Blood Orange Mule

Looking for the perfect winter cocktail? Blood oranges are the answer! Mixed with spicy ginger beer and a touch of lime this gorgeously hued drink is your new winter sipper.

I don't know what it is, but there's something really special about blood oranges. Taste-wise, people have differing opinions. Some say they don't notice anything different between it and a navel orange. Others say it's bitter, some are sweeter, and there are those that taste berry overtones.

I think this orange is like wine, everyone tastes something different! Either way, I can't get enough of them during their brief winter appearance. The gorgeous hue, the less acidic taste (and yes, I do think they are sweeter), means it's the perfect vessel for cocktail making.

I've made my fair share of cocktails with blood oranges. I personally haven't found a spirit that doesn't complement its flavor profile. After all, it is a citrus fruit, and they are the backbone of most cocktail recipes. It only makes sense to have some fun.

This time around, my attention has turned to the Moscow mule. I've always considered it a blank canvas for endless possibilities, especially since so many things go with ginger – the base of this delectable cocktail. This time, I kept it simple, eschewing herbs or added bitters in order for the blood orange juice to really shine through.

Each sip gives you a taste of sweetness with spice from the ginger beer, and of course the bonus of a blood orange slice to snack on as garnish! Who doesn't love a cocktail that automatically includes snacking opportunities? I know that's why I love to sip on a Bloody Mary too.

Sip up, friends. Blood oranges won't be around for long! 

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Blood Orange Mule Recipe

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Ingredients

• ice cubes
• 2 ounces blood orange juice
• juice from half a lime
• 1 1/2 ounces vodka
• 4 ounces ginger beer
• blood orange slices, for garnish

Directions

1. Fill a highball glass or copper mule mug with ice.
2. Pour over the blood orange juice and lime juice.
3. Add the vodka and ginger beer, stirring gently.
4. Garnish with blood orange slices. 

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No Bake Chocolate Oatmeal Bars

These are seriously the BEST no bake chocolate oatmeal bars, and they make such a fabulous afternoon snack. They combine the ever-popular chocolate and peanut butter, which I just cannot resist, and they're actually pretty healthy! My 4-year-old twins made these with very little help from me, so you know they really are easy!

My kids LOVE helping me in the kitchen. They especially like to bake with me - they all have inherited my sweet tooth and love making things like these birthday cake brownies :) Because my kids are all so little, they aren't allowed to use the stove or oven yet. No-bake treats are my favorite things to make with them for this very reason.

One of our favorites are these lemon pie energy bites (and these are totally healthy even though they taste like a lemon bar and lemon pie had a baby). The kids don't feel like they're missing out on any part of the process, since they can make these from start to finish - no oven required!

All you need is one bowl, about five minutes, and six ingredients. Easy peasy! The only thing that's hard about making these is the part where you have to wait for them to set up in the fridge.

I don't know about you, but it's pretty difficult for me to smell chocolate and peanut butter melting together and not immediately dive in with a spoon. But since we want these to become bars, we need to have a little patience. It will be worth it, I promise!

I like to add coconut to these bars, but if you don't like it, feel free to substitute with something else. Next time I think I'll add some crisp rice cereal for a little crunch! Also, if you use dark chocolate instead of the semisweet, I'm pretty sure you can call these bars health food.

And that means no one would judge if you decided to eat one for breakfast. And you will want to... trust me!

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No Bake Chocolate Oatmeal Bars Recipe

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Ingredients

• 1 cup creamy peanut butter
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1/3 cup coconut oil
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
• 2 1/3 cups old fashioned oats
• 1 cup sweetened shredded coconut

Directions

1. Add peanut butter, honey, coconut oil, and chocolate chips to a large glass bowl and microwave for 1 minute, stirring every 30 seconds until melted and smooth.
2. Add oats and coconut and stir to coat.
3. Press into a greased 8x8" pan and chill about 2 hours or until set.
4. Cut into squared and store covered in the refrigerator.

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Homemade Lay’s Potato Chips

These homemade potato chips--thin, crisp and salty--are just like store-bought potato chips. And they are made in the microwave. I know. I was pretty shocked, too. I ate about half of them before I even finished writing down the how-tos, because they are that good.

But then, I'm a snack addict. Remember these homemade Doritos? My love of salty snacks is not just limited to those that will give you orange fingers.

Potato chips are such a staple for parties and sports watching (or so I hear) and TV binging. So naturally, they are also guilt-inducing. I'm not saying this version is health food precisely, but microwaving versus deep frying makes a big difference. And with only one fresh potato, some canola oil and salt, you know exactly what goes into each bite.

There are two secrets to perfect microwaved potato chips. First, you need to watch them closely and remove them from the microwave at exactly the moment they begin to brown. If you brown too much, they will burn. If you don't brown enough, they won't be crisp. This means you may have to remove a few from the plate and microwave the rest if they don't brown evenly.

Second, the salt. I salted these pretty generously to really mimic the Lay's potato chip taste. If you are watching your salt, you don't need to add so much. And they will still taste wonderful.

Correction, there are not two, but three, secrets to microwaved potato chips. The mandolin. To have paper thin potato slices, it really is best to use a mandolin. Good mandolins are not overly expensive, and they are such a useful tool.

But please, please, please use the hand guard. I know from experience, thanks to that fateful Christmas morning where I told myself it would be fine to just skip the guard, just once, when making my scalloped potatoes. My pinky scar is evidence that it is not fine to skip the guard. If you opt to slice these by hand, the potato slices may be thicker and may need additional time in the microwave. Just keep watching for the browning. That's the sign.

Oh, you must serve these with an ice cold beer. And just in case you need something sweet to go with that snacking, might I suggest some pretzel cookies? 

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Homemade Lay's Potato Chips Recipe

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Ingredients

• 1 russet potato, scrubbed and peeled
• 1 tablespoon canola oil
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, plus additional

Directions

1. Set a mandolin on the thinnest setting. Slice the potato.
2. In a gallon-size zip top bag, place the potato slices, oil and salt. Shake until the slices are well-coated.
3. Line a microwave-safe plate with a piece of parchment paper. Place potato slices in a single layer so they do not touch. Sprinkle with additional kosher salt. Reserve the remaining potato slices.
4. Microwave the plate on high for 3 to 5 minutes, watching closely. The chips are done when they just start to brown. Do not over brown. And do not undercook, as the chips will not crisp.
5. Remove the chips and let cool. Repeat with the remaining chips. 

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Apple Cider Margarita

Apple cider margaritas are the perfect way to enjoy a summer cocktail in the cold weather! Not that I think you need to wait until summer time to have a nice, cold margarita. I'm up for a good margarita pretty much any time of the year. Especially if Mexican food like tacos are on the menu. But typically, most people seem to mix them up in the warmer months, by the pitcher, on a nice sunny deck… ok, I'm daydreaming a little, but stay with me.

So instead of making your typical summer time margarita recipe, let's switch things up and turn this into a winter time drink.

Starting with a fresh, crisp apple cider instead of lime juice. Swapping out the triple sec or Grand Marnier with Berentzen Apple Liquor. But what's staying the same in this cocktail? Well, the tequila of course.

I like to use a reposado tequila for this drink, something light and not too expensive. Not too expensive because you'll be making a TON of these apple cider margaritas. I mean, a ton.

The flavor is so crisp and refreshing you'll want more than just one, I can promise you that.

And now for the drumroll…

You can serve this cocktail up ice cold – or hot.

After photographing this drink more than a few times, we left it all out on the counter and moved on to other things. Later when we went back to clean up the drink was at room temperature, but we still had to take a few sips…and then a few more. After realizing it was so good at room temperature too, we stuck it in the microwave for a minute. And it was amazing…so make this Apple Cider Margarita in big batches, even warm it up in your slow cooker for parties.

The only problem? Deciding which way you want to drink this, hot or cold. I vote for cold, cider is a cold drink for me. Christie's vote was for hot. So just like I said, this Apple Cider Margarita recipe is the best of both worlds!

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Apple Cider Margarita Recipe

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Ingredients

• 8 ounces apple cider
• 3/4 ounce berentzen apple liquor
• 2 ounces reposado tequila
• 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
• apple slices with lemon wedges and cinnamon sticks, for garnish

Directions

1. Add all the ingredients to a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake well and strain into a mug or margarita glass filled with ice.
2. Garnish with apple slices, lemon wedges and a cinnamon stick.

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Spinach Feta Scones

Buttery little bites filled with spinach and feta cheese. Spinach feta scones are a great savory option that are delicious fresh from the oven, but will keep for several days making mornings extra easy.

This spinach feta scone recipe is one I make often. I used to sell them to a local coffee shop, but before that, they were in my regular breakfast rotation for things I shove at my other half as he heads out the door in the morning.

I adore recipes with spinach, from this crescent roll breakfast bake to this best no bake spinach dip. I think it's my favorite green. I love it in the morning -- maybe I need more iron in my life or something -- but wilted spinach, a runny poached egg, and an English muffin is pretty much where it's at for me.

So adding spinach to scones was a no-brainer way back when I decided it should be a thing. Feta cheese seemed like a natural pairing (check this healthy spinach and feta pasta salad!), but you could try others. Spinach kind of goes with all the cheese.

We have talked about scones before and what makes a good scone versus a bad scone. Dry tough scones are a major bummer. So keeping your ingredients COLD is key. You'll notice in the recipe that after cutting in the butter I note that you can chill the mixture for a few. That note is part of this key biscuit/scone baking tip. You can chill for 10 minutes or a couple of hours!

Overworking the dough is the other important tip. Stir and knead JUST enough to pull the ingredients together. No more no less.

I also cut my scones into little circles -- like biscuits. Just for the fun of it. But You could easily pat the dough into a traditional round and cut into 8 wedges. It's up to you.

These are terrific as-is, but with a little smudge of butter or OH MY GOSH add a slice of bacon?! They are over the top, savory breakfast awesome.

If you are looking for a sweet scone to try, definitely check out these pretty lemon cream scones! Yummy. 

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Spinach Feta Scones Recipe

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Ingredients

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, optional
• 6 ounces fresh spinach
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, extremely cold or frozen
• 1 cup milk, cold
• 1 egg
• 1 tablespoon water

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 375°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking sheet.
2. In a large bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and red pepper flakes.
3. In a medium saucepan add the spinach and olive oil. Cook until the spinach is mostly wilted. Remove to a cutting board and chop. Add the chopped cooked spinach to the flour mixture and work it in with your hands until it's evenly incorporated. Work the feta cheese in the same way.
4. Using a pastry cutter or a cheese grater, cut the butter into the flour. Work it in with your hands until coarse crumbles about the size of a pea are formed.
5. You can chill for a few minutes at this point or go ahead and pour in the milk. Gently work the milk into the dough until it just comes together.
6. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface, knead two to three times, and then pat it out to about 3/4" thick. Cut the dough into 20-24 2" circles and place them on the prepared baking sheet.
7. Whisk together the egg and water and brush the tops of the scones with the egg wash. Bake for 20 minutes. 

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Gluten Free Pepperoni Pizza Cups

When my son was a toddler, one of his favorite foods to eat was pepperoni pizza cups. Thankfully at the time, I could easily make these with prepared pizza dough. They were always a hit with him and super easy to make.

I would make batches of them and then put them in his lunch when he was in preschool as well. Then, about a year ago, he had to start eating gluten-free. That meant my easy recipe got just a little bit more time consuming because I had to make the pizza dough.

Thankfully, over the years I have found a great pizza dough recipe that works perfectly with a simple swap of flours. I swap out the all-purpose flour for a gluten-free version. I decided recently to test the water again with these pizza cups to see if the gluten-free version would work.

Guess what? It did! My son was absolutely ecstatic to see his favorite food grace his lunchbox yet again. Plus, a bonus it didn't make his stomach hurt either.

The pizza cups can be filled with any toppings you prefer. I do a layer of pizza sauce, with a sliced pepperoni, and cheese. We also have done these with sausage and cheese. Not only are they good for traditional pizza toppings but they can be made into breakfast pizza cups too.

These are perfect to make on a Sunday and use them throughout the week for lunch. I have found that kids never seem to get tired of pizza, adults rarely do either!

Now, I have a great go-to recipe for these pizza cups with gluten-free dough. My daughter even enjoyed them too. That's a win in my book because I gave birth to two very picky eaters.

Are you ready for a tasty individual serving size pizza? It's time to make these

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Gluten Free Pepperoni Pizza Cups Recipe

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Ingredients

For the Pizza Dough:

• 2 teaspoons active dry yeast
• 1 1/4 cups warm water
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 3 cups all-purpose gluten free flour
• 1 1/4 teaspoons salt

For Topping:

• pizza sauce
• pepperoni
• shredded mozzarella cheese, or italian cheese

Directions

1. Begin by making the pizza crust. In a small bowl combine the yeast, warm water, and olive oil.
2. Whisk this together until it gets foamy.
3. Pour the flour and salt into a large mixing bowl, a stand mixer works the best for this.
4. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix well with a dough hook.
5. If needed add more water if the dough is not sticking together well. Remember this dough will be very sticky.
6. Cover and let this rest for 30 minutes.
7. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 375°F.
8. Prepare 2 muffin-baking pans; spray them with non-stick cooking spray.
9. Once the dough has rested, remove and knead, use additional flour if needed too, so that it does not stick to your hands.
10. Pull off or cut rectangular portions of the crust to shape and fit in the muffin tins. There should just be a small amount of dough hanging over the top of the muffin tin.
11. Continue for the remaining dough; place the muffin tins in the oven for about 10 minutes for the dough to set.
12. Remove from the oven carefully and add your toppings.
13. Once the toppings are added, bake for an additional 10 minutes or until the cheese melts.
14. Let them cool for 5 minutes and carefully remove.

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