Struffoli - Italian Honey Balls

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 was looking for a good Christmas breakfast recipe and came across Struffoli. Technically, Struffoli is an Italian dessert, coated in a honey sauce and topped with colorful non perils. But, to me, they are like little doughnut balls that are perfect for the holiday breakfast table. If something looks like a breakfast item and tastes like a breakfast item, it can be considered breakfast, right!? While we will still have a breakfast casserole in the oven on Christmas morning, I thought it would be a nice addition to have Struffoli to snack on while the girls are opening their gifts. I found a super simple recipe on Golden Blossom Honey that I'll be making for this year's early morning holiday munching.

Normally, Struffoli would be topped with non perils, maybe in red and green for Christmas, or white if you want a snowy look. But this recipe called for chopped nuts instead. You can use slivered almonds, but I went with pistachios to give it a little extra color. Whatever you have on hand though, works. I know we are all super busy on Christmas and probably don't want to be spending time in the kitchen frying dough, but what's nice about this recipe is it can be made up to a few days ahead of time, so you can make it at your convenience, then enjoy it with the rest of the family on Christmas day. That's a gift in itself right there!

Ingredients

1 3/4 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
2 Tablespoons sugar
pinch salt
3 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
3 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 cup GOLDEN BLOSSOM RAW HONEY
2 teaspoons grated lemon rind
1/3 cup coarsely chopped pistachios
2 cups shortening for frying

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!

What do you usually serve for Christmas breakfast?

 

Creamy Dill Yogurt Dip for Holiday Entertaining #GreekGodsHoliday

This post is sponsored by Greek Gods but the content and opinions expressed here are my own.


Cookies. Cakes. Candy. Pie ... Are we on a sweets overload this holiday season yet? It's super easy to go overboard on the foods that may not be so good for you this time of the the year. All of those tempting treats are really hard to resist! We go to a lot of functions in December, and most of them are centered around food. As much as I'd love to throw caution to the wind and gorge myself on all of those sweet treats, I know that's not good for my waist line and certainly not for my health. That's not to say that I don't snack while out though. I just make sure I am reaching for the right foods that will keep my tummy in check and won't leave me with food regrets by the end of the night. So, I make sure that I always either have a veggie tray on hand if I am hosting, or I bring one to the party if I am a guest. That way I know there are some healthy options on the table that I can fill up on instead of stuffing my face with heavy or sugar based snacks. 

Plain veggies are a bit boring, if I'm being honest. But there's a really easy fix for that. When I have a veggie tray on the table, it is always accompanied by a dip. Store bought dips are fine if you're in a pinch, but I subscribe to the "homemade is better" theory when it comes to food. Most store bought dips are sour cream based and loaded with lots of extra fat and calories that you really don't want to be consuming, especially this time of year. But there's a super simple fix for that. If you have 5 minutes of prep and 1 hour of chilling time, you can whip up my favorite Creamy Dill Yogurt Dip, made with my favorite Greek Gods Greek Yogurt, to serve with your crisp veggies. 

The rich and creamy consistency of Greek Gods Greek Yogurt make it the perfect ingredient for my dill yogurt dip. The Greek-style yogurt begins with a foundation of milk and cream sourced from cows that have not been treated with growth hormones, is an excellent source of calcium, has seven different live and active cultures, and each serving of Greek Gods yogurt has 9g of protein. Not only that, they are organic, Non GMO, and gluten-free. For those who are a little more health conscious when it comes to their snacking this holiday season, it's easy to see why Greek Gods is the perfect solution for your holiday recipes. 

 

Author: Theresa M

Creamy Dill Yogurt Dip

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 cup Greek Gods Plain Nonfat Yogurt 
• 1/2 cup reduced-fat mayonnaise
• 2 tsp onion powder
• 3 tsp fresh dill weed, finely chopped
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Combine all ingredients in a small mixing bowl. Cover bowl and chill for 1 hour. Serve with fresh vegetables.

This dip is my secret to helping me steer clear of the sugary snacks that line the buffet tables during the holidays. It's rich and creamy, so I don't feel like I'm depriving myself of snacks while entertaining.

Want to try Greek yogurt in your holiday recipes this season? You can find Greek Gods Greek Yogurt at your local Walmart store in the dairy case. It is located on the bottom shelve of the yogurt display.

Be sure to look for Greek Gods Greek Yogurt while you are gathering your ingredients for your holiday recipes. It's also great in your smoothies, parfaits, cheesecakes, or even on its own! Show us how you are using it this holiday season by uploading your food snaps to social media and use the tag #GreekGodsHoliday in your posts!

How do you avoid overindulging on sweets during the holidays?

Merry Christmas Giveaway

It's the season for giving, so today I am giving back to my readers and offering up a giveaway where one lucky reader is going to win a $20 Amazon Gift Card to help with your holiday shopping!

Up for grabs is a $20 Amazon gift card. The giveaway is open to all, and will run through 12/23/19. I will send an Amazon.com gift card through email, and while this giveaway is open to all, it is the entrant's responsibility to make sure Amazon is available where they reside as no prize substitutions will be made. The winner will have 24 hours to respond to winning email before a new one is chosen. As some participants aren't on all social media platforms, I offer multiple ways to enter, but remember, each one is optional. Enter only the ones you'd like an entry for. Good luck!

Entry-Form

*images used from cleanpng

Easy Chocolate Honey Treats for the Holidays

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.


Tis' the season for baking. Sadly, I've been battling a super nasty cold since last week and have a whopping 0 recipes baked so far. Not even for Thanksgiving where I opted to leave the oven off and just make a quick peanut butter pie. In all honesty, the thought of baking anything any time soon makes my head hurt as much as my throat does right now, so quick, easy, no-bake treats is going to be the name of the game for the time being. I was going to make Rice Krispies Treats for Allison's swim meet, but realized I had no marshmallows on hand. Thankfully, I found an awesome recipe on Golden Blossom Honey for a chocolatey version of the famous treats that requires only 4 ingredients and none of them are marshmallows. These Chocolate Honey Treats are every bit (if not more) tasty than the classic version without the sticky mess.

These Chocolate Honey Treats are perfect for those who want to gift treats this holiday season or have to bring a dessert to one of the many functions that seem to go on this time of the year, but don't have a lot of time or energy to dedicate to hours spent in the kitchen baking. It only took about 5 minutes of my time to get this recipe to come together, so I made a double batch to have extra treats to pass out at this weekend's swim meet and the dinners we have to attend. Yummy treats + minimal effort = winning! Tuck some in your cookie exchange boxes this holiday season. They will be a surefire hit with the recipients!

Ingredients

1/2 of a 12 ounce package of Nestle milk chocolate morsels
1/4 cup GOLDEN BLOSSOM HONEY
1 Tablespoon water
3 cups Rice Crispies Cereal

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!

Do you participate in cookie exchanges during the holidays?

 

Nixplay Helps You Stay Close This Holiday Season #StayClose

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.


Spending time with loved ones is the best thing about the holidays. Baking cookies, decorating the tree, wrapping gifts, singing carols together... that's where the best memories are made. I like to preserve those memories by taking lots of photos throughout the season to reflect back upon throughout the year. In today's digital age, it's so easy to snap a quick pic only to have it remained buried in your phone unseen and practically forgotten about. That's why this year I quickly fell in love with Nixplay Smart Photo Frames. I received my first Nixplay Seed over the summer and it became my absolute favorite product of 2019. It allowed me to upload the photos off of my phone and computer so I could actually enjoy seeing my snaps every single day. If you would like to read my review for the Nixplay Seed and see how simple it is to set up and use, you can find that review HERE. 

Now that the holidays are in full swing, I find myself taking many photos once again. With a new year almost upon us, it was time to add a new smart frame to my collection to hold more of my pictures. I recently added a Nixplay Smart Photo Frame 10.1 to my digital frame collection.

The Nixplay Smart Photo Frame 10.1 is a sleek, sharp, and modern frame that flows perfectly with any home decor, and it is super simple to use. You can quickly pair it with your phone to seamlessly upload photos directly to the frame. It only takes seconds to have your cherished memories on display to admire throughout the day. You can set the frame to portrait or landscape, however you choose to view your photos, but one of my favorite features is with this frame, you have the option to wall mount or leave it freestanding. While I leave mine on the coffee table, I do like having the option to mount it to the wall since it will give me more freedom to display the frame anywhere I please around my home.

 
The picture quality is absolutely amazing. My photos always look perfect on my computer and phone, but when I upload them to social media, I notice that the quality diminishes and looks pixelated and grainy sometimes. When I first started using Nixplay Smart Frames, I was worried that would be the case as well once I got everything uploaded, but that's simply not true. Because of its 1280 x 800 HD screen resolution, my photos are flawlessly displayed.

The Integrated Hu-Motion Sensor detects movement, turning your frame on and off automatically. Or, you can choose to use the remote to power it on and off. Another feature that I love is that with the Nixplay Smart Photo Frame 10.1, the remote is magnetic! Simply stick it to the frame when not in use and you never have to worry about misplacing it. (I stuck mine to the front in this pic, but it would probably be smarter to attache it to the back of the frame. That was a "duh" moment on my part!)

I know that many of us have family members all over the country, and as much as we'd love to be with them during the holidays, that's just not possible. My own daughter will be moving across the country next year once she graduates from college, so I'm preparing myself for the inevitable upcoming holidays that we won't be together. That's where Nixplay comes in handy, by keeping us close and connected through their Smart Frames. You can invite friends and family members to upload photos to the frame, so you are connected even when you can't be together. That's why I think that Nixplay should be at the top of your gift giving list this year, since it gives you the ability to stay close to your loved ones all year long.

Right now, from December 2 to December 8, Nixplay is offering pretty sweet Cyber Monday Deals on their Smart Frames where you could save up to 30% off of your favorite digital frames. If you're looking for the perfect gift for your loved ones, I highly encourage you to check out all of the Nixplay Smart Frames and deals going on now. You cannot go wrong with a digital frame since it's the gift that keeps on giving all year long.

Where would you display your Nixplay Smart Frame?

 

 

Turkey & Pasta Casserole

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.


Did you all stuff yourselves silly yesterday? I definitely did! Even with all the chowing down, we still ended up with a lot of leftover turkey. Which is cool, because I always like to find creative and delicious ways to put those holiday leftovers to good use. My daughter is home from college this week and her #1 request for dinner when she's here is always fettuccine. Instead of making my usual recipe that has a very heavy cream sauce, I decided to try this Turkey and Pasta Casserole recipe from Golden Blossom Honey to keep things a little lighter for our tummies. After a heavy Thanksgiving dinner, we definitely need a few days of scaling back on the creamy and fatty recipes around here until we can get our bodies back in check. 

After hosting Friendsgiving last weekend, attending a work dinner for the holiday, then spending actual Thanskgiving at his mom's house, my husband is sooooo over turkey right now. However, this recipe totally breathes new life into your leftovers since there's an awesome medley of other goodies mixed in. My family gobbled this dish right up, so I was pleased to see that our leftover turkey did not go to waste this year. A win for my wallet and a win for their tummies!

Ingredients

1 pound fettuccine, cooked according to package directions (do not overcook)
1 pound fresh spinach, washed, stems removed, chopped
5 Tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup half & half
1 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
1 bunch leeks, white part only, washed thoroughly and chopped
1/4 pound mushrooms, sliced
2 cups cooked leftover turkey, cubed
1 (15 ounce) container ricotta cheese
1 cup white wine
2 teaspoons tarragon
2 teaspoons GOLDEN BLOSSOM HONEY
salt and pepper to taste

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!

 Do you usually have a lot of leftovers after Thanksgiving?