Toasted Squash Seeds

Toasted Squash Seeds

I always grew up eating pumpkin seeds post-carving at Halloween time. I had no idea you could use the same method with butternut squash and spaghetti squash seeds! If you follow my blog, you know how obsessed I am with butternut and spaghetti squash. Next time, don't throw away those seeds! Use this simple recipe to make a delicious salty snack!

Ingredients:

Seeds from one butternut/spaghetti squash, cleaned

1 tbsp. salt

1 cup hot water

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Dissolve salt in hot water. Add seeds and allow to soak overnight or about 8 hours.

2. Remove seeds from water and pay dry with towel. 

3. Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Spread out seeds on baking sheet and season with salt and pepper. Bake 5 minutes, stir seeds and bake another 5 minutes. Let cool, season as desired and enjoy! 

Home Made Calzones

Home Made Calzones

Ingredients:

1 Batch Garlic Herb Pizza Crust (recipe here)

1 cup marinara sauce

1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Additional fillings of choice (I used 1 cup ground turkey and 1/2 cup ricotta cheese)

1 egg

1 tbsp. water 

1/2 tsp. garlic salt

1/2 tsp. dried parsley

Additional marinara sauce for dipping

Directions:

1. Make crust per instructions and separate in to fourths. 

Bacon, Egg & Cheese Spaghetti

Who says you can't have spaghetti for breakfast?!? Bacon, eggs, American cheese and onions make it totally breakfast-worthy! This recipe is a classic from my childhood! It was a favorite of my family and was often my mother's go-to fish for Christmas morning. You could totally lighten this recipe up and use whole wheat pasta, turkey bacon, and light cheese. But sometimes you gotta splurge! Enjoy!

Bacon, Egg & Cheese Spaghetti

Ingredients:

1 16oz. package spaghetti noodles

8 slices bacon, cut up

1 medium onion, diced

4 eggs, slightly beaten

4 oz. American cheese, shredded

Directions:

1. 

Cherry Chocolate Scones with Almond Glaze

I've never made scones before and found them a little intimidating. I've red many recipes that said you needed a special attachment for your mixer or had to cut the butter in a specific way. This made me nervous, so I kind of avoided scone recipes before. However, I recently read a version that used a cheese grater to cut the frozen butter, and I thought I would give it a shot. I recently bought some delicious sweet black cherries and thought they would be great combined with some chocolate chunks I had in my pantry. I finished it off with a delicious almond glaze. I wish I would have made scones sooner, because they were actually really easy to pull off! Mine didn't turn out that pretty, but they tasted good! I'll definitely be experimenting with different combinations in the future. Enjoy! 

Cherry Chocolate Scones with Almond Glaze

Ingredients:

2 cups flour

1/3 cup sugar

1 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. baking soda 

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, frozen

1/2 cup fresh (or frozen and de-thawed) black cherries, pitted and quartered

1/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips or chocolate chunks

1/2 cup vanilla yogurt (I used Dannon Light and Fit)

1 large egg

For glaze:

3/4 cup powdered sugar, sifted

1/4 tsp. almond extract

3-4 tsp. non-fat milk

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. 

2. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large mixing bowl and stir until well combined. 

3. Grate butter with large holed cheese grater. Use fingers to mix butter in with flour mixture until coarse crumbly texture is reached. Gently stir in cherries and chocolate. 

4. In separate bowl, whisk together yogurt and egg until smooth. Stir sour cream mixture into flour mixture until large dough clumps form. Press the dough into a ball. 

5. Transfer dough ball onto lightly floured wax paper and pat into a circle about 8 inches thick. Cut dough into 8 equal triangles using a knife. 

6. Place triangles onto greased cookie sheet and bake 15-17 minutes or until golden brown. 

7. While scones are baking, combine powdered sugar, almond extract and milk in mixing bowl. Whisk until smooth and desired consistency is reached. Allow scones to cool 5-10 minutes before applying glaze. Enjoy! 

Crockpot Rotisserie Chicken

Crockpot recipes are the best. You can put your food in the slow cooker, leave, and come home to an amazing smelling house and a delicious meal. I especially love this recipe because it takes about 5 minutes to prepare and makes enough food for a few meals. My boyfriend and I like to enjoy this chicken straight out of the crockpot with mashed potatoes. I've also used the leftovers to make toppings for sandwiches, salads, and pizzas! This recipe has definitely made its way into our regular rotation because of its versatility and ease. I hope you love this chicken as much as I do!

Crockpot Rotisserie Chicken

Ingredients:

1 whole chicken, 4-6 lbs.

1 tbsp fresh minced garlic

1 tbsp smoked paprika

2 tbsp steak seasoning

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Remove chicken from packaging. Remove any innards from inside chicken. Rinse outside and cavity of bird, then pat dry.

2. Season chicken by spreading the spices evenly across the skin and inside with your hands.

3. Crumple up sheets of aluminum foil into four ping pong size balls and set in bottom of slow cooker. Place chicken on top of aluminum foil. 

4. Turn slow cooker on high and cook for 4-4 1/2 hours. Make sure chicken is cooked to an internal temperature of 165 degrees. Optional: Use juices at bottom of slow cooker to make gravy and enjoy!

Blood Orange Mojitos

The other day I was shopping at Whole Foods and I saw that they were having a sale on oranges. I had no idea that I was buying blood oranges! As soon as I cut the first one open, I know I wanted to try my hand at making my own blood orange simple syrup. This easy recipe is perfect in alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks alike. And my personal favorite cocktail is the Mojito, so of course I had to make a version with my new syrup! Cheers!

Blood Orange Mojitos

Ingredients:

8 mint leaves

1/2 lime, cubed

Ice

2 oz. blood orange simple syrup

2 oz. Bacardi silver rum

4 oz. club soda

Additional lime/blood orange segments for garnish

Directions:

1. Place mint and limes bottom of glass and muddle about 5 times. 

2. Fill glass with ice, add syrup and rum and shake well in cocktail shaker. 

3. Pour back in to glass and top with club soda and garnish. Enjoy!

Blood Orange Simple Syrup

Ingredients:

Juice of 2 blood oranges

Zest of 1 blood orange

Peel of 1 blood orange

1 cup water

1 cup sugar

Directions:

1. Combine all ingredients in large saucepan and bring to boil, stirring often. Boil until all sugar has dissolved. 

2. Remove from heat and allow to cool to room temperature. Strain through fine mesh strainer into jar or bottle. 

3. Use immediately or cover and refrigerate for up to 1 month. Enjoy!

Bang Bang Chicken Wings

Recipe coming soon!