Lemon Balsamic Pear and Tahini Pasta

No recipe for this dinner. I was in the mood to make a lemon balsamic dish and this is what I came up with.

Ingredients:
1/2 onion chopped
4 cloves garlic
2 tbsp olive oil
1 pear sliced
1 cup mixed green lettuce
2 tbsp Lemon Balsamic Vinegar
1/2 pound whole wheat pasta
2 tbsp tahini
juice from 1 lemon
pecans optional

Heat your olive oil in large saute pan. Put onion, pair and garlic in the oil for 5 minutes. Then add in your lemon balsamic vinegar and keep cooking until you start to see everything start to caramelize. Boil your pasta while the mixture is caramelizing. Add 1 tbsp tahini to your mixture and your mixed green lettuce. When pasta is done, strain and add to the saute pan. Add the lemon juice and rest of tahini. Depending on how nutty you want it, you can add more tahini to your pasta. Add pecans if you'd like.

Enjoy!

Beet and Date Muffins with a Tahini Glaze

Came across this interesting recipe one night and thought to myself, how can that be good? BUT, I tried it last night and I have to say they are quite tasty! They are vegan and gluten free (the original recipe is, because I ran out of a few things and had to replace them.

The hardest part by far was shredding the beets. They were messy for sure!

Check out the recipe from Kitchen to Nirvana.
I did a couple things differently from the original recipe:

• Didn't buy enough of each flour, so used a cup of each flour and 1/2 cup of white flour
• Didn't have enough honey left, so only added in 1 cup of honey and 1/4 cup sugar
• Didn't have non-dairy milk for the icing, so just used regular cow's milk

Hope you enjoy the recipe!

Upcoming Recipe Teaser

Mini Valentine's Day Cupcakes with Chocolate Ganache Filling/Topping

Mini Apple Oatmeal Bites

French Toast Cottage Cheese Smoothie

Easy Cannoli Cups

I really wanted to make cannolis for our Super Bowl party, but I couldn't figure out how to fry the dough into a circle, so I decided to make these pretty cute mini cannoli cups. They were quite a hit :)

For the crust:

Refrigerated store-bought pie crusts (2)

Sprinkle of sugar

Sprinkle of cinnamon

Flour for dusting

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Sprinkle your pie crusts with sugar, cinnamon, and flour. Take a rolling pin and roll the sugar and cinnamon into the crust. Take your cookie cutter about 2 1/2 inches. Place in your mini cupcake pan. Keep rolling out until all dough is used. After placing into your pan, gently poke the bottom of the cups with a fork to avoid rising in the oven. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden.

For filling:
1 15oz. container of whole milk ricotta cheese
1/2 cup confectioners sugar
2 tablespoons white sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup mini semisweet chocolate chips

In a hand mixer, mix all ingredients minus the chocolate chips for about 10-15 minutes until filling is soft and not grainy. Place in a zip lock or pastry bag and place in refrigerator. When pie crusts have been taken out of pan and cooled, fill them with your filling (cut a small opening from the end of your bag and pipe into cup), sprinkle your chocolates on top as well as some more powdered sugar. Make sure to keep refrigerated after filling.

Recipe adapted from Mini Canoli Cups from Lexbake

Tea Pot Cake Pops

I am surprised with how well these cake pops turned out. I was a little worried they wouldn't look how I was imagining, but I think they turned out great!

They are a vanilla cake with vanilla frosting and in the middle is a little surprise of edible chocolate chip cookie dough. I always love experimenting with flavors.

What these things dry

What is the stout you ask? It is a Good and Plenty stuck in the cake before dipped. The lid is a chocolate wafer straight from the bag. The handle is from a candy necklace I tried for DAYS to find.

In any case, hope you like my tea pop cake pops! These were actually made for a tea and brunch event last Sunday and I think they were a hit.

Easy and Healthy Lemon Garlic Pasta

After the day I had with making cake pops for the tea event (blog post coming soon), I really wanted something a little healthier. And maybe something lemony, because I have this weird lemon obsession.

Ingredients:
1/2 pound of whole wheat angel hair pasta
2 tomatoes cute into pieces, or 1 cup of grape tomatoes halved
1 1/2 cups of broccoli
4 cloves garlic
1/4 cup shredded parmesan cheese
2 tbsp basil
2 lemons, squeeze and seeds taken out (if you want less lemon flavor, only use one lemon)
1 tbsp garlic powder, for extra garlic
pine nuts (optional)

Put your pot of water on the stove and wait for it to boil. While you're waiting for your water to boil, add your chopped broccoli into a saute pan with your olive oil on medium heat. Chop your garlic in bigger pieces (not minced) and add to the pan. Place lid over broccoli and let steam.

Add your pasta to your boiling water until pasta is al dente. Trasfer your pasta over to your pan with the broccoli and then add lemon juice, 1 tbsp olive oil and the rest of the seasonings. Then, add in your tomatoes and top with cheese.

 Enjoy!

Easy Lavender Tea Cake w/ Vanilla Chai Tea Glaze

I have had fantasies about making a lavender cake for weeks. The other night I got up enough courage to finally make one. But I was a little nervous, without a recipe and all, so I began with my Betty Crocker white cake mix as my canvas and went from there. That way, I wouldn't feel completely bad if it came out horribly. I have to say though, it was an interesting taste, but still very refreshing, like I was eating a cup of tea.

Ingredients:
For the cake:
1 box of Betty Crocker White Cake Mix (including all ingredients on the box)
2 tbsp of ground lavender tea leaves (you can use a grinder to powder the leaves or use a pestle mortar to make the tea leaves finer.
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp lemon

Mix all ingredients and place in oven for specific baking time on the box. Because I used a loaf pan, I baked mine for 40 minutes on 325 (which is lower than the box because I didn't want my cake to cave in in the middle).

For the glaze
2 tbsp powdered sugar
1 tbsp heavy whipping cream
1 tbsp vanilla chai tea

Whisk all ingredients together in small bowl to the consistency of your liking. Pour on top of your lavender cake.

Enjoy!