Almond Meringue Cookies

Almond Meringue Cookies

Hi, everyone!
I'm going to share a holiday staple from my house to yours today.
I've been baking these for a few years now and my family definitely expects these to be around the house come Autumn. They are super easy to make, Delicious, Light & Airy, & you can use so many different flavor combinations.
 It's great!

This recipe usually makes 2 batches depending on size.

Ingredients:
4 egg whites
1 Tsp Almond Emulsion
1 Tsp Cream of Tartar
3/4 cup sugar ( I tend to use less because I like mine less sweet)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 225
Whip egg whites on low until frothy, then add  Cream of Tartar slowly.

Continue to whip on low until soft peaks form. Slowly add sugar & Almond emulsion & turn to medium speed & continue to whip until stiff peaks form & will stand up on their own. Spoon mix onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper & bake for 2 - 3 hours. Let cool for 1 hour before eating.

Enjoy these yummy cookies & feel free to share your experience with me!

Beauty Review: Gilette Venus Swirl

I received these products free for my honest opinion and review. All opinions are my own and completely honest.

If youre a fan of incredibly smooth skin, stop what you're doing, go buy the Gilette Venus Swirl razor and #ChooseToSmooth

I tried this over the weekend and it did not disappoint. The grip is awesome and the razors themselves were extremely sharp which I enjoy. The swiveling ball was not my favorite because I didn't feel that my cuts were straight enough but it wasn't harmful either. My legs feel incredible and as we all know its swim season! This will help you achieve all your swim season smooth skin needs!

Easy Floral Monogram DIY Craft

I hope you all had a great Memorial Day weekend. We had a blast here. Lots of sun, food, and pool. We don't have any immediate family who died in service but my husband who always wanted to join the military but wasn't allowed to decided to remember the fallen and celebrate their lives anyway.

My 2 daughters, Niece, and I also decided to do some DIY Floral Monograms. It was so fun! Here are their finished Monograms.

And this is the project I was inspired by.




What we did differently:

Since I found a white base & we weren't going for such a full look as in the video we decided not to paint the monogram. It worked well without any prep and we bought all of the letters from Michaels. We also bought all of the flowers except 3 of the bouquets from Michaels. The other 3 were bought at Dollar Tree.

Smudge & Sage

Really love what I got on @Etsy from treestuff. #etsystar http://etsy.me/1U0DVOe

Ginger Berry Blast Smoothie

Good Morning! Today's recipe is going to be different than what you're used to seeing here on Coffee & Kahlua.

My husband, Matt and I have been transitioning to a healthy lifestyle change. We both are morbidly obese and are now in our mid 30s so the time is now. This means the blog from here on out will be a little lighter and healthier with a lot more smoothie recipes I create. Which is exciting to me, and hope it is to you too!

I'm the kind of girl who gets bored with everything after awhile and since I was killing my metabolism every morning by not eating I needed to try and find something that gave my body fuel and also wouldn't be the same ol same ol. I'm a Gemini, we need newness! LOL!

Well smoothies seem to be a good option for me because they give me a chance to be creative and come up with new recipes all the time. I have a few other recipes posted on my Instagram @goddessmelody if you'd like to follow me there.  Here's my breakfast today. Its got a very nice kick of ginger which I love but you can always adjust to suit your own taste.

Enjoy!

1 Cup Kale
1 Cup Spinach
1 Tbsp Fresh Grated Ginger
1 Cup Raspberries
1 Scoop Lo Carb Protein Powder
1 Cup Don Francisco's Hawaiian Hazelnut Coffee

Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies

Recently my husband asked me to make him banana bread. I was a little surprised because in the 14 years I've known him I don't remember him being a big banana bread fan. As a matter of fact I don't remember him being a fan of bananas at all. So I asked him where his newly found interest in bananas came from (he also bought some banana/chocolate cookie mix a few months ago and liked it so much he bought 3 more boxes for a rainy day) and he replied "I've always liked banana bread". I was a little surprised because like I said, I simply don't remember him being interested in bananas. He also has been asking for chocolate chip cookies. He knows at this time of year i am busy baking away so its the perfect time to ask ofcourse.

So on our next shopping trip I had him pick up whatever chocolate chips he wanted and some others too because I like to experiment. I think most people who spend a lot of time cooking and baking like to experiment. I've really never met a culinary lover who wasn't creative come to think of it.

Well I went to make Matt some banana bread yesterday and realized I had thrown away my bread pan before we bought this home earlier this year, and never replaced it. So there I was with all my ingredients prepped and ready to go.  Now I'm not usually that brave when it comes to baking. Baking scares me most of the time because it is so precise and if you've followed my blog long enough you'll remember my recipes are usually me eyeing amounts and coming up with things in a hurry so no recipe following Lol. That's just how I roll. I'm not a "By the book" chick.

Anyways, I decided to combine Matt's banana bread & chocolate chip cookies and create these. I know they've been done before but true to myself I didn't follow a recipe for them. I simply took the basics from the chocolate chip cookies, added banana's, and cut down on the sugar and butter. They came out soft, moist, and almost bread like.

Matt loves them! So mission accomplished. I hope you all enjoy them as much as we are.
Banana Bread Chocolate Chip Cookies
2 Eggs
1 stick Butter
1 cup Granulated Sugar
1/4 Cup Dark Brown Sugar
3 ripe Bananas
2 cups of All Purpose Flour
1tsp Baking Soda
1/4 tsp Salt
1 tsp Vanilla or Almond extract (I used half of each)
1 cup Chocolate Chips

Directions
Preheat oven to 350°
Line cookie sheet with parchment paper
Take butter and sugar and mix well
Add eggs & bananas slowly on low setting until they are mixed well.

Slowly add flour, salt, & baking soda until they just mix together and then add vanilla or almond, chocolate chips and blend well.

This mix is very moist so you won't be able to roll into balls. Just use a spoon and drop onto parchment paper covered cookie sheet.

Bake cookies for 13 minutes or until they are a light golden brown. Let cool on rack for 20 minutes and then remove from parchment paper.

DO NOT TRY TO REMOVE FROM PAPER BEFORE COOLING.

The cookies are so moist they will more than likely break apart if you do try to remove too soon.

XOXO,
Melody

Green Veggie Casserole

Happy Tuesday Coffee & Kahlua readers! 

Its been way too long since I posted a recipe. 

I've been in the home-buying process for months and between boxes, paperwork, a slip and fall at the old house (which makes me even less useful then i was) and trying to get this house unpacked and un-spidered/un-mosquitoed,  I have been completely overwhelmed. Thankfully my husband is just as motivated as he is handsome, so its coming along slowly but very much nicely. 

This recipe is my own creation but was largely inspired by my best friends spinach casserole that I have loved for years.  Like with every recipe i find that I love,  I always want to make it my own. And for me if I'm making a casserole with veggies instead of meat...I want LOTS of veggies & even more flavor of course.So I pulled out my veggie drawer and used almost all of what was in there.

Prep Time: 25 minutes

Cook time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

Cheddar Jack Cheese - 1/2 Cup

Parmesan Cheese - Just enough to sprinkle on top

Spinach - half a bag

Green Bell Pepper - 1 whole chopped

Yellow Onion - 1 whole sliced/chopped

Asparagus - Half a bunch cut in half or chopped

Mushrooms - 1 box of pre-washed sliced

Balsamic Vinegar - about 4 tbsp

Unagi Sushi Sauce - 2 tbsp

Butter or Margarine - for saute'

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Melt butter in medium frying pan and add chopped asparagus, onions, and bell peppers. Sautee' on medium low until asparagus is soft but not mushy.

Meanwhile start layering your half bag of spinach, mushrooms & cheese to a casserole dish of your choice. Keep in mind that spinach shrinks when its cooked, I used a smaller one. An 8x10 rectangle.

Add balsamic to sauteed veggie pan and let bubble 2 minutes.

Add Unagi sauce to pan and turn to medium heat for 1 min stirring constantly.

Add contents of pan to casserole dish and mix it up. Sprinkle Parmesan on top and bake for 30 minutes.

Let cool for about 20 minutes & Enjoy! 

Lets Get Personal

I have no recipes for you all today. 

This will be on a more personal level. I'm going to try and post more often and since my life as a Mom of 4 & Wife of 1 is so crazy sometimes it just feels like I should be adding more of my life and my personality on this blog. 

Why not right!? 

I mean, I am super active on Facebook and I connect with my fans through a more personal level there.

Reese's Spreads Review

I was so happy when i got my Reese's Spreads ‪#‎voxbox‬ from‪#‎Influenster‬! I had never tried them before & I am now in love with the taste. The Chocolate & Peanut Butter flavor is delicious. I shared with my son & we paired the spread with a nice big flour tortilla. Simple & Delicious!

I received this product complimentary for testing purposes

Coffee & Kahlua: Almond Meringue Cookies

Coffee & Kahlua: Almond Meringue Cookies: Hi everyone! I'm going to share a holiday staple from my house, to yours today. I've been baking these for a few years now and my ...

Pumpkin Pancakes

The obsession continues! 

Pumpkin this and pumpkin that, Id even eat pumpkin with a bat! 

Well when I start rhyming like Dr. Seuss its probably time to just post a recipe, sooooo...shall we?

My friend julie has been begging me for this recipe for a week now. 

I originally had planned to post it last week right after i made them for everyone, but between prepping for halloween festivities & taking a much needed trip to Santa Cruz for my sons 16th birthday things got crazy. 

So here ya go Julie! Recipe time! 

Once again i feel the need to remind you all im not big for measuring things. I am an eyeball & see what works kind of cook so i will be adapting my own recipe to the general pancake mix recipe for you all to follow but i prefer a little thicker batter so get creative if you are a rebel like me hehe. 

So after you have the batter to your liking follow these steps and make sure to adjust to your own preference. I love pumpkin flavor so this is a very strong pumpkiny flavor. 

2 Heaping Cups of pumpkin (not pie filling) 

1 Cup brown sugar

1 Tsp pumpkin pie filling

Whisk all ingredients into pancake mix until smooth 

I like to make big pancakes so i use the 1 cup to drizzle batter into hot buttered pan & then some. 

Each side takes about 1 1/2 - 2 minutes 

I hope you all enjoy them as much as we did and as always please leave feedback or questions if you would like. 

Pumpkin Meringue Cookies

Tis' the season for all things pumpkin! 

My favorite time of year, and as some of my friends would say its also the time of year where i accept the challenge of living off of pumpkin everything!Aha, so it would seem. 

My lovely friend Rachel over at Up Your Cupcake  pointed this out last night by posting this on my facebook wall. 

Im extremely guilty! 

So of course I have been busy creating pumpkiny goodness in my kitchen. This first pumpkin installment of the 2014 autumn season is in the form of a re-creation that you've seen here before. Meringue Cookies! These by far are my favorites right now. I was a little anxious to make these considering the unstableness of a meringue. Fortunately it was alot easier than i thought, just took a little more time. My sister & I enjoyed these with some Pumpkin Coffee. It went very well together as you can imagine. So here it is! Enjoy, share, & feedback is always welcome! Have a Peaceful Day!

Ingredients:

4 egg whites

1 Heaping Tbsp Pumpkin Puree' 

2 Tsp Cream of Tartar

3/4 cup sugar ( I tend to use less because I like mine less sweet)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 225

Whip egg whites on low until frothy, then add  Cream of Tartar slowly.

Continue to whip on low until soft peaks form. Slowly add sugar & Pumpkin Puree. 

Turn to medium speed & continue to whip until stiff peaks form & will stand up on their own. 

Spoon mix onto cookie sheet lined with parchment paper & bake for 2 - 3 hours. Let cool for 1 hour before eating.

Enjoy the pumpkiny goodness! 

Melody's Version of Chop Suey

1 lb of hamburger lean
a little ginger
a little brown sugar
a little garlic powder
balsamic vinegar
one onion chopped roughly
lots of mushrooms
salt and pepper

brown hamburger
add brown sugar
add balsamic vinegar and let cook for a few
add ginger and garlic & stir
add wine & stir
cook on med/low for 20 min stirring occasionally
make slurry with milk and corn starch and add and stir

Mel'z 20 Minute Parmesan Mac & Cheese

A few months ago after a family camping trip I got sick & was in a rush to get dinner done. 

Matt was almost home, the kids were grumpy, & I was physically & mentally drained. 

So i grabbed a few staples & decided to see what happened. 

20 min later dinner was served!

This happened & i think its quite good. 

So ill share with you all & you can tell me what you think. 

Yeah? 

Cool. 

Here we go.

Ingredients:

1 LB Fusilli Pasta

4 Tsp Garlic Powder

3 C. Parmesan

1 C. Cheddar

Broccoli Florets (to taste)

2 Tbs Italian Seasoning

1 Tsp Cayenne

1Tbs Butter or Margarine

3 Cups Heavy Whipping Cream or 3 cups Half & Half for a lighter version

1 Cup Water 

Directions:

Boil pasta until its half way done & drain

Add Butter & all wet ingredients.

Turn to Medium Heat. 

Add Cayenne, Garlic Powder & Italian seasoning to pot

Once the liquid starts to boil again add 1/2 the cheese & stir frequently adding the rest of the cheese in slowly. Sauce will thicken pretty fast after this so stir diligently until pasta is done. 

Add broccoli on top pr mix in (as I did) 

Add Salt & Pepper to taste.

This is a pretty versatile recipe & i have added fresh garlic & chopped sauteed onions to it, green onions top it very well as well. 

Get creative! 

As always if you use this or any of my recipes please let me know how it came out. 

I love feedback!

Enjoy!

DIY Taco Seasoning

You know, Ive never considered myself a "Do It Yourself" er. 

I guess my idea of a DIY'er  were these picture perfect, Donna Reed, Artsy Fartsy, Super Moms. Well sometime between 2009 & today I discovered my inner culinary & beauty DIY'er side which brings me to this recipe. 
Last night was Taco Night! I love me some tacos man! 
So the hubby & I prepped everything & started the meat & as it would happen....no taco seasoning left in the cupboard. So i did a pinterest search & found some basic recipes for 1 lb of ground beef. I however needed a 2lb recipe & something that used less cumin because I just dont like cumin much. So in true form I used a more unique but equally as flavorful recipe for 2lbs of meat. The beauty of making your own seasoning is that you can make it to suit your own or your family's likes & dislikes. Try it! Youll like it! Literally takes about a minute to do which is so cool to me.

• INGREDIENTS:
• 1 tsp. ground cumin

• 1 tsp. sea salt

• 3 tsp. chili powder
• 1 tsp. Italian Seasoning
• 1/2 tsp. Cayenne Pepper
• 3 tsp. paprika
• 3 tsp. onion powder
• 2 tsp. garlic powder
• 1 tsp. black pepper

Mix well in a small bowl or add ingredients to a ziplock bag & shake vigorously 

• 
  

Banana's Foster

Banana foster over lemon custard ice cream (taste approved by Harmony & Matt lol).

I've been meaning to make this recipe for months, so I'm very happy to be sharing it with everyone now.

I was inspired to make this by watching an episode of one of my favorite foodie shows which featured Brennans in New Orleans the birth place of this recipe. They explained all about the history behind the recipe. I love hearing about a recipes origin and history. It brings back memories of my grandmother and great grandmother who loved to cook almost as much as they loved to eat. I can still see them in the kitchen with their aprons (yes they actually wore aprons) surrounded by burnt orange and yellow flowers that were such a hit in the 60s & 70s on the wall and chair and table, and olive green on the walls. The smells that came from that kitchen were amazing! Ok back to 2013, Here is my version of Bananas Foster (less alcohol, but all the taste in tact!).

I hope you all enjoy! If you ever use a recipe you find on my blog please don't hesitate to share your results.

Ingredients: 

1 cup dark brown sugar

1/2 stick sweet cream butter

1/4 cup of Banana Extract

1 teaspoon of cinnamon

4 whole ripe bananas cut down the middle and then in half.

1/4 cup of rum (i used a light rum that was only 40% alc vol

1/8 cup cooking sherry

Directions:

Mix butter, sugar, and cinnamon in a skillet or pan of your choice (make sure its big enough to accommodate all the bananas) and put on low heat. Cook and stir until most of the sugar dissolves . 

 Add banana extract & sherry and stir a little more . Place Bananas in pan and cook until softened.

 Now this is the part that becomes a flambe' dish but I myself did not light it fire. The discretion is up to you but if you side on caution then here is how I got the alcohol cooked out & the dish still fully cooked with a firmer texture. Add the rum into the pan carefully and not in haste. Raise temp to med/low and continue cooking until bananas have a nice brown cooking mark on each side being careful not to overcook the sauce. Take the bananas out the pan and place on top of ice cream or cake and drizzle sauce over the top. Serve immediately and enjoy this wonderful dessert!

Almond Meringue Cookies

Hi everyone!
I'm going to share a holiday staple from my house, to yours today.
I've been baking these for a few years now and my family definitely expects these to be around the house come Autumn. They are super easy to make, Delicious, Light & Airy, & you can use so many different flavor combinations, It's great! This recipe usually makes 2 batches depending on size.

Ingredients:
4 egg whites
1 Tsp Almond Emulsion
1 Tsp Cream of Tartar
3/4 cup sugar ( I tend to use less because I like mine less sweet)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 225
Whip egg whites on low until frothy, then add  Cream of Tartar slowly.

Continue to whip on low until soft peaks form. Slowly add sugar & Almond emulsion & turn to medium speed & continue to whip until stiff peaks form & will stand up on their own. Spoon mix onto cookie sheet lined with parchment paper & bake for 2 - 3 hours. Let cool for 1 hour before eating.

Enjoy these yummy cookies & feel free to share your experience with me on my blog!

Crockpot Ball-Tip Roast & A Mishap

This may amuse some of you (as it did my household last night) so I thought I'd share and give you the recipe as well. 

 There is a place down in the bay area here in California that sells a yummy marinated ball-tip called Kinders. I decided to try and make a recipe as close to theirs as I could. Their recipe is top secret so this wasn't an easy task and I spent a good month or more researching recipes and taste-testing to see if I could recreate it. (I have a pretty decent palate)

 I finally just decided to combine some of the ingredients I knew were in the recipe, with a few that I had guessed myself, along with some of go-to ingredients used in a typical beef rub. Here's where the mishap comes in. 

I have numerous recipes on my laptop and I keep them in a few places. Namely a pfd file where I write them out myself. So I go to the crock-pot and start measuring everything and dumping it in. My husband is kind of a picky eater so I always make a side of whatever sauce, dip, marinade etc for him to taste. So I let him taste this one and he HATED it. He got a very sour disgusted look on his face and I had no idea why and I said "Well its too late now because after I spooned your taste out I put the roast in." I figured he was just being picky and he doesn't like too many spices so that's what I chalked it up to. Well a few hours go by and I go to check the temp on the roast and let me tell you I did NOT like the smell coming from the crock-pot. So I took it out cut a piece off and hoped I wouldn't be disappointed. Let me tell you, It took one taste to realize what my problem was and why my husband didn't like it. It was lemon overkill! The marinade itself was  great flavor but I put in wayyyyy too much lemon,which made me scratch my head as I'm usually very careful about balancing my acids. Yet here I was standing there tasting a very lemony roast. So I walked over to the recipe I wrote out on my pfd file and everything seemed fine, until I realized that I had opened a recipe right next to it that called for 3X the lemon. Yep. I did that. LOL! I turned my laptop around and showed my husband who preceded to laugh his lemon hating butt off. So to counteract the acidity from the lemon I made a gravy to cover it and it actually turned out really good! Hubby was delighted with it and we dined happily. 

The recipe you see below is the right version of  my try at a copycat recipe for kinders ball-tip marinade. Its not as close as I'd like but practice makes progress! If you'd like the gravy recipe make sure you go to my blog HERE and get it after you read this. 

I used a 4 lb roast with this so you may need to adjust ingredients depending on how small or big the roast is you're using. Also, if you like to marinate your meat prior to cooking I would recommend 24 to 48 hours as balltip can be tough in certain areas depending on the cut and quality. 

Ingredients:

1/2 cup of Sesame Oil

2 tsp of parsley 

1 tsp Oregano

1 tsp ginger

1 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

3 cloves of garlic

2 tsp coarse black pepper

2 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup Lemon Juice

1/2 cup soy sauce

1/2 cup Worcestershire

1/4 cup honey

2 cups Beef Broth

Directions:

Combine all wet ingredients into crock-pot and stir. Take dry ingredients and use processor or blender to mince. (I use this method to not only mince the garlic but to also infuse the flavors of the herbs and spices with the garlic) You can also add a little white wine to the processor just to make sure they marry well. 

Empty dry ingredient mix into crock-pot and stir well. Add roast to crock-pot and cook on low for 4-5 hours. 

The finished product with veggies and my homemade gravy

#TLCVoxBox Review & Video

Product supplied by Influenster for complementary testing purposes, but all opinions are my own.

I cant believe im actually showing you a video of my weird looking self but here it is. I have to say I LOVE THIS VOXBOX!!! It came with AVON ANEW Reversalist Complete Renewal Express Wrinkle Remover, Neosporin Neo To Go, Puffs Plus Lotion Tissues, Ivory Original Bar, A coupon for a free Breyers Gelato, and A Shell Fuel Rewards card. This is by far the best VOXBOX Ive ever gotten!

Sargento Ultra Thin Cheese Slices

I recently had the chance to try Sargento Ultra Thin Cheese Slices.
They're so yummy!
I made a few different recipes with the swiss ones but only got pictures of one.
Here's the recipe. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did.


Ingredients
5 oz Angel Hair Pasta
5oz Conchiglie (shells)
1tbs butter or coconut oil
1 tsp Italian Seasoning
4 slices of Sargento Ultra Thin Swiss Cheese Slices
1/2 cup of parmesan shavings
1 cup of milk
1/2 cup of cream

Boil water & coconut oil
Add noodles to boiling water & cook on med heat for 8 - 11 minutes or until water is almost all evaporated
Add milk, parmesan , cream, & Italian seasoning & turn heat to med-low
When sauce starts to simmer add swiss cheese slices & stir constantly