Spotlight On: Frozen Berries

I'm already looking forward to Will's birthday next June.

No, I don't want my baby to turn four.

(We have a deal... he's staying three forever.)

But June will be the start of strawberry season, which will then lead into raspberry and blueberry season. I cannot wait to go u-picking again! I want to do it so much bigger next summer! Lots more farm visits and lots more fresh picking!

But in the mean time, we have to make it through the cold winter when strawberries cost $3.99 and $4.99 per pound and look soft and white-centered at best.

Enter: frozen berries.

They're totally not the same and I probably wouldn't eat them just thawed by themselves, but there is so much you can do with frozen berries!

I've had a couple bags in the freezer for awhile that have been needing to get used up. So last week, I got right on that.

We've kind of been on a smoothie kick lately. Mostly berry smoothies and those pumpkin milkshakes, but the kids go nuts whenever they see me put a straw in a cup now. We've had them for breakfast with yogurt pancakes, for afternoon snack, and for dessert.

This recipe comes from "The One-Armed Cook" - a book my friend Julie gave me for my baby shower. It's super simple:

2 cups frozen berries

1 medium banana

1 cup orange juice

Step 1: Blend

That's it.

After our beef stew a week ago, we had Berry Kuchen for dessert. The recipe comes Pampered Chef's Light & Simple cookbook. This is pre-baking:

And warm with a little raspberry ice cream:

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup butter

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

1 egg

2/3 cup milk

2 cups any combination berries (fresh or frozen)

Oven to 375 degrees. Combine flour and sugar. Use pastry blender to cut in butter until it resembles course crumbs. Reserve 1/2 cup for topping. Stir in powder, cinnamon and salt. Add combined egg and milk, mixing just until moistened. Pour into 9" square baker, sprinkle with berries and reserved crumb mixture. Bake 30-35 minutes. [I think it takes more like 40-45 mins.] Serve warm.

And one more berry smoothie: Weelicious Smoothie Your Way.

1 cup fruit of choice

1 banana

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt

This one was just okay. We liked the first smoothie better.

I think I'll try a berry pancake topping soon...