Strawberry Lime Granitas

Yum, yum, yum, yum, YUM!  This little recipe is just way too easy and delicious to skip!

It's a bit like an amazing strawberry-lime slushy popsicle you eat with a spoon.  And with only 3 ingredients, and no need for an ice cream maker, it's seriously your new favorite thing.  You can mix this up with other fruits (watermelon, anyone?!) and citrus; just follow the same basic steps.

Make it From Scratch: Lara Bars

Chocolate Craving Bars

'Morning!

You might remember that last month, Katie from Living Crunchy guest posted here with instructions for homemade, natural Easter Egg Dye.  It's my turn to return the favor, so I set out to find a recipe for homemade Lara bars.  

Broiled Grapefruit

God bless Pinterest.  


I was feeling extraordinarily guilty for not having any recipes to post this week, and then the latest viral recipe on Pinterest popped into my head.

And whyyyy didn't I get any recipes blogged up this weekend?  Why?  It wasn't for lack of cooking.  I tried out four brand new recipes this last weekend, and came up with some yummy things to share!  But.  But, it was 85 degrees outside.  Normally, I'm incapable of sitting and doing nothing, but that's exactly what I did out in our back yard both Saturday and Sunday.  So I wasn't in the kitchen during prime daylight photo-taking hours.  And I don't even have a tan to show for it :)

Friday Fun: Jam Labelizer

    


Oh dear goodness, I adore this little site!  The Jam Labelizer is a very simple little tool to create your own jam labels, save the images, and print them out.  Easy peasy lemon squeezie!

Not only do I swoon over the cutesy interface, but it has me daydreaming about coordinating my next trip back to Oregon with the summer fruit season.  If you haven't had an apple, cherry, pear, peach, or plum from the Pacific Northwest, you are very much missing out.  (I'm still waiting for the state of Georgia to kick me out for snub-nosing their local peaches.)  Mom?  If you're reading this?  Can we make jam this summer?

There are a handful of labels that are totally free to customize, save, and print.  And it even lets you choose your jar size, so that the labels fit just right.  Anybody squint to read the directions on this label?

That's right - It says to use milk to stick plain paper to a jar.  What the what?  Apparently, if you print your label on laser paper, you can brush milk on the back and stick it right to the jar.  Who knew!  I love that idea!  If you click the link from the site, it takes you to a message board where people discuss how they attach labels to glass bottles using milk and printer paper.

I'm just dying to try this out.  Homemade jam is easier than you think, and it just tastes so, so good.  I'm pretty sure that I need to take a field trip to my mom's kitchen in Oregon to make jam and photograph the process for a summertime blog post.  I'll make any excuse to get my paws on some jam from the Northwest! :)

Berry Excited!

The Jam Labelizer

Tropical Kale Salad with Creamy Pineapple Coconut Dressing

Did you know that massaging raw kale gives it a slightly wilted texture, so that it's softer?  Neither did I!  I bumped into a whole new world of kale salads and learned that the die hards rub some dressing into the kale and let it marinate before eating.  Crazy town!

But let's get back to this salad.  I've started calling it "scurvy salad" because of its healthy dose of Vitamin C while we're still seeing chilly winter weather outside.  It's basically an island vacation on a plate.  Coconut, lime, pineapple, mangoes, banana.... I'm telling you - it's the cheapest tropical vacation you'll ever take.

And we're bringing back those Chia Seeds again.  This time, not only do they add some fiber and omegas to your dressing, they also serve as a thickener.  This recipe takes advantage of how Chia Seeds absorb liquid and create a gel, and use that to thicken the dressing naturally.  I love it!

And a secret?  That dressing is pretty delicious when drizzled over coconut milk ice cream.  I may or may not be stuffing my face with it as I write...

I Feel A Tan Coming On,


p.s.  Happy Leap Year!

         

Tropical Kale Salad with Creamy Pineapple Coconut Dressing
adapted from Oh She Glows

For the dressing:
1 c. chopped pineapple *
1/4 c. fresh lime juice
3/4 c. coconut milk
1 Tbsp. chia seeds
1 Tbsp. coconut oil, melted
pinch kosher salt
1 Tbsp. honey (if using unsweetened coconut milk)

For the salad:
3 c. packed kale, stems removed and roughly torn
2 c. butter or romaine lettuce
1/2 c. chopped pineapple *
1 c. chopped mango *
1/2 large banana, sliced
1 Tbsp. shredded dried coconut
1/4 c. roughly chopped macadamia nuts or pecans

In a blender, blend all dressing ingredients until smooth.

Then, prepare the kale by adding about 1/2 of the dressing to the kale and massage it in with your fingers. While the kale marinates, chop the fruit.  Toss everything together and top with coconut and nuts and additional dressing as desired.

* Note: I used frozen and thawed chopped pineapple and mango to save on costs, and this recipe turned out great.

         

Dressing Ingredient Lineup:

Salad Ingredient Lineup:

Food Rule 21 and Green Smoothies

(Lest you think I've gone off the deep end with my treats consumption, ha!)

I'm going to throw down some honesty here today.  That up there?  That's my breakfast every day.  Yep.  A huge green smoothie that I suck down while I'm sitting in traffic, on my way to work.  Why?  Obviously I'm capable of making other, more traditional items to eat.  But why am I eating 3 overflowing cups of kale and spinach for breakfast?

Because I'm waging a war on my acne.  There you have it.  My skin has the ability to go from allllmost clear to a disaster within a matter of a couple of days.  It's 90% of the reason I avoid dairy.  Dairy hormones and sugars make my acne (and body hormones) fly out of control, resulting in painful red bumps and cysts on my face.  Which then turn into dark scars.  It's not exactly a great way for a girl to go out in the world, especially considering that wearing a bag over my head isn't something I've been able to pull off.  (Yet.)

Now, I'm a firm believer in healing my body from the inside.  I've done just about everything for eliminating external irritating detergents and fabric softeners and body washes.  So, when my skin flares up, I know that something isn't happy on the inside.  After reading a bit about alkalinity and watching this video, I really felt compelled to get more greens in my diet.  Which is perfect for another Food Rule:

I've raved about greens in the past, but short of throwing them into every single dinner, I couldn't figure out a way to get more into my diet.  Until I started seeing Green Smoothies pop up everywhere.  They sound iffy at best - Spinach for breakfast?  Raw?  And you drink it??  Yes, indeedy, my friends.  And they taste really, really good.  Throw in a banana and some other fruit, close your eyes, and you don't even know it's loaded with leafy green vegetables.  I swear.

I follow this basic recipe for my breakfasts each morning:

Some Chia Seeds for omegas, fiber, protein, and energy
3 huge handfuls of greens - usually kale or spinach
1 fruit to make things sweet - a ripe banana or an apple
1-2 other fruits for flavors - raspberries and mango together are really good!

Note: If you add red or blue berries, your smoothie color won't be as vibrant green.  Because red + green = kinda brown in color.  Which equals disgusting photos, lol.  I didn't want to scare you away any more than I already might be, so I left the fruit for this recipe pale in color so that all you see is that gorgeous green!

What do you all think??

Are you already a Green Smoothie aficionado?

Tempted to come over to the vibrant green side of the fence?

With Bo in thinking that my breakfast is too whack to even consider? :)

My Hippy Roots are Showing,

         

Green Smoothie

2 Tbsp. chia seeds
1 c. water
3 c. kale, chopped with stems removed
1 c. frozen peach slices (unsweetened)
1 banana, sliced and frozen

Soak Chia seeds in water for at least 5 minutes, as you gather the remaining ingredients. Add ingredients to blender in this order: Water with soaked Chia seeds, kale, banana, and peach slices. Blend until smooth.  Makes one 24oz. smoothie.

       

Seriously, check this out.  These are the numbers for my recipe above:

It's a pretty great way to start the morning, am I right?!

Food Rule 78 and Fruit Salsa and Cinnamon Chips

Yum Yum Yum Yum Yum Yummmmmm!  Is it obvious how much I love this recipe?

As I've mentioned in the past (here and here), I really struggle with getting more fruit into my diet.  Veggies?  Delicious!  Fruit?  Not so much.  So anytime I find a way to eat fruit that has me reaching for seconds and gobbling up leftovers, it's a definite keeper.  Something about these tiny pieces of mixed fruit with a touch of apricot preserves leaves me feeling so happy.  And those baked cinnamon chips aren't anything to shake a stick at either.  I'm so excited to make this recipe on Sunday for the Super Bowl party we're hosting!

Healthy and delicious and perfect for sharing - talk about a triple threat recipe!

Please Don't Ask Me Which Teams Are Playing,

         

Fruit Salsa and Cinnamon Chips
adapted from Allrecipes

2 kiwis
2 apples, peeled and cored
8 oz. peaches (frozen & thawed work perfectly)
1 lb. strawberries
3 Tbsp. all-fruit preserves (apricot flavor is fantastic)

10, 10" flour tortillas
butter flavored cooking spray
1/4 c. cinnamon sugar mixture (1/4 c. sugar + 1 Tbsp. cinnamon)

Finely dice all fruit and toss together in a large bowl.  Stir in fruit preserves and chill in the refrigerator while you prepare the cinnamon chips.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Coat one side of each flour tortilla with butter flavored cooking spray and sprinkle with desired amount of cinnamon sugar. Flip tortilla over and repeat for other side.  Using a pizza cutter, cut tortilla into wedges and arrange in a single layer on a large baking sheet. Bake in the preheated oven 8 to 10 minutes. Repeat with any remaining tortilla wedges. Tortilla chips will continue to crisp up as they cool.  Serve with chilled fruit mixture.  Makes 8 servings.

         

Fruit Salsa Ingredient Lineup:

Cinnamon Chips Ingredient Lineup:

Food Rule 68 and Banana Pudding

Attention, please!  Raise your hand if you're incapable of eating just one cookie off the still piping hot baking sheet.

Anyone??

Please tell me that I'm not the only one who has zero willpower when it comes to a tray full of warm cookies!  I can be utterly diligent with my meals and snacks all day, but put a tray of homemade cookies in front of me, and I'll inhale 7 of them before I've realized that my hand was even moving to grab them.  It's awful.  So, you can imagine how much I struggle with this food rule:

And I'm pretty sure that it doesn't mean I should grab all 7 cookies at once, haha.  One easy way to keep desserts portion controlled is to divide them into dishes as you make the recipe.  And what better portioned out - and pretty - dessert than a layered pudding?  Dividing this recipe into individual glasses keeps me from sneaking spoonfuls and not paying attention to how much I'm actually eating.  Perfect!

The other thing to note is that by using unsweetened almond milk instead of dairy milk, we shave nearly 200 calories off the recipe.  I use almond milk for a lot of things (ranch dressing, even), so I was excited to make a treat that was not only nondairy (aka "Sara-safe"), but one that saved me a few calories to boot.  You can go ahead and make this recipe using dairy milk or a mix of dairy and almond milk; it's up to you.

Yummmmmmm,

         

Banana Pudding
adapted from Food Network magazine Jan/Feb 2012

2 c. plain unsweetened almond milk
3 Tbsp. cornstarch
pinch of kosher salt
1/3 c. sugar
1 egg
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 large bananas
6 graham crackers, broken into 1-inch pieces (or Nilla wafer cookies)
1 Tbsp. cocoa powder or cinnamon

Heat the almond milk in a saucepan over medium heat until almost simmering, whisking often.  Meanwhile, whisk the cornstarch, salt, sugar, and egg in a medium heatproof bowl. Temper the egg mixture:  Pour about half of the hot milk into the bowl and whisk vigorously until smooth. Pour the egg-milk mixture back into the saucepan and cook over medium heat, whisking vigorously, until thick and starting to bubble, 1 to 2 minutes. Remove from heat and whisk in the vanilla. Transfer the mixture to a bowl and let cool, stirring occasionally.  The pudding will continue to thicken as it cools.

While the pudding is cooling, cut the bananas into thin slices. Layer a few banana slices, a few pieces of graham cracker and 2 tablespoons of the prepared pudding in each of 4 glasses; sprinkle with cocoa or cinnamon, then repeat to make 2 more layers. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for an hour. Makes 4 servings.

       

Ingredient Lineup:

Tempering the eggs isn't as tricky as it may seem!

Just think of when your hands are frozen on a cold day, and the last thing you should do

is put them straight into hot water.  Ditto for eggs!

You'll put a little of the hot mixture into the cooler eggs, whisking to mix in evenly.  

Then you'll whisk the warmed up egg mixture into the pot on the burner
to bring the entire milk-egg liquid up to boiling. Tempering accomplished!