Margherita Pizza-Zucchini Style

Two weeks ago I was so very blessed to receive two bags full of beautiful veggies from a friends garden. She gave me an assortment of peppers, zucchini, eggplant, squash and tomatoes. As soon as I got home I washed everything up and started to brainstorm what I was going to make. The first thing that came to mind was an appetizer I had seen on none other than Pinterest for zucchini pizza bites. I am not a pork or beef eater so I modified the toppings and made my very own margherita pizzas.

I used a half of one zucchini, two tomatoes, fresh basil from my garden, pasta sauce of your choice and mozzarella cheese. You can add or remove any toppings to make it suit your taste buds.

Slice the zucchini about 1/4-1/2 thick depending on how think you like your veggies. Add 1-2 tablespoons of pasta sauce and top with 1 tablespoon of cheese per slice.

Add fresh basil and tomatoes followed by a tiny bit more cheese :)

Bake at 350 degrees F for about 15-20 minutes

These were a delicious low calorie treat that took my mind off of the Mellow Mushroom pizza that I had been craving all week. Great as a meal, mid day snack or a party appetizer if served fresh.

Leave a comment if you have any questions. Happy Eating!

Brittney

Infusing Your Own Vodka

With Summer in full swing sometimes it is nice to unwind with a nice adult beverage (if you are of age, of course) at the end of the day. If you like fruity classics like Tommy Bahama's Grapefruit Basil martini or Bonefish Grill's Lemondrop martini then you are in luck. Infusing your own vodka to any fruity flavor is as easy as 1, 2, 3.

Start out my selecting your favorite non flavored vodka as well as a fruit of choice. You will want to use about 1 cup of fruit and make sure you remove any pits, stems or white fleshy residue like on citrus.

I chose to use grapefruit and lemons. You can cut or peel your fruit into one inch sections or if you are using a small fruit like a blueberry then cut the berries in half for full flavor infusing.

 Seal it up in a mason jar or container of your choice and let it sit for at least 24-48 hours.

You can strain your vodka and toss the fruit or your can do what I did and use it as a floating garnish in your drink.....or just eat them plain (prepare for instant buzz!)

Other great flavors are peach, mango and pineapple.

Leave a comment if you have any questions or fun flavor creations. Please drink responsibly. Firefly stitches and its owner are not responsible for anything you may or may not do while drinking alcoholic beverages.

Brittney

So Yummy In My Tummy!

One of my friends recently posted on Facebook a Paleo friendly fruit crisp with these directions:

‎3 cups of fresh or frozen fruit (I used frozen blueberries), 1 egg, 1 1/2 cups almond meal, 2 tbsp coconut oil, 2 tbsp cinnamon, honey......oven@350, put fruit on bottom of pie dish and drizzle with honey, mix egg, almond meal, coconut oil, and cinnamon in bowl.......by hand crumble the mixture over the fruit, bake in oven for 35 minutes...I put about 1/4 cup of coconut milk in the bottom of my bowl and put my serving of the cobbler in the milk, it was excellent but next time I think I'll serve with frozen vanilla yogurt.

I decided that I had to try it because it looked so yummy. I modified a few things so here is what I did.

First of all I decided to serve mine with frozen banana yogurt. Simply take 3-4 bananas and cut them into 1/2 inch slices and freeze them for 2-3 hours until they are solid.

 In the mean time you will need the following:

1 cup Bob's Red Mill GF almond meal/flour

1/4 cup pure maple syrup

3/4 cup dehydrated chopped coconut(unsweetened)

2 cups berries of choice

3 tablespoons of coconut oil

 Chop berries and place in bottom of baking dish add 1/8 cup of the maple syrup and just toss around the berries.

 In a separate bowl combine 1/2 of coconut and all of the flour.

 Add melted coconut oil and 1/8 cup of the maple syrup. Mix together and it should resemble a crumbly fruit topping. Put the topping over the fruit and bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes until golden brown on top.

Voila! It should smell amazing and look a little something like this.

After the time has passed for the bananas throw them in the blender or food processor and start pulsing. You will have to scrape the sides several times and move the bananas around. They will start to get crumbly looking. That is good.

Keep going

50 pulses or so later, the bananas should look a little something like this. I put mine in the freezer for about 15-20 minutes to firm it up a bit and then serve it with your fruit crisp.

 So Yummy!

There you have it. Paleo friendly, gluten free, vegan dessert. 

Brittney

Glazed Trout With Mushrooms, Spinach and Squash

Whew, I was so busy these past few days and I realized I had not posted anything since the 9th. I am slacking! My husband and I are in the process of cleaning out our cabinets and converting over to an unprocessed diet. At this time I can't really call it Paleo because we are not quite there yet, however, that is our goal. When we started this conversion last week I told my hubby one of the main things that he could not have was white potatoes. He agreed even though he is a total meat and potatoes kind of guy. It was too funny because last night when we were serving dinner he did a look around the kitchen just to make sure he was not missing any potatoes :). I made a super delicious dinner with fresh water trout and veggies.

It looked a little something like this.

For the glaze: 3 cloves fresh garlic

2 inch section of fresh ginger

1/4 cup maple syrup

1/4 cup of soy sauce

Put it in mini food processor for a few pulses until blended and set it aside for a minute. Score the fish all over making little "pockets" for the glaze to seep into. Pour over the fish and bake on 300 degrees for about 25-30 minutes.

In the mean time, saute some mushrooms in water, fresh garlic and pepper.

I also sauteed organic spinach and used the vegetable peeler to shred some squash. I cooked it the same way with water, pepper and garlic.

It was so yummy once we actually got to dig in!

Do you have any beginner Paleo or unprocessed diet recipes or tips? Send them my way and I will post them to share with others!

Brittney

Coconut- Key Lime Popsicle

Last Thursday I shared with you lots of great popsicle ideas. After looking at all of the recipes I decided I had to try one of them. I went with the key lime but decided to put my own spin on it and take out some of those calories. I turned them into coconut key lime popsicles and here is how I did it.

What you will need:

1- Dannon Oikos key lime greek yogurt

3/4 of a can of organic coconut milk

3/4 shredded unsweetened coconut

6-8 whole graham crakers

1 tablespoon lime zest

1. Add yogurt, coconut milk, shredded coconut and lime zest into blender and pulse 3-4 times

2. Crumble graham crackers into a fine crumb and place fill about 1/2" at bottom of mold

3. Fill with mixture, add the tops and freeze 2-4 hours

Find a cute baby and let him sample the popsicle!

Thanks for stopping by! Send me your popsicle ideas and I will post them.

Brittney

Things I Love This Thursday

Spring and summer are right around the corner; temperatures will soon be rising. Who says it needs to be warm to enjoy a fresh homemade Popsicle. Popsicle molds can be purchased seasonally at your local dollar store, Target, and online year around. The best part is you can fill the molds with anything that tickles your taste buds while keeping healthier than traditional sugar loaded popsicles. Yogurt and fruit create a fresh creamy treat or if you want something refreshing try sweetened cucumber water with fresh ginger. The possibilities are endless so here are a few to get you going. Enjoy!

Strawberry Basil Pop

Via Cound't Be Parve



Cucumber Lemon Pop


Via Family Fresh Cooking


 Margarita Pops-Alcoholic or non



Via Food Bride



Mojito Pops- Alcohol or non

Via Project Wedding

Yogurt and Blackberry Pop 

Via A Cup Of Jo


 Key Lime Pie Pop

Via Feast on the Cheap



Blueberry and Lavender Pop



Via LA Times

Click here for a great list of affordable popsicle molds.

If you don't have popcicle molds handy you can always stick a disposable spoon in a pudding cup and freeze it.....instant popsicle!

Send me pictures of your frosty creations and I will post them.

Homemade Chocolate Cake With Espresso Chocolate Buttercream

When a girl loves chocolate and a girl loves espresso what is a girl to do? Make a chocolate espresso cake of course!

I found a basic recipe in my Betty Crocker cookbook and added some ingredients and took away some ingredients. This is what I was left with.

For The Cake:

2 cups all purpose flour

1 Tbs baking powder

1 Tbs baking soda

1 cup white sugar

2 eggs

1 1/2 cups of chocolate soy milk

1/2 cups cocoa powder

1/4 cup of Trader Joe's Organic Midnight Moo Chocolate Syrup

For The Icing:

3-4 cups of powered sugar

2 sticks of softened butter, not quite room temp

1/4 cup chocolate soy milk

1 packet instant coffee

Trader Joe's sugar, espresso bean and chocolate grinder

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

oil and flour 2- 9" round cake pans

1. Mix all dry ingredients
2. Add all wet ingredients excluding eggs and beat for 1 minute on medium
3. Add eggs and beat an additional 2 minutes
4. Divide batter into both pans (batter will be thick)
5. Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean
6. Let cool completely

In the meantime for the icing:

1. Heat 1/8 cup of soy milk and disolve instant coffee packet. Let it cool completely
2. Cream the butter
3. Slowly add powdered sugar one cup at a time
4. Add all soymilk as needed for buttercream consistency

Preparing the cake:

1. Place first cake layer on dish of choice and frost with about 1 cup of frosting
2. Poke holes in cake with a fork about 20 times all over
3. Give a very generous squeeze of the Trader Joe's chocolate syrup
4. Add top layer of cake and frost the entire cake
5. Use the Trader Joe's grinder on whole top of cake

Enjoy!





National Cherry Month

February is known as National Cherry Month. From super sweet to super tart, bright red to deep maroon, cherries are an antioxidant powerhouse. Eat a handfull as a snack, throw them in a pie or make a glaze to go over a ham. Head to your local farmers market or grocery store and pick up a pound or two and make one of these yummy looking recipes.

Cherry Crisp in a Jar Via My Kitchen Addiction

White Chocolate Cherry Martini via Saucy Sisters

Sauteed Duck with Cherry Sauce Via Elsa Cooks



Cream Cherry Pops Via Zoku Blog



Via Sweet Designs-Amy Atlas

Via Bake at 350

Via Giver's Log

Check here to see if there is a cherry festival in your area!