Category: Food

Whipped Peanut Butter Greek Yogurt Rice Cakes

2 Comments

Whipped Peanut Butter Greek Yogurt Rice Cakes with Berries. Delicious for breakfast or an afternoon snack!

If someone were to offer me a rice cake for a snack a few weeks ago I would have been offended. Does it look like I need to be on a diet?! However, I was recently bored of my usual mid-morning snack options and a little light bulb went on inside my head. Would a chocolate rice cake drizzled in peanut butter taste like a healthy version of a peanut butter cup? The answer was yes.

Whipped Peanut Butter Greek Yogurt Rice Cakes with Berries. Delicious for breakfast or an afternoon snack!

After snacking on this treat for a few days I realized how wrong I had been about rice cakes! Who knew a simple drizzle of peanut butter could make such a big impact?! This realization made me stop and think about how I could take these rice cakes to a new level – queue the addition of greek yogurt and berries!

Whipped Peanut Butter Greek Yogurt Rice Cakes with Berries. Delicious for breakfast or an afternoon snack!

In a few simple steps you can spread whipped peanut butter greek yogurt over a rice cake and top it with fresh berries to have an indulgent, yet low calorie snack. I have a feeling our cupboard will be stocked with a pack of rice cakes from now on! This snack is seriously delicious!

Whipped Peanut Butter Greek Yogurt Rice Cakes

Ingredients:

  • Chocolate Rice Cake
  • 1 tsp. Peanut butter
  • 1 Tbs. Greek Yogurt
  • Handful fresh berries

Recipe:

  • In a small bowl, whip together the greek yogurt and peanut butter
  • Spread the yogurt mixture over a rice cake
  • Top with berries

Fresh Strawberry Basil Lemonade Cocktail

2 Comments

Fresh Strawberry Lemonade Cocktail

When I’m searching for a place to grab drinks with friends I have two requirements: a great atmosphere and a cocktail menu. The emphasis is mainly on the cocktail menu! As I’ve said before, I’m not a fan of beer so if I’m going to forgo ordering a glass of water (with a lemon wedge to spice things up!) I need a good cocktail menu.

Fresh Strawberry Lemonade Cocktail

One of my favorite cocktail discoveries was a berry lemonade. It was the perfect blend of sweet and tart, so it was a refreshing drink to cap off a warm summer day. I thought it would be the perfect cocktail to bring along to a BBQ or pool party, so I played around with flavor combinations at home until I came up with this strawberry basil lemonade recipe!

Fresh Strawberry Lemonade Cocktail

Fresh Strawberry Basil Lemonade Cocktail

Ingredients:

  • 1 C. sugar
  • 4 C. water (divided)
  • 1 C. fresh squeezed Meyer lemon juice
  • 2 C. pureed strawberries
  • 1 C. vodka
  • Handful of fresh basil

Recipe:

  • Make a simple syrup by dissolving the sugar and 1 C. water in a saucepan over medium heat
  • Once the sugar had dissolved, remove from heat and let cool
  • Squeeze lemons until you have 1 C. fresh juice
  • In a large pitcher, add the lemon juice, simple syrup, pureed strawberries, vodka, basil, and remaining 3 C. cold water
  • Stir until well combined and serve chilled

*Want a more family-friendly version? Just leave out the vodka for a delicious summer mocktail!

Limoncello Cupcakes

2 Comments

Limoncello Cupcakes! Perfect dessert for a summer party!

When Ian and I moved to our town we were both fresh out of college and experiencing being financially independent from our parents for the first time. Long gone were the days where I could pack up my clothes to do laundry at my parents’ house or tag along on grocery shopping trips!

Limoncello Cupcakes! Perfect dessert for a summer party!

Luckily, Ian and I both were offered jobs that allowed us to be financially stable, but I still found myself searching for inexpensive date night experiences. One of my favorite discoveries was a little bakery in town that made gourmet cupcakes with unique flavors. After an afternoon of ridding our bikes along the river we would stop by the bakery and share a delicious cupcake. For less than $5 we could enjoy an afternoon date that felt like we were splurging – that’s how good these cupcakes were!

Limoncello Cupcakes! Perfect dessert for a summer party!

Here I am, three years later, and I still love those bike ride/cupcake dates! However, when I brewed a batch of Limoncello I had an idea – why not try my hand at baking my own batch of gourmet cupcakes?! After some trial and error, I finally nailed the recipe down and believe these fresh limoncello berry cupcakes would compliment any summer party dessert table! Better yet, bake a batch of these cupcakes and gift them to a recent grad!

Limoncello Cupcakes

 

Ingredients:

  • A box of white cake mix and the required ingredients listed on the back
  • Limoncello
  • 3 Tbs. grated lemon peel
  • 3 cups powdered sugar
  • 1/3 cup softened butter
  • 2 Tbs. lemon juice
  • 24 mini lemon wedges and fresh raspberries for decoration

Recipe:

  • Prepare the cake by following the cake instructions on the back of the box and swap out the require amount of water with limoncello
  • Fold in the grated lemon peel
  • Place liners in each cupcake tin and fill half full with batter
  • Bake per box instructions
  • While cupcakes are cooling make the butter cream frosting by beating the softened butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract with an electric mixer until well combined
  • Add lemon juice to the frosting 1 Tbs. at a time until you reach your desired consistency
  • Pipe onto each cupcake and top with a fresh raspberry and lemon wedge