Blackberry Basil Cooler

Yay!! Today is Mocktail scope #3!!! I'm so excited to have the always gorgeous Sarah Barras on and she will be sharing some awesome beauty tips and her favorite products! Sarah just launched her YouTube channel and is sharing more beaauty tips there so make sure you check it out and follow her adventures on Instagram (@sarah.barras) and Periscope (@sarahbarras)!

Todays drink has me all giddy inside! A Blackberry Basil Cooler to get you through the summer!

Blackberries are my favorite berry (move over raspberries and strawberries!) and pairing it with basil and lime is sooo refreshing!

Blackberry Basil Cooler

 Serves 2

Ingredients:

16-18 Blackberries

6 Basil leaves plus 2 sprigs for garnish

1 Lime

1/2c simple syrup (recipe to follow)

1/2c water (or club soda for a spritzer!)

ice

Muddle blackberries and basil in a bowl until you've extracted all the juice out of the blackberries. Strain into a cocktail shaker. Add juice of half the lime, simple syrup, water and ice into shaker. Shake until very cold. Pour evenly over 2 glasses filled with ice. Add remaining blackberries, lime wedge and basil sprig for garnish. Enjoy!

Simple Syrup

Ingredients:

1c water

1c sugar

Over medium low heat dissolve sugar in water in a saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium high heat. Once it starts to boil remove from heat. Cool in refridgerator for at least 30 minutes before use.

Rosemary Coconut Grapefruit Spritzer

Today is our second mocktail Periscope! Woo hoo!! 7:30pm tonight I'm excited to have Aleigh from For the Joy of Life Blog with me tonight! Aleigh is a beautiful mom and wife and she loves to post about fashion, motherhood, recipes, beauty and everything good in life! I am excited to chat with her about showing love and kindness to everyone around us no matter our differences.

This might be a sensitive topic but it is a really important one to me. There has been so much going on in our world lately that I feel like it is so imperative to speak out!

I hope you will join us and comment your thoughts on the topic! Also if there is anything you want to know about Aleigh or about the drink think of your questions so you can have them ready during the scope!

And now lets see this yummy drink we'll be making tonight!
 

Are you a grapefruit person? I used to be. I would slice open one of those juicy babies and just pour sugar all over it! What a healthy breakfast I know!

Well something happened when I got pregnant with my son and I can't really handle grapefruit anymore. Tragic, I know. 

But the second I tried this drink the grapefruit gods shined upon it and I fell in love again! 

I tried to make this a healthy drink and it didn't really work out. But I will continue to try different possibilities and update this post if I come up with something good!

Grapefruit Rosemary Spritzer
Serves 2

1 oz of fresh grapefruit juice
1/2 tsp of rosemary simple syrup (recipe to follow)
2 TBS of Torani Coconut Syrup
Club soda
Ice
Rosemary sprigs
Grapefruit segments

Combine grapefruit juice, rosemary and coconut syrup in a cocktail shaker with ice and shake. Pour evenly over 2 ice filled glasses and add club soda to taste. Stir to combine soda and juice mixture. Add rosemary sprigs and grapefruit segments as garnish. Enjoy!

Rosemary Simple Syrup
1 cup water
1 cup sugar or xylitol
4-5 rosemary sprigs

Combine sugar and water over high heat and bring to a boil. As soon as it comes to a boil turn heat down to low. Add rosemary and simmer for 8-10 minutes. Take off heat and strain out rosemary. Let cool for at least 30 minutes in the fridge before adding to drink. 

 

A Disneyland Mint Julep and a new vibe for The Urban Hare!

Hey friends!!
We are so excited to share some amazing news with you!

We have decided to start a mocktail Periscope series!

Yes, you read that right! Each week we will have a different guest and we will show you how to make a yummy mocktail and chat about life! What could be better? So come hang out with us on Periscope (@theurbanhare) today at 2pm MST and hear Natashia Mclean from Canary Jane and Steffanie talk about making time for yourself as a mom and wife. Each week we'll have a coordinating blog post so you can follow along with the recipe!

 Natashia is a passionate mom, wife, illustrator, social media expert, blogger AND fitness instructor! She does it all! Despite being the busiest woman I have ever met she still takes the time for her self and I knew she would have a lot of great things to say about that! Be sure to tune into the scope (or watch the replay by checking out the scopes in our bio!) to see what she shares!

Photo credit: Roxana Baker Photography

 So let's get to the drink this week!!!

Have you ever had a mint julep from the Mint Julep Bar in New Orleans Square at Disneyland? They are SO good and SO refreshing after walking all day in the hot sun. My husband and I couldn't get enough and I think we had three of them all together. As soon as we got home my husband put me to work to figure out how to make them. Challenge accepted!

I found this really great recipe from Six Sisters Stuff but have modified it just a bit. I actually made it wrong on accident but ended up loving it anyway! So my recipe is just a little different.

One thing I love about this recipe is you are making a concentrate so you can save it in a jar for later and make it when you feel like or you can add it to a large pitcher to serve at a party! Just add mint leaves and lemon wedges to your pitcher. It adds a ton to the flavor!

I hope you make your own and let me know how it goes!

~Steffanie

Disneyland Mint Julep
1 cup sugar *
3 cups club soda
2-3 TBS fresh lime juice
3 TBS fresh lemon juice
3 TBS Creme De Menthe Syrup *
Fresh mint
Lemon slices
Marschino cherries
Ice

Heat club soda and sugar in a sauce pan over medium heat until sugar dissolves. Add lemon and lime juice and bring to a boil. As soon as it starts to boil remove from heat and add creme de menthe syrup.
Cool mixture in refrigerator for at least 30 minutes. Prep each glass with crushed mint leaves (using a muddler in the bottom of the glass), ice and a squeeze of fresh lemon juice. Pour 1/3 club soda to 2/3 of the mint syrup mixture into the glass. Add more or less as desired! Garnish with mint leaves, lemon slice and marschino cherries. Enjoy!

* To make this recipe on the more health conscious side** you can substitute sugar for xylitol or your sweetner of choice and substitute the creme de menthe syrup with 2-3 drops of mint concentrate.

**This version will not have the same green color as shown.

Sunday Recipe Share

We love big get togethers, especially with our church and neighborhood friends! These recipes were made for a camp out just this Friday and had a lot of requests to share so we decided they should just be here for all to have! Sorry no pictures (yet) but hopefully we can make these again and post some soon. Bon Appetite!

Grilled Garlic BBQ Chicken Salad
not your everyday barbecue chicken!

GRILLED GARLIC BBQ CHICKEN

• ½ tablespoon  olive oil
• ½ tablespoon  minced garlic
• 2 teaspoons  soy sauce
• 2 teaspoons  salt
• 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts (5 oz ea)
• ¼ cup  good-quality sweet-&-spicy barbecue sauce

SALAD

• ½ head  iceberg lettuce (cored, rinsed and dried and cut into thin 1/8" strips)
• ½ head  romaine lettuce leaf (separated, trimmed, rinsed, dried, and cut thin strips)
• 12 large  fresh basil leaves , cut 1/8-inch strips
• 1 lb  jicama , cut 1/4-inch by 1/4-inch by 3/4-inch strips
• 2 cups  shredded monterey jack cheese
• 1 cup  canned black bean , rinsed drained
• 1 cup  canned sweet white corn kernels , drained
• 3 tablespoons  chopped fresh cilantro
• 2 lbs  fresh ripe tomatoes , cut into 1/2-inch dices
• ½ cup  good-quality sweet-&-spicy barbecue sauce

Directions:

1.  
To Make the Fried Tortilla Strips: In a deep, heavy frying pan, heat several inches of vegetable oil to a temperature of 375 degrees. Working in batches if necessary to prevent overcrowding, carefully add the tortilla strips to the hot oil, submerging them with a metal skimmer or slotted spoon. Fry the tortilla strips until evenly golden, 1 to 2 minutes. Carefully lift them out with the skimmer or slotted spoon and transfer them to paper towels to drain and cool. Set aside, uncovered.
 
2.  
To Make the Grilled Garlic and BBQ Chicken: Preheat a stovetop grill or the broiler. In a mixing bowl, stir together the olive oil, garlic, soy sauce, and salt. Turn the chicken breasts in this marinade and leave to marinate at room temperature for about 15 minutes. Grill or broil the chicken breasts until cooked through, 5 to 6 minutes per side. Chill thoroughly in the refrigerator. Cut the chicken breasts into 3/4-inch cubes and, in a bowl, toss with the barbecue sauce to coat well. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate.
 
3.  
To Make the Salad: In a large mixing bowl, toss together the lettuces, basil, jicama, Monterey Jack cheese, beans, corn, cilantro, dressing, and half of the Fried Tortilla Strips. Transfer the salads to chilled serving plates. Surround each salad with diced tomatoes and the remaining Fried Tortilla Strips. Top each salad with chunks of Grilled Garlic BBQ Chicken and drizzle the chicken with the barbecue sauce. Garnish with the scallion.
 
 

Chicken and Wild Rice Casserole 

rich and dreamy and oh so creamy! 

5-6 chicken tenderloins

2 boxes of Uncle Bens quick wild rice (prepared according to instructions on the box-*note* it is so much better if prepared with chicken broth instead of water)

1 can of cream of chicken soup

1 can of cream of celery soup

1 cup of milk

2 cups of cheese (we like the Mexican blend) 

4 tablespoons butter 

1 1/2 cup dry stuffing mix

italian seasoning

 

Directions:

1.  Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Pour your prepared rice in the bottom of a greased 9x13" pan. 
2. Heat a frying pan on medium and melt 2 tablespoons of butter than add chicken and sprinkle some Italian seasoning and salt and pepper over it. Cook for about 3-4 minutes on each side. (I'm about to get all Paula Dean on you: add more butter if it dries up a little, more butter if you simply feel like it! If you use something besides butter to cook your chicken with, your taste buds will be SO disappointed in you.) Shred your chicken (in your Kitchen Aid with the paddle attachment if you have one! It saves lives I tell you) and spread evenly over the rice. 
3. Mix both cans of soup with milk and mix well. Pour over chicken and rice.  
4. Top with cheese and then stuffing. Melt the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter and pour evenly over the stuffing. Cook for about 15-20 minutes or until your cheese is melted and bubbly. 

Enjoy!