Tasty Thursday

On our trip to Pittsburgh we stumbled across the awesomest grocery store ever, Giant Eagle Market District. This place was huge and had everything imaginable. The first night we ventured in because we were looking for a light dinner. This place has a food court with paninis, sushi, crepes, pasta bar, huge salad bar, bbq joint, wood fired pizzas, Thai/Indian (with fresh naan!), coffee bar, smoothie bar, and gourmet dinner for 2 to take home. You could even purchase beer to round off your meal. There was an upstairs and outdoor dining area. It was a great, quick dinner option for us, we ended up there two nights. Everyone could get what they were in the mood for.

The second trip there we took advantage of their in store child care. We dropped the boys off to play while we had a "date" in the store. The meat department had 10 kinds of house made chicken sausage, elk, venison, rattlesnake, and more! We sampled store made olive oil blends and vinegar from an Italian guy. We brought home some herb olive oil and blueberry balsamic vinegar. The deli and bakery had anything and everything you might want. The produce department was growing veggies hydroponically! They offered all sorts of cooking classes and did I mention the free instore child care?! How I would love to have one of these in Indiana, but if we did I'm sure my grocery budget would go up.

It's definitely hit ice cream season. I had some fresh strawberries and stumbled upon this recipe. I used my blueberry balsamic vinegar in it and it added a great depth of flavor.

Balsamic Strawberry Ice Cream with Chocolate Chips

Ingredients

• 1 pint Strawberries
• 1 cup Sugar, Divided
• 1 Tablespoon Balsamic Vinegar
• 1 cup Heavy Cream
• 2 cups Half-and-half
• ½ cups Mini Chocolate Chips

Preparation Instructions

Slice strawberries and add 1/3 cup sugar and vinegar. Place in a blender or food processor and processes till smooth. Set aside.

Add the remaining 2/3 cups sugar to the cream and stir until disolved. Add the half-and-half and the strawberry puree to cream base. Pour into an ice cream machine. Freeze according to manufacturer’s directions. Add chocolate chips in the last 5 minutes. Chill till firm if you can wait that long. I like mine soft serve!

As soon as I saw this recipe I knew I had to try it. I made this on the hottest day of the year (114 degree heat index) and shared it with our friends. I think it would be great with a mix in, like brownie chunks, Heath bar, Reeses cups, etc...

Brownie Batter Ice Cream

Ingredients

• 2 cups Heavy Whipping Cream
• 1 cup Whole Milk
• ½ cups Granulated Sugar
• 2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
• 1 pinch Salt
• ¼ cups Cocoa Powder (good Quality)
• 1-¼ cup Dry Brownie Mix

Preparation Instructions

A few hours in advance, place the ice cream maker bowl and paddle into the freezer to completely freeze.

In a large bowl or measuring cup, stir all ingredients together until combined. I used a whisk to ensure everything was thoroughly combined. Cover and refrigerate 1-2 hours.

Place the frozen ice cream bowl and paddle onto the machine and cover with the clear lid. Turn the machine on and pour the ice cream base through the top of the machine into the moving bowl.

Churn 15-20 minutes until frozen and smooth. Eat as is or scoop into a large tupperware container, cover and freeze.

We went blueberry picking for the first time this season last week. We came home with 10 lbs and I hope to go again next week. These smoothies were very tasty and refreshing.

Blueberry Lemonade Smoothie

Ingredients

• 2 cups Fresh Or Frozen Blueberries
• 1 cup Milk
• ½ cups Yogurt
• 3 Tablespoons Frozen Lemonade Concentrate
• 1 Tablespoon Honey
• 1 teaspoon Lemon Zest (optional)
• 3 cups Ice Cubes

Preparation Instructions

Toss all in a blender and blend until smooth!