Toasted Coconut Almond Pops

The final flavor of the Popsicle Series. Have I mentioned before I love coconut? It always makes me think of being at the beach, which is a sore subject right now since I'm not going to the beach this year.  Boo! Hiss! Oh well, we must save our pennies somehow, I guess.

Anyway, I digress.  Popsicles. Coconut. Here are your ingredients...

1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 cup low fat yogurt (I use Stonyfield organic, plain)
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup shredded coconut
2 Tbsp almond extract
2 Tbsp coconut rum

In a medium-large bowl, blend whipping cream and sugar with a hand mixer until soft peaks form.

Spread the coconut out onto a baking sheet and put in a 350 degree oven just until it starts to turn brown on the edges.  Be careful and watch it closely because it can brown quickly.  If you get too distracted with something else, you will have burnt coconut in no time!  Put the toasted coconut in the food processor and pulse a couple times just to make it a little finer.

Add coconut, yogurt, almond extract, and coconut rum to cream mixture. Stir until well blended.

Using 3 oz Dixie cups, scoop the coconut mixture into the cups almost to the top.  The original recipe says it makes 9 but I sometimes got as many as 11 cups filled. Remember to cut a small slit at the top of each cup to allow for easier removal from the pop later.  Once the cups are filled, you may insert a popsicle stick.  Allow pops to freeze for about 4 hours before serving.

Watermelon Mint Pops

The third flavor in my Popsicle Series.  What's more refreshing during the summer than watermelon and mint? This was definitely the most involved of all the popsicle flavors simply because there were more ingredients and a little more prep for those ingredients. But still pretty simple to make just like the others.

Ingredients:
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 cup low fat yogurt (I use Stonyfield organic, plain)
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 of a mini seedless watermelon
1 Tbsp lime juice
8-10 fresh mint leaves
1 Tbsp club soda (optional; this gives it a little bit of a Mojito feel)
3 Tbsp creme de menthe ( a mint liqueur)

In a medium-large bowl, blend whipping cream and sugar with a hand mixer until soft peaks form.

Dice the watermelon into bite-size pieces.  Finely mince mint leaves.  Put watermelon and mint together in the food processor and chop/pulse just a few times.

I wish we had smell-o-vision for this one! The watermelon and mint smelled so wonderful together!

Add watermelon and mint, along with yogurt, lime juice, club soda, and creme de menthe.  Stir until well blended.

pretty green color!

Using 3 oz Dixie cups, scoop the watermelon mixture into the cups almost to the top.  The original recipe says it makes 9 but I sometimes got as many as 11 cups filled. This mixture is a little more liquidy than the others. Remember to cut a small slit at the top of each cup to allow for easier removal from the pop later.  Once the cups are filled, you may insert a popsicle stick. Freeze for at least 4 hours.

Mixed Berry Pops

The second flavor of my Popsicle Series is Mixed Berry.  Again the same basic recipe as the Orange Cream Pops but with strawberries, raspberries, and dark cherries.  And of course another special secret adult ingredient to enhance the flavor and keep them from getting rock hard frozen.

Ingredients:
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 cup low fat yogurt (I use Stonyfield organic, plain)
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup berries (you can use fresh or frozen and any kind of berries you like. I used frozen strawberries, raspberries and dark cherries. And I probably used a little more than just 1 cup.)
2 Tbsp Chambord

In a medium-large bowl, blend whipping cream and sugar with a hand mixer until soft peaks form.


Thaw the berries according to the package instructions. (Obviously if you have fresh berries you can skip that step.) Put the berries in the food processor and chop until desired consistency (do you like big chunks of fruit in your ice cream or would you prefer more pureed liquid fruit or something in between? I went for the something in between, mostly pureed but with tiny chunks.)

Add fruit, yogurt, and Chambord to the cream mixture. Stir until well blended.

This combination of berries gives such a beautiful color!

Using 3 oz Dixie cups, scoop the berry mixture into the cups almost to the top.  The original recipe says it makes 9 but I sometimes got as many as 11 cups filled. Remember to cut a small slit at the top of each cup to allow for easier removal from the pop later.  Once the cups are filled, you may insert a popsicle stick.

I think I forgot to mention this for the Orange Cream Pops, but all these popsicles will be ready to eat after being in the freezer for about 4 hours.

Orange Cream Popsicles

Ok, so I've been on a popsicle kick recently. Popsicles are great for the summer and they are so easy to make at home. Ever since I found that one recipe from Eat Good 4 Life blog where she made Strawberry Lime Pops (check out my previous post about the ones I made here) and Raspberry Cream pops, I've been dying to try out other flavors. So recently made a series of four different flavors and tested them out on some friends at church.

All of these flavors have the same basic recipe as the ones mentioned above.  The first one I'm going to share is Orange Cream.  As a kid, I always LOVED those orange Dreamsicles (and still do)!  This is my version of a kids classic.

Ingredients:
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 cup low fat yogurt (I use Stonyfield organic, plain)
1/2 cup sugar
1 can frozen orange juice partially thawed (I prefer pulp free)
2 Tbsp vanilla extract
2 Tbsp Grand Marnier

In a medium-large bowl, blend whipping cream and sugar with a hand mixer until soft peaks form.

You want to make sure your frozen orange juice is partially thawed.  If its completely thawed it will be too liquidy, if its completely frozen, it will be too hard to work with.  You may not need the whole can either.  You'll need at least 1 cup of it but you may add a little extra to suit your own orangey tastes. At this point, you can add the orange juice to the whipped cream mixture.

Also add the yogurt, vanilla, and Grand Marnier and stir until well blended.  The Grand Marnier is an orange liqueur.  You can omit this is you like but it does enhance the orange flavor a little and helps keep the pop from getting too solid frozen so that its too hard to eat or remove from its cup.

Using 3 oz Dixie cups, scoop the orange cream mixture into the cups almost to the top.  The original recipe says it makes 9 but I sometimes got as many as 11 cups filled. This mixture is a little more liquidy than the others. Remember to cut a small slit at the top of each cup to allow for easier removal from the pop later.  Once the cups are filled, you may insert a popsicle stick.  Because this mixture is more liquidy than some of the others, you may have to recenter the sticks once they start to freeze or just wait about 10-15 minutes before inserting stick.

Raspberry Mascarpone French Toast

Ok, opposite from my last post, this is not exactly a healthy breakfast.  This is something we have only occasionally on Sunday mornings before church.  And actually the raspberries and the mascarpone cheese are new additions we just added this morning.

We start with a fresh loaf of batard bread, which is kind of like a baguette but not as long and its a little fatter, so it makes nice size french toast medallions.  We slice the the bread into maybe 1/2 inch thick pieces.  In a mixing bowl, whisk together about 4 eggs and maybe 1/2 cup of heavy cream.  Hubby and I don't really measure when we make these kind of things so I'm kinda guessing.  But I'm sure you can figure it out! :)

Next we soak each piece of bread in the egg/cream mixture.  Then place the bread medallions into a hot pan on the stove that's been sprayed with PAM or something like it.  Cook the medallions a couple minutes on each side until golden brown.

Spread a small amount of mascarpone cheese onto each piece of bread.  Lightly drizzle with raspberry syrup and top with fresh red raspberries.  The mascarpone is mild and creamy and the raspberries add a light fresh flavor to the soft eggy rich bread.  Yumma yumma eats!!

Fake-Baked Apple Oatmeal

Ok, first let me start by saying, I have hated oatmeal ever since I was a kid.  It always tasted like flavorless, bland, sticky, grey mush that always got cold too quick which made it even grosser! Yuck! There is not enough sugar in the world to make that stuff taste edible!

I sometimes can be a texture-eater (ya know those weird people who won't eat certain things simply because they don't like the texture of the food...yeah, that's me). And I would claim that one of the reasons I didn't like oatmeal was because I didn't like the texture of it but then I always liked cream of wheat and grits which are kinda similar in texture so I guess it was just an excuse to not have to eat it.

So I don't like oatmeal...That is until earlier this week.

About a month ago I discovered this recipe for oatmeal on another food blog I follow.  And I thought, hmm, that sounds good but I don't like oatmeal.  But maybe I should give this recipe a try because it does look pretty tasty and I know oatmeal is supposed to be super healthy for you and I totally need to get more healthy foods in my diet.  So it took me about a month to get up the nerve to try it.  And now that I have...(wait for it)...I think I actually LOVE oatmeal now!!!!!! Even I can't believe I just said that!

 First of all, I figured out one reason I hated oatmeal growing up was because all I ever had was that over-processed instant stuff...now THAT is gross and I still will never eat that stuff!  Especially now having had real, cooked oatmeal.  And you might think to yourself...."but instant is so much faster!"  First of all, faster does not mean better.  Second of all, instant oatmeal takes maybe 1 minute in the microwave; real oatmeal takes 5 minutes.  Ooooh, that's so much longer (sarcastic wink)!  Now I did modify the original recipe slightly but its still pretty healthy and super yummy.  I guarantee if you like oatmeal and apples, you'll love this! And if you don't like oatmeal...well, consider giving this a try...you just might surprise yourself and fall in love with it like I did.

Fake-Baked Apple Oatmeal

(my recipe is for 2 servings because I share with my hubby but you can easily cut it back to one serving by following the directions on the oat container)

A side note: its called "fake-baked" because the apples are cooked or "baked" in the microwave!

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups water...1/4 cup heavy cream...1 cup oats (I use Irish-style oats)...1 medium apple...1 tbs butter (I use Brummel and Brown spread)...cinnamon and sugar (or sugar substitute) to taste

Note: if you want to keep it even healthier, skip the cream and increase water to 1 3/4 cups

Directions:

 Put water in a small pot on medium heat. While the water is heating up, core apple, cut into chunks and place into a microwave-safe bowl.  

Top apples with butter and cinnamon and sugar.  "Bake" in microwave for 3 minutes.  Just as the water is starting to simmer, add the cream.  When it just begins to boil, slowly stir in the oatmeal.  Cook for 5 minutes, stirring frequently.  

The oatmeal and the apples should be done around the same time.  Divide the apples evenly between 2 bowls (for 2 servings) and top with several spoonfuls of oatmeal.  

The oatmeal, cinnamon, apples, and the juice in the bottom of the apple bowl will all mix together in a yummy bowl of sweet goodness!

To see the original recipe, check out Baked Apple Oatmeal recipe on the Foodie Nutritionist from my list of favorite food pages!! Her recipe even includes pumpkin butter...yummm!!!

(Here's the aftermath...)