Literally a Hot Minute

It has been a LONG time since I've posted. What have we been up to?

Living our best lives this summer and rolling with the near-constant 90+ degree days.

TGF-popsicles.

A daily favorite for all the kids is the morning garden raid- cherries, berries, zucchini, beans, peas, tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, herbs- they're all taking their turns ripening up.

While summer is going well, the reality for me is that I'm not able to keep up with blogging. The kids' needs are full time, plus I'm also really loving my part time paid job and need to prioritize that over my dietitian self.

Come fall when the twins start preschool two days a week, I look forward to creating more recipes and developing the kinds of informative posts I want to be putting out.

I'm not going to totally leave you hanging though- here's a recipe I made back in April and never posted. Is it a slightly weird recipe? Yes. Is it a perfect no-cook meal for a hot evening? YES.

Sushi Boats

4 cucumbers

16 oz imitation crab meat, finely chopped

8 oz Neufchatel cream cheese, room temperature

1 tablespoon sesame seeds

4 tablespoons panko

1 avocado, diced

1/3ish cup matchstick carrots

Optional: dried seaweed/nori (I used maybe a total of 2 tablespoons), wasabi, pickled ginger, and of course low sodium soy sauce for dipping!

Homemade Yum Yum Sauce

1/2 cup olive oil reduced fat mayonnaise

1 teaspoon ketchup

1 teaspoon granulated sugar

1 teaspoon rice vinegar (can sub apple cider vinegar)

1/2 teaspoon paprika

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

Water to thin to optimal consistency

Whisk together and refrigerate until ready to use. Can be kept up to 3 days in advance.

To make sushi boats:

-Peel cucumbers and cut in half lengthwise. Using a spoon, scrape down the middle, removing the seeds.

-In a medium bowl, combine crab meat and softened cheese. Spread in the middle of the hollowed out cucumbers.

-Layer carrots and avocado on top.

-Top with sesame seeds, crushed seaweed, and panko

-Drizzle yum yum sauce over and serve!

So messy but SO GOOD!

Makes four servings of two sushi boats each. Per serving:

377 calories, 33 g carbohydrates, 22 g fat, 15 g protein, 1344 mg sodium

Have a great rest of your summer!

Back to the berry farm

If Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year, then peony season is definitely the second most wonderful time of the year, but strawberry picking season gets a spot at the podium for third most wonderful time of the year.

Last year we skipped the farm because, well, global pandemic, but this year WE WERE BACK, BABY.

We had fun picking, and the five finger freebies were minimal.

Even the slugs can’t resist a juicy berry. Baaaaaarrrrrrrf.

So what did we decide to do with all our berries? Besides eating fistfuls just plain (seriously, no better fruit on earth than a freshly picked strawberry), the kids begged me to make a strawberry cake. After I did that, I still had plenty of berries, so I decided to make a healthier type of sweet snack for them. These use pantry staples and come together pretty darn quickly. They’re high in fiber (thank you oats, flour, and berries) too.

PB & Strawberry Bars

1 cup oats

¾ cup whole wheat flour

1/3 cup white sugar

1 cup peanut butter

2 cups fresh strawberries, sliced

1 teaspoon cornstarch

1 teaspoons white sugar

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a medium bowl, stir together oats, flour, 1/3 cup sugar, and peanut butter. This is your upper body strength workout for the day. Line an 8x8 pan with aluminum foil and spray with nonstick baking spray. Gently pour half to 2/3rds of the oat mixture in the pan and press press press press press. You got it? Next layer your strawberries, give them a little sprinkle of the corn starch (this will help absorb the juices and keep the bars from getting mushy), then top off with the sprinkling of sugar, then sprinkle on the remaining oat crumble mixture. Bake for 30 minutes, then let cool to room temperature, then pop in the fridge until chilled.

These are an excellent snack for anyone- I cut them into 16 pieces because it drives me nuts when bar recipes call for itty bitty pieces. Per square: 103 calories, 16 grams carbs, 2 grams fiber, 4 grams fat, 3 grams protein, 15 mg sodium, and 6 g sugar.

‘Til next year, berry farm.

Peony Party

Give Instagram a good ol’ scroll and you’ll see that clearly I’m not the only girl who loves her some peonies.

I redid a portion of our back landscaping a few years ago and I remember cringing at how much money it was to buy just three peony plants.

Worth the investment?

100%.

Know what else is in season?

I get my peaches down in Georgia…

I get my…wait a minute. Nope.

I LOVE fresh peaches. They're about 60 calories apiece and have a ton of vitamin C and 3 grams of fiber!

Peach Pie Shake

2 ripe peaches (you could peel them- I opted to be lazy and not)*

½ cup plain or vanilla nonfat Greek yogurt

2/3 cup unsweetened plain or vanilla almond milk (could sub out any milk)

1 tablespoon honey

Large handful of ice cubes

Optional- dash of nutmeg

*I made two versions: one with frozen bagged peach slices and one with fresh. The one with fresh was SO MUCH BETTER.

Combine all the ingredients in a blender. Blend until smooth.

Makes two large servings. Per serving: 135 calories, 26 grams carbohydrates, 3 grams fiber, 2 grams fat, 8 grams protein, 112 mg sodium

Such an easy breakfast or snack. Extra enjoyable if you drink it while gazing at your peonies!