Oh, we are keeping it easy today, people. But you know what? That doesn't mean it's any less delicious.This recipe is from my grandmother, Dee Dee. She used to make these ice cream balls for us for dessert, and I loved them. They are super easy, but for some reason they feel so much more decadent than just cookies and ice cream.
Next, you scoop out one regular scoop of ice cream, plop it into the cookies, and roll it around so it maintains it's ball shape but collects the cookie pieces all around it. Repeat this seven more times (8 balls should clear up your cookies).
Voila! Aren't they easy? And guests (and kids!) love them. My family usually serves them with hot fudge or chocolate syrup, but since peaches are so delicious right now, I thought I'd try that on the side as well.Each ball, without garnish, is 215 calories.For your internet share today, I'm giving you something salty since my recipe was surprisingly sweet. This quick and easy fried rice looks amazing to me. I think I would maybe add red pepper, but that's it! Ten minutes for dinner? YES, PLEASE.
Guys! It's August! And you know what that means? That tomatoes are at their prime! I love this time of year. Frankly? I could just slice a tomato and eat it with salt and pepper right now... but gimme some fresh mozzarella or basil or onion and spices? Man, so many options.Today I'm gonna show you how I make my fresh salsa. It's super fast and easy, and suuuuper delicious. Especially this time of year! You really can't mess it up when the tomatoes are this good.
What you'll need:• 3-4 large tomatoes, diced• I throw in a few sliced cherry or grape tomatoes to add texture, but that's totally optional• 1 jalepeño -- I only use 1/4 of the thing (no seeds!!), but I am a midwestern wimp who doesn't like stuff too spicy. This one is up to you.• Lime juice from 1/2 fresh lime• 2-3 cloves garlic, minced• 1 shallot, minced• Handful fresh cilantro, diced/chopped/minced/whatever• a dash of cumin• salt to taste
Step one: Chop, dice, or mince up your ingredients. WARNING: Wash your hands when dealing with that jalepeño. I once got serious burns on my hands and lips from tasting out salsa and guacamole with several jalepeños, and since then I am super careful. Also, unless you like stuff screamin' hot, get rid of the seeds.Step two: Combine all the ingredients in a bowl. I like to add dashes of salt as I go because it helps break down the tomatoes. For instance, dice the tomatoes, add to bowl, add salt. Mince the garlic and shallots, add to bowl, add salt. Chop the pepper, add to bowl, add some salt. You get the idea.At the end, I stir in a dash of cumin with the cilantro, and then I taste the salsa with chips. Please keep in mind that the salsa will get hotter as it sits, so if you think it's way too mild, maybe wait an hour or two and try again before adding more pepper. The only thing I usually end up adding at this point is salt.
And voila! How pretty is that? And just wait until you taste it!The calories from this will never come from the salsa, it only comes from what you eat it on. The entire batch (which fills a small mixing bowl or very large cereal bowl) is 167 calories total. So if you break that down to 8 servings, it's less than 25 calories each.And you know what it pairs well with? 
Today I'm gonna show you how I make the most amazing vegetable stir fry. First off, feel free to add in chicken or shrimp -- both are great. But with as many veggies as I got this time around (they're all so fresh and ripe and beautiful right now!) I didn't think I needed any more ingredients.This recipe is super easy and fast, but you need a helper (kid? man? wife? partner?) who chops the veggies with you. Unless you love chopping veggies, then knock yourself out. I like to split the work. I guess what I'm trying to say, is this is a great "date night but we're staying in" dinner.
First, what you'll need. Let's be clear that all of this is changeable, but this is how *I* like it. If you hate almonds? Use cashews (delish!) or peanuts. Hate broccoli? Leave it out. You get the idea. OK, so here's my list:• four carrots, peeled and chopped• a very small head of broccoli broken into florets (sometimes I just buy them from the salad bar because I'm lazy)• one medium red onion, sliced• a handful of snow peas, cleaned (or snap peas or regular peas or green beans)• one yellow squash, sliced• a nub of ginger, minced (see mine up there? I used 3/4 of it)• one red pepper, sliced• one large handful of basil, minced• one large handful of cilantro, minced• roughly 1/3 box of linguini• roughly 1/2 bottle of San J thai peanut sauce (YUM)• 1 cup nuts (I like almonds or cashews)
Start by boiling the water. While you wait for it to heat up, better get chopping. We have a lot of cleaning/slicing/dicing to do.
Once your water is boiling, throw in the linguini. You want to cook it al dente (a touch under-cooked) so that it doesn't get mushy when you reheat it later with all the veggies.
Oh, how I love mincing ginger. Nothing smells better in this world. OK. Maybe butter and onions cooking together. But man, I love me some ginger.
I start out with a few tablespoons of olive oil and cooking the onions and ginger on medium heat first. I want to make sure the onions are nice and soft by the time we finish.
Once the onions are just beginning to soften, I throw in the next "longer cooking" veggies -- the broccoli, carrots and red pepper. Hey! You might want to check on that pasta. Once it's cooked, drain it and run under cold water.
After 5 minutes of those cooking, add in the snow peas, squash and other faster-cooking veggies along with your almonds (or cashews or whatever). When this stuff is almost done cooking, toss in the rest of your fresh herbs.
Ok, now things are bright, colorful and smelling divine. At this point add in the cold pasta and about half the bottle of peanut sauce. Mmmmm.....
I just take this time to stir it all together and let the flavors meld a bit on low heat before serving it up in bowls. How yummy does that look!?
This recipe makes 8 servings at 259 a serving.And for your internet share of the day, how about 
Since I was on vacation all week, I'm doing a pretty easy recipe for homemade lemonade. Let me be clear, adding vodka or gin or rum or whiskey to this would be AMAZING. I, however, have been enjoying it as is. Next summer though? It's on.To make the best lemonade of your life, you'll need:• About 8 medium lemons• 1 cup sugar• 1 cup water• Fresh mint• 40-60 oz. sparkling water or club soda (you can use regular water, but sparkling is just more fun)
First, you boil 1 cup regular still water with 1 cup sugar (stirring constantly) to make simple syrup. Once the sugar dissolves (almost immediately), set it aside to cool. Why do this? Because then you don't get a bunch of un-dissolved sugar at the bottom of your pitcher.While that's cooling, squeeze 8 lemons into your pitcher (this is a good task to recruit your man, partner or children to help with). Add the sparkling water (I always start with 40 oz and then add more as needed later) and the simple syrup. Stir. Taste it at this point to see if you need more or less sparkling water (some lemons are juicier than others, and you don't want it too sour).Then, get your cups or glasses out and mash 2-3 fresh mint leaves in the bottom of each glass using the handle-end of a wooden spoon. This releases the mint oils and crushes the leaves. Once that's ready, fill the glasses with ice (over the mint) and pour in your lemonade. Garnish with more lemons if you like. Voila!I promise, you will love this. I kept trying to also garnish it with raspberries and blueberries and such, but, um, I kept eating the berries and forgot to try it out. I am certain, however, that it would be divine. Enjoy!
Well hello there! How about let's make a dinner that takes full advantage of all the fresh veggies we have around right now, shall we? Today's recipe is for Pasta Primavera. Jamie and I made this for years, until I went all Paleo and gave up pasta. But since we're breaking the rules right now, I thought I'd share this gem with you. It's super easy, fast and delicious, and perfect for summer nights with a big glass of chilled white wine (oh how I miss that...).
First, you'll need:• 1/2 box linguini• 1 medium onion, sliced• 1 clove of garlic, diced• 1 red pepper, sliced• 1 cup frozen peas• 5 carrots, sliced (I know there are only 3 up there. I added more. Because I like 'em.)• 1 zucchini• 1 yellow squash• 1/2 cup cashews (or nut of your choice)• 3 tbsp butter• 1 tsp thyme• 1/4 cup white wine• 1/4 tsp pepper• salt to taste (I like a lot)• Parmesan cheese to add after it's served
So, the first thing I do is get the water for the pasta boiling on the stove, and then set in slicing all the veggies.
I put the onions, peppers, carrots and garlic in one dish, and the peas, squashes and nuts in another. Because the second grouping doesn't need to cook as long, I add them separately.
Once your water is boiling, add your pasta and cook until al dente (you want it still a touch firm -- you'll be cooking it more later with the veggies and you don't want it mushy).
While the pasta's cooking, sautée the first batch of veggies over medium to high heat in 2 tbsp melted butter until the onions soften (5-8 minutes), then add in the additional veggies (and nuts) and cook those for about 2 minutes (thawing the peas). About now the pasta should be finished...
Drain the pasta and then add it into the pan with the veggies, the remaining tablespoon of butter, the wine and the thyme, salt and pepper. Heat the entire pan (in case anything, like the pasta, cooled off) and then serve in big bowls with shaved parmesan on top. Yum!
Now. For the calories. While this is SUPER nutritious, the pasta, nuts and wine add up, making this dish (which serves 4) 523 calories per bowl... without any parmesan cheese on top. If you add some of that, it's an additional 70 calories. Ah pasta, the food I love to eat and my hips love to retain. But it's summer. Indulge yourself, eh?No internet share because I'm still at the cabin! Woot! (Posting this in advance before packing, in fact). Go out and enjoy some sunshine, why dontcha!?
Last week, the lovely Margaret gifted me with a spankin' new crock pot. For as much as I love to cook, I'm not really huge on kitchen gadgetry, so I'd never had one of these before. I was super excited about it because a) I can cook stuff in the summer without heating up the kitchen and b) I keep hearing how easy meals are and, as we've discussed before, I am supremely lazy when it comes to cooking.So the first thing I wanted to try out pulled bbq chicken sandwiches. I scoured the internet for some recipes and settled on 
What you'll need:1/2 cup diced onion1.5 lbs chicken (I used bone-in breasts, but I have heard thighs work great as well)Red pepper flakes2/3 cup Dr. Pepper (yup you read that right)A bottle of your favorite bbq sauceBrownberry onion buns
So! Are you ready for this? It's sooooo easy.First, dump the Dr. Pepper into the crock pot, put the chicken on top, then add 1 cup of the BBQ sauce, the diced onion and red pepper flakes to taste, then stir it all up.And turn the crock pot to low. And let it cook for 7 hours while you get on with your day.Right? I know! So easy!So after 7 hours, you use forks to peel the chicken off and it will shred pretty easily. Remove the bones, stir the chicken back in with the sauce and add about a cup more of the sauce from the bottle. And voila! Add it to the delicious toasted bun!
Since we aren't big on cole slaw in our house, I served it with my apple and manchego salad, and that was THE BEST DECISION EVER. Here's 
So have I mentioned how I suck at baking? Yeah? Well this weekend I wanted to make one of those cakes with fresh berries for the Fourth of July. But I certainly didn't want to turn on the oven or mix flour and sugar and the like (I have mentioned my laziness before, yeah?). So I thought I'd try to make an Icebox Cake instead. I've never made one of these before, but I've always been intrigued by how easy they seem to make. And you guys? MAN, ARE THEY EASY.
So while this isn't the prettiest of cakes, I wanted to tell you how to make it.You'll need:• Either a tub of Cool Whip, or better yet, homemade whipped cream (to do this, beat one pint of heavy whipping cream with a mixer, adding in 2 tbsp powdered sugar and 2 tsp vanilla about halfway through. Once it thickens up, STOP BEATING. If not, it gets too heavy... says the girl who messed up her first batch.)• One box of graham crackers• Your favorite fresh berries.
Step one: Line a bread loaf pan with saran wrap, then layer the bottom with graham crackers (you can break them up to make them fit).Step two: Spoon in some whipped cream, and throw a few berries on top (sliced strawberries work great)Step three: Repeat the grahams, then repeat the whipped cream & fruit , until you reach the top of the pan.Step four: Put the cake in the freezer for 2 hours.Step five: When frozen, remove from pan, frost the outside with the remaining whip cream and cover in berries. Enjoy! Because it's frozen, it slices pretty easily!This cake has about 155 calories per serving (See? Super light and cold! Perfect for Summer!).
Oh, I am the laziest of bloggers!So the one thing about summer is that it's hot and I don't like to heat up the kitchen (no central air conditioning here at Shuttersmack HQ). The other thing is that summer makes me lazy 1) because of the heat and 2) because I am SWAMPED with work and don't have time for intensive meals. So there are many, many days where my snacks (ok, and sometimes my dinners) consist of frozen grapes.I really hesitated to count this as a blog post, but I keep meeting people who have never had this snack! You guys! It's like the best and healthiest popsicle ever! So I am including the "recipe" below.
Ingredients:• Grapes• Freezer
Step one: Wash grapesStep two: Put in freezerStep three: Wait roughly 2.5 hours and enjoy!Also! I will give you the tip that smaller grapes taste sweeter, both in general and for this recipe. So aim for the small, round, red grapes for best results.Oh, and one cup of grapes is 62 calories. Knock yourselves out!For your internet share of the day, check out