by Dana | Feb 23, 2018 | Appetizers, Dressings and Sauces, Easy Recipe, Pasta, Recipes, Salads, Seafood, Side Dishes, Snacks
Shrimp Pasta Salad, a perfect side dish, lunch, or party food! This cold shrimp pasta salad has all the good stuff - bowtie pasta, grape tomatoes, zucchini, and shrimp all tossed in a yummy pesto vinaigrette. It is a little different than your average pasta salad, but isn’t it fun to mix it up sometimes?! Pasta salad, in general, is one of my favorite summer snacks. You can load them up with fresh veggies and you have a refreshing snack for you in the fridge whenever you want! This recipe is the best shrimp pasta salad I have tried. I think it is really all about that dressing you use! The dressing for this recipe is super bright, flavorful, and easy to make! Of course, you can purchase a premade Italian style dressing. But, there is just something special about making it on your own. Shrimp and Pasta Salad Recipe Directions: Cook Pasta per the direction on the back of the box, rinse with cold water and let drain thoroughly. Roughly chop the cooked shrimp, thinly slice the zucchini, and cut the grape tomatoes in half. Throw everything into a large bowl. In a small bowl, make the dressing consisting of vinegar, olive oil, dijon mustard, prepared pesto, and more. Place pasta in the bowl with the other ingredients, pour the dressing on top and mix everything until well coated. Cover and place in the fridge for at least an hour, serve and enjoy. As with most recipes, you can use this as a base to add more things that you love. Alternatives and Add-Ons: You can definitely add lots...
by Dana | Jan 30, 2018 | Desserts, Easy Recipe, Recipes
White Chocolate Truffles are one of those decadent desserts you don’t have very often. I have made this easy version so you can make them at home whenever you want! With just four simple ingredients… (including the sprinkle exterior), these truffles couldn’t be any more simple. Just butter, white chocolate chips, and sweetened condensed milk. Boom, done! Truffles are traditionally made with ganache. I make a microwavable ganache that I use on all sorts of desserts. Making them into truffles is just a super simple way of using ganache, but they are so good and easy you will want to make them all the time! Easy White Chocolate Truffles Recipe Directions: Place butter in the bottom of a microwave-safe bowl. Place white chocolate chips on top, and pour the condensed milk over everything. Microwave on high for 1 minute. Let sit one minute. Stir until everything is melted and combined, this might take a few minutes. Let the mixture cool to room temperature, cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge. You want to leave this in the fridge until the ganache is set, that will take about 2-3 hours. When the ganache is set, take about 2 to 3 teaspoons of it at a time and roll into balls, immediately roll into sprinkles of your choice and place on a sheet tray. Enjoy! You see these really can’t get much easier! Now that you have the easy white chocolate truffle base down, you can add all kinds of things to them to make it your own! I suggest dipping them in melted...
by Dana | Nov 17, 2017 | Desserts, Easy Recipe, Recipes, Unhealthy Foods
Snickerdoodle Cheesecake Bars, speculoos cookie crust and creamy cinnamon cheesecake topped with a cinnamon crumble! This Snickerdoodle Cheesecake Bars recipe is hands down one of the best desserts I have ever tasted. To me, nothing beats cheesecake but then add a kick butt crust using biscoff cookies and an addictive cinnamon crumble topping and I’m sold! Your friends and family will think you spent hours cooking up these cheesecake bars, but lucky for you, this recipe is SUPER simple. Snickerdoodle Cheesecake Bars Recipe Directions: In a food processor, place your speculoos cookies, turn them into crumbs and then pulse with melted butter. Press this into the bottom of a 9×9 baking pan and set aside. Make the creamy cheesecake filling by wiping out the food processor, no need to clean it thoroughly, and add your cheesecake ingredients which include cream cheese, egg, vanilla, cinnamon, sour cream, and sugar! Pulse to combine and pour on top of the crust. Now, the fun part- making the crumble! In a medium-sized bowl, add the flour, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Cut up butter into very small cubes, or do it the easy way like me and grate the butter right into the bowl. Toss to combine so the butter is coated in the flour mixture. Taking your hands, press, and roll the butter through your fingers to mix with the flour mixture. You’re done when the crumble looks like sand with a few larger pieces mixed in. Pour everything on top of the cheesecake, yes, all of it! Trust me. Bake at 350 for 36 minutes until cheesecake is very slightly jiggly in...
by Dana | Nov 10, 2017 | Easy Recipe, Recipes, Side Dishes, Slow Cooker
Creamy garlic mashed potatoes made the easy way- no boil, in the crockpot! There is nothing I love more than creamy garlic mashed potatoes as a side dish. They are so comforting and they go with so many main dishes! But, during the holidays we get so hectic we just don’t have time to watch yet another pot on the stove. No worries, I got you covered with this slow cooker garlic mashed potato recipe! What I really love about slow cooker recipes is you can just throw everything in the pot and the hard part is over. That’s the same with this recipe, the hardest part is peeling the potatoes beforehand. What potatoes can I use? For this recipe, I used russet potatoes. I just peeled them, cut them into a large dice and threw them in the pot. You can also use a tender skin potato like red potatoes and leave the skin on, it’s really up to you. Keep in mind though that russet potatoes mash up super fluffy and other varieties can get a little gummy. Easy Creamy Garlic Mashed Potatoes Directions: If using russet potatoes, peel them and cut them into a large dice. Throw them into a slow cooker with stock, minced garlic, herbs, and salt. I recommend cooking them on low for 6-7 hours but if you need them faster, on high for 3-4 hours will do. Keep in mind, the potatoes might get browned around the edges on the high setting. When the potatoes are tender, add butter, sour cream, half and half, and seasonings. Mash until...
by Dana | Oct 11, 2017 | Appetizers, Easy Recipe, Healthy Foods, Recipes, Vegetarian
Corn and collard greens salsa, a unique take on a classic condiment! Salsa is just one of those condiments I can’t get enough of! Going out to my favorite local restaurant, I could just eat chips and salsa and I’d be one happy camper. But, traditional salsa can get a little boring sometimes. So, why not mix it up yourself at home?! This easy corn salsa recipe is made with the simplest ingredients but it packs a huge flavor punch! Corn. Collard Greens. Jalapeno. Red Onion. Lemon Juice. EVOO. and a touch of salt… that’s it! This recipe for corn salsa is super simple and super delicious. I personally recommend either grilling or roasting your corn first to give the salsa a nice smokey flavor, but it really isn’t necessary. If you want, you can boil your ears of corn until cooked but not overly done. You want the corn to still have a nice, crisp texture. 10 minutes max in boiling water, then take them out and let them cool completely. Or, if you are roasting them, you can do so under the broiler. Make sure to keep an eye on it, and rotate it every so often so it gets golden brown on all sides. Or, you can do what I did. I put a grilling pan on my stove top. Heated it up under medium heat and grilled it that way! You need to cut the corn off the cob first, so make sure it is nice and cool to the touch. Then, you just mix it with your chopped onion, jalapeno, collard greens and other...
by Camila | Sep 13, 2017 | Breads and Quick Breads, Easy Recipe, Recipes
Let’s do this! Today you’re going to make homemade whole wheat flour tortillas and you will love it! It’s simple, anybody can do it! It’s so much better than anything you’ve ever bought at the store. I make this 3 or 4 times a month, because we really love tacos at my house. This is the best whole wheat tortilla recipe I’ve ever made, and I have experimented with quite a few. It’s 5 simple ingredients and about 1 hour of your day between making the dough, resting it, rolling and cooking, which isn’t bad at all. Even faster if you have a tortilla press. You can find some really cheap ones on amazon, around 12 dollars! A bargain! I usually roll mine out by hand. I like the rustic look and shape, it screams homemade. About the flour, this recipe I bring to you today calls for 100% whole wheat, but you can sub any or all of the flour for all-purpose. I do like to combine both sometimes because it gives the tortilla a nice color. But you do you, my friend. Use whatever flour suits you. It will be delicious, regardless! These tortillas will keep for a few days in the fridge, well covered in plastic. If we have any leftovers, I like to cut them into triangles and bake them or even fry them, if I’m feeling particularly naughty with my calorie consumption. But that’s once in a blue moon, they are really delicious simply baked. Cut them into triangles, mix them with a splash of olive oil, a sprinkle of salt, pepper, paprika, garlic...
