Coconut Cream Fruit Dip

 Together as a Family

Serve with- watermelon, cantaloupe, kiwi, grapes, bananas(cut right before you serve), blueberries, raspberries, strawberries and fresh pineapple

Ingredients

• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• 3 tablespoons powdered sugar
• 1¼ cups cream of coconut (Brand "Coco", found it at Smiths grocery right by the liquor and margerita mixers)
• 1 bar (8 oz) cream cheese softened

Instructions

• Add heavy whipping cream and powdered sugar into a mixing bowl. Beat with a handheld mixer, or use a stand mixer with a whisk attachment, until stiff peaks form. This will take about 3-4 minutes.
• In a seperate bowl, add the cream of coconut and softened cream cheese. Blend together until combined, smooth, and mixed well.
• Gently fold the whipped cream, with a wooden spoon or spatula, into the cream cheese and coconut mixture. Stir together until combined.
• You can serve this fruit dip right away OR for best taste and texture refrigerate the fruit dip for 2-3 hours before serving.
• Store leftovers, in a covered container, for up to 3 days.

Notes

Cream of Coconut : Refer to the picture in the post for a picture of what this looks like. You will find it in the drink mix aisle. Sometimes the same aisle as alcoholic beverages and/or flavored water packets. This does NOT contain alcohol. It is just normally used to make mixed drinks. It's not the same thing as a can of coconut milk. Look for it specifically by the brand name of Coco Real. 

Fridge Time : The flavors come together so perfectly and the fruit dip gets this creamy texture once it has refrigerated for at least 2-3 hours. I always make it ahead of time so it can hang out in the fridge before serving. 

Nutrition

Calories: 206kcal | Carbohydrates: 19g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 14g | Saturated Fat: 10g | Cholesterol: 36mg | Sodium: 63mg | Potassium: 31mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 17g | Vitamin A: 409IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 24mg | Iron: 1mg

General Conference

I love conference and love to make it special with food and activities. Its so nice to be home, relaxed and listening.

We like to set up a small tent like King benjamin, faced their tents to him and lots of blankets for a fort. Lots of random coloring pages, cross word puzzles, a possible quilt to tie, 

printables for small kids,  #1 teenager notebook, #2 teenager notebook. 

More challenging wordsearches   

Learn to paint Watercolor beaches/ocean

One time the girls tallied up specific words (Jesus, testimony, church, scriptures, etc...) that were spoken, that really got them listening to the words the speakers were saying, I think we even gave them a penny for each time they recorded it.  They were really motivated.

A week before - buy the groceries for everything

                        - make the chex mix, fruit and veggie dip the week before conference.

Thursday or friday  - assemble the breakfast french toast and let sit in fridge 

                                - cut fruit and veggies

                                - cut carrots, potatoes, onions for beef roast

 I like to have mostly healthy snacks-

Veggies

1. red and orange peppers
2. celery
3. carrots
4. baby tomatoes
5. cucumbers
6. with veggie ranch dip

Fruit

1. strawberries
2. grapes
3. oranges
4. bananas

5. kiwis
6. apples- prepare a few days before- I like to cut 5-10 apples in advance and let them sit in a ziplock bag with lemon juice, then they don't go brown.
7. any type of berries- raspberries, black berries
8. caramel to dip apples in

9.  Coconut Fruit Dip ((added 9/28/21))

Snacks

1.  Chips and guacamole- 1 avocado, dash lemon juice, salt and pepper, 1/4t diced tomatoes, cilantro,
garlic

2. crackers, beef log, and cheese

3. chex mix (added 9/28/21)

and with some treats and some BREAKFAST
1. Pumpkin Muffins
2. Baked Whole Apples
3 .Baked sliced apples
4. Baked Apple Oatmeal or the other Best Baked Choco Chip Oatmeal

5. I've made whole wheat cinnamon rolls,

6. Alli Baked french Toast


Dinner
Pumpkin Chili
Beef Roast

10/6/24

This was the first time Katie was gone at college and lily went with a friend (Anne Marie Fry) to Idaho. So it was chloe, luke, dad and i. 

Chloe wanted- fruit platter, fun pages to color, deviled eggs
Lily likes to have- neef roast, cinnamon rolls, strawberries and fruit dip, beef stick and crackers, smoothie bowls, roasted potatoes

WINTER FRUIT SALAD

https://therecipecritic.com/2017/01/best-winter-fruit-salad/

• 1 large apple peeled and sliced
• 1 pear, sliced
• 2 large bananas, peeled and sliced
• 3 kiwi fruit, peeled and sliced into rounds
• 3 clementines, peeled and separated
• ½ cup pomegranate seeds
• 1 Tablespoon Honey
• 3 Tablespoons Lime Juice
• 1 Tablespoon poppy seeds
• 1 Tablespoons fresh mint, chopped

In a large boel combine apple, pear, bananas, kiwi, clementines, and pomegranate seeds. Lightly toss.
In a small bowl whisk together honey, lime juice, poppy seeds, and mint. Drizzle over fruit and toss until coated. Serve.

Fruit Leather

1 gallon ziplock bag of frozen chopped plums w/o the pits (about 16 cups)
1 can of pineapple

Put pineapple and juice in blender and puree till all smooth. Then add a few cups of plums to the blender, blend till smooth. Then add the blender puree to the pan of plums and stir.

I boil all the liquid so some of the juices boil out and it condenses/reduces the amount of pureed fruit, making it more thick. I boil at least a 1/2 hour and make sure you are stirring every 5 min or so b/c it sticks and burns to the bottom of the pan if you don't.

In a food dehydrator lay a (cut open) grocery sack on the food tray, so the pureed fruit wont leak through.

I filled 4 food trays with the puree and set the dehydrator at 140 degrees, then dehydrated for about 10 hours.  It was still soft, chewy, and so delicious.

I have used apricots and pineapple before and that works out really well.

Waffles and Blueberry sauce

• 4 large eggs
• 3 cups milk (I have used everything from skim milk to thick buttermilk…so whatever you have on hand should work)
• 1/2 cup oil (I used melted butter or coconut oil)
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2  teaspoon baking soda 
• 1 Tablespoon baking powder
• 2 cups whole-wheat flour
• 1/4 c wheat bran, wheat germ, flax
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• Serve with Blueberry sauce

1. Preheat your waffle iron.
2. In a large mixing bowl whisk together the eggs, milk, oil, honey, cinnamon, and baking soda until well combined.
3. Add in the flour, baking powder and soda, and salt and whisk together just until the large lumps disappear.
4. When the waffle iron is hot, dab it with a little butter and then ladle some batter onto the center of the iron. Follow the instructions that came with your waffle maker to know how long it should be cooked (mine takes about 3 - 4 minutes each).
5. Keep waffles warm until you finish cooking all of them. Top with pure maple syrup and fruit. Enjoy!

these are very filling waffles.

Blueberry sauce  (raspberry or blackberries)

• 2 cups frozen blueberries 
• 1/2 cup honey
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch, mixed with 2 tablespoons cold water
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Zest of 1 lemon (about 1 tablespoon), optional

1. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine the blueberries, honey and lemon juice. Stir frequently, and bring to a low boil.
2. In a small bowl, whisk the cornstarch with 2 tablespoons of cold water.
3. Slowly stir the cornstarch into the blueberries, taking care not to crush the blueberries. Simmer until the homemade blueberry sauce is thick enough to coat the back of a metal spoon, about 5 minutes.
4. Remove from heat and gently stir in vanilla and lemon zest.

4/2/21 made this one several times, its so delicious.

32oz frozen strawberries, blackberries, blueberries, raspberries

1 c honey

4 T lemon juice

4 T cornstarch

1 t vanilla

German Pancakes

Original Recipe Taste of home

This recipe is for one 9x13 pan, but you can Double it and pour in two 9x13 pans

12     6 eggs
2      1 cup 2% milk
2      1 cup all-purpose flour (we used whole wheat flour, just made the pancake not as fluffy)
1t     1/2 teaspoon salt
4       2 tablespoons butter, melted or coconut oil

In a bowl, combine the eggs, milk, flour and salt; cover and mix until smooth.  I used solidified coconut oil and spread it on 13-in. x 9-in. baking dish; add the batter. Bake, uncovered, at 400° for 20 minutes.

We like fresh cut bananas, thinly sliced apples, peaches, pears, granola, plain yogurt, honey/syrup.

Goes well with Chopped Apples