Summer Trifle

***Susan's Note: I couldn't find this recipe online, so I retyped it below. It's from Weight Watchers Magazine, July/August 2010. I used Butterfly Bakery Sugar Free Angel Food Cake from Wegmans, which reduces the calories even more, but you couldn't tell! This was a delicious summer dessert. Take advantage of your summer fruit by making this trifle that my whole family enjoyed. We even had Cool Whip Lite for a topping, but it didn't need it! Yum.***

Serves 6
Prep 25 min

Ingredients
4 large ripe nectarines, pitted and diced
3 T sugar
3/4 c part skim ricotta cheese
Grated zest of 1/2 lemon
1 6 oz wedge angel food cake, cut into 3/4 inch cubes
3 T light honey (I used dark)
1 6 oz container fresh raspberries (I used more!)
1/2 c. fresh blueberries

1. Combine nectarines and sugar in medium bowl; toss to coat. Let stand until juice is released, about 10 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, mix ricotta and lemon zest in small bowl.

3. Place half of cake cubes in tall glass serving dish or clear bowl; top with half of nectarines and juice. Spoon 6 Tbsp ricotta mixture over nectarines, then drizzle with 1 Tbsp honey. Repeat with remaining cake, nectarines, and ricotta mixture. Drizzle top with 1 Tbsp honey. Sprinkle trifle with raspberries and blueberries; drizzle with remaining 1 Tbsp honey.

240 cal, 3 g fat, 4 g fiber, 7 g protein - 4 WW POINTS per serving.

You can cover and refrigerate up to 24 hours.

Rice 'N Peach Salad

Rice 'n Peach Salad

****Susan's Note: Do not expect this to have a "peachy" flavor. It is yummy and sweet and perfect for grill-out suppers. Yum!


Prep Time: 20 min Total Time: 20 min Makes: 10 servings, about 1/2 cup each

1-1/2 cups cooked brown rice
1 can (11 oz.) whole kernel corn, drained or 1-1/2 cups corn cut from the cob
1 cup PLANTERS Almonds, toasted and salted, chopped
1 cup fresh peas or frozen peas, thawed
2 peaches (or nectarines), peeled, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup KRAFT CATALINA Dressing
1/4 cup chopped red onion
1/4 cup chopped cilantro or fresh parsley
Make It

MIX all ingredients in large bowl. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Banana Pineapple Bread

Pineapple Banana Bread

***Susan's note: I made this because I had extra bananas in the house and we were going away, so I needed to get rid of them. My sister and her family loved this bread - I put it in a 9 x 13 pan because we didn't have 2 loaf pans and it cooked in about 45-50 min.

Ready In: 1 Hour 15 Minutes
Servings: 32

Ingredients:
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

3 eggs
1 1/4 cups vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 (8 ounce) can crushed pineapple, drained (I used pineapple chunks, drained and pureed)
2 cups mashed ripe bananas (about 4 bananas)

Directions:
1. In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, salt, baking soda and cinnamon. In another bowl, beat the eggs, oil and vanilla; add pineapple and bananas. Stir into the dry ingredients just until moistened. Pour into two greased 8-in. x 4-in. x 2-in. loaf pans.
2. Bake at 350 degrees F for 60-65 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks.

Fruit Salsa with Cinnamon Tortilla Chips

Fruit Salsa with Cinnamon Tortilla Chips

2 tart apples, peeled, cored and diced
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 pint fresh strawberries, chopped
2 medium Kiwi fruit, peeled and chopped
2 tablespoons brown sugar, firmly packed
2 tablespoons apricot jam
dash of cinnamon
one large bag of cinnamon pita chips (or use this recipe to make your own)

In a large bowl, toss the chopped apples with the lemon juice to keep apples from browning. Add the chopped strawberries and kiwi. Mix thoroughly. Stir in the brown sugar, strawberry jelly and cinnamon. Chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. Pour Apple Salsa into a serving bowl.

Serve with a big bowl of Cinnamon Pita Chips.

Cranberry Salad - From Sara

**Susan's Note: My friend Sara made this for Thanksgiving and it was amazing. My favorite thing. And I'm not usually a "cold cranberry" person. It's definitely not from a can!!

Cranberry Salad

1 Cup Water
1 Cup Sugar

Bring to a boil. Then add:
1 bag of Cranberries - washed and de-stemmed.

Allow cranberries to pop open and become soft. Take off heat.
Then add:

1 large package of raspberry Jell-O gelatin. Stir.

Then add:
1 C chopped walnuts or pecans
1 C tokay (or other seedless) red grapes, cut in half
1 20oz can of crushed pineapple

Put in dish you want to serve it in, and let it set in the fridge, about 4
hours.

Enjoy!

Apple Cinnamon Upside Down Cake

**Susan's note: While this cake was good, I found there was a disconnect between the slightly dry cake and moist topping...easy to make cake, but not "the best moist apple cake ever." I'd say it's pretty for a bake sale though. I used 3 small Granny Smith apples.

Apple-Cinnamon Upside-Down Cake

You'll want firm but ripe apples that are sweet, such as Empire or Gala. With the cinnamon in this homey cake, they'll hit the spot. Take a few minutes to arrange the apple slices in neat circles on the bottom of the pan -- when the cake is baked and inverted, you'll find them decorating the top.

Prep: 20 minutes
Total: 2 hours
Ingredients

Serves 8

* 10 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
* 1/2 cup packed light-brown sugar
* 3 apples, Empire or Gala (about 1 1/2 pounds), each peeled, cored, and sliced into 8 wedges
* 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
* 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
* 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
* 1/2 cup granulated sugar
* 2 large eggs
* 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
* 1/2 cup whole milk

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat bottom and side of a 9-inch round cake pan with 2 tablespoons butter; sprinkle bottom with brown sugar. In a medium bowl, toss apples with lemon juice; arrange in prepared pan in two concentric circles (you might not use all of them).
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon; set aside.
3. With an electric mixer, beat remaining 8 tablespoons butter with granulated sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla; beat until incorporated. With mixer on low speed, alternately add the flour mixture in three parts and the milk in two, beginning and ending with flour mixture.
4. Spoon batter over apples in pan; smooth top. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 45 to 55 minutes. Cool cake in pan on a wire rack, at least 30 minutes and up to 6 hours (if cake has risen above rim of pan, simply push back inside rim).
5. To serve, run a knife around edge of pan, and invert cake onto a rimmed platter.

Simple Smoothie

SIMPLE SMOOTHIE

***Here is my favorite smoothie recipe. I don't really measure exactly, I just kind of throw things in the blender. You can change the yogurt flavor or fruit you use, but plain yogurt kind of "taints" the flavor a little bit

BERRY BANANA:

- about 8 ice cubes
- 1 medium banana, cut up
- 1 small container blueberry yogurt
- about 6 fresh or frozen strawberries
- 1 - 2 TBSP honey
- about 1/4 cup water
- little bit of orange juice (optional)

Put all ingredients in a blender. Blend until smooth.
Yum!