Tag Archives: summer

Frozen Strawberry Lime Coconut Margaritas

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Nothing says summer like a Frozen Strawberry Lime Coconut Margarita! Totally delicious and I made mini frozen slushies for the kids with the ingredients (except alcohol!). It was a nice cool treat for them, and you could serve this as a fun (non alcoholic) and festive dessert drink for grown-ups as well!

strawberry lime coconut margarita blog (3) strawberry lime coconut margarita blog (2) strawberry lime coconut margarita blog (1)

Ingredients

  • 1 cup coconut milk (full fat)
  • 1/4 cup Simple Syrup
  • Zest from 1 lime
  • 1/4 cup lime juice
  • 2 cups strawberries
  • 3 Tbsp lime juice
  • 3 oz tequila
  • Lime and shredded coconut for garnish

Directions

  • Combine first four ingredients in blender, blend until smooth and then pour into ice cube tray or a large Ziploc bag and freeze for 2-4 hours
  • Combine strawberries and 3 Tbsp lime juice in blender and blend until smooth
  • When ready to make margaritas, put frozen coconut lime mixture in blender and puree. At this point you can remove some for the kids. then add in tequila and blend until smooth.
  • Pour coconut lime mixture into four margarita glasses, add some strawberry puree to each glass and garnish with lime wedges and shredded coconut
  • Serve! Enjoy!

Inspired by Tequila Avion’s mini video on Instagram.

dit-elle-Esther

Blackberry Jalapeno Margaritas

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Blackberry season is upon us and so is Margarita season! Stir up some Blackberry Jalapeno Margaritas for a spicy and delicious summer drink! 🙂

blackberry jalapeno margarita blog (3) blackberry jalapeno margarita blog (2) blackberry jalapeno margarita blog (1)

Ingredients (serves 4)

  • ¾ cup tequila
  • ½ cup triple sec or grand marnier
  • ½ cup freshly squeezed lime juice
  • 1 cup blackberry Jalapeno Syrup (see below)
  • Ice cubes
  • Fresh blackberries and lime wedges for garnish
  • Blackberry Jalapeno Syrup (recipe here)
  • Blackberries, lime wedges and jalapeno slices for garnish
  • Sugar for the rim

Instructions

  1. Rim 4 glasses with a lime wedge and then dip them into a dish filled with sugar. Upright the glasses and fill them with ice.
  2. Fill a cocktail shaker with the tequila, triple sec, lime juice and 1 cup of the Blackberry Jalapeno syrup, plus a handful of ice. Shake vigorously and strain the margaritas into the prepared glasses.
  3. Garnish with fresh blackberries and lime wedges and serve.

Inspired by Heather Cristo’s Blackberry Jalapeno Margaritas.

dit-elle-Esther

Blackberry Jalapeno Refresher

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Last week I posted a Blackberry Jalapeno Syrup. It’s a great recipe to make in advance, store in fridge and use when ready. Try this non-alcoholic bubbly beverage for a sweet and spicy, but refreshing drink! Too spicy for kids, but you could certainly make the syrup without the jalapeno for a non spicy version! 🙂

blackberry jalapeno refresher blog (3) blackberry jalapeno refresher blog (2) blackberry jalapeno refresher blog (1)

Ingredients

  • 1/4 cup Blackberry Jalapeno Syrup
  • Carbonated water (plain or lime flavored)
  • Fresh blackberries and a lime wedge or wheel for garnish
  • Ice

Directions

  • Pour syrup into tall glass filled with ice
  • Fill rest of glass with bubbly water and garnish with fresh blackberries and lime

Inspired by Heather Cristo’s Blackberry Jalapeno Margaritas.

dit-elle-Esther

Blackberry Jalapeno Syrup

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As Blackberries start to ripen, this is a GREAT base recipe that you can make up to a week in advance and store in your fridge. I’ll post a couple of drinks next week! Jalapeno adds a lot of heat, but you could certainly leave that out if you want a non spicy syrup!

blackberry jalapeno syrup blog

Ingredients (makes 1 ½ cups)

  • 1 cup Sugar
  • 1 cup water
  • 1 cup fresh or frozen blackberries
  • 1 jalapeno pepper, minced

Directions

  • Combine the sugar and water in a small pot and bring to a brief boil over medium heat.
  • Transfer the syrup to a blender and add the blackberries and the jalapenos. Blend until smooth. To extract the seeds, pour through a fine mesh strainer into an airtight container or mason jar. Refrigerate for up to 1 week.

Inspired by Heather Cristo’s Blackberry Jalapeno Margaritas.

dit-elle-Esther

Grilled Chicken, Onion, and Pepper Shish Kabobs

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It’s summer, and what screams summer more than grilling?!!  Ok, pools, popsicles, all of Esther’s yummy cocktails (!!)….ok, a lot of things scream summer.  BUT…grilling.  YUM!

I’ve talked many times about my love of grilling.  Ok, the EASE of grilling!!  It used to intimidate me, but now I LOVE it!  I usually do whole chicken breasts, but decided to try and do shish kabobs.  SO GOOD!Blog Whole30 Paleo Grilled Chicken Peppers Onions Shish Kabobs-1 Blog Whole30 Paleo Grilled Chicken Peppers Onions Shish Kabobs-2Ingredients (varies people you want to feed)

  • Chicken Breasts (cut into 1-1.5 inch cubes)
  • Bell Peppers-I used red, yellow, and orange (cut into 1-1.5 inch cubes)
  • Large Onion (cut into 1-1.5 inch cubes)
  • Olive Oil
  • Balsamic Vinegar
  • Trader Joe’s Every Day Seasoning

What to do

  • It’s not absolutely necessary, but if you can marinate the chicken a few hours before you’d like to grill, that’s the best.  Just put the cubed chicken in a bowl.  Drizzle with olive oil, balsamic, and grind the Trader Joe’s Every Day Seasoning over it.  I honestly had all these ideas of various spices I was going to add, and then (OF COURSE!) was running late and reached for what’s easy, and good!
  • Do the same for the veggies (not as necessary to have those marinate!)Blog Whole30 Paleo Grilled Chicken Peppers Onions Shish Kabobs-3 Blog Whole30 Paleo Grilled Chicken Peppers Onions Shish Kabobs-4
  • You can use wooden sticks to spear all the meat and veggies.  If you do, make sure you soak the them for a good 10 minutes prior.
  • Preheat  your grill to medium heat.
  • Evenly spear chicken and veggies until everything is used up.Blog Whole30 Paleo Grilled Chicken Peppers Onions Shish Kabobs-5Grill for 7-8 minutes on each side. Blog Whole30 Paleo Grilled Chicken Peppers Onions Shish Kabobs-6Oh, and Maya is in this stage where she doesn’t want her picture taken, UNLESS I’m trying to take pictures of something other than her… haha.Blog Outtake

Enjoy!dit-elle-Lauren

4th of July Almond Zucchini Cupcakes with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting

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Happy 4th of July, happy Independence Day! Hope you have a wonderful and safe holiday!

Need a festive dessert for the holiday? Make these cupcakes and decorate with berries – a beautiful and great cooking project for kids to help with (especially the decorating part)! 🙂

And.. the secret ingredient? Zucchini! This makes them moist and delicious, and who can say no to some extra healthiness? 🙂

zucchini cupcakes with lemon cream cheese frosting blog (2) zucchini cupcakes with lemon cream cheese frosting blog (1)

Ingredients

  • 1/2 stick butter
  • 1 1/2 cups almond flour (spooned and leveled)
  • 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons potato starch (or corn starch is fine)
  • 1 1/4 teaspoons gluten-free baking powder
  • dash sea salt
  • 3 large eggs, room temperature
  • 1/3 cup coconut sugar (or other sugar, white/brown)
  • 2 tsps pure vanilla extract
  • 1 cup finely grated zucchini (from 1 medium zucchini), squeezed of excess liquid

Frosting

  • 16 oz cream cheese, room temperature
  • 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar
  • 3 Tbsp lemon juice
  • 1/4-1/2 tsp lemon zest
  • Berries for garnish (I used raspberries and blueberries)
  • Shredded coconut for garnish

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare cupcake tin with paper forms.
  2. Whisk together almond flour, potato starch, baking powder, and salt.
  3. Set a large heatproof bowl over (not in) a pot with 1 inch barely simmering water. Add eggs and whisk until foamy, about 1 minute. Whisk in sugar and continue to whisk until mixture is fluffy and sugar is dissolved, 3 minutes. Remove bowl from pot and, using a mixer, whisk on high until mixture is thick and pale, 7 to 10 minutes (I did this in my food processor with the standard chopper blade).
  4. With a rubber spatula, gently fold in melted butter, flour mixture, vanilla, and zucchini. Pour into tin and bake until cupcakes are golden brown and a toothpick inserted in center comes out with moist crumbs attached, 25 to 30 minutes. Let cupcakes cool.
  5. For frosting, with mixer (or again I used the food processor here) beat together room-temperature butter, cream cheese, lemon juice and zest until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add confectioners’ sugar and beat until combined. Spread on top of cupcakes and decorate with berries and shredded coconut.

 

I originally made this recipe as a cake inspired by the queen herself (Martha Stewart’s Zucchini Almond Cake).

Enjoy!

dit-elle-Esther

White Sangria with Summer Fruit

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This is a perfect summer drink! Pick fruits that are in season.. I used peaches, cherries, raspberries and blackberries.. but you could add some citrus fruit, other stone fruit or other berries! Serve chilled.. lovely on a hot summer day!

white sangria with summer fruit and berries blog (3)white sangria with summer fruit and berries blog (2)white sangria with summer fruit and berries blog (1)

Ingredients

  • 1 bottle white wine
  • 1/2 cup triple sec (or brandy, or rum)
  • 1-2 cups chopped summer fruit or berries
  • 1/2 cup peach juice

Directions

  • Mix all ingredients and refrigerate until ready to serve
  • Serve with ice

dit-elle-Esther

PIMM’s Summer Drink

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PIMM’s is a light and tasty British liqueur, popularly served in summer in a tall glass with ice, some lemon/lime soda, maybe some strawberries and cucumber and a slice of lemon. You can read more about Mr. Pimm’s and the history of the drink on Wikipedia, or just stir up a pitcher and enjoy! 🙂

pimms cucumber strawberry drink blog (2)pimms cucumber strawberry drink blog (1)

Ingredients

  • PIMM’s liqueur
  • Ice
  • Strawberries
  • Cucumber
  • Ginger ale, lemon/lime soda or unsweetened carbonated waters
  • Lemon slices

Directions

  • Fill a tall glass halfway with ice
  • Add 1.5oz of PIMM’s
  • top with soda
  • Garnish with a lemon slice
  • Optionally stir in some slices of cucumber and strawberries

Enjoy! 🙂

dit-elle-Esther

Strawberries Romanoff

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Marinate berries in liqueur and sugar for a special summer dessert! Leave the liqueur off for the kids and just serve freshly sliced strawberries with whipped cream, Greek yogurt or coconut milk!

strawberries romanoff blog

Ingredients

  • 4 cups sliced strawberries (1 1/2 lbs)
  • 1 Tbsp powdered sugar
  • 1/4 Cointreau
  • Whipped cream
  • Mint for garnish (optional)

Directions

  • Combine first 3 ingredients in a bowl, cover and chill for about 3 hours
  • When ready to serve, spoon strawberry mixture into bowls or cocktail glasses, top with whipped cream and garnish with mint
  • Enjoy! 🙂

dit-elle-Esther

Dill Ranch Dressing

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My favorite dressing at PCC is this fresh “dill ranch” dressing. They only sell it in small one serving sizes with salads to go, so I looked up the recipe, made it, and it turned out just as excellent as the in store version!

Here you go! 🙂

dill ranch dressing and veggies blog

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup mayonnaise
  • 1/2 cup plain yogurt
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon onion powder (I omitted because I didn’t have this ingredient, still tasted great!)
  • 1 teaspoon dried dill
  • 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1 tablespoon fresh parsley (optional)
  • 1 to 2 tablespoons milk (to make thinner if desired)

Directions

  • Add all ingredients to a bowl and stir together with a whisk until the herbs and spices are mixed evenly.
  • For a thinner dressing add milk, 1 tablespoon at a time, until desired consistency is reached.
  • Refrigerate until ready to serve!
  • Serve with fresh cut vegetables or salad.

 

Thanks PCC Natural Markets for this recipe!

dit-elle-Esther