The Breakfast Dilemma

So this morning I woke up and had a hunger, but I had no idea what I wanted to eat, something that happens more frequent than not.  I opened the fridge and amidst many tasty treats I decided to go the yogurt route.

I enjoy Greek Yogurt, I don't know what it is but I think it is just better than regular yogurt.  The only downside is that you can't eat it by itself, so I got creative and added my summer favorites to make the best summer yogurt parfait.


The Recipe
1/2 c greek yogurt (plain)
1 TBSP Agave Nectar
1 large strawberry sliced
1/2 c Blackberries
handful of blueberries
2 TBSP granola ( I like Red Mills Apple Strawberry, but any kind is good)
handful of almonds
1TBSP chopped walnuts

Not only is this breakfast healthy, it has a bit of a kick.   To go with my yogurt I had a cup of Coconut Cream Coffee with some almond milk and I sat down with my newest book The Help which if you aren't reading you need to start because it is really good.











It was the best way to start the morning.

Puppy Love

With all the Baking I have been doing I realized that I have been neglecting one very important member of the family... my puppy.  Jack watches me every afternoon while I bake my sweet treats, however he can never eat any of them.  Today I decided it was Jack's day.  It was time for Jack to get a treat, so I dug out my Dog Biscuit recipe and whipped up a batch for him.  The Batter takes about 10 minutes to prepare and it takes 35 minutes to bake, but once they are done my dog can't get enough of them.





The Recipe:

2 cups Whole Wheat Flour
1/2 cup Corn Meal
2/3 cup Chicken Broth
8 TBSP oil
* you can add Peanut Butter, Honey or Agave for flavor or you can just leave them plain.

-Preheat the oven to 375 degrees
- Mix the ingredients together in a bowl until combined
- Roll the dough out with a rolling pin and use a  
  cookie cutter to make the cookies into fun shapes
 - Place the cookies on a baking sheet and put in the
  oven for 35 - 40 minutes.

I hope these cookies come out great for you and your puppy loves them, but lets be honest, what don't puppies love.

Coffee Cake. In Mini Form.

Remember the last time I attempted to make Coffee Cake Muffins and then the power went out for four days.  Well I made another attempt and this time the gods of thunder and lightning did not stop me.  It was a risk, since I had never made the coffee cake in a smaller form and I had no clue how long they would take to bake or if they would come out right.  But in life you need to take risks, even a risk as small as turning a coffee cake into a coffee muffin.

WEll the RISK PAID OFF because these muffins were amazing.  The girls came over for drinks and cards and the muffins were the perfect thing to complete the night.

 

 Another great thing about making these muffins was that I finally had an excuse to us my fancy cupcake wrappers... Trust me I have been looking for an excuse for a very long time.

 I even got to use some of the techniques that I picked
up while watching Cupcake Wars.  Like if you use an Ice Cream Scoop to put the batter into the muffin liners you will get the perfect size muffin.

There is nothing like muffins for dessert.

Ice Can be OH Sooo Nice!!

 a beautiful summer day people usually look for something refreshing to cool them down.  Today I worked the Italian Ice Stand at the local Flea Market.  I usually spend my sundays doing nothing and hanging out by the pool but today.  I got to the Market bright and early and set up my booth.

 Isn't it adorable!!

As the customers came in it got busier and busier and at the same time it got hotter and hotter.

With flavors like Lemon, Cherry, Watermelon and Mango (the special of the day) the customers kept on coming.

 Alyssa came for a visit and after eating some ice she discovered that "Ice is Nice".

After she left I was able to people watch and see what "treasures" the people shopping had found.  I made friends with the guys working at the table across from my booth and they were very helpful during a terrifying snake incident... although it was only terrifying to me because I hate snakes.

After we ran out of Cherry Ice we brought out todays special of Mango!!  It ended up being a crowd favorite!

After a long day outside, with my hands red from the Ice I went home.  There is nothing like working outside, even if you have to deal with a few snakes now and then.

Lets take a poll... Italian Ice or Ice Cream??

Set your Clock to Island time...

Today was cloudy and rainy and cold and all I wanted was to relax outside in the sunshine.  Today would be the greatest day if I were on an Island.  In honor of my dream of the tropics I decided to create my own Island themed cookie.  I call these BAHAMA MAMA COOKIES

I was flipping through my Cookie Bible and My moms cook book and decided that combining her Famous Oatmeal cookies and the Island Cookie (from the cookie bible) would make the perfect tropical treat.

What do you need for a cookie like this???

Flour                      Baking Powder

Sugar                     Vanilla

Brown Sugar         1 Egg

Oatmeal                 Chocolate Chips

Cinnamon              Coconut

Butter                     Cran-Raisins

Oil

Baking Soda

Bake for about 10-12 minutes!!

This ingredients combined makes the greatest combination of sweet and tart and makes the perfect tropical dessert.


For all you readers a question??? What is your favorite cookie creations??

Summer Lovin'..

So after living like a pilgrim for two days we decided to take a mini road-trip and spent the night at my grandparents.  Right before we got our power back we decided to make a little lunch, which for italians means about 6 courses.

We were feeling adventurous so we decided to cook in the bread oven (yes my grandparents have a brick bread oven).  For lunch we decided "Beer Can Chicken" was the way to go.  Since my grandma's oven was broken I made a summer fruit salad with all the fixings.

Yummy!!!!

While the Chicken was cooking I decided to make some dessert. 

Nothing beats a summer barbecue with some roasted chicken and a nice fresh fruit salad.

Living the life of a Pilgrim.

Hello readers,

So last night I decided that I was going to make delicious blueberry coffee cake muffins, however, mother nature had a different idea for me... that was a night in the dark.  Thanks to the wonderfully wicked storm that came through my neck of the woods I have been left without power.  This means no baking (wah).  Instead of making my yummy coffee cake my best friend Alyssa and I decided to live like the pilgrims.  We decided that a game of cards would help make our night a  bit more eventful.

Mamma T, Alyssa and I sat around the table with about 15 candles and flashlights so we could see our cards and dined of some cut up strawberries with some splenda and made stove-top coffee.  The night ended up being quite fun and I went to bed hoping that when I woke up there would be light.... unfortunately that wasn't the case.  So once again I am unable to bake.  And with all the damage in my town it may be a few days before I can give you all some more yummy treats.  Until then I what you to continue to bake (in my honor) and if you have requests for some recipes you would like me to make let me know.  But for now I will be relaxing at grandmas, thanking god that she has air conditioning.

p.s - sometimes coffee and sweet strawberries are the perfect summer treat.


Tootles
Lizzi T

A Touch of Inspiration

Its the summer so my days are filled with relaxing by the pool, going to the gym, baking and work.  Yesterday I realized how wonderful my job really is when you are an amateur baker.  Yesterday work allowed me to brainstorm new ideas for recipes.  I work at a grocery store so with each passing customer I had something new to think about. Each customer brought a new inspiration.

This morning I woke up and was trying to decide what to bake next and ended up thinking about all the things I have around me as inspiration.

Today I thought about all the things that inspire me.

 I spent my spring break in Italy which is probably why I am currently obsessed with all things Italian.  This book is probably one of the best summer reads, and I am only about 75 pages in.  I hope you will give it a read.

I am always looking for something to make so I created my "stash" of goodies for whenever I get the urge to bake. I love spontaneous recipes because they are often the greatest things ever.

 Im pretty sure anyone who considers themselves a chef, or foodie has a copy of Mastering the Art of French Cooking.  Though I have not been brave enough to attempt any of these recipes yet, Julia herself inspires me.  She was "fearless" in the kitchen and that is how I want to be while baking.

 Just look at this face...
This is Jack and I love to bake for him, yes I bake for my pup.  

This is the pond, nature is so inspiring because it just shows all the natural beauty in the world.  Also, in the summer I love to put real flowers on my creations to add that bit of color to whatever I am making

When all my other inspiring things fail, I always have my baking books to give me an idea! I Love these because the help me think outside of the box.

This is what inspires me, but I want to know what inspires you in your everyday live?????

Chocolate with a little bit of sunshine

Last Winter my friends begged me to make Peppermint bark, and for my first attempt at making bark I have to say it was pretty good.  Over the summer I had been looking for a new and delicious treat that would go perfect with a night of playing cards and drinking coffee with my girls.  Thanks to the Food Network and the Barefoot Contessa (aka. the most amazing woman on the channel).  Her episode was all about summer cooking and one thing she made was a White Chocolate Bark.  Her original recipe had walnuts, apricots and Cran-raisins.  Yummy!!!!


Here is what I did for those who would love to try this 15 minute recipe!!


This year I put my own spin on the simple recipe.  I have been on a coconut fix lately so I decided to add some shredded coconut to the toppings and thought, hmm blueberries are fabulous, so I added some dried blueberries.  I sometimes take milk chocolate and drizzle it over the finished product for that extra bit of chocolate, but today I thought I would keep it simple.

The longest part of this recipe is melting the chocolate. If you have a microwave it will probably cut your time in half, but I am without so I used a pot of boiling water and a heat resistant bowl. It took about 4 minutes.

Once its melted spread it out on a cookie sheet with some parchment paper on it so the chocolate doesn't stick, then you can sprinkle on however many toppings you want!!

I like to chop up any of the bigger ingredients so it keeps everything the same size,  with the apricots I cut each one into quarters and the walnuts were pre-chopped.  It makes the entire dish look more appealing. 

This is what it looked like before I put it in the freezer for about 10 minutes, just to make sure everything set into the chocolate.

Once you take it out of the freezer you can cut and enjoy.  It is a crowd favorite in my house and with all my friends and it is the perfect dessert for any night.