It’s My FaVoRiTe Time of Year: Strawberry Season

Strawberry Season is approaching and I have already tasted some pretty good ones J. Aside from being scrumptious strawberries also pack a nutritional punch. They are rich in vitamin C and manganese, as well as potassium, folate, vitamind B2, B5, B6, and K, omega-3 fatty acids, magnesium, and copper. Experience has probably already told you that strawberries have a very short shelf life, perishing within a few days of purchase. Which can be frustrating.  I usually buy the jumbo pack from Costco, thinking we will eat all of them no problem, but we never seem to finish the pack off. Strawberries are so tasty and such a bang for your buck at Costco I wanted to find more creative ways to use them. As luck would have it, in the June edition of Food Network Magazine they share 30 ways to enjoy strawberries for the month of June. I tried a few ways and found them a great success. For those that don’t have the magazine I will share some of my favorite ways to enjoy them:

·         Strawberry Pops: puree 4 cups strawberries,  ¼ honey, ¼ agave, and ½ cup orange juice, then freeze and enjoy a little later

·         Blend strawberries into a vinaigrette

·         A Strawberry packed Smoothie: handful of strawberries, some frozen fruit of choice, ½ cup of nonfat plain yogurt, add apple juice, Orange juice       or water to puree

·         Salad: spinach, almonds, sunflower seeds, strawberries and a vinaigrette dressing

·         Frozen Filled Strawberries: mix nonfat plain yogurt and honey, pipe into hulled strawberries and freeze

·         Strawberry Cream Cheese: puree 2 cups berries, beat puree into cream cheese, with a dash of honey

·         Fruit Parfait: 1 cup nonfat vanilla yogurt (preferably one that is all natural no added sugar), 4 cups strawberries, and a smidge of honey for sweetness, top it off with a little granola 

·         Strawberry Soda Popp: puree 2 cups strawberries with ½ cup agave, add to lime soda water

·         Chocolate Dipped Strawberries: I buy the Enjoy Life Semi-Sweet chocolate chips (gluten free, dairy, nut, and soy free, also they use organic cane juice instead of processed sugar ), melt some chips in the microwave (15 seconds at a time then stir with a fork, it doesn’t take long to melt the chocolate so be careful not to burn it), dip the strawberries and let harden

 Have Fun and Enjoy the Taste of Summer!

Love,

Stacey Gerh♥rt