Homemade Lemonade

Everyone loves lemonade in the summer time, right? Now, while store bought already made or lemonade made from concentrate are great the homemade stuff is always better. That seems to be the case with most things though. I've made this lemonade twice this summer and it has gotten the approval of four people other than myself, so I think that it's okay.


What You'll Need...

1 Cup Fresh Squeezed Lemon Juice (About 10 small lemons or 5 large.)
1 Batch Simple Syrup
8 Cups Cold Water

Simple Syrup:
1 Cup Water
1 Cup Sugar

Start out by making the simple syrup. To do so place one cup of water and one cup of sugar in a sauce pan. Turn on the heat, stir, and allow the sugar to dissolve. When the sugar had dissolved turn off the heat and allow the syrup to cool.

Once the syrup has cooled add it to a pitcher with the lemon juice and the additional 8 cups of water. Stir to combine and place in the refrigerator to chill.

Enjoy!

Cherry Milkshakes

Two Fridays ago Whole Foods had cherries on sale and since my mom and sisters were coming out here I picked up a bunch. Seriously, I bought 5lbs of cherries. Since we needed to get rid of some cherries before they went bad and we were also in need of a dessert idea I came up with this masterpiece. The process of actually making the shake is short and sweet; well except for pitting the cherries, that part is a bit harder than just blending. Enjoy this awesome summer treat while cherries are still in season. Or you could make this in the winter with frozen cherries, but I imagine it would be better if you personally froze fresh cherries instead of using store bought already frozen cherries.

What You’ll Need…

3 Cups Pitted Cherries

3 Cups Vanilla Ice Cream

1 Cup Milk (More if you like a thinner milkshake.)

Place the ice cream, cherries, and milk in blender and blend until combined. For a thinner shake add more milk until the shake has the desired texture. Pour into four glasses and enjoy! 

Crockpot Coconut Chicken

My mom and sisters are out here in CA with us to meet Christian… My youngest sister has a ton of allergies, one of which is nuts, so we had to make sure that all of the nuts were out of the house before they got here. And believe it or not, coconut is a nut. So, we broke out the coconut and made something delicious.

What You’ll Need…

4 Chicken Thighs (Bone in, skin on, completely frozen.)

2 16oz Cans Coconut Milk

½ Cup Sweetened Shredded Coconut

3 Carrots (Chopped)

1 Cup Frozen Peas

1 Handful Mushrooms (Sliced)

Place the chicken in the bottom of your crock-pot and cover with the coconut milk and shredded coconut. Put the lid on, turn it to high and allow it to cook for 3 hours.

After three hours chop and add the vegetables and allow everything to cook for an additional 2 hours.

After 2 hours turn off the heat, spoon into bowls, and enjoy!

(Sadly there is not picture because my phone did not save it.)

Choco-Nutty Dip

There were a few times while I was pregnant that I thought I was gaining too much weight (4lbs in one week… at least twice) so I tried to eat less while still eating enough; if that makes sense. So, instead of eating my normal wrap for lunch I cut out the calories from the tortilla, but still got all of the good healthy stuff from what was normally inside that tortilla. This dip is great in small quantities for lunch or as a dessert at a party.

What You’ll Need… (Lunch portion)

2 Tablespoons PB2 Peanut Butter Powder

1 Tablespoon Water

1 Tablespoon Nutella (Hershey’s Chocolate Hazelnut works well too.)

½ Tablespoon Wheat Germ

Cinnamon (To taste)

Things to dip

Add 2 tablespoons of peanut butter powder and 1 tablespoon of water to a bowl or small container and mix thoroughly. (For a thicker dip add a little less water, and for a smoother dip add slightly more water.)

Add the Nutella, wheat germ, and cinnamon and stir. Make sure that everything is thoroughly combined.

Enjoy with fruit, graham crackers, or even pretzels. 

 

Spiced Tofu Quesadillas

Once a week we have salad night for dinner; we also have a meatless night once a week and the other night we combined the two. We had decided to have salad with quesadillas and when I went to the fridge to grab the ingredients I saw that we still had tofu and that it needed to be used… our plans changed a little and it turned out to be way better than I thought it would be.

What You’ll Need…

1lb Extra Firm Tofu

8 Flour Tortillas

1-2 Cups Grated Cheese (Your choice and as much as you like.)

2oz Goat Cheese

Chili Powder (To taste)

Onion Powder (To taste)

1 tablespoon Olive Oil

Start out by pressing your tofu for at least 30 minutes to rid it of excess water. Once the tofu has been pressed tip it up onto its side and cut it into 4 equal steaks.

At this time pre-heat your oven to 200 and add the olive oil to a medium skillet. Allow the oil to heat before placing the tofu in and allowing it to become golden on both sides. (This will obviously require you to flip the tofu half way through.)

When the tofu has been browned place it on top of a paper towel lined plate and pat the tops dry with a paper towel to rid it of some of the excess oil. Once the excess oil has been removed cut eat tofu steak in half lengthwise.

Now to make the quesadillas…

Place a tortilla down to be the bottom. Sprinkle the desired amount of cheese on top of the tortilla and sprinkle the chili and onion powder on top of that. Place two pieces of tofu on top of the cheese and spices, top that with ½ an ounce of goat cheese, and top with a second tortilla.

Place the assembled quesadilla in a dry skillet and all to heat through and the cheese to melt. Flip the quesadilla once half way through.

When the quesadilla is complete place it on a plate or pizza pan and place in the 200 degree oven to keep warm.

Repeat the process.

Once all of the quesadillas are done cut them into triangles and enjoy!