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After having some success with the almond flour chocolate chip cookies, the next logical step is to make other variations of almond flour cookies, right? My second favorite cookie would have to be a peanut butter cookie so I decided to try making an almond flour version. You can use traditional peanut butter (creamy or chunky) or whatever nut butter you prefer. I decided to go with a creamy peanut butter this time but plan to try different types of almond butter in the future.
To make these delicious almond flour peanut butter cookies, start by preheating the oven to 375 degrees F. Next, combine 1/2 cup of Bob’s Red Mill Almond Flour, 1/3 cup of granulated Truvia (you can use whichever sweetener you like), 1/3 cup of peanut butter, 1 egg, 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda, and 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract into a mixing bowl. Mix ingredients thoroughly.
Next line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. ( I have just recently started using a silicone baking mat and LOVE it).Form balls from the dough that are about 1 inch each and place onto the baking sheet. Continue until all of the dough is used up. Next, use a fork to make the traditional crisscross pattern on top of each piece of dough.
Put baking sheet into the oven and allow to cook for 10-12 minutes. The cookies should be a nice golden brown. Remove the cookies and allow to cool 5-8 minutes. Now its time to enjoy those mouth watering almond flour peanut butter cookies!
1/3 cup of granulated Truvia (you can use whichever sweetener you like)
1/3 cup of peanut butter
1 egg
1/4 teaspoon of baking soda
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract into a mixing bowl.
Instructions
Preheating the oven to 375 degrees F.
Combine 1/2 cup of Bob's Red Mill Almond Flour, 1/3 cup of granulated Truvia (you can use whichever sweetener you like), 1/3 cup of peanut butter, 1 egg, 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda, and 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract into a mixing bowl.
Mix ingredients thoroughly.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. ( I have just recently started using a silicone baking mat and LOVE it).
Form balls from the dough that are about 1 inch each and place onto the baking sheet. Continue until all of the dough is used up.
Use a fork to make the traditional crisscross pattern on top of each piece of dough.
Put baking sheet into the oven and allow to cook for 10-12 minutes. The cookies should be a nice golden brown.
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I have always been a huge fan of Reese Peanut Butter Cups (especially the Reese’s eggs they release around Easter, can you say YUM). I have recently seen a lot of homemade chocolate peanut butter cups on both Instagram and Pinterest and decided to give them a try. There are a number of different combinations you can try whether it be milk chocolate, dark chocolate, or white chocolate. You can also try an endless amount of different things in place of the peanut butter if you prefer. I opted for dark chocolate and made some candies with almond butter and the others with Buff Bake’s Birthday Cake Protein Butter. I will explain how I made these delicious dark chocolate nut butter cups below.
I stumbled upon a plastic candy mold at my local Hobby Lobby that is very similar to this one. I had no trouble with the plastic one but there are silicone ones available as well. I started by melting 1/2 cup of dark chocolate chips with 1/2 tbsp. of coconut oil in a microwave safe bowl. It can be easy to overcook the chocolate so I typically only heat the chocolate for 20 seconds at a time and will stir the chocolate and heat it another 15-20 seconds. Once the chocolate is completely melted, I spoon a small amount of chocolate into the bottom of the candy mold. I spoon just enough chocolate into the mold to cover the bottom. Once I have finished coating the bottom of the molds in chocolate, I place the molds in the freezer for about 5 minutes to let the chocolate harden.
After the chocolate has hardened, I remove the molds from the freezer and get ready to put the nut butter into the molds. Make sure the nut butter or whatever filling you are using is not too oily or it will not harden properly. I used Justin’s Almond Butter for about half of the molds and Buff Bake’s Birthday Cake Protein Butter for the other half. I spoon a small amount of the nut butter into the molds onto the hardened chocolate.
Depending on how much melted chocolate you have left over you may have to melt some more to have enough to top off the molds or you may have to reheat the leftover chocolate from earlier. Spoon some melted chocolate over the top of the nut butter until the nut butter is covered and the chocolate reaches the top of the mold. Place the molds back into the freezer for another 5 minutes or until the nut butter cups have completely hardened. To pop the nut butter cups out of the mold I simply pressed on the bottom of the mold and the candy easily popped out.
My favorite candy between the two was definitely the nut butter cups filled with the Buff Bake Birthday Cake Protein Butter. I am looking forward to experimenting with other combinations. What are your favorite combinations?
We eat a lot of fish and chicken in our house and sometimes I find myself getting burnt out on both of them. I am constantly looking for new ways to prepare both fish and chicken to try to keep them interesting so that I don’t dread eating my dinner every night. Tilapia is probably one of my favorite fish to cook because it is so simple and quick. I try to find low carb ways to bread both my fish and chicken to switch it up every once in a while. I have used almond flour and several different types of nuts to crust my fish in the past but this was my first attempt at crusting with quinoa. This quinoa crusted tilapia is packed full of flavor and I don’t see myself getting tired of it anytime soon.
To achieve this golden flavor-packed tilapia, you will need to start by cooking 3/4 a cup of quinoa on the stove top. Once the quinoa is completely cooked, set aside and let cool. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Once quinoa is cooled, spread it out on an aluminum foil lined baking sheet and place it in the oven to bake for 8-10 minutes. The goal is to try to dry out the quinoa to make it crunchy. Remove the quinoa from the oven and set it aside to cool once again.
While the quinoa cools, we can begin to make the rest of the crust. In a mixing bowl, combine 2/3 cup of shredded parmesan cheese, 3/4 tsp of garlic powder, and 1 tsp of paprika. Once the quinoa has cooled, add it to the mixing bowl and stir all the ingredients together.
Lay out 3 separate plates and pour the quinoa mixture out onto one of them. On the second plate, pour half a cup of almond flour (I prefer Bob’s Red Mill Almond Flour), and on the third, pour 1 beaten egg. Dredge the tilapia through the almond flour and then place into the egg before finally coating in the quinoa mixture. Continue this process for the next two pieces of fish as well. Place the fish into a pan with a small amount of olive oil and lightly cook on each side before placing into the oven at 375 degrees F to finish cooking the fish. Once the tilapia is completely cooked, remove from the oven and enjoy!
Start by cooking 3/4 a cup of quinoa on the stove top.
Once the quinoa is completely cooked, set aside and let cool.
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.
Once quinoa is cooled, spread it out on an aluminum foil lined baking sheet and place it in the oven to bake for 8-10 minutes. The goal is to try to dry out the quinoa to make it crunchy.
Remove the quinoa from the oven and set it aside to cool once again.
In a mixing bowl, combine 2/3 cup of shredded parmesan cheese, 3/4 tsp of garlic powder, and 1 tsp of paprika.
Once the quinoa has cooled, add it to the mixing bowl and stir all the ingredients together.
Lay out 3 separate plates and pour the quinoa mixture out onto one of them.
On the second plate, pour half a cup of almond flour.
On the third, pour 1 beaten egg.
Dredge the tilapia through the almond flour and then place into the egg before finally coating in the quinoa mixture. Continue this process for the next two pieces of fish as well.
Place the fish into a pan with a small amount of olive oil and lightly cook on each side before placing into the oven at 375 degrees F to finish cooking the fish.
Once the tilapia is completely cooked, remove from the oven and enjoy!
The Southern Magnolia is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.
The Southern Magnolia is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.
Growing up I never really liked meatloaf. It wasn’t because I had ever tried it and disliked the taste but more because of the way it looked and the name. Something about the name “meat loaf” was off putting to me so whenever it was an option I simply steered clear. It wasn’t until a few years ago that I tried a meat loaf for the first time and surprisingly enough I actually really liked it. Now the traditional meat loaf isn’t exactly the healthiest thing so that is what inspired me to come up with this skinny turkey meatloaf recipe.
There are so many different options of ingredients that you can use in a meatloaf so don’t be afraid to get creative. In order to cut down on the fat content that is in a traditional meatloaf, I chose to use lean ground turkey. I usually opt for the 98% fat free ground turkey.
To start, preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Next we will dice an onion and cook on the stove top in a small amount of olive oil until onions become translucent.
In a mixing bowl, combine the cooked onions with 2 lbs of lean ground turkey, 1/2 cup of panko bread crumbs, 1 egg and 1 egg white, and 1/3 cup of ketchup. Ketchup is one of those condiments that is loaded with sugar and sodium. I use a ketchup with 50% less sugar, 50% less sodium and no high fructose corn syrup. For the breadcrumbs, I prefer to use Ian’s Panko breadcrumbs which is perfect for those that require a gluten free option. Stir all of the ingredients until they are completely mixed.
Next we will prepare the sauce for our meatloaf. In a separate mixing bowl combine 3 tablespoons of ketchup and 2 tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce. Stir mixture and set aside.
Spray a loaf pan with a nonstick spray and add the turkey mixture to the pan. Spoon the sauce of the top of the turkey mixture and place into the preheated oven. Cook the meatloaf for 50 mins to 1 hour.
Dice and oil and sauté in a small amount of oil until onion becomes translucent.
Combine 2 lbs of ground turkey, cooked onion, 1/2 cup of panko bread crumbs, 1 egg and 1 egg white and 1/3 cup of ketchup into a mixing bowl. Mix thoroughly.
In a separate bowl combine 3 tablespoons of ketchup and 2 tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce and stir.
Spray a loaf pan with nonstick spray and add in the ground turkey mixture.
Spoon the sauce over top and place into the preheated oven.
I may have mentioned this before but I am a huge fan of sweets. In my attempt to eat healthy I don’t eat a ton of sweets but do have the occasional splurge. I am always on the look out for healthier recipes for some of my favorite desserts. One of my favorite sweets to indulge in is probably a chocolate chip cookie. Anyone else with me? You just can’t beat one fresh out of the oven still warm and gooey.
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Now to get down to business, preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. The Bob’s Red Mill recipe makes 25 cookies but I decided to cut the recipe in half since it was my first time trying these cookies and I wanted to make sure I liked the taste before making a large batch. I started by combining 1 1/2 cups of almond flour with 1/2 tsp of baking soda. In a separate bowl I combined 1/8 cup of coconut oil and 1/8 cup of sugar-free maple syrup (I prefer the taste of the Hungry Jack sugar free syrup). Mix the syrup and coconut oil until mixture becomes creamy, it takes several minutes. Next I added 1 egg, and 1 egg white as well as 1/2 tsp of vanilla extract to the syrup mixture. Mix for another couple of minutes. Add the almond flour and baking soda into the wet ingredients and thoroughly mix. Add in 1/2 cup of dark chocolate chips and mix further.
Next either grease a baking sheet or place a silicone baking mat over the baking sheet. In the past I typically would just grease the baking sheet and sometimes food would still stick. Since using a silicone baking sheet I have not had any trouble with food sticking and cleanup is so much easier. Scoop a tablespoon of the cookie dough onto the cookie sheet and repeat until you have used all the dough, leaving about 1 inch of space in between each cookie. Place into the oven for about 15 minutes or until the cookies are nice and golden.
To get the full recipe for these almond flour chocolate chip cookies, head to the Bob’s Red Mill website here.
I had mixed feelings on these cookies. I prefer my cookies more on the gooey side and these came out to be a bit more dry than I like. Also, I didn’t find them to be very sweet tasting. Next time I will either try adding stevia to the mixture or adding a bit of vitafiber, which would help with the texture and taste. My husband, however, loved the cookies so it wasn’t a total bust.
Today I will be recapping my husband and I’s recent vacation to Cabo San Lucas. You may have read my post here where I mention that he surprised me with a trip to Cabo for our anniversary. It was my first time visiting Mexico and I absolutely loved it.
The Resort:
We stayed at an all inclusive resort, Secrets, in San Jose de Cabo which was about 40 minutes from downtown Cabo San Lucas. It is an adult only resort so this option may not work for everyone. I can not recommend this resort enough. The staff, the food, and the accommodations were all top notch. There are a couple of different options room wise. We stayed in a room with an ocean view but there are also rooms with a swim up pools. The rooms are beautifully decorated with either king size beds or two double beds. They also offer a number of different types of pillows to choose from if you require a special one to sleep at night. The bathrooms are very spacious with a huge shower and a jacuzzi for two. Each room has a safe that you can store your valuables in when you are out of the room. Most places charge hefty fees for anything you take out of the mini bar but this resort offers a complimentary minibar filled with beer, juice, sodas and water that is replenished everyday.
The maid service comes around to every room twice a day. Typically once to clean the room and the second time for the turn-down service. The staff does an incredible job at cleaning up the rooms and replenishing the towels, bath products, and minibar. You can call the concierge to schedule what time you would like your turn down service if you prefer a certain time. My husband and I tend to turn in earlier than a lot of the others so we were usually already in the bed when they would come around for turn down service. There is a do not disturb switch inside the room that lights up outside advising staff if they can come in or not. There is also a room service box that the staff can deliver your order to and you can receive it without having to open your door. The resort also offers free Wi-Fi throughout the resort and it worked very well the entire time we were there. The staff puts on several activities and events throughout the day and at night, which include water volleyball, beach volleyball, aerobics, ping pong, and lots of other games. You can find the schedule for events on a specific channel on your TV or on the daily newsletter they post in the lobby so that you can plan accordingly.
There is a decent sized gym also available at the resort. My husband and I like to indulge a little more while we are on vacation than we typically do at home so we like to hit the gym in the morning to get a workout in before we start our day. The staff keeps the gym stocked with water bottles and towels so you don’t have to bring your own. There is also a spa at the resort but my husband and I didn’t get a chance to check it out during our stay. The resort also has a golf course for those that are interested. There are two infinity pools as well as the pool with the swim up bar. One of the pools is where most of the activities takes place throughout the day so the other infinity pool is available for those that would like more peace and quiet. Another thing that was nice is that for the most part there were plenty of lounge chairs for all the guests. I know its always frustrating when you try to lay out at the pool only to find that all of the chairs are already taken.
Food:
There are a total of six different restaurants and a coffee shop at the hotel and they offer room service 24/7. During our stay we ordered room service several times and tried all of the restaurant except for one. Room service offers a breakfast menu, a lunch/dinner menu, and an after midnight menu. They have tons of options on each menu that is perfect for even those picky eaters. It does take any where from 30-45 minutes to get your food after ordering so do take that into account when calling. We only stopped into the coffee shop once to grab my husband a coffee but they do offer pastries as well and they are open 24 hours a day.
One important thing to know about the restaurants at this resort is that they each have a separate dress code. We had no idea until our arrival that most of the dinner restaurants require pants for men. They won’t turn you away if you are in shorts but you will have to eat outside. Being outside in Mexico can get a little hot even at dinner time and the flies tend to swarm the minute your food is delivered. There is a gift shop at the resort where you can purchase pants if needed, which we ended up doing.
My favorite restaurant at the resort was probably Himitsu, which is an Asian restaurant. They serve sushi as well as have hibachi tables. They recommend calling ahead to make reservations if you are planning to sit at the hibachi tables because those tend to fill up fast. We just opted for the sushi as they had some incredible rolls as well as appetizers and salads. Since it was all inclusive who was I to turn down dessert, it was vacation after all. We probably ate at Himitsu at least three times during our trip.
There was also a Mexican restaurant called El Patio which had great food as well. Oceana was a third restaurant that was probably my second favorite. It is a seafood restaurant that has the most incredible view. You practically sit out on one of the infinity pools and have a view of the ocean and the mountains in the distance while the sun sinks below the horizon. The food was also incredible here. There is also an Italian restaurant called Portofino which is the only one we did not eat at. It has the strictest dress code of all the restaurants.
For breakfast and lunch we would typically eat at the Market Café. It is a buffet style restaurant filled with international cuisine. There were so many options available. For breakfast, they had a omelet bar in which the chef would prepare you an omelet just the way you wanted, which was my husbands favorite part. They also had a huge array of freshly baked breads and pastries available as well as tons of desserts. Literally anything you could think of, you could find at the buffet.
There are two restaurants located out by the pools, Barefoot Grill and Seaside Grill. You could eat over at the barefoot grill cabana or you could order and have it brought to you by the pool. They offered items like pizza and nachos. Seaside grill however offered lots more options and was a sit down restaurant that has outside seating only. We ate there on our first day and really enjoyed it.
There are multiple bars located through out the resort including the swim-up bar located in one of the pools. There is tons of staff that serve the pool areas so there is really no need to even leave your chair or the pool. They will bring you beverages as well as food items from the Barefoot Grill. They are also incredibly quick to help out with anything you may need while pool side as well.
Excursions:
There are tons of excursion options to do in Cabo San Lucas. The resort is nice enough that I didn’t even really feel the need to leave but we did embark on two excursions during our trip so I will be discussing those. The concierge desk is very helpful in going over all the excursion options and booking them for you to take any hassle out of it. My husband wanted to go fishing while we were there so we did book a full day fishing trip. We unfortunately did not catch anything but the views were incredible.
The second excursion we went on was the Sunset Cruise with a fajita dinner. You had the option to upgrade the trip for a captains dinner but we opted for the fajita dinner. The excursion included a trip to downtown Cabo San Lucas for shopping and Tequila tasting before heading over to the marina to board the boat. I honestly could have done without the shopping and tequila tasting personally. The area we stopped in to shop did not really have many options. Once boarding the boat, we headed up to the top deck where there was a live band playing. The boat sets sail and takes you around the rock formations, including the Arch, and Lover’s Beach. All the while the sun is slowly sinking behind the mountains. The views were really breathtaking. After the sun goes down, everyone heads down stairs for dinner and more entertainment. The dinner was delicious but the dining area was fairly crowded. Overall, I was really pleased with the excursion and definitely recommend it.
One excursion that is supposed to be the most popular is the whale watching cruises. Unfortunately we were down there a little to early as whale season starts in December. That is definitely something that I would like to do if I ever get the opportunity to go back.
It was really hard to leave the resort on our last day. From the incredibly beautiful views, to the delicious food, to the amazing staff and service I can not recommend the Secrets Resort enough. Now I’ve got to figure out a way to convince my husband we either need to go back Cabo San Lucas or check out one of the many other Secrets Resorts.
I recently shared a blog post on how to use zucchini noodles to replace pasta for a low carb dish. Spaghetti squash is another great low carb option that you can use to replace pasta in some of your favorite dishes. Spaghetti squash is easy to fix and a lot healthier option than pasta.
To begin you will need to cut the spaghetti squash in half. I tend to find a lot of the bigger squash difficult to cut because of their size and thicker skin. To make the spaghetti squash a little easier to cut, I will usually put it into the microwave for 3 minutes just to soften the squash enough to cut. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Once your spaghetti squash has been cut in half, scoop out all the seeds and place both halves onto a baking sheet. Next lightly drizzle some olive oil over both halves of the squash. I also like to grind some fresh pepper over the squash as well. Next place the baking sheet into the oven and cook for 40 minutes (time may vary depending on size of your squash). To check to see if the squash is fully cooked, I typically use a fork to try to scrape the squash to see if it easily shreds into noodle like strands. If the squash does not easily shred, leave in the oven longer.
While the spaghetti squash is cooking, we will prepare the rest of the components of our meal. Thoroughly wash the asparagus and chop the asparagus into pieces.
Place chopped asparagus into pan with small amount of water to steam. Cover pan and steam asparagus until bright green and is the texture that you prefer. I prefer my asparagus more al dente so I am careful not to cook them too long.
While your asparagus is steaming, you can begin to cook the turkey. Turkey is one of those meats that can be deceiving. Be mindful of the fat content when shopping for ground turkey. I typically buy the 98% fat free ground turkey and find that as long as it is seasoned well and not overcooked that it does not become overly dry. Completely cook the ground turkey meat and season with Italian seasoning. Dice an onion and add to cooked turkey. Continue cooking onions until tender.
Once spaghetti squash has finished cooking remove from oven. Use a fork to scrape the spaghetti squash away from the skin and add to pan with the cooked turkey. Add asparagus to pan along with the spaghetti squash and turkey.
The last ingredient we need to fix is the roasted pine nuts. Place a handful of pine nuts on a baking sheet and place in oven at 400 degrees F. The pine nuts roast very quickly so check on them every couple of minutes and remove when they are golden brown.
Sprinkle the roasted pine nuts over the spaghetti squash and you are ready to enjoy!
Cut spaghetti squash in half and scoop out seeds. Place on baking sheet and lightly drizzle olive oil over each half. Season both halves with black pepper,
Place baking sheet into preheated oven.
Cook squash for 40 mins (Time may vary based on oven and size of squash)
While squash is cooking, prepare the asparagus. Wash and chop asparagus.
Place chopped asparagus into pan with small amount of water to steam and cover pan.
Steam asparagus until desired texture is achieved.
Place the ground turkey in a pan with a small amount of olive oil. Cook turkey thoroughly.
Dice an onion and add to cooked turkey along with 1/2 tbsp. of Italian seasoning.
Cook onions and turkey until onions become tender.
Once turkey and onions are completely cooked add in the asparagus.
After spaghetti squash is finished cooking, use a fork to scrape the meat of the squash away from the skin. It should come apart in noodle-like strands.
Add spaghetti squash into pan with turkey and asparagus. Cook for another couple of minutes.
Place 1/4 cup of pine nuts onto baking sheet and into oven at 400 degrees F for a couple of minutes until pine nuts are golden brown. The pine nuts cook quickly so make sure to check on them frequently.
Sprinkle pine nuts over spaghetti squash mixture and enjoy!
Are you one of those people that loves pasta but hate all the carbs that come along with it? Zucchini noodles are a great alternative to substitute in to your pasta dishes to make them low-carb. I try to eat my carbs more in the morning for breakfast and lunch and stay away from them at dinner time. Finding a way to create healthier versions of some of my favorite pasta dishes was a must. Today I will be sharing my recipe for a zucchini noodle stir fry.
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Creating noodles from vegetables such as zucchinis, squash, carrots, or beets is not as complicated as it may seem. All you need to create your veggie noodles is a spiralizer. There are a number of different variations of the spiralizer at several different price points but you can get one that works great for a reasonable price. I use a simple and affordable spiralizer similar to this one. It is very user friendly and creates both thick and thin noodles. You simply place the vegetable you are using into the spiralizer and twist and out comes perfect noodles. There is also another variation of the spiralizer that uses a hand crank like this one. This spiralizer makes it easier to spiralize tougher root vegetables that would be more difficult to spiralize in the cheaper previous mentioned spiralizer.
I typically make a stir fry with riced cauliflower but decided to switch it up and use zucchini noodles. I start by spiralizing 4 medium sized zucchinis. I also sliced up two red bell peppers and I used already shredded carrots. You can use whatever vegetables you would like in your stir fry. I chose my vegetables based on what I like in my stir fry and because I loved the variation of the bright colors of the vegetables. Who else likes for their food to be pretty as well as tasty?
I set the vegetables aside while I marinate my protein. I chose to use chicken for my stir fry but you can use whichever meat you prefer. I marinated my chicken in a sesame ginger marinade. When picking out a marinade you want to be sure to look at the nutritional label because lots of marinades can be loaded with sodium or even sugar.
Next I throw the peppers and carrots into a lightly oiled pan and cook them down. You don’t want to add the zucchini noodles too early because they don’t take as long to cook. You don’t want the noodles getting to soggy before the peppers and carrots have been fully cooked. Once the peppers and carrots have been cooked to your liking, add the zucchini noodles and allow to cook for about 5 minutes. Next, we want to add in the soy sauce and sesame oil that give the vegetables more flavor. I use a low sodium soy sauce because soy sauce is loaded with sodium.
Cook the vegetables in the soy sauce and sesame oil for a couple for minutes. Meanwhile, cook the sesame ginger marinated chicken thoroughly. Once cooked, slice the chicken and add to the vegetables. As a finishing touch, I sprinkle some dried ginger flakes and toasted sesame seeds over the chicken and vegetables. Your zucchini noodle stir fry is now ready to enjoy!
Yes, you read that right, another cauliflower recipe. I hope you aren’t getting tired of cauliflower yet because there is still more to come. It is such a versatile vegetable and I enjoy experimenting with it to find new ways to prepare it. You may have read my previous posts on cauliflower pizza, or maybe cauliflower cornbread biscuits, or (yes there’s more) cauliflower lasagna. Those recipes are all a little more involved and time consuming than the recipe I will be sharing today. If you found those other recipes too daunting, this may be the best one to try first as its much easier to complete. Today I will be sharing a recipe for turmeric roasted cauliflower.
All you need to make this delicious side dish is a head of cauliflower, 2 tbsp. of olive oil, 1/3 cup of parmesan cheese, 1tsp of garlic powder, and 1/2 tsp of turmeric. Start off by breaking down the cauliflower and removing the majority of the stems the best you can. Preheat the oven to 475 degrees F.
Next in a mixing bowl combine the garlic powder, turmeric, and parmesan cheese. Lightly toss the cauliflower in olive oil and then mix into bowl with the garlic powder, turmeric, and parmesan cheese.
Place coated cauliflower on a lined baking sheet. Put baking sheet into preheated oven and cook for 30 minutes.
What are some of your favorite ways to prepare cauliflower? I would love to add a few new cauliflower recipes to our dinner rotation. If you give the turmeric roasted cauliflower a try I would love to hear your review.
You may have seen or heard about the Triangl bathing suits. I first stumbled across the Australian-based company when scrolling on Instagram. I was immediately attracted to the styles and patterns of their bathing suits. Typically I just grab a bathing suit or two at Target every year, quick, easy and affordable. I have had several instances in which I’ve shown up to the pool only to have on the exact same swimsuit as someone else. My husband surprised me with a trip to Cabo for our anniversary this year and I knew I wanted to find a swimsuit that would really stand out. I searched several different stores but never really found anything that struck me. I was a bit hesitant to order a bathing suit online due to the fear that it might not fit, especially from a company based half-way around the globe. With little success searching other stores, I decided to bite the bullet and order two bathing suits from the Triangl website. I read countless reviews from other bloggers regarding their experiences with the company and found them to be very helpful with my buying process. These reviews inspired me to write my own to help others who might be considering making a purchase from the company.
After deciding to order a couple of the Triangl bathing suits, I procrastinated before actually placing my order. I ended up ordering my bathing suits about two weeks before we were to leave on our trip and was concerned I may not get them on time. Triangl is an Australian based company but it’s distributer is located in Hong Kong. I had read several reviews that stated that they received their order quickly so I was crossing my fingers that I would get my package before we left. I placed my order on Saturday and was incredibly surprised when I received my package that following Wednesday. Shipping cost about $20 (that is for regular delivery, not expedited) so I was very pleased to receive my order so quickly. You will want to make sure that someone is home to receive the package as you do have to sign for it.
As I mentioned before I ordered two different bathing suits, the Bambi-Sugar Plum and the Paloma Arianca. I will be reviewing both as they each fit a little bit different. For size reference I am a 32B and typically wear a size 0/25 in pants.
Bambi-Sugar Plum– I really liked several of the bathing suits and had a hard time narrowing it down. I was drawn to the colors of the Bambi-Suagr Plum bikini and ultimately decided on it. I was very unsure of what size to wear but had read several reviews about the helpfulness of the 24 hour live chat feature on their website. With not having much time before my trip I didn’t want to run the risk of getting the wrong size and not having time to make an exchange. I was mostly concerned with making sure the top fit because I am in between sizes and typically have trouble wearing bikini tops that are not adjustable because I am very narrow. For the top, the XS is equivalent to a 32A and the S to a 34B. The representative that I chatted with expressed that the XS would probably be too small coverage wise but that the S might be too big around. I opted to try the S, hoping that I could make it work. She recommended an XXS in the bottoms as that corresponds to my normal pants size 0. Upon receiving my suit I was quite anxious to try it on and see how it fit. The top actually fit perfectly. You are able to adjust the shoulder straps which helps some, just not the back straps. The bottoms were a little more snug and smaller fit than I am used to but because of the neoprene fabric they really hold everything in place very well so I actually felt very comfortable moving about. Overall I was very please with my purchase.
Paloma Arianca– I decided on the Paloma Arianca because I fell in love with the printed bottoms and also loved the color of the top. This style top is almost identical fit-wise to the Bambi-Sugar Plum but the bottoms are available in both Regular (like the Bambi-Sugar Plum) and Cheeky. I knew I wanted the regular style bottoms over the cheeky because I prefer more coverage. After speaking with the representative via the live chat I decided to go with the S in the top and XXS in the bottoms in this bikini as well. After receiving this suit and trying it on I noticed that the top fit well just as it did in my other suit but that the bottoms seemed to run a little bit smaller than the bottoms in the Bambi-Sugar Plum. They seemed to fit a little tighter and were cut a little lower in the back. I contemplated sending them back to exchange for the XS but after reading lots of reviews regarding difficulty with returns and exchanges I decided to keep the bottoms. I wore them on my trip and felt comfortable in them, it took only a little while to get comfortable with the fit. The neoprene fabric really makes a difference as the bottoms stay in place so you aren’t having to pull them up or tug on them when getting in and out of the water. Ultimately I was very pleased with the quality of this suit as well.
Since I didn’t attempt to return or exchange any of my purchase I can’t really speak on that process but advise you to read the reviews of other buyer’s experiences when making your decision to return or exchange an item. Also I had read several reviews stating that the neoprene fabric creases badly if folded up and is next to impossible to get back to its smooth appearance. I made sure to pack my suits flat in my bags and when storing so that I can avoid that creasing. I also had read a review that stated that the bikini’s take longer to dry because of the thick neoprene fabric, however, I didn’t find this to be true. I felt my suits dried fairly quickly after getting out of the water. Overall I was incredibly pleased with the ordering process, shipping time, and quality and look of my bikinis.
I would love to hear from others regarding their experience with the company.
Next we will prepare the sauce for our meatloaf. In a separate mixing bowl combine 3 tablespoons of ketchup and 2 tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce. Stir mixture and set aside.
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Place chopped asparagus into pan with small amount of water to steam. Cover pan and steam asparagus until bright green and is the texture that you prefer. I prefer my asparagus more al dente so I am careful not to cook them too long.
While your asparagus is steaming, you can begin to cook the turkey. Turkey is one of those meats that can be deceiving. Be mindful of the fat content when shopping for ground turkey. I typically buy the 98% fat free ground turkey and find that as long as it is seasoned well and not overcooked that it does not become overly dry. Completely cook the ground turkey meat and season with Italian seasoning. Dice an onion and add to cooked turkey. Continue cooking onions until tender.
Once spaghetti squash has finished cooking remove from oven. Use a fork to scrape the spaghetti squash away from the skin and add to pan with the cooked turkey. Add asparagus to pan along with the spaghetti squash and turkey.
The last ingredient we need to fix is the roasted pine nuts. Place a handful of pine nuts on a baking sheet and place in oven at 400 degrees F. The pine nuts roast very quickly so check on them every couple of minutes and remove when they are golden brown.
