Strawberries & Chiquita Bananas, Recipes for the Season

One can assume by my eager participation with our Chiquita Moms Community that I am a super-big fan of the banana, the Chiquita banana.  But, I’d like to let you in on a little secret:  I’m also a HUGE fan of the strawberry.  One of my favorite times of the year is when my strawberry plants in the backyard begin to produce little red fruits.  I run out each morning with my son to harvest the little red berries and put them on top of our breakfasts.

Sadly, our entire strawberry bed got wiped out by the Great Strawberry Plant Plague of 2011. (Ok, I completely made that up.  I think I just forgot to water them.) But, while we wait for our new plants to establish themselves, I’ll be making weekly runs to our local farmer’s market.

The only complication? My complete inability to hold myself back when I see the giant baskets of berries.  This past week I picked up two GALLONS of strawberries!  What the heck?  Apparently, I was to spend the weekend coming up with strawberry treats in the kitchen.

Mission accomplished.  I made a lot of strawberry goodies.  First up:

Strawberry Jam: the perfect accompaniment for my Greek Yogurt and Chiquita Banana Breakfast.
The Recipe and Process:

De-stem 2 pounds of fresh strawberries, composting the stems. Check out Natalie’s upcoming post on how to compost!). Enlist a little helper to “hold the lid down on the food processor” as you roughly chop the berries. Precision is not necessary.

In a large, heavy-bottomed pot combine the strawberries, 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice (and zest if you like), and three cups of white sugar. Heat on low until the sugar is dissolved, then turn to high and bring to a rolling boil, stirring occasionally until the mixture reaches 220 degrees. (This will take awhile.) Allow to cool slightly, the pour into a container and refrigerate.

Now, for a winner breakfast, combine plain Greek yogurt (yes, I measure mine to make sure I don’t get over-zealous), and mix in a spoonful of home-made strawberry jam.

Top with your choice of cereal and fruit. I of course chose Chiquita bananas and some of my strawberries!

Next, another breakfast treat: Strawberry and Chiquita Banana muffins.  Easy to make on the weekend, and throw in the freezer in an air-tight container.  Re-heat with a dampened paper towel on top approx. 45 seconds at 60% power level.  I happened to top mine with Strawberry Honey Butter that I made.  Remember…. I bought two gallons of strawberries!  If you didn’t get as carried as I did, I’m sure they’d be great with regular ol’ butter, or just plain!

Check out the muffin recipe in our Thrive section of our Chiquita Moms community!