Quick-to-Fix Favorites: from Icy Orange Juice to Croutons

WARNING: This is a quirky, random post.  The common denominator of all of these 4 recipes is that they are EASY, recipe-less and favorites!  You know when you try a recipe and it is so simple and great you just have to tell someone? I feel that way every time I make each of these.  I have a magnetic dry erase board on our refrigerator where I write foods I want to try, menus for the week and a running list of things I have made that I want to post on this blog to share with you.  These items have all been on the list for a while and I have been deliberating about how/when to share these simple treats.  I want you to try them! They aren't really recipes, but rather instructions. They are 5-minute-prep-kind-of-foods. WHO doesn’t love those?? – Icy Orange Juice, Sopas, Garlic Edamame and Homemade Croutons 

pour

Icy Orange Juice 
a childhood tradition that lives on in my house

I’ve had a long term relationship with Icy Orange Juice.  It was the special treat mom made when we had sleep overs and she would make homemade biscuit donuts and this special breakfast drink.  It's just a can of frozen orange juice concentrate and ice water blended together, but it makes a thick, icy, slushy orange juice drink.

blend

If you are my age, you might have grown up with Orange Julius shops in your world.  

There was one at the mall when I was a kid.  This is reminiscent of it, minus the milk…which you CAN add if you are going for a creamsicle type of treat.

What you need:  1 large can frozen orange juice concentrate, ice, water, a blender and a pitcher

Brazilian Limonada

Do you ever find a recipe that is so tasty that you find yourself thinking about how and when you can fit it into your menus for the week, who you can share it with, or how you can justify making it?

This is the case with this Brazilian Lemonade. My friend, Melissa S., was coming to have pizza with us last spring and brought the stuff to make this recipe.  She had seen it online and had been wanting to make it.  She knew I would love it.  And she was right. 

I need to share my angst about the name of this beverage. When Melissa told me it was called Brazilian Lemonade, but was made with limes, I was perplexed.  I asked her if she was sure it wasn't called Brazilian Limeade.  She showed me the recipe from the blog where she found it, and I told her I couldn't do it!  I just can't call a thing what it is not.  So, I decided to do a little further research.  I googled around and found that in other places online there was discussion about why brazilian lemonade was made with limes.  The information I gathered was that in Portuguese a lemon is "lima" and lime is "limão".  This made some sense to me.  I also read that limes are much more prevelant in Brazil than lemons.  In addition ironically, in Brazil, some people call this recipe "Swiss Lemonade".  Naturally!  One place I found it called Limãnada, (pronounced LEE-mah-na-tha).   This made more sense to me than Lemonade.  So maybe it's not Lemon-ade, nor Lime-ade, but rather, a truer pronunciation of Limonada, reflecting its Brazilian origin.

I felt much better.  Now I call it Brazilian Limonada (or sometimes Brazilian Limonade) and I make it as often as I can justify it.  Now I just have to work on saying it with a straight face, as I shift from my southern accent to my Brahhzzillian accent in one sentence – (from Shelby of Steel Magnolias to Gloria of Modern Family).  "Hey y'all, do ya want me to make some Brazilian Limãnada tonight?" It makes me think of my witty friends Angela and Ray, who lived in Chile for a while after we finished college.  We always laughed as Angela told stories about Chile (pronounced Chee-lay as opposed to our incorrect pronunciation of Chill-E).  She would dramatically flip back and forth between her Tennessee and Chilean accents and we would all die laughing.  

The ingredients to this recipe are super simple but special. Are you ready for this? Limes, sugar, water and sweetened condensed milk (the nectar of the gods).  What is it about sweetened condensed milk? It makes everything better!  My favorite banana pudding calls for it.   Cold Coconut cake, I recently posted, is delicious because of this great ingredient. Coffee is better with it.  [There is a wonderful local coffee spot in downtown Nashville, Crema, that has a coffee drink called a Cuban.  The first time I went there I was told I must get the Cuban- it's espresso, steamed milk and sweetened condensed milk! It is ridiculous! I have been many times in the years since and I can't seem to bring myself to NOT order it.] Simply stated, sweetened condensed milk just seems to make everything better.

Back to the Brazilian Lime Drink.  

It's delicious! 

It is easy, and so creamy, zippy, and unique! 

I wanted to post it this week, in honor of Spring and the upcoming Cinco de Mayo.  It's a great non-alcoholic, warm-weather drink for your mexican fiesta, or just about any event.

Brazilian Limonada

4 juicy limes (ones with thin, smooth skins are the juiciest and the thin skin cuts down on the chance of your drink being bitter)

1 cup sugar


6 cups cold water


6 Tbsp. sweetened condensed milk

Make a “simple syrup” or “sugar water” by mixing cold water and sugar in a large jar or liquid measuring cup very well until sugar is dissolved. Chill until ready to use. (This step can be done ahead of time.)

Wash limes thoroughly with soap. Cut the ends off the limes and then cut each lime into 8ths.

Place 1/2 of the limes in a blender.

Add 1/2 of the sugar water into a blender, place the lid on the blender, and pulse 5 times. Place a fine-mesh strainer over a pitcher and pour the blended mixture through the strainer and into the pitcher. Use a spoon (or your hand) to press the rest of the liquid into the pitcher. 

Dump the parts of the limes left in the strainer into the trash. 

Repeat with the remaining limes and sugar water. Stir together. 

Add sweetened condensed milk. 

Test it. You may want to dilute it with water if it’s too thick or sweet for your liking. If it’s bitter, just add some more sugar and maybe a little more milk. 
 

Serve immediately over lots of ice.

Call it what you want to, attach it to any culture you would like: Brazil, Switzerland, Mexico, or the United States. Use a Portuguese accent if you'd like, or a southern drawl.  But whatever you do, don't omit the sweetened condensed milk! 

Summertime Smoothies

So I didn’t know until I was about to get married that it is appropriate to give your betrothed a gift for the wedding.  I knew all about the etiquette of gifting a bride and groom as a guest, but maybe because I had never been a bride before, I didn’t know about this tradition.  So I thought about what might be a good gift to give to Dave, my husband to be.  I also let him know that I was trying to think of what wedding gift to give to him.  His reaction indicated that this whole bride-groom gift-giving tradition was news to him too.  We were babies.  We were clueless.  We were happy to be marrying each other. So he bought me this fun necklace with a heart charm and I bought him this classic blender from Williams Sonoma. 

I thought it would be a fun gift since he loves milk shakes and it seemed so timeless.   So I bought it.  A Waring Blender- 2 speed.  The challenge is that, though it is classy and pretty, it is tough to make a good, thick shake with it.  Just after we got married, Dave began to work at a restaurant that made ridiculously amazing milkshakes out of Haagen Dazs ice cream.  They were thick and were presented dramatically. The trick was that they prepared them in a Kitchen Aid Mixer.  A mixer…not a blender! We have used this technique, and though it takes a ton of ice cream, it makes a lovely milkshake.

Speaking of milkshakes, I feel like I need to confess something. I learned the hard way about not placing spoons into the blender while the blender is running.  When I was in high school, my friend and I were making chocolate shakes and when it clogged as it was blending, I carefully removed the lid, ensuring that it wouldn't splatter everywhere.  I stuck my wooden spoon into the blender to move things around a bit.  Sudddenly, I heard a loud zzt  sound and my spoon jerked.  Uh oh!  I realized that I needed to turn the blender off before sticking an object in (profound, I know).  All was well until we were eating the milkshakes and I discovered an "almond" in my chocolate shake.  I thought, "is this rocky road ice cream instead of chocolate?" That's when I removed the said almond and discovered that this "nut" was actually a chunk of the wooden spoon. Lesson learned.  Don't do this.  Learn from me.

So the combo of these events has led me to use this nice wedding gift blender to make some great smoothies and steer clear of milkshakes.

berry banana blast (Asher's name for it)

Do you like smoothies?  It's June 1 and, in Nashville, it's so hot already - it feels like smoothie time.

Now, I'm not into the $5-with-a-bunch-of-chemical-enhancers-added smoothies.  I am too much of a purist and too frugal.  I prefer blending them at home with some simple ingredients: yogurt, frozen fruit and juice.

 I wrote about over-ripe bananas in my last post, and in addition to banana bread, this is a great use of them!  Peel and slice your ripe bananas, throw them in a ziplock bag and place in the freezer.  Then they are ready when you want to make a smoothie.

ripe bananas sliced to put away

ready to be frozen

 banana orange mango smoothie

Basic Smoothie Instructions

1 cup or more frozen fruit- a combo or just one (I find that banana adds a great creamy element to all smoothies)
1/2 cup juice- of your choice- I use orange most often
1/2 cup low fat yogurt (vanilla or flavored- my favorite is natural vanilla)
a handful of ice and more IF the fruit you are using isn't frozen;

add honey IF the fruit isn't sweet enough
and a sprinkle of flax seed if you want to add some fiber and OMEGA 3 pow!

Blend together.  Turn off blender and stir if it clumps.  Repeat until smooth and well blended. Drink with a straw.

Makes 2 smoothies- 1 to eat, one to share....it's a good way to live.

Make note of what you did that you liked and what you would change or add so you can remember the next time.  Then you can discover your favorite combinations.

My 9 year old is the smoothie connoisseur.  He loves them and requests them often.  Recently there was an insert in a food magazine that was on our coffee table that had 50 Smoothie recipes.  Asher loved the idea and excitedly chose some for us to make.  After trying a couple that he didn't love, and which required many ingredients (including flavored extracts, coconut milk, etc.), we agreed that simple is best.  So, I say, get creative with your variety of fruit, yogurts and juices, but keep it simple!

strawberry mango banana orange

This week we had mango and strawberry fruit salad for dinner.  We had leftovers and I knew that it would get yucky by the next day in the refrigerator, so I froze them.  This morning we used them in a smoothie with banana, orange juice, ice, and vanilla yogurt.  In a few minutes I heard the sound of success...slurping straws in empty glasses!

Fruit Tea (From the Herb Garden)

A couple of days ago I wrote about planting an herb garden.  This is a follow-up post with a yummy treat you can make with Mint leaves.  My mint has been sprouting up in the bed after a snowy, cold winter.  I have welcomed its return by making some Fruit Tea.

I realize that Fruit Tea is a southern thing, an American southern thing (I should clarify the country since I have some International readers ((which, by the way, blows my mind))  Hello Africa, India, Brazil, Argentina, Russia...! )

So back to fruit tea.

I didn’t know!

I didn't know it was regional. 

I grew up thinking everybody drank Fruit Tea.

I grew up in Tennessee. (Born in Georgia, lived in Texas for a couple of years before landing in TN when I was 5 years old).  I have been southern all my life. It wasn’t until I went to college and became friends with people from Colorado, California, Ohio, New York, and everywhere in between that I realized that there are some foods/beverages that I grew up with that are local.  Like Grits. And Fried Green Tomatoes. And Sweet Tea. And Fruit Tea.  And there are some foods that I didn't grow up with that my friends did and I was thrilled to learn of their regional foods. So I realize that fruit tea is regional.  But I think it transcends location- it's so tasty!

I drink water all day long everyday.  I love water. I crave water.  My body feels wonky when I go without enough water.  I also love coffee.  I drink it everyday.   Coffee is my friend.  But Fruit Tea is my favorite special beverage!   In case you are confused at this point because this "fruit tea" is a foreign concept to you, let me define:  Fruit tea is an iced tea made with a blend of fruit juices and sometimes mint or cinnamon and other spices.  It is sweet and tart and refreshing.  Some people call it Tea Punch.  You might call it liquid dessert.

We always had it when we had a luncheon or fancy party growing up.  It’s served at some fru fru lunchy places around the south.  My favorite fruit tea is from Bread and Company, which is also one of my favorite places to eat.  I love their tea because it has mint in it as well as the sweetness and fruitiness of juices.  (And they have the good pellet ice at their cafes.  Don’t you love that ice?)  But the tea is expensive, for my frugal self, and it is hard for me to justify buying, though I do on a rare occasion.  It is really so easy to put together, and inexpensive and it makes a gob.  But, I have to make it when I can share it, because if I don't, my daughter and I will drink the entire gallon.  I especially like to make it in the summer when my mint is growing in the herb bed.  And to my surprise after having bad luck with growing mint for a couple of summers, it finally "took" last summer and now, this spring, it has come back and it is popping up in several spots!

this + tea = fruit tea

The recipe is one that is not very exact.  It is able to be customized based on what you like and what you have on hand.  Some people add cinnamon sticks and cloves to the tea bags when brewing the tea.  You can use whatever juices you like.  Pineapple, orange juice and lemonade are my favorite combination.
Some recipes add more sugar to the tea while the tea is warm, but I feel like with 3 containers of sugar-filled juice it is plenty-sweet!

Let us know if you discover a winning juice combination that you think we should try!

Fruit Tea

2 quart size tea bags
1 frozen lemonade
1 frozen orange juice
1 frozen pineapple juice
a hand full of mint

Prepare 2 quarts of tea, the way you usually do it (stove top, kettle, Iced Tea Pot, sun) with mint brewed with the tea bags, add the 3 containers of frozen juice concentrate and a couple of stalks of mint, crushed.  Stir until juice is melted.  Dilute the fruit tea to your liking.  It should make a gallon or so.

O Christmas Tree

Last night we got our Christmas tree!  The house is a wreck, as we just got home from traveling to see family for Thanksgiving, but in the midst of laundry and bags and piles, we pulled the tubs of Christmas decorations out of the attic and made a family outing to pick out a tree.  I love this tradition and it gets more fun every year.

When decorating the tree I always think back to the first year I was married. We lived in a condo, I was in grad school, and we were working many jobs to make ends meet.  It was December and we were trying to decide whether or not we should buy a Christmas tree.  Being the practical one, I suggested we not and save the $25 for a necessity, while Dave being the more adventurous one really felt like we should have a tree for our first Christmas.  I was geared up to string lights and candy canes on our little ficus tree in the living room,  but was thrilled when we made the decision to get a real Christmas tree.  It was a little tree, humble Charlie Brown-like in many ways, but it was OUR tree. 

We didn’t have any ornaments and we had no “extra” money so we decided to make-do.  We threaded cranberry and popcorn garlands and baked salt dough ornaments of various shapes.  We bought candy canes to hang on the tree. It was a sweet and lovely tree.

We had neighbors upstairs who were also newly weds, however they were far more sophisticated and financially stable than we were.   She popped her head in the door as we were finishing the tree and said, “Oh that is so sweet, I love your tree! We just got ours this weekend too.”  I asked if I could come up and see hers.  Walking into the living room, I was stunned by the giant tree that was bending its top at the ceiling.  It was laden with shiny blue and silver balls, sparkely ornaments, tinsel and glitz.  I commented on how glamorous the tree was, to which she replied that she had purchased all the decorations at Pier 1.  And while hers was spectacular, she liked mine better!  Mine had "heart and thoughtfulness", she said.  I came back down and looked at our simple, homespun tree and agreed whole heartedly. 

Well, the same Christmas tree theme remains 15 years later, but with the addition of a couple of boxes of children’s ornaments.  Some handmade by the kids, some given as gifts and some part of the collection that I began when my first child was born.  Each year I buy them an annual ornament, on which I inscribe their initials and that year.  Every year they are anxious to find “their” special ornaments and the corresponding one(s) of their siblings from years past.  Last night I was telling Asher about the ornament with the snow-mommy holding her snow-baby that my friend Carrie had given me at Asher’s first Christmas.  He remarked, “Ornaments really help us remember things don’t they?”  They sure do.

You may have already put up your tree and decorated for Christmas, but here are a few of my favorite parts of our decorating tradition:

• Play some great Christmas music while you are decorating, and all the time really.  Our family Christmas “soundtrack” includes:

Harry Connick, Jr.

Bing Crosby

Sarah McLachlan

Andrew Peterson

all of Amy Grant's 

and this year's new additions: 

Dave Barnes and Jill Phillips/Andy Gullahorn

• Warm some Mulled Cider on the stove top- so easy and yummy and makes the house smell cinnamon-y.  Asher specifically requested Cider this year.  I love requests. 

Hot Mulled Cider

2 quarts apple juice, or cider

r

½ cup brown sugar

¼ tsp salt

3 sticks cinnamon

1 tsp whole cloves

1 tsp whole allspice

Combine brown sugar, salt, and cider in a pot on the stove.  Tie spices in small piece of cheesecloth (or a coffee filter if you don’t have cheesecloth); add to the pot.  Slowly bring to a boil; simmer, covered, 20 minutes.  Remove spices.  Serve hot.

• Have a snacky meal- I took ½ a block of light Cream Cheese and topped it with a few spoons-full of bought/jarred pesto and a handful of sun-dried tomatoes served with Wheat Thins for our “main dish” and Colby/Jack cheese slices for the kids, raw veggies, apple slices and some deli turkey slices.  Easy, quick, pick up as you decorate, done.  All food groups represented.

• Use free greenery to deck the halls-  If you have bushes: holly, magnolia, boxwood, etc. you have a resource in your own yard!  Get those clippers and grab some springs that you can stuff as décor and greenery all over your house.  If you don’t have that resource, like I don’t, then take advantage of the pile of free “trimmings” at the Home Depot, or other tree retailer.  They give away the trimmings and I always grab a bunch, use some and keep the others outside in the cool until I need to spruce things up in a couple of weeks.

• String cranberry and popcorn garlands with a little air popped corn, some fresh cranberries, dental floss and a sharp thin needle.   We have a garland which has lasted for over 10 years.  The cranberries are dried, and obviously not edible but are pretty (just a little wrinkly, but that's what happens over 10 years…my face can attest to this!)

I hope this season of Advent and Christmas is a joyous and meaningful time for you!