Fun Nails: Christmas Edition! Bright cherry red and a platinum silver accent (and polka dot toes) Merry Christmas!
Merry Mani and Pedi
Month: December 2016
Christmas Sides To Satisfy Everyone: 4 Sides In Under 40 Minutes
Holiday entertaining this year? The holidays are chock full of parties, get togethers and various festivities. And the food. The FOOD!
I love party food. Party meals are fun too but can be daunting for a host or hostess. Have no fear! You decide on the main course and dessert, and leave the sides to me! These side dishes are delicious, easy and healthy too.
The first is my mashed potatoes, so good you’d never believe they’re dairy free, gluten free, vegan and paleo. Next is sweet and spicy carrots, followed by bacon and brussels and last but not least, roasted cauliflower.
Emmy’s Mashed Potatoes
- 3 medium sized bakers potatoes, rinsed off and chopped
- 1 red onion, chopped
- 1/3 cup vegetable stock
- 3 tablespoons refined coconut oil
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 1 teaspoon pepper
Boil the chopped potatoes for about 15 minutes or until you can start to stick a fork through them but they are still firm. Add in the chopped onion for the last 5 minutes or until everything is tender. Drain off the water and add the potatoes back into the pan with the remaining ingredients. Mash everything together and serve hot.
Sweet And Spicy Carrots
- 4 carrots, skinned and chopped into rounds
- 1 cup 100% orange juice of choice
- 1 tablespoon honey
- pinch of ginger
- pinch of cinnamon
- pinch of cayenne pepper
In a small sauce pan on medium/high heat, simmer all the ingredients together until the juice evaporates and the carrots are soft, or about 20 minutes
Baked Bacon And Brussel Sprouts
Baked Bacon And Brussel Sprouts
- 4 slices bacon, fried
- 3 cups of brussel sprouts, ends cut off and quartered
Fry bacon on medium heat while flipping throughout, until preferred crispiness. Take bacon out and set aside. Do not drain the grease from the pan!
Cut the ends off of the brussel sprouts and then cut in quarters, or so that all the brussel pieces are about equal size. Add them into the pan you fried the bacon in and coat the brussel sprouts with the grease.
Place brussel sprouts on a baking sheet and bake for about 20 minutes in a 375 degree oven or until they begin to brown. In the last 5 minutes, crumble the bacon on top of the brussel sprouts and mix.
Tip: When you take the bacon out, lay it on a paper towel and dab off the excess grease.
Roasted Cauliflower
Cauliflower is one of my favorite vegetables, it’s so versatile and can take on different flavors and textures. In this recipe, cauliflower is mixed with garlic and olive oil and becomes almost nutty.
- 1 head cauliflower, chopped or sliced and broken up into pieces
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 1 tablespoon garlic powder
- 2-3 tablespoons olive oil (to coat)
Preheat oven to about 375 degrees. Combine ingredients together in a bowl. Cover a baking sheet with aluminum foil (for the fastest and easiest clean up!) and spread cauliflower evenly on the baking sheet. Bake until it begins to brown on the outside or to your preferred texture- about 25 minutes.
Regulars in my house, these veggies are some of my favorites. From my kitchen to yours, Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!
Beefy Vegetable Soup
Last nights dinner! This soup is full of vegetables and flavor- there’s nothing better. Different textures and seasonings come together making this soup light and delicious while still hearty and fulfilling!
Beefy Vegetable Soup
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 onion, chopped
- 2 carrots, peeled and chopped
- 1 cup green beans, ends chopped off and cut into bite-sized pieces
- 1/2 teaspoon thyme
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 teaspoon celery salt
- 1 head garlic, deskinned and diced
- 1 cup frozen peas
- 1 cup frozen corn
- 1 can tomato paste
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 32 ounces beef stock
- 1 bay leaf
With a large soup pan on medium heat, add the olive oil, carrots and green beans and cook about 10 minutes. Next, push the vegetables to the outside of the pan and add the ground beef to the middle of the pan. Brown until almost cooked through. Add celery salt to the vegetable and meat mixture and stir. Now add in the broth, tomato paste, bay leaf, peas and corn and simmer until vegetables are cooked through or about 20 minutes. Enjoy=)
Like this recipe? Check out my other books, and watch for more to come!
Want a paperback copy? Reply in the comments and I’ll send you one!
Honey Maple Brushed Bacon Burger (Paleo)
This picture really does say it all. This succulent burger with maple and honey brushed bacon is just the start. Add caramelized onions and a honey maple BBQ sauce to finish it off. These burgers are a sweet and savory crowd pleaser. So good.
Honey Maple Bacon
- 6 strips bacon
- 1 teaspoon maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon honey
Heat bacon in a skillet over medium heat. Once you flip it, brush on the maple syrup and honey mixture. Cook the bacon, flipping and brushing to preference.
Tip: Lay strips out on parchment paper to prevent sticking!
Caramelized Onions
- One large onion sliced
- 1 teaspoon maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon honey
- 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
Combine in a small skillet pan over low heat for about 20 minutes or until they are softened and the liquid is thickened.
Burger
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1/8 teaspoon pepper
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 tablespoon onion powder
Combine everything in a bowl and form 2-3 equal sized burger patties. Cook the burgers in the same skillet with bacon grease on medium heat. About 5 minutes on each side for medium burgers.
Tip: Poke a hole in the center of each burger pattie, almost all the way through but not quite. This prevents the burger from shriveling up and losing size!
Honey Maple BBQ Sauce
- 1 can tomato sauce
- ½ can tomato paste
- ⅛ cup molasses
- ⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 3 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 1 cup honey
- 1 cup maple syrup
- ¼ teaspoon liquid smoke
Combine in a sauce pan over medium low heat and simmer for about 20 minutes.
Cardio Leg Day/ 50 & 5
If I haven’t scared you off enough with this title, than this workout must be for you!
It lasts less then an hour and helps shape your legs, glutes and core. There are only 5 moves and you can do the entire workout with or without weight and run or walk.
Do each exercise 50 times with “a lap” in between and 5 in total. My LAP is once around the pond in my 
“community” in FL, about 1/2 mile.
Leg lifts- 50 on each side and 50 reverse leg lifts (send your (straight) leg backward
and squeeze your glutes)
LAP
Squats- 50 Squats with or without weights
LAP
Deads- 50 dead lifts with or without weights
LAP
Step Ups- 50 step ups on each leg with or without weights
LAP
Bridges- 50 bridges with a two second squeeze at the top 
LAP
This workout is great because it’s so adjustable. It’s a tough cardio and leg but you’ll be glad you did it and feel great!
Chopped French Onion Soup So Good You’ll Want To Make It All The Time
Soup and salad season is here and I couldn’t be more excited. Warm, inviting and fragrant, a good soup and a crisp salad are more than appetizers in my house, they’re a meal.
This is my take on French Onion Soup where I use chopped onions instead of the typical sliced for an easier and more satisfying experience. This recipe is a bit time consuming but more than worth the effort. So good!
Chopped French Onion Soup
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 4 small onions, chopped
- 8 cloves roasted garlic
- 30-40 oz beef stock
- 2 teaspoons thyme
- 2 tablespoons Dry Sherry (omit for Paleo)
In a medium to large stock pot, add butter, olive oil and chopped onions to the pan on medium high heat. You want to caramelize them, so stir often and heat until they began to turn brown or about 20 minutes. Add the roasted garlic, 30-40 ounces of beef stock, the thyme and sherry. Cook an additional 20 minutes on medium.
For restaurant style soup (not Paleo,) break up pieces of bread onto the top of the soup along with 2 tablespoons of Italian cheeses (Parmesan, Asiago, Fontina, Romano) and broil on high until the cheese begins to brown and is bubbling. Enjoy!
Like this recipe? Check out my other books, and watch for more to come!
Want a paperback copy? Reply in the comments and I’ll send you one!
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