Fast and Fun Summer Floats

This is an easy way to have a great treat to beat the heat.  

1.  Two scoops of ice cream, we used vanilla

2.  Your favorite pop to top it off!  **Think outside of the box here.  Root Beer is great but you can have fun with Orange, Cherry and Cola flavors also!**

Enjoy a cool and refreshing float with your family!

Lost Lake Lodge Raspberry Muffins

We are thankful and feel very blessed to have a bumper crop of raspberries this year.  One of the recipes that we enjoy using our berries in comes from a good old church cookbook.  (Often where you can find the best kept secret recipes.)  I am giving you this one in the low calorie version and in parenthesis I am adding the original version.  The lower cal muffins turned out really good but I have to admit that the extra oil, butter, and sugar in the original recipe really do create a taste sensation.  You will have to decide for your self which you like the best.

1c. milk
1/2 c. applesauce (1/2 c. oil in original recipe)
1/4 c. - 1/2 c. water to create muffin batter consistency.  (Omit for original recipe)
2 eggs
3 c. flour
2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 c. sugar (use 1 c. sugar for the original recipe)
4 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
2 c. fresh raspberries

In a bowl, combine milk, applesauce, water, beaten eggs and vanilla.  Add flour, 1/2 c. sugar, baking powder and salt.  Stir muffin batter until flour is well moistened.  Fold in the raspberries.  Fill greased muffin pan 2/3 full.  Bake at 400 degrees for 15-18 minutes.  (For the fuller calorie version...When you remove muffins from oven, dip tops in butter and then into sugar to coat.)

You will get about 1 1/2 dozen muffins from this recipe.  If you are a calorie counter you will be happy to know that one muffin weighs in at 114 calories.  They are a real treat!  Pictured below are the lower calorie version.  I am not sure why but they all have funny little lumps on them.

These are the full calorie version.

Melon Coolers

This is a delightfully, amazing, refreshing treat to beat the heat.  Not only is it wonderfully tasting but also nutritious.  With summer fruit available in plenty this is a great time to try this satisfying  mix.

What you will need:

1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. water
3 lbs. honeydew, cantaloupe or watermelon, rind removed, seeded and cut into 1 in. pieces (about 4 cups total)

1. In a small saucepan, combine the sugar and water and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer (do not stir) until the sugar dissolves.  2 to 3 minutes.  Remove from heat and let cool completely.

2.  In a food processor, puree the cooled syrup and the melon until smooth.  Pour fruit pulp into metal loaf pan, cover and freeze until firm, about 3-5 hours.  The original recipe had you strain the juice out of the pulp before freezing.  We have done it both ways and love leaving the pulp in.  There really isn't much of a texture difference and you keep all of the great nutrition!

3.  When ready to serve, remove the pan from the freezer and let sit at room temperature for 5 minutes.  Using a fork, scrape the surface of the melon ice to create flakes; divide among glasses and serve.

Just so you don't think that I am some crazy, creative person, you must know that I found this recipe in a Women's Day Magazine while I sat in the dentist office.  The great thing about modern technology is that I snapped a picture with my phone so that I could try it when I got home.  I hope you enjoy this one as much as my family does!  A+++

Great Deals at Target and Cub this week!

I love finding great deals!  Coupons have helped stretch our family budget and helped free our dollars to be used elsewhere.  Many of the coupons I used were found on http://coupons.target.com   I found the matching manufacturer coupons by following the instructions and links on the site called Pocket Your Dollars.  http://www.pocketyourdollars.com    On this site Carrie Rocha and her staff will lead you to the best deals, including many free items.  She reviews many different stores and matches their prices/sales with both Internet coupons and coupons from sources like Smart Source, Red Plum and others.  It might take some time but it has benefited our family greatly! 

From Target: 

Sharpie Markers - FREE 

Paper Mate Pens - FREE  I forgot that these cost $ .02 / package...sorry!

Bic Pens - $ .49/ package

Kid's Jeans - $1.74

Adult Tank Top - $1.00

160 Photos - FREE 

Scotch Tape (These were found in the school section for $1.00) - Made $ .50 / roll  = $2.00 off of my total bill - BETTER THAN FREE!!! 

2 Suave Lotions - Got on a deal from Face Book - FREE 

From Cub: 

4 bags of chips
2 - 2 liters of pop
$ 3.22 total!!!!!

This was a great price for chips and pop with all of the cooking out we like to do in the summer.  I hope you have fun looking here and it encourages you to check out how you can make a few clips with the scissors and save your hard worked for dollars!

Tuna Slaw

If you are trying to reduce calories this is a great substitution for tuna salad with pasta in it.  There is a great crunchy texture with a mild tuna flavor.  It is easy and has only 84 calories in a 1 c. serving.  

1 bag classic coleslaw mix
1 - 5 oz. can tuna, drained
1 c. fat free mayo
1 T.  Tastefully Simple Dried Tomato and Garlic Pesto Mix (you can uses any seasonings that sounds good to you)
2 T. black olives sliced per serving of 1 cup

Mix coleslaw, tuna, mayo and seasoning together.  Serve and black olives sprinkled on top if desired!

Enjoy this taste treat!

Smore Smoothie

It has been a while since I have posted.  Summer hit and time has become limited.  I am going to share a couple of recipes tonight that I have been trying out.  I am still working on lower calorie items that some, if not all of my family will enjoy.  These smoothies are easy and went over well!  Note to self, they are not really low calorie and act more like a small meal.  They ring in at 290 with Ovaltine, 1% milk and banana (excludes garnishing).  It might well be worth it though!


8 oz. of milk
chocolate milk mix like Ovaltine, Hershey powder or Nestles measured for 8 oz of milk.
1/2 ripe banana
2 c. ice
1 large marshmallow, cut in half
1 graham cracker square, crushed
5 or 6 chocolate chips


Put milk, chocolate powder and banana into blender.  After well blended add ice and chop.  Garnish with marshmallows, graham cracker crumbs and chocolate chips.

Enjoy this cool refreshing treat on a warm summer day or for a great breakfast treat.