just kari

I recently bought Denise's Daily Dozen and unlike some of the other healthy recipe books I've bought, there are actually some really tasty meals in this one.  Here's one I recently made. Pasta with Fresh Tomato Sauce What You Need: 2 oz. dry whole wheat spaghetti 2 tsp. olive oil 1 clove garlic 1 T. chopped shallots 1 C. roughly chopped plum tomatoes 1/2 C. low-sodium chicken broth Salt and pepper, to taste 2 C. fresh spinach 1/4 C. grated Parmesan cheese What You Do: Cook the pasta according to the package directions, drain, and put it aside.  Heat the oil in a large skillet.  Add the garlic and shallots and cook for 1-2 minutes.  Add the tomatoes and chicken broth and cook for an additional 10-12 minutes.  Season with salt and pepper.  Add fresh spinach one handful at a time and stir.  Cook until the spinach is wilted.  Add the cooked pasta and toss to combine.  Serve topped with Parmesan cheese. I ma...

I'm just a little late at posting these beautful, photo-worthy cupcakes.  (If you could hear me, you would sense my sarcasm!)  They may not look as pretty as the original recipe pictures, but they were a disaster a lot of fun to make!  My mom found the cute little sheep cupcake recipe and I found the others.  We spent the ENTIRE day before Easter slaving away in the kitchen.  We never could have imagined the hard work that we put into these damn cupcakes!!  After the first dozen, we decided to just ice them and throw some sprinkles on top.  Most of the recipes called for a batter made from scratch...ummm...we cheated and used box cake mix!  Lamb Cupcakes adapted from the  Imperial Sugar Website  (told you the orignal ones were cuter!) Easter Egg Basket Cupcake adapted from here . Bunny Rabbit Cupcake adapted from here . Easter Bark adapted from here . After we had all the fun we could ...

Thought I'd share this chocolatey delicious (adult) treat that I just made. It's pretty amazing and I'm pretty sure I could have another one...or two...but I'm going to resist. Oh, the self control!  David doesn't like coconut but he really liked this drink...so I had to share.  Aren't I nice?? Chocolate Covered Banana 1 1/4 oz. Coconut Rum 1 Banana - sliced 4 TB. Chocolate Syrup 1/2 - 1 C. Vanilla Ice Cream Place all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. I can't make a drink without putting salt, sugar, or something fun on top...and pink sugar did just the trick!  The only thing that could've made this better is whip cream on top!  Enjoy!!

Happy St. Patty's Day everyone!!  I had so much fun preparing this post...I got to drink booze and eat cake!   Now, that's what I call lucky!  The hubs and I decided to stay home since we have been under allergy attack all week.  I'm ok with having seasonal allergies...but not EVERY season!!  I'm so excited to share all the goodies we made for our St. Patrick's Night In so let's just dive right in! ♣  Grasshopper Cake  ♣ Ingredients 1 Box White Cake Mix  Ingredients called for on the Back of the Box: egg whites, oil and water 2 1/2 tsp. Mint Extract Green Food Color 1 16 oz. Jar Hot Fudge Topping 1 8 oz. Container Whipped Topping, thawed Creme de Menthe Chocolate Candies, chopped into pieces Instructions: 1. Preheat oven to 350F degrees.  Spray 9x13 cake pan (you also make cupcakes with this) with nonstick cooking spray. 2. Mix cake mix according to the directions on the back of the box. ...

We are doing a Christmas Cookie Exchange for work tomorrow ... an excuse to taste several kinds of cookies???  Yes please!!  I chose to do Peppermint Oreos - they were so simple.  Kind of time consuming but well worth it!  I will be posting pictures of all the cookies I scarf down taste test later. Recipes that call for only 3 ingredients are the bomb diggity! I chopped mine mostly into a powder and left some small chunks.  Dear hubby informed me some of my chunks were too big and he hopes people don't break their teeth.  Thanks dear hubby for your concern...now I'm paranoid to even take them to work...maybe I should just keep them at home and eat them all myself!! :) Also - the last recipe I needed crushed peppermint, I used candy canes and they were a pain in the you know what to unwrap.  The small candies were much easier...just a little tip! The original recipe called for white chocolate but I find these candy melts are easier t...