Category Archives: Recipes

WAYS TO CUT DOWN THE COST OF GROCERIES

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  1. Make a thorough menu plan each week and stick to it. This will reduce your temptation to impulse buy. If you’re an impulsive person, you might want to order your groceries on-line. Do a pick-up rather than wander the aisles and test your resolve. Groceries
  2. If you shop at a Publix or a store where they do BOGO, buy one get one free, then take advantage of it! Freeze the second item for another day. If you don’t want what’s on sale, buy only what you do. Time to check your grocery list to see if the items are on it first.
  3. If you have small independent grocery stores near you, like we have in Florida, you will find the prices are nearly cut in half, especially for vegetables and fruit—not to mention the price of Wine. Trust me, by the end of the week you’ll be ready for a bottle or two.
  4. Next is going generic. No more high end food for you unless you spend a dollar to buy a lottery ticket and win big, like over twenty dollars or so!
  5. When creating your list each week be sure to add your children’s and husband’s favorite treats. We all can’t just live on love, and believe the Beatles that love is all we need.
  6. It would be a good idea to make the planned food for six days. Then, order in pizza or Chinese dinner on the seventh.
  7. Have you ever had a veggie smoothie? They are delicious and don’t taste like carrots and celery at all. Yummy, creamy, I thought I was drinking fruit through a straw.

You’re all probably rolling your eyes right now. So I’ll send you to Allrecipes who has more than 160 vegetable smoothie recipes with reviews and tips!

Ladies, one more tip. As you wait for your children to come home from school, sample a few delicious smoothies and read a good book. The Authors’ Billboard (ABB) has over thirty boxsets with multiple books from NYTimes and USAT today bestselling authors—for only $.99!!

And now that’s a bargain!

English Crumpets #Recipe

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Crumpets are light and airy pan-fried yeast bread. The holes that permeate the crumpet are perfect for capturing melted butter and jam. Toasted crumpets are a perfect addition to any breakfast table.

Crumpets

You will need 4 crumpet ring molds for this recipe. Recipe makes 6 crumpets, fried in batches.

English Crumpets

Ingredients:
  • 1/2 cup Lukewarm Water, 104°F
  • 1 teaspoon Active Dried Yeast
  • 1 teaspoon Sugar
  • 1/2 cup Milk, room temperature
  • 1 cup All-Purpose Flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon Salt
  • 1 teaspoon Baking Powder
  • 1 tablespoon Olive oil or 1 tablespoon melted Butter, for greasing the crumpet rings
Directions:
  1. In a medium size bowl, combine water, yeast, and sugar and stir to dissolve. Allow yeast to activate for 10 minutes until it foams up a bit.
  2. Add the milk, flour, and salt to the bowl. Sift in the baking powder, pushing any lumps through the screen. Use a wire whisk to beat the mixture for 2 minutes, scraping down the bowl halfway through the process.
  3. Scrape down the bowl, cover with a clean tea towel, and place in a warm spot for 45 minutes. The doughy batter should almost double in size.
  4. Heat a large nonstick frying pan over medium high heat, about 375°F.
  5. Grease the crumpet rings. Use a pastry brush to coat the inside wall of one of the rings with olive oil or butter. Place the ring into the hot pan.
  6. Spoon the bubbly crumpet batter into the hot ring until it is half full. Repeat, using 2 or 3 more rings. Don’t overcrowd the pan.
  7. After 5 minutes, the classic crumpet bubbles will start to appear around the edges. Use a knife to pop any un-popped bubbles. Once crumpets look dry around the edges, put on an oven mitt and lift off the rings.
  8. When the center of the crumpets are set, carefully turn them over. Fry until golden brown. Remove from the pan and cool just a bit on a wire rack. Serve warm with butter and jam.
  9. Leftover crumpets can be frozen up to 3 months, or keep them in the refrigerator for up to 7 days. Cold crumpets can be toasted in a slotted toaster or in a toaster oven and then served hot.

Crumpets 2

Coffee to Improve my Health!

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Drinking 2 to 3 cups of coffee daily, including ground, instant, or decaffeinated coffee, is associated with significant reductions in cardiovascular disease and mortality, compared with avoiding coffee, a new analysis of the prospective UK Biobank suggests.

Ground and instant coffee, but interestingly, not decaffeinated coffee intake was also associated with reduced risk of new-onset arrhythmia, including atrial fibrillation. “Daily coffee intake should not be discouraged by physicians but rather considered part of a healthy diet,” Kistler said.

“This study supports that coffee is safe and even potentially beneficial, which is consistent with most of the prior evidence,” Carl Lavie, MD, who wasn’t involved in the study, told theheart.org | Medscape Cardiology.

“We do not prescribe coffee to patients, but for the majority who like coffee, they can be encouraged — it is fine to take a few cups daily,” said Lavie, with the Ochsner Heart and Vascular Institute in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Significant reductions in the risk of incident coronary heart disease were associated with habitual coffee intake of up to 5 cups/day. Coffee consumption at all levels was associated with significant reduction in the risk of congestive cardiac failure and ischemic stroke. The lowest risks were observed in those who consumed 2 to 3 cups/day.

“Coffee consumption is associated with cardiovascular benefits and should not empirically be discontinued in those with underlying heart rhythm disorders or cardiovascular disease,” Kistler told theheart.org | Medscape Cardiology

“Caffeine has also a role in weight loss through inhibition of gut fatty acid absorption and increase in basal metabolic rate. Furthermore, coffee has been associated with a significantly lower incidence of type 2 diabetes mellitus,” Kistler added.

So enjoy your coffee while reading a new book, or better a box of new books.

No love can ever be as special as your first.
What if you could have the chance at a new beginning with your first love?
Find true love and your happy ever after in the pages of these SIX BRAND NEW, full-length steamy stories from New York Times and USA Today Bestselling, Award-Winning Authors.

TWO HEARTS REUNITED by Tamara Ferguson, USA Today bestselling author. When Lieutenant Eric O’Neill returns to Crystal Rock for a family reunion, he’s shocked to run into none other than Anya Weldon, the only woman he’s ever loved. Learning that her life’s been filled with tragedy, he’s determined to win her back—even if it means assisting with her search for her sister, who she believes was abducted by human traffickers ten years earlier.

BACK TO ME by Natalie Ann, USA Today bestselling author: Cooper Winslow accepted that his first secret love in college was lost to him forever and moved on with his life. Years later, fate brings them together and now he wonders if he is going to lose her again with all the family drama he’s lived with for years.

SWEET SUCCESS by Suzanne Jenkins, USA Today bestselling author: Carly and Jake love each other, but have goals that will place them at opposite ends of the country. When their dreams fall through, will love still be an option?

YOUR DANGEROUS KISS by Alicia Street, USA Today bestselling author: Rafe March considers his career on the big screen a fluke that he isn’t sure he ever wanted. With magazine cover good looks, a near genius IQ and a wealthy family, his options in life are plenty. Too bad the only thing he ever really wanted was Lucinda.

WE’RE ALL WINNERS by Mona Risk, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author: Scheming people and secrets separated them. With help from her toddler and his German shepherd, love may bring them together again.

THE REGAL ROSE by Susanne Matthews, International bestselling author: She’s a princess in distress; he’s her knight in shining armor. Can he rescue her one more time?

Lemon Curd Filled Cake by @Donna_Fasano

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It’s February and we’ve been experiencing a lot of gray, rainy, winter days. Whenever I need a sunny pick-me-up, I bake something lemony. This Lemon Curd Filled Cake is just delicious. Lemon is used three ways: to flavor the cake, the filling, and the icing. And the curd is so easy because it’s store-bought (see notes for more information). It would make a great Super Bowl Party dessert. And if your Valentine loves lemon, this would make a wonderful “I love you!” surprise.

Lemon Curd Filled Cake

Ingredients for the cake:

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 1/2 cups white sugar
  • 1/2 cup butter, melted
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1 cup buttermilk*
  • 2 tablespoon lemon rind, finely minced**
  • 3 tablespoon lemon juice

Directions:

  1. Pre-heat oven 350° F. Prepare 2 eight-inch round banking pans by spraying with cooking spray. Line bottoms with circles of waxed paper (optional).
  2. In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and sugar. Stir to combine well.
  3. Add remaining ingredients and stir until all ingredients are incorporated.
  4. Divide the batter between the 2 pans and bake 30-35 minutes, or until wooden toothpick comes out clean.
  5. Let cool in pans for 10 minutes, then turn out cakes onto wire rack to cool completely.
Lemon Curd Filling

Ingredients:

  • 1 small jar lemon curd (about 10 to 12 ounces)***
  1. Place one cake layer on the plate upside down and spread the entire jar of curd on the flat side just to the edges.
  2. Top with second cake and frost the cake with Lemon Icing.
Lemon Icing

Ingredients:

  • 1/4 cup butter, melted
  • 1/4 cup lemon juice
  • 1 tablespoon lemon rind, finely minced**
  • 2 – 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar, sifted

Directions:

  1. In a medium-sized bowl, add lemon juice and rind to the melted butter. Stir to combine.
  2. Add 2 cups powdered sugar and stir to combine. Add more sugar until desired consistency is reached.

Notes:

I like a thinner icing so I can smear it over the top and let the icing drip down the sides of the cake. See picture.

* If you don’t have buttermilk on hand, you can create sour milk by adding 1 tablespoon of lemon juice (or vinegar) to a measuring cup and top off with milk to reach the 1 cup needed. Let sit for several minutes to curdle.

**I use a microplane/zester to remove the yellow part only of the lemon. The white pith can be bitter.

***Most grocery stores sell lemon curd in the jelly/jam section. Look on the top shelf, near the specialty jellies. Amazon also sells lemon curd. Or you can make your own.

This February, I’m offering SECOND CHANCE VALENTINE on sale for just 99¢. This book is part of my Ocean City Boardwalk Series.

Second Chance Valentine