Cookie Butter Dip

Trader Joe's Speculoos Cookie Butter made into a dessert dip.

Guys, this is an award winning dip. At least it was when I made it at an office dip off contest! It's a super easy recipe and it's very forgiving, so you can add as much or as little of the cookie butter you want depending on your preference. And it's cookie butter, you can't go wrong. So next time you're in Trader Joe's pick up a jar, and the other ingredients, and wow your friends.

Cookie Butter Dip Recipe

1 8oz cream cheese
1 cup cookie butter
1/4 cup of milk
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup crushed toffee candy
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Drizzle
1 tablespoon cookie butter
1 teaspoon milk
1/2 teaspoon confection sugar (add more to thicken)

Topping
Crushed pecan praline and toffee candy

1. Mix all of the ingredients (cream cheese, cookie butter, milk, sugar and vanilla) and then fold in the toffee.
2. Add the drizzle, praline and toffee toppings and refrigerate until cold.

Peach Cobbler

Because nothing says hellooo summer like a peach cobbler and some ice cream.

Dinner for One: Seared Scallops and Cabbage

The thing about having your own place is that you are responsible for all your meals. You simply cannot open your fridge and expect there to be food. You have to get food to put it there. It was a simpler time when I was living with my parents. I never had to worry about what I was going to have for dinner. But I digress. 

So one of my dinners this week was this scallops, bacon and cabbage dish. It was quick and easy to make, which is perfect on a week night.

What else is a good dish to make on a weekday evening? 

Sunday Breakfast: Spinach Baked Eggs

It's been such a long time since I've made breakfast and posted about it on here!

Over the weekend, I invited some family over for breakfast. This version is different than these baked eggs. Both very good!

Luckily, I had enough food in my fridge to put together a meal. Even though I've settled in my apartment just over a month now, I never seem to have much in the fridge. This recipe is super easy, packed with flavor and all around... delicious.

Spinach baked eggs recipe

8 eggs (2 eggs per ramekin)
1 tablespoon of butter
1/2 teaspoon of olive oil
1 cup of spinach
1 minced shallot
1 tablespoon of rosemary
1/2 tablespoon of thyme
3 tablespoons of heavy cream
parmesan cheese
salt and pepper

1. Heat the skillet with butter and sauté the spinach, about 3-5 minutes. Remove from heat.
2. Heat olive oil and the rest of the butter, sauté the shallots until translucent. Add the rosemary, thyme, salt and pepper. Remove from heat.
3. Preheat the oven to 375. Add a teaspoon of butter to each ramekin and heat in the oven until melted. Once heated, add spinach, 1 tablespoon of cream, two cracked eggs and drizzle the butter herb mixture on top.
4. Bake for about 7 minutes. Add cheese, wait about 1-2 minutes before serving.

** You may add cheese before baking if you like it melted. 

White Chocolate Toffee Popcorn

One of my favorite things about going to a party is, yes, the camaraderie among friends, but also bringing along a dish or snack. Because, really, what is a get together without food? I wanted to make something simple and easy to snack on; and popcorn came to mind.

I was inspired by the market gourmet, dessert kind. So this is not just your normal buttery microwave popcorn.

But, it might as well be though with how easy it was to make. So I present you with a sort-of recipe for homemade white chocolate toffee popcorn since you can’t really go wrong with what you add in it or how much of it.

I also packaged them in cute little cellophane bags with a handwritten label for easy snacking. 

The ingredients:

For the popcorn itself, I used 2 bags of salted popcorn, no butter.

A bag of white chocolate chips, milk chocolate chips and Heath toffee bits.

The method:

Short version: Melt the chocolate, mix it in with the toffee and cool in the fridge.

Detailed version:

After popping, I poured all the popcorn into a big bowl and melted about half the bag of white chocolate chips the double boiler way (heat a pot of water and putting a bowl over it).

Drizzle the white chocolate over the popcorn slowly and mix until the popcorn is coated. Add in the toffee bits and place the popcorn onto a cookie sheet.

Melt the milk chocolate the same way as the white chips (this time, I used ¼ of the bag) and drizzle it over the popcorn using a spoon or like me, put it in a ziplock bag, cut a small corner and squeeze the chocolate. (much cleaner and even result).

Refrigerate for 20 minutes to cool.

Sunday Breakfast: Overnight Baked French Toast

I'm really liking the idea of pre-made breakfast. Like how this oatmeal was made overnight, this french toast was too. sort of. The night before, I threw all of the ingredients together and let the egg mixture soak into the bread overnight, and then baked it in the morning.

Sunday Breakfast: Peaches and Granola

My Sunday morning was like how all sunday mornings should be. Quiet, peaceful, sunny, relaxing... all the adjectives you can think of to make a Sunday sound perfect. Although, it was not. Yes it was sunny, and yes, it was quiet, but it was also rather lonely coupled with a bad (burnt) batch of granola and over-ripe peaches. I looked at my granola and thought "maybe I can eat it still..." but by how black it was, I think it was best to part with it. And the peaches? Cooking overly ripe fruit results in a mushy mess. Luckily I had a few left that were not too ripe to make a part two of these caramelized peaches and granola for my greek yogurt.

All this to say, not all of what we see is the whole truth of the matter.

And also, to keep a watchful eye over your granola in the oven. 



I used my favorite honey granola recipe but without the dried fruit.

Caramelized Peaches

1 tablespoon of butter
Peach slices (I used just one peach)
Honey

Heat butter over a skillet and add in the peaches. Cook until soft and drizzle on the honey.

Sunday Breakfast: Overnight Oatmeal

A breakfast that takes maybe 5 minutes tops to make? This is a lazy Sunday morning breakfast maker's dream. Probably the second best part about overnight oatmeal is that you don't even need to make it in the morning.  Make it the night before, as its name alludes, sleep in as long as you want on Sunday and when you wake up, breakfast is ready. I've been trying to eat more healthy, although I can't promise that every breakfast will be this wholesome. Unless french toast can fit in there some how.

I love simple breakfasts. This one is especially easy to make for the rest of the week when you're on the go in the mornings. 

Overnight Oatmeal (with mango and coconut)

1 cup of rolled oats
1/2 cup of almond milk
1/2 tablespoon of agave nectar
1 tablespoon of shredded coconut
1/3 cup of mangos

Mix ingredients together in a resealable jar and cover overnight. Enjoy the next day warm or cold.

Note: Easily substitute mangos for other fruits and pile on the toppings as you like.
*Use more milk if you like your oatmeal less thick.

Rosemary Cauliflower Mash

I love experimenting in the kitchen with ingredient substitutes. Like, instead of using cow’s milk in cakes, I’ll use almond milk (see blueberry coffee cake recipe) or instead of mayonnaise for my banana bread, I’ll use yogurt. Last weekend when I came home from the Saturday Morning Market with a couple heads of organic cauliflower, I was determined to make a mash using that rather than its potato counterpart. Low carb, easy to make and 3 main ingredients? Yes please.

Rosemary Cauliflower Mash

2 heads of cauliflower

1 onion
half a garlic bulb

½ cup of olive oil

2 tablespoons of fresh rosemary

Salt and Pepper

Preheat oven to 375F. Line a baking sheet with foil, add the cauliflower, onion, and garlic in a single layer and toss with olive oil. Sprinkle on a generous amount of salt and pepper.

Roast in the oven for about 45 minutes or until it starts to slightly caramelize and turn golden.

Pour the roasted veggies into blender or food processor (I need to buy one). Add rosemary and blend until it’s at your preferred consistency. Add stock if it’s too thick.

Add more salt and pepper if needed, and serve.

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Sunday Breakfast: breakfast quiche

Sunday breakfast is more than just breakfast in my home. It's become a story, a celebration and a time to be creative. Although my Sunday mornings seem a bit routine - boring even: wake up, make breakfast, take pictures, eat and enjoy. It's really the little things that goes into the process that makes each one special and unique.



Take this past weekend for instance when Joshua was in town.

Sunlight flooded through my bedroom blinds, beckoning us to wake. Too beautiful a morning to let it go to waste. So we two, for the first time together, rode our bikes to the market for breakfast essentials. Such a sight we were on our mismatched bikes and matching mismatched outfits. It didn't matter. It was such a luxury biking beside him for a morning errand. Fresh air and quiet roads, just us two. It didn't bother me how crazy my hair must've looked in the resistance of the breeze or that I wasn't wearing makeup, because to him, it's not important. That's love isn't it?

If only all mornings could start off like this. Routine or not. But it's rare moments like these that makes a mundane errand something much more. I find that it's just the little things that make the heart flutter and a boring morning better.

We even invited some friends over to share and to chit chat about nothing. I love weekends.

Ham and Red Pepper Quiche

3 eggs

1 store bought pie crust at room temperature

½ cup of Italian cheese

½ cup chopped red pepper

¼ cup of chopped cooked ham

½ cup of sautéed spinach (olive oil and garlic)

1 ½ teaspoon of all-purpose flour

½ cup of milk

1/8 teaspoon of Italian seasoning

Salt and black pepper

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Press the pie crust into a pie pan, trim the excess dough and roll the top of the crust. Line the piecrust with foil and beans or rice. Bake for 7 minutes then remove the foil and beans or rice, bake for 2-3 more minutes until piecrust is dry. Remove from the oven and reduce the temperature to 325.

Combine cheese, red pepper, ham, flour and seasonings. Beat in the eggs and milk. Pour mixture into the pie shell and bake for 20 minutes or until the filling is set. Let cool for 5 minutes before cutting and serving. 

018 // Sunday Breakfast

Those little baked egg cups from last week were too cute I had to use it again. So this for Sunday breakfast, I made mini blueberry cakes with a berry glaze. It's been a while since I baked something sweet for breakfast! and oh did these hit the spot! I decided to go with a different recipe from my usual blueberry coffee cake. This one is more muffin-y and just as good!



...and I knew one day my clumsiness would show. As I was taking pictures of these blueberry cakes, I accidentally knocked over the gardenias. Luckily I was able to take a picture (the first one) before the mess and nothing got on the cakes! It was a close call.

Mini Blueberry Cakes

1 stick of unsalted butter*
1 1/2 cup of sugar
3 large eggs*
1 1/2 teaspoons of pure vanilla
1 cup of sour cream
1/4 cup of almond milk (you can use regular milk too)*
2 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons of baking powder
1/2 teaspoon on baking soda
1/2 teaspoon of salt
Fresh blueberries (I used a large carton from the market)**

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Cream butter and sugar for about 5 minutes until it is fluffy.
Add in eggs one at a time on low speed, then add vanilla, sour cream and milk.
In a separate bowl, sift together dry ingredients, flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
Mix dry ingredients with egg mixture until just mixed, do not over mix.
Fold in blueberries with a spatula until mixed.
Bake for about 25-30 minutes until cakes are browned.

*refrigerated ingredients should be at room temperature for the best results.
**sprinkle blueberries with a little flour before adding it to the batter so that they will stick nicely while baking.

Berry Glaze

1/2 cup of powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla
1 1/2 tablespoons of heavy cream
1 tablespoon of almond milk (or regular milk)
mashed blueberries

Mix ingredients together until it is at the consistency that you like.

012 // Sunday Breakfast

I usually try to avoid making breakfast that takes a long time to make. But, like last week, sometimes I can't help it. Yesterday morning, I woke up with an urge to bake. I had all of the ingredients to make banana bread, so I rounded them up and made another mess in the kitchen.

Oh let me tell you! As that bread baked, how wonderful my house smelled. The aroma of vanilla and banana seeped out of the cervices of that little oven of mine and pushed its way out filling up all the spaces in the hallway and living room. 

I had a pretty generous amount of batter, so I made some mini muffins. :) This recipe was passed down to me from my aunt. It originally called for mayonnaise, but I opted out, substituting it instead with yogurt. Best banana bread recipe I've ever used.

Banana Bread

4 ripe bananas, mashed
2 cups of flour
3 eggs
1 cup of sugar
1 teaspoon of vanilla
1/2 cup of plain yogurt
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of baking soda

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
Mix sugar, yogurt, eggs and vanilla.
Add in dry ingredients slowly.
Add in mashed bananas.
Bake for 45 minutes to an hour

011 // Sunday Breakfast

Stuffed french toast is my favorite breakfast food. It's one of those things that if it's on a menu, I will order it. It has to be stuffed, though, preferably with fruit...not to be so persnickety about it. After having my first stuffed french toast, I just can't go back to the regular kind. 

The Florida sun is always so beautiful in the morning. And today it was perfect, soft and golden. Enough to put me in the mood to make a breakfast that I love so much, but always put it off because of how time consuming it is to make. You know I like lazy sunday mornings, and making stuffed french toast is not like slathering on some grape jelly on toast. But with a morning like today and a mood not ready to be tainted, the conditions were just right to make my breakfast of choice. 

Translation: kitchen messes, I'm ready to take you on. 

Breakfast during the weekends have been a very intimate time for me lately. Just me and the ingredients for breakfast, and my kitchen tools to help me too, of course. 

The house is quiet except for the sounds of clinking bowls, a whisking fork and a sizzling skillet. This is the time for me to think, relax and let time slow down. 

A lot of french toast recipes call for many eggs. I'm always left with so much egg mixture and it's such a waste to see it all go down the drain. I used one egg and it's enough for 4 servings.

Stuffed French Toast and Rum Infused Strawberry Syrup 

French bread cut diagonally
Strawberries, sliced
Cream cheese
Blueberry and Blackberry preserve (any preserves or jelly will do)
1 egg
1 tablespoon of milk
Cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla
4 tablespoons of sugar
4 tablespoons of water
* 1 1/2 tablespoons of rum (optional)

Make these, then set aside.
For the egg mixture, whisk together egg, milk, cinnamon and vanilla.
For the rum infused syrup, gently press on the sliced strawberries (I used 6) to draw out a little juice. Add the water, rum and sugar.

French toast
Spread the cream cheese and then preserve on the bread. Add the strawberries and then top it off with another piece of bread to make a sandwich.
Dip the stuffed toast into the egg mixture quickly so that it will not be soggy after its cooked. I don't recommend soaking it.
Add butter to your skillet on medium heat and cook both sides until brown, about 2-3 minutes each side.

Syrup
On low heat, add the syrup mixture to a skillet for a couple minutes until the sauce thickens.
Note: It will thicken more off the heat.

This post is linked up with Sew Chatty, Made in a Day, The Trendy Treehouse, Hope Studios and Smart School House.