A Day in the Kitchen

Well, I should probably be doing my homework right now but blogging about all the fun stuff  I was doing sounds so much more appealing!

I really wanted to show you all my chalkboard I have in my kitchen. I think it is one of my favorite things I have that I made! I also just love this quote! "Love is what you go through together." I feel it is so true, as time goes by and with all the experiences Paul and I have been through I constantly feel reassuring love for him! I just love that man! Especially for putting up with me and all my craziness (not to mention all the pregnancy stuff as well) and working so hard to keep our relationship strong.While we are on the pregnancy note I will have to say I had my first food cravings of pickles with peanut butter, and now I desperately want McDonald's hotcakes. My pickles and peanut butter craving has been fulfilled but I don't think I could live another day without those hotcakes. I am hoping Paul will be up for going into town early tomorrow so we can get some!

SO now to the nitty gritty of things... Pretty much I am posting this recipe because I made it up yesturday and it was so good I needed to write it down somewhere so I wouldn't forget! (Pregnancy brain fog, I seriously can never think straight it seems!)

Creamy Kale Bacon Pasta

Ingredients: 

1 Lb spaghetti 

1 package bacon 

5 Tbs unsalted butter

1 large Shallot, finely diced

1 large bunch of fresh kale, stems removed and thinly sliced

2 cloves garlic, chopped

4 Tbs all-purpose flower

1/2 cup heavy cream

2 cups milk ( I used 2%)

4 Tbs garlic powder

1 tsp Italian seasoning

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese 

Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions: 

• Start out by cooking spaghetti as directed on the package. Then drain and set aside.
• Meanwhile, start cooking bacon in a large pan. For this you want to cook it enough so that it is crispy and can easily be broken apart.   
• Once bacon is cooked chop into little pieces and set aside. Then drain most of the fat leaving just a little bit of the drippings in the pan, about 1Tbs. 
• Over medium-high heat,  add 2 Tbs of the butter and once melted add the shallots and the garlic. Cook until most of the liquid is absorbed. Add kale and stir a little getting the flavorings over it and cook until it looks tender or slightly wilted. Add the bacon bits, then cover and set aside on very low heat. 
• In a pot, melt the remaining 3 Tbs of butter over medium heat. Whisk in flour and Parmesan cheese. Slowly Add 1/2 cup heavy cream, whisking it so it does not clump. Then add garlic powder and Italian Seasonings. Let thicken a little, stirring occasionally, then Add 2 cups a milk with salt and pepper to taste and cook until desired thickness. (Might have to add more flour, again I cannot remember exactly what I did so some of this is a little bit of guessing, sorry it's my stupid pregnant brain.) 
• After you get the desired consistency and taste add bacon and vegetable mixture to the sauce and its ready to serve over pasta!

Okay, now for one more recipe I made! Sorry I know! A lot in just one blog post!

The other day I was on Pinterest, as I usually am day after day (AGH I'm addicted!), I stumbled upon a recipe for homemade fruit snacks. Well if anyone knows me I love fruit snacks, fruit leather, dried fruit etc etc. You get the picture.  Anyways these claimed to be healthy fruit snacks, so I was interested because I try to find healthy alternatives for sweet things I like so when I crave them they won't be as bad for me. Here is the recipe I followed with a few modifications.
 (Recipe slightly modified from thankyourbody.com) 


Ingredients:

2/3 cup fresh lemon juice (you can use fresh orange juice as well)
3/4 cup frozen or fresh berries
3-4 Tbs honey
5 Tbs gelatin (original recipe asks for gelatin from grass fed cows, Knox works perfectly fine though)

Directions:

In a small saucepan add lemon juice and berries. (I had a frozen mixed berry pack so this has raspberries, blue berries, and black berries in it)  Over medium heat, cook until berries become soft and tender stirring occasionally. Then add honey.

Then puree the mixture. I used my immersion blender. However, any kind of small blender will do, a magic bullet works great as well. Let it sit for 5-10 minutes off heat then 1 Tbs at a time whisk in gelatin making sure to not make it clump.

 

Add mixture to a 9x9 or 8x8 glass dish. (I am too paranoid about ruining my dishes so I lightly sprayed Pam on mine, however the original recipe says you don't have to so if you are braver than me and think Pam might give it a weird taste, which it doesn't, you don't have to use it) Let it sit in the fridge for about 30 minutes to an hour or until it is firm. 

Once set, it came right out of the dish and I flopped it onto some wax paper to cut it. 

I used a pizza cutter to cut it into small pieces and as you can see a few pieces are already missing from me not wanting to wait to take a picture before trying it. (you can if you want also do small molds as well to make fun shapes for the fruit snacks instead of a glass dish.) 

 

And there you have it! Voila! The best and tastiest healthy fruit snacks you will ever have! (P.S. raspberries and black berries are very seedy so it may have a little bit of crunch from the seeds)