Recipe Rerun: Fresh Berry Tart

Fresh Berry Tart

The July 4th holiday is only one week away, can you believe it? This year is really flying by! I don't have many festive recipes for this holiday; however, I did make this delicious, beautiful Fresh Berry Tart a few months ago using raspberries, strawberries, blueberries and blackberries so I guess this would count. :)

I really enjoyed this dessert not only because it was light and easy (I don't like to make complicated desserts for all of you new to CEK), but because it wasn't overly sweet. Click on the name to be taken to the original post and if you're looking for more fun food and craft ideas for the July 4th holiday, check out my Red, White and Blue Board on Pinterest!

I'll be taking the next week off to spend some time with family and friends, as well as making our first college visit for the summer (Yikes!). If you're new to the blog or haven't stopped by in while, grab a cup of your favorite beverage, have a look around to see what you might have missed and leave me a comment letting me know you were here. I just love company!

Shopping List

 Enjoy and I'll be back July 8th with some 

new recipes to share with all of you. Happy 4th! 

Fresh Berry Tart

I've never made a fruit tart before. REALLY! So when I needed to make a dessert for my niece's birthday and her request was "something with fruit", I thought I'd give one a try. Sure, I took the easy road and bought packaged pudding instead of making my own custard (which in hindsight might have made this even better!), but it worked and was easier considering I was also making the entire meal (desserts aren't my strong suit). 

I had to find a recipe for the crust and happened upon one online from Pillsbury that looked easy enough (though they called for 1 cup of flour and the dough was so sticky, I couldn't even spread it in the pan. So I added another half cup of flour and it was much easier to work with). The crust was light and flaky and there is nothing tastier than fresh summer berries. Not too bad for my first attempt, but next time I think I'd add more strawberries or make it with mangoes or peaches! 

Fresh Berry Tart
1 pt. Raspberries
1 pt. Blueberries
1 pt. Strawberries
1 pt. Blackberries
1 3.5oz. Package Vanilla Pudding, prepared
Cooked Crust, cooled

Spread the prepared, chilled pudding on top of the crust. Rinse your fruit, slice the strawberries, then arrange the berries on top. 


Crust (Adapted from Pillsbury)
1 1/2 c. All-Purpose Flour
2 tbsp. Granulated Sugar
1/2 c. Salted Butter, softened
1 Egg

Mix all ingredients together until combined. Flatten out the dough and spread into the bottom and halfway up the sides of a tart pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes, then let cool. Serves 8. 

Enjoy! 

Strawberry Spinach Salad with Hazelnuts & Fresh Lime Juice AND The Chinet Bakeware Giveaway Winners!

FIRST, THE GIVEAWAY WINNERS!

Thank you all for your wonderful meal suggestions. They all sounded so good! I hope you like these pans as much as I did. 

The winners were as follows and I'll be emailing the winners...CONGRATULATIONS!

Winner 1: One 2-pack 8"x8" Chinet Bakeware^®


COMMENT #19: Kristine

Rice-A-Roni Casserole to tak to Pot Luck! Thanks a Bunch! 

Winner 2: One 2-pack Oval 7 1/4" x 9 1/4"Chinet Bakeware^®

COMMENT #3: Janine

Homemade Macaroni and Cheese with Butter Breadcrumbs on top!

Winner 3: One 2-pack Oval 7"x11" Chinet Bakeware^® 

COMMENT #9: SHEENA

I would make lasagna or some type of dessert! What a great product!

And now for today's recipe...


Just because something sounds and looks healthy doesn't mean it has to taste dull and boring. This salad, for example, made a perfect, tasty lunch for me this week. My doc told me my cholesterol is 250 (YIKES!!!) and though no need for medication, which I was grateful for, I do need to start watching my fats and carb intake. I really didn't miss a thing by not adding in the oil to this salad and it was light and refreshing. 

Strawberry Spinach Salad with Hazelnuts and Fresh Lime Juice
2 c. Fresh Baby Spinach, rinsed and stems removed
4-5 Strawberries, rinsed and hulled
2 tbsp. Chopped Hazelnuts
1 Lime, juice only
1/4 tsp. Fresh Black Pepper


Tear spinach into bite-sized pieces and add to a bowl. Slice the strawberries and add to the spinach along with the nuts, lime juice and pepper. Toss all ingredients together. Serves 2. 


*Nutritional Information: Calories 67, Carbs 6g, Fat 4g, Protein 3g


Enjoy!


*Calculations based on ingredients entered into MyFitnessPal and may not be 100% accurate.

Black Bean & Strawberry Salad

About 2 weeks ago I took a photography course because I wanted to learn the proper way to use my camera. I'm not one to read large manuals, online or paper versions. I will also have extra parts left over when trying to assemble something myself too, but that's another story. We've had our camera (a Nikon DX) for about 2 years now and I simply left it on Auto mode because I had no clue what the other buttons meant. Which was fine for what I was using it for at the time, but even just the simplest one on one tutorial made it a little easier to use. I say "we" because, well, it's actually my husband's camera that he received as a gift one year, and I kind of took it over. I love to take pictures and still love to actually print them out and put them in scrapbooks to look at. If anyone ever needs a picture of something in our family, I'm the go-to person. I also recently read that a new lens came out for my camera which would be better for taking food photography (the 50mm 1.8) and after waiting for it on backorder for several weeks, it finally came in. See how the back seems a little blurry and faded out? This lens allows you to focus on the object and gives that look in the back, pretty neat huh! I still have a long way to go, but progress takes time and patience so bear with me while I figure this whole photography thing out! :)


And now for the recipe...
I don't know what I was thinking, but while shopping at BJ's Wholesale (which is like a Costco or Sam's Club), I bought a case (yes, 12 cans) of black beans. I don't know why, I only needed 2 cans at the time, but figured I'd use them up eventually and have slowly been incorporating them into our meals. I haven't been eating as healthy as I should be, mainly because I was so busy for the last 2 weeks and didn't plan anything so I decided that I'd make a bowl of this salad to pick on. Not only was it healthy and filling, it was so flavorful with the combination of fresh lime mixed with the sweetness of the berries and agave syrup and woodsy flavor of the rosemary. 

Black Bean & Strawberry Salad
1 15oz. Can Black Beans, rinsed and drained
1 pt. Strawberries, washed, hulled and sliced
1 Scallion, chopped
1 Lime, juice only
1 tbsp. Fresh Rosemary, finely chopped
1 tbsp. Agave Syrup
3 tbsp. Canola Oil


Add all ingredients to a bowl and mix well. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Serves 4. 


Points+=5pts


Enjoy!

Limoncello Strawberries with Fresh Basil

I love fresh strawberries and eat them year-round. So when I went to the market and purchased a fairly large container of them, I couldn't wait to dig in. Days went by and I had tucked them so far in back of my refrigerator that I completely forgot about them.  And if your home is like mine, if I personally do not clean and cut them up when I get them, no one else will take it upon themselves to do it and I wind up throwing it away. So before they went bad, I decided the only way they were all going to be eaten (and quickly) is if I made a dessert out of them; preferably one that wasn't too complicated.

I washed them, threw in some basil, lemon zest, Limoncello (that fabulous lemon liquor that  we purchased from the farm in Sorrento, Italy where we visited last month), and Blue Agave syrup. Blue Agave syrup is sweeter than sugar and has a thinner consistency than honey. I had never used it before and wanted to try it out to see if there was a difference. It was sweet but what I also learned that while it has pretty much the same nutritional value as sugar, it doesn't cause a spike in blood sugar like regular sugar does. The combination of all of the flavors was refreshing and needless to say, the entire container of strawberries disappeared!

Limoncello Strawberries with Fresh Basil
2 pts. Fresh Strawberries, stems removed and rinsed
Zest of 1 Lemon
1 1/2 Tbsp. Fresh Basil, chopped
2 Tbsp. Blue Agave Syrup
2 Tbsp. Limoncello


Remove stems and slice strawberries. Add the lemon zest, basil, agave syrup and Limoncello. Gently stir together until all of the strawberries are well coated. Chill. Serves 4.


Enjoy!