Tag Archives: fruit

Friday Faves

Friday Faves

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Hello all! How are you liking my new blog design? Have to say I’m mildly obsessed. I keep looking at it and petting my computer screen — kidding of course. That is definitely one of my faves this week. I’ve loved playing around in WordPress. It makes me feel a lot more tech savvy than I really am.

So I’ve been obsessed with fruit lately. Kinda weird, I suppose, but there are worse things you could be obsessed with. I bought a big bag of pears at Trader Joe’s for three bucks last week and have been working my through them. But my favorite snack is a golden delicious apple with my homemade peanut butter dip. Now apples are delicious on their own, but paired with this dip, they are out of this world. I’ve been eating this for dessert all week (while Eric has been finishing off the berry pie we made over the weekend). It’s simple — mixed 2 tablespoons of Cool Whip and 1 teaspoon peanut butter together. Boom. Done. Enjoy the deliciousness. You can add more peanut butter if you like, but I find this ratio has a nice, subtle peanut butter flavor. I think peanut butter is one of the world’s most perfect foods.

As I wrote about a few months back, I love cookbooks. I would buy a ton more cookbooks if I had endless space (one day I will have a library in my house). So to keep my purchasing in check, I get cookbooks at the library. The libraries in Atlanta have pretty much any book you’d ever want. I then scan the recipes I want to keep using the Genius Scan app on my phone. I now am armed with a whole new arsenal of recipes I can’t wait to try, so thank you public library.

My obsession with The Kitchn continues. I find myself reading every single post everyday. That’s how you know you’d got my attention. My favorite article this week was The Best Cheeses For Tacos. I am now convinced I need to make these:

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Those are mini tacos — WITH A SHELL MADE FROM CHEESE. Here’s the recipe for those who are as interested as I am.  Now this is all I want to eat. Sounds like a potential Super Bowl party recipe to me.

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Friday Faves

Friday Faves

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Did you survive the polar vortex? It’s weeks like these that I’m glad I work from home — and have my own personal space heater.

I’m finally back in to my rhythm in the kitchen. That holidays were so busy I rarely had time to cook at home. But now we’ve been whipping up delicious meals all week. We have this fun little system — Eric thinks up something that sounds good, I recreate it off the cuff. We’ve done that twice this week with great success, recipes to follow.

One key to the success of those recipes is Better than Bouillon, specifically the chicken one.

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It’s a bit pricier than the powder bouillon, but it is so superior that it is worth it. This adds a richness to dishes that call for chicken stock that makes it seem as if you have been slow cooking it all day. I also have the beef variety, but I use the chicken one a few times a week.

I’ve also been using our Corningware Lite bakeware a lot lately.

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It’s similar to traditional CorningWare, but it’s much lighter and sleeker. When we got married, we (well, I) registered for a set of this as well as a set of Pyrex (which really, you don’t need both…but what did I know?). I use the CorningWare all the time. I rarely use the Pyrex. I just find the Pyrex too bulky. And it doesn’t clean up as nicely as the CorningWare. If you are getting married or in the market for some good bakeware, I’d definitely recommend the CorningWare Lite.

OK, now let’s talk about my love of freeze dried fruit.

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Weird, maybe a little, but pretty tasty and a good healthy snack. Two of these are from Trader Joe’s, one from Whole Foods. The peaches and oranges are awesome. The cranberries a little tart for me, but I think I’m going to mix them in to oatmeal with some honey to cut the tartness a little. I prefer the freeze dried fruit to traditional dried fruit because the sugar content isn’t that high. Both TJ’s and WF’s have a wide selection of freeze dried fruit, so if you are looking to dive in, check those places out.

Recipes

Coconut water fruit slushie

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Remember when I said I might talk about healthy stuff? Well, here we go.

Disclaimer: I do not like smoothies. I don’t know what it is. I’m guessing it has something to do with I don’t like drinking yogurt. Something with the consistency I suppose. That being said, in my mind, this is NOT a smoothie. It’s a slushie. Or a healthy slurpee. Think of it however you want.

Now I know this isn’t rocket science and I didn’t reinvent the wheel or anything. But this combo is quite delicious. It’s great to satisfy your sweet tooth when you are trying to cut back on maybe not-so-good for you things and is quite filling if you need a snack between meals.

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I used an immersion blender to make this, but a regular blender or even a Magic Bullet would be great for this. I’ve had so many of these in the past few days I’ve considered getting a Magic Bullet, but like I need another kitchen appliance.

Coconut water fruit slushie

1 cup coconut water (or whatever liquid you like: water, juice, lemon-lime soda, etc)
1/2 cup frozen fruit (I used a combination of raspberries and peaches)

Note: I prefer frozen fruit in this to fresh because it gives the slushie a thicker consistency. Fresh fruit would give more of an aqua fresca type consistency, but the choice is up to you.

1) Place all the ingredients in a bowl or blender. Pulse unless the fruit is smooth and everything is combined. Garnish with fresh mint if desired.