Fruit for Dessert

Fruit for Dessert

We have had a lot of sweets around the house for the last month or so with Easter baskets, birthday party gift bags coming home, and a recent trip to Jungle Jim's in Cincinnati with Thomas and Brennan.  They chose several international sweets that we've been enjoying a little at a time.

But it's not often that we eat real dessert after a family meal.

What we've been doing instead each night is enjoying fresh fruit with flavored Balsamic vinegars.

I shared on our family blog that we have a new Olive Oil and Balsamic store in town. 

Thomas and I enjoyed a special tasting with friends last month.

Our favorite fruits to dip in Balsamic are fresh strawberries and fresh pineapple.

With strawberries we like the Fig Balsamic.  I chose that one the first time I went to our local store.  I absolutely loved it.

With pineapple we like Thomas's choice - Cinnamon Pear.  Mmmm.

While fancy Balsamics are certainly not necessary to dress up fresh fruit, it sure makes it fun and more like dessert for our family!

Enjoy!

Curried Cream of Celery Soup

Curried Cream of Celery Soup

I have a folder in the kitchen where I stick all the magazine recipes I've ripped out over the years.

I've cleaned it out and have mostly healthy family recipes now.

I was not all that inspired when it came to dinner a week ago, so I asked the boys to go through the folder and choose 3 recipes each that they would like to help me make.

Surprisingly, this is one that Thomas chose, and we made it recently.

I found it in the April/May 2012 Vegetarian Times.

You start by heating olive oil in a large pot and adding the celery, leek, and salt.

Cook it for 5 minutes until the vegetables are soft.

While that's cooking I chopped up the two apples, then added them to the vegetables along with curry powder and let it combine.

Then I added the remaining ingredients and allowed the dish to simmer for awhile.

Then I used my handheld blender to puree until smooth.

I added the lime juice, and seasoned with salt & pepper.

We topped the soup with roasted almonds and celery leaves

We liked the soup, but found it rather spicy, so I'm cutting the curry powder by half the next time I make it.  The modified version is below.

I think the soup was even better warmed up the second day!

Enjoy!



Vigo Beans and Rice

Vigo Beans and Rice

We have discovered this packaged dinner that is really great and I wanted to share it.

I picked up the Vigo Red Beans and Rice when I was at Jungle Jim's in Cincinnati a couple of months ago. 

Then my friend Vinita told me that our local Kroger also has it so I stopped by and found out they also carry the Black Beans and Rice.

I don't like a lot of packaged rice dishes (sorry, I don't really like Zatarans), but Vigo brand is really good.

You simply bring 3 1/2 cups of water to a boil in a skillet.  Then you add the package, stir, cover and simmer for 20 or so minutes.  And you're ready to serve.

My entire family really likes it and it makes such a healthy, quick dinner.

If you were so inclined you could add cooked kielbasa sausage or chicken very easily.

We just like it as is, with a side dish like broccoli.

Enjoy!



Vegetarian Tacos

Vegetarian Tacos

Sometimes when I am not creative with what I want to cook for dinner in the coming nights, I'll ask the boys for a couple of suggestions.  Thomas invariably asks for a Taco Night.

Taco Night is awesome, healthy, and makes life easy for me because everyone can add what they want to their tacos.  Last night we had a vegetarian version and it was great.

I usually do ground beef or shredded chicken, but went with beans instead and it was really good.  I don't think anyone even noticed we didn't have meat.

I usually have corn tortillas, flour tortillas, and taco shells on hand, so I warmed a few of each up in the oven at 375* for just a couple of minutes.  The microwave works well too.

I used leftover Mayocoba beans for this dish, but 2 cans of rinsed, drained pinto beans would work well.  Or black beans, which I often serve with tacos.

I coarsely chopped and then roughly mashed the beans and heated them with olive oil in a skillet.

I then added cumin, chili powder, salt and pepper to taste.

Then we layered shredded lettuce, tomatoes (some of us!), red and green salsa, and other goodies in our taco shells and on our warm tortillas and rolled them up, ready to eat. 

The boys had 3 each.  They loved them.

I can easily make a vegan option by omitting the cheese and sour cream from mine.

Other topping options:

cilantro

black beans

sliced black olives

green onions

salsa verde

peppers

hot sauce

Double click to print as a 5x7 recipe card.

Buen Provecho!



Peeps Cake

Peeps Cake from Cake Central

I saw this Easter cake on Pinterest and decided to make it for Easter!

The cake comes from Kayleesgrammy on Cake Central.

I made a Duncan Hines Orange Supreme cake and frosted it with Classic White frosting.

Decorated with Bunny Peeps, and topped with Easter M-n-M's.

I made the mistake of frosting and covering my cake the night before I decorated. 

Then the Bunnies wouldn't adhere. 

I recommend decorating with the Bunnies immediately after frosting. 

I ended up purchasing another tub of frosting to stick the Bunnies on.

It worked fine!

Waaaay too sweet for me, but the kids at our Easter dinner liked it!

I had never tried the Orange Supreme cake mix before - it was good. 

I think it would be good with crushed pineapple.

Double click to print as a 5x7 recipe card.

Happy Easter!