this is a pretty unbelievable crown pleaser.  it is my "go to"  party food/pot luck/ladies night/craft night dish that i whip up when i am short on time.  for reals, it takes about 10 minutes and the delish factor is through the roof. 

prep and cook time: 10 minutes

ingredients:

• package of Medjool dates  (amount will simply depend on how much you are wanting to make. you cut them in half, so if you get 10 dates, there will be 20 yummy stuffed dates)
  
• organic cream cheese (i get it made from raw milk on a local farm-umm. sigh. best ever.)
• a handful or two of almonds, chopped 
• honey
  
• an apple
  
• a lemon wedge
  

in a skillet, cast iron is my fave, toast up the almonds until they look and smell...well...toasty. careful not to burn them. obviously.  i almost always have to go round two'sies on nut toasting (umm, i am sure there is a "that's what she said" joke in there somewhere).  put them in a bowl and set aside.


now cut the dates in half longways and remove the pits.  spoon cream cheese into the middle and fill the hole where the pit used to live.  then, roll the cream cheese top in the almonds to coat each date, placing them on the plate you will be using in a circle, with space in the middle for your apple rose.

wash the apple and using a peeler, start peeling strips of apple as long as you can get them by going around and around it. squeeze some lemon juice on them and toss them to coat.  the lemon prevents them from oxidizing and browning.  try to arrange them curled around each other until it looks like a rose and place in the middle of the plate.

now drizzle, drizzle, drizzle the whole masterpiece with honey, dates and the rose, until well coated.  enjoy.

these roasted tomatoes are the easiest thing in the world to do and bring the most insane flavour to any dish, o.m.f.g.! seriously. for reals. and totally.  best part is, if you pay attention, lots of times, at farmers markets, farm stands, and/or local grocery stores will put tomatoes on special when they are perfectly ripe to move them out before they go bad.  i nab them from Seaweeds (my local health food store) when they do and make a huge batch of these...

first, preheat your oven to 250, wash your tom toms, take the stem tops off, and quarter them if they are big like this.  if you have romas or smaller tomatoes, halving them is great.

ready for the ingredients?  you will need tomatoes and time.  that is it.....

ready for the hardest part?  resist any temptation to put ANYTHING on them. not salt, not oregano, not italian seasoning, not even unicorn blessings of good tidings to all.  well, i guess you can put a tini drizzle of the last one on them babies, but, at least just try them out unadulterated one time before getting cray cray with additions.  these are sooo sooo good as an ingredient in their perfect pop of tomato glory.

speaking of pop, pop them in the oven and check the time.  leave them in there for 4 hours, check them, try one, and see if they can go in for another hour or so. it really will depend on the size, ripeness and lusciousness of the tomato you have.  these ones were in for 5 hours. mmmmmm. my mouth is watering just looking at these.

my favourite use for these is to make quinoa, make pesto, and mix them together.  folding these in along with fresh buffalo mozzarella (or as Loji calls it, monster'ella).  chop some fresh herbs (whichever you used in the pesto-basil, parsley, mint, chives, etc) and garnish that dish right up.  a little arugula salad and your man won't know which to devour first; you or the pretty plate.

hi buddies! i know...i know...it has been way too long.  for reals.  i promise i am going to make it up to you today and tomorrow! blog days baby! i really want to show you these crackers i made for my boys last week. they were a big hit.  they were so fun to put in Loji's lunch with little hearts of cheese and organic buffalo salami.  i used the same heart shaped cookie cutter, so they stacked together in tiny adorable cracker sammies.  i seriously wished i was a techie spy mom and had a tiny camera hiding in his lunch to catch his reaction when he opened the little tin up that had these inside.  did i just say that all out loud?

i made them with quinoa flour this time, which works well, but usually go with wheat for these ones.   the taste of the quinoa kinda takes over the subtler sesame, but if you are super ultra mega gluten free and looking for a cracker situation...these are your girls!

aiight...here's the spekz:

1 cup whole wheat flour (you can sub quinoa flour or all purpose)
1/2 cup grated extra sharp cheddar cheese
teaspoon salt
2 tbsp canola oil (yes you can sub whatchya have!)
1/2 cup water
toasted sesame seeds, for sprinkling

preheat oven to 375

combine flour, cheese, and salt in the bowl of your food processor and pulse until well blended. add the oil and pulse again.  now add the water. blend well.

turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and make a ball with it.  flour your rolling pin (if you don't have one, use a wine bottle. you will feel really cool and resourceful if you do this.  when you are finished with this step, pop her up to make sure she's still good! mm.:) and roll the dough out till it's about 1/8 inch thick.  sprinkle with sesame seeds and roll again to embed them into the dough a bit. 

you can cut into squares with a knife or pizza cutter or use cookie cutters and cut out crackers. place on an ungreased baking sheet and prick each cracker with a fork.  bake about 20 minutes or until golden.  be sure to check on them if you do little shapes because they will cook faster then bigger ones.

if your dough sticks to your counter tops for some reason, just use a spatula and scoop them right up.

now spend entirely waaaay too much time placing them on a baking sheet as if anyone was going to see it (umm, except for you guys, of course. ehem.)

use the slot on the side of your cheese grater to get uniform thickness on your ridiculously adorable cheese hearts. i know guys, try to contain yourselves!  you probz don't really use this part of your grater so much...this might be kind of exciting for you. it was for me. go big or go home!

now enjoy! seriously, you can form fit (pun intended) this to any holiday or occasion with the shape you make these into.  bon appetite! 

super easy...pick a chocolate/candy mold and something cute to say that ties it in.  we went with a lego themed valentine this year.  super easy peasy, melt the chocolate in a double broiler or in a mixing bowl that fits on top of your sauce pan.  bring the water to a boil, put the mixing bowl on top and turn the temp down to about medium.  chocolate goes into the bowl.  you can use chips (good quality works, you guessed it, better because they have less additives n such) or bakers chocolate, heck, you could melt down last years life sized chocolate easter buddy, seriously, anyone can make chocolates!  try it you'll see.  the only thing you have to be careful of is over heating the melting chocolate.  

i'm an aries. i like to drive fast and be cray cray sometimes.  many a bowl of chocolate did i ruin by trying to melt it fast at high heats.  this is the time to patiently melt.  kitchen yoga my frindz.  use a spatula and just keep scraping the sides and stirring. it happens pretty fast. then, i just turn the heat right off and fill my molds.  you can use a bit of coconut oil to stretch the chocolate, or a couple drops of  peppermint oil (doTerra is my favorite), or you can even add in toasted coconut, ground organic espresso, or cacao nibs. get as wild and free as you want.  this time, i went just chocolate and had Loji get buck with some pink sprinkles.

then, i wrote "so glad we click", "we just click" and we click together" on glassine gags i got at michaels and had Loji start personalizing them with his classmates names as i started the dark chocolate batch.

when the chocolates were done we popped one of each in the bags and went to town with heart stickers to seal them up.

happy valentines day kiddies!!!

alright, who doesn't want to trick their kids into eating "good for you" candy and thinking they are just as spoiled as can be?  alright, calm down moms in the back!  you can put your waving arms down now.  don't make me pull over the car!  

i made these orange juice lego gummies yesterday to bring in for Loi's valentines day party at school.  see, i used the lego molds after this to make chocolates for his valentines he's going to pass out today...post to follow... so, i figured they would tie into his "we click together" theme he (i) had going on.  i had found the molds online last year and went cray cray with them for the lego birthday party he had last year.  hmm, also...post to follow...  

anyhoo, the recipe i used yesterday for these is suuuper easy, fast and you probz have everything you need in your kitchen right now.   ingredients...orange juice and gelatin.  i used grass fed gelatin, but normal gelatin packets are easily found at any grocery store.  now, the recipe is from a super cute book from 1964 called Sugar Free Toddlers.  i only used this one, because, as i said, i had all the ingredients here.  had i not been sick as a dog all week, i would have gone to buy lemons and used the second recipe i will list down yonder.  they are my fave.  my son loved these oj ones...so, in a pinch, here yar:

prep time: 2 mins
cook time: 5 mins

ingredients

3 cups fruit juice 
5 packets unflavored gelatin powder

in a mixing bowl, combine 1 cup of juice with the gelatin powder.  bring 1 cup of juice to a boil, then stir in the gelatin mixed juice. add remaining cup of juice and stir until gelatin is completely dissolved.  pour into molds or into an 8 x 8 pan and chill until set.  if you use a pan, you can cut out shapes with a cookie cutter.

this one is the jam guys.  try this recipe.  kinda addictive.  did you know there is tons of protein in gelatin? who knew.  


one word of advice: pick a simple mold! these legos were hard to pop out perfectly. the dots at the top were giving me a run for my money (seriously, what does that even mean? c'mon quotes! make more sense sometimes!).  pick a solid form that'll pop out easy.

pink lemonade protein gummy candy
prep time: 5 minutes

total time: 5 minutes


ingredients

• 1/3 cup + 1 tbsp lemon juice (not from concentrate)
• 2 tbsp honey
• 1 full dropper of berry stevia drops
• 1-2 drops lemon or orange doTerra essential oil or extract (optional)
• 1-2 drops natural food coloring (optional)
• 1/4 cup grass-fed gelatin

instructions

1. in a small saucepan over low heat, whisk together honey, lemon juice, stevia drops, lemon extract and food coloring(optional).
2. add in gelatin and continue to whisk constantly until smooth and there are no lumps.
3. transfer into a liquid measuring cup to easily pour into your molds.
4. place in fridge or freezer to let gelatin set for a a while before removing from molds.

Notes:

store in an airtight container, will stay firm at room temperature. if there's any left after a few days (nom nom), refrigerate for up to two weeks.

i know, some of you can't get down with stevia...but the flavored stevia drops (Sweetleaf Sweet Drops) they are making are seriously awesome. not a fan of the valencia orange, but all the others i've tried are totes the jam.  we have a soda stream and make "soda" all the time with bubbly water and a few drops of the falva'flave droplets.  i feel like i'm doing an infomercial here...but i do use these in recipes some times, so here's a link and the flavors they carry....  http://www.sweetleaf.com/products/sweet-drops-products

Coconut • Watermelon • Cola • Lemon Drop • Valencia Orange • Berry 
Chocolate Raspberry • English Toffee • Vanilla Crème • Hazelnut • Peppermint • Root Beer
Grape • Apricot Nectar • Chocolate • Cinnamon

don't throw the liquid from your pickle jar away after you've finished those crunchy dill nom noms!  especially if they are homemade!  you get docked big time massive no no points for that!  instead, slice up a red onion or two, throw it in the jar, and pop it in the fridge.  pickled red onion, ladies and gentlemen, is the cheapest, most snappy addition to salads, sammies, and my personal favourite, on a bagel with local smoked salmon lox, capers, raw local cream cheese,  and bing bing bing...this magic ingredient.  for reals homies.  you do want to try this at home.  

if you are not an onion fan, or you just like to get kinky in the kitchen trying new things, try pickling asparagus, carrots, garlic, green beans, or maple glazed donuts.  just kidding.  you got it. hello bloody mary season.  

so, i found these little bottles at the dollar store and had three hundred and fifty two ideas on what i could do with them.  this is the first of many...i love these.  i also heart my martha stewart heart puncher.  oh craft tools....happy valentines day craft tools!  i love you forevz!

anyhoozles, as you might already know, i also heart using recycled materials when i am crafting. creating tasteful ways to reuse things is a passion of mine.  this was a fun way to do that.  i went through magazines and tore out pages that had pink or red pictures on them.  i was careful to check on the backs of these pages and only use them if there was back and white print on the back.  i also used a page of sheet music and a couple pages i tore out of an old novel i found at the recycling depot (which i also heart).  yes....i am keeping a tally of how many "hearts" i am racking up here.  

now use your heart punch and go wild (at heart) on your collection of pages.  gather all of your hearts up and give them a good mix up.  now evenly distribute into the little glass jars.  

if you are savvy with a pair of jewelry pliers and a length of chain, string the chain around the mouth of the jar and fasten with an O ring and clasp on top.  if not, you can use twine, a strip of leather or whatever your pretty little HEART desires.  had to slip it in just one last time. (t.w.s.s.)  these are such a sweet gift for your ladies!! that's who i gave them to, as well as my son's teacher, my mother in law, and a few friends that are far away. i love love.

today is international Random Acts of Kindness Day!! yay! just kidding...everyday is random acts of kindness day silly head!  in the spirit of valentines day month (like that? just made that up. i think),  i am now triple dog daring you to perform a random act of kindness today.  

this sweet tin was dropped off to me at home by my friend Weezie.  when i opened the lid, i almost cried.  the sweetest most fragrant woft of wild roses filled my nose and tear ducts or something...yeah..that was it..sniff sniff.  anyway, it was all her fault! so thoughtful.  the details! the heart shaped rock? c'mon!  almost got a cavity from the sweetness.  

now it's your turn!!  take a picture of a random act of kindness and post it to my Martha Starfish fb page!!  

oh, here's another picture.  i came back to my car one morning to a beautiful rose tucked into the wiper blade of my mini, Winne Cooper.  it drove me crazy not knowing who did it, but i loved the mystery of it all.  go team awesome!

make your own tootsie rolls at home using this easy recipe!  there's no cooking or baking required and it's made using simple pantry staples.  go on...try it out.  up..up...up...

i never liked them when i was a child.  gave them away or traded them when i'd get them in my bag of halloween loot.  but when i ran across this recipe a couple years ago, i thought i'd try it out.  in love.  you seriously will not believe how much (better) they taste like the real dealio. cray cray.

10 day countdown ladies and gentlemen...idea of the day...no, more than that...i double dog dare you to leave someone a love note today!  it can be your beebinz, a friend, coworker, barista, your kids.  c'mon, humor me.  i left this on our bathroom mirror so he'd see it while brushing his toofies.