The Very Berry Smoothie Recipe

I'm not a breakfast person.  At least not seven days a week.  A cup of coffee and off to get on with the rest of my day.  I know, breakfast is the most important meal of the day.  However, eating breakfast makes me hungrier more throughout the day.

Instead of focusing on my tasks at hand, I end up making more trips than I should to raid the frig and/or pantry.  I usually just wait to eat my first meal around brunch time, but with I've been taking on more opportunities in both my personal and professional life that have me away from home during brunch time.  To solve my breakfast/brunch dilemma, I've decided to just start substituting my morning cup of coffee with my very own Very Berry Smoothie.

I love that I can make as much or as little as I want of this smoothie.  I just have a cup while I'm getting ready and pour the rest into one of cold beverage mugs and take it on the go.  I'm giving my body the nutrients it needs and not binge eating or staving off hunger until lunchtime.  Anyways, below is the recipe.  And of course, you always adjust the measurements of the ingredients to your liking.

Ingredients

1/2 cup ice

1 cup frozen mixed berries (or fresh, if you prefer)

1/2-1 cup soy milk (or milk of your choice)

1 teaspoon sugar (optional)

Directions

1. Pour all ingredients into a blender.

2. Mix.

3. Pour smoothie into a cup and enjoy!

I hope you enjoy my recipe.  If you try it let me know.  Also, let me know if you have any smoothie recipes that you really enjoy in the comments below.

Are you a breakfast person?

Mini Del Monte® Mango Pineapple Fruit Cup® Cobblers Recipe

Last week, I had the opportunity of hosting a review and giveaway for the Del Monte® Fruit Burst® Squeezers and their Mango Pineapple Fruit Cup® Snacks.  By the way, the giveaway for 2 VIP coupons and a $25 Walmart gift card ends at 11:59 PM EST tonight!  Click here to enter.  As promised, I'm sharing my Mini Del Monte ® Mango Pineapple Fruit Cup ® Cobblers Recipe.  Let's get started!

Ingredients

Filling

5 Del Monte® Mango Pineapple Fruit Cup® Snacks 

3 tbsp light brown sugar

1/3 tsp ground cinnamon (optional)

Crust

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup butter, cold & cubed

1 tsp granulated sugar

1 tsp salt

9 tbsp water, ice cold

nonstick spray

Directions

1. Drain 4 of the 5 Mango Pineapple Fruit Cup ® Snacks.  Pour all 4 into a medium bowl.  

2. Add light brown sugar and ground cinnamon.  Mix well and refrigerate.

3. In a large bowl, combine all-purpose flour, granulated sugar and salt.  Mix well. 

4. Add butter and mix until flour has a crumbled consistency.  Then gradually add water, making sure to work dough in between pours.

5. Once all the water is added, knead dough for 2-5 minutes on a floured surface.  Roll into a ball, wrap in plastic and let rest in the refrigerator for 45 minutes.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

6. After 45 minutes, roll out dough on a floured surface and using a cookie cutter or drinking glass cut out cobbler crusts to fit inside muffin tin.  You can also cut out tops to cover your cobbler if you wish.

7. Spray muffin tin with nonstick spray, line with crust and spoon in cobbler filling and add top crust if desired.

8. Bake for 30 minutes or until crusts are done.  Let rest for 10-15 minutes before serving. 

And there you have it folks!  In less than 10 steps, you and your family can be enjoying some yummy mini mango pineapple cobblers.  Might I add that the mini cobblers are portion control friendly, too.  No huge baking dish of left over cobbler to tempt you through the night.  If you have extra dough left over, you can freeze it or use to make more cobblers or apple turnovers.

You can take dessert one step further and serve these with ice cream or top them with whipped cream, fresh berries and powered sugar!  Enjoy.

Summertime Fun With Kool-Aid Kool Creations And Big Time Rush

Every household has the one product that they us a lot of on a regular basis-toilet paper, soap, lotion.  For my family Kool-Aid is that product.  We roughly go through a one and a half to two pitchers a day (and our pitcher is big).  So, any given week I'm spending well over $6 on Kool-Aid drink mix alone.  And of course, you can't make my family's favorite beverage without sugar.  We use a lot of that too.

I'm not complaining though because all that Kool-Aid consumption has paid off this week.  You see last year my niece introduced Moo to Big Time Rush via their show on Nick and she's been a fan ever since.  Thanks to me being such a big spender on Kool-Aid at Walmart, I got a discount code for a BTR Family Four-Pack for just $50!  Now I know that I'm not the only mom with a BTR fan or two in the house.  So, you all can kick up the summertime fun by getting in on this Family Four-Pack deal too.

Just download the Shoparoo app to your phone.  Then go pick up at least $6 in Kool-Aid products from Walmart (includes Kool-Aid Jammers too).  You upload your receipt to Shoparoo and within 48 hours your discount code is sent to the email you registered with.  Very simple process.

Can you tell what we're about to make?

You all know the Mr had surgery on Friday.  So, I needed something fun to keep the kids busy while he rested.  We decided to make popsicles!  All you need is a pitcher of Kool-Aid or Kool-Aid Jammers, popsicle molds and a half cup of fruit (fresh or canned).  Fill your molds half way with Kool-Aid and then add in as much fruit as your molds can hold.  Freeze for 30 mins to a hour and you'll have a healthy and yummy treat for the whole family!

Moo nicknamed our Kool Creation Strawberry Delicious Surprise

And as if scoring four Big Time Rush tickets for $50 wasn't enough, Walmart and Kool-Aid are hosting a contest for a chance to win meet & greet passes & tickets.  All I had to do to enter was upload a picture of our Kool Creation here.  Your Kool-Aid Kool Creation doesn't have to be food like ours was.  Other families have made playdough, paint and more using Kool-Aid products.  

Thanks to Kool-Aid and Walmart, the amount of summertime fun our families can have are endless!  So get to shopping and creating with the kids!

What would your family's Kool Creation be?