Strawberry Ripple Cream Cheese Wontons

Want a fun dessert for a special occasion?  Try these Strawberry Ripple Cream Cheese Wontons.  They are easy to make and can dress up a simple bowl of ice cream for any occasion.  If you prefer, make breakfast special by serving these cute wontons with a chilled bowl of fruit. 

Ingredients:

1 ½ C. Freeze-dried Strawberries

½ C. Water

¼ C. Sugar

½ tsp. Vanilla

1 – 8 oz. pkg. Cream Cheese

½ C. Powdered Sugar

¼ tsp. Lemon Juice

1 pkg. Square Wonton Skins

1. Mix first 3 ingredients in a saucepan.  At first, it will seem that you need more water, but stir the mixture around for a few minutes and the strawberries will rehydrate.  Cook this mixture over medium heat until it cooks down to a very thick consistency.  Stir often and be careful not to burn the mixture as it gets thick.  Add the vanilla and cook for a minute longer.  Remove from heat and set aside to cool.

2. Soften the cream cheese by placing it in a mixing bowl and letting it warm up while you are making and cooling the strawberry sauce.  When it has softened a bit, add the powdered sugar and lemon juice.  Beat by hand or mixer until it is smooth.

3. Fold the cooled strawberry sauce to the cream cheese mixture.  Do not mix thoroughly, but just make a ripple. 

4. Spoon about 1 tsp. of the strawberry cream cheese mixture onto a wonton skin.  Wet the edges of the wonton skin with a little water by dipping your finger into a dish of water and running it along all the edges of the wonton.  Fold the wonton over diagonally, making a triangular shaped pocket.  Seal the edges together by squeezing them together and then make a couple of crimps in the sealed edges to make them pretty. 

5. Deep-fry them until they are golden brown.

6. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve while warm.

Now, if you are wondering where you can get freeze-dried strawberries, I can help you with that.  I am an independent consultant for Shelf Reliance.  Our line of freeze-dried foods is known as Thrive Foods.  We have a large variety of fruits, vegetables, meats and cheeses.  They are of excellent quality, are simply delicious and are very versatile.  The fact that they are already cleaned and sliced speed up your cooking process.  They also have a shelf life of 25 years unopened.  To purchase any of our line of freeze-dried foods, just click the link below and then click the shop tab on my Shelf Reliance website.

susansakurai.shelfreliance.com

Mother's Banana Bread with a Twist, Freeze-Dried Bananas

My mother made the most delicious Banana Bread.  There was only one thing better than the aroma of those freshly baked loaves coming out of the oven, the taste.  It was sweet and buttery with the delicious taste of bananas and my mother could hardly prevent us from devouring it before it had cooled.  I have loved that recipe all of my life as does my own family. 

I decided to experiment to see if I could actually make this recipe from food storage ingredients.  I usually always have flour, sugar and soda on hand.  Now I also have Thrive Freeze-Dried Bananas and Thrive Whole Egg Powder.  Basically, the only fresh ingredient I used was butter.  The process of making the batter was fast and easy and the finished product was amazing.  To my surprise, I received even more compliments than when I made the original recipe. The texture was very even and fine, but the flavor was the most remarkable part.  The freeze-dried bananas make the banana flavor incredibly vivid.  This is the first thing that those who taste the bread notice.

This is the recipe and the process I used to make the banana bread from food storage ingredients.

Ingredients:

½ C. Butter                                                      
1 C. Sugar
2 C. Thrive Freeze-Dried Bananas                    

1 tsp. Soda

2 C. Flour

2 T. Thrive Whole Egg Powder                                                         
4 T. Water

Process:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease or spray an aluminum bread pan. 

1.  Cream butter and sugar together until smooth and fluffy.  

2.  Place the freeze-dried bananas into a blender or food processor and process until bananas are powdered.  

3.  In another bowl, add banana powder, flour, soda and whole egg powder and mix well.  Add the mixed dry ingredients into the butter and sugar mixture.  

4.  Add the water and stir well until all of the ingredients are incorporated into a smooth slightly thick batter.  

5.  Spoon this batter into the greased loaf pan.  

6.  Bake for 1 hour.  

7.  Check for doneness with a toothpick.  When toothpick comes out clean, the bread is done.  Cool on a cooling rack and watch out for those who are looking to snitch a piece.

If you like nuts, it tastes great with about 1/1/4 C. chopped walnuts added to the batter.  Also, if you are looking for a special treat, frost the banana bread with cream cheese frosting.

Now, why use freeze-dried bananas and whole egg powder?  First, although they cost a little more initially, if I use freeze-dried bananas, I don’t have to make a trip to the store specially to get bananas.  This usually saves money, because not only do you save gas and time, but also you prevent yourself from impulse buying in the store when you only went there for bananas.  Not only that, but it is common for us to waste bananas because they get too ripe before we get them used.  Then, no one wants to eat them.  I end up throwing them away and wasting the money I spent on them.  As for the eggs, they are handy, handy, handy.  They come in powdered form and last for at least 6 months after you open the can.  They can be used in anything that you bake or cook that calls for an egg.  Exceptions are that you cannot make a boiled or sunny-side-up egg.  However, you can make scrambled eggs.  Both of these ingredients are handy, convenient and result in a superior quality, great tasting product.  They prevent waste and are fast and easy to use.  I highly recommend using these and other Thrive Freeze-Dried fruits, vegetables, meats and cheeses along with their other food storage foods.  For more information or to purchase Thrive products, please visit my website at:

susansakurai.shelfreliance.com