THE BEST MASHED POTATOES!

THE BEST MASHED POTATOES!

•  prep time: 20 MINUTES
 
•  cook time: 25 MINUTES
•  total time: 45 MINUTES
 
•  yield: 10 -12 SERVINGS 

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INGREDIENTS

• 5 pounds potatoes (I use half Yukon Gold, half Russet potatoes)
• 2 large cloves garlic, minced
• fine sea salt
• 6 tablespoons butter
• 1 cup whole milk
• 4 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
• toppings: chopped fresh chives or green onions, freshly-cracked black pepper

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INSTRUCTIONS

• Cut the potatoes.  Feel free to peel your potatoes or leave the skins on.  Then cut them into evenly-sized chunks, about an inch or so thick, and transfer them to a large stockpot full of cold water.

• Boil the potatoes.  Once all of your potatoes are cut, be sure that there is enough cold water in the pan so that the water line sits about 1 inch above the potatoes.  Stir the garlic and 1 tablespoon sea salt into the water.  Then turn the heat to high and cook until the water comes to a boil.  Reduce heat to medium-high (or whatever temperature is needed to maintain the boil) and continue cooking for about 10-12 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the middle of a potato goes in easily with almost no resistance.  Carefully drain out all of the water.

• Prepare your melted butter mixture.  Meanwhile, as the potatoes are boiling, heat the butter, milk and an additional 2 teaspoons of sea salt together either in a small saucepan or in the microwave until the butter is just melted.  (You want to avoid boiling the milk.)  Set aside until ready to use.

• Pan-dry the potatoes.  After draining the water, immediately return the potatoes to the hot stockpot, place it back on the hot burner, and turn the heat down to low.  Using two oven mitts, carefully hold the handles on the stockpot and shake it gently on the burner for about 1 minute to help cook off some of the remaining steam within the potatoes.  Remove the stockpot entirely from the heat and set it on a flat, heatproof surface.

• Mash the potatoes.  Using your preferred kind of potato masher (I recommend this one in general, or this one for extra-smooth), mash the potatoes to your desired consistency.

• Stir everything together.  Then pour half of the melted butter mixture over the potatoes, and fold it in with a wooden spoon or spatula until potatoes have soaked up the liquid.  Repeat with the remaining butter, and then again with the cream cheese, folding in each addition in until just combined to avoid over-mixing.  (Feel free to add in more warm milk to reach your desired consistency, if needed.)

• Taste and season.  One final time, taste the potatoes and season with extra salt if needed.

• Serve warm.  Then serve warm, garnished with any extra toppings that you might like, and enjoy!

HOMEMADE CRUNCH WRAP SUPREME

 

Beans, pulled pork, cheese, tostada, lettuce, tomato and sour cream, wrap it all up in a little gift package of a flu tortilla

HOMEMADE CRUNCH WRAP SUPREME

yield: 8 SERVINGS

prep time: 20 MINUTES

cook time: 10 MINUTES

total time: 30 MINUTES

A complete copycat version from Taco Bell! Except completely homemade and made so much more healthier! Get your fix now!

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
• 1 pound ground beef
• 1 (1.25-ounce) package taco seasoning
• 4 (12-inch) flour tortillas
• 1/2 cup nacho cheese
• 4 tostada shells
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 2 cups shredded lettuce
• 1 Roma tomato, diced
• 1 cup shredded Mexican blend cheese

DIRECTIONS:

1. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add ground beef and cook until beef has browned, about 3-5 minutes, making sure to crumble the beef as it cooks; stir in taco seasoning. Drain excess fat; set aside.
2. Heat tortillas according to package instructions.
3. Heat nacho cheese according to package instructions.
4. Working one at a time, place ground beef mixture in the center of each tortilla. Top with nacho cheese and tostada shell. Spread sour cream in an even layer over the tostada shell; top with lettuce, tomato and cheese. Repeat with remaining tortillas.
5. Fold the edges up and over the center. Continue to work your way around the tortilla, folding as tight as possible.
6. Heat remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet. Place wrap seam-side down and cook until the underside is golden brown, about 2 minutes. Flip and cook wrap on the other side, about 1-2 minutes longer.
7. Serve immediately.

Pop Tart Gingerbread House

SUPPLIES

You’ll need 6 pop tarts. I used strawberry because it already had red and green sprinkles on the frosting.

You’ll also need a variety of holiday candies and royal icing.

EASY ROYAL ICING FOR FROSTING GINGERBREAD HOUSES

• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 2-3 teaspoon water

Mix sugar and water together until it reaches the consistency of craft glue. You don’t want it to be too runny.

GINGERBREAD HOUSE CANDIES

We all have our favorite holiday candies to use for gingerbread houses. My go-to candies are mints and chocolate candies in holiday shapes—like Santa, trees or snowmen.

TIPS FOR ASSEMBLING POP TART GINGERBREAD HOUSE

• Follow my instructions at the end of the post for cutting your pop tarts. ONLY USE A SERRATED KNIFE to cut the pop tarts. A paring knife will not work. Gently saw as you cut and you’ll end up with nice clean lines.
• Add a bead of icing to the pop tarts and use your hands to hold the 4 walls into place for a minute or two. After that, the icing is tacky and will hold it on its own.
• Repeat for the roof, holding it in place for a minute or so before letting go.

These houses are pretty sturdy once the royal icing has had a chance to set. This takes about 15-20 minutes. Not bad.

If you do this you shouldn’t have any issues with your house falling apart.

TIPS FOR ICING AND DECORATING POP TART HOUSE

Make sure to watch our video to see how we assembled and decorated our house.

Obviously lightweight candies like Necco wafers are easier to work with than M&Ms and starlight mints, but don’t let that stop you. I’ll share a few tips for working with heavier candy. That being said, if you are making these with a group of children, I’d go for lightweight candy and sprinkles to avoid little ones getting frustrated. I’d also suggest assembling the houses about an hour before decorating them so that they are ready to go!

• To add heavier candies to the trim (see M&Ms in photo):
  • Add a bead of royal icing to the house and let it sit for a couple of minutes before adding candy. This allows the icing to begin to get tacky. Add the candy, then adjust as necessary if you see any drooping. The icing will harden and hold everything after 10 minutes or so.
• To add heavy candies to the roof, you have two options:
  • 1: Decorate the roof pieces before assembling the house and let them dry. Then assemble the house.
  • 2: Use the tip above for heavier candies, adding a bead of icing, let it sit for a minute or two, then adding the candy and adjusting as necessary until it is firm.
• Decorating the walls:
  • If you’re only adding a couple of items (like I did) you can add them at the end. Easy.
  • If you’d like to add a bit of decoration to the walls of your house you can do that BEFORE assembling the house. Let it set up and dry then build your house. This is an easy way to make sure gravity doesn’t pull the candy down.

POP TART GINGERBREAD HOUSE TUTORIAL

Pop Tart Gingerbread House

This pop tart gingerbread house is so fun to decorate and perfect for the holidays! Once you make a gingerbread house out of pop tarts you'll never go back to graham crackers again. I'll share tips and tricks for decorating your gingerbread house with candy and royal icing. 

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Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 45 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes

 

Servings: 1 house

 

Calories: 1300kcal

Cost: $5

EQUIPMENT

• serrated knife
• plastic sandwich bag

INGREDIENTS

• 6 pop tarts
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 2-3 teaspoons water

INSTRUCTIONS

• Place 6 pop tarts on the cutting board.

Roof

• You will be making cuts on 4 out of 6 of the pop tarts. The 2 that aren't cut are the roof pieces. You can set those 2 pop tarts to the side if you'd like.

Front and Back Walls

• Take 1 pop tart and place it on its side, right next to another pop tart.
• Cut on a diagonal from the corner of the pop tart that it on its side, to the center of the middle pop tart. Repeat on the other side.
  
• You should now have a pop tart that looks like a house. Repeat this step so that you have 2 house-shaped pop tarts.

Side Walls

• Remember that pop tart that you turned on its side? Go ahead and stand it up again. Place it next to one of the house-shaped pop tarts, lining up the corners, and cut horizontally across. Repeat.
  
• You should now have two roof pieces (un-cut), 2 house-shaped pieces, and 2 wall pieces. 
  
• Combine powdered sugar and water to make a royal icing glue. Add water 1/2 teaspoon at a time until desired consistency is achieved (2 1/2 teaspoons works well for me). Spoon icing into a Ziploc bag and cut the tip off. Glue the 4 walls together with icing and hold in place for 30-45 seconds.
  
• Add the roof pieces and hold in place for 30-45 seconds.
  
• Let houses stand 15-20 minutes before decorating.
  
• Dip decorations into icing or pipe icing onto houses to decorate.
  

NOTES

• Icing should be the consistency of craft glue.
• When cutting pop tarts, use a serrated knife and gently saw. Don't press down hard with the knife.
• To add heavier candies to the houses, like M&Ms, add a line of icing to the house and let the icing stand for a couple of minutes before placing the candy on it. This will allow the icing to dry a little and become tacky. 
• You may need to hold the candy in place, or readjust the candy that starts to move as you wait for the icing to dry.

NUTRITION

Zucchini Banana Bread

Prep Time

15 minutes

Total Time1 hour 15 minutes

Servings1 loaf

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 medium ripe bananas mashed (about 1 cup)
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1/3 cup melted coconut oil cooled to room temperature (or canola or vegetable oil)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup shredded zucchini
• 2 tablespoons turbinado sugar optional

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 8x4-inch loaf pan and set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Set aside.
3. In a large bowl, combine mashed bananas, granulated sugar, brown sugar, egg, coconut oil, and vanilla. Stir until well combined. Add the flour mixture and stir gently with a rubber spatula until flour is mixed in. Squeeze the zucchini in a paper towel to remove excess liquid. Fold the zucchini into batter.
4. Pour the batter into prepared loaf pan. Sprinkle top with turbinado sugar, if using. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 55-60 minutes. Cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes, then remove the bread from the pan and place on wire rack to cool completely before slicing.
5. Note-you can use all-purpose flour or regular whole wheat flour instead of white whole wheat flour. Store the bread covered with plastic wrap on the counter for up to 3 days. This bread also freezes well. Wrap in plastic wrap and a freezer bag and freeze for up to one month. Defrost before slicing. If you want to make muffins, line a muffin pan with muffin liners or grease cups. Bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the center. Will make 12 muffins.

Fruit plate