Strawberry Smoothie

In search of something for lunch last week, I was disappointed in myself for not making enough of, well, anything that yielded leftovers. Except for the corn dog casserole. Which did have leftovers. Mountains of leftovers. None of which I wanted to eat. Which left me to choose between the makings for a sandwich and some strawberries. Some old, probably-should-have-been-in-my-food-waste-post strawberries. I decided to go with the sandwich, mostly because I was scared by the strawberries. But after eating the sandwich, I was still hungry. Crud. Guess that means the strawberries get a chance afterall....

Ingredients...

...8-ish strawberries, hulled
...1/2 c. milk (yes. I used powdered. we're out of store bought. I noticed no difference.)
...1/2 c. yogurt (which also needed using up. What I was thinking when I bought a BIG container of yogurt simply so I could make yet more yogurt, is beyond me...)
...1 tsp. vanilla
...3 tbs. sugar
...1 tray of ice cubes

Directions...

Place all ingredients in blender. Blend until smooth. Enjoy!

My Thoughts...

I was really hoping this would turn out, but held my breath on the results due to the less than fresh strawberries. But I was pleasantly surprised! I couldn't even tell that the berries had been sitting in my fridge for about a week too long (no mold. promise. I think it helped that they had previously been frozen) and this turned out sooo delicious! I had a glass for lunch and I put the remaining into the freezer and had that as an afternoon snack! I'm going to try this with peaches next as I have an over abundance of these that I got on markdown and the peach popsicles I attempted aren't going over so well...

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

We have a lot of rhubarb. A. Lot. Of. Rhubarb. My dad grows it on his farm, and I'm the only one who ever cuts it down and uses it. I just think it's delicious. Especially when combined with strawberries. Oh Yum. I made an amazing batch of strawberry rhubarb jam last week...and you can bet your buttons that I will be repeating that recipe many more times before the rhubarb growing season is over. But yesterday I decided to try my hand at strawberry rhubarb pie. It's my dads favorite. And seeing as we were having a grill out at his place, I thought I would make up a pie just for him (and the rest of us of course!) to enjoy on this patriotic holiday.

The Ingredients...

...1 C. white sugar
...1/2 C. all purpose flour
...1 lb. fresh rhubarb, chopped
...2 pints fresh strawberries, sliced
...2 T. butter
...1 egg yolk

Directions...

Preheat oven to 400*. In a large bowl combine rhubarb, strawberries, flour and sugar. Stir until fruit is coated in sugar and flour. Let sit for 30 minutes.

In the mean time, ignore the pie crust in this picture. I was going to go premade. I then realized somewhere along the line I made a one crusted something which left me with only one crust to make a two crust pie...which is where these ingredients come in...


...3/4 C. oil
...1/4 C. milk
...2 C. all purpose flour

Combine all ingredients and roll out between two peices of waxed paper. Remove one side of waxed paper and flip over into pie plate. Peel off top layer of paper. Be sure to either grab two new pieces of waxed paper for the top crust, or flip the two you've already used and use the clean side for the crust to be rolled between.

Once the filling is ready, pour into bottom crust and then top with a few pats of butter. Place remaining crust on pie and brush with either an egg yolk or some milk and sprinkle with sugar. Be sure to poke openings for the pie to vent while baking. Bake at 400* for 35-40 minutes.

My Thoughts...

This smelled amazing while baking. When I pulled it out of the oven I was so disappointed by how terrible I thought it looked. But it certainly was delicious! I will definetely make this again before rhubarb season is up, and I will even make it in the winter with the rhubarb that I freeze! It was amazing!

To see more tasty treats (and a quite humurous story about grilling!), check out Tasty Tuesday over at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam! And for more great rhubarb recipe (I know I'll be trying them ALL!) check out In Season Recipe Swap over at Tammy's Recipes!

Let's Make Jam!

In an attempt to begin becoming more self sufficient, and to cut my costs at the grocery store, I am taking on making my own pantry staples. I decided to start off with jam. Strawberry Rhubarb Jam. YUMMO! I was super nervous when I started this process, I was so afraid that I was going to mess it up somehow! But it turned out to be a relatively simple process!

The ingredients...

...1 lb. chopped rhubarb
...2 lb. strawberries
...6 1/2 C. Sugar
...1/2 c. water
...1 packet liquid fruit pectin (I used Sure Jell Certo)

The directions...

Mash strawberries....

...so they resemble something like this. I used a potato masher and it worked wonderfully. Sadly, upon finishing the mashing, these eerily reminded me of the strawberries that my high school served with lunch often. Set aside.

Next, place rhubarb in the biggest saucepan you own (seriously. I used the one that I cook spaghetti in, and it was just barely big enough once everything got in there) with 1/2 cup water. Bring to a boil, about three minutes, until rhubarb is soft. Add strawberries & sugar. Cook over high heat, stirring constantly until it comes to a rolling boil. Let boil for two minutes. Quickly add packet of pectin to the boiling mixture, and stir in. Resume to boil for one minute. Quickly pour finished jam into jars or containers (if canning, insert that process here). Let stand to cool for an hour or so and thicken up. Thickening process could take several days in refrigerator. Store in refrigerator or freezer (unless you canned). ENJOY!!!

My Thoughts...

YUUMMM!! This was delicious! And super easy too! I'm going to repeat this process once other fruits are in season so we have a wide variety of jams for the year to come, as well as some extras to give as gifts. I'm excited that this process turned out to be so easy!

To see more great recipes, check out 5 Ingredient Fridays over at Paige's Place and Recipe Swap over at Grocery Cart Challenge!