Rubbermaid FreshWorks™ Produce Savers + A Giveaway

Spring is here and I am loving all of the fresh greens and berries that are available.
It's so fun to browse around the Farmer's Market on Saturday morning and come home
with fresh fruit and veggies to make into something delicious.

Watermelon Slushies

Summer Fruit Salad

Now that melons and berries are in season, I enjoy preparing fruit bowls for my family
to enjoy as a healthy snack or as a side for lunch or dinner.  Having fruit washed, cut
and ready to eat makes it so much easier to make healthy choices.  I would rather have
this pretty bowl of summer fruit salad for a snack than a bag of chips or crackers!

I love OXO Good Grips Glass Snap Containers for keeping cut fruit and vegetables fresh,
ready to eat and easily transportable.  They come in a variety of sizes from 1 cup to 7 cup
and are perfect for salads, leftovers and side dishes.  The snap lids are leak proof, so I
can carry them in my lunch bag to work and not worry about liquid leaking out all over
the place! They go from freezer to the oven with no problem at all!

4-Ingredient Raspberry Peach Crumble

Yes, you read the title correctly.
Only four ingredients are needed to make this delicious raspberry peach crumble,
perfect for spring and summer get togethers.

And you only have one bowl to wash after making it!
Or maybe two, if you devour the entire dish of fruit crumble after it bakes :)

Cheesecake Trifles In a Jar {Random Acts of Sweetness}

This post is part of a social shopper marketing insight campaign with Pollinate Media Group® and Sara Lee Desserts, but all my opinions are my own. #pmedia #SaraLeeDesserts http://my-disclosur.es/OBsstV

Mini Granola Chocolate Fruit Tarts

My fridge is full of berries and I love it!
Summer is the best!

After dinner  I was craving something sweet, but healthy too.
Is that too much to ask??
I remembered seeing chocolate fruit tartlets on SkinnyTaste a few days ago and
thought they looked so yummy so I made my own version.
Mini granola chocolate fruit tarts.
Sweet tooth problem solved :)

Strawberry Shortcake

Strawberry Shortcake cream on top
Tell me the name of your sweetheart.

How many of you remember jumping rope to that song?
Any one, any one?
Do kid's even jump rope anymore?
Well they should.
Just sayin'.

Anyway, for some reason that song popped into my head as I was editing these photos
and now I can't quit singing it.
Don't you hate when that happens!

Mini Fruit and Almond Flower Tarts

Yay for May!
My favorite month!
May brings warm sunny days, my birthday, Mother's Day and oh yeah,
May flowers!

Steel Cut Oats and Berries in a Jar

Want to see my breakfast for the week?
Sure you do :)

It involves oats and fruit.
Big shocker huh!

Healthy Oat and Fruit Pizza for One

After dinner I always crave something a little sweet.
Usually I'll have a small piece of dark chocolate, but tonight I was craving something fruity.

I wanted to keep my treat as healthy as possible, so I decided to make a Gluten-Free oat crust.
Oats are my fave!!
This simple crust is made from just 4 healthy ingredients!

Breakfast Cookies

Welcome to week two of National Hot Breakfast Month.
The theme this week is breakfast in a hurry.

Breakfast cookies are perfect for busy mornings.
I make them on the weekend, wrap each cookie individually in plastic wrap and
keep them in a plastic container in the freezer.

My 3-Day Juice Cleanse

If you follow me on Instagram or Facebook, you probably know that I recently did a
juice cleanse.  I had been thinking about doing one for over a year now and finally got
up the nerve to go for it this month.  I felt my body needed a break from my Diet Coke
addiction and all of the heavy foods I consumed over the holidays.
I needed to feel like I was doing something good for my body.
I needed a reset.
Do you know what I mean?

There are several brands of juice available for cleansing, but after taste testing a few
Garden of Flavor juices at Whole Foods, I chose them for my 3-Day Cleanse.
I wanted the juice for my juice cleanse to be made from all organic fruits and vegetables.
Juicing with non-organic juice just didn't make sense to me.
Why would I want to cleanse my body with juice made with fruit and vegetables
sprayed with pesticides!

The juice arrived on Wednesday afternoon.

Good-for-You Granola

Granola is good stuff.
It makes yogurt more exciting, but it's also nice healthy snack on it's own.
I usually make granola once or twice a month because you know how I love anything
oats and homemade granola tastes so much better than store-bought.

I like making my own granola because I can control how sweet it is and I can add the
fruit and nuts that my family and I prefer.

This was the first time I had added quinoa to a granola recipe, but I loved the added
crunch and nutty flavor it gave to the granola.  I will definitely add it again!

This recipe came from The Skinnytaste Cookbook.  Gina has some fantastic recipes

Fruit Pizza Cookie Cups

I love taking a favorite recipe and making it into cute, bite-size desserts.
I've been making fruit pizza forever, but when I needed something sweet to take to
church I decided mini fruit pizza cookie cups were the way to go.

No cutting or serving spoon needed.
Everyone can just grab a cookie cup or two :)

Raspberry Chia Smoothie

Hi friends!
I'm back with healthy treat this time!

Smoothies are one of my favorite healthy snacks.
I love how you can change them up depending upon what fruit you have on hand.
I had frozen raspberries that I needed to use, so tonight I whipped up
this Raspberry Chia smoothie.

Since I was home alone this evening, this smoothie was my dinner : )
It was filling enough to help me get through my 3-mile walk.
I did snack on some baby carrots and hummus afterwards.
Oh and some dark chocolate chips : )

My New Favorite Snack

This is my new favorite snack.
Raspberries stuffed with dark and white chocolate chips.
I prefer the dark chocolate.
So, so good.
Give it a try :)

May 8th Recap and a Recipe

Today has been an awesome day. My birthday and Mother's day all in one.

Madison gave me these beautiful measuring cups from Pier One.
Love them!!!!!!

After a late breakfast, we made a trip to Target which resulted in these for her.
Super cute.
Oh to be a teenager again :)

(I've received several requests for the polish color - it is Blue-Away by Sally Hansen from Target)

We also stopped by my mom and dad's house to visit and wish mom a happy mother's day too.
This is picture of the two of us back in the day. 
Love you Mom!

While traveling a lot for work this week, I found a new drink addiction.
Sonic's Low-Cal Sparkling Lime Limeade.
So good!

I made my own version at home today using Sam's Choice Key Lime Sparkling water and fresh lime juice.
Love it.

We usually go out for birthday dinners, but I wanted to stay home and make dinner since I have been traveling so much lately.  I used my favorite Le Creuset pot to boil pasta. 

Caribbean Blue = cooking happiness.

We had Crispy Shrimp Pasta and Roasted Asparagus for dinner.

It was delish.

I also made these cookie cups using refrigerated cookie dough and my Pampered Chef Mini Muffin pan.

Which resulted in these when I finished.  So good!!

Want the recipe?

Strawberry Cookie Tarts

recipe from Joy's Hope

2  packages of Pillsbury Refrigerated Ready to Bake Sugar Cookies

1 tub (8 oz) Philadelpia Whipped Cream Cheese

1 tub (8 oz.) Cool Whip

1/4 cup sugar

Fresh Strawberries

Spray mini muffin tin with cooking spray.  Place one Ready to Bake Sugar Cookie in each tin.

Bake at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes or until lightly browned.  Remove from oven and use a Pampered Chef  Mini Tart Shaper to press them into tart shapes.  Let them cool a few minutes before you remove them from the pan to a wire rack.  I run a plastic knife gently around the tarts to help remove them from the pan. While the cookie tarts are cooling make the filling.

Combine whipped cream cheese, cool whip and sugar.  Mix with electric mixer until fluffy.  

Put filling in a pastry bag with tip and pipe into each cookie tart.  Top with a strawberry or other fresh fruit. 

Makes 48 cookie tarts.

Hope you enjoyed my recap of May 8, 2011.

Loved this day :)

Linking to:

Made by you Monday

Momspiration Monday

Just a Girl Show and Share

All Things Heart and Home

Weekend Wrap Up Party

Blackberry Cobbler

My mom had all of us over for lunch on Sunday after church.  We love going to Mom & Dad's to eat, especially in the summer time when their garden is full of fresh veggies!  She served us a delicious spiral baked ham, little red potatoes, green beans, corn on the cob, sliced tomatoes and cucumbers. Everything came from their garden, except the ham of course.  The meal was delish!!

Since Mom was doing all of the cooking, I told her I would bring dessert. 

I thought a fruit cobbler would be perfect with her summer garden meal and it was.

You can use this recipe for any type of berry you prefer.  Enjoy!

Blackberry Cobbler

2 C Berries, frozen or fresh

1/2 C sugar

1 C milk

1 C Self-Rising Flour

1 C sugar

1 stick butter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Place 1 T of butter on top of berries in a small bowl.  Pour 1/2 cup sugar over berries and stir.  Heat in microwave for about 1 minute so that sugar and butter begin to melt.

Cut your stick of butter into several squares and place them all in a glass bake dish.  I use an 8 x 11.5 x 2 inch clear glass bake dish.  Place the bake dish in the oven to melt the butter.

Mix together 1 cup self-rising flour and 1 cup sugar until blended.  Pour in 1 cup milk and miz until blended.

After butter is melted, take bake dish out of the oven and pour the batter on top of the melted butter.

Pour berries on top of batter.  Do not stir!!  Sprinkle a tablespoon of sugar over the cobbler.

Bake for about 55 mintues or until golden.  Serve warm with vanilla ice cream - yum!

Linking  To:
Tasty Tuesday
Tempt My Tummy Tuesday
Tuesdays At the Table
Weekend Wrap Up Party at TaterTots and Jello