Mistletoe Margaritas
PIN IT!
I’m not sure about Santa, but this girl needs a cocktail. Something strong, yet fruity, and definitely festive since Christmas is tomorrow. (Okay, in 6 days, I tend to exaggerate). As I told you yesterday, I’m a bit behind in holiday preparations. Not only that, I’ve hit my “end of year” slump where I sit around and feel bad about all the things I didn’t accomplish this year. Please tell me I’m not the only pitiful loon who does this. Someone? So, when one (read me) starts to feel the burden of stress and sadness, the only answer is a cocktail. And what better way to lift your spirits and send you a caroling than sipping something called a mistletoe margarita?
Doesn’t that just make you so happy? The bright holiday coloring, the plump berries, the adorable swirly straw. How can anyone feel anything but holiday glee and pure Christmas spirit when sipping this fruity (and pretty) drink?
I love margaritas, but the restaurant and bar varieties are usually so laden with sugar I can barely stomach one done. I got into making margaritas over the summer (I was a bit of a drunk – don’t judge me) and really mastered the art of making a margarita that tastes like fruity, boozy perfection without the need for a Diabetic pump. This pretty mistletoe marg (made from pomegranate and cranberry juice) has NO added sugar, so all you taste is the natural sweetness and tartness of the luscious fruit.
If you’re having trouble mustering up the holiday spirit, just have one of these. You’ll be dancing, mistletoeing, beaming with cheer and singing Yuletide carols in no time. Plus, if you leave one of these out for Santa, you’ll get three times the gifts since they are a leeeettle bit strong (and because Santa is a bit of a lush himself, I hear from the elves).
WANT TO MAKE THESE? CLICK HERE FOR THE DELICIOUS RECIPE!
Nutritional information per margarita:
Calories: 375
Fat: 0 grams
Carbohydrates: 32 grams
Fiber: 0 grams
Protein: 1 gram
Weight Watchers Points: 4
Claire
Tags:cocktail recipe, drink recipes, holiday cocktail recipes, margarita recipe
Light Lemon & Eggnog Pound Cupcakes
Not sure if you’ve peeped at the calendar lately but um….I have a bit of news. CHRISTMAS IS IN 7 DAYS. Yes, that’s right, SEVEN! Siete! Sept! Yedi! (I’m not just screaming random words, that’s how you say seven in Spanish, French and Russian). As you can probably tell by frantic tone of …type? I’m not ready for it. In fact, I still have about 75% of my shopping to do, not to mention the gifts I’m baking. I would probably cry if I wasn’t so jet-lagged. So, instead of preparing myself for the holiday this morning, I took a detour to bake some light lemon & eggnog pound cupcakes. Nothing will sooth your soul and combat your stress like one of these, I guarantee it.
I could technically give these away as gifts, which would mean less shopping for me. But you know what? I don’t wanna. I know the holiday is supposed to be about sharing, and gift GIVING, but that doesn’t mean you have to share EVERYTHING you make, right? I’m making other things for other people, so I don’t think it’s horribly rude or selfish of me to keep this entire plate of pound cupcakes all to myself. Well, not all to myself, Santa can have like..one if he asks nicely.
Pound cake is one of those things that I just love to make and eat. It’s so simple, so decadent, so dense, moist and rich. It’s the perfect marriage between quick bread and cake. You get the sweet, fluffy taste and texture of cake but served up in a loaf (or muffin) shape. You can serve glazed or unglazed and can enjoy it year round. I honestly don’t know why I do not make more pound cakes.
Oh yes, I do. I don’t want to weigh 10000 pounds, that’s it. Luckily, these cupcakes are as guilt-free as they come. They are made with applesauce and oil, so you have less fat and calories and use 1/2 the amount of sugar as regular pound cakes. In fact, each little pound cupcake has less than 200 calories. So even if you had, say, 4, you’re still going to fit into your pants.
Now, after 4 of these, your pants may fit, but they won’t be comfortable. So why not keep it to one and still rock that LBD like no ones business?
Light Lemon & Eggnog Pound Cupcakes
CLICK HERE FOR THE PRINTABLE VERSION OF THIS RECIPE!
Yields 12. Recipe inspired by Real Simple.
Prep time: About 10 minutes
Cook time: About 40 minutes
Ingredients:
- 2 3/4 cup all purpose flour
- 1/4 cup corn starch
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- Dash of salt
- 3 eggs
- 1 cup + 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1/3 cup canola oil
- 2/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
- Zest of one lemon
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup low-fat eggnog
- Lemon glaze (optional)
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a muffin tin with cupcake wrappers and set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder, corn starch and cinnamon. Set aside.
- In another bowl, mix the sugar, oil and applesauce together until fully combined. Add in lemon, lemon zest, vanilla extract and eggnog, mix well. Pour wet mixture into dry mixture gradually (about 1/2 cup at a time), mixing well after each addition.
- Fill cupcake liners about 3/4 the way full with batter. Bake for about 40 – 42 minutes, or until tops are golden brown. Transfer to a wired cooling rack and let cool completely.
- Glaze with your favorite glaze or dust with powdered sugar!
Nutritional information per cupcake:
Calories: 199
Fat: 7.2 grams
Carbohydrates: 28.5 grams
Fiber: 2 grams
Protein: 5.1 grams
Weight Watchers Points: 5
Claire
Tags:eggnog recipes, lemon recipes, light recipes, low fat eggnog recipes, low fat recipes
Day of Remembrance
Today, instead of a new recipe or a travel recap, I’m going to take today to remember those perfect, innocent children and amazing heros who were taken way too soon on Friday in Newton, Connecticut. My heart is still shattered, broken and deeply saddened that those kids will never laugh, play or smile again. That those presents bought for them by their loving presents will lay at the bottom of the tree, unopeneed this Christmas. If you can, please, take some time to grieve for those who were taken way too soon and give all of your prayers and your love to those parents who lost their entire heart this past Friday.
Two Ingredient White Chocolate Candy (and a Giveaway!)
Happy Wednesday…er…Thursday, y’all! Wait, it is Thursday right? I have no clue what day/time it is since I’m 6 hours ahead here in Paris. But, I’m having such an incredible time here. We went on a gourmet culinary tour yesterday and I ate so much cheese and fig foie gras. Sweet heavens, I’m never coming home. To stay up to date on my adventures, be sure to follow me on instagram here and on facebook here! But, I’m not here to talk about Paris. I’m here for two things: 1). Share an amazing recipe for the easiest two ingredient white chocolate candy and 2). give y’all a chance to win some amazing baking stuff! But first! Le chocolatè.
I’m not kidding when I say this is a two ingredient recipe. You simply melt white chocolate, put in a mold and add sprinkles of peppermint. That’s legitimately all that is in this. I feel like such a phony, fake, pathetic blogger for even posting this. But my justification is this…it’s the holidays. The holidays are meant to be spent with the people you love, laughing over wine, cookies and flickering lights from your menorah or Christmas tree. Not spent in the kitchen baking for hours. And that is coming from someone who lives and breathes baking and cooking.
These cute treats make the perfect holiday gift. You can package a few of these cute shapes in cellophane wrap with some cute ribbon or place a few of them in some fancy boxes with holiday tissue paper. Or, you can do what I did and make an entire tray just to eat when you’re feeling stressed with holiday shopping, deadlines, finances, etc. Really, just one bite gave me all of the relaxation and chocolate bliss I needed.
Plus, aren’t they just so cute? For the super easy how-to and recipe, CLICK THIS LINK!
Nutritional information per piece:
Calories: 180
Fat: 9.5 grams
Carbohydrates: 24 grams
Fiber: 0 grams
Protein: 0 grams
Weight Watchers Points: 5
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Now, the even more fun part of today’s post: A BAKING THEMED GIVEAWAY!! Here’s what one lucky reader will get, just in time for Christmas 🙂
Aren’t you so excited? You can wine a Wusthof spatula, a 5-piece Anolon bake-ware set, a $25 Bob’s Red Mill gift card, a Precision kitchen scale AND a fun festive holiday cookie cutter, a $160 value! All of that can be yours just be entering the prompts below! Happy baking!
Claire
Tags:candy recipes, easy recipes, holiday recipes, white chocolate recipes
Low-fat Chocolate Peppermint Milkshake
Hi friends! Happy Tuesday! How are y’all doing? Sorry for being a day late with my series, it’s hard to schedule posts when the wifi is spotty! As most of you know, I’m in Paris on vacation/work with my mom and we’re having a BLAST! The food is beyond incredible, the sights are breathtaking and the wine is a plenty 🙂 But, I couldn’t leave Santa hanging without some skinny sips so I whipped up a light and delicious milkshake for the big man to take the edge off the stress of being in charge of Christmas.
I can’t even imagine all the stress this man has on his shoulders. I’m stressed with my own job and I’m not even the face of a holiday. (But could you imagine? BACON AND WINE DAY! FREE BACON AND WINE FOR ALL!) Don’t act like that’s not an awesome idea. But, before I digress further into my bacon wine fantasy, let’s look at yet another photo of this luscious low-fat chocolate peppermint milkshake.
Don’t you want to drink this entire thing in one second? I didn’t, that’s for sure. I sure did not make this on my birthday and guzzle it so quick I had a brain freeze. DID NOT HAPPEN. This milkshake is SO good, you’d want to steal it from Santa so you could have it’s boozy deliciousness all to yourself.
But good luck trying to squeeze this out of the big man’s hands. He’s not going to let this go without a fight. He has naggy Mrs. Claus and a house-full of weird elves to deal with.
Want to make it? CLICK HERE FOR THE RECIPE ON SHE KNOWS!
Nutritional information per shake:
Calories: 225
Fat: 8 grams
Carbohydrates: 13.9 grams
Fiber: 1.8 grams
Protein: 5.5 grams
Weight Watchers Points: 4
Claire
Tags:boozy recipes, chocolate recipes, milkshake recipes, peppermint recipes
