Frozen Desserts

Bring Back Dessert with Dessertify

0 · Jul 21, 2014 · 4 Comments

Who’s tired of skipping dessert? We are all trying so hard to be good most of the time, wouldn’t it be fun to get a little bit of that sweet that we crave without all the guilt! I’m super excited to tell you guys about a project that I’ve been working on over the last several months with the crew from FiberOne®…

The crew at FiberOne® has created the new website called Dessertify and we are on a mission to BRING BACK DESSERT!! They’ve assembled a crack crew of food bloggers, gave all of us a mission to find some simple dessert hacks that hovered right around 200 calories… Not an easy mission I assure you. How can you pack all that sweet goodness into such a low calorie profile? Well… You use some great FiberOne® products as your base and the rest is easy!!

I created five different “dessert hacks” for Dessertify, and I’m super excited to finally be able to introduce you to my creations…

Lemon Peach Melba Bar

Let’s just say, the Aussies got it right when they put raspberries and peaches together… I upped the ante with the addition of lemon. Together this dessert hack is like summer on a plate! At just under 200 calories, this dessert hack will for sure bring that fruity sweet back into your life! Click on the Lemon Peach Melba Bar link above to go to Dessertify and get the recipe.

Cinnamon Coffee Cake Rice Pudding Parfait

This dessert hack will take you right back to grandma’s kitchen. This down home concoction of cinnamon coffee cake paired with rice pudding brings comfort dessert back into style. Top it off with some golden raisins and you have a dessert that will warm you even on the coldest night. This dessert at roughly 215 calories will earn grandma’s seal of approval for sure!

Butterscotch Mousse Parfait

This dessert hack will take you to sweet and salty heaven. Check this out… Chocolate Peanut Butter Brownie FiberOne® Bar paired with butterscotch pudding, whipped topping, and crushed pretzels… Yea, it’s aaaamazing! At roughly 221 calories this is a sweet & salty fan’s delight.

Double Chocolate Chip Cookies with Mousse

This one is a chocolate lover’s dream. It’s like dunking your cookies in milk, but soooo much better! The addition of a light chocolate mousse just takes this experience to a whole new level. Sitting right around 255 calories, your midnight cookie craving will be something you can truly enjoy!

Blueberry Streusel Parfait

I adore frozen yogurt and this combination of FroYo with the Blueberry Streusel FiberOne® Bar is heavenly! This dessert hack comes in right around 250 calories and is one of my favorites!

Come on over to Dessertify and see all of the other amazing dessert hack ideas. You won’t have to feel guilty after you indulge in dessert anymore!!!

Disclaimer // This post is brought to you by FiberOne®. I received product and payment for my recipe ideas. As always all thoughts, ideas and opinions are my very own and I will never post about products that I don’t truly believe in.

Ladies Fiesta Dinner Party

4 · Jun 30, 2014 · 6 Comments

+ This Ladies Fiesta Dinner Party brought to you by Pepcid® +

As you all know… I LOVE to entertain! The idea of spending time coming up with a menu and cooking all day makes me happy… Seriously I love it! Recently, I had the chance to throw a fun Ladies Fiesta for a few friends for a fun Girls Night IN at my place. SUPER FUN!! Some of you may have followed along on Instagram while I was prepping for the night. Here’s the menu…

Frozen Shirley Temples

Spicy Scallop and Shrimp Cocktail

Creamy Avocado Gazpacho

Light Tacos

Creamy Corn Cups

Fiesta Summer Salad

Dirty Diet Coke

ChocoFlan

Many of the recipes are from or inspired by one of my favorite Food Network Chef’s Marcela Valladolid from Mexican Made Easy. When I decided to have a girls night, I thought a classy fiesta would be super fun and Marcela was the perfect chef to turn to for all kinds of classy fiesta recipes. I didn’t want a night full of chips and guacamole followed with a pan full of enchiladas. I wanted it to be light, fresh and refined. This menu was perfect… Except for one thing.

Here’s a little known fact about me… I have struggled for years with mild heartburn. Over the years, I have learned what foods trigger this condition in me and you would be surprised that even a relatively fresh and light fiesta menu like the one above could cause all kinds of issues with my sensitive stomach. You would think that the typical fiesta fair like heavy burritos and enchiladas would be the only culprits, but it’s not. Everyone is different but even fresh food, if they are high in acid like tomatoes, can trigger a rough night. That’s why when it comes to nights like this, I turn to Pepcid® to help me enjoy the food that I so lovely prepared for my friends! Wouldn’t it be a shame to go to all that work just to suffer in the end? If you are like me at all, you should visit the Pepcid® Facebook page for all kinds of ways to help keep your stomach happy!

Here’s how the night went… I prepped food all day, and while I was doing that I watched as the clouds rolled in. The plan was to eat outside and enjoy a nice summer evening and a rain storm was NOT on the menu. Sure enough, about an hour before the ladies were to arrive, the clouds opened up and DUMPED a ton of rain. YAY! Not to worry, I kept working on party prep and when my friends arrived I put them to work, drying of the table and chairs, no worries there. The rest of the night was perfect, so we didn’t let that little bump create issues for this fiesta! We set the table with fun mismatched plates and dressed it with some simple greenery, lanterns and candles. It looked lovely!

Cocktail + Frozen Shirley Temple +

Once everything was dry, we had my version of a frozen Shirley Temple.

How fun is that? I made a cherry popsicle in my Zoku with all the tasty cherries that are in season right now and then paired it with some coconut La Croix seltzer water to make a fun “cocktail” to start off the night (we aren’t big cocktail drinkers here.) You can get the recipe here!

Appetizer + Scallop & Shrimp Cocktail +

For an appetizer I served a scrumptious scallop and shrimp cocktail…

I kicked this up a notch with some doctored cocktail sauce and then added pan seared, chilled scallops to the shrimp and it was divine. To make it even easier I removed the tail on the shrimp and added it right to the cocktail sauce. It’s much easier to eat with a fork and you don’t have to deal with messy hands… perfect! You can get this recipe here.

Soup + Creamy Avocado Gazpacho with Spicy Croutons +

Next, for the soup course… I served a creamy avocado gazpacho that really hit the spot.

When it comes to cooking for a dinner party, you want simple, yet tasty. Especially in the summer, when you have access to all kinds of fresh veggies, gazpacho is perfect. It’s a chilled soup that is perfect for a classy fiesta. You can find this recipe here.

Main Course + Light Tacos, Fiesta Summer Salad & Creamy Corn Cups +

Since this was a fresh summer take on a fiesta, I decided to go with a lighten-up version of tacos. I found this fun recipe from Marcela for a light taco that used butter lettuce for the shell rather than your traditional corn tortilla. It was super tasty and you can find Marcela’s recipe here.

With the light tacos I served the most amazing salad…

It is a mexican take on a panzanella salad full of tomatoes, olives, spicy croutons and few more tasty surprises. You can find that recipe here.

The last side dish was a little more decadent than the other lighter recipes that we had enjoyed throughout the night. Creamy corn cups are an iconic Mexican treat full of all kinds of creamy goodness. I took that recipe straight from Marcela and you can find that recipe here.

Dessert + CocoFlan & Dirty Diet Coke +

Get ready… this dessert will ROCK YOUR WORLD! Yea, not kidding…

If you are a chocolate cake lover and a flan lover (which apparently I am) This recipe will knock your socks off. It’s chocolate cake and flan together. Again this is one of Marcela’s recipes and it is for sure a show stopper. I will have to say, your guest may beat down your door the following day to get access to the leftovers (if you have any!) Surprisingly enough, this actually pairs nicely with a dirty Diet Coke! You can get the recipe for the ChocoFlan here and the dirty Diet Coke here.

All in all the night was SUPER fun, a total flavor festival and thanks to Pepcid I wasn’t regretting it afterward.

Disclaimer // I have received information, product and materials from McNeil Consumer Pharmaceuticals C0., the makers of PEPCID®. The opinions stated are my own. This is a sponsored post.

Fiesta Frozen Shirley Temple with Cherry Popsicle

4 · Jun 30, 2014 · Leave a Comment

+ Fiesta Frozen Shirley Temple +

There is a fun new food trend these days that I just love. Creating a drink using a popsicle as one of the elements of the drink, so whimsical and fun! I decided for the fiesta I was to make my version of a Shirley Temple using this fun food trend idea. Since cherries are in season now, I thought it would be perfect. I made a simple syrup and blending that with a bunch of pitted cherries, added a little almond extract and then froze it in my Zoku. You can use a traditional popsicle mold if you don’t have a Zoku. I think it’s actually pretty fun to have your guests make their own popsicles and then add them to their drinks in just 7 minutes. It’s kind of a fun way to start off your party!

Then all you do is add your cherry popsicle to a cup of either seltzer water, I used Coconut La Croix water, or you could use ginger ale or your favorite lemon-lime soda. Either way this is a super tasty treat to start off any party!

Cherry Popsicles

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Take your Shirley Temple to a whole new level with this fun cherry pop recipe.

Author: Heather // WhipperBerry

Recipe type: Drinks / Dessert

Cuisine: American

Ingredients

1 cup water
1 cup sugar
2 cups pitted cherries - fresh or frozen
1 tsp almond extract

Instructions

Add water and sugar to a small sauce pan and over medium high heat dissolve the sugar to make a simple syrup.
Once the sugar has dissolved into the water remove from heat and cool.
Clean and pit your cherries and add to a blender jar.
Pour in cooled simple syrup and blend until you have a nice puree.
Pour into popsicle molds and freeze for at least 4 hours or 7 minutes if you have a Zoku.
Enjoy the popsicle as is or create a frozen Shirley Temple by placing your popsicle into a cup with seltzer water, ginger ale or lemon-lime soda. Enjoy!

Chocolate Cherry Pudding Pops + Gluten and Dairy Free

2 · Jun 25, 2014 · 5 Comments

+ This gluten-free dairy-free Chocolate Cherry Pudding Pops recipe post brought to you by Silk +

Nothing makes my summer heart happier than when the cherries finally come into season. Yep, I’m one of those girls that will always run for the cherry flavored ANYTHING the first chance that I get. The lack of tiny little seeds that get caught in my teeth first drew me in when I was a kiddo. Don’t get me wrong I’m an equal opportunity berry lover as well. I adore strawberries and raspberries, but my hear belongs to my favorite cherry. (Yes, I know… Cherries aren’t technically berries. I just tend to lump them in the same group. They are actually from the prune family and are called drupes. Go look it up. Drupe just doesn’t roll off the tongue like berry does.)

When my father introduced the idea of chocolate covered cherries when I was little, I nearly died and floated off to cherry heaven. I’ve spent many of Christmases as a kiddos curled up in a chocolate cherry sugar coma. It was my Dad’s favorite Christmas treat, so I guess the apple doesn’t fall to far from the tree. I was always the first in line when that special box came out. I was a puppy dog really following him around awaiting the spoils from my master.

Needless to say, I have grown up with a love for the flavor combination of chocolate and cherry. Remind me… One of these days, I need to post my Chocolate Cherry Cake for you guys. It’s mind blowing!!

Now, with the new summer crop, I was hoping to have my favorite flavor combination but in a bit of a healthier way. I thought, why not make a gluten-free, dairy-free chocolate cherry pudding pop? Pudding’s not dairy-free you say… Well, if you mix your pudding with Silk Soy Milk it certainly is!

Not only that but you are adding plant protein power to your popsicles! Here’s how I made them…

First, I washed and prepped my cherries by pitting them and cutting them into quarters. I took 2 cups of Chocolate Silk Soy Milk and whisked in 3-4 tablespoons of pudding powder mix. I placed the cherries, roughly about three cherries per pop, into the popsicle mold. Then I poured the Silk Pudding mixture into the mold. I used my Zoku so it went super quick, only 7 minutes. If you are doing it the traditional way, place your pops into the freezer for at least 4 hours.

The kiddos and I enjoyed this scrumptious summer treat and man, were they good. The cherry chunks were tasty mixed in with the chocolate pudding base, I couldn’t be happier.

Are you a Silk fan? Are you looking for more ways to use Silk Soy, Almond or Coconut Milk in your diet? You need to visit Silk’s Facebook Page for all kinds of recipes and ideas for ways to add more plant protein power to your diet. You can even sign up for the Silk fan club and receive coupons and fun ideas right in your inbox. Total score!

What kinds of frozen treats would you like to make with Silk? Leave a comment with your fun summer treat idea!

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Silk. The opinions and text are all mine.