How to toast coconut

I needed toasted coconut for a recipe recently and I couldn't find it in the store so I took it upon my self to make it. It was extremely easy and cheaper than buying it already toasted!

Just place the desired coconut onto a baking sheet. Place in oven at 325 degrees and bake for a bout 5-8 minutes. Watch the coconut, it will usually brown on the outside first so you may need to move it around on the tray to even it out. Happy baking!

Easter Eggs Cheesecake Bites

I was feeling quite festive this Easter and made several fun treats. The biggest hit were my cheesecake bites! (I mean who doesn't love cheesecake!?) They were fairly simple to make and quite delicious! The original recipe is on the Kraft website!

I used 2 different types of candy eggs on them. We started with the Cadbury chocolate eggs and then I found M&M peanut butter eggs so we had to try those out too!

Ingredients:

1 cup graham cracker crumbs

3/4 cups plus 2 tbsp sugar, divided

4 Tbsp. butter, melted

3 pkg cream cheese, softened

1 tsp vanilla

3 eggs

1 cup toasted coconut (If you cant find the toasted coconut click here  to see how to toast your own)

Candy eggs

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Mix graham cracker crumbs and melted butter. Press into the bottom of 18 paper lined muffin cups.

Beat the cream cheese, vanilla, and remaining sugar. Mix the eggs in one at a time, until just blended. Spoon the cream cheese batter over the crust. Bake 25-30 minutes or until centers are almost set. 

Cool completely, refrigerate for at least 2 hours. 

Top each cheesecake with 1 tbsp toasted coconut and 3 eggs. Voila! Easter Egg dessert! Enjoy!

Easter Bunny Cupcakes

With Easter just a few days away I started experimenting with some cute new deserts for the holiday and I cam across this recipe for Easter Bunny Cupcakes on stylingmyeveryday.com They are so cute I just had to try them!!

I mean look!

These are coconut flavored cupcakes but if you are like my fiance and loath coconut you could easily do a yellow cupcake and skip on the coconut shavings. (You don't have to make the cupcakes from scratch. You can use boxed cake and can icing for convenience!)

Ingredients:

Cake

3 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups sugar
5 extra large eggs, room temperature
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 tsp almond extract
3 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup buttermilk
14 oz shredded coconut
Icing
1 pound cream cheese, room temperature
3 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp almond extract
1 1/2 pounds confectioners sugar
Bunny Ears
Pink crystal sprinkles
Large marshmallows

Directions:
Preheat over to 350 degrees.
Cream together the 3 sticks of butter and sugar until light and fluffy (about 5 minutes). On low speed, add eggs 1 at a time. Add vanilla and almonds extract, blend well while scraping the sides of the bowl down.
In a separate bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together.
Slowly add dry flour mix and buttermilk to the sugar and butter mix. (I like to alternate mine, a little flour, a little milk, a little flour, a little milk)
Then fold in 7 oz of the coconut into the batter.
Line a muffin pan and fill each liner to the top with batter. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until toothpicks come out clean and tops are lightly browned.
Cool in pan for 15 minutes and finish cooling on wire rack.

Now for the frosting! Cream together the cream cheese, butter, vanilla and almond extract. Slowly add the powdered sugar. Mix until well blended.
Frost the completely cooled cupcakes and sprinkle the remaining coconut on top.

Now for the cute little ears!

Cut the marshmallows in half and dip the fresh cut edge into the sprinkles (It will be stick and should hold the sprinkles)

Easy as that!

And here they are ! Your precious Easter Bunny Cupcakes! (Pictures courteous of original website) 

ENJOY!

Low Carb Flat Out Pizza

I LOVE PIZZA! I mean who doesn't with all its chewy gooey goodness! So being on a diet can make it hard to show my love for pizza. While grocery shopping the other day I stumbled upon mini flat outs (We use flat outs frequently for its low in carbs and calories) We spread a little organic marinara sauce, low fat mozzarella cheese, pepperonis and VOILA! Healthier pizza!

They actually sell flat out for pizzas but they didn't have any at our grocery store so we used the flat out fold its (usually near the bakery) 

Ingredients:

1 pack of flat out of your choice

Marina sauce (you can look for healthier options or make your own marina)

Low fat mozzarella cheese

Toppings (We used pepperonis on one set and added pineapple bits the the second set)

Directions:

Heat oven to 350 degrees

Spray a baking sheet with Pam and lay out flat out.

Put 1-2 tablespoons of marinara sauce on top each half (We found it was better with less sauce)

Sprinkle with cheese and toppings 

Bake for about 6-10 minutes. Enjoy! We are going to try barbecue chicken next week!

Detox Tea

So I am trying to make more healthy life choices and something I have trouble with is drinking enough water. I found  this detox tea that not only helps with my bloat but it seems to make me thirsty which helps me drink more water and it doesn't taste bad!! I'm only on day 3 of the 7 day detox but so far its great!!

Ingredients:
1 dandelion tea bag (found mine in the organic section)
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon pure cranberry juice (no added sugar, organic)
60 oz water

Steep the bag in hot water for 20 minutes and then mix the remaining ingredients. Drink this once a day every day along with your water intake. It will help curve your appetite and de-bloat  you! Hope it works for you like it has been working for me!!

Fun Bridal Shower Game!

So we have all been to the dreadful bridal shower where they serve chips, soda, and a game that bores you to tears. I went to my friend Shannon's baby shower recently and they played this really cute game that I had to steal for the bridal shower I was planning.

I went to the dollar store and got 12 brown bags and some tissue paper. I printed out the letters BRIDAL SHOWER and filled each bag with something that begins with that letter that the bride to bring on her honeymoon! Some letters were harder than others and we had to stretch but here is what we used!!

B - Brush
R- Razors
I- Ibuprofen
D- Drivers License
A-Aloe Vera
L- Lingerie

S- Sunscreen
H- Hair tie
O- Oil (massage oil)
W- Waterproof mascara
E- Earrings
R- Rum (she was going to St. Luca!)

There are tons of other things you could maybe do for the letters. Here a few girls guessed
B-Blush, Bra, Bathing suit
D- Deodorant
E- Eye cream, Earplugs
H- Hat, Head band
O- OFF! Bug spray


You can also spell out different words like the Bride to be name or last name or Wedding. You can also change it up and do different things you'll find at a wedding. You can be as creative as you want!

Mimosa Bar!

For Sarah's Bridal shower, her sister had the idea of doing a Mimosa bar and it was a huge hit! I was pleasantly surprised how tasty everything was!

The jars to hold the juice were from the dollar store and she bought chalk board tags which we uses a white marker to write on with (chalk is so hard to write with) We did a grapefruit juice, orange juice, strawberry juice, and raspberry lemonade juice. We kept it simple on the fruit using strawberries, black and raspberries, oranges, and pineapples. Lemons would have been yummy too! The guest loves them! 

We served them in these cute mason jars with fun straws. The Raspberry lemonade was the crowd favorite! 

I might just start making them for me on the weekends! So yummy!