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I was cleaning out the fridge and found that I had a good few really ripe avocados that were in need of eating ASAP. (I bought like 8 at once… super sale!) My first thought was I wish I could freeze these and save them for later. Then I thought well why the heck don’t I freeze them. So that’s what I did. I pureed them up, added a little lemon juice and stuck a jar of tangy green creamy goodness into the freezer and all throughout the week found myself standing in front of the fridge with a spoon scraping at the jar of avocado. It was so good. I even added a little fruit to it toward the end. Avocado and fruit = oh hell yes.
And now that is is officially spring we should be eating popsicles (right?!). I figured you guys are cool enough that I would share my new found love of frozen avocados and you would be down with it.
I know, some might think that plain old frozen avocado doesn’t sound amazing, but when you add a little sweetness and swirl it around with super sweet and creamy mango. Trust me, it’s freaking amazing. The flavors go perfectly together, and the texture, it’s almost like ice cream… SO GOOD! Anyway, I know that it might not be the perfect spring weather as of today, but the beauty of these is that you make them, freeze them and leave them until the perfect moment. Say a good long day of raking up all the cat poop that the neighbors cat has left in all your spring flower beds, or picking up all the recycling that has blow into the bushes all winter long. Maybe a day of cleaning out the closet or dusting the ceilings. Make these popsicles now and treat yourself to one after doing some kind of crappy spring chores, its what you need to do.. Or better yet, bribe a little with a popsicle to do your spring cleaning….. Yeah, I might just do that.
Or just make them and eat them… no spring chores required.
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The stuff. A nice ripe mango and a nice ripe avocado. A bit of lemon juice (from half a lemon), a little maple syrup, and a some water.
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Scoop the avocado into a jar and cut up the mango ans stick into a jar…..
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Splash a little water into each jar and blend them up. (I used my hand blender. but use the blending device of your choice) Add the maple syrup to the avocado.. as much as you need, and if your mango is not super sweet, you can add a little to that too.
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Scoop the avocado puree into the mango and gently swirl it around
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Now pour/scoop the mixture into your popsicle molds. And because mine was thick enough, I was able to stick the wood sticks without them sinking.
Noe get them quick into the freezer
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A good few hours (I didn’t even check until the next day but I bet 4-5 hours in a good freezer will do) the popsicles are nowposicles!!!!!
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Pop them out of the mold (a few minutes on the counter and or a quick rinse under warm water) and do what needs to be done.
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So creamy sweet and refreshing… This is a happy spring popsicle for sure.
Have a great day!
-C
Makes four 4oz popsicles
- 1 ripe avocado
- 1 ripe mango
- 1/2 a lemon or lime
- 1-2 tablespoons maple syrup (or any sweetener of you liking)
- about 1/2 cup of water
Note.sIF your mango is not super sweet you might want to add a little maple syrup to thatto that as well. And depending on the actual size of your mango and avocado, you might find yourself with a little extra fruit puree…. so maybe an extra popsicle can be made or you can just eat it now.
Scoop avocado into a jar and cut and dice mango and place in a separate jar. Add maple to the avocado (and the mango if you want) and about 1/4 cup of water to each. With a hand blender, blend each until smooth ( or use a regular blender) Once both are blended, dump one into the other and gently swirl around. Pour mixture into popsicle molds, add the sticks and stick into the freeze. Keep freezing until frozen which should take at least 4-5 hours.
And once frozen, pop out of molds (run mold under warm water or just leave on counter for a few minutes) and eat them like it hot!
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My little sister came over last night for a homework and dinner night. I love these nights because when she comes over she spends a good amount of time poking and harassing the mr while I get left alone to cook dinner. But then always at some point during the evening,usually after feeding them dinner, they both turn on me and start to poke at me. They are brats like that. But what I also like is I can sometimes help her a bit with the homework. (like last night,… girl did a bit of procrastination.Good thing I am awesome and maybe a little bit of a hard ass. She got it done with a bit of help and it all ended happily ever after) Maybe cause I am an old lady now, but I like the feeling of using my brain for things that I no longer think about. I makes me feel smart again (kinda) SO we get together and eat and do homework and make fun of each other… Good times. I love hanging out with my sister.
Ok, so this pudding, its one of my favorites.. I could probably live off of sweet potatoes in all shapes and forms.. A long while back I started making this pudding and got the sister hooked on it as well. So whenever she comes over for dinner I make it for us. And we eat it and exclaim how, “OMG this is so freaking good” and eat, then lick our bowls clean. And it’s so easy and simple to make. Basically just sweet potato. So amazing. The mr, he likes it, but doesn’t share the same enthusiasm as we do….But he is not a teenage girl and her sister so yeah. who really knows.But Anyone out there with a spare sweet potato.. make this pudding. It will change your life in all the right ways!
Your welcome very much.
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The stuff. A sweet potato, a couple of dates, ans some cinnamon. That’s all you need!
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Simple as can be. Bake the sweet potato until soft. Remove the skin (I then eat the skin, but if you don’t like it, the dog also loves potato skins) and stick it onto a food processor with the dates (make sure to remove the pits) and blend together. I usually add in a few a few splashes of water while I am blending just to think it out a tiny bit. But that is a preference I will leave up to you.
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Add in the cinnamon and blend some more until so nice and silky smooth.
And a note here. You can omit the cinnamon if you like, the pudding is amazing without it but you could even use more spices like ginger and allspice or added a little splash of vanilla. OR.. Add a scoop of some nut butter… so good.
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Once the you have spiced your pudding, scoop it out into jars, bowls, whatever and how much ever you want (1 large sweet potato is good for 2-3 servings)
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Oh whats this.. Coconut cream!!!! And yes, hand beaten like a boss!
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You have the pudding, a the whipped coconut cream. Big spoonful of that right on top.
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Sprinkled with another pinch of cinnamon and some chopped up walnuts…
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Pudding so good and so easy it will knock your socks off!
Have a great weekend!
-C
Serves 1- 3
- 1 large sweet potato
- 1-2 pitted dates (If I am making the pudding for myself I sometimes skip the dates)
- 1 tablespoon Vietnamese cinnamon
Optional. A pinch of ground ginger or allspice. Pumpkin pie spice or a splash of vanilla. A scoop of nut butter or even a handful of nuts. Chocolate chips or creamy nutella. Berries. And whipped coconut cream or some yogurt to top with. So many possibilities.
Bake sweet potato until tender. This can be done a ahead of time or you can use up left over sweet potatoes from dinner….
Remove the skin from the potato and place into a food processor or blender with the dates and the cinnamon or whatever spices you want to use. Blend until smooth. Can add in a few splashes of water to thing out a bit.
Once smooth, scoop out into serving sizes or just into one big jar to eat all to yourself. Top with coconut cream and chopped nuts or nothing.
Eat with spoon, like bowl clean.. And can be eaten without shame for breakfast, lunch, dinner or snack.
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Are you ready for this weekend? You know what’s coming right? Yup, another arctic blast. -30 degree temperatures, windchill warnings and local news forecasters warning of dangerously cold conditions. “Don’t go outside , your face will freeze off”
Oh yeah, and Valentine Day.
What are your thoughts on the V day? The mr and I, well we could kind of care less, but at the same time, we like the excuse to spend the day together, traditionally going for a hike with the pup (not this year… we would die) and just spending the day together being sweet (pretty much the same way we spend any days off together) We don’t get fancy with dinner dates or overly large stuffed animals. No boxes of chocolate, bottles of champagne or fancy undies. We keep it caj, maybe a sweet hand made card covered in glitter (never a store bought.) a stop for a good cup of coffee and an afternoon trip to the plant store to by a new pretty house plant (1. I really hate red roses and 2. I would much rather get a house plant then flowers that will die) But honesty, we just use V day as an excuse to not work and spend the day together, being left alone, eating whatever we want and doing whatever fun stuff we want.
This dish was kinda inspired by being so pretty bright pink, but also it was just what I wanted to eat for dinner. Spaghetti squash doesn’t get as much play as it should. Sure it’s not the most sweet and nutty of the squashes, but it has a really nice subtle flavor that makes it a fantastic base for pretty much anything. And the beet sauce. Again, it’s such a pretty color, but beside that, I can’t get enough of them. I love me some roasted beets (way better then any chocolate or sweet treat)
I could lie to you and say that this is the dish that I will be making for me and the mr on Valentines day, but no,this dish already happened this week and the mr got into it, but would rather eat his favorite meal (pizza) for dinner. And I will be eating the left over beet sauce with carrot sticks (this beet sauce id for real.. topped with a little yellow mustard… I could eat it for life) then make a hugmongo batch of popcorn covered in peanut butter. We wiil sit on he couch and watch a lot of Netflix (still working my way through the fresh prince) and maybe a cute Wes Anderson movie. I will be in bed by 9.
But don’t mind us old folks here. Go for it. Do up the Valentines Day. Make a pretty dish of food for your sweetheart, or if alone, make it for yourself, especiallyif you are hanging by your lonesome. Valentinesday is about being happy and this dish will make you happy, whether or not you plan on sharing it.
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The stuff. One spaghetti squash big enough for at least 2 people (I love left overs so maybe big enough for 4), 2 largish beets, a a small onion. Also grab a clove of garlic of 4, a lemon, the salt and pepper, and some olive oil. Optional, but a very nice addition is a handful of tasted walnuts.
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Quick and crank up the oven (make sure you take out the cast iron you left in there from last night), then stick the squash, beets and onion into the hot oven to roast. I stuck them all on a baking sheet and left them completely whole, but if you want, you could chop the beet and onion into chunks and drizzle with oil or you could wrap the beets in foil and bake them that way but really, why go through all that when you can just not? And don’t bother peeling them.(unless you think you must.. but you really really don’t need too)
And same for the squash. You could cut in half and roast it that way, but again, why when you don’t need to.
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So anyway, roast the beets and onion until fork tender. And the squash as well (check by stabbing with a fork) All my stuff roasted up pretty much perfectly at the exact same time, but it really depends on the size of your stuff. So check after 40ish minutes.
And once you pull that roasted stuff from the oven, let it cool just enough where you can handle it. Chop the onion into a couple chunks, the beets into smaller chunks and slice the squash in half length wise and set aside.
Grab a blender and toss in the onion, beets the juice of the lemon (start with half) apinch of salt, a few pinches of pepper, and a clove or 2 of garlic (ok, I love raw garlic and used a lot. If you do not like the taste of raw garlic, just toss it with a little oil and stick into the oven with the beets for about 10 minutes. Or you could omit the garlic entirely)
Once all the stuff is in the blender, turn it on. Drizzle in about a tablespoon or two of olive oil and blend until a nice smooth sauce has formed. Taste, season with more salt and pepper if needed. Add the other half of lemon if you think it needs it. You can also add a bit of water to thin it out more.. if you want
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So now the squash should be cool enough to handle. Scoop out the seeds and with a fork, scrape up into spaghetti!
Heaps of squash go into bowls then topped with a generous mound of beet sauce. Topped with some roughly chopped toasted walnuts, a sprinkle of pepper and some bits of green stuff (I just diced up some kale)
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Look at that. So pretty, so pink and all ready to go. Dinner for 2 with a good bit of left overs for later!
Happy weekend! And Happy Valentines Day if you do it, or if you don’t!
-C
makes 3-4 servings
- 1 medium sized spaghetti squash
- 2 large beets
- 1 small onion
- 1 lemon
- 2-4 cloves garlic
- handful of toasted walnuts (optional)
- olive oil
- salt and pepper to taste
Note. You might want to thin out sauce out a bit without the use of a ton of oil. Go ahead and add a little water. Also, I used raw garlic in mine, but some people might not like it raw. Just toss a few cloves of garlic in a bit of oil and stick into the oven for 10-15 minutes with the other stuff to give it a little roast. OR just omit.
Preheat oven to 425.
Stick the onion, beets and squash onto a baking sheet, drzzle the beet and onion with a tiny bit of oil and stick the sheet into the oven. Roast everything until fork tender which should take around 45-50 minutes. (depending on the size of your produce, some thing might take longer or shorter, so just check after 40ish minutes)
Once everything is roasted, let the beets and onion cool just enough to handle and cut into chunks and toss into a blender. Add in the garlic, the juice of the lemon, a few drizzles of olive oil and a pinch of salt and pepper. Now turn blender on and blend until smooth.
And the squash. Cut the thing in half and remove the seeds. Then with a fork, scrap the squash from the skin into spaghetti like strands.
Place squash into bowls, sprinkle with salt and pepper, add a drizzle of oil if you want and top with a good hearty heap of beet sauce. Top with more cracked pepper and a few chopped walnuts and maybe add a little something green, you know, to make it pretty.
Serve warm with love and a fork.. your lips might turn pink with beet love.
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I use to suck the juice out of the seeds (they are actually called arils) of the pomegranate and spit out the actual seeds… I thought that the seeds were poisonous. (I blame my sister for this .She is the one that told me that). And it turns out that it is an actual thing. That other people think that the seeds are not edible, so I guess don’t feel so duped. But I leaned. The seeds, they are very much edible, and very much tasty. I love biting into a pomegranate seed, letting the juice flood my mouth, followed by a nice little crunch from the seed inside, just like little crunchy red jewels. And the method of removing the seeds just makes them that much better. When you have to whack a fruit for it’s edible parts, it got to be good. And to make this clear…. to all the people out there that thick the seeds are poison… the seeds are NOT POISION. In fact, they are quite good for you.
Now that that has been established, we can get to eating these little pearls the right way. And being all holiday and jolly lala, I was thinking of some classic side dishes that are typical around this time. Creamed spinach came to mind, but that just seemed a little boring. That’s where the pomegranate comes in. You add pomegranate to anything and it’s not boring anymore. Also I switched out the creamed part and replaced it with cashew cream, and spinach with kale… cause that’s what I do. And the results are fantastic! Sweet, creamy, crunchy, earthy… All the best flavors. And even though I ate most of it hot, it’s definitely a side that moves from hot to cold and still taste super great. Would even make a nice sandwich or maybe add a little bed of grains and you got yourself a nice little lunch.
But the again, you probably wont have any left overs
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The stuff. A bunch of kale, some cashews that have been soaking for a little while, and a pomegrante (I only used half of one). We also need us some more fresh water, a lemon, a few cloves of garlic and salt and pepper.
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Remove the arils (thats what the juicy seeds ae called) by placing half the pomegranate into a bowl and whacking it with a big wooden spoon. (martha stewart taught me this)
Strain the soaking cashews and dump them into a blender with the juice of the lemon, the garlic, some fresh water and some salt and pepper.
Turn blender on and blend until a nice smooth consistency
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Chop up the kale and place into a really big skillet with a few splashes of water.
Once the kale has wilted, pour the cashew cream all over it.
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Add in the pomegranate seeds
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And get yourself a fork (bowl is optional( and eat.
Creamed food never tasted this good!
-C
makes 3-4 servings
- 1 bunch (abut a pound) Kale
- 1/2 cup cashews that have been soaking in water for a little while
- 3/4 cup water
- 1 lemon
- 2-3 loves garlic
- 1/2 cup pomegranate seeds (about 1/2 a pomegranate)
- salt and pepper to taste
Take your pomegranate , slice in half, and place half seed sside down into a bowl. Take a big wooden spoon or something like it, and whack the outside of the fruit. The seeds will all fall out.. but check for any stuck seeds
Strain cashews from soaking waterand dump into a blender with the juice of the lemon, the garlic, ¾ cups of water, and a pinch or two of salt. Blend until a smooth a creamy cream. If you think the cream is to thick, add in another splash of water
After washing kale, chop it up into smallish pieces. (remove stems if you want.. I don’t, I like the stems) Stick the kale into a large skillet with a few splashes of water and a sprinkle of salt and place on the oven on medium high heat. Stir around until kale is wilted and the water has evapotated. Pour on the cashew cream, mix around and top with the pomegranate seeds.
and eat..hot or cold. Its all good.
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My oven is fixed!! The part came in yesterday afternoon, right before we were about to leave for dinner at my sisters. The mr ripped the package open, popped the stove out and within 5 minutes I had a brand new, working ovens! (not really brand new, but it is much cleaner now after taking it apart and seeing how nasty it was)
But before this happened, I was working with no oven. And all I wanted to do ( all I wanted to do all weekend) was bake something. So yesterday, instead of just waiting around moping, I decided to make something with the part of the oven that still worked. And being that it’s the week before Halloween, I have got candy on my mind, plus a hugmongo bag of walnuts. Hmm, the possibilities.
No oven, big bag of nuts, candy thoughts = Spicy maple candied walnuts A perfectly sweet and spicy treat that packs lots of flavor, protein, and healthy stuff and not a bunch of shit. Made on the stove top with no fancy equipment., takes about 5 minutes to make and tastes like Woo hoo! A (kinda )candy to feel good about eating.
Ask the mr. I think he ate them all last night. And I am ok with that cause it’s way better then him eating that shit candy and also, he fixed my oven. Thanks love!
Now to the nuts!
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The stuff. Whole walnuts, real pure Vermont maple syrup, cayenne pepper and salt.
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Stick the walnuts into a dry skillet and place on the stove on medium high heat to give the nuts a little pre toast and to preheat the skillet.
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While the walnuts are slightly toasting, dump the maple syrup in a bowl with cayenne and give it a little stir.
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Once the skillet has heated and the walnuts are slightly toasted and starting to smell all nutty ,dump the syrup into the skillet while string until the nuts until all are coated.
And for the next few minutes, continue to stir the nuts until the maple syrup starts to caramelize and there is no longer any liquid left in the pan.(like 3-5 minutes)
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Now dump the nuts onto a lined baking sheet and spinkle with a pinch or two of salt, and if you like spice, a pinch more of cayenne pepper (you can make them as salty and spicy as you like!)
Note. As soon as you dump the nuts, stick your skillet in the sink and fill with water to avoid a crappy stuck on sugar mess.
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Walnuts a plenty cooling off.
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Oh man.. dez nuts! (I am sorry, I couldn’t resists)
Snack on these, it will make you happy.
Enjoy your Tuesday!
-C
- 1 1/2 cups raw, whole walnuts
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 1/2 teaspoon cayanne powder (more if you like really spicy)
- a couple pinches of salt
Place walnuts into a large dry skillet and stick on stove on medium heat. In a little bowl, mix the maple and the cayenne pepper together. When the skillet has preheated and the walnuts are slightly toasted ash giving off a nutty smell, pour mixture onto walnuts, string to evenly coat each nut. COntinue to cook and stir for another 3-4 minutes or until the syrup has caramelized ash dried. Once done, dump the mixture onto a lined baking sheet and sprinkle with salt and maybe more cayenne pepper if yu want. Let cool, then eat…
These suckers make a great snack, tossed into salads, or added to some apple strudel. Eat them whatever way floats your boat.
Three things… One. I have a ton of beets, but that is because I have been taking mostly beets at the farm share pickup (I am scared I will run out so I hoard them) Two. See that roasting pan? I got it a couple weekends ago at a barn sale for 75 cents. Isn’t it awesome! (it is so awesome) So I really wanted to roast something in it. And three. Roasting means the oven is on and it has been chilly chilly at night (LOVE IT) but I am not willing to turn the heater on in my house until at least the first of November. Until then, we will just roast all of our food for warmth.
But really, there is no better reason then that beets are tasty and potatoes are tasty. Together, they are super duper tasty. The combination, with the lemon and rosemary giving the dish a fresh and vibrant boast, satisfies that person who says he doesn’t like beets (the mr, but he eats them so yeah.) and me, who would rather just eat all beets (I ate some of the potatoes)
Yup, rosemary lemon beets and potatoes. A simple dish that screams fall, warm comfort food, and just happens to be really pretty too. (especially served in my awesome roasting pan)
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The stuff. A couple of beets and a couple of potatoes. Some fresh rosemary (can use dried), a lemon, salt and pepper and olive oil.
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Preheat the oven to 450 and chop up the potato and beets into chunks that will fit in your mouth and dump the chunks into a bowl.
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Mince up the rosemary.. unless you don’t mind eating long, kind sharp pieces
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Drizzle a bit of olive oil, add in the zest of the lemon, add a good few pinches of salt and pepper and toss in the rosemary and give it a good mix.
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Dump onto a baking sheet or in a roasting pan (seriously, this roasting pan is SO PRETTY) Cut the lemon in half and squeeze on half of the lemon juice on the veggies.
And into the oven it goes.
All roasted up and ready to go.
Those colors.. the smell. So good!
Happy weekend people!
-C
Serves 2-3 as a side
- 2-3 large beets
- 2-3 large white or red potatoes
- a few sprigs of fresh rosemary( about 2 tablespoons.. can used dried, just decrease quantity a little)
- 1 lemon
- salt and pepper to taste
- olive oil
Preheat oven to 450
Wash beets and potatoes well then dice them up into mouth sized pieces and toss into a bowl. Drizzle with enough olive oil to coat the stuff, zest the lemon and add the zest to the bowl, and cut lemon in half and squeeze half of the lemon juice in. Oh, and mince up the rosemary and toss that in too. Season with salt and pepper to taste (potatoes like salt) toss it all around until everything is all coated and dump onto a baking sheet or into a roasting pan and stick into the oven for about 45-50 minutes or until golden brown and crunchy tender.
Remove, squeeze the remaining half of lemon on top and serve!
Holy shit is it hot out. My brain is all fizzy, my hair is all frizzy, and my over all being is just blah. I am not a fan of super hot weather (as some of you may know) and am getting more pissy as the days go by and I continue to be a sweaty mess. I don’t want to feel like a big wet slob, I want to feel fresh and clean and wear clothes that are not drenched in sweat. I know, bitch, bitch, bitch, but seriously. Even the world around me is wilting, and in the nice, colorful fall foliage kind of way. It’s all crispy and brown. The garden is barely holding on, the flowers are shriveling in the ground, and a few plants are just plan dead. It’s just too hot.
I think that only plus side of this past week of hot crap weather are these popsicles that I made. They were actually suppose to be a treat for the littles, but guess what, me and the mr ate them and didn’t share, and no, I feel zero bad about it. They were so good, so refreshing, so cold(if only for a minute) and just so needed. A few minute reprieve from being miserably hot. And bonus, a great use of all the watermelon and tomatoes that I have taking over the countertops (I have so much watermelon and tomatoes)
And really, these probably (better freaking be) the last batch of popsicles for the summer so I think I am going to make another batch today, eat them, savor the flavors of summer, and move on from there.
. Maybe I’ll even share them this time.
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The stuff. Some watermelon*, a tomato, a handful of basil, and a lime.
*My watermelon had seeds, but you can use seedless. I also removed the green skin, but kept on as much rind as I could, although this particulate melon had very little white rind.
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Dump the melon, tomato (cut in a few pieces, the juice of the lime and the basil into a blender. If your melon has seed, don’t worry about removing them.
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The stuff all blended up.
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. This step is more necessary if you melon is seeded, straining the mixture pretty much caught most of the seed chunks. You can skip this if your melon is seedless.
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Now pour the juice into your molds and stick into freezer to freeze.
After about 2 ish hours, remove and stick the sticks into the semi harder pops.
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And a few more hours later……Frozen goodness.
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And pop one of those suckers out of the mold and savor every frozen delicious bite.
Happy Tuesday… DON’T MELT!
-C
Make six 3.5 oz popsicles
- 1 ish cup watermelon (green skin removed.. rind is good)
- 1 large ripe tomato (about a cups worth)
- a few sprigs of basil
- Juice of 1 lime
Place all ingredients into blender and blend until smooth. Strain mixture through a fine strainer into a bowl or jar and pour into popsicle molds.
Place in freezer for a few hours. About 2-3 hours in the freezer, take them out and stick in sticks (or fallow you popsicle molds instructions) Place back into freezer
Once completely frozen, remove from molds and eat with your mouth.
Ugh. It has been so nasty gross out. A four day heat wave, and no, not just hot hot days, but those gross, hot hot with all the humidity in the world, kind of days. My body has rebelled and turned into a slug and my hair… well let’s not talk about my hair.
Yup, it’s been way to freaking hot to do anything, especially cook. And eating food is’t even especially appealing either (living off raw kale and, yes, lots of tomatoes at the moment) . What we all want is to drink something nice and cold and refreshing (and boozy). And what do I do when I want this, and have a lot of that? I turn that into this. That being tomatoes, and this, being a cold drink. Did that confuse you?
What I am trying to say is that I have a butt load of cherry tomatoes to eat but what I really want is a cold drink. So I took the tomatoes and make them into a lemonade. And it is amazing. It hits all the end of summer, super gross heatwave, I don’t want to move, spots that needed to be hit. And just in time for the weekend sow e get to add a little splash or two of something hard, cause we all know that after this past week, we all deserve it.
Think that combination sounds weird? Well don’t cause lemons and tomatoes are perfectly paired together. Tart and tangy, but still with a bit of sweetness from the tomatoes ( especially if using a sweeter variety like the sun-gold). It really is a great, refreshing drink, with or without the booze. A perfect match!
Tomato lemonade here we go!
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The stuff. Tomatoes ( I used sun-gold cherry cause I have a buttload, but you can sure use whatever tomato you have to many of), lemons, water, and if your into it vodka.
Note. The mr. and I are not big on sweet drinks, so I didn’t add any sweetener, the tomatoes being sweet enough. But feel free to add a little sugar or honey to yours.
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Start by dumping tomatoes into a pot with water. Stick on high heat and bring to boil, then turn heat to medium low,stick a lid on pot, and let tomatoes simmer for a little while.
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About 30 ish minutes later, the tomatoes have reduced to about 1/3 of what you started with and have turned into a a chunky like syrup.
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Strain the juice from the solids into a big pitcher.
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Tomato juice! and it’s so pretty bright gold. Now let it cool far a little bit.
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And while juice is cooling, juice your lemons
When the tomato juice is cooled off, add the lemon juice to the tomato.
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Add water and stir
Taste, and if you think it need sweetener, by all means, add a drizzle or two of some honey or spoonful of sugar.
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A couple of glasses of ice, and if you shall,, a shot of vodka (add the shot to the glass, not the pitcher)
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Me being so fancy added a garnish/snack. Basil leaf and cherry tomato skewer looks so nice.
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And sit back, put your feet up. and take it all in.
Weekend here we come!
-C
- 2 cups cherry tomatoes (can use 2 cups of any tomato)
- 1 cup fresh lemon juice (4-5 lemons)
- 1 cup water plus 3 1/2 -4 cups water
- a few basil leaves and extra tomatoes for garnish (optional)
Note. I did not add any sweetener to my lemonade but you could totally add in a few tablespoons honey or sugar. Do what floats your boat.
Dump tomatoes into a pot with 1 cup of water. Bring to boil then cover and turn heat to a medium low heat. Cook tomatoes down for about 30 minutes or until the tomatoes have reduced about 1/3 and is almost sauce like.
Using a fine mesh strainer, strain the tomato mixture into pitcher or jug that you can serve your drinks from. Use a wood spoon or spatula to scrap the tomato around strainer to really make sure you get all the juicy goodness. Let tomato juice cool.
While cooling, juice lemons until you get a cup of fresh lemon juice. Add lemon juice to cool tomato juice along with 3 1/2 cups water. Mix and taste. If you think it needs a little sweetener, add a little in. If you think it tastes to strong, add in more water.
Good stir, ice in cups, a 2-3oz shot of vodka per 8-12oz cup of lemonade (the ratio is up to you my friend)… and your sitting pretty. Feeling a little fancy, take a basil leaf and wrap around a cherry tomato. Stab it with a tooth pick and garnish your drink. It ames for anise snack too.
Sit back, sip and enjoy.
THE LOVELY CRAZY
August 11, 2016 by maximios • Blog
I was cleaning out the fridge and found that I had a good few really ripe avocados that were in need of eating ASAP. (I bought like 8 at once… super sale!) My first thought was I wish I could freeze these and save them for later. Then I thought well why the heck don’t I freeze them. So that’s what I did. I pureed them up, added a little lemon juice and stuck a jar of tangy green creamy goodness into the freezer and all throughout the week found myself standing in front of the fridge with a spoon scraping at the jar of avocado. It was so good. I even added a little fruit to it toward the end. Avocado and fruit = oh hell yes.
And now that is is officially spring we should be eating popsicles (right?!). I figured you guys are cool enough that I would share my new found love of frozen avocados and you would be down with it.
I know, some might think that plain old frozen avocado doesn’t sound amazing, but when you add a little sweetness and swirl it around with super sweet and creamy mango. Trust me, it’s freaking amazing. The flavors go perfectly together, and the texture, it’s almost like ice cream… SO GOOD! Anyway, I know that it might not be the perfect spring weather as of today, but the beauty of these is that you make them, freeze them and leave them until the perfect moment. Say a good long day of raking up all the cat poop that the neighbors cat has left in all your spring flower beds, or picking up all the recycling that has blow into the bushes all winter long. Maybe a day of cleaning out the closet or dusting the ceilings. Make these popsicles now and treat yourself to one after doing some kind of crappy spring chores, its what you need to do.. Or better yet, bribe a little with a popsicle to do your spring cleaning….. Yeah, I might just do that.
Or just make them and eat them… no spring chores required.
The stuff. A nice ripe mango and a nice ripe avocado. A bit of lemon juice (from half a lemon), a little maple syrup, and a some water.
Scoop the avocado into a jar and cut up the mango ans stick into a jar…..
Splash a little water into each jar and blend them up. (I used my hand blender. but use the blending device of your choice) Add the maple syrup to the avocado.. as much as you need, and if your mango is not super sweet, you can add a little to that too.
Scoop the avocado puree into the mango and gently swirl it around
Now pour/scoop the mixture into your popsicle molds. And because mine was thick enough, I was able to stick the wood sticks without them sinking.
Noe get them quick into the freezer
A good few hours (I didn’t even check until the next day but I bet 4-5 hours in a good freezer will do) the popsicles are nowposicles!!!!!
Pop them out of the mold (a few minutes on the counter and or a quick rinse under warm water) and do what needs to be done.
So creamy sweet and refreshing… This is a happy spring popsicle for sure.
Have a great day!
-C
Makes four 4oz popsicles
Note.sIF your mango is not super sweet you might want to add a little maple syrup to thatto that as well. And depending on the actual size of your mango and avocado, you might find yourself with a little extra fruit puree…. so maybe an extra popsicle can be made or you can just eat it now.
Scoop avocado into a jar and cut and dice mango and place in a separate jar. Add maple to the avocado (and the mango if you want) and about 1/4 cup of water to each. With a hand blender, blend each until smooth ( or use a regular blender) Once both are blended, dump one into the other and gently swirl around. Pour mixture into popsicle molds, add the sticks and stick into the freeze. Keep freezing until frozen which should take at least 4-5 hours.
And once frozen, pop out of molds (run mold under warm water or just leave on counter for a few minutes) and eat them like it hot!
My little sister came over last night for a homework and dinner night. I love these nights because when she comes over she spends a good amount of time poking and harassing the mr while I get left alone to cook dinner. But then always at some point during the evening,usually after feeding them dinner, they both turn on me and start to poke at me. They are brats like that. But what I also like is I can sometimes help her a bit with the homework. (like last night,… girl did a bit of procrastination.Good thing I am awesome and maybe a little bit of a hard ass. She got it done with a bit of help and it all ended happily ever after) Maybe cause I am an old lady now, but I like the feeling of using my brain for things that I no longer think about. I makes me feel smart again (kinda) SO we get together and eat and do homework and make fun of each other… Good times. I love hanging out with my sister.
Ok, so this pudding, its one of my favorites.. I could probably live off of sweet potatoes in all shapes and forms.. A long while back I started making this pudding and got the sister hooked on it as well. So whenever she comes over for dinner I make it for us. And we eat it and exclaim how, “OMG this is so freaking good” and eat, then lick our bowls clean. And it’s so easy and simple to make. Basically just sweet potato. So amazing. The mr, he likes it, but doesn’t share the same enthusiasm as we do….But he is not a teenage girl and her sister so yeah. who really knows.But Anyone out there with a spare sweet potato.. make this pudding. It will change your life in all the right ways!
Your welcome very much.
The stuff. A sweet potato, a couple of dates, ans some cinnamon. That’s all you need!
Simple as can be. Bake the sweet potato until soft. Remove the skin (I then eat the skin, but if you don’t like it, the dog also loves potato skins) and stick it onto a food processor with the dates (make sure to remove the pits) and blend together. I usually add in a few a few splashes of water while I am blending just to think it out a tiny bit. But that is a preference I will leave up to you.
Add in the cinnamon and blend some more until so nice and silky smooth.
And a note here. You can omit the cinnamon if you like, the pudding is amazing without it but you could even use more spices like ginger and allspice or added a little splash of vanilla. OR.. Add a scoop of some nut butter… so good.
Once the you have spiced your pudding, scoop it out into jars, bowls, whatever and how much ever you want (1 large sweet potato is good for 2-3 servings)
Oh whats this.. Coconut cream!!!! And yes, hand beaten like a boss!
You have the pudding, a the whipped coconut cream. Big spoonful of that right on top.
Sprinkled with another pinch of cinnamon and some chopped up walnuts…
Pudding so good and so easy it will knock your socks off!
Have a great weekend!
-C
Serves 1- 3
Optional. A pinch of ground ginger or allspice. Pumpkin pie spice or a splash of vanilla. A scoop of nut butter or even a handful of nuts. Chocolate chips or creamy nutella. Berries. And whipped coconut cream or some yogurt to top with. So many possibilities.
Bake sweet potato until tender. This can be done a ahead of time or you can use up left over sweet potatoes from dinner….
Remove the skin from the potato and place into a food processor or blender with the dates and the cinnamon or whatever spices you want to use. Blend until smooth. Can add in a few splashes of water to thing out a bit.
Once smooth, scoop out into serving sizes or just into one big jar to eat all to yourself. Top with coconut cream and chopped nuts or nothing.
Eat with spoon, like bowl clean.. And can be eaten without shame for breakfast, lunch, dinner or snack.
Are you ready for this weekend? You know what’s coming right? Yup, another arctic blast. -30 degree temperatures, windchill warnings and local news forecasters warning of dangerously cold conditions. “Don’t go outside , your face will freeze off”
Oh yeah, and Valentine Day.
What are your thoughts on the V day? The mr and I, well we could kind of care less, but at the same time, we like the excuse to spend the day together, traditionally going for a hike with the pup (not this year… we would die) and just spending the day together being sweet (pretty much the same way we spend any days off together) We don’t get fancy with dinner dates or overly large stuffed animals. No boxes of chocolate, bottles of champagne or fancy undies. We keep it caj, maybe a sweet hand made card covered in glitter (never a store bought.) a stop for a good cup of coffee and an afternoon trip to the plant store to by a new pretty house plant (1. I really hate red roses and 2. I would much rather get a house plant then flowers that will die) But honesty, we just use V day as an excuse to not work and spend the day together, being left alone, eating whatever we want and doing whatever fun stuff we want.
This dish was kinda inspired by being so pretty bright pink, but also it was just what I wanted to eat for dinner. Spaghetti squash doesn’t get as much play as it should. Sure it’s not the most sweet and nutty of the squashes, but it has a really nice subtle flavor that makes it a fantastic base for pretty much anything. And the beet sauce. Again, it’s such a pretty color, but beside that, I can’t get enough of them. I love me some roasted beets (way better then any chocolate or sweet treat)
I could lie to you and say that this is the dish that I will be making for me and the mr on Valentines day, but no,this dish already happened this week and the mr got into it, but would rather eat his favorite meal (pizza) for dinner. And I will be eating the left over beet sauce with carrot sticks (this beet sauce id for real.. topped with a little yellow mustard… I could eat it for life) then make a hugmongo batch of popcorn covered in peanut butter. We wiil sit on he couch and watch a lot of Netflix (still working my way through the fresh prince) and maybe a cute Wes Anderson movie. I will be in bed by 9.
But don’t mind us old folks here. Go for it. Do up the Valentines Day. Make a pretty dish of food for your sweetheart, or if alone, make it for yourself, especiallyif you are hanging by your lonesome. Valentinesday is about being happy and this dish will make you happy, whether or not you plan on sharing it.
The stuff. One spaghetti squash big enough for at least 2 people (I love left overs so maybe big enough for 4), 2 largish beets, a a small onion. Also grab a clove of garlic of 4, a lemon, the salt and pepper, and some olive oil. Optional, but a very nice addition is a handful of tasted walnuts.
Quick and crank up the oven (make sure you take out the cast iron you left in there from last night), then stick the squash, beets and onion into the hot oven to roast. I stuck them all on a baking sheet and left them completely whole, but if you want, you could chop the beet and onion into chunks and drizzle with oil or you could wrap the beets in foil and bake them that way but really, why go through all that when you can just not? And don’t bother peeling them.(unless you think you must.. but you really really don’t need too)
And same for the squash. You could cut in half and roast it that way, but again, why when you don’t need to.
So anyway, roast the beets and onion until fork tender. And the squash as well (check by stabbing with a fork) All my stuff roasted up pretty much perfectly at the exact same time, but it really depends on the size of your stuff. So check after 40ish minutes.
And once you pull that roasted stuff from the oven, let it cool just enough where you can handle it. Chop the onion into a couple chunks, the beets into smaller chunks and slice the squash in half length wise and set aside.
Grab a blender and toss in the onion, beets the juice of the lemon (start with half) apinch of salt, a few pinches of pepper, and a clove or 2 of garlic (ok, I love raw garlic and used a lot. If you do not like the taste of raw garlic, just toss it with a little oil and stick into the oven with the beets for about 10 minutes. Or you could omit the garlic entirely)
Once all the stuff is in the blender, turn it on. Drizzle in about a tablespoon or two of olive oil and blend until a nice smooth sauce has formed. Taste, season with more salt and pepper if needed. Add the other half of lemon if you think it needs it. You can also add a bit of water to thin it out more.. if you want
So now the squash should be cool enough to handle. Scoop out the seeds and with a fork, scrape up into spaghetti!
Heaps of squash go into bowls then topped with a generous mound of beet sauce. Topped with some roughly chopped toasted walnuts, a sprinkle of pepper and some bits of green stuff (I just diced up some kale)
Look at that. So pretty, so pink and all ready to go. Dinner for 2 with a good bit of left overs for later!
Happy weekend! And Happy Valentines Day if you do it, or if you don’t!
-C
makes 3-4 servings
Note. You might want to thin out sauce out a bit without the use of a ton of oil. Go ahead and add a little water. Also, I used raw garlic in mine, but some people might not like it raw. Just toss a few cloves of garlic in a bit of oil and stick into the oven for 10-15 minutes with the other stuff to give it a little roast. OR just omit.
Preheat oven to 425.
Stick the onion, beets and squash onto a baking sheet, drzzle the beet and onion with a tiny bit of oil and stick the sheet into the oven. Roast everything until fork tender which should take around 45-50 minutes. (depending on the size of your produce, some thing might take longer or shorter, so just check after 40ish minutes)
Once everything is roasted, let the beets and onion cool just enough to handle and cut into chunks and toss into a blender. Add in the garlic, the juice of the lemon, a few drizzles of olive oil and a pinch of salt and pepper. Now turn blender on and blend until smooth.
And the squash. Cut the thing in half and remove the seeds. Then with a fork, scrap the squash from the skin into spaghetti like strands.
Place squash into bowls, sprinkle with salt and pepper, add a drizzle of oil if you want and top with a good hearty heap of beet sauce. Top with more cracked pepper and a few chopped walnuts and maybe add a little something green, you know, to make it pretty.
Serve warm with love and a fork.. your lips might turn pink with beet love.
I use to suck the juice out of the seeds (they are actually called arils) of the pomegranate and spit out the actual seeds… I thought that the seeds were poisonous. (I blame my sister for this .She is the one that told me that). And it turns out that it is an actual thing. That other people think that the seeds are not edible, so I guess don’t feel so duped. But I leaned. The seeds, they are very much edible, and very much tasty. I love biting into a pomegranate seed, letting the juice flood my mouth, followed by a nice little crunch from the seed inside, just like little crunchy red jewels. And the method of removing the seeds just makes them that much better. When you have to whack a fruit for it’s edible parts, it got to be good. And to make this clear…. to all the people out there that thick the seeds are poison… the seeds are NOT POISION. In fact, they are quite good for you.
Now that that has been established, we can get to eating these little pearls the right way. And being all holiday and jolly lala, I was thinking of some classic side dishes that are typical around this time. Creamed spinach came to mind, but that just seemed a little boring. That’s where the pomegranate comes in. You add pomegranate to anything and it’s not boring anymore. Also I switched out the creamed part and replaced it with cashew cream, and spinach with kale… cause that’s what I do. And the results are fantastic! Sweet, creamy, crunchy, earthy… All the best flavors. And even though I ate most of it hot, it’s definitely a side that moves from hot to cold and still taste super great. Would even make a nice sandwich or maybe add a little bed of grains and you got yourself a nice little lunch.
But the again, you probably wont have any left overs
The stuff. A bunch of kale, some cashews that have been soaking for a little while, and a pomegrante (I only used half of one). We also need us some more fresh water, a lemon, a few cloves of garlic and salt and pepper.
Remove the arils (thats what the juicy seeds ae called) by placing half the pomegranate into a bowl and whacking it with a big wooden spoon. (martha stewart taught me this)
Strain the soaking cashews and dump them into a blender with the juice of the lemon, the garlic, some fresh water and some salt and pepper.
Turn blender on and blend until a nice smooth consistency
Chop up the kale and place into a really big skillet with a few splashes of water.
Once the kale has wilted, pour the cashew cream all over it.
Add in the pomegranate seeds
And get yourself a fork (bowl is optional( and eat.
Creamed food never tasted this good!
-C
makes 3-4 servings
Take your pomegranate , slice in half, and place half seed sside down into a bowl. Take a big wooden spoon or something like it, and whack the outside of the fruit. The seeds will all fall out.. but check for any stuck seeds
Strain cashews from soaking waterand dump into a blender with the juice of the lemon, the garlic, ¾ cups of water, and a pinch or two of salt. Blend until a smooth a creamy cream. If you think the cream is to thick, add in another splash of water
After washing kale, chop it up into smallish pieces. (remove stems if you want.. I don’t, I like the stems) Stick the kale into a large skillet with a few splashes of water and a sprinkle of salt and place on the oven on medium high heat. Stir around until kale is wilted and the water has evapotated. Pour on the cashew cream, mix around and top with the pomegranate seeds.
and eat..hot or cold. Its all good.
My oven is fixed!! The part came in yesterday afternoon, right before we were about to leave for dinner at my sisters. The mr ripped the package open, popped the stove out and within 5 minutes I had a brand new, working ovens! (not really brand new, but it is much cleaner now after taking it apart and seeing how nasty it was)
But before this happened, I was working with no oven. And all I wanted to do ( all I wanted to do all weekend) was bake something. So yesterday, instead of just waiting around moping, I decided to make something with the part of the oven that still worked. And being that it’s the week before Halloween, I have got candy on my mind, plus a hugmongo bag of walnuts. Hmm, the possibilities.
No oven, big bag of nuts, candy thoughts = Spicy maple candied walnuts A perfectly sweet and spicy treat that packs lots of flavor, protein, and healthy stuff and not a bunch of shit. Made on the stove top with no fancy equipment., takes about 5 minutes to make and tastes like Woo hoo! A (kinda )candy to feel good about eating.
Ask the mr. I think he ate them all last night. And I am ok with that cause it’s way better then him eating that shit candy and also, he fixed my oven. Thanks love!
Now to the nuts!
The stuff. Whole walnuts, real pure Vermont maple syrup, cayenne pepper and salt.
Stick the walnuts into a dry skillet and place on the stove on medium high heat to give the nuts a little pre toast and to preheat the skillet.
While the walnuts are slightly toasting, dump the maple syrup in a bowl with cayenne and give it a little stir.
Once the skillet has heated and the walnuts are slightly toasted and starting to smell all nutty ,dump the syrup into the skillet while string until the nuts until all are coated.
And for the next few minutes, continue to stir the nuts until the maple syrup starts to caramelize and there is no longer any liquid left in the pan.(like 3-5 minutes)
Now dump the nuts onto a lined baking sheet and spinkle with a pinch or two of salt, and if you like spice, a pinch more of cayenne pepper (you can make them as salty and spicy as you like!)
Note. As soon as you dump the nuts, stick your skillet in the sink and fill with water to avoid a crappy stuck on sugar mess.
Walnuts a plenty cooling off.
Oh man.. dez nuts! (I am sorry, I couldn’t resists)
Snack on these, it will make you happy.
Enjoy your Tuesday!
-C
Place walnuts into a large dry skillet and stick on stove on medium heat. In a little bowl, mix the maple and the cayenne pepper together. When the skillet has preheated and the walnuts are slightly toasted ash giving off a nutty smell, pour mixture onto walnuts, string to evenly coat each nut. COntinue to cook and stir for another 3-4 minutes or until the syrup has caramelized ash dried. Once done, dump the mixture onto a lined baking sheet and sprinkle with salt and maybe more cayenne pepper if yu want. Let cool, then eat…
These suckers make a great snack, tossed into salads, or added to some apple strudel. Eat them whatever way floats your boat.
Three things… One. I have a ton of beets, but that is because I have been taking mostly beets at the farm share pickup (I am scared I will run out so I hoard them) Two. See that roasting pan? I got it a couple weekends ago at a barn sale for 75 cents. Isn’t it awesome! (it is so awesome) So I really wanted to roast something in it. And three. Roasting means the oven is on and it has been chilly chilly at night (LOVE IT) but I am not willing to turn the heater on in my house until at least the first of November. Until then, we will just roast all of our food for warmth.
But really, there is no better reason then that beets are tasty and potatoes are tasty. Together, they are super duper tasty. The combination, with the lemon and rosemary giving the dish a fresh and vibrant boast, satisfies that person who says he doesn’t like beets (the mr, but he eats them so yeah.) and me, who would rather just eat all beets (I ate some of the potatoes)
Yup, rosemary lemon beets and potatoes. A simple dish that screams fall, warm comfort food, and just happens to be really pretty too. (especially served in my awesome roasting pan)
The stuff. A couple of beets and a couple of potatoes. Some fresh rosemary (can use dried), a lemon, salt and pepper and olive oil.
Preheat the oven to 450 and chop up the potato and beets into chunks that will fit in your mouth and dump the chunks into a bowl.
Mince up the rosemary.. unless you don’t mind eating long, kind sharp pieces
Drizzle a bit of olive oil, add in the zest of the lemon, add a good few pinches of salt and pepper and toss in the rosemary and give it a good mix.
Dump onto a baking sheet or in a roasting pan (seriously, this roasting pan is SO PRETTY) Cut the lemon in half and squeeze on half of the lemon juice on the veggies.
And into the oven it goes.
All roasted up and ready to go.
Those colors.. the smell. So good!
Happy weekend people!
-C
Serves 2-3 as a side
Preheat oven to 450
Wash beets and potatoes well then dice them up into mouth sized pieces and toss into a bowl. Drizzle with enough olive oil to coat the stuff, zest the lemon and add the zest to the bowl, and cut lemon in half and squeeze half of the lemon juice in. Oh, and mince up the rosemary and toss that in too. Season with salt and pepper to taste (potatoes like salt) toss it all around until everything is all coated and dump onto a baking sheet or into a roasting pan and stick into the oven for about 45-50 minutes or until golden brown and crunchy tender.
Remove, squeeze the remaining half of lemon on top and serve!
Holy shit is it hot out. My brain is all fizzy, my hair is all frizzy, and my over all being is just blah. I am not a fan of super hot weather (as some of you may know) and am getting more pissy as the days go by and I continue to be a sweaty mess. I don’t want to feel like a big wet slob, I want to feel fresh and clean and wear clothes that are not drenched in sweat. I know, bitch, bitch, bitch, but seriously. Even the world around me is wilting, and in the nice, colorful fall foliage kind of way. It’s all crispy and brown. The garden is barely holding on, the flowers are shriveling in the ground, and a few plants are just plan dead. It’s just too hot.
I think that only plus side of this past week of hot crap weather are these popsicles that I made. They were actually suppose to be a treat for the littles, but guess what, me and the mr ate them and didn’t share, and no, I feel zero bad about it. They were so good, so refreshing, so cold(if only for a minute) and just so needed. A few minute reprieve from being miserably hot. And bonus, a great use of all the watermelon and tomatoes that I have taking over the countertops (I have so much watermelon and tomatoes)
And really, these probably (better freaking be) the last batch of popsicles for the summer so I think I am going to make another batch today, eat them, savor the flavors of summer, and move on from there.
. Maybe I’ll even share them this time.
The stuff. Some watermelon*, a tomato, a handful of basil, and a lime.
*My watermelon had seeds, but you can use seedless. I also removed the green skin, but kept on as much rind as I could, although this particulate melon had very little white rind.
Dump the melon, tomato (cut in a few pieces, the juice of the lime and the basil into a blender. If your melon has seed, don’t worry about removing them.
The stuff all blended up.
. This step is more necessary if you melon is seeded, straining the mixture pretty much caught most of the seed chunks. You can skip this if your melon is seedless.
Now pour the juice into your molds and stick into freezer to freeze.
After about 2 ish hours, remove and stick the sticks into the semi harder pops.
And a few more hours later……Frozen goodness.
And pop one of those suckers out of the mold and savor every frozen delicious bite.
Happy Tuesday… DON’T MELT!
-C
Make six 3.5 oz popsicles
Place all ingredients into blender and blend until smooth. Strain mixture through a fine strainer into a bowl or jar and pour into popsicle molds.
Place in freezer for a few hours. About 2-3 hours in the freezer, take them out and stick in sticks (or fallow you popsicle molds instructions) Place back into freezer
Once completely frozen, remove from molds and eat with your mouth.
Ugh. It has been so nasty gross out. A four day heat wave, and no, not just hot hot days, but those gross, hot hot with all the humidity in the world, kind of days. My body has rebelled and turned into a slug and my hair… well let’s not talk about my hair.
Yup, it’s been way to freaking hot to do anything, especially cook. And eating food is’t even especially appealing either (living off raw kale and, yes, lots of tomatoes at the moment) . What we all want is to drink something nice and cold and refreshing (and boozy). And what do I do when I want this, and have a lot of that? I turn that into this. That being tomatoes, and this, being a cold drink. Did that confuse you?
What I am trying to say is that I have a butt load of cherry tomatoes to eat but what I really want is a cold drink. So I took the tomatoes and make them into a lemonade. And it is amazing. It hits all the end of summer, super gross heatwave, I don’t want to move, spots that needed to be hit. And just in time for the weekend sow e get to add a little splash or two of something hard, cause we all know that after this past week, we all deserve it.
Think that combination sounds weird? Well don’t cause lemons and tomatoes are perfectly paired together. Tart and tangy, but still with a bit of sweetness from the tomatoes ( especially if using a sweeter variety like the sun-gold). It really is a great, refreshing drink, with or without the booze. A perfect match!
Tomato lemonade here we go!
The stuff. Tomatoes ( I used sun-gold cherry cause I have a buttload, but you can sure use whatever tomato you have to many of), lemons, water, and if your into it vodka.
Note. The mr. and I are not big on sweet drinks, so I didn’t add any sweetener, the tomatoes being sweet enough. But feel free to add a little sugar or honey to yours.
Start by dumping tomatoes into a pot with water. Stick on high heat and bring to boil, then turn heat to medium low,stick a lid on pot, and let tomatoes simmer for a little while.
About 30 ish minutes later, the tomatoes have reduced to about 1/3 of what you started with and have turned into a a chunky like syrup.
Strain the juice from the solids into a big pitcher.
Tomato juice! and it’s so pretty bright gold. Now let it cool far a little bit.
And while juice is cooling, juice your lemons
When the tomato juice is cooled off, add the lemon juice to the tomato.
Add water and stir
Taste, and if you think it need sweetener, by all means, add a drizzle or two of some honey or spoonful of sugar.
A couple of glasses of ice, and if you shall,, a shot of vodka (add the shot to the glass, not the pitcher)
Me being so fancy added a garnish/snack. Basil leaf and cherry tomato skewer looks so nice.
And sit back, put your feet up. and take it all in.
Weekend here we come!
-C
Note. I did not add any sweetener to my lemonade but you could totally add in a few tablespoons honey or sugar. Do what floats your boat.
Dump tomatoes into a pot with 1 cup of water. Bring to boil then cover and turn heat to a medium low heat. Cook tomatoes down for about 30 minutes or until the tomatoes have reduced about 1/3 and is almost sauce like.
Using a fine mesh strainer, strain the tomato mixture into pitcher or jug that you can serve your drinks from. Use a wood spoon or spatula to scrap the tomato around strainer to really make sure you get all the juicy goodness. Let tomato juice cool.
While cooling, juice lemons until you get a cup of fresh lemon juice. Add lemon juice to cool tomato juice along with 3 1/2 cups water. Mix and taste. If you think it needs a little sweetener, add a little in. If you think it tastes to strong, add in more water.
Good stir, ice in cups, a 2-3oz shot of vodka per 8-12oz cup of lemonade (the ratio is up to you my friend)… and your sitting pretty. Feeling a little fancy, take a basil leaf and wrap around a cherry tomato. Stab it with a tooth pick and garnish your drink. It ames for anise snack too.
Sit back, sip and enjoy.