key lime mini tarts

i always make these around easter but am running a little later this year.
they are also great for summer and are the perfect two-bite treat.

this time i also made lemon which we all thought were pretty great but nothin beats the key lime in my house....so far.

you can make your own pastry but to save time i usually buy pre-made pie dough and just roll it out. i use a round cutter just a bit larger than the mini muffin tin.

bake following the pie dough instructions but cut the time down and watch them. poke holes in the bottoms so they don't puff up too much while baking.

make your curd filling:

1/2 cup sugar 

1/2 cup bottled key lime juice  

5 large egg yolks 

1 1/2 tablespoons butter, cut into small pieces

combine first 3 ingredients in a medium, heavy saucepan. cook over medium heat 7 minutes or until thick, stirring constantly with a whisk. remove from heat. add butter; stir with a whisk until butter melts. place pan in a large ice-filled bowl for 20 minutes or until lime curd comes to room temperature, stirring occasionally. cover and chill.

you can make this ahead of time if you wish OR if you choose to make life easier on yourself you can go buy a jar of curd. i won't judge.

make your filling:

1 pkg. cream cheese (softened)

1 cup yogurt

3 tbsps. powdered sugar

 

mix in 1/2 cup of curd to cream cheese filling. because i made lemon and key lime i split the cream cheese filling mixture in half then added 1/4 cup of each curd flavor.

spoon into cooled mini tarts. top with whipped cream and a lime/lemon wedge.

consume quickly because if you blink-my kids will eat them.

green bread...that's not moldy

after my friend suzie posted that she was making zucchini bread (with secret sneaky healthy ingredients) on facebook awhile back it sounded so good i had to make some. i had been craving my sister tory's acorn squash bread for quite some time so this felt like it might hit the spot.

because shane has been all up in my kool-aid about us all eating organic as much as possible i went and bought all organic ingredients so he would eat it and i wouldn't have to get the look  and the shrug that says, "well, it's your body"....hate that look.
can someone please come up with an organic donut? it'd be helpful for my conscience on saturday mornings.

so, i took the original recipe by paula dean (thanks suzie for posting and thanks paula for knowing good food) and adapted it to make it my own and to try to make it as healthy as possible but still edible.

3 1/4 cups flour ( i used 3 cups of whole wheat flour)

1 1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. nutmeg (daughter hates nutmeg so for whatever reason i decided to use cloves-meh)

3 cups of sugar (i only used 2 cups because i added a mashed banana and remember the whole healthy thing)

1 cup vegetable oil

4 eggs, beaten

1/3 cup water

2 cups grated zucchini

1 tsp. lemon juice

1 cup of chopped walnuts or pecans (i didn't use either)

secret ingredient:

purple puree

3 cups raw baby spinach leaves *don't use frozen (next time i will only use 2 cups)

1 1/2 cups blueberries

1/2 tsp. lemon juice

1-2 tbsp. water (i used 1)

put in food processor to get as smooth as possible. you only need 1 cup of this so if you have extra like i did you can freeze the remainder and use it in a smoothie later.

 oh, the puree looks like all kinds of gag but it tastes really good.

directions:

preheat oven to 350 degrees f. in large bowl combine dry ingredients.
mix all wet ingredients together- including puree (this is where i added a mashed banana) then slowly add dry ingredients.
fold in nuts. 

i baked 4 mini loaves for about 25 minutes each and 1 large loaf for about 35 minutes. this baked much faster than the original recipe stated-maybe it's my over acheiving oven??

my son thought it would be good on st. paddy's day-yep, it's definitely green.

results:

very good. kids wouldn't eat it coz it was green and brown. might as well feed them spinach by itself coz they will happily eat that. (throws hands up in the air)

shane and i loved it. it tasted like a morning type muffin but better.

my neighbors got 2 loaves coz it sure made lots.

cinco de mayo pinata cookies

 

these are fun but beware-you gotta be committed coz this is lots and lots of work. i tried to keep it all real up in my kitchen but honestly mustaches are itchy and the sombrero kept slipping and covering my eyes. its really tough being all authentic and stuff.....

this is a basic sugar cookie recipe until all heck breaks loose....

recipe:

1 cup sugar

1 cup powdered sugar

1 cup butter

1 cup vegetable oil (i know-this is alot of oil, this freaked me out too. i'd use less.)

2 eggs

1 tsp. cream of tartar

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. almond extract

1 tsp. baking soda

5 cups flour

1 tbsp. vanilla

mini m&m candies

Frosting:

1/2 cup powdered sugar

2 tsp. milk

mix:

cream sugars and butter. beat in eggs. add oil.

add your dry ingredients.

mix in vanilla and almond extract.

split and color:

split the dough into 5 even balls and 1 smaller ball (this small one will be the black)

add your food colorings. i wished i had some more vibrant colors like for the purple for instance but eh, whatcha gonna do?!

layer:

use a container that is about the size (width AND height) of your donkey cookie cutter and line it with plastic food wrap.split all of your colored dough balls in half except for the black. start to layer the colors starting with the black dough on the bottom. alternate the colors so that you end up with two layers of each color by the time you are done.

wait it out:

cover the layered dough and freeze for four hours or overnight. i suggest when you take the container out of the freezer wait a few minutes before slicing or use a very sharp knife because this can get hard to slice evenly or may crumble. cut slices approximately 1/4" thick. place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake at 350 for about 10-12 minutes.

cut the donkeys: (doesn't sound right, i am aware of this but, cut the donkeys)

immediately after you bake the cookies you have to take your donkey cutter and working in sets of 3 quickly cut out 2 donkeys in the same direction and one in the opposite direction.  this way when you go to assemble the finished cookie will be pretty on both sides because the baked bottom sides will be hidden.

create the pinatas:

for the middle cookies in each set cut off the ears and the legs and cut out the center where the m&m's will be. if you have a small round or square cutter this works well but you can use a knife too.
try to work quickly because as the cookies cool they will become more likely to crumble. let the cookies cool on the sheet completely once you have them prepared before you remove the excess outer cookie.

assemble:

take the first pinata cookie and lay it upside down so that the baked side is facing up. outline the center of the pinata body with the "frosting glue". put the middle cookie on top of the frosting glue, fill the pinata then place the opposite side cookie on top with more frosting glue.
let this sit and harden so they wont fall apart. i waited 30 minutes. well, i tried.

this is a lot of work but pretty darn cute-it only makes about 6-8 cookies but thankfully may 5th only comes once a year!

ta-da! 
your pinata!!
i do realize this looks a little morbid but its a pinata-how awesome!
*originally found on sheknows.com. she DOES know!

Coconut Candy

if you've ever been to maui and been brave enough to drive the road to hana (i lovingly call this trek puke path) then you have probably had the luxury of eating some of the best coconut candy eva' and it was probably made by shane's auntie pearl (we LOVES pearl!). i don't like coconut however i will throw punches in order to get the last bag of this coconut candy. i'm not proud of that but the bag is mine!

i have been playing with making this candy and i think i am getting better. there are varying levels of toastiness and sugary goodness so you can sort of add as much as you'd like and keep it slow baking as long as you'd like-whateva' ya flava!

here is what i use:

2 coconuts- don't even do it with just 1 it isn't worth it

natural cane sugar (i use turbinado sugar)

natural dark brown sugar

hammer and nail to crack the coconut (i just use a real hawaiian-much more effective)

true story:

1st time i made this i told my hawaiian that i needed his help in the cracking of the coconut. i left hawaiian in the kitchen with coconut and went to the garage to get a hammer and nail. i couldn't find a nail so i went back to the kitchen to ask hawaiian where he keeps the nails. hawaiian was already draining the coconut juice and drinking it. i still have no idea what hawaiian used to crack open coconut and i am good with not having to know. (swoon)

-be sure your hawaiian has cracked the coconut in many smaller pieces so you can start to peel or cut away the outer brown shell. it's okay if the thin layer of brown shell is left on the meat.

-once you have all the chunks of meat you can either take a vegetable peeler and shave off pieces or you can cut them. i like to cut them because i like when some of the pieces have thicker edges. thicker edges just make the candy a little chewier in the end and that's how my family likes it.

-put the shavings in a zip-lock back with about 1/2 cup of the turbinado sugar and a sprinkle of the brown sugar. put this bag in the fridge for about 20 minutes so the sugar can melt. don't leave it much longer or it will get soggy and won't turn out.

-layer the shavings on a baking sheet and sprinkle with more brown sugar if you'd like. i do coz we are super good friends with sugar in my family.

-bake at lowest temp (i did 170) for about 6-8 hours. every hour you will turn the coconut over and you sprinkle it with a little more sugar. take it out when you feel it is as toasty as you want it. the last 3-5 minutes i pump that oven up to 350 to give it a last toast- but watch it if you do this- it can burn quick.

taaaa-daaaa!!!!

feel that inner aloha? good stuff brah!

truth.
for years lemon lush was my nemesis.
truth.
i got this now.

my husbands favorite all time desert is lemon lush. i could never make it the way his mom could so out of frustration for a large gap of time i just simply refused. i made everything else instead because dammit i can bake!! lemon lush really couldn't be any easier but he always gave me the "meh, it's awwight face".

one day after making this lemony goodness i presented it to him and right as he was about to take his first bite i made my announcement, "listen, if this isn't good then i am done, seriously, like no more lemon lush ever, period, dunzo". i saw the look. the one that says, "she is no joke, she isn't kidding here, she will put an end to this all." he took the bite and smiled. i knew it was a courtesy smile and i knew in his head he was probably going through the list of things that didn't taste exactly like his mom's version.
he understood that he could either live the rest of his life out with "almost as good as mom's lemon lush" or never have another lush again. he is a smart man. he told me it was perfect. i told him he was full of it.

every year this is our birthday "cake", our "yay-you did it" desert, our "school is out, summer is here" treat, our "happy graduation" celebration, or our "hey, doesn't lemon lush sound good" indulgence.
every time shane eats more than half........whose your mama now huh?!!!