Strawberry Banana Oatmeal Smoothie

With the exception of yogurt, all raw ingredients make this a super healthy smoothie

Yes there are spinach and tomatoes in there.  Don't freak out. They add goodness but no flavor.   

Yes, it's green. Just try it.  All you'll taste is smooth, creamy strawberry oatmeal deliciousness!

Trust me.  Try it!

Or wuss out and omit the spinach.  

Strawberry Banana Oatmeal Smoothie


1 Cup Strawberries
1 Small Banana
1 Cup Ice (Optional)
1 Single Serving Size Container Non-Fat Vanilla Or Strawberry Yogurt
1/2 Cup Uncooked Oats
1 Small Tomato
1 Cup Spinach

Add the oats to the blender and pulse to grind them up.  


Add the rest of the ingredients to the blender pouring ice in last. 

Blend on high for 30 seconds or until blended and smooth.

Enjoy!

Strawberry Short Cheese Cake

This is a recipe of my own invention.  What's not to like?  Fresh strawberries in their own syrup, cheesecake filling,  fluffy biscuit and whipped cream.  

Strawberry Short Cheese Cake


1 Pound fresh strawberries
1/4 cup raw sugar
2 cups whipped heavy cream
8 Oz. Cream Cheese, Softened  
3-4 Tbsp Powdered Sugar  
1 Tsp Vanilla Extract
1 Recipe Biscuits

Wash the strawberries in cold water and cut the top off of the strawberry.   Slice the strawberries and toss them with the sugar. Set aside.

In a mixing bowl, beat cream cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla until creamy.  Set aside.


















Split a cooled biscuit and smear 1/2 of the biscuit with a spoonful of cheese cake filling.  Top with a spoonful of strawberries.

Place the other half of the biscuit on top of the strawberries. Smear with a spoonful of cheese cake filling.  Top with a spoonful of strawberries, drizzle with a little strawberry syrup and cover with the whipped cream.

Easy Peasy Sweet and Creamy Strawberry Banana Pie

Easy Peasy Sweet and Creamy Strawberry Banana Pie

1 Container Vanilla Yogurt 
1 Container Cool Whip
1 Packet Banana Pudding
1 Pint Fresh Strawberries 
1 Graham Cracker Pie Crust

Wash, stem and slice strawberries.  Place in a large bowl

Add yogurt, Cool Whip and banana pudding and mix well.

Pour into pie crusts.

Place in the refrigerator and chill at least one hour to set.

Print Recipe

Cheesecake Stuffed Strawberries

Cheesecake Stuffed Strawberries

1 Lb Large Strawberries

8 Oz. Cream Cheese, Softened  

3-4 Tbsp Powdered Sugar  

1 Tsp Vanilla Extract

Wash the strawberries in cold water and cut the top off of the strawberry.  

Carefully slice the strawberries in quarters without cutting all the way through.

In a mixing bowl, beat cream cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla until creamy. 

Fill strawberries with cheesecake mixture. 

Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Print Recipe

Firewater Friday - Strawberry-Basil Martini

Strawberry Basil Martini

A lovely, elegant cocktail.  Delicious in it's complexity yet so easy to make.

3 Strawberries, Plus One For Garnish

3 Basil Leaves, Plus One Or Two For Garnish

1/2 Ounce Simple Syrup

Ice

1 Ounce Gin, Preferably Tanqueray No. Ten

1 Ounce Vodka

1/2 Ounce Fresh Lime Juice

To make simple syrup combine equal parts granulated sugar and water in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring, until sugar has dissolved. Allow to cool.

In a cocktail shaker, muddle the strawberries with the basil leaves and simple syrup.

Add ice and the remaining ingredients and shake well.

Strain into a chilled cocktail glass and garnish with strawberry and basil leaves.

Print Recipe

Firewater Friday - Very Berry Deliciousness

Hubby and were out for our weekly date night and spied a jug of strawberries steeping in a clear liquid.  The sign above the container proclaimed one shot of strawberry vodka $6.  Okay . . . a bit pricey for a simple shot but I just had to try it . . . and try it I did.  And OH-MY-GOD-BECKY it was soooooooo good!  And then I had another one.   Yeah, you can call me a lush.  

I figured how hard could it possibly be to infuse vodka with strawberries.  Not hard at all . . . here's how to do it:

First, you must have fresh strawberries.  They're in season, relatively cheap and very, very sweet.

Second you must have a neutral flavored spirit . . . vodka.

Take 2 cups of fresh clean strawberries, hulled and cut in half and put into a clean 1 quart jar (I use a Mason canning jar).  The stawberries should fill the jar halfway.

Next pour in the vodka to the top leaving about a half inch of headspace.  

Then place cool, dark place (like a pantry or cupboard).  Give the jar a little shake once a day to move things around.  

After a couple days you will notice that the strawberries are being leeched of color and turning a sickly albino white.  Don't panic, this is normal.  All the color and flavor is going into the vodka.

In a week you will have strawberry infused vodka with very pale strawberries floating around in it.

Strain the solids from the liquid.  I do this by placing a stocking . . . you know, like a knee high women wear . . . over the top of another jar.  You can use cheese cloth if you want.  Then I put a canning funnel over that and pour the infused vodka into the funnel and through the stocking.

What you are left with is a wonderful strawberry flavored vodka that is a beautiful red color.

I found it to still be a bit strong.  So to add a little sweetness and to make it perfectly delicious I mixed it with a simple syrup.  Take a 1/2 cup raw sugar and mix it into a 1/2 cup boiling water and stir until all the sugar is dissolved.  Let it cool.

Mix 1 part infused vodka to a 1/2 part of the simple syrup.  Pour into a shaker full of ice.  Shake, shake, shake and strain into a cocktail glass.  Sip and be in absolute heaven.

Of course, you can use the infused vodka and a myriad of other cocktail recipes but I like it cold and simple.  

Delicious!

Firewater Friday - Quote this

When I was a teenager everything was like this or like that . . . like like like like like . . . yeah, like that.  In fact, I so abused the word like that my mother forbade me to speak it . . . it was so impossible that I was practically speechless for like an entire month.

The use of 'like' in this manner is called the “like quotative”.  It's most prevailant in the United States among teenage girls . . . but the phenomena is global in English speaking countries.




A quotative is grammatical tool to notate reported speech and is typically enclosed in quotations in written speech.


The use of 'like' is . . . uhm . . . like a conveyance of an attitude or an approximation of a statement as opposed to an exact quote.

Saw the whole thing, dude. First you were all like "whoa", and we were like "whoa", and you were like "whoa..." 





]It's interesting to note that in the mid 20th century another word became a new quotative . . . 'go'. 



Much like teenagers today say . . . She was like, "that was totally rad" and then he was all like, "nah, it was so dry".


People then were saying:  And he goes, "that dame is the cat's meow" and then he goes "be careful, she's a moll"


The use of 'like' has become a linguistic tsunami . . . the like quotative has gone from practically nonexistent usage to a common manner of speech in a relatively short period of time.  And although it crested in the 80's 'like's' usage is receding.

A newer quotative is the 'all' quotative.  You know he was all, “I don’t know.”


The English language ebbs and flows . . . it gets used and abused.  I admit I abuse it all the time . . . but I'm all like whatever.  






White Zinfandel-Infused Strawberry Ice Pops 


6 to 8 large strawberries
4 ounces of raw cane sugar
4 fluid ounces of water
8 Ounces white zinfandel  


Combine sugar and water in saucepan. Gently heat while stirring until sugar completely dissolves.


Remove from heat and allow syrup to completely cool.


Rinse strawberries and pat dry. With paring knife, remove stems.


Lightly puree strawberries with wine.  


Combine puree with cooled syrup.


Pour into molds, add sticks, and freeze until solid (about four to 6 hours). 


Unmold and serve, or place in plastic bags for storage.

Firewater Friday - I can't quite put my finger on it . . .

I heard a news story that a customer at an Arby’s in Michigan bit into their sandwich and got more than roast beef in their bite.  In fact, they were gnawing on a pretty goodly sized chunk of a human finger.

An employee apparently cut her finger on a meat slicer and left her station without immediately telling anyone and her co-workers continued filling orders until they found out what had happened.  Her injury was so severe that she had to be treated at a local hospital.

As gross and disgusting as it is, it’s reasonable to expect that these kinds of accidents will happen.  And, of course they do.  However, it also realistic to assume that when accidents like this occur that management will be notified so that customers don’t end up eating pieces of the employees.

Apparently, these accidental dismemberments escape notice . . . a few years ago, a TGI Friday's customer in Indiana found part of a kitchen worker's finger on his hamburger. And the year before that a man enjoying a TCBY yogurt in North Carolina bit into what he thought was candy in his frozen yogurt only to discover the chewy bit was a piece of finger and not a gummy bear.

 

What’s scary is that of the pieces that are actually found how many slip by and into the digestive tracts of unsuspecting consumers. 

Just sayin’.

Strawberry Vanilla Mojitos

(2 Cocktails)

12 Large Fresh Strawberries

Small Handful of Fresh Mint Leaves

6 Oz Simple Syrup 

4 Oz Vanilla Rum

1 Lime

Club Soda

Simple Syrup:  even amounts of sugar and water, heated until the sugar melts, and cooled to room temperature.

Place strawberries in a blender along with the juice of ½ of lime.   Puree until mostly smooth.

For each drink: place a few mint leaves and an ounce of the simple syrup.  Muddle the ingredients together with the back of a spoon (or a muddler if you have one.) Fill the glass with ice.  Add 2 ounces simple syrup, 2 ounces rum, half of the strawberry puree and the juice of ¼ lime. Pour in enough club soda to fill the glass. Give the mixture a stir, and garnish with mint leaves.