Are you staying frugal?

Frugal doings lately:
*After someone posted the deal recently, I ordered a 40oz bag of Dunkin Donuts French Vanilla coffee from Sam's Club, with free shipping, for just under $10. So we are set with coffee for quite a while as we've scaled back consumption and this gets combined with decaf for an ideal blend for my husband and self.
*With the above frugal doing came along an unexpected bonus. Included in my Sam's Club box was a 100ct box of Kcups (did not order and not included on my bill). I contacted Sam's online via a live chat to let them know. They told me to keep it. While I don't have a Keurig machine, my new workplace does. I brought it there and now feel no guilt in enjoying a cup a few times a week.
*The convenience store that I still work (bakery department) every other weekend held a meeting last night. We placed number one in our district for a review and for a second category that I can't recall. So each employee received $45 in store gift cards.
*I completed our taxes. Though this year cost us over $125, it was still cheaper than having someone else do them for us (over $200). The last couple of times we had them done by "professionals" there was a mistake on both. Granted, I made a mistake last year and again this year. But each time I am learning something new to watch for the next time.
*Recent freebies at a grocery in the nearby city that I'd loaded to my shoppers card and was able to pick up: free can of new Diet Coke, organic 3oz chocolate bar, chia seed/juice drink, individual serving cup of cottage cheese, protein bar.
*Oh, the biggest thing was a job change. I now know what days and hours I work, consistently. At the convenience store it varied far too much for my comfort. It's a little frightening as I am the only kitchen employee for a preschool. My back-up person is my boss, ha ha. Small businesses - love them. They are unable to offer any health insurance so my husband and I still have none. But that was the case at the previous job, too.
*I still work every other weekend at the convenience store. I get a free car wash every payday and a discount on expiring meats (which have been pulled off shelf to go to food shelter after employees have a chance to purchase). Those things combined with a couple of little paychecks each month seem good enough reasons to keep it. However, I caught wind that people there recently had a review - I did not. So I will have to remember to ask about that when I work this weekend.
*Still trying to do the typical things we all do. Such as turning off lights and power strips when not using them or on the overnights. Hanging some heavier laundry items to dry on racks (winter with extremely cold temps and snow do not make outdoor drying an enticing task) such as towels, jeans, most shirts.
*Our grocery spending has been a lot lower. Though I don't keep track, I know I am spending much less money when in the stores and the number of times in a store has drastically reduced. I've been trying to clear our freezers out so that we won't waste due to freezer burn. I'm nearly down to the bottom of one chest freezer (we have two and the little freezer on top with fridge).
*Have paid two utility bills online that we previously would have used a stamp to mail or used gas to deliver.
*Have set up a customer rewards card for myself, husband and parents at the convenience store I work. Not a whole lot of great perks, but free and discounted is good in any case. Once a month I can add a few coupons to our cards that will give us, for example, a free coffee, $1 off a salad/sandwich, free fountain drink, etc. They also keep track of our milk, store brand pizza and coffee drink purchases so that after a certain number we receive a free pizza/coffee and $1 off a milk purchase. We don't go out of our way to buy those things, though do on occasion anyway, so why not reap a little something back?
*Been using the greens on a small bunch of scallions for weeks. I popped them into a little jar with water that I change or add to every few days and they just keep on growing!

*Requested coupons mailed to me for a new brand of frozen pizza after the ones that I'd printed had expired before I was able to use them, then were no longer available to print. While not exactly the same coupons, they still will give me two free with the purchase of three. They are a bit heavier than what I normally would buy, too.

Eats lately:
Yum. Found a bag of shrimp down deep in the freezer that had been forgotten. J picked up one red bell pepper and a can of pineapple chunks. I made a lime & ginger marinade for the shrimp. Once that was done, I tossed it in a cast-iron grill pan and put it under the broiler. So good.

Mint & Chip fat bombs. Am trying to make a more concentrated effort to scaling back on sugars and carbs again. I'm good for a few day, then I'm sabotaged or unprepared and fall off the wagon.

Of course, I've eaten a lot more than this. But it's all I have taken pics of and, frankly, I haven't been eating the way I'm supposed to either. I did find canned tuna on sale and a bit of cheese. So I've been starting to stock our pantry and fridge as it should be and am refusing any more junk stuff from coming in. The fight is real, grr.

Are you staying frugal?

Eats lately: Cheddar and onion topped burger with slaw and an orange segment. Chopped salad and brat with leftover onions/mustard/relish topping. Chocolate dipped strawberries. Peanut butter protein bars. Fajita chicken salad.






Frugal doings:
>Found Charlie perfume on sale for under $7 at Walmart's site, whereas in store they wanted $25.
>Bought 4 for $1 flower seeds from Dollar Tree that I'll toss into the straw-bales from last summer's garden project. Hopefully it'll create a new flower bed for me!
>Found myself going out for overpriced coffees on average of once per week and have now scaled it back to only a special occasion such as out with a friend that I don't get to see too often anymore or when J and I are out on a "date". May even cut that out as I am switching to coffee with cream instead of espresso drinks with half and half. If I grind my beans just right it tastes better than the coffeeshops anyway.
>Have been clearing out frozen leftovers for meals. For instance, tonight, we are having taco seasoned rice (frozen leftover) that I will combine with hamburger I was able to purchase with an employee discount at work ($1.47 for 1.25lbs) and top it with shredded cheese (frozen leftover).
>Borrowed The Accountant and Deepwater Horizon from the library to enjoy during the next few days.
>Discovered that A, our adult daughter, has Netflix for herself on her laptop and suggested that her sharing it would be a nice way to "pay rent". So we've watched Bates Motel and a couple of other things that we'd been wanting to see.
>Went to the waste recovery center (place for stuff that people throw out that could be used still) and found a small roll of wire fencing, a roll of black gardening cloth/material still in its wrapper, a paperback book and a "waiting room" chair that looks to need only some wood glue and c-clamp to make it useful again. Most of the stuff there is pretty well used and I consider a lot of it garbage so this was a nice surprise.
> J and I stopped out to eat for a lunch date. We used a certificate that I'd purchased for 1/2 price.
>Went Goodwill-hopping in the nearby city. Found a couple of tops for myself and a couple lightweight jackets for A.
>With a Target cartwheel coupon and an in-store sale, as well as a coupon on each box, I was able to get two 19lbs boxes of cat litter for under $10. I then also used a $5gc from a previous purchase and the total was under $5! (Regular price would have been nearly $25 for the two.)
>Asked a friend to find out further info from her son's girlfriend about teeth whitening at the college where she's doing her dental training. My friend is getting a cleaning done for $20 there next week.
>Spent an evening at a friend's house, along with her husband and mine, for dinner (we brought salad) and a lesson in cribbage. Very fun!

Keeping frugal, trying to stay somewhat low-carb.

Eats lately: Boneless pork chops with veggies sheet pan meal (a maple gravy was spooned over each chop on our plates-made with real maple syrup that I was gifted), tomato & mozzarella slices with a splash of olive oil and balsamic vinegar and steak smothered with mushrooms/onions/peppers, lettuce salad with sunflowers and cheese and mushroom smothered steak and salt & vinegar roasted fingerling potatoes.

A Frugal Doing:  These pictures are from this past fall. Dad had a good crop of leeks in the garden and we just weren't eating them quickly enough to eat fresh. So I dug the rest up, cleaned them really well, then sliced and dehydrated them. I didn't keep track of how long they were on the racks, though they were on overnight and then some. That small kitchen sink full of leeks gave me about 6 sandwich baggies full.

I'm hoping to get back on the low-carb bandwagon. I haven't fallen completely off, but pretty close. My weight's stayed pretty much the same. Though I am afraid that one of these times that I hop on the scale it is finally going to have caught up with me. A friend has finally started a "diabetic type of diet" (aka low-carb) and while we no longer work together and see each other as often, it is still nice to have a friend that understands the how and why of eating this way. Sadly, she is the one who gifted me a quart of real maple syrup that I have used on several occasions, ha ha... I have a new job in a convenience store where cheap eats are abundant and has added to my failing. I've recently started to bring my own lunch and am continuing to work on that. Meeting for coffee at friends' homes is another challenge for me as there's typically goodies on hand. I warned them at the last one that if I bring something in the future it will be made to suit my needs. Selfish aren't I? Anyway, here's to keeping a better diet and keeping a better record of it, too!

Oatmeal Raisin & Pecan Scones (Not Low-Carb!)

It's another coffee get-together today and this is the treat that I brought. Yes, not low-carb. (Doesn't mean that I fell off the wagon completely, though - ha ha!) These were actually a second batch as "J" was supposed to pull them from the oven for me and forgot, so the first run got a bit too dark. While I used my microplaner to sand off the darkened bottoms, I didn't want to serve others a not-so-perfect end product. But that fail led me to make a couple of changes, too, which led to this far superior scone. So yummy. Drop them with whatever size scoop that you'd like. I prefer my cookie scooper to make mini ones, which also meant less baking time. My oven heats a bit towards the hotter side, so you may need to make an adjustment there also. I ran out of half & half, so I actually used a combo of h&h, heavy whipping cream and coconut milk. The recipe is flexible. You can use other oatmeal flavors, I would imagine. You can use whatever spice combination you have, rather than the Cake Spice. Change nuts, omit nuts... you get the picture.

Oatmeal Raisin & Pecan Scones
(made 25 mini scones)
1 & 1/2c flour
2 pkts. maple instant oatmeal
1/4c brown sugar
2t baking powder
pinch pink sea salt
2t Penzey's Cake Spice
handful broken pecans
handful raisins
1 stick cold butter cut into cubes
1/2c half & half

Icing:
About 1/4-1/2c powdered sugar, splash of maple flavoring, few splashes of heavy whipping cream, about 1t Penzey's Cake Spice. Stir it all together, thin as needed with heavy whipping cream.

Heat oven to 325F. Mix flour through Cake Spice together in bowl. Add butter and, using fingers or pastry blender, cut butter into dry ingredients until crumbly. Stir in nuts and raisins. Add half & half and just stir until moistened. Drop onto prepared pans ( I use silpats). Bake for 10-15mns, or until edges are turning golden. Once cool, drizzle or spread icing atop.

Reduced Carb Peanut Butter Bars

The first time I made these bars I used a recipe found at the Southern Plate website. They were phenomenal, so addictive. I've thought of them often since cutting back on sugars but couldn't think of what would work best to bulk up the peanut butter base in place of all that powdered sugar that was in the original recipe. Sure it was no hard task to find a low-carb recipe, just do a quick search yourself and you will find an unlimited number of "Reese's" type of recipes. My trouble was in choosing just one that sounded like it would be "the best". At some point I just had to pick one (well, okay, two) to try and so I combined Low Carb Yum's and one from Linda's Low Carb site. I adapted the recipes to my preferences and to what I had in my pantry and the following recipe is the result.

Reduced Carb Peanut Butter Bars
(adapted from Low Carb Yum and Southern Plate and Linda's Low Carb Menus & Recipes)
Base:
1/2c butter, melted
2/3c unsweetened, unflavored whey protein powder
2T ground golden flax
1/4c Stevia In The Raw powder
1/4c powdered xylitol
1/4t pink sea salt
2tsp vanilla extract
1c chunky peanut butter
Topping:
6oz dark chocolate pieces
1T coconut oil

Melt butter in pan, remove from heat and add vanilla. Let butter cool as you combine protein powder, flax, sweetener and salt in a bowl and mix together. Add peanut butter to melted butter and combine. Then stir in dry ingredients. Spread into a wax paper lined pan (I used an 8x11) and put in refrigerator to chill. Meanwhile, put chocolate pieces into a microwave safe dish (I use my glass Pyrex measuring cup) along with the coconut oil and microwave only until melted, stirring every 30 seconds. Pour over the chilled peanut butter layer and place back into the refrigerator to set up completely. Keep in fridge or freezer.

Couple of notes: The butter is salted as I rarely buy unsalted. The protein powder is Jarrow Formula brand. I'd far prefer Jay Robb's but it wasn't in my budget. Whatever protein powder you do use, keep in mind that you will likely be able to taste it a little in the end product. My peanut butter was a combination of a natural one and a generic, typical shelf-stable one. For chocolate I used part of an 85% dark chocolate bar and some Hershey's dark chocolate chips. So, as you can see, it's a fairly flexible recipe. Also, these cannot be stored out at room temp as they are still too soft even with the addition of the flax. I would describe it as a soft fudge when refrigerated and perfection when frozen. I cut mine into about 50-60 cubes and eat 2-4 at any one time - four seem to make a snack bar size.

Are you staying frugal? Pumpkin Cheesecake Ice Cream recipe, too.

Here's something yummy I've been eating lately:

Pumpkin Cheesecake Ice Cream
(winged it and it turned out yummy)
4oz cream cheese, softened at room temp
1/2c pumpkin, heaping
1T homemade vanilla
20drops vanilla stevia
1c hwc
1c unsw. almond coconut milk
2tsp pumpkin pie spice, heaping
1/4c & 2T xylitol

Blend all and freeze in ice cream machine.


What I've seen lately:
Yes. Snow. Today.
Yes. Cat. Eating his toenails. Daily.

Frugal doings lately:
>Dehydrated 2 heads of cabbage.
> Set aside some tip money from my second job which I will use on a day trip to several out of town shops.
> Set aside three paychecks from second job that paid the whole 6mos premium on one of our autos.
> Cut out felt shapes needed to make more Christmas gifts, will post a pic of those when finished.
> Went to a parent meeting with the driver ed. instructor and a patrol officer where we received a pen and small notepad.
> Brought home more wrappers from work that will be used to wrap party crackers. I'm also sharing some of these with brother and his wife so they can do some, too.
> Accepted a bag of apples from my employer at my second job, used some, gave the rest to brother.
> Got a coffee syrup pump for free from employer as they changed brands and no longer need them.
> Accepted 5 big jugs of dark chocolate syrup from an employer, gave 4 away, kept one for J and D to use in chocolate milk and coffees.
> Accepted individual boxes of raisins from work that J can take with to work for snacking.
> Used up some sour cream by making popsicles, as in previous post.
> Accepted five ears of corn from mother-in-law, which was enough for each of us to have a whole ear.
> Accepted a free large coffee from employer at second job, which I brought home for dh.
> Participated in a "simple cooking" class where we made and ate stir-fry.
> Found a package of pork chops and a giant pork roast, each with a $4 off manager's special coupon as they were nearing their freeze or use by date.
> Made a stir-fry at home and reduced the amount of meat I would typically use by about 1/4th to 1/3rd and increased the amount of veggies.
> Found enough flowers around the yard and garden to bring some indoors.
> Tied dried cornstalks from the garden to our mailbox for fall decoration.
> Dug up gladiola bulbs to save for planting next fall. Also transplanted more bachelors buttons to the rock garden that hadn't died in the garden box they were in.
> Took a couple of leftovers out of freezer and fridge, invited bro & his family to bring any leftovers they wanted gone for supper one night - potluck!
> J and D picked a box of crabapples for me to make applesauce and dehydrated apple slices.

Cherry Chocolate Chip Sour Cream Popsicles

I've made frozen treats with Greek yogurt and always found them to be a tiny bit too tart. Sour cream kept popping in my head as an alternative that could work. I'm happy to tell you - it does!

Cherry Chocolate Chip Sour Cream Popsicles
(my very own experiment, makes 7 in my small molds)
2/3c full fat sour cream
1/2c unsweetened almond & coconut milk blend
2tsp homemade vanilla
16 drops vanilla stevia
15 frozen dark sweet cherries, quartered
3T chopped dark chocolate 

Mix all. Pour into molds. Freeze. Eat. Yum.

Low-carb Zippy Mocha Fudge Pops Recipe

These turned out so much better than I'd expected! I love it when experiments turn into something wonderful.

This recipe is one that I created based on an ice cream pie recipe out of an Eating Well magazine. A while back I'd made their recipe (well, I loosely followed it for the most part) using strawberries and rhubarb, though their recipe was for strawberries and lime. I also made my own nut crust and altered the sweetener, etc. You know how it goes if you're a fellow baker or cook. We all make changes and accommodations along the way, right?

One of their other combinations was for a mocha pie. That was what I was going to make to begin with so that I could use up the last of the Greek yogurt. But then I got lazy. I didn't want to fart around with making the crust first. I didn't want to use so much sweetener. Plus, I really did not want a bunch of slices taking up valuable real estate in my freezer. So I began to think "small scale" and ended up with these popsicles. I've made chocolate popsicles before and I wasn't certain that I'd like the Greek yogurt tang in these. I threw caution to the wind and gave it a whirl and found the yogurt gave it a little extra bite, or, zip! They also turned out creamy, with no icy crystals. Whether it was due to my tightly packed freezer or the high-fat content of the whipping cream, I can't say. All I can say is... Yum.

Zippy Mocha Fudge Pops
(makes 4 small pops)
3T xylitol
10 drops liquid vanilla stevia
1/4c heavy whipping cream
1/3c Greek yogurt
1T water
3/4T instant coffee granules, strong/dark variety
1T cocoa powder

In a mixing bowl, combine xylitol, stevia, whipping cream and yogurt. (You may want to add only the xylitol and taste before adding stevia, then adjust accordingly. I'm a sweet-head.) Set aside. In a small dish place the water, instant coffee granules and cocoa powder. (A sample size tube of instant coffee is what I used, which measured at about 3/4T.) Stir until smooth. Then stir into the yogurt mixture and blend well. Pour into molds and freeze. 

Cherry Almond Dark Chocolate Bark Recipe

Cherry & Almond Dark Chocolate Bark
1 - 3.5oz 85% dark chocolate bar (I like Lindt.)
1/4-1/2c dark chocolate or semi-sweet chips*
1/8-1/4tsp cherry flavoring* (I used LorAnn.)
1/4tsp almond flavoring
1/4-1/2c toasted blanched almond slivers*

Line an 8" square pan with parchment. Melt chocolates and flavorings in a double-boiler, stirring often until smooth. Remove from heat, wipe bottom of pan dry with towel so it doesn't drip, then pour into pan and spread out with spatula or back of spoon. Sprinkle almonds over top. Refrigerate until hardened, then chop or break into chunks.

*I gave a range of amounts for several ingredients because I began with the lesser amount and then adjusted to taste by either measuring out more (in the case of the cherry flavoring) or "eyeballing" it (in the case of the chocolate chips and the almond slivers).

My almonds were toasted a day prior as they were used in another recipe. I just spread them out onto a pan and kept a close eye on them as they toasted in the toaster oven. Also, this is my first time trying LorAnn Oil, the cherry flavoring that I used. I don't know how other brands compare, but this flavoring is very... intense, in my opinion. So, please, please, please taste before adding a larger amount. I paid $1 for the pictured bottle that is .125 fl oz. You can barely tell that I used any and it appears I will get years more of use from this little bottle. This was purchased from a local clinic's pharmacy check-out counter. As for the chocolate chips, you certainly could try the sugar-free ones, though I have not and do not know if it'd turn out. I imagine you could also just skip them altogether and add a little more 85% chocolate bar. However, I have a hard time enjoying it that dark.

I can't wait to try a couple other combinations. I think this would make an awesome gift for co-workers next Christmas!

Chocolate Ganache Pie

Chocolate Ganache Pie
(adapted from Driscoll's berries site)
1 & 1/2c pecans
1/2c walnuts
1/3c Splenda Brown Sugar Blend*
1tsp cinnamon
4T butter, cut into several chunks
6oz favorite 70% dark chocolate bar
1c heavy whipping cream
whipped cream
strawberries

For the crust: Heat oven to 350. Pulse pecans through butter in a food processor until resembling graham cracker crumbs. Press into lightly sprayed 8" pie pan, covering the bottom and up the sides of the pan. Bake 15mns. Take out to cool while preparing ganache filling.

For filling: Break chocolate bar into small chunks. Add to saucepan. Pour heavy whipping cream over and turn heat to medium-low. Whisk and heat until chocolate melts and mixture is smooth and just starts to bubble along edges of the pan. Remove from heat and pour into prepared pie crust. Place in refrigerator to cool and firm up for at least three hours (should firm up like a stiff cheesecake). Serve with whipped cream and a fresh berry on top.

*I have had this recipe bookmarked for quite some time with the idea to make it more carb friendly. While I didn't make it as low-carb as I could, it met my needs, as well as supplies. If you'd like to make it lower in carbs you can easily swap out the Splenda Brown Sugar Blend for your choice of sweetener, such as Xylitol. You could use an  85-90% dark chocolate bar. (But I will warn you that the original recipe calls for 60-72% and my version, with 70%, tastes very dark chocolatey.) Switch out the nut crust for your favorite recipe, though this version is great, especially with the increased cinnamon. Use whipped coconut cream and blackberries for your toppings, if you prefer. The flexibility in this recipe has earned it a place on my blog so I can refer back to it and make again and again. So decadent! 


I'm recommitting to doing a more stringent job of eating low-carb. While it is true that I have not gained weight by adding more fruits and treats, I haven't lost either. I still would like to lose 20-30lbs more. Fortunately a coworker informed me that she began eating lower-carb this past week. It's helpful to have others around you that support your way of eating. So I'm delighted that we can share this. She's pooed-pooed me in the past for eating this way. But her sister recently lost 20lbs doing it and that motivated her. Whatever it takes - yay! I am so proud of her for losing 3lbs in only her first four days!

Gardening Notes

6/7 - Our growing season is short here. So my first box was planted in May, shortly after the ground had thawed enough to move the first box from the garden and into the back yard. I have garlic, lettuces, spinach, a couple acorn squash and mixed perennial flowers planted. At the end of May we put together a second box. Just last night I put in 7 cabbage plants and 4 marigolds in there.
6/9 - I put in some gladiola bulbs that I'd dug up and saved from last year. You can see them sticking out in the back row of the second box. I gave my trumpet vine (growing on both sides of the metal arbor) a good look and it is greening nicely, though I think there is a lot that I can trim from near top that didn't transition well. That may spur it to grow more strongly. Because I am unsure of this I have been removing just tiny vines/stems at a time.

Tangy Lemon Cake and a little of this & that...

Tangy Lemon Cake with Glaze
(adapted from Honeyville's recipe)
1 & 1/2c fine almond flour
1tsp baking powder
1/8tsp pink salt
lemon zest of 1 lemon
2tsp lemon juice
1/2c butter, softened
4oz cream cheese
1c xylitol
5 eggs
1tsp homemade vanilla extract  
Glaze
4T butter, softened
juice of 1 lemon
1 & 1/2c powdered xylitol
1tsp cornstarch

Heat oven to 350. Mix almond flour and baking soda and salt in a bowl, set aside. Zest (I did this onto a small plate), then juice lemon (squeezed into a bowl and hand picked out the seeds) and set them aside. In another bowl, beat butter and cream cheese with xylitol. Once mixed, add eggs and extract and beat until blended. Then add in the almond flour mixture, beat, add in zest and 2tsp of juice, beat. Pour into a greased 9"pan (I used a springform pan). Bake 35mns, test for doneness, adding more time as needed. 

According to their site you should be able to make a soft frosting with the remaining lemon juice, butter and powdered xylitol. Mine did not come together. Maybe because it was xylitol rather than sugar? I don't know. But whatever the reason, I ended up adding 1tsp of cornstarch and heating this to a simmer on the stovetop until the xylitol was dissolved and it thickened slightly, maybe five minutes total. I think you could easily use a little xanthan if avoiding cornstarch. But this is an acceptable amount to me and gave a result that I expected. I set it aside to cool, alongside the cake that was cooling. Once the glaze was just barely warm, I spread it onto the cake, making sure to let plenty slide and soak along the edge - and still had about a 1/4c leftover which I refrigerated for later use. You could halve the glaze recipe and still end up with plenty enough to give an extra bit of zip and gooey-ness. 

What have you been eating recently? The first pic is of a Strawberry Pretzel Salad (no, I don't think it's really a salad, either) that I made-over by switching out strawberries with raspberries, using sugar-free jello and replacing the sugar in the cream cheese layer with xylitol and stevia. I know I should have gone further by making a nut crust. But the whole reason I made this was to use up the few pretzels left hanging around from Christmas. Do a quick internet search for Strawberry Pretzel Salad and you can create it however you would like.

The second pic is a recipe from Better Homes & Gardens. I tried to find a link on their site, but it wasn't being very user friendly for me. It's called Soy-Ginger Pot Roast and is from the March 2014 issue. It was great, though I would add more ginger next time, or go with a smaller roast than what I did - mine was huge.

Cleaning tip - Frugal recipe:
I'd come across someone's comment on another blog about how she made up a batch of homemade stain-remover. While she did not include a recipe in her post, a quick internet search yielded a simple recipe. It is simply 1 part original, blue Dawn dish soap to 2 parts hydrogen peroxide. I made up a small dish using 2T Dawn and 4T hydrogen peroxide, giving it a gentle stir to mix. I then used a small spoon to ladle it onto large stains and dribble it onto small ones. I also used an old toothbrush to give a quick scrub... to my scrub tops. (I tried it on an old one first that was going to be thrown out anyhow due to a torn snap to make sure no fading or "bleaching" would occur.) Let me tell you, it was getting downright embarrassing to wear my grease splattered scrubs to work. I've tried store-bought stain removers and I've tried various soakings already - to no avail. Unbelievably, as simple a recipe as this was, it worked. I was able to save a couple of my sweatjackets from the rag heap, too. Sadly, it did not work on the little blop of hair dye on the sweatjacket.

Pics above show the grease stain in the first pic and the "after" photo. I apparently forgot the flash for the second photo, but the grease stain was completely gone. Yay!

 These two, above, show various grease spatters. Pics below show them gone. Woot, woot!

Banana & Blackberry Muffins and Chocolate Cake Recipes

Banana & Blackberry Muffins 
(adapted from my adapted raspberry muffins recipe)
(made 10 muffins)
2 large eggs
1/6c xylitol
1/6c Stevia In The Raw  
1 tsp homemade vanilla extract
2Tbsp full-fat plain Greek yogurt
4 Tbsp h&h
1 small banana, smashed
1c almond flour
3Tbsp coconut flour
2Tbsp golden flaxseed meal
2tsp baking powder
1/2-3/4c fresh blackberries

Heat oven to 350. Place silicone muffin cups on cookie sheet or liners in wells (sprayed). In bowl, combine first 7 ingredients. In another bowl, sift together the next 4 dry ingredients. Gently add the dry ingredients into the wet. Scoop into muffin cups. Press a blackberry or two into center and smooth over the tops. Bake about 15mns or until they begin to brown and are firm to the touch. Take out and allow to cool... or not. 

*Notes to self - I replaced the vanilla liquid stevia with just vanilla to cut back on the sweetness since there's banana which increases it. I added the yogurt to increase the moistness, considering how much coconut flour soaks it up. I changed the original xylitol amount to a 50/50 split with powder stevia as a way to cut back on the xylitol due to its cost. 

I recently made this super-duper-do-dupity chocolate cake! Giving credit to Maria Emmerich for inspiration. I did tweak it to fit my preferences and needs. Please check out her book, The Art of Healthy Eating - Sweets to find her original recipe, plus a good many more goodies! (You would also get her accurate count of 11g carbs for each of the 12 servings.)

Chocolate Cake
(adapted and inspired by Maria Emmerich's Mocha Fudge Cake recipe)
1c Stevia In The Raw
1/2c xylitol
4Tbsp butter
5 eggs
2 squares Lindt's 85% dark chocolate, melted & cooled
3/4c sour cream
3/4c coconut flour
2Tbsp cocoa
1.5tsp baking soda
1/2tsp pink sea salt  
3/4c hot coffee
1.5tsp homemade vanilla 

Heat oven @ 350. Beat sweeteners and butter until combined. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Then beat in melted chocolate and sour cream. Mix coconut flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt in another bowl. Then add to chocolate mixture. Beat in coffee and vanilla. Pour and spread into a prepared 8" square pan, bake about 35mns or until done. 

*Note to self - I did not get the "mocha" part of this, so referred to it as just a chocolate cake. If striving for a mocha flavor, I would probably make a double strength coffee, use espresso, or dissolve maybe a Tbsp or two of instant coffee granules. As it is, I'd leave it in since coffee's known to add a chocolatey depth. This also tasted rather great with a gob of store bought Tiramisu Mascarpone, and equally great with a sliced strawberry or two and a glop of whipping cream! This would be perfect to use as a birthday cake - YUM!

 

 

Blueberry Coconut Cream Pie - Lower-Carb

My, oh my... But this was good.

I initially came across a recipe for Raspberry Coconut Cream Pie on the Driscoll's berries site. I made that one for Thanksgiving, with sugar as the original recipe called for. It was good and, yes, I did have to try it. (How else could I attest to its goodness?!?) I used a brand of coconut milk that I hadn't tried before and that put me off a little bit as it had a bit of a weird flavor which carried on into the finished product. But due to all the sugary stuff going on, it still tasted good. But I thought it could taste better.

So I decided to remake it low-carb style. Now, you're going to see that I used a little cornstarch. I felt this was necessary as I didn't want to increase the xanthan anymore and end up with a slimy, inedible mess. Try it however you'd like. Maybe you use tapioca or arrowroot... whatever floats your boat. You may also wish to double up on the blueberry topping ingredients, though my recipe makes enough to thinly cover the whole pie. Cutting back the blueberry topping was one way to atone for the cornstarch. Oh, and this takes some time to chill, so start early in the day or the day before you intend to have it. Also, I had intended to use ginger instead of Chinese 5-spice, but sadly, I had none. Cinnamon more your thing? Go for it!

Lower-Carb Blueberry Coconut Cream Pie
(adapted from Driscoll's site)
Crust
1c walnuts
1/2c pecans
1/2tsp Chinese 5-spice powder
1tsp Stevia In The Raw
2T butter, melted

Filling & Topping
3/4c h&h, divided
1/2tsp xanthan
1T cornstarch
3 egg yolks
13.5oz can coconut milk
1/2c Xylitol
1tsp vanilla
3/4c toasted unsweetened coconut flakes
2/3c blueberries
1tsp cornstarch
1T water 
10 drops vanilla liquid stevia

*Pulse crust ingredients in processor until crumbly, like graham cracker crumbs. Pat into a buttered or sprayed 9.5 inch pie plate, completely covering the bottom and a little up the sides. Bake in oven at 325 for about 10mns. Toast the 3/4c coconut flakes until golden - takes just a few minutes. Remove both from oven and let cool. (Turn off oven, you goof.)

Whisk together 1/4c h&h, xanthan and 1T cornstarch. Set aside.
 Mine thickened a lot, so I did add a splash more h&h, maybe another 1/8-1/4c. Place egg yolks in a medium bowl and whisk until blended. Set aside. (Eat egg whites for breakfast... yum...)

Bring remaining 1/2c h&h, coconut milk and Xylitol just to a simmer in a medium saucepan over medium heat, whisking frequently. While whisking, slowly pour about 1c hot h&h mixture into egg yolks. Add egg mixture to remaining h&h in saucepan and whisk until blended. Stir cornstarch/xanthan mixture then add to h&h mixture in saucepot and bring to a boil, whisking constantly. Cook 1 minute. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla, vanilla liquid stevia and 1/2 cup toasted coconut. Pour into cooled crust. Cover surface directly with plastic wrap to prevent skin from forming. Chill at least 4 hours or overnight.

If you have fresh berries, use those without any additional sweetening or treatment, to top your chilled pie. If you have frozen, as I did, place blueberries, 1tsp cornstarch and 1T water in small saucepot. Heat to a simmer and until thickened. Remove from heat, add 10 drops liquid vanilla stevia and stir. Let cool, then spread onto your coconut cream layer of the pie. Top with your choice of whipped topping and the remaining toasted coconut flakes. (That's a mountain of Redi-Whip on mine in the photo.)

Butter Pecan Frozen Yogurt

This recipe is a result of my frugal tendencies. I hate to throw stuff out that cost our hard-earned money! A couple weeks ago I'd purchased a large container of plain, unsweetened, full-fat Greek yogurt so that I could try a recipe that a low-carb blogger had posted for a pumpkin pie type of breakfast parfait. While "J" and I liked it well enough, Greek yogurt is a bit too tart for us. So that nearly full container sat there in the fridge. And it sat there. Then it sat some more.

A few days ago I'd picked up a cookbook that I'd borrowed from the library, True Food: Seasonal, Sustainable, Simple, Pure by Andrew Weil. I quickly paged through it, nothing really catching my eye. Until I got near the end where there were a few dessert recipes. One of them was for a lemony, ginger frozen yogurt. While the flavors didn't sound like something to get excited about, the discovery of what to do with the rest of that darned yogurt was. So while I didn't make his recipe, I must credit Andrew Weil for the spark. (Thanks, Dr. Weil.) Please note that this recipe uses some of the glazed pecans from the previous post.

Butter Pecan Frozen Yogurt 
(from... Becky @ Becky's Place)
3c full-fat, plain Greek yogurt
1c xylitol
1/2c Stevia In The Raw 
1/4tsp xanthan
2T vanilla extract (I used my homemade)
1/2c heavy whipping cream
1T butter
1/4tsp pink Himalayan salt
generous handful glazed pecans, roughly busted up

Place xylitol, Stevia In The Raw and xanthan in a saucepan and whisk together. Turn on burner to medium heat and add vanilla, whipping cream, butter and salt. Stir over the heat until sweeteners have dissolved. Remove from heat, chill in fridge. Once chilled, combine with yogurt in a mixing bowl. Follow directions for your ice cream machine, adding the glazed pecans shortly before turning it off. Pour into desired freezer container and freeze.

Two days later - I finally dished up a small amount to try. While it is not as soft as the vanilla ice cream recipe I have on this blog, it is still creamy and dished up fine with a warmed spoon. No, I don't like Greek yogurt.Yes, I do like frozen Greek yogurt! As far as servings and carb count... I don't have a clue really. But I don't think it's too bad, especially when I considered that I was fully content with the small dish that I'd scooped and will get many servings of that size from this recipe. Yum yum. The tartness that I didn't like when it was just yogurt really shines in it as frozen yogurt with the sweet glazed pecans.

Glazed Pecans Recipe

Glazed Pecans
(adapted from Saveur magazine, Nov.2013 issue)

3/4c xylitol, scant cups
1/4c sour cream
2c lightly toasted pecans
3/4tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 325. Line a cookie sheet with Silpat mats (or parchment paper) and set aside. In a small saucepan whisk together the xylitol and sour cream. Turn on heat and bring to boil. Let boil for about 5mns, stirring constantly. Mixture should thicken slightly. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla and pecans and stir to coat pecans well. Spread mixture out onto prepared cookie sheet. Place in oven to cook for about 20mns, stirring about halfway through the time. Remove from oven, let cool, then store in a sealed container in the refrigerator.

The original recipe is the same though, of course, it uses sugar in place of the xylitol. They also do not place them in the oven or say to store in the fridge. I made those adaptions as the glaze left the pecans pretty sticky, I assume because of the missing sugar. Once cooled they became quite a bit less sticky. Once refrigerated overnight, they became dry and the glaze is "crisp". I imagine these will be great crumbled on many things, even good-for-you things, like salads. I made a reduced-carb apple crisp yesterday and included some of these pecans... FABULOUS!

Summer's winding down...

8/16 - Garage sale tomorrow morning! Yes! Finally going to (hopefully) get rid of all this clutter and junk piling up in the garage. Whatever's left I will put on Craigslist or Freecycle, followed by a one-way visit to Goodwill. Sadly, we live out of town a few miles, so we won't get as much traffic as those located in town. But I heard that there's a small bunch of sales going on and am counting on people planning ours into their "sale-ing route". I have a ton of pricing to do still, lots of organizing and figuring out how to display stuff... I decided to be lazy with clothes and just printed a poster with prices for tops (25cents) and jeans ($1), or marked and hung up for higher priced items. I still need to get to town and get some money to make change, too.

Yesterday I harvested one of the four cabbages from my garden box, as well as enough pea pods to give me a total of 4 meals' worth, which I blanched and froze. My dad made soup with the cabbage. I also picked enough green beans so that I now have a total of 6 meals' worth in the freezer. I'm hoping to get to the kale either today or tomorrow after the sale, which I also intend to blanch and freeze. This fall I intend to can some beets and make applesauce for the freezer, too. We've really got to work harder at reducing what we are spending at the grocery store. I hate that every other check written out is to them.

School begins again in a couple of weeks, which means I am back to work. I'm sort of looking forward to it. Partly because it keeps me busy for large blocks of time where I don't think about food... which is weird when you consider I'm a lunch lady. But it's hard to consider the food schools serve as FOOD. It's almost all pre-breaded/pre-cooked brown foods. Yuck. Not to say we don't have anything else to eat there. We do have a nice salad bar and there are soups and sandwiches, too. As well as an a la carte line, filled with more pre-breaded/pre-cooked brown foods. Look how I meander off course...

I've been walking our paved paths in town when I have the opportunity. It takes just a bit under an hour and is about 3 to 4 miles after walking both ways, I think. I've also been starting my Leslie Sansone dvd's again. The first one I did was the 2 mile walk and I didn't even break a sweat. So the next time I popped in the 3 mile walk, which made me work a little harder, but I think I will go on to the 4 mile walk next. "D" joined Cross Country (like track... without the track) this week, too. I intend to do lots of walks while he is participating in that since I will have to come in to town to drop and pick him up several evenings a week. I noticed yesterday that "D's" sister, "A", hopped on her bike and went for a short ride last night. She hasn't done that for nearly a year now. See how contagious physical activity can be?

8/25 - Yesterday I gave my brother a head of cabbage, let him pick a bunch of the green beans and a couple of onions. There's still a few more meals' worth of beans out there, which if I can bear the heat, I will pick and blanch/freeze this afternoon. The garden's dwindling quickly since we haven't had rain and we've used all the water caught in the rain barrels. We have salty, hard-water so we can't use from our well. It's been so hot and the ground's cracking from the dryness.

I made another batch of popsicles with avocado. This time they were peppermint bon-bon flavored! No recipe, really. Just pulverized some avocado/mint extract/xylitol & stevia/h&h/dark chocolate chips in a blender cup. Next time I would like to have larger chunks of chocolate so I will just roughly chop some and stir in before pouring into molds.

We made $100 on our junk last weekend at the garage sale. While it's pretty darn sad to think of how much all that stuff had cost, the money made is better than the nothing we would've got for it had we just tossed it. We still had the seat down in the back of the Escape and the back packed with leftovers that were brought to Goodwill. I also set a bunch of stuff out by the road for free. Some went but the garbage man ended up taking most a few days later. There are some books and movies that I am going to look into selling online, too. I come away from this sale with new resolve to control our spending.

A "want" now and then is okay. In the case of "J" working full-time and even over-time lately, he should be able to have $20 cash in his pocket each payday. I have no qualms about that. What I do have a problem with is when you allow yourself cash but then write checks out for a case of beer, pop and candy, or a Playstation giftcard, etc. Is it just me or is it absolutely insane to download a videogame or two nearly each month, which isn't even something... tangible?!? I'm off on a rant on all this videogame junk - I hate it. Now, before I am accused of picking on "J" and how he spends, I will admit to my splurges. A few times a month I find myself either picking up a sugar-free coffeeshop or McD's coffee, or swinging in for a 6" flatbread sandwich at Subway. However, I am working at cutting those things down to maybe once a month. As far as make-up and such... I use minimal make-up bought with coupons if available, just foundation/powder/blush, a little mascara on occasion that I received at Christmas from my sister, "T", and sometimes a dab of lip balm that I received from "A" at Christmas. I buy a face cleanser and moisturizer about once, maybe twice for the cleanser, a year... using a coupon at Ulta and buying Walmart brand... for a grand total of a bit under $15. Clothes? For the whole family, we usually buy thrifted or rummage sale finds, sometimes clearanced priced items from the stores. A couple of times per year I will use a Kohl's coupon code for 30% off and buy a few new items for "D"and "A" for school or to replace worn out stuff. We can't avoid spending money on "J" as easily as he needs new scrubs now and then, as well as shoes fairly often. I have made several tops and have a couple more in progress that I will replenish his closet with eventually. I do watch for coupons or free shipping deals for the online scrub place we like to use and will make a small purchase if there are suitable items in the sale section. How do you like to save money or reduce costs?

Currently, the biggest stressor for me with our money situation is that the Escape has an oil leak. It will be picked up and worked on tomorrow to the tune of about $850... and that's only the labor. We only had just over $600 left in our "emergency" fund. So I picked up a few days of extra work so that we could cover the whole sha-bang with cash. This is the only reason I would like to live within easy walking distance to town... when it comes to owning vehicles. The maintenance, insurance and fuel. Yikes. The mechanic tried to make me feel better by telling me that if it is for sure leaking where it appears to be (they added dye and will check with black light), that that part is only about $20. Auto manufacturer's did a great job at putting our vehicles together just so, so that it takes 8hrs of labor to get in to replace a $20 part! Good grief.

No-Bake Cheesecake

I've been craving cheesecake for a few weeks now. So much so that the last several times I've been grocery shopping I have perused the bakery case looking for an individual slice. I'm sure I looked like Jaws circling a surf board. Fortunately I did not find any. Imagine my happiness when I defrosted my freezer two days ago and found a block of cream cheese! I've seen simple cheesecake recipes using sugar-free Jello, and honestly, that was my first intention. (Rosalie, I know you'd be happy for me that I didn't have the sf Jello... naughty artificial sweetener...) But darn it, I had none. I did have a box of Knox Gelatine packets, though. While the recipe on the box calls for two packages of cream cheese, I only had the one so had to halve the recipe. I would suggest that you start with less stevia, or xylitol if that's your preference, because you can always add more if desired. I had started with 20 drops of stevia, and while it was sweet, I wanted SWEETER. It turned out fantastic, in my biased opinion.

No-Bake Cheesecake
(adapted from Knox Gelatine package)
1-8 oz pkg cream cheese
30 drops liquid vanilla stevia
1/2 T unflavored gelatine
2 T xylitol
1/2 c boiling water

Beat cream cheese and stevia until smooth. Heat water while placing gelatine and xylitol in a small bowl. Add boiling water to gelatine/xylitol and stir until dissolved. Add gelatine liquid in thirds to cream cheese mixture, thoroughly beating after each addition. Place in fridge for about 30mns, stirring after about 15. Then pour into desired serving dishes or pie plate. I got 4 servings using my muffin silicone cups.

On the garden front... Sadly, I had to pull my radishes. I think I planted the seeds too densely, although I had thinned them out a bit. The ones that were transplanted seem to be okay, none look to be going to seed. I'm letting them go a few more days to see if it made any difference. It's so sad to have used the time and the space and not get any goodies out of it. Darn it. The lettuces are doing great. We've had salad a couple of times and I've been keeping a spinner of clean lettuces in the fridge for adding to sandwiches or topping with tuna or chicken salad for lunches. The cabbages look like they are just starting to form the tiny little tightened leaf balls in their centers - Go cabbage! Peas and beets still have plenty of time to grow. I'm a little concerned with the peas because the tendrils reach out and attach to other vines and tendrils... No matter how much I try to "train" them to attach to the sisal twine.

Healthwise, Ma and Pa appear to be the same. Dad's oncologist has left the hospital and he'll be seeing a new one for his next visit. So far so good. The kids, "A" and "D", are healthy and busy with jobs and summer classes. Just dropped "D" off, as a matter of fact, for the last week of the math/science program. They get to camp for a week at the Boundary Waters Canoe Area. I'm not embarrassed to admit that I am most grateful that it keeps my son busy so he can't sit around playing video games all day and night.  Ha ha... I'm such an evil mom. If you ask my kids. Oh. And the girls that this boy has been interacting with this summer! What a great confidence booster for him! His dad, "J", calls him a stud-muffin.

Ah, and before I forget... Do you want AWESOME BUNS? Visit Gourmet Girl Cooks (hope she doesn't mind me linking to her) for a recipe for the biscuits I recently made pictured below. Of course, I, like many of you, don't follow recipes always to the T, but that just speaks to how great a recipe is when it allows for some flexibility. I replaced the salt with garlic salt, only had colby-jack cheese instead of sharp cheddar, and used h&h in place of hwc and they still turned out super fantastic! Make these! (Note to self: I'd like to use my smaller scoop next time I make these so that I get more and am eating less at a sitting.)

Creamy Lime-Avocado Popsicles

I've been rushing the family to eat the last batch of popsicles that I'd made using a regular pudding mix (i.e. made with sugar). Finally forced the last one on "J" and was able to make these yesterday. OMG! I've been struggling with teaching myself to enjoy avocados. I just haven't so far, really. This low-carb way of eating is a challenge if you're like me and not really into green foods. Now that I've made these? Well... if I can get my avocado every day this way... No problem! They are FANTASTIC! I altered the recipe that it links to by reducing the amount so it would fit in my molds, as they are pretty small, I think they hold 2oz. each. I got 6 popsicles with my recipe. I also replaced the sugar with my preferred sweeteners and added the coconut milk because... well, just because I had some leftover in my fridge to use up and I figured it might make the avocado more palatable for me. Boy, did it ever - these are great! I had to eat 2 last night. Just to be sure that I really liked them.

Creamy Lime-Avocado Popsicles
(adapted from current issue of Cooking Light magazine)
1/4c water
2T xylitol
25 drops vanilla liquid stevia
1/2c canned coconut milk
juice of 1 lime and zest from half
1 avocado, pitted and chopped

In small saucepan heat water and xylitol, stirring until dissolved. Remove from heat. Once cool enough to handle, pour into blender cup and add remaining ingredients. Wiz it up and pour into molds. Freeze until set.

Just wanted to update the garden box, or square foot garden. It's starting to fill in! Yippee!

The pale, yellowing seedlings in front of the two painted pots are radishes that I started to thin out. I gave up after being eaten alive by flies. Judging by how unhealthy they now look, I'm glad I didn't get to transfer more of them. My peas are almost tall enough to reach the sisal twine, as a matter of fact, a few tendrils have curled around it in a couple of spots. The row of plants over on the right are green beans.

Dark Chocolate Fudge Popsicles (NOT LOW-CARB)

Last night my husband was craving ice cream.  He's not on this reduced-carb bandwagon so my homemade mock almond joy creation that's currently in the freezer was not going to satisfy him. While he's also had a big bucket of vanilla and multiple ice cream bars in the deep freeze recently, we do have two teens. He was crushed when he went to the freezer and found none. He soothed himself with a pile of gummy worms. (Yes, he is a sugar addict.) So I offered to make him some popsicles. These are the result (so fudgey good!):

Dark Chocolate Fudge Popsicles
(adapted from ? several online ideas)
(makes 4-5, depending on your molds)
1c h&h
1/4c dark brown sugar, packed
1 egg yolk
dash of pink salt
1/2tsp cornstarch 
2Tbsp dark cocoa
1/4tsp vanilla
1/4c chocolate chips

Mix h&h, sugar, yolk, salt and cornstarch in saucepan. Whisk while heating over med-low heat for 5-8mns. Whisk in cocoa and heat additional 5-8mn over medium heat. (Mixture will thicken into a custard.) Remove from heat, stir in vanilla, then chocolate chips. Stir until melted. Let cool enough so it's easy to handle and then fill your popsicle molds. Freeze and enjoy.

Strawberry Rhubarb Muffins (lower-carb)

Sorry, can't tell you what the carb count is on each of these. (Anyone got that fancy software that figures this sort of thing out?) But I figure that as long as I make proper substitutions, they have to be better than the King Size pouch of mini Kit-Kats that I have laying around for "an emergency" (i.e. uncontrollable PMS, DMS and  AMS cravings - pre, during and after). I didn't want to turn on my oven this morning. We've now entered summer and are to hit about 70-74 all week... Heat wave, folks. Well, for northern MN. But I have been thinking about homemade cookies and store bought cupcakes with mile-high gobs of frosting for days now and needed to enjoy something baked. I don't know how others do it really. I often read low-carbers stating that they don't even miss this or that. While I don't miss actual bread, I certainly still crave homemade treats like cookies, bars or muffins. Yes. Muffins it is.

So while I was out in the garden yesterday I noticed the rhubarb is growing vigorously, per usual. I thought about a couple of recipes that use plenty of rhubarb that I used to make. But they also include a whole lot of sugar. While I like xylitol as a 1:1 substitute, it's darn expensive! This morning I went out to the garden again and decided to use just a small amount of rhubarb, thereby only needing a small amount of xylitol. I was glad to see they are tender, young stalks yet. Then I started worrying that they still may bake a bit too sour and decided to add a few strawberries to help sweeten them naturally. In my opinion, they turned out perfectly. Wonderfully light and sweet... especially delicious with a slab of butter and a cup of coffee. I ate two for lunch and am contentedly full.

Strawberry Rhubarb Muffins
(adapted from my adapted raspberry muffins recipe)
(made 10 muffins)
2 large eggs
1/3c xylitol
1 tsp vanilla liquid stevia
1c almond flour
3Tbsp coconut flour
2Tbsp golden flaxseed meal
2tsp baking powder
4-5Tbsp h&h
1/4-1/2c chopped fresh rhubarb*
1/4-1/2c chopped frozen strawberries*


Heat oven to 350. Place silicone muffin cups on cookie sheet or liners in wells. In bowl, combine first 3 ingredients. In another bowl, sift together the next 4 dry ingredients. Gently add the dry ingredients into the wet.  I then add enough h&h to make it moist enough to be able to then fold in the rhubarb and strawberries, though I'm approximating because I didn't measure. Scoop into muffin cups. Bake about 15mns or until they begin to brown and are firm to the touch. Take out and allow to cool... or not. 

*I used 4 tiny stalks of rhubarb. Once diced I had over 1/4c but not 1/2c. I used about 4 frozen strawberries that I coarsely chopped that looked to be about the same amount as the rhubarb.