Celebrating Independence Day

In our family, we believe that the big holidays along with the everyday achievements, deserve to be celebrated. We celebrate a child being potty trained, an epic day of work, a goal achieved, and anything that, as a family, we can use as an excuse for celebration. We don’t always throw a party, but simply eat or cook together, or prepare a favorite dessert, meal or beverage. It’s been a wonderful family bonding tradition and the kids love it.

This week and weekend we’ve been celebrating Independence Day! We’ve had a BBQ, attended a pool party, journeyed to fruit stands and visited with family. In the midst of the activities we found some fresh Red, White and Blue touches to add to our celebrations. Here are a few of our favorite treats this week!

Watermelon Smoothie

You’ll need:

• 1 medium seedless watermelon, cubed

• 1 liter of coconut water

• 1 cup of ice

1. Add watermelon, ice and a couple inches of coconut water to the bottom of a blender.

2. Blend.

3. Add the remaining coconut water until the blender is full and blend one last time. Serve immediately.

Rainer Cherries

Have I mentioned how much I love Rainer cherries? These cherries could stand alone as a dessert. They are juicy, sweet and produce a rather mouthwatering effect when you start talking about them. We took a trip to a local fruit stand and picked up these beauties. Delicious! They made a great, fresh side dish to our thyme hamburgers.

My sister-in-law served this yummy strawberry, blueberry and coconut cream treat over the weekend and I’m in love with the fresh, clean flavors of this simple dessert!

Red, Blue and Coconut Cream

You’ll need:

• 1 can of full fat coconut milk (do NOT shake!)

• 1 vanilla bean

• Fresh strawberries and blueberries

1. Carefully open the can of coconut milk and scoop all the solid coconut cream out of the can and place into a bowl. Stop when you get to the coconut water. FYI: cream from the coconut milk separates from the coconut water. (Use the coconut water for the watermelon smoothie!)

2. Split the vanilla bean pod in half longwise and scrape the vanilla bean’s seeds out with the blunt edge of a butter knife. Place the vanilla bean seeds in the bowl with the coconut cream.

3. Mix with a spoon. If the consistency starts becoming runny, refrigerate for 1 hour.

4. Wash berries and serve with the coconut cream!

Have a wonderful 4th of July!