The Best Pico de Gallo with Lime EO!

Pico De Gallo with Lime YLEO

We are in full blown summer mode around here. Just got back from a week long vacation at our happiest place on Earth and am feeling refreshed and relaxed. There's nothing like a true vacation full of rest and relaxation with the ones you love. While we were gone, our tomato plants went bonkers and produced crazy amounts of a variety of tomatoes, and jalapenos to boot! I looked at my husband, jumped up and down, ran outside and frantically started picking off the vines. I brought in over 40 tomatoes and a few peppers. What's a gal to do with tomatoes and jalapeno peppers? Why, make pico de gallo of course!



This recipe is very straightforward and easy. From start to finish it takes about 35-40 mins...but maybe that's because I distract myself like you wouldn't believe...or because I'm slow as molasses when it comes to chopping veggies... ;) Anyway, there is nothing better than the taste, smell, and feel of veggies fresh from your garden - right? I need to figure out how to bottle the smell of tomato vines and sell it. I'm obsessed with that smell, people! Without further ado, here we go!

Ingredients:

1 1/2 c seeded and diced tomatoes (we used a combination of our Isis Candy, Juliet, Green Zebra, and Cherry)

1/4 c diced red onion (I used white, but I don't think it matters much)

1T diced jalapenos (2 small or 1 large)

1T minced garlic

1 drop of Young Living Essential Oil Lime (in place of 1T lime juice)

Salt and pepper to taste

Makes approx 3 cups

Directions:

Dice and mince to your heart's desire and put all ingredients in a glass bowl. Mix until well combined.

Pico People, are your mouths watering yet? Can you smell the pungent garlic? The juicy tomatoes? What about the crispness of the onion and spicy jalapeno? My mouth waters just looking at it all. 

The very last thing you are going to do is add the essential oil. I use Young Living Essential Oils in my baking and cooking. This recipe originally calls for the juice of a lime, but who wants to use an 'ol lime when you have LIME ESSENTIAL OILS?! HOLLAH!! 

One drop is truly all you need for this recipe. Anything more will overpower and you want to be able to enjoy all those flavors in one delicious bite :) 

There you have it! An easy and light appetizer, perfect for last minute weekend BBQ's or summer night get-togethers ;) Pair it with a margarita and use a drop of Lime YLEO to kick it up a notch. Or add a drop of Lime YLEO to your Corona or Modelo and you can always thank me later ;)

Here's to summer!
The NorCal Contessa 

Red, White, and Oooooh!! S'mores Cookies for the 4th of July!

Let's salute to the Red, White, and Oooooh!! There is nothing more American to me than S'mores on the 4th of July. Our favorite way to make them is over a traditional campfire, but if you aren't camping, the next best thing is to bake them in the oven! A super simple recipe that won't take much time but will definitely impress your partygoers :) I came across this recipe a couple years back from the The Girl Who Ate Everything and it's been a favorite of my family ever since! 

This recipe makes about 3 dozen cookies, depending on how big or small your dough portions are.

This Recipe Calls For:

11 Tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar, packed
½ cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 ½ cups flour
½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup mini marshmallows
3 regular sized Hershey’s bars, broken into pieces
1-2 packages graham crackers, broken into squares

Friends, let me tell you something. These are amazing. A gooey, chewy, deliciousness graham cracker bottom topped with a mixture of marshmallows, chocolate chip batter, and big 'ol chunk of Hersey chocolate to boot. BOOM. Deelish! Take a look for yourself: 

Directions are pretty simple and straightforward.

1. Place parchment paper on cookie sheets and line it up with graham crackers. I separate each graham square. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, sea salt, and cinnamon, then set aside.

3. In a bowl using an electric or hand mixer, cream butter, both sugars, until light and fluffy. Add in the eggs and vanilla until well combined. *Side note: This image makes my mouth water! I love the different textures...dying right now...

4. Add your flour mixture to your butter/sugar mixture and blend on low speed until well combined.

5. Fold in your chocolate chips and marshmallows - you're almost done! The original recipe says you have the option of chilling the dough for 1 hour or overnight. I was short on time today, so I made them right away. I've chilled the dough in the past, but don't really remember there being much of a difference.

6. Place one tablespoon of dough on top of each graham square. Gently place fingers on top of dough and press down to flatten. 

7. Bake for 5 minutes and then remove them and place one Hersey rectangle on each graham square. Gentle smoosh (yes, that's my technical word for it) down the chocolate. Place back in the oven for 5-7 minutes or until the top of the cookie is nice and golden brown. Remove from pan and place on a cookie sheet to cool. The cookies will spread and kinda mold together. Simply take a pizza cutter or sharp knife and gently cut the cookies that overlapped. 

And that my friends, is how to make the most amazing S'mores Cookies!! Now excuse me while I go sneak a few while the boys aren't looking... ;)

Have a wonderful and safe 4th of July!

The NorCal Contessa 

Dozen-It Look Dye-u-tee-ful!?

First of all, mad props to my mom for coming up with the catchy title of this post! #nailedit 

When my sisters and I were little, dyeing eggs was the highlight of the week leading up to Easter. We would get your typical store bought kit and dunk those eggs with the wire ladle until our fingertips matched the dye. We'd lay them on top of the little cardboard stands to dry, and then further decorate with stickers, glitter etc. Now that I have the boys, I get to relive those same memories but through their eyes.

These days there are so many ways to dye eggs. You can do the traditional PAAS kit, you can use veggie skins like yellow onions or red cabbage for color, how about tissue paper cutouts and mod podge, or you can try this method: shaving cream! 

This method is great for kids who really want to get their hands dirty ;)

So for this particular craft, you'll want to make sure that you cover your table linens with a grocery bag, or large garbage bag. The mixture of the shaving cream and food dye will dye your linens and no one wants marbled linen. Am I right? Or if the weather is nice enough, go for it outside on the concrete - super easy clean up too. 

Let me start by saying I tried this years ago when the boys were in preschool. I didn't think ahead to protect our hands, so we had multi-colored hands and fingers for a couple weeks! The disposable latex (or latex-free if you have an allergy to latex) gloves are a life saver for this project. I bought super cheap shaving cream circa 1979, a dozen eggs, and food dye.

First, fill a baking dish with about 1 1/2 inches of shaving cream. Next, place 2 drops dye of your choice, in random spots, on top of the shaving cream. Then take a toothpick or fork and drag through the shaving cream until you get the desired look. 

You'll want to place your egg in the shaving cream/dye mixture (*make sure your gloves are on!!) and gently roll it until fully covered. Then place your egg on a cookie rack to dry for a solid 20 mins or more. I placed wax paper on top of my cookie rack. Makes clean up that much more simple.

After the eggs have dried, take a paper towel (put those gloves back on) and gently wipe off the excess shaving cream. 

Place eggs in a basket with grass, raffia, or the stuffing of your choice and display your marbled eggs proudly! 

I think Peter Rabbit approves ;)

My boys had a great time doing this today and I'm positive your kiddos will as well! I hope everyone has a wonderful Easter with family and friends.

Creatively Yours,
NorCal Contessa 

Paleo Banana Coconut Muffins

Last month, my husband and I completed the Whole 30 challenge together. If you aren't familiar with the Whole 30, you can read about it here. In a nutshell, for 30 days you give up certain foods in order to bring a stronger sense of health/proper nutrition/better way of living to your life. It's a challenge I would strongly suggest to anyone out there - life changing! 

Although I feel confident in that I've killed my sugar demons thanks to the 30, I would still like to be able to treat myself every now and again without a dreaded sugar coma making me feel like I'm on death's door. So my friend Kelly, who I affectionately call my "Foodie Guru"(she knows it all, inside, outside, up, down, and all around when it comes to nutrition, folks) made these amazing muffins last week and gave me a few to sample. She knew I was scared to reintroduce foods, especially treats, but she said this would be a good way to bring a little bit of sweet back. So when I bit into this little muffin of joy, I was like, "OMG I HAVE TO SHARE THIS WITH ALL THE LAND!!!" How could a recipe that does NOT call for sugar, white flour, butter, and then some be delicious, let alone sweet?! Well let me tell you it can be done. Oh. Yes. It. Can. 

Check it out. Paleo Banana Coconut Muffins. Boom. You're welcome. No really, you're welcome! It's a wonderful combination of banana and a hint of coconut, and not overly sweet. The texture is moist and light. It's great as an afternoon snack or pair it with some fruit, and a fried egg for a light breakfast. 

Can you smelllllll what the NorCal Contessa is cookin'?!? Correction, what I'm baking. Say YES! These little muffins o' love have very few ingredients. Coconut flour, eggs, baking soda, dates, bananas, coconut oil, salt, and you've got yourself a whole lotta deeeelish going on! This particular recipe calls for honey and nuts, but I substituted those out (nut allergies up in this house) for dates instead. Today, I had the honor of having this little stud help me bake. I love it when my boys want to be involved in baking - loooove.

 Look at how he holds the bowl! He mashed those bananas like a BOSS ;) Makes this girl's heart happy.

  
Doesn't everyone snack on a muffin with a pretty tulip by it's side? No? Just me? Well, you should ;) 

Inspecting the goods...and he likes what he sees! He said to me, "Mama, these are so delicious. My tummy is happy and I feel better now!" Nothing like a little homemade baking from the heart to make Mr. Under-the-weather forget he wasn't feeling so hot. 

So, are you ready for the recipe yet? I thought so. Without further ado, here you go! 

Paleo Banana Coconut Muffins

• ½ cup coconut flour 
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• 4 large eggs
• ¼ cup melted coconut oil *you could substitute and use unsweetened applesauce
• ¼ cup honey *I substituted and used pitted dates
• 2 medium sized ripe bananas, mashed (about 1 cup)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ¼ cup + 2 Tablespoons chopped walnuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 350degrees and line your muffin tin with paper cups. In a mixing bowl, whisk together the coconut flour, salt, and baking soda.

1. In a smaller bowl, beat together the eggs, coconut oil, dates, mashed bananas, and vanilla.
2. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and beat with a hand mixer on medium speed for about one minute or until well combined.
3. Stir in the ¼ cup walnuts. *I did not include these since we have nut allergies in the house.
4. Scoop two heaping spoonfuls evenly into 12 muffin cups.
5. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
6. Let the muffins cool in the pan for about 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool.

I think there are a lot of variations you could do with this recipe. Next time I plan to play with carrots and raisins or zucchini and raisins! Kelly, thank you for showing me that I can still enjoy a little treat in a healthy way :) I think this recipe will definitely be added to the family favorites list. 

If this recipe looks like something you'd want to try, be sure to let me know what you think and how it turned out! 

And remember to always bake with love.

Yours Truly,

NorCal Contessa 

Noni Alma's Bourbon Balls

 HAPPY NEW YEAR, EVERYONE!! *jumps in air and does splits

I woke up this morning and thought to myself, "Self, it's gonna be a baking day to start the year off right!" So, I did! I baked. Kinda. I mean, this is probably one of the simplest recipes I've brought to you. No need for mixers, oven timers, nothing like that. It's a throw-it-all-in-one-bowl-and-be-done-with-it kind of recipe!

What's more, is that this recipe belongs to my Noni. And EVERYTHING that woman has ever made from her kitchen is in fact, AMAZING. When my sisters and I went off to college, Noni always made us some goodies to take with us. Her bourbon balls were always my request. She'd leave us a note inside the goody can about how much she and my Nono would miss us and then the PS would always read, "Don't Eat And Drive" Hilarious. And....so true. So consider yourselves in for a treat, a really tasty treat. You're welcome.

Behold....Noni Alma's Bourbon Balls!

The ingredients are simple and most likely, the majority are already in your pantry!

You'll need:

3 cups Nilla Wafers, crushed

1 cup confectioners sugar

1 1/5 T cocoa

1 1/2 cups walnuts, finely minced

3 T light corn syrup

1/2 cup bourbon

3T sugar (for rolling the balls in) or confectioners sugar

This recipe has many variations, all of which we have tried. You could substitute chocolate wafers for the vanilla, and you could use rum or kahlua in place of bourbon. My family prefers the bourbon best, but it's totally up to you and your taste buds 

First, crush the Nilla wafers until it's fine in texture and place in a medium sized bowl. I like to use my mini Cuisine Art, but you can throw them into a Ziploc and crush with a rolling pin

Next measure out your cocoa (I used Hersey's Cocoa for this recipe), your confectioner's sugar (aka powdered sugar), walnuts, corn syrup, and bourbon. Then throw it altogether in the bowl and mix with a spoonula because let's face it, it's fun to say and gets the job done. Say it with me, SPOONULA.  Moving on. Warning: If your hand is heavy in the pouring of the bourbon, your 'dough' will be a slushy mess and won't hold well. I mean, I *may* have added a teeny, weeny, tiny bit extra...but I didn't go overboard.

At this point in time, the smell is absolutely intoxicating!!

The dough will be thick and have a very sticky consistency. Your spoonula should be able to stick up straight, as if it was in a bowl of chili. If your dough looks anything less then, go ahead and add about a 1/4 cup nilla wafers until you get the right consistency again.

But before we go further, let's tip our hats and have a moment of silence for these fine gentlemen. They knew exactly what they were doing when it came to alcohol....amen.

Yep, we are looking at you Mr. Jacob Beam, you old rascal! High fives, all around! 

Okay, back to the recipe. Once you incorporate all ingredients, you'll want to take about a tablespoon of dough and cover it while rolling it around in a jar of sugar, shuga ;)  

This recipe will yield 30 big balls (1in in diameter) or 50 smaller balls. There is no need to chill this recipe - woot! If we are going to a dinner party, I like to make these a day or two before so the bourbon really sinks in *wink wink

You can line your baking dish with wax paper and place the bourbon balls on top. Just make sure they stay in an air tight container, otherwise they will harden. Before serving, I like to sprinkle a little bit of sugar over them :) 

So there you have it, friends! An easy, no-fuss kind of recipe that is sure to bring a smile to your mouth...and belly ;)

Happy New Year!

NorCal Contessa

The Haldeman Holiday Ornament

Hello friends! We are just days away from Christmas, so there is still time to make a keepsake ornament! Last year we did cinnamon ornaments, and salt dough ornaments for our ornament tradition. 

This year for our 2015 keepsake ornament, we made Snowmen Handprint Ornaments! 

This is a pretty simple craft. You'll need the following items:

- Glass or plastic ornaments: shiny coating only. Do not purchase the matte ornament balls (ex purple, blue, red etc) as they will bleed through the paint. 

- Craft paint - black, brown, and orange, paint brush

- Toothpicks

- Fabric 

- Pencil

- Ribbon

- Glue stick

- Your child's hand :)

Step 1: You'll want to paint the palm of your child's hand with white craft paint. Gently place the ornament in your child's palm and have them "hug" the ornament. I had to gently press their fingers flat up against the ornament to ensure that the snowmen would appear ;)

Step 2: While the ornaments dried, I cut out small little "scarves" from some left over holiday fabric. Truth be told, the process of cutting and gluing the little scarves took the most time. Helpful hint: USE WASHI TAPE for the scarves. By doing that, you'll cut your cutting-perfectly-small-sized-scarves time in half ;) ;) And you'll save your sanity in the meantime!

Step 3: Take a pencil and draw out your snowmen faces, noses etc. You can totally skip this step, but I'm just way too anal about how my snowmen look - good grief! LOL

Step 4: Take the bottom of a toothpick and gently dip it into black craft paint, and place it on top of your pencil marks. This is how you'll make the eyes/mouth/buttons. Do the same thing with orange craft paint to make the noses. You can also use a toothpick to make stick arms and hands.

Aren't they SO cute! They have so much personality, don't they? Side note: I'm super proud of myself at this point in time, FYI.

Step 5: Take a glue stick and glue the back of your fabric scarves, then stick them on your snowmen any way you like! Dip the end of a paintbrush into the white craft paint and "dot" around the ornament to make it look like falling snow. And voila! Add a pretty ribbon on top and you've got your Snowman Hand print Ornament! WOOT! 

No matter how you decide to spend these last few days before Christmas, do so with your heart and soul! Make it a memorable and wonderful holiday with those nearest and dearest to you! 

Happy Holidays, 

The NorCal Contessa