Make-Ahead then Freeze it! Archives • Color Your Recipes

Almond Croissants
Almond Croissants

Almond Croissants

Juliana2018-06-18T10:47:14+00:00Bread, Breakfast, Make-Ahead then Freeze it!|

Today I am sharing with you a very simple and yet delicious recipe for almond croissants using store bought croissants. The combination of flaky layers of croissant dough and smooth almond cream is just divine. This is a perfect treat for a weekend brunch or afternoon tea. As I mention many time throughout my blog, I love to shop at Costco and one of the many “problems” shopping at Costco is the large quantity…well, with this said once in a while we do not resist and get the croissants and sure enough they come in a package of 12…huge ones. I do freeze some for sandwiches and the other ones I turn into tasty and delicious almost fancy bakeries [...]

Avocado Ice Cream
Avocado Ice Cream

Avocado Ice Cream

Juliana2018-06-18T11:23:03+00:00Dessert/Sweet, Make-Ahead then Freeze it!|

This week I am sharing with you a recipe for avocado ice cream. This ice cream is really creamy, rich and amazingly smooth. There is a touch of vanilla and lemon juice, just like how we used to make avocado smoothie in Brazil. When living in Brazil, avocado was eaten as fruit, meaning that it was always made into cream or smoothie with sugar. So when I first was introduced to guacamole, I literally was disgusted…it was my first time tasting “salty” avocado…no need to say that I now love guacamole… Anyway, I saw a post from Ray at Wok with Ray a while ago were he made avocado ice cream, and I just thought…”Wow, how come I never came across avocado [...]

Almond Paste
Almond Paste

Almond Paste

Juliana2018-06-18T12:03:02+00:00Dessert/Sweet, Make-Ahead then Freeze it!|

If you are a marzipan lover you will definitely try this recipe. The almond paste can be used in so many ways, such as bread, cake, cookies, the options are endless. I love almond paste or marzipan…when living in Brazil I used to buy “potato balls” or fruit shaped marzipan with the money that my parents would give me for snack and would munch on it on my way home after school. That might explain my love for marzipan, as each bite of anything with it brings me memories of my childhood. Almond paste or marzipan, I honestly do not know the difference between the two of them…they are both made with blanched almond and confectioner sugar…because I remember the [...]

Cherry Ice Cream
Cherry Ice Cream

Cherry Ice Cream

Juliana2018-06-18T12:04:56+00:00Dessert/Sweet, Gluten Free, Make-Ahead then Freeze it!|

The ice cream is rich, creamy and loaded with cherries. The recipe calls for cherry cooked in brandy sauce, very easy and delicious. Can you believe that this is my first homemade ice cream? I have made a variety of frozen yogurt but this time I decided to go for the “real” ice cream, with heavy cream and all…for the Valentine’s Day. When I saw cherries at the local grocery store, I just thought that cherry ice cream would be nice…especially with its intense and vivid red color accompanied with brandy flavor. The most laborious part of this recipe is to remove the cherry pit…which with the help of a cherry pitter it was not that bad. The texture of [...]

Parmesan Tuiles
Parmesan Tuiles

Parmesan Tuiles

Juliana2018-06-18T14:15:31+00:00Make-Ahead then Freeze it!, Simple Ideas|

These Parmesan tuiles or crisp are very simple to make and they are sure very tasty and elegant when added to any salad, especially Caesar salad. You can always add a variety of herbs to please your palate…and your eyes. Ingredients: ½ cup to 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese Herb of your choice Method: Preheat the oven to 350oF In a bowl mix gently the grated Parmesan cheese with the herb of your choice, I used oregano. Spoon the Parmesan cheese mix on a silicon mat (about 2 to 3 tablespoons) making small circle of approximately 2 ½ inch in diameter. Bake until slightly golden brown, about 10 minutes. Cool for a minute or so and using a silicone spatula [...]

Homemade Banana Jam
Homemade Banana Jam

Homemade Banana Jam

Juliana2018-06-18T14:16:26+00:00Make-Ahead then Freeze it!|

Have you ever got yourself stuck with lots of ripe bananas? Somehow this happen to me more often that I expect therefor I have to find a way to use the bananas up, otherwise they end up in a trash which I always feel bad. So here is a very simple recipe to bust the flavor of banana. Ingredients: 2 ripe bananas ¼ cup sugar ¼ cup water 1 tablespoon lemon juice ½ teaspoon cinnamon Method: Cut the banana into approximately ½ inch size. In a small pan place all the ingredients except for the crescent and turn the stove to medium low heat. Stir occasionally until the banana mix is slightly thick, cook for about 6 minutes. Remove from [...]

Strawberry Coulis
Strawberry Coulis

Strawberry Coulis

Juliana2018-06-18T14:26:57+00:00Make-Ahead then Freeze it!, Simple Ideas|

This is very easy and great to have available all the time. I like to make when the strawberries are in season and store them in the freezer and when needed just thaw and use in any way you like. I like this strawberry coulis with cheesecake, ice cream, spherical yogurt, yogurt, panna cotta, cakes or even in drinks, like lemonade, margaritas, daiquiris, and the list goes on and on. Ingredients: 2 lb of fresh strawberries, cleaned, hulled and cut into quarters ¼ cup sugar ¼ water Lemon to taste Use fresh… or freeze. Method: In a medium pan place all the ingredients and cook under medium heat. Once it boils remove from the heat and let it cool. Using [...]

Bacon Bits Made It Easy
Bacon Bits Made It Easy

Bacon Bits Made It Easy

Juliana2018-06-18T14:29:43+00:00Make-Ahead then Freeze it!|

One of the issues that I have when shopping at Costco is that everything comes in big packages…and bacon is not an exception…therefore I make this bacon bits and store in the freezer, so every time that I need some bacon to enhance any dish flavor I just need to reach the bacon bits bag in the freezer and take whatever amount I need. Another thing that I do is to fry the bacon outdoor at the stove attached to my BBQ, so my house does not smell the grease which many times even with the hood at full blast the smoke still manages to scape. One thing that I noticed is that every time that I make this bacon [...]

Frozen Edible Flowers
Frozen Edible Flowers

Frozen Edible Flowers

Juliana2018-06-18T14:36:19+00:00Make-Ahead then Freeze it!, Simple Ideas|

I have been growing violas since last year, they are very easy to grow and fun to use in the kitchen. They have a pleasant pea flavor and are great to use for decorating desserts or toss into a green salad. I started with seeds…it was very easy and I was very happy when I noticed the little leaves coming from the soil… after a while there were so many flowers…more than I asked for, and I felt bad just tossing them out. So I froze the little flowers in the ice cube tray. Once the flowers were frozen, I removed from the tray and stored in an airtight contained in the freezer for future use. This ice cubes can [...]

Frozen Basil Dollops
Frozen Basil Dollops

Frozen Basil Dollops

Juliana2018-06-18T14:30:21+00:00Make-Ahead then Freeze it!|

Have you ever found yourself with so much fresh basil that you do not know what to do with it? Well, this happened to me…my basil plants were so beautiful but we had to go for vacation and I knew that if I left them in the pots they would be all dead by the time we came home, so I desperately search in the internet for a solution. So here I am sharing with you what I found…an efficient and easy way to preserve fresh basil by creating a paste with a small amount of olive oil and freeze. Place the clean and dried basil leaves in the food processor Slowly drizzle olive oil or any oil of your [...]