Is there anything harder than getting out of a warm bed on a cold winter morning? Especially when you live in a 100-year-old drafty house. Let me tell you, I struggle!

The only thing getting me out of bed lately is knowing that this Sunshine in a Bottle Lemon Smoothie is only a few minutes away once I get downstairs.

Quite obviously, lemon is one of my favorite flavors (I make a mean lemon margarita and lemon creme brulee), so it’s kind of like I’m waking up to my favorite food.

Just like my carrot cake smoothie, every single ingredient in this smoothie (well, except the ice) has been selected for maximal bright, zingy flavor and health benefits.

The yogurt base gets you started on your probiotics for the day, while the honey adds a natural sweetness and energy boost (keep the honey bear out for dinner for honey mustard pork chops).

Turmeric could help fight off any cold or illness you might be dealing with, and ginger can be used as a natural pain reliever for muscle soreness.

But the real star, of course, is the lemon. Just like in my lemon pancakes and lemon curd cake, I use both lemon juice and lemon zest for the most amount of citrus tang.

Let’s walk through how to make this lemon smoothie recipe, and everything you need to know about substitutions, making it vegan, and add-ins.

“Just tried this lemon smoothie! WOW! Love it! Love all the ingredients, too. Great combination. Sunshine in a bottle is a perfect name.”

—Cynthia

The post Lemon Smoothie (Sunshine in a Bottle!) appeared first on Foxes Love Lemons.

If there’s one thing in my kitchen that I kind of, sort of regret buying, it’s my very expensive, very fancy blender.

To be fair, I didn’t really buy it out of pocket, but used Williams-Sonoma gift cards that I had received for many birthdays and Christmases to purchase it. But still, it was a big purchase, and I’m not sure I use it enough for it to have been worth it.

Aside from the occasional lemon smoothie or blended lemon margarita, my fancy blender sadly doesn’t get a lot of love most of the year.

With one exception. Every fall, without fail, I make some sort of blended squash soup. While I like butternut squash noodles, roasted acorn squash slices for my famous Thanksgiving salad, and roasted delicata squash, for soup, I love sweet dumpling squash.

If you’re not familiar with this variety, this post will explain what sweet dumpling squash is, how to cook it, and why Sweet Dumpling Squash Soup is the best kind of squash soup.

The post Sweet Dumpling Squash Soup appeared first on Foxes Love Lemons.

It’s kind of a big day around here, because this is the first Instant Pot recipe I’ve shared on this blog! I actually bought an Instant Pot this past spring, because a client requested some freelance recipe development using one.

I borrowed an Instant Pot cookbook from the library and made a bunch of recipes to learn how to use the appliance (including Instant Pot short ribs and Instant Pot sweet and sour chicken), then completed the freelance project.

Then, I kind of tucked the pot in my office and forgot about it all summer.

Until now, because this Instant Pot Butternut Squash Soup with Goat Cheese is on the scene! While I love a long simmered crockpot soup and Old Fashioned Ham and Bean Soup on my stovetop, the depth of flavor of a pressured cooked soup just can’t be beat.

The post Instant Pot Butternut Squash Soup with Goat Cheese appeared first on Foxes Love Lemons.

Home cooks across Michigan love the great apples available in our state, perfect for cooking or eating on their own. Today, I’m guest posting for the Michigan Apples blog, sharing a recipe featuring Gala apples.

Slow cookers are known for one delicious service they provide: being able to fill the pot with ingredients, go to work for eight hours, and come home to delicious crockpot soups. Unless . . . you work from home.

And then, you fill the pot with ingredients, stay at home with it for eight hours as it smells progressively more and more amazing, and then text your husband to come home now so that you can eat right when the eight hour mark hits.

(more…)

The post Slow Cooker Carrot Apple Soup with Za’atar Croutons appeared first on Foxes Love Lemons.