Mojitos!!!

This is one of my favorite cocktails that I discovered in Mexico on our honeymoon. Try using brown sugar instead of white sugar to add a slightly different taste.

Mojitos

10 fresh mint leaves
2 tablespoons sugar
Juice from 1/2 lime (about 2 tablespoons)
1/4 cup light rum
Ice cubes
Splash of club soda

Combine mint leaves, sugar, and lime juice in a small mortar bowl; crush mint using a pestle. Transfer mint mixture to a tall glass.

Add rum, and stir; add ice cubes. Add a splash of club soda.

Note: If you don't have a mortar and pestle, simply use the back of a spoon to crush the mint leaves in your glass with the sugar and lime juice.

All wrapped Up

I have made this "lunch" dish several times since it first appeared in the July edition of Cooking Light since techinically no cooking is required. Sweet potato chips go perfectly with this wrap.



Chicken & Bacon Roll Ups (Cooking Light)

1/2 cup reduced-fat mayonnaise
1 teaspoon minced fresh tarragon
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
4 (2.8-ounce) whole wheat flatbreads (such as Flatout)
2 cups shredded romaine lettuce
2 cups chopped tomato (about 2 medium)
4 center-cut bacon slices, cooked and drained
2 cups shredded skinless, boneless rotisserie chicken breast

Combine reduced-fat mayonnaise, minced tarragon, and fresh lemon juice in a small bowl. Spread 2 tablespoons mayonnaise mixture over each flatbread. Top each with 1/2 cup shredded romaine lettuce, 1/2 cup chopped tomato, 1 bacon slice, crumbled, and 1/2 cup chicken. Roll up.

A Tropical Breakfast

This was the perfect breakfast to start a day at the beach. A very tropical taste with the fruit and coconut milk in the french toast. It's made the night before, so the bread can soak up the coconut egg mixture and then it's baked in the morning.

Baked Coconut French Toast with Tropical Fruit Compote (Cooking Light)

COMPOTE:
1 1/2 cups chopped fresh pineapple
1 cup chopped peeled mango
1 cup chopped peeled papaya
1 cup chopped peeled kiwifruit
3 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons fresh lime juice

FRENCH TOAST:
16 (1-inch-thick) slices diagonally cut French bread baguette (about 10 ounces)
Cooking spray
1 1/4 cups light coconut milk
1 1/4 cups egg substitute
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup flaked sweetened coconut

To prepare compote, combine first 6 ingredients. Cover and chill for 8 hours or overnight.

To prepare the French toast, arrange bread in a single layer in a 13 x 9-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Combine light coconut milk, egg substitute, 1/2 cup sugar, and 1 tablespoon vanilla, stirring with a whisk, and pour evenly over bread. Turn the bread over to coat. Cover and refrigerate for 8 hours or overnight.
Preheat oven to 350°.

Remove bread mixture from refrigerator, and uncover. Turn bread slices over, and sprinkle evenly with flaked coconut. Let stand at room temperature 15 minutes. Bake, uncovered, at 350º for 30 minutes or until coconut is golden. Serve warm with fruit compote.

Dessert Pizza!

Ben's pizza night at the beach wasn't complete without a dessert pizza. This pizza is made with regular unseasoned pizza dough, a chocolate hazelnut spread base, and a combination of chocolate chips and nuts. Ben used M&Ms and substituted walnuts for hazelnuts...what a sweet ending!

Chocolate Hazelnut Pizza

1 pound homemade pizza dough or purchased pizza dough
2 teaspoons butter, melted
1/4 cup chocolate-hazelnut spread such as Nutella
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
2 tablespoons milk chocolate chips
2 tablespoons white chocolate chips
2 tablespoons chopped hazelnuts, toasted

Position the oven rack on the bottom of the oven and preheat to 450 degrees F. Line a heavy large baking sheet with parchment paper. Roll out the dough to a 9-inch-diameter round. Transfer the dough to the prepared baking sheet. Using your fingers, make indentations all over the dough. Brush the dough with butter, then bake until the crust is crisp and pale golden brown, about 20 minutes. Immediately spread the chocolate-hazelnut spread over the pizza then sprinkle all the chocolate chips over. Bake just until the chocolate begins to melt, about 1 minute. Sprinkle the hazelnuts over the pizza. Cut into wedges and serve.

Hands Down the BEST Pizza Ever!

As many of you know we have instituted Friday Pizza Nights in our household. We've been trying several combinations of ingredients for our pizzas, but this is the absolute best version Ben has made so far. He used fresh cooked shrimp, fresh portabella mushrooms and spinach. It tasted very gourmet and I'd happily pay $30 for the entire pizza. It was perfectly crunchy. By brushing the pizza crust with olive oil and pre-baking it for about 5 minutes, then adding all the toppings and baking for another 15 minutes, ensured a perfect balance of crispy and chewy crust.

Shrimp, Spinach & Mushroom Pizza

1/2 lb. cooked peeled, deveined shrimp
1 (10 ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
White pizza sauce (recipe below)
1 (6 ounce) can sliced mushrooms, drained
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
1 unbaked pizza crusts
1 tablespoons olive oil

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F (175 degrees C). Spread pizza crusts out onto baking sheets or pizza pans.

Place the shrimp, spinach and white sauce in a saucepan, and warm over medium heat. Stir occasionally. Spread 1tablespoon of olive oil onto each pizza crust. Spoon the shrimp and spinach mixture onto crust. Top pizza with the mozzarella cheese and Parmesan cheese. Sprinkle mushrooms on top.

Bake for 20 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the bottom is nicely browned.

White Pizza Sauce
1 1/2 tbsp cornstarch
3/4 cup evaporated skim milk
1/2 cup shredded reduced sodium Swiss cheese (2 ounces)
2 tbsp Chablis or other dry white wine
1/4 tsp garlic powder (or use fresh to taste!)
1/4 tsp ground white pepper

Combine cornstarch and milk in a small saucepan, stirring until smooth. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Boil 1 minute. Remove from heat. Stir in Swiss cheese, dry white wine, garlic powder (or minced or pressed fresh!) and ground white pepper. Spread sauce evenly over Pizza Crust.

Sangria

Sangria

1/2 cup brandy
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/3 cup frozen lemonade concentrate
1/3 cup orange juice
1 (750 milliliter) bottle dry red wine
1/2 cup triple sec
1 lemon, sliced into rounds
1 orange, sliced into rounds
1 lime, sliced into rounds
1/4 cup white sugar (optional)
8 maraschino cherries
2 cups carbonated water (optional)

In a large pitcher or bowl, mix together the brandy, lemon juice, lemonade concentrate, orange juice, red wine, triple sec, and sugar. Float slices of lemon, orange and lime, and maraschino cherries in the mixture. Refrigerate overnight for best flavor. For a fizzy sangria, add club soda just before serving.

Gorilla Bread

This breakfast treat is similar to Monkey Bread, but has cream cheese stuffed inside each piece. Ben has made this twice now and used a honey nut flavored cream cheese the second time. It was the perfect flavor to compliment the nuts on top.

Gorilla Bread (Paula Deen)

1/2 cup granulated sugar
3 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese
2 (12-ounce) cans refrigerated biscuits (10 count)
1 1/2 cups coarsely chopped walnuts

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Spray a bundt pan with nonstick cooking spray. Mix the granulated sugar and cinnamon. In a saucepan, melt the butter and brown sugar over low heat, stirring well; set aside. Cut the cream cheese into 20 equal cubes. Press the biscuits out with your fingers and sprinkle each with 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon sugar. Place a cube of cream cheese in the center of each biscuit, wrapping and sealing the dough around the cream cheese. Sprinkle 1/2 cup of the nuts into the bottom of the bundt pan. Place half of the prepared biscuits in the pan. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar, pour half of the melted butter mixture over the biscuits, and sprinkle on 1/2 cup of nuts. Layer the remaining biscuits on top, sprinkle with the remaining cinnamon sugar, pour the remaining butter mixture over the biscuits, and sprinkle with the remaining 1/2 cup of nuts. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool for 5 minutes. Place a plate on top and invert.