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"The Cherry Chomper" Cherry Pitter
Great for children and kids at heart, too.
Meet Talisman Designs' Cherry Chomper. Fauzia Arain of the Chicago Tribune reports that it's "a pit-hater and piemaker's best buddy, especially for children and kids at heart. Just pop a cherry in his smiling mouth, push down and you're left wtih a pit-free cherry. The Chomper stores the pits in his tummy. Just pull aprart to discard pits and wash. (It's dishwasher safe)." It's around $13.
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Here are three Cherry recipes from ChooseCherries.com by Cheryl Forberg. Cheryl co-wrote the eating plan for The Biggest Loser. They also include nutrition information . . .
Cherry Berry Smoothie
"Cherry Chomper" Cherry Pitter will be helpful with this recipe to pit the cherries.
A thick, frosty drink of cherry juice concentrate, frozen cherries, blueberries, lowfat milk, lowfat yogurt and vanilla, topped with a mix of dried cherries and chopped nuts.
Ingredients:
1/2 cup frozen tart cherries, pitted
1/2 cup 1% low fat milk
1/4 cup plain lowfat yogurt
2 tablespoons fresh blueberries
1 tablespoon cherry juice concentrate
1 tablespoon honey
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Sprinkle of cinnamon (optional)
8 ice cubes
Garnish:
1 tablespoon slivered toasted almonds
1 tablespoon chopped dried tart cherries
Directions:
Blend all ingredients in blender until smooth. Pour into two chilled glasses.
Garnish with almonds and dried cherries. Serve immediately.
Makes 2 servings
Nutrition Info:
Nutritional Analysis for one serving: Calories 164, Total Fat g 3, Saturated Fat g 1, Cholesterol mg 5, Sodium mg 57, Total Carbohydrates g 30, Fiber g 1, Sugars g 27, Protein g 5
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Cherry Bran Muffins
Mini cherry bran muffins loaded with chopped dried cherries and toasted nuts.
Ingredients:
1 cup unprocessed wheat bran or oat bran
1 1/2 cups whole-wheat flour
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup 1% lowfat milk (or soymilk)
1/2 cup honey
1 large egg
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 tablespoon cherry juice concentrate
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup dried or fresh (PITTED-use the Cherry Chomper) (or thawed from frozen) tart cherries, finely chopped
1/2 cup chopped toasted pecans
Directions: Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Lightly coat 24 nonstick mini or 12 regular muffin cups with cooking oil spray.
In a medium bowl, combine bran, flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Set aside. In another medium bowl or in a blender, combine the milk, honey, egg, oil, and vanilla extract until smooth. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in liquid mixture. Stir just until combined. Add cherries and pecans; stir again, but do not over mix.
For small muffins, spoon about 1/8 cup batter into each prepared muffin cup. Bake for about 10 minutes, or until golden brown and the tops just spring back when pressed gently in the centers. Do not over bake. Cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes before removing from the cups. Serve warm or cool completely on the rack.
For larger muffins, spoon about 1/4 cup of batter into each prepared muffin cup. Bake for about 13 minutes, or until golden brown and the tops spring back when pressed gently in the centers. Do not over bake. Cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes before removing from the cups. Serve warm.
Makes 24 mini muffins or 12 medium muffins
Nutrition Info:_Calories 107, Total Fat g 4, Saturated Fat g 0, Cholesterol mg 9, Sodium mg 87, Total Carbohydrates g 18, Fiber g 4, Sugars g 9, Protein g 2
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Spinach Cherry Salad with Cherry Vinaigrette
Salad of spinach, pears, dried cherries, toasted (or raw) almonds and goat cheese with a dressing made from cherry juice concentrate
Ingredients:
For Roast Onion and Cherry Dressing:
1 medium yellow onion (about 8 ounces)
º cup plus 1 teaspoon olive oil
º cup fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
3 tablespoons cherry juice concentrate
Salt and pepper to taste
For Spinach and Cherry Salad:
1 medium pear
1 teaspoon fresh lime juice
8 cups baby spinach leaves, washed and dried
1/2 cup chopped dried cherries
3 tablespoons toasted almond slivers
2 ounces medium-firm goat cheese
Directions:
Prepare dressing: Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Peel onion and cut into 8 wedges. Place onion, cut side down, on baking sheet. Drizzle with 1 teaspoon of the olive oil. Bake for 15 minutes. Turn onion over and bake until brown and caramelized, about 15 minutes longer. Set aside to cool.
Place onion in bowl of a food processor; add lime juice, mustard, and cherry juice concentrate. Puree until smooth and thick. (Add 1 tablespoon of water if mixture is too thick to process). Add the remaining º cup of olive oil in a thin stream. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside. There will be about 1 cup of dressing.
Prepare salad: Cut pear in half vertically, and remove core. Cut halves crosswise into º-inch-thick slices. Stack the slices and cut crosswise into 1/8-inch-wide slices, forming thin matchsticks. Toss pear sticks in lime juice in a large mixing bowl. Set aside.
Add spinach, cherries and almonds to the pear. Add just enough dressing to coat the spinach about º cup; toss well. Divide salad evenly among 6 plates. Crumble the goat cheese and sprinkle over the salads. Serve immediately. Pass extra dressing separately.
Makes 6 servings
Nutrition Info:
Calories 167, Total Fat g 8, Saturated Fat g 3, Cholesterol mg 7, Sodium mg 235, Total Carbohydrates g 22, Fiber g 3, Sugars g 13, Protein g 4
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Here are cookbooks with great recipes . . .
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Deceptively Delicious by Jessica Seinfeld
There's a way to get our families and myself to eat more healthy food. Jessica Seinfeld has written a cookbook called Deceptively Delicious where she includes recipes with healthy food hidden in them. I had first heard about the book when I saw Jessica on Oprah. What a great idea! For instance, my favorite is her Oatmeal Raisin Cookies to which she adds a fruit and a vegetable. It's a bit deceiving, and it's delicioius!
Her Mashed Potatoes recipe contains a secret ingredient of a healthy vegetable, and no one will even suspect it's there, and it's so tasty. Knowing it was a little healthier than the run-of-the-mill mashed potatoes was a bonus.
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This fun cookbook by Lisa Lillien gives us 200 delicious recipes that are under 200 calories, like Holy Moly Guacamole!
Hungry Girl: 200 Under 200
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Healthy products that sweeten...
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A friend introduced me to Stevia, a HEALTHY "sweetener". Stevia is categorized as a "nutritional supplement", and is MY FAVORITE. It can be found at all health food stores, and even online at Amazon.com, where I recently ordered several boxes of 50 packets at a very reasonable price. Stevia is available as a liquid vanilla flavoring, a liquid chocolate flavoring, or a Clear Liquid Stevia Extract.
Box of 50 Packets 
Vanilla-Flavored Liquid Stevia
Chocolate-Flavored Liquid Stevia 
Clear Liquid Stevia Extract
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