Blueberry Recipes

Most of our u-pick blueberries were eaten plain.  They are soooo much better than store bought when they're picked fresh from the bushes and we love them.  But I did make a couple of recipes that were worth sharing - one that I've tried before and one new one.

Lemon blueberry muffins are something I've made before.  The picture doesn't do justice to these little gems.  They are devine.  Lemon is always a good flavor pairing with blueberries so you'll commonly see them together, especially in dessert recipes.  The kids thought these were such a treat, but I ate them all week with some fresh blueberries for breakfast.

This next recipe sounded good in theory but I was skeptical of how I would like it in comparison to my beloved strawberry shortcake with drop biscuits.  Well, my skepticism was unfounded.  This dessert was SHOCKINGLY DELICIOUS!!!  I will definitely be repeating this!  The biscuits had lemon zest as I expected, but I would never have thought to add the chopped thyme!  It was fantastic!  Definitely the secret layer of flavor that tipped this dessert over the edge of deliciousness.  Also the blueberries were sweetened into a syrup using powdered sugar as opposed to regular sugar.  Another thing I wouldn't have thought to try.

From Bon Appetit:  blueberry shortcakes with lemon and thyme biscuits.

The above picture was one of the kids servings.  They loved it too.  :)

The biscuits were cut-outs but not difficult at all to make.  I loved the sprinkling of raw sugar on the tops.  Mmm!

The sweetened blueberries would have been delicious over ice cream or pancakes as well.

YUM!!!

I had intentions of going back for more blueberries, but just never got around to it.  Holding out hope that the insane heat and lack of rain haven't destroyed our opportunity for a first experience with fall raspberries this year!!!  That should be soon if it happens!

InstaFriday

I am always the LAST person on the planet to get with the now in all things technology.  And I'd probably still live in the dark ages if it weren't for my sister convincing me to do all the stuff you cool people have been doing for months and/or years before me.  ;)  Seriously.  Texting, Facebook, Pinterest, smart phones, yada, yada, yada.  Casey is so much cooler than me.  Always has been.  And she's made it her job to convince me that my life would be better if only I would just check out a site, start this account or download that app.  Thanks, Casey!  I have so much more to keep up on because of you, but I have to admit it's fun!

The latest thing she talked me into (and in fact just picked up my phone and downloaded for me) was Instagram.  I thought it completely unnecessary... and then promptly fell in love with it... just like everything else she's talked me into.  (Except Facebook.  I still don't love Facebook.  I just go in spurts of being active on there.)

Since using Instagram, I've noticed several bloggers out there linking up to some weekly "link party" of Instagram photos.  I never actually link to stuff like that and I haven't paid attention to who's the initiator of the idea (so just know that this is not my original thought), but I've decided to add a new series to the 'ole blog each Friday by posting all my Instagram pics from the previous week.  Fun, right?

So here are my pics from the previous week.  Only five in total but I'll work up from there.  And I'm following them up with a bunch of random iPhone camera pics since we got our iPhones last November.  (FINALLY unloaded pics onto the computer from my phone.  As with everything else, I didn't realize how easy it was to do.)

My very first Instagram!  And it's of none other than... FOOD!  Shocker. 

It's my packed lunch for work on Monday.  Black bean tacos with feta and cilantro lime slaw, fresh blueberries and raw veggies.  Casey told me she was so proud of me.  ;)  And by the way, Case... we were supposed to eat this together over our family weekend extravaganza, but we were never together at lunch time!

My new Thirty-One lunch bag arrived!  It was actually purchased mainly as something to pack the kids food in when we're out and about, but I'm taking it to work from time to time too.  Also got a new Sigg water bottle since I was so envious of Sophie's.  :) 

Got my hair trimmed on Wednesday!  I finally quit putting it off after months and months of split ends and had a girl I used to babysit cut it for me at the salon in Genoa.  Feels SOOOOO much healthier and fresher!  I vow not to wait so long next time. 

Love me some blue polish!  This is OPI's Cartwheels on the Catwalk.  It's actually blue gray.  The picture's a bit untrue. 

On our way to a goodbye party for my aunt and cousin tonight, the sky looked so eerily forbidding and creepy. 

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Now, onto some (super) oldies! 

Lights Before Christmas at the zoo!

Craig attended an ugly holiday sweater party with some friends he used to work with way back when.

A random pic that Craig took of me when I wasn't expecting it, on a rare occasion of me actually putting on mascara.  I really should fix myself up more often than I do.  But it just takes too long!  I'm a no-muss-no-fuss kind of girl.

Bar 145 to watch Tricky Dick and the Cover Ups for the first time with Casey, Wes, Taylor and a few other friends. 

A really hilarious picture that makes us look like terrible parents.  Craig actually traced a picture of a gun onto a piece of wood and carved a fake gun out of it for Will.  (He rarely plays with it.)  Makes me think of Will Ferrell and his "desk pop" in The Other Guys.  LOL

Visiting Great Grandpa King in the Independent Living facility.  The kids hitched a ride on the seat of his walker when we went down to brunch in the dining hall.  It's so cute how all the residents love to show off and admire each other's grandkids here. 

A play date with Charli where they were playing firemen and women who also liked to bake cupcakes.  :) 

Saturday morning at the library.  This was during Will's faux hawk days. 

Baking with my baby. 

Sophie went through a stripping phase during the time that she was supposed to be falling asleep in her bed.  We'd go in to check on her and she'd be naked (or nearly naked) over and over and over again.  Grr!! 

On a night that I babysat the twins at their house, Sophie came with me because Craig had taken Will to the monster truck show at the Huntington Center.

Coming home from some family get together on Craig's side (can't remember what), we all sat in the bed of Craig's truck (parked in the garage) watching the lightening "show" before the storm. 

An unusually warm spring day - perfect for a bike ride at the bay. 

Snuggling with daddy. 

The Sophinator on her 3rd birthday! 

Will's preschool field trip to the elementary school. 

Another babysitting play date with cousins. 

I bet Craig on a boring TV watching night that I could do a handstand against the wall and lower myself to sip from the straw in my cup.  I never lose a dare.  And don't be jealous of how cool we are when we hang out. 

Gearing up for the Warrior Dash! 

And sending Craig a goofy picture while he was grocery shopping one night.  He's such a lucky man, right? 

Our new camera lens arrived just in time for Will's birthday!  Yipee!!! 

Optimus Prime stopping the Decepticons... naked. 

Picking strawberries at the end of the season at Whittaker's.  A quick picnic dinner in the back of the truck first.

Another fun night at karate class. 

Our first cherry tomatoes of the season are ripe and ready to pop into our mouths! 

And that's it for this week!  See you next Friday!

What's For Dinner? Week 4

{Week of July 21-27}

CSA week #8 - bag picked up on July 17th:

This bag did look a little more varied at first, but I traded in the corn on the cob and some eggplant for more onion and cucumber.

Contents (after adjustment):  1 zucchini, 2 yellow squash, 6 tomatoes (multi-colored), 3 onions (1 yellow, 2 red), 2 banana peppers, 2 cucumbers, 1 bunch basil and 2 potatoes.

Fruit this week:  2 melons.

With one of our melons, I made cantaloupe smoothies to go with our breakfast Saturday morning.  (Recipe below)  We also had Weelicious banana waffles and berries.

I still smear peanut butter on plain pancakes and waffles.  It's especially good on banana waffles.

Cantaloupe Smoothie

1 cantaloupe, seeded scooped out and roughly chopped

1 cup Greek yogurt (I used whole milk plain yogurt, not Greek)

2 tbsp honey

1 cup ice

-Process all ingredients in a blender until smooth.  Add more/less ice depending on personal preference.  Enjoy!

For lunch this day, the kids had a bunch of raw fruits and veggies with cheese and crackers and some cashews.  But I made myself a special lunch that I've been longing for for awhile:  black bean tacos with feta and cilantro lime slaw... and radishes on the side 'cause I'm addicted to radishes lately.  :)

This particular day was our family game night and dinner.  I made fresh salsa and bean dip for game night (the bean dip didn't get eaten simply because we were too full from dinner) and also popsicles for the kids and brown sugar blondies for the adult dessert.  :)

On Sunday, Craig came home late and we ate the bean dip together with some raw veggies at like 10:30 at night.  ;)  It was good to see him and catch up over bean dip.  Haha!

For dinner this week, we had lasagna soup with some of our CSA foccacia and some grapes.  Sooooo good!!!

The soup provided leftovers for a bit and we ordered Vito's pizza another night.  An easy week!