Mixed Berry Smoothie

Just in case you were wondering, my diet isn't made up entirely of cake and frosting! I know that is hard to believe since 99% of CIS focuses on butter, sugar, flour and more sugar! But truth be told I am very health conscious and eat a well balanced diet of fruits, veggies, proteins and carbs. I believe in eating a rainbow of colors in fruits and veggies and most mornings I start my day off with a huge bowl of fruit or my new favorite Mixed Berry Smoothie. I can't think of a more refreshing drink during these hot summer months than a fresh & fruity smoothie. Smoothies are the perfect way start to your day, make a healthy mid afternoon snack or can even be considered an after dinner dessert!

Fruit smoothies are such a wonderful source of vitamins and nutrients and the recipes can be easily adapted for your favorite fruits, juices and flavor combinations. My favorite smoothie right now includes strawberries, raspberries, blueberries and blackberries. I used a combination of both fresh and frozen berries for this recipe and I love the deep purple color produced. The magic of smoothies is that when berries aren't in season you can always use frozen. Don't like all the berries, swop in a banana or some peaches, the possibilities are truly endless.

Mixed Berry Smoothie
(makes 2 servings)

Ingredients:
-1 cup strawberries
-2 cups frozen mixed berries (I used raspberries, blueberries, blackberries)
-1 cup orange juice
-3/4 cup vanilla yogurt
-3 Tbsp honey

• Place all ingredients in blender and pulse on high until combined.
• Pour mixture into 2 serving glasses. Add a straw and some fresh berries on top and enjoy!

What's your favorite fruit smoothie flavor?

Triple Berry Fruit Pizza

Fresh berries...my fridge is stocked full right now! YUM! Not only do I enjoy eating these luscious berries by the handful for a snack but I also like using them to garnish sweets! Growing up there was one go-to dessert we would make every summer...Fruit Pizza. Sugar cookie dough, cream cheese icing and fruit. It really doesn't get much simpler than that.

Our traditional fruit pizza was always in the shape of a rectangle and decorated with blueberries and strawberries to resemble the American Flag...does this sound familiar to anyone else? It seems like this was always our staple dessert for 4th of July weekend. It was so patriotic with the red, white and blue.

So with loads of fresh berries on hand, it was the perfect opportunity to make some Triple Berry Fruit Pizzas. This time around instead of one large pizza, I thought it would be more fun to create individual mini pizzas using a round cookie cutter. This would be such a fun dessert to make with the kids and a great way to encourage them to eat fruit too! Just slice up your favorite fruits and have them decorate away!

Triple Berry Fruit Pizzas
(makes 18 mini pizzas)

Ingredients:
-1 package Sugar cookie mix (or roll of refrigerated sugar cookie dough)
-1 (8 oz) package cream cheese, softened
-1/2 cup confectioner's sugar
-1 cup Cool Whip
-Fresh Fruit: strawberries, blueberries, raspberries (or whatever else you prefer)

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
  
• Prepare sugar cookie mix as package directs for roll out cookies.
  
• Roll out dough onto lightly floured surface and cut out mini pizzas using round cookie cutter. I used a 2 5/8" cutter.
• Place cookies on prepared cookie sheets and refrigerate for about 10-15 minutes to chill before baking. This will prevent the cookies from spreading when baking.
• Bake cookies for 10-12 minutes. Allow to cool completely before icing.
• In medium bowl mix together cream cheese, confectioner's sugar and Cool Whip until smooth.
  
• Spread icing on pizzas and decorate with desired fruit.
• Fruit pizzas are best enjoyed the day they are made. You can store in an air tight refrigerator for up to 2 days.
  

What fruit would you use to top your fruit pizza?

Cupcake a Week: Lemon Blueberry

Which do you prefer...lemons or blueberries? Well no need to pick, you can enjoy both of these fruit flavors in my latest cupcake creation! Typically I am not much of a fruit fan when it comes to cake flavors. Given the choice I would pick a chocolate cupcake any day over some froo froo fruity flavor. But with summer just around the corner I thought I would change things up a bit and incorporate some fresh and local fruits in my batch of cupcakes for this week.

This past weekend Randolph and I stopped by Betty's Berry Farm in Wilmer, AL on our trip home from the lake. Picking berries is something that Randolph introduced me to back in our college days at Clemson. I still remember my first trip to the Happy Berry Farm in South Carolina and coming home with cartons full of fresh blueberries and blackberries that I made into cobblers and muffins or just simply ate by the handfuls.

For weeks we have been talking about going to pick berries so finally we paid a visit to our first berry farm in Alabama. This is the sign we were welcomed with...I think they were trying to scare us off with a pen full for roosters. Luckily we weren't frightened and proceeded on to row after row of blueberry trees.

Don't these berries look gorgeous!

We even brought our dog Tillman along. Let's just say Black Lab + almost 100 degree temps = tongue hanging down to the ground and incessant panting.

More berries!

All in a days work...heading home from the farm.

I think we hit the blueberry jackpot! We came away with 6.2 lbs of plump, bright blueberries! The whole ride home I was thinking about all the great recipes I could make...blueberry muffins, blueberry pancakes, blueberry cobbler and of course some blueberry cupcakes!

So let's move on to the good stuff: Blueberries + Lemons + Cupcakes = HEAVEN! I am pretty sure these might be one of my new favorite cupcake flavors!

I used both lemon juice and lemon zest in the cupcake batter and the frosting!

Plus 1 cup of blueberries in the batter!

Rather than fold the blueberries into the batter, I decided to place 4 berries on top of each spoonful of batter.

It's all about presentation, I wanted the berries to still be visible in the cupcakes once they were baked. I didn't want to overwhelm the batter with too many berries and resemble the idea of a muffin. Instead the lemon was the star flavor in these cupcakes and the berries offered a fresh burst of color and a little texture with every bite.

I made a lemon cream cheese frosting to go on top and then garnished with a single blueberry!

I love the simple look of these cupcakes . But don't be fooled by the simplicity, these are full of sophisticated flavors of lemon and vanilla bean. For those of you that aren't so much a lemon fan (I didn't think I was until I tasted this cupcake), the taste of lemon isn't overwhelming in these cupcakes but rather a subtle and pleasant burst of flavor. So if you are looking for a cupcake with a lighter flavor that is super moist and fluffy you have got to try this recipe!

Lemon Blueberry Cupcakes (makes 30 cupcakes)

Ingredients:
-1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
-1 1/2 cups cake flour
-2 cups sugar
-2 sticks butter, room temperature
-1/2 tsp salt
-2 tsp baking powder
-5 eggs, divided
-1 cup sour cream
-1 Tbsp lemon zest (1 lemon)
-2 Tbsp lemon juice (1 lemon)
-2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste
-1 cup blueberries, plus more for garnish

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake pans with paper liners.
• In medium bowl combine flours, salt, baking powder and lemon zest.
• In bowl of electric mixer beat butter and sugar on medium speed until creamy.
• Add egg yolks one at a time, beating well after each addition.
• Add lemon juice and vanilla bean paste and mix well.
• Gradually add in flour mixture and beat until combined.
• Add in sour cream and mix.
• In a small bowl beat egg whites on medium speed until stiff peaks form. Gently fold egg whites into cupcake batter.
• Spoon batter evenly into prepared pans about half full.
• Add 4 blueberries on top of each scoop of batter in cupcake liners.
• Bake for 18-22 minutes until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
• Allow to cool on wire racks for 30 minutes.
  
• Frost with Lemon Cream Cheese icing. Garnish with a blueberry on top.

Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients:
-1 stick butter, room temperature
-4 oz Philadelphia Cream Cheese
-1 Tbsp lemon zest (1 lemon)
-1 Tbsp lemon juice (half lemon)
- 3 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar

• In bowl of electric mixer beat butter and cream cheese until smooth and creamy.
• Gradually add confectioners' sugar and continue to mix.
• Add lemon juice and lemon zest and mix until combined.

So head out to the berry farm, pick some berries and whip up a batch of these super yummy cupcakes!

Enjoy!

Marathoner's Breakfast!

This weekend I had our current Team in Training marathon participants over for breakfast after our long run! After our long runs we love to go out for a big breakfast to local restaurants and replenish with carbs and protein for all of the calories we burned. This weekend I wanted to host everyone over to my house for a celebratory feast! People ran anywhere from 8-20 miles so I knew they were going to be HUNGRY afterward! It was a COLD COLD morning starting out at 5:00AM, temps in the low 30s! But we all survived and loaded up on some carbs once we finished! Here are 3 of the recipes that I made for breakfast, the Blueberry Baked Oatmeal was the favorite by all!

Blueberry Baked Oatmeal (recipe from Southern Living Feb 2007)

Ingredients

2 cups frozen blueberries
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, divided
1 (18 oz) container regular oats
3 large eggs, beaten
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups water
1 cup milk
1/4 cup melted butter

• Toss 2 cups blueberries in 1 tablespoon lemon juice, and spread evenly on bottom of lightly greased 13 x 9 inch baking dish.
• Combine oats, next 9 ingredients, and remaining 1 tablespoon lemon juice in a large bowl, stirring until well blended. Pour oat mixture evenly over blueberries.
• Bake, covered, at 350 degrees for 30 minutes; uncover and bake 20 more minutes or until golden brown and set.

Praline French Toast Casserole (recipe from Paula Deen & Friends cookbook)

Ingredients

8 eggs
1 1/2 cups half-and-half
1/3 cup maple syrup
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
10 to 12 slices soft bread, 1 inch thick

Topping:
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
2/3 cup maple syrup
2 cups chopped pecans

• Generously butter a 13 x 9 inch casserole dish.
• Mix the eggs, half-and-half, maple syrup, and sugar in a large bowl. Place the bread slices in the prepared casserole dish and cover with the egg mixture. Cover with plastic wrap and let soak overnight in the refrigerator.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Remove the casserole from the refrigerator.
• Make the topping: Melt the butter in a saucepan. Add the sugar and maple syrup and cook for 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in the pecans. Pour the mixture over the bread and bake for 45 to 55 minutes. Allow to sit for 10 minutes before serving.

Cinnamon Streusel Coffee Cake (Williams-Sonoma Essentials of Baking Cookbook)

Ingredients

For the streusel filling:
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/3 cup firmly packed golden brown sugar
3/4 cup chopped pecans or walnuts, toasted
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

For the batter:
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
4 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups sour cream

• Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees. Butter and flour a 10-inch tube pan or bundt pan.
• To make the streusel filling, in a small bowl, combine the butter, flour, brown sugar, nuts and cinnamon. Using a pastry blender or fork, mix until crumbly. Set the streusel aside.
• To make the batter, in a bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
• Using a mixer, in a large bowl, beat together the butter and granulated sugar on medium-low speed until creamy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Stir in the vanilla. Add the dry ingredients in 3 batches alternately with the sour cream and mix on low speed just until the batter is blended and almost smooth.
• Pour half of the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the surface with the rubber spatula. Sprinkle evenly with half the streusel filling. Cover with the remaining batter and sprinkle with the remaining streusel.
• Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 40-45 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then turn out of the pan and let cool completely. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 1 month.

Hope you ENJOY these 3 yummy recipes!