Spring Sangria

Looking for the perfect cocktail to serve at all your spring and summer barbeques? Well, I’m sharing it with you today! While I can’t report on the full tastiness of this because of that big news I told you on Friday I can say I sampled it before the wine was added and it was so yummy. I can only imagine how much more tasty it was with the Moscato.

But, don’t worry, I got the full report from the peeps I made it for and I totally trust their opinions! It was light, refreshing, citrusy, bubbly and (a bit to Joel’s disappointment) not very boozy. It’s a wine cocktail for goodness sakes, it’s just supposed to taste good. That’s what I think at least. I personally really don’t like the taste of any kind of alcohol and would almost always opt for a cherry coke over a cocktail. I’m not a big wine fan (and now you are wondering why I’m writing about wine) but if I am going to drink it, I like the fruity, bubbly, juice tasting variety. So, I know I would have liked the spiked version of this.

It was just amazingly refreshing and will be especially perfect once the hot, humid weather strikes! I can’t wait to be able to try the full version of this.

Spring Sangria
recipe from Eat, Drink, Love

1 (750 mL) fruity white wine (I used Moscato)
3 cups lemon lime soda
2 cups pineapple juice
1/2 cup orange juice
Sliced lemons, limes and oranges
Sugar, optional

1. In a large pitcher, stir together the wine, lemon lime soda, pineapple juice and the orange juice. Then gently stir in the slices of fruit.

2. Place the sangria in the refrigerator for about 2 hours and serve. This is something you don’t want to make ahead of time because of the fruit. If you do need to make this more than two hours in advance, mix all the liquid ingredients together and chill. Then right before serving, add the sliced fruit.

3. If you want to pretty up the rims of your glasses, dip them lightly in water then in a shallow dish filled with sugar. Then fill ‘em up and enjoy!

Sneaky Green Smoothie

I have always been skeptical of smoothies with spinach. It just sounds weird and disgusting and too “granola” for me. But, I bit the bullet and gave it a try in an attempt to get in more veggies. And turns out you can’t even taste the spinach. I promise! What’s better than a delicious smoothie that is really, really good for you? Not much. We have been making them everyday the past week and haven’t gotten tired of them yet!

As you can tell, Noah loves these smoothies! He couldn’t keep his hands off this one I was trying to photograph, even though he already had his own. He wanted the “smoovie in the breakable cup.”

He loves helping make them and had to put his apron on before dumping in all the ingredients.

You can use any frozen fruit you like and feel free to mix it up to create different flavors. Another yummy variation that I adore is strawberry (replace the berries and peaches), pineapple, banana and a handful of shredded coconut. You will feel like you are on the beach somewhere! Delish!

Just to prove that you can’t taste the spinach…I gave one to Joel and didn’t tell him there was spinach in it and he totally didn’t know. And still doesn’t {insert evil laugh here}. Well, unless he’s reading this now.

Secret Green Smoothie
yields 1 large or 2 medium servings

2 cups ice cubes
1 cup orange juice (or water if you don’t want added sugar and calories)
1 banana
1 cup frozen blueberries
4-5 slices frozen peaches
1/4 cup frozen raspberries
1/4 cup frozen pineapple chunks
2 big handfuls fresh spinach

Place all ingredients into a blender and pulse until it’s smooth and no chunks remain.

Chai Tea Mix

I have never been a fan of tea but on a recent trip to the North Shore of Lake Superior my mother-in-law ordered a chai tea and I gave it a try. Surprisingly, I really enjoyed it so as soon as we got home I went on the hunt for a mix I could whip up so I could have it at home whenever the mood struck.

This chai tea mix is spicy, warm and comforting which is a nice change the hot chocolate I would normally chose when I want a hot drink (I’m not a coffee drinker either). It tastes great when mixed with water but I prefer milk for the creaminess it lends the tea.

This recipe makes a huge amount so be prepared to drink up or throw some in a jar and tie a pretty ribbon around it with mixing directions for a fun little gift.

Chai Tea Mix
recipe from allrecipes.com

1  cup nondairy dry milk powder
1 cup powdered non-dairy creamer
1 cup vanilla flavored powdered non-dairy creamer
2 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups unsweetened instant tea
1 tsp. ginger
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. cloves
1 tsp. cardamom
1 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. allspice

1. In a large bowl, combine milk powder, non-dairy creamer, vanilla flavored creamer, sugar and instant tea. Stir in ginger, cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, nutmeg and allspice. In a blender or food processor, blend 1 cup at a time, until mixture is the consistency of fine powder.

2. To serve: Stir 2 heaping tablespoons Chai tea mixture into a mug of hot water or milk.

5 Fruit Smoothie {Crazy Cooking Challenge}

Today brings back the Crazy Cooking Challenge and the item to make is fruit smoothies or shakes. Today is also a very special day in my personal life. Four years ago today, I married the man of my dreams. It’s hard to believe how fast these four years have gone and how much we have accomplished together. We became homeowners and parents. We went through an incredible amount of happy times and very few hardships. We grew up together and became the wife and husband we wanted and needed to be for each other. So this post is for you Joel. I love and cherish you more than you could ever know. Here are some of my favorite pictures from our big day and the honeymoon.

Joel and his guys. Don’t they look like they belong on the cover of a boy band cd?

Newlyweds.

First dance.

Joel’s “classic” moves.

Relaxing at Maho Bay.

Trunk Bay, St. John U.S. Virgin Islands.

I wanted to find a way to tie the challenge in with my anniversary so I decided I would search for a tropical smoothie to bring us back to our honeymoon in the Virgin Islands. I ultimately decided on this one because of the coconut and pineapple. A lot of the drinks we enjoyed there included those two ingredients so I thought it was fitting.

I’m so glad I picked this recipe from Made With Pink because it was amazing and just what I was looking for in a smoothie. The coconut and pineapple really jumped out and screamed tropical. The addition of the berries and banana helped round it out and put it over the top. I absolutely love strawberries so I think it would be great with just the pineapple, coconut and lots of strawberries.

5 Fruit Smoothie
recipe from Made With Pink

15 blueberries, frozen

1/2 banana, frozen

10 raspberries, frozen

7 large pineapple chunks, frozen

5 strawberries, frozen

2 Tbsp shredded Coconut

1/3 cup vanilla yogurt (I used Greek vanilla yogurt)

1/3 cup pineapple juice

1. Dump everything into a blend and blend until no large chunks are left. If it’s too thick, add more pineapple juice. If it’s too thin, add more frozen fruit and blend.

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DIY Smoothie Packs

And it’s Pinterest for the save again. When I saw this wonderful DIY smoothie pack idea I knew I had to give it a try. Smoothies are so stinking expensive to buy but it’s just so much more convenient rather than having to prepare all the fruit each time. Well, now with just a little prep work in advance, you can have smoothies within seconds.

You can create whatever combinations you like for these delicious homemade smoothies. I purchased bananas, pineapple, blueberries, strawberries and raspberries. You can use either fresh or frozen. I bought some frozen because the fresh did not look great and found it even better than the fresh because I didn’t have to slice and freeze it before assembling the packs. The fresh does have to be prepped and frozen in a single layer so that it doesn’t stick together in the bags.
While your fresh fruit is freezing, scoop about 1 tablespoon of yogurt into either a mini muffin tin or ice cube trays. I used a mini muffin tin and made 24 yogurt cubes. Cover and freeze until solid.
Once everything is frozen, grab it all out of the freezer and measure out about a cup and a half of fruit (whatever variety you desire…the sky is the limit) per bag. After the yogurt has sat out for a few minutes, use a spoon to scoop them out and place three in each bag.

Here is the approximate amount of ingredients I used to make 8 smoothie packs:

1 lb. strawberries
3 bananas
2 cups blueberries
1 cup pineapple
8 oz. raspberries
20 oz. yogurt

All you have to do is dump the bag in your blender, add a splash or two of milk and blend it up! Yum!

Blueberry, Banana, Peanut Butter Smoothie

 

With the new year comes new resolutions and I of course have the “be healthier” resolution on my list like so many others. Joel and I joined a local gym and I have been Zumba-ing my butt off ever since (it’s amazing and so fun…do it!). In addition, healthy eating has been a priority too. I’m not a huge fruit eater but I love smoothies so we have been making an effort to try different recipes so that we have an arsenal of options on our hands.

This was the first smoothie we tried and it was promptly put on the make again list. I love the addition of wheat germ because of the many beneficial vitamins and minerals it contains. Adding peanut butter provides an interesting and unique variation to the typical fruit smoothie. Another huge benefit of this smoothie is that we always have all of these ingredients on hand making it very convenient to whip up for breakfast or an afternoon boost.

My blueberry loving little man went wild for it. I think he would have drunk the whole batch if we would have given it to him.

Blueberry, Banana and Peanut Butter Smoothie
recipe from allrecipes.com
makes 2 servings

1 tablespoon wheat germ or flax seed meal, optional
1 banana
1/2 cup frozen blueberries
1 tablespoon peanut butter
1 teaspoon honey
1/2 cup plain yogurt (I used blueberry Greek yogurt)
3/4 cup milk

1. Put ground flax seed meal or wheat germ into blender to grind and further breakdown. This will also eliminate any bitterness from the flax seed.

2. Place the banana, blueberries, peanut butter, honey, yogurt and milk into the blender. Cover and puree until smooth. Pour into glasses to serve.

Homemade Ginger Ale {Guest Post at Mom’s Crazy Cooking}

I am so excited to be guest posting at Mom’s Crazy Cooking today! And I’m bringing an awesome holiday gift idea for your family, friends and neighbors….homemade ginger ale. Yep, you heard me right. Please click here to check out the recipe!

Hot Caramel Apple Cider + Rant

Pretty sure our neighbors are hoarders. It started out with three grills. Two I can understand if you are some kind of barbeque master. And if they were in the backyard. And if they were in good shape. Not three rusted out grills in the driveway. That I don’t understand. Then came the pile of cinder blocks. We have lived here for almost 3 years and they have never moved. Slowly, things have taken over and they can no longer park in their garage. If you want to use it for storage, whatever. But it’s not the best idea when you live in the toughest weather city in America. Yep, that’s right. Toughest.

Anyway, I drove by the other day and saw that there is a couch now. In case they want to sit amongst the junk? It’s spilling out of the garage and now part of their driveway is covered with random items. It has spread to the backyard. They have all kinds of building materials strewn across the yard. Looks like they may be building a deck but it’s November. I don’t think they will get very far before the snow plagues us. Which means it will be there for at least 5 months. Boo. They also have stuff in one of the empty lots inbetween us (lucky there are 3).

When Joel got home from work yesterday, he informed me that they have added 3 mattresses to their “collection” on the front porch. He knows how much the whole situation irritates me and gets quite a kick out of it.

I was tempted to take pictures one day. Ok, so I did. But I won’t post them. That would just be rude. Not that this whole rampage isn’t, right? Right? So I’m sure by now you are wondering how this rant is related to Hot Caramel Apple Cider. Well, it isn’t. I just had to get it off my chest. It’s all a bit ridiculous. So here is the recipe. It’s good….really really good. I’m done with the complaining for today.

Hot Caramel Apple Cider
recipe from Divine Dinner Party

1 gallon apple cider
2 cups caramel sauce
1 1/2 Tbsp. vanilla extract
Rum, brandy or apple brandy (optional, to taste)

1. In a large, non-reactive pan (or in the crock pot), combine apple cider, caramel and vanilla.
2. Heat over medium, stirring, until the cider is hot and the caramel is incorporated.
3. Drink as is or add rum, brandy or apply brandy to taste.  The booze can either be added to the whole batch (heat gently, but don’t allow it to boil) or you can  simply add a shot of booze to each adult’s mug before serving.

Guest Post at Cajun Sugar Pie: Vanilla Hot Chocolate Mix

I am guest posting today at Cajun Sugar Pie and sharing an amazing recipe for a Hot Chocolate Mix. Please hop over to check it out.

And it marks another item off my Top 100!

Fruit Infused Rum

I hope that you all had a great 4th of July! We drove down to Nebraska where my parents live and had a great time. We spent the whole weekend either outside swimming, at the zoo and of course blowing up lots of explosives! It was great spending lots of time with our family and friends. Living so far away we really cherish the time we get to share with our loved ones.

Speaking of summer and outside fun, I have the perfect idea to spice up your summer cocktails. Infuse your favorite liquor with you favorite summer fruits.  Many bottled liquors and mixes taste artificial but this is sure to taste pure, especially if you use fruit that is in season. The possibilities are endless with this booze infusion.  Combine your favorite liquor and fruit to create a fresh, clean tasting liquor that you cannot find in any store.

I just started a pineapple rum and a strawberry rum about a week ago so I have not tasted them yet but I wanted to share this with you now so that you could try it out this summer.

First, clean and prep your fruit. Get rid of anything you wouldn’t eat (pit, cores, stems, seeds, skins depending on the fruit). Then dice into chunks and place them in a clean mason jar.

Pour in your liquor then seal the jar tightly and store in the fridge until you reach your desired taste. It could take as little a week or as long as a month depending on the strength of the fruit.

Use your imagination to create your combinations. We aren’t big drinkers and the only liquor we really like is rum so we stuck to that but tequila, gin or vodka would also work perfectly for this. Try cherry vodka or mango tequila.

I’m thinking of using my infused rums for daiquiris, mojitos or homemade spiked lemonade.

Idea from bonappetit.com.

Linked to Everyday Sisters Sharing Sunday!