Sweet Whiskey BBQ Sauce

I LOVE all things BBQ, especially a sauce with a great flavor. Most store-bought sauces have tons of sugar and added sodium, and I'm just not down with that.

Once I found this barbeque sauce recipe, I stopped buying it from the store! It's THAT good and SO SIMPLE!

Sweet Whiskey BBQ Sauce

Ingredients
1 Sweet Vidalia onion, minced
4 cloves garlic, minced
3/4 cup whiskey (I prefer Jameson)
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 tablespoon salt
2 cups ketchup
1/3 cup cider vinegar
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 teaspoon hot pepper sauce (optional)

1/4 cup tomato paste (optional, for a thicker sauce)

Directions
Prep: 15 m
Cook: 30 m
Ready In: 45 m

Combine the onion, garlic, and whiskey in a pan over medium heat. Simmer for 10 minutes, or until onion is translucent. Mix in the ground black pepper, salt, ketchup, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, and brown sugar. Add in tomato paste and hot sauce if using, as well. 

Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer for 20 minutes. 

Run sauce through a strainer if you prefer a smooth sauce.

Pesto Chicken Roulade

This pesto chicken roulade was super easy to make and insanely delicious! Everyone cleared their plates, including our 3 & 4 year olds!
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PESTO CHICKEN ROULADE
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Start with chicken breast, and cut them in half lengthwise so they lay thin. Put them in a freezer bag and pound until about a half inch thick.
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Spread pesto (I made mine easily with basil, almonds, parmesan, olive oil, and lemon juice) along the inside, then stuff with a few chunks of fresh mozzarella. Roll up tight, secure with a few toothpicks.
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Dip roulade in egg wash (just crack a couple eggs and beat in a dish), then coat in bread crumbs. Bake in a pan at 375 for about 45 minutes.
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Pan sauce is easily made with 2tbsp butter, 2tbsp flour, 2 cups chicken stock, half a lemon, and a tablespoon of pesto.
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Serve with roasted veggies, a salad, rice would be nice. 😀

10 Minute Flourless Mini Muffins

I promise you that these will be the easiest muffins you will ever make! Literally just toss everything in the blender, pulse a few times and they're done. They are super easy to customize, whether you want to top them with chocolate, nuts, coconut--whatever you like!

My 3-year-old LOVES mini muffins (yes, ONLY muffins of the mini variety will do). After reading the back of the package and not being able to pronounce half of the ingredients, I couldn't keep buying them. 

I found this recipe on Pinterest and adapted them to fit my mini muffin tin. I feel MUCH better giving her these secretly healthy, totally delicious muffins instead. 

10 Minute Mini Muffins

yield: 3 dozen mini muffins | prep time: 5 minutes| cook time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:

2 cups old fashioned oats
2 ripe bananas
1/2 cup applesauce
1/4 cup Greek yogurt
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 large egg
2 Tablespoons honey
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
Optional: 2 tsp cocoa, chopped pecans or walnuts, chocolate chips or blueberries

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 400ºF. Line a muffin tin with cupcake liners and set aside.

Combine the oats, bananas, applesauce, yogurt, brown sugar, egg, honey, vanilla, baking powder, baking soda and salt into a blender. Pulse 10-15 times, or until the batter is smooth. It doesn't need to be completely smooth, just well combined.

Fill mini muffin tins with 1 TBSP of mixture. You want them to be about 3/4 the way full. Add toppings if desired to the top of the batter.

Bake for 10 minutes, or until a toothpick comes clean.

Cooking with Essential Oils: One-Pan Lemon Garlic Pasta with Kale

Since I discovered doTERRA essential oils back in March of this year, it's been a solid 6 months since ANYONE in our family has gotten sick. With 2 toddlers and 2 working parents, that's a pretty darn good track record if you ask me.

They are part of our everyday lives from rubbing on our feet at night, using them to clean and refresh, to using them for medical applications. We use essential oils for everyday wellness, but what good is wellness when you can't get your kids to eat healthy?

Cooking with Essential Oils

Everyone loves a hot home-cooked meal, but often times things tend to get away from us and we reach for convenience over quality. I'll admit I've been there all too often. And pizza is way too easy... then it becomes too easy to fall into the rut of convenience.

One day after cruising Pinterest, I found this recipe and adapted it to what I had on hand and our family's tastes. It quickly became a family favorite, which is saying a lot with two picky toddlers.

Instead of reaching in the freezer for pre-packaged whatever-it's-made-of, try this simple recipe that can be made in about a half hour with little to no prep time and is super adaptable to whatever you have on hand. Here's what you'll need:

One-Pan Garlic Lemon Pasta with Kale

• 1/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil
• 4 cloves of garlic, minced
• 2 cups of low-sodium vegetable or chicken broth
• 1 cup of water
• 2 cups of uncooked whole wheat penne pasta
• 4-5 large leaves fresh kale cut into 1/4 inch ribbons
• 2 oz neufchatel cheese
• 1 tablespoon dried basil
• 2-4 drops doTERRA Lemon Essential Oil

1. Heat olive oil in a large pan over medium heat. Cook kale and garlic for 2 minutes until soft and fragrant.
2. Add broth, water, and pasta to pan and turn heat up to high. Be sure that all ingredients are submerged in liquid.
3. When mixture begins to boil, cover with a lid and reduce heat to low. Cook covered on low for 15 minutes.
4. After 15 minutes, remove cover and allow mixture to simmer another 5 minutes uncovered until liquid reduces by about half. There will still be a good amount of liquid in the pan, but don't worry -- this will make a delicious sauce.
5. Remove from heat and add neufchatel cheese, basil, and lemon essential oil. Stir to combine, let sit about 2 minutes, then serve and enjoy.

Serves 2-3 people, depending on how hungry you are. 

We have also tried this recipe with chicken which is delicious, just brown about 1/2 lb of diced chicken breast before adding kale and garlic. Make it vegan with a vegan cream cheese. Use quinoa pasta for a healthy gluten-free option. 

I use doTERRA essential oils because they are the most concentrated and pure. They are the only brand that I trust to ingest. Please do not ingest lemon essential oil unless the bottle states that it is safe to do so. Many brands of essential oils like to dilute or use other fillers in their oils, but doTERRA brand essential oil is safe for consumption. 

Need Lemon Essential Oil? Visit my doTERRA shop to stock up!

Click here to open a wholesale account to save 25% with the opportunity to start your own essential oil business.

Immune Boosting Muffin Recipe

These delicious muffins offer your immune system a nice little boost with doTerra OnGuard immune support blend (cinnamon & other spices). Experiment with healthier options in the recipe, I just used what I had on hand. Try it out & let me know how it turns out!

• 1 ½ cups whole wheat flour (can sub for all-purpose if you wish)
• ¾ cup white sugar (experiment with another sweetener if you wish)
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/3 cup oil (I use safflower)
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup milk (I use almond milk)
• 1 apple, peeled and chopped into pieces
• ½ cup chopped dates (can sub for another chopped apple if you don’t have)
• 2 drops OnGuard essential oil

Optional Crumb Topping:

• ½ cup white sugar
• 1/3 cup flour
• ½ cup butter
• 1 ½ teaspoons cinnamon

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease six muffin cups or line with paper muffin liners.

Stir together 1 1/2 cup flour, 3/4 cup sugar, salt, baking powder and 1 teaspoon cinnamon. Mix in oil, egg and milk. Fold in apples & dates. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups, filling to the top of the cup.

In a small bowl, stir together 1/2 cup sugar, 1/3 cup flour, butter and 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon. Mix together with fork and sprinkle over unbaked muffins.

Bake in preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of a muffin comes out clean.

Drink Your Greens

I've been on a smoothie kick for the past, say, 3 years or so?

When I was pregnant with Max, I drank a spinach smoothie every day. It only makes sense now that he loves his smoothies! Miranda has already started on them as well.

Here's one of our favorite concoctions: banana, greens, pineapple, yogurt, chia, a tiny bit of juice and a lot of water.

Really though, a smoothie a day keeps all the yucky junkies away.

Tummy Love: Sweet & Salty Slow Cooked Almonds

I recently made a recipe off of Pinterest for "the nuts" -- you know, THE nuts. The ones you smell at the mall, those deliciously addictive balls of cinnamon and sugar that get gobbled up in about two minutes.

So, I made these nuts, and they were very good. Not great, but good. They lasted about a week, which in our house means that they could have been better.

My only problem with the recipe was that it was too sweet. Most of the time when I get a craving, I want something sweet and salty, but not too much of either. A good balance. Picky, much?

So I adjusted the recipe with blind faith and holy smokes are they delicious. Perfect amount of sweet and salty. Warning, these may become addictive!

Sweet & Salty Slow Cooked Almonds

• 3 cups blanched whole almonds
• 1 egg white
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 tbsp cinnamon
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/8 to 1/4 cup water

Whisk together egg white and vanilla until it becomes foamy--lots of little bubbles and has expanded a tiny bit.

Add almonds and stir to coat. 

Mix together cinnamon, sugars, and salt in a separate bowl. Add to almond mixture and toss to coat. There will be a little excess dry ingredients at the bottom, but don't worry about it right now. 

Transfer ingredients to greased (I use canola oil spray) slow cooker and turn to high. Close lid and cook for 2 hours, stirring every 20 minutes. Make sure you get those edges! The sugars like to get stuck in there and will burn if they sit too long.

After 2 hours, add 1/8 to 1/4 cup water and stir. It's going to start getting gooey, and that's going to amount to lots of deliciousness. Cook one more hour, stirring again every 20 minutes. 

Spread out onto parchment paper and let cool.... at least a little bit. They're delicious when they're hot, but come on. Don't burn your mouth. And save some for the others.... :)

I really like how these turn out more like candied almonds than sugary dusty bites, but that could just be me.

Let me know how yours turn out!