Spontaneous Moment #58: Roasted Garlic and Asparagus Soup

I just love a warm bowl of soup. I savor every bite and it just slides down so smoothly. All of that salt in soup though keeps me at a distance. So when I found this healthier recipe, I couldn't help but get a little giddy inside.

The other night I had family over to the house and we grilled up some steak and asparagus. I tend to over purchase produce when I don't know how many guests will be expected. We didn't end up using two bunches of asparagus. Since I didn't want it to go to waste, I scoured the internet for recipe ideas. Thankfully, I stumbled upon Diethood's recipe for a roasted garlic and asparagus soup. I used the recipe as my base, but put my own little twist on it.

LEMON ROASTED GARLIC AND ASPARAGUS SOUP

Ingredients:

2 pounds asparagus, trimmed

10 garlic cloves, whole

1/2 cup yellow onion, chopped

1 lemon, cut in quarters

2 tablespoons olive oil

Himalayan salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste

3 cups low sodium vegetable broth

1/2 cup coconut milk

1/2 milk of your choosing (I used skim)

1/4 tsp paprika

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 450F.

Line a baking sheet with foil and set aside.

Toss asparagus, garlic and chopped onion in a large Ziploc bag. Pour in olive oil and season with pink Himalayan salt and pepper. Squeeze 1 wedge of fresh lemon into bag. Shake well and let it rest for 10 minutes (I like to turn the bag over after 5 minutes).

Pour the contents of the bag onto the baking sheet and arrange asparagus in one layer.

Roast for 12-14 minutes, or until asparagus is soft, stirring once. Use a fork to test if you can pierce through the asparagus.

Remove from oven and transfer to the food processor. I blended it on low for about 45 seconds - 1 minute.

Pour in the broth, coconut milk and skim milk while it's still blending.

Blend until smooth.

Transfer soup to a large soup pot.

Warm soup over medium-high heat, thinning with more broth by 1/4 cupfuls, if desired.

Season with two lemon wedge, paprika, salt and pepper. Continue to taste for seasonings and adjust accordingly.

Ladle into bowls.

Garnish with a touch of paprika, lemon wedge, pepper and drizzle olive oil on top.

Spontaneous Moment #57: Bunny Butts and Fruit Eggs

I love to make sweet treats for every holiday and at this point, my little nephews expect it. Not only do they expect it, but they expect something new and different every holiday.

I also like to make something special for the adults. This easter I decided to re-created a fruit pizza that I made back in 2011, but I'd put a spin on it. I adapted a recipe from the back of a Pillsbury box many years ago. I mix up the recipe every time, but I suggest you try their way first.

I decided to create an Easter egg shaped pizza for the Easter holiday. The fruit I used was grapes, kiwi, blueberries, strawberries, tangerines, and apricot jelly. 

Now onto the kids treats. I was told to bring dessert for the Easter egg hunt. So along side my fruit pizza, I decided to bring cookies for the children.

I decided it would take look long to make bunny face cookies, so why not make sun bunny bums. 

BUNNY BUTTS

Ingredients:

Sugar cookie mix

White frosting

Pink food coloring (or pink icing if you don't want to deal with it)

Marshmallows

M&Ms

Coconut

Pink decorating gel

Instructions:

Roll sugar cookie dough into round balls. I cut a ball of dough into four to make the little bunny feet. Count out the amount of large cookies you'll be making and then the amount of feet you'll need to go with them. Bake your cookies and then it's time to create!

I made two types of cookies: furry white coconut bunny butts and pretty pink bunny butts. 

First decorate all of the feet. That way you won't have to worry about the icing on the large cookie drying too quickly before you're done decorating the feet. Ice it with white icing, place a pink M&M in the top center of the cook and then line three streaks at the bottom of the foot with the pink gel.

Next, decide how many coconut cookies you want to make before decorating the center. Ice them with the white icing and then place the bunny feet on top. Place your marshmallow tail in the center and then sprinkle the coconut around the center. The bunny feet will already be dry so the coconut shouldn't stick to the feet. It will be easy to brush off the coconut.

Finish up by making the pretty in pink bunny butts. Squeeze the pink food coloring into the rest of the white icing and mix it together. Ice your large sugar cookie and then quickly place the bunny feet on and finish with a marshmallow tail.

My nephews loved them! One slowly picked apart the cookie while the other sucked on the icing for 20 minutes. Now fingers crossed I can just come up with something as creative for next time.

Spontaneous Moment #56: Pop-Tarts at your Door

I was craving pop-tarts the other day and didn't feel like going to the store. So I decided... why not make some myself.

This is a quick and simple way to make your own pop-tarts. It's also a way to make them a little bit healthier.

Ingredients:
Cookie cutters
Pillsbury pie crust
One egg
3/4 cup of you favorite jam (I used grape and strawberry)
1 tbsp cornstarch
1 tbsp cold water
A fork

I was trying to go the healthier route and opted out for icing, but if you want to ice your pop-tarts, you'll need the following...

Optional for icing:
1 cup powdered sugar
2 tbsp half and half
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
Sprinkles

Instructions:
Pre-heat the oven for 350 degrees. Unroll your pre-made pie crust. Flatten out your pie crust so that it's a little thinner. Grab your cookie cutters and press them into the pie crust. Pull out your shapes and place on a parchment lined cookie sheet. I had leftover dough once I finished cutting out my heart shaped pieces so I used the remaining dough to make little star pop tarts as well.

Mix together the corn starch and cold water. Take that mixture and combine it with the jam in a small saucepan. Bring the mixture to a boil and simmer stirring for 2 minutes. Then remove it from the heat and set it aside to cool.

Beat  your egg in a small bowl and then lighty it brush it on the cut out crusts. Take a tablespoon of jam and place in the center of each crust. Place the second crust on top. Use your fingertips to press down on the edges of the crusts.

Take your fork and press the edge around the tarts.

The star didn't turn out as pretty as the hearts

After I finished pressing the fork down on the hearts, I turned to the stars. I hated the way they looked, so I attempted to press down the tips extra hard on the stars without the fork. I was curious how they would turn out.

Time to cook! Place your pop-tarts in the oven and bake for 25-30 minutes. You'll notice that some of the jam will leak out. Don't worry about that. Just peel it off once it cools.

Allow it to cool for 5 minutes.

If I were to do it different the next time around, I would have pricked the top of each tart a few times with a toothpick.


Optional icing:
Whisk together the powdered sugar, half & half and vanilla extract. Spread over the tops of the cooled pop-tarts. Add sprinkles on top. Viola!

Spontaneous Moment #55: Lasagna is for Lovers

My husband LOVES lasagna. I avoid it at all costs because I like to watch my weight. So we came up with a nice compromise (which also happened to be a quick and easy recipe).

Lasagna Roll Up

Ingredients:

• lasagna noodles
• 10 oz frozen chopped spinach, thawed & drained
• 15 oz fat free ricotta cheese
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 egg
• 32 oz tomato sauce
• hot sauce to taste (I like to use Sriracha)
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/2 cup shredded skim mozzarella cheese
  

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cook your lasagna noodles and then dry them. 

In a bowl, combine spinach, ricotta, parmesan, 1/4 mozzarella cheese, egg, salt and pepper. 

Place a piece of wax paper or cutting board on the counter and lay out your cooked lasagnas noodles on top. Take a spoonful of the spinach ricotta mixture and spread it evenly over the noodle. 

Carefully roll the noodle.

Ladle (or as I do, pour and spread) some tomato sauce on the bottom of your baking dish and place each rolled up noodle in the dish seam side down.

Spread more tomato sauce on top of the lasagnas rolls, add a little hot sauce and sprinkle the top with mozzarella cheese. Bake in the oven for 40 minutes or until the cheese melts. 

Take your serving plate and place some sauce in the center. Decorate with hot sauce. Top with two lasagna rolls.

Spontaneous Moment #54: 60 Facts for a 60th Birthday

My father turned 60 this year and I wanted to do a little something special to celebrate. Since I don't live near him, I wanted to send him something a little special and different.

I spent a few months researching facts about things that happened in the year my dad was born: 1955. From companies that were established in 1955 to inventions to favorite TV shows or how much something cost. I put together 60 facts about 1955 for my dad's 60th birthday. 

I wanted my dad to open the box with a poem about his gift:

60 years you've been alive

Since you were born in '55.

Let's see what happened in the year

That Michael arrived here.

The world was changing quick and fast

and Dad, you would see it pass.

New inventions; all things change!At times it must have seemed so strange.

So back we'll go- let's tae a dive

And see what was in 1955!

I wrote out facts on little tags and tied them with string. I numbered each tag so that he could read everything in order. I had gathered 20 gifts for him to physically keep or use. The other tags were separated. If I had a cluster of tags (ex: fact 20-24) I would put them on a piece of paper together.

Some of facts I wrote out.

I started every tag with "In 1955..."

A better look at how I wrote everything.

What the group of tags looked like. Below you'll see tags 46-49.

I wrapped all the presents in green and used the same string that was used on the fact tags. As you can read some of the tags below, I got corresponding gifts. Del Monte came out with Stewed Tomatoes in 1955. The Banana Boat song was popular in 1955, so I got my dad some Banana Boat sunscreen. Coca-Cola switched from soda bottles to soda cans in 1955, so I got my dad some sodas. MGM & Warner Bros. were established in 1955, so I got my dad a Fandango card. VW came out with the beetle in 1955, so I purchased my dad a mini replica of the exact beetle... and the list goes on and on.

The used the 60th as a sweet letter to my dad. It started with "In 1955, I wasn't even the slightest figment of your imagination..." and then wrote a personal note to my dad.

After putting lots of padding at the bottom of the box, I put all the gifts in.

Then I put padding on top and put all the facts in. I placed them in numerical order.

Last, but certainly not least, I put more padding in and then had it so that the poem was on top for when he first opened the box.

I wrapped the box in brown paper wrapping and then put washi tape around it to look like I wrapped it with a bow. 

My dad was incredibly touched when he opened the package. It was the perfect gift and a sweet personal touch! It was also way more fun to put together than going out and buying something. 

Spontaneous Moment #53: Glitter Galore & Chalk Oh My!

I started writing this blog before the holidays, but of course the holiday season got in the way and I'm only able to come back to it all. We're focusing on Christmas Wrapping themes!

Here we go again. That time of year. This year I had three different themes: glitter, chalk, and holly. I attempted to make everything black, red, green, gold or glittery.

As you can see, I put ornaments on almost every gift as a "mini gift" before opening the real thing.

The gift on the lower right hand side has a candy sleigh on it that I created from the tutorial here.

To see how I created the holly decorations on my presents, go to my older blog post here.

Now onto the ornaments! I bought some cheap half prices ornaments that they put on sale closer to Christmas. I bought some clear ones with a hint of shimmer and some $1 ornaments.

Glitter Ornaments Materials:

• Clear Ornament
• Pledge Clear Floor Care
• Glitter color of your choosing
• A funnel
• Optional: glitter letters as an initial

My ornaments

Squeeze a small amount of Pledge Floor Care into your ornament.

Turn your ornament until it coats the entire ornament. Don't swish or shake as it will create bubbles or streaks. Just swivel the ornament around in a counter clockwise motion.

Once coated, place your funnel in the ornament and pour in glitter.

Slowly rotate the ornament around so that the glitter covers everything. You might need to add some more glitter after the first rotation to get the full glitter effect.

How they'll look once you're done! Glitter galore! They sparkle under the tree.

Not shown: I later added glitter letters on the glitter ornaments to label which gift was for which person. I used a red "D" for the gold glitter ornament and a gold cursive "K" for the red ornament.

Another option is to use glass etching solution to create an initial on the glitter ornament. I put one of my glitter letters on the ornament and then put the glass etching cream around it.

I wasn't very happy with the final product so I didn't continue with the rest of the ornaments. I just kept the glitter letters on the rest. Here was the outcome for me. It's a bad picture due to the light.

Chalk Ornaments Materials:

• Cheap Ornaments
• Chalk Paint
• Brush
• Chalk or chalk pen

Paint your ornaments and then prop them upside down on a flat surface. If you have trouble propping them up while wet, I suggest painting it half way and then once it's dry, prop the ornament upright in the ornament holder (the white container seen in the photo below).Then paint the rest of the ornament and let it dry.

This is what I did when I painted the ornament halfway and let it dry.

This is how it looked when I painted it the entire way and then slowly propped it up to dry.

A close up.

The final product of a few of the ornaments:

How I incorporated the ornaments into the presents for decoration: