Strawberry Lemonade

This is my brother Eric.  He is a drink snob.  I’m serious he is very picky about his beverages particularly his lemonade.  A couple of years ago I found out about his desire for truly wonderful lemonade and his aversion to the sub-par varieties.  Since then I have started noticing how wonderful lemonade can be, and also sadly how horrible it can be. 

A few days ago we had our first warm spring day.  The sun was shining, the sky was blue and we were working outside in the yard.  After a couple of hours my kids were dying for a snack and I was dying for a drink.  My little girl asked for pink lemonade.  She was thinking of the country time mix, which I no longer buy.  I thought about it for a minute and this Strawberry Lemonade was born.    

I mix it up in the blender and serve it over ice.  For the strawberries I used the powder from the bottom of a can I had just finished. But if you don't have any you can crush some freeze dried strawberries.

Strawberry Lemonade

¾ c lemon juice (fresh is delicious but bottled is acceptable)

¾ cup Freeze Dried Strawberry Powder (ether from the bottom of the can or FD strawberries that have been crushed)

¾ cup sugar

2 quarts

Ice

Blend well.  Serve immediately.

Mango Shaved Ice--the most delicious dessert of the summer!

Happy Birthday to my brother!   Handsome Dan I hope you had a great birthday!  Okay his birthday was really a few days ago but I did make this on his birthday in honor of him.  I did develop this recipe just for him,  and I've never developed a recipe for anyone ever before. 

So what does his birthday have to do with 

the most delicious dessert of the summer?  

He and his cute wife are currently living in China.  A while ago they posted on their blog about their favorite dessert in China.  Here is what they had to say: 

It's a finely shaved ice pile with fresh, very fresh mangoes on top with what we think is sweetened condensed milk and mango syrup on top.

Here they are eating said shaved ice: 

 Source:  http://danielandashley-thisisus.blogspot.com

Now after I read that description I decided that this was a food I needed to eat. And since I'm not traveling to China anytime soon I better make some myself. You can read more about their adventure in China on their blogs here and here.

 It turns out that Mango shaved ice is actually pretty simple to make.  And it is just as delicious as they said it was.  It is my new favorite summer desert. It only takes a few minutes to make, it is made with things I have on hand, and it is cold and refreshing. I think you will love it. Everyone I have served it to so far has.

Mango Shaved Ice--the most delicious dessert of the summer
Serves 4
Note:  If you don’t have your own Shaved Ice Machine you could try purchasing shaved ice from the local stand without any flavor and then hurrying home to add your toppings.

Ingredients:
6 cups Shaved Ice 
1 cup Freeze Dried Mangoes
1 cup warm water
1 can Sweetened Condensed Milk

1.      Rehydrate the mangoes in the warm water. This will take about 5 minutes.  You know they are hydrated when they are soft all the way through.  Drain

2.      Layer in a cup (or as they do in china on a plate) 1 ½ cup Shaved ice, 2 tablespoons sweetened condensed milk, and ¼ cup mango.  Serve immediately.

Frozen Hot Chocolate-and how to use THRIVE Chocolate Drink Mix

We love hot chocolate.  Every winter I know I need to stock up because my husband and kids drink a TON of it.  But one of our favorite creating is Frozen Hot Chocolate.  Okay we did not come up with the idea, but a while ago Oprah featured it and my Mom found a mix for it and we all tried it.  Well we really like it.  My enterprising husband says "I think I could make that" And he did.  It is really very easy.  Ice, drink mix, water and a blender and you are there.  I have included some info on other ways to use your chocolate drink mix.


Frozen Hot Chocolate
My husband created this recipe a while ago after we tasted the frozen hot chocolate that Oprah made famous a few years ago.   The consistency should be like that of a Wendy’s frosty.
2 cups ice
¼ cup chocolate drink mix
½ cup water

Add all ingredients to blender. Blend well.  Serve.

Other THRIVE Chocolate Drink Mix Recipes:
Hot Coco
To make 1 quart: Add 1 cup Chocolate drink mix powder to 4 cups hot water. Stir well. We usually use our hot chocolate machine. Love it when making hot chocolate for the entire family.

To make 1 cup. Add 2 ½ tablespoons to chocolate drink powder to 1 cup hot chocolate. 

Chocolate Milk:  To make 1 gallon
In a 1 gallon picture, add 3 cup chocolate drink mix to 4 cups very hot water (we usually use boiling). Stir until completely dissolved.  Add enough cold water* to make 1 gallon.  Refrigerate until cold.  Serve cold. 
*If you want to drink it sooner instead of adding cold water add ice to make 1 gallon.

All about THRIVE Chocolate Drink Mix
Shelf Life Sealed Shelf Life    25 years*
Opened Shelf Life            2 years*
*Shelf life based on optimal storage conditions.

Ingredients:
Sugar, whey, non-fat non instant milk, non dairy creamer (coconut oil and/or soya oil, corn syrup solids, sodium caseinate, dipotassium phosphate, mono and diglycerides, soy lecithin), cocoa (processed with alkali), guar and xanthan gums, salt, vitamins A/D blend (Vitamin A Palminate, malodextrin, vitamin D3), natural and artificial flavors.

Instant Milk Comparision

  I get a lot of questions about Thrive Instant milk.  Instant milk is designed for drinking. It is easy to mix up and easier to drink then powdered milk.  Hopefully this chart will help you better understand Instant Milk. Thanks Elise for sharing!  

Name	1% milk	Thrive Instant Milk	Morning Moo Milk
Cost Per Gallon	$2.00 on Sale	Aprox $3.60	Aprox $1.81
Calories	100	80	80
Fat	20	0	20
Calcium	30%	30%	15%
Protein	8g	8 g	3g
Shelf Life	1-2 weeks	25 years (2 years open)	25 years (1 year open)

Green Smoothies-with Freeze Dried Spinach

So have you caught the green smoothie craze? My friend Kim introduced me to green smoothies a couple of years ago. (She has a great post on her blog about them.).  The idea is to eat/drink some highly nutritious foods such as spinach or Kale, along with a bunch of fruit in smoothie form. Recently I have had a ton of people at my parties talking about green smoothies.  I thought I would try them with freeze driend spinach.  I did and it turned out great.  My husband says "the tree huggers will love it"  so to all of you tree huggers out there give it a try.

One note: Lots of people making green smoothies have amazing blenders.  I on the other hand don't.  I have a Hamilton beach blender that I got for my wedding 8 year ago, and it worked just fine)
My friend Marie calls these "Shrek Smoothies" (she does not use strawberries that make it turn brown) and she says her kids LOVE them.

Green Smoothie
1 banana  (or use freeze dried, I would of but I am out until my Q ships this month)
1 cup freeze dried spinach (dry you don't need to rehydrate before)
2 cups frozen fruit (we use strawberries)
2 c hot water (the hot water helps rehydrate the spinach and to help your blender run smooth)
1 Tablespoon honey (optional)

Put all the ingredients in blender and blend well.  In my blender it takes a few minutes.  I just let the blender run until it is smooth.