Archives for September 2012

Mango Pineapple Smoothie

September 12, 2012 by kim Leave a Comment

I am an official ambassador for Dole Fresh Fruits and Vegetables. Dole provided me with Free Salad and Free Banana coupons for the purpose of this post, as well as compensation for my time. As always, all opinions expressed in this post are mine.

Over the 4th of July weekend, from July 2-6, the DOLE^® Get Up and Grow! North American Tour will be coming to Los Angeles! What exactly is the tour about, you ask?

One of three brightly covered Tour caravans will stop at supermarkets and public events throughout Los Angeles, offering tasty recipe and product samples, a do-it-yourself smoothie bar, free giveaways for the kids and adults and other surprises celebrating the fun, flavor and health benefits of fruits and vegetables.

Not only that, but visitors will also have a chance to take the Get Up and Grow! Healthy Living Pledge, which means you’ll try to eat a healthier, plant-based diet in 2015. Those that sign up to take the pledge will get a chance to receive free DOLE^® fresh fruits and vegetables, along with other rewards!

Here are the dates and locations for the upcoming weekend:

July 3	10 AM – 1 PM	Ralphs	17840 Ventura Blvd, Encino, CA 91316
July 3	3 – 6 PM	Ralphs Store	12057 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90025
July 4	10 AM – 1 PM	Ralphs Store	1413 Hawthorne Blvd, Redondo Beach, CA 90278
July 4	3 – 6 PM	Ralphs Store	5951 Del Amo Blvd. Lakewood, CA 90713
July 5	1 – 6 PM	Stater Brother	11750 Whittier Blvd, Whittier, CA 90601

Dole fresh fruits are one of my favorite ingredients to work with. Their pineapples are so sweet on their own that I don’t have to add anything to them when using them in recipes!

This mango pineapple smoothie doesn’t have any additional sugar, sweeteners, or syrup. It’s perfect to serve for the hot summer ahead!

Mango Pineapple Smoothie

Ingredients

1 cup Dole pineapple, chopped and frozen
1 cup mango, chopped and frozen
1/2 cup coconut water
1/4 cup plain greek yogurt

Directions

Mix all of the ingredients together in a blender until smooth.

https://lovintheoven.com/mango-pineapple-smoothie/

Caribbean Smoothie

September 12, 2012 by kim 1 Comment

This smoothie takes me back all the way to my good ol’ Boys & Girls Club days, when I used to help run the after school program at my local middle school. We made smoothies every Friday for the kiddos with the huge frozen fruit bag from Costco. They loved it, especially on the hot days. It was a wonderful afternoon snack that we all looked forward to.

At the middle school, we only made it with fruit and orange juice, but I added some yogurt in there since I had it available. The creamier, the better!

Isn’t the color of the smoothie just eye capturing? It’s definitely jamba juice worthy.

In other news, I’ve been baking up a storm trying to empty my pantry. We move in less than two weeks and I need to use up all of the items that I can’t bring with me. The heavy stuff is also a no-go. That includes canned items (evaporated milk, condensed milk, soups, broths), all of my cheese, molasses, cake mixes, buttermilk powder, my many pounds of flour and sugar, etc.

I’m loving every second of it.

Caribbean Smoothie

Ingredients

2 cups Wawona frozen fruit festival blend (mix of mango, papaya, pineapple, and strawberries)
1/2 cup vanilla yogurt
1/4 cup orange juice

Directions

Mix all ingredients in a blender until smooth.

https://lovintheoven.com/caribbean-smoothie/

Chocolate Chip Brownies with In the Raw

September 10, 2012 by kim 70 Comments

I was lucky enough to receive some “In The Raw” products to use in my baking. I headed over to recipes section on their website and after searching through several different options, I decided on this one: Chocolate Chip Brownies.

I was actually surprised with the variety of food you can make using Stevia In The Raw. You can make breakfast, lunch, dinner, or dessert! I chose to stick with what I knew best … dessert.

I have used Sugar In The Raw before, but only for coffee. I’ve never tried Stevia In The Raw and was surprised at how soft and light the product was. It was like a cloud zipped up in a bag, weighing close to nothing. How is that even possible? Oh well .. all that matters is that it tasted great, and I couldn’t even taste the difference between that and normal sugar (and let me tell you, I LOVE my sugar)!

When I bake something, I share the results with the people around me. By using In The Raw products, I know I’m sharing a better creation because of the all-natural ingredients inside. The better your ingredients, the better the outcome. Living in Berkeley, I’m more aware of fresh produce and food. Why wouldn’t I want the same for all of my other ingredients? You are responsible for everything you put into your body, and by using all natural ingredients, you are taking a step toward a healthier lifestyle.

It didn’t take any additional time for me to sub my regular baking sugar for In The Raw sugars. Actually, it didn’t affect my normal prepping at all. The only difference was the outcome. These chocolate chip brownies were much more cake-like, and they weren’t as heavy as normal brownies. I would love to sub dark cocoa powder in for the normal unsweetened cocoa powder next time to give it a stronger and richer taste. Instead of the chocolate chips, I used dark chocolate discs, which I loved and would highly recommend doing.

If you make this recipe expecting a brownie, you’ll be disappointed. If you make this recipe expecting a cake, then you’ve got yourself a recipe. Throw some icing on top and you’ve really got a keeper. Again, the recipe is from In The Raw.

Chocolate Chip Brownies with In the Raw

Yield: 16 bars

Ingredients

1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 eggs
1/3 cup Stevia In The Raw Bakers Bag
1/3 cup Sugar In The Raw
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup low fat buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup semi sweet chocolate mini chips

Directions

Preheat oven to 350F. Prepare 8-inch square baking pan with non-stick spray. Set aside.
Combine melted butter and cocoa powder. Set aside to cool. In large bowl beat eggs until frothy. Add Stevia In the Raw and Sugar In The Raw.
Combine flours, baking powder and salt ñ add to egg mixture and stir. Add in cocoa mixture, vegetable oil, buttermilk and vanilla. Stir until blended. Stir in mini chips.
Pour batter into baking pan and bake at 350F about 20 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.
Remove from oven and cool on rack.

https://lovintheoven.com/chocolate-chip-brownies-with-in-the-raw/

I have to admit the packaging of the two products is especially convenient for a baker. Since I don’t exactly use a lot of Stevia or Sugar In The Raw in one sitting, I’m able to zip up or close the pour spout on the side of the box. I don’t have to worry about finding a Tupperware to store the remainder of the sugar in or finding a clip to make sure the bag stays closed. It makes my life a lot easier when I can just take an item out of my pantry, use it, and put it back without worrying if it’ll stay fresh or not.

In The Raw has a new app out called the “Au Natural In The Raw” app, where it pixelates your food pictures like this:

It gives you maximum viewing pleasure and lets you cover all that baked (or cooked) goodness in your food photography. Apparently, the majority of photos posted on social media platforms are pictures of food. Can you believe it? I sure can. We consume it everyday and want to share our plates with everyone else. The “Au Natural In The Raw” app makes this a more fun way of sharing your food pictures online. It also makes people take a closer look and consider using all natural ingredients in their next kitchen endeavor.

Your dessert photos will become so hot, so au natural, they will be labeled “too hot” for the web. That’s right. They went and did it. They became deliciously obscene. The metaphorical thermometer on Facebook is about to go up. Your Facebook friends will be in a frenzy. Your photo might even become the most liked photo in Facebook history, who knows? And for extra measure, you can even gain privileged access to the most coveted In The Raw family of secret recipes just for posting your creation.

Now for the good stuff. You can win a $100 Cooking.com gift card! How do you do so? Well, visit the In The Raw website and leave a comment telling me which recipe you’d make!

Rules:

No duplicate comments.

You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods:

a) Leave a comment in response to the sweepstakes prompt on this post

b) Tweet (public message) about this promotion; including exactly the

following unique term in your tweet message: “#SweepstakesEntry”; and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post

c) Blog about this promotion, including a disclosure that you are receiving a sweepstakes entry in exchange for writing the blog post, and leave the URL to that post in a comment on this post

d) For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about an alternate form of entry.

This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older. Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail. You have 72 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.

The Official Rules are available here.

This sweepstakes runs from 9/10/12-9/30/12.

Be sure to visit the In The Raw brand page on BlogHer.com where you can read other bloggers’ reviews and find more chances to win!

Archives for September 2012

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