Spinach Salad with Apples, Cranberries & Sliced Almonds

Disclosure- I received the mentioned product courtesy of the sponsor for the the purpose of this review. All opinions are genuine, based on my experience with the product, and have not been influenced by promotional items.

 

 

The family is in Wisconsin this week, so it's been just me here at home to fend for myself when it comes to meals. And I'll be honest. Cooking for one is kind of a relief. No rushing to get meals on the table at a certain hour, no complaints about what is being served, and best of all, a lot less dishes to clean. It's not that I don't miss my family, but sometimes it's nice to have a little solitude. I've been making a lot of things that they normally wouldn't eat, like Spinach Salad with Apples, Cranberries and Sliced Almonds. They aren't big into having fruits mixed with their greens, but I sure am! This is a Golden Blossom Honey recipe that I have had saved for quite some time, and decided this was the perfect week to test it out.

 

 

Now that it is officially fall (yippee!), I don't need to look for an excuse to incorporate the tastes of the season into every meal, and this salad has some of my favorite autumn flavors all rolled into one scrumptious dish. I absolutely love the contrast of the sweet fruits and honey paired with the bitter onion and rounded out with a tangy dressing. The salad doesn't have a lot of ingredients, but what it does have packs a huge flavor punch! The only thing that I changed about this recipe is the addition of cheese. I need cheese in my salads, so I crumbled up some goat cheese and loved it all the more. That's just a personal preference of mine though. Feta or fresh Parmesan would work well here too. If you're looking for a protein, you could add some grilled chicken for a heartier salad. I've seen similar recipes offered on the Wendy's menu, but they are awful expensive. You could make this at home for a fraction of the cost of a chain restaurant salad. It would be much fresher and tastier too, I'm sure. Sticking with the flavors of the season, I poured myself some cranberry wine to accompany this salad, then settled in front of the television and enjoyed my meal while watching a cheesy Sandra Bullock Rom-Com. Solitude doesn't get any better than this :)

Ingredients

Dressing:
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons GOLDEN BLOSSOM HONEY MUSTARD
salt and pepper to taste
1/3 cup dried cranberries

Salad
8 cups (about 1/2 pound) baby spinach leaves
1/3 cup red onion, thinly sliced
2 Golden Delicious apples, peeled and thinly sliced
1/2 cup sliced almonds

 

CLICK HERE FOR FULL RECIPE

 

You can find this recipe, as well as many more delicious recipes right on the Golden Blossom Honey recipe page! Be sure to follow Golden Blossom Honey on Facebook and Twitter to stay up to date on new products and promotions.

If you like this recipe, be sure to come back every Friday, where I feature a new recipe from Golden Blossom Honey, and be sure to Pin It on Pinterest! 

 

  

Do you like fruit in your salad? 

 

 

 

 

Apple Cream Cheese Pie

Disclosure- I received the mentioned product courtesy of the sponsor for the the purpose of this review. All opinions are genuine, based on my experience with the product, and have not been influenced by promotional items.

 

 

Can we talk fall festivals for a minute? Is there any other way to hype up the upcoming season like a good old fashion fall festival? The ones where you can buy hot apple cider and donuts, corn stalks and pumpkins, candied nuts and popcorn... These kinds of festivals make me wish I lived in a world where it was autumn year round. Jason and I walked around our annual Apple Festival yesterday and it had me in all of my fall feels. But only briefly because it was over 80 degrees out. Not exactly sweater and boot weather, but I did buy a ton of delicious seasonal treats while we browsed the shops. And almost gave Jason a heart attack when I told him I spend $20 on a cream cheese coffee cake. I'm a sucker for baked goods, what can I say? So much so, I even made that purchase knowing good and damn well that I had made an Apple Cream Cheese Pie from a recipe that I found on Golden Blossom Honey earlier in the week that was sitting at home waiting for me to slice into. 

 

 

Fall flavored treats make me happy, and this pie definitely hits the spot when you're jonesing for a seasonal change of flavor. If the summer heat is having a difficult time of letting go in your area like it is mine, I think this is a fantastic transitional recipe to start getting you in the mood for the weather changes. It's perfect to pair with a heaping scoop of vanilla ice cream, so you're getting the warm weather treat with the cooler weather indulgence. And, what's really nice about this pie is not only can it can be made for less than 1/2 of that $20 coffee cake I so impulsively purchased, it tastes much better too!

Ingredients

1 package (8 oz) cream cheese
1 egg
1/2 cup GOLDEN BLOSSOM HONEY
1 9-inch pie crust, unbaked
1 teaspoon vanilla
6 MacIntosh apples, peeled and sliced
2 Tablespoons GOLDEN BLOSSOM HONEY
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped

 

CLICK HERE FOR FULL RECIPE

 

You can find this recipe, as well as many more delicious recipes right on the Golden Blossom Honey recipe page! Be sure to follow Golden Blossom Honey on Facebook and Twitter to stay up to date on new products and promotions.

If you like this recipe, be sure to come back every Friday, where I feature a new recipe from Golden Blossom Honey, and be sure to Pin It on Pinterest! 

 

  

Do you plan to visit and fall festivals this year? 

 

 

 

 

Pear and Pecan French Toast

Disclosure- I received the mentioned product courtesy of the sponsor for the the purpose of this review. All opinions are genuine, based on my experience with the product, and have not been influenced by promotional items.

 

 

Now that Labor Day is behind us, I am ready to dive into ALL THE FALL THINGS!  Chillier weather, crispy leaves, warm toned colors, and of course, the food. One of the best things for me this time of year are the fall foods. Apples and pumpkins and pears, oh my! There's a few pear trees on public property a few blocks from my house that nobody seems to know about. Or if they do, they don't take advantage because we usually find quite a few on the ground before we get there. Deer and bunny food it turns into, I suppose. Allison and I like to go pick pears from the trees once a year then come home and think of all of the yummy goodies we're going to make with our bounty. This week, as it seems that the second wave of kids are headed back to school, I thought I would share a fantastic breakfast recipe to get the kids motivated to start their day off right. This Pear and Pecan French Toast, a Golden Blossom Honey recipe, is the most perfect seasonal breakfast boasting of all the goodness of autumn in every bite. 

 

In the summertime, Jason makes me strawberry and cream cheese french toast often, which is really good, but I'd take this recipe over that any day of the week. This is a fairly quick recipe to toss together, especially if your bread is already sliced straight from the bakery. If you're looking to make even quicker work of this dish for busy school mornings, slice and peel the pears the night before, toss them in a little lemon juice, then refrigerate overnight.  You can even get the bag of chopped pecans to save time on that step as well. The topping can work on other dishes too, from pancakes, to oatmeal, to ice cream, and it's out of this world delish, I wouldn't judge you for eating it all before it even has the chance to top another food. If I ask you to save one recipe to try this fall, it has to be this one. I promise, you're going to love it! 

Ingredients

French Toast:
4 eggs
1 cup milk
1/8 cup orange juice
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 loaf Italian bread, ends trimmed, cut into 8 (1-inch) slices

Fruit Topping:
4 tablespoons butter, divided
2 Bosc pears, ripe but still firm, peeled, cored and coarsely chopped
3/4 cup pecans, coarsely chopped
1/4 cup GOLDEN BLOSSOM HONEY
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup water

 

CLICK HERE FOR FULL RECIPE

You can find this recipe, as well as many more delicious recipes right on the Golden Blossom Honey recipe page! Be sure to follow Golden Blossom Honey on Facebook and Twitter to stay up to date on new products and promotions.

If you like this recipe, be sure to come back every Friday, where I feature a new recipe from Golden Blossom Honey, and be sure to Pin It on Pinterest! 

 

  

What is your favorite French Toast topping? 

 

 

 

 

Asparagus and Beet Salad

Disclosure- I received the mentioned product courtesy of the sponsor for the the purpose of this review. All opinions are genuine, based on my experience with the product, and have not been influenced by promotional items.

 

 

I have a confession. I have never eaten a beet before. And I don't know why that is because I love root vegetables. Maybe I was a little intimidated by them when I'd see them in the produce section, or maybe it's because Dwight Schrute made them seem really nerdy, but I just wanted nothing to do with them. But I decided this week that I was up for trying something new and put those beetroots in my shopping cart. Then came home, took a deep breath, and make this Asparagus and Beet Salad, a Golden Blossom Honey recipe. 

 

Asparagus is a veggie that I know I love, so worst case scenario I could just pick out the beets and carry on just fine. But, I ended up kicking myself because it turns out that I actually loved them! 42 years of my life I wasted not eating this yummy veggie. What a shame! This isn't a quick recipe by any means because of how long it takes the beets to cook, and I wasn't quite sure how to easily get the skin off once they came out of the oven, but after fumbling through that part, it was easy, breezy. The dressing provided just the right amount of zing to blend everything together beautifully. And while I think this salad is best served warm, I personally think it would be delicious prepared ahead of time and eaten as a cold lunch. If you're like me and have been avoiding beets for no good reason, I say bite the bullet and give them a try. You may just surprise yourself by finding out you like them as much as I did!

 

Ingredients

1 pound small beets
2 pounds asparagus
1 tablespoon chopped shallot
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons GOLDEN BLOSSOM HONEY
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground pepper
1/8 cup olive oil

CLICK HERE FOR FULL RECIPE
 

 

You can find this recipe, as well as many more delicious recipes right on the Golden Blossom Honey recipe page! Be sure to follow Golden Blossom Honey on Facebook and Twitter to stay up to date on new products and promotions.

If you like this recipe, be sure to come back every Friday, where I feature a new recipe from Golden Blossom Honey, and be sure to Pin It on Pinterest! 

 

  

Is there a food that you have an aversion to trying? 

 

 

 

*Sorry I am behind on replying to comments. I've been a little under the weather this week, but I promise I'll get caught up asap. Hope you all have a lovely Labor Day weekend!