I love the Chunky Strawberry Smoothies at Jamba Juice and I have experimented for a long time to get the closest I can to the real thing at home.

Here is what you will need:

• 2T Plain Yogurt
• 2-3T Milk
• 3T Peanut Butter
• 3/4 of a frozen banana (cut into 2-3 pieces for better blending)
• 1 Cup frozen strawberries
• 1/2 Cup Plain Granola (1/4 for smoothie; 1/4 for sprinkling)
• Fresh banana cut into slices

Put everything into the Vitamix blender in the order listed above, turn to level three and use the tamper to push the strawberries and bananas into the blade.  Start with 2T of milk and add more milk if the mixture is not blending.  Blend until chunky in consistency.  Transfer to a cup.  Sprinkle remaining 1/4 cup granola over the top and slice up some fresh banana for the top.

Cheeseburger Soup

1 lb ground beef
3/4 cup onion
3/4 cup shredded carrots
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried parsley flakes
4 Tbs butter (divided)
3 cups Chicken broth
4 cups peeled and diced potatoes
1/4 cup flour
1 1/2 cups milk
8 oz Velveeta (half a block)
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 cup sour cream

Cook ground beef.  Drain and set aside.   Saute onions, carrots, basil, and parsley with 1 Tbs of butter until veggies are tender. (about 10 mins)

Add broth, potatoes, and beef and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat, cover, and let simmer 10-12 min or until potatoes are tender.

Meanwhile, in a small skillet, melt remaining 3 Tbs of butter. Add flour; cook and stir for 3-5 mins or until bubbly. Add to soup; bring to boil.  Cook and stir for 2 mins. Reduce heat to low. Add cheese, milk, salt, and pepper; cook and stir until cheese melts.  Remove from heat; blend in sour cream.

Should yield 8 servings.

Cheeseburger Soup – Reinvented by me last night….

Ok, I seriously whipped this out in 30 mins. last night!

1 lb ground beef
3/4 cup onion
3 cups shredded carrots
1 cup sliced celery
4 Tbs butter (divided)
3 cups Chicken broth
1/4 cup flour
1 1/2 cups milk
4 oz Velveeta
3/4 tsp salt
1 T pepper
1/4 cup sour cream

Cook ground beef.  Drain and set aside.   Saute onions, carrots, and celery with 1 Tbs of butter until veggies are tender. (about 10 mins)

Add vegetables and chicken broth to ground beef.  Keep on med-high heat.

Meanwhile, in a small skillet, melt remaining 3 Tbs of butter. Add flour; cook and stir for 3-5 mins or until bubbly.  Wisk in milk until thickened and add salt and pepper.  Add to soup; bring to boil. Cook and stir for 2 mins. Reduce heat to low. Add cheese; cook and stir until cheese melts.  Remove from heat; blend in sour cream.

Should yield 8 servings.

I made these pumpkin cookies last week. It is a good recipe, but the cookies were way too sweet. If I make them again, I will cut the sugar in half.

http://thepioneerwoman.com/tasty-kitchen/recipes/desserts/soft-pumpkin-cookies/

It is March, and therefore, it is time for Blarney Stones.  Let me warn you, they are not for the faint of heart or those on a diet.  They are comprised of butter, sugar, butter, sugar, and peanuts – salted ones.  Basically, a Blarney Stone is a piece of sponge cake wrapped in butter and sugar (did I already say that?) and then rolled in salted peanuts (they must be salted).  I am not sure why these are served at St. Patrick’s Day and called Blarney Stones.  My guess would be that they are made to resemble stones which is representative of The Blarney Stone in Ireland.  The process of making the stone is time-consuming and often times I just make a Blarney Stone cake.  Let’s get started:

Recipe

Cake
1 C Sugar
1 C Boiling Water
4 Eggs
2 C Flour
3 t Baking Powder
1 t Vanilla
For frosting – butter and powdered sugar
Will also need ground salted peanuts

1. Separate eggs
2. Stiffly beat egg whites in a separate bowl
3. Cream sugar and egg yolks
4. Add boiling water to sugar and egg yolk mixture and mix well
5. Sift flour & baking powder 3 times (I don’t do that….)
6. Add flour and baking powder to first mixture (egg yolks, sugar and water)
7. Add vanilla
8. Fold in stiffly beaten egg whites
9. Bake at 350 degrees in a greased sheet-cake pan for 18 mins
10. Cool and cut into squares and place squares in the freezer.

Frosting
Cream together:  3/4 lbs butter & 3/4 lbs powder sugar
Note:  To make it easier to frost the squares, freeze them before you begin.

Frost individual squares of cake then roll in salted peanuts.

I store these in the freezer and eat right out of the freezer.  They need to be stored in the refrigerator if you do not put them in the freezer.

According to Wikipedia, the Blarney Stone is in Ireland in the Blarney Castle.  The ledgend is that if you lean upside down and kiss the stone, you will have the gift of gab.  If I ever go to the Blarney Castle in Ireland I doubt I would kiss a stone that more than 500,000 people have kissed….I would make someone else (whose name starts with R) do it…. 

We went to Dallas this weekend and met my parents for dinner.  My mom ordered a roasted chicken, and this is what she got!!  It was so funny as it came with that knife in it.  The restaurant  was called Brio Tuscan Grille and it was in Grapevine at the Southlake Town Square.  The whole area was beautiful and we got to enjoy 70 degree weather.

This is the Tickle Me Elmo of the adult world.

If you go into a Starbucks and see this cup, buy it!!!!  For one, it is a cool cup and is very handy for taking drinks to work, school, etc.  Two, you can sell it on Amazon or eBay for more money than you paid for it.  They are in such high demand that they are being sold online for $10+ more than Starbucks sells them for.  My mother-in-law bought me the large one for my birthday on amazon.com and she calls it the “Golden Chalice.”  She was here recently and asked me for a drink of the golden chalice.  I had no idea what she was talking about until she explained.

With the purchase of our new Espresso machine, we have acquired a smattering of coffee essentials.

In addition to coffee drinks, I have also been making Italian Sodas.  Here is how I make them:

• Fill a glass tumbler with ice
• Squirt in 1-2 T of strawberry syrup in (amount depends on preference)
• Fill with sparkling mineral water (Perrier) until almost full
• Top with milk (Coffee shops use half & half but any milk is fine)

This drink is typically served not mixed, but if you are making it at home mix it up.  Serve with a straw and enjoy!  It is so easy to make.

I should have known it would get a lot bigger considering it had yeast in it!!!

After these comments were made on Tulsa Food Blog, I decided to try Haruno.  It is a new Sushi place but also serves Korean food.  According to Haruno’s website, it is a “Pan-Asia restaurant specializing in Japanese sushi and Korean cuisine.”  The restaurant’s atmosphere had a fine dining feel and look without the formality or price of actual fine dinning.  The restaurant had a room and bar in the back that looked like it would be great for private parties.  The place seemed very clean and our waitress was uberly efficient.

Each meal is served with Miso soup and the salad featured below that had about three dried cranberrys in it and featured a citrus dressing.

The sushi was good.  We ordered several rolls.  These two were my favorites…

If I remember correctly, this is the Sansei Roll:

This was the Haruno Roll.  There is a piece missing.  My husband did feel it necessary to wait on my picture taking.

This was the Fireworks Roll.  In my opinion it was the least impressive.  It was supposed to have fried asparagus in it, and that is why I ordered it but it was smothered in a heavy sauce so I couldn’t see or taste the fried asparagus.  According to the description in the menu, I was expecting a very spicy roll but it didn’t taste spicy to me.

We also ordered a Korean dish to share, because I wanted to experience it all.  We asked the waitress which Korean dish was the most liked.  She recommended the Bulgogi.  It was served with a bowl of rice, lettuce, a sweet sauce, something else I could not identify, and written instructions on how to eat it.  My husband keep referring to it as “the steaming pile of meat.”

It was served on a very pretty plate, but the food itself did not appear real appetizing.  ….and it was steaming.  This was not inedible, but I would not order it again or suggest that you order it.  The flavor was too intense for me.  You don’t hear that very often do you?!  That taste and smell will stay with you for several days, so make sure you like it before making such a commitment!  Next time, I will stick to the sushi which was very good.

Lastly, we received one bowl of green tea ice cream.  It must come with the Korean dishes.

Check out another one of my sushi reviews: Asahi Sushi Bar.

I am in a Fresh Berry rut again!!  They were so rude that I didn’t go for several months, but my mom got me going again.  She always likes to go there when she is in Tulsa and remind me how wonderful it is.  In this post that I wrote, I complained that the toppings weren’t fresh.  Since going back, I haven’t had that problem again.

I have tried making it a home several more times, but I just couldn’t get it to taste exactly like Fresh Berry’s Tart flavor.  My mom told me to try Sour Cream — that it could be their secret ingredient.  Sounds weird — I know!!  BUT–I made it with Sour Cream and it tasted exactly like Fresh Berry’s Tart.  It makes sense in a way – Sour cream is white so it would not change the color, it is tart….

Here is the recipe:

1.5 cartons (48 ounces) Lowfat Plain Yogurt
1/8 – 1/4 C. Sugar (to your taste)
2-3 heaping spoonfuls of Sour Cream

Blend ingredients very well until the mixture is very smooth.  You should not be able to feel any sugar granules.  I usually blend it in my blender.
Pour mixture into yogurt maker/ice cream maker – whatever you have.  I leave it in there until it looks like soft-serve consistency.  It is probably 10-15mins.
Serve with your favorite toppings.