Snow Cream Fun

Yesterday we got our first snow of the year. And by "our first snow", I mean our first flurries that didn't stick but created waves of panic across about five counties. That's what happens when you live in the South and someone says "snow". Fun times.

Hopefully though, we will get snow at some point, and then I can make a batch of fan-tabulous snow cream. For those of you who are already getting good amounts, I thought I would share my tried and true recipe.

Snow Cream Recipe

1 gallon of snow

2 cups of milk

1 cup of sugar

1 tbsp vanilla

First, get a big bowl, and fill it with snow. The good fluffy stuff in the middle (careful to not get the bottom - no one likes to eat grass!)

Next, get your ingredients together. You'll need milk, sugar, and vanilla.

Told you it was easy.

Add all of the ingredients to the snow, and mix, mix, mix.

Then scoop out and enjoy!



Chai Tea Recipe!

Ya'll. YA'LL.

I love chai tea, especially the iced kind! So the other day when I was at home, I got a serious craving for an iced chai, and was really bummed out because we don't have a Starbucks in my town. The closest is half an hour away (THAT, my friends, is tragic)

So I hopped online and scrolled through an insane amount of recipes until I found one that I thought would be good. And it was not only good, it was heaven. You may think that's an exaggeration (whaaaaaaaaaa?! me, exaggerate?! NO!), but I assure you, this is no exaggeration.

Trust me, you need to go to the store immediately, and purchase anything that you don't have so that you can make this! If you like Starbucks Iced Chai Lattes - you'll never buy another! You'll save tons of money making your own equally delish drink, and then you can splurge on Kate Spade (my addiction of choice!)

(I'm not sure if you've noticed all of the parenthesis)

(I *really* love parenthesis)

Ok, onto the recipe! I found it at Big Girls, Small Kitchen.

Iced Chai Tea Latte (1 serving)
6 T Chai Tea Concentrate - recipe follows
1 C milk (I used vanilla almond milk)
Ice

Chai Tea Concentrate
This makes 1.5 cups, enough for 4 lattes

3 T sugar
8 cardamom pods (I only had ground cardamom, so I used about 1/2 t)
1 cinnamon stick, snapped in half
1 slice ginger, peeled
5 whole cloves
4 whole black peppercorns
2 black teabags
1 T honey

Combine all ingredients except the honey in a pot. Add 2 cups of water and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Lower slightly and let simmer for 5 minutes. Turn off the heat  and let steep for 5 minutes. Remove the teabags, squeezing out any liquid from them. Let the spices steep for another 15 minutes. Strain, removing all the spices. Add the honey and stir in. Taste, adding more honey if you like.
Cool completely.

I know that seems like quite a bit of time to devote to tea, but trust me, it's well worth all of the steeping time! After we finished the first batch, I doubled the recipe and made a second, and I've had a glass every day! I'm keeping the concentrate in a mason jar in the fridge.

This is one fantastic recipe!!!

What's For Dinner?

This week was a super busy week for me. So I wanted nothing more than some comfort food to relax with. Pasta and meatballs sounded AH-mazing, but that didn't seem like a good idea since I'm trying to watch what I eat. So I came up with an alternative, which is equally delicious and comforting!

Chicken Meatballs
2 lbs ground chicken
1/2 cup skim milk
2 eggs, beaten
1 t Oregano
1 t Italian Seasoning
1/2 c minced onion
3 cloves garlic
1/2 whole wheat bread crumbs
salt and pepper, to taste

First, preheat the over to 400.

Then, start by putting the chicken into a big bowl. Add all of the ingredients except the onion and garlic.

Finely chop the onion and garlic, and then dry sautee (no oil) them together for about 5 minutes. I wanted a stronger onion flavor, so I only did it long enough for the onions to begin to soften. If you don't want as strong of an onion flavor, you may want to cook them longer.

Add the onion and garlic right into the bowl, and then mix everything together with your hands.

Form meatballs that will fit into a mini muffin pan, and fill!

Cook the meatballs for approximately 20 minutes. I used a meat thermometer, and mine were perfectly done at 19 minutes.

This recipe made 30 meatballs, and a good serving size was 3 a piece. Which meant I had plenty to freeze and serve later!

I'm sure there are plenty of ways to serve these, but like I mentioned, I was going for comfort. I cooked up a very basic tomato sauce recipe and dropped the meatballs in for a minute, then served over some cooked quinoa. D-E-L-I-S-H! And super duper comforting - exactly what I needed.