So last night I was stalking Foodie Facebook pages and came across quite a few really, really good ones! One of them was Pampered Chef Consultant - Carol's Corner where this awesome idea came from! I love me some fruit and have never had it grilled, but now that I've read this, I can't wait to go fruit shopping and bust out the grill and get busy! Doesn't this grilled peach look fantastic??
Grilling fruit intensifies its taste and caramelizes its natural sugars. Try grilled peaches on spinach and chicken salad, bacon and brie burgers with grilled apple, grilled watermelon and mango with shrimp or a grilled plum salad with gorgonzola cheese and pecans! Or transform it into simple, tasty, beautiful desserts with a little ice cream, fruit sorbet, whipped cream or a drizzle of balsamic!
Do you think just because you're dieting, you can't have cheesecake....well, take a look again because for a slice of this little piece of heaven is only 168 calories baby!! Add a delicious topping of blueberry goo, and it's irresistible!
If you watch cooking shows or are an avid cook, I'm sure you've heard the word Blanch numerous times, but what exactly is it you ask??? Well, Blanching is a two-step process in which foods are plunged into boiling water, usually for only a minute or two and then put into ice water to rapidly stop the cooking process. Blanching is one of those techniques that home cooks do not often employ, but it is a useful technique to know. It is easy to do, it doesn't take much time, and it can make life in the kitchen easier. Below I will give you a "how to" and "why" to blanch your foods.
These wonderful and beautiful snack is not gonna last long at your next BBQ!
Fresh flour tortillas are quick to cook up in a pan and produce unbelievably flaky chips when baked. This exquisitely flavored Italian cream cheese is worth the money. Slather it on cinnamon-sugar, baked flour tortilla chips. Then top with fresh fruit and white chocolate shavings for a snack or dessert that will start a celebration in your mouth. If you can’t find Mascarpone, substitute softened and sweetened cream cheese, or whipped cream cheese. For us calorie watchers we can use yogurt cheese or a low-fat Swiss cheese.
This easy and fun way of preparing mangoes is sometimes called making mango porcupines. First you use a sharp knife to fillet each side of the mango, cutting off the ‘cheek’, and getting as close to the mango pip as you can.
Then on each cheek make cuts in the mango about 2cm (1/2 in) apart in a criss-cross pattern, but don’t cut through the skin. Now if you push the skin from underneath it will pop the inside out, and the squares become mango cubes that are easy to spoon off or schloop up with your tongue. Then you can go back to peel and eat the small amount of mango left around the pip.
Cut chunks from the skin to serve.
(The skin can cause irritation, so it should not be eaten.)
The delicious and juicy mango has long been one of the world's most popular fruits. The fruit's flavor is often described as an exotic mix of pineapple and peach. Mangoes are available from April to September, but June and July usually offer the best pick and prices. Mangoes taste so good that people forget they are also healthy! Discover how the “king of fruits” can help your health by reading these 10 health benefits.
When it comes to kids, I think they are precious but I don't have any at this time in my life (because I like to give them back to their parents lol ) but that's okay because I'm sure a lot of my readers do and I want to make sure that their little cherubs, devils, or heathens are taken care of health wise too!! So with that being said, I found this little article in Parents Magazine and thought it could be helpful to some of you who are struggling with picky eaters or for those of you who just need some inspiration or creativity in some snack foods for your kids.
Your kids will love this fruity combination of tomatoes, cantaloupe, apples, and a hint of lime. If you want to tone down the heat, use just one seeded jalapeno or none at all. Packed with lycopene from the tomato, vitamins A and C from the melon, and fiber from the apple, this healthy and delicious snack is a big winner.
Raisins have a lot of good things going for them such as fiber, potassium, and vitamins. Even if your picky eaters aren't going for a handful of raisins out of the box, here is a super yummy raisin snack they won't be able to pass up. Kids will love to dip and swirl apple wedges or carrot sticks for a healthy and delicious scoop of creamy covered raisins.
These are sooo pretty!! You can use whatever kind of fruit that you want and for a little extra health kick, use a whole wheat pretzel stick instead of the white flour ones. Make sure you give this to your child with a bowl and spoon too because if they lick it to hard, the pretzel might break and we don't want any body crying cuz their popsicle is on the floor!
All you need are 2 cups low-fat vanilla yogurt ( or you can use toddler yogurt - less sugar) 1 cup assorted berries (raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, chopped strawberries)
5 pretzel rods, halved, or 10 baked snack stick crackers . To Make It, gently stir together the yogurt and fruit in a large bowl. Spoon into 4-ounce ice-pop molds or 3-ounce paper cups. (Dixie cups would be great!) Cover molds or cups with foil; use a sharp knife to cut a small hole in the foil and insert cut side of pretzel rod or snack stick. Freeze until firm. Remove foil and mold or cup before serving. These will keep in the freezer for up to a month. Makes 6 pops.
1. Combine peanut butter, yogurt, milk, 2 tablespoons honey, and vanilla in a food processor or blender until smooth.
2. Pour peanut-butter mixture into eight 6- to 7-ounce paper cups or pop molds until they're one-third full. Cover and freeze for 1 hour. Cover and chill remaining peanut-butter mixture until needed.
3. Stir together raspberries and juice, divide among the cups or molds, and insert sticks. Cover and freeze for an hour. Then fill with remaining peanut-butter mixture and freeze for at least 8 hours, or until firm.
4. Let stand at room temperature for about 5 minutes before unmolding. If you want, spoon honey around the rims and sprinkle on sesame seeds.
These easy peasy popsicles are bursting with fruity yumminess - All you have to do is pour some Capri Sun (whatever flavor you like best) into a popsicle mold, then add your favorite cut up fresh fruit then freeze! These would be great for the kids and a great conversation treat for that summer BBQ!
As I was growing up...who am I kidding..I STILL love fruit Roll-ups and I had this sudden craving for one so I went on a hunt and I found this recipe on Georgia Pellegrini's web site and fell in love! Make sure you check her page out cuz she shows step-by-step pictures of how to do this! I love that she calls it Fruit Leather!!
