orange – Oven Love

Sweet Cannoli Fruit Dip

Natalie — Fri, 28 Sep 2012 09:00:00 +0000

Looking for something to do with that homemade ricotta?

Who am I kidding? None of you have made any ricotta since Monday. (If you have, I salute you and we are destined to be BFFs.) I must be the only crazy person with a fridge full of raw milk and an interest in cheese making.

But maybe you have some store-bought ricotta in your fridge that needs to be used?

Time to bust it out, people! We can work with that.

This dip is.. gah. So good.

This is basically a cannoli in a bowl. Tastes exactly the same. Dip anything you want into it- fruit, crackers/cookies/carbs of your choice, heck- spread it on a vegetable and just try not to eat it.

The cute little crackers pictured are actually made with some spent grain from Mr. Nick’s homebrewing adventures. They are dark and lovely and perfect vessels for dipping. Grahams or waffle cookies would be lovely, too.

If you’d prefer a smoother dip, keep adding cream until it’s as thin as you like. I like it thicker, with an almost cookie-dough-consistency- you could probably roll it up and make it into truffles if you wanted to. Umm, yeah- let’s definitely do that.

(I just realized that this looks eerily similar to my white bean cookie dough– there are no beans in this, I promise! And tastes better, if you ask me. Probably because there are no beans in it?)

Put this one on your list.

Sweet Cannoli Fruit Dip

Prep time

5 mins

Cook time

5 mins

Total time

10 mins

Author: Oven Love

Recipe type: Appetizer, Snack, Dessert

Ingredients

8 oz ricotta cheese (try my homemade recipe here)
4 oz mascarpone cheese (you can sub cream cheese if you need to)
2 tablespoons honey
¼-1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon vanilla
zest of ½ an orange, plus more zest for topping
2-4 tablespoons heavy cream
¼ cup mini chocolate chips, plus more for topping
sliced fruit, crackers, etc for dipping

Instructions

In a stand mixer, combine ricotta and mascarpone cheeses and blend until smooth. Add honey, cinnamon, vanilla, orange zest and 2 tablespoons of the heavy cream and mix to combine. If the dip is still too stiff, add more cream 1 tablespoon at a time until you reach your desired consistency. Scoop into a bowl and serve.
If you have any leftovers, store in the fridge- it should keep for a week or so.

Pineapple Orange Julius

Natalie — Mon, 16 Jul 2012 19:21:00 +0000

The last time we met, I told you about my sugar crisis.

How’s it going, you ask?

Well, here’s what I’ve been doing.

Trying to eat whole foods as much as possible.
Trying not to eat sugar or drink juice. Eating honey/maple syrup in moderation.
Eating plenty of fruit. I couldn’t hack it without fruit (and a little bit of dark chocolate).
Not drinking any Pineapple Orange Juliuses. Boo!

So, it’s going pretty well, you guys. I haven’t caved and baked a giant cake yet, so that’s positive. I debated whether or not to share these yummy drinks with you, but I hate to withhold a good recipe from my treat-loving people, so here we are. I made these before my foray into more healthful eating, but I don’t think they’re too terribly bad. Unless you count the juice concentrate (check your labels to make sure you’re actually buying juice and not just frozen HFCS).

Whatever the sugar content, they’ll definitely take you back to your middle school days, most likely spent roaming the nearest mall with your girlfriends and talking about your crushes until your mom picks you up (just me?).

If you aren’t into the pineapple, stick to plain orange juice concentrate. Or mix it up with some other flavor to build your dream Julius- sky’s the limit.

PS- I finally joined Instagram! If you want to see random pictures of food and my children, find me at @natalieherr (same as my Twitter handle).

Prep time

5 mins

Cook time

5 mins

Total time

10 mins

Ingredients

6 ounces pineapple orange juice concentrate (you can make the rest of the can into juice or save for later)
2 cups whole milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ teaspoon orange extract (optional)
2 tablespoons honey (use a light-colored honey if possible)

Instructions

Place all ingredients in your blender. Add ice to fill and blend until frothy. Serve immediately and enjoy!

Frozen Smoothie Bags

Natalie — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 21:53:00 +0000

I am very excited to share this idea with you today! If you are looking to streamline your morning routine or looking for a quick and healthy mini-meal or snack for the kids, pay attention! This is a good one.

I was inspired to make these frozen smoothie bags by The Tidy Nest‘s make-ahead freezer smoothies and Muffin Tin Mania‘s green smoothie cups. I love having ready-made smoothies waiting in the freezer instead of pulling out tons of ingredients and making a big mess. All you need to do is empty the contents of your bag into a blender and add juice or milk until you reach your desired consistency. Easy and healthy- a win/win.

The green smoothie cubes are my favorites (you’ll find the procedure for freezing yogurt and the green cube recipe at the end of the post). If you haven’t been brave enough to try a green smoothie yet, I assure you that the greens give each smoothie a healthy punch without changing the flavor. It’s a great way to add greens to your diet if you or your kids* don’t typically enjoy their taste.

*Kid Tip- if your kids won’t touch anything green in color, put one of these smoothies in a cup with a lid where the color is undetectable and they’ll never know the difference! I also recommend these Sili Squeeze containers if your kids like the disposable squeeze pouches- I fill them up with smoothies and my little guy loves it.

Here are a few of the smoothie bag combinations that I like to have on hand.

Tropical Smoothie Bag:

pineapple, mango, banana and yogurt cubes. add orange juice or coconut milk.

(if you omit the mango and use coconut milk, you’ve got a Pina Colada bag!)

Green Smoothie Bag:

kiwi, pineapple, banana, green cubes and yogurt cubes. add white grape juice or milk.

(you can also add other green items- celery, green apple, etc.)

Mango Berry Smoothie Bag:

strawberries, raspberries, mango, green cube and yogurt cubes. add orange juice or milk.

Here are a few other ideas for smoothie combinations:

Mixed Berry Smoothie Bag: strawberries, raspberries, blueberries and/or blackberries and yogurt cubes. add pomegranate juice.

Orange Strawberry Banana Smoothie Bag: strawberries, bananas and yogurt cubes. add orange juice.

Blue Banana Smoothie Bag: blueberries, bananas and yogurt cubes. add pomegranate juice.

If you’re wondering how much of each item to add to your bag, don’t worry too much about it. Each of my bags has about 1-2 cups of fruit, a few yogurt cubes (depending on the size) and 1-2 green cubes. The amount of smoothie that you get with each bag will vary anyways, depending on how much liquid you add, so don’t worry about exact measurements. Just have fun with it!

*Note: If you’re wondering what mold I used to get the bigger yogurt cubes, I use these Beaba freezer trays. These are excellent for freezing purees of any kind, especially if you want a larger portion than what you can get with an ice cube tray. The little heart cubes are made using a heart mold from the $1 section at Target and the green cubes are made with a silicone mini-muffin tray like this one.

Procedure for Freezing Fresh Fruit:
Wash fruit well and pat dry. Cut off any unwanted skins or stems. Chop into small slices or pieces and place on a baking sheet. Do not allow the fruit pieces to touch each other. Freeze until firm. Remove from the baking sheet and place in a freezer-safe plastic bag and store in the freezer.

Procedure for Freezing Yogurt:
Spoon or pour yogurt into a mini-muffin tin, ice cube tray or flexible silicone mold. Freeze until firm. Let sit at room temperature for a few minutes and remove from the mold (try to avoid running hot water over the mold, it can melt the yogurt). Place in a freezer-safe plastic bag and store in the freezer.

Green Smoothie Cubes
by Oven Love

Ingredients:

leafy greens of your choice- spinach, kale, swiss chard, etc
liquid of your choice- yogurt, milk, juice or water

In the bowl of a food processor or blender, combine the greens and liquid. Process until smooth, adding extra yogurt or liquid as needed. Spoon or pour the green mixture into a mini-muffin tin, ice cube tray or flexible silicone mold. Freeze until firm. Let sit at room temperature for a few minutes and remove from the mold (try to avoid running hot water over the mold, it can melt the mixture). Place in a freezer-safe plastic bag and store in the freezer.