Crispy Cauliflower Popcorn

We love a good Friday night movie date and all the snacks that go along with it. However, this Crispy Cauliflower Popcorns has to be our go to movie night snack for sure. It's so easy to make, healthy to eat, and delicious on the taste buds. It's an all around winner in our book and I think you will feel the same way. 

Ingredients: 

• 1 head of cauliflower chopped into bite size pieces
• 1 tablespoon EVOO
• 1 teaspoon garlic salt
• Peper to taste

How to prepare:

• Preheat over to 425
• Combined all ingredients into a plastic bag and shake it up
• After all cauliflower is good and coated, place it on a baking sheet
• Bake for 10-15 min 
• I like to turn on the broiler for a few minutes to get the edges really crispy, just make sure you don't walk away and forget. 

I really hope you get to make these for your next movie night, you won't regret it. 

Xoxo,

G

Simple Chocolate Chip Cookies

Baking is a much different art form than simply cooking. It involves precise measurements and there is really no improvising. I love to do both but think that baking is much harder and there for I am constantly trying recipes over and over again. This is the current recipe for these chocolate chip cookies but it will definitely change and evolve over time in my quest for making the perfect chocolate chip cookie.

I like my cookies kind of chewy and a little under done. How do you like your cookies??

Chocolate Chip Cookies:
~2 cups all purpose flour
~2 sticks softened butter
~1 cup granulated sugar
~1/2 cup dark brown sugar
~2 eggs
~1 tsp salt
~1 tsp baking soda
~1 tbsp good vanilla
~2 cups mini semisweet chocolate chips
(I prefer enjoy life vegan chocolate chips)

Cream (mix) the butter, vanilla and sugar together, and add eggs one at a time. Then slowly add dry ingredients. Once mixture is smooth stir in chocolate chips. Refrigerate for a minimum of 2 hours, over night works best (but Gigi can never wait this long).
Preheat oven to 375
Take heaping tablespoons of dough and roll into balls
Place on an un-greased baking sheet and bake for 9 minutes
Cool and then devour!

Kisses,
Gim

Pineapple Ginger Juice

There is nothing more refreshing then a big glass of a freshly juiced pineapple and some ginger root. But what's even better are the amazing health benefits that come from this juice.

Let's start with the pineapple as it is loaded with vitamin C, B1, B3, B5 and B6. It is also an excellent source of manganese, folic acid, dietary fiber, potassium, copper, and carotene. It also improves digestion, helps with inflammation, as well as respiratory conditions and it can even sooth a sore throat.

 
Now lets talk about this incredible root called ginger, it is used for to help with asthma, coughs, colic, heart palpitations, swellings, dyspepsia, loss of appetite and rheumatism, nausea, vomiting, morning sickness, inflammation, headaches, sore throat, alleviating indigestion and associated problems such as flatulence, along with relieving swelling and pain... just to name a few things! 

As you can tell this juice, while simple, is very powerful. So let all raise a glass of some pineapple ginger juice and cheers to the health of our bodies. 

Recipe: 

1 Pineapple 

1 inch by 3 1/2 inch piece of Ginger 

xoxo,
gigi

Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Icing

Alright guy's... this is a really exciting post for me because this is the first cake I have ever baked and it turned out so good!!!!!!

Baking is not really my thing. I hate following a recipe (oh the humor in writing a recipe blog) I really just don't like following rules. The struggle is real! So baking and I just never got along, until now!

The idea of baking a carrot cake came to me when we pulled up these amazing and beautiful carrots out of our garden. I knew there were only so many carrots we could eat over the next week and so I thought we could use some to make a yummy treat. After days of talking about, I finally got down and dirty in the kitchen and whipped this bad boy up and man if he was a be-a-u-ty. I do have to say I am pretty proud of this one and am excited to bake another, I'm thinking a coffee cake is next!


CARROT CAKE INGREDIENTS:
1 1/2 cups + 2 Tbsp. vegetable or canola oil
1 cup organic sugar
1 cup organic brown sugar
5 eggs
1 Tbsp. vanilla extract
3 1/4 cups flour
1 Tbsp. ground cinnamon
2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
pinch of ground cloves
2 cups finely-grated fresh carrots
1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts

CREAM CHEESE FROSTING INGREDIENTS:
2 (8 oz.) bricks cream cheese, room temperature
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 Tbsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. salt
8 cups powdered sugar


HOW TO MAKE THE CARROT CAKE:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

Grease four 8-inch round baking pans.

In the bowl of a large stand mixer, mix together oil, granulated sugar, and brown sugar until combined and smooth. Add in the eggs one at a time, then the vanilla, and mix until smooth.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the remaining dry ingredients (flour, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, baking powder, nutmeg and cloves) until combined. Add the dry ingredient mixture to the mixing bowl, and beat on medium-speed until well combined. Then fold in the grated carrots and walnuts by hand, and stir until combined.

Pour the batter evenly into the prepared cake pans. Then bake for 10 - 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the cakes comes out clean. Remove pans and let them cool until the cakes reach room temperature.

Layer the cakes with the cream cheese frosting, and then frost the outside of the cake as you desire. Serve that day or store, covered, for up to 4 days.

HOW TO MAKE THE CREAM CHEESE FROSTING:
Using an electric mixer, mix together cream cheese and butter on medium speed for 1 minute or until smooth with no lumps remaining. Add in vanilla extract and continue mixing until combined. Lower speed to medium-low and gradually add in powdered sugar. Increase speed to medium-high and beat until combined.

If frosting is too thick, you can add in a teaspoon or two of water. If it is too thin, you can add in more powdered sugar.

I really hope you give this cake a try!

xoxo,
gigi

Spicy Cobb Wedge Salad

I'm a sucker for a wedge salad... so when Gimmi told me her idea for a Spicy Cobb Wedge all I could say was, "can we make it today!!!" ...and then we did! 

OMG guys, this thing rocked my world. It is perfect for the hot summer days. It is light, fresh, crispy, crunchy, spicy, and hearty. Really guys... it's all those things! 

Spicy Cobb Wedge

-Yields’ 2 servings-

Ingredients:

·      2 chicken breast

·      6 strips bacon  (we recommend using a center cut because it has all the flavor with less fat)

·      ½ avocado

·      Red onion

·      Tomato

·      Jalapeño

·      Iceberg lettuce

·      Shredded cheddar

·      Blackening season

·      Wasabi ranch dressing (see recipe below)

Step 1: Crisp bacon in a hot skillet, when finished pour off bacon grease but do not wash pan, you will use the pan to sear your chicken and the left over bacon flavor will add the chicken flavor

      * Ether pour grease into a glass jar and save for later or wait until cooled and solid and scoop out into garbage can.

Step 2: Season chicken with blackening season, ether store bought or sees our recipe below.

Step 3: Dice red onion, tomato, avocado, and slice jalapeno

      *We removed the insides of the tomato in order to create better texture

Step 4: Season liberally your chicken with the blackening seasoning and place it into your hot skillet with 2 tbsp. Of EVOO (Extra Virgin Olive Oil)

Step 5: Sear breasts until dark brown on both sides (if pan becomes dry add a little more EVOO) once brown turn heat down to a medium until meat is cooked through. Approximately 5 min each side. 

      * Kitchen will get smoky when blackening chicken and you may cough a little, as we sure did!

Step 6: Remove core and cut the head of iceberg into quarters

Step 7: Rest chicken for 2 -3 min and chop into cubes

Step 8: It is now time to create a your beautiful salad. Place wedge on plate, drizzle with wasabi ranch, garnish with your cheddar cheese, chicken, onion, tomato, avocado, bacon, jalapeno and enjoy!

Blackening Seasoning

 Ingredients:

·      Salt

·      Black Pepper

·      Onion Powder

·      Garlic Powder

·      Smoked Paprika

·      Cayenne

Wasabi Ranch Dressing

Ingredients:

·      One package of Hidden Valley Ranch Salad Dressing

·      21/2 tsp Wasabi Powder

·      1 cup Milk

·      1 cup Dukes Mayo

        *we love Dukes because it is delicious and has no sugar

Cheese Plate

A Cheese Plate is an awesome thing to make for many occasions. If you have company coming over or if you have to bring something to a party. It is especially good for those of you who are not great cooks or are just short on time. For this post I'm going to give you more of a how to than a recipe.

All you need to start is a cutting board of some kind. If you don't have one that will work, a large plate will do just fine. Go to the gourmet cheese section at your local grocery store and pick out 2-4 cheeses that you really like. Next pick out a sliced meat or two, we used peppered hard salami. You can always skip the meat to make it vegetarian. Then the rest is really up to you. You can add different kinds of crackers, nuts and sliced fruits. Apples and strawberries always go great with any kind of cheese. Here we added quince paste which is delicious with meats and cheeses. Grab a bottle or two of your favorite white or red wine and you are well on your way to the makings of a great party or just a quiet night in. I can assure you that what ever you choose to use on your cheese plate it will be a big crowd pleaser and is something that is almost impossible to mess up! Good luck and once again give us your feed back. We love hearing from all of you!

Kisses
Gim

Seasonal Succotash

Seasonal Succotash

Succotash makes a great side dish any time of the year. You can use all different kinds of vegetables depending on what time of year it is. Here we made a fall inspired version of this classic side dish.

What you will need:
-corn
-green peas
-lima beans
-rutabaga
-parsnips
-shallots
-grape tomatoes 
-EVOO
-butter
-heavy cream (or milk will work too)
-Savvy Sisters House Seasoning

Peel and cut rutabaga and parsnips in similar square size. Quickly blanch them in boiling water until barely tender, drain well. Dice shallots. Remove corn from the cob and cut tomatoes in half. In a large skillet saute shallot with 3 tbls EVOO until tender. Add all other veggies except tomatoes. Add 2 Tbsp butter and season with house seasoning to taste. Cook for a few minutes until every thing is incorporated and veggies are fork tender but not mushy. Turn off heat and add 1/4 cup heavy cream and tomatoes. Stir and leave on hot burner so that the cream reduces naturally and tomatoes are warmed slightly.

This is an easy recipe that doesn't  require one to know a whole lot about cooking. You can substitute almost any vegetable and it would turn out equally delicious. In the summer I like to use zucchini and squash. You just want to be sure all your veggies are cut around the same size. A traditional succotash will always have corn and usually some sort of legume. Feel free to try all sorts of different things and really make this recipe your own. Adding bacon is always a crowd pleaser and very common for succotash recipes. I just chose to make this version vegetarian . Good luck! Let us know how your recipes turn out, we always love to hear from you!

Kisses,
Gim