Honey Lime Fruit Salad

I love to have fruit in the house for healthy snacking but sometimes it can get a little boring on it’s own. When I was a kid, we ate our fair share of fruit salad. Our fruit salad consisted of our favorite fruits mixed with a little cool whip. So yummy! But this time around, I needed a dairy-free version as my in-laws were visiting and my mother-in-law doesn’t eat dairy. I remembered this recipe I came across quite awhile ago and thought it would be the perfect way to make simple sliced fruit a little more special at breakfast.

The honey lime dressing was a bit sweet but had an amazing citrus zing that was just perfect on the fruit. You could use any fruit you like or have on hand for this recipe. I think bananas would be a great addition as long as it was being eaten right away. Don’t mix in the “dressing” too soon or the strawberries will get really soggy. I made it about a half hour before serving so it had a little time to chill together but not too long to get mushy.

This is a perfectly light and refreshing side that will be perfect throughout the much anticipated spring and summer!

Honey Lime Fruit Salad
recipe from Oh You Cook

1 pint strawberries
1 pint blueberries
1  bunch (about 1 1/2 lbs.) seedless grapes
1/4 cup honey
juice from 2 limes (about 2-3 tablespoons)

1. Rinse strawberries, blueberries and grapes then gently pat dry. Hull strawberries, then cut each in half or quarters. Remove stems from grapes and blueberries, if any.

2. Gently combine all three in a large bowl or aluminum tray. Set aside.

3. In a small bowl, whisk together honey and lime juice. Pour over fruit.

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!

Super Bowl Menu

We are hosting the Super Bowl this year for the second year in a row and I am totally ordering pizza for the second year in a row. It’s easy and makes my life less stressful. But of course I can’t just have pizza. I could never have at least one homemade thing at a gathering…it’s just not my style. Sooo, in addition to the pizza I am going to prepare some dips and desserts for our guests. I’m pretty darn excited about them so I thought that I would share them with you now in case you want to try them for the big game. I will feature them in the future if they are a hit among the crowd.

Buffalo Chicken Dip

Mexican Cheesy Corn Dip from Piece, Love and Cooking

Caramel Peanut Butter Dip for Apples

Dessert is a toss up right now…either mini fruit pizza’s or Blue Moon cupakes…ooooor both. I just can’t decide. Blue Moon cupcakes would be perfect for the game but mini fruit pizza’s would be so cute and fun.

Blue Moon Cupcakes from Erica Sweet Tooth

Mini Fruit Pizza’s (store bought or prepared sugar cookies with frosting…if I make these I’m going to frost the cookies then set out the fruit so everybody can create their own using the fruit they prefer)

Fruit Pizza

This is one of my husband’s favorite desserts. It’s easy, delicious and super adaptable to personal preferences. We like strawberries, blueberries, pineapple, bananas and kiwi’s but you can add whatever fruits are your favorite to make it the perfect fruit pizza for your taste. Other tasty additions would be mandarin oranges, raspberries, blackberries or super ripe peaches.

This is a great dessert to bring to summer barbeques and is always a hit. What’s not to like with a sugar cookie crust, creamy sweet frosting and fresh, seasonal fruit? If your kids love to help in the kitchen, this is a great recipe to get them involved. They can help press the cookie dough in the pizza pan, spread the frosting and arrange the fruit on top. It’s especially great if they are picky eaters because they will be more likely to eat the fruit if they helped put it together.

If you want to add bananas to the pizza, I recommend waiting until just before serving so that they do not brown. Please try this easy fruit pizza, you won’t regret it!

Fruit Pizza

8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 cup cool whip
Roll of sugar cookie dough, found in refrigerated section
Assorted sliced fruit

1. Press sugar cookie dough into a pizza pan and bake at 350 degrees for about 12 minutes. Cool.

2. Mix cream cheese, sugar, vanilla and cool whip together then spread over the cooled crust.

3. Top with desired fruit and enjoy.

Cheesecake Filled Strawberries

I am a perfectionist. I expect everything to be done just right (especially when I am doing it myself). I put way too much stress on myself because I won’t let anyone help me, then it all builds up and I crack. This is something I’m trying to work on and admitting it should be my first step, right? All this talk is currently in relation to Noah’s upcoming FIRST birthday party. Of course everything has to be planned out weeks, if not months, ahead of time. Everything has to be homemade and I usually won’t accept any help that is offered (I’m stubborn too). My mantra is to “let people help and let things go” this time around. I’ll let you know how that goes.

Well, with the festivities only weeks away my brain is on overload which quickly causes my stress level and blood pressure to rise.  But when I saw these beautiful berries at Herzog’s Country Fresh I knew that they would help melt the stress away, if only for a few minutes. And what could be better than stuffing them with a cheesecake-like filling? Dipping them in chocolate too? Is that what you said? I thought of that but decided to use a little restraint but oh that would be good!

The original filling recipe tasted too much like plain ole’ cream cheese to me so I added quite a bit more powdered sugar to sweeten them up. It turned out a little runny but was really yummy (like pumpkin roll filling if you have ever had it). My strawberries were pretty small so I used a 1/4 teaspoon to scoop out the middles. Then I piped in the sweet cream cheese. Cut a bit of the bottom off of the strawberry before hand if you want them to stand up.

Cheesecake Filled Strawberries
12-24 strawberries, depending on size
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Optional toppings:
Blueberries
Slivered almonds
Melted chocolate

1. Clean and dry strawberries. Slice off top and a bit of the bottom of the berries then scoop out the tops.
2. Place cream cheese, powdered sugar and vanilla in a food processor. Place the filling in a piping bag and pipe into the strawberries. Top with blueberries or other topping options.

Linked on Cupcake Apothecary and Everyday Sisters Sharing Sunday!

Classic Southern Dessert Series: Lemon Bars

I just bought the most amazing dessert cookbook, Classic Southern Desserts by Southern Living and I am loving pretty much every recipe in it.  I am a true Southern girl at heart although we only lived in the South for about 5 years.  Because I am digging this cookbook so much, I decided to start my first series on this blog.  Occasionally, I will feature a recipe from this book and the first is Lemon Bars.

I love just about any lemon dessert you may throw at me but I have never made or eaten lemon bars.  I truly do not know how I have gone almost 25 years without trying them out.  It really is a shame that I have wasted all this time and I may have to make up for it with these little babies.

Lemon Bars
Recipe from Classic Southern Desserts by Southern Living

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup powdered sugar, sifted
1 cup butter, softened
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 cups granulated sugar
2 Tbsp. cornstarch
5 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 tsp. lemon zest
1/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
2 Tbsp. butter, melted
1/4 cup powdered sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine first 4 ingredients; beat at medium speed with an electric mixer until blended. Pat mixture into a greased 13×9 baking dish. Bake for 18 minutes or until golden.
2. Combine 2 cups granulated sugar and cornstarch. Add eggs and next 3 ingredients; beat well. Pour mixture over crust.
3. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until set. Let cool completely and chill well.
4. Sift 1/4 cup powdered sugar over top. Cut into bars.

Linked to Cupcake Apothecary, Sweet as Sugar Cookies, Everyday Sisters and Sharing Sundays.