Raspberry Tart

Raspberry Tart

Pastry:

1 1/2 cups  all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp salt

2 tbs granulated white sugar

1/2 cup unsalted butter, chilled, and cut into pieces

1 large egg

1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

1 - 2 tbs ice water

Filling:

2 1/2 cups fresh raspberries

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 1/2 tbs all purpose flour

Garnish:

2 1/2 cups fresh raspberries

powdered/confectioners sugar

Whipped cream (optional)

Ice cream (optional)

Raspberry Tart Recipe:

Pastry:

Preheat the oven to 425 degree F 

 In your food processor, place the flour, salt, and sugar and whisk until combined. 

Add the butter and process until the mixture resembles coarse meal.

 In a small bowl, whisk the egg and vanilla. Then gradually pour in the food processor while it's still  running, until the pastry just holds together when pinched. Add water, if necessary. 

Transfer the pastry to an 11 inch fluted tart pan, and press evenly over the bottom and up the sides of the pan. Cover and place in the refrigerator while you prepare the raspberry topping.

In a large bowl combine the sugar and flour. Add 2 1/2 cups of fresh raspberries and toss to coat. 

Remove the chilled pastry from the refrigerator and evenly pour in the raspberries and sugar/flour mixture. 

Place the tart pan on a large baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees and continue to bake for 30 minutes  until the pastry is golden brown. 

Remove from oven and place on a wire rack. Top with the remaining 2 1/2 cups of raspberries  pressing them gently into the hot raspberry jam. 

 Dust with powdered sugar and serve with softly whipped cream or ice cream. Refrigerate leftovers.

Menu Planning

Menu Planning

Planning is the key to eating a healthy diet and there are many benefits of meal planning.  I’d highly encourage you to take half an hour  every week to meal plan healthy meals for your family that week.  I prefer to plan my week and review the past week on Sunday evenings. 

Start menu-planning by looking in your freezer, refrigerator  and pantry. 

 Here are many benefits of meal planning;

1. Save money

-You save money by eating at home.

-Planning allows you to look at the sales in your local grocery store circulars. You can choose recipes that incorporate sale items  and fresh produce in season. 

-Build your grocery list around a meal plan,buy only what you need.

Menu planning saves on gas

2.Eat Healthy(Avoid Unhealthy Choices)

-You establish good eating habits for younger children. 

-You have more control over the ingredients in your meals Lowering sodium and saturated fat while increasing fiber in the diet.

3.Less Stress

You don’t have to run to the store, run around your kitchen frantically trying to figure out what to make for dinner, or spend an hour trying to find a great recipe.

Improve Family Relationships

Studies show that the more often families eat together, the more likely children are to do well in school bond with parents and siblings and eat their vegetables.

Makes meal time more joyous. 

4.Save time

After selecting your recipes, make a grocery list. 

You can buy what you need for the entire week without having to make a return trip to the store for forgotten items. Select easy recipes that don't require a lot of prep work. 

5.Add Variety

Families are more likely to eat the same meals over and over if they don’t meal plan and with time it gets boring. 

It's very easy to fall in the trap of eating out  on a regular basis where there's no variety. Choose a theme to help steer you to a particular section of a recipe book or even try different cuisines of the world.  Decorate the house and Set up the table in that theme if you have time.

Menu planning tip,

Begin your cooking with the Picture of the plate in mind🤔🍽. Always remember that vegetables🍠🌽🍆 and fruits 🍇🍎🍉should cover half your plate and the protein🍗🍖🍤 should cover a quarter. The rest of your plate should be grains, preferably whole grains.🍚🍝🍞Planing ahead is key.

Do you plan your menu? What are your best meal planning tips? 

Rosemary Tea

• 2 sprigs of rosemary
• 1 small ginger (crushed or grated) for strong flavor
• Lemon Peels (1lemon) 
• 1tbs lemon zest (it contains many antioxidant ingredients.)
• 2 cups of boiling water
• 2 tsp. of honey

Directions

1.Using a medium  saucepan  combine all the ingredients  and simmer for 6min. 

2.Strain the tea and add more honey as needed.

Serve hot!

5 Lifestyle Habits of Optimistic  People

#1 — Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff
You’ve heard the phrase, “choose your battles wisely” — this is more important than ever when steering clear of additional drama and headaches that may taint your mood. If it’s not going to affect your health, livelihood, marriage or family, chances are it’s a molehill and not a mountain.

#2 — Breathing Space
Having a space to decompress after a long day or sometimes mid-way through the day is essential in focusing your energy on the right things. We must center ourselves and make certain we have a full tank before we continue to extend ourselves to others. When you run on empty, resentment, anger and frustration are sure to follow.

#3 — Who’s Your Squad?
Who are the people you can go to at a moment’s notice and they rally around you with positivity and encouragement? It may be a special co-worker, a long-time friend, your spouse or maybe a parent. Identify your biggest cheerleaders in life. They make deposits into you, not debits. These are the people who will remind you of your worth when you can’t do it for yourself.

#4 — Let It Go
We all know the catchy tune from Disney’s Frozen about not holding onto things. This can really be applied to everyday life. Much like my point in number 1 about choosing battles, even when something occurs that is worth your energy — don’t let it fester inside of you, draining you of all your capacity to function. Choose an appropriate amount of time to handle the situation and then move on. With the exception of grieving an extreme loss, such as the death of a loved one (in which case I strongly advise you to seek spiritual or professional counseling), most things are a blip on the radar in retrospect once you look back.

#5 — Encouragement Breeds Gratitude
They say giving is better than receiving and when it comes to kindness, this couldn’t be more true. Giving words of encouragement and praise to others is great way to boost yourself. You’ll be surprised at how awesome it feels to push someone else forward with kind words. 

-Tina B. Ladson

Oven Roasted Rosemary Potatoes

 Oven Roasted Rosemary Potatoes

1 lb. -2 lbs Yukon gold or  red potatoes. Can use russet potatoes too, cut into 1-inch pieces

• 1 medium onion, cut into small chunks
• 1/4c olive oil
• 2 tbs dried rosemary
• 6 garlic cloves, peeled & cut into third
• 1/2 tsp garlic  powder
• 1tsp salt
• 3/4 tsp black pepper

• Instruction

  Preheat the oven to 425 degrees f. Cover the baking pan with foil paper. I like to spray my pan with cooking nonstick spray.

  Wash the potatoes  (I like to scrub mine with  a kitchen brush)

  In a separate bowl quarter the potatoes into a large bowl(do not peel)

  Add the remaining ingredients into the bowl and toss to coat the potatoes.

  Place the potatoes on your  foil covered baking sheet, spread out into a single layer to ensure even cooking.

  Place into a 425 degree F oven and bake for 35-40 minutes depending on the  size of potatoes you use.

  Serve with steamed Brocolli and grilled teriyaki chicken. 

  Visit our blog for more recipes.
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Bacon Wrapped Asparagus

1 packages  Bacon (not turkey bacon)

1 lbs Asparagus 

1/2 stick butter

1/4cup light brown sugar

2 tablespoons of soy sauce

1 teaspoon garlic powder

Directions

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

Wash them and cut the  bottom of the stems.

Wrap 2 -3 asparagus stems with one bacon Strip.

Place them on a foil covered cookie sheet.

On a saucepan heat  soy sauce, brown sugar, garlic and butter stirring frequently to prevent  burning. Continue until the sugar is all dissolved. The end product should be a thick brown sauce.

Using a  pastry brush, baste the bacon Asparagus.  Turn the asparagus and baste the bottom side  as well. 

Place  in the oven for 12-15 minutes  or until the bacon is slightly crispy on the outside.

 I like to serve them with  parmesan Mashed potatoes or Mushroom Risotto.  

 See other recipes on our blog.

Parmesan Mashed Potatoes

Parmesan Mashed Potatoes

3 pounds red potatoes, unpeeled

• 1 tablespoon  2 teaspoons  salt
• 1 1/2 cups half-and-half
• 1/4 pound unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
  A Sprig of cilantro 
  and/or Chives  chopped
  
  

  Directions

  Place the potatoes and 1 tablespoon salt in a pot  with cold water to cover. 

  Bring to a boil, lower the heat and simmer covered, for  30 minutes, until the potatoes are  tender, drain and transfer in a bowl.

  
  

  In a small saucepan, heat the half-and-half and butter.

  Using a potato masher mash them up. 

  Add the hot cream and butter to the potatoes, Fold in the sour cream, Parmesan cheese and season the potatoes salt and pepper;  

  Garnish with chopped chives or cilantro.

  serve immediately.