Fruit Smoothie

Some of you know that I have a fairly recent addition to my kitchen. A recent addition that I LOVE so far.  You would love it, too.  It's my Vitamix blender. The other blenders are going in the garage sale that will happen in a few weeks. 

The Vitamix is AMAZING!  It can do anything a regular blender can do, plus make soup.  SOUP!  It will heat the water and everything.  I am definitely going to take advantage in a few weeks when the weather starts cooling down. :)

This morning, I had a smoothie and an almond butter waffle sandwich.  YUM!  Smoothies are great because they are very forgiving.  Hope you have fun experimenting with different fruit combinations!

Fruit Smoothie
Frozen Fruit Chunks (I got a bag from Costco that has pineapple, papaya, mango and strawberries)
milk
water
agave nectar or sugar

1.  Fill up your cup with fruit chunks-- the cup you intend to drink out of.  Once the fruit chunks are in there, pour the milk in to the halfway mark, then add water until the cup is 3/4 full of fruit and liquid.  Add about a TBSP of agave nectar or sugar.  Dump it all into the blender.

2.  Give it a whirl until all the fruit is crushed up and it has the proper consistency.  Add more liquid if needed-- the Vitamix is great because it has a plunger stick that helps all the fruit get down to the blade.

3.  Pour into the cup you measured with, stick in a straw, and sip.  Now GET TO WORK!!  :)

Have a happy day!

PS- Please forgive the sideways smoothie pic.  The silly computer loaded it sideways and I can't get blogger to rotate it! 

Raspberry Blackberry White Chocolate Muffins

Howdy ho!  How are you this fine Monday morning?  We are finally getting settled in our new temporary home.  Most of the boxes have been unpacked and sorted.   All that is left is the garage-- the end is in sight!  The animals are all adjusting quite well.  Ralfie is very happy to have his couch back...

And Tobie found a comfy place to nap...

The kitties are having fun exploring all the new nooks and crannies.  Mocha especially loves the upstairs family room.

The kitchen in this place is HUGE.  I love it!  This weekend, I had a pint of raspberries and a pint of blackberries that needed to be used up.  I wasn't in the mood for cobbler, so I decided to make the next best thing-- Muffins!  Hope you enjoy them as much as we did!  Dark chocolate chips may be substituted for the white chocolate if you'd like.  I made them both ways and they were both great.

Raspberry Blackberry White Chocolate Muffins
1 cup all purpose flour
2/3 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup old fashioned oats
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon
----------------------------------------------------------
1 large egg, beaten
3/4 cup milk
1/3 cup oil (I used canola)
2 Tbsp orange juice
1 tsp vanilla

1 cup raspberries and 1/2 cup blackberries (or any combination of 1-1/2 cups berries)
1 cup white chocolate chips

1.  Preheat oven to 375°F.  Mix the dry ingredients together in a bowl.

2.  Mix wet ingredients in a separate bowl.

3.  Make a well in the dry ingredients.  Pour in the wet ingredients and mix just until moistened.

 
4. Add berries and chocolate chips.  Mix until well blended.

5.  Line a muffin tin with liners and spray lightly with cooking spray.  Fill each liner 2/3 full (I used a #24 scoop).

6.  Bake 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the muffin comes out clean.

7.  Cool for about 5 minutes in the tin, then remove to a wire rack to cool.  Enjoy!

Banana Cake with Banana Cream Topping

So, I ended up with 9 bananas in my Bountiful Basket.  I like bananas and all, but I can only eat so many in a week.  Plus, if you put too many in your smoothie, all you taste is bananas.  I didn't have room in the freezer so I decided to make a banana cake.

The recipes are based off of some from All Recipes, but I tweaked them a bit to fit what I had on hand.  This is a bit like banana bread, but lighter.  YUM!

Banana Cake with Banana Cream Topping
Cake:
3/4 cup butter, softened
1-1/2 cups sugar
1 tsp vanilla
3 lg eggs
2-1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1 cup buttermilk*
2 very ripe bananas, mashed
1 cup mini chocolate chips

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.  Add vanilla and beat well.  Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

2.  Whisk together flours, salt, baking soda, baking powder and cinnamon.  Slowly add to the butter mixture and stir just until blended.  While stirring, slowly pour in the buttermilk.*

3.  Mash the bananas with a whisk.  Fold in the mashed bananas and chocolate chips.  The batter should look like this:

4.  Spray a 9x13 pan with oil.  Pour in the batter and use a rubber spatula to even out the top.  Bake in the center of the oven for 20 minutes, turn the cake around, and bake an additional 30 minutes.  The cake is done when a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.

5.  Allow cake to cool completely before topping with banana cream.

*If you do not have buttermilk on hand, place 1 Tbsp white vinegar in the bottom of a 1-cup measure.  Fill to the 1-cup line with milk and let stand for 5 minutes to thicken.  It may curdle a bit, but it will be ok!


Banana Cream**:
1 very ripe banana, mashed
1 (3 oz.) envelope banana cream pudding
3/4 cup cold milk
1 small container Cool Whip
1 cup chopped pecans, toasted (optional)

1.  Whip the banana until shiny and smooth.

2.  Add the milk and stir well.  Then add the pudding mix.  Beat on medium low speed for 2 minutes or until slightly thickened.

3.  Fold in the container of cool whip.

4.  Use to top the banana cake, and top with toasted pecans.

**I found that the Banana Cream recipe was enough to top two 9x13 cakes.  If you do not want to make two cakes, it is also good on ice cream with chocolate sauce or over angle food cake.

I am happy to say that all bananas are used up and the folks at work will be very happy during their coffee break tomorrow.  :D

Black and Blue Cobbler

Summer is here and you know what that means-- Blackberries!  I love blackberries in cobblers, dessert sauces and jams, but I'm not a huge fan of eating them raw.  Not sure why.  When Ty and I lived in Pullman, WA, I used to fill up my lunch bucket on my way home from school.  Huge bushes grew wild there.  I turned one batch into jam using a bit of grape juice. 

This weekend, we got a pack of big juicy blackberries in our Bountiful Basket.  I also had some blueberries that needed to get used up, so I made Black and Blue Cobbler this morning for breakfast.  Everyone at work loved it!  This recipe is super simple and can be made using any combination of fresh or frozen berries.  I'm sure stone fruits like plums, nectarines and peaches would work as well. 

I based my recipe on one from myrecipes.com, but changed it up a bit.  I made my cobbler a bit more healthy by making my own self-rising flour with half whole wheat flour.  Hope you enjoy!

Black and Blue Cobbler
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1-1/2 tsp baking powder
1 cup sugar
1 cup milk
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted and cooled to room temp.
2-1/2 cups fresh or frozen berries (I used 1 cup blackberries and 1-1/2 cups blueberries)
1/4 cup sugar

1.  Preheat oven to 350°F.  Lightly grease a 9" x 12" pan (mine is metal).

2.  Whisk together flours, salt, baking powder and sugar.  Whisk in milk until just combined.  Slowly whisk in the melted butter.  Pour evenly into prepared pan.  The batter will be loose like pancake batter.

3.  Sprinkle fruit over the top of the batter, then sprinkle with sugar.

4.  Bake at 350°F for approximately an hour, or until the top is golden and the fruit is bubbly.  The batter will rise over the top of the fruit creating a luscious berry layer. 

5.  Cool about 10 minutes, then serve warm.  Enjoy!

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

I got to visit my family in Idaho Falls last weekend for Father's Day.  My family is AMAZING!!  The Union Local that my parents belong to set up a team for the Relay for Life in Blackfoot on Friday night.  My Mom came up with the coolest fundraiser!  She designed this HUGE board that said IBEW and had a cute little house for the JATC (where apprentices train and go to school), another little diner for the Union Hall, a castle in the clouds for the Retirees, etc.  On the board were different colors of Zhu-Zhu hampsters.  The kids got to pick a hamster and put them on the board.  Then a location was drawn out of a bucket for where the cone would be placed.  The first Zhu-Zhu to touch the cone won and the kid got to pick a treat.  It was so much fun!  I got a bit hoarse yelling at those crazy little toys-- "You're going in the wrong way!".  My parents and their compadres walked all night long.  Plus, they only got about 4 hours of sleep before they were up and running again.  Crazy!

I also got to go and see my grandma Lucille this weekend.  I just love her!  She's tall, beautiful, and feisty.  Nothing gets past her!  She loves gardening and has tomatoes, potatoes, peas, beans, carrots and squash growing.  She also has lots of raspberries and rhubarb.  I love taking a knife out to the rhubarb and cutting off a piece to eat.   I know-- I'm weird.  I've accepted that!

Well, there was a lot of Rhubarb, so I cut enough to take home.  While I was doing my laundry last night, I decided to make a pie to keep me busy so I wouldn't miss my puppies so much.  Because I'm traveling so much for work, they will be at my Parents' house for about a month!

The pie was heavenly and I will definitely make it again!  Here's the recipe-- based on a recipe I found on AllRecipes.com.  I hope you enjoy!

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie
1 lb. (16 oz) strawberries, hulled and sliced
1 lb. Rhubarb, washed well and sliced
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup flour
2-layer pie crust for a 9" pie (I used the Pillsbury Refrigerated dough)
1 egg yolk
2 tsp water

1.  Mix the sugar and flour together in a bowl.  Add the fruit and toss to coat.  Let stand for about 30 minutes, stirring about every 10 minutes.

2.  Preheat oven to 400°F.

3.  Place the first pie crust in the pan and form to the pan.  Dock a few times with a fork on the sides and bottom.  Fill with fruit, making sure to get all the juices into the pie shell.  Brush a bit of water along the outside edges of the dough to help it seal.  Cover with the remaining disc of dough. Cut the excess dough off with a butter knife.  Press and crimp the edges to seal.

4.  Place the pie plate on a foil lined baking sheet to catch any drips.  Beat the egg yolk with water and brush on top of the pie with a pastry brush. 

5.  Baked for 20 minutes, then cover the edges with foil.  Return to the oven for another 40 minutes or until the crust is golden and the filling bubbly.  I let mine cool overnight and served the next morning at room temperature. 

Nice Weekend (BBQ Pork Chops and Cinnamon Apples)

Yesterday, it rained and snowed. Today, the sun is shining and the snow is melting. It might even be over 40 degrees out there! I took Ralfie on his first walk and he did pretty well. He didn't know what to think of the leash, but I think he'll get the hang of it with more practice. Right now he's pouting because Charlie is outside without him.

Mom, Dad and Ryan have moved in. Things are going great so far. No one is clashing for time in the bathroom and Ralfie is sleeping at night. It's been really fun cooking for 5 instead of two. Plus, leftovers don't last in the fridge for long. I've been making some of my favorites for them. Have you tried BBQ pork chops with cinnamon apples? It's really good.

Here's how you do it:
First, turn on your broiler. Then combine 1/4c. ketchup, 1/4c. packed brown sugar (or 2T. brown sugar substitute), 1T. Worcestershire sauce and 1T. low-sodium soy sauce. Place half in a separate bowl and set aside.

Combine 1t. dried thyme, 1t. garlic salt, and 1/4t. cayenne pepper and sprinkle evenly over both sides of 6 bone-in center-cut pork chops (about 1/2 inch thick, fat trimmed off). Coat a grill pan or broiler pan with nonstick cooking spray (I use Pam for grilling) and broil for 6 minutes on each side, using half of the sauce to brush the pork chops while cooking. Remove from the heat and allow to rest for at least 5 mintes. Spoon the reserved sauce over the top and serve.

For the apples, peel and cut up about 2 lbs. of granny smith apples into small chunks. Place 3T. butter in a skillet and melt over medium-high heat. Add the apples and saute until the apples are tender, 6 to 10 minutes. Add 1/2c. packed brown sugar and 1/8 t. ground cinnamon. Cook an additional minute or until the sugar melts. Delicious!

Well, I'm going to go back outside to enjoy the day. TTFN!