Zoodles in Tomato Sauce

I have found my new favorite dinner.  Honestly, this was so good.  I ordered something along these lines at a restaurant once and so I decided I needed to try to make it at home.  If you haven't made this yet I highly recommend it.  It's super easy to make and it was seriously so good.  Next time I make this recipe I'm going to double it because there wasn't enough for 2 lunches the next day and it was just sooooo good.

You will need:

1 lb zucchini
1 14.5 oz can stewed tomatoes
1 6 oz. can tomato paste (you will only use half of the can)
1/2 onion - finely chopped
2 Tbsp. fresh parsley, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 tsp. dried oregano (I used one drop of my essential oil oregano)
3 Tbsp. olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Prepare the zoodles by using your zoodle maker.  I got mine at Bed Bath and Beyond.  I've been told they are also sold at Walgreens but I haven't confirmed that.  Use your zoodle maker over a large bowl, once they are all curly and fun, cut them a few times with a knife so they aren't so long after they are cooked.

Now break out your Frank or in my case a little Dean Martin and get that spaghetti sauce a brewin.  My 4 year old came home while I was cooking it and she said how great the house smelled.  That made me so happy.

So take your tomatoes, tomato paste, parsley, garlic, oregano, and salt and pepper and put it all in a food processor.  I'm sure a blender would work just as well but I do love my wonderful food processor, I use it for everything.  Mix it all up until it becomes nice and smooth.

Meanwhile saute your chopped onion in the olive oil for just a few minutes until they are soft.  Add the spaghetti sauce to the pan and let it simmer on low heat for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Looks yummy, right?

Next boil a pot of water and put your zoodles in it.  I cooked mine for only about 4 minutes.  Drain your zoodles and mix with your sauce.  Yum.  Seriously so good! This is what my 4 year old's plate looked like after she tried it.  She just thought they were noodles!  Healthy and yummy.

Cheesecake Mousse

Who doesn't love cheesecake?  It's one of my favorites.  The only thing I don't like about making cheesecake is how it cracks in the middle when it's cooling.  It just doesn't look very pretty when it's done and read to be served.  If you know how to prevent this, please let me know.  My solution in the meantime is to put something on top of it.  I'm not much of a fruit topping kind of gal, so I went with vanilla mousse and it was delicious.

Ingredients:

For cheesecake:
Graham crackers for crust
3 Tbsp butter, melted
4 packages (8 oz. each) cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1 Tbsp. vanilla
3 eggs

Vanilla Mousse:
8 oz. whip cream (recipe for this is at the bottom of the page)
1/4 cup sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

Heat oven to 325.  Crush graham crackers in a large zip lock bag.   Use as many graham crackers as it takes to get about 1 1/2 cups.  Mix graham cracker crumbs with melted butter in a small bowl until it all sticks together.

Press graham cracker crumbs into your spring form pan, pressing firmly to the bottom and up the sides of the pan.  Put the pan in the freezer while you prepare the filling.

Beat 3 packages of the cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla until well blended.  Add eggs, one at a time, mixing on low speed after each just until blended.  Pour over crust.  Bake for 55 minutes until center is almost set.  Cool completely in the pan on a wire rack.

This is my yummy cheesecake after it's baked.  I wish I knew why it cracks and how to stop it.  Big sigh... the benefit is that this vanilla mousse topping is truly yummy and doesn't distract from the cheese cake at all.

For the vanilla mousse, beat remaining cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla with mixer in a large mixer bowl until well blended.  Whisk in whipped cream, spread over the cheesecake.  Refrigerate for 4 hours.  Remove from of pan before serving and using a knife, smooth the sides of the cheesecake and the mousse topping to give it a finished look.

YUUUUUUMMMMMMMYYYYYYY

Whipped Cream:
1 cup of whipping cream
1/2 tsp to 1 tsp. vanilla
1 Tbsp sugar

Add whipping cream to the bowl of your mixer.  Beat on medium - high with wire attachment until cream begins to thicken.  This process takes about 20 minutes.  Just let it ride while it's thickening.  Go put some laundry in, check your Facebook, whatever you like for 20 whole minutes.  Add vanilla to taste and add sugar.  Continue beating until it reaches the consistency of whipped cream.  This is probably the best whipped cream I have ever had and it has zero preservatives and zero additives.

Funfetti Cupcakes

Is there a person out there who doesn't love funfetti?  It's my daughter's favorite so I thought it would be fun to surprise her when she returns from her 2 week vacay in California today.  Lynne and I had a lot of fun making these cupcakes and since they are not from a box I feel better about letting my kids eat them.  

My disclaimer... this is not my recipe.  I found it on Pinterest.  I love Pinterest and I live by it.  I find so many yummy recipes there and this is one of them.  I hope you enjoy it too. 

Ingredients:  

For the Cupcakes:
1 3/4 cups cake flour
1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
4 eggs
1 cup whole milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup rainbow sprinkles

For the Frosting:

2 cups unsalted butter at room temperature
5 cups powdered sugar
2 Tablespoons vanilla extract
Rainbow sprinkles for decorating

DIRECTIONS:

1. Make the Cupcakes: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a cupcake pan with paper liners; set aside.

2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the flours, sugar, baking powder and salt, and mix together on low speed for 1 minute. With the mixer on low, add the butter, a few cubes at a time, continuing until all the butter has been added and the mixture resembles coarse sand.

3. Keeping the mixer on low speed, add the eggs one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl between additions. Slowly pour in the milk and vanilla and mix until combined. Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat for 2 minutes, until batter is smooth, scraping the sides of bowl as needed. Using a rubber spatula, gently stir in the sprinkles.

4. Fill the liners two-thirds full (about ¼ cup of batter) and bake for 15-20 minutes, until the centers are set and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool in pan for 10 minutes, then remove to a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.

5. Make the Frosting: Using the wire whisk attachment of your stand mixer, whip the butter on medium-high speed for 5 minutes, stopping to scrape the bowl once or twice. Reduce the speed to low and gradually add the powdered sugar. Once all of the powdered sugar is incorporated, increase the speed to medium-high and add the vanilla, mixing until incorporated. Whip at medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes, scraping the bowl as needed.  A few drops of shocking pink gel food coloring and we achieved our desired color.  

6. Frost the cupcakes as desired (another shout out to Pampered Chef.  I used my decorating tool, it's so easy) and garnish with additional sprinkles. 

And enjoy!  Why is it kids always eat cupcakes from the top down?  :-)

Sesame Bagels

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups warm water
2 1/4 tsp. yeast
4 Tbsp sugar
2 1/2 tsp. salt
3 1/2 to 3 3/4 flour

Glaze
1 egg white
1 1/2 tsp warm water
sesame or poppy seeds

Pour 1/4 cup of the warm water into a small bowl and sprinkle the yeast over it.  Stir it with a fork and let it sit for about 5 minutes until the yeast dissolves and the mixture becomes frothy.

Combine the remaining 1 1/4 cups of warm water and the dissolved yeast in a large mixing bowl.  Stir in 3 Tbsp of sugar and the salt.  Add 2 cups of the flour and stir until dissolved.  Stir in enough of the remaining flour to make a dough that is firm and not too sticky.  It should not stick to the bowl but should keep a finger indentation when pressed on.  Kneed for 10 minutes.  Go ahead, use that mixer.

Transfer the dough to an oiled glass or ceramic bowl, turning it a few times to coat the entire surface. Cover with a cloth and let it rise in a warm place for an hour.

When dough is ready, punch it down.  Yay, we love this part.

Turn it onto a floured surface and divide the dough into 8 equal pieces.  Shape each piece into a ball and press it down with your fingers.  Using your floured thumb, poke a hole in the middle of the dough to create the bagel shape.  Keep pulling and twisting until it takes the desired shape.

Cover your new little bagels with a cloth and let them rest while you bring a large pot of water to a boil.  Add remaining 1 Tbsp of sugar to the water.  Boil each bagel for about 1 minute on each side.  The longer you boil the chewier your bagels will be.

Use a skimmer or slotted spoon to dry your bagel slightly from the boiling water.  Place boiled bagels on a parchment paper lined baking sheet.  Whisk your egg white and water together in a small bowl.  Brush over the top of your newly boiled bagles and sprinkle with desired seeds.  We chose sesame seeds.

Bake at 400 for about 22-25 minutes or until golden brown on the top.  Let them cool completely on a wire rack.

Viola!

Pizza with White Sauce

Pizza for dinner... Yes, please.  Pizza is my husbands favorite food and it's a staple in our family.  Nothing better than a picnic outside with some fresh homemade pizza.  I did this one tonight with white sauce because I had no spaghetti sauce at home so I improvised and it was delicious.

Ingredients:

Pizza crust (made in a bread maker)

3 cups flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp yeast
1 cup warm water
2 Tbsp. olive oil

Throw it all in a bread maker and let it do all the work for you.  When the bread maker is done, remove the dough and cover it with a cloth on a floured surface for about 20 minutes.  It will rise a little in that time.  Roll it out to your liking (thick or thin crust) and put it on a pizza baking pan, stone, etc.  Top with your favorite toppings and bake for about 15 to 20 minutes at 400.

Garlic White Sauce:

I made this tonight with 2 Tbsp cold butter, about a spoonful of minced garlic, and a teaspoon of garlic salt.  I mashed it all up with a mortar pestle and then used a rubber spatula to spread it on top of my pizza dough.  I topped with cheese, pepperoni, onion, and red bell pepper.

Yum!

Banana Bread

Delicious and healthy!  Yes, it's true.

This is an adaptation of a recipe I saw through a Facebook friend (thanks Jodi) and I adapted it to match the less healthy recipe I was using.  I bet you can do this with any recipe.  Simply substitute coconut oil for butter, egg whites for all egg, and honey instead of sugar.

Ingredients:

3 over-ripe bananas
1/3 cup melted coconut oil
1/2 cup honey
1 egg white
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. baking soda
dash of salt
1 1/2 cups flour (could use 1 3/4 if you wanted to make it a bit "heavier")

Directions:

Mash bananas in a medium mixing bowl.  Add all of the ingredients and stir together.  Do not beat.  Pour into a greased loaf pan and bake at 350 for about 55 minutes.  Cool in the pan for about 5 minutes, then remove from pan and let it cool completely on a wire rack.

Enjoy!  This is a delicious banana bread that even my teenager loves.  It is truly moist, delicious, and cholesterol free.

Healthy Living Brought to our Home

So I'm sitting at home one day on Facebook and I see a post about Young Living's Essential Oils.  I am instantly reminded of my oldest daughter who has asthma.  She always sounds like she has a cold and she just generally does not feel well.  She is getting ready to go off to college soon and so I decided to give these oils a shot.  I am always open to new ways of keeping ourselves healthy.  

I did my research about YLEO and decided it was definitely worth a try so I took the plunge and I ordered myself some oils.  My daughter was very skeptical about using them and thought it was silly so I would diffuse the oils in her room right before she came home from work.  That way she could still enjoy the benefits of the oils but she didn't know I was doing it.  After a couple of days I asked how she was feeling and she told me she has never felt better. She said she feels less congested and is sleeping better at night.  I revealed my secret and she was excited.  From that day on she would ask to borrow my diffuser and she stopped using her daily OTC meds that she took to help keep her allergies under control.  

I ended up buying her her own kit so she would stop taking my oils.  She uses it every day and still feels great.  

I take a look at this and I just have to share it because it is a natural way to help my family stay healthy.  In the past month I have treated headaches, allergies, severe joint pain, warded off two colds of my husband and youngest daughter, nausea, and so much more by simply using these oils.  I am so grateful to have found them and I feel good in knowing I am no longer pumping my family (or myself) full of OTC's and instead I am helping them maintain good health in a healthy way.