Wild Berry Muffins (gluten-free, paleo)

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Wild berries are all over the place right now!  If you are lucky enough to forage around and pick some, then you won’t regret it.  Otherwise, you could easily use any berry.
Wild Berry Muffins (gluten-free, paleo)
Ingredients:
6 eggs
1/2 cup coconut flour
1/2 softened butter
1/2 cup local honey
1 Tbsp vanilla
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
3/4 cup berries
zest from one lemon
Tbsp of fresh thyme (optional)
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F.  Mix honey and butter together and then add everything else.  Fold in berries.  Fill muffin cups and bake for 30-35 minutes.  Allow to cool and enjoy.

Kale, Strawberry, Avocado Salad w/Chia Citrus Dressing

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Once again, a recipe that isn’t really a recipe!  However, kale is super easy to grow and strawberry season is around the corner.  If this salad convinces you to grow some kale or eat some organic berries, then my job here is done.  Since I am a crazy person in the kitchen, I don’t measure anything.  You shouldn’t either.  You know what you like, give yourself enough to have multiple elements in every bite and a little extra of the things you enjoy the most. That wasn’t technical, but it works everytime. Kale (or any winter green) is bitter, so you need some sweetness and some acid to balance it out.  The strawberries could be switched for whatever fruit you have on hand.  The lemon in the dressing could be switched for your favorite vinegar.
Kale, Strawberry, Avocado Salad w/Chia Citrus Dressing
Ingredients:
kale, stems removed and leaves chopped
organic strawberries, hulled, halved
avocado, diced
a couple glugs of EVOO
juice of half a lemon
zest of a lemon
pinch of salt and pepper
dollop of honey
1/4 tsp chia seeds
Directions:
Chop all the salad ingredients into bite size pieces and toss together.  Whisk all the dressing ingredients together and pour over salad.  Kale is hearty, so even a dressed salad can store nicely in the fridge.

Lemonade

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I am not a huge fan of water all the time.  I’m human.  So, when the temperatures start to heat up around here, I could really go for some lemonade.  However, most lemonades at the store are full of sugar, stabilizers, and preservatives.  What’s a girl to do?  Make her own lemonade.  I had never made lemonade from scratch, but I will continue to make it for the occasional weekend treat after I fell in love with my first batch.  I wanted to share the recipe with you guys, because I know I can’t be the ONLY one that loves lemonade!

 

 

Lemonade
Ingredients:
bag of lemons
water
raw, local honey
Directions:

First you need to make the simple syrup.  Simple syrup is nothing more than sugar and water.  You can add different flavors to it, like mint, basil, ginger, etc.  However, for my first go around, I wanted to stay pure to standard lemonade.  I can always take a good foundation an throw twists on it!

Take one cup of water and 3/4 cup honey and put them in a saucepan on the stovetop.  Heat them gently until the honey is completely dissolved in the water.  Do not boil!  It shouldn’t take long.  When they are combined, take the pan off of the heat.

While the simple syrup is heating up, begin to half and squeeze lemons until you have 1 cup of fresh lemon juice.  It took me almost an entire bag of lemons, so be prepared!

Combine the lemon juice and the simple syrup in a pitcher, add 4 cups of water.  Done!

Refrigerate and serve over ice!

Cranberry Sage Cocktail

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This recipe is for all those craft cocktail drinkers out there. I have been researching shrubs for about 6 months now, so I was super excited to see this inspiration in the Costco magazine.  I get inspiration all over the place…and this one just happened to come from Costco! First things first, you need to make a shrub.  What is a shrub? It is a vinegar syrup.  Weird, I know.  However, they’ve been used forever as soda.  You can use them with club soda as a virgin cocktail or use it with club soda and alcohol for a cocktail!  This has a vinegar bite that you will appreciate if you like kombucha.  If you have never had kombucha, you may want to try a cranberry kombucha prior to putting the effort for this shrub!
Cranberry Sage Cocktail
Ingredients:
1 pound cranberries
1 cup honey
1 cup apple cider vinegar
2 fresh sage leaves
vodka
club soda
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F. Place the cranberries on a parchment lined baking sheet and bake for about 20 minutes.  Transfer the roasted cranberries to a quart sized mason jar.  Add the honey and cover and seal the mason jar.  Shake it so the cranberries are covered with honey.  Let it stand in the dark, cool place for 5 hours.
Add 1 cup of apple cider vinegar to the cranberries and shake the mixture to dissolve as much of the honey as possible.  Add the fresh sage leaves and shake so they are soaking in the vinegar.  Let the mixture stand for 24 hours in a dark, cool place, shaking regularly.
Strain the mixture through a seive and store in a clean mason jar.
Serve 2 oz of cranberry sage shrub, 2 oz vodka, with some club soda.  Garnish with a couple cranberries.

Limoncello

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Whenever holidays roll around, I think of all the things that I want to put special effort into.  It’s the one time of year to go the extra mile to make everything special.  Thoughtful gifts, foods that take a little extra effort, and cocktails that aren’t your everyday drink.  I decided to make limoncello this year because I love lemon everything these days!  This is fairly simple, but you have to think about it the day before.  It will stay in the fridge just fine for 3 months if you decide to make it now for your festivities. The recipe for a small batch.  If you want a big one, triple or quadruple it! Also, since we aren’t peeling the lemon, make sure it’s organic to avoid waxes and pesticides that sit on the outside of regular lemons. You can sip on this drink, take shots, or pour over ice and top with some soda water.  Cheers!
Limoncello
Ingredients:
1 lemon, sliced 1/4″ thick
5 oz vodka (Tito’s is gluten free)
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup water
Directions:
Over a low heat on the the stovetop, dissolve the honey in the water.  This gives you your simple syrup.  From that syrup, use 5oz to add to the vodka and lemon slices in a mason jar.  Shake to combine.  Let sit at room temp for 12 hours and then strain out the lemon slices. You can use the leftover simple syrup for any other cocktails that call for it!