Woah! Cheese Pencils

image taken from Tessie

image taken from Korefe

Ever need a sprinkle of cheese? Bring these pencils along for fresh shaved cheese with Truffle, Pesto or Chili at the center. Portion sizes and sharpener included. Too bad they’re sold out!

Check out more cool packaging from THE DELI GARAGE.

Below are images taken from their site. A few more things that I would love to have.

Lemon, Chili and Rosemary Olive Oil

Oil Change from THE DELI GARAGE

Cinnamon and Chocolate Honey

Tubenhonig from THE DELI GARAGE

 

Easy Melon Bar

melon bar with yogurt swirl

I bought these popsicle molds a year ago and finally decided to try them. I wasn’t a big fan of honeydew until I had the Korean melon pop. It’s a creamy honeydew flavored popsicle, refreshing and perfect on a hot day. 

Yesterday my mom gave me some honeydew so I decided to make my version. When I took a bite, it felt like being sprinkled with cool water on a hot day.

It’s simple and delicious! The hardest thing was waiting for them to freeze.

I bought these from Bed, Bath and Beyond. They come with sipping straws attached to the base, which have been useless. These look cooler.

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

• 1/4 of a medium-sized honeydew melon
• 2 tsp of brown sugar
• 1 tbsp of honey
• 1/2 cup of non-fat greek yogurt

To Make:

Step 1: blend honeydew and set aside

Step 2: in a bowl, mix sugar, honey and yogurt

Step 3: pour honeydew mixture covering 80% of the mold

Step 4: evenly divide the yogurt mixture into each mold covering remaining 20%

Step 5: with a knife or stick (I used chopstick) swirl yogurt inside mold

Step 6: freeze for 4-5 hours

blending honeydew

after freezing

Enjoy!

Tropical Granola Clusters

granola cluster

I stopped buying granola products because they never live up to my expectations. They’re often overly sweet with a slight cardboard flavor and makes me feel like I’m crunching pebbles.

I decided to make my own.

Originally, I planned on making granola bars. When I cut them, they turned out to be clusters. If you use more honey you’ll probably have some bars, but clusters are just as good.

The flavors work well together and taste delicious! Keep it in an airtight container as a snack or add some milk and have it as a cereal.

Feel free to use nuts instead of seeds, with or without coconut and choose fruits you like.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups of old fashioned oats
• 1 cup of raw pumpkin seeds
• 1 cup of unsweetened coconut shreds
• ~1- 1 1/2 cup of dried fruit*
• 1/2-2/3 cup of honey
• 2 tsp of vanilla extract
• ~1/4 tsp of salt

*I used no sugar added apricots, dates, peaches, pears and apples.

To Make:

Step 1: Measure the dry ingredients

2 cups of oats

1 cup of raw pumpkin seeds

1 cup of shredded coconut

Step 2: Preheat oven to 350°F

Step 3: Put the ingredients measured above on a sheet pan for 10-12 minutes till lightly browned

before

before

after

after

Step 4: Measure dried fruit and cut into small pieces

Step 5: Mix toasted ingredients, honey, vanilla and salt

Step 6: Mix in fruit

Step 7: Pour mixture in pan and press down (I used a 9 1/2 x 9 1/2)

Step 8: Put it in the oven at 300°F for 35-40 minutes till edges are slightly brown (check on it around 30 mins.)

Step 9: Let it cool 

after it has cooled, cut and eat

Enjoy!

the everything crouton

everything croutons with whole wheat bread

Croutons are crunchy, delicious and easy to make.

When you buy bread, there always seems to be some weird shaped pieces on the ends. There isn’t anything wrong with the end, but the only reason you would ever touch it is to get to the next slice. Unless you are desperate for bread, you’d probably throw it out. Here is a quick and easy way to make them into a great snack or topping.

How to make your odds and ends popular.

Ingredients:

• Day old bread, bread ends, bread you just don’t feel like eating anymore (I used whole wheat bread)
• Olive Oil
• Seasoning

Seasoning I used (use whatever flavors you enjoy)

• Garlic powder
• Dried basil
• Trader Joe’s 21 seasoning salute
• Sesame seeds
• Chili flakes
• Fresh ground pepper
• Paprika
• Touch of honey

Step 1: Pre-heat oven to 350°F

Step 2: Cut bread into cubes and toss in a large bowl

Step 3: Drizzle olive oil and add your seasoning then toss

Step 4: Spread your seasoned cubes onto a sheet pan

Step 5: Bake for 15 minutes on the middle rack (toss around 7-8 minute mark)

Step 6: Let it cool for a few minutes then you’re ready to eat!

Enjoy!

5 minute semi-Sorbet

This semi-sorbet is a great way to celebrate the hot weather. It’s refreshing and easy to make. I don’t have a blender, but I do have the Ninja! It has such a hilarious name. I got it as a gift and use it for almost everything! I love it. I’m not sure how this recipe will work with an actual blender so you may not get a sorbet. Worst case you add some more juice and get a refreshing smoothie!

Ingredients:

• 2 cups of frozen strawberries
• 1/2 cup of frozen blueberries
• 4-5 ice cubes
• 2-3 tablespoons of honey
• 1 cup of coconut water

Step 1: Put all the ingredients in your blending device

Step 2: Serve and Eat!

It was hard to resist digging into it. So I didn’t. This was taken half way through my second serving so it started to melt.

I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

Chunky Avocado Spread

When I decided to make my Southwest Jalapeno Patty, I really wanted to add some avocado to it. I absolutely love avocado with everything-especially burgers and sandwiches! I think that it adds such a great flavor to the food. It’s also adds a good some good oils to your diet. I wanted to make something a little different that wasn’t just your typical avocado slice. I thought an avocado spread would be a refreshing twist to adding avocado on the burger/sandwich complex.

Below is the recipe and I encourage you to play with the amounts used to get a spread suitable to your taste. If you like something a little more tart, add some more lemon juice. If you want something with a little more avocado, add another one!

Ingredients

• Handful of Heirloom Cherry Tomatoes
• 1 Avocado
• 1/2 lemon juiced
• Handful of Parsley and/or Cilantro (I used a little bit of both)
• 1 Tablespoon of Honey
• Salt & Pepper to taste

To Make

• Cut avocado into bit size pieces and toss into bowl
• Finely chop parsley and cilantro and toss into bowl
• Cut tomatoes to desired size (I sliced in half)
• Add rest of ingredients and mix

I added this tangy/sweet delicious avocado spread to my burger below. It will go well with any sandwich, burger or nice piece of toast.

Enjoy!

Honey-Lemon Brussels Sprout Salad

When I discovered brussels sprouts, I fell in love with them. I did not grow up eating them, so I didn’t have the pleasure of hating them before loving them. We’ve always had a beautiful relationship. This is my favorite salad. I hope you enjoy eating this as much as I do!

Serving size: 1 meal or 2 side salads

Ingredients:

Brussels Sprout Salad

• 1/2 pound of brussels sprouts (farmers market today $3/lb)
• 1/4 cup blueberries (Trader Joe’s)
• 3 tbsp toasted sliced almonds(farmers market today)
• Manchego cheese (sprinkle/shave desired amount)

Honey-Lemon vinaigrette Dressing

• 1 medium lemon juice (from my tree)
• lemon zest (used 1/4 the lemon from above)
• 2 tbsp cranberry sauce (Trader Joe’s)
• 1 tbsp olive oil  (Trader Joe’s)
• 2 tsp Apple Vinegar (Trader Joe’s)
• 1 tbsp Orange Blossom Honey (farmers market)
• Salt (to taste)
• Pepper (to taste)

Comments: Use ingredients you have on hand. If you don’t have blueberries, use some dried fruit or strawberries. If you don’t have that cheese, I recommend using a bold flavored cheese.

Step 1

Wash sprouts, cut stems, remove outer layer of leaves (discard), continue peeling leaves and keep for salad

Step 2

Blanch leaves. Bring some water to a boil in a large saucepan.

Step 3

Toss in leaves for one minute.

Step 4

Drain immediately after and rinse with cold water. After running them through the cold water, drain leaves in colander. Leaves should look bright green.

Step 5

In a bowl, zest the lemon and mix in all the dressing ingredients

use a peeler or zester to remove zest (yellow part) and not the pith (white bitter part)

juice the whole lemon and use 1/4 lemon for zest

put in the rest of the dressing ingredients and mix

Step 6

In a large bowl, drizzle dressing over sprout leaves and toss lightly. Mix in the remaining salad ingredients (almonds, blueberries and cheese)

Enjoy!