Meatless Monday! Caramelized Brussels Sprouts!

I took a few days off last week to go to my sister's wedding. It was fairly  mandatory I was these since I was in it :). She was beautiful and it was beautiful and I'm so glad I could share it with her. So, consequently I'm sorry I didn't get any posts lined up for the last few days. I'm still here though! 

This is a picture of a photo booth picture of us at the wedding. My sister is obviously in the middle. I'm on the right and our friend (and a bridesmaid) is on the left. I was the matron of honor :)

So...who going to say it? Brussels sprouts are not delicious. They are a love/hate vegetable with a strong flavor. I have never liked them my whole life. But you know what? I think I wasn't trying them in the right recipes...This, may be the right recipe because these were really good!

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Crisped Rice Cookies

Wait a second! Aren't these just rice krispie treats? Well...yes, sort of. I don't eat marshmallows because they aren't vegetarian and the vegetarian marshmallows are hard to find (for me at least). I have  missed rice krispie treats since I stopped eating marshmallows so I made these. I think I may like them more. They are dangerously good so it's a good thing this recipe only makes 5 "cookies" worth. So what makes these different? They have peanut butter and white chocolate and marshmallow fluff (which I can eat) and chocolate chips. Chocolate chips make everything better, like butter, or bacon, if you eat it. :)

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Meatless Monday! Tostadas!

I really hope you guys like my Meatless Mondays. I think it's fun to give you a peek into what I eat besides spaghetti and lots of different pizzas :). This meal was actually made by my husband. He's a really good cook. I wanted to share it with you though because it's quick and easy. We've actually had it three times in the past two weeks because it's so easy and good. Excessive? Maybe. Delicious and easy? Definitely. 

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Orange Curd Cake

Orange curd is something a little different, that people say "oh! that sounds like it would be good" but most people probably haven't made or had it. I could be wrong though. I know I don't see it often (or make it often). Lemon curd is delicious and has paved the way for other curds such as orange or even lime. Lime curd is really really good. I bet this cake would be delicious with lime curd in the middle and lime zest in the cake and frosting. The frosting on this cake is a cream cheese frosting and it adds a nice tang to the flavor. There aren't to many cakes I make where I think about them in the refrigerator and how I want to eat a piece then an hour later...I want another piece, then an hour later...

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Lemon Sticky Rolls with Cream Cheese Icing

The sticky rolls are a great twist on cinnamon rolls. I'm a pretty big fan of cinnamon rolls and sticky buns and pretty much anything with frosting. Can you tell? I saw there over on The Kitchn and knew I had to make them. We love lemon in this house and these sound delicious are so delicious. I cut down the recipe so that it only makes four but feel free to double or triple it if you need more or just want more :). There are only two and a half of us (although sometimes the half eats like a whole :), he ate three waffles yesterday morning for breakfast - who knows where he puts it) so as you know I like to cut recipes down to smaller sizes. They are big enough to fill up an 8" x 8" pan to give you an idea of their size. Are you ready for all of this lemon goodness?

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Peanut Butter Fondue with Jelly Filled Pound Cake

Please forgive the picture taking as it does not portray the peanut butter fondue as well as it should. This fondue is smooth and creamy and perfect for dipping. I'm really excited to say this is my first time participating in an Improv group for bloggers. The idea is that we are given two ingredients and we can make whatever we want to with them, then we all post about it on a specified day each month. I thought it sounded like a pretty awesome idea and I was right! :). This month, as I'm sure you guessed, is Peanut Butter and Jelly!

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Sweet Tea Pies with Lemon Whipped Cream

Almost everyone from the south loves sweet tea. I saw this pie over on Tasting Table and bookmarked it immediately. It's taken me a few months to get around to making it but it's a great pie that's different and fun. The pie itself has orange tea in it but you could probably use lemon. I thought the lemon whipped cream on the top added a nice touch though :). Pie is something I don't make to often although I'm not really sure why. I really like pie and my family loves pie, so maybe I will need to make it more. Summer is coming and more fruits are in season so maybe we will make some berry pies soon :).

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Meatless Mondays! Cranberry Crunch Salad

I hope everyone had a great weekend. I spent it with my sister and some friends and we had a lot of fun roaming around Washington, D.C. or few days :). I was a terrible planner and so didn't set up any posts for the last few days but now I'm back and have salad! Sometimes I make something like fish tacos and have a bunch of red cabbage left over and don't feel like coleslaw. I mean it's good and everything but you can only have so much before you're done with it. That's at least how I am. So, this recipe is similar to a waldorf salad but has red cabbage in it, which give it a lovely flavor and more crunch. I also used a bunch of the cabbage for homemade egg rolls but maybe we will talk about that another day :).

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Croissants

Yesterday we talked about a Cinnamon Croissant Ring and today we are talking about what you can do with the other half of the dough. Croissants! Some of them are chocolate filled and some of them are plain, which is okay with me because they're delicious either way. They're light, fluffy, crunchy on the outside, and soft on the inside. As I said yesterday also, they take a long time of waiting to make but it's worth it. One recipe cake make 32 croissants, or more if you want tiny ones, and they can be frozen either before baking or after baking to eat later. 

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Cinnamon Croissant Ring

Today I'm really excited to share this treat with you. A Cinnamon Croissant Ring! I know croissants are super intimidating to some people but I've taken tons of pictures to show you how things should look as you go along. This post probably will have more pictures than any of my other posts. Which should be really helpful :). My husband always teases me that I never make him croissants because I used to make them about once a year and he hasn't had them homemade in probably over two now. This was a great surprise for him and I thought you all would like it too!

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Meatless Mondays! Black Bean and Salsa Sloppy Joes

Growing up I remember eating lots of sloppy joes. It's something about the sauce in the can and the beef on the bun. I think messy foods sometimes have more appeal than something that you can neatly eat with a fork and knife. I no longer eat beef and haven't for years but I keep looking for fun sloppy joe style recipes. Most of the recipes call for the "crumbles" that are found in the freezer section but those usually don't appeal to me. I would really rather used chopped up mushrooms in a recipe because they still have the texture to stand up to most recipes.

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Angel Food Cupcakes

Sometimes you just need something that's light and fluffy, like a cupcake! Usually angel food cake is seen in the full bundt pan size and that can seem overwhelming if it's only four or five people eating it. This recipe makes 10 cupcakes and if people have two it's still not to much because it's angel food cake so it's not a heavy dessert. Remember the blackberry sauce that I made here? I used that on these and it was delicious. Of course you could use anything that you want. I also have some homemade lemon curd on hand and that was amazing as well with some fresh whipped cream on the cupcakes. 

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Meringue "Cupcakes" with Berry Sauce

These look so pretty spread out on a platter or on a tiered dessert stand. The cupcake is actually entirely meringue and there is no actual cake. Meringue is considered a "low-fat food" and these are the cutest little desserts that can be topped with anything. I topped them with a blackberry sauce but you could use raspberries, strawberries, or even  lemon curd, whatever you think would be delicious! And, they can be colored to go with a theme! :) Themes make all food more fun, yes?

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Berry & Lemon Cake

Berry and lemon just always seem to go together to me in desserts. It's such a lovely sweet and tart combination. This cake is always fun to look at when you cut it, of course then you eat it anyway! Pastels are always associated with spring and Easter so this cake looks like a nice spring treat. The pink can be any type of berry flavor, I used blackberry extract. 

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Mixing Up Meatless Mondays! Homemade Hot Sauce & Homemade Ketchup

I know on Meatless Mondays I usually do a dinner or a side dish but this time I thought it would be fun to showcase some condiments that you can make from scratch!

These are super easy to make and you probably have most of the ingredients on hand for them. The hot sauce can have any mix of peppers that you want and the ketchup spices can be adjusted accordingly to meet your tastes.

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