Strawberry Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing

One of my favorite things to do each spring is to make a trip to the strawberry fields and nearly pick my weight in fresh berries. It's something I've done with my mom very year since I was a small child. We always make some sort of a fresh and light dessert with our berries, and a huge batch of mom's famous strawberry jam, but this year I wanted to get creative with a few of the extra berries.

As soon as I made my Blueberry Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing, I knew I wanted a strawberry version. This recipe is also inspired by Lindsay over at The Lean Green Bean.

Strawberry Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing

Makes around 8 ounces

Ingredients:

1/2 cup cold pressed olive oil
3/4 cup fresh strawberries, washed and hulled
1 1/2 tablespoons balsamic vinaigrette
1 teaspoon dijon mustard

Directions:

Add the ingredients to a food processor and process until smooth and well incorporated. Refrigerate until ready to use.

What are your weekend plans? 

Brownie Fruit Pie {Memorial Day Dessert}

Hello, hello! I'm so thrilled that it's finally the weekend. And what better way to start the weekend than with dessert???

Memorial Day is just a few days away and if you don't already have a dessert planned for your family, you should definitely consider making this Brownie Fruit Pie. 

It's easy, delicious, and serves a crowd. And it looks festive; you can't beat that!

This dessert starts with a boxed brownie mixed, prepared according to the directions on the package. Preheat the oven to 350* and lightly spray a pie dish with nonstick spray. Pour the batter into the pie dish until it's 1/2-3/4 full. 

Pour the remaining batter into a small loaf pan. Extra brownies = brownie sundaes for later. 

Bake the brownie pie for about 20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Now for the fun part! The frosting is really simple and is not at all overly sweet. It's a cream cheese frosting and it pairs perfectly with the brownie and the strawberries. 

In a small bowl, combine 8 ounces of low-fat cream cheese (or regular) with 1/4 cup powdered sugar and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Mix until smooth and creamy. If it's not sweet enough for your liking, add additional powdered sugar as needed. Spread the frosting over the brownie pie and garnish with sliced berries. Feel free to cover the entire brownie pie with fruit and use a variety of fruit. 

Refrigerate the brownie pie until ready to serve and store left-overs in the refrigerator.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and a safe and happy holiday.

Strawberry Pretzel Parfait {150 Calories}

Hello, hello! Hope you all had a great weekend. We had gorgeous weather yesterday-the perfect temperature with a nice breeze. I wish it was like that year-round!

I've said it before, but strawberries are my favorite fruit. I have fond childhood memories of sitting in strawberry fields, eating perfect vine-ripened strawberries when I was supposed to be helping my mom pick them so that she could make her famous strawberry jam. Even to this day, Smuckers is a total disappointment. 

Anyway, back to the strawberries... they're glorious. Strawberries are perfect on their own and even more perfect when added to treats. This Strawberry Pretzel Parfait is a refreshing and light snack that is sure to leave you satisfied. My version calls for Greek yogurt, which is packed with protein, and it's the perfect combination of salty and sweet. At 150 calories (more or less depending on which ingredients you use), you can't go wrong!

P.S. Mother's Day is Sunday. I bet she would love this!

Strawberry Pretzel Parfait

Serves 1

Ingredients:

1- 5.3oz cup of Dannon Light & Fit Vanilla Greek Yogurt
8-10 mini pretzels
4 medium strawberries

Directions:

Wash and slice the strawberries into small pieces. In a cup or bowl, layer 1/2 the cup of yogurt, followed by half of the strawberries, and then half of the pretzels. Repeat the layers. Serve immediately and enjoy!

What's your favorite fruit?

Jam: store-bought or homemade?

Homemade Strawberry Bread with Glaze

Strawberries are my favorite fruit and sweet quick breads are the best. There's no better treat for your Valentine than this Homemade Strawberry Bread with glaze! My mom's been making this bread for years and it's always a hit!

I'm well aware that strawberries aren't exactly in season, but in my defense, I picked these strawberries back in the spring and froze them while they were at the peak of perfection!  So, grab some frozen strawberries if you don't have any quality fresh berries, and get baking; you won't regret this one... it's amazing.

Homemade Strawberry Bread with Glaze

Makes 2 loaves

Ingredients:

2 cups fresh strawberries and juice
Sugar
3 cups all purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon cinnamon
4 eggs, beaten
1 1/4 cup vegetable oil

For the glaze

1 cup confectioners sugar
1 tablespoon strawberry juice


Directions:

Sprinkle strawberries with sugar and freeze overnight in an airtight container. Defrost the berries, but do not drain. Reserve one tablespoon of strawberry juice for the glaze.

Preheat the oven to 350* F. Line two 9" x 5" loaf pans with aluminum foil and lightly grease the pans with cooking spray.

Combine the flour, sugar, salt, baking soda, and cinnamon in a medium bowl. Mix well. Combine the eggs and oil in a separate bowl and mix well. Stir in the flour mixture and mix well. Add the strawberries and and mix just until blended.

Pour the batter into the loaf pans and bake for one hour or until the bread is done (toothpick test!).


For the glaze

Combine the confectioners sugar and strawberry juice in a small bowl and mix until smooth. Drizzle over the warm loaves of strawberry bread.

Remove the loaves from the pans when cool.

What's your favorite strawberry dessert?

Strawberry Protein Smoothie

Today I have a super simple smoothie recipe to share with you. After a workout last week, I wanted something very cold, but something that would satisfy and replenish. This smoothie is packed with tons of protein, fresh fruit, and it's very low in calories. It starts with a ready-to-drink protein shake, but if you don't have one on hand, protein powder will work just fine.

 

Strawberry Protein Smoothie Recipe

 

Pour a ready-to-drink protein shake into a blender. I love the shakes by EAS. I love the taste and I really like the nutrition information: low carb, high protein, and low calorie. If you don't have ready-to-drink shakes on hand but you do have protein powder, mix a scoop of protein with 6-8 ounces of water.

 

 

 Wash and chop about 1 1/2 cups of fresh strawberries and toss those into the blender.

 

Add two handfuls of ice (or as little or as much as you want) and blend until you reach your desired consistency. This smoothie recipe easily makes two servings, which still gives you 8.5 grams of protein and 50 calories (plus more, depending on how many berries you use).



Feel free to try different flavor combinations. A vanilla shake and strawberries or blueberries would taste great. A chocolate shake and a banana would probably taste great too!

 

Enjoy!

Strawberry Ideas + Homemade Strawberry Ice Cream

I'm back to share some ideas for using fresh strawberries. If you didn't already know, my parents and I picked a ton of fresh strawberries a few days ago. It's a family tradition; I've been strawberry picking since I was just a few months old!

Strawberry jam is my favorite spread and I have been eating it since I was old enough for solid food. I tried store-bought jam once (when I moved away to college), but I was very disappointed... it simply wasn't Mom's Strawberry Jam!

 

I don't know why I never thought of putting strawberries on a salad until recently, but it is quite heavenly. My friend Mary Beth gave me some sliced almonds, and this made the salad even more delicious. Eat it as-is or add a vinaigrette.

 

Strawberry shortcake is always a popular strawberry treat. We made an angel food cake and topped it with sliced strawberries and whipped cream.

 

One of my newest strawberry recipe ideas is strawberry ice cream. It was so simple to make and I always love being in control of what goes into it!

Homemade Strawberry Ice Cream

Yields 1 1/2 quarts

 

Ingredients:

 

1 1/2 cups diced strawberries

3 teaspoons lemon juice

1 cup sugar, divided

1 cup milk

2 cups half and half

1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:

In a small mixing bowl, combine strawberries, lemon juice, and 1/3 cup sugar. Refrigerate for 1 to 2 hours.

In a medium mixing bowl, combine the remaining ingredients and add the liquid from the strawberry mixture.

Pour into your ice cream maker and freeze according to the manufacturers instructions. (Mine took about 25 minutes to freeze.) Add the strawberries in the last five minutes.

Serve ice cream immediately (it will be more like soft-serve) or pour into a freezer-safe container and freeze for several hours.

Allow ice cream to sit out for about 10 minutes before serving. Seriously, wait the 10 minutes... don't be impatient like me or it will be icy!



What's your favorite thing to do with strawberries?

Strawberry time!

My parents and I went strawberry picking today. It's something we've been doing since I was a baby and I look forward to it every year. The fresh picked berries taste better than the store bought ones and it's great when you can buy local and support your community. We ended up picking $85 worth of berries! I can't wait for some homemade strawberry jam- my favorite!

I will be posting about recipe ideas for fresh strawberries in the next few days, so stay tuned!

Beautiful flowers outside the berry field



The berries I picked