Welcome to Happylifeblogspot! A food blog with drool worthy recipes
Why make plain ole mashed cauliflower when you can make Asiago Mashed Cauliflower? This low carb mashed potato alternative is the best mashed cauliflower recipe to try. The secret lies in its ingredients. Tangy cream cheese adds richness and texture while asiago cheese lends comfort […]
Elevate any dinner by adding Brandy Glazed Carrots to the menu. You’ll be amazed at the way brandy can transform the same old carrot dish into something quite special. Fresh baby carrots are cooked until tender, simmered in a mixture of honey and butter with […]
I was one of those kids that never liked Brussels Sprouts. Heck I don’t even think I tasted one til I was well into adulthood. Then along came Maple Bacon Brussels Sprouts to change my mind. The combination of sweet maple syrup, smokey bacon and crunchy pecans turns this side dish into quite the tasty treat! But it’s not just the flavor that makes this dish a winner, it’s also the cooking method. You’ll find that these sprouts are cooked to absolute perfection; not too crunchy and not at all mushy. Don’t be surprised if you start popping this green veggie like candy. No matter what they’re served with this little green powerhouse will steal the show. I know I’ll be going for seconds!
First things first Maple Bacon Brussels Sprouts wouldn’t be as tasty without the bacon. This is not an ingredient that you want to skip! Start by roughly cutting the bacon into chunks. Then add the bacon to a skillet and cook over medium heat until it gets nice and crispy. Remove the bacon from the skillet with a slotted spoon and blot it with paper towels to remove any excess grease. Discard any remaining grease in the skillet and wipe clean.
Next we’ve gotta wash and trim the Brussels sprouts. Using a knife, slice off the ends and remove any leaves that aren’t quite top notch. We want our sprouts to look as perfect as they’re gonna taste. Cut an “X” into the core of each sprout. No need to go deep, a quarter of an inch will do just fine.
Place 6 Tablespoons of butter into the same skillet. Heat over medium until the butter us melted. Add the Brussels sprouts to the skillet and saute about 4-5 minutes until lightly browned. Give the sprouts a stir once or twice while cooking.
Mix in the chicken broth, pecans, maple syrup, and salt and pepper. I love that this recipe using classic ingredients that you probably already have on hand, but packs such a wallop of flavor. Bring the mixture to a boil. Then reduce the heat, cover and simmer for 5 minutes. Uncover the skillet and continue to cook and stir for an additional 8-10 minutes or until the Brussels sprouts are tender.
Sprinkle in the bacon and enjoy! Congratulations!! You just cooked up a batch of the most delicious Brussels sprouts that you’ve ever tasted. Maple Bacon Brussels sprouts are simple, they’re delicious, and they’re most definitely a side dish you can feel good about. Wanna make it a meal? Maple Bacon Brussels Sprouts pairs perfectly with our Apple Cider Pork Chops or Grilled Spatchcocked Chicken! 
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When Fall rolls around everyone has their favorite local spot to buy Apple Cider Donuts, but my new favorite this year might just be homemade. Nothing beats the taste of a hot, fresh Apple Cider Donut right out of the frying pan. There’s something about […]
Looking for the perfect last minute side to bring to your holiday gathering? Well Tennessee Apple Maple Glazed Green Beans are here to help! Dress up green beans with a delicious maple glaze that’s simple, sweet, and savory. A little splash of Jack Daniels Tennessee […]
A few Thanksgiving’s back, my nephew Nathan started to get brave. Our little picky eater who had been known to enjoy a peanut butter sandwich while everyone else shoveled back mounds of delicious food, decided that he wanted to see what all this Thanksgiving fuss was about. So he tried the turkey. Loved it! Then some corn. Mmmm!!! Some mashed potatoes. Fantastic! With all eyes on him, and lots of excitement surrounding this major accomplishment, Nathan shouted out that Thanksgiving was his new favorite holiday. Before he even knew what hit him, Aunt Lisa added some sweet potato casserole to his plate. Now anything orange or green was a real stretch for this kid, but after a little prodding, I had him convinced that he could do it. His eyes lit up after the first mouthful. He turned to me and innocently asked, “Aunt Lisa, is this the first time that you made these???” When he discovered that I had been bringing this sweet potato casserole to Thanksgiving EVERY year and realized he’d been missing out on so much goodness all this time a look of disappoint came over his face. He was completely shocked in the cutest, sweetest, most childlike way. His excitement was contagious though, and even inspired his little sister Ellie to ante up to the table and get in on the action too. I’ll always remember this day as one of my most favorite Thanksgivings. Happy Turkey Day!! Hope it’s filled with food, family and wonderful memories!
Here’s all you’ll need: sweet potatoes, salt, butter, eggs, vanilla extract, cinnamon, white sugar, heavy cream, flour, brown sugar, and pecans.
First we’ll need to prep our sweet potatoes. Peel the potatoes and chop them up into large chunks. I try to stick with small to medium sized potatoes as the large ones tend to be more difficult to cut. Or maybe I’m just wimpy. Who really knows??? (HAHA!!) Five potatoes doesn’t seem like a lot but I promise they’ll fill a whole casserole dish by the time we’re done.
Next place the potatoes in a large pot, cover with water and boil for about 10 minutes or until soft. You can also bake them instead if you like. Boiling just tends to be a little bit quicker. And I’m all about that!! I love making this recipe for Thanksgiving because sweet potatoes are practically FREE this week. Those Thanksgiving week grocery store sales can be pretty amazing!
Drain the potatoes and add to a large bowl with 1/4 cup of butter. This will help to melt our butter. Cool slightly because in the next step we’re adding in some raw eggs. Piping hot potatoes + raw eggs = cooked eggs in our sweet potatoes and that’s really not the look that we’re going for here. Blend in the salt, eggs, cinnamon, vanilla extract, white sugar, and heavy cream. Mmmm!!! Almost sounds like we’re making a cake! Ok so I get that this dish is a little rich, but that’s why I reserve it for special occasions. This isn’t something you want to eat every night of the week and pretend that you’re being healthy cause you’re eating vegetables. But Thanksgiving splurge…you betcha! Continue the mash until the potatoes are smooth and creamy.
Transfer the potatoes to a lightly greased casserole dish. A 9 X 13 or 3 quart dish works perfectly. I’m all about this 3-quart style by CorningWare because it comes with a glass lid that’s great for serving and special occasions. (Just giving a shout out, this isn’t a corning ware sponsored post)
Now onto the best part!!! This sweet, crunchy, insanely delicious pecan topping. In a medium bowl, combine 1/4 cup of softened butter, flour, brown sugar, and pecans. Mix with a pastry blender, or a fork, or your fingers until all ingredients are well combined. The mixture should be coarse and crumbly like so.
Sprinkle the mixture over top of the sweet potato casserole. Make sure you cover it all. Don’t miss a single spot! You’re gonna want a little of this sweet and nutty mixture in every bite. Trust! This is the gold that got those picky eaters on board. Bake uncovered, in a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes or until the topping is lightly browned.
And now I present to you Aunt Lisa’s Sweet Potato Casserole! It’s sweet, it’s crunchy, it’s comforting, it’s tradition. Even your pickiest eaters will agree, it’s a Thanksgiving staple. This is one recipe that I know will get passed on for generations in my family and it gives me the warm and fuzzies. Awww!! Pair this with our Traditional Thanksgiving Stuffing and you’ll be on your way to an epic Turkey Day!
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Call it stuffing or call it dressing, it really doesn’t matter as long as you call it delicious!!! Stuffing is one of my favorite parts of Thanksgiving. Our take on this Traditional Thanksgiving Stuffing is a classic, no frills, anything but basic holiday stuffing recipe. […]
How do you make dessert even better? Make it into an adorable hand-held mini size! Maple Pecan Tarts are a darling little spinoff of your family’s favorite classic Pecan Pie. Pecan Pie is a holiday staple at our Thanksgiving table (along with squash and apple […]
Ok so I know that every single store has flipped the switch from Halloween to Christmas, but you guys, I’m not done with pumpkin everything season yet! You can take away my pumpkin spice lattes but I’m still gonna celebrate. So this next recipe not only celebrates my favorite time of the year, but it’s literally shouting from the rooftops loud and proud just how AHH-mazing this Fall flavor can be. I’m just gonna say it. Pumpkin Spice Bagels are the BEST BAGELS EVER!!! Seriously. This tasty, chewy, pumpkin flavored bagel has the perfect texture and obviously plenty of flavor. Eat ’em hot out of the oven, toasted, buttered, use them as sandwich bread, slather on some honey pecan cream cheese, Nutella, you name it. Pumpkin Spice Bagels can handle just about anything!
Here’s all you need: canned pumpkin, brown sugar, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, cloves, flour, yeast, an egg white, and cornmeal.
Ok so I know what you’re thinking….I could never make my own bagels. That’s way too hard! Umm….but it’s totally not. Especially if you have a handy dandy bread machine or Kitchen Aid mixer to mix the dough for you. So first the easy peasy bread machine instructions. Place 2/3 cup of warm water, pumpkin, brown sugar, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, flour and yeast in the bread maker pan. Select the dough cycle let the bread machine do all the work.
But if you don’t have a bread maker handy, first off let’s put that at the top of your Christmas wish list, then follow these directions. Dissolve the yeast in 2/3 cup warm water (let it sit for about 5-10 minutes until it’s nice and frothy). Blend in the pumpkin and brown sugar. In a separate bowl, combine the salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice and flour and whisk to blend it all together. Using a hand mixer at a low speed, add the flour mixture to the wet mixture a little at a time. Once you get to the point where it’s too hard to mix in the rest of the flour with the hand mixer, break out the elbow grease and knead in the rest by hand. Knead until the dough is soft and smooth. Then cover and let rise in a warm place for about an hour or until the dough has doubled in size.
Alrighty! Once the cycle is complete (or your dough has finished rising) split it up into 9, as equal as you can make them pieces. Then on a lightly floured surface, shape them into 9 balls. First you roll it and pat it and mark it P. Put ’em in the oven for pumpkin and me. Sorry I couldn’t resist!
Next we’re going to shape the dough into bagels. This part was literally mind blowing for me! To form a bagel, stick your thumb directly through the center of the dough and stretch it to form a hole in the middle. That’s it. It’s literally that simple. I don’t know why but I always pictured a special bagel pan or a bagel cutter (like a cookie cutter) for this part. Nope! Your thumb is the only tool you need. Super helpful hint: Make the holes way bigger than you think they should be. The bread will continue to rise in the oven which makes those holes shrink quite a bit. Cover and let rest for 10 minutes.
While the dough’s resting, fill a Dutch oven (or big pot) 2/3 of the way full with water and bring to a boil. Drop the bagels a few at a time into the boiling water. Boil for 45 seconds on one side, then flip them over and boil for 45 seconds on the other side. If the yeast proofed correctly your bagels should float. If they don’t float, don’t fret. Check the date on the yeast label, it could be a bad batch, but bake them anyways!! The flavor will still be delicious! (I’ve eaten a batch of Pumpkin Spice Bagels that floated and a batch that didn’t). Remove the bagels with a slotted spoon and drain.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper (aka my bestie!) and sprinkle with cornmeal. You can spray the baking sheet with cookie spray if you don’t have parchment on hand (but we need to have a serious talk about why you don’t have parchment paper on hand….because I’m obsessed with it!!!). Whisk the egg white with two tablespoons of water til it’s nice and foamy then brush onto the tops of the bagels.
Bake in a 400 degrees preheated oven for 15-20 minutes or until nice and golden brown. My bagels were perfect at about the 17-18 minute mark for reference. Remove from the baking sheet and cool on a wire baking rack. Seriously though, how fabulous do these homemade Pumpkin Spice Bagels look??? It really doesn’t get any better than this!!
Slice down the middle once they’re cool enough to handle and gobble these bad boys up!!! My family sure did!! Pumpkin Spice Bagels will keep best in the fridge for about a week. Or store in the freezer for up to three months so you can enjoy them every day of the year!! If you’re all about letting your pumpkin freak flag fly then you better get after our Pumpkin Waffles with Maple Whipped Cream or our Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread ASAP!!!!
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I really, really, REALLY wanted to go apple picking this year! But it seemed like every weekend we were either traveling, or sick, or it was raining. BOO! Oh Fall I had such high expectations for you this year!! So I set my sights on […]
Hi There! I’m Lisa. I’m a lover of all things crafty, creative, DIY, and delicious!!! Oh yeah and puppies too! I love cooking and baking for my friends and family but especially WITH my friends and family. I show my greatest affection through food. If I cook or bake for you, it means I really like you!
