December 18, 2014

Christmas Brunch Pastry Ideas

Do you make food for brunch on Christmas? It has become a bit of a tradition for me to make a Christmas brunch. Nothing fancy or big, just mimosas (maybe) and a yummy dish for the hubs and I. A sit-down-together breakfast never happens in our house, so why not have Christmas be the time when we are able to enjoy each others company and relax before family and friends start coming around!

This year's Christmas brunch is going to have similar themes to last year's, but add some sweets in as well. The hubs loves salmon and capers for breakfast, so I am thinking I will do some type of smoked salmon dish and something more sweet for me as well. Here are a few ideas I have found for great Christmas breakfast pastries!

Lemon Raspberry Tart

This is just too pretty to not be in the running for a Christmas brunch. Although, someone will need to help me figure out what crystallized ginger is.

Stuffed Caprese Bites

Ok, so these guys may not exactly be a pastry, but there is no reason all bready ooey gooey things need to be sweet. Some people even like salt over sugar. Besides, they just look so yummy!

Pumpkin Sweet Rolls

I bet that go your attention, right?! These look incredible and are, most likely, what sweet treat we will be eating come Christmas morning. The recipe is from Elle Penner, so a bit healthier than the usual.

Homemade Raspberry Danish

We may just be making this one this year because. Every year for Thanksgiving my Grandma gets a raspberry danish. I have not continued that tradition on Thanksgiving morning, but I am the only one who eats it! Eating this entire danish is surely much healthier than the grocery equivalent.

August 28, 2014

TBT: The First P+K Post!

by Jenni in Health

There are times when everyone would prefer to eat a big mac, fries, mac and cheese, pizza or anything else on the “no go” list rather than the salad their diets recommend. For cheat days like this along with all those other days that we would just prefer eating something absolutely delicious, I have created a list of cheats and alternatives. This is definitely not a diet list and I would not recommend using this system if you are trying to loose weight, but it will at least help curb some of those cravings without sending all of our hard earned fitness success down the drain.

Tip One, A Pizza Secret:
I am a pizza fiend. Literally. There is absolutely no difficulty for me in finishing an entire large Pizza Hut pizza in one sitting, on my own. Pizza is my kryptonite. For that reason, I was very happy to learn this little tip. If you are going through a pizza binge and have decided to eat all pizza in the world, go for the veggie. Veggie pizzas have a slightly higher nutritional content and average 1-3 grams less fat and up to 50 calories less per slice. This is because there is less cheese and none of the high fat meats.

Tip Two, Sweets:
Here is another thing I L-O-V-E, cookies. They are warm and yummy and I am drooling. There are times in my day where I could battle a fleet of ninjas for that one cookie. For me, this is usually late at night or early in the morning. Oddly though, the time that a cookie is best for me is the same time that one is more than enough to appease my craving. Afternoon, between dinner and lunch is the best time for that extra burst of sugary noms. This is the time of day when we can start getting a little sluggish and our bodies are able to digest that sweet, sweet goodness more easily.

Tip Three, Carbs:
Bread is something that oh so many people love. Starchy things are seen all over fast food menu’s and are a staple of almost every American comfort food. Too bad every health conscience person out there curses that corner of the food groupings. Oh how we love carbs and how we love to hate them even more.

Fortunately, there is a good time of day to eat them with less impact on your body. Morning is the time that our bodies are best able to process and regroup after a carb load. This energy can be used for the rest of the day and has less of a chance of being stored than that plate of spaghetti you (by you I mean me) are thinking of eating for dinner. If a starch-tastic meal is something that is happening, better to make it breakfast rather than dinner or a late-night snack. Just remember to reduce your carb intake for that day since you hit it out of the park at breakfast.

This was the first ever post on P+K way back on October 18th, 2012. It is so fun to see where a blogger (or any writer) started out compared to where they are now. An extra perk is that these tips still stand the test of time and can be super handy when those pesky cravings hit ;)

Happy Thursday and the last of our TBT series!

May 27, 2014

Healthier Sweet Tooth Recipes for Cravings

by Jenni in Food

We all get them, this past week I would of done almost anything for a cookie. I still have not eaten said cookie but have, through trying to avoid it, eaten far worse things. Sometimes, cravings just happen and ignoring them can just make it worse. These recipes are for those times when we just want a freakin' brownie but know it will set us off our health and fitness track. These guys can be eaten without the added carbs, fats, and most importantly, guilt added on.

I would also oh-so highly recommend checking out Chocolate-Covered Katie for all your sweet tooth recipe modifying needs. This entire post could have been about her recipes, but it is not. For realzies though, any sweet tooth recipe rendition you want can be found there :)