A Cure for a Sore Throat?

My sister and her family all caught a bug of some sorts that includes stuffy noses and sore throats. I don't typically get sick very easily, and was hopeful that I wouldn't get sick while watching her daughter throughout the week. No such luck. Unfortunately, I have a stuffy nose and a very sore throat.

My sister said she spoke with one of her co-workers and she said that milk, honey and turmeric is a cure for a sore throat. She didn't include quantities, but I think I came up with the perfect balance. Last night I tried this "cure" but was very skeptical, because milk + being sick has never equalled a pleasant combination. 

Surprisingly, the drink was sweet, earthy, and very smooth and soothing on my throat.

What you'll need:

(1 Serving Size)

Small Saucepan

1 3/4 c. Milk (I used skim)

2 T. Honey

1/2 tsp. Ground Turmeric

Wooden Spoon

Sieve

I chose 1 3/4 cups of milk, because that is how big my mugs are.

Warm the milk, honey and turmeric over medium to medium high heat and stir with a wooden spoon. When transferring milk mixture to your mug, pour through a sieve.

This will give the beverage a smooth consistency, which is what you want for a sore throat.

Let's hope this does the trick! If not, it still tastes delicious! 

Give it a try and let me know what you think. 

Christmas Party

There was lots of food at our Christmas Party! 

I couldn't seem to keep up with keeping the platters full! Our guests loved the food and I received many nice compliments. I'm so glad everyone liked everything. I had a few people suggest to me that I should start a catering/party planning company. :) 

Our camera is not working very well, so we didn't get the pictures we wanted of all of our guests. Also, I didn't get a picture of what the table looked like completed, or a picture of the table with the Chili & fixings... but here is a preview of the rest of the dishes. :)

^ Sweet Bacon Chicken Wraps ^

^ Veggie Tray ^

^ Crabmeat Puffs ^

^ Fruit Tray ^

^ Chicken Wings Served with a Blue Cheese Dressing ^

^ Cheese Platter ^

^ Tomato, Fresh Mozzarella & Basil ^

^ Herb Coated Goat Cheese ^

^ Chicken Wonton Cups ^

^ Banana & Chocolate Chip Bread ^

^ Oreo Truffles ^

^ Individual Orange & Chocolate Cheesecakes ^

  ^ Mini Red Velvet Chocolate Coated Cupcakes ^

 ^ Best Tacky Sweater Prize (Winner: My Dad, Clay) ^
[It was not rigged! We had our guests vote for the winner]

Thank you to everyone who came.

** If you are hosting an event - 
please consider me for your catering needs!! :) **

Butternut Squash Soup

I've made this Butternut Squash Soup before... and I feel that the idea always sounds better than the actual dish itself. It is a very thick and dense soup with an earthy flavor. While the recipe is quite easy, soups are always time consuming. The longer a soup sits and the flavors meld together, the better the flavor.

I changed the initial recipe that I have just a little bit. I roasted the butternut squash before adding it to the soup to add another level of depth. I also added some cayenne pepper and pushed it through sieve to give it a smooth texture. 

For the toppings, I took the seeds from the butternut squash, cleaned them and dried them overnight. Having the seeds dry overnight, also gave the soup time to marry and develop it's flavor. The next day, I cooked the seeds in a little olive oil and salt and pepper. I also chopped some sage and cooked it in a little butter until it was slightly crispy. When serving the soup, I topped it with Greek Yogurt, the cooked seeds and sage. 

The soup was tasty. :) Definitely gets better with age. 

Egg Scramble with Tomatoes, Avocado & Goat Cheese

 Yesterday morning I created an Egg Scramble with Fresh Tomatoes, Avocado & Goat Cheese. What a wonderful way to start the day. The dish's colors were so beautiful; yellow, red, green, white! I couldn't wait to dig in. 

This dish wasn't only appealing to the eye. The eggs were cooked perfectly, thanks to my lessons from Julia. The eggs were fluffy and savory, the fresh tomatoes brought a fresh dynamic, the goat cheese brought a nice contrast with its tang, and the avocado added to the overall creamy texture. This egg scramble literally melted in my mouth. 

Since I was only cooking for one, I wasn't going to use a whole avocado. Avocados brown very quickly, but I didn't want to waste a perfectly good half of an avocado. So, I decided to try and save it... I kept the core inside the half I planned to save, sprinkled lemon juice over the open flesh, and placed it in a plastic bag. I placed it in the fridge and hoped it would keep it's green.

This morning, I wanted to make Josh the same egg scramble wrapped in a tortilla shell. But would I have to use a new avocado? Or did the avocado I saved stay green and not turn brown?

<---- It stayed fresh!

Josh decided he only wanted avocado and not tomato or goat cheese... and I was too tired to try to convince him.

Two Egg Scramble-Avocado Wraps To Go.

Tacos w. Cucumber-Acocado Salsa

Last night, Josh requested tacos for dinner. And I wanted something a little healthier. So I came up with a compromise. I made Tacos with Ground Turkey, Cucumber-Avocado Salsa & Greek Yogurt with a side of Spanish Rice with Freshly Chopped Tomatoes. {Instead of the traditional ground beef, I used ground turkey. Instead of the traditional lettuce & cheese, I made a cucumber-avocado salsa. & Instead of sour cream, I used greek yogurt.}

For the Cucumber-Avocado Salsa, I mixed together chopped cucumber, jalapeños, cilantro & avocado and the juice of one lime with a little s&p. It was a burst of freshness with the cucumber offering a snap and the avocado giving a creamy contrast.

I used a box of Spanish Rice, but used Fresh Tomatoes! The box called for an option of canned tomatoes, but why use canned, when you have fresh readily available?

After the rice and ground turkey were finished cooking, I started to assemble our tacos. 

 The cucumber-avocado salsa was so fresh and delicious! I wanted to pull out a bag of Tostitos Chips and dig into the salsa... if only we had chips. Every ingredient brought the taco to a new level, with the savory ground turkey, the crunchy, creamy, fresh salsa and the tangy greek yogurt.

This was an experiment that ended well. :)

A Fair Price

Yesterday I went to the produce market and bought a bunch of delicious vegetables and some fruit. I don't know about you, but I love shopping for produce! Everything is so fresh and smells incredible! I was pretty happy with myself after this shopping trip. Well, to be honest, I'm always pretty happy with myself after a trip to the Joe Randazzo's. After washing up most of my produce, I couldn't believe how much I got for my dollar. That's another thing to love about produce shopping!

8 bananas (4 not pictured, because they are now banana bread!)
7 roma tomatoes
4 red peppers
4 zucchini

4 limes
4 red onions
4 avocados
3 spanish onions
3 garlic cloves
2 cucumbers
2 heads of lettuce

2 bags of spinach

2 cartons of grape tomatoes

2 bunches of cilantro

1 bunch of parsley

1 carton of strawberries

1 bag of green grapes

1 bag of carrots

1 bag of celery

1 box of spanish rice

1/2 gallon of apple cider

_______________________

Total Cost $27.13

I think this is pretty good. :)

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 

As soon as I walked in the door, before I even unpacked the groceries, I whipped together Banana Walnut Bread & slid it in the oven. I just couldn't wait! 

& It turned out perfect! 

It slipped out of the pan with the greatest of ease!

It was beautiful.

I sliced the entire loaf, wrapped it up and popped it in the fridge. 

Banana Walnut Bread

Repeat Offender & Bananas Foster

 Earlier in the week, I gave Libby the down low on my amazing turkey burgers and have been craving them ever since. 

So Tuesday night, I made Josh and I a couple burgers with wedge fries.

You just can't go wrong with these burgers!

For dessert I whipped up Bananas Foster. This is the dish that changed Josh's mind about bananas. I remember the first time I made it, we were living in our apartment. Josh wasn't too excited to have a dessert made with bananas. He tried to inform me that he didn't like bananas and that he would just have vanilla ice cream. But, I knew better. I knew that once he took a bite with the warm, buttery, sugary, sweet banana and cold vanilla ice cream, that he would change his mind. ...And he did.

After melting the butter and adding cinnamon and brown sugar, I tossed in the bananas and let them bathe in the goodness for a bit. Then, I lit that bitch on fire! {It is somewhat difficult to light things on fire and take a picture...so I'm sorry there is no picture. Next time I will have Josh be my photographer.}

 I scooped vanilla ice cream on a plate (Josh said he wanted 5 scoops of ice cream...) and poured the hot bananas & sugary sauce along side it.

It doesn't look very pretty, but it tasted fantastic.
I want to find a way to make this dish a little more appealing to the eye...so I guess we'll just have to have this dessert more often. :)