Strawberry Angel Kabobs

Don’t you hate it when you're browsing through Pinterest and you come across something that someone else has pinned that is just like something that you have been making forever and have been saving to post?! That happened recently when I logged on and saw something similar to my Strawberry Angel Kabobs (which I had been saving to post this week.) These are a favorite for Mother's Day Brunch.

This is the perfect dessert for Mother's Day that is low-calorie, (what mom isn't always looking for low-cal?) and easy to assemble (see tips for chocolate striping below). It also has an elegant presentation and tastes delicious! What more can you ask for from a dessert? You could even serve Ice Cream in Chocolate Bowls alongside the skewers. 

If you like brunch that leans towards breakfast foods, try these Personal Frittatas, with  Perfectly Crisp Bacon and Roasted Asparagus on the side. They are always a hit and everyone loves bacon! If your brunch is more of lunch food, here's a new and fun way to serve Caprese Salad. And this Sweet Mango Salsa is delicious served as a salad on a bed of lettuce. And Mom will think you are a gourmet chef when you present her with Chilled Avocado Cucumber Soup. 


So, on to the kabobs...

Ingredients:

Angel Food Cake (check your grocery store bakery for rectangle or square cake-it's easier to cut in squares than round cake)

Fresh Strawberries

Wooden Skewers

Melting Candy - Chocolate & Vanilla

Technique:

Cut angel food cake into squares

Cut tops off strawberries

Slide strawberry onto skewers, followed by cake.

Repeat until skewer is full.

Set skewers close together on a tray.

Squeeze melting candy over skewers, either in stripes back and forth or twisting and circling.

Preparing Melting Candy:

Here's a super easy way to squeeze chocolate or frosting for decorating.

Put chocolate in microwave safe bowl. Microwave for 1 minute, then stir. Keep heating in 30 second increments, stirring in between each until melted.

Stand sandwich baggie inside of a small glass, spreading it open over the top of the glass.

Scoop up the melted chocolate and put in inside the baggie.

Pick the the baggie, using your hand to slide the chocolate down into the corner.

Cut a TINY bit off the corner of the baggie. I can't stress TINY enough, if you want to decorate in thin strips of chocolate.

Once you have finished decorating your skewers with chocolate melting candy, repeat the process with the vanilla melting candy.

Happy Mother's Day!

What is your favorite Mother's Day dessert? To leave a comment Click Here.

Juicy Gossip: Blueberry Oatmeal Smoothie

I love berry smoothies. Maybe that should be LOVE, not love. One of my favorites is this sweet green smoothie. It's deceiving because it looks green (and is super healthy) yet it tastes sweet like you would expect a fruit smoothie to taste.

I first saw this recipe for the Blueberry Oatmeal Smoothie on onearabvegan.com. I like the idea of getting some whole grain into the smoothie and I know oatmeal can blend up as fine as you would like it. I'm going to give you some variations on this one. I like variations because I don't always have the same ingredients available.

I also found that making this smoothie by her original recipe it was very "drink like". Does that make sense? It was smooth and runny. By changing just one thing I made it more frozen and "icy'. It can also be made with any other berry and the flavor will change accordingly.

Blueberry Oatmeal Smoothie

1/2 Cup Frozen Blueberries

1 Large Ripe Banana

1/3 Cup Old Fashioned or Rolled Oats

1 Cup Almond Milk (or Soy Milk or Rice Milk or Skim Milk)

1 Tbsp Shelled Hemp Seeds

1 tsp Chia Seeds

Put the liquid in the blender first, then add all ingredients. Blend everything together until smooth.

If you like it thicker and icier, use a frozen banana. (Since I have a thing about eating bananas once they get a little soft and have brown spots, I peel them, break them in half and freeze them in freezer baggies. So I always have a supply of frozen bananas for smoothies.)

You could also make it thicker by sticking with a fresh ripe banana and adding a scoop of your favorite vanilla protein powder.

If you aren't familiar with Chia Seeds, I think this is a pretty good source for the Top 10 Benefits of Chia Seeds.

If you don't have blueberries, use strawberries or blackberries or a mixture of both.

The smoothie in this picture is blueberry and is made with a frozen banana so make it icier. You don't taste the oatmeal at all, but get the nutritional benefit of the grain.

Do you have a favorite flavor that you would like to be able to incorporate into a smoothie?