Inside: I’ve been meaning to give my friend Patty’s fruit dip recipe a low carb makeover. Just in time for strawberry season, plus five ways to use up the strawberry harvest.

ways to use up the strawberry harvest. — What all the best dressed strawberries are wearing this season!

Patty’s Simple (Low Carb) Fruit Dip

Every year for the last four years we’ve gone up to Deep Creek, Maryland, for a writer’s retreat my dear friend Patty hosts, and in between sessions we have the most wonderful meals and snacks. Everyone brings a covered dish and dessert or appetizer, and the food is amazing! Patty whips up a few things herself, one of which is the best fruit dip I ever tasted, served with strawberries. Not that I’m a connoisseur of fine fruit dips everywhere, but I know what I like. Even Hubs, who tries to closely follow a low carb lifestyle, succumbs to the lure of strawberries and fruit dip every year.

So my problem is that because of the sugar, this wonderful recipe can’t make a regular appearance in my repertoire. That is until now. . .

Enter Patty’s Simple Low Carb Fruit Dip. You know you want to try it. . .

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Patty's Simple Low Carb Fruit Dip

Author: Patty Sroka & Amy Harke-Moore

Recipe type: Appetizer

Cuisine: American

Prep time: 10 mins

Total time: 10 mins

Serves: 2 cups

Ingredients

8 ounce brick of cream cheese, softened
1 cup of Truvia sweetener (ground into powder to resemble powdered sugar)
1 cup of heavy whipping cream
1 teaspoon of vanilla

Instructions

Grind sweetener in a spice grinder until it resembles powdered sugar.
Beat sweetener and softened cream cheese until smooth and add vanilla.
Whip heavy cream until it is stiff.
Fold whipping cream into cream cheese mixture and chill.
Serve with strawberries or other fruit.
Enjoy!

Notes: If you don’t have any dietary restrictions, you can replace the sweetener with two cups of regular powdered sugar. That’s how Patty makes it, and it is really, really good!

5 Ways to Use Up the Strawberry Harvest

Previously posted on June 8, 2017, as 5 Delicious Ways to Use Up Strawberries.

So it’s June and my strawberries have stopped bearing. (They’ve always been more May-bearing, actually.) It was a lovely harvest with plenty of fresh berries as well as a few gallons in my freezer for future use. The problem, if you can call it that, is I have limited room in said freezer. I need to start using up some of them to make room for the rest of the fruit and veggies coming my way this season. What follows are my suggestions for five delicious ways to use up strawberries.

Shakes. This is an obvious choice. Hubs has a shake nearly every morning for breakfast, which is a perfect use for some of the softer, less than stellar berries. I’ve been doing more shakes myself, and when I compare the price of organic strawberries with mine grown the same way, it’s a bargain. Not to mention the satisfaction that comes from growing something yourself!

Salads. Moving on to the midday meal, strawberries make a refreshing addition to a light summer salad. Take your favorite salad greens, slice about one fourth of a cup of strawberries per serving on to the greens, toss in a couple of tablespoons of pecan halves, and top with my homemade balsamic vinaigrette: 2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar, 2 tablespoons of a good extra virgin olive oil, 1 teaspoon of Dijon mustard, and 1 or 2 teaspoons of sweetener of choice (sugar or honey for those without diet restrictions). Whisk these together until mixed and dress salad. Yum!

Pound cake. I love to serve cut up strawberries mixed with a little sweetener (to make the berries release their juices) over pound cake and topped with my whipped topping of choice. Here’s a fantastic low carb pound cake recipe I absolutely love. I often make this for Fourth of July.

Ice cream. In keeping with the dessert trend, I’m a fan of strawberry ice cream. We recently received an electric ice cream maker for a gift, and we’ve been making low carb versions of the favorite summer treat. For a really simple recipe, take two cups of heavy whipping cream and two cups of frozen strawberries, sweetener or sugar to taste, and blend in a blender. You can either finish making in an ice cream maker or freeze in a large container that you put in the freezer and stir every hour or so until it reaches the desired consistency.

Preserves. My best berries will be made into strawberry preserves that I’ll be giving away as gifts in Christmas baskets. I found this jam recipe on Pinterest recently from the website Return to Simple, and it looks pretty good.

So there you have my five delicious ways to use up strawberries. Try one of these simple ideas today!