Hi there!

My name is Liz Shaw, fellow blogger at Shaw’s Simple Swaps, and healthy fit foodie.
I’m honored to be here today to chat with you! I had the pleasure of meeting Aggie at the Blog Brulee sponsored trip earlier this year and grew to love her even more than I did online (is that possible?)
Anyways, as a registered dietitian nutritionist, I’m always on the hunt for simple swaps I can incorporate into those delightful holiday recipes to make the perfect homemade gift. Nothing screams the holiday season like a gift from the heart, right?

Plus, I love it when I can show friends that REAL food tastes good and is GOOD for them too!

So, in the spirit of the season, here are three #shawsimpleswap tips to inspire you to build your own DIY healthy holiday gifts for teachers, friends and family this year.

(more…)

The post DIY Healthy Holiday Gifts {Guest Post: Shaw’s Simple Swaps} appeared first on Aggie's Kitchen.

I’ve been in a weird place lately. I can’t really pinpoint what’s bugging me, but I’ve heard myself say this out loud a couple times this week to friends (who also happen to be bloggers) – I feel like I’ve lost my voice.

Not literally, of course…but in a sense, lately I am just finding it hard to do something that has always come to me pretty easily – write about the food that I love to eat. I started this blog 3 and a half years ago and it’s pretty much changed me. I know that sounds dramatic, but I’m thinking some of you who also blog or have found something you can call your own can relate. At the time I started ‘writing’ I was a fairly new mom, at home taking care of two adorable little ones who pretty much lovingly demanded all of my time and attention, whether it was for a feeding, a changing, or just a playing…and that was okay. That’s what being a mom is and I felt incredibly blessed that I was able to stay home and do all of those things all day. But I’m thinking other’s might be able to relate when I say this, sometimes being a mommy gets kind of lonely. I personally needed something to do other than mommy stuff, and blogging about food opened up a whole new world for me. What’s funny is that when you start a blog you really have no idea if anyone is actually reading it, and that’s okay. Eventually someone starts to read it, and in my case those that started reading my blog 3 and a half years ago have actually become pretty good ‘real life friends’ today and I absolutely cherish that.

Anyway…excuse my ramblings here today, I guess I just felt like I had to process what I was feeling out loud. I think part of the reason I lost my voice is that I have been in a cooking rut. It happens to all of us and I’ll get through it…like today. Once I have food to talk about all will be good, especially because I have decided that I’m going to get over a few things when it comes to blogging… like having perfect pictures for instance. One of my huge hangups lately is getting good photos of my food…the whole process, from snapping the photo to uploading it onto my computer to going through the several shots of one dish then picking your favorite one, just really zaps all my creative energy sometimes! Sometimes my favorite photos are taken from my iphone, and after a quick edit with fun camera apps, I’m set…just look at this post I did almost instantly after I cooked my meal. I said it then, and I’ll say it now, that is my kind of blogging! Learning about photography has definitely been fun, I knew NOTHING about taking pictures when I started, so I just need to let. it. goooooo.

So here’s my point today…the spirit of blogging, to me, has always been about sharing. Sharing ideas, sharing photos, sharing recipes, sharing bits and pieces of myself. I truly enjoy visiting other blogs and experiencing their ‘shares’ too…it’s something I’ve been doing a lot less of lately due to too many distractions (read: Facebook and Twitter) and I’m making it a point to get back to reading and visiting more often. It’s back to the basics I guess. Back to what I love to do…talk about food.

This week a couple of my blogging friends shared things with me that I think are worthy of sharing with you…all three of these blog posts really stuck with me and I’m thankful they were shared with me…

Sandy sent me a note the other day sharing this thoughtful post about ‘perfectionism’: Confessions of Perfectionists: Finding Contentment and Peace in the Home and Life You Have

Kim shared a great interview on her blog about getting organized before the holiday craziness hits…I took away so many things from this post, especially that I NEED to start meal planning a couple days at a time (for the sake of sanity people!!): Interview With “I’m an Organizing Junkie”

And I’m so glad Julie sent me a note to read this post from Wenderly, it’s very touching and just beautiful (just like Miss Wendy)…go read it: Delivery Day Flowers

…and of course, after all these words written here I can’t just leave you without something to eat right? And what’s even better is that it’s a SWEET! I haven’t made a sweet in my kitchen in I have no idea how long, I think my kitchen and this blog may just go into shock!

I’m sharing this yummy Chocolate Crunch snack mix with friends tonight at a chili party…us Floridians are in for a treat with our little cold front this weekend! Brrr….I love it!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Sea Salted Chocolate Crunch Snack Mix

Recipe adapted from Eating Well

3 cups wheat cereal (such as Chex)
3 cups pretzels, broken in pieces
2 cups roasted almonds
1/2 cup roasted pumpkin seeds (optional)
1 bar bittersweet chocolate (I used Ghiradelli’s)
2-3 big pinches of sea salt

Combine cereal, pretzels, almonds and pumpkin seeds in a large bowl. In a heat proof bowl, break chocolate up in to small chunks and microwave for 20-30 seconds. Take out and stir. Continue to heat for 20-30 seconds and stirring until chocolate is completely melted.
Spoon chocolate over snack mix and gently stir until all coated. Lay chocolate coated snack mix out on a large piece of parchment paper on your counter or in a baking sheet. While chocolate is still soft, generously sprinkle 2-3 pinches of sea salt over snack mix. Set out to harden, about 30 minutes.

The post Sharing is Caring…the spirit of blogging revisited {and a chocolate snack} appeared first on Aggie's Kitchen.

My good friend Betsy hosted a little get together for just the ladies last Saturday night for a Premier Designs jewelry party.  She was smart about getting us all over to buy some jewelry…she made it even more fun by serving delicious wine, cheese and desserts…how could one resist?  🙂

Not only did I go home with a gorgeous new ring and bracelet…I got to drink some good wine and sample some of Betsy’s delicious desserts!  She made a flourless Chocolate-Espresso Torte with raspberry sauce that was to die for.  I don’t normally go gaga for chocolate desserts, but I could not separate myself from this one.  The raspberry sauce was the perfect complement to the rich chocolate.  I can not wait to make this one at home.  I can definitely see it making an appearance around the holidays!

Find the recipe for Chocolate-Espresso Torte here…

And of course I have to mention the adorable mini cheesecakes and classic chocolate covered strawberries.  I popped a couple of those in my mouth as well.

Find the recipe for Mini Cheesecakes here…

Thank you Betsy for a great party…and for some great recipes to share!  Since I’m baking challenged and don’t bake often I get excited when I have the opportunity to photograph and “steal” recipes from others!  Enjoy!

And for those that are interested … the wines on deck were:

Clayhouse Adobe Red 2006

Francis Coppola Petite Sirah

2007 Moon Mountain Vineyard Chardonnay

Schmitt Sohne Piesporter Michelsberg 2008

The post Ladies Night In…Wine, Cheese and Dessert! appeared first on Aggie's Kitchen.

The family is getting together today to celebrate and meet a new addition to our growing family…baby Brady is the 2nd great grandchild and one of 16 cousins – Welcome to the family Baby Brady!!  It also happens to be Jamie’s birthday (as well as Brady’s parent’s 5th anniversary!  Big congrats!) and since I know how much she loves PB and Chocolate (something we have in common!) I wanted to surprise her with some of these cupcakes!  I’ve been eying them in Ina’s Barefoot Contessa at Home cookbook for sometime now and this was the perfect occasion for them.  Unfortunately I am not making it to the family get together, but have sent the cupcakes up with the husband and kids!  And I forgot to leave one home for myself!!  I did get to taste a piece of cupcake and frosting separately and that was really really good…can’t imagine what I’m missing not having an entire cupcake to enjoy all to myself with a glass of milk!  Maybe Jamie will let us all know if they are as delicious as they look…

Here is a copy of the recipe on Food Network’s site!

Enjoy your birthday Jamie…and your cupcakes!  Big birthday hugs to you!

Also…congratulations to the Beef. It’s What’s For Dinner giveaway…I drew a number using random.org and Cindy from FarmgirlCyn is the winner!  Your gift bag is on its way Cindy!  Thank you to everyone for entering!

PS…thank you all so much for the nice comments on my new design!  I am really excited about it and want to extend a BIG thank you to Hannah from Sherbert Blossom for all of her hard work in creating Aggie’s Kitchen’s new look!  It’s still a work in progress on my part, but I hope you will find it easy to navigate and resourceful!  Stay tuned for an organized recipe index…

The post Ina’s Chocolate Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting appeared first on Aggie's Kitchen.

Please…please tell me that I’m not alone.

Over the weekend, my sister in law Jamie was visiting and she perused through my mag pile and pulled a few out to take poolside. She came across this simple recipe and when we both looked at it we knew we were going to make it that night. This is one of those recipes that makes you wonder “why didn’t I think of that myself??”

We set up stations…bowls of crushed pretzels, chopped peanuts, shredded coconut and crushed cookies. Jamie chopped the bananas, then we dipped the chunks into the melted chocolate and rolled them into the yummy toppings. Then they were set on a cookie sheet and put in the freezer for a few hours to harden.

I loved these, and have been enjoying a couple (or few) nightly as my TV watching snack.

Chocolate-Dipped Frozen Bananas

Ingredients:

• 2 cups bittersweet chocolate chips
• 2 tablespoons canola oil
• Assorted toppings for coating bananas (such as crushed chocolate sandwich cookies, toffee bits, chopped Butterfinger candy bars, chopped salted peanuts, or toasted shredded sweetened coconut)
• 3 ripe bananas, peeled, cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices

Directions:

1. Stir chocolate and oil in heavy small saucepan over low heat just until smooth. Let stand 15 minutes to cool.
2. Place each topping in separate shallow dish. Line baking sheet with foil. Arrange banana slices on foil. Using fingers, dip 1 banana slice in chocolate, coating completely. Shake off excess chocolate. Drop dipped banana in 1 topping. Using clean hand, sprinkle more topping over banana to coat; transfer to foil-lined sheet. Repeat with remaining bananas, chocolate, and toppings. Freeze until firm, about 3 hours, then serve.

Recipe from Bon Appetit magazine

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