Healthy Shrimp Tacos

 

Fish and shrimp tacos are one of my favorite meals. I really love all seafood, but I always love the combination of seafood with corn tortillas. Recipe slightly adapted from Clean & Delicious. She even has a step by step video showing how to make the tacos.

Ingredients:

1 lb of frozen shrimp, defrosted, peeled, & deveined
6 oz fat free Greek yogurt
¼ cup chopped cilantro
2 tbsp fresh lime juice
1/4-1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
Bag of shredded cabbage
8 corn tortillas
4 tsp extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Heat tortillas over medium heat in a dry skillet until warm and starting to form small brown spots. Set aside on a plate covered with a clean kitchen towel.
2. Mix yogurt, cayenne, lime juice, cilantro, & salt in a small bowl, set aside.
3. Cut shrimp into bite sized pieces.  Sauté Shrimp in two teaspoons of olive oil and season with salt, pepper and a dash of cayenne pepper over medium heat just until done. 
4. Build your taco!  Place a scoop of cabbage on the warmed tortillas taco, then top with shrimp, and cilantro sauce… enjoy!

Cauliflower Pizza Crust

I am sorry my pizza was not being more photogenic! I made this crust as a test to see if Mike noticed anything different or weird about pizza... say cauliflower. I had him try it and he thought it was great. He could not, or would not of ever guessed the crust was made with cauliflower. Cauliflower crust turns it into a thin crust pizza, making it a great group appetizer or a healthier dinner for one. Crust recipe directly from Recipe Girl. She has excellent pictures of her exquisite looking pizza.

Ingredients:

Crust:
1/2 large head cauliflower (or 2+ cups shredded cauliflower)
1 large egg
1 cup finely shredded mozzarella cheese
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon dried minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon onion salt

Plus pizza toppings

Directions:

1. Shred the cauliflower into small crumbles. You can use the food processor if you'd like, but you just want crumbles, not puree. You'll need a total of about 2 cups or so of cauliflower crumbles (which is about half a large head of cauliflower. Place the cauliflower crumbles in a large bowl and microwave them (dry) for 8 minutes. Give the cauliflower a chance to cool.

2. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Spray a cookie sheet or pizza pan with nonstick spray (or use a nonstick surface). In a medium bowl, mix the cauliflower crumbles (about 1 1/2 cups since they shrink after cooking) with the remaining crust ingredients. Pat the "crust" into a 9 to 12-inch round on the prepared pan. Spray the crust lightly with nonstick spray and bake for 15 minutes (or until golden). Remove the crust from the oven and turn the heat up to broil.

3. Place desired toppings on crust.  Broil the pizza 3 to 4 minutes, or until the toppings are hot and the cheese is melted and bubbly. Cut into slices and serve immediately.

Blueberry Crumb Cake

 My mom has been busy in the kitchen again, baking this delicious treat.

 From Jessica's Dinner Party

Ingredients:
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 cups flour
1 stick cold, unsalted butter
1/2 egg
Pinch of salt
Zest and juice of half a lemon
2 cups fresh blueberries
1/4 cup white sugar
2 teaspoons cornstarch

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  Grease an 8 inch round pan.
2. Mix the sugar, baking powder, and flour together.  Add the salt and lemon zest.  Cut butter into small squares.  Add the butter and egg into the flour mixture and blend with a pastry cutter, fork, or hands until combined and crumbly.  Press half the dough into the pan to create the crust.
In a small bowl mix the sugar, cornstarch, and lemon juice together.  Mix with the blueberries.  Pour the berry mixture into the pan and spread evenly.  Crumble the remaining dough on top of the blueberries.
3. Bake for 45 minutes or until top is golden brown.  Cool completely and store in the refrigerator.

S'mores Treats

The summer-time rice crispy treat alternative. Perfect to take with as a treat while hiking in the mountains.

Ingredients:

8 C Golden Grams cereal

1 bag (10oz) mini marshmallows

4 TB butter

1 C cold chocolate chips

1. Melt butter and marshmallows in large pot on medium heat until smooth, stirring occasionally.

2. Remove from heat and stir in Golden Grams until evenly coated.

3. Add chocolate chips and mix together.

4. Spread mixture in greased 9x13 pan, and press down with parchment paper. I spray my parchment paper to prevent sticking.

5. Let cool completely, or refridgerate before cutting. Enjoy!

Cake Mix Cookies

I promise I will try to get back to healthy recipes, and halt all the desserts and sweets. You can totally tell where my cravings have been these past 2 weeks! I am not a cake fan, so I have had a box of cake mix in the cupboard for months. I decided to make cake mix cookies. I also decided to health-ify them, just slightly.

I learned that you can use applesauce as a butter substitute. 1/2 C butter = 1/2 C applesauce. I decided that a cookie still needed a little fat in it, so I decided to try half butter, half apple sauce. Hopefully as I continue to eat healthier, I will one day be able to skip the butter entirely.

Ingredients:

1 box cake mix (I used chocolate fudge)

1/4 C butter- softened, near melting

1/4 C applesauce- heaping

1 Egg

2TB water 

mix ins- I used 4 chopped up mini snickers candy bars and about 3/4 C chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Dump cake mix, butter, and applesauce into bowl and mix fairly well. Stir in egg and water.  It will most likely still look very powdery. So MIX MIX MIX, and then after about a minute or two, the powder will be gone and a soft dough will have formed.

2. Stir in chocolate chips, nuts, candy, sprinkles etc.

3. Drop 1-1.5 inch balls onto greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes. 

For the chocolate cookies, it is hard to tell when they are done, I waited until mine were cracked on the top.

Lemon Monkey Bread

My mom made this delicious lemon monkey bread yesterday. She found the recipe on Pinterest from My Baker Lady. She thought it would be perfect for a brunch or baby shower.

Ingredients:
12 Rhodes dinner rolls, thawed but still cold
zest of 1 lemon
1/2 cup sugar
3 tablespoons butter, melted

Glaze:
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 Tbsp lemon juice

Directions:
1. Cut rolls in half and place in a greased 9×13″ pan.
2. Drizzle with the melted butter.
3. Mix lemon zest and sugar together in a small bowl. Sprinkle HALF of the lemon sugar mixture over the rolls. Cover and let raise till doubled.
4. Sprinkle remaining sugar mixture on top. Bake at 350 for about 20-25 minutes. Remove from pan.
5. Combine glaze ingredients. Drizzle over rolls while still warm.

Apple Fritter Bites

 

While visiting family during the 4th of July holiday, my mother-in-law taught the "kids" how to make these scrumptious apple fritter bites. This recipe makes a dozen 1-2 inch doughnut bites.  Recipe can be doubled.

Ingredients:

1 C Flour

1/2 C Sugar

1 tsp Salt

1 tsp Baking powder

1 tsp Apple pie spice (cinnamon + nutmeg)

1/4 C Apple Sauce

1/4 C Milk

1/2 Apple diced

1 Egg

Crisco for frying

Glaze:

2 C Powder Sugar

2 TB milk or water

Directions:

1. Combine all dry ingredients and mix. Stir in milk and apple sauce and egg. Fold in diced apples.

2. Heat up Crisco in a pan to fry the fritters. Drop 1-2 TB dollops of dough into frying pan, and fry for 2 minutes each side.

3. Make the glaze while fritters are frying. Glaze both sides of the fritters, one side at a time. Let cool until glaze hardens on fritters. Serve warm with milk. Enjoy!

French Macarons

I get really excited whenever I see macarons. I decided to give making them myself a try. I found a video from Entertaining with Beth that I found which perfectly instructs how to make a macaron. Below is Beth's recipe and directions. I made my macarons red and blue for 4th of July and they were absolutely worth the 2 hours it took to make them. They are however, a very sweet cookie.

INGREDIENTS
3 Egg Whites
¼ cup white sugar (50 g)
2 cups confectioners sugar (200 g)
1 cup almond flour (120 g) (SEE NOTE BELOW)
pinch of salt
¼ tsp cream of tartar (2 ml) * You can omit if needed, just may take a bit longer to reach stiff peaks but the recipe will still work)


RASPBERRY BUTTER CREAM
½ cup salted butter (120 g)
3/4 cup powdered sugar (75 g)
1 cup (150 g) fresh raspberries, worked through a sieve to extract 3 tbsp of juice

METHOD:
Preheat oven to 300 degrees

Beat egg whites and sugar for 8-10 mins. TIP: #1 eggwhite should be room temp. To create room temp eggs, submerge in warm water for 5 mins.

Whip until they form a peak that stands upright. Think Seattle Space needle.

Then add the food coloring. TIP#2 Color does fade as it cooks, so do a shade or two darker than you want them to be.

TIP#3 Sift almond flour, and powdered sugar. What remains will be the larger lumps of almond pieces. Just discard those, or use them to snack on :) You want a really fine powder mixture to create a smooth and pretty on top to your cookie.

Fold flour/sugar mixture into the egg white mixture. TIP#4 This is where all your hard work can really go wrong. Under mix and your macaroons will be lumpy and cracked when the bake with no feet, over mix and your macaroons will be flat and won't have feet, the mark of a well-made macaron. In my experience 65-75 turns of your spatula when folding is about the right amount of time. But again, it can be tricky, depends on how strong you are, Ha! So it can take a few tries to get it right. But when you do, the trumpets will blare and you will feel SO accomplished!

Transfer batter to a pastry bag.

Pipe out 1 inch rounds on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

TIP#5: tap the pan hard at least 2-3 times to release the air bubbles. This will prevent the tops of your macaroons from cracking.

TIP#6 Let them sit out for 2--30 mins, or up to an hour if you want. This will allow them time to dry out a bit before hitting the hot oven. They should be "tacky" to the touch, but not stick to your fingertips. This is another important step to assuring your macarons develop feet! When they dry out they can't spread out in the oven, and are forced to rise up. That's what creates the feet!

Bake for 20 mins. DO NOT UNDER BAKE, even if they look done! Otherwise they will stick to your tray.

Frosting:
* Sarah's tip- make sure you use cold/ refrigerated butter. I used room temperature butter, and it changed the consistency of the frosting so that it was no longer a buttercream frosting*

Meanwhile mix the buttercream. Whip butter with an electric mixer until pale and fluffy. Slowly add sugar. Then place sieve on top of a bowl the same size. Work raspberries through the sieve with a spatula, pushing them through, mashing them around until you extract their juice. You want 3 tablespoons of juice.

Add juice to buttercream, and whip until combined. Transfer to a pastry bag, fitted with a small tip (about ¼ " in diameter)

Reverse cookie shells on their backs, and pipe a small mound of filling on one of them. Top with the other shell et Voila!

Homemade Hot Dog Buns

from Joy the Baker

You should definitely read Joy's post. It has many great pictures and tips of the homemade hot dog buns. My sister Lizzey made these hot dog buns tonight, and she said it was worth every bit of time put into making them. The following recipe and directions come straight from Joy.

2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 packets or 2 scant tablespoons active dry yeast
1/2 cup warm water (105°F to 115°F)
2 cups warm milk (105°F to 115°F)
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons salt
6 to 7 1/2 cups all-purpose flour*
egg wash: 1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon cold water
poppy seeds, coarse black pepper, and sea salt for topping (optional)

*King Arthur Flour gives a fairly wide flour measurement variation for a couple of reasons. First, you’ll find in the summer that you’ll need a bit more flour to absorb a given amount of liquid than you will in the winter. This is because it’s humid and flour acts somewhat like a slightly dampened sponge as a result.  I used 6 1/2 cups flour for my hot dog buns.

King Arthur Flour also notes that this particular dough should be quite slack, i.e., very relaxed in order to make soft and tender buns. So you want to add only enough more flour, past the 6-cup point, to make the dough just kneadable; sprinkling only enough more to keep it from sticking to you or the board.

To mix the dough:  In a large bowl, dissolve the sugar and then the yeast in the warm water. Add the milk, oil, salt and 3 cups of flour to the yeast mixture. Beat vigorously for 2 minutes.
Gradually add flour, 1/2 cup at a time, until the dough begins to pull away from the sides of the bowl. Turn the dough out onto a floured work surface.

To Knead the dough:   Knead until you have a smooth, elastic dough. Because this dough is so slack, you may find that a bowl scraper or bench knife can be helpful in scooping up the dough and folding it over on itself.
To rest and rise the dough:  Put the dough into an oiled bowl. Turn once to coat the entire ball of dough with oil. Cover with a tightly-woven dampened towel and let rise until doubled, about one hour.
To shape the buns:   Turn the dough out onto a lightly oiled work surface. Divide into 18 equal pieces. This is done most easily by dividing the dough first into thirds, then those thirds into halves, then the halves into thirds.
Roll the dough into cylinders, 4 1/2-inches in length. Flatten the cylinders slightly; dough rises more in the center so this will give a gently rounded top versus a high top.
Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and lightly grease the parchment paper.
For soft-sided buns, place them on prepared baking sheets a half inch apart so they’ll grow together when they rise. For crisper buns, place them three inches apart.
Second Rising: Cover with a towel and let rise until almost doubled, about 45 minutes.  Just drape a towel over the buns for the second rose, a piece of plastic wrap may stick and deflate the buns when the plastic is removed.
To Bake:  Fifteen minutes before you want to bake your buns, preheat your oven to 400°F. Just before baking, lightly brush the tops of the buns with the egg wash and sprinkle with whatever seeds strike your fancy.
Bake for 20 minutes or until the internal temperature of the bread reaches 190°F. (A dough thermometer takes the guesswork out of this.)
When the buns are done, remove them from the baking sheet to cool on a wire rack. This will prevent the crust from becoming soggy.

Denae's Zuppa Toscana

My sister in law Denae sent me this recipe, and it sure is delicious!

2lbs Italian sausage (ground, not in casings, 1 reg, 1 hot)
1 onion-diced
4-5 potatoes (depending on size) I use russet & yukon gold
2-3 cloves garlic-minced
1 bunch kale- cut roughly in thin strips, washed
8 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup half n half or 1/4 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup shredded parmesan or romano 
salt, pepper, and herbs de provence

1. Brown Italian sausage. Drain. Remove from pot
2. Add all vegetables, except kale, and saute for 5-10 minutes
3.Add sausage and chicken broth to pan and bring to low boil. Add seasonings & kale.
4. after low boiling 10-12 minutes, turn down heat to low, and add cream & cheese. You don't want it to boil too much after you add the cream. 
5. Serve with more shredded cheese on top, & bread. Enjoy!

Microwave Lasagna

(Can also be baked in an oven)

Ingredients:

1/2 lb Ground Beef

1 Jar/ can spaghetti sauce

1/2 C Water

1/2 C Ricotta or cottage cheese

1/2 tsp Pepper

1/2 C Grated Parmesan cheese

1 egg

1/2 lb Grated Mozzarella cheese

8 Lasagna noodles- uncooked

Directions:

1. Brown ground beef, drain, stir in spaghetti sauce and water. 

2. Combine egg, cottage cheese or ricotta and pepper. Stir.

3. In oblong baking dish, spoon 1 c sauce to cover bottom. Alternate noodles, egg mixture, cheese and sauce, forming 2 layers.

4. Cook in microwave on high, covered, for 10 minutes, turning half way through. OR bake in over at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

5. Add Parmesan cheese and cook for an additional 5 minutes. Let stand, covered for 15 minutes before serving. (If cooking in microwave)

Chocolate Cream Pie

From Betty's Pies in Duluth MN

This was one of 3 best selling pies when Betty operated Betty's Pies. "People would line up in our little parking lot on weekends to get these pies."

Ingredients:

1 - 9" baked pie shell

Meringue:
2 egg whites
1/2 tsp white vinegar
1/2 C sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon

2 egg yolks slightly beaten
1/4 cold water
1 C semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 C heavy cream, whipped
1/4 C sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon


Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

1. Beat egg whites until frothy, add vinegar, beating until soft mounds form.  Gradually add the 1/2 C sugar with 1/4 tsp salt & 1/4 tsp cinnamon and beat until meringue stands in stiff, glossy peaks.  Spread on bottom and sides of baked pie shell.  Bake at 325 for 20 minutes or until lightly browned.  Cool.

2. Combine  egg yolks, water and chocolate chips and melt over very low heat until chips are melted. Spread 3 Tablespoons of this over the cooled meringue.  Cool.

3. Whip the cream until thick and add sugar and cinnamon. Spread half of this over the chocolate layer. Combine remaining whipped cream with the remaining chocolate mixture. Spread over the whipped cream in the pic shell. Cool at least 4 hours.

Spinach Summer Salad

Ingredients:

2 C Spinach Leaves
Sliced Strawberries
Whole Raspberries
1/4 C Almonds
2 TB Shredded Parmesan Cheese
Raspberry Vinaigrette Dressing

Directions:
Add all ingredients to spinach leaves. Enjoy!

Kneader's French Toast

 

Ingredients:

1 loaf Kneader's Cinnamon Swirl Bread*

5 Eggs, beaten

2 TB Milk

4 tsp Sugar

2 tsp Cinnamon

1 tsp Vanilla

* Can use any loaf of cinnamon swirl bread from the store if you don't live near Kneaders.

Directions:

1. Mix eggs, milk, sugar, cinnamon, & vanilla  together in a square flat bowl.

2. Slice loaf of bread into about 8 pieces.

3. Dip both sides bread in egg mixture.

4. Heat griddle to 350 degrees, and cook on griddle or skillet until golden brown, then flip and repeat until other side is golden brown. Recipe can be doubled, tripled etc. 

Serve with strawberries and maple syrup.

Chocolate-covered Reeses stuffed Oreos

 Quick. Easy. Unhealthily delicious.

Ingredients:

1 Pack Oreos (I used half and half Oreos)

15-20 Reeses Peanut Butter Cups

Milk Chocolate Chips/ Milk Chocolate Melting Chips

1. Separate the Oreos carefully so that the cream stays on one side of the Oreo. Place all the Oreo sides with cream aside to use for this recipe. You will not need the Oreo sides without cream- you can do with those as you please. 

2. Sandwich a Reeses peanut butter cup in-between two cream Oreo pieces.

3. Melt chocolate chips carefully. Dip the newly made Oreo-Reeses sandwich in the chocolate, covering entirely.

4. Place on a plate to cool until chocolate has hardened. Can place in the fridge to speed process.

Peach Jam

  

Adapted recipe from Kraft. We make them with home grown Redhaven Peaches.
 

Ingredients:

4 C prepared fruit (about 3 lbs fully ripe peaches)

2 TB Lemon juice

1 Box sure-jell fruit pectin

1/2 TB butter or margarine (optional)

5.5 C sugar (measured in separate bowl)

Directions:

1. Bring boiling-water canner, half-full with water, to simmer. Wash jars and screw bands in hot soapy water; rinse with warm water. Pour boiling water over flat lids in saucepan off the heat. Let stand in hot water until ready to use. Drain well before filling.
 
2. Peel and pit peaches. Finely chop fruit. Measure exactly 4 cups prepared fruit into 6- or 8-quart saucepot. Add lemon juice and fruit protector; stir until well blended. Stir in pectin. Add butter to reduce foaming, if desired. Bring to full rolling boil (a boil that doesn't stop bubbling when stirred) on high heat, stirring constantly.
 
3. Stir in sugar. Return to full rolling boil and boil exactly 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Skim off any foam with metal spoon.
 
4. Ladle immediately into prepared jars, filling to within 1/8 inch of tops. Wipe jar rims and threads. Cover with 2-piece lids. Screw bands tightly. Place jars on elevated rack in canner. Lower rack into canner. (Water must cover jars by 1 to 2 inches. Add boiling water, if necessary.) Cover; bring water to gentle boil. Process 10 minutes. Remove jars and place upright on towel to cool completely. After jars cool, check seals by pressing middle of lid with finger. (If lid springs back, lid is not sealed and refrigeration is necessary.)

Strawberries & Cream Pie  
From Donna Bird's Facebook collection

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
3 tsp shortening
1 Oreo pie crust
1 8-oz block cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup sour cream
1 tsp vanilla
1 tub Cool Whip (8 oz)
2 cups fresh strawberries, halved

1. Combine chocolate chips and shortening and melt in the microwave. Stir until well combined and then pour about 3/4 of the mixture into the bottom of the crust and refrigerate until firm.

2. Beat the cream cheese, sugar, sour cream and vanilla until smooth.

3. Fold in the Cool Whip.

4. Pour (or scoop) the mixture into the crust and refrigerate until firm.

5. Arrange the strawberries on top of the pie and drizzle with chocolate. Keep in fridge until ready to serve. 

ENJOY! 

Darlene's Oreo fudge ice cream cake

 

This is a birthday favorite in our house! It is as easy as can be, and takes maybe 20 minutes.

1 Package Oreos (any flavor, but not double stuffed)

1 Container ice cream of choice*

1 Container whipped cream thawed

Hot fudge/ Carmel sauce/ chocolate syrup

1/2-1 stick of butter

* I buy ice cream in a square box because then you can open the box and slice the ice cream with a knife.

1. Crush Oreos in food processor. Mix with butter and press into the bottom of 9x13 glass pan to form a cookie crust.

2. Open ice cream container, slice ice cream with a knife and lay down over cookie crust.

3. Spread or drizzle hot fudge/ carmel or both over ice cream.

4. Spread whipped cream in a layer over ice cream

5. Top with extra crushed oreos, sauces, sprinkles, etc.

Keep in freezer until about 30 minutes before you serve it. It is easier to cut when it has been sitting out for 20-30 minutes.

Abacaxi Frita

(Brazilian grilled pineapple)

Tucanos (A Brazilian Churrascaria)- one of our favorite restaurants, is known for their grilled pineapple. Mike served a mission in Brazil for two years and loves to eat Brazilian food. Grilled pineapple makes a healthier dessert alternative for a BBQ.

• One pineapple (can use whole or half)
• 1/2 c brown sugar (1/4c for half pineapple)
• 1.5 tsp cinnamon

1. Cut pineapple into 1/2 inch rings. The rings worked well with my round bowl which I put the cinnamon sugar mixture in. Thinner rings are easier to cook and eat.

2. Heat the grill to medium heat.

3. Place both sides of the pineapple into the sugar mixture, then set on grill. You can use BBQ skewers to skew the pineapple which can ease in flipping the pineapple. I just used BBQ tongs to flip the pineapple.

4. Grill each side for 2-3 minutes, or until pineapple begins to bends and is warm. Pineapple will caramelize, becoming sweet and juicy. You can vary the amount of sugar mixture depending on how sweet you want the pineapple to become. The sugar forms a glaze like syrup. If you want more syrupy, you can brush mixture on the pineapple after flipping sides. The pineapple's juices alone will naturally caramelize the pineapple, so even minimal sugar will taste sweet. Tastes best warm right off the grill.

Shannon's Chicken Enchiladas

The enchilada recipe is from my boss's wife Shannon. She listed rice and olives in the recipe, however, I don't like those ingredients. So here is her recipe, the way I made it at home. I was able to prepare everything the night before, put in the fridge, then cook the next day.

2 big chicken breasts, cooked and shredded

1 can cream of chicken soup
16 oz sour cream
1 onion, chopped and sautéed with butter/margarine until soft
2 cloves garlic, chopped and sautéed with the onion
1 small can chopped green chilies
8 burrito-sized tortillas
1 can green enchilada sauce
Shredded cheddar cheese

Pepper-jack cheese
Black or pinto beans

1. Combine and mix the shredded chicken, cream of chicken soup, sour cream, onion, garlic, and green chilies, and beans in a big bowl.
2. Spray a 9x13 pan with nonstick cooking spray.
3. Take the tortillas and fill them with the chicken mixture. Roll them up and set them in the pan.
4. Pour the green enchilada sauce over the enchiladas. Add a lot of shredded cheese on top.
5. Bake at 375 for 40 minutes.

Berry Lemonade Fruit Pops

 

As a little kid, we always made popsicles in the summer. I decided to try a fruity twist.

• Popsicle maker/ container
• Lemonade*
• Sliced Berries (I used strawberries and raspberries)

(I made this lemonade recipe, but any kind of lemonade will do: store bought, home made etc)

1. Slice berries and put them in the popsicle container. I made sure a few were touching the side of the container so it would be more visible.

2. Pour lemonade into the container covering the fruit, almost until the container is full. Keep in mind when you put the topper into the container, it can overflow if it is too full.

3. Press popsicle topper on gently until tight.

4. Freeze 4-6 hours, or until frozen. I froze overnight.

ENJOY!

Side note: To get the frozen popsicle out of the container, I had to run it under water until the popsicle was no longer stuck to the side of the container. Also, you can use any combination of fruit juices or fruit when making popsicles. Next I will try strawberry kiwi!

 LEMONADE TWISTS

 

The other day I got the idea to make fruit "ice cubes". I put strawberries, raspberries, and 2 TB of fruit juice in the food processor and blended until liquid. Next I poured them in ice cube trays and froze. I made fresh squeezed lemonade, and put the frozen fruit cubes in the lemonade which turned it into a fun drink. Then it hit me: Fruit ice cubes are PERFECT for parties! Wouldn't it be fun if you made lemonade, and then had different fruit flavored ice cubes? This lets your guests create their own flavored lemonades! 

Pumpkin Spice Chocolate Chip Pancakes

1c Buttermilk pancake mix

1/3c water (may vary depending on desired thickness of pancakes)

1/3c milk

1/2 c canned pumpkin

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

Dash of pumpkin pie spice

Chocolate chips/ nuts optional

1. Mix all the ingredients together

2. Cook over griddle/ skillet like normal pancakes

3. Serve with maple syrup 

Ann's Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

3 1/2 c  Flour                             1c  Veg. Oil
2 tsp  baking soda                     4   eggs

1.5 tsp   Salt                               2/3   c water

1 tsp   cinnamon                        2   c Canned pumpkin

1 tsp  ground nutmeg

1/4 tsp  cloves

1/4 tsp  all spice

3 c  sugar

1. Mix all ingredients in a large bowl

2. Add chocolate chips! (Or walnuts, raisins, whatever you'd like)

3. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes

Makes about 3-4 dozen. Freezes well.

Santa Fe Stuffed Peppers

My mom makes a similar version of these.The recipe below came from here.  I used a mix of red and orange peppers. To eat it, I cut the pepper in half and then put salsa on top. Mike topped his off with ranch.

Ingredients

• 3/4 lb ground turkey breast
• 1 1/2 Tbsp cumin
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 1 can (28oz) Classico Crushed Tomatoes
• 1 can (15.25oz) black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 can (15.25oz) sweet corn, drained
• 3 cup Jasmine Rice (cooked)
• 8 fresh Sweet Red peppers
• 1 cup reduced fat Colby Jack cheese
• 2 green onions, sliced

Instructions

1. Wash red peppers and slice the tops off each pepper. Remove the seeds. Stand each pepper up next to eachother in a large baking dish (13x9).
2. In a large skillet, brown ground turkey until fully cooked. Drain. Return to skillet. Add cumin, salt, tomatoes, black bean and sweet corn. Simmer about 15 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, cook Jasmine rice according to package.
4. Add cooked rice to skillet, combining completely. Remove from heat. Fill each red pepper with turkey mixture.Cover dish with foil and bake in a 350 degree oven for about 40-45 minutes. Remove foil and to with cheese. Bake an additional 5 minutes, until cheese is melted. Remove from oven and sprinkle with green onion pieces. Serve and enjoy!