Fired Broccoli…the Best Broccoli you will EVER eat!

Broccoli is hands down my FAVORITE vegetable.  I could eat it every day and often do!  In fact, this recipe is SO yummy that it enabled me to make an entire meal of just Broccoli, haha!  However, I can not recommend that to you with a clean conscience as Broccoli can do some “fun” things to your digestive system when you eat too much of it!  So even though this Fired Broccoli will make you want to eat the entire pan, it is best served as a side dish or alongside something else.

This recipe is highly adaptable.  You can infuse the broccoli with Asian flavors by drizzling with some rice vinegar and soy sauce and sprinkling with fresh ginger and garlic, or make it spicy by sprinkling with cayenne pepper and chili flakes along with onion or garlic.  Truly the flavor possibilities are endless.  This particular recipe is my favorite and is FANTASTIC served alongside of baked chicken or fish and mashed potatoes, or mixed into pasta at the last minute with a white wine sauce or Alfredo sauce.  I have also just eaten a giant bowl (yes I did eat the whole bag of broccoli) drizzled with peanut sauce and was a very happy lady!  You have to try this!  It is easy and tastes fresh and delicious and takes only 3 minutes to prepare and then cooking time!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Ice Cream

We were going to be having our dear friends Maren and Jeremy over for dinner for the first time since they had been back in the states after a long time abroad and I wanted to make something special for them!  I knew that  Maren LOVES Chocolate Peanut butter Ice Cream and so decided to try and make that for dessert even though I had not made it before.

Well, if I do say so myself, it turned out great and between the four of us we devoured every single morsel of the frozen delight before the night was done!  Needless to say, I will surely be making this one again but only when I am in the mood to indulge or am having guests over as I think it will be hard to not eat the entire container in one sitting!

Frosted Grapes

Nothing is better than a quick summer recipe that is really easy to make and delicious to boot!  I first had this at a bridal shower and thought that they were just frozen grapes, but after one taste I realized they had some sort of MAGICAL WONDERFULNESS on them.  I promptly asked who made them and got the recipe as fast as I could!  It turns out all it entailed was sprinkling grapes with the sugar free powder of one 3 oz jello packet and then freezing them.  The grapes come out Cold, beautifully frosted and SO delicious.  It has become one of our favorite summertime desserts as it is low calorie and all we have to do is pull a few out of the freezer and serve!  You have to try this…it is SO easy and the best way to eat Grapes!

Lillian’s Citrus Slush

It is the time of year where all I want to eat is salads, fruit and all things cool and cold, because turning on an oven just doesn’t seem like a good idea in the heat!  Last year on the hottest day in the history of Seattle…two stick candles in our third floor apartment literally were melting from the heat.  One melted all the way over into the shape below…haha.  We have it in our house still to memorialize the day that it was 96 degrees in our house at 9:30 at night!

After that day, I decided to always have something cold and refreshing on hand for days when there is no air conditioning, no cool breeze, no pool to jump in, no relief from the heat except a cold delicious drink!

Chai spICE Cream!

I have just returned from my trip to Southeast Asia and it was an AMAZING trip!  While traveling I enjoyed amazing Thai, Malay and Indian food and “endured” a few fabulous $10 couples massages in Thailand with my hubby!  All in all it was a very relaxing and enlightening trip.  However, it was also one of the hottest and most humid trips I have ever been on and I found the one thing besides ice cold water that sounded good every single day of the trip was Ice Cream.  Of course Ice Cream sounds good to me most every day no matter what the climate!  In Particular, as relating to Asia, a scoop or two of Chai or Coconut Ice Cream after some spicy Asian food is not only refreshing but can be a nice pallet cleanser after a flavorful meal.