Scraps and Snippets ~ Simple Fruit Salad

A few years ago a friend told me how to turn frozen, somewhat bland fruit, into delicious fruit with a perfect glaze. I had tried tried various other attempts at glaze...like orange juice, jam, sugar. None of them did it for me. 

Her recipe was so simple. Vanilla instant pudding. Just enough to cover the fruit and leave a delicious coating. Let's say, 1/2 a small box to a medium bag of fruit. Sprinkle, stir, let sit. Stir. Brilliant. 

However, trying to avoid super processed, super unnatural, dairy, etc made this no longer an option. 

But at an Arbonne spa party my mom had some frozen fruit and a terrific idea. Why not try the Arbonne Vanilla Protein Powder as a glaze. So we loaded a few cups in a bowl and sprinkled a tablespoon or two of protein powder over the fruit and stirred. 

Win!!!! Win! Win! Fabulously delicious. 

Scribbles and Scrambles ~ A Hump Day Smile or Laugh or Whateves...

So. My friend says that I should remind her not to drink a bottle of wine around her husband. I said that my initial thought was that the storyteller was pretty lucid....far more than me when I'm stone cold sober but think something is hilarious. Which I pretty much thought this was.

Scraps and Snippets ~ Chocolate Peanut Butter Protein Cookies Chocolate Chip Protein Cookies

Chocolate Peanut Butter Protein Cookies

350 oven. Makes approx 4 Dozen cookies

1/2 Cup peanut butter

1/4 Cup Earth Balance

1 Cup brown sugar

2 TBSP ground flax seed

1/3 Cup non-dairy milk of choice

2 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 Cup Arbonne chocolate protein powder

1 Cup oatmeal (quick or old fashioned, more texture with old fashioned)

1/3 Cup cocoa

1/3 Cup whole wheat pastry flour

1 Cup dark chocolate chips

Mix all together in the order listed and blend/stir well so ingredients are all incorporated. You may have to use your hands, the dough might be crumbly depending on how heavy your peanut butter is, mine was fairly juicy. If you are really concerned add an additional TBSP or two of milk.

Chill dough for 1 hour. 

Scoop dough in walnut sized balls and either place on greased cookie sheet in scoops for rounded bite-sized cookies or flatten and place on cookie sheet for flatter cookies (again, the dough might be crumbly but should press together). Bake for 12 minutes. These are great served at room temperature but are best stored in the refrigerator. 

Scraps and Snippets ~ Blueberry Banana Cobbler

I wouldn't consider myself a pastry diva on any level. Pie crusts have always kind of terrified me. So I usually go for a cobbler. I got a huge (quart sized) box of organic blueberries at Costco. And I had a family reunion to go to. So. I thought why not a blueberry cobbler. Then I thought, what if I skipped the fat and tried to keep the sugar to a minimum. And this is what came out. 

Blueberry Banana Cobbler

Grease an 8 x 11 pan.  Preheat oven to 350.

Fresh Blueberries (about 4 cups, give or take.) 

1/2 Cup sugar (this leaves them a wee bit tart) 

Dump the blueberries in the greased pan.  Sprinkle the sugar over the fruit. (If you are using frozen blueberries or if you think your berries are going to be a bit soupier you might want to sprinkle a 1/4 cup or so of flour on the bottom of the pan before you dump in the berries. 

Banana Cobbler Topping: 

1 1/2 Cups flour (I used whole wheat pastry flour)
1 Cup oatmeal
1/2 Cup sugar
2 Ripe bananas

Mash bananas in the bowl, add sugar and flour and mix well. Add the oatmeal and stir. Drop dollops of dough on top of the blueberry mix.

Bake at 350 for 45 minutes. 

Scraps and Snippets ~ Din-Din Experiment...

Young Green Jackfruit in Water...Asian Market 

Amazing pulled pork texture after it's shredded and covered in BBQ sauce. New awesome meat substitute...

Cute lil cucumber...

Fresh picked green beans. Yum. 

Scribbles and Scrambles ~ A Few Amusing Vids...

Being lazy. Two videos that I found amusing of late. Have a great day/night/whateves. FYI, the cat did escape if that made you nervous....

Scribbles and Scrambles ~ Stuff

After my Grandma's funeral several of my out of area relatives were able to go through her little apartment and find some mementos of her to take with them. Surprisingly, we all have our own trigger items that make us feel close to Grandma and Grandpa. One cousin took the apple motif dishes, another wanted the case of bubbly yellow glasses. My brother wanted the grandfather clock that was my my grandfather's pride and joy. 

It also surprised me that the things in her kitchen drawer didn't find their way into my cousins and siblings small pile. Maybe it's because I'm the oldest female grandchild that Grandma's kitchen is the biggest warm memory for me. I'd think the boys would be all over that because my grandma was a great cook and did a lot of cooking over the years. 

Maybe it's because I got to help or that we would talk while she worked away at a pie crust or chopping. Anyway. I'm happy to have some additions to my kitchen drawers. And these items say so much about my grandma. For starters...the measuring spoons...vintage gold. The teaspoon marked with red fingernail polish. Even though grandma was losing her sight, she wasn't giving up on doing the things she loved doing. Baking was one of them. She was no victim. She found a way around her disability. What an awesome reminder for me every time I open my drawer. Never give up! 

I've mentioned her frugality. Oh my. The spreader screams frugality. She broke the tip off years ago. (My grandpa has been gone 19 years) Grandpa ground it back into a useable arc. Lesson? Broken, okay, let's just see what we can do to continue on and complete the task, shall we? 

The paring knife. I remember that knife in her hands, chopping, peeling, dicing. She was always using what was available to feed those who needed or wanted it. The forks, heirlooms from a long line of pioneer women cooks. And the pie server. Grandma was quite the pie baker and she'd be pleased that it's found it's way into my drawer, even though her pie skills never quite rubbed off on me.