S'mores Peeps' Recipe

If you haven't figured it out already, we absolutely love Pinterest {are you following our boards yet?}.  While adding pins to our Bunny Love board, we came across the absolute cutest way to enjoy your Easter Peeps this year: Peeps S'mores! All you need are your choice of graham crackers, a pack of Easter marshmallow Peeps, and a pack of Hershey's. Crack the graham crackers into two and place a peep on one side of the graham cracker and a Hershey's bar on the other. On a small plate, place the graham cracker filled with the Peeps and Hershey's bar into the microwave and heat it up for 10-15 seconds. Last, sandwich the two pieces together and walla, you have a delicious Easter dessert!

Yummy & Healthy Banana Nut Muffins!

These cold winter days have me pining for a warm, comforting breakfast… Without tons of added sugar and butter.  Anyone who has met me knows I want it all, in all aspects of my life.  Why can’t I have a warm, filling, and healthy breakfast?  Oh, that’s right, I can!  These muffins prove it.  So bake these up, eat them cold or warm them up, either way they are sure to satisfy your wintery sweet tooth and your grumbling tummy, without adding extra lbs to your waistline.  So enjoy a batch of homemade healthy, without any guilt.  

Ingredients:

½ C quinoa flakes or rolled oats

¾ C protein powder

¼ C gluten free flour or preferred flour

½ Tsp salt

½ Tsp baking soda

2 large bananas

2 Tsp vanilla extract

½ C preferred milk

1/3 C sugar (I used brown)

½ C Chopped walnuts

Optional add ins:

¼ C Chocolate chips

¼ C blueberries

Directions:

1.     Preheat oven to 355 degrees.

2.     Prepare muffin or cupcake pan with preferred oil or butter.

3.     Mix all ingredients together, spoon into prepared pan.

4.     Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until edges are starting to pull from the sides, allow to cool for a few minutes before serving.

Super easy & super healthy!

A Patriotic Dessert

We always love a good delicious recipe, especially when it is a healthier version, making you feel less guilty with each bite. One of our favorite foodies and bloggers, Arantha of Gourmet Beauty, shares with us her adapted recipe of the yummy skinny red, white, and blue lemon cheesecake cups. These treats are perfect for the upcoming patriotic holiday! Thank you Arantha!

Skinny Red, White,  & Blue Lemon Cheesecake Cups

Adapted from Skinny Taste 

Ingredients

12 reduced fat Nilla Wafers

8 oz 1/3 less fat cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla

6 oz fat-free vanilla Greek yogurt

2 large egg whites

3 tbsp lemon juice

1 tbsp lemon zest

1 tbsp all purpose flour

strawberries sliced thinly

blueberries

powdered sugar

Directions

 

Step One: Heat oven to 350°.
Step Two: Line cupcake tin with liners. Place a vanilla wafer at the bottom of each liner.

Step Three: Gently beat cream cheese, sugar and vanilla until smooth using an electric mixer. Gradually beat in fat free yogurt, egg whites, lemon juice, lemon zest and flour. Do not over beat. Pour into cupcake liners filling half way.

Step Four: Bake 15-20 minutes or until center is almost set. Cool to room temperature. Chill a few hours in the refrigerator.  Top with fresh berries before serving and sprinkle some powdered sugar on top if desired.

Enjoy!

Check out more of Gourmet Beauty's healthy recipes on her site now. What's your favorite dessert to whip up during the 4th of July?  

Table For Two

Dinner for two, me and you.  Since V-Day is a week away, now is the time to make dinner reservations for your romantic evening!  Most restaurants fill up fast, and there are things to look for when picking the perfect dining spot.  Whether you're out with a cute date or your BFF, this will help to make your dining experience even better!

Book early.  Make your reservation early.  Come the day of Valentine's Day, it will be hard to find an open reservation!

Prix Fixe menus.  For holidays such as this, a lot of places offer special menus at a set price.  Such as, a 4-course meal for $75.00 a person.  When booking a reservation, ask if there's a fixed menu for the night.  That way, it won't be a surprise on your wallet-- and, you can make sure you like what they're serving!

Nightly specials.  Ask about specials for the night.  This could be anything from a yummy main course, to a decadent dessert!  Some restaurants have dessert or other extras as an offer when purchasing dinner, which is good to know.

Not sure?  In that case, cook dinner at home!  Or, just go out to eat on February 15th with your sweetie.  You can avoid the crowds and pricey menus all together.  After all, every day can be Valentine's Day!

Recipe of the Day: Lemon Bars

Last night, each of our sweet tooth's kicked in, begging for some sugary goodness. We decided that dessert would fulfill our craving and left it to you guys to decide what we should bake. One of our fab readers, Victoria, suggested we whip up something that wouldn't require a lot of kitchen appliances. Sugary goodness....limited kitchen appliances...We couldn't think of a more perfect treat to fulfill these two must haves and that would be quick and easy to make: Lemon Bars!

Ingredients:

Crust

• 1 cup of softened butter
• 1/2 cup of white sugar
• 2 cups of all-purpose flour

Lemon Curd

• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 1/4 cups of flour
• 4 eggs
• 2 regular sized lemons (to be juiced)

~optional: powdered sugar

*9x13 inch pan to bake

First, grease your baking pan with oil and preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Then, in a separate bowl combined the Crust ingredients (softened butter, white sugar, and all purpose flour). Once well mixed, pour the crust mixture into the greased pan, pressing it into the bottom of the pan to form a nice crust mold. Place the crust-mixtured pan into the oven and let it back for 15-20 minutes. Remove the crust mixture, but keep the oven on.

For the Lemon Curd mixture, first combined the dry ingredients into a bowl (the white sugar and flour).  Whisk in the eggs and juice from the 2 lemons second. Pour this entire mixture into the now heated crust and pop the whole mixture back into the oven to bake for another 20 minutes.

Let the mixture cool allowing the lemon curd to settle in. Sprinkle the powdered sugar as desired on top of the mixture (optional). Cut into squares (serves up to 12) and you're all done!

Enjoy...{we did!}