Gabby's Eats: Juice Cubes (well...Spheres!)

Being that we are in the throws of Summer and enduring the warm weather, which in Southern California (where we live) will continue easily into November (!),  it is super important to stay hydrated.  Water by itself can get a bit monotonous, namely for kids, but it really is a top choice because it does the job to naturally replenish to the body's fluids WITHOUT any added sugar, calories or other additives.

I was recently sent a fun package of goodies from The Cranberry Institute which included some cranberry juice, a lovely tumbler and a REALLY cool ice cube maker.  Well, not really ice cubes- ice spheres!!  It's called the Flamen Ice Ball Maker.  This handy tool is BPA free, dishwasher safe and creates 2 inch ice spheres which supposedly melt slower than regular ice cubes to keep your drink colder longer.  How cool, right? Literally ;)

Gabby and I decided we wanted to try out this intriguing tool right away, and what better way to liven up her plain ol' water than by making some juice cubes too put in her glass!  She is a big fan of cranberries so we used the cranberry juice that was sent to us. 

Basically, all we had to do was pour the juice in the mold...

Freeze overnight....

And voila- add the spheres to water and enjoy a hint of yummy cranberry flavor!  You can use any juice you like and also use a regular ice cube tray if you don't have a super fancy Flamen handy to make ice spheres!

A big thank you to The Cranberry Institute for the fun Summer care package-  our inspiration to make these delicious and refreshing juice spheres!

Enjoy! And, for cool cranberry news, research and recipes- check out the Cranberry Institute's webpage HERE!!

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A couple of tools to check out before starting to cook....

Before uploading some recipes, I thought I'd start with a few posts to provide some info on a couple of tools I often use when creating them. See the three posts below for the 411 on these tools- the Misto olive oil sprayer, ICB and Glad Simply Cooking Microwave steaming bags:

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A little oil can go a long way using this....

This is a device that you fill with olive oil, pump the cap to pressurize and then it will lightly spray olive oil, similar to a cooking spray. No chemicals or propellants are involved. The manufacturer reports that MISTO® will spray approximately 1/4 teaspoon per second of spray. Based on 120 calories per tablespoon of olive oil this equals 10 calories per second of spray. And because only a second or two is needed, this usually amounts to 20-50 calories, which is much less than in a tablespoon of oil! It is also recommended that the MISTO® should be cleaned approximately every 6-8 weeks or every time you refill. I ordered mine on-line but I have heard they can be found at some stores such as Bed Bath and Beyond. There are others out on the market as well. For more info and FAQ’s on the MISTO® you can visit the manufacturer link here

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I Can't Believe It's Not Butter!® Spray (ICB) CAN.. be good!

ICB is a product I use often in place of regular cooking spray for cooking, namely for coating a pan to sauté or bake with. It has a nice buttery taste yet zero fat and calories and no Trans Fat per serving, as long as you stick to a serving, which is 1-5 sprays. Depending on the recipe, the max I would ever use is a teaspoon which = 25 sprays and that amounts to 20 calories and 2 grams of fat, which is still much lower than butter, margarine or oil. The key is to go easy on the sprays-a little goes a long way, and DO NOT pour! I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter Spray (ICB) is found at most grocery stores in the refrigerated case next to all the other butter and margarines. For more info check out the company link click here

• Note, when you check out the ingredients on the label, you will notice that ICB is indeed a bit “synthetic”, so if you insist on something more natural, I would use a tiny bit of olive oil (i.e. a teaspoon) or even better, use olive oil via a sprayer device (like the MISTO® listed above), to use less.

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Glad® Simply Cooking™ Microwave Steaming Bags

If you don’t like using a pot or have a Pyrex dish to steam veggies and such, these are disposable bags that you can fill, seal and pop in the microwave to cook away. No cleaning or mess and there is even a guide re: how many minutes to steam based on portion size. I will often use these to blanch, or pre-cook vegetables a bit before sautéing or using in a recipe to cut down the preparation time. They can be found at most grocery stores and most importantly the manufacturer states: “Microwave Steaming Bags are made with ingredients/plastics that comply with FDA regulations, and are safe for microwave cooking”. Do note that it is recommended that they are not re-used. For more info and FAQs you can visit the Glad website here

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