BBQ Beans

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.


How's that for luck that Independence Day falls on a Saturday this year and everything is still locked down? I'm super bummed that there won't be any cookouts to attend this year either. If the loud booms I've been hearing all week are any indication of the neighbor's firework haul, at least we won't be missing a show. I still placed an order for cookout foods for the three of us, so we can sit on our deck, watch the neighbor's fireworks, and pretend it was our choice to stay home this year. Barbecue Beans are a staple at every one of our back yard summer cookouts, but instead of making my granny's recipe this year, I decided to try something different and went with Golden Blossom Honey's version instead.

I'm going to admit that I really wanted to try this recipe because I bought a new press and chop gadget off of Amazon recently and really wanted to try it out. This recipe has a lot of ingredients that needed to be chopped, so I was finally able to really put it to the test. *Spoiler: It was amazing. If you want the link to the one I bought, shoot me an email and I'll lyk* Anyhow, as for the dish, what can I say but YUM!? This recipe is made on the stove top and not in the oven, so if you're looking at scorching temps like what we have right now, you'll be pleased that you can have a delicious bbq bean dish for your holiday celebrations without suffering with the oven on while you prepare this dish. That's reason enough to celebrate right there!

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cups chopped onion
1 red bell pepper, coarsely chopped
1 yellow bell pepper, coarsely chopped
1 (28 ounce) can diced tomatoes
1 (15 ounce) can red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 (15 ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 (15 ounce) can tomato sauce
1/4 cup SILVER BLOSSOM HONEY
1/2 cup mesquite barbecue sauce
2 tablespoons instant coffee granules
1/2 tablespoon hot pepper sauce
1 tablespoon fresh oregano, chopped
1 teaspoon fresh thyme, chopped
1/3 cup fresh basil, 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!

To my American readers, how will you be celebrating Independence Day this year? 

 

Hjalparfoss Double Waterfall

On my quest to find cool waterfalls, Iceland didn't disappoint. I read that there was going to be a double waterfall on our path and for sure wasn't missing the opportunity to see it!

The pair of waterfalls conjoin into a plunge pool that's surrounded by basalt rock formations. While it's a really neat set of falls, honestly, there's not much else to see surrounding the area, so we didn't spend more than 20 minutes on this stop. I suppose that was a good thing though because by the time we made it here, the wind and rain had started picking up a tad...

Y'all, that's not dandruff in my hair, but the rain was starting to turn to sleet and snow. In July. Yes, I wanted to cry because I am a hot weather girl.

Thankfully, this was one of our last stops of the day because at this point we were exhausted from cramming everything in to one full day and our clothes were soaked though. I was actually relieved there wasn't much of anything to see surrounding Hjalparfoss because I just wanted to crawl back into the heated car and pray my clothes would dry out before hitting up the airport. Shout out to my hubby though who endured little sleep to make this road trip a success for us girls ♥

Have you ever seen a double waterfall?

 

Orange-Rosemary Bundt Cake

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 went back and forth on what Golden Blossom Honey recipe I should share with you this week. Should I do another grilling type post for the upcoming July 4th holiday, or maybe do a fruit pie? I kept waffling between some of the recipes I've saved from their site, but for some reason kept coming back to this Orange-Rosemary Bundt Cake recipe. 

It's been really hot here this week and the thought of using the oven wasn't high on my list, but I did have some rosemary that was growing out of control and some oranges that needed to be put to use, so what the heck. I threw caution to the wind, cranked up the oven, and went to town whipping the ingredients together to create this beautiful cake.

I don't know what it is about bundt cakes, but I always find them irresistible. They are so good for an afternoon treat paired with a cup of tea or coffee and a little side of fruit. If your area is relaxing the social distancing guidelines, this would be a great recipe to have on hand for any get-togethers you may have planned for this summer. Save it for the 4th, or if the kids get to go back to school this August, as a special treat for enduring this extra long summer cooped up with them LOL.

Ingredients

1 cup butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup SILVER BLOSSOM HONEY
5 eggs
1 tablespoon grated orange zest
1 1/2 teaspoons orange juice
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
2 cups cake flour (not regular flour)
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons fresh rosemary, finely chopped
Glaze:
1/2 cup powdered confectioners sugar
3 teaspoons orange juice
1 teaspoon grated orange zest
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's your favorite flavor for bundt cakes?

 

Iceland's Seljalandsfoss Waterfall

Our first Icelandic waterfall sighting wasn't what I had hoped for, but I wasn't giving up that easy. I had less than a day to get my sightseeing in, so I forced my family out of bed at 2am so we could hit the road and find as many waterfalls as we could before we had to return our rental car. Thankfully, Iceland offers about 20 hours of daylight in July, so we weren't fumbling our way through the country in the wee morning hours in pitch darkness. The first stop I had mapped out was to Seljalandsfoss, and y'all, this time I was not disappointed!

The thing that I love about Iceland is that it is so tourist friendly. You don't have to go on complicated hikes to see the most amazing sites in the country. Usually, you roll right up to the parking lot and you're exactly within view of the site you came to see. As soon as we turned onto the road where Seljalandsfoss waterfall was located, boom. We were looking right at it!

We arrived at about 3 am, so we ended up having the entire place all to ourselves. It was cold and raining, but that didn't stop us from getting out of the car to get an up close and personal view of the massive waterfall.

There were beautiful bridges and pathways to cross or climb for optimal waterfall viewing...

We just stuck to the gravel pathways though and were still able to get spectacular views.

We had just wrapped up a tour of Ireland, which really disappointed me with their sheep. I had visions of free roaming sheep all over the country, but we ended up seeing more cows than anything there lol. But what Ireland was lacking in the free roaming sheep department, Iceland more than made up for it. To my delight, this little trio of sheep were happily grazing on the foliage the whole time we were wandering the grounds.

Our first stop of the day at Seljalandsfoss was truly magical. It was the first time I've ever been that close to such a beautiful and powerful waterfall, I couldn't wait to see what the rest of our travels that day were doing to bring. Stay tuned. I can't wait to show you more of this amazing country!

What's the earliest time you've ever started a road trip?

Orange Glaze for Grilled Chicken

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.


Anyone else still on the "let me see what I can make with what I already have in my kitchen" meal plan because they just don't want to make the trek to the store ever since Covid-19 hit? We've been having some interesting dinners here lately, that's for sure. I decided to dig deep into the freezer to see what we had buried down there and pulled out a stash of chicken thighs and legs. Funny thing is, I don't know why I even bought them in the first place because dark meat usually isn't something that my family is very fond of. But, here we were with a bag full of chicken that I needed to figure out what to do with and a few hungry mouths to fill. I knew I needed to find a simple recipe with ingredients that I already had on hand. Thankfully, Golden Blossom Honey never disappoints because I found this super simple Orange Glaze for Grilled Chicken recipe that allowed me to work some magic on an otherwise boring dinner.

I'll be the first to admit that I have no idea what I'm going when it comes to grilling anything other than chicken breast, but I surprised myself when I was able to pull off this meal without a lot of effort. The glaze did all of the work, caramelizing as it cooked, leaving a sweet and tangy coating on the chicken that both Jason and Allison went for seconds on. Three simple pantry staples is all you need to take a meal from eh to wow.

Ingredients

1/4 cup SILVER BLOSSOM HONEY
1/4 cup orange marmalade
1 tablespoon soy sauce
 

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 creative meal ideas have you made with what you're finding in your kitchen lately?

 

But, Is It Really A Waterfall?

Once we landed in Iceland, we immediately headed for the Blue Lagoon for a little end of our travels r&r. We had planned to eat dinner afterwards then head straight to bed since we wanted to get an early start on our road trip, but ended up changing our plans by taking a small tour around where our hotel was located near Reykjavik instead. "Look. I just want to see some cool waterfalls while we're here," I told Jason. "Can you find one on the navigation?" 

"Hey, Siri. Find a waterfall near me," he chirped into his phone's navigation. The girl worked her magic and found one within a 15 minute drive of our current location. How lucky were we?! We drove along admiring all of the beautiful foliage Iceland had to offer.

Even though they aren't native to Iceland, these gorgeous lupine are in abundance there and I simply loved them! I had Jason pull over so I could take a few pictures so I could remember to look into maybe planting a few in our yard once we returned. Anyhow, we coasted along this stream until Siri finally told us we had arrived at our destination. "Um, where's the waterfall then, Siri?" I mean waterfalls are supposed to be eye grabbing and we looked around and didn't see any cool, towering waterfall that Pinterest said we'd run into all over Iceland.

We looked around, then looked around some more wondering if we were missing something, but Siri was adamant that we were exactly were we needed to be for waterfall viewing. Eventually, we figured that old girl was offer her rocker when we realized that this little dip in the stream was considered a "waterfall" in navigation terms.

Either Siri is a real bitch or she's got one wicked sense of humor sending us on this wild goose chase when we just wanted to see a cool waterfall before calling it a night. Either way, Jason and Allison got a real kick out of this "waterfall".

I mean, I would consider this more of a waterfall, but she had us drive right on by to check out her version instead.

Needless to say, we went back to the hotel without a real waterfall sighting, just hoping we'd find a good one the next morning and this wasn't a foreshadow of what was to come on the last leg of our journey.

Would you call that a waterfall?