Benefits of Berries

http://www.examiner.com/article/a-berry-berry-summer

Yep - Bacon Chocolate Chip Cookies!

1/2 cup butter
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp maple syrup
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups flour
1 cup dark chocolate chips
1/4 cup bacon, chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Using an electric mixer, cream butter and brown sugar.
Continue to mix on low and add eggs, vanilla, powder, soda, syrup and salt.
Continue to mix and add flour.
Fold in chocolate and bacon.
Spoon dough, about 2-3 ounces, onto baking sheets. The thinner the cookie, the less likely it will hold together so make 'em thick!
Bake for 8 minutes and add 2 minutes until edges are golden brown.

Cucumber Salad

Anything from Grandpa Max's garden is good - this post showcases CUCUMBERS! Grandpa Max is know for his garden, mostly his abundance of tomatoes. Since the tomatoes haven't ripened yet, I will gladly make something awesome out of the cukes. If you are looking for a cool base to your salad besides the usual greens or lettuce, try this with cucumbers. 

Take a mandolin with the french fry blade...cucumber "pasta". Slice the cucumber lengthwise down the mandolin - careful with your fingers!

This is my new favorite salad dressing and it works great with cucumbers! Use the serving size (read the label!) of any dressing and toss it with the cucumbers. Then top you salad with the usual toppings: shredded carrots, tomatoes, onions, etc. Perfect!

Dairy Free Banana "Ice Cream"

I needed a few bananas for the Frozen Yogurt Banana Pie but then had all of these left over :( What to do, what to do? Yep - another frozen treat! Slice up these bananas like the picture below and place the whole plate (or in a bag) into the freezer until solid.

Once they are frozen solid, pop them into the food processor (or blender) and being pulsing the processor until creamy. If you are using a blender, you may have to add a little soy milk, milk or yogurt just to get everything moving.

Ah! Creamy, frozen, banana goodness! You can fold in dark chocolate chips or nuts and top it with caramel sauce. This stuff tastes just like ice cream without the fat...awesome :)

Frozen Banana Yogurt Pie

Now that I look at the pictures, I have to say that this pie tasted a lot better than it looks! I think maybe next time I will top it with cool whip for presentations sake. The 100 degree heat must have got to me...I just needed to eat something COLD!!

Here's the recipe:

I was lazy and used a pre-made chocolate crumb crust.
3 TBSP caramel topping
1 box of instant vanilla pudding mix
2 cups of low fat vanilla yogurt
1/4 cup skim milk
1 1/2 cups Cool Whip (you can use reduced fat if you'd like)
2 medium bananas, chopped

Mix the pudding mix, yogurt and milk in a bowl with an electric mixer for 1 minute. Fold in the whipped topping. Stir in the bananas.

Spread the caramel evenly over the crust.

Spread the banana mixture over the crust.

Cover and freeze for at least 3 hours. Let stand 10 to 15 minutes before serving.

Watermelon Salad with a KICK!

I bought a giant watermelon so that the kids could have half and I could use the rest to make a new salad. The recipes that I searched mentioned that you could grill the watermelon for more flavor. I wasn't in that crazy of a mood...I was already adding cayenne pepper to a fruit. Baby steps.

I balled up half of the watermelon and added it to:

The juice of two oranges
The juice of one lemon
1 tsp of kosher salt
A pinch of cayenne pepper
8 mint leaves chopped

Grillin' Some Pig

Since our power was out due to the crazy storms last week, we have to grill and eat frozen foods before they went bad. So, the day before the 4th of July we ate hamburgers...leaving me with nothing to grill on the 4th. I found some pork chops at the grocery store and searched for some marinade recipes that would give a nice "picnic flavor". No, I can not define "picnic flavor" for you, but I knew what I was looking for :)

This is what I came up with:

2 cups of apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup yellow prepared mustard
4 TBSP brown sugar
3 tsp salt
2 tsp black pepper

I heated this together on the stove, cooled it and soaked the pork in it for 4 hours. Below are some pictures of our grillin' picnic outside...YUM!