Who doesn't want an ice COLD smoothie for breakfast? Try this YUMMY combo and you'll be HAPPY, I promise!

Tropical Smoothies
1 to 1 1/2 cups milk

1 (6-ounce) container pina colada or pineapple yogurt

1 ripe mango, cut into pieces (and peeled)
1 banana
3 to 5 strawberries

1/2 cup (or so) fresh pineapple

Couple handfuls ice

Blend all ingredients together in a blender until smooth. Enjoy with some yummy muffins for a tasty breakfast!

TIP: Feel free to add more or less of certain ingredients or switch out some of mine for something you prefer! I think some kiwi would be a great addition, along with a touch of coconut or coconut milk. Mmmm!

Another great dessert to take to a FAMILY gathering! This is so easy, but always looksELEGANT and tastes fantastic. It's like SUMMER in a bowl (or trifle dish)—am I right?

Strawberry Shortcake Trifle

1 box Strawberry Danish, prepared according to “Fruit Sauce” directions

4 cups sliced strawberries

1 loaf angel food cake, cut into 1-inch cubes

1 (8-ounce) container Cool Whip

Combine the Danish and prepared strawberries and refrigerate for 1 hour. 

In a large glass bowl or trifle dish, place half the cake cubes. Top with half the strawberry mixture and half the Cool Whip. Repeat layers. Refrigerate at least 1 hour before serving. Makes 8 to 10 servings.

TIP: Make sure to dig all the way down when serving so everyone gets strawberries, cream, and cake! 

After having the twins, a super SWEET neighbor brought us this yummy dessert and we fell in LOVE with it. I hope there are still some FRESH strawberries at your grocer that you can make this with. If so, I would do it TONIGHT!

Creamy Banana Brownie Cake

1 box "chewy" brownie mix, prepared in a 8 x 8-inch pan and cooled completely

1 small box instant vanilla pudding, prepared

1 small container Cool Whip

1 or 2 bananas, sliced

Strawberries, sliced

1 Heath bar

After baking and cooling the brownie, prepare the pudding mix with milk according to directions and let set. Stir in desired amount of Cool Whip; set aside. (I probably used about half of the container, if not a little more. Just do it to your taste!) Place the banana slices over the cooled brownie to completely cover and then top with the pudding mixture. Lay strawberries over top and then shave the Heath bar over all. Let set in the refrigerator at least 4 hours before serving.

TIP: I like the brownie to be thick, so for a 9 x 13-inch pan I used 1 1/2 boxes of brownie mix even though it said it was for the larger size pan. I'm sure you could double it for some extra goodness! Also, the combinations are endless for this recipe. If you love banana, try using banana pudding for a really strong banana flavor (though when you serve it with the vanilla, everyone will think it's banana pudding already). You could also do chocolate pudding and it would delish!

This is a recipe I found in a neighborhood cookbook. We LOVE muffins at our house and these are EXCELLENT! Spread some butter on one straight from the oven—itsHEAVENLY!

Raspberry Lemon Muffins
2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup cream or whole milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon lemon extract
1 1/2 to 2 cups fresh or frozen raspberries

Combine all ingredients in a bowl except raspberries. Gently fold in the raspberries. Spoon into muffin tin and bake at 400 degrees for 18 to 20 minutes, or until golden brown.

TIP: This would be delicious with other types of berries—strawberries, blueberries, you name it! You could also try using different flavored fruity extracts to mix things up as well.

This time of year, the FRUIT starts to get boring, doesn't it? Well, to dress it up a little, I like to make this super EASY salad. My family always enjoys it—it just seems like an extra special TREAT.

Easy Winter Fruit Salad
1 to 2 red apples (I like Gala or Fuji)
1 to 2 Granny Smith apples
2 to 4 clementines
2 bananas
1 container Yoplait blackberry or raspberry yogurt
1/2 to 1 cup Cool Whip, to taste

Chop the apples and place in a large bowl. Peel the clementines and put the segments into the bowl with the apples. Slice the bananas and add to the other fruit. Pour the yogurt over the fruit as well as the Cool Whip and mix all together. Chill until ready to serve.

TIP: The bananas and apples may turn brown if you make the salad in advance. Try tossing with some lemon juice, orange juice, or even pineapple juice before mixing into the salad to prevent browning. Also, another great addition to make the salad go a little farther . . . mini marshmallows and/or chopped nuts!

Sometimes I just want some really YUMMY sweet bread. This recipe totally fills thatCRAVING! It's super simple and has just the right amount of TREAT factor to it—especially if you add the white chocolate chips as mentioned in the tip! Maybe you could whip this up for your SPECIAL someone in a couple of weeks . . .

Blackberry Cheesecake Bread

1 yellow or white cake mix

1 small box instant cheesecake pudding mix

3/4 cup water

3 eggs

1/2 cup applesauce

Dash of cinnamon, optional

3/4 to 1 cup slightly smashed blackberries (fresh or frozen)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Mix together the dry cake mix, dry pudding mix, water, eggs, applesauce, and cinnamon, if using. Gently fold in the blackberries until swirled throughout the batter. Pour into two loaf pans and bake for about 35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pans for 10 minutes, then completely on a wire rack.

TIP: If your blackberries are extra juicy, you may want to drain them! Also, another great addition to this  recipe would be some white chocolate chips. Yum!

We always have tons of PEACHES, so I'm always trying to think of new ways to use them! I thought a peach PIE sounded yummy, but knew we didn't need a whole one. So, I made some MINI pies, and then FROZE the ones we didn't eat. Perfect!

Mini Peach Pie Pockets

4 cups peeled and chopped peaches

1 tablespoon lemon juice

2 tablespoons sugar

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon (heaping) cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

Dash of salt

1 box store-bought pie crusts, cut into fourths

 Combine all the ingredients in a bowl except the crust. Spoon the peaches into the center of each piece of uncooked pie crust and then fold over sides to enclose. Place on a parchment-lined cookie sheet and then brush with a little of the peach juice from the bowl. Bake at 450 degrees for 20 to 22 minutes, or until golden brown and filling is bubbling. Makes 8 mini pies.

TIP: You could brush the top with butter to help it brown better, but I figured the sugary juices would be yummy. Obviously you can serve this with vanilla ice cream (my family's number one choice!) or whipped cream.

We love homemade ICE CREAM at our house, and we especially love coming up with NEW flavor combinations. This FRUITY and chocolatey cookie mixture is divine, especially with some HOT FUDGE drizzled over top!

Raspberry Oreo Ice Cream

2 cups whole milk

1 1/8 cups sugar

2 1/2 cups heavy cream

1 tablespoon vanilla

3/4 cup fresh or frozen raspberries

15 to 20 Oreos, chopped

In a bowl, combine the milk and sugar until the sugar is dissolved. Stir in the cream and vanilla then add mixture to ice cream maker. Use ice cream maker as directed. About 5 to 10 minutes before ice cream is done, slowly add the raspberries and cookies while ice cream maker is still running. When done the ice cream will be really soft, so we like to put it in a container in the freezer for a couple of hours before serving. Mmmmm!

TIP: You can any other fruit and cookie or chocolate combination. Strawberries would be yummy with the cookies or with chocolate chips. We've done fresh cherries with chocolate chunks, or chopped peaches would be really yummy with Golden Oreos. You can get really creative and add a teaspoon or two of other flavorings like coconut, almond, or mint if you just do cookies or chocolate and leave out the fruit!