Ugli Fruit

Have you heard or seen Ugli Fruit before? And I don't mean the funky moldy stuff :)
Ugli Fruit:

Yes, that is grass behind the saucer.
and yes, i was in the front yard in my PJ's
and yes my husband came around the house and asked if I was trying to find good lighting :)

I have seen these in the produce sections a few times and finally decided to pick one up. I got this ugli from Walmart! After reading some online about suggestions on how to eat and how to prepare it, I learned  that it is easy to peel and eat. I cut the top part a but at the stem to get it started, but then the skin peeled off really easily. Much cleaner than any orange I have ever eaten.

I really enjoyed the flavor of the fruit and so did Ed. I even caught him snagging an extra section out of the fridge and that surprised me. It has a citrus flavor but is very sweet and juicy!

For more information on ugli fruit, check out the links below:

How to buy an Ugli Fruit

Health Benefits of Ugli Fruit 

Uses for Ugli Fruit

Fruit Salsa {Cinco de Mayo: Seneca SC Weight Watcher Style}

Most of you know I LOVE my Weight Watchers meeting. LOVE LOVE LOVE it. I drive them crazy, but that is okay :) We have a really great group, and this week debuted some new changes including an earlier meeting time and a new meeting room set up. Sheri sends us out a weekly email, with great info, recapping the last meeting and giving a snippet of what to expect in the meeting this coming week. This time she asked for snack ideas since we had a meeting on Cinco de Mayo! This recipe is the one that I sent to her, that she ever so graciously made for us to eat. Totally yummy, nothing but good reviews around the room! Recipe Credit goes to All Recipes. Sheri was also super awesome and brought some of the new Crystal Light "Mock"tail drinks for us to try! We have the Appletini, Mojito, and Margarita! Those were really yummy too :)

{you can see Sheri on my Before and After page! Annette is over there too! :waves: }

1 Fuji Apple, peeled, cored & diced
1 cup fresh sliced strawberries
2 kiwis, peeled and diced
2 bananas peeled and sliced
1 tbs fresh lime juice
2 tbs white sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Mix all of the ingredients together in a medium mixing bowl and stir to combine. Refrigerate for at least 20 minutes before serving. Serve and enjoy!

The only part of the recipe that have any PointsPlus is the sugar. According to recipe builder, this makes:
32 servings @ 0 PPV
16 servings  @ 1 PPV

Thank you Sheri!!!! :)

Watermelon Fruit Boat

There are ideas all over the internet for how to do this. The original idea was from something my sister in law did for the 4th of July, then there were ideas of sprucing it up a bit. Easy enough and you can fill it with whatever fruit you want and fancy it up however you want.

We used:
1 largeish seedless watermelon
2 lbs strawberries, stems removed and hulled if centers white, sliced

Start by figuring out how you want to shape your melon. We were having this at a babyshower, so i did a basic bassinet shape. You can either cut it straight, or if you are lucky like I was with Lorin's melon baller, you will have a "v" shaped end you can notch the front out of. I didnt really get super great step by steps, but if you google it, you will find tons out there.

So you notch out the section to be removed and gently pull to separate. Use melon baller to remove all the yummy insides of the watermelon and place in a separate bowl. Toss the melon and berries together to mix, then refill melon. Chill til ready to serve.

Enjoy!

0 Points+

Linked @ Fit and Fabulous Fridays

Oatmeal Pancakes with Strawberry Peach Sauce

I am always looking for fun different ways to incorporate more fruits and veggies in to my day to day lifestyle. I have recently become infatuated with Oatmeal Pancakes, so what a better way than finding ways to jazz them up some! For today's version, I used the French Toast Oatmeal Pancake recipe.

Textur-iffic!

1 small peach, pit and skin removed, diced
2-3 strawberries (depending on the size) destemmed and hulled if the centers are white, rinsed and diced
1 teaspoon of water (more may be needed)
1-2 packets of splenda depending on how sweet you want it
a few drips of vanilla


Prepare your pancake. While it is cooking, combine above ingredients in your blender or food processor. Blend until smooth and well combined.

Alternatively, you could just dice the fruit and combine with other ingredients and have a "fruit salsa" of sorts as your topping.

Pour over your cooked pancake and enjoy!
4 Points+ and ever so yummy!

Linked up @
http://www.simplysugarandglutenfree.com/

Freezing Cantaloupe

Occasionally, you find a super great deal on produce and HATE to pass it up. I had gotten 2 cantaloupes for .99 each and realized they were STILL in my fridge and needed to have something done to them pronto. I had made and frozen melon balls before but I really wanted to do something different.

I cut the melons in half, removed the seeds and sliced in to 1/4 inch slices. Cut around the edges to remove the rind, and placed on a baking sheet, in a single layer. Once frozen transfer to a freezer bag. Store until ready for some frosty goodness. Yummmy!

Strawberry Pudding Pie For One

I have decided that if I think I want to mindlessly eat, I need to create a snack. That way I have to think about what I am going to eat and put it together. So far I *love* this idea!

Ingredients:
1 chocolate pudding snack (I used Kozy Shack, tastes like a fudge bar!) 2 PP
1 Whole Graham Cracker (Lowfat) 1PP
2 Strawberries

Crush the graham cracker. Cut a strawberry up and put in the bottom of a bowl, sprinkle with about 1/3 of the crumbled graham cracker, top with about 1/2 of the pudding cup. Sprinkle with 1/3 of graham cracker, top with other 1/2 of pudding cup. sprinkle with remaining graham cracker and top with other strawberry, cut up.

                                                 

You should click this picture and make it bigger :)

YUM.
This would be good with a banana too :)

3 PointsPlus for this fantismo dessert

Super Easy AppleSauce (from the crockpot)

Warm or cold, AppleSauce is fabulous. And here is a super easy way to make your own. This is just the most basic of recipes. You can add spices and what not, but lets start simple

Get you some apples (and a crock pot)

Peel, core and dice apples.

Place in crockpot with about 1/8-1/4 cup water

depending on how many apples you use.

Cook for about 3-5 hours or until soft.

Stir it up and dump it out.

VIOLA!

Your very own no sugar added AppleSauce.

*Added note, I had a dream that people were telling me this was a bitter applesauce

and I did use tart apples, so if that isn't your deal, please just use your favorite apple :) *

Crustless Apple Pie Snack Version 1.0

Original Recipe credit goes to:

Spark Recipes

This is so super easy, and I plan on making some alterations, hence the 1.0

Ingredients:

1 apple

cinnamon/sweetner

Super easy prep:

You can either peel or not peel your apple ( I peeled mine)

Core and slice it

I used a corer/slicer, so I cut my slices in half again

Arrange them pretty (or not so much) on a microwave safe plate.

Sprinkle with cinnamon & sweetner and mircowave on high for 3 minutes!

Enjoy!

I LOVEloveLOVE this! I think next time, I will rinse the apple slices with water

to give it more moisture when it is cooking, so it should soften the apple some more.

Great the way it is, but I can't WAIT to try it a few other way!

Depending on your sweetner will determine the PointsPlus Value.

I am going with 1 for mine since I used the grinder!

Yellow Morning Sunshine Smoothie

This thing deserved a better name than yellow smoothie, hence the "special" adjectives above.

I wanted a smoothie but didn't have kale. HOWEVER :) I did have the left over Butternut Squash from last night.

Ingredients:
3/4 cup mashed butternut squash, with brown sugar & cinnamon
1 frozen banana
1 cup frozen peaches
2 dole pineapple rings (canned in its own juice)
about 1 cup of water

I put the squash on the bottom and topped with other ingredient. Give it a nice spin in the blend.

It is PERFECT. Thick and smooth.

2 Points Plus for this! that is including the brown sugar I put on the squash.

Angie's Brown Monster

As a follow-up to the Green Monster,  I made another concoction, only this one turned out brown. But I still liked it!

in this one I put:

1 frozen chopped banana

3 leafy parts from kale stalks

1/4 cup milk

1/4 cup water

1 cup frozen fresh orange juice (i squeezed, not concentrate)

about 1.5 cups of frozen whole strawberries.

Blend it up and you get:

Rockin' it in my Totally 80's Glass

Crockpot Apples and Sweet Potatoes

I know how much I love my crockpot apples and I had made some smashed sweet potatoes with apples before, so I figured I would give it a shot in the crockpot.

Ingredients:

4 apples (there are six in the picture but I didn't use them all!)

peeled, sliced & diced

1 sweet potato, peeled, sliced & diced

dash of all spice

sprinkle of ground ginger

healthy coating of cinnamon

(seasoning can be altered depending on how "spicy" you want the mix)

1 tablespoon vanilla favoring

You dice them

Sprinkle them

Dump them in your crockpot (this is a small 2-3 quart one)

Cover and cook for about 4 hours. 

This pot only has an on/off setting, not hi/low so know your pot.

When all is said and done, mix them up with a spoon and it should mash together

easily. If they don't break up, cover and cook for another 30 minutes, or until soft.

Can serve as a side or as a dessert with some whipped cream.

I will have to get a better final project picture!

Using the amount I used, it makes about 4 - 1/2 cup servings @ 3 points plus each.

(if served as a dessert with whipped topping, the topping would be extra)

And it tastes absolutely fantastic!

My Exotic Ventures (with fruits)

For the first time today, I tried two new fruits!


First, the magnificent Blood Orange. I made my husband watch me as I cut through it so he could see the peculiar red juice that comes out. It is so pretty and so YUMMY! I have heard them described as being an orange with undertones of raspberry, which could very well be. I would say they are sweet and juicy! Interesting fact from Wikipedia: Blood oranges, like all citrus fruits, are a great source of vitamin C; an average orange provides 130% of the FDA's recommended daily intake. It also provides 28% of the recommended daily intake of dietary fiber. Oranges can also be a valuable source of folate, calcium, and thiamine.

Secondly, my sadly over-rippened Mango :)  I am pretty sure I have had mango at some point during my existence but I know I had never bought one. I read online about how to cut one, but I messed it up. I didn't cut the pit out correctly and it was too soft for me to cube it the way the directions told me. But it was still very good, and sweet. I think I will put it in

my smoothie in the morning!

here is a link to a video from weightwatchers.com on how to do it the right way
http://www.weightwatchers.com/util/art/index_art.aspx?tabnum=1&art_id=55591