Spiced Cranberry Cider

This is a recipe from Mom. It looks good.

SPICED CRANBERRY CIDER

2 quarts apple cider

1 1/2 quarts cranberry juice

1/4 C brown sugar (packed)

1 three-inch cinnamon sticks

1 1/2 teaspoons whole cloves

1 lemon, thinly sliced

Combine all ingredients in large kettle. Heat to boiling; reduce heat and simmer 15 to 20 minutes. I like to put in my crock-pot for a couple of hours!!

Spiced Apple Cider

Scott and I both really like spiced apple cider. We found a recipe and decided to try some. We have really enjoyed it. This recipe is for the slow cooker, but we put the ingredients in a large pot and did it on the stove. The recipe is from the Fix-It and Forget-It Cookbook.


Spiced Apple Cider

3 3-inch sticks cinnamon
2 tsp. whole cloves
1 tsp. whole nutmeg, or 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 gallon apple cider
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup orange juice
1/2 cup lemon juice (we omit the lemon juice - if you add it, put it in at the same time as the orange juice.)

1. Tie spices in cheesecloth or tea strainer and place in slow cooker. (We used a mesh laundry bag that was small enough to fit in the pot with some to hang over the top.)

2. Add apple cider and sugar, stirring well.

3. Cover. Simmer on low 1 hour. Remove spices and stir in orange juice. Continue heating 1 more hour. Serve cider from cooker, set on low.

Strawberry Lassi

I hadn't heard of a lassi until Scott told me about them. Scott has had them before and told me they were a great drink.

Here is some background on lassis. This text came from Baking Bites. You can find a link below. "A lassi is a traditionally Indian drink that is made with yogurt and a variety of spices, sweet or savory. I’ve noticed that fruit lassis are probably the most popular and are easily the most widely available type at the Indian restaurants I’ve been too. They are often smoothie-like in consistency and use yogurt, milk, fruit and a sweetener."

Photo courtesy of Baking Bites

Strawberry Lassi

2 cups fresh strawberries (about 12-oz.), roughly chopped
1 cup plain yogurt
2-3 tbsp honey (we add an extra tbsp of honey)
1 cup ice (or frozen fruit can be used as ice)

Process in food processor until no chunks of ice remain and drink is very, very smooth.
Pour into chilled glasses.

The original recipe can be found at Baking Bites here.

Smoothies!

I realized that our recipe blog needed our smoothie recipes. I have included both our "ice" smoothies as well as our breakfast smoothies.

“Ice” Smoothies (there is no ice included…but Milo is the smoothie boss and he named them)

2 large scoops of sherbet
2 cups of fruit (to remove the need for ice or additional freezing time it is best if at least 75% of the fruit is frozen)
1.5 cups of juice (or a juice/water mixture)
Blend it all up and eat! If you use fresh fruit you can put it in the freezer for a bit to thicken up.

We also have smoothies for breakfast which don’t require a spoon to consume. Milo “just” calls these smoothies.

Breakfast Smoothies

0.5 cups plain yogurt
1 scoop of whey powder
1 cup of juice (or a juice/water mixture)
1-1.5 cups frozen fruit
honey (optional…it makes the drink a bit sweeter when the fruit you are using may not be naturally sweet)
Blend it up and drink!

You can look at our original smoothie post on our blog here.