Homemade Strawberry Fruit Roll-Ups

DIY Classics

By Sarah McColl, Shine staff | Team Mom – Fri, 15 Mar, 2013 

Photo Credit: Courtesy of Ulysses Press/Judi Swinks Photography

We don't make a habit of looking at the ingredients lists of some of our favorite snack foods. We're well aware there's unpronounceable, death and disaster-causing gook in there, but look, we really, really love Cheez-Its. "Classic Snacks Made From Scratch" takes all our beloved greasy-fingered treats (Fritos, Pop-Tarts, and Hostess Cupcakes, we're looking at you) and makes them from perfectly normal, find-it-in-the-grocery-store, easy to pronounce ingredients.

Make no mistake: author and culinary whiz Casey Barber isn't out to make these treats low-cal. She's an enthusiastic cook and self-described "DIY fanatic" who loves the mad scientist deconstruction of factory-produced treats. "It's supremely gratifying to nail a recipe and find those flavors that have such strong emotional connections," she writes,"but without preservatives or weird chemical aftertaste."

Let's look at one of our favorite school lunch sweets, Strawberry Fruit Roll-Ups. You won't find a single strawberry in the store-bought version, though you will be chowing down on pears from concentrate, two kinds of corn syrup, partially hydrogenated cottonseed oil, and red 40. (We know! You don't want to hear it!). But set out to make these sticky, fun treats at home you'll need just strawberries, sugar, and fresh-squeezed lemon juice.

See more: Best recipe for homemade doughnuts

Barber recommends making big double batches of these in the spring, "when tiny, sweet berries are in season, for a Roll-Up more luscious and pure than any you've tasted before." Seasonally-appropriate snack foods? We're sold.

If you've been eyeing Silpats (those non-stick silicone baking mats Martha Stewart swears by) at the fancy cooking supply store, this is the perfect excuse to spring for them. "I find Silpats the best surface, hands down, for evenly spreading the thick fruit jam for roll-ups," Barber advises. "They won’t bunch and tear on you the way parchment paper can—and who wants to scrape the jam off a ripped sheet and start again?"

Homemade Strawberry Fruit Roll-Ups

1 pound strawberries, hulled
¾ cup (5¼ ounces) granulated sugar
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice (from about ½ lemon)

Yield: 12 rolls, 5 by 5-inch size

Cut the strawberries in half or quarters, depending on size, and mash roughly with a potato masher in a large bowl. You should have about 2 cups mashed berries. Stir in the sugar and lemon juice and let sit at room temperature for 30 minutes to break down the berries slightly. Stir once or twice while they sit to dissolve the sugar.

See more: How to make Starbucks scones at home

Pour the strawberries and their natural syrup into a blender and blend for 1 minute, until a smooth purée forms. Pour into a high-sided pan or Dutch oven (the wider the better, to help the liquid evaporate evenly) and bring to a low boil over medium heat.

Cook for 20 to 25 minutes, stirring often. Visual cues are your best friend when you’re cooking fruit: the liquid will foam, then clarify as the bubbles slow and the purée thickens. At the final stage, the purée will be consistently thick and almost opaque, and it will “mound” slightly instead of immediately seeping back when pushed across the bottom of the pan with a spatula.

Preheat the oven to 175˚F. Line 2 rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper or Silpat liners.

Divide the cooked fruit between the baking sheets and use an offset or silicone spatula to spread evenly into as thin and wide a rectangle as possible. The jam should be no more than ⅛ inch thick but still as evenly opaque as you can manage; thinner, more translucent spots will harden into brittle.

See more: Delicious twists on traditional chocolate cake

Heat in the oven for 5 to 6 hours, or until the fruit feels slightly tacky but no longer sticky. The timing will depend on the humidity level; a rainy day makes for a longer set.

Transfer the parchment or Silpats to wire racks and cool completely then transfer the fruit leather to sheets of waxed paper large enough to leave overhang on all sides. Use kitchen shears to cut the fruit leather from each pan into 6 (5 by 5-inch) squares. Fold the extra waxed paper over the edges before rolling so they won’t fuse.

Store the Roll-Ups at room temperature in an airtight container for up to a week.

5 ‘healthy’ habits that are making you fat

olives, nuts + avocados – help to promote weight loss

Cutting fat from your diet

Hands up who’s ever checked a packet and then rejected your food choice based on the fat content?
If you’ve ever been on a diet, we’re guessing your hand is probably up. For many dieters, fat seems like the ultimate enemy. However, opting for low fat products can be much more of a diet disaster than opting for those that contain moderate amounts of fat.
Firstly, many low fat meals are packed with sugar to compensate, meaning that they can still inevitably lead to weight gain. Furthermore, contrary to what you may think, not all fats are good for you, and studies have found that eating good monounsaturated fats – found in olives, nuts and avocados – can actually help to promote weight loss.

use glass not plastic water  bottle

Drinking water

Drinking plenty of water is undoubtedly good for you; helping you to stay hydrated and energized and to keep your organs and digestive system in good condition. However, studies have shown that the chemicals found in water could also be making you fat.
Not only have research results published in PLoS ONE shown that the chemical bisphenol A (BPA) found in plastic water bottles encourages the body to create more fat, our drinking water can also contain the hormone estrogen, which affects the way our bodies store fat. The more we are exposed to these chemicals, the harder it becomes to lose weight.
However, there’s no need to panic just yet – while ditching water clearly isn’t an option, experts suggest that filtering your water or using a reverse osmosis purification system can limit the chemicals you are exposed to.

Exercise

While exercise is essential for good health and, when approached correctly, can help you to shed excess pounds, many exercisers make vital mistakes that can lead to them gaining weight. Firstly, research has found that relying solely on exercise to manage your weight can actually be ineffective. Studies have shown that exercise, when not combined with dietary changes, does very little in respect to losing weight.

Additionally, many of us overestimate the amount of calories burned through exercise and adhere to the myth that exercise continues to boost the body’s ability to burn fat well after our workout is over. Therefore, we often end up overcompensating for workouts with pre- or post-workout snacks, leading to weight gain. For maximum weight loss benefits, try to incorporate both exercise and dietary changes into your day.

Looking on the bright side

While impulsive and optimistic people may be happier (and therefore have stronger immune systems) than their more anxious and pessimistic counterparts, research suggests that they could also have more trouble losing weight.
According to research by America's National Institute on Ageing, impulsivity is the strongest predictor of who will become overweight. Furthermore, researchers from Doshisha University in Kyoto, Japan studied obese women and men partaking in a six month weight loss program and found that those who were more positive and optimistic in their outlook lost the least weight.
It is believed that positivity may cause weight gain by causing optimists not to worry enough about their weight to resist temptation and stick to a strict healthy eating and fitness regime.

fructose (the sugar found in fruit) can help to trigger overeating

Snacking on fruit

Fruit is undoubtedly nutritious, being packed with vitamins, minerals, fiber and antioxidants. However, due to its healthy properties, many people overindulge on fresh fruit, juices and smoothies, forgetting about the fact that many fruits are also high in calories and sugar. Although fruit is healthy, remember that a calorie is still a calorie, and the ones in fruit are as likely to make you overweight as the ones in any other food.
Furthermore, research results published in the Journal of the American Medical Association suggest that fructose (the sugar found in fruit) can help to trigger overeating, as after consuming fructose the brain doesn’t register feelings of fullness and satiety as it does when we consume glucose. While it is still important we feed our bodies with the nutrients found in fruit, those struggling with their weight should ensure they don’t go overboard. You should also try to obtain some of these nutrients and fiber through vegetables, which are lower in sugar and calories.


Read more on realbuzz.com...

7 ‘good’ habits that are bad for your health
7 worst weight loss mistakes

The Most Overlooked Foods for Weight Loss

http://ca.shine.yahoo.com/the-most-overlooked-foods-for-weight-loss.html
Shape – Thu, 19 Apr, 2012 11:56 AM EDT

These high-fiber foods are packed with nutrients and bursting with flavor. Add them to your diet today!

Artichokes
1. Artichokes: 8 g fiber | 87 calories

Frozen artichokes have nearly as much fiber as fresh ones.

Love stuffed artichokes? Slim them down with this recipe for skinny stuffed artichokes.
RELATED: The 10 Best Ways to Eat Your Leftovers

Raspberries

2. Raspberries: 
8 g fiber | 64 calories
These berries are high in cancer-fighting ellagic acid.
Add some fiber to dessert with these nectarine and raspberry sundaes.
Pumpkin


3. Pumpkin: 7 g fiber | 116 calories


Pumpkin is a rich source of alpha and beta carotene.
Don't know what to do with pumpkin besides carve it?
Try these tasty ideas for cooking with fresh pumpkin.

brussels sprouts

4. Brussels sprouts: 6 g fiber | 65 calories

Brussels sprouts have more protein than most veggies .

Don't think you like them? Think again-this recipe for braised Brussels sprouts in mustard sauce is flavorful and not at all bitter.

Kiwi


5. Kiwi: 5 g fiber | 110 calories

One kiwi provides 273 percent of your daily vitamin C needs.

Find out more reasons why kiwis are a better healthy snack than oranges.

RELATED: The Best Healthy Recipes from Around the World



Pears

6. Pears: 6 g fiber | 103 calories

Pears are high in soluble fiber , which lowers cholesterol.

Keep these four fruits out of the fridge

By Nadine Bells
No room in the fridge? Some fruits thrive at room temperature. Rethink food storage this summer by moving some of your fresh fruit out of the refrigerator. You’ll gain space and flavour.

Prevention’s Spark! blog looks at the four fruits we can — and should — leave on the counter.

Watermelon
First of all, unless you have a huge refrigerator, watermelon is space-expensive. More importantly, the fruit’s cancer-fighting lycopene increases by as much as 40 per cent at room temperature. 

[Related: Tricks for picking the best supermarket produce]

Watermelons are usually ripe when purchased. Eat yours within three or four days. (Once it has been cut, however, it must be refrigerated.)

Note: Cooling down the melon after it's been sitting out doesn’t reverse the nutritional benefits.

Tomatoes
It’s that lycopene again. The redder the tomato, the more of this antioxidant is present. The tomato is also packed with vitamins A, C and K.

Tomatoes ripen at room temperature. For fullest flavour, keep them on the counter. Refrigerationdamages the membranes inside the fruit’s walls, causing a loss of flavour and creating a mealy texture.

Peaches
High in fibre, vitamins A and C, niacin and potassium, peaches are a little more high-maintenance than other fruits.

[Related: 12 fruits and vegetables you should buy organic]

Prevention recommends storing peaches at room temperature stem-down, to prevent bruising. They need to be spaced out, allowing for proper air circulation.

Refrigerate only once ripe — if you’re looking to lengthen its life by a day or two. And be sure to eat that fuzzy skin for more vitamins, fibre and phytochemicals.

Mangoes
The mango is the perfect summer dessert. Not only is it refreshing, its digestive enzymes can help soothe your stomach after a barbecue binge.

Only store mangoes in the fridge once they’re ripe. Until then, let them sweeten and soften on the counter. If you need to speed up the ripening process, store them at room temperature in a paper bag.