I brag about my husband… a LOT. He is the most amazing person ever. I love him so! Seriously, He is my best friend, and I don’t know how I ever got so lucky to have him.

How does that tie in with my baklava recipe? He is the one who first introduced me to this scrumptious dessert! I hadn’t ever heard of it, and I was asking him one day when we were newlyweds, if he had any ideas of desserts I could make. He said “Baklava??

If you don’t know what Baklava is, it is basically phyllo sheets, with melted butter layered with nuts and spices, and a sweet and sticky honey cinnamon sauce baked on top, sounds like a good idea huh?

We tried a new recipe and liked it a lot, but needed to tweak it a bit. So, We found another recipe and kind of blended the two {Hint, hint, we used extra butter, teehee} So here is a dessert that my husband and I have changed just to our liking {and hopefully yours, too!} I do have to warn you, this takes a bit of time to assemble. It’s not hard, it just takes a bit of time, maybe enlist your husband and or kids, and make it a fun thing you can do together while listening to music and talking Making treats is one of my favorite things to do with my husband and kiddos.

Note: Phyllo if you don’t know what it is, is basically really thin sheets of pastry dough. You will find it in the frozen section of your grocery store. {ask an employee if youre still not sure! Make sure for this recipe to get the full sheets, and not the squares Let me know if you still need some guidance!}

Here is a little breakdown of what you need ta do…

You start out by layering a sheet of phyllo with butter {I know off to a good start already! I love butter…} You do this seven times {so phyllo, butter, phyllo, butter, phyllo, butter…. seven times, haha you get the idea And after every seven layers, you add a nut, cinnamon, salt mixture. And you do this until you are out of your salt mixture, and out of your phyllo! {Takes a bit of time, but it’s worth it, I swear!}

Then you cut diagonally first all from the left side, and then across coming from the right side.  Then bake for 40 minutes.

After the 40 minutes you pour on the syrup you prepare earlier, and let it soak in for a good while… And after waiting patiently, your precious baklava is ready for consumption!

So without further ado, our favorite Baklava recipe.

Baklava

2013-07-22 21:36:44

A decadent and flakey dessert layered with butter, nuts and spices and topped off with a rich honey cinnamon syrup.

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Prep Time

40 min

Cook Time

40 min

Total Time

1 hr 20 min

Prep Time

40 min

Cook Time

40 min

Total Time

1 hr 20 min

For the Syrup

1. 1 Cup Sugar
2. 1 Cup Honey
3. 3/4 Cup Water
4. 1 TBSP Fresh lemon juice
5. 2 Cinnamon Sticks
6. 1 TBSP Whole Allspice

For the Filling & the Dough

1. 1 Pound Walnuts {or a combination of your favorite nuts! We love, pistachios, walnuts & almonds}
2. 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
3. 1/4 tsp Salt
4. 1 1/2 Cups {3 sticks} salted Butter
5. 1 pound Phyllo Sheets {Thawed according to package directions}

Instructions

1. For the syrup: Combine the Sugar, Honey, Water, lemon juice, cinnamon sticks, and allspice in a medium saucepan {stirring occasionally} and cook over medium heat until the sugar has dissolved. Reduce heat to medium-low until the mixture turns into a syrup {around 10 minutes}. Remove the cinnamon sticks and remaining allspice and discard. Set aside and let the syrup cool.
2. Chop the nuts {or put them in a food processor for an even finer chop!} :) Add Salt, and cinnamon and stir well.
3. Melt the butter over low heat in a saucepan.
4. Next, coat a 9x13 pan with some of your melted butter {using a pastry brush}
5. Open your box of phyllo sheets and make sure they fit your 9x13 pan, if not cut them to the correct size and throw away the extra. {Note: I like to put a damp towel on top of the phyllo sheets waiting to be used, if they get to dry, they break really easily! You want them a bit moistened so that they don't fall apart so easily while you use them!}
6. Next, you are going to layer! This is the time consuming part, but I PROMISE it is worth it! Start by layering a sheet of phyllo dough, and brushing on a layer of butter on top. Do this seven times {you will have seven sheets} and then add 3/4 cup of your nut mixture spread evenly across. Repeat until you have used up all of your nuts, and top with remained phyllo sheets. {and don't forget to butter every single layer!}
7. Next, using a non-serrated knife, cut diagonally across the baklava {carefully} and again diagonally the opposite direction.
8. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes. Remove the Baklava from the oven and let cool for a few minutes, then drizzle the syrup mixture as evenly as possible over the cooked baklava. Let sit overnight or 6-8 hours before serving. And be amazed with the dessert you have just created!

Notes

1. {You can definitely try this as soon as the syrup is poured on, however, letting the baklava soak in all of the syrup-ey goodness, is definitely a good idea, it just makes it so that the syrup gets more evenly distributed even down to the very bottom of the dish! Just sayin'! :)}

By Traci Fuller

Adapted from Emeril Lagasse

Adapted from Emeril Lagasse

A Mouse In My Kitchen http://www.amouseinmykitchen.com/

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Welcome to week 8 of the running challenge! If you’ve been keeping up, by the end of this week you’ll be 2/3 of the way done (time wise) with you 100 mile summer challenge. You should have run a total of 53.5 miles so far. Good job if you’re keeping up! If you’re not, don’t worry! Just keep on keeping on and you’ll reach your goal in no time. Just don’t give up! 

Remember if you are participating in this challenge, use the hash tag #100milesummer when talking about it so we can all keep up on how everyone is doing! 

Each week, either Traci or I try to share some kind of running tip or recipe. Our most popular one (by far) has been this post by Traci on how to love running, even if you hate it. Be sure to check it out if you’re having a hard time with this challenge! 

This week, I’m going to share my favorite ever sandwich with you guys. It’s delicious and easy to make, and super good for you! 

Just look at these pictures if you don’t believe me about how delicious it is. 

The post Week 8 of the running challenge & a delicious sandwich recipe appeared first on A Mouse In My Kitchen.

I thought I’d share an awesome healthy recipe that I created this week.  I love this because it’s loaded with good-for-you foods. If you want the nutritional information for this recipe, click the magic button!

Plus it tastes yummy  

If you’ve never cooked quinoa before, you should read this post. It gives an overview of what it is and how to cook it. 

 By the way, if you’re participating in the 100 mile summer challenge, be sure to use the hash code #100milesummer so we can give each other some support! 

The post Exercise Challenge Week 4: Quinoa Stuffed Avocados appeared first on A Mouse In My Kitchen.

One of my favorite things I do as a blogger is help promote small businesses. Everyone has a dream of working for themselves, and I’ve gotten the privilege of meeting a few people who have made that dream a reality. One of them is Denise. Denise owns a company called My Luxury 1st. She specializes in hair products, specifically hair extensions made from real hair. 

Denise is married to her highschool sweetheart. A few years later, they welcomed their first baby. Fast forward a few years from that first little one and Denise and her husband had their second baby. Really soon after the second little one was born, she became pregnant with another baby (I can relate to that!) Denise felt strongly that she should make a plan to be a stay at home mom. She started off selling things around the house on eBay, and then started making her own hair clip ins. She quickly found out that other people liked what she was making, so she took the steps to make it into a full fledged business. She is so passionate about her business. She truly loves what she does and spends lots of her time coming up with new product ideas. 

So what exactly does she sell? 

Denise sells high end hair extensions. She has a variety of products including permanent, semi permanent, and clip in hair extensions, and hair care products. All of the extensions come in a variety of lengths and colors. They are all washable and can be styled in any way that your real hair can be styled because they ARE real hair. Awesome, right?

How’s this for a selfie?

The extensions I got the review are the clip in ones. I got a strand of blue, red, and blonde.

Upcoming holiday, anyone?

I have to say that I love them. They feel like real hair, they look like real hair (besides the fact that they are non-hair colors) and they look real. I’ve had a lot of comments on it and when I say it’s a clip in, everyone is a little surprised. Unlike dying your hair a bright color, these extensions are really bright and bold. I can’t ever get that bold color when I dye my brown hair without bleaching it, which, as we all know, is a little hard on hair.

This is what it looks like when it’s clipped in. I then drape hair back over it to hide the clip.

The clip is like a little comb that you snap back and forth to set and unset. It’s super easy to instal. I can do it without a mirror and in about ten seconds.    

I’ve curled this hair, straightened this hair, combed my hair when it’s in, my one year old has pulled on it, I have really put it to the test, and it’s passed. I would have LOVED to have some of this in high school, especially in a color that matched my prom dress or something fun like that. I am a huge fan of My Luxury 1st and I would for sure recommend them to a friend or to any of your lovely readers. 

Follow My Luxury 1st on facebook and tell her how awesome she is! If you’re looking to buy hair extensions any time soon, remember her. She’s quick, friendly, and best of all, she is a stay at home mamma. I can’t think of a better business model to support. 

Check out her Amazon shop to place an order!

The post My Luxury 1st Product Review appeared first on A Mouse In My Kitchen.

Carrot and Apples – This is really good. It is sweet and super easy to make.
        8 carrots (give or take)
        2 red apples
        Juice in the order listed. Enjoy!

Green Juice – This is yummy, but the cucumber is strong (in my opinion)
        2 handfuls of spinach
        1 cucumber
        8 stalks of celery
        Use the cucumber to push the spinach through. If you don’t like the taste of this one, add an apple. It makes a big difference.

Tomato Veggie Juice
       3 handfuls of spinach
       4 stalks celery
       2 tomatoes
       4 carrots
       Juice in the order listed.

Oranges and Apples – my favorite, by far.
      10ish carrots (it seems like a lot, but trust me on this)
       2 apples
       1 orange
       Peel the orange before you put it in your juicer.

Red Juice – the beets in this make it super red going in… and it will probably be red when it comes out too… This one isn’t super tasty, but it makes me feel REALLY good all day.

      1/2 beat (they are pretty strong in flavor, so I only do a 1/2, you can do a whole one if you like  
         them)
      4 chard leaves
      1 carrot
      1 Asian pear
      1 Apple
      4 or 5 cabbage leaves

Lemon Carrot juice
     1 Apple
     3 celery stalks
     a handful of parsley
     3 carrots
     1 inch of ginger
      half of a lemon
Juice everything except the lemon. Squeeze the lemon over the juice.

Spicy Tomato Juice – I was a little nervous about putting radishes into a juicer, but I liked this drink so much that I made it three days in a row, until I ran out of radishes. It’s a little spicey, but really good.
      5-7 radishes
      3 carrots
      2 tomatoes
      1 large apple

The post Juicing Recipes appeared first on A Mouse In My Kitchen.