About this time every year, I start wishing for warmer weather. And yet, this time every year, we tend to get one more winter storm to prove that it’s not quite spring just yet.
So, given that it’s still freezing in Philadelphia, I decided to make a frozen cocktail, a Frozen Mango Daiquiri, that can help me pretend it’s nice and warm outside.
This is a fairly traditional frozen daiquiri, although I added in some cinnamon to complement the mango.
I used frozen mango chunks to make this, so it’s a super easy recipe.
Ingredients (makes 2 servings):
2 cups ice
1 (12 oz) bag frozen mango chunks
4 oz white rum
the juice of 3 limes, plus more if needed
1 tablespoon white sugar, plus more for rimming the glasses
We were recently heading to a friends house for dinner and were asked to bring a salad.
I didn’t necessarily want to bring a traditional lettuce-based salad, so I went in search of something that made the most of what’s in season at the moment, like this Peach and Tomato Salad.
NOTE: I was sent some blood oranges and cara cara oranges from The Limoneira Company to use in a recipe. All opinions are mine.
It’s pretty obvious that I love citrus, I use the juice and zest of lemons, limes, and oranges in most of my recipes, so I’m excited to share this recipe for Frozen Blood Orange Margaritas.
So when The Limoneira Company contacted me to help spread the word about their new offerings, I jumped at the chance. Limoneira is traditionally known for its lemons, but recently began expanding their orchards to include more specialty citrus, including Cara Cara and Blood Oranges.
Blood Oranges have a slightly less acidic taste than regular oranges, and their bright red color makes for some really beautiful dishes. I wanted to showcase their color, so I decided to make blood orange margaritas.
As much as I am trying to will it to be spring, it is still pretty cold in Philadelphia, so this version has a bit of cinnamon to add a bit of warmth to the flavor.
Note: I was sent a Breakfast kit from Krusteaz in order to write this post. Opinions are mine alone.
For the last couple of years, I have had the opportunity to work with Krusteaz to bring attention to a fun way to switch up your dinner routine in February.
February is National Hot Breakfast Month, so to celebrate, Krusteaz encourages you to have breakfast for dinner once a week. As someone who never gets a hot breakfast on weekdays, I’m all for this idea, and have made a couple of yummy breakfast-for-dinner recipes in the past, including Cheesy Corn Pancakes and Frog in a Hole.
To help you celebrate National Hot Breakfast Month, Krusteaz is giving away a Breakfast Night Kit to one reader!
The kit includes:
two boxes of the following breakfast mixes: Buttermilk Pancake Mix, Belgian Waffle Mix, Blueberry Pancake Mix, Wild Blueberry Muffin Mix, and Cinnamon Swirl Crumb Cake and Muffin Mix
Kitchen items including a whisk, a tote bag, and pancake batter pen
A selfie stick, to help capture the fun!
Further details will be after the recipe.
This year, I decided to have a sweeter breakfast for dinner option, in honor of upcoming Valentine’s Day: Peanut Butter Banana Pancakes with Strawberry Maple Syrup.
This recipe uses Krusteaz Buttermilk Pancake mix with a few additions to make Peanut Butter Banana Pancakes. I served them with a simple Strawberry Maple Syrup to top them off!
My goodness the holidays are approaching quickly. What happened to 2016?!
This is the time of year for parties and of course party appetizers. This party appetizer for Pomegranate Glazed Lamb Meatballs is so simple to make, but it is fancy enough to serve at a dinner party.
I found this recipe in New York Times’ cooking section and just had to try it out. Lamb meatballs with a pomegranate molasses glaze? Sign me up!
I served the Pomegranate Glazed Lamb Meatballs with some plain Greek yogurt with mint leaves mixed in, simple but a great complement!
Last weekend, friends of mine invited us to an awesome Scotch tasting. They had recently visited Islay and brought back some for us to try as well! Each Scotch was paired with a bite of food to bring out some of the flavors, including oysters, lamb kofta, pheasant sausage and so much more.
I naturally didn’t want to come empty handed so I brought this simple olive tapenade along with me.
Tapenade is a pureed mixture of olives, anchovies, capers and olive oil. Salty foods always pair nicely with spirits, so this recipe was an easy choice to bring to the party.
I have a pretty intense sweet tooth; in my mind, dinner isn’t finished until I’ve had dessert! I do try to limit how many times a week I actually do have dessert after dinner, but sometimes you just need some!
This recipe from Cooking Light caught my eye because it involves two of my favorite things: ice cream and blueberries.
This fun little dessert takes very little time to make, and the blueberry sauce can even be made ahead of time!
Ingredients:
3 tablespoons water, divided
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 1/4 cups fresh blueberries, divided
3 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Dash of salt
2 cups vanilla low-fat frozen yogurt (I used French Vanilla)
Note: I was sent a variety of First Fresh Foods Chicken Sausages. Opinions are my own.
It may be relatively apparent on my blog that I really don’t eat much pork; I tend to gravitate towards other proteins. So, I also rarely eat sausage, and if I’m being perfectly honest, I’m not the biggest fan of them anyways.
So when First Fresh Foods contacted me about trying their chicken sausages, I figured why not! I decided to keep it pretty traditional and try their mild Italian sausages in Sausage and Peppers to make this recipe for Chicken Sausage and Peppers.
The Italian sausages resemble traditional sausages but are made from ground white breast meat, which delivers similar taste with 78% less fat. They are gluten-free, with no MSG and no hormones.
May is (was) National Egg Month, and, well, the month of May ended more abruptly than I was expecting. So, happy June, and happy belated National Egg Month! (This Friday, June 3rd, is National Egg DAY though, so you can celebrate your little heart out then.)
I love using eggs in dinner recipes, because I don’t get much opportunity for a nice sit down breakfast with eggs. This Cooking Light recipe is the perfect eggs-for-dinner meal — Arugula Pizza topped with Poached Eggs.
Nellie’s eggs sent me some coupons, plus a cool little kit that included a t-shirt, stress egg, and a gift card so that I could try their eggs in a post, and this recipe seemed like the perfect opportunity. Nellie’s are free range, the hens are never caged, and have as much or as little access to the outside as they’d like.
Nellie’s works with over 40 independent, family owned and operated farms to provide their free range eggs produced from Certified Humane Free Range hens that are antibiotic and hormone free.
This time of year delivers some pret-ty great produce. All of the green veggies are in season! This recipe from Cooking Light for Spring Vegetable Penne with Lemon Cream Sauce makes the most of some spring vegetables, asparagus and peas.
The pasta recipe is a “two pot meal” so it comes together pretty quickly without giving you too make dishes afterwards!
Ingredients:
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 Vidalia or other sweet onion, chopped
1 (10-ounce) package presliced mushrooms
1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup chicken broth
1 cup half-and-half
1 cup fresh or frozen green peas
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons shaved Parmesan cheese, divided
Breakfast Night inspiration including sample Breakfast Night recipes
Krusteaz is also offering one I Can Cook That reader the same starter kit listed above! Details after the recipe. Krusteaz currently also has a coupon for $0.50 off any one pancake or waffle mix.
My fiance loves breakfast for dinner, so I decided to make a savory pancake topped with sunny side up eggs to celebrate National Pancake Day!
Krusteaz’s Buttermilk Pancake Mix makes this recipe a cinch to prepare! Just add some additional ingredients and you have a delicious dinner ready in minutes!
During Choctoberfest, I was sent a pretty sweet package of goodies from Just Hemp Foods, including Hemp Protein Powder (which I used in these muffins), Hemp Seeds, and Hemp Oil.
This weekend, I finally cracked into the Hemp Seed Oil. I had a bunch of basil that I knew I couldn’t use up before it wilted, so I made pesto, or more specifically, Hemp Seed Basil Pesto!
Hemp Seed Oil delivers a subtle nutty taste, so it’s perfect in a pesto. The oil contains the ideal 3:1 omega-6 to omega-3 ratio which supports heart health. Hemp Seed Oil degrades with light and heat, so it’s best to refrigerate it and use it cold. The oil has a green color to it, so it really makes the basil pop!
I was sent quite a few jalapenos as part of my Door-to-Door Organics box, more than I could really use in a normal time frame. So as part of #MyFarm2Table dinner, I decided to make Stuffed Jalapeno Poppers as one of the side dishes to use up the jalapenos.
I’m not the biggest fan of super spicy dishes, so after cutting and seeding the jalapenos, I placed them in a bowl of water for at least an hour to try to take some of the heat out of them. There was still some in the peppers, but it did help! (Note: there were still a couple of peppers that packed a punch, so be aware that every pepper is different in terms of heat).
This weekend, my fiancé went fishing with a friend and his friend’s father. They had quite a successful trip, and came home with a ton of Rockfish! Rockfish, also known as striped bass, is a mild whitefish that can be prepared many different ways, so I was jazzed!
We had some that night on the grill (yum!), but there was plenty left over, and my fiance’s friend was nice enough to send us home with more fish. I had a hankering for fish tacos, so these Rockfish Tacos are the end result! Rockfish, or striped bass, is the perfect balance of flaky and meaty, so it works wonderfully in tacos.
Ingredients:
1 cup cherry tomatoes, diced
1 tablespoon minced jalapeno
1 tablespoon minced shallot
1 tablespoon cilantro chopped, plus more for garnish
the juice and zest of 1 lime
salt and pepper, to taste
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large fillet rockfish (striped bass), skin removed (~1.5 lb)
I’m in another busy period of work, so expect a lot of quick weeknight dinner meals! Seafood is always a favorite quick meal of mine, and this recipe from Cooking Light’s latest issue is ready in no time! I paired it with an adaptation of a Bon Appetit Couscous recipe.
The trout is pan seared and then topped with a chunky warm parsley-caper vinaigrette. I’d suggest doubling the recipe so you have some to toss into the couscous!
