Travel Destinations & Culinary Adventures

Taste

Baileys Cookies and Cream Parfait: Whip Your Way into Dessert Delight

by Leave a Comment

Since party planning for our St. Patrick’s Day party, I have been staring at one drool-worthy photo on my Pinterest dessert board. If I had know how delicious Homemade Hooplah’s Baileys Cookies and Cream Parfait was, I would have made it sooner. This dessert is absolutely delightful!

The recipe includes pillowy layers of homemade Baileys whipped cream nestled between Oreo cookie crumbs and the light chocolate layers of…wait for it…even more whipped cream. If you’re like me, you’ll find yourself digging the spoon deeper into the glass to drag a bit of each layer up with each serving.

Having never made homemade whipped cream, I was frustrated when my bowl of Baileys, heavy cream, and powder sugar didn’t form “stiff peaks” after using a hand mixer for a few minutes. That’s because delicious whipped cream takes time! After seven minutes, I finally had real whipped cream. After 10 minutes I had eaten nearly all of it. Don’t judge me.

Tip: Over mixing your cream can turn your mixture into butter. Set a timer before you begin the process of mixing.

Homemade Hooplah’s recipe creator Chrisy recommends using a piping bag to add each layer to the glass to build your parfait. I also recommend doing so if you want to avoid messy layers. If you’re going for that Pinterest perfect photo, add your whipped cream to a corner-snipped Ziplock bag or buy a piping bag before preparing this recipe. While she give the option of crushing Oreo cookies inside a Ziplock bag, I crumbled the chocolate cookies in my Cuisinart. I love to watch theose blades whirl.

All the credit for this dessert goes to Homemade Hooplah, a Pinterest recipe success! What recipe is waiting for you to make it? Check out my Pinterest recipe boards to get some inspiration here.

Enjoy!

No Bake Energy Bites: A Mid-Day Snack to Keep You From Feeling Hangry

by Leave a Comment

Hangry – The word ‘hangry’ is a concise way to describe a common feeling. Hangry is a clever word combination of hungry and angry, and an adjective that describes being irritable due to hunger, according to Webster’s Dictionary.

Anyone who works with me knows that I keep snacks in my drawer (fruit roll-ups, whole fruit, or granola bars) so that in the event I begin to feel hangry, I’ve got relief nearby. Sometimes I can feel myself getting hangry mid-morning and nobody wants me to get hangry. Nobody. So, I grab a healthy snack.

Inspired by our healthier “lifestyle” (we’re not calling it a diet), I was inspired to make No Bake Energy Bites: A Mid-Day Snack to Keep You From Feeling Hangry. They taste like no bake cookies and curb your hunger thanks to the addition of oatmeal and chia seeds, a popular ingredient in smoothies and granola bowls. Chia seeds are a trending super food high in nutrients that provides boost of energy. You can purchase them in bulk at any health food store. Because they expand a bit when wet, they make you feel full! Oh, and total bonus…chia seeds are suppose to promote healthy skin and reduce the signs of aging. Well, duh! I think I’ll add them to every early morning breakfast.

These No Bake Energy Bites taste like a cookie but they’re healthy for you. This recipe included cocoa, chocolate chips, peanut butter, almonds, vanilla and honey add-ins. See the recipe card below.

Using quick oats as the base, the mix-in ingredient options are about as endless as your imagination. For example, you can make ingredient substitutions or try these flavor combinations:

  • butterscotch chips for chocolate chips
  • chopped dried bananas, bacon bits, and peanut butter
  • dried apple chips with raisins and cinnamon
  • sunflower seeds instead of peanuts or almonds
  • Nutella and dried berries like cherries or blueberries
  • crushed honey oat cereal and peanut butter
  • cranberries, raisins, and toasted coconut with Nutella (see photos below)

Making No Bake Energy Bites is as easy as combining all of the recipe ingredients in a bowl, mixing them (your hands are a great kitchen tool but beware – the added honey will leave your hands sticky), and rolling them into one inch balls after the mixture refrigerates for 30 minutes. It’s a cinch!

This recipe version of No Bake Energy Bites includes cranberries, chopped peanuts, chia seeds, toasted coconut, raisins, Nutella, honey, vanilla, and oatmeal.
Work together all of the ingredients by pressing your spoon into the walls of the bowl and then finish mixing.

If you initially have a hard time rolling the mixture into balls, squeeze it in your hand until the mixture is tight and then use both hands to form a one-inch ball. Tip: Layer parchment paper (or wax paper) between the layers of energy balls in an airtight container before you store them in the refrigerator for at least two hours. I’m impatient and put my Tupperware container of energy bites in the freezer for one hour. A-c-t-u-a-l-l-y, I must admit that I ate one before the rest even made it into the refrigerator. They’re simply delicious!

Cranberry Raisin with Nutella No Bake Energy Bites

There you have it! No Bake Energy Bites are healthy for you and will save you from hunger pains at work so you don’t “bite” your co-worker’s head off. Yes, I went there (insert eye roll). Grab some oatmeal and your favorite mix-in ingredients and get started making tomorrow’s mid-day snack (or breakfast)!

No Bake Peanut Butter Chocolate Energy Bites

onedelightfullife.com
Fight mid-day hunger with this healthy grab-and-go snack that tastes like an oatmeal cookie.
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 40 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 40 minutes
Course Breakfast, Snack
Cuisine American
Servings 9 energy bites

Ingredients
  

  • 1 c. quick oats
  • 1/2 c. natural peanut butter
  • 1/3 c. honey
  • 1/4 c. cocoa
  • 2 T. chopped almonds
  • 2 T. milk chocolate chips
  • 1 T. chia seeds
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions
 

  • In a large bowl, mix all ingredients with a spoon.
  • Refrigerate mixture in the bowl for 30 minutes.
  • Remove bowl from the refrigerator and shape it into one-inch balls.
  • Place energy bites into a airtight container. Separate layers with wax paper or parchment paper.
  • Refrigerate at least an hour before serving.

Enjoy friends.

Michelada with Lime

by Leave a Comment

Affiliate Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate, I may earn commissions from qualifying purchases from Amazon.com. 

I used to think that people who ordered tomato juice with their beer were crazy. Why would you ruin a perfectly good beer with juice?

Then, I tried a Michelada.

I always enjoyed a spicy Blood Mary in a glass filled to the brim with towering veggies so honestly, it’s no surprise that I fell hard for Micheladas. You will too!

Great served during the hot summer months, the Mexican cocktail also compliments taco night or burgers off the grill equally. We tend to drink a few while cheering on our team on Sunday afternoons. Lighter in flavor intensity, it’s an more approachable than a Bloody Mary.

Always prepared using a Mexican lager, I recommend Modelo, Dos Equis, or Corona as go-to brews.

How to Make a Michelada with Lime Like a Bloody Mary you can add spicy flavor to a Michelada as well. I suggest swapping Zing Zang Bloody Mary Mix for plain tomato juice. Add a couple dashes of Maggi, and you have real depth of flavor.

Don’t forget to squeeze a lime wedge into it before serving. It makes all the difference. The citrus flavor cuts the spicy tomato flavor and gives a tangy finish, which I prefer over the flavor of a lemon wedge. Michelada Cocktails Make with Modelo BeerLet me know what you think of my Michelada recipe below. If you have the ultimate beer cocktail recipe of your own, please share it so I can add it to my recipe box.

Cheers!

Michelada with Lime

onedelightfullife.com
Amp up your red beer with a fiesta of ingredients.
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 10 minutes
Total Time 10 minutes
Course cocktail, Drinks
Cuisine Mexican
Servings 1 cocktail

Ingredients
  

  • 3 oz. tomato juice I prefer Clamato or Zing Zang
  • 2 dashes Maggi
  • 2 dashes worcestershire
  • 1 dash Tobasco
  • 12 oz. can Mexican beer
  • lime wedge
  • celery salt

Instructions
 

  • Rim a 20 oz beer glass in lime juice using the lime wedge
  • Rim the glass in celery salt
  • Pour tomato juice in glass
  • Add remaining ingredients
  • Finish squeezing lime wedge into Michelada

Notes

If you like a spicier drink, add more Tobasco or opt for Zing Zang in place of tomato juice.

Smoked Jalapeno Poppers with Gorgonzola and Buffalo Sauce

by Leave a Comment

Nothing says Super Bowl Sunday like stuffed jalapeño poppers and this recipe is a game day winner.

Nearly everyone serves stuffed jalapeños at their tailgate parties but what separates my recipe from theirs comes down to one added ingredient. Hickory smoke. These spicy bites will still satisfy game day guests even if you can’t smoke them on a Traeger because of the added gorgonzola and buffalo sauce flavor. And everything tastes better wrapped in bacon!

Watch the droolers gather around the kitchen when you bring in a platter of perfectly smoked poppers. The heat of the jalapeño, not the hottest on the Scoville Chile Heat Rating Guide for peppers, still brings noticeable mild to medium heat. If you’re serving beer, I strongly recommend you try a few of my more recent favorites Old King Krolsh (purchase a growler at Bricktown Brewery) or Boulevard Brewing Company’s Tank 7 Farmhouse Ale. They’re considered approachable beers by most craft brew drinkers and pair well with this appetizer.

If you leave the pepper’s membrane or seeds inside you’re guaranteed to light your mouth up with much more heat. Remove the insides with a metal spoon prior to stuffing them.

After mixing the cheese ingredients, you can begin stuffing each pepper with the filling.

The key to preparing this appetizer before game kick off time is to make sure you’ve prepped and preheated your smoker. We used Pit Boss’ BBQ Hardwood Pellets in Competition Blend pellets inside our Traeger the day we smoked these beauties.

Beginning at one end of the pepper, tightly wrapped the entire pepper in a slice of center cut bacon. You don’t need a toothpick to secure it.

While this recipe is meant to serve two people using three large halved jalapeño peppers you can certainly multiply it if creating more poppers for guests. I chose to include a small amount of store bought buffalo sauce into the mixture. If you wanted to crank up the heat even more, you could simply drizzle it on top making for a more colorful presentation too.

Should your team fall to the opponent during the game, you’ll still feel like a winner knowing that you served a delicious appetizer that everyone loved. Now, go fire up the smoker!

Smoked Jalapeno Poppers Gorgonzola and Buffalo Sauce

onedelightfullife.com
Your guests will rush the kitchen when they see you're serving smoked jalapeno poppers on game day. Touchdown!
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Course Appetizer, grilled
Cuisine American
Servings 6 poppers

Ingredients
  

  • 3 large jalapenos
  • 1/3 of a 8oz cube of cream cheese softened
  • 2 T. gorgonzola cheese
  • 1 T. buffalo sauce
  • 6 sliced center cut bacon

Instructions
 

  • Turn on the smoker according to directions to 350 degrees. (If you're not using a Traeger, prep your smoker according to directions.)
  • Half each jalapeno with a knife.
  • Hollow out each jalapeno halve using a metal spoon to rid of all membrane and seeds.
  • Using a fork, mix the filling ingredients in a small bowl.
  • Fill each jalapeno halve with cheese filling.
  • Gently wrap each jalapeno halve with one strip of bacon. Tuck the ends under the pepper and place end side down on the grill.
  • Smoke the jalapeno poppers with the lid closed for 15 minutes.
  • Remove and let rest a couple minutes before serving.

Baked Coconut Chicken Bites

by Leave a Comment

Why do we love bite-sized food?

Prepare to reward yourself with my recipe for delicious and slightly sweet Baked Coconut Chicken Bites, pop in your mouth goodness. More is better!

Coconut Baked Chicken Bites

I used to h-a-t-e coconut. The weird texture. The strange white color. Then my taste buds grew up. I love it now.

I wanted to recreate the same coconut chicken (or shrimp) that you find on most Chinese buffets, but a healthier, not fried version. This recipe is it.

Honestly, you could dip these bite-size morsels of goodness in any sauce from honey mustard sauce to mango salsa. Heck, you could even eat them naked, but you’d be missing out if you didn’t try scooping them into a small bowl of Mae Ploy Sweet Chili Sauce. (Purchase it at any grocery store or big box store.)

Baked Coconut Chicken Bites with Sauce

As mentioned in an earlier post, I’m a fan of grass-fed, free-range chicken. I’m not fancy. It’s just that the quality of chicken can’t be matched because it is succulent and tasty. It’s worth every penny.

Let me know what you think or these yummy coconut bites in the comments below.

Baked Coconut Chicken Bites

onedelightfullife.com
Don't worry about finding the Tupperware. Baked Chicken Coconut Bites are so delicious there won't be any left!
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Course Appetizer, dinner entree
Cuisine American
Servings 10 -15 bites

Ingredients
  

  • 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
  • 1 c shredded coconut
  • 1/2 c Panko
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp black pepper
  • 1/4 tsp garlic powder
  • 1 egg beaten

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
  • Beat egg in small, deep bowl.
  • Combine coconut, Panko, and seasonings in another small, deep bowl.
  • Cube the chicken breasts into 1" pieces.
  • Dip each cube into the egg, then the coconut mixture. Press the chicken into the coconut mixture to make sure it sticks evenly on all sides.
  • Place on a parchment lined large baking sheet. Do not crowd the chicken pieces.
  • Bake for 25 minutes or until brown. Turn the pieces over halfway through cooking time.

Notes

Some cooks prefer to brush or drizzle melted butter on top of the coconut bites before baking them.

Dutch Oven Bolognese Sauce

by Leave a Comment

This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you. Please read my disclosure for information. 

Bolognese, or ragu, is a meaty tomato based pasta sauce that can be served on your preferred pasta. Often created with beef and some kind of sausage, it typically includes a tomato paste, chopped vegetables, and a liquid such as broth and/or wine.

When I began to make Cooking Light’s 2014 recipe for Beefy Bolognese over Penne Pasta, I quickly realized that I was out of red wine. The horror! So, I substituted more chicken stock in its place. Instead of using ground beef, I used ground turkey. The addition of chopped center cut bacon completed the meaty trilogy. Incorporating finely chopped onion, carrot, celery, tomatoes, and garlic elevated the flavors and was a sneaky way to include more vegetables into our dinner entree.

I think you’ll enjoy my Dutch Oven Bolognese Sauce, a healthier, alcohol-free version of the Cooking Light recipe. Thick in consistency, it can be layered on top of freshly cooked pasta or nestled between lasagne noodles. The longer it simmers on the stove, the better it tastes at dinner time.

Top with shredded parmesan (optional) and more flat leaf parsley.

I like to organize my ingredients before starting the cooking process so I diced all vegetables and opened cans and jars before turning on the stovetop. This kind of preparation makes cooking much easier and enjoyable. You don’t feel rushed in a panic when preparing multi-step recipes like this one.

I chopped the raw bacon into small pieces before adding them to a medium-high dutch oven pot.

After cooking the bacon for about five minutes or until it reaches the crispness you prefer, add the ground turkey and Italian sausage. Cook six minutes or until brown. You will have to continually stir it to get it to crumble and cook evenly.

The Italian sausage leaves just enough grease in the pan once browned to cook the vegetables in the following steps but not enough grease to ruin the recipe.

After the meat has cooked thoroughly, remove it from the pan and set aside. Immediately add in the onion, carrot, celery, and garlic to saute for about five minutes.

Chopped your vegetables so that they are all the same size to guarantee that they cook evenly.

Add tomato paste and sauté while mixing one minute. Add stock and bring to a boil. Cook one minute, scraping the pot to loosen any browned bits.

Make sure to stir frequently.

Return the beef mixture to the pot and stir in the chopped tomatoes, pepper and salt. Cover and reduce heat to low and cook one hour. Make sure to stir the sauce several times to prevent it from sticking to the pot. Then, cook pasta according to package directions. Once the hour has expired, spoon the bolognese on top of your pasta of choice. Garnish with shredded parmesan and flat leaf parsley.

Dutch Oven Bolognese Sauce

onedelightfullife.com
An even lighter version of Cooking Light's meat bolognese sauce. The perfect slow simmer Sunday dinner!
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour 30 minutes
Total Time 2 hours
Course dinner entree
Cuisine Italian
Servings 4 cups

Ingredients
  

  • 3 chopped center-cut bacon slices
  • 8 oz lean ground turkey
  • 4 oz ground Italian sausage
  • 1 1/2 c finely chopped onion
  • 1/2 c finely chopped carrot
  • 1 T. minced garlic
  • 1/4 c unsalted tomato paste
  • 1/2 c unsalted chicken stock
  • 1/3 c. dry red wine I used more chicken stock
  • 1 14.5oz can unsalted diced tomatoes, undrained
  • 1/2 tsp black pepper
  • 1/4 tsp. salt
  • 8 oz. pasta
  • chopped fresh flat leaf parsley optional
  • 1 T. shredded parmasen optional

Instructions
 

  • Place bacon in a Dutch oven or deep pot with a lid over medium-high heat.
  • Saute 5 minutes until crisp.
  • Add ground turkey and ground sausage to pan and cook 6 minutes or until browned.
  • Stir until it crumbles.
  • Remove meat mixture from pan.
  • Add onion, carrot, celery, and garlic; saute 1 minute.
  • Add stock and bring to a boil. Cook 1 minute, scraping pan to loosen browned bits.
  • Return meat mixture to pot; stir in tomatoes, pepper, and salt.
  • Cover, reduce heat to low, and cook 1 hour, stirring several times.
  • Cook pasta according to box directions. Serve bolognese on top of pasta and top with optional parmesan and chopped parsley.
Shop red wine deals Shop now
error: Content is protected !!