Toast to National Margarita Day with Margarita Recipes You Eat {As seen on Good Morning Texas}

Thanks for watching me on Good Morning Texas! And if you didn't and you just crossed these recipes by chance, then welcome (or welcome back)! 

Margarita Fruit Dip
Inspired by Key Ingredient

Ingredients
1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened 
1/3 c. frozen (thawed) margarita drink mix (10-ounce can) 
2 Tbsp orange juice 
1 teaspoon grated lime peel 
1/4 cup whipping cream
Strawberries, Pineapples, etc. 
Margarita salt or colored sugar

Instructions
Beat cream cheese, margarita mix, orange juice and lime peel on with electric mixer on low speed until smooth. In another chilled bowl, beat whipping cream with mixer on high speed until stiff. Fold into cream cheese mixture. Cover and refrigerate for one hour. 

Serve with your favorite fruit. Use margarita salt or sugar for rim of bowl. 

 

Margarita Chicken Quesadilla served with Margarita Guacamole
Inspired by recipe from Half-Baked Harvest Ingredients

Margarita Chicken

1 pound boneless skinless chicken breast or tenders

1/4 cup tequila

1/4 cup olive oil

1/4 cup lime juice

2 tablespoons fresh orange juice

2 tablespoons honey

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 Jalapeño, minced (remove the seeds for less heat)

zest of 1 lime

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1 teaspoon cumin

Margarita Guacamole

3 avocados, mashed

1/2 cup grape tomatoes, quartered

1/4 cup green onions, chopped

1/4 fresh cilantro, chopped

1 Jalapeño, seeded and diced 

zest of 1 lime

juice of 1 lime

1 tablespoon fresh orange juice

1-3 tablespoons tequila

salt, to taste

Quesadilla

8 large flour tortillas

1 cup cooked white seasoned with 1 tsp. lime juice, garlic powder and lime peel

8 ounces of Mexican 4-blend shredded cheese 

Cooking spray or olive oil 

Instructions 

To make Margarita Chicken: 

Whisk the tequila, olive oil, lime juice, orange juice and honey in a bowl. Add the garlic, jalapeño, lime zest, cumin, salt and pepper. Whisk to combine.Add chicken to a ziplock bag or baking dish and pour marinade ingredients over top. Marinate (in the fridge) for 2-24 hours, flipping chicken a few times. To cook chicken, grill on medium high heat for 6 to 8 minutes per side or until cooked through. Allow to cool five minutes and then chop into bit size pieces or shred with a fork. Keep warm and set aside. 

For Margarita Guacamole: 

Mash the avocados (I left mine pretty chunky, but go as chunky or smooth as you want) in a medium size bowl. Add the tomatoes, green onions, cilantro, jalapeño, lime zest, lime juice, orange juice and tequila. Stir to combine and season with salt and pepper.

To make Quesadilla:  
Heat skillet over medium heat. Add cooking spray. Place tortilla on grill and cover each with cheese, then evenly distribute the margarita guacamole over top (I saved some of the guacamole for dipping). Then add rice and then chicken. Fold tortilla in half until golden on both sides. 

Cut into fourths and serve with the remaining Margarita Guacamole. And for dessert!

Margarita Cake 

Ingredients

Crust

1-1/2 cups coarsely crushed pretzels

1/2 cup sugar

1/3 cup butter, melted

2 tablespoons bottled nonalcoholic margarita mix

Cake

1 pkg.  white cake mix (make as directed except use coconut water in place of tap water)

1 tsp lime zest

1 cup boiling water

1 pkg. (3 oz.) Lime Flavored Gelatin

¼ cup cold water

¼ cup tequila

Frost with whipping cream

Sliced lemons and limes

Instructions

Heat oven to 350°F. Grease bottom only of 13×9-inch pan with shortening and lightly.

In a medium bowl, mix pretzels, sugar, butter, and margarita mix. Spread evenly and press gently into bottom of pan. Place in fridge while you prepare cake batter.

In a large bowl, prepare batter as directed with lime zest and coconut water (optional).  Pour batter over pretzel crust.

Bake cake as directed until light golden brown.

While cake is cooling,  mix boiling water to gelatin mix in small bowl stirring until completely dissolved. Then, stir in tequila and cold water. Pierce cake with wooden skewer or fork all over cake and pour in gelatin. Refrigerate for about two hours.

Cool completely, about 2 hours. Frost with whipped topping and lime slices. 

BONUS TIME!

William Grant & Sons recently launched the first and original ancho chile liqueur, Ancho Reyes, a unique touch to the classic Milagro margarita.  Created by Licorera Ancho Reyes y CIA in Mexico and inspired from a 1920’s-era recipe, the heart of the liqueur is Mexico’s beloved poblano chile, hand-selected one by one based on size, color and humidity, then dried in open air, macerated for six months, and bottled. The resulting taste is pleasantly sweet, followed by chile with mild heat and slight acidity, hints of spices, tamarind, plum, cacao, apple, and almonds, and final subtle notes of fine herbs.

(It's a little bit of sweet and spicy all rolled into one!) 

ANCHORITA

¾ part Ancho Reyes 1½ parts Milagro Silver Tequila 1 part Fresh Lime Juice ½ part Agave Nectar

Using a lime wedge, wet the rim of an old fashioned glass, salt it, and set aside. Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker. Add ice, shake, and double strain over fresh ice into the glass. Garnish with a lime wedge.

So I have to ask: Frozen or On the Rocks?

Mama Challenge on TV: Valentine's Day Put to the Pinterest Test {Recipes}

Affiliate links may be included in this post. 

As a periodic TV contributor, the folks at WFAA ABC-8 Good Morning Texas invite me on to highlight some of the best (and the worse) that Pinterest has to offer. Whether's it's been Peppermint, Pumpkin or (melted) Margarita Pie, I have try to show viewers how they too can look like they spent four hours to whip up a delectable dessert or delicious dinner with no more than a couple of minutes, $5 dollars and a roll of twine (or maybe that was MacGyver.)

And while Pinterest has given many of us some amazing ideas, I'm sure we've all come across a few of those that didn't quite work out like the picture says it will. That's where I come in! I mean nobody's got time for wasting time and money on a project that isn't going to be nothing less than perfect!

With Valentine's Day just around the corner, it means mom's arsenal of everything fun, adorable and cute and thoughtful better be stocked with good ideas that will get your points across the board. So I've selected some of the most creative ideas on Pinterest I thought were so cool, but didn't know exactly if they would be fabulous or a total flop.

 

Heart-shaped Cinnamon Rolls 
Probably one of the easiest and quickest of my Pinterest finds were heart-shaped cinnamon rolls! Using your own recipe or my "homemade recipe" (read: Pillsbury), you can make a heartfelt sweet treat for breakfast in less than 15 minutes! 



Ingredients

• Favorite Cinnamon Roll brand (just make sure your preference is in a spiral shape) 

Directions
Just unroll the cinnamon roll into one long piece of dough and then begin rolling them back up on both ends. Then place them in a pan and pinch the center into a point to create a heart! Cook them as directed. Once they come out of the oven allow them to cool. Then add a little red food coloring to the icing to create the ultimate Valentine's breakfast!

Mini-Apple Pies
My husband loves pie, but I don't like to make a big pie as we will both end up eating on it all week, and I'll gain three pounds from "tasting it." So instead we prefer just a little pie so he gets all the best part of the pie without making enough to feed an army. When I found the cutest heart-shaped pie press online and came across the most amazing apple pie filling from Mr. Wittle's Fine Foods, I knew there was a pie in the making! 

Ingredients

• Your favorite pie dough or mine (Refrigerated pie dough, 2 per pack) 
• Favorite Pie Filling (Mr. Wittle's Fine Foods Apple Filling - be careful, you'll eat this out of the jar and it's totally homemade and packed fresh) 
• Egg white and water (for a little egg wash) 
• Heart-cookie cutter set or Heart Pie Press

Directions
Unroll the pie dough and cut out two hearts of the same size with the cookie cutter. Fill one side of the heart with a little bit of filling without over-filling. Lay the other heart over the top and use a fork to pinch the two hearts together to form a crust. Lightly brush the egg wash on top of the crust. Place in the oven at 375 degrees for 10-15 minutes until the crust is golden. 

To download this graphic, click here for the free downloadable PDF. 

And since I wanted to make him feel special, I even made a little Valentine's Day card to go with it so he will always be the "apple to my pie." (Now you can have pie and a Valentine's card made in less than 25 minutes and a few ingredients. 

Bacon Roses
Roses may be the way to my heart, but if I ordered a dozen roses to his job on the Big V, I don't think he'd be a happy camper. But bacon roses are a whole other ballgame!  I'd seen several photos for bacon roses, but they seemed so tedious. 

I was SO wrong. 

In less than an hour I had a beautiful dozen bacon roses for my honey and he (and the kids) loved them!


Ingredients

• Package of Bacon (I got a large package for my project!) 
• Mini-muffin pan (everyone should have at least one of these! So useful! for so many things!) 
• 2-3 fake-flower bundles (Dollar stores or craft stores have these for around $1) 
• Toothpicks
• Vase

Directions
Roll bacon into a tight spiral like a rose and place into a mini-muffin pan fatty-side down.) 

Cook bacon for 30-45 minutes at 375 degrees in the oven. Half-way through cooking taking the pan out and drain the grease. When the bacon is cooked (nice and dark), allow it to cool so you can handle. 

In the meantime, remove all the petals from the rose bundles. Take a tooth pick and poke into the flower stem to create a pointed end for the bacon rose to be secured. When you've finished place a rose on each stem, place in a vase for giving! 

And don't miss my favorite featured Pinterest challenge with the heart pound cake! 

And no TV appearance or Valentine's Day would be complete without my favorite accessory - the all-important apron! Isn't this "Sassy" one adorable and made for this heart-centered month?

Lucky enough it and all the other aprons at Flirty Aprons are on sale until Wednesday, Feb. 5 for 40% off and free shipping to look cute while you're trying to make it through your own mama-challenged day!

Flash Sale, Monday-Wed only. Save 40% off plus get free shipping on any Flirty Apron.FLIRTYLOVE40

And there's so much more, so make sure you follow me on Pinterest for lots more Mama Challenge fun! 

Follow Autumn Reo {mamachallenge.com}'s board HOLIDAYS: Valentine's Day on Pinterest.

Touchdown! Healthy Party Pleasers from Zoe's Mediterranean {Recipes}

I have a confession. 

I could care less about the BIG GAME this weekend. 

However, it does give me an opportunity to catch up with friends and partake in another reason for a party. 

While I have no gripes about parties, I am worried about the partaking part -- and totally ruining all that great work I've been doing trying to lose weight with the MamaChallenge DietBet. However, I don't want to be left out to eat nothing but raw vegetables and ice water. 

What's a girl to do? 

Thankfully my latest food fettish, Zoe's Kitchen, has shared some of their top-secret recipes for a few quick, clean, and easy recipes that are healthy (they were curated by dieticians, moms and culinary folks) and totally delicious. And if you need help trying to make a dish - they even have an easy-to-follow video available to show you how. 

Havent' heard of Zoe's? You are missing out. There are several here in DFW with the newest one in Richardson. And best of all their food AND their service is top notch! And you can actually go there for several healthy food combinations and not just one boring plate you have to eat every time you go. 

So even this mama can make them - and you'll want to as well because they are fantastic. 

Believe me, no one will choose that sack of chips when they have Turkey and Hummus Pizza, Pimiento-Cheese Stuffed Mushrooms and Sangria at the party. 

All photos courtesy of Zoe's Kitchen

serves 8

ingredients

1 pint Zoës Hummus
1 lb lean ground turkey
1.5 tbsp Zoës
Spice of Life seasoning
8 whole wheat pitas
4 tbsp sliced Kalamata olives
8 tbsp crumbled feta cheese
8 tbsp roasted red pepper strips
4 tbsp chopped scallions (green parts only)
8 tbsp chopped tomatoes

directions

Heat a large nonstick pan over medium heat. Add the ground turkey and seasoning and cook thoroughly until turkey is no longer pink. Drain any excess grease from the pan.

Heat the pitas on a microwave-safe plate in the microwave on high for 30 seconds.

Place pitas on individual plates. Top each pita with 2 heaping tablespoons of Zoës hummus and spread evenly over pita.

Then top each pita with 2-3 tablespoons cooked ground turkey, 1 tablespoon crumbled feta cheese, 1⁄2 tablespoon Kalamata olives, 1 tablespoon roasted red pepper strips, 1 tablespoon chopped tomatoes and 1⁄2 tablespoon chopped scallions.

Using a pizza cutter, slice each pita into 4 wedge-shaped pieces and enjoy!

serves 8 to 12

ingredients

1 pint Zoës Potato Salad
1 red pepper, cut into cubes
1 large yellow squash, thinly sliced
1⁄2 large onion, cut into 1" pieces
1 can artichokes, chopped and squeezed to drain
6 eggs
2 tbsp milk
1 cup shredded cheese (such as Gruyere or Swiss)
1⁄4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
3⁄4 tsp salt
1⁄2 tsp pepper
1 clove pressed garlic
1 tbsp olive oil

directions

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Prepare crust by mashing Zoës Potato Salad in the bottom of a glass quiche dish. Using your hands press potatoes into bottom of the dish and up the sides to form the crust. Place dish into the oven for 3-4 minutes.

Meanwhile place peppers, squash, onions and garlic on baking pan. Add olive oil and 1⁄2 of the salt and pepper, toss to coat, spread vegetables in a single layer. Roast vegetables for about 8 minutes; reduce oven temperature to 375 degrees.

Sprinkle shredded cheese evenly in the bottom of the quiche crust, add roasted vegetables.

In a small bowl beat together eggs, milk and remaining salt and pepper. Pour eggs carefully into quiche dish. Dust the top with Parmesan cheese and bake for 20-25 minutes or until top is puffed and beginning to brown.

Let stand 5 minutes before slicing to serve.

ingredients

1 gallon Zoës Limeade
Fill pitcher halfway with Ice (4 cups)
1 bottle red wine (choose your favorite!)
2-3 cups fresh fruit (we like grapes, strawberries, oranges and apples)

directions

Fill a large pitcher with 1 gallon of Zoës fresh-squeezed limeade. Fill with ice.

Add a bottle of your favorite red wine.

Chop 2-3 cups of your favorite fresh fruit and add it to the pitcher.

Stir and serve!

Now it's Game Time! 

Cheers to the Ho-Ho-Holiday with Mocktails and Cocktails {Recipes}

Disclaimer: I was provided supplies in order to create these recipes.  

The holiday season is upon us! Be the “host or hostess with the mostest” with some perfectly festive cocktail recipes using flavored sparkling water like Cascade Ice that is calorie-free, sugar-free, sodium-free and gluten-free. This smarter option makes a great alternative to sugary mixes or colas that add unnecessary calories as well as fun way to celebrate the holiday for the whole family. 

Just for the kids, consider an Apple Cinnamon Sparkler! And for mama and daddy, try out this Candy Cane-tini and Pomegranate Punch! 

Cinnamon Apple Sparkler

4oz of Cascade Ice McIntosh Apple 
2oz of apple juice  
green apple wedge
cinnamon stick

Simply mix 4oz of Cascade Ice McIntosh Apple and 2oz of apple juice in a glass with ice. Add a green apple wedge and a cinnamon stick to complete the yummy drink.

Candy Cane-tini 

3oz of Cascade Ice Cranberry Pomegranate 
2oz of vodka 
Fresh lime juice 

Stir the contents in your shaker with a handful of ice and garnish with a skewer of cranberries or candy cane crumbs.

Pomegranate Punch 

4 parts Cascade Ice Pomegranate Berry 
Mint leaves 
Juice of 1 lime 
1 part club soda 

Pour Cascade Ice Pomegranate Berry over ice. Then, mix mint leaves, juice and club soda together. Combine with Cranberry Pomegranate and you're ready to serve.

Cheers!

Bake and Thank with Peppermint Holiday Gift Ideas {TV}

The holidays get everyone in the mood to bake and thank your neighbors, friends and family, especially ME!  I'm slightly obsessed with PEPPERMINT, so I've researched Pinterest and created some of my own favorite peppermint recipes for this year's round of holiday giving!  I even found a how-to to create  tray serving tray made of peppermints to make and give goodies for the perfect holiday gift! 

Here are a few of the best recipes that feature Peppermint! 

EASY PEPPERMINT FUDGE
Inspired by Sally's Baking Addiction

Ingredients

3 cups white chocolate chips
1 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk
1 teaspoon peppermint extract 
8 crushed candy canes (2/3 - 3/4 cup)
2/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Instructions

Line 8x8 square baking pan with parchment paper or aluminum foil. Spray lightly with cooking spray.

Combine the white chocolate chips and sweetened condensed milk in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir frequently until chips are melted. Remove from heat and stir in the peppermint extract and candy canes.

Spread evenly into prepared baking pan. Top with chocolate chips and gently swirl them into the fudge with a knife. Top with a few more crushed candy cane pieces. Chill for 3 hours, then cut into squares. 

PEPPERMINT TRUFFLES
Insprired by Your Cup of Cake 

Ingredients

4 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 cup powdered sugar
1 1/4 cup white chocolate chips, melted
1/2 tsp. peppermint extract
1/3 cup crushed candy canes (approximately 4-5 candy canes)

Instructions 

Beat cream cheese and powdered sugar until smooth. Either by microwave or over a double boiler, melt white chocolate chips. 

Add white chocolate and peppermint extract to cream cheese mixture and beat until smooth and well combined.

Cover and refrigerate for 20 minutes.

Spray hands with cooking spray. Then make small 1-inch balls with chocolate and roll in peppermint mixture. 

Wanna see these babies in action? Check out my segment on WFAA Good Morning Texas! 

Other recipes featured on WFAA's Good Morning Texas and more can be found on my Peppermint Pinterest page! 

I frequently feature recipes, products, and ideas on TV. Check out my past TV segments!

Bring Joy to the Holiday Table with Christmas Eve Lasagna {Recipe}

This post is part of a social shopper marketing insight campaign with Pollinate Media Group™ and Barilla, but all my opinions are my own. #pmedia #JoytotheTable  http://cmp.ly/3/8vNxcO.

During the holidays my family gets to do the HOLIDAY HOP - meaning we spend most of it traveling from one family's home to another to celebrate Christmas. Since we are either in commute or opening gifts, there's not a lot of spare time for me to cook up delicious favorites or even help create dinner with my family members at their homes. However, I don't want to come empty handed, either. 

Easy to make, delicious to eat, there's nothing better to freeze, quick to cook and good to travel than lasagna. Depending on my schedule I can plan to make it well in advance, freeze and then take out to bring where ever we are going so we are bringing some joy to the table! While you can enjoy Christmas Eve lasagna any day of the year, since the "main event" is normally on Christmas Day, we try to make things easy for everyone on Christmas Eve with a little taste of Italy. We serve lasagna, open up a bag of salad and throw a few loaves of garlic bread in the oven for a delicious meal that everyone loves. 

And of course, since it is Christmas, I couldn't help but make it a true "Christmas Eve Lasagna" by adding a special kick with Spinach and Sun-dried Tomatoes on the inside and a little holiday decoration on the top with pepperoni and fresh basil leaves from the back yard!) 

While I consider lasagna to be easy to make, depending on your number of savory ingredients like a red sauce, pasta and my favorite, cheese, can take some time. Everyone in my family has a different spin on what makes the perfect lasagna, so in this recipe, I put them all together to create our Christmas Eve Lasagna. Since it takes more than an hour to set the ingredients up for layering the lasagna, I take a shortcut with Barilla's All-Natural Marinara sauce and Barilla Oven-Ready Lasagne noodles (I get mine at Tom Thumb/Safeway stores). 

One of the best parts about lasagna is its versatility. You really can customize it with any ingredients you want to make it your own. And with the help of Barilla All-Natural Marinara sauce and Barilla Oven-Ready Lasagne noodles to cut down on the time of preparation, you can personalize your lasagna to suit your family's preferences and diet needs. Just check out Barilla's "The Art of Lasagna" for more recipes to inspire you to create new and exciting ways to enjoy lasagna! 

And right now, you can get $1 off the purchase of ONE (1) box of Barilla® Lasagne and ONE (1) Barilla® Sauce at your local Tom Thumb/Safeway store!

To make my boys happy when I make Christmas Eve Lasagna, I actually use three different meats with Pepperoni, Italian Sausage and Turkey Meatballs.  

Next taking a hint from Christmas' color scheme, I created a "pesto" with spinach and sun-tried tomatoes, which also adds a little helping of veggies to the dish.  Then to ensure that the lasagna doesn't get dry from the freezer, the car, to the oven and to the table, I use cottage cheese (shhh!) in place of the ricotta!

CHRISTMAS EVE LASAGNA

Ingredients
1 box Barilla Oven-Ready Lasagne
1 Jar Barilla Marinara Sauce (depending on your family's preference use 2)
5 Italian sausage links (normally sold in a package)
1 package of Pepperoni (pre-sliced makes it easy and fun for the kids to help)
1 lb. Turkey Meat (85/20 works great, but any will do. Also, I used the Italian-seasoned meat to make it easier on me!)
1/2 onion, chopped
3-4 slices of bread (I used sandwich loaf) 
1/4 cup of milk
1 cup Parmesan Cheese (divided into 1/2 cup servings)
1/4 Italian bread crumbs
Italian seasonings (optional) 
1 bag of fresh Spinach 
7-8 Sun-dried Tomatoes (I used dried, but you could use store-bought in oil)
2-3 tablespoons of Olive Oil
1 container of Fat-Free Cottage Cheese
1 package of fresh Mozzarella Cheese, sliced
1 package of Mozzarella Cheese, shredded

Instructions

Make building your lasagna a snap but preparing all the layers in advance. 

1.  Meatballs (can be done ahead of time): 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

In a large bowl, tear bread into pieces and 1/4 cup of milk mixed together until it turns to a paste. Then add turkey meat, onions and seasonings and mix with your hands until it dry enough to form into 1/2 inch - 1 inch balls, but not so dry it doesn't have any moisture. On a separate plate, roll each ball in parmesan cheese and bread crumb mixture.  

Place meatballs in a greased mini muffin pan for 30 minutes until browned. Once cooled, slice into halves. 

2. In a skillet, cook the Italian sausages (in their casings) until they are browned on all sizes. Allow them to cool and then slice them until into 1/4-1/2 inch circles. 

3.  To make the spinach pesto, combine a bag of fresh spinach, sun-dried tomatoes and 2 tablespoons of olive oil in mixer until a fine paste. (If needed, add remaining olive oil to mixture if it seems to dry.) 

4. For cottage cheese layer, mix cottage cheese with parmesan cheese until a paste. 

[Now it's time to build your lasagna!]

5. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. 

6. Spray a 9 x 13 baking dish with non-stick cooking spray. 

7. For the bottom layer, pour 1/2 the sauce into the pan and spread evenly. 

8. Top sauce with 3 sheets of  Oven-Ready Lasagne. (It's ok if it doesn't cover the whole pan, it will expand while cooking.) Spread cottage cheese mixture on top of noodles. Add sliced Italian sausage. 

9. Cover with three more sheet of the Oven-Ready Lasagne. Spread Spinach pesto across the noodles. Now layer slices of fresh mozzarella cheese and cover with meatball halves (you will have some left over to nibble!) 

10. Cover layer with three more sheets of Oven-Ready Lasagne. Then add pepperoni slices on top until covered. Add remaining sauce and spread over pepperonis. 

11. Then add shredded mozzarella cheese until covered. (Optional: For fun, I added a basil leaf and pepperoni to make it festive.) 

12. Cover pan with foil and place in the oven for 25 minutes. Then remove foil and continue to cook for 5-10 minutes until gold and bubly. 

13. Let rest for 10-15 minutes before serving! 

###

Barilla continues to bring joy to the table this month with their "30 Days of Joy" contest on Facebook. Each day you can discover tips, new recipes and have a chance to win amazing prizes like an espresso machine or a $1,500 gift card to Williams-Sonoma. You can enter everyday for the rest of the month, so make sure to set a reminder to head over to their Facebook daily. 

No matter what type of lasagna you make this Christmas or any day of the week, bring Joy to the Table with Barilla. 

Happy Holidays!