Pineapple Strawberry Limeade

Here's another recipe that I found "pinned" on Pinterest. It's linked to this website: http://www.mychicfinds.net/2011/05/pineapple-strawberry-limeade.html. This is the beverage I decided to try on the night my friend and her family were coming over. Easy to make, non-alcoholic and very versatile. I tired to make garnishes but ran out of time. I also tried to find natural ingredients at Whole Foods, but apparently there isn't enough demand for frozen pineapple or limeade concentrate. I've never had club soda and adding it just seemed to add fizz without the sugar and extra calories that are in something like ginger ale. I think it could've used a bit more club soda since I prefer my beverages a little less sweet - not that this was overly sweet. It was great!

Ingredients:

1 - 12oz can frozen pineapple juice concentrate, thawed
1 - 6oz can frozen limeade concentrate, thawed
4 cups cold water
1 liter club soda, chilled
ice cubes
fresh organic strawberries (optional)
assorted fruits: sliced oranges, lime slices, raspberries, blueberries, strawberries, etc...
- to toss inside and to use as garnish
short (6-inch) wooden skewers

Directions:

1. In a large pitcher combine pineapple juice concentrate, limeade and water. Chill for at least 30 minutes.
2. To serve, add club soda and mix. Transfer to a serving pitcher and add ice cubes and fruit as desired.

Make-Ahead Tip:

Up to 24 hours ahead, prepare juice mixture and chill well. Proceed as directed.

Strawberry Cream Cheese Muffins

Continuing with my new found addiction to the website Pinterest, I found this recipe. I had fresh organic strawberries on hand and really wanted to give it a try. The recipe comes from the blog lululu at home http://lululuathome.com/2010/03/strawberry-and-cream-cheese-muffin.html.

They muffins aren't too sweet but they do take a little longer to make than muffins from a box. These are made from scratch, so you know they're going to ROCK!

Ingredients (12 regular-sized muffins):

Muffin

2 cup all-purpose flour

3/4 cup granulated sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup whole milk

1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 large eggs, room temperature and lightly beaten

1 cup fresh strawberries, chopped into very small pieces

Cream Cheese Mixture

4 oz cream cheese, room temperature

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Directions:

Preheat over to 350F. Grease muffin tin or line with muffin liners.

In a small bowl, mix together with a spoon the cream cheese mixture ingredients until smooth. Set aside.

In a big bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

In another bowl, whisk together milk, melted butter, vanilla extract and egg until incorporated.

Use a spatula, mix the milk mixture into the flour mixture. Fold together until combined. Do not overmix.

Spoon the batter into the prepared tins, filling them no more than 1/2 full.

Scatter a few pieces of strawberry on top of each one.

Top it with a tsp of cream cheese mixture, a tablespoon of muffin batter, and finally a few more pieces of strawberry.

Bake the muffins for about 25 minutes, until they’re light golden on top and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Let the muffins cool in the pan for 10 minutes.

Fruit Salad

Just tossed an organic fruit salad together for lunch. Nothing special...but it was so good and perfect for summer.

Bananas
Strawberries
Blueberries
Pink Lady Apples
Bartlett Pears
White Nectarines