.

Uncle Les taught me this recipe. It is so easy and delicious. There are many variations you can do too. All you need is any pie filing that you like. Uncle Les's favorite is peach pie filing. You will also need a yellow cake mix and a stick of butter. Some times I add nuts on top.

First, preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Grease the bottom of a 13 by 9 glass baking dish. For this cobbler I used berry pie filing and also added a handful of fresh berries (blackberry's, blueberry's and raspberry's). Put this mixture in the baking dish. Then take yellow cake mix and sprinkle on top of the pie filing mixture, make sure to break up all the clumps.This part does not have to be perfect, just evenly spread out on top of the pie filing.To add a little extra crunch top with a couple handfuls of sliced nuts ( I used honey roasted almonds). Finally slice up some butter in thin little squares and place over the top every where. The butter will melt in the oven creating the perfect crust. Bake for about 45 minutes until nice and bubbly and golden on top. You will know the cobbler is close to done when you can smell the goodness, I promise.

Options: Be creative

• Pie filings include: Peach, Apple, Berry....
• Toppings that you can add to the top, under the butter: Nuts, Coconut, Cinnamon, Dried fruits...
• Mix ins: Fresh fruit or even nuts...

Serve with some vanilla bean ice cream and your life will be complete. 

Presto Pesto

Your life is not complete without homemade pesto. Pesto can be used for almost everything. Pesto on your favorite slice of pizza, bread for dipping or make it into a simple yet elegant vinaigrette.

                                                                                                                 Presto PESTO!

                                                                                                    Pesto on Pizza!

Pesto on a baguette with a drizzle of aged balsamic 

Ingredients:

1 full bunch of fresh organic basil

1/2 of a bunch of fresh organic parsley 

3-4 cloves of garlic

about a dozen sun dried tomato halves 

pinch of salt and pepper

Couple rounds of the food processor with olive oil (probably 5 ish tablespoons depending on the desired consistency)

Optional: 1/4 cup fresh Parmesan (I omitted the cheese because I was making this batch vegan friendly). Another option is adding 1/4 cup of walnuts or almonds or pine nuts to give the pesto more texture (however, beware of nut allergies) 

Directions:

Put all ingredients into the food processor and blend. Be aware of added olive oil to make the consistency you prefer. YUM Yum and yum.

 

Balanced homemade healthy and unhealthy

I love healthy food to fit a healthy lifestyle. However, it is a give and take. Plus, when I heard bacon, cheese, chicken, tater tots in the crock pot I was immediately excited. But I had to balance it out with some healthy sides: summer patty pan squash and baked corn. Never boil corn again!
Baked corn: leave husks on then put on the top oven rack on 375 degrees for 35min. Perfect!
Summer Patty Pan Squash: Chop summer squash into about 1/2 inch squares. The following is what I put in a mason jar and shook up:  tbls olive oil, 3 tbls red wine vinegar, couple shakes of: rosemary, pepper, Italian seasoning. Add a pinch of salt. Add 1/4 cup chopped onion, 4 cloves of minced garlic. SHAKE! SHAKE! SHAKE! Then toss this mixture with the summer squash. And put summer squash in a baking dish. 35-45 minutes in the oven on 375 degrees. When I took them out of the oven I tossed a handful of Parsley and Parmesan cheese on top. YUM.
THEN well... First I guess...
Cheesey chickeny bacon tater tot crock casserole: Crock pot 4-5 hours on low. 1package of frozen tater tots, 1 1/2 lbs of a chicken breasts chopped, 1 package shredded cheddar cheese, 1 small package of real bacon bits and 3/4 cup milk. Spray the crock pot with cooking spray. Then Layer as such:
TOTS
Cheese
Bacon
Chicken (Seasoned with: salt, pepper, garlic and onion powder and poultry seasoning)
Cheese
Bacon
TOTS
Chicken
Cheese

Bacon
Crock Pot Lid
When finished add some chopped green onion. And it is quite yummy with a couple shakes of franks hot sauce! Next morning the left overs make great breakfast burritos!

Power Protein Palls...Balls, I mean

Protein Power balls!

• 2 scoops vanilla whey protein
• 2 cups quick cooking oats
• 1 tbls wheat grem
• 1 tbls ground flax seed
• Optional: 1 tsp of Hemp Hearts or Chia Seeds
• Options: Small handful of mini chocolate chips Or coconut flakes
• 2-3 tbls of organic local honey (too help with my allergies)
• 1 cup of no stir Adams peanut butter

I tried to mix this with a spoon at first but shortly realized ... "Ain't nobody got time for that". Just squish the mixture with your hands until it forms something solid. Then I rolled the mixture into about 1 to 1 1/2 inch balls. Perfect light snack before a workout or a highly energized day.Then I just put them in a zip lock contanier and throw them in he fridge to firm up. Makes about 16-18 balls.

Apple cider mango coconut water

What a delight... And healthy too. I was trying to find a way to integrate Organic Apple Cider vinegar into my diet. This is what I came up with...

• 1/2 part favorite coconut water
• 1/2 part Organic Mango Lemonade Or Peach Lemonade
• 1-2 tsp of Bragg Apple Cider Vinegar

Hydration+Potassium+Maintaining a healthy body pH+Detox+Yummy Lemonade= DELISH Detox!

Mama Lou's Strawberry Shortcake

It is glorious how you can take whip cream, angel food cake and strawberries and make this holy concoction!

Now most of my recipes are one's I just eyeball.

So, if I say "Eyeball" just wing it until you think it looks super good. Hopefully, I will do my best at measuring said ingredients. No promises. It's your food, do what you want.

Confession: I never follow a recipe to the T, it's just not in me but if you can all the power to you.

Here's what cookin' good lookin'...

For the strawberries: Cut up the lil strawberry guys, mix with about 2 tablespoons of brown sugar, half a tablespoon cinnamon, a teaspoon of vanilla and a smidgen of sugar in the raw just to give the strawberries the extra crunch and sparkle. Stick the strawberries in the fridge for about half an hour so the flavors merry into something wonderful and it creates this sugary juice at the bottom of the bowl.
Prepare any type angel food cake or pastries to cover with the strawberries. I tried angel food cake in little silicon cupcake molds that worked beautifully. Or take the easy road and find the strawberry shortcake cakes usually right next to the strawberries.
For the whip cream: Get heavy whipping cream. It is always worth it to make your own! I add a pinch of cinnamon and a splash of vanilla.
The assembly: Take the "cake" and cover with mounds of strawberries, ladle on a little bit of sugary juice and top with delicious whip cream. If you wanna get nutty put some nuts on top of the whip cream. And it may sound fruity but put a little more strawberries on top.
You got it! Go for it!
Love Lil Miss Lou.