Super Saver: Freeze your own fruit

These puppies are ready for their date with the freezer. Photo by NCRI love smoothies. I drink at least one, sometimes two a day.

The problem is that frozen fruit can be pricey. One bag of frozen strawberries can cost anywhere from $2 to $4.50, depending on if it's organic or not. And the bag only holds enough strawberries for about two or three smoothies. 

If you're like me and you're drinking seven to 14 smoothies a week, that adds up -- and fast. And, really, all you're paying for is for someone else to cut up the fruit. Is it really worth it? 

I didn't think so, so a year or so ago I started cutting up my own fruit and freezing it. 

I buy all my fruit for the week on Saturday, bring it home from the store and spend about 30 minutes washing and chopping it all up. Then I lay one varietal of fruit at a time in a single layer on a piece of aluminum foil, and stick it in the freezer for about two hours. Once it's all frozen, I transfer it from the foil to zip-top freezer bags. 

I freeze pineapples, bananas, mangos, melons, peaches, blueberries (love them because they don't need chopping), and, of course, strawberries. 

Try it. It's worth the effort.

Smoothie recipes on The Concentric Circle:
Kale and peach smoothie 
Dark chocolate and blueberry smoothie 
Blueberry-banana smoothie  

 

Snacks that make the growl go away

Bosc pears and cinnamon on top of almond butter makes for a great mid-morning snack. Photo by NCRDoes anyone else experience the 10 a.m. growl?

It’s the sound your stomach makes when it's saying to you, "Thanks for that great egg scramble, but that was 3 hours ago and I’ve already burned through it. Whatcha got for me now? Whatever it is, make sure it has protein in it."

So demanding, isn’t it?

But, hey, your body knows what it needs and, at that hour, it’s generally more protein to fuel it until lunch. If you listen to what your body needs -- and not your mind telling you how much you want that glazed donut by the water cooler -- you’ll make the right choice, and send that growl a packin’.

Protein bars used to be my mid-morning snack of choice, but because most of them have either soy or whey protein in them – and my body doesn’t successfully digest either one – I avoid them now.

Along with nuts, I’ve turned to nut butters and fruit as my go-to growl stoppers. I put 2 tablespoons of unsweetened, all-natural* almond butter or peanut butter in a bowl, top it with fresh fruit and eat it with a spoon.

There are roughly 7 grams of protein in 2 tablespoons of almond butter. There are about 8 grams of protein in the same amount of peanut butter.

Some of my favorite combos are almond butter and cooled sautéed apples (click here for the apple recipe); peanut butter and sliced bananas; and almond butter, chopped Bosc pears and a sprinkle of cinnamon. If I’m not in the mood to use a spoon, strawberry-almond cones (click here for the recipe and scroll down) are also a fave.

These snacks are easy to prepare, and they won’t spoil. Put them in your purse or on your desk at work, and at the first sound of the growl -- boom! Your healthy nut-butter-fruit-combo comes to your defense.

Take that, growl.

*Make sure your nut butters have no more three ingredients in them: nuts, salt and oil.

Recipe: Frozen watermelon-honeydew virgin mojitos

This drink iWho needs alcohol when you have sweet, refreshing frozen fruit and mint? Photo by NCRs finer than a fan on a blistering hot day.

Like a fan, it’ll cool you down. Better than a fan, it’ll nourish your body. There’s nothing but fresh fruit and mint in it.  

If you’ve never frozen watermelon or honeydew, it’s easy. Simply cut up the fruit into 1-inch wedges and arrange them in a single layer on a piece of aluminum foil. Freeze the fruit for at least two hours before making the drink.

This "mocktail" will melt quickly, so make it just before you’re ready to drink it. Cheers!

Frozen Watermelon-Honeydew Virgin Mojitos
(Serves 2)

2 cups frozen honeydew
2 cups frozen watermelon
Juice of 2 large naval oranges
Juice of 2 limes
1/3 cups mint, chopped

Place all ingredients in the blender and blend until smooth.

Pour into frozen glasses. Garnish with an orange or lime slice and a sprig of mint, if desired. Serve immediately with a straw (it's more fun to drink it that way).

Related recipe on The Concentric Circle:
Pina Colada "Milk" Shake

For Mom: White "box" cake

Couldn't you just lick the frosting right off the top of this piece of cake? Photo by NCRWhen I was a kid, dessert was not a nightly thing. It was a real treat.

Once every few months, the smell of vanilla cake would waft through the house, out the front door and into my nose before I could even hit the front porch after school. I couldn't get my backpack off and run to the kitchen fast enough to make sure my sense of smell wasn't deceiving me and that, yes, it was actually true: Mom had made a Duncan Hines white "box" cake with cream cheese icing.

Mom will be the first to tell you and anyone else that she doesn't bake. What she really means when she says that is that she doesn't like all the measuring involved in baking from scratch. Pouring 1 cup of water and 1/4 cup vegetable oil and cracking three eggs into the Duncan Hines mix is something Mom didn't object to. And, so, when she had a sweet tooth or it was one of our birthdays or some other special ocassion, she would treat us to a white box cake. 

The cream cheese frosting was out of the Duncan Hines tub. The cake was always one layer. She'd usually use a 13x9 Pyrex baking dish. And she'd top the cake with one of two things: chopped walnuts or rainbow sprinkles. I preferred the latter and still do. 

In my older years I've eaten cake at a lot of dessert shops and patisseries, and I have to say that I will take Mom's white box cake anyday over some fancy French pastry chef's 30-step cake.

If you want the recipe for this one, visit the baking aisle of your local grocery store and search for Duncan Hines.

Mom, because it's a special ocassion, I made you a Duncan Hines white box cake. Happy Mother's Day to you and to all the moms out there who cook.  

 

Moment of Silence: Mom makes lasagna

Mom's lasagna recipe, which she makes every Christmas, is top secret. She did, however, allow a photo shoot this year. If you can figure out how to make it by looking at these photos, I won't tell. Photos by NCR