Family Foodies

I’m very happy to have a guest post from Janet Machowicz of Meatless Mama.  Janet and I met through Foodbuzz, and I have found some great recipes from her website!  Janet is married and mother to four children, one of whom survived cancer.  She shares her interest in good nutrition and healthy eating through her blog, and now she is sharing with us!

I am so excited to be guest posting here at Family Foodies, and I want to thank Debbie for this opportunity!

Cherries are my favorite fruit and they are only available for a short time. Cherry season runs from June through early July.

Loaded with vitamin c, boron, antioxidants and fiber, cherries have been found to reduce arthritis and gout pain, and help to prevent heart disease and cancer. Most importantly – they taste good!

I believe eating a mainly whole foods plant-based diet is the key to good health. I also believe that healthy food must taste good or no one will eat it.

When choosing sweet bing cherries, pick firm, dark-nearly black, unblemished fruit, preferably with stems still attached. Red bing cherries are not ripe and will be tart. Once picked cherries will not ripen further. Store in the fridge and use within a day or two.

If you can resist eating them all, wash, dry, pit, and freeze in Ziploc bags for long term storage. Cherries are quite versatile. Aside from eating out of hand, they are great in salad and salsa – these recipes can be found on my
blog – and also in smoothies and chocolate cherry bread pudding. I am sharing these recipes here. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

Hurry and get them while you can, it’s a whole year till cherry season comes around again!

Cherry Almond Smoothie

In blender combine:
1 ¼ c. pitted sweet bing cherries
2 very ripe bananas
Juice of ½ a lemon
3 T. vanilla yogurt
½ tsp. almond extract
4 ice cubes

Puree till smooth. Makes 2.

Chocolate Cherry Bread Pudding

Ingredients:
2 c. skim milk
¼ c. butter
2eggs
¾ c. sugar
¼ tsp. cinnamon
¼ tsp. sea salt
6 slices whole grain bread, cut into cubes
½ c. pitted sweet bing cherries
½ c. dark chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350. In medium saucepan heat milk and butter till butter is melted and mixture is hot. In large bowl combine eggs, sugar, cinnamon, sea salt. Stir in bread cubes, chocolate chips and cherries. Pour in milk mixture, stir, then pour all into a 1 ½ qt. casserole. Place casserole in a pan on oven rack, then pour hot water into the pan about 1′ deep. Bake 45-50 min. till a knife inserted 1′ from edge comes out clean. Serve warm.

Janet – thanks for sharing these delicious and nutritious recipes (please excuse me while I wipe the drool off my desk…)