Fruit Salad with Creamy Glazed Dressing

I made this to go with dinner the other night and it was hit!  Any sort of fruit with dinner is pretty much always a hit but the glaze on this took things up a notch.  Will definitely make it again.  I slightly modified this recipe from one on Mels Kitchen Cafe.

Fruit Salad with Creamy Glazed Dressing

• 1 small can mandarin oranges, drained but reserving the juice
• 1/2 cup pineapple tidbits, also drained but reserving the juice
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch
• 2 tablespoons honey or agave nectar
• 1/4 cup plain Greek yogurt
• 4 cups fresh fruit + the canned fruit above

1. Pour the drained fruit juice (from the canned fruit) into a liquid measuring cup. You need about 3/4 cup fruit juice. If you have more than that, pour a little off. If you don't have quite that much, add another type of fruit juice (white grape juice, orange juice, etc.) or supplement with water as long as it isn't more than a couple tablespoons that you need.
2. In a small saucepan, whisk together the fruit juice, cornstarch, and honey (or other sweetener of choice). Bring the mixture to a simmer over medium heat, whisking constantly. Cook for 2-3 minutes until thickened.
3. Pour the mixture into a bowl to cool (you can let it cool in the pan but it will take longer). Stir every so often so it doesn't form a skin over the top while cooling. Once cooled to room temperature, stir in the yogurt until smooth. Refrigerate until cool. It will thicken a bit more while cooling.
4. In a large bowl, toss together the fresh and canned fruit. Pour the dressing over the top and stir to combine. Serve immediately.

TMNT - Themed Food Ideas

This post is for Jared. :)  We just threw a TMNT party for my five year old.  I have to admit, these were pretty fun to make.

Fruit Soup

This is another good dish for a gathering. I got this recipe from The Sisters Cafe and the "sister" who posted this recipe called it the "epitome of chick food." :) I certainly enjoyed it. Just make sure you plan ahead for this one - the liquid mixture has to chill overnight.

Fruit Soup

3/4 c. sugar
1 c. water
1 c. peach juice (or another cup of water - which is what I did)
3 Tbsp "Minute" brand tapioca
6 oz. orange juice concentrate
1 1/2 c. water

2 cans mandarin oranges (with or without juice)
1 large can sliced peaches (Lite peaches bottled w/ pear juice are perfect. If you use peaches in heavy syrup, don't add the syrup. Also cut peaches into bite-sized pieces.)
2 cups fresh strawberries, sliced
2 bananas, sliced
1 bag frozen raspberries or tri-berry mix, thawed but still cool and firm (or equivalent amount of fresh)

Bring sugar, water, peach juice and tapioca to a boil. Continue boiling for about 10 minutes, stirring often. Some tapioca will be clear and other granules will have a white center. Take off heat. Let sit for 30 minutes. (This is when tapioca becomes more clear.) Add orange juice concentrate and 1 1/2 cups water. Chill overnight.

Add mandarin oranges and peaches. Just before serving add strawberries, bananas and raspberries (or other berry mixture).

Fruit Smoothie

I have been on a big smoothie kick lately. It's a great way to eat healthy foods in an appetizing way - especially to my kids. They get excited as we add each ingredient, including some things they won't normally eat plain. Today we made our best one yet (pictured above).


Fruit Smoothie


Spinach leaves
Banana
Mango
Kiwi
Fresh Squeezed Lemon Juice
Frozen Strawberries
Frozen Blueberries


I always start by putting a couple of handfuls of spinach into the blender. I blend this with 1/2 - 1 cup of water. Then today I added juice from half of a lemon, a whole kiwi, half of a mango, half of a banana and a cup or so of frozen blueberries. I blended these and last, I added about 8-10 frozen strawberries. I love that it's sweet enough as is without having to add a granual of sugar! You can really add whatever fruits you have on hand and probably other vegetables....I plan to experiment with other ingredients. My kids think it's the greatest and it's good for us! BTW, the blueberries make it this appetizing color....otherwise I think it would be green.