Cocktail O’Clock: Mango Coconut Mojito

I am not, nor have I ever been, a bartender.  I love mixed drinks, though.  And I’m super cheap, so I would much rather make drinks at home than pay upwards of $8 a glass on a super-sugary and not-alcoholic-enough drink.

Now, I promised myself a while back that I would not buy any more coconut rum because it’s too easy to consume in mass quantities and regret it later.  Buuuttt…I guess I break promises.

So, here’s a tropical drink to rock your socks.

Coconut Mango Mojito

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Marshmallows Gone Wild! Top 10 Summertime Uses for Jumbo Marshmallows

Maybe I’m just sheltered, but I never knew about jumbo marshmallows until I saw a large palate of them in a grocery store near the shore a few weeks ago. As a proponent of campfires and burning marshmallows to a charred, crispy, oozing sweet goodness, you would imagine that I got excited.

With the summer finally here, it’s time we break out the mallows and start toasting away. But wait…there’s more you can do with a marshmallow than toast it in a fire? Well yes, and here are ten favorite, craziest ways:

10. Chocolate and Caramel Covered Marshmallow Pops

Whenever we’re making caramel apples, I make sure no caramel goes to waste. I dip marshmallows in the caramel, then set them in the freezer. Why didn’t I think of then dipping in chocolate afterwards? I’m ashamed. The peeps (no pun intended) at the turtle’s life for me made these. A layer of crushed Oreos after the caramel and before the chocolate would MAKE these.

(Photo: A Turtle’s Life for Me)

9. Toasted Coconut Marshmallows

They sell toasted coconut marshmallows in stores — but I’m pretty sure they couldn’t even compare to homemade toasted coconut-covered marshmallows. Now imagine this: they are made with jumbo marshmallows. I’m thinking you can coat the store-bought jumbo marshmallows in melted butter and the toasted coconut would stick. Or just make them from scratch. Whoever said marshmallows are boring: you lose.

(Photo: PreventionRD)

8. Oreo Marshmallows

Again, they’re homemade so the first goal would be to make these oreo marshmallows double the size. Do I hear a challenge? Damn right.

(Photo: Raspberri Cupcakes)

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Smackaroons: Coconut Crème Kiss Filled Macaroons

Hi!  It’s Renee again from Attack of the Hungry Monster. Also, it’s macaroon time. But these macaroons have a secret. While not obvious to the untrained eye (my eye is trained in chocolate, in case you are wondering), it is most definitely a coconut crème Hershey’s kiss!

I decided to call these smackaroons because they are kisses (*smack*) stuffed inside coconut macaroon cookies.  I really need to trademark that.

Here’s how they came about: I am a bargain shopper through and through.  No discounted item goes unnoticed by me.  I hit that Target clearance weekly like I’m storing a bunker…full of discount clothing and old Easter candy.

So, after Easter when I came across these bad boys, I knew where they’d end up.

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Blendtec: A 99% Rationale

I love gadgets and my kitchen is full of them: mini-food processor, mini-crockpot, Cuisinart, Kitchen Aid, deep fat fryer, slow cooker… You get the picture, but one item I’ve always lacked was a blender…until recently. I splurged and went with a Blendtec Total Blender, $400 worth of blending goodness. Yes, $400. I get that this is a ridiculous amount of money to spend on a blender when there are tons of cheaper blenders out there, and I’m sure something as simple as a Magic Bullet would suffice for smoothies.

Here’s my justification. I’ve been on a smoothie kick of late but the only place I can find one close to my office is at Whole Foods. They charge $7.50 a drink which I think is a little absurd for some blended frozen fruit and ice. A couple of bags of frozen fruit — enough for five smoothies — is $12, plus a carton of coconut water is $3.95. Instead of spending $37.50 on smoothies a week I’m now spending $15. A weekly saving of $21.50. In 19 weeks I’m going to be even. In 20 weeks that $400 Blendtec will start saving me money.

The BF thinks my rational is ridiculous. He thinks the idea of spending $7.50 on a smoothie to begin with is too much. I’m sure he’s not alone in thinking that. But he’s wrong. In addition to saving money, it’s pretty to look at and I will make many other things in the blender, not just smoothies — margaritas for instance.

Who’s right? Leave your thoughts in the comments, and enjoy a recipe for my smoothie du jour.

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Coconut Limoncello Cupcakes

I know there are a lot of you cupcake haters here on ES, and yes, I am still trying to convert you. Can I offer you a cupcake with a boozy limoncello curd center that will drip, pour and ooze its way into likeability?

Come on, check out that money shot, begging you to take a bite and taste its tartness. Actually, it was really tart when I first made it so instead of adding more sugar to the mix to even it out, I decided to step it up with some limoncello. Booze is, after all, the grand equalizer in food — alright, that’s just my personal philosophy. It works more often than not to even out a too-strong flavor, and as expected here, it didn’t fail.

So, my dear cupcake haters, brace your tastebuds and take in a rich lemon cupcake body filled with a limoncello curd that’s then been stacked with piles of coconut sweet buttercream frosting, then covered in sweetened coconut.

And trust me when I say the lemon and coconut pairing is quite damntastic!

Coconut Limoncello Cupcakes

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Really Good But Even Better Low-Fat Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

I love cookies. L.O.V.E.  Since I like to eat them frequently (as in multiple times a day), I’m always attempting to make healthier versions of old favorites like chocolate chip or oatmeal. So I was stoked when I saw this Sun Maid recipe for Really Good Low-Fat Raisin Oatmeal Cookies in honor of Heart Health Month (which was February, but shouldn’t we always promote heart health?) I tried them — and they are really good. But since I can’t leave well enough alone, I made a few little tweaks to the recipe and now I think they’re even better.

So here you have it: Really Good but Even Better Low-Fat Raisin Oatmeal Cookies. And even with my tweaks they still come out to about 60 calories per cookie, so I don’t feel too guilty about the fact that I ate like 5 of them out of the oven and about 5 cookies worth of dough as I was making them.

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Cocktail O’Clock: A White Christmas

Dreaming of snow this Christmas? Let coconut flakes stand in for the real stuff on top of your drink. If you get your guests boozed up enough, they may even think it’s snowing.

You could do this with pretty much any drink; Isaac Elbhar at Bryant Park Hotel Cellar Bar in New York offers it atop the Purple Snowflake Martini:

1 ½ oz of 44th Degree North (Huckleberry Vodka)
¾ oz of Cointreau
½ oz of Pineapple Juice
3 fresh blackberry
1 fresh squeeze of lemon juice
Coconut flakes
Pour all ingredients into shaker except the coconut flakes. Shake the concoction vigorously! Pour the mixture into a martini glass and top with coconut flakes.
More: Winter Cocktails Gone Wild!
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