Tasty

 I had the utmost intention of whipping up some fun cookies as a Valentine’s Day treat, but got wrapped up in cleaning my house and resorted to some easy fail-safe Rice Krisipie treats.  It doesn’t hurt that they are one of my Valentine’s favorites…

Brown Butter Rice Krispie Treats

• 4 tablespoons butter
• 1-10 oz bag marshmallows
• 6 cups Rice Krispies

1. Brown butter in a large pot over medium-low heat (it will melt, then foam then slowly brown and smell nutty – just be sure to stir frequently and remove from heat once it browns… you don’t want it to burn!).
2. Once you brown butter, remove from heat and stir in marshmallows.
3. Slowly fold in rice krispies.
4. Transfer to a buttered baking dish and let cool slightly (I used a piece of wax paper to evenly flatten out rice/marshmallow mixture).
5. Sprinkle Maldeon sea salt atop Rice Krispie treats
6. Cut out heart shapes with a heart shaped cookie cutter.

*Melt white chocolate and stir in a couple drops of red food coloring to create a fun pink icing to decorate your treats!

I love cooking (obviously), but sometimes (a lot of the time) you just need a break.  With the recent influx of delivery companies, curbside pick-up and impressive frozen food aisles, “get-quick dinners” are very easy to come by in Silicon Valley.  Jeremy and I have currently been loving DoorDash, but came to the realization last week that to-go food just isn’t that good.  You are expecting it to taste how it does in the restaurant, but after sitting in a delivery car and waiting to make its way to you, it could easily be sitting there for an hour – yuck.

Then one day a girlfriend told me about a company – Munchery – that has been a big deal in the city for some time and has finally made its way to the South Bay.  Short story – local chefs prepare meals that are delivered straight to your home or office.  Longer story – you have until 2pm everyday to browse their extensive menu (that changes daily) and place your order.  You then pick 1-hour delivery time frames from 4-8pm. You get a text when your meal is on the way and once it arrives you have either microwave or oven/stove preparation directions that allow you to heat your meal and enjoy it within 10 minutes!

My favorite dish last week (yes I ordered multiple times) – was the German Pork Schnitzel with German Potato Salad and Braised Cabbage Apple Slaw.  It was super flavorful and I loved that the dish had 3 different components.  The portions are generous and each meal has extensive nutritional facts for the calorie conscience.

I usually have a hard time deciding what to order, so I’m super appreciative of the star rating and multitude of reviews they have available for each dish.  They also have mini-bios on each chef, and I found it interesting that some customers prefer to shop by chef vs. dishes and their ingredients.

Another silver lining of this service is the fact that each portion is a single serving – i.e. J can order what he wants, and I can order what I want.  It makes appeasing clashing palates an easy task, and I also love that there aren’t leftovers to deal with (don’t you hate ordering to much Thai takeout!?).

So whether you are a busy professional, parent or person – do yourself a favor and give Munchery a try… you won’t be disappointed (unless they don’t deliver to your area yet… then you may be a little bummed – but sign up for their wait list, they may be coming to your area soon!).

Click this link to get $10 off your first order!

For those of you that know me, my obsession for Barre3 is still going strong.  Today I am almost 3/4 of the way done with our Winter Challenge that embraces healthy eating, fitness and connection.  Each week we are sent a new Barre3 approved recipe to try, and I obviously was pretty thrilled when I saw “truffle” in the title.  Made with whole foods and no added sugar, these sweet treats do just the trick in curbing any sugar cravings.  I love keeping a batch in the freezer to prevent any possible slip ups 🙂

Chocolate Hazelnut Truffles

Recipe via Barre3

• 1 cup pitted Medjool dates
• 1 cup roasted hazelnuts
• 1/4 cup raw cacao powder
• 2 tablespoons almond butter
• 1 tablespoons coconut butter
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 2 tablespoons finely shredded unsweetened coconut

1. Soak dates in a bowl of hot water until soft.  This will take about 20 minutes… drain.
2. Combine dates, hazelnuts, cacao powder, almond butter, coconut butter, almond extract, salt and coconut in a food processor for 2 minutes until finely processed.
3. You want the mixture to hold together when pressed – feel free to add a little water if mixture is too dry.
4. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons of cacao powder on a plate.
5. Using a tablespoon, scoop a heaping spoonful of the mixture and roll into a ball.
6. Roll each ball into cacao powder until fully coated.
7. Store finished truffles in an airtight storage container and refrigerate for an hour before enjoying.

Tips:

• Lightly wetting your hands helps when creating balls of the dough (it gets pretty sticky).
• Store remaining truffles in the freezer or fridge.

Click here for my other Barre3 favorite treat – Donut Holes!

Trying to come up with a gluten free brunch option can be a bit of a struggle, but thanks to my favorite Smitten Kitchen cookbook, I now have a top contender – a Potato Scallion Frittata.  The “crust” is made of crispy roasted potato slices (aka potato chips) and the mixture of scallion, feta and bacon (which you can also omit for a vegetarian option) is the PERFECT way to start your day!

Potato Scallion Feta Frittata 

recipe via Smitten Kitchen

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 3/4 lbs Yukon Gold potatoes
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 lb bacon, cut into matchsticks
• 3-4 scallions, thinly sliced
• 2/3 cup crumbled feta
• 6 large eggs
• 2 tablespoons milk

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Coat roasting pan with olive oil.
3. Peel potatoes and use a mandolin to cut them into 1/4-1/2 inch circles. Chop in half if you have larger potatoes.
4. Transfer to oiled roasting pan and season with salt and pepper.  They don’t need to be evenly distributed and can overlap to allow for different cooking textures (steamy/softer and crispy/crunchy).
5. Roast for 30 minutes until mostly cooked. You may want to toss them halfway through.
6. Cook bacon in a well seasoned oven proof pan until crisp.
7. Once cooked remove bacon and transfer to a paper towel lined plate to cool.
8. Keep bacon drippings in pan and add an additional tablespoon of olive oil if you see fit (I didn’t add it).
9. Arrange roasted potatoes to the bottom of the skillet (crispy side up).
10. Sprinkle bacon, then scallions, then feta over the potatoes.
11. Whisk eggs with milk, salt and a little pepper in a bowl an pour over potatoes.
12. Cover skilled with foil and bake for 20 minutes.
13. Remove foil and bake for another 10-15 minutes or until edges are puffed and the center is set.
14. Serve immediately from skilled (serves 6-8 breakfast sized portions).

Notes:

• I cut my potatoes 1/4 inch.  They definitely were very crispy and more potato chip like, so I would recommend somewhere between 1/4 and 1/2 inch for the perfect thickness (until you would like a crunchier crust).
• I bought the thick cut bacon from Prather Ranch, and boy does it make a difference.  Not that this wouldn’t be good with your run of the mill bacon, but it is GREAT with this stuff.
• As far as I’m concerned, Valbreso feta is the only stuff that exists, but in case you haven’t jumped on this bandwagon, DO SO NOW.  It’s so amazing and helps to kick this frittata up a notch!

Whether you follow a gluten free diet or just love mixing up your breakfast line-up this is the perfect way to start your day!