Refreshing Watermelon Lemonade 🍉🍋

I love watermelon and lemonade, so this is one of my favorite lemonades!  Sometimes when I make this beverage, I'll add 4 cups of the chopped watermelon, and sometimes I may add 5 cups.  Guess the sweetness of the melon determines how much I'd like to add, or if I'd like this to be a bit more tart and tangy, then I'll just add the 4 cups of the chopped melon.

 Refreshing Watermelon Lemonade  

4 or 5 cups of chopped watermelon

1-1/8 cups sugar

1-1/2 cups fresh lemon juice (See *Note) 

3 cups of water 

1.)  Place watermelon in a blender, and process until smooth.

2.)  If desired, strain the watermelon.  (I stated it twice, before adding it to the pitcher.) 

3.)  Add the watermelon juice, sugar, and lemon juice to a 2-quart pitcher.  Briskly stir until the sugar is dissolved.

4.)  Now add the water, and stir.

5.)  Chill watermelon lemonade in the refrigerator.

6.)  Serve chilled lemonade with ice, but stir well before serving.

7.)  Yields: 56-oz. of "the best" watermelon lemonade ever!

8.) *Note: I found you will need 8 medium to large size lemons, to get 1 and a 1/2 cups of fresh lemon juice.

Refreshing Watermelon Lemonade | Just A Pinch Recipes

Refreshing Watermelon Lemonade Recipe - Healthy.Food.com

Citrus Bars

I happen to come across this recipe at a food.com. The recipe was posted by justmeterri, but I did modify the recipe just a bit. These citrus bars are very good. They had a nice lemony flavor to them.

Citrus Bars | Just A Pinch Recipes

Citrus Bars

Crust:
2-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
1 cup butter

Topping:
4 eggs, beaten
2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
3 Tablespoons orange juice
1-1/2 teaspoons lemon zest
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
confectioners' sugar (for sprinkling on top the bars)

To make the crust:
In a bowl combine together, the flour and confectioners' sugar.  Cut in butter; mix until mixture becomes crumbly and clings together. Press crust mixture into a 13x9x2-inch baking pan.  Place baking pan in a preheated 350°F degree oven.  Bake the crust for about 25 minutes, or until lightly browned.

To make the topping:
In another bowl beat together, the eggs, sugar, lemon juice, orange juice, and lemon zest.  Stir in the 1/4 cup flour and baking powder, mixing well.  Pour topping mixture over the baked crust.  Place pan in the oven, and bake for an additional 25 minutes.

When cool; sprinkle the bars with the confectioners' sugar, then cut them into bars.  (I cut the bars while they were slightly warm, then sprinkled the bars with the confectioners' sugar.)

Yields: 24 bars 

Here are 2 more additional photos of the Citrus Bars.

                              

Strawberry Popsicles 🍓

These are "the best" tasting home-made popsicles.  These popsicles don't freeze hard like the store brand popsicles, but they freeze up enough to be eaten without melting too fast, and boy are they delicious.  It's just like biting into a fresh strawberry.  I make these popsicles every year when it's berry pickin' time.



Strawberry Popsicles 🍓

3 cups fresh, sliced, strawberries
1 cup granulated sugar
2 cups water

1.)  Place sliced strawberries in a blender.

2.)  Add the sugar and water.

3.)  Place lid on blender, and process until all ingredients are smooth.

4.)  Pour strawberry mixture into (3-ounce) popsicle molds.  (You may need to use a spoon to remove some of the foam that accumulates to the top of the popsicles.  And after removing the foam, fill remaining popsicle molds with a bit more of the strawberry juice.)

5.)  Place popsicles in the freezer, until they've firmed up completely. (I place mine overnight in the freezer.)

6.)  Yields: 14 popsicles.

Strawberry Popsicles | Just A Pinch Recipes

Chilled Strawberry Yogurt Soup 🍓

This delicious soup was posted by PaulaG at food.com, but I did modify the recipe just a bit. I love this soup! It's also a very pretty soup. I think it would be great even served as a dessert.

🍓 Chilled Strawberry Yogurt Soup 

3 cups fresh, sliced, strawberries

1/2 cup pineapple juice, chilled (See *Note)

4 Tablespoons granulated sugar

1 cup vanilla yogurt

1/2 cup of ice (I used 8 mini sized ice cubes)

Several dollops, of Reddi Whip Whipped Topping

2 large, fresh, strawberries (not hulled) and sliced in half

1.)  Place sliced strawberries into a blender.  Add the pineapple juice, sugar, yogurt and ice cubes. Place lid on blender, and process until all ingredients are smooth.

2.)  Pour strawberry soup into 4 soup bowls.  Top each bowl with a dollop of the whipped topping. Garnish each bowl with a halved strawberry.  Serve soup immediately.

3.)  Yields: 4 servings (1-1/4 cups per each person)

4.) *Note: I have prepared this soup numerous times, and when I don't have a can of pineapple juice on hand, I opt to adding the juice from a can of crushed pineapple.  And at another time when making the soup, I ended up adding some of the crushed pineapple as well, which worked great in the recipe.

Chilled Strawberry Yogurt Soup | Just A Pinch Recipes

Pasta & Imitation Crab Salad

Pasta & Imitation Crab Salad 

(8-oz.) pasta (I used Creamette Radiatore Nuggets)

About 1-1/2 teaspoons vegetable oil

2 teaspoons salt

1 cup chopped broccoli

1/2 cup thinly sliced baby carrots

2 Tablespoons diced red onion

(6-oz.) Colby-Jack cheese, cut into small chunks

(5-oz.) imitation crab meat, cut into chunks (about 1 cup)

1 cup Hellmann's Mayonnaise

1 cup light Italian salad dressing

 2 Tablespoons Kraft Grated Parmesan Cheese

28 grape tomatoes

freshly cracked black pepper, add according to taste

-

1.)  In a large pot of boiling water, add the vegetable oil and salt.  Add the pasta, and cook pasta for 8 minutes and 30 seconds.

2.)  During the last 30 seconds of cooking time, add the broccoli.  After the 30 seconds, immediately drain and rinse the pasta and broccoli under cold water in a colander.

3.)  While the pasta and broccoli is draining in the colander, add the carrots, onion, cheese, and imitation crab meat to a large bowl.

4.)  In another bowl mix together, the mayonnaise and Italian dressing.  Use 1-cup of the dressing to mix into the salad, and reserve the other cup for later.

5.)  Incorporate the 1-cup of dressing into the large bowl of vegetables, cheese, and meat. Add the pasta and broccoli to the bowl; stir gently to mix the salad.

6.)  Season the salad with a bit of the freshly cracked black pepper.  Sprinkle the parmesan cheese over the salad, and gently fold in the grape tomatoes.  Cover the salad, and place it in the refrigerator to chill.

7.)  After 2-3 hours of refrigeration, and before serving the salad; stir in a 3/4 cup to 1-cup of the mayonnaise/Italian dressing.  The extra dressing will keep the salad creamy and moist, even up to a day or two later.

8.)  Servings: 8 to 10

Up close photo of Pasts & Imitation Crab Salad.

Pasta & Imitation Crab Salad | Just A Pinch Recipes