4th of July Flag Cake

Joshua saw a picture of an American Flag cake on the cover of a magazine last week and decided that we needed to make one for the 4th of July.

We used angel food cake for the cake itself.

Cool whip for the frosting.

He counted out the 50 blueberries.

And tried very hard to make 13 stripes alternating strawberries with no stawberries.

Hot summer night dinner and yogurt woes

It's a hot, steamy, stormy night. I didn't really want to fire up the stove, and it was too stormy to grill out. A bento-type meal was in order!

Tonight's main fare:
Peanut butter cracker sandwiches
Yogurt
Chopped fruit

With a big glass of ice water

My concern is this: I've spent way too much time reading the yogurt labels lately. Yogurt is really high in sugar. I don't want to do Light or any other low-sugar yogurt, because then the sugar is replaced with a chemical alternative sugar substance, and I'm even less of a fan of sugar substitutes than I am of pure sugar. I've tried Greek yogurt, and honestly, I'm not a fan - it actually makes me gag to even think about it.

I'm considering making my own yogurt. Anyone else try this? I'm gonna need some tips!

Fresh Fruit Crepes

All I can say is, "yummy!".

Last week for dinner one exceptionally hot night, I made fresh fruit crepes. I have to admit that I actually purchased my crepes from the grocery store, instead of making them from scratch, even though it's super-easy to make crepes, I've just been on over-drive lately with being so busy.

Ingredients:

1 package of crepes

assortment of chopped fresh fruit

yogurt

granola

I let the kids help me put these together. Basically, just pile the fruit in the middle of the crepe, dollop with yogurt and sprinkle with about 1/2 cup of granola over the top. I used Kashi cereal since we were fresh out of granola. Which reminds me that I need to post my recipe for granola - it's super easy and super yummy.

Strawberry Banana Ice Pops!

This weekend, I made some strawberry banana smoothies - but I excluded the greek yogurt this time - so it was just strawberries, bananas, orange juice and ice. Yummy! The best thing about making smoothies is the leftovers! I pour our leftovers into our ice-pop makers.

We've got a few different types of ice-pop makers. Some folks advocate using a paper cup and popcycle stick, but I'd rather use something re-usable, and with a smaller serving size. So one of My Favorite Things this week is my ice-pop maker. I get to give the kids wholesome Popsicles.

Blackberry Coffee Cake

Grandpa got back in town on Sunday night bearing gifts of fruit. He brought back a big container of blackberries and tells me they were sent with love from Aunt Oida in Atlanta, Georgia. This morning for breakfast, I stirred the blackberries with strawberries in some vanilla yogurt and granola. The kids were thrilled. But I still had a small mountain of blackberries to use.

Ingredients:

2 c. flour
1 c. sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 c. butter
1/2 c. chopped pecans
2 eggs
1 c. milk
1 tsp vanilla
1/3 c. brown sugar
1/4 c. flour
2 tsp. butter

1. Sift together first five ingredients, and put in large mixing bowl; cut in butter until mixture looks crumbly.

2. In another bowl, mix together eggs, milk and vanilla, pour over flour mixture and stir until just moistened.

3. Spread in greased baking dish (I used an 8x8 square dish), top with berries.

4. In a small bowl, combine brown sugar, flour and 2 tsp butter, mix with fork until crumbly. Add nuts to mixture. Sprinkle on top of cake.

5. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

*Important to note here, I accidentally used bread flour instead of all-purpose flour. I still thought the cake came out fantastic and probably would use bread flour again in the future - it was nice and light, not a heavy/gluey cake, but more of a light cake.

Raspberry Pie

We used to make this dessert when we lived in Kodiak (Alaska). We'd use the salmonberries that grew in the bushes beside our house. Now we settle for store-bought raspberries, but eventually we'll grow some of our own berries again. Ingredients:
1 c. sugar
1 c. cold water
2 Tbsp corn starch
1/2 c. raspberry jello powder

8 oz. cream cheese
1 container cool whip

1. Bring first 4 ingredients to a boil until thickens - let cool.

2. Mix together cream cheese and cool whip in stand mixer. Spread on top of graham cracker crust.

3. Place berries on top of cool whip mixture, then pour the sugar mixture over berries.

4. Refrigerate for a few hours.

I accidently made this with fat free cream cheese. It was still delicious, but didn't have that creamy cheesecake-y smoothness to it. It was great as is, but I might add more fruit next time - maybe add some strawberries, kiwi, blueberries or blackberries.