All posts tagged: homemade

Mixed Berries Balsamic Low Sugar Preserves

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You will find that this recipe is very similar to my Strawberry-Rosé Low Sugar Preserves. Once you master the basics of making a low sugar preserve and how to can it, you can use different ingredients to come up with different flavors. As long as you adjust a few key items, such as the acidity level, then it can be a breeze to make these. Mixed Berries Balsamic Low Sugar Preserves Ingredients: 1 lb strawberries (I used frozen) 1 lb mixed berries (I used frozen blueberries and blackberries) 2-3 Tbsps. balsamic vinegar 1/2 cup sugar 1 cup honey 1/2 tsp salt 5 Tbsps. Low or No-Sugar Needed Pectin (I used the Ball brand one). Directions: If you are canning your preserves you need to sterilize your jars and get your water boiling for water-bath canning. In a saucepan add your frozen strawberries and mixed berries (for this recipe I used a mixture of frozen blueberries and blackberries, but you can use raspberries, or any other berry you want) and cook over medium heat until they …

Welcome Spring with a Strawberry Pie

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To me, nothing screams spring more than strawberries. Their beautiful vibrant color lends itself perfectly to this flowering season. This is why whenever Easter rolls around, or if I am throwing a garden party, or dinner party during Spring, my dessert of choice is always strawberry pie. This is a great recipe to put together when you don’t have a lot of prep-time or when you just want to display some beautiful homegrown strawberries, since you will not be cooking the fruit. For this recipe I used some of my Strawberry-Rosé low sugar preserves. If you make some, I highly recommend you use it for this pie, if not you can either skip this step or use any low-sugar strawberry jam or preserves. I find that it adds an extra punch of strawberry flavor and counteracts a bit of that “fake” strawberry flavoring that the gelatin has. Strawberry Pie Ingredients: 1 sheet of store-bought pie crust 1 Tbsp butter 2 lbs of strawberries (or two 16 oz. containers) 1 3 oz strawberry jello package 3/4 …

Under The Sea Bento

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I put this one together last night, I made dinner and her bento at the same time. Nothing too crazy here, sautéed shrimp, boiled mini sausages, corn, rice, and fruits. I added organic, no chemicals (or anything weird) added food dye to the rice to make it blue. I found that all the stirring required to spread out evenly the blue made the rice extra sticky (even though I took care not to smash the rice). I don’t know how I feel about that, I might try just adding it to the water when cooking the rice next time. No real recipe this time. Just sharing the cute little fishies and showing off baby A.’s new bento box (a yumbox).

Friday Easy Bento

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After yesterday’s very labor intensive bento, I just wanted a very easy lunch that I could throw together in the morning with minimal fuss. Therefore today baby A. got an easy sandwich bento. The sandwich is made of brioche bread, home made hummus, ham and lettuce. I used a cutter to turn into a cute little piggie. As a side I made mini sausage “octopi” and just threw some berries in the container and called it a day. The hummus is what took the longest out of everything, and I threw that together fairly quickly the night before. I found these cute little cans of chickpeas that are perfect for making a smaller portion of hummus. I also made a very simple recipe since it was for a five year old, here it is: – 1 8oz can of garbanzo beans – 2 Tbsp of tahini – 2 garlic cloves – The juice of half a lemon – 1 green onion – salt and pepper Blend all of the above in a food processor, add …

Sunflower Bento

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The things we do for our children!! So yesterday, after a full day of work and a workout I headed to the kitchen to cook dinner. I knew today baby A. was heading back to class and I had sort of planned a bento in my head. After cooking the components, which were fairly easy, all I had to do was assemble it. I debated whether or not to wait until very early this morning to put it all together like I did last time, but decided I would just go ahead and leave it ready. After we finished dinner I went back into the kitchen and what proceeded was a two hour bento assembly. I had to cut each little petal by hand, then set it all so it would look like a sunflower. Then I had the great idea of making a cherry tomato stuffed with a creamy cheese filling which I had dyed blue, just to have baby A. try it and say she didn’t like it -_- so that got scrapped …

Vegan Oatmeal

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We actually like oatmeal in my house. We find it to be the perfect base for so many toppings, it is extremely versatile, and can be made to anyone’s taste. This one is a very simple vegan recipe. I like to boil my oats in milk, I find it makes them creamy and gives them more flavor. Ingredients: 1/2 cup oats 1-2 cups almond milk (depends how thick you want the consistency to be) 1 tsp sugar 1/2 tsp cinnamon 1 tsp vanilla Pinch of salt Mix all of these in a pot and bring to a boil. Simmer until oats are the texture and consistency you prefer. Toppings: The list of toppings is endless, so many possibilities, in the above picture I used: Sliced strawberries Walnuts Agave syrup Other options that would make a great vegan oatmeal are: Mango Coconut flakes Almonds Agave syrup Add 1 tsp of cocoa when cooking oats Toasted hazelnuts Chopped dates Brown sugar Add 2 Tbsp pumpkin purée and 1/2 tsp nutmeg when cooking oats Pumpkin seeds (pepitas) Pecans …

St. Patrick’s Day Extravaganza — Nutty Soda Bread

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Soda bread is a great thing, because it is so incredibly low maintenance. It does not require yeast, which can take quite a bit of work to prepare. You can literally mix the ingredients together, throw it in the oven and fuggetaboutit! Which allows you to have fresh, homemade bread at dinner without spending ten hours kneading, letting it rise and such. Soda bread is also extremely versatile. You like sweet bread? add more sugar, or honey, and raisins. You like herbs? Add rosemary or thyme. Like nuts? Add whichever one you like. The bottom line is that soda bread is very forgiving, which gives you room to experiment without it turning into a disaster. I particularly like walnuts, and thought that they would be great in soda bread. Well, they are! Here is the recipe — Ingredients: -2 cups whole wheat flour -2 cups self rising flour -1 1/2 tsp salt -1 tsp baking soda -1 tsp baking powder -3 Tbsp sugar -3 Tbsp honey -1/3 cup melted butter -1 cup buttermilk -1 egg …

Bento Series #11– Spring Rolls

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With spring around the corner, I felt it was time to post my recipe for SPRING Rolls (see what I did there?) With winter finally starting to fade (not really up North, and no real winter down here in Florida -_-) it is time to make some healthy food that will help us get in shape for bikini season, a.k.a. summer. This recipe is perfect for that, full of fresh veggies and delicious crab meat, it will satisfy the tastebuds while being gentle to your body. It is also great for a bento since everything goes inside the wrapper and you can eat it with your hands, no silverware necessary. Grab, dip, and enjoy! Bento Components: Spring Rolls Peanut Sauce Spring Rolls — Ingredients: -1 container (8 oz.) of fresh crab meat (can be found in the fish counter). -2 carrots -1/2 cucumber with all the seeds removed -3 green onions -1 cup cooked rice noodles -1 tsp sesame oil -1 Tbsp lemon juice -spring roll wrappers -salt and pepper to taste The first thing you …

Bento Series #10 — Seafood Bake

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This is a great idea for a weeknight dinner or for easy entertaining! All you have to do is throw all the ingredients in a baking sheet and, you guessed it, bake it. After a little while you have a “one pot” (in this case sheet) meal! The bestest (is that a word?) part is that it is great hot or room temperature. Therefore it allows you to spend time with your guests instead of spending time with your pots and pans (God knows we already spend way too much time with them). Seafood Bake– Ingredients: -1 lb deveined shrimp -1 package golden baby potatoes -4 corn cobs -1 package baby bella mushrooms -1 lemon -4 stalks green onion -1 tablespoon chopped parsley -salt and pepper to taste -1 tsp old bay seasoning -3 Tbsp olive oil -3 garlic cloves diced Set oven to 400 degrees. Cut corn into 2 in. pieces. Rinse potatoes. Toss potatoes and corn with 1 Tbsp olive oil and salt and pepper to taste. Place in a baking sheet and …