: : Recipe : : Peach Tea Infused Lemon Marmalade

Yesterday I was feeling creative. I knew I had a few sad looking lemons lying around and wanted to make something with them before they needed to be thrown away. I wanted to make something with the lemons that I never made before. I took to searching the Internet and found a recipe for Meyer lemon-lavender marmalade. It looked simple enough, and even though I wasn't planning on adding the lavender, I had something else up my sleeve. Now, this is the first time I had ever tried my hand at making a marmalade of any kind, so I was sort of just going with the flow. I knew that I wanted yummy and simple summertime flavors in this marmalade, which is what sparked the idea for adding in a peach tea bag to the simmering lemons and also a splash of pure vanilla extract. The results? Delicious!! Now, there are a few things I would do a tad differently the next time around, but this batch will do just fine.

Peach Tea Infused Lemon Marmalade

* 3 medium sized lemons

* 1 cup of water

* 1 cup of sugar

* 1 peach tea bag (I used Celestial Seasonings brand)

* 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

-First, you'll want to wash your lemons and slice them into quarters, slicing end to end and remove the seeds.

-Next, slice the lemon quarters crosswise into small, thin slices (It's important that these pieces are rather small! I think mine were too big. Oops!)

-In a heavy bottom sauce pan, add the sliced lemons, 1 cup of water and your tea bag.

-Simmer together on medium heat for about 15-20 minutes until the lemon peels are nice and soft, stir occasionally.

-After the lemon peels are nice and soft, take the tea bag out of the simmering mixture and add in your sugar and vanilla and simmer for another 15-20 minutes.

-Check your pot to make sure you have enough water while it simmers. (This is another thing I would change with what I did, I feel it got too thick too quickly, I would have liked it to be more smooth in the end and a little extra water probably would have done the trick!)

-When it's all done simmering, pour into a mason jar and leave it at room temperature for a little while before sticking it into the fridge.

-Enjoy on warm buttered toast or crackers and cream cheese!

Remeber, this was my first time attempting to make a marmalade and if you attempt to make this recipe, I really hope it turns out as lovely for you as it did for me! Tweak the recipe if you must!

~Kellie

Recipe : : Baked Rosemary Onion Rings

 

Today I'd like to share this super yummy recipe with you all.

Baked Rosemary Onion Rings

 (Recipe above from Food Doodles)

I was craving something crunchy to eat today, so what did I do? I went straight to Pinterest of course! (If I'm searching for a certain kind of recipe, that site seems to always have it!)

I decided I'd like to try baked onion rings. I had never made baked onion rings before today, but I had all of the ingredients, including fresh rosemary from my garden! I am SO glad I tried these. With very simple ingredients and a little bit of baking time, this was just the snack I had been looking for. I also served these up with a side of my spicy ketchup. So good! Try this recipe, you will not be disappointed.

My super simple spicy ketchup is simply a mixture of 1/4 cup ketchup, any kind you like and about 1/2 teaspoon of Sriracha Sauce.

Black Bean + Roasted Sweet Potato Burritos

(purple & orange sweet potatoes)

I love to cook, so from time to time I thought I'd share a simple recipe, sound good? As I was sitting around thinking to myself what in the world should I cook for dinner, I remembered that I had picked up some gorgeous deep purple sweet potatoes from the Asian market! I have never had the purple ones before and loved the color and I knew I had to make something with them. I had heard of people pairing black beans with sweet potatoes, it sounded like a yummy combination, so I thought burritos! 

So I put my thinking cap on and thought what spiced would be good? I wanted them to have a Mexican flair, so I the obvious ingredients came to mind, cumin, chili powder, etc... But them I remembered I had bought a curry powder mix from the Asian market that contained all kinds of delicious ingredients such as cumin, coriander, chili, cinnamon, fennel, and a few more and thought that would work just fine! So came together my lovely mixture of veggies and spices and a beautiful burrito was born! I hope you all enjoy these as much as my family did! 

Black Bean + Roasted Sweet Potato Burritos

(as with all of my recipes, hardly any measuring actually takes place, so just use your best judgement and make it your own! Also, feel free to replace any ingredients, just think of my recipes as guidelines!)

* 2 Sweet potatoes, diced into small cubes (any variety will work)

* Half of an onion, diced

* 1-2 Tbs Curry spice (any kind you like) or Mexican spice mix

* 2 Tbs Coconut oil (melted) or Olive oil

* 3-4 Cups cooked black beans

*Tortillas

* Prepared Salsa, Grated Cheese, Sour Cream, Lettuce, Etc...

Take your sweet potatoes and peel and dice them into small cubes. Dice up your onions. Put the sweet potatoes and onions in a roasting pan. Coat in oil and sprinkle in spices. Toss to coat. 

Place roasting pan in a preheated oven at 400 degrees F.

Roast for approx. 15-25 minutes, or until tender and slightly crisp

Take the sweet potatoes out of the oven and add them to a pan along with the black beans and saute on medium heat in some butter for a few minutes. 
Turn the pan off.

Now it's time to assemble! 

Grab a tortilla and scoop some of the black bean + roasted sweet potato mixture in and add toppings! Easy as that! Simple, frugal, nourishing, and most importantly yummy!!!!! 

Enjoy!