How to Make Mint Tea

Jan 07 2019

DIRECTIONS on How to Dry Mint Leaves for Mint Tea! These DIY How to Make Mint Tea instructions shows how easy it is to dry mint leaves so you can make your own homemade mint tea. I store this dried mint tea for months so I can enjoy the health benefits year round!

How to Make Mint Tea

I start everyday with a cup of tea. Do you?

It can be warm or cold, it doesn’t really matter. Most green and black teas have enough caffeine for that morning boost. My morning always starts with a yawn. Then I waddle out of the bedroom with my comfiest bed shirt on and make myself a cup of tea.

I then continue to have a few cups of tea throughout the day. The kind of tea depends on the season and my mood. In Winter I might start with English Breakfast or Earl Grey. In the Spring it’s all about Green Jasmine. A nice spiced tea is great for autumn.

Homemade Mint Tea

But the Summer is dedicated to Mint tea. And drying mint is so easy!

Jan 04 2019

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The BEST Half Sour Pickles recipe there is! These easy homemade pickles taste just like New York Crunchy pickles. No canning is needed to make these delicious pickles, just throw them in the refrigerator for a few days! Make them to find out why they’re so popular!

Half Sour Pickles

If I could stand on top of a mountain I would yell “I love pickles!”. I really do. They’re pretty, they’re crunchy, they’re full of flavor, they hit the right spot in the afternoon when you need a snack, they’re great on a burger, they’re great at 4AM standing in front of the refrigerator.

Dec 27 2018

Healthy Roasted Cantaloupe Salad recipe made in 30 minutes. It’s an easy savory and sweet melon tomato salad! I love this recipe for our garden Summer fruit! This salad is vegetarian, vegan and gluten free.

It’s Winter but I’m craving Summer food. Maybe it’s the cold, or maybe it’s the post holiday slump, but I am dreaming of garden fresh fruits and vegetables right now!

It doesn’t matter if it’s Winter or Summer where you are right now – you want this Roasted Cantaloupe Salad! Since it’s Winter in NYC, I’ll have to settle for store bought melon and tomatoes, but the greens will still come from our garden!

Dec 08 2018

I have a picky toddler and she loves this puree, so trust me – your baby is going to love this Butternut Squash Baby Food Recipe made with fruits and vegetables! And even better, it’s easy to make! This is a nutritious Stage 2 and Stage 3 puree for baby, or to serve to toddlers in pouches.

Homemade Baby Food Recipe

I love making homemade baby food for my daughter. In the beginning our favorite was Apple, Pear and Banana baby food. Then she loved these Sweet Potato Baby Cookies. Now it’s her new favorite snack – Butternut Squash puree mixed with lots of fruits and vegetables!

Butternut Squash Baby Food

So there I was in the kitchen, eyeing up a beautiful butternut squash that a friend gave me. Sure, I could make butternut squash casserole, or a creamy soup, but instead I decided I was going to chop it up and make baby food with it. How’s that for a Mama loving their baby first?

Nov 14 2018

EASY Step by Step Instructions on how to make Fresh Pumpkin Puree from Pumpkins! You can use any type of pumpkin for this. Pumpkin Puree can be used in cooking and baking year round! Use this for pumpkin cookies, pies, cakes, pancakes and more!

So you know I love pumpkins.

You know I love baking and cooking with pumpkin too (pumpkin cookies! pumpkin pie! pumpkin pancakes!)

So if you grow your own pumpkins, or will be getting a pumpkin in October to decorate your house with, you can use that pumpkin for much more than making your home extra beautiful (pumpkins are lovely, they brighten up everything). You can also eat them!

There is delicious pumpkin puree waiting for you inside every single pumpkin wishing you would cut it open and scoop it into brownie mix. Trust me, they tell me this. My pumpkins talk to me, what they don’t talk to you?

Easy Pumpkin Puree

Pumpkin puree is so easy to make! The hardest part is the emotional attachment of cutting your pumpkin in half. I always tell myself I’m going to be strong then I end up almost crying and taking goodbye pictures with it. I always always talk to my pumpkins during this process, I just want them to know it’s going to be ok when I cut them up and put them into the oven to bake then process them until it’s smooth.

Nov 08 2018

SLOW COOKER Green Beans Recipe with Tomatoes! This easy recipe cooks fresh green beans, tomatoes, potatoes and bacon in a crock pot for 4 hours. This is a healthy dish makes for delicious vegetable side dishes that you can serve over rice or as a side dish to chicken or Thanksgiving holiday dinners. This has been become one of families favorite healthy thanksgiving recipes!

Vegetable Side Dishes

With the garden season almost complete for the year, I constantly want to come up with new recipes to try, especially those that will make yummy vegetable side dishes. With pounds of green beans and potatoes just dug up, I wanted to create an easy meal that could use all of them.

At my home, vegetable side dishes are quite popular with the entire family – adults and kids. So, I decided to create a rainbow side dish with all these veggies that everyone would love!

For more vegetable side dishes, try my other green bean recipes.

Nov 02 2018

CREAMY and HEALTHY Sweet Pepper Soup! This easy dinner recipe combines sweet peppers with chicken broth and rice. This gluten-free recipe is easy to make and can easily be turned vegetarian by using vegetable broth. This is the perfect soup for using up a bunch of peppers! Make sure to serve with some crusty Italian bread!

Sweet Pepper Soup

I was craving fresh soup a few nights ago so I came up with this Sweet Pepper Soup recipe. I was going to make my typical stuffed pepper soup but I wanted something more creamy. This soup tastes fantastic with fresh sweet peppers, and it’s absolutely gorgeous to loook at!

The recipe calls 1.5 pounds of sweet peppers and 1 jalapeno pepper. The jalapeno pepper adds a tiny bit of kick, but not too much heat at all. In fact, even with the jalapeno pepper, this soup is completely family friend for adults and kids.

This soup is delicious, definitely a year round favorite especially in the Fall months when we’re craving a big bowl of soup! It’s the perfect soup to use up a overabundance of peppers if you have them too!

If you have any leftovers (I doubt you will – it’s that good!) you can easily freeze this soup to serve later on. We love this soup so much I will often make 2 batches – one to serve for dinner, and one to freeze.

Oct 31 2018

Easy to make fruit puree pouches – perfect for baby and toddler! My daughter is anemic, so I came up with this Spinach Sweet Potato Fruit Pouch recipe to give her more Iron Rich foods! She loves these!

Food for Anemic Toddlers

When we went to our 15 month old doctor’s appointment, we found out that Enceladus was anemic and that she needed more iron rich foods in her diet. She was drinking too much milk, which was causing iron not to be absorbed.

Iron Deficiency is fairly common with toddlers, especially when they drink a large amount of milk everyday. On average, doctors say toddlers shouldn’t have more than 24 ounces of milk, but even at 16 ounces of milk a day Enceladus was anemic.

Always being one to try to naturally cure things, I came up with this Spinach Sweet Potato Fruit Pouch, which helped her get her iron levels to where they needed to be!

Many of my readers loved my Butternut Squash baby food, Baby Pumpkin Pancakes and Sweet Potato Cookies, so I hope you love this recipe too!

Iron Rich Foods

Leafy dark greens are one of the best sources of iron, such as spinach or kale. If you wanted to substitute kale for spinach in this recipe, go for it! I find that spinach works for taste and in general, kids love it in fruit puree! Sweet Potatoes are a great iron rich food too, so that’s why I’m including both spinach and sweet potatoes!

Oct 30 2018

Cheesy Broccoli Stuffing Casserole recipe made with Stove Top! This is one of my family’s favorite Stove Top Stuffing Recipes to make! This is a easy dish made with frozen vegetables, cream of chicken soup, rice and Velveeta cheese! It’s one of my favorite meals to make with Leftover Thanksgiving stuffing!

Leftover Stuffing Recipe

Are you asking yourself “What to do with leftover stuffing?”? This is one of my favorite dishes to make with leftover stuffing! No matter what stuffing you have, just follow the recipe and add your own stuffing! It makes for a great casserole a few days after Thanskgiving when you’re sick of turkey!

What’s one of my favorite parts of Thanksgiving? No, not the pumpkin cream pie. And no, not watching A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving. Although I love both of those. My favorite is…..

LEFTOVERS!

Oh baby, I love leftovers!

It’s like Thanksgiving for a week straight! Each night is turkey in new ways, mashed potatoes on the side and plenty of vegetables. One night it’s turkey sandwiches covered in homemade gravy. The next night is Thanksgiving dinner on Saturday again. And then comes the casseroles.

What do do with leftover stuffing?

This Cheesy Broccoli Stuffing Casserole is my favorite Stove Top Stuffing Recipes! Not only does it make a perfect side dish for holiday meals, bu it’s the ultimate leftover meal using a bunch of stuffing. And what else do I love about leftovers? Saving money. Thanksgiving dinner is great because it’s literally 1 meal that feeds you for the next week.

This casserole besides being cheesy and delicious and mouthwatering and made of dreams (I like it, ok!) only has a few ingredients. There’s stuffing, frozen corn and broccoli, cream of chicken soup, white rice and cheese.

Oct 29 2018

PAMELA’S Slow Cooker Pork Chili is made with BACON and SAUSAGE! This pork chili is one of the easiest crockpot recipes with diced tomatoes and beans! If you’re looking for dinner ideas to make as your family’s favorite comfort food dinners, then this it! Ready in 6 hours on LOW. Serve with shredded cheese and a big piece of crusty bread!

Crockpot Recipes

With the temperatures feeling like single digits, I’ve been craving a nice (big!) bowl of warm chili. But without having to put too much energy into it! That’s when I start looking for dinner ideas that involve my favorite kitchen tool- the crockpot.

I decided to up my chili game one notch and create Pamela’s Pork Chili filled with bacon and sausage! Doesn’t it look delicious? It tastes it too!

Oct 19 2018

HEALTHY 7 Layer Taco Dip is easy to make with tomatoes, corn, lettuce, pinto refried beans, green pepper, and cheese! Ready in 10 minutes! This Mexican dip is made without cream cheese or ground beef! Serve hot or cold! This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Mission®. All opinions are entirely my own.

7 Layer Taco Dip

I can eat this 7 Layer Taco Dip with a spoon, it’s that good. But I would suggest serving it with Mission Organics® Yellow Corn Tortilla Chips instead, so you don’t scare your guests away! This Taco Dip is always a favorite at parties! Why? Because it’s delicious and packed with real seasonal vegetables!

Healthy Taco Dip Recipe

September is Organic Harvest Month, a time to discover new organic recipes! Organic recipes benefit you, your family, your community and the planet so it’s a fun time to support your local food co-cop, farmers market or backyard garden! Not only is this dip tasty, you can also make it 100% organic along with your tortilla chips!

Oct 17 2018

EASY Halloween Guacamole Dip recipe – perfect for healthy Halloween appetizers and party food! This homemade recipe uses fresh avocados and canned diced tomatoes. Provides DIY tutorial on how to make spiderwebs with sour cream!

Halloween Party Food

Are you looking for a spooky dip for your Halloween party? Look no further! You’re going to love this classic guacamole dip with sour cream spiderwebs on top! And don’t worry – this Halloween guacamole dip is easy to make! I even include a spiderweb tutorial video below to follow along!

Halloween Appetizers

If you’re anything like me, then you love guacamole! This homemade guacamole dip is a classic recipe, made with fresh avocados and diced tomatoes. To make it super easy if you’re low on time, the recipe calls for canned diced tomatoes – some you use in the dip, and some you use to decorate the top. I like using RO*TEL diced tomatoes & green chilies because it gives extra flavor.

Oct 16 2018

No Bake Pumpkin Cream Pie recipe! This pie is so easy to make! Ingredients include instant Pudding, Cool Whip, and pumpkin puree. Try this for Thanksgiving dessert instead of the usual pumpkin pie!

No Bake Pumpkin Cream Pie

“It’s too early for pumpkin” is one statement you’ll never hear me say; Never ever. It’s always time for pumpkin, always. That’s why I start the day with these Pumpkin Pancakes and end the day with this No Bake Pumpkin Cream Pie! Hah.

Because I have so much pumpkin love, we grow pumpkins twice a year. We have a few to harvest in the Summer and a few to pick in Fall. Fall’s pumpkins are already planted and have started to produce a few flowers.

We planned to have 2 pumpkin plants but somehow we have 10. I say “somehow” because the truth is, this is my doing. I always want more pumpkins so I saved all the seedlings and secretly planted them. Surprise, a rooftop pumpkin patch! A dream comes true (I hope!)

Oct 11 2018

Need some healthy breakfast ideas? Start your day with this Cheesy Jalapeno Omelet, one of the best Keto Recipes to boost you up! This is one my yummiest and budget-friendly keto recipes. #breakfast #keto

KETO RECIPES

The truth is that I made this Cheesy Jalapeno Omelet for the first time in June. It was when the jalapeno plants in the garden started exploding with peppers all over. And then after I tasted it for the first time I knew I had to share the recipe with you guys.

Now it’s October and the recipe is finally here. What took me so long? Well, I’ve been eating these Cheesy Jalapeno Omelets nonstop!

This new keto diet has pushed us to our limits, trying out Keto Recipes and turning to the new healthy can be difficult when we don’t know which recipes actually qualify as keto recipes. Whether it is cauliflower casserole or this cheesy jalapeno Omelet, I’m digging out new Keto Recipes each day. And this recipe makes for a great breakfast!

Oct 09 2018

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Pudding recipe. This vegan pudding can be great as delicious healthy desserts or snack! You can also serve this as healthy baby food.

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Pudding

Chocolate and pumpkin is a great couple, aren’t they?

I mentioned on Monday that we just used up our last bag of homemade garden tomato sauce that I froze. The same goes for pumpkin! When making this pumpkin pudding, I had to reach for my last bag of frozen pumpkin puree.

I’m always a bit sad seeing the last bag gone, but it’s a great feeling knowing all the vegetables get used with love. We just planted our pumpkin seeds last week so already I’m planning for some Summer pumpkins! Are you guys ready for the pumpkin dance? Prepare yourself… hopefully, I’ll be dancing with happiness soon!

Lots of people think Pumpkin is only for Fall months but I don’t agree with that. I think Pumpkin is great for the summer months for cool treats.

Besides this chilled pumpkin pudding, what about pumpkin pretzel fudge or pumpkin milkshakes? Delicious, right?

Oct 07 2018

SUGAR FREE Crockpot Applesauce Recipe! It’s one of the easiest slow cooker applesauce recipes that makes delicious homemade sugar free applesauce! Looking for crab apple recipes, then this is great for crab apples but you can use other apples too! I love canning this healthy applesauce recipe to last all Winter long!

Sugar Free Applesauce Recipe

Because Fall is the best season and I know you’ll be apple picking soon, I wanted to give you my Slow Cooker Wild Crab Applesauce recipe to enjoy! Apples they say “keep the doctors away”, so why not use this healthy fruit and make yourself a tasty treat to enjoy this and the Falls to follow?

This applesauce recipe will make you want more of it, whether on a crispy toast or on freshly baked muffins.. or just by the spoonful!

Oct 04 2018

Easy PUMPKIN PIE Milkshake! This easy milkshake recipe uses 1 slice of PUMPKIN PIE to make the BEST tasting pumpkin milkshake! This drink is one of those 4 ingredients desserts, including vanilla ice cream and milk! It’s a perfect Fall Thanksgiving dessert and a great solution if you have leftover pumpkin pie!

Pumpkin Pie Milkshake

You aren’t going to believe this but this pumpkin pie milkshake tastes just like pumpkin pie! In shake form! It’s so delicious! Hello, Thanksgiving Desserts!

This past weekend we stopped at a Mom and Pop ice cream shop. I asked them what flavor milkshakes they had and they responded: “Any type you want.”

SAY WHAT.

So I (too) excitedly yelled “Pumpkin Pie!”.

Two minutes later, I was skipping back to the car with a Pumpkin Pie Milkshake that only cost $4. After the first sip, I was in love. Immediately I knew I had to make this in my own kitchen!

Oct 02 2018

Slow Cooker Sausage and Cabbage is a easy crock pot recipe ready in 6 hours! Add Sweet Italian Sausage links and vegetables (potatoes, cabbage, carrots and onion!) into your slow cooker for a delicious comfort meal!

It’s Fall! It’s really fall! The leaves are changing, I need to wear a jacket in the morning, I prefer my coffee hot now. What else does Fall mean? Time to bring out the crockpot for my family’s favorite comfort meals!

You guys have been telling me that I need to share more of my slow cooker recipes, since you’ve enjoyed my Cabbage and Kielbasa and Cabbage Roll Casserole. So here I am – now it’s time to share Slow Cooker Sausage and Cabbage!

Slow Cooker Sausage and Cabbage

I love this recipe becase of the ingredients and the directions.

The ingredients are basic, you might have everything in your kitchen already! The stars of the show are Sweet Italian Sausage, cabbage, potatoes, carrots and a onion. Close your eyes. Imagine the smell of your kitchen while this cooks. It’s going to smell SO GOOD!

Whenever I make this, my husband can smell it in our hallway as soon as he steps off the elevator. He gets a little strut in his step because he knows it’s going to be a good dinner.

Sep 28 2018

This Pumpkin Fudge with white chocolate chips and pretzels is a no-bake easy homemade fudge recipe. The chocolate and pretzels give it a delicious sweet and salty taste! You can make these as good afterschool healthy snacks.

Pumpkin Fudge, mmm.

I made this easy homemade fudge recently and it lasted a full day. A full day! I’m surprised it even lasted more than 3 hours with me in the room.

Easy Homemade Fudge

Salty and sweet are a favorite combination of mine when it comes to sweets! And that’s what you will get in this easy homemade fudge recipe.

Sep 27 2018

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Delicious and Extra Fudgy 4 Ingredient Pumpkin Brownies. If you’re looking for quick Halloween recipes, then this recipe tops my list of easy pumpkin recipes. All you need is a box of brownie mix, pumpkin puree, pumpkin pie spice, and chocolate chips!

Halloween Desserts

So far this week, it looks like fall on Brooklyn Farm Girl, first pumpkin pie, then pumpkin muffins. I know I know… but I’m very excited for Fall. I love it! This is also the time when we start thinking of Halloween Desserts.