Autumn Eats & Treats

I love fall. There's something about the blustery days, the colors, the cinnamon adorned smells wafting throughout the house. Everything is just cozy and happy.

I love utilizing all the seasonal goodies Mother Earth has to offer! For my momma's birthday I decided instead of just a plain ole cake, I'd "fall" it up this year, especially since her birthday is in October.

Pumpkin-Cream Cheese Crepe Cake with granola

Crepe Batter:
1 1/2 c flour
1 c almond milk
1/4 c sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 c oil

Filling:
4 Tbsp cream cheese
1 drop clove essential oil
1 stop cinnamon bark essential oil
1 drop cardamom essential oil
1 c pumpkin butter
1/2 c granola

Pull cream cheese out of fridge. Make your batter, start with dry and add in wet. Mix until batter is smooth. Set aside for 30 minutes, helps make batter from becoming rubbery. Take the cream cheese and drop in essential oils. Mix until smooth and easy to spread. Once batter has rested, make crepes. Heat non stick pan on high heat, spray pan and pour in about 1/3 c of batter. Turn pan in a circle, dipping each side to let crepe batter reach the entire bottom. When sides brown (about 2 minutes), gently slide the spatula under the crepe's edge and flip over. Batter should make about 16 crepes.

Let crepes cool for about 10 minutes. Then take a crepe, place it on your serving plate, spread with pumpkin butter, put another crepe on top, spread with spiced cream cheese, sprinkle with granola, and continue layering until all crepes are used. If you have torn crepes, no worries, put them in the middle. On the top add layer of spiced cream cheese, pumpkin butter and the rest of the granola. I added a few fall colored flowers to brighten up the plate. Refrigerate until ready to serve. You can serve with homemade whipped cream, ice cream or just eat it on it's own. Yum!

A few days later I made dinner for a friend who had just had her second baby girl. I was so grateful for all the people who made us meals both times I had my girls.

Italian Pasta Bake with Meatballs

Meatballs
Elbow noodles
1 jar sauce
1 can diced tomatoes
2 c chicken broth
1 drop oregano essential oil
1 drop basil essential oil
Salt & pepper
1 c cheese

I used frozen meatballs (A few shortcuts today folks!) Heat broth & sauce, pour in noodles. Add tomatoes & essential oils. Let cook for 10-15 minutes. Remove from pot, spread out in pan. Add meatballs & cheese on top. Bake at 375 for 15 minutes. Serve with salad or crusty bread.

Cinnamon-Orange Brownie Cake Balls

Brownie mix
1 drop orange essential oil
1 drop cinnamon essential oil
1/2 cup of Nutella
5 squares of bakes chocolate
Candy corn

Make brownies (I took a shortcut on this dessert.) After cooled from baking crumble into a bowl, add Nutella as a binder. Roll into 1 inch balls and set on baking sheet. Put in freezer to chill for 15 minutes. Melt chocolate, dip one brownie cake ball at a time into melted chocolate. Make sure they're all covered, place on baking sheet and top immediately with candy corn before the chocolate dries. Serve!

I love making most things homemade, but with two babies and an in-home daycare, sometimes I just work with what I got. I'm one resourceful mama who loves to cook and bake for the ones I love.

Cheers! Xo Lo

Best Girls Dinner

A few weeks ago I hosted an intimate dinner for some of my best local girls. Motherhood had brought beautiful chaos into all of our lives and it was so nice to just sip, chat, giggle and eat together...not just as busy moms, but as friends. I incorporated a fresh menu full of seasonal eats, sentimental details and my love for YoungLiving essential oils.

Menu:
Lemon-Tarragon Flatbread with Fontina and Prosciutto

Ingredients:
Flatbread dough (recipe below)
1 package of  quality prosciutto
Whole milk ricotta
Quality fontina cheese
Lemon- Tarragon dressing
1 drop of lemon essential oil

You can make your dough or get already made pizza dough from your local grocery store. I mixed 3
1/2c flour with 1/2 tsp baking soda and 1 tsp salt. Then I slowly added 1 stick of room temp butter until incorporated. Add 10-12 Tbsp of water until dough forms. Knead for 5 minutes, cut into 4 discs and wrap up. Refrigerate for 30 minutes. When dough is ready, roll out to about 1/2 inch thickness. And grill each side on high heat for about 1-2 minutes. Let cool, spread with dressing. Mix lemon essential oil until ricotta and spoon on top of dough. Place prosciutto, sliced fontina and fresh basil leaves on top and serve. The whole milk ricotta is amazing, I would never use a low-fat ricotta. So delicious!

Pan Grilled Chicken with walnut and spinach pesto

Ingredients:
5 chicken thighs
2 c spinach
1/2 c walnuts
1/4 c olive oil
1/2 c Parmesan
1 piece of garlic
Salt
1 drop of black pepper essential oil

I love using chicken thighs because they are an inexpensive organic option and so flavorful! I made the pesto first by adding the spinach, olive oil and garlic into a food processor (or blender) pulse and then add in walnuts and Parmesan. Pulse until smooth. Add salt, pepper and black pepper essential oil; stir, set aside until serving. I grilled my chicken in a grill pan with olive oil, and salt. About 10 minutes or so per side. Serve with pesto on top.

Grilled Eggplant with Goat Cheese and Walnuts

Ingredients:
1-2 eggplants
Good quality goat cheese
1/4 c walnuts
Olive oil
Salt & pepper
1 drop of oregano essential oil

I drizzled my eggplant with olive oil and sprinkled with salt and pepper. Placed on the hot grill pan and grilled for about 3 minutes per side. Then I let cool slightly. Mix goat cheese with oregano essential oil and sprinkle on top with walnuts.

Artichokes and Tomato Panzanella

Ingredients:
1 jar of olive oil marinated artichokes
1 container of grape tomatoes
Leftover bread
1/3 c chicken broth
Olive oil
Salt & pepper
1 drop of basil essential oil

Let dried, leftover bread soak in chicken broth for a few minutes. Heat pan with olive oil and basil essential oil, add in tomatoes, artichokes and bread. Remove when bread a crisp yet still moist. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Grilled Pineapple served with ice cream and Nutella

Ingredients:
1 pineapple
1 c Nutella
2 scoops of vanilla ice cream per bowl
1 drop of orange essential oil
1 drop cinnamon essential oil

Slice up pineapple and grill each side for 2 minutes. Place in bowls on top of ice cream. Mix Nutella with drops of essential oil and drizzle over pineapple. Serve.

I love using fresh ingredients, essential oils, resourcefulness, creativity and love in my dishes. The girls brought wine and we happily ate and shared stories. At each friend's place mat I had a card and gift to mark their seat. I made a Epsom salt bath soak for each friend with various essential oils that I thought they'd love. Lavender for my busy working friend to help relax. Lemon for another friend for energy. Joy in another to uplift. Panaway to help sooth. Lemongrass for my bohemian traveling friend. I mixed them all with some coconut oil and painted the tops to make them personal. Special, unique details are the best.

Hope you enjoy these recipes as much as we did!
Xo Lo

What's the story morning glory?

Sometimes you just need breakfast on the go. And of course, the healthier the better. Since my daughter is now in full eating solids mode, I try to be versatile and prepare the healthiest foods I can.

This morning, in between Chuggington episodes, my daughter's giggles, and me attempting to work out, I threw this recipe together.

Morning Glory Muffins
1 1/4 cups flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
1 Tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup buttermilk (or any milk)
2 Tbsp coconut oil (or any oil)
2 Tbsp water
1/2 cup shredded carrot
1/4 cup raisins
1/2 cup shredded coconut
1 mashed banana
1 Tbsp chia seeds
1 tsp hemp seeds
1 Tbsp cinnamon
1 tsp allspice

Mix dry ingredients together, set aside. Mix wet ingredients together, combine with dry. Add in fruit and spices. Oil a muffin tin and scoop into each spot. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes or until a knife/toothpick comes out clean. ***You may have noticed I did not use eggs, I didn't have any so I was resourceful. Great for anyone with egg allergies. Or anyone who has no groceries...like me.***

They are so delicious and my 14 month old gobbled hers down. Perfect for a busy day that needs a boost of healthy energy. Enjoy!

xo Lo

Whirlwind

This year has been a whirlwind, with having my first child and working, sadly, my blog has taken a back seat (and a little bit of my cooking). I have cooked some fun, creative dishes and, of course, I forgot my camera in the diaper bag, or in the laundry basket, or next to my bed. You may have noticed my new blog name, I wanted to re-vamp my blog. I am hoping to take it the next level eventually. I just felt like this name was more me. I mean what is better than homemade béchamel or whipped cream?

But, I am getting better at keeping my head afloat now. My little girl is 11 months old, her 1st birthday party (expect a special blog featuring this celebration!) is around the corner. 

Lately, my time has consisted of playing with my daughter, work, and focused on moving (back to Colorado we go!) In the midst of that craziness, I've realized how important it is to take time for what I love. Cooking. There is something about taking a bunch of beautiful, random ingredients and conduct them in a symphony of flavor that produces something that makes you smile. One morning, it was that perfect temperature outside that I wanted to start my morning off with a cup off coffee on the front porch. Mind you this mellow morning lasted about 30 seconds, until my daughter wanted to play in the grass. But hey, I had 30 seconds... :) 

To give my plain 'ol coffee a little bit of fancy, I topped it with a whipped vanilla meringue. Added the perfect pop of sweetness, and just made me feel special. 

After my daughter made it pretty clear this was not a morning of relaxation, I decided to introduce her to pancakes for the first time. Since, she is still being introduced to a lot of foods I chose to kick out the sugar, add in goat's milk (what we've decided to transition her to once she turns one), and I had some mascarpone cheese in my fridge, along with some oranges that needed zesting. And voila! Halen's Pancakes. 

Halen's Pancakes

1/2 cup mascarpone cheese
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking soda
pinch of salt
2 eggs
2 cups goat milk (buttermilk or whole milk would work deliciously)
1 tsp vanilla 
zest from one orange
2 Tbsp butter
honey for serving
berries for serving

I started by combining the dry ingredients together. Then I whisked the vanilla, milk and orange zest into the eggs. Then I combined wet and dry ingredients together, I added the butter, being careful not to over mix. Let the batter sit for a few minutes. I got my skillet hot, placed a bit of butter and then I made silver dollar size pancakes for Halen using a tablespoon. For my husband and I, I used a 1/3 measuring cup. 

Once the pancakes are done, I drizzled the adult pancakes with honey and placed a few blueberries and strawberries on top. For Halen's I placed them on her tray along with the berries. Needless to say, she approved! 

My friend's birthday was this past weekend, and with the rising heat I decided a regular cake just wouldn't do. I had seen these watermelon faux cakes on Pinterest and decided to give it a go. I bought a small watermelon, sliced almonds and fruit all from Trader Joes to make this springtime gem. 

Dana's Watermelon "Cake"
one small watermelon
2 kiwis
a handful of raspberries
1 cup sliced almonds
Homemade Whipped Cream 

I sliced the watermelon to model the shape of a small cake, making sure the top and bottom were flat. Then I made my whipped cream. I iced the cake and used my hands to stick the almonds onto the sides of the cake. I sliced up some kiwis and fanned them out on top. I finished by placing a few raspberries on the very top. 






Homemade Whipped Cream
1 cup heavy cream
1 Tbsp sugar

Whip the heavy cream on high, add in sugar. Let beat until peaks start to form. Do not over beat, or you will get butter. 








And for a perfect centerpiece to any dinner table, any celebration you can always make a personalized flower pot. We did this for Valentines Day, and we love using it for all different flowers. Made from yours truly, my dear Halen girl. 

What a girl wants...

When you have a craving...especially as a cook...it takes everything in you not to just whip out your garlic, onion, olive oil, saute pan and start cheffing it up. 

I started back to work and the field across from where I teach is covered in cacti, and attached to the top of these cacti were these GORGEOUS fuschia colored prickly pears. Eventually, I had to stop staring at them every morning and afternoon, and actually pick some. Well this feat seemed a bit more challenging than my taste buds were ready for. I walk over to these massive cacti and start picking the luscious fruits off the tops. I hear yelling and look over to some construction workers waving their hands as if in warning. A kind man finally walks over to me and says, be careful those have a lot of tiny needles in them. As the words were coming out of his mouth, I look at my needle covered fingers. After pulling out the ones that bothered me the most, this kind man gave me a trash bag, and some gloves to finish picking my lot. {I think I continued pulling the tiniest of needles out of my hands for about a month, until they were all gone.}

Once home, I started to look up recipes for what to do with these amazing fruits. I remember various Mexican restaurants offering prickly pear margaritas or martinis on their menu, and figured that's were I would start. I immediately called my friend and we decided to have dinner that night and reap the rewards of my sore hands. 

But again, more challenges arose. These prickly pears are not easy fruit. They are a ratio of 90% seeds to 10% fruit in each and every pear. For most people, this just would not work. But I already picked dozens of these fruits and wanted a reward. So I cut around the seeds and peeled until I had about a cup of gorgeous pink colored flesh. 

Prickly Pear Margarita

1 cup prickly pear flesh

2 parts margarita mix

1 part tequila

lime

salt

We blended these up and man were they delicious. All my sore, stained fingers relaxed as I sipped on my fabulous margarita. 

To pair with that we decided to have an appetizer. As most of you know, I am a big fan of working with what I've got. So I looked in my pantry, prior to my arrival at my friend's house, and found beans, cotija cheese, and chips. So I decided to whip up a bean dip to go with our Mexican themed dinner. 

Spicy Cotija Bean Dip

1 can of refried beans

1 can diced tomatoes

1/4 cup creamy dressing

1/4 onion, chopped finely

1 garlic clove, minced

1/3 cup cotija cheese 

I sauteed the onion until translucent, added the garlic and then added the tomatoes. Once this developed a wonderful perfume, I added in my refried beans (mine had jalapenos in them, choose the spiciness you prefer). This did not need to be on the heat for long, just enough to warm up the beans. To counter the spiciness, I added some creamy, feta cheese dressing (just happened to have it on hand), add whichever creamy dressing you prefer. This element would cool down the spicy beans, just a bit. Then I folded in half of the cotija cheese and topped the bean dip with the rest. I happened to have some muli-grain chips, which is what I served with the dip. 

Pizza a la carte
2 cornmeal crusts
sausage
mozzarella cheese
pesto
edamame
tomato slices
onion
asparagus

These pizzas are a blank canvas. They can really be anything you want them to be. The crusts are nice because they are crispier and have that crunchy bite to them that the cornmeal gives. For our main course, my friend had some delicious cornmeal crust pizzas. So we decided to use those and whip up some pizza a la carte. Meaning we added whatever we had on hand, on top. We made some pesto pizzas with mozzarella and we made some with sausage and veggies. Add whatever you like! Bake it at 350 for about 20 minutes or so.

Lamb Kebab Mediterranean Salad

lamb kebabs
romaine lettuce
kidney beans
garbanzo beans
tomatoes
beets
olives
creamy dressing


To round our our meal, we decided to also have a salad. First, we seared the lamb with olive oil, salt and pepper. Once the pieces had a crispy crust and enough time to be medium-rare, we took them off the stove and let them rest. Meanwhile, we cleaned our lettuce then in a large salad bowl combined all our ingredients. We mixed this with our creamy feta dressing and topped with the lamb kebabs and a bit of cotija cheese. What an amazing salad, full of flavor.

This menu is sure to please women and men alike. Make for a simple gathering or a fancy night in.

Enjoy!

xo Lo

Mama's Brunch

I love watching Food Network, I gain a lot of my inspiration for cooking from here. Bobby Flay is a pretty incredible cook, I love his show Brunch at Bobby's. Brunch is my all-time favorite meal. I absolutely love it. When I became a mom I knew I would want to host a brunch with all the mamas and babies. After a few months to get my bearings, I was able to do so. I utilized one of Bobby Flay's brunches as my foundation and tweaked the recipes just a bit to fit in my cooking style.

Orange-Ricotta Pancakes with Fig Compote

3/4 cup flour
2 Tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp  baking powder
salt
1 cup ricotta cheese
3/4 cup milk
3 eggs, separated
1/2 tsp vanilla
orange zest
butter

Fig Compote
12 oz figs
4 Tbsp butter
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup trail mix (or any nuts you have around)
salt
pepper

Mix dry ingredients together. Then combine ricotta, milk, egg yolks, vanilla and zest in a separate bowl until smooth. Beat the egg whites in a standing mixer until stiff. Add dry ingredients to the ricotta and milk, fold to combine. Whisk in small amount of egg whites to lighten the batter, then fold in the remaining egg whites. I heated up my griddle and brushed the surface with butter. Use 1/3 cup to scoop batter onto the griddle. When bubbles start to appear, flip.

Add all ingredients for compote together in a small sauce pan, cook over high heat and stir frequently. Should take about two minutes for the figs to soften and break down. Pour into bowl for serving.




Italian Home Fries

3 Tbsp butter
3 cloves garlic
1 small onion, sliced thinly
1 small red bell pepper, diced
1 small yellow pepper, diced
1 1/2 lbs small new potatoes, diced
8 oz Italian hot sausage, remove from casing
1 Tbsp finely chopped fresh rosemary
2 Tbsp finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
drizzle olive oil
salt & pepper

The night before (to save time) I chopped everything up and put it into a ziploc bag. I stuck it into the fridge and the next morning, heated up the butter on the griddle and poured the ingredients onto the griddle pan. I added the fresh herbs once the onions, peppers and potatoes started to cook. The smell is incredible! Once the sausage is browned, cooked through and potatoes are crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside, your home fries are done!

Soft Scrambled Eggs with Italian Cheese and Tomato Bruschetta
1 loaf of Italian bread
olive oil
salt & pepper
3 large tomatoes, roughly chopped
handful of basil, julienne
10 large eggs
4 oz Italian cheeses

Preheat grill pan over medium heat, slice bread, drizzle with olive oil and place down on pan. While bread toasts, toss tomatoes, olive oil, salt, pepper and julienne basil in a bowl. Once bread is toasted, mound the tomato mixture on top.

Melt butter into a large saute pan over low heat. Crack eggs into a separate bowl and whisk until fluffy. Add in coarse black pepper. Add eggs into the pan, mix gently with rubber spatula. Fold in cheese and after a few minutes remove from heat. Serve eggs with bruschetta.

Orange-Pineapple Mimosas
champagne or prosecco
orange juice
pineapple juice

I love changing up mimosa flavors, find any yummy juice or nectar and top that off in your champagne glass.

Blueberry-Fennel Ice
ice cube tray
water
blueberries
fennel sprigs

I decided to jazz up my ice for serving water, so I put a few blueberries and fennel sprigs in the cube tray. Freeze and it looks pretty with the color. You can use any fruit, herbs, etc.


It was so wonderful to get together with my great mama

friends and to see their babies. Our little ones played and we took some adorable pictures. This brunch is great for any gathering.

Enjoy! xo Lo

Pizza!

My husband LOVES pizza. Every time I ask him what he wants for dinner, his answer is always, "pizza." Sometimes I'll ask him a question that is completely unrelated to food and his answer will still be, "pizza."

I've always wanted to make homemade pizza but I've failed many times...the crust has always given me a hard time. While grocery shopping a few weeks ago I stumbled upon frozen cornmeal crust pizza crusts. I was elated! Finally I could make homemade pizza! They were gluten-free which is a plus for many people and they were smaller so we could still use portion control.

Next I needed to find the toppings, our family friend gave us a jar of her homemade marinara sauce, so we definitely wanted to use that. Then I decided on leeks, chipotle sausage, and mozzarella cheese. But you can put any toppings you like on it. Leeks are a great alternative to onions, especially when they are all caramelized...yum!

Leek-Sausage Pizza on a Cornmeal Crust
2 frozen cornmeal pizza crusts (or make your own or get regular crust)
1 lb chipotle sausage
1 large leek, sliced
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1 cup marinara sauce

I baked my crusts just a tad so they were a little crisp. Meanwhile I sauteed my leeks until they were tender and caramelized. I also cooked the chipotle sausage until mostly cooked through. Once the crusts were ready, I ladled the homemade marinara sauce on top, a big scoop of sausage, leeks and finally, shredded mozzarella. Bake in 400 degree oven for about 10-15 minutes. This pizza was outstanding, we can't wait to make it again.

We served this with a simple romaine lettuce salad, raw mushrooms and southwest cheddar dressing.

This is a fantastic meal if you need to whip something up quickly, if you are craving pizza but don't want to ruin your healthy eating habits or just want a yummy dinner for a Friday movie night.

Enjoy! xo Lo