What can we do with 3 punnets of strawberries?!?

magicpickles
magicpickles Posts: 286 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Somehow, my mum and I shopped seperately and ended up with 3 punnets of strawberries. I don't love them, but they are ok, and I needed more fruit in my diet, and I got confused and put them in my basket because there was a sale on.

I like them with icing sugar, but that's not very healthy (and not with the amount of sugar I add!!!). Any suggestions? are there like dessert type things you can do with them, that won't make my eyes bleed?

I'm thinking smoothies, porridge and maybe some with a small amount of icecream. Any other suggestions?

Replies

  • LKArgh
    LKArgh Posts: 5,178 Member
    I can give you a ton of recipes, but they will no longer have the benefits of strawberries as a low cal treat. If calories are important, honestly just dusting the berries with icing sugar might be the best solution.
    If you do not like the taste of strawberries, a smoothie without sweetener and strawberries will probably not be appealing (I love strawberries on their own, and still cannot drink a strawberry smoothie without something sweet in there).
    Jello is always a good way to use strawberries, just poor it over sliced strawberries when it is cool but not set yet. But you are not going to use a ton of strawberries this way.
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    Jam?
  • magicpickles
    magicpickles Posts: 286 Member
    aggelikik wrote: »
    I can give you a ton of recipes, but they will no longer have the benefits of strawberries as a low cal treat. If calories are important, honestly just dusting the berries with icing sugar might be the best solution.
    If you do not like the taste of strawberries, a smoothie without sweetener and strawberries will probably not be appealing (I love strawberries on their own, and still cannot drink a strawberry smoothie without something sweet in there).
    Jello is always a good way to use strawberries, just poor it over sliced strawberries when it is cool but not set yet. But you are not going to use a ton of strawberries this way.

    Ooooh. I was also thinking of drizzling some dark chocolate over them. I like chocolate.

    I laughed at the jello comment.
  • magicpickles
    magicpickles Posts: 286 Member
    TavistockToad wrote: »
    Jam?

    I love jam, but isn't it basically just sugar + fruit (ok, I don't know how to make jam).
  • LKArgh
    LKArgh Posts: 5,178 Member
    magicpickles wrote: »
    TavistockToad wrote: »
    Jam?

    I love jam, but isn't it basically just sugar + fruit (ok, I don't know how to make jam).

    Yes, it is a wonderful way to use fruit. But it is not going to be fruit any more, calorie-wise. It will be about 50% or more sugar.
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 10,093 Member
    Slice onto cold or hot cereal (porridge)

    Add to smoothies. A good, flexible "recipe" is milk or non-dairy milk of choice; plus something for thickener, like greek yogurt, banana, and/or avocado; plus fruit, in this case strawberries; plus spinach or kale, if you like; plus protein powder, if you like; ice if you want it colder and your processor/blender will handle ice -- I keep bananas in the fridge or use use frozen berries instead of ice. You can also add things like chia seeds and flax seeds. I use a plain whey concentrate made for baking and/or dried eggs instead of special protein powders.

    If you have room for other sweets or treats in your daily allowance, have the strawberries with sugar instead (or dipped in melted chocolate, or with real whipped cream, or with a little ice cream, etc.)
  • Noreenmarie1234
    Noreenmarie1234 Posts: 7,492 Member
    lol punnets, I had no clue you guys call them "punnets". I like to make into smoothies or use in wraps (slice 2c strawberries add drizzle of chocolate peanut butter and wrap in tortilla, SO GOOD! Make a low calorie strawberry muffin recipe.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    Eat them plain or with cottage cheese/yogurt.

    Last time I ended up making jam too (which I barely touched as it's basically pure sugar, but everyone else ate it).
  • CyberTone
    CyberTone Posts: 7,337 Member
    I buy all types of berries in bulk when they are on sale, wash them, and freeze them to use in protein frozen fruit smoothies instead of ice cubes. For strawberries, remove the stems, and wash them in a large basin with dish soap and white vinegar to retard active mold spores. Rinse well and dry. Cut the larger strawberries in half from stem to tip, arrange them on a tray cut side up, and put in the freezer. Once frozen, store them in zip-close plastic bags.

    I also slice and freeze chunks of bananas, watermelon, cantaloupe, and honeydew melon for smoothies. For mangoes, I puree them, spoon the puree into ice cube trays and use the frozen 30g cubes instead of ice cubes.
  • racheljonel
    racheljonel Posts: 400 Member
    I love them on a salad! Chop them up on top of some spinach with some grilled protein, asparagus, slivered almonds and Gorgonzola, and drizzle with balsamic vinegar and a little olive oil.
  • Queenmunchy
    Queenmunchy Posts: 3,380 Member
    I vote for freezing too. Use what you can fresh now - my daughter loves yogurt with strawberries and granola, or just strawberries with whipped cream and sometimes a drizzle of warmed nutella.

    Flash freeze the rest for smoothies.
  • vikinglander
    vikinglander Posts: 1,547 Member
    CyberTone wrote: »
    I buy all types of berries in bulk when they are on sale, wash them, and freeze them to use in protein frozen fruit smoothies instead of ice cubes. For strawberries, remove the stems, and wash them in a large basin with dish soap and white vinegar to retard active mold spores. Rinse well and dry. Cut the larger strawberries in half from stem to tip, arrange them on a tray cut side up, and put in the freezer. Once frozen, store them in zip-close plastic bags.

    I also slice and freeze chunks of bananas, watermelon, cantaloupe, and honeydew melon for smoothies. For mangoes, I puree them, spoon the puree into ice cube trays and use the frozen 30g cubes instead of ice cubes.

    THIS^^^
    OR
    THIS:
    Leave them whole and dip into melted dark chocolate and allow to harden.

  • madperson42
    madperson42 Posts: 9 Member
    Freezing is good, also you can freeze them as lollies- i like to make lollies with orange juice, strawberries and water- because they are frozen they aren't too tart. If you don't have moulds you can just use plastic cups.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    I use them in smoothies and on oatmeal -- delicious in both uses. Freezing them actually makes them even easier to use in the smoothie, as they make it nice and cold. I also like them just plain or--for dessert (if you have the calories)--with some heavy whipping cream. If I have an omelet for breakfast I might have some berries on the side.
  • nutmegoreo
    nutmegoreo Posts: 15,532 Member
    Buy some rhubarb and make a pie!
  • jo_nz
    jo_nz Posts: 548 Member
    Noreenmarie1234 wrote: »
    lol punnets, I had no clue you guys call them "punnets".

    Now I am curious - what do you call them?

    I would probably make jam (not that there is such a thing as too many strawbs in this house) - if you don't want to eat it, could make a nice gift.

  • Queenmunchy
    Queenmunchy Posts: 3,380 Member
    jo_nz wrote: »
    Noreenmarie1234 wrote: »
    lol punnets, I had no clue you guys call them "punnets".

    Now I am curious - what do you call them?

    I would probably make jam (not that there is such a thing as too many strawbs in this house) - if you don't want to eat it, could make a nice gift.
    Ha, I just said to my husband "I have no idea what a punnet is." :)
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 10,093 Member
    jo_nz wrote: »
    Noreenmarie1234 wrote: »
    lol punnets, I had no clue you guys call them "punnets".

    Now I am curious - what do you call them?


    If I'm buying them in the grocery store (U.S.), they're sold as a specific volume or weight (pint, quart, and pound are typical amounts). Googling it, it appears there is no standardized size (either volume or weight) for a punnet, so I'd say the best "translation" into American English would be "basket."
  • magicpickles
    magicpickles Posts: 286 Member
    hdeyzzoekw78.jpg

    A punnet is a clear plastic container that has a flap that opens at the middle (I think)
  • fishshark
    fishshark Posts: 1,886 Member
    you probably need to like these combos but I like to drizzle strawberries with a balsamic glaze and a pinch of sugar.
  • pebble4321
    pebble4321 Posts: 1,132 Member
    Noreenmarie1234 wrote: »
    lol punnets, I had no clue you guys call them "punnets". I like to make into smoothies or use in wraps (slice 2c strawberries add drizzle of chocolate peanut butter and wrap in tortilla, SO GOOD! Make a low calorie strawberry muffin recipe.

    Huh, I didn't know that you didn't call them punnets in the US. Very common in Aus, most often the punnets are 250g of strawberries, but you do get larger ones sometimes. And other berries (blueberries, raspberries etc) also come in punnets but as they aren't local to my area they are pretty expensive and well travelled so I rarely buy them.

    I like strawberries in smoothies - mix them with other fruit or veg if you don't love them.
    Chop them up and combine with other fruit for a fruit salad.
    Add to porridge, muesli or other cereal.
    Slice them and layer them on top of cream cheese and bread - I used to buy vegan "cream cheese" and have that on rye bread with strawberries - yum. A drizzle of honey is nice too though not necessary.
    I made chia pudding blending up strawberries and ... umm, some kind of nuts, probably almonds or cashews then adding the chia seeds.
    I'm sure I've seen salads with strawberries - I'd probably combine them with something like baby spinach, fetta, walnuts and a balsamic dressing.
  • Cahgetsfit
    Cahgetsfit Posts: 1,912 Member
    3 punnets can be gone in 3 minutes at my place.
    But, other than that, same as above. I like them in porridge, smothies is good, drizzle honey into the smoothie to make it sweeter if needed.

    I have an awesome strawberry muffin cake which is moist and delicious and not too terribly horrible calorie-wise. Made with oat bran, greek yoghurt, honey or brown sugar, pureed strawberries, baking powder and that's pretty much it. It's all moist and luscious.
  • Nikkei74
    Nikkei74 Posts: 48 Member
    Drizzle them with balsamic vinegar. Sounds bizarre, but is delicious. Or try cooking them until soft then serving with either a scoop of ice cream or ricotta blended with Greek yoghurt and a little vanilla.
  • rainbowbow
    rainbowbow Posts: 7,490 Member
    Freeze some in individual baggies (weighed out) for smoothies.

    Otherwise, you can just eat them! :)

    I just made this delicious protein bread which you can easily use strawberries in. If you like that kind of thing anyway.
  • msf74
    msf74 Posts: 3,498 Member
    Make a coulis and then you can drizzle on ice cream, pancakes, ice cream pancakes as desired...
  • CyberTone
    CyberTone Posts: 7,337 Member
    lynn_glenmont wrote: »
    jo_nz wrote: »
    Noreenmarie1234 wrote: »
    lol punnets, I had no clue you guys call them "punnets".

    Now I am curious - what do you call them?


    If I'm buying them in the grocery store (U.S.), they're sold as a specific volume or weight (pint, quart, and pound are typical amounts). Googling it, it appears there is no standardized size (either volume or weight) for a punnet, so I'd say the best "translation" into American English would be "basket."

    I like the word punnet. I think I will start using it. I've never heard the word before, and it is not in the American Heritage Dictionary. The US just calls those berry baskets, berry containers, or clamshell containers if they have a hinged lid. I like the possibility that the word is derived from the British geneticist Reginald Crundall Punnett.

    I don't have a subscription to the Oxford English Dictionary online, but via Wikipedia, the OED provides this...
    A punnet is a small box for the gathering and sale of ice cream, fruit and vegetables, typically small berries. The word is largely confined to Commonwealth countries and is of uncertain origin, but is thought to be a diminutive of "pun", a British dialect word for pound, from the days in which such containers were used as a unit of measurement or from the name of Reginald Crundall Punnett (1875–1967), a geneticist and grower of strawberries who used to sell them in the London market in a small chip basket.

    Reference:
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punnet
  • stealthq
    stealthq Posts: 4,298 Member
    edited November 2016
    aggelikik wrote: »
    magicpickles wrote: »
    TavistockToad wrote: »
    Jam?

    I love jam, but isn't it basically just sugar + fruit (ok, I don't know how to make jam).

    Yes, it is a wonderful way to use fruit. But it is not going to be fruit any more, calorie-wise. It will be about 50% or more sugar.

    But on the upside, they won't go bad if you do freezer jam. So, you can portion it out more slowly without waste (if that bothers you).

    ETA: I've done pretty much all of the other suggestions up thread and enjoyed them. But, then, I also like strawberries plain.
  • not_my_first_rodeo
    not_my_first_rodeo Posts: 311 Member
    I have mine plain with a 1/4 cup of ricotta. Or on top of ice cream or waffles...

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