Gluhwein Gift

Merry Christmas Eve! If you are headed somewhere to celebrate and need to take a gift, this Gluhwein/mulled wine idea is great to take! Below is a gift idea I took to a close friend. Besides- you can't go wrong gifting someone alcohol around the holidays!

Gluhwein

- 1 bottle of red wine

- 1 cinnamon stick

- 1 orange, peels only

- 1 lemon, peeks only 

- 1 tbsp brown sugar

- 6 whole cloves

Heat all ingredients on a simmer for 30 minutes and serve hot. 

Gluhwein ingredients!

Recipe

Enjoy!

Brittney 

Make Gingerbread Pancakes

I am obsessed with the Christmas scent gingerbread has in my house. We made gingerbread cookies earlier this week and I thought I would find a good recipe for Gingerbread Pancakes, which happens to be kid-friendly. They turned out so well and do not taste super cake-like, but more like a regular pancake. They are delicious! It is ice raining out and there is snow on the ground, so staying inside eating pancakes and hot cocoa sounds good to me (and my kids)!

Gingerbread Pancakes

- 1 1/2 cups flour
- 1/3 cup brown sugar
- 2 tsp. baking powder
- 1/2 tsp. baking soda
- 1 tsp. cinnamon
- 1 tsp. ground ginger
- 1/4 tsp. ground cloves
- 1/4 tsp. nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp. salt
- 1 cup milk
- 2 tbsp. molasses
- 2 eggs
- 2 tbsp. butter, melted

1. In a medium bowl mix up your dry ingredients.
2. In another medium bowl whisk your wet ingredients together.
3. Add your dry ingredients to the wet and mix well together. Allow mixture to thicken for 5-10 minutes.
4. Heat up your griddle and use about 1/4 cup of batter to make your pancakes.

 Pancake batter on a hot griddle

 Gingerbread Pancakes

Pancakes are served!

Enjoy!

Brittney

Gingerbread Cookie Bars

ARMY WON!!! So excited to have witnessed an Army win this weekend against Navy! What a wonderful end to a great week. We went to a tailgate and I made these amazing, taste of Christmas in your mouth, Gingerbread Cookie Bars. They were a big hit! They are also easy to make and make a great addition to any holiday party. Here is the recipe as promised!

Gingerbread Cookie Bars

- 1/2 cup butter, melted
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 tsp. vanilla
- 1/3 cup molassses
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp. baking soda
- 2 cups flour
- 1 tbsp. cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp. ginger
- 1/4 tsp. ground cloves
- 1/4 tsp. nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp. salt

Cream Cheese Frosting

- 1 x 8 oz. cream cheese, softened
- 1/4 cup butter, softened
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 1 tsp. vanilla

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and grease an 8"x13" baking pan.
2. In a large mixing bowl, cream your butter, sugars, vanilla and molasses together.
3. Once incorporated thoroughly add your egg.
4. In a separate bowl mix your dry ingredients together: flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, nutmeg, salt.
5. Slowly add your dry mixture to the wet mixture. Mix well.
6. Pour your gingerbread mixture into your baking pan and spread evenly. Bake for 15-20 min. Allow to cool completely.
7. Cream your ingredients together for your cream cheese frosting and spread evenly on your gingerbread bars. Add sprinkles if desired.

 Baked gingerbread bars before adding cream cheese frosting

 Finished bars!

Gingerbread Cookie Bars

Enjoy!

Brittney

Spiced Chocolate Crinkle Cookies

Happy Holidays! Wow! I can not believe how fast this year is flying by! I have been very busy with end of year events and hosting Mom's Night's Out and a kid Holiday Party. I have been making a lot of recipes out of the cookbook Run Fast Eat Slow by Shalane Flanagan and Elyse Kopecky. They are Olympic athletes and runners who made this amazing cookbook filled with nourishing recipes! You can purchase it here on Amazon, I strongly recommend it. *all opinions are my own*

I have started to make holiday cookies and tried a new one this year! Spiced Chocolate Crinkle Cookies are gooey and have a dash of cayenne pepper that add to it's festive flavor. I have been eying a Gingerbread Bar recipe that I hope to try out next week and share - so stay tuned!

Spiced Chocolate Crinkle Cookies

Ingredients:
- 1 cup flour
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- 1/4 tsp. baking soda
- 4 oz. baking chocolate
- 4 tbsp. unsalted butter
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- 3 eggs
- 1 tsp. cinnamon
- dash of cayenne pepper (optional)
- 1 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1/2 cup baking cocoa

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. Melt your butter and baking chocolate on low heat. Set aside to cool.
3. In a mixing bowl mix your flour, cinnamon, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and cayenne pepper.
4. In another bowl mix your eggs, brown sugar, and vanilla together. Add your chocolate mixture and mix well.
5. Add your flour mixture until fully incorporated.
6. Place dough in the freezer for 10 minutes to firm up if needed (my dough turned out very sticky).
7. Form 1-2 inch balls of dough and roll in powdered sugar.
8. Bake cookies for 8 minutes.

 Snickers the Elf approves of these Spiced Chocolate Crinkle Cookies!

Happy Holidays!

Enjoy!

Brittney

Halloween Boo Mix

Happy Halloween! Hopefully you are over your sugar coma by now... in time to make something yummy! I made this Halloween Chex Mix for my son's school snack and it was a big hit! I would even want to make it without drizzling the extra sugars on top since it has some pretty sweet candy in it.

Boo Mix

- 6 cups Golden Grahams
- 10 cups Chex
- 2 cup candy corn
- 2 cup mini marshmallows
- 2 cups chocolate chips
- 1 1/4 cup Karo syrup, light
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup butter

1. In two large bowls even out your cups of cereals (8 cups in each bowl) and toss together.
2. Line 3 baking sheets with foil or parchment paper so your mix doesn't stick.
3. In a medium sauce pan melt your butter. Add your Karo syrup and sugar and mix using a whisk.
4. Bring mixture to a boil and allow to boil for 2 minutes.
5. Pour sugar mixture evenly onto your cereal and mix together using a silicone spatula.
6. Place cereal on your baking sheets and sprinkle your chocolate chips, marshmallows, and candy cone on your mix.
7. Allow Chex mix to dry for a few hours before eating.

Boo Mix

Enjoy!

Brittney

Crockpot Apple Butter

Fall is in the air! The leaves are falling, everything pumpkin is out and we recently took a trip to a local farm to pick pumpkins and apples! Of course I made apple strudel and decided to try my hand at apple butter. It is so easy to make and your house smells amazing while the apples are cooking! Now if only I had remembered to buy cinnamon toast...

Crockpot Apple Butter

- 6 apples; 4 peeled, 2 keep skin on
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp salt

1. Chop your apples into 1-2 inch pieces and place in your crockpot.
2. Sprinkle brown sugar, vanilla, cinnamon and salt on top of your apples.
3. Cook on low for 5-7 hours until apples have broken down and are mushy; stir every hour.
4. Puree apples in a food processor/blender until smooth.
5. Store in an air tight container in the fridge once cooled completely.

 Apples in crockpot

 Apples breaking down after 3 hours

 Pureed apples

Apple Butter on toast!

Enjoy!

Brittney

Pumpkin Pancakes

Fall is finally in the air over on the East Coast and I am ready for ALL things pumpkin! I got up early to make my family these Pumpkin Pancakes before everyone went off to school. I think you can pre-make the batter the night before, only wait to add the buttermilk before cooking. I made my own buttermilk by adding 1 1/2 tbsp. of white vinegar to 1 1/2 cups of milk and allowed it to rest for 10 minutes. Instant buttermilk!

Ingredients

- 1 1/2 cups buttermilk
- 2 cups flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 3/4 tsp ginger
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp ground cloves
- 1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
- 1 cup pumpkin puree
- 3 tbsp butter, melted
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tsp. vanilla

1. In a large mixing bowl whisk your dry ingredients together: flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves.
2. In a smaller bowl whisk your brown sugar, pumpkin, buttermilk, melted butter, eggs and vanilla until combined.
3. Pour wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and let batter rest for 3 minutes.
4. Make your pancakes on a griddle 1/3 cup of batter at a time. Serve warm with butter and syrup.

 Dry Ingredients

 Pumpkin Pancake Batter

 Pumpkin Pancakes!

Enjoy!
Brittney

Monster Cookie Playdate

Last week we made Monster Cookies for a playdate I hosted and the kids loved decorating and creating their own little 'monsters.' I just used sprinkles and edible candies that we had in the house for the kids to decorate with and they had so much fun using their imaginations! I do recommend getting candy eyeballs for your monsters! I used my classic sugar cookie recipe found here, dyed store bought frosting funky bright colors and allowed the kids to go crazy!

Supplies

- sugar cookie dough

- popsicle sticks

- candy eyeballs

- sprinkles

- chocolate chips or mini M&Ms

- frosting

- gel food coloring

1. Make your dough and use a 2 inch cookie scoop to form your cookie with a popsicle stick in the middle of the dough. Flatten dough on a parchment paper covered baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 12 minutes, or until sides of cookies are golden brown.

2. Allow cookies to cool completely before decorating.

3. Frost cookies and decorate as desired!

 Cookie dough with sticks

Baked Cookies on a stick

 Cookie decorations

Monster Cookies!

Enjoy!

Brittney

Skinny Elotes - Mexican Street Corn

I am a huge lover of Mexican food and love Elotes - or Mexican Street Corn. It is tangy and spicy while refreshing! I decided to make my own mayo blend with plain Greek yogurt, instead of sour cream, to make it a little more healthier. And it still tastes great! I hope you enjoy this corn!

Ingredients

- 4 ears of corn
- 1/2 cup plain Greek Yogurt
- 1/4 cup light Mayo
- 1/2 cup parmesan cheese
- 1 lime
- 1/4 cup Cilantro, chopped
- red cayenne pepper or red chili powder

1. Grill your corn until grill marks are present, about 15 minutes.
2. In a small bowl mix your mayo, cilantro and Greek yogurt together. Set aside.
3. Once corn is grilled, immediately squeeze lime juice all over the corn and parmesan cheese. Allow parmesan to melt onto the hot corn.
4. Slather the Greek yogurt mixture on the corn and top with your red chili powder or cayenne pepper as desired.

 Elotes Ingredients

Elotes - "Mexican Street Corn"

Enjoy!

Brittney

Fruit Cobbler Two Ways

We had a wonderful group of new Wharton students over at our house for a party this past weekend. Everything was catered - which I LOVED! Living in the city a catering company rolled all the catered food over to our house on this little dolly - but the food included everything, even a table cloth! Made for easy clean up. So, we really only had to provide dessert, beer, and appetizers. For dessert, we made the Olympic Ring cookies and Peach and Three Berry Cobbler. Below is the recipe for the cobbler - such a nice Summer dessert!

Cobbler (double recipe is making 2 cobblers)

-  4 peaches sliced or 4 cups of berries (blueberries, raspberries, strawberries)
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- 1 cup flour
- 1 1/4 tsp. baking powder
- 1/8 tsp. salt
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 egg

1. Preheat your over to 350 degrees. Grease an 8"x8" baking dish.
2. Slice your fruit and place in a bowl. Sprinkle 1/2 cup sugar over your fruit and set aside.
3. For the dough mix your dry ingredients in a bowl together - flour, baking powder and salt.
4. Cream your butter and sugar until soft in your Kitchenaid mixer. Add your egg and vanilla.
5. Slowly add your dry ingredients and mix thoroughly.
6. Place your fruit in your greased dish and spread the dough on top of your fruit. Bake for 30-40 minutes until top if golden brown.

 Dough Mixture

 Fruit with sugar on it

 Cobbler before being placed in the oven

Baked Three Berry and Peach Cobbler

 Cobbler - good served warm!

Party time! Go Dragons!

Enjoy!

Brittney

Olympic Ring Cookies

Summer and the Olympics are in full swing this month! We are hosting a group of incoming Wharton Students at our house tomorrow night before they have their own Olympic Games. To celebrate - we made some super simple Olympic Ring cookies! The hardest part (other than not eating all the M&Ms) was sorting all of the colors. I hope you are enjoying watching the Olympics - we have been enjoying Swimming, Beach Volleyball and Gymnastics over here!

Olympic Ring Cookies

- round sugar cookies
- white frosting
- bag of M&Ms, we used mini

1. Bake your cookies.
2. Place frosting on your cookies.
3. Line the outside of the frosting with one of the Olympic colors of M&Ms (orange is not an Olympic ring color!).

 Palmer sorting the M&M colors 

 Kinley making a yellow ring

Olympic Ring Cookies

Enjoy!

Brittney

Mediterranean Chicken

Made this for dinner last night and everything cleaned their plates! Super simple to throw together and it takes about 30 minutes of cook time. My husband is home from his internship and I'm ready to try some new family meals!

Mediterranean Chicken

- 4 chicken breasts
- Italian seasoning
- salt
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1 x 14 oz. can of artichoke hearts
- 1 roma tomato, diced
- 7 basil leaves, chopped
- 1/4 cup parmesan cheese
- 8 oz. mozzarella cheese, sliced

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Grease a 13" x 8" dish and place your chicken breasts inside. Season chicken with salt and Italian seasoning. Bake for 15 minutes.
3. In a small bowl mix your artichokes, tomatoes, parmesan cheese, garlic, and basil together.
4. Place on top of chicken with mozzarella slices and return chicken to the over for an additional 15-20 minutes. If desired, turn broiler on for a few minutes to crisp your cheese. Serve over rice or noodles.

 Mediterranean Chicken before being placed in the over for the second time

Chicken over noodles

Enjoy!

Brittney

Peach Yogurt Popsicles

Another day - another round of popsicles! We loved these peach yogurt pops and they were easy to make if you have a blender of some kind. This recipe is also from the Eating Well magazine and was a big hit with my kids!

Ingredients

- 1 1/2 cups peaches, diced
- 1/4 cup honey
- 3 tbsp. water
- 1 cup vanilla Greek yogurt

1. Combine fruit, honey and water in a microwave safe bowl, cover with plastic and poke a few holes in the top.
2. Microwave on high for 2 minutes. Stir and microwave on high for 1 minute.
3. Puree mixture in a blender until smooth, add yogurt and blend again.
4. Freeze in popsicle molds for 8 hours.

 Peach mixture before being pureed

 Peach Yogurt Mixture

Frozen Pops!

Enjoy!

Brittney

Skinny Crab Cakes

I'm from Maryland and I'm always trying to find a good crab cake recipe that is delicious! This is not only delicious, but it is healthy! Skinny Crab Cakes that are baked, not fried! My kids even ate them.. with some convincing.

Skinny Crab Cakes

- 8-12 oz. crab meat
- 3/4 cup Panko bread crumbs
- 3 x green onions, chopped
- 2 tbsp. plain Greek yogurt
- 2 eggs, beaten
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1/2 lime, juiced
- 1-3 tsp. crushed red pepper (optional)

Sauce

- 3 tbsp. plain Greek yogurt
- generous squeeze of Dijon mustard
- 1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper
- 1 tbsp. white wine vinegar

1. Grease a baking sheet and set aside. Mix your bread crumbs, yogurt, onions, eggs, salt and pepper, lime juice and red pepper in a bowl.
2. Break up your crab meat and mix in gently.
3. Using a 1/2 cup measuring cup, form your cakes and place on your greased baking sheet.
4. Heat oven to 400 degrees, bake for 10 minutes, flip and bake for another 10 minutes.
5. Sauce: mix all ingredients and leave chilled in the refrigerator.
6. Serve crab cakes with sauce on a bed of lettuce or vegetables.

 Crab Cake Mixture

 Crab Cakes before being baked

Skinny Crab Cake Salad with sauce

Enjoy!

Brittney

Blueberry Lemonade Pops

It's summer and it's hot outside! A friend of mine told me she bought some silicone popsicle molds for her kids to make popsicles... so I had to jump on that bandwagon! I bought a Zoku Space Pops mold and it makes 6 pops. The recipe I am using I found in an Eating Well magazine for the Blueberry Lemonade Pops. I think they need at least 10 hours to freeze completely, after about 6 hours, they were mostly frozen but melted quickly as my kids ate them - very messy!

Blueberry Lemonade Pops

- 1 1/2 cups blueberries, fresh of frozen (thawed), I used fresh
- 3 tbsp. honey
- 2 tbsp. apple cider vinegar
- 1/2 tsp. lemon zest
- 1 cup lemonade

1. Combine blueberries, honey, lemon zest and vinegar in a microwave safe bowl. Cover it with plastic wrap and poke a few holes in the top. Microwave on high for 3 2 minutes. Stir the mixture, microwave for another minute.
2. Uncover and allow to cool for 10 minutes.
3. Using a strainer, strain all the juice into a separate bowl while pressing the blueberries to get the juice.
4. Add lemonade.
5. Stir and pour mixture into your popsicle molds and allow to freeze for 8-10 hours.

 Zoku Space Pops

 Microwaved blueberries, lemon zest, honey and apple cider vinegar

 Strained juice in a bowl with a spout before adding lemonade

 Lemonade added to blueberry mixture

Delicious!

Enjoy!

Brittney