Entertaining

Easy Smoothie Recipe

Posted on June 6, 2017June 6, 2017 by KSSBelle

I try to make this smoothie for my husband and I almost every weekday morning in the Summer. It’s so fresh, healthy, and an added bonus, it fills you up until lunch. I do add a tiny bit of peanut butter or almond butter for protein. It’s also easy to sneak this into our toddler’s juice cup to get lots of great fruits & veggies in him at the beginning of the day. I will admit, some days we just can’t sneak that spinach past him. As our pediatrician says, “just keep trying,” so we do!

SMOOTHIE RECIPE
1 banana
5 strawberries, sliced
1/2 cup blueberries
3/4 cup pre-washed spinach
1/2 cup Horizon 2% milk
2 tbsp organic vanilla yogurt
2 tsp almond butter or peanut butter
(depending on your mood, ha!)

Blend it up, and you’re done! Now, I also have my 2-3 cups of coffee alongside this healthy start, but this Momma needs her coffee.

Enjoy!
~KSSBelle

Blackberry Crisp

Posted on August 10, 2016August 10, 2016 by KSSBelle

I’ve fallen even more in love with blackberries this Summer, especially if I can pick them up at the local farmers’ market. Blackberries eaten alone or in a recipe are divine in our household. I’ve blogged awhile ago about my “Apple Crisp” recipe (given to me from a dear friend of mine); however, I decided to cut that recipe in half and make a few changes for the blackberry crisp. My husband LOVES blackberries, so I surprised him one night with it on a whim, and now it’s his most requested dessert. It literally takes less me than 5 minutes to prepare, and you can still keep a close eye on your kids while making it! That’s my kind of recipe with an active toddler under my feet all day. It’s also a great dessert to bring to any gathering. It’s delicious, and gives you more “getting ready” time, too.

~ BLACKBERRY CRISP ~

1/2 Gallon fresh blackberries
(I feel like the local farmer’s market has the best flavor, but store bought works, too!)

Directions:
1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees, then grab your favorite 8×8 pan, no greasing necessary.
2. Wash all of the blackberries
3. Toss them into the bottom of your 8×8 pan
4. Add 2 teaspoons of water
5. Next, mix up the “crisp” topping

Crisp:
1 Cup flour
1 Cup sugar
1/2 Cup butter ( 1 full stick)

5. To save time, unwrap your stick of butter, place in a microwave safe bowl
(microwave for about 30 seconds, or until completely melted)
6. Next, add your flour and sugar to the melted butter in the same bowl.
7. Stir together until flour & sugar are completely coated in the melted butter.
8. Pour the crisp evenly over the blackberries

Bake for 30 minutes or until lightly golden brown (like the photo above). Your kitchen will smell heavenly, and your family will love this treat!

Sometimes, we serve it with whipped cream or a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Now, depending on what fruits are in season, I’ve made this with granny smith apples (just add cinnamon), peaches and I want to make it with blueberries next! If you have a bigger crowd to feed, you can double the fruit and crisp, and make it in an 11×13 dish, just bake it for about 45 minutes.

Enjoy!
~KSSBelle

Raspberry-Almond Shortbread Cookies

Posted on December 4, 2015December 3, 2015 by KSSBelle

Ever since having our little one (19 months ago), I haven’t been baking as much as I used to in the past. I think the main reason is the fact that I spend my days chasing after a busy little bee all day, nor, do I want the temptation around my house. After all, I have worked really hard to lose all of the baby weight. The extra calories are just not worth it in my mind. And, I love my clothes that much.

However, I do think about baking during nap time, but then I end up folding laundry or vacuuming instead (I know, oh so glamorous, right?). No, really, I love taking care of my little family.

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Enough rambling for now, and back to the baking. I’ve never made thumbprint cookies. Have you? These look and sound delicious. So, I plan on making these this weekend. Of course, much to my husband’s dismay, I will give most of them away, like I always do. I just love this time of year – the perfect excuse to bake for family and friends!

Ingredients:

1 cup butter, softened
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup seedless red raspberry jam
sugar for sprinkling
1 cup powdered sugar
3 to 4 teaspoons water
1 1/2 teaspoons almond extract

Directions:

1. In a medium bowl beat butter medium speed for about 30 seconds. Add the the 2/3 cup granulated sugar and 1/2 teaspoon almond extract. Beat until well combined. Beat in as much flour as you can with electric mixer and then using a wooden spoon stir in any remaining flour. Cover and chill for 1 hour or until dough is easy to handle.

2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Place balls 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets. Using your thumb, press an indentation into the center of each ball. Spoon about 1/2 teaspoon of the jam into each indentation and then sprinkle with sugar. Bake about 10 minutes or until edges are light brown. Cool on cookie sheets for 1 minute. Transfer cookies to wire racks to finish cooling.

3. For icing, in a medium bowl combine powdered sugar, 1 teaspoon water and 1 1/2 teaspoons almond extract. Add enough of the remaining water to make a drizzling consistency. Drizzle cookies with icing.

Creamy Tomato, Basil, Parmesan Soup

Posted on September 21, 2015 by KSSBelle

With the cooler temperatures coming soon (yay!), I decided it was time to breakout my trusty crockpot and start making more Fall recipes. I found this easy, soup recipe on Pinterest yesterday, and just had to go ahead and make it for the week ahead. We really like the fact that this soup is loaded with vegetables as well. The recipe doesn’t call for an avocado when serving it, but I added an avocado to the top when I served it last night. I hope you like this soup as much as we do!

Creamy Tomato, Basil, Parmesan Soup
Adapted from Tastes Better From Scratch

Serves 8

Ingredients:

2 (14 oz) cans diced tomatoes, with the juice
1 cup finely diced carrots
1 cup finely diced onions
1 cup finely diced celery
2 Tbsp tomato paste
4 cups chicken broth
1 tsp dried oregano or Tbsp fresh oregano
¼ cup fresh basil (or 1 Tbsp dry basil)
½ cup butter
½ cup flour
1 cup Parmesan cheese
1½ cups half and half
1 tsp salt
¼ tsp pepper

Add diced tomatoes, carrots, onions, celery, tomato paste, chicken broth, oregano, and basil to your slow cooker. Cover and cook on low for 5-6 hours until flavors are blended and vegetables are soft.

About 30 minutes before the soup is ready, prepare a roux. Melt the butter over medium low heat in a skillet and add the flour. Whisk together constantly for about 10 minutes or until the roux is a nice golden brown color. Slowly add 1 cup of the soup from the slow cooker to the roux–it will start to form a thick paste. Slowly add another 3 cups of warm soup to the roux. Whisk together until smooth. Add the roux mixture to the slow cooker.

Stir in the Parmesan cheese, half and half, and salt and pepper. Add additional oregano and basil if needed, to tastes. Stir well. Cover and cook on low for another 30 minutes.

Weekend + First Signs of Fall

Posted on September 14, 2015 by KSSBelle

Happy Monday, Everyone! I hope that y’all had a fantastic weekend. I know we sure did. We did a little bit of this and that around the house, but mostly relaxed in this slightly cooler weather!

Our new chandelier is amazing in our master bedroom. My husband actually admitted after he put it up that it looked good! It’s going to sound silly, but I wake up feeling like a princess in our room now! I absolutely love it, and it so much better than our fan, which was barely used anyway.

I added the little white baby lamp shades that I already had from years ago to make it feel more cozy. I love the simplicity of this chandelier. It’s modern, yet still classic.

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I did decorate a little bit for Fall. Mostly pumpkins sprinkled here and there around the house and on the front door, of course. We burned our new Harvest candle from Target during dinner times and at night. It makes the house smell so good!

Lastly, we played outside a lot with our little one! Like I’ve said before, this is my season, and I couldn’t be happier that it’s started!

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I am in need/search of some new rain boots. Mine literally had a hole in them, so it was time to throw them away. I run errands in them, garden in them, and simply throw them on to go in and out of the house a lot. I am thinking about this pair or this pair.

Happy Monday, Friends!
~KSSBelle

Mumsie’s Hot Chicken Salad

Posted on August 27, 2015August 27, 2015 by KSSBelle

My Mom’s (Mumsie’s) Hot Chicken Salad recipe has always been one of my favorites as a child, and even more so as an adult. It’s SO easy to make, and you probably have 3/4 of the ingredients already on hand. And, at Thanksgiving, you can make it with leftover turkey, instead of chicken – so good!

I have a picky toddler (who also happens to be teething a lot this Summer), so finding healthy dinners can be a real struggle around here, at least ones that will be eaten anyway. Let’s just say, minus my toddler spitting out the celery hidden inside, it was eaten right up the other night.

My hope for you is that you make it, and it becomes a family favorite for everyone like it is for ours!

HOT CHICKEN SALAD
2 Cups cooked chicken (I used the rotisserie chicken)
1 Cup chopped celery
2 T. minced red onion
2 T. lemon juice
1 Cup (scant) real mayo
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste

Topping:
3/4 Cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1/2 Cup crumbled potato chips (I use ruffles)

Mix all of the ingredients together in a large bowl. Spread into a 9×9 baking dish. Top with grated sharp cheddar cheese & crushed potato chips. Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes.

Have a wonderful Thursday!
~KSSBelle

Cobb Salad Dip

Posted on August 4, 2015August 4, 2015 by KSSBelle

I read Natalie’s blog almost daily, and when I saw this recipe posted on her blog, I just knew I had to try it. I am a huge fan of cobb salads when we go out, so this dip sounded perfect on a hot Summer day. It’s always fun to try something new, and my family absolutely loved it. Every calorie is worth running the extra mile!

~ COBB SALAD DIP ~
Adapted from Designer Bags & Dirty Diapers

One 8 oz. package cream cheese
One 8 oz., container of sour cream
One package Hidden Valley Ranch Dip mix
2 ears of corn
A handful of cherry tomatoes, diced
One Cup sharp chedder cheese, shredded
One Cup shredded romaine lettuce
Cooked & crumbled bacon
Crumbled blue cheese
Salt & pepper to taste
Tortilla chips or ruffles for dipping

Let cream cheese sit out and soften for about an hour. Mix cream cheese, sour cream & ranch packet until smooth. Spread in the bottom of any dish. I bake the corn at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes just to slightly soften it, but you don’t have to do cook it at all. Layer shredded cheese and the rest of the ingredients. I top it off with a little bit of blue cheese and bacon. Serve with chips of your choice. Enjoy!

Have a happy day!
~KSSBelle

Happy Weekend!

Posted on July 10, 2015July 10, 2015 by KSSBelle

Happy Weekend, Everyone!

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We are entertaining company this weekend, and celebrating my husband’s birthday (We had a fun celebration last night with my family already!), so we’ll be pretty busy this weekend. I have to sign-off and go clean like a crazy woman now. Why do I always wait until the last minute? My house isn’t dirty by any means, but I need to do little things here and there that just take time. I love entertaining, but since I was raised Southern, and to be a wonderful hostess, that means in my book, everything must be “perfect’ for my guests. I was raised to have high standards for myself in everything I do in life, and I like it that way. At my core, that’s just who I am. Even though it can be exhausting, it’s worth it. It makes me happy to try and make my guests always feel welcome and at home when they visit. But I’m not going to lie, sometimes I feel as though I need a vacation after entertaining. Does anyone else feel this way? Oh well. I’ll just have an extra cup of joe to get me through the day!

Do you have fun plans ahead? I sure hope so! Enjoy!

~KSSBelle

Chocolate Brownie Bread

Posted on June 23, 2015 by KSSBelle

While I was browsing on Pinterest a few days ago, I stumbled across this Chocolate Brownie bread recipe. I haven’t made it yet, but I did make the Kentucky Butter Cake this past weekend (mentioned in this post), and it did not disappoint. It was the perfect finish to our Father’s Day brunch.

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I have some buttermilk leftover from making the Kentucky butter cake, (who has buttermilk on hand all of the time, unless it’s in a recipe? No one I know.) and of course I don’t want the buttermilk to go to waste, so I’m going to try my hand at making this Chocolate Brownie Bread. I’ll let you know how it turns out, unless of course you make it before me!

It looks absolutely amazing!

~KSSBelle

Happy Weekend!

Posted on June 19, 2015 by KSSBelle

Happy Friday/Weekend!

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This week was the exact opposite of last week for me. Did it fly by for you? I cannot believe it’s already Friday, but I’m not complaining. I do apologize for the lack of blog posts…the time just simply got away from me this week. I had great intentions of sitting down during my second cup of coffee (once my little one was asleep during naptime), and other things just kept taking my attention away from blogging. I’ll be back next week, and have tons of great posts for you.

If you’re searching for a great recipe to make this weekend, make this Mexican casserole. It is amazing, and everyone gobbled it up (even the little one!). I also may try and make this Kentucky Butter Cake recipe for our Father’s Day celebration/brunch on Sunday.

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Have a happy weekend!