How To Get the Most Juice from Citrus Fruit

Depending on the season, lemon and limes can be pricey so you want to make the most of your money! Learn how to get the most from your citrus products.

First thing is to look for good looking lemons and limes. That means the fruits with smooth, shiny skin. These tend to have more juice locked inside.

Next you want to heat the fruit in your microwave until the skin is just warm to the touch - this is usually around 15 seconds, depending on the size of your fruit.

Now, roll your fruit on the countertop. Pushing down evenly for about twenty seconds. You'll begin to feel the inside of the fruit 'loosening up'.

Cut the fruit lengthwise. This is key! You can get so much more juice out this way.

It's as simple as that!

Skinny Avocado, Cucumber, Black Bean California Salad

I love summer - produce is so fresh, delicious and affordable!
I found the idea for this salad via good 'ol Pinterest and spiced it up with a few more ingredients.

This Skinny Avocado, Cucumber, Black Bean California style salad is a perfect healthy and colourful BBQ side dish.

What You'll Need:

• 1 large bowl
• 1 colander
• 1 small mixing bowl
• 2 medium, ripe tomatoes, diced with the seeds removed (you don't want this salad to be soggy)
• 1 large cucumber - sliced and seeded, then diced
• 1 large, ripe avocado, diced
• 1 rinsed and drained can of black beans (you can exchange these for chickpeas as well)
• 2 Tbps of diced red onion
• 2 Tbps of diced cilantro (this is optional as cilantro is often a divisive subject...my husband can't stomach it but I love it and throw it on everything)
• The juice of 2 limes (I used the juice of 6 key limes for extra zing). Learn how to get the most juice out of your limes, here.
• Salt and pepper to taste

What You'll Do:

• In a large bowl add in your prepped cucumber, tomato and onion
• In your colander, rinse then drain your beans until the water runs clear and there are no more 'bubbles' when the water is running through. Add these into your bowl with the other veggies
• In a small mixing bowl, squeeze in your lime juice and stir in the salt and pepper
• Dice your avocado and set aside
• Dice your cilantro and set aside
• Pour the lime juice mixture over the diced veggies and stir until covered
• Add in your cilantro and avocado and gently stir until just combined (you don't want to be too aggressive with your avocados or they'll turn to mush)
• Set aside in the fridge until ready to serve

This salad will keep for up to three days.

The STEWART SCORE (out of 2):
Appearance: 2 - so pretty and colourful 
Taste: 2 
Ease: 1.5

Making Your Favourite Chocolate Chip Cookies

I love this handy chart from handletheheat.com.
You can quickly review to see what type of cookie you're craving and adjust your ingredients accordingly.

Lovely!

This for That Guide: Cooking and Baking Substitutes

 

Find this great chart and other fantastic kitchen 'hacks' in this great article on BuzzFeed.

Skinny No-Bake Berry Cheesecake

This is the perfect make-ahead dinner party dessert that will leave your guests thinking you stayed up all night making.

This Skinny, No-Bake Berry Cheesecake is light, fluffy and low(er) fat than a normal cheesecake and takes all of around 15 minutes to make.

What You'll need:

• One large bowl
• Hand mixer
• One medium sized bowl
• 1 tsp fresh lemon juice
• 1/4 cup sugar or sugar substitute (I like to use Ideal)
• 1 package of reduced fat cream cheese
• 1 cup of reduced fat whipping cream
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 Tbsp sugar or sugar substitute
• 1 dash of vanilla extract
• 1 pre-made graham cracker crumb pie crust
• Mixed berries - you can use blueberries, raspberries and strawberries like I did, or branch out and try blackberries or any other fruit that is in season

What You'll Do:

• In your larger bowl, beat the cream cheese, 1/4 sugar and fresh lemon juice until fluffy
• In your medium bowl, mix your whipping cream, cinnamon, vanilla and tablespoon of sugar until densely whipped, making firm peaks
• Combine your whipping cream into your cream cheese and beat until combined
• Spoon into your pie shell
• Arrange your chosen fruit on the top however you think beautiful
• Chill for a few hours, cut and serve to adoring guests

This no-bake skinny cheesecake is a crowd pleaser!

The Stewart Score:
Appearance: 2
Taste: 2
Ease: 2
 

Mango Coconut Chia Pudding

I love healthy, low-fat dessert alternatives that actually taste good!
Recently in Chicago, we dined at an amazing restaurant called Baxter's where they served a Chia pudding to die for. Inspired by that, I created the below recipe for a Mango Coconut Chia Pudding I hope you'll love as much as I do.

What You'll Need:

• Large Bowl
• 1/3 cup chia seed
• 1 can light coconut milk
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• Frying pan
• 1/2 cup of fresh mango (or frozen mango pieces that have been left to thaw)
• 1/4 cup unsweetened, shredded coconut

What You'll Do:

• Empty the contents of your light coconut milk into your large mixing bowl
• Gently pour in your chia seeds and stir thouroughly until combined
• Stir in your cinnamon and vanilla
• Cover and let sit in the fridge for a minimum of four hours  
• Heat your frying pan and pour in your coconut, toast until lightly browned (I use a non-stick frying pan and find you don't need any oil to toast the shredded coconut). Once browned, place in a small bowl
• Chop your fresh (or thawed) mango into little, cubed pieces and keep cool in the fridge
• Once the pudding has set, you will notice the tiny chia seeds have now grown in size and the mixture is very gelatinous and thick. The seeds now look more like tapioca
• Portion out the pudding and place your chopped mango and toasted coconut on top
• Serve and enjoy

Super simple, super tasty and super healthy. This Mango Coconut Chia Pudding dessert is a healthy indulgence, perfect for a summertime dinner party.

The STEWART SCORE:
Appearance: Not going to lie here, it looks a little weird. Sort of like caviar...

Taste: 2

Ease: 2

Low Fat Potato Salad with Dill

BBQ season is here and what is better to go with your steaks, burgers and dogs than potato salad?!

This zingy, crunchy super tasty potato salad with dill will have you totally hooked! And best of all - it is low fat! Say good-bye to drenching your poor little potatoes in mayo and give this recipe a try.

What You'll Need:

• Large pot with lid
• Large bowl and small mixing bowl
• Spatula
• One bag of mixed mini potatoes (I like the bags that come with red, yellow and blue)
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 stalks of celery for that crunch
• 4 Tbps of chopped green onion
• 1 cup fat free Greek yogurt
• 1 Tbps light mayo (I used Miracle Whip)
• 3 Tbps cider vinegar
• 1/4 honey mustard (not the overly sweet kind. I chose a honey, Dijon mustard for a little extra bite)
• 1/2 cup of relish (I used the basic Heinz variety)
• 1 Tbps 'fresh' dill (I used the kind that comes in the tube...classy, I know). You can also use dried dill or dill from a fresh dill plant - up to you and what you have available at the time
• Freshly ground pepper to taste

What You'll Do:

• Fill your large pot halfway with water, sprinkle in your salt, cover and let boil
• Chop your mini potatoes into halves or quarters (depending on the size)
• Once the water has boiled, gently spoon in your potato pieces
• I boiled my potatoes for around 12 minutes, but the key is to not have them go too soft - then your potato salad with be a sad mushy consistency
• Boil them until they are soft enough to stick a fork in without being too soft they break apart
• While boiling, dice your celery into tiny pieces and chop your green onion. Set aside in your smaller mixing bowl
• Combine your fat free Greek yogurt, light mayo, cider viegar, honey mustard, relish, dill and freshly ground pepper into the small mixing bowl
• Using a spatula, stir the contents together until they are evenly distributed. Cover and set in the fridge to stay cool
• Drain your potatoes and allow to cool on your countertop for at least 20 minutes. You don't want to pour the dressing on hot potatoes
• Once cool to the touch, remove your dressing from the fridge and cover the chopped potatoes
• Using your spatula, gently stir to ensure all potatoes are covered evenly
• You can serve this right away or let it sit. You can keep this salad up to three days if you keep it cool - so this dish is great as a make-ahead dish

The STEWART SCORE:
Appearance: 1.5 - Quite pretty with the mixed colours of the potatoes

Taste: 2+

Ease: 1 (You will need about one hour or so to make)

Earl Grey Tea Cookies

I love Earl Grey tea - it has such a soothing, calm taste to it.
It was a friend's birthday, who is also a tea-lover, so I decided to try taking an average sugar cookie recipe and adding some Earl Grey goodness for her present.

The cookies turned out lovely - just enough tea flavour without being overpowering.

I love this recipe as it makes you look so fancy, it is super easy and contains ingredients that area easy to find and most likely already live in your cupboards.

What You'll Need (for around 35 cookies):

• Parchment paper-lined cookie trays
• A food processor
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1/4 powdered sugar
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1Tbps Earl Grey tea (about three normal size bags)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp room-temperature water
• 1/2 cup unsalted room-temperature butter

What You'll Do:

• In your food processor, add in all the dry ingredients
• Pulse until the tea leaves are a fine powder
• Add in your vanilla and water
• Slice your butter into the processor
• Pulse until the mixture has come together into dough
• Divide the dough into two tubes, about 6" long and 1" wide
• Roll the dough up in plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes
• Pre-heat your oven to 375C
• Once the dough has chilled, slice the dough into disks, about 1.5cm thick
• Placing them three per row on your sheet, they do not spread, so you can place nearlyhalf the dough on one regular sized cookie sheet
• Bake for ten minutes or until the bottoms start to lightly brown
• Let cool for a few minutes on the trays, then move to a cookie rack
• Enjoy!

This recipe is flawless to double and the dough can last in the fridge for up to three days (just make sure it is wrapped tightly, so it doesn't dry out.
You can also try other flavours of tea, if you are not an Earl Grey tea fan. I have also tried this recipe with Chai Tea and those were delicious, too - I just added in 1 tsp of cinnamon to those, to enhance the flavour.

The STEWART SCORE:
Taste: 2
Appearance: 1.5
Ease: 2