Clean Your Fruit Chemical Free!!

I just had to share this one because it works so well!  A lot of you probably have already seen this on the Internet, but I wanted to re-post.  I tried this today and it works!  When we buy fruit from the store, it's covered with chemicals and wax.  When we rinse them off, you only get a portion of the wax and substances off.  I have even seen some people take a scrubber and soap and water to their fruit to try to get them clean.

Try this instead.  This worked well for me today.   My strawberries taste so fresh!!


Steps:

1. Fill sink with cold water.
2. Add 1 cup of vinegar and stir.
3. Add any fruit you want and let it soak for 10 minutes.
4. Water will be dirty and fruit will be shiny and sparkly with no wax or dirty film.  
5. Rinse fruit with clean water and store as usual.
6. This is great for berries too - keeps them from molding as fast.  I tried this with my strawberries too and made a huge difference!

Sausage Balls - Southern Style

I was born and raised in the South.  There are many things I love about the South, but Southern food has to be in my top 5 list of favorite things.  I am a health fanatic.  I am huge on eating healthy and working out - BUT sometimes I just cant deny myself some of the best recipes I have encountered!

Anyone who is from the south knows about sausage balls.  They are ridiculously delicious and addicting!  You just cant eat only 1!  It's my turn to bring snack to church tomorrow and I'm about to introduce my west coast people to some southern yumminess!!

Now - you CAN make these Gluten Free because Bisquick makes a Gluten Free version!  YEAH! Thank you Betty Crocker!  You can order it here on this site: http://www.bettycrocker.com/products/bisquick/products/bisquick_gluten_free

Ok - these are super simple and great for baby showers, bridal showers, appetizers or a church get together.

Enjoy!

Ingredients:

• 1 (1-pound) package ground sausage
• 3 cups of Bisquick (use the Gluten Free version if you are Gluten Free!)
• 4 cups grated sharp Cheddar cheese
• 1/8 tablespoon pepper

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
• Spray baking sheet with vegetable oil cooking spray (I lay down aluminum foil so it keeps my cookie sheets looking new).
• Combine all ingredients in a large bowl.
• Mix well with your fingers.  The mixture will be very crumbly.
• Form into 1 inch balls, squeezing the mixture so it holds together, then rolling it between palms of your hands to form balls.
• Place the balls on the baking sheet.
• Bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown.
• To prevent sticking, move the balls with a spatula halfway through cooking.

Boyfriend Cookies

These have to be the most delicious cookies I have ever made!  I found this recipe on Pinterest. Each month at church, I sign up to bring goodies at our greeting table. Last week I made these and they were gone in (no joke) about 3 minutes! The kids LOVED them and so did all the adults! These are super easy to make. This would be a good one to make for a Christmas Cookie Exchange.

Gluten Free Version - You can make these gluten free if you use a gluten free all purpose flour. I did and they turned are marvelous!  As for the Vanilla Pudding Mix, here is the research I have done:

"Jello is a Kraft company. Any gluten ingredients would be listed on the label. For Example, if the modified food starch was from wheat, it would say "Modified food start from wheat" or "Modified food starch (wheat)."  So if you dont see any wheat, rye, barley or oats, it is safe. Kraft will not hide anything."

But when in doubt, call the company.  These cookies didn’t bother me at all, but you should do additional research if you are still concerned. Also - read the labels on ALL your candy listed below.  I'm not sensitive enough to Gluten to have it effect me when candies are made in the same shop as other wheat products, but others are - so do your research!

Enjoy!

Ingredients:

• 1 Cup Butter, softened
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1 (3.5 ounce) package instant vanilla pudding mix
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 2 cups chocolate chips (1 cup milk chocolate and 1 cup semisweet)
• 1/2 cup white chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup peanut butter chips
• 1/2 cup M&M's
• 1/2 cup Reese's Pieces

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C)
2. In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugars.  Add pudding mix, eggs and vanilla.  Combine flour and baking soda; add to creamed mixture and mix well.  Fold in chocolate chips and remaining candy.
3. Drop by tablespoons onto ungreased baking sheets.  I usually use a small spring loaded cookie scoop.  Bake for 10-12 minutes or until lightly browned.  Cool on wire racks.

Lemon Blueberry Muffin Bread

I have been in the mood to bake since Thursday...and this is weird for me because I typically don't enjoy baking as much as I do cooking.  But I ran into a recipe that I have been dying to try so I made it today.  It taste SO incredibly good that I made 3 loaves.  2 regular loaves and 1 gluten free loaf. It tastes like a big Ole blueberry muffin!!!

I found this recipe from a woman by the name of Jenna Weber.  She is a pastry chef and you can read more about here at this site: EatLiveRun.com.

By far the BEST loaf of bread I have ever made and you CAN make this gluten free!!  For the Gluten Free loaf, I used Bob's Red Mill Homemade Wonderful Bread Mix.  For the regular loaves, I used King Arthur Bread Flour.  

I also have to take a minute and tell everyone about a new product I have fallen in love with. The bread came out as well as it did because of the bread pan I used. It will absolutely make your baking experience better.  The company is called Demarle.  You may have heard of this product because Martha Stewart made the silipat famous, but the cookware is amazing.  It's silicone and glass.  It bends and twists and I promise you will NEVER user another 13X9 Pyrex dish once you try this.

I get so sick of using the silver metal bread pans because they rust very easily.  When I found out about this bread pan, I had to try it.  Since it's silicone and glass, you don't have to use any cooking sprays or oils, butters or Crisco.  That makes me SUPER happy because if you read the ingredients in those products (like PAM)...it's a bunch of added preservatives we just dont need.  For my bread loaf, I poured the batter in and let it cook.  Took it out of the over, let it cool for 10 minutes, turned the bread upside down and it came out PERFECTLY!  No sticking, no crumbs, no breaking...it was perfect (see my 2nd picture below)!  The product is from France and I HIGHLY recommend it.  If you need to order one, message me and I can give you my consultant's number.

Anyway - enjoy the bread and remember that the products you use really do help your cooking/baking experience and the quality of the food!

Ingredients

• 2 cups all purpose flour (Or use Gluten Free flour if you are going Gluten Free)
• 1 ½ tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups blueberries (12 oz)
• 2 tsp lemon zest
• ½ cup vanilla yogurt, regular or lowfat
• Directions

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Spray a loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.
2. In a medium sized bowl, whisk together your flour, baking powder and salt. Add the blueberries and lemon zest and toss to combine.
3. Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the yogurt then the dry ingredients, mixing only until incorporated and being careful not to crush the blueberries.
4. Scoop batter into your prepared loaf pan and bake for 1 hour 10 minutes, until golden brown. Let cool in the pan for 10 minutes before inverting gently onto a plate.
5. Yield: makes 1 loaf