Breakfast cupcakes - Fancy and Fast!

I love a nice simple morning meal!

I tested this recipe out when we had house guests and it was a hit.

Breakfast Cupcakes - found via Pinterest

The recipe above is Paleo, I made some adjustments for our family :)

I purchased 1 lb. of smoked ham from the local deli, and a small wedge of smoked Gouda cheese.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

In my Muffin Pan, I placed 1 slice of ham to create a "crust".  After shredding all the cheese into a bowl, I placed a small pinch in the bottom of each crust and cracked 1 egg right on top.  I then sprinkled with salt and pepper.

notice the 3 on the far right have no yolk, as my husband wanted egg white only.

 Bake for 20 minutes - ( 15-16 minutes for less firm yolks )

Scoop out and serve with toast or hashbrowns!

~Happy Husband Approved~

~Ginger Princess Approved~

~Happy Husband's Best Guy Friends Approved~

~Hangover Approved~

Italian Turkey Meatball Wraps with Pesto Hummus and Marinara

My last Turkey Hummus Wrap was a serious success in our house and because I can't leave well enough alone, I wanted to experiment with the same concept, but new flavors :)

Previous Hummus Recipe HERE

For today's Hummus we used the electric food processor and combine the following:
1 can drained garbonzo beans
1/2 jar of Pesto
3 garlic cloves

Blend all together, if it is a little thick add just a touch of olive oil and blend a little more.

Then I set this aside to work on the next portions of the meal.

For my meatballs I combined 1 lb. of ground turkey and 1/2 of a diced onion.  I shaped into small balls and placed in my Mini Muffin Tin.   These are baked at 325 degrees for 15-20 minutes.

As the meatballs baked, I sauteed the rest of my onion in a little olive oil.  I then combined a can of tomato sauce (as I didn't have fresh tomatoes on hand), as well as oregano and Italian seasoning.  If I had red wine on hand I would have added 1/4 cup to the sauce, I love the way it brings out flavor!

Once you meatballs on fully cooked you can then assemble your wraps.  We used whole wheat wraps that were low in carbs and calories.

Spread some hummus on your wrap, add a few meatballs, cover in sauce and PERFECTO!  Italian Turkey Meatball wrap with pesto hummus and marinara sauce!

~Happy Husband Approved~
~Ginger Princess Approved~

Spring Rolls....that's what I make with holiday leftovers!

Oh the times of week long turkey or ham sandwich left overs, I have a fond memory but no desire to go there.  After a great Ham Dinner for Easter, I wanted to do something fun and different with our left overs.

We made SPRING ROLLS!

Baked Spring Rolls - found via Pinterest

I was excited!  I took the Ginger Princess to the store to get vegetables.  She chose broccoli and a green pepper...it must have been "green day" for her.

I employed my handy dandy electric food processor and ground up my left over ham, some onion, green pepper and my steamed broccoli.

Then I created my own sauce:  I used an equal parts ratio for the following items:
Soy sauce
Sesame oil
Lemon Juice
Dijon Mustard

Then I added Siracha to taste :)

I mixed the sauce in to my meat and veggie mixture, 

covered and refrigerated a few hours to let the flavors mingle.

* This is a great way to prep items in the morning or night before and just do assembly and baking right before you plan to eat.


I preheated my oven to 450 degrees and then began wrapping my spring rolls.  Set a shallow bowl with water in it near your work space, as you will need this to seal your spring rolls.  Use a non greased baking sheet with parchment paper.

1. Lay your spring roll/egg roll wrappers at an angle and fill the inside (roughly 2 tablespoons of mixture)

2. Fold the bottom side up to the top corner and then slide down tightly to your mixture.

3. Fold your outside edges in tight to the center, once you have folded as seen below, use your finger tips and dip them in the small bowl of water.  Brush the water across the top edges and then roll the bottom of the Spring Roll up to the top.

4. Place on your cooking sheet

5. Lightly brush olive oil over the tops of the Spring rolls, place in the oven and bake for 10 minutes on each side.

 

 

 

I made a quick soy and siracha drizzle for mine.

 

1 spring roll is approximately 115 calories :)  And they were delicious!  ~Happy Husband Approved~

Macaroon Madness - 3 times a charm :)

I have a sweet tooth for great desserts made with love and BUTTER!   :)   

Julia Child would love me for that line!

When I was in NYC visiting my best-mate, I had my first taste of macaroons and was in love!  I mean I adore cupcakes, but macaroons are right up there on the list for me now.  I searched high and low for recipes.  I was worried that it would be too difficult to achieve greatness and searched east and west for the items I would need.

 Now believe it or not, I searched the entire town for a flour sifter, you know like your grandmother or mother used to have....NO WHERE!  I was so mad, I called by best-mate to complain about it...well that and the fact that I don't yet own my dream KitchenAid mixer that would make my entire cooking life so much easier.....oh well, one day.  Until then, I am mixing everything by hand, or so I thought.  And I ended up buying a fine mesh strainer from the local WalMart to use as my sifter....somebody tell me where to buy a real sifter!!

Here is the recipe I have been using, which was found on pinterest:

Easy Macaroon Recipe

In a large bowl sift 1 cup of powdered sugar and 1 cup of almond flour (found at my local grocery, health foods section)  Lightly mix the two together and set aside.

In another bowl, separate 2 eggs leaving only the whites in the bowl.  I used my lovely Egg Separator to make this job a little easier for me.   Now the trick is that if you plan to "color" your macaroons to use a gel coloring and add to the egg whites prior to beating them.

cold eggs gave me better "peaks"

 For the first batch of macaroons, I beat my eggs by hand....NEVER AGAIN!!  The second batch I borrowed a friend's hand mixer and by the 3rd batch I had bought my own hand mixer :)


Beat your eggs to soft peaks, then add 1/4 cup granulated sugar a little at a time while continuing to beat the eggs to stiff peaks.  Ideally you should be able to tip the bowl upside down when you are done and nothing will move :)  I finally got there on the 3rd try!!

Slowly fold the almond flour/powdered sugar mixture into your beaten eggs.  It should slowly become dense and sticky.

For the first and second attempts I used my Easy Accent Decorator with the widest tip to pipe my batter onto the cookie sheet.

For round 1, I used just a cookie sheet.  For rounds 2 and 3 I used parchment paper on my cookie sheets....this seemed to work much better!  No sticking to the pan and the cookies cool faster because you can pull the paper from the cookie sheet right away.

Once the macaroons are on your baking pan (with parchment paper if you have it)....drop the pan on your counter 2-3 times to flatten and get the air bubbles out of the dough.   Bake at 325 degrees for 7-10 minutes.

Now to make your filling:  I used just a simple buttercream recipe like the one on the recipe, only I added a splash of vanilla extract to mine for flavor because that is what my mom and grandmother have always done :)

Again, I did this by hand for the first batch (which was used for the 1st and 2nd round of macaroons) and then with my electric hand mixer for the 3rd batch.

When you macaroons are completely cooled....don't rush this or your delicate buttercream will run all over the place ! ( I know from experience - what a sweet mess I made ) .... pipe your icing on the flat bottom half of one macaroon and top with another macaroon giving a slight twist to keep the icing bonded to both.  I used a small sandwich bag and snipped the corner to use as a piping bag...so easy! 

BATCH 1 - handbeat with no parchment paper

BATCH 2 - electric mixer beat with parchment paper

 Now on the 3rd batch I used the Medium Scoop,

 to try and get the nice even and rounded look of macaroons I have seen.

My friend and teammate, Paige was my assistant for batches 2 & 3 :)

BATCH 3 - electric mixer beaten, parchment paper, scoop for correct sizing.

All sweet things are best shared with friends!

I have so enjoyed this experience!!!  Macaroons aren't as hard to make as I once thought and now I have a routine in making them.  And they are really easy to get rid of...image that :)   The next batches we will be playing with flavors and chocolate: Raspberry with chocolate ganache filling....stay tuned!

~Happy Husband Approved~
~Ginger Princess Approved~
~Midwest Maidens Roller Derby Team Approved~

Mini Veggie/Turkey Meatloaf Cupcakes and Cauliflower Mash

This recipe isn't a recipe....it is a hodge podge of what I wanted to make combined with my leftovers from a potluck.  For the potluck I had made the Cucumber Lime Dip and some Fresh Salsa. 

For supper I wanted to make cute little mini meatloaf, so this is what I did.

In a mixing bowl I combined:

1 lb. ground turkey
1 1/2 cups Oats
1/3 cup fresh salsa
1/3 cup Cucumber lime dip
1 chopped onion

I then rolled into balls and filled my Muffin Tin

I baked at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes.  I topped with a special secret recipe sauce, but you are welcome to top as desired.

For the Cauliflower Mash, I started with one head of cauliflower.  I washed it and cut into florets.  I then placed in a pot of water and boiled for about 15 minutes and drained. I wish I had the Large Micro Cooker, as this would have completely simplified the process.

After draining the cauliflower, I mashed with the Mix N' Masher.    I added just a dash of milk and some chipotle seasoning and 1 clove of garlic to taste.

This meal was under 500 calories. It is ~Happy Husband and Ginger Princess Approved~ though my husband still says he prefers mashed potatoes and gravy :)  At least he is honest and open minded enough to keep trying all my recipes!

Egg Salad, in the form of a tea sandwich

I had a co-worker once that loved egg salad sandwiches, and the idea seemed awful to me.  But as I continued to think about it; I like deviled eggs and potato salad...it can't be all that different or bad, right?!  Well, I wanted an excuse to try my Cut & Seal to use for tea parties in the future and just happened to have some eggs in the fridge....so here we are :)

Egg Salad

Now in hard boiling eggs, my preference is 15 minute boil.  I add 1/4 salt to my water and IMMEDIATELY put eggs in an ice bath after the 15 minute boil.  I have found that this combination will make for easy peeling for even farm fresh eggs.

This is a simple recipe and I believe most people would have the general ingredients already available in their homes. I didn't add celery, pickle or red bell pepper because I didn't have it on  hand, nor do I really want that in my sandwich.....maybe I will try it next time. I just happened to have Dijon Mustard left from a recipe I made a few weeks back, but otherwise I would have used regular mustard.

 I mixed up my eggs, mayo and mustard...a little salt and pepper.

 I attempted to place an even scoop on my bread.  I used my favorite 12 grain bread, but realize that a nice soft white without seeds would have made for an easier press with my Cut & Seal and would have turned out looking a bit prettier.

 For my first attempt at egg salad and using my Cut & Seal, I was pretty happy.  Next time I make tea sandwiches, I will definitely use a different type of bread.

I approve of this recipe, as this was my lunch last week Friday :)

Soup du jour -- Mean and Green for St. Paddy's

This week was cold and snowy....March came in like a LION for sure.  I eat a lot of soup in the cold months, I enjoy a hot meal and soup usually isn't terribly high in calories.

This week I made:

Spinach Tortellini Soup

This is a super easy soup recipe, which again I took my own liberties with :)  For this recipe I used frozen spinach, as it is something we keep on hand.

For this recipe, my husband chose his favorite tortellinis...3 Cheese by Buitoni. 

We have 2 cans of chicken broth - you could substitute veggie stock to make this a vegetarian meal.

A can of reduced sodium Northern beans, garlic and frozen spinach.

1 good pot....I used the RockCrok from Pampered Chef.

I added 1 tablespoon olive oil to my pan with my fresh pressed garlic and let that warm and infuse prior to adding the chicken broth and water.  

The broth was brought to a boil and then I added my tortellini, cooking about 10 minutes. 

 I turned down the heat; added my spinach and drained beans. 

The soup was cooked for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Spinach has many health benefits and is great for Mean Green St. Paddy's soup du jour!

~The Ginger Princess was not impressed, but my husband was!~

Cucumber Lime Dip - So simple, my 10 year old can make it!

That's right!  My kids love cooking with me, so I employed the power of my eldest to make the next recipe.  This is honestly one of the easiest and most delicious items I have ever made!  Eat it on crackers or use as a veggie dip.  I am eating it on a salad right now :)

 Cucumber Lime Dip

My son has everything ready -notice we do not have an onion....

the boys don't like them, so we are leaving them out.

Start with one package of room temperature cream cheese.  Cut your cucumber in half (both long and short way), so you have 4 parts.  Scoop the seeds out (the seeds hold the water and you don't want runny dip).  

Cut the cucumbers into cubes and place in your manual food processor.  

Give it a few hearty pushes to get that cucumber processed and add to the cream cheese.

Use your garlic press and add a few cloves of garlic to your cream cheese.

Then squeeze in the juice of a lime (as desired for taste).

The Pampered Chef citrus press is amazing, but we don't have that yet...so we did it by hand.

Mix, chill and serve!

Easy and Delicious!

Great to serve at BBQs this summer.

The Ginger Princess was not so impressed, but it gave all 3 of my boys (husband and 2 sons) BIG SMILES!

Big Taste In Little Bites

I really enjoying baking in miniature.  Mini cupcakes are my favorite, they are just so cute and delicious and when it is small I feel a lot less guilty for eating it!  So, why not bring this idea over to dinner.  Portioning is an issue for many trying to drop pounds, I know it has been a struggle for me.  Minis keep my portions in check without losing great flavors.

Tonight's recipe is:

Pampered Chef - Mini Turkey Pot Pies


Now I took great liberty with this recipe, literally using what I already had in the kitchen.  I am not a "recipe" type cook so you will notice I am always adding or leaving out items in a recipe.  I like to use what I have and what my family enjoys, so feel free to do the same :)  Also, I do as much as I can while creating as few dirty dishes as possible.....if you enjoy doing dishes more power to you!

For my crusts I am using plain old crescent rolls ( 1 had bought two rolls for taco ring and decided to only use 1).  Our pot pie will consist of ground turkey, garlic, peas and chicken stock.  I do not yet have the mini pie tins, so we are improvising with a regular sized cupcake pan.

Ok, here we are....

1 skillet, 1 spatula, 1 crescent roll, 1 lb. ground turkey, 1 can chicken stock, garlic, and garlic press. 

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.

I  started my ground turkey and fresh garlic mix cooking on the stove top, stirring occasionally.  Between stirring, I cut my crescent rolls in half and started to shape in my muffin tin - this could be an area your children could help you :)  I then popped this pan in the oven for 5 minutes, until just lightly tan. Remove to fill with pot pie mixture.

While my crusts baked, I added frozen sweet peas (my favorite vegetable!) and 1 can chicken broth to my cooked turkey.  I only added a 1/2 can of water to the broth, as my frozen peas will release water upon cooking.  I brought this all to a boil (get those peas warm).  To this I added 1 tablespoon Poultry Seasoning and started to slowly add cornstarch to thicken, 1 tablespoon at a time while stirring briskly, until desired consistency was met.  Remove pan from heat.  I then scooped 1/4 cup of pot pie mixture into each mini pie.

Once all pies are filled, I placed the tin back in the oven to bake for 5 more minutes, and presto....

EASY AND DELICIOUS MINI POT PIES!

This is another easy and KID FRIENDLY, 25 minute recipe!

~Ginger Princess Approved~

Cooking together is just as important as eating together :)

Fabulous Flavor in a Fun Size! Big Taste in Little Bites !

We are cooking up more recipes for next week, so don't go too far.