One of my good friends is having a baby girl in a few months hosted a baby shower brunch this morning.  I hadn’t been to a baby shower in many years and have never been to a brunch shower.  She decided to have the brunch because she wanted her other daughter to be able to come and still be able to have a normal nap time.  It was such a great idea and turned out so cute.

A few weeks ago she asked if I would help her prepare the food because of my “background.”

 Of course I wanted to help in a baby shower brunch, breakfast is one of my favorite meals of day and who doesn’t love it for lunch too?  She wanted to keep it simple and easy so that it wasn’t too hard for her to set up with the help of her mother.  She decided to have a waffle bar, a couple salads, parfaits, and cheesecake pops.

She found the idea for the waffle bar on Pinterest and I thought it was a great idea.  To save time in the morning, I came over the day before and made the waffles and froze them.  In the morning all my friend had to do was heat them in the oven and keep them warm until the guests arrived.  She had quite the assortment of berries and sweet sauces to top the waffles and chocolate chunks to make it even better.

I came over in the morning to help her make the parfaits and cake pops.  It is so easy making a delicious parfait.  You can’t really go wrong with yogurt, granola, and fresh fruit.  My friend had the batter mixed already for the cake pops so all we had to do was make them.   She found this wonderful recipe for chocolate caramel pops…they were dangerously delicious.  Her mother threw together some easy salads for a healthy option.



It was a huge success.  A lot of my friends family were able to attend and a couple of her friends.  The food was a huge success and everyone had a great time.  I forgot how much happiness and joy is at a baby shower.

Now I can’t wait to meet her little girl.

Go green and stay keen,

Julie

A couple years ago my husband and I met a couple staying at a bed and breakfast near our home.  My husband and I were having coffee and they asked to join us.  Our simple cup of coffee turned into a day of adventure.  They were from the Caribbean and in California for a vacation.  It was so fun getting to know them and doing things we do all the time with a set of fresh eyes.

After meeting, we kept in contact through Facebook in case we were ever in the same area again.  They came back to California this past week for a business conference and we opened up our home to them.  It was great seeing them again, and as a thank you they cooked us their favorite dinner.

Caribbean food is so delicious.  After dinner I begged to get the recipe, it was so good.  They were kind enough to share their favorite recipes with us so we will be able to transform our meals into a paradise.

Here are two of the Caribbean recipes they shared, and I promise they are to die for.


Creole Rice Pilaf

Ingredients-

• 1 ½ tsp. olive oil
• ¼ tsp. crushed red pepper
• 1/3 cup minced shallots
• ½ cup sliced scallions
• 1 stalk celery, chopped
• 1 ¼ cup diced plum tomatoes
• 1 ½ cup short-grain brown rice
• 3 ½ cup vegetable broth, boiling
• ½ cup chopped fresh coriander
• 1 tsp. dried thyme
• 2 tsp. Bragg liquid Aminos

Instructions-

• Heat oil and crushed red pepper in a saucepan on medium heat for 1 minute.  Add the shallots, scallions, and celery and cook for about 3 minutes until adding the mushrooms and tomatoes, and cook 2 minutes before adding rice.  The entire mixture for 2 minutes while stirring.

• Add the boiling broth, coriander and thyme into the saucepan and bring to boil.  Reduce the heat to low, cover and cook for about 45 minutes until the liquid is absorbed.  Stir in the liquid aminos and enjoy!

Caribbean Style Sofrito- this makes 6 servings, they like to feed a crowd! :D



Ingredients-

• 1 green bell pepper, cut into ¼ inch cubes
• 1 red bell pepper, cut into ¼ inch cubes
• ½ orange bell pepper, cut into ¼ inch cubes
• ½ yellow bell pepper, cut into ¼ inch cubes
• 5 tomatoes, cored and chopped
• ½ bunch of green onions, chopped
• ¾ bunch of fresh cilantro, chopped
• 3 fresh tomatillos, husks removed
• ½ cup chopped garlic

Instructions-
• Put the green, red, orange, and yellow peppers, tomatoes, green onions, cilantro, tomatillos, and garlic into a food processor or blender and pulse or blend to make the your desired consistency, either chunky or smooth. Season lightly with salt.

• Enjoy!
Hope these recipes can transport you to a Caribbean escape in your kitchen!

Go green and stay keen,

Julie