Homemade Guacamole

I have an affinity for anything avocado, so naturally I am a huge Guacamole fan.  With that being said, I am not a big fan of onions, and I'm always striving to come up with the best onion free guacamole recipe.  Last night I concocted something amazing.  So amazing in fact, that it just had to be shared.  Enjoy!

Ingredients:
3 Avocados (seeded and peeled)
Juice of 2 Limes (only use 1 if you don't love the hint of lime taste)
1/2 Red Bell Pepper (seeded and chopped)
8 Champagne Tomatoes (chopped, can substitute grape tomatoes)
1/2 Jalapeno (Seeded and Minced)
1 Clove Garlic (Minced)
1 tsp Himalayan Sea Salt
1-2 tsp Cumin Powder


Directions:
Add all ingredients to a bowl and mix thoroughly.  Enjoy! 

Hibiscus Lime Drumsticks

I was so excited to receive dried Hibiscus with my last Bountiful Basket order, but I have been having a hard time trying to use it.  This was an excellent way to use Hibiscus and added a light and delicious flavor mix with the lime. 

Ingredients:

 3 Tbsp Olive Oil

 Juice of 4 Limes

1-2 Handfuls of Dried Hibiscus

4-5 Leaves of Fresh Basil (Can be substituted to 1 Tbsp of dried Basil)

 Seasoning (Tarragon, Mediterranean Spiced Sea Salt)

5-6 Chicken Drumsticks

Directions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix the Oil, Lime Juice, Hibiscus, Basil. and seasoning together in a bowl. Roll the drumsticks one at a time into the mixture and place into a deep pan (I covered with tinfoil to make cleaning easy). Once complete, pour the remaining mixture over top of the drumsticks in the pan and the sprinkle with additional seasoning. Cook for 40-50 minutes or until done all the way through. Serve & Enjoy!

Getting ready to cook :)

Mix up the ingredients to coat the chicken into :)

Bake and enjoy!

No-Bake Cake Balls

Liam and I frequent Starbucks mostly due to his cake pop love.  I keep wanting to make him soemthing similar at home, so my mom found this recipe and sent it to me to play with.  They turned out VERY delicious.  Tasted a lot like cookie dough in chocolate.  In the future I would use a bit less flour since they were a tad bit crumbly and cut the white chocolate with cream or frosting.  It was a humongous sticky mess to coat the balls in JUST white chocolate.  Very yummy though.

Ingredients: (makes about 14-20 balls depending on how you roll them)
1/2 Cup Butter (1 stick, softened)
1/2 Cup White Sugar
1 Cup Vanilla Cake Mix
1 1/2 Cup Flout (Start with just 1 Cup and add in as you need)
pinch of salt
2 tsp Vanilla extract
1/4 Cup Milk
6-8 oz white chocolate (again you may want to add in some milk or cream or even some frosting (homemade or store bought) to keep it from being quite so sticky)
Sprinkles

Directions:
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and coat a wire rack with non-stick spray.

Mix all ingredients except the chocolate and sprinkles and roll into balls that are about 1 inch in diameter.  Set the balls on the cookie sheer and chill in the fridge for about 15 minutes.

Melt chocolate and stir until smooth.  Dip each ball into the chocolate, coating completely and set on rack.  Top with sprinkles and chill all balls in the fridge until set. 

Serve and enjoy!  They taste amazing with milk.

Soften the butter

Add in the sugar

Add in the flour

Add all ingredients except for the chocolate and sprinkles

Mix until starting to crumble

Roll into balls and set on cookie sheet to be chilled

Dip the balls into the chocolate

Top with sprinkles and set on drying rack to be chilled

Sangria Mix

My mother had sent me a Sangria pre-mix that she had come across since she knew of my love fro Sangria.  So I decided to give it a shot, and I have to admit that it did turn out very delicious.  Almost dangerous as it went down like juice. 

Ingredients: (makes about 7 or 8 large glasses)
1 packet Sangria Mix (I used one from Gourmet Village)
2 Cups Portmanteau (I used 2010 from Christoval Vineyards)
2 Cups Estate Vermentino (I used 2012  from the local Christoval Vineyards)
1 Cup Brandy (I used E&J)
1/2 Cup Amaretto Liquor (I used Disaronno)
2 Cups Orange Juice (not from concentrate is best I used Simply Orange)
4  Pineapple Rounds (Cored & Sliced)
6 Strawberries (Sliced)
1 Apple (Cored & Sliced)
10 Slices of Honey Dewlicious
10-15 Green Grapes (Seedless)

Directions:
Add all ingredients except fruit to a pitcher.  Stir thoroughly.  Add in the fruit and stir again.  Allow fruit to sit in sangria for at least 10 minutes before serving.  Serve & Enjoy!  (Feel free to eat the fruit and add to your glass)

Put all of the liquid ingredients into a pitcher and stir

Add the fruit and stir again

Serve & Enjoy!

Succulent Braised Corned Beef

Corned beef always makes me happy!  Once I discovered a braised recipe last St. Patrick's Day, I don't think that I can ever boil it again.  This recipe leaves the corned beef perfectly cooked and very succulent.  Enjoy!

Ingredients:
2 Tbsp Olive Oil
3 lb Corned Beef Brisket
2 Tbsp Browning Sauce
4 Cloves Garlic Sliced
1 Tbsp Basil
pinch of Rosemary

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  heat oil in large skillet.  Brush brisket with browning sauce on both sides.  Brown brisket on both sides in the hot oil (about 5-7 minutes per side.)
Add water to a shallow roasting pan.  Place rack on top of pan and place brisket on the rack.  Scatter garlic, basil, a pinch of crushed rosemary and accompanying flavor packet on top of the brisket (fat side up).  Cover pan with aluminum foil.
Roast in the preheated oven until meat is tender (about 30-45 minutes per pound). 
Slice, Serve & Enjoy!

Brush browning sauce on the corned beef and braise in a skillet

Add water to a deep roasting pan (I also added potatoes and carrots to make an easy side dish)

Place the corned beef on the roasting rack and generously add seasonings, cover with foil before putting into the oven

Remove from the oven, allow to cool and serve in slices

Orange Mint Chicken Drumsticks

I was wanting to do something with mint, and happened to have drumsticks needing to be cooked.  Viola; Orange Mint Chicken sounded delicious, and here you go:

Ingredients:
3 Tbsp Olive Oil
2 Tbsp Orange Juice
1 tsp Orange Emulsion
1 Tbsp Dried Mint (Juiced)
Seasoning (Alpine Touch & Tarragon)
5-6 Chicken Drumsticks

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Mix the Oil, Orange Juice, Emulsion. and seasoning together in a bowl.  Roll the drumsticks one at a time into the mixture and place into a deep pan (I covered with tinfoil to make cleaning easy).  Once complete, pour the remaining mixture over top of the drumsticks in the pan and the sprinkle with additional seasoning.  Cook for 40-50 minutes or until done all the way through.  Serve & Enjoy!

Mix the Oil, OJ, Emulsion and Spices together in a bowl

Roll the Drumsticks in the mixture and place on a foil covered cookie sheet

Take out of the over after about 50 minutes

Serve & Enjoy!

Wine-Infused Leg of Lamb

This is an extremely easy AND extremely delicious recipe!  I am a big lover of lamb, but you could also do this with a nice beef roast. 

Ingredients:
1.5 lb Leg of Lamb (Larger if you are wanting to serve more people)
Seasoning (Garlic, Rosemary, Sea Salt)
Red Wine (I used Sangiovese)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Season the lamb and add it into an oven safe baking dish.  Pour enough wine in to come to the top of the lamb but not cover.  Put in the over for 30-40 minutes for medium rare.  Serve & Enjoy!
*If you want an alcohol free dish, substitute chicken stock. 

Season the lamb and place it in the baking dish

Add the wine and bake

Remove from oven, serve & enjoy

Ham & Purple Potato Soup

I have been sick all week and I was really wanting something warm on my sore throat.  This was so delicious and tasty and allowed me to use up my beautiful purple potatoes!  Everyone raves about this recipe!  I highly recommend it, and it is fairly easy to make. 

Ingredients:
5 Tbsp Butter
2 Garlic Cloves (Diced)
3 Carrots (Peeled & Sliced)
3 Celery Stalks (Sliced)
2.5 lbs Smoked Ham (Cubed)
1/4 Cup Flour
4 Cups Chicken Stock (32 oz Container)
2 Cups Water
2 tsp Alpine Touch (Salt & Pepper)
5 Potatoes (Peeled & Cubed)
1/3 Cup Heavy Cream
Green Onions to Garnish (optional)
Shredded Cheese to Garnish (optional)

Directions:
Melt butter in a large pot over medium heat until golden brown. Stir in carrot, celery, ham, and garlic.  Cook for 5-6 minutes, until the vegetables soften. 
Stir in the flour and cook for about 3 minutes. Stir in chicken broth, 1 cup at a time. Add water and stir to combine. Turn the heat to high and bring to a simmer. Simmer on medium-low for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. 
Stir in potatoes; cook for 15 minutes, until potatoes are tender. Skim fat if desired. 
Season with alpine touch to taste and add cream. Stir to combine and heat through. Garnish with fresh chives and/or shredded cheese.  Serve & Enjoy!

Melt butter in a large pot

Add the ham, carrots, celery and garlic

Add the flour

Add in the chicken stock and water and bring to a boil

Add in the purple potatoes and simmer for about 15 minutes

Add the cream and mix thoroughly

Serve & Enjoy!

Burger Stuffer Trial

For my birthday my mom got me a nifty new burger stuffing tool.  With as much as I love cheese stuffed burgers I have been wanting to try it out.  Here is the recipe and directions for the delicious result! 

Ingredients:
1 lb hamburger
Seasoning (Barbecue, Burger Seasoning )
1 Egg
Cheese Slices
Hamburger buns if desired
Condiments as desired

Directions:
Put the hamburger into a bowl and season generously, add an egg.  Mix it all together with your hands.  Grab a big handful of burger mixture and pat it into the burger stuffer.  Press down to make a hollow middle in the burger.  Take two cheese slice and fold them into the hollow middle.  Press down again and remove from the burger. Shape the burger around the cheese.  Repeat for remaining burgers.   Cook in a pan on med-high heat.  Press down with a spatula to flatten some for the hamburger bun.  cook until desired level of completion (you may have to cook in several batches depending on how many burgers you created).  Serve and enjoy!

Mix up the burger, seasoning and egg

Take a handful of burger mixture and press it into the burger stuffer

Press down to create a hollow middle

Press the cheese into the center and remove from the burger stuffer

Reshape the burger around the cheese

Repeat with remaining burgers

Cook on high heat

Serve & Enjoy!

Basil Orange Lime Chicken Drumsticks

I received so many limes with my bountiful basket yesterday that I had to do something with a few of them.  Orange Lime Chicken sounded delicious, and here you go:

Ingredients:
3 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 Tbsp Orange Emulsion
2 Limes (Juiced)
Seasoning (Alpine Touch, Basil, Oregano)
5-6 Chicken Drumsticks

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Mix the Oil, Orange, Lime Juice and seasoning together in a bowl.  Roll the drumsticks one at a time into the mixture and place into a deep pan (I covered with tinfoil to make cleaning easy).  Once complete, pour the remaining mixture over top of the drumsticks in the pan and the sprinkle with additional seasoning.  Cook for 40-50 minutes or until done all the way through.  Serve & Enjoy!

Get all of your ingredients ready

Mix up the liquid ingredients

Roll the drumsticks in the marinade and then top in the pan with remains, and add a dash of seasoning

Cook for 40 to 50 minutes, remove, serve & Enjoy!

Memorial Day Recipes

With Memorial Day fast approaching I wanted to share the compilation of recipes that I am going to choose from myself to make something yummy on the long weekend!  Please feel free to share any of your great Memorial Day ideas. 



Deviled Eggs with Country Ham
I LOVE deviled eggs, and I LOVE Ham, let's put them together, why did I never think of this?

Recipe for Deviled Egss With Ham









Fire Roasted Berry Crostini with Honey Creme Fraiche
This looks very delicious and it has creme fraiche....  so it has to be good

Berry Crostini Recipe









Tarragon Lemonade
Homemade Lemonade and with one of my favorite seasonings: Tarragon

Recipe for Tarragon Lemonade









Beer Brats
YUMMMMMMM......

Beer Brats Recipe









Blueberry Thirst Quencher
It's so pretty and delicious sounding

Recipe for Blueberry Thirst Quencher












Grilled Orange Vinaigrette Chicken Salad
Light and Summery, delicious

Recipe For Orange Chicken Salad









Hearty Nacho Dip
What would an American Holiday be without chips and dip?

Nacho Dip Recipe











Mango Peach Sangria
You can't celebrate the start of Summer without Sangria, it's blasphemy

Recipe for Mango Peach Sangria