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.

Rainbow Fruit Skewers

I’m sure most of your kids are getting dressed up tonight and going out trick-or-treating to get totally sugared up. So why not make them a fun and healthy snack before the gorging begins? This isn’t really a recipe but I thought I would share it anyway since they are so cute and kid friendly. It seems like you can get a kid to eat anything if you serve it on a stick.

Noah is dressing as a golfer for Halloween and he is totally pumped about it. A 2 year old wanted to be a golfer you ask? Well, yes my 2 year old did. He loves going to the driving range with Joel and watched golf tournaments all summer with him. He was recently diagnosed with asthma and has to do daily breathing treatments and the only way I can get him to sit still is to put golf on. I know….he is weird. But I wouldn’t have it any other way! It’s quite the conversation starter when we have to go EVERYWHERE with his golf club and ball…the vet, doctor’s office, library, grocery store, seriously everywhere. I will have pictures for you all of my dapper little golfer soon.

Rainbow Fruit Skewers

Strawberries, cleaned and hulled
1 0r 2 orange cuties, peeled and dissected
Pineapple, peeled and sliced into bite-size chunks
2 kiwis, peeled and sliced into bite-size chunks
Blueberries
Red grapes
Greek yogurt (any flavor) for dipping
Wooden skewers

Skewer the fruit in the order listed then dip in Greek yogurt.

Key Lime Cheesecake with Fresh Strawberry Sauce {Crazy Cooking Challenge}

This month’s Crazy Cooking Challenge is cheesecake…my absolute favorite dessert! I was kind of excited to have an excuse to make a cheesecake. I have only made a couple in my life and very rarely eat cheesecake (like once a year maybe) because it is just way too dangerous for me. I would literally eat the whole thing if left alone with it. I always think of the Friends episode with the cheesecake…if you don’t know what I’m refering to you have to check it out!

While cheesecake is my favorite, I am really particular about what varieties I will devour. The crazy cookie dough peanut butter chocolate ones or others filled with tons of toppings and flavors always look really yummy but when it comes to what kind to eat I stick to the simple. I just don’t like those crazy flavors in my cheesecake. I guess I’m a cheesecake purist.

Since the Challenge recipe no longer has to come from a blog, I decided to scour my cookbooks to see if I could find a simple, yet tasty cheesecake to whip up. I went straight to one of my favorites for dessert, Classic Southern Desserts {by Southern Living}, and found just what I was looking for in a cheesecake. Not only are the flavors pure and simple but they feature sweet and zingy fruit making it the perfect summer indulgence.

I was also attracted to the recipe because it reminded me of our Florida vacation last month that now seems so far away. I enjoyed a really tasty slice of key lime pie there so I was hoping this recipe could bring me back, if only for a few minutes! The cheesecake was dense and creamy with a slight zing from the key limes. The strawberry sauce tasted so incredibly fresh and added a nice sweetness. It was definitely worth the time and calories!

Oh, and it didn’t have any cracks so I totally knocked something off my Top 100 list! Yay!

Key Lime Cheesecake with Fresh Strawberry Sauce
recipe from Classic Southern Desserts {by Southern Living}

2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter, melted
3 (8 oz.) packages cream cheese, softened
1 1/4 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 (8 oz.) container sour cream
1 1/2 tsp. lime zest
1/2 cup Key lime juice
Garnish: strawberries, strawberry sauce (recipe follows)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Stir together first three ingredients and press on bottom and 1 inch up sides of a greased 9-inch springform pan. Bake for 8 minutes; let cool. Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees F.

2. Beat cream cheese at medium speed with an electric mixer until fluffy; gradually add 1 1/4 cup sugar, beating until blended. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in sour cream, zest and Key lime juice. Pour batter into crust.

3. Bake at 325 degrees F for 1 hour adn 5 minutes; turn oven off. Let stand in oven, with door partially open, 15 minutes. Remove from oven and immediately run a knife around edge of pan, releasing sides.

4. Let cool completely in pan on a wire rack; cover and chill at least 8 hours. Garnish, if desired, and serve with strawberry sauce.

Strawberry Sauce

1 1/4 cup fresh strawberries, washed with tops removed
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp. lime zest

Process all ingredients in a food processor until smooth, stopping to scrape down sides.

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Recipe linked to Totally Tasty Tuesday, Cast Party Wednesday and Full Plate Thursday.

Strawberry Lemon Sorbet

If you are looking for a light, refreshing alternative to ice cream this month I have the recipe for you. When I say light, I don’t necessarily mean healthy, it does have 2 cups of sugar (or more)…it’s just not heavy and custardy like a traditional ice cream.

I love strawberry lemonade so when I was making ice cream for a gathering recently I thought it would be a nice combination. I looked around and found this recipe which uses a whole lemon. I had never heard of using a whole lemon in a recipe until I made Whole Lemon Blueberry Walnut Muffins and I was amazed by the lemon flavor it imparted in the muffins. For the sorbet though, I think the rind may have made the sorbet just a touch bitter so when I make this again I will add more sugar to balance it out. My strawberries may not have been sweet enough too. I’m not really sure which it was but it just needed a bit more sweetness for me. I think maybe 1/4-1/2 cup more sugar would have done it for me. If you like a really tart lemonade, then it’s probably just perfect the way it’s written.

It was a gorgeous color and really refreshing in the heat. Definitely a delicious treat to cool off with this summer!

Strawberry Lemon Sorbet
recipe from The Way the Cookie Crumbles

1 lemon, seeded and roughly chopped
2 cups sugar (or more if your strawberries aren’t very sweet or you don’t like it super tart)
2 pounds strawberries, hulled
Juice of 1 to 2 lemons

1. Place the chopped lemon and sugar in a food processor, and pulse until combined. Transfer to a bowl.

2. Puree the strawberries in a food processor, and add to the lemon mixture, along with the juice of 1 lemon. Taste and add more juice as desired. The lemon flavor should be intense but should not overpower the strawberries. Pour the mixture into an ice cream machine and churn until frozen.

Recipe linked to Cast Party Wednesday and Full Plate Thursday.

Patriotic Fruit Skewers

If you are looking for a quick, easy and cute snack for the 4th of July then I have the thing for you! Red, white and blue fruit skewers! They were super simple to put together and I think they disappeared faster than it took me to make them. It’s great to see kids grab for these fun skewers rather than chips or cookies….pretty much a mom’s dream come true!

4th of July Fruit Skewers

1 pint strawberries, washed, hulled and dried
Star shaped or mini marshmallows
1 pint blueberries, washed and dried
Wooden skewers

Thread strawberries, marshmallows and blueberries onto the wooden skewers in whatever red, white and blue pattern you desire. I did some with lots of strawberries, some with lots of blueberries….whatever you like.

Recipe linked to Full Plate Thursday, This Week’s Craving, Totally Tasty Tuesday, Tasty Tuesday, Cast Party Wednesday and What I Whipped Up Wednesday.

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!