Posts tagged as:

fruit

How to Make a Banana Smoothie

by Joi on February 11, 2010

I bought a new blender yesterday with one thing in mind – Smoothies! I’ve tried out a few and I’m completely hooked. So far, my favorites are Blueberry Smoothies, Strawberry Smoothies, and Banana Smoothies.

A banana smoothie is a healthy, quick cold treat that you can make any time of year, not just in summer. There are a variety of ways to make a banana smoothie, but in this article we’ll stick with the basics.

Here are the tools and utensils you’ll need to make your banana smoothie:

A blender
Knife to cut up your banana
Serving glasses
Measuring cups

And here are the ingredients that we’ll be using to make our banana smoothie:

1 ripe banana
1 cup of crushed ice
1 cup of cold milk
1 tbsp of brown sugar

Here’s how to make the perfect banana smoothie every time

Some people like to freeze their banana first before adding it to the blender, but I find it turns out great using a regular room temperature banana.

Peel your banana and break it or cut it up into pieces and add it to your blender. Then pour in the ice, milk and add the brown sugar.

Turn on your blender and hold the top of the lid firmly in place. This is important because with something hard like ice inside, there’s a possibility that the lid could get knocked off and then you’d end up with a mess. If you don’t have crushed ice, use ice cubes instead, but pulse the blender a few times to break the ice cubes into smaller pieces.

Blending time should take about 30-60 seconds, but make sure your banana smoothie has a smooth creamy texture before serving.

When the mixture is finished blending, pour it out into a glass and if you decide to use a straw to drink from, use bigger straws to make it easier.

Video: How to make a banana smoothie

(I have no idea who this is in the video below – I just thought it might be helpful for my readers!)

I’ve become a Smoothie addict, so you’ll be seeing plenty of smoothie recipes, tips, and what not. I’m working on iced coffee drinks as well…. I’ll bet you already assumed that. So transparent.

Outstandingly Delicious and Healthy Snacks for Game Day

by Joi on January 15, 2010

One of our biggest pitfalls as a family trying to eat healthy foods is snack time. I make healthy meals and, even when we eat out, we make healthy choices. But when we’re watching football games, basketball games, baseball, Survivor, The Biggest Loser, or anything else on TV – we love our snacks.

Also – aside from my youngest daughter and our cats – the members of my family come and go all day and night. It can be exhausting for us homebodies watching them come and go. I’ve noticed that they all love to snack along their journeys… fuel for the road, I suppose. I try to keep healthier options in the kitchen and dining room for them to grab. Sure, we’ll have various forms of chocolate at any given time – I won’t even try to deny that. Besides, you’d smell the chocolate on my breath and call me out.

I always remind people that chocolate…

Is actually good for you – nutritionists sing the praises of dark chocolate almost as much as I do
Chocolate makes the world go round
Chocolate is sexy

So, you can count on this kitchen always, always, always boasting plenty of chocolate goodness just as surely as there will always be a coffee pot ready to play . The coffee will warm your body as the chocolate warms your mood. But potato chips, soft drinks, and fried, greasy crap has been exiled from our home.

Nuts are also remarkably good for you, so I keep several candy dishes filled with different kinds of nuts and nut blends. The largest candy dish is currently holding chocolate covered raisins and chocolate covered nuts. Another has almonds, which are a huge hit in my family.

Recently, I happened upon a combination that blew me completely away: Mariani Vanilla Yogurt Raisins and walnut pieces. I keep these yogurt covered raisins on hand because I’m totally addicted to them. They are ridiculously delicious. They had commandeered a large candy dish and I couldn’t find a spot for a bag of walnut pieces I’d just brought home from the store. So, I tossed the walnuts in with the yogurt covered raisins. When I passed by, I’d either pick out the raisins or the walnuts until I saw my husband grab a mixture and put them in his mouth. In an unsettling display of monkey-see/monkey-do, I jumped over and tried it for myself.

Holy deliciousness, Batman!!!

The combination reminds me of one of my favorite cookies, Iced Oatmeal Cookies. For whatever reasons, the vanilla-flavored yogurt, the raisins, and the walnuts make a powerhouse combination that convinces your mind that you’re eating the best Iced Oatmeal Cookie ever made. With less calories.

Try different combinations of nuts and dried fruit with your snackers… but, whatever you do, try the Vanilla-Flavored Yogurt-Covered Raisins paired with Walnuts first. It’ll blow you smack away. These yogurt-covered raisins are also outstanding when eaten with fruit such as pineapple wedges, grapes, strawberries, raspberries (!!!), blueberries, blackberries, and so on.

Below is a great recipe for Trail Mix Bars from Mariani – makers, not only of the yogurt covered raisins I eat like a cat with salmon, but also makers of many outstanding dried fruits and other snacks. Look for them on the shelves at your grocery store. In my favorite store, they’re located in the health food section.

Mariani Trail Mix Bars Recipe

2 cups margarine
2 cups brown sugar
2 cups white sugar
4 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
4 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. baking soda
6 cups mixture of Mariani Premium Banana Chips – crushed, raisins, mixed nuts, and chopped, Mariani Premium Mixed Fruit.
3 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
3 cups granola

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Mix margarine, brown sugar, and white sugar until creamy. Add eggs and vanilla. Sift together flour, baking powder and baking soda, and add to butter and egg mixture. Stir in trail mix, oats, and granola. When mixed, drop spoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 15 minutes.

For more healthy recipes from Mariani, see their website.

Did you know that walnuts are very good for your brain? Click the link to learn how!

Fruit Tart Pizza Recipe

by Joi on July 17, 2009

Strawberries

RECIPE INGREDIENTS:

2 Cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt
2/3 cups oil
2 cups plus 2 TBS milk
1 kiwi peeled and sliced
1 (15-1/4 oz.) can sliced peaches, drained
2 TBS sugar
1 (4 serving size) box Instant vanilla pudding
fresh blueberries, fresh strawberries, fresh raspberries…

FRUIT TART PIZZA RECIPE INSTRUCTIONS:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, and salt. Mix well.

In a small bowl, whisk together oil and 2 TBS milk. Pour into the flour mixture. Using a fork, mix until dry ingredients are moistened. Using your fingers, press dough evenly over the bottom and edge of a rimmed 12 inch pizza pan. With a fork, prick the dough all over. Bake 10 – 12 minutes or until golden brown.

Remove crust from oven and allow to cool completely.

In medium bowl, whisk together the pudding mix and the remaining milk until thickened. spread evenly over the cooled crust. Arrange fruit in a circular pattern over pudding. Begin with the kiwi in the center, then continue with the peaches and the blueberries. End with a border of strawberries.

Chill 1 to 2 hours before serving.

Serve with some fantastic, good quality vanilla ice cream, vanilla yogurt, or a dollop of whipped topping (extra style points if it’s homemade whipped topping).

Yield: 16 modest servings or 8 immodest ones!

Note: Experiment with your own favorite fruit, but keep its texture and consistency in mind. You want fruit that’ll be easier to bite through than the crust – that’s why apples wouldn’t be such an outstanding choice, unless they’re really soft or chopped very finely. You also wouldn’t want “weepy” fruit that make the crust soggy, so watermelon (though delicious!) wouldn’t be a great choice.

It’s impossible to go wrong with berries, though – raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, strawberries…

Summer Fruit Soup Featuring Honey and Cinnamon

by Joi on July 3, 2009

peaches for a cool summer soup recipe

1/2 cup honey
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 cups (16 ounces) pitted cherries or blueberries, thawed if frozen
3 large peaches, peeled, pitted and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
2 cups plain nonfat yogurt

In large saucepan, combine honey, cornstarch, vanilla and cinnamon; mix well. Stir in fruit. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat to low; simmer 5 minutes or until fruit is tender. Remove from heat; transfer to large bowl. Remove 1 cup of liquid from fruit mixture. In medium bowl, combine liquid with yogurt. Pour into small pitcher. Refrigerate both mixtures for at least two hours.

To serve, spoon fruit mixture into 4 large bowls. Pour yogurt mixture evenly over fruit in bowl.

Makes 4 servings.

For more recipes featuring one of my favorite kitchen staples (honey), visit honey.com!

A Beautiful Way to Display and Store Fruit

by Joi on February 16, 2009

Fruit Hammock

Have you been buying more fruits and vegetables lately? If you’ve jumped on the health bandwagon, you certainly have. I know, they can be costly, but I figure the cost of eating NOT eating healthy foods is much higher.

It can be hard to present fruit in an attractive way sometimes, though. I’m anal about my kitchen, I love for everything to look just so. Since fruit in the fridge is out of the question (no one in my family likes their fruit chilled), it’s destined to hang out on the counter.

Lilian Vernon has us taken care of, though with this beautiful 2-Tier Fruit Hammock.

From the Website:
Double the capacity, double your counter space! 2 tiers maximize the amount of fruits and vegetables you can keep on your countertop. The decorative chrome-plated iron design allows air to circulate so everything ripens evenly! Sturdy handle makes transporting and serving a snap! Hand wash.

The beauty is less than $20, so if you have a large family and/or an especially strong love of fruit, you might want to grab two.

A Few Delicious Orange Salad Recipes

by Joi on December 30, 2008

Arance Art Print
Mottinelli, S.
Buy at AllPosters.com

For some reason, I have oranges on the brain this morning. While they aren’t quite up there with coffee, tea, buttermilk (used in cooking, not chugging), chocolate, coconut, and pecans – I do love citrus fruit ever so much. Below are a few really fast, really easy Salad Recipes using oranges in some manner.

COTTAGE CHEESE SALAD

1 small container small curd cottage cheese
1 small box orange jello
9 oz container Cool Whip
1 small can crushed pineapple (drained)

Mix all of the ingredients together and chill.

ORANGE SALAD

1 large container Cool Whip
1 cup sour cream
1/2 package miniature marshmallows
20 oz. can crushed pineapple (drained)
17 oz. can fruit cocktail (drained)
3 oz box jello (I use cherry 99.9 percent of the time)

Combine the Cool Whip with the sour cream and dry jello. Fold in the rest of the ingredients. Chill and serve in a pretty glass bowl.