Watermelon Popsicles

My girls love popsicles (they must be my daughters!).  I started feeling guilty about all the sugar in most store bought popsicles, and last summer I started making my own all fruit ones.

These ones are our favorite, and perfect for us, since we can never eat an entire watermelon.

6 cups watermelon, cubed

2 ripe banana, peeled

2 tablespoons agave nectar/maple syrup/honey (or more to taste)

Zest from 2 limes

Juice from 2 limes (about 4 tablespoons)

Put it all in a blender.  (during the summer I don't have my big blender, so I just do parts of it in a little magic bullet, and then stir it all together in a bowl.)  Then pour them into popsicle molds.  

I bought these ones at Walmart for a $1.50.  The dollar store sells them too.

If you have a yummy recipe you want to share, leave it in the comments or email me at stayce581 at hotmail dot com.

4th of July Treats

Wow! Can you believe it is already the middle of the summer, and we are celebrating the 4th of July this week? I can't... I have always loved the 4th of July! I feel truly blessed to live in such a wonderful place and to have the freedoms that I do! Each year when the 4th of July rolls around, I always want to make some festive treat; I want to share a few of my favorite festive treats with all of you.

Red, White and Blue Strawberries! YUMMY!

What you will need:

• Strawberries
• White Chocolate (you can use chocolate chips, almond bark, etc).
• Blue Sprinkles
• Wax paper

Directions:

• Wash and dry your strawberries. Make sure the strawberries are completely dry or the chocolate won't stick.
• Melt the chocolate over the stovetop. Chocolate burns really easy, so make sure the temperature is on medium-low or low. 
• Once the chocolate is melted, dip each strawberry in the chocolate. Once you have the strawberry dipped, you can then dip a 1/4 of the strawberry into the blue sprinkles that you have poured in a bowl. Then set on the wax paper. If you'd rather you can just sprinkle the blue sprinkles onto the strawberry as it sits on the wax paper.
• Enjoy eating your yummy and festive red, white, and blue strawberries! 

American Flag Fruit Pizza

I am a sucker for fruit pizza, so of course I have to make a festive one for the 4th of July. 

This is really yummy for Breakfast. 

Ingredients

Crust:

• 2 cups flour
• 1/2 cup cornstarch
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2/3 cup margarine
• 2 beaten eggs

Cream Cheese Topping:

• 2 - 8oz cream cheese
• 6 TBSP. sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla

Toppings to make the American Flag:

• Strawberries, Bananas, and Blueberries

Directions:

• To make the crust you will need to sift the dry ingredients. Cut in margarine until crumbly. Add beaten eggs. Mix. Press into greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 for 10 minutes and cool. 
• For cream cheese topping you will mix cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla. Spread over crust. 
• Then place your sliced fruit on the pizza forming the American Flag. 

Red, White, and Blue Fruit Salad

This is pretty self-explanatory so you don't really need directions... :) 

This Fruit Salad has 3 fruits:

• Sliced Strawberries (or raspberries), Blueberries, and Diced Apples

I hope each of you have a wonderful 4th of July that is FULL of Fun, laughter, gratitude, and of course YUMMY TREATS :)! 

Healthy Treats!

Doc McStuffins Muffins!

Full of fiber, fun easy recipe for kids!

1 pre sliced banana

1 1/3 oatmeal

1/3 shredded coconut

1/3 raisins

1/4 c strawberry preserves

Mash bananas, mix in all ingredients.

Press into a greased/sprayed muffin tin

Refrigerate overnight. OR minimum of 2 hours

Top with almond butter or sunflower seed butter and fresh strawberry slices

Double recipe for granola bars:

2 pre sliced bananas

2 2/3 C oatmeal

2/3 C shredded coconut

2/3 C raisins or craisins

1/2 C strawberry preserves

Mash bananas, mix in all ingredients.

Press into a greased/sprayed 9x9 pan

Refrigerate overnight. OR minimum of 2 hours

Top with almond butter or sunflower seed butter and fresh strawberry slices

Banana Ice Cream!

Freeze sliced bananas (4-6)

Throw frozen slices in the blender a small amount at a time. Blend until they're creamy. 

If your blender isn't doing the trick, add a little milk. 

Top with sprinkles, fresh berries, or almond honey butter drizzle. (melt almond butter and honey)

Mix-in opitons: Choc chips, nuts, brownie bites, cookie crumbles, graham crackers, any other yummy thing you can imagine. 

Do YOU have a favorite recipe!? Share it with us and we'll post it. 

Local Eats

Traveling and living all over the US is a great way to try all sorts of different foods. I LOVE FOOD. period. One of my favorite things ever is to try different dishes and local restaurants wherever we live and visit. This year we were lucky enough (again) to get to live in the big state of Texas and not only do we get to have BBQ here, but we are on the coast as well and get to have seafood too! Best of both worlds right?! My recent favs have been Rudy's Famous Creamed Corn, Shrimp Po' Boys, and Cobbler!

I'm all about easy when we are out for the summers especially since the hubs gets home so late I want to have dinner nice and warm when he gets home. So me and my crock pot are best of friends. The first weekend we got out here we had Rudy's cater a BBQ for us and I fell in love with their creamed corn and even told my mom it was better then hers (oops). So I just had to find their recipe and share it with you all.

Rudy's Famous Creamed Corn

2 lb corn kernels, frozen

1 - 8oz cream cheese - cut into chunks

1/2 stick butter

1 Tbsp sugar

1/4 c  whipping cream

salt and pepper to taste

 Mix all ingredients and put in a crock pot and cook on low till the cream cheese and butter are melted. Stir occasionally.

This next recipe is for Shrimp Po' Boys (courtesy of Emeril Lagasse) and it would be so fun eating these bad boys around a fire at the beach or just picnicking it with your husband late at night on the living room floor. (hey, it's hard to get out with kids, so you just have to improvise for date nights).

Shrimp Po' Boys

Vegetable oil, for frying

1 1/2 pounds large shrimp, peeled and deveined

3 tablespoons Essence, recipe follows

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

3/4 teaspoon cayenne

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups yellow cornmeal

2 small French bread loaves, each about 10-inches long

4 tablespoons melted butter

1/4 cup mayonnaise, or more to taste

Red pepper sauce

1 cup shredded lettuce

1 large ripe beefsteak tomato, thinly sliced

Sliced dill pickles, optional

Hot sauce, for serving, optional

Potato chips, for serving, optional

Directions

Heat the oil in a large sauce pan or preheat a deep fryer to 360 degrees F. Season the shrimp with 1 tablespoon of the Essence, 1/2 teaspoon of the salt and 1/4 teaspoon of the cayenne. In a medium mixing bowl combine the flour and cornmeal and season with the remaining 2 tablespoons of the Essence, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon cayenne. Dredge the shrimp in the seasoned flour mixture, coating the shrimp completely. Fry the shrimp in the hot oil, in batches if necessary, until golden brown, stirring constantly, about 4 minutes. Remove from the oil and drain on a paper-lined plate. Season with salt and hot sauce. Split the French bread loaves in half and brush both cut sides of the bread with some of the melted butter. Using a spatula, spread the mayonnaise on both sides of the bread, then sprinkle with hot sauce. Divide the shrimp evenly between the 2 sandwiches and garnish with the lettuce, tomato slices, sliced pickles and hot sauce, if desired. Serve with potato chips.

Emeril's ESSENCE Creole Seasoning (also referred to as Bayou Blast):

2 1/2 tablespoons paprika

2 tablespoons salt

2 tablespoons garlic powder

1 tablespoon black pepper

1 tablespoon onion powder

1 tablespoon cayenne pepper

1 tablespoon dried oregano

1 tablespoon dried thyme

Did I say I love dessert? I usually have to end each meal with something sweet to keep me happy.  My husband hates most sweet things but the one thing he can't get enough of is Peach Cobbler! So, it's definitely a staple in our house and I usually have to make two of these, one for sharing and one for just him! It's THAT good!

Southern Peach Cobbler

 8 fresh peaches - peeled, pitted and sliced into thin wedges

 1/4 cup white sugar

 1/4 cup brown sugar

 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

 2 teaspoons cornstarch

 1 cup all-purpose flour

 1/4 cup white sugar

 1/4 cup brown sugar

 1 teaspoon baking powder

 1/2 teaspoon salt

 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small pieces

 1/4 cup boiling water

MIX TOGETHER:

 3 tablespoons white sugar

 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 425 degrees

In a large bowl, combine peaches, 1/4 cup white sugar, 1/4 cup brown sugar, 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon, nutmeg, lemon juice, and cornstarch. Toss to coat evenly, and pour into a 2 quart baking dish. Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine flour, 1/4 cup white sugar, 1/4 cup brown sugar, baking powder, and salt. Blend in butter with your fingertips, or a pastry blender, until mixture resembles coarse meal. Stir in water until just combined.

Remove peaches from oven, and drop spoonfuls of topping over them. Sprinkle entire cobbler with the sugar and cinnamon mixture. Bake until topping is golden, about 30 minutes.

Its been so fun trying the local Texan foods while living here. We would LOVE to know where you are living and what new exciting foods you have tried and share with us your recipes!!