Strawberry Mango Smoothie

Two wonderfully paired fruits, Strawberries and Mangoes, layered for a FUN Smoothie!

Ingredients:
1 cup fresh or frozen strawberries
2 tsp honey
1/2 cup water
1 cup fresh or frozen mango, chopped
1 Tbsp honey
1/2 cup milk

Directions:

1. In a blender or food processor process the strawberries with 1/2 cup of water and 2 teaspoons of honey, process until smooth.Transfer strawberry mixture to a small bowl and rinse out the blender or food processor bowl.
2. Place the mango in the cleaned blender or food processor along with 1/2 cup of milk and 1 Tablespoon of honey, process until smooth.
3. Get your glasses ready and spoon a layer of mango puree into each glass, followed by the strawberry puree. Add the remaining mango puree to the glasses and then finish with the remaining strawberry puree. If desired you can lightly swirl the two mixtures together.

This is such a fun smoothie to drink and look at, the bright colors of the fruit layered in the glass give instant appeal to anyone, especially kids. My kids love when I make this smoothie and it has such a wonderful refreshing taste. The smooth mango paired with the strawberries is a wonderful combination. You could even serve this smoothie as a dessert after dinner, it makes for a wonderful ice cream alternative. Enjoy!

*Camala*

Lemon Coconut Strawberry Cupcakes

Its strawberry time here in Florida!!!  These cupcakes have the delicious combo of lemon and coconut with some strawberries tossed in!!!
This light springtime cupcake is delicious–with my favorite thing–coconut.
Preheat oven to 350 F degrees and line muffing pan with paper muffin cups or butter muffin pan for use with out paper cups.

Don’t forget to check out our post on how to clean your strawberries!!!!

Ingredients
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/8  tsp salt
1/4  cup sugar
1/2 cup grated coconut
1/2  cup chopped fresh strawberries
2 Tablespoons butter melted
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
2 Tablespoons lemon juice
1  tsp grated lemon rind

In large bowl sift flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.  Stir in grated coconut,  strawberries and  1/4 cup sugar.
In small bowl combine melted butter, lemon zest, lemon juice and milk and egg.  Add liquid mixture all at once to dry ingredients and stir just until moistened.  Divide evenly into muffin cups.  Before baking cupcakes can be topped with a coconut crumble mixture.  This crumble topping is sweet enough to eat cupcakes without frosting or you can leave it off–or do both!!!
Coconut Crumble Topping
1/4 cup flour
3 Tablespoons butter
1/3 cup coconut
1 Tablespoon sugar
Mix all ingredients with your fingers until crumbly and sprinkle on top of cupcakes before baking.

Bake cupcakes for 20 to 25 minutes or until tops a springy.  Remove from oven and cool in pan a bit before moving to wire rack–about 5 minutes.    Cool completely before spreading with vanilla buttercream.

Vanilla Buttercream
1  1/2 cups powder sugar
1/2 cup butter (at room temp)
1/2  tsp vanilla
1-2  Tablespoons heavy cream
Beat ingredients together with electric mixer until consistency is ok for spreading.

Top with sliced fresh strawberry.  These cupcakes are moist and delicious.  A little on the sweet side for me—but still good.

*Christine*

Salad with Avocado and Strawberries

This Romaine and Baby Spinach Salad with Avocado, Strawberries and Turkey Bacon is so flavorful and beautiful.

Ingredients:
2 slices of turkey bacon, chopped
baby spinach
romaine lettuce
1/2 of an avocado, cubed
strawberries, sliced
feta cheese, crumbled

Directions:

1. Saute chopped turkey bacon in a pan until desired crispness, drain on paper towel.
2. Add desired amount of Romaine lettuce and Baby Spinach leaves to a bowl.
3. Add cubed avocado and sliced strawberries to greens.
4. Sprinkle on crumbled feta cheese and drained turkey bacon. Toss with desired dressing.

This salad is a beautiful salad to look at and a delicious and refreshing salad to eat. The combinations in this salad are fantastic, the saltiness and crisp texture of the turkey bacon with the sweetness of the strawberries, paired with the salty flavor of the feta cheese, then the wonderfully creamy avocado added in the mix. I didn’t add a dressing because I mixed it all together and the avocado lightly coated the greens and the juice from the strawberries made a perfect dressing for me. Enjoy this salad and make it your own!

*Camala*