Berry Passionate Lemonade Smoothie Recipe

Hola Amigos! It's been a little while since I made a smoothie and even though holiday flavors like cinnamon and peppermint should be on my mind while the snow falls outside, I can't help but thinking that in other parts of the world it's sunny, toasty hot and summer is on it's way! I guess you can take a girl out of the Tropics but you can't take the Tropics out of the girl!

This is a super easy and refreshing smoothie. Something different if you want to try new sweet flavors and add a bit of "zing to your swing" this season.

The color is absolutely beautiful, reminds me of Caribbean's pink sand and the flavor delicious! It's also low in calories so you can still look amazing and in great shape for Christmas while enjoying a cool looking beverage!

Top it of with some fresh whipped cream, a few sugary sprinkles and strawberries for a festive look!

Make it even healthier by adding some wheat germ or flax seeds! See those little specks floating around? Wheat Germ! yumm!

Before I close this short but sweet post I want to thank all the sweet comments and emails I've gotten from you my friends since around Thanksgiving and been unable to answer. Due to health problems I haven't been able to get to my computer or blog at all! I hope and pray things get better as the weeks go by and come back and have fun with all of you!. In the meantime, please hang in there with this your blog. I will try to pop a few times a week to say hi to all and drop a little recipe or two.

Keep the shopping going my sweeties and enjoying the holiday cheer always keeping in mind that everything tastes better with a Pinch of Love!

Besitos,

Lizy

Berry Passionate Lemonade Smoothie

Ingredients:

1 (6 oz) Chobani Passion Fruit Yogurt, frozen

3/4 Cup Lemonade, chilled

1/2 Strawberries, frozen

1 tsp Wheat Germ (optional)

Fresh Whip Cream and Strawberries for garnishing (optional)

Directions:

Add all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Top with Whip Cream and Strawberries for a pretty presentation if you want. Enjoy!

Prep Time 3 minutes                                                                       Serves 2 (4-6oz) Cups

Sharing my Tropical Holiday Smoothie at these Fabulous Parties:

Made from Pinterest, Be Different Act Normal, Serenity You, Classy Clutter, Twigg Studios, Your Homebased Mom, Angels Homestead, Navy Wifey Peters, Life on Lakeshore Drive, The Tablescaper, Will Cook for Smiles, Flamingo Toes, Frugal Foodie Mama, Create with Joy, My Mixing Spoon, The Chicken Chick, Twelve O' eight, Claire Justine, Love Bakes Good Cakes, Tatertots and Jello, The Best Blog Recipes, Home Maid Simple, The Shabby Nest, Six Sister's Stuff, What's Cooking with Ruthie, Sew Licious Home Decor, Becoming Martha, 504 Main, Suburbs Mama, Nifty Thrifty Things, Lines Across, Kitchen Meets Girl, Feeding Big, The Silly Pearl, My Girlish Whims

Bat's Blood Elixir Halloween Smoothie Recipe

Hola Amigos! Let's start this week with a sweet and healthy note and since I'm all stoked with my Halloween theme, I'm making this "elixir" to be served to your little monsters in the morning or as an after school snack on the eve of the big spooky night ( or any day you want)

For this particular smoothie I'm going not just  for flavor but since this one is for Halloween, I'm going for texture too as well! Very important when it comes to give everyday  food a little bit of fear factor making it perfect for the fun and spooktacular festivity.

Full of fresh fruits, this smoothie is extremely refreshing and with a natural beautiful "bloody" color.

To decorate it and giving it the finishing touch all you need is a Fleshy looking strawberry and some sparkling blood red sugar, you will be on your way to trick your kids into a delicious and healthy treat!

Thank you for welcoming this your blog into your homes this morning, so you know, all the garlic in your kitchen won't work against vampires and bats this Halloween  because as you know, Once you have welcomed a Vampire into your home you are powerless, but if you drink this "elixir" you might have a chance of survival! Remember, everything tastes better with a Pinch!!!! oh....a Pinch of Love that is!

Besitos,

Lizy

Bat's Blood Elixir Halloween Smoothie

Ingredients

1 Yellow Apple

1 Green Apple

1 Cup Strawberries, hulled

1 8 oz bottle of Red Blood Orange (or the juice of Fresh Red Blood Oranges until you get 1 cup)

1 good squirt of Granadine 

Directions:

Put all ingredients on a blender and blend until smooth!

Decorate with red sugar and a strawberry dipped in a fleshy looking strawberry! Enjoy

Prep Time: 5 minutes                   Serves 4 (4 oz glasses)

Sharing my Magical Elixir at these Fa_BOO-lous Parties:

Between Naps on the Porch, I Gotta Try That, Jembellish, Cupcake-n-Bake, Coastal Charm, The Blackberry Vine, Huckleberry Love, I should be mopping the floors, Not Just a Housewife, Thank You Honey, Nap-Time Creations, Chef in Training, Memories by the Mile, Homemade Ginger, Lady Behind the Curtain, Shaffer Sisters, Smart School House, The Everyday Home, The Real Housewives of Riverton, Maid in a Day, SNAP, All She Cooks, The Everyday Home, Real Coake, Made to be a Momma, Sew Much Ado, White Lighsts on Wednesday, Pink Recipe Box, Handy Man, Crafty Woman, Glitter, Glue and Paint, The Shady Porch, Creative Geekery, The Brambleberry Cottage, Artsy Fartsy Mama, Living Well Spending Less, My Turn (for Us), The Best Blog Recipes, Craftionary, Tidy Mom, Home Maid Simple, One Tough Mother, 504 Main, Kitchen Fun with my 3 Sons, Happy Hour Projects, Living Better Together, Food Done Light, Dear Creatives, The Wondering Brain, Cheerios and Lattes, Or So She Says, It's Overflowing, Life on Lakeshore Drive, Suburbs Mama, Twig Studios, Thrifty Nifty Things, Flamingo Toes, Navy Wifey Peters, VMG206, Titi Crafty, Cooking For the Seven Dwarfs, Who Needs a Cape, Summer's Scraps, The Velvet Moon Baker, Your Homebased Mom, Spatulas on Parade, My Mixing Spoon, Craft-O-Maniac, The Chicken Chick, This Gal Cooks, A Pinch of Joy, Boogieboard Cottage, Boogieboard Cottage, Keep It Simple, Alderberry Hill, DIY Home Sweet Home, Say Not to Sweet Anne, Lines Across, Flour Me with Love, Under the Table and Dreaming, Cozy Little House, Home Stories A to Z, Table for 7, Mandy's Recipe Box, Jam Hands, This Silly Girl's Life

Other Fun Drinks you Might Enjoy:

Liquid Lime Lifesaver Cocktail

Summer Berry Oatmeal Shake Recipe

Hola Amigos! Mornings are about to get quite hectic here and one way of making things easy in the morning is with a complete breakfast on the go if necessary or just to break the routine of the same kind of breakfast everyday.
Both my kids are picky eaters so I really have to try to pack the most amount of nutrients, good flavors in 1 bite (or drink) literally. It gets worse when the above description has to be the first in thing in the morning when let's face it, after months eating a bit late, no one is really hungry at 7 am.
This is my go to recipe, make it your own by changing the flavors of the fruit or oatmeal.

The carnation breakfast drinks were recommended by my oldest's Pediatrician when he entered Jr, High and he still likes them. When we don't have any handy (rarely) he substitutes it with Protein Powder.

Now that my little one is ready to enter K, I'm sure he would enjoy the different flavor drinks mama can make him for his mornings, strawberries are his favorite!!!

Are you ready for this new school year yet? Are your kids already in school? This week I will try to make some of the meals my kids like before they go to school, when they come back and what I like to cook for supper when car pooling, car taxing and homework make time disappear in a blink of an eye! Always keeping in mind that food tastes better with a Pinch of Love!

Besitos,

Lizy

Summer Berry Oatmeal Shake

Ingredients

1  Cup of Milk

1 Envelope of Carnation Breakfast French Vanilla

1 Container (2.46 oz) Instant Oatmeal, Processed* (or whatever instant oatmeal you have)

1 Cup Mix Berries (My garden gave me fresh blackberries, raspberries and a few strawberries)
1 tsps Sugar (optional)

*I put my oatmeal through a food processor or blender and pulse a couple of times for a smoother texture for my shake, this particular step is optional, my kids prefer it this way. 

Directions:

Add all ingredients and blend until smooth. 

Prep Time 5 minutes               Serves 2 (8 oz Cups)

Sharing some morning fruity goodness at these Fabulous Parties:

Rain on a Tin Roof, Huckleberry Love, Jembellish, A Southern Fairytale, Mad in Crafts, Between Naps on the Porch, Coastal Charm, Cupcake-n-Bake, Who Needs a Cape, BoogieBoard Cottage, The Blackberry Vine, Say Not Sweet Anne, My Mixing Spoon, Feeding Big, Setting for Four, Home Stories A to Z, Handmade Cuddles, Ladybugs Blessigns, Mandy's Recipe Box, Nap-Time Creations, Kathe with an E, Pint Sized Baker, Adventures of a DIY Mom, Summer Scraps, The Princess and her Cowboys, Sugar Bee Crafts, Our Table for Seven, Memories by the Mile, Not Just a Housewife, Bebetsy, Clean and Scentsible, Mom's Test Kitchen, The Lady Behind the Curtain, The Everyday Home, Smart School House, Kitchen Meets Girl, Duck's in a Row, The Shaddy Porch, Crystal and Co., Made to be a Momma, Sew Much Ado, Thank You Honey, My Girlish Whims, This Silly Girl's Life, Someday Crafts, Polkadots on Parade, The Real Housewives of Riverton, We Like to Learn as We Go, 733 Blog, Real Coake, 52 Mantels, The 36th Avenue, The Brambleberry Cottage, What's Cooking, Love?, A Handful of Everything, Katherine's Corner, CrazyLou, House of Hepwoths, The Mandatory Mooch, I Gotta Create, Lamberts Lately, Chocolate, Chocolate and More, The Crafty Blog Stalker, The Best Blog Recipes, Jennifer Rizzo, Do Small Things with Love, Kitchen Fun with my 3 Sons, The Answer is Chocolate, My Turn (for Us), The Pin Junkie, Simply Designing, 504 Main, Craftionary, Tidy Mom, The Shabby Nest, A Simple Five, A Peek Into My Paradise, Living Better Together, One Tough Mother, Happy and Blessed Home, Five Days Five Ways, Shaken Together, Not Your Ordinary Recipes, Four Little Fergusons, Just Us Four, Made From Pinterest, The Wondering Brain, Cheerios and Lattes, Classy Clutter, A Little Claireification, Too Much Time on my Hands, Angels Homestead, What's Cooking with Ruthie, Life on Lakeshore Drive, Serenity You, Under the Table and Dreaming, Frugal Foodie Mama, Claire Justine oxox, Craft-O-Maniac, Sumo's Sweet Stuff, Flour Me With Love, Jam Hands,Sew Can Do, Keeping it Simple, Ms. enPlace, The Tumbleweed Contessa, Joyful Healthy Eats, Cozy Little House, Pint Sized Baker, The Gunny Sack, Hun...What's for Dinner?, Chef in Trainning, Dessert Now, Dinner Later, A Pretty Life in the Suburbs, On Nom Ally

Other Healthy drinks you might like:

Funfetti Cake Smoothie (no cake batter)

Sharknado Cupcake Recipe

Hola Amigos! I'm sure by now you are all excited about the best film of this summer season: Sharknado!!!! Nothing celebrates Shark Week better than a powerful whirlwind carrying thousands of sharks ready to devour an entire city!!! Ok, Ok...so the movie is one of the dumbest syfy films so far...borderline comedy! but Shark Week is still awesome and to celebrate my love of all things shark and bad acting, I made fun cupcakes!

This is a tongue in cheek kind of post, if you are sensitive to realistic looking gummy sharks and fake blood, better read tomorrow's post I promise you it will be a serious one, but for now...you've been warned, if you are game, sit down and enjoy a few of my favorite personal Shark Facts.

I love sharks! Since little I learned to admire them and to fear them. We were at the beach every weekend and the rule was, if you hear dad yell "Get Out Of The Water" you just did it! no questions ask! Ever!!! I'm sure you know why...

My Grad School thesis was about the Economical vs Biological Impact of the Commercialization of Sharks (specific species). I got high scores from the 3 judging professors whoot whoot...lol..I think I know my sharks alright!

Believe it or not, I know how to prepare a killer Shark Fin Soup! From collecting, drying, removing skin to separating and bleaching the little fibers to make the soup, which is a delicacy in Asian cultures. My dad thought me the process and it's an experience I will never forget. Note: We never killed a shark for this purpose, sometimes fisherman have a few as bycatch for the day.

We are a bigger threat to sharks than they are to us. Granted nobody wants to be attacked or eaten by a shark, chances are you are most likely to be bitten by another human being in your lifetime than by a shark. The practice of 'shark finning" for the above mentioned soup, sport and fear among other things, are  the main threats to these animals.

The Shark Conservation Act was signed into a Law in January 2011

White Sharks can smell a drop of blood from up to mile away, but most sharks can smell a drop of blood 3000 yards away.

Sharks don't sleep like we do. Most of them need to constant be in the move in order to get oxygen through their gills and bodies, so they "sleep swim" (not to be confused with sleep walk) part of their brains are less active and allows them to rest.

And on the subject of sleeping now that you are more likely to put that bikini and swim in the middle of the night right after watching a JAWS marathon, I want to thank you for your visit today! Enjoy Shark Week and remember than even Sharknado Cupcakes taste better with a Pinch of Love! (for sharks)

Besitos,

Lizy

Sharknado Cupckaes

Ingredients:

1 Bag of White Cupcake Mix

1 Cup Cream Soda

2 TBSP Raspberry Preserves

5 Straberries

5 Blakberries

Vanilla Icing

Cotton Candy

Shark Gummies

Directions:

Pre Heat oven at 350 degrees. Follow instructions on your cupcake bag. I replaced what the instructions ask for water and replaced it for the same amount of cream soda. Fill your cupcake liners and bake for about 15-20 minutes or follow bag instructions.

For the "Blood" Filling

In a saucepan on low heat add and mix 1/4 cup cream soda, preserves and fruit. Heat up until mix starts to thicken, about 10 minutes. Set aside and cool to room temperature. Once cooled, put the mix in a blender and blend on high until smooth. Inject the center of the cupcakes with this mix.

Once filled, top each cupcake with some vanilla icing. Shape a piece of your cotton candy into a funnel shape (resembling a tornado) and place it on top of the icing with a few shark gummies.

Take A Bite of your cupcakes and enjoy.

Preparation: 12 minutes         Cook Time 15-20 minutes      Serves 12

Sharing my Review on Sharknado at these Fabulous Parties:

Kitchen Fun with my 3 Sons, Craftionary, The Best Blog Recipes, Tidy Mom, Home Maid Simple, My Romantic Home, French Country Cottage, Happy Hour Projects, One Tough Mother, 504 Main, Love and Laundry. A Simple Five, Liz Marie Blog, Becoming Martha, Happy and Blessed Home, The Pin Junkie, Living Better Together, The Answer is Chocolate, A Peek into my Paradise, My Turn (for Us). Le Chateau des Fleurs, Chic on a Shoestring, Claire Justine oxox, Serenity Now, Six Sister's Stuff, Cheerios and Lattes, Cooking with Curls, 4 Little Fergusons, Just Us Four, Angels Homestead, Spatulas on Parade, Suburbs Mama, The Tablescaper, The Foley Fam, Twigg Studios, VMG206, Flamingo Toes, Nifty Thrifty Things, Tartertots and Jello, Classy Clutter, Too Much Time, Claire Justine oxox Ms. enPlace Mommy Mentionables, WCFS, TwelveOeight, TitiCrafty, Made from Pinterest, Frugal Foodie Mama, My Mixing Spoons, Sumo's Sweet Stuff, Lines Across, The Chicken Chick, Say Not Sweet Anne, Flour Me with Love, Cupcake-n-Bake, The Plaid and Paisley Kitchen, jembellish, Sew Can Do, Keeping it Simple Crafts, Boogieboard Cottage, Alderberry Hill, DIY Home Sweet Home, Under the Table and Dreaming. Everyday Moms Meals, The Princess and her Cowboys, The Tumbleweed Contessa, Kathe with an E, The Blackberry Vine, Ladybug Blessings, Handmade Cuddles, Pint Sized Baker, Rain on a Tin Roof, Setting for Four, Huckleberry Love, Chef in Training, Love Grows Wild, Sugar Bee Crafts, Nap-Time Creations, Powerful Mothering, Adventures of a DIY Mom, Not Just a Housewife, Memories by the Mile, Mandy's Recipe Box, Clean and Scentsible, Smart School House, Lady Behind the Curtain, Made to be a Momma, Ginger Snap Crafts, My Girlish Whims, DIY Crafty Projects, The Everyday Home, Ducks'n a Row,Kitchen Meets Girl, Creations by Kara, All She Cooks, The Shady Porch, Thank You Honey, Crystal & Co., Life with the Crust Cut Off, SNAP, Handy Man, Crafty Woman, We Like to Learn as We Go, The Style Sisters, Feeding Big, Fine Craft Guild, The Real Housewives of Riverton, The Brambleberry Cottage, Polkadots on Parade, We Made That, Sweet Haute, The Crafty Blog Stalker, Saving 4 Six, Lanberts Lately, What's cooking, Love?, The Mandatory Mooch, The 36th AVENUE, Katherine's Corner, CrazyLou Creations, Chocolate, Chocolate and More, House of the Hepworths, Krative Creationz, Sparkles and a Stove, Artsy Fartsy Mama, Living Well Spending Less, Domestic SuperHero, Diana Rambles, Simply Designing, Easy Life Meal and Party Planning, It's Overflowing, The Inspiration Network

Other Fun Cupcakes you Might Enjoy:

Spring Clay Pots with a Surprise (Dirt Cakes)

Strawberry Royale Dump Cake Recipe

Hola Amigos! I've never been one to follow trends. While my young little friends were wearing mini squirts and cute shoes, I was wearing maxi dresses and boots! While getting blonde high lights was cool, I got every shade of blue on my hair (what I called my peacock period). While my teenage girlfriends were crazy about Menudo, I never bought one cd, sang 1 song or stood yelling outside their concerts. I've never seen any of the Twilight, Moonlight or whatever light series or read the books, can care less about any shade of gray and I seriously believe the music from the 80's was the best ever. Having said that...I have to admit I've followed the trend...and ...baked a Dump Cake!!!

How could I not? They are EVEYWHERE!!! no matter where I look, someone is dumping something!!! So like a sheep I follow the flock and tried one. I don't like canned cherries and canned pineapples make me itch lately. So I made mine strawberry, with my own strawberry pie filling recipe and instead of your regular white or yellow cake I used strawberry...hence the name Royale because this cake is loaded with them.

It's also so rich, with the cake batter and all that butter, yes butter...what can I say..just bare with me!

It bakes easily, just set your oven., load it up go for a walk or a bike ride (believe me you will thank me later) and enjoy!

I was pleasantly surprised. It;s just the right balance, sweet, buttery not as crunchy as a crisp, but not as doughy as a cobler, it's just perfect!

I need to get me some vanilla ice cream because this warm desserts deserves just that! It is good! No wonder everybody loves it! Don't forget your dollop of whip cream..yum!

There you go guys, my two cents added to the already popular Dump Cake fortune! Thumbs Up! If you are expecting company and only have a few minutes to whip something good together, gives this one a try! Oh and another great thing...while baking your kitchen will smell wonderful! I was liking this cake even before it came out of the oven!

Thank you so much for visiting the blog friends! I sure hope once you try this Strawberry Royale Dump Cake you forget about this "when in Rome do as the Romans" incident, sometimes is good to follow a trend as long as you put your personal touch in it! that and always a Pinch of Love!

Besitos,

Lizy

Strawberry Royale Dump Cake

Ingredients: 

2 Cups Strawberries, mashed

2/3 Cups Sugar

1/4 Cup Cornstarch 

1 TBSP Lemon Juice

1 tsp Vanilla Extract

1 pinch of salt

3 Cups Sliced Strawberries

1 Box of Strawberry Cake Mix

1 1/2  Stick Butter sliced

Directions:

Heat oven at 350F.

In a heavy saucepan on medium heat simmer  your mashed strawberries, sugar, cornstarch, lemon juice, vanilla extract and salt for about 6-8 minutes until the sugar dissolves, the cornstarch is cooked and everything has thickened. Let it cool.

In a large bowl toss and mix your sliced strawberries with the already cooled strawberry glaze mixture. Make sure everything is integrated.

Cover the bottom of a 9"x13" baking pan with the strawberry mix. Cover it up with your cake mix, making sure all the big crumbs are smooth. Add slices of butter all over the dry cake mix. 

Bake for 45-60 minutes. Serve warm or cool! Enjoy!

Prep Time 10 minutes              Cook Time 45-60 minutes                 Serves 12

Sharing some Strawberry Delights at this Fabulous Parties:

Rain on a Tin Roof, Huckleberry Love, Still Being Molly, Cupcake-n-Bake, The Princess and her Cowboys, The Plaid and Paisley Kitchen, A Southern Fairytale, Mad in Crafts, Making the World Cutter, The Chicken Chick, Say Not Sweet Anne, Ms.enPlace, BoogieBoard Cottage, I Gotta Try That, Who Needs a Cape, The Blackberry Vine, Ladybug Blessings, Mama Dish, Our Home Away from Home, Pint Sized Baker, Kathe with an E, Mandy's Recipe Box, Chef in Training, Love Grows Wild, Home Stories A to Z, Nap- Time Creations, Sugar Bee Crafts, Adventures of a DIY Mom, Feeding Big, Homemade Ginger, Memories by the Mile, Not Just a Housewife, Powerful Mothering, Smart School House, Made to be a Mama, Ginger Snap Crafts, Clean and Scentsible, Fluster Buster, A Peek Into my Paradise, The Shaddy Porch, Lady Behind the Curtain, My Girlish Whims, Adorned from Above, Dragonfly Designs, Kitchen Meets Girl, Creations by Kara, All She Cooks, DIY Craft Projects, Thank You Honey, Worthing Court, Life with the Crust Cut Off, The 36th Avenue, Fine Craft Guild, Sew Much Ado, Someday Craft, Handy Man, Crafty Woman, The Real Housewives of Riverton, SNAP!, The Crafty Blog Stalker, What's Cooking Love, Saving 4 Six, Live, Laugh, Rowe, 52 Mantels, The Mandatory Mooch, The Brambleberry Cottage, Polkadots on Parade, Southern Lovely, Katherines Corner, House of Hepworths, Lamberts Lately, The Style Sisters, My Joy Filled Life, Food Done Light, Sew Much Crafting, Kitchen Fun with my 3 Sons, Craftionary, The Best Blog Recipes, Tidy Mom, Home Maid Simple, My Romantic Home, French Country Cottage, Happy Hour Projects, 504 Main, Love and Laundry, A Simple Five, Liz Marie Blog, Becoming Martha, Happy and Blessed Home, The Pin Junkie, Living Better Together, The Answer is Chocolate, A Peek into my Paradise, My Turn (for Us), Chic on a Shoestring, Serenity Now, Six Sister's Stuff, Cheerios and Lattes, Cooking with Curls, 4 Little Fergusons, Just Us Four, Angels Homestead, Life on Lakeshore Drive, Spatulas on Parade, Suburbs Mama,The Tablescaper, The Foley Fam, Twigg Studios,VMG206, Flamingo Toes, Thrifty Nifty Things, Tartertots and Jello, Classy Clutter, Too Much Time, Claire Justine oxox Mommy , Mentionables, WCFS, TitiCrafty, Frugal Foodie Mama, My Mixing Spoons, Lines Across, Jembellish, Sew Can Do, Keeping it Simple Crafts, Alderberry Hill, Everyday Moms Meals, Cozy Little House, Easy Life Meal and Party Planning, it's Overflowing, Six Sister's Stuff, Esskunst, Glitter, Glue and Paint

Other Fun Cake Recipes you Might Like:
Jello-O Poke Cake