Fruit Smoothie

There's nothing simpler than an easy concoction in the morning. And on weekends it holds especially true. (Who has the motivation?)

Well, one of our favorite ways to fill that void has been through delicious fruit smoothies. We take a bunch of frozen fruit and some other products and blend it and -- simple as that -- we have a filling breakfast that also happens to deliver a bunch of the day's necessary fruit servings.

Two birds, one smoothie.

Our goes a little something like this: First, we add the yogurt (we have taken a likening to Stonyfield Farm's French Vanilla) ...


orange juice (generally we used regular orange juice, but for this time we used reconstituted orange juice concentrate; they are equally good) ...


a mix of frozen mangoes, peaches and strawberries ...


frozen raspberries ...


more frozen strawberries and frozen black cherries.


The big question: Will it blend? (Answer: Yes, thankfully.)



We're left with a great delivery of energy and the yogurt helps to provide a lasting full belly. One tip: Don't drink too much of it too fast.

Raspberry Scones

Although we try to blog about recipes we've tried, one meal is generally overlooked: Breakfast. We generally eat just a few staples for breakfast, all of which cheap and easy. And scones certainly fall into those categories. And I found the recipe in a book that was part informative, part cookbook.

Any-Fruit-Will-Do Scones
3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1/2 cup unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1 tablespoon orange zest
1/2 cup of dried fruit or 1 cup of frozen fruit or 1 cup of fresh fruit
1 1/3 cups buttermilk

Preheat the oven to 35o degrees.

In a food processor, combine all the dry ingredients and the butter. Pulse a few times in 10-second bursts until the butter chunks are blended into a sandy texture.

Transfer the mix to a bowl and add the orange zest and desired fruit. In this case, we used frozen raspberries. It's important to note that the amount of fruit used depends on the state of the fruit -- whether it's dried, frozen or fresh. Then add the buttermilk and stir.

Divide the dough in half. Pat each half into a circle and divide into 4 wedges. Place each wedge on a baking sheet.


Bake for 35 minutes; let cool a few minutes on a rack.


It had a very fragrant aroma -- thank you, orange zest -- and the raspberries turned out well. However, it needed more fruit. We put a cup of frozen raspberries in, but I think it needed at least another 1/2 cup, or even another 1 cup.

We'll make the recipe again increasing the amount of fruit we use. We'll also try other fruits, too.

As a side note, the book says the mixture can be stopped after adding the butter and frozen for up to 3 months. It suggested making a batch and freezing half of it if you won't eat it all quickly.