Fruit Tart

Recipe found here 

Before I put the filling on the crust, I used a pastry brush and brushed melted semi-sweet chocolate chips on the crust so it wouldn't get soggy.

Healthy Breakfast Smoothie (2)

For a creamier version of the Healthy Breakfast Smoothie try this one:

Ingredients:

2/3 cup Almond Milk

5 medium Strawberries

1/2 medium Bananas

1/2 Zucchini

1 tbsp Ground Flax Seed

5 pieces Frozen Mango Chunks

1 cup (large handful) Baby Spinach

1/4 tsp Cinnamon

Directions:

Cut banana and zucchini into chunks and place everything in a blender and blend until smooth. Enjoy!

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size: 1 shake

Calories 229

Calories from Fat 59.0

Total Fat 6.56g

Sodium 136.78mg

Total Carbohydrate 40.51g

Dietary Fiber 10.49g

Sugars 24.35g

Protein 6.27g

Apple Pie (with crumb top)

Ingredients:

1 frozen pie crust

Filling:

3 Granny Smith apples

2 Gala Apples

2 Tbsp Flour

3/4 c Sugar

1/4 c Brown Sugar

1/2 tsp Nutmeg

1 1/2 Tbsp Cinnamon

pinch of Salt

1 1/2 tsp lemon juice

Topping:

1 cup Unbleached Flour

1/2 cup Brown Sugar

1/2 cup Unsalted Butter (softened)

Filling: Peel and core the apples and cut them into somewhat thin slices. Then pour the lemon juice over them. In a bowl mix flour, sugars, nutmeg, cinnamon, and salt. Then pour over apples and mix with hands until all apples are thoroughly coated. Pour the apple filling into the pie crust.

Topping: In a medium bowl, mix together the sugar and flour. Mix in butter with a fork or stand mixer just until the topping is crumbly. Place topping on filling, cover the edges of the pie crust with aluminum foil (shiny side out) and bake at 400 for 40-45 minutes.

Healthy Breakfast Smoothie (1)

I started thinking the other day, that I haven't been getting enough vegetables in my diet, but there is only so much I can buy without wasting it. I decided to try adding the vegetables I love for dinner, to my breakfast and see how I like it. Most of this recipe came from my mom, but I had some flax in my cupboard and decided to use it. The roasted flax seed overpowers the spinach and adds a nice nutty flavor, so it tastes like a fruit and nut smoothie, rather than a spinach smoothie.

Ingredients:

1 can Dole 100% Pineapple Juice (6 oz)

5 medium Strawberries

1/2 medium Bananas

1/2 Zucchini

1 tbsp Golden Roasted Flax Seed (whole seeds)

5 pieces Frozen Mango Chunks (Trader Joe's)

2 or 3 handfuls of baby spinach (I think that's about a cup of spinach)

Directions:

Cut banana and zucchini into chunks and place everything except spinach in a blender and blend until smooth. Then add spinach and blend until smooth. Enjoy!

Calories: 269

Dietary Fiber: 6.15g

Protein: 4.75g

Peach-Plum Jam (Frozen)

Ingredients:
2 cups chopped fresh peaches (2 large peaches)

2 cups chopped fresh plums (about 9 plums)

Ball® freezer jam fruit pectin

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/2 tsp cinnamon

Directions:

Peel and chop fruit. I like my jam more liquefied than chunky, so I pulsed the chopped fruit in my magic bullet. Combine lemon juice and fruit in a large bowl. Let sit for 10 minutes. Then add Pectin, sugar, and cinnamon to the fruit. Stir for 3 minutes. Place jam in jars and allow to set for 30 minutes. Refrigerate or Freeze. Refrigerated jam can be stored for 3 weeks. Frozen jam can be stored for 1 year.

Plum Jam (cooked)

Ingredients:
5 cups of plums, chopped and pitted
2 tbsp of freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 packet powdered fruit pectin
1 cup honey (depends on the sweetness of the plums. Increase/decrease as per taste. I used honey instead of sugar to try something new, but you can use sugar)
1/2 cup water


Mix the plums, pectin and lemon juice in a large pot and cook on medium heat. The plums will start liquefying slowly. While slightly mushy, add 1/2 cup water, stir well and cook until it comes to a boil. Remove the foam that forms on the top (mine didn't actually have very much foam, so I just let it be). Add the honey or sugar, mix and cook for another 10-15 minutes until it all starts coming together as one thick syrup consistency.

The Canning Process (if you've never canned before, this is a great place for a tutorial):

Alternatively with soapy water, clean the jam can well, along with the lid. Lightly dry it and then drop them in a big pot of water. Bring them to a boil. Make sure your jars are submerged well.

Lift them carefully and lightly dry them with paper towels. They should be hot so that the bottle does not break when you pour the boiled jam inside. Slowly pour the jam into the jar and leave a 1/2-1/8 inch space between the jam and the top of the jar.

Close the lid tightly and invert the bottle to help the Jam set for about 5 minutes.

Now slowly place the jars, straightup, inside the hot boiling water and leave it for another 5-8 minutes. This is necessary to kill the bacteria in the jam. If you live in higher altitudes, then leave the jars in for about 10min. Keep in mind, too much boiling can make the jam runny.

Remove and refrigerate the jars once completely cooled.

Serve on toast or with toasted Trader Joe's ciabatta bread and Brie cheese. Yum!

Blueberry Muffins (from scratch)

Sunday morning I had a craving for blueberry muffins. I had previously purchased a ton of blueberries and didn't know what to do with them, so I froze them. Next time I think I'll double the recipe. The cinnamon topping on this was so delicious. I may even substitute the blueberries for a different type of fruit.

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup white sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1 egg

1/3 cup milk

1 cup blueberries (fresh or frozen)

1/2 cup white sugar

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup butter, cubed

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Grease muffin cups or line with muffin liners.

Combine 1 1/2 cups flour, 3/4 cup sugar, salt and baking powder. Place vegetable oil into a 1 cup measuring cup; add the egg and enough milk to fill the cup. Mix this with flour mixture. Fold in blueberries. Fill muffin cups right to the top, and sprinkle with crumb topping mixture.

To Make Crumb Topping: Mix together 1/2 cup sugar, 1/3 cup flour, 1/4 cup butter, and 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon. Mix with fork, and sprinkle over muffins before baking.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until done.

Yield: 9 muffins

Coconut Fruit Dip

**update** they now sell the cream of coconut in a squeeze bottle, so I use about 1/2 a bottle for the recipe.

Ingredients:

1 can cream of coconut (you find this in the drink mix isle, usually next to the margarita mix)

1 large pkg instant vanilla pudding (use it dry)

1 8 oz pkg cool whip (small size)

Using beaters, mix the cream of coconut and the pudding together. Let it sit in the refrigerator for about 30 min. Then add the cool whip. It can be a little grainy for a while, so it's best to make this the day before you plan to use it. I have made it up to 48 hours in advance and it's fantastic.

Amy's Apple Pie

1 cup sugar

1/3 cup flour

1 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp cinnamon

dash of salt

8 cups sliced tart apples

3 Tbsp butter

Topping:

1 cup flour

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 tsp cinnamon

Place apples in a large bowl. In medium bowl combine all other ingredients. Coat apples with mixture. Place in 9 inch pie crust. Combine flour, brown sugar, and cinnamon in bowl. Use pastry cutter to blend butter into the mixture. Crumble the topping over the apples. Bake at 425 for 40 to 50 minute. You may want to place tin foil around the edges of the crust to keep them from burning.

Yield 1 - 9 inch pie

Jillian's Lemon Bars

Crust:

1 cup Butter softened

½ cup Powdered Sugar

2 cups Flour

Blend together in mixer, press into greased pan, bake for 15-20 minutes on 350°. Let cool for about 30 minutes.

Filling:

4 Eggs

2 cups Sugar

6 tablespoons Lemon Juice

¼ cup Flour

Mix, pour on cooled crust, bake for 30 minutes on 350°. Refrigerate for 8 hours. They actually taste best if they have been refrigerated for 24 hours.

Fresh Cranberry Apple Tarts

2 Pillsbury® refrigerated pie crust (from 15-oz box), softened as directed on box. (or use 2 frozen pie shells)

4 small granny smith apples

1 cup cranberries

1 1/4 cup sugar

2 tbsp maple syrup

1/4 cup flour

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 dash nutmeg

1/2 tsp lemon juice*

Preheat oven to 400. Thaw pie crusts at room temperature 20 to 30 min. Roll out pie crust and cut into 4 inch circles. I used a 4 inch round cookie cutter. Press the dough in a cupcake pan.

Core and peel apples, cut into cubes. Place cranberries, lemon juice, maple syrup, sugar, salt, and flour in saucepan and bring to boil on high, stirring constantly. Turn heat to medium and simmer for 2 minutes. Add apples, cinnamon, and nutmeg and simmer for 5 minutes.

Place filling in the pie crusts. Cut remaining pie crusts into small strips and make a lattice top. Bake at 400 for 18 minutes.

If you wanted to make this into a pie, use 6 small granny smith apples instead of 4 and bake for 45 minutes.

Healthy Banana Oatmeal cookies (sugar-free)

3 ripe bananas
2 cups rolled oats
1/4 cup pecans (optional)
1 tsp vanilla
1/3 cup oil (substitute applesauce)
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg

Mash bananas in bowl. Add remaining ingredients and mix well. Let mixture sit for 15 minutes. Place spoonfuls on greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes.

(I cookie using applesauce is 52 calories)

Nuts about Berries

Ingredients: 

1 cup romaine lettuce

1 small handful blueberries

1 small handful raspberries

4 strawberries (sliced)

1 small handful blackberries

poppy seed salad dressing (optional)

6 cinnamon sugar almonds crushed

If you visit the street fair in Huntington Beach on Tuesdays, you can pick up a snack pack of cinnamon-sugared almonds for $3.

Banana Bread (Whole Wheat and Sugar Free)

This recipe was adapted from a Zucchini Bread recipe found in Breaking the Food Seduction by Dr. Neal Barnard. M.D.

Ingredients:
2 cups whole wheat flour*
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1 1/2 cups smashed banana (or pumpkin or shredded zucchini)
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/4 cup apple juice concentrate, thawed (undiluted)
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
1 Tbsp canola oil (or vegetable)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 350F. Mist an 8 1/2 x 4 1/2-inch loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray and set aside. Place flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and cloves in a large mixing bowl, and stir together using a dry wire whisk. Place remaining ingredients, except walnuts, in a separate bowl, stir together until well combined. Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients. Mix just until dry ingredients are evenly moistened. Stir walnuts**, and mix until they are evenly distributed. Spoon batter into prepared loaf pan. Bake on center rack for 50 to 55 minutes until cake tester comes out clean and let cool completely before slicing or storing. Wrap cooled bread tightly. It will keep at room temperature up to 3 days, refrigerate up to 7 days, freeze up to 30 days.

*for a lighter textured bread, use 1 cup whole wheat, 1 cup all-purpose flour
**I don't like nuts in my bread, so I leave them out.

Blueberry & Custard-Filled Star Puffs

• 1 sheet (from a 17-ounce package) frozen puff pastry, thawed
• 1 package (3-3/8 ounces) instant vanilla pudding and pie filling
• 1 cup milk
• 1 container (8 ounces) sour cream
• 1 pint (about 2 cups) fresh blueberries
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh mint (optional)
• 1/2 teaspoon grated orange peel
• Confectioners sugar

Preheat oven to 400F. On a work surface carefully unfold puff pastry; with a rolling pin roll pastry out 1/2 inch wider than its original dimension. Using a 3-inch star-shaped cookie cutter*, cut out 12 stars. With a spatula transfer stars to an ungreased baking sheet 1 inch apart. Bake until puffed and golden, about 15 minutes. Transfer stars to a wire rack; cool slightly. Using a sharp knife cut stars in halves horizontally; cool completely.

To prepare sauce: In a medium bowl place pudding mix and milk. Using an electric mixer, beat until mixture is smooth, about 2 minutes. Fold in sour cream; refrigerate covered, until thickened, about 15 minutes. In another medium bowl combine blueberries, sugar, mint and orange peel; refrigerate covered, until ready to serve. Using a small strainer sprinkle tops of stars with confectioners sugar; set aside. To serve: On each dessert plate place 2 star bottoms; spoon on 1/3 cup sauce and 1/3 cup blueberries; top with 2 reserved star tops.

YIELD: 6 servings

*If star shaped cutter is unavailable, cut a star from heavy cardboard; lightly place on pastry; with tip of a knife, cut out stars.

Easy Peach Cobbler

2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
3 tsp. baking powder
2 sticks butter
1 1/2 to 2 cups milk
2 large cans sliced peaches
2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup sugar

Melt butter in a 9x13 casserole dish in 375 degree oven while combining flour, sugar, and baking powder. Add milk to the dry ingredients and stir until blended.

(Method 1): Pour the batter into the melted butter; dribble peach juice into the mixture and add peaches. Sprinkle top with cinnamon and sugar. Bake 30 to 40 min at 375 degrees

(Method 2): Arrange peaches and juice in melted butter. Stir cinnamon into pan. Drizzle batter back and forth over fruit. Sprinkle with remaining sugar. Bake 30 to 45 minutes or until golden brown

I used method 2 and it turned out wonderfully.

Strawberry Cream Cheese Pie

I made this recipe while Vi cooked and amazing meal using the fresh herbs from his garden. If you ever get the opportunity to try his food, DO IT!








3 pkg cream cheese
1 cup powdered sugar
1 cup heavy whipping cream (whipped to soft peak)
1 pkg strawberry glaze*
1 16oz pkg strawberries sliced**
2 pie crusts (cooked)

Beat cream cheese and powdered sugar in a medium bowl. Fold whipped cream into cream cheese mixture. Spread cream cheese mixture into pie shells. Mix strawberry glaze and strawberries in separate bowl. Place mixture on top of cream cheese. Chill 4-24 hours. Best made the day before. Serve with whipped cream.

* I actually prefer using strawberry Danish Dessert instead of Strawberry Glaze because the store bought glaze has a tendency to taste like plastic, but I had a hard time finding in here in California. It was still a very good dessert.
**You can substitute raspberries and use raspberry Danish Dessert.

Berry Cream Cupcakes

Cupcakes

1 (18.25-ounce) box white cake mix (recommended: Duncan Hines Moist Deluxe)

1 1/3 cups water

3 large eggs whites

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

2 teaspoons almond extract

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Filling

2 (6-ounce) containers fresh raspberries, cut in half

OR 1 (16-ounce) container fresh strawberries, coarsely chopped

1 cup heavy whipping cream

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/3 cup powdered sugar, plus additional for dusting

Line 18 muffin cups with muffin papers. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Using an electric mixer, beat the cake mix, water, egg whites, melted butter, almond extract, and vanilla extract in a large bowl for 2 minutes, or until the batter is well blended. Using about 1/3 cup of batter for each cupcake, spoon the batter into the prepared muffin cups. Bake the cupcakes until they are very pale golden on top, about 15 minutes. Cool the cupcakes completely on a cooling rack.

Using a fork, coarsely mash 1 1/2 containers of raspberries in a medium bowl. Beat the cream, vanilla, and 1/3 cup of powdered sugar in a large bowl until firm peaks form. Fold the mashed raspberries into the whipped cream. Remove the muffin papers from the cupcakes and cut the tops off of each cupcake. Spoon the raspberry whipped cream atop the cupcake bottoms. Place the cupcake tops on the cupcakes. Dust with more powdered sugar and serve with the remaining berries.