Part II of Gardening with Higher Standards +Recipes!
By Jennifer Pudenz
A perfectly fitting sign of summer, the beautiful, bright red coloring of strawberries stands out as much as their versatility. While June might be the most popular time for strawberries, everbearing varieties of strawberries produce berries from early summer to autumn! These plants send out fewer runners than June-bearing varieties, allowing them to use energy to produce multiple berry crops. So don’t miss out and add everbearing strawberries to your garden!
Whether growing your own, picking from a strawberry farm, selecting from a farmer’s market or buying from the grocery store, strawberries are a wonderful way to celebrate with family and friends, cool down from the heat and reap the health benefits of fruit. On the next page are two of my favorite strawberry recipes: my husband’s favorite pie many of our friends and family rave about, and a healthy smoothie that fills me up as a breakfast and starts my day off right! This is also a great recipe to swap in other berries at the peak of their season, such as blueberries, raspberries and blackberries! Experiment and tweak to make it your own!
Strawberry Jell-O Pie
Ingredients:
1 pie shell
1 Qt. (4 C) strawberries
1 C sugar
4 T. cornstarch
2 C water
1 sm. box of strawberry Jell-O (not sugar free)
Cool Whip (optional)
– Bake pie shell as directed whether homemade or box instructions (poke holes with fork on bottom, sides; bake 450 degrees for 10-12 minutes until golden). Set aside to cool.
– Dice strawberries into fourths.
– In a small bowl, mix sugar and cornstarch together (to avoid cornstarch clumps).
– Pour water in a small saucepan and cook on high heat. Slowly whisk in sugar/cornstarch mix, then stirring and boiling until thick. Take off stove.
– Add Jell-O, then mix all into strawberries.
– Pour strawberry mix in pie shell and cool for about three hours in the refrigerator.
– Top with Cool Whip. Enjoy!
Strawberry Banana Breakfast Smoothies
Makes 2 servings
Ingredients:
1 C strawberries
2 bananas, chunked
3 T. milled flax seed
4 T. vanilla yogurt
3 T. juice, such as orange or cranberry juice
2 T. honey
2 C ice
– Place all ingredients in a blender and mix on medium-high speed or pulse until smooth. Pour into glasses and serve immediately.
Jennifer Pudenz is the owner/editor of ADVENTURESS magazine.
