Oatmeal Smoothie

**The 2016 Discounted Group Food Storage Order can be found here.

This is hands down one of my favorite go to recipes for a filling breakfast, lunch or even a mid day snack.  I practically lived on this and refrigerator oatmeal when I worked early in the mornings and needed something to grab and go.  The oats keep you feeling full all morning long, and it has great texture and flavor.  

I've also loved this as a recovery drink after a particularly long or hard workout.  It works great to make ahead and have in the fridge if you are in a rush - just don't let it sit for longer than 1 day as the oats will continue to absorb the liquid.

You can play around with the flavors here.  My husband hates peanut butter, so we omit this for him.  And you can really use any fruit combination you have on hand as well, if you aren't particularly fond of strawberry banana.  This really is fool proof!

Oatmeal Smoothie

Recipe from Comfort Spring Station

1 c. milk of choice (even chocolate... just sayin')

1/2 c. oats

1/2 c. peanut butter

1 banana

1 c. strawberries

handful ice cubes

Blend and serve.

Makes 1 serving.

Apple Cider {Bottled}

Apple season is in full swing and thanks to wonderful farmers and a generous neighbor, I had a plethora of them last week.  I was stocked with dehydrated apples, applesauce and canned apple pie filling already, so I branched out to try something new: apple cider.  The results were fantastic.

You really can use whatever apples you have on hand; I had a mix of granny smith and red delicious; with a few fuji's and golden delicious in the mix.  The type of apples used will contribute to the sweetness factor, so you may need to adjust the honey or sugar to your liking.

If you are making a large batch you can definitely can this for future use (instructions follow), but if canning intimidates you then by all means just leave that part out.  This should store just fine in the fridge for up to 1 week.  If you are doing multiple batches, I would reuse the cinnamon/clove spice bag - you could definitely get more than one use out of it.

Also, DON'T THROW OUT THE APPLE PIECES AND PULP AT THE END!  This can be sent through a Victorio Strainer and made into delicious applesauce, which you can either eat plain or bottle (instructions here).  Or you could use it to make apple butter.  I sifted through mine for core-less pieces and pureed them in my blender to make apple cider fruit leather, so you've got a lot of options!

Apple Cider

Recipe modified from BLDG 25
25 apples of choice

water to cover apples (should be at least 4 quarts)

1 c. honey (or sweetener of choice)

10 cinnamon sticks

15 whole cloves

Chop apples into 4-6 pieces (do not skin or remove cores - just throw it all in)

Add apples to a large pot and cover with water.

Add sweetener of choice to the pot.

Take cinnamon sticks and cloves and wrap in a spice bag or cheesecloth; toss into the pot.

Bring to a boil, and boil uncovered on high for 1 hour.

Turn the heat to low, and simmer for 2-4 hours longer.

Once cooking is over, remove cheesecloth or spice bag.

Use a potato masher to mash the apples into a pulp (as much as possible).

Using a fine mesh strainer, remove as much of the pulp as possible.

Pour the remaining cider and pulp through a mesh strainer to catch all of the big pieces (you can also pour it into a large cheesecloth bag and squeee out all of the liquid).

Season to taste, and adjust sweetener if needed.

Makes 4 quarts.

If canning: put strained cider into a large pot and bring to a gentle simmer.

Pour hot cider into hot, sterilized jars.

Wipe rims clean, and top with a hot, sterilized lid.

Screw band on as tightly as possible.

Let stand on a towel or hot pad until you hear the "pop", and the cider has cooled completely.

Store in a cool, dark place.

Citrus Water {Punch}

This simple citrus drink is the perfect solution for pretty much any event.  Not overly sweet, but definitely stepping up a notch from your average water with lemon.  I view this as a somewhat mellow lemonade; perfect for kids and adults.

Citrus Water

Recipe from Mel's Kitchen Cafe

2 Tbsp. citric acid

5 quarts water

2 c. sugar

2 Tbsp. pure lemon extract

3 sliced lemons

3 sliced limes

crushed ice

In a large punch bowl, stir water, sugar, citric acid and lemon extract together.

Add sliced citrus and ice.

**Leaving the lemon and lime slices in the punch will make an overly sour, acidic taste.  If you have leftovers, remove them from the punch before storing.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Banana Smoothie

As a lover of anything with peanut butter I am happy to say that I am glad I found a breakfast and snack that I can actually feel good about eating.  This could even suffice as a dessert.  It is filling and delicious!  The peanut butter can be substituted with any nut butter you prefer.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Banana Smoothie

Recipe modified from My Whole Food Life

2 bananas

3/4 c. almond milk

2 Tbsp. peanut or almond butter

1 heaping Tbsp. cocoa

1 Tbsp. chia or flax seeds

1 tsp. honey

1 c. ice

Combine all items in blender and puree until smooth.

Serve immediately.

Makes 1 large serving.

Layered Party Punch

Aside from the ridiculously delicious and refreshing taste, the best thing about this punch is the way it looks.  Somehow it magically stays separate enough to view layers of individual colors.

Once you dig in and start serving it up however, the raspberries turn it a bright pink.  Its a win win.

I served this for my sisters baby shower, and it was a huge hit!

The juice concentrates can be substituted for whatever you can find in your local store - An equal mix of orange and pineapple juice (no water added) is also fantastic!

Layered Party Punch

Recipe from No Biggie

1 can frozen pina colada concentrate, thawed

1 can frozen orange pineapple juice concentrate, thawed

4 cans of water

4 liters diet lemon-lime soda (I found a pina colada flavored one that made it take on the green/blue hue)

Ice

4 c. fresh or frozen raspberries

Pour thawed concentrates into punchbowl and stir.

Use one of the empty concentrate cans and fill it up 4 times with water, add to the punchbowl and stir.

Add soda to the mixture.
Do not stir.

Add ice - you can really add as much or as little as you wanted, I add about 16 cups.

Top with raspberries.

Wassail

The perfect wassail recipe for all of your upcoming holiday get togethers.

Wassail

Recipe from Lyn H. Denna

2 c. sugar
2 c. water
10 whole cloves
8-10 whole allspice berries
1 stick ginger
2 sticks cinnamon
2 quarts apple cider or juice
2-3 small cans frozen orange juice concentrate
2 cans water (orange juice cans)
1/2 c. lemon juice

Combine the sugar and water and boil for 5 minutes.
In a small fabric or cheesecloth pouch, combine whole cloves, whole allspice berries, and ginger.
Add spice bag and cinnamon sticks to sugar/water mixture and let set for 1 hour.

Remove spice bag and cinnamon sticks.
Add remaining ingredients.
Heat through and serve hot.

Easy Peach Nectar

This is just about the easiest recipe ever, and it tastes amazing!

Easy Peach Nectar

1 quart canned peaches

1/4 - 1/2 c. sugar (depending on your preference)

10-12 ice cubes

Place peaches and sugar in a blender and blend until smooth.

Add ice cubes until mixture reaches desired consistency.

Grape Juice (Bottled)

Grape juice is my absolute favorite thing to can!

So much better than what you can get in the store.

Bottled Grape Juice

Rinse grapes in sink full of cold water after removing all leaves and the majority of the stems.

Place rinsed grapes in juicer and fill the bottom half with water.

Steam grapes for 1 hour (do not start timer until steam is consistently coming out).

Juice may start to overflow before 1 hour; check after 20 minutes, and fill one or two jars.

Place juice in sterilized bottles and top with sterilized lids.  They will seal themselves.

For a much more detailed description of how to bottle grape juice (with lots of pictures), click here.

Apricot Nectar (Bottled)

I just want to publicly say THANK YOU to my brother David for letting me come and pick all of the apricots I could ever want!

Bottled Apricot Nectar
Apricots
Mason Jars, Lids and Rings

Rinse apricots in sink full of cold water.
Remove pits, and put apricots in a blender (do not skin).
Pulse 7 or so apricots until you have about 1 cup of juice (you may need to press them down into the blades with a knife... or use a potato masher... you get the idea).

Once you have a cup or so, fill the blender to the top with apricot halves.
Blend until desired consistency is reached.
Fill up jar(s), leaving about 3/4" headspace.
**Remember to leave about 1 c. of liquid in the blender to use for the next batch.
Repeat until all jars are full.

Use a knife and run it along the edges of the jars to remove air bubbles.
Make sure rings on jars are clean and chip free.
Place lids and bands on jars.

Process quarts for 25 minutes, pints for 20
Remember to adjust for altitude - Utah time is 35 minutes for quarts, 25 for pints.

To make nectar once bottled:
Combine 1 quart nectar with 1 quart water and 1/3 c. sugar.
Mix and enjoy!

**For more detailed instructions, click here.

Strawberry Lemonaide

I love strawberry lemonaide.

Especially when it has chunks of real fruit in it... YUM!

I made this for my latest dinner group and it was fabulous!  Definitely will be doing this again...

Strawberry Lemonaide

1 can frozen pink lemonaide concentrate

4 c. fresh strawberries (or 1 bag frozen)

1/4 c. sugar

4 c. sprite

2 c. chopped frozen strawberries

Place 4 c. strawberries and sugar in a blender and puree until smooth (you may need to add some water).

Prepare lemonaide according to package directions.

Add pureed strawberries and sprite to lemonaide and mix thoroughly.

Divide frozen chopped strawberry chunks into glasses and top with lemonaide.

Serve and ENJOY!  (Because it is totally delicious!)

Banana Plum Spinach Smoothie

I ended up with a massive amount of plums this past week in my food co-op basket.

I ended up making this for breakfast a few times.

It was flavorful and satisfying.

Not to mention healthy!

Banana Plum Spinach Smoothie
1 banana
3 plums (skin on)
1 handful spinach leaves (about 1 cup)
splash of apple juice
1-2 tsp. honey
6 ice cubes

Remove pits from plums.
Place all ingredients in blender and pulse until smooth.
Serves 1.

Orange Julius

Yes, I know it is the middle of winter... but I was totally craving one of these the other day.

Orange Julius

3-4 oz. frozen orange juice concentrate
1/4 c. sugar
1/2 c. milk
1/2 c. water
1 tsp. vanilla
~20 ice cubes

Put all ingredients except for ice in a blender and mix well.  While blending, add ice in small batches until desired consistency is reached.

Serves 2.