Watermelon Mojito Sorbet

My quest to play with my KitchenAid ice cream maker continues..  My adventures have been delicious, but one thing I've wanted to overcome is that homemade concoctions are rock hard in the freezer.  Reading up on ice cream, that's where sugar and fat helps are helpful. I made an attempt for booze to help with that problem... but still frozen solid.  Eat as soon as it comes out of the ice cream maker for soft serve or leave out for awhile to defrost when you are ready to eat.  Tasty stuff.  I'm wagering this would be good as a drink also.. probably with more rum.

Ingredients:
1 quart pureed watermelon (~1/2 medium melon)
1 lime - zest and juice
6 mint sprigs
1/4 C rum

Directions:
I used my immersion blender attachment to puree watermelon in batches - (a food processor would work too.)  Put watermelon puree in mixing bowl.  Zest lime, and add zest to watermelon.  With immersion blender or food processor add juice of lime, rum, and mint leaves.  Puree.  Add to mixing bowl.  Keep in fridge until ready to add to ice cream maker.  Add to ice cream maker and follow manufacturer directions.  

Don't Panic, Just Pickle Your Beets and Cukes

Maybe it's just me, but nothing ensues more panic into a member of a CSA than ... a trip.  Last week, the CSA pickup was on Tuesday, and I had 1 day to eat or process veggies.  Ha.  But I decided to try an experiment in pickling beets.  I was roasting beets while I was simultaneously packing a suitcase. Normal, right?  I knew these were waiting for me when I came home to try.  The result?  I will be perhaps pickling more things...

Ingredients:
3 beets

cucumbers (optional)
1 C apple cider vinegar
1/2 C sugar and 1 1/2 tsp salt
1 C water



Directions:
Preheat oven to 400. Wash beets and trim ends. If some are larger, cut to be approximately the same size. Wrap loosely in foil. Roast for 40 minutes. Let cool. Peel, discard the skin. Slice beets.

Boil all the other things. Pour over sliced beets and sliced (raw) cukes in mason jar.

Leave for a few days. Enjoy on a salad or on their own.

CSA Salad: mixed greens, corn sliced off the cob, carrots, green pepper,
grapes, chickpeas, pickled cukes and beets, simple dressing of canola oil,
balsamic, honey, oregano, salt and pepper. 

Poached Eggs in Zucchini and Tomatoes

After a week of feeling like a vacuum eating out of a trough at a conference, I needed a simple veggie-full breakfast.  Even though my alarm was set for PM today, I still managed to wake up in time and was able to pull this simple concoction together.  Delish.

Ingredients:
1 tsp canola
1 small zucchini
2 whole tomatoes and some juice from a can of tomatoes
2 eggs
salt, pepper, garlic powder

Directions:
In an iron skillet, saute diced zucchini in canola oil. Add salt, pepper, and garlic powder.  Cook until edges are brownish, but not too long.  I like my veggies to not be overcooked.  Add in tomatoes.  Break them up with the edge of a spatula.  Pushing veggies aside, crack two eggs in the skillet on the juicy side.  Cook until the whites are set.  Eat!  I mixed it all up in a massive bowl.       

Potato Zucchini Pancakes

A delicious CSA concoction for breakfast on a lazy Saturday where my bike ride ambitions are being overtaken by coffee and a movie.  This made probably 5 servings.  I ate one, and wrapped the rest in single serve wraps of foil and froze to have my own frozen dinners/breakfasts on the ready.  

Ingredients:
3 zucchini shredded (~2 cups)
4 small/medium potatoes (~2 cups)
1 onion diced (wish I'd had this)
2 eggs
1/4 C flour
Salt, pepper, garlic powder

2 T canola oil

Directions:
Mix everything - except oil.  Use oil gradually to cook pancakes on iron skillet. 

Made ~ 5 servings.  I served with unsweetened applesauce.

Waffle Para Uno

This has become my 4th of July tradition.  Delish... For the times when you want one waffle and no pesky leftover batter to deal with.

Ingredients:
1 egg white
1/4 c skim milk1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp oil
1/4 c flour
pinch baking powder and pinch salt

Top with:
pile strawberries and blueberries
1T powdered sugar

Directions: 

Whisk egg white.  Add milk and vanilla and whisk.  Add other ingredients.  Waffle it up in the waffle iron.  (All this for 5 points for you weight watchers...) 

Banana PB/Sunbutter Fro Yo

This was a phenomenal concoction modified from a Chiquita Banana Recipe I found.  I substituted Sunbutter for the PB, because I had it in the fridge leftover from Memorial Day beach week -a perk from being the last to leave, I guess.  (Going out on a limb and guessing that was a Theo purchase?)

But I had these ingredients all on hand.  And plans that fell through on a Friday night.  May as well make fro yo, order pizza on a cracker from Domino's, and call over reinforcements who smartly shows up with wine and conversation.

This fro yo was so good I put the ice cream bowl in a hot water bath in the kitchen sink to properly scrape the bowl.  I may need to remember to do that all the time.  I got an extra cup it seemed.  Some for the freezer some for my face.


Serves ~8
Ingredients:
4 ripe bananas (diced and frozen in a freezer bag before spoiling)
2 cups plain fat free greek yogurt
1/2 cup skim milk
1/3 cup peanut butter or sunbutter
1/4 cup honey
1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:
Puree all the things in a food processor.  Set ice cream maker up to directions.  Turn on, and pour batter in.  Because of the frozen bananas, it takes hardly any time at all to set up - like 5 minutes.  You can also just use unfrozen banana and it will take longer.