Florida Blueberry Recipe

Florida Blueberries are a big hit here in Florida. Along with being so good to eat they also pack a powerful nutritional punch.  One cup of delicious blueberries is just 84 calories and gives us 14 percent of our daily fiber needs.

Florida's history of the blueberry was in the form of wild berries in the 1800's and since then we have enjoyed many kinds of blueberries in so many different ways.
Today there are hundreds of small farms all around the state of Florida, most of them are in the northern and central parts of the state. Florida only produces a fraction of the berries in the industry, but Florida does harvest their berries much earlier in the year than any of the other states around the country.

There are many recipes for the Florida Blueberry and here are a couple that I would like to share with you.

FLORIDA BLUEBERRY SMOOTHIE

 

2 cups fresh Florida blueberries
1 cup low-fat milk
2 cups vanilla frozen low-fat yogurt
8 ice cubes

Rinse the blueberries under cool running water. Place the blueberries in the blender, with half of the milk. Make sure the lid is on tight. Blend the berries with the milk on high speed until smooth. Add the frozen yogurt, the remaining milk and the ice cubes. Continue to blend until smooth and creamy. Serve immediately. Pour leftovers into an ice cube tray and freeze for later use.

 

Blueberry Bread Pudding

                                                                                                                                     

Ingredients	Quantity
Milk	3 Cups
Eggs	3 Large
Day-Old torn French or Italian Bread or Rolls	5 to 6 Cups
Granulated Sugar	1 Cup
Almond Extract	1/4 teaspoon
Vanilla Extract	1/2 teaspoon
Lemon Zest	1/2 teaspoon (optional)
Fresh Blueberries	2 cups
Powdered Sugar	3 Tablespoons

Preparation:

Heat oven to 350°. Butter an 11- x 7-inch baking dish. Whisk together the milk, eggs, sugar, flavorings, and zest. Add the bread and let stand for 10 to 15 minutes. Toss blueberries with powdered sugar then stir into the bread mixture. Pour into the prepared baking dish. Set the baking dish in a larger pan and set in oven. Add about 4 cups of very hot water to the outer pan. I use water from my hot water dispenser, or bring water to almost simmering before adding to the larger pan. Bake for about 1 hour, or until the bread pudding is set and lightly browned on top.
Serves 8 to 10