Quick Tip: Flash freezing blueberries

We're just about to hit blueberry season in my area, and I love to stock up on them. Not only do I use them fresh, I flash freeze a bunch for use later in the year.

For those that don't know, flash freezing is super easy. Just simply wash the blueberries, remove any blemished berry or errant stem, dry them a bit (if you have a salad spinner, use it and you'll cut your drying time down to almost nothing!) Then just place them on a cookie sheet in a single layer and freeze until the berries are partially frozen and kind of firm (approx. 10 - 15 minutes.) Remove from freezer, place in freezer bags, label with contents & date frozen, and pop into your freezer.

That's it! Oh, and the best part? If you're baking muffins or making smoothies, you don't even have to defrost the berries. Just scoop out as many as needed and go. Doesn't get much easier than that! grin emoticon

This method can be used for almost any type of berry, too, so don't think if you see a great deal on strawberries, that you're stuck either with making jam or risk wasting the berries because you couldn't use them before they went bad.

Salsa Fresca!

This weekend, one of our local grocery stores had a HUGE sale on fresh tomatoes. So we made SALSA FRESCA! (Which I then spent pretty much all weekend eating.)

12 plum tomatoes, cored and coarsely chopped
1 medium red onion, finely chopped
2 jalapenos, ribs and seeds removed, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 C lightly packed fresh cilantro stems and leaves, coarsely chopped
1-3/4 tsp. coarse salt
2 Tbsp. red-wine vinegar
2 tsp. sugar

Stir together tomatoes, onion, jalapenos, garlic, cilantro, salt, vinegar, and sugar in a bowl. Refrigerate, covered, for an hour or two. Enjoy!

Quick Update: One Day I'll Learn to Relax on Saturdays

Today was spent running around, hitting two different grocery stores to get our weekly shopping done.  Oh, did I mention I did this with the two youngest in tow?  Yeah...  Thankfully my sister was able to go with us and that helped keep the "Oh Mommy I've GOTTA have this!" whines to a minimum.  In fact, the only things they asked for (and I caved in on) were bananas, Greek yogurt, and organic bunny-shaped pretzels.  Not too bad, if you ask me.  It could have been much worse (thank you, Whole Foods, for NOT having huge candy displays at the cash registers!)

So then we came home and I spend the rest of the afternoon "prepping".  I don't know if anyone else does this but I find it makes my life a little easier during the week.  I start off by rinsing all the fresh fruit and vegetables.  Then I assemble bags of pre-cut salad greens (I store them in the reusable produce bags found in the $1 bins at Target) for quick weeknight salads, hull the strawberries and pop the grapes off the stems and put them in kid-friendly plastic boxes (they're plastic and look like the cardboard strawberry containers at the farmer's market, again from the $1 bins at Target), separate the broccoli crowns into good size pieces and store them in reusable produce bags, etc.  I find that, by doing all this right when I get home, that:

1. I actually use all the produce I buy because I've taken away the "oh but I still have to clean, chop, etc. before using it" excuse.
2. The kids actually eat the easy to access fruits and veggies, and they don't ask for junk food.  Seriously, this happens in our house!  All they might ask for is a small container of ranch dressing for dipping the celery, carrots, or broccoli.  Love this!

After that, DD#3 and I decided to make oatmeal/peanut butter energy balls (see recipe below.)  It takes about 5 minutes to prepare them and the kids LOVE them!  They're all natural and are comprised of things we usually have on hand, so they're convenient.  Plus they're healthy enough that they can be a quick morning breakfast on hectic school mornings.  (Our kids go back on August 21st this year, so I'm already in "back to school" mode.)  They're so good that the kids don't even realize they're healthy and good for them.

Well now I'm going to relax a bit, grab a couple of strawberries, and get ready for tonight's dinner (meatloaf, macaroni & alfredo cheese side dish from Whole Foods - a nice grown-up take on macaroni & cheese, and a big salad.)

Hope everyone's having a great day!

Mary

RECIPE:  Oatmeal/Peanut Butter Energy Balls
1 C dry oatmeal
1/2 C peanut butter (you could substitute sunflower butter, if there's an issue with nut allergies in your home)
1/2 C ground flax seed
1/2 C chocolate chips
1/2 C raisins or dried cranberries (or you can mix them, if you like)
1/3 C honey or maple syrup (I used maple syrup because I just bought a couple of bottles from the kids' summer camp, where they make their own syrup - super awesome stuff!)
1 tsp. vanilla (optional, but I do tend to use it)
2/3 C toasted coconut flakes (optional)

Mix all ingredients together in a medium bowl.  Put the bowl in the refrigerator until chilled and firm.  When firm, take out and roll the mixture into 1" to 1 1/2" balls, and enjoy!