Skinny Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp

Every spring, my mother would whip up a rhubarb crisp so I'm somehow conditioned to want to do the same everytime I see rhubarb show up in the market. :) Fun fact on this crisp, though... my mom brought me rhubarb fresh from her garden all the way from Nebraska. I'm so spoiled and there's nothing better than garden fresh food. I really wish I would have the patience for my own garden, but I'm working on it. This year, we planted 8 plants (a mixture of tomatoes and zucchini). If they fair well, I'll consider growing my garden space next year. Until then, I'll support the local farmers. Someone has to do it, right? :) Anyways, this is a nice and sweet treat that tastes delicious and doesn't cost you too much in calories.

Skinny Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp
12 SERVINGS 
PREP: 25 minutes           COOK: 55-60 minutes            READY IN: 1 hour 25 minutes

SIMPLE	HEALTHY	YUM

INGREDIENTS

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STRAWBERRY-RHUBARB FILLING

• 1 pound strawberries, hulled and cubed
• 1 pound rhubarb (about 5 stalks), cut into bit-sized pieces
• 1/3 cup honey
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

CRISP TOPPING:

• 4 tablespoons butter, melted
• 3/4 cup old-fashioned oats
• 3/4 cup white-whole wheat flour (I used King Arthur's)
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
• 3 tablespoons plain greek yogurt

DIRECTIONS

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1. In a 9x9 pan, mix together the ingredients for the strawberry-rhubarb filling (strawberries, rhubarb, honey, cornstarch and vanilla).
2. In a medium sized bowl, mix together the crisp topping ingredients (butter, oats, flour, brown sugar, salt and yogurt). 
3. Crumble the crisp topping mixture on top of the strawberry-rhubarb filling.
4. Bake for about 55-60 minutes, or until baked completely. Serve with a dollop of cool whip, or greek yogurt.

NUTRITION FACTS

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    1 serving    123 calories   .8g fat   28g carbs    2.5g protein    14.4g sugar   

Enjoy!
Recipe from COOKIE + kate

Strawberry and Brie Crostini

Thanks to Costco samples my husband has been on a brie kick. It's been his go-to snack for the last 2 weeks. Now don't get me wrong, it's delicious - but crackers and brie every time can get kinda of boring. I decided to mix it up a little and make a fancy appetizer dish. You can pair brie with just about any fruit, but I loved this strawberry and basil combo. SOO good!

Strawberry and Brie Crostini
12 SERVINGS 
PREP: 5 minutes           COOK: 5 minutes            READY IN: 10 minutes

SIMPLE	HEALTHY	YUM

INGREDIENTS

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• 1 loaf French baguette or other french bread, cut 1/2 inch thick (mine only made 12 slices)
• 4 strawberries
• Brie slices-2 per piece of bread
• basil for garnish

DIRECTIONS

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1. Turn oven on broil. 
2. Cut loaf of bread into 12 diagonal pieces.  Brush with oil or butter. Place on a cooling rack, on top of cookie sheet and place in oven. Let bake for a few minutes until bread is browning. 
3. While bread is still warm layer 2 slices of Brie on the bread, topped with strawberries. 
4. Garnish with a dash of basil and enjoy! 

NUTRITION FACTS

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  1 slice   94  calories  0.6g fat  18.4g carbs   3.8g protein   1g sugar   

Enjoy!

Skinny Strawberry Trifle

I'll let you in on a little secret... My husband hates Valentine's Day. He is convinced it was a holiday created by Hallmark. And I've never been one to disagree with him. I think I'd rather have random acts of kindness (or love) shown to one another over a forced holiday that says we have to do something for each other. We are both pretty great at being rebels so when everyone is doing something, we tend to walk away for the sake of creating our own mold. :)

So rather than going out to eat with half the town on February 14, we'd rather snuggle up on the couch together after the kids go to bed and indulge in a yummy dessert. This dessert is perfect just for that, and good news... it's a skinny dessert! Feel free to indulge without the dessert!

Skinny Strawberry Trifle
15 SERVINGS 
PREP: 10 minutes           COOK: 0 minutes            READY IN: 10 minutes

SIMPLE	HEALTHY	YUM

INGREDIENTS

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• 1 angel food cake (I used store bought, but you can make your own if you want)
• 1 pint of strawberries, sliced
• 3.3 ounce white chocolate pudding box
• 16 ounce Lite Cool Whip

DIRECTIONS

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1. Slice the angel food cake into 15 even pieces. Set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, combine the white chocolate pudding mix with the cool whip. (OPTIONAL: you can add a little milk to make the mixture a little more creamy. I opted to go without).
3. In a bowl or cup, tear 1/4 of the angel food slice into one inch pieces, add a dollop of the pudding mixture, then a few strawberries. Repeat until you have multiple layers in the dish. 

NUTRITION FACTS

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    1 serving    179 calories   3.6g fat   31.6g carbs    1.5g protein    9.9g sugar   

Enjoy!

Strawberry Banana Breakfast Smoothie

I'm sick. The on again, off again runny/stuffy nose, pounding head, sore sore throat kind of sick. And let me tell you - it's getting pretty old. I keep reminding myself of Meg Ryan in You've Got Mail - tissues all over the house, still in pajamas mid-day, still in bed mid-day - and not wanting to accept flowers from anybody! (okay... maybe not that extreme, but still.)

So to state the obvious - my post is definitely an easy, quick, go-to remedy for any sore throat. This breakfast smoothie can be altered in many different ways - add a little spinach to make it a green smoothie, add any kind of fruit, juice, protein powder - do what you want to make this "your" go-to breakfast smoothie. I know I'm going to be making it long after I'm feeling 100% again!

Strawberry Banana Breakfast Smoothie
2 SERVINGS 
PREP: 5 minutes           COOK: 0 minutes            READY IN: 5 minutes

SIMPLE	HEALTHY	YUM

INGREDIENTS

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• 8 whole strawberries (frozen or thawed)
• 1 medium banana (frozen or thawed)
• 1/2 cup low-fat vanilla yogurt
• 1 1/4 cup soy milk
• 1/2 cup rolled oats

DIRECTIONS

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1. Mix ingredients in blender until smooth. Add more or less milk, depending on desired consistency.

NUTRITION FACTS

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     1 cup serving    276 calories   4.8 g fat   50.2 g carbs    10.2 g protein    23.9 g sugar   

Enjoy!
Recipe adapted from AllRecipes

Chocolate Strawberry Protein Smoothie

I love playing around with different protein drink combinations. I'm a chocolate lover, but having the same chocolate smoothie gets old fast. Real fast. I thought to myself, "what goes well with chocolate?" Then it came to me. Chocolate covered strawberries. Delish! So I decided to throw some in my drink and see what happened. The result was yummy. My husband was my taste tester and his answer was "it tastes healthy". Not sure that's a good thing. But then I caught him finishing off the extras, so it can't taste too healthy. :)

Chocolate Strawberry Protein Smoothie

1 SERVINGS 

PREP:5 minutes           COOK: 0 minutes            READY IN: 5 minutes

SIMPLE	HEALTHY	YUM

INGREDIENTS

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• 1 scoop chocolate whey protein powder
• 1 cup frozen strawberries (frozen is best so the smoothie is cold)
• 1 1/2 cups unsweetened almond milk
• 1/2 cup rolled oats (optional, I like the texture it adds)

DIRECTIONS

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1. Combine all ingredients in a blender. 

NUTRITION FACTS

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    1 serving   377 calories  10g fat  47g carbs   34g protein   11g sugar   

Enjoy!

Baked Berry Oatmeal

This breakfast dish is a huge crowd pleaser and will leave your guests singing your praises until they leave. You can add just about any toppings you like on your traditional oatmeal and it turns out with little effort. And with a little cinnamon, it makes your kitchen smell yummy too. We like to make this over the weekend and the leftovers make a great reheat in the microwave for busy weekday mornings.

Baked Berry Oatmeal
12 SERVINGS 
PREP: 15 minutes           COOK: 35-40 minutes            READY IN: 50-55 minutes

SIMPLE	HEALTHY	YUM

INGREDIENTS

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• 2 cups rolled oats
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• Dash sea salt
• 1/2 cup strawberries
• 1/2 cup blueberries
• 1/2 cup white chocolate chips
• 2 cups milk
• 1 large egg
• 3 tablespoons butter, melted
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 ripe banana, peeled, 1/2-inch slices

DIRECTIONS

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1. Preheat oven to 375º and spray an 9" x 13" baking pan.
2. In a large bowl, mix the oats, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, sea salt, half of the berries, and half of the white chocolate chips. Pour mixture into the baking pan.
3. Place the remaining berries and chocolate chips on top of the oatmeal as well as the cut up banana.
4. In another bowl, wisk together the milk, egg, butter and vanilla extract. Pour this mixture on top of the oatmeal.
5. Gently shake the baking pan to make sure the milk mixture is spread throughout the dish.
6. Bake for 35-40 minutes, until the top of the oatmeal is golden brown and the milk mixture has set.

NUTRITION FACTS

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    1/2 cup serving    174 calories   7.3g fat   23.3g carbs    4.3g protein    12.5g sugar   

For variations of this dish, try substituting any berries you have on hand, nuts, regular chocolate chips, etc. The options are endless! Enjoy!

Recipe adapted from Annie's Eats.

Whole Wheat Strawberry Vanilla Pancakes

My husband and 3-year-old son have a tradition of making pancakes together on Saturday mornings. They love going through the same routine every week - scooping and adding ingredients, stirring the batter together, flipping them with the special orange pancake spatula. I love watching them together in the kitchen, and, of course, that I get to enjoy a relaxing morning followed by a delicious breakfast with the ones I love. But when daddy's gone on a Saturday morning, it falls to me to follow through on the tradition. I have to admit, I'm not as good at just sticking with the same-old pancake recipe over and over, and so I am prone to experimenting with fun, new pancake recipes to liven things up. While not all of my experimental pancakes have met with my son's standard for pancake excellence (which is, of course, the way daddy makes them) these light and slightly sweet pancakes have been a hit several times over. The bonus, too, is that because they are already sweet and flavorful, they don't need to be drenched in butter and syrup to make them appealing - a tiny sprinkling of powdered sugar and they are gone in seconds!

Whole Wheat Strawberry Vanilla Pancakes
8 SERVINGS (about 2 pancakes per serving...though, I'll be honest, we usually each eat 4 pancakes!)
PREP: 10 minutes           COOK: 10 minutes            READY IN: 20 minutes

SIMPLE	HEALTHY	YUM

INGREDIENTS

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• 1 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 3 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 1/2 cups skim milk
• 1 egg
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 3 tablespoons vanilla extract (I buy the bottles from Costco to make it more affordable to cook with vanilla as much as I like)
• 1 cup sliced strawberries (*see my Simple Tip below)

DIRECTIONS

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1. Combine flour, baking powder, salt, and brown sugar in a medium mixing bowl. 
2. Whisk, milk, egg, oil, and vanilla extract together in a separate bowl. Add the wet mixture to the dry mixture and stir until just combined (my husband has taught me that the trick to fluffier pancakes is to never overmix).
3. Gently fold in sliced strawberries. 
4. Pour about 1/4 cup batter onto hot skillet and let cook until bubbles form on top (about 2-4 minutes). Turn pancake over and cook the other side until golden. 

*Simple Tip:

I love having fresh strawberries whenever I possibly can, but they are only in season part of the year. To cook with them all year long I buy frozen strawberries. For this recipe, I thaw the strawberries in the microwave for about 1-1 1/2 minutes (take them out before they get too mushy - still slightly frozen), then I take a knife and cut through the strawberries in the microwave dish until I have roughly cut strawberry slices to add to the pancake batter.

NUTRITION FACTS

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     1 serving (2 pancakes)   178 calories   6.1 g fat   24.2 g carbs    5.4 g protein    8.0 g sugar   

Here's to looking forward to the weekend!
Recipe adapted from Cheese Please.