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Root Beer Syrup | Make Ahead Mondays

June 25, 2012 by 12 Comments

I am a fizzy drinks gal. My usual preference is for plain or flavoured (but not sweetened seltzer) but I have a deep and abiding love for two kinds of soda: ginger ale and root beer. I love the warm, spicy flavours of both of those. What I don’t adore, however, is the insane amount of sugar in most commercially available sodas.

My dad taught me to make my own ginger ale a few years back and that took care of the need for ginger ale, but until the last couple of weeks, I didn’t have a way to satisfy my root beer cravings without getting a sugar bomb in the process. With the exception of a few boutique brands of root beer (that are very tasty indeed but also pretty pricey), the sugar bomb in those sodas came in the form of high fructose corn syrup. I’m not going to wade into a debate here. Intelligent people disagree (vociferously) on the subject, but in our family we avoid consuming HFCS as much as possible.

I’ve tried making my own root beers from extract kits, but I was always a little disappointed because I like making things from the ground up. Buying a little bottle of some liquid and adding water and sugar just kind of felt like cheating. Yes, I realize I’m a little nuts. But I discovered something. I’m clearly not alone in thinking this way. I discovered Hank Shaw a.k.a. Hunter Angler Gardener Cook. Hank Shaw is, in a nutshell, awesome. I’ve always had a DIY bent, but Hank Shaw? I’m in an analogy frame of mind,  since I just finished up standardized testing with my kids, and I’m thinking that might be the best way to describe him. I am to Hank Shaw as Sandra Lee is to Martha Stewart. Sure, Sandra Lee decorates a table and whips up a cocktail, but Martha felled the tree, built the table, hand-wove the cloth for the decorations, smelted the metal for the silverware, designed and threw her own pottery, raised the animals and vegetables, slaughtered and prepared everything herself AND was a supermodel in the process.  In short, I have MAD respect for Hank Shaw. I have no idea whether his hair is perfectly coifed, but I rather suspect it is.

The point is this; Hank Shaw posted a recipe for homemade root beer syrup that looked like what I’d been seeking for ages. I had some dried burdock root (it grows EVERYWHERE around here, so I’m not sure this gets me my foraging badge), I ordered dried sassafras (because that DOESN’T grow around here), and raided my spice cabinet for the other bits and pieces*, and set to infusing.

*That spell of detective work just might get me the foraging badge after all!

The key to the recipe is a slow infusion (decoction, tisane, what-have-you) of water with the roots and spices. After it simmers a bit, some molasses is added (for both colour and flavour) then you simmer again. Then comes the WHAT?!? portion of the programme: wintergreen. I’m not kidding you. Go pop open a bottle of root beer and sniff. What are you getting? You’re getting the smell of sassafras and wintergreen (although of the two, wintergreen is probably the only one that is actually in commercial root beers any more.) Don’t skip this! And please, you might be tempted, but don’t sub in peppermint. The wintergreen is truly important. If you can’t lay your hands on fresh wintergreen leaves, you can always use wintergreen flavour or extract.*

*This is an affiliate link to Amazon.com.

As soon as the roots and spices started simmering my brain was panting, “Root beer. Root beer. Root beer.” It smells so good while it simmers. It smelled so good, in fact, that I dunked a spoon in to lick it. Um, it was not a great at that point. ‘Twas bitter but I carried on and continued the project. I started it late at night, so I let the cool down/infusion process go overnight. In the morning, I strained, measured, added to the pot with sugar and then simmered again. I dipped my spoon in again, cautiously licked it and holy man. It was good. It was great!

While I like to pour it over ice and top with my beloved plain seltzer for a spicy, rootsy-tootsy root beer beverage, you can also use the syrup to drizzle over your vanilla ice cream for a root beer sundae. On the other hand, you can sweeten your iced tea for a deliciously different sweet tea. Root beer sweet tea. Can I get a heck-yeah from the sweet tea lovers out there?

I’m going to tell you, this is NOT the root beer you get at the store. It just isn’t. It’s real. It has oomph. It has character. It’s not cloyingly sweet (although, if sweet is your thing you can always up the sugar content in the syrup.) When you smell it and taste it there is no doubt in your mind that this is root beer, but this is root beer as it’s meant to be. I’d take a tall glass of this root beer any day over the stuff on the shelves. My husband, who despises soda in general but likes seltzer, loved this root beer. Three of my five kids think this the best root beer they’ve ever had. (One of the remaining two just doesn’t like root beer, so he’s consistent. The other decided to be contrary.)

 

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Root Beer Syrup | Make Ahead Mondays

Root Beer Syrup | Make Ahead Mondays

For the rootin-est, tootin-est root beer you'll ever drink, whip up a batch of this all-natural root beer syrup. It makes grocery store root beers pale in comparison.

This recipe was very gently adapted and used with permission from and grateful thanks to Hank Shaw

Ingredients

  • 6 cups water
  • 3 ounces dried sassafras roots
  • 1/2 ounce dried burdock root
  • 1 teaspoon dried whole coriander seeds
  • 1 whole star anise
  • 1 whole clove
  • 1/4 cup dark molasses (not blackstrap)
  • 3-4 wintergreen leaves or 2 drops (or 1/8 of a teaspoon) wintergreen flavouring or extract
  • up to 6 cups of sugar (preferably raw, but granulated white sugar can be used.)

Instructions

Put the sassafras and burdock roots, coriander seeds, star anise and clove in a heavy-bottomed 2 quart saucepan that has a tight fitting lid. Pour the water over the top of the roots and spices and bring to a boil over high heat. Drop the heat to low and simmer for 15 minutes. If it keeps bubbling up and out, vent the lid just a bit.

Add the molasses, stir, replace the lid, and return to a simmer for 5 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat, add the wintergreen flavouring or extract, replace the lid and let the mixture cool to room temperature. (I let mine cool on a cold burner on the stove overnight because I prepared my sassafras infusion late at night.)

Line a fine mesh strainer with cheesecloth, place over a large measuring cup with a pouring spout or a pitcher, and pour the cooled infusion into it to strain. Do not press on the contents, but let the roots rest in the strainer for about 30 minutes before proceeding. While that strains, rinse the pot in which you infused it to get any lingering bits of root or spice out of it.

Measure your sassafras infusion, return it to the rinsed pot and add an equal amount of sugar -by volume- to the pot. For instance, if you have 4 1/2 cups of infusion, add 4 1/2 cups of sugar. Bring the mixture to a boil, drop the heat to low and let simmer for 5 minutes. Pour the syrup into canning jars, fix clean, new, two-piece lids on top and store in the refrigerator up to a year.

To Make a Root Beer Drink from the Syrup:

Use 1 tablespoon of syrup over ice to 1 cup of plain seltzer water. Stir gently. Enjoy!

http://www.foodiewithfamily.com/2012/06/25/root-beer-syrup-make-ahead-mondays/

If you want to make a batch or twelve of this but don’t know where to find the ingredients, Amazon.com, as always, can hook you up:

Filed Under: Beverages, Comfort Food, Component Foods, Condiments, Food Preservation, Happy Healthy and Wise, Healthy Foods, kid food, Make Ahead Mondays, Party Food, Rebecca, Recipes, Vegetarian

Fudgy Peanut Butter Cup Brownie Cupcakes

June 19, 2012 by 6 Comments

On Father’s Day, I told my husband I was making him a healthy dessert. Then he went fishing and I accidentally made these.

I guess that makes me a liar. But at least I’m a happy, belly-rubbing, satisfied liar.

Here’s what happened…

I had a brownie mix that was rattling around in the cupboard for a long, long time. Usually, I’m a homemade  brownie snob, but the siren song of sales and a rare coupon put a box of Ghiradelli Dark Chocolate Brownie Mix into my cart and there it sat, languishing, on my shelf for just such an occasion.

The brownie mix caught my eye as I was shoving pantry items around and I figured I’d throw together a few brownies to have with our One-Ingredient Banana Ice Cream. I grabbed the box and in pulling it forward, a jar of peanut butter fell out and onto my foot. If that isn’t a hint from God I don’t know what is!

The next thing I knew, I was scooping the brownie batter into muffin tins, shoving peanut butter balls down into each one, adding more brownie batter and banging the whole pan into the oven.

They came out of the oven looking like this.

Hot dang, people.

Then I went and did this.

Those are dark chocolate chunks covering the tops of the hot brownie cupcakes. Yes, they are. When they melted, I gave them a little touch up with a butter knife.

The only thing left to do after this point was wait for the chocolate to firm up. Did I wait? Well, I tried. I really did. Could you wait to eat a dark chocolate brownie cupcake that was stuffed with a creamy peanut butter ball and topped with melted dark chocolate?

Yeah.

Eat them warm for a messy, chocolatey, gooey treat that practically needs a spoon or wait until they come to room temperature and the chocolate firms up for a slightly tidier but no less indulgent brownie cupcake.

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Fudgy Peanut Butter Cup Brownie Cupcakes

Fudgy Peanut Butter Cup Brownie Cupcakes

Individual dark chocolate brownie cupcakes stuffed with creamy peanut butter balls and topped with melted dark chocolate are rich and indulgent treats that are easy enough to whip up any time!

Ingredients

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Prepare the brownie batter (either according to package instructions or recipe).

Line a 12-cup muffin tin with double paper liners. Spray the liners lightly with non-stick cooking spray. Divide the brownie batter between the liners (filling no more than 2/3 full.) Gently push one peanut butter ball down into the center of each well. Use a spoon to smooth a little brownie batter over the top of each peanut butter ball. Bake for 28-32 minutes, or until the brownies are set.

Let the brownies rest in the pan for 1 minute before carefully transferring to a cooling rack. Cover the tops of the hot brownies with a single layer of dark chocolate chunks. Let it sit for about 5 minutes, or until the chocolate is shiny (which means it is melted.) Use a butter knife or small offset spatula to gently spread the melted chocolate.

Let the brownies rest at room temperature to allow the chocolate to firm back up ~or~ DIVE IN!

Store leftovers, covered, at room temperature for up to a week.

http://www.foodiewithfamily.com/2012/06/19/fudgy-peanut-butter-cup-brownie-cupcakes/

Filed Under: Cakes, Chocolate, Desserts, kid food, Rebecca, Recipes, Vegetarian Tagged With: , , , , ,

Chocolate Covered Banana Pops and Homemade Magic Shell | Make Ahead Mondays

June 18, 2012 by 6 Comments

 

Well, hello Summer Vacation.

That snuck up on us quickly, didn’t it? (My kids would argue that it’s taken forever to get here. Ah, youth.) The boys have already thrown themselves headlong into the summer rhythm of fishing, biking, climbing trees, catching snakes, dabbling toes in brooks and lakes, snacking, and swinging in hammocks.

We spend our Saturdays at the Angelica Farmers’ Market where I am part of the management team and the boys operate their summer business of charming people into buying their hand-made garden and yard sculptures.*

*The salesmen are adorable, tis true, but so are their garden sculptures.

When we get home Saturday afternoon, we are invariably tired to the last man (or wo-man, as the case may be. That’s Woah-Man!) and hungry. We haul in the goodies we purchased from fellow vendors, stash the veggies in appropriate storage containers and collectively collapse on chairs. And then the, “I’m hungry!” chorus starts in earnest. If I haven’t thought ahead this is the moment that makes me regret that acutely.

The very best solution is having something in the freezer to take the edge off of the heat. These frozen treats -Chocolate Covered Banana Pops- or CCBPs, as the kids call them, are a steadfast favourite around here. The frozen bananas taste for all the world like vanilla ice cream pops coated in chocolate! My mom used to make them for me and my siblings when we were little (even though she hated bananas personally) and I’m carrying on the tradition. I keep it up in part because it’s a fabulously healthy snack that feels indulgent but also because I still love eating them myself.

…There is one more reason, though, and it’s a doozy. The chocolate dip for the frozen bananas makes a killer Magic Shell topping for other frozen treats. Didya freeze some strawberries? Throw a few in a bowl and drizzle a little reheated Homemade Magic Shell over the top. Bowls of ice cream cry out for a little tap-tap-tap-break chocolate shell on top. Ice cream cones never looked so good as when they’re dunked into melted chocolate and uprighted to form that little curlicue at the top.

So freeze a few bananas today. Make a double batch of the Magic Shell. Boldly dunk frozen things (or drizzle the melted Magic Shell over the aforementioned chilled goodies.) and remember what it’s like to be a kid in the summer time. This is truly a kid-tested, mother-approved recipe. If you wake up some sweltering morning, you could eat something far worse for breakfast than a CCBP. Not that I’ve done that. Today.

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Chocolate Covered Banana Pops and Homemade Magic Shell | Make Ahead Mondays

Chocolate Covered Banana Pops and Homemade Magic Shell | Make Ahead Mondays

There just isn't anything more reminiscent of childhood summers for me than frozen Chocolate Dipped Banana Pops. The frozen bananas taste just like ice cream pops! Kids of all ages love these.

Make a double batch of the dip to use as a healthy (and divine) Homemade Magic Shell.

Ingredients

    Homemade Magic Shell:
  • 2 cups finely chopped dark chocolate chunks
  • 3 tablespoons extra virgin coconut oil
    • Chocolate Covered Banana Pops (CCBP's):
  • 6 ripe bananas, peeled
  • 12 wooden popsicle sticks
  • Homemade Magic Shell, reheated 'til thin
  • Optional for rolling onto the chocolate coated bananas:
  • graham cracker crumbs
  • mini M&Ms
  • sprinkles
  • jimmies
  • chopped roasted nuts (peanuts, hazelnuts, almonds, etc...)
  • crushed salty pretzels

Instructions

To Make the Homemade Magic Shell:

Put the chocolate chunks into a microwave safe jar. A wide-mouthed pint jar works perfectly for this project. Microwave on high for 1 minute. Remove the jar from the microwave, add the coconut oil and stir until smooth. Use immediately or add a tight fitting lid and let cool to room temperature before refrigerating for up to 1 month.

To Reheat Homemade Magic Shell:

Remove lid from the jar and reheat on medium power in 30 second increments, stirring well after each burst, until smooth and thin. Pour and/or dunk as needed!

To Make Chocolate Covered Banana Pops (CCBP's):

Line a baking sheet with parchment or waxed paper. Cut the bananas in half and insert a wooden popsicle stick about 2-3 inches into the cut end of each banana half, leaving enough stick outside of the banana to grip easily. Arrange the bananas so they are not touching on the baking sheet and put it, uncovered, into the freezer. Freeze until the bananas are solid all the way through.

If you want to have additional toppings to roll onto the chocolate with the bananas, pour them into pie plates or small dessert plates.

Heat your Homemade Magic Shell coating until thin. Remove the tray from the freezer and quickly dunk each banana -1 at a time- into the Homemade Magic Shell, let the excess drip from the banana and quickly roll it into any additional toppings you're using. Return the dipped banana to the spot on the tray where it was before, and repeat with the remaining bananas. When they are all dipped, you can eat them right away or transfer them to a rigid container with waxed paper or parchment between layers. Cover the container with a tight fitting lid and keep frozen up to 1 month.

http://www.foodiewithfamily.com/2012/06/18/chocolate-covered-banana-pops-and-homemade-magic-shell-make-ahead-mondays/

Filed Under: Breakfast Foods, Chocolate, Comfort Food, Desserts, Freezer Pleaser, Happy Healthy and Wise, Healthy Foods, Ice Cream, kid food, Rebecca, Recipes, Vegetarian Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

(Classic) Slow-Cooker Cuban Pork | Make Ahead Mondays Highlight

June 11, 2012 by 20 Comments

 

Back in March of 2009, this blogging novice posted a recipe that remains one of the most popular ever here on Foodie With Family. And let me tell you, it deserves every bit of its popularity. Slow-Cooked Cuban Pork is one of those crazy recipes that somehow manages to be dead simple, insanely inexpensive, habit-formingly delicious, almost infinitely customizable, and wickedly versatile. This is the original Foodie With Family unicorn recipe.

A testament to how fabulous this recipe actually is is the fact that so many of you made it even though I split the recipe into two different posts and made you go to two places to print it. Mea culpa. Mea maxima culpa. I was a newbie. So today, for Make Ahead Mondays, I am finally righting my wrong against you all with a bright, shiny, easy printable version of this classic recipe. I’m doing a little roasting two pigs with one post action, too… because in the last several months the readership here has grown explosively AND I LOVE YOU ALL MADLY FOR IT but that means that some of ye who are new around these parts may not have yet seen the Slow-Cooked Cuban Pork and in a wild display of run-on-sentence-ery, I’m here to tell you that you must, must, MUST make one or several.

If the five reasons given above weren’t good enough to convince you to make this at the soonest possible moment, I have a couple more to persuade you.

  1. It makes a massive amount which makes it good for…
  2. FREEZING. I realize I’m type-screaming a lot with the all-caps today, but I’m very excited to share this recipe again.

This is truly Make Ahead Monday friendly. You get a gigantic amount of shredded pork to eat off of and freeze into individual portions. Win/win!

We use leftovers from this recipe for Barbecue Pulled Pork Sliders, Barbecue Pulled Pork Pizza, and Hot TexMess among other things. A couple containers of this pork in the freezer is the best guarantee against the “I have no idea what to make for dinner” syndrome.

Over the past three years, I’ve received all sorts of emails from people who have up-sized the Cuban Pork enough to feed a couple hundred people at church suppers, wedding receptions, and down-sized it to feed a singleton or a couple. If you’ve been around here for a while, and you’re one of the many who HAVE tried the recipe, would you tell us how you made it? Did you serve it for a special occasion?  Did you make any changes to it? Add anything to it that you absolutely love? Fill me in!

If you prefer the old posts along with the photo tutorial, they’re still there and here, but I, for one, will be using this brand-spanking new all-in-one, easy-print version below.

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(Classic) Slow-Cooker Cuban Pork | Make Ahead Mondays Highlight

(Classic) Slow-Cooker Cuban Pork | Make Ahead Mondays Highlight

Of all the recipes published here on Foodie With Family over the years, this remains one of the best loved and for good reason. Fragrant, garlicky, moist and yet crispy, this mouth-watering pork is as easy to make as it is wonderful and habit forming. The recipe yields a large amount making it perfect to feed a crowd or freeze for quick meals in the future.

Ingredients

    Step 1:
  • 1 (8-10 pound) bone-in pork shoulder, make sure it fits into your slow-cooker. Cut to fit if necessary.
  • 1/2 cup frozen 100% orange juice concentrate
  • 1/3 cup lime juice (fresh squeezed or bottled)
  • 1 Tablespoon olive oil
  • 8 whole peeled cloves fresh garlic (or 1 Tablespoon granulated dried garlic)
  • 1 Tablespoon (or more, to taste) ground cumin
  • 1 Tablespoon dry oregano leaves
  • 1 Tablespoon or more fresh ground pepper
  • 2 teaspoons kosher or sea salt
  • 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, optional
  • if available, 2 stems (no leaves, just stems) fresh cilantro
    • Step 2:
  • Slow-cooked pork shoulder, thoroughly chilled
  • Cooking juices from slow-cooked pork shoulder
  • 2 Tablespoons lime juice
  • 2 Tablespoons white wine or cider vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon minced garlic
  • 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried mustard powder
  • 2 drops liquid smoke, optional

Instructions

Step 1:

Drizzle the olive oil in the slow-cooker bowl. Place untrimmed pork, fat side down in the bowl then flip fat side up. Toss garlic cloves in around the roast and sprinkle with salt, pepper, cumin, oregano and crushed red pepper flakes. Use a spoon to dollop the frozen orange juice concentrate over the top of the roast. Pour the lime juice around the edges of the roast, toss on cilantro stems- if using, cover, and turn cooker to ‘HIGH’. Allow to cook for 1 hour, turn the heat to ’LOW’ and continue cooking for another 12 hours or until meat falls apart when prodded with a fork. When the meat is tender, turn off slow cooker and place the slow cooker bowl in the fridge. (If your slow-cooker doesn’t have a removable insert, transfer the contents to a large container with a tight-fitting lid and pop that into the fridge.

Step 2:

Use a spoon to remove the congealed fat from around the pork shoulder. Discard the fat. Transfer pork shoulder to a large cutting board, preferably one with a groove to catch juices. Otherwise, keep the paper towels handy! Let sit while attending to the pan juices.

Pour the cooking juices that surrounded the pork through a fine mesh strainer positioned over a saucepan. Remove and discard any solids left in the strainer. Add the lime juice, vinegar, garlic, red pepper flakes, dried mustard powder and liquid smoke to the cooking juices. Whisk until evenly combined and bring to a boil over medium high heat. Allow to boil (while working on shredding the pork) until reduced to about 1/4 of the starting volume. Set aside until pork is fully shredded.

Pull the bone out of the pork and discard. Scrape as much fat as you can from the outside of the pork shoulder. Throw away the fat or give it to your spoiled and lazy dogs. Pull large chunks of the shoulder apart. It should naturally come apart at places where there is additional fat you can remove. Take as much of the fat out as you can without wasting meat.

Using your hands -or two forks- shred the meat into small pieces. When you’ve shredded all the meat, you can leave it as is or chop through it quickly with a knife to ensure that you have small bite-sized pieces. It depends on what you’ll do with the pork. I usually run through it with the knife since I have so many little mouths eating it. When pork is fully shredded (and chopped, if desired) transfer to a 9? x 13? baking dish with sides. Pour the reduced pan juices over the pork and toss. Tightly cover the pan with foil. If you plan on serving it immediately, put into a preheated 350ºF oven and heat for 25 minutes, or until hot all the way through. If you are preparing this ahead of time you can either place the pan directly into the freezer or into the fridge.

To reheat from chilled:

Place, still covered in foil, in a preheated 350ºF oven for 30 minutes, or until heated through.

To heat from frozen:

Place, still covered in foil, in a preheated 350ºF for 45 minutes, or until heated through.

http://www.foodiewithfamily.com/2012/06/11/classic-slow-cooker-cuban-pork-make-ahead-mondays-highlight/

Filed Under: Accessible Ethnic, Component Foods, kid food, Main Dish, Make Ahead Mondays, Meat, Party Food, Rebecca, Recipes, slow-cooker, Stretching your dollars Tagged With: , , , , , ,

One Ingredient Mango (or Banana) Ice Cream

June 8, 2012 by 18 Comments

Around a decade ago, my stepmom, Val,  and my dad gave us a seriously burly juicer as a gift. For those of you well-versed in juicers, I’ll name drop for a second here; it’s a Champion. That thing is jet-engine powerful. And I used that jet engine to make juice. Lots of juice. Juice is good for kids, right?* But there’s only so much juice a gal and her crew can consume.

*Well, as long as it’s real juice and not a sugar bomb. I know…

Then one day, while we were hovering around Val’s kitchen looking hungry (because if you’re smart, that is the way you’ll arrange your face in her kitchen so you can taste her food), she offered to whip up a treat for us. She fished some frozen mango strips and bananas from the freezer. She assembled her own juicer and stuffed the frozen fruit into it. The motor whirred and out of the end of the juicer came… what?… seriously???… It was ice cream. Or at least it looked it.

And oh-my-sweet-heavens it tasted like it. It tasted like the most glorious, indulgent ice cream I had ever eaten. I didn’t even wait until it made it to my own personal bowl. My spoon kept going back to the bowl sitting under the juicer. The Evil Genius’s spoon was even faster than mine. Superlatives were used folks.

That was a day that will live in our memories forever, because it was the day we discovered (I can’t believe I’m about to say this, but my kids are standing over me insisting I tell you what they call it) Fruit Poop. If I wasn’t so desensitized by being the mother of five boys, I might have died just now putting that in print for all you to read, but that’s what the kids (including the big, adult one to whom I’m married) like to call it. This name came about while watching the juicer extrude the fruit. Okay, boys. I told them. Can I go back to calling it ice cream now?

All summer long, this is our go-to dessert. And for years, I’ve kept my mango strips, bananas, and whatever other frozen fruit I wanted to use in plastic containers in the freezer. The only problem was that the lids on those dad-burned containers always shattered on me when I tried to pry them off. I tried switching to freezer bags, but those would slip down in and among rock-hard venison loins, bags of peas and corn, and white paper packages containing that half-a-pig we ordered. It drove me batty.

I recently discovered the joy that is Glad Freezerware. It’s made to go into the freezer! (Duh, right?) It’s tough stuff. It’s made to go from freezer to microwave to whatever and is dishwasher safe. SCORE. I’m still trying to figure out a way to make my kids dishwasher safe. That would so simply my life. Glad… can you get on that? Please?

Here’s how I use it for the One-Ingredient Ice Cream. Cut a large amount of ripe mangoes and bananas into strips or one-inch thick chunks. Believe me. You’re going to want this often. Lay them out -not touching- on a parchment lined baking sheet and stash them in the freezer until frozen solid all the way through. The point in freezing them like this is so you don’t have one giant lump of frozen fruit. No matter HOW burly your juicer or food processor, you cannot make something good out of lump-o-fruit.

Do your level best not to snitch them at this point. Yes, I know they’re tasty, but they’re MAGICAL when they’re frozen and turned into fruit poop, er, one-ingredient ice cream.

For best results, transfer the frozen fruit into Glad Freezerware containers, then store in the freezer until ready to use.  You’re going to be grateful those lids don’t shatter when you take them off, because you’ll be taking the lids off all. the. time. to make this ice cream.

The lid, the lid, the lid didn’t shatter!

Again, no snitching! I had to smack a hand away from these containers. Alright. I smacked my own hand away, but the point is that you want what’s coming next!

I am not engaging in hyperbole when I tell you this is some of the best tasting stuff I have ever eaten. And look at the banana “ice cream”.

I do so love this plain. I adore it. But if I was to accidentally trip and drizzle a little chocolate syrup on top, I would love it that way, too. Ahem.

We also love blends. Mango/Banana? Two thumbs up. Blueberry/Banana? Big yes! Have fun with it. You have to taste this to believe it. It tastes like soft-serve frozen custard, but it’s good for you. Holy cow. It’s really good for you. It’s FRUIT!

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One Ingredient Mango (or Banana) Ice Cream

One Ingredient Mango (or Banana) Ice Cream

You'll have to taste it to believe it, but this super-creamy, luscious ice cream is made from just one ingredient! Whether you choose mango or banana or another fruit entirely, you'll be blown away by how decadent frozen fruit can taste when blitzed in a food processor or a juicer with a blank plate. Summer heat doesn't stand a chance when you have this recipe under your belt!

Ingredients

    For Mango 'Ice Cream':
  • Strips or small chunks of frozen mango
  • (The equivalent of 1 to 1 1/2 mangos yields one very generous or two medium servings.)
    • For Banana 'Ice Cream' (Taste like vanilla ice cream):
  • Strips or small chunks of frozen banana
  • (1 1/2 bananas are about equal to one very generous or two smaller servings)

Instructions

For Either Flavour of 'Ice Cream' Using a Juicer:

Put the blank plate on your juicer (the one that allows you to make 'whole juice' vs. strained juice.) Add the chunks of frozen fruit to the hopper and press down gently until all the fruit has been extruded.

Either eat immediately for soft-serve texture, or pack gently into a freezerware container, cover and put in the freezer until solid. This is best served the day it is made, but can be stored longer and softened slightly at room temperature before serving later.

For Either Flavour of 'Ice Cream' Using a Food Processor:

Put the chunks of frozen fruit into a food processor work bowl that has been fitted with a metal blade. Put the lid in place and process until it is a soft-serve consistency. You may find you need to stop the food processor to scrape down the sides occasionally.

Serve immediately like soft-serve, or pack into freezerware containers, cover and put into the freezer until solid. This is best served the day it is made, but can be stored longer and softened slightly at room temperature before serving later.

http://www.foodiewithfamily.com/2012/06/08/one-ingredient-mango-or-banana-ice-cream/

As part of the Foodbuzz Tastemaker Program, I received Glad Freezerware but the opinions contained in the post are entirely my own. I really do love these containers. For more information on the new Glad Freezerware containers, visit their Facebook page.

Filed Under: Comfort Food, Desserts, Freezer Pleaser, Happy Healthy and Wise, Healthy Foods, Holiday Food, Ice Cream, kid food, Party Food, Rebecca, Recipes, Stretching your dollars, Vegetarian Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Lemon Lime Parfaits

June 5, 2012 by 5 Comments

We are a dessert family. We like to have a little something most nights after dinner. I think of it as a sweet end to the day and send off to bed. A little hug. A little ruffle of the hair.

Our everyday desserts are easy affairs. They don’t take much time to put together and take advantage of things most everyone has on hand. One of my favourite desserts is individual trifles. Or are they parfaits?

Is it a parfait? Is it a trifle? Either word and either way, it is a dessert that never fails to stop me in my tracks. As a kid I loved it because it looked so special and tasted so festive. As an adult, I still love it for those reasons, but I also love it because it is so ever-lovin’ simple to put together.

For something that takes so little effort to put together, it sure looks pretty and it has an almost unequaled ability to light people’s faces up with one-hundred watt smiles.

If you have Lemon Lime Curd (or another fruit curd) on hand…

…Poundcake in the freezer, and a tub of COOL WHIP whipped topping in the freezer, you are five minutes away from a showstopping dessert that makes the most ordinary night feel extraordinary, but is nice enough to serve to company, too.

For the parfaits pictured here today, I used push-pop moulds and a pastry bag with a frosting tip to pipe in the COOL WHIP. That is -most definitely- strictly optional.

If you don’t want to fuss so much, you can either layer the ingredients in juice glasses or small canning jars. Heck, you can just layer the ingredients on the plate. There is not one right way to do this dessert. The only hard and fast rules are to have all the ingredients on the plate and enjoy it with someone you love. Isn’t it wonderful when desserts are undemanding?

What you add makes it! #coolwhipmoms

Whichever way you make it, you’ll be awfully glad you did!

 

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Lemon Lime Parfaits

Lemon Lime Parfaits

Whether you call it a parfait or a trifle, dessert doesn't get much easier (or more impressive) than this layered delight. Poundcake, lemon lime curd and whipped topping come together in this sweet, tart, delightful 3-ingredient, 5-minute crowd pleaser.

Ingredients

    Per Serving:
  • 3 (1/8- to 1/4-inch thick) slices pound cake
  • 3 tablespoons Lemon Lime Curd or storebought fruit curd
  • 4 tablespoons COOL WHIP whipped topping

Instructions

For Simple Servings:

Place one piece of pound cake on a serving plate. Spread with 1 tablespoon of the curd and dollop with 1 tablespoon of the COOL WHIP. Repeat the layers, ending with 2 tablespoons of whipped topping.

For Special Occasions (Push-Pop Moulds or Individual Parfaits):

Use a round cookie cutter slightly smaller than the diameter of the mould or dessert cup you're using to cut three rounds from the pound cake slices. Place one pound cake round on the bottom of the push-pop mould or dessert cup. Layer with 1 tablespoon Lemon Lime Curd then 1 tablespoon of the COOL WHIP. Repeat layers, ending by piping the last 2 tablespoons of whipped topping with a pastry bag fitted with a frosting tip for a decorative touch.

http://www.foodiewithfamily.com/2012/06/05/lemon-lime-parfaits/

As part of the Foodbuzz Tastemaker Program, I received coupons for free COOL WHIP Whipped Topping and a stipend. Sponsored posts are purely editorial content that we are pleased to have presented by a participating sponsor. Advertisers do not produce the content. All opinions in this post and all posts here on Foodie With Family are my own.

Filed Under: Cakes, Desserts, kid food, Party Food, Vegetarian Tagged With: , , ,

Creamy Lemon Lime Popsicles (Three Ingredients) | Make Ahead Mondays

June 4, 2012 by 10 Comments

Is school officially out for the summer where you are? We’re on the cusp here. So very close! We just have a couple standardized tests to finish up and it’s FREEDOM for a couple of hazy, lazy (I wish!) months. My kids want that break so badly they can taste it.

The weather is hot and it’s just too hard to sit at the school table without some sort of encouragement. To that end, I’ve been dangling popsicles like carrots to signify the end of the school day. There is nothing quite like a bit of quiescently frozen whatnot to take your mind off of columns of bubbles that have to be filled in ever so completely without going outside the lines. Popsicles take the sting out of the end of the school year.

Did you ever wonder if the person who invented standardized testing forms is the same one who invented ballots in Florida? But I digress. Politically and otherwise.

The popsicles I’m sharing here today hold the number one spot (not to be dislodged by number two pencils) in our home. Lemony and limey, they’re so creamy they almost eat like an ice cream rather than an ice pop. The creaminess comes courtesy of… are you sitting down?… COCONUT MILK and Lemon Lime Curd. That’s right. There’s no cream or milk anywhere near this.  You all know I’m a mega fan of cream, but there is simply no substitute here. There’s something magical about what coconut milk does when its frozen. It doesn’t taste overly coconut-y, in fact, you’re hard pressed to get the coconut flavour at all. It’s very faint. But what it lends is an unctuousness that is unparalleled. The Lemon Lime Curd is obviously the main source for the citrus punch, but gets a little helping hand from an extra splash of lemon juice.

If you’d like to make these vegan (it isn’t already because of the eggs and butter in the Lemon Lime Curd) there is an easy quick fix. Simply use vegan lemon curd (or vegan lemon lime curd) in place of the traditional curd.

In case you’re on the fence about making these thinking, “How could something so easy to make possibly be as good as she says it is?” allow me to share an example. My husband likes food but he believes in the less-is-more approach to food compliments. He does not use superlatives unless a food has earned it. He took a bite of one of these popsicles and his eyes rolled back into his head. He said, “Did you make these up?” When I replied that I had, he said, “These are incredible! Seriously. You have to blog these. Now. Go blog them. People need to make these.”

He has suggested I put things up here on Foodie With Family before, but never with this much enthusiasm. Well, there is one exception, but it’s coming next week. That’s right. I hit it out of the park with The Evil Genius twice in one month. Stay tuned. And in the meantime, whip up a batch of these Creamy Lemon Lime Popsicles. It’ll take no time at all and you’ll look like a superhero.

One batch of the popsicle mix makes quite a few popsicles, but feel free to double or triple the recipe so that you have them on hand all the time. You’re only limited by the amount of moulds and freezer space you have and the number you can eat in a month. Believe me when I tell you you’ll be able to eat more than you think! If you wanted to make these in serious quantities for a kids’ party or similar event, use little disposable paper cups and short, fat wooden popsicle sticks.

In honour of the end of the school year and an undisclosed high school reunion year ending with a zero (ACK!), I’ll close this by saying, “Stay cool! Never change! Love ya like a sister!”

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Creamy Lemon Lime Popsicles (Three Ingredients) | Make Ahead Mondays

Creamy Lemon Lime Popsicles (Three Ingredients) | Make Ahead Mondays

These lemony, limey, bright, 3-ingredient popsicles are so creamy they almost eat like ice cream rather than ice pops. These will take the edge off of the hottest days and are easily converted to being a vegan-friendly recipe by using vegan lemon curd in place of the traditional Lemon Lime Curd.

Ingredients

  • 1 can (13.5 ounces, approximately) full-fat, unsweetened Coconut Milk
  • 1 cup Lemon Lime Curd
  • 1 tablespoon lemon (or lime) juice

Instructions

Add all ingredients to a blender and blend on high until smooth, about 15 seconds. If you do not have a blender, add to a large mixing bowl and whisk vigorously until smooth. Pour into popsicle moulds, add sticks or handles and freeze 6 hours or until frozen solid. These are best eaten within a month of being made.

http://www.foodiewithfamily.com/2012/06/04/creamy-lemon-lime-popsicles-three-ingredients-make-ahead-mondays/

 

Filed Under: Comfort Food, Desserts, Freezer Pleaser, Happy Healthy and Wise, Ice Cream, kid food, Make Ahead Mondays, Party Food, Rebecca, Recipes, Vegetarian Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Salsa Beef and Bean Lettuce Cups

June 1, 2012 by 9 Comments

I went to bed the other night all prepared to make delicious little calzones for the family’s dinner the next evening. The next day, the temperature outside was roughly that of the surface of the sun. And humid.

Now I don’t know about you, but when it feels like a giant sauna outside, I am not much disposed to baking. (That was a giant euphemism for you couldn’t PAY me to heat up the oven.)

The moral of the story is don’t menu plan.

Actually, the moral of the story is to be flexible. I took the ‘guts’ of the doomed calzones and turned it around into something quick and not at all oven-y. I fried up some bacon, added it to some browned ground beef then stirred in a can of our favourite chili beans and a fistful of chopped cilantro. Thanks to great sale on produce at our local-ish grocery, we were well stocked on lettuce. The result was a smoky, saucy, beefy, bacony, beany concoction that somehow managed to be filling without being heavy. We served it in crispy lettuce cups, topped it with grated cheese, velvety ripe avocado cubes and some spicy salsa, sat on the porch and let what little breeze there was cool us all down. Three cheers for switching it up!

The no-vegetable contingent had the toppings (meat and cheese, thankyouverymuch) over brown rice while the rest of us happily munched our lettuce cups. We ended up liking the dish so much we made it two nights in a row.  Then two nights later, we made it again. Thank heavens for bursts of inspiration!

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Salsa Beef and Bean Lettuce Cups

Salsa Beef and Bean Lettuce Cups

Crisp, fresh lettuce cups with a smoky, saucy, beef, bean and bacon filling are topped with lime-kissed ripe avocado cubes, shredded Cheddar cheese and a generous dollop of your favourite salsa for the ultimate hot-weather dinner. Easy enough for busy evenings but pretty enough to serve to company, you'll be sure to add this to your regular meal rotation!

Ingredients

    For the Beef Filling:
  • 1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef
  • 1/2 of a pound of sliced bacon
  • 1/2 an onion, peeled and finely diced
  • 1 clove garlic, peeled and minced or pressed
  • 1 can (15.5 ounces, approximately) chili beans in sauce
  • 1/4 cup chopped cilantro or parsley
    • To Serve:
  • Butter or Iceberg lettuce leaves
  • shredded extra sharp Cheddar cheese
  • cubes of ripe avocado with lime juice squeezed over them
  • salsa

Instructions

To Prepare the Filling:

Stack the bacon slices and cut cross-ways into 1/4- to 1/2-inch thick strips. Fry those over medium heat in a 12-inch, heavy-bottomed skillet or frying pan until crispy. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the bacon to drain on a plate lined with paper towels. Pour the remaining bacon fat from the pan and return the pan to medium heat.

Break up the ground beef into the hot pan and add the chopped onions and garlic. Use a wooden spoon to continue breaking the beef and working the onions and garlic into it as it cooks. When the beef is no longer pink in the center, drain off any fat (if there is any!) and return the pan to the heat. Add the can of beans with their sauce, stir well and bring up to a simmer. You can simmer it to thicken the sauce if necessary.

Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the cilantro.

To Serve:

Stack the lettuce leaves 2 to 3 thick to provide a little structure for when you lift it to eat it. Scoop about 1/3 to 1/2 cup of the beef filling in the center of the lettuce cup. Top with the shredded cheese, cubes of avocado and a dollop of salsa.

http://www.foodiewithfamily.com/2012/06/01/salsa-beef-and-bean-lettuce-cups/

Filed Under: Appetizers & Snacks, Comfort Food, Happy Healthy and Wise, kid food, Main Dish, Meat, Party Food, Rebecca, Recipes, Stretching your dollars Tagged With: , , , , ,
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