Will You Be My Valentine....snack?! Brownies with Homemade Cream Cheese Frosting

So easy! So cute!!

It's Valentine's Day y'all! If you're up to your ears in candy hearts and lace doilies for the kids at school, you might be in need of a delicious and festive pick me up.  In France, they call their afternoon snack the "gouter" (gooh-tay): typically sweet and served with tea or coffee.

I'm a fan already:)

So here's the deal.

Stop by your local Sur La Table, or any kitchen store.  I found varying sizes of these heart shaped cookie cutters for a very reasonable price of $.85! (The bigger ones are $1.25...you can decide how big you want your brownies to be). 

Then bake these delicious homemade gooey brownies that we've previously tested out on Sorella Style, or if you're in a major hurry, you can go the store bought route.  Let the brownies cool way down in their 13 x 9 pan before cutting out your heart shaped treats! I got about 14 mid sized brownies out of one recipe...and there are some delicious edges left over to snack on too:)

Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe:

4oz. organic cream cheese softened

1/8 stick of butter softened

8 oz (half a small box) confectioners sugar

1 tsp vanilla

Beat cream cheese, add in butter.  Slowly beat in Confectioners sugar as frosting gets fluffy and soft.  Mix in vanilla at the end and Voila!!  YUMMY cream cheese frosting!

I mean...sooooo delicious...I've always had a love affair with cream cheese frosting...now that I know how simple it is to make...I am in serious trouble!

Enjoy my Valentines!!  It's the little things...and this one is too yummy to pass up!

Love and hearts,

Kacey

Spotlight: How to Wear "Spring" Around Your Neck!

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We're all dreaming of Spring aren't we?  I know I'm longing to perk up my outdoor deck with color - bring on the flowers!  So why not bring a little "life" to your everyday jewelry?  Enter With Roots, a jewelry company based in Brooklyn that focuses on tiny terrarium jewelry.  Wha-huh? How is this possible?

Apparently the jewelry (necklaces, bracelets, and earrings) thrives off of close contact with your very own body heat and the exposure to everyday sunlight.  They contain reindeer moss, charcoal, and a small amount of soil.  Prices range from $40-$65. Not bad for a living piece of jewelry that survives because of your own personal eco-system!

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Valentine's Day gift, anyone?  Check out this darling heart necklace...feel free to let my husband know :)

xo

Kate

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Cold Temps=Comfort Food

It has been absolutely freezing here in Denver the past few days.  No seriously, like negative 10 degrees freezing.  When you step outside it chills you to the bone. I am not a fan of this kind of cold.  And if we are being honest I don't really love the freezing temps combined with ice and snow much past Christmastime. I love a White Christmas complete with a sleigh ride and hot cocoa, but then spring might as well just pop up come January 2nd. :)  

I digress.....so while I was home today, I thought we needed some good for the soul, warm us up, comfort food.  One of my favorite hearty dishes in the winter is Bolognese.  It's easy to make and has our home smelling wonderful all day long as it simmers on the stove top.  One of my favorite go to recipes is Giada De Laurentiis' Simple Bolognese.  You can find the recipe here, or you can follow along with me. 

Giada's Simple Bolognese

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, coarsely chopped
2 garlic cloves, peeled and coarsely chopped
1 celery stalk, coarsely chopped
1 carrot, coarsely chopped
1 pound ground beef
1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes
1/4 cup flat-leaf Italian parsley, chopped
8 fresh basil leaves, chopped
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup freshly grated Pecorino Romano

Heat Olive Oil in a pan then add Onion and Garlic.  Saute until onions are soft and start to become translucent. 

Add Carrots and Celery and continue to saute over medium heat for about 5 minutes

Add ground beef and brown until no longer pink-make sure to break meat down into smaller pieces

Add tomatoes, parsley and basil along with salt and pepper

Cook on low until sauce thickens and flavors meld together

*At this point I also like to add the cheese so its' flavor gets a chance to blend in as well. Giada's recipe says to wait until right before you serve.  Whichever you like is just fine-the more cheese the better as far as I'm concerned :)  I also like to double this recipe so I have some to keep in the freezer for an easy weeknight meal!

This is such a yummy dish for a cold winter day. It goes best with a slice of crusty ciabatta bread, and a generous glass of Chianti :)

  

Mangiamo!

xo,

Kara  

Healthy "Smoothie" Day...or is it a "Snoozie?"

I see Smoothies as little treats that get me through the week.  A smoothie satisfies like a milkshake minus the guilty conscience afteward.

Make it a "snoozie" (aka: add rum!) and you'll really feel happy for the rest of the day!

Healthy "Snoozie" Recipe
A handful of frozen strawberries (add frozen banana if you'd like)
tablespoon of lemon or lime juice (add more to taste)
Ice
Teaspoon of honey or sweetener to taste
Shot of Rum! (We used dark Antiguan rum from Kacey's wedding!)

Blend away!

Kacey and I made these smoothies (with the added rum to make it special) last fall.  It was a gorgeous day in Hermosa Beach, so we took our smoothies to go on a walk by the beach.  There's no time like the present to make one of these puppies, though!  More smoothie recipes to come...Billy and I have been tweaking lots of our favorites lately...

Happy Friday!
Kate

The Secret To Life....Daily Inspiration...

In my morning blog surfing I came across this statement by Dr. Stephan Cowan, a 25 year veteran pediatrician.

The secret of life is letting go. 

I was instantly intrigued, instantly drawn in by this statement.  I’ve been focusing a lot on change, and how we can accept the constant inconsistence in our lives with more grace and beauty.  And I loved looking at life this way.  He goes on to say:

"Life is a process of constantly giving way. Things pushed past their prime transform into something else. Just as spring gives way to summer, so is each stage of development a process of letting go. Crawling gives way to walking. Babbling gives way to speaking. Childhood gives way to adolescence. By breathing in, you breathe out. By eating, you poop." :)

 I just loved this!  Dr. Cowan is obviously focusing more on life after our child is born, but it’s great food for thought today. 

…the secret to life is letting go…

What do you need to let go of today?

(Fire Child Water Child, Dr. Stephan Cowan)

Sausage and Quinoa Stuffed Bell Peppers!

It's a NEW YEAR!!

Which means I make all sorts of resolutions, set intentions, dream bunches of new dreams...

One was to branch out and try new recipes of course!  I've decided to try and have a kitchen well stocked enough that I can spontaneously come up with some dinner ideas simply from what I have.  My trick is to see what ingredients are in the fridge, get inspired, and come up with my own recipe that night!  It's fun, it's challenging, and I love it!

This week's recipe was stuffed bell peppers.  I had 3 gorgeous peppers that needed to be eaten...so this is what I came up with:

2 cups cooked Quinoa
3 bell peppers
1/2-1 lb of spicy italian sausage
1/2 red onion
3 TBS cilantro
2 cups Tomato Sauce
1/2 cup shredded Mexican Cheese
Tony Chacharie, garlic salt, pepper to taste

STEP ONE:
Find cute hubby to cook up the Italian sausage:) Add in onion and saute with sausage until cooked through.

STEP TWO:
In a mixing bowl, combine cooked quinoa, cooked sausage and onion, cheese, tomato sauce, cilantro (and you could add some sweet corn, black beans, what ever you have in your pantry!)

Add in spices until desired taste

STEP THREE:
Cut off top of pepper, clean out inside, and stuff with the quinoa mixture!  Top with a little extra tomato sauce and sprinkle some cheese.

STEP FOUR:

Cook for 25-30 minutes at 350 degrees until warmed all the way through. 

And....VOILA!!

Pure, healthy, TASTY Yumminess!!!

Enjoy friends!!

Love and laughter,
Kacey

Christmas Tree Compromise...

It's a timeless, age old, never ceasing problem....

Colored lights, white lights....

Colored lights.....

White lights.....

Does your family debate this as much as my family does?  It's a tough problem to solve, your christmas tree can really set the tone for the whole season...so...what to do??

I've heard some of our friends and family have an "every other year" system in place.  That works too... 

....unless it ain't your year dearie:)

SO.  This is the compromise my hubby came up with this year...and I LOVED IT! It's brilliant AND beautiful!

Check it out...

I mean...I gotta give props to the hubby! He decided to HECK with this indecision on the light bulbs...let's do them BOTH!  

So we wrapped the colored lights very close to the trunk of the tree all the way down.  It only took one strand, and it creates this awesome 3-D look in the end.  The white lights dominate as they wrap around the outside, but the colored lights twinkle and glow prettily from the inside.  I love it.  It may have to become a new staple in the Morreale household:)

There ya have it friends, a quick and fun Holiday How To.

I hope you have a Blessed and Merry Holiday Season... and a Happy New Year too:)

Love and cheer!

Kacey