For the bourbon lovers out there, here is a tasty variation of the classic mojito.
Prep time: 10 mins
Yield: 2
Serving Size: 1 8oz mason jar
Ingredients
- 4 oz of your favorite bourbon (we used Buffalo Trace)
- 4 lime wedges squeezed
- 10-14 mint leaves
- 4-6 blackberries
- 1.5 tablespoon of sugar
- 2 oz of club soda
- Cup of ice
Thanks to Morgan for some expert makeshift muddling!
Directions
- In a 16oz mason jar, combine mint leaves, lime wedges and blackberries.
- Muddle thoroughly (for those who don't have a spare muddler, we used a shot glass for this and it worked quite well).
- Add the bourbon, ice and sugar. Put the lid on the mason jar and shake well.
- Pour the mixture into 2 8oz mason jars and top with club soda.
- Stir, garnish with blackberry and mint leaves and enjoy!
Thanks to Shawn from Kitchen Swagger- he provided the inspiration for this!
On the lunch menu this week: a delicious spinach, mozzarella and orzo mason jar salad. It's light, refreshing and quick to prepare.
Prep time: 30 mins
Yield: 5 servings
Serving size: 1 16oz mason jar
Ingredients
- 5 cups of raw spinach
- 1/2 cup of walnuts
- 1/2 cup of fresh mozzarella
- 1/2 cup of raw orzo
- 2 cups grape tomatoes
- 1 cucumber
- 5 oz of olive oil & vinegar dressing
Instructions
- Cook the orzo: bring a saucepan of water to a boil, then add the orzo and let sit for about 10 minutes, or until the orzo is nice and fluffy. Then strain and run through cool water. Set aside to cool.
- Prep the veggies and the cheese: chop the cucumber and the mozzarella; cut the tomatoes in half.
- Layer the ingredients evenly across 5 mason jars, in this order: dressing, cucumber, tomatoes, orzo, mozzarella, walnuts, spinach.
- Store in the fridge and enjoy all week long!
Have you ever wondered how to make Strawberry Infused Vodka? It’s super easy! You just a couple of ingredients and a few of days.
Prep time: 10 mins
Ingredients
- 750 ml of vodka (choose something that is 80 proof)
- 14 oz of strawberries
- 2 tablespoons of superfine sugar
Directions
- Wash and dry the strawberries. Remove the stems and slice.
- Combine the strawberries and sugar in a 16oz mason jar. Then fill the jar with vodka and shake. You'll need at least 2 jars to use all of the 750 ml.
- Leave the jars in the fridge for 3 to 4 days, shaking them once a day to help the strawberries infuse.
- Strain the mixture and pour back into mason jars.
- Enjoy over ice, or my favorite, with club soda and a lime.
- Store the rest in the fridge for up to 6 months.
This is one of my favorite mason jar salads. Brussels sprouts are packed with nutrients and quinoa and chickpeas are great sources of protein. It takes a little more time to prepare than my go-to salads, but it is definitely worth it!
Prep time: 1 hour
Yield: 5 servings
Serving size: 1 16oz mason jar
Ingredients
- 5 cups of raw brussels sprouts
- 1/2 cup of walnuts
- 1/2 cup of feta cheese
- 1/2 cup of dried cranberries
- 1/2 cup of raw quinoa
- 1.5 cups of chickpeas
- 5 oz of olive oil & vinegar dressing
- Pinches of salt and pepper
- Teaspoon of olive oil
Directions
- Roast the chickpeas: preheat the oven to 450 degrees; drain the chickpeas and blot dry; mix in a bowl with olive oil, salt and pepper; spread out on a baking sheet; bake for 35-40 minutes until brown. Refrigerate until cool.
- Cook the quinoa: bring the 1/2 cup of quinoa and 1 cup of water to a boil and then cover and let sit for 15 mins or until nice and fluffy. Refrigerate until cool.
- Shred the brussels sprouts.
- Layer the ingredients evenly across 5 mason jars, in this order: dressing, chick peas, quinoa, cranberries, feta cheese, walnuts, brussels sprouts.
- Store in the fridge and enjoy all week long!
Frosé (Rosé Slushy) is a PERFECT summer drink! It's so refreshing and relatively easy to make.
Prep time: 15 mins (not including freezing the Rosé)
Yield: 4 servings
Serving size: 1 8oz mason jar
Ingredients
- 1 750 ml bottle of Rosé
- 1/2 cup of sugar
- 1 cup of strawberries (remove stem and quarter)
- Juice from 1 lemon
Directions
- Pour Rosé into a pan and freeze until almost solid (I let it sit in the freezer overnight).
- Bring sugar and ½ cup water to a boil in a saucepan. Stir until the sugar dissolves.
- Add strawberries to the pan, remove from heat and let sit 30 minutes.
- Strain the mixture, cover and chill in the fridge until cold.
- Scrape Rosé from the pan into a blender, add the lemon juice and the strawberry syrup, and 1 cup of ice and blend until smooth.
- Put the blender in freezer and freeze until Frosé is thickened: about 25–35 minutes.
- Blend again until Frosé is slushy if needed, then divide among 8oz mason jars.
- Garnish with strawberries and enjoy.
On the lunch menu this week: a delicious mason jar salad inspired by Asian cuisine.
Prep time: 45 min
Yield: 5 servings
Serving size: 1 16oz mason jar
Ingredients
- 1/8 cup of sesame seeds
- 1/2 cup of crunchy rice noodles
- 2 cups of cabbage
- 1/2 cup of shredded carrots
- 2 cups of wide Lo Mein noodles
- 1 zucchini
- 1 bell pepper
- 5 oz of Thai peanut dressing
Directions
- Cook the Lo Mein noodles: Bring a pot of water to boil and add the noodles, let sit for about 4 minutes and then strain and run through cool water. Set the noodles aside to cool.
- Prep the veggies: chop the bell pepper and zuchini, shred the carrots and the cabbage.
- Layer the ingredients evenly across 5 mason jars, in this order: peanut dressing, bell peppers, zucchini, noodles, carrots, cabbage, crunchy noodles, sesame seeds.
- Store in the fridge and enjoy all week long!
I love lemonade, but juicing a bunch of lemons always seems arduous. I recently came across the idea of 'blender lemonade' using the entire lemon, including the peel so I wanted to try it out. This lemonade looks slightly different than the traditional drink- it's opaque and foamy at the top, but it tastes pretty similar. Here's the recipe I made:
Prep time: 5 mins
Yield: 2 servings
Serving size: 1 8oz mason jar
Ingredients
- 2 lemons
- 4 cups of water
- 1 cup of ice cubes
- 1/4 cup sugar
Directions
- Cut the lemons in half lengthwise, and then cut each half into quarters lengthwise.
- Cut the pith off each wedge and knock the seeds out.
- Place the lemon slices in a blender, along with the water, ice cubes and sugar. Blend until smooth.
- Strain the mixture.
- Poor into jars.
- Optional: add vodka :)
The grandmother of half of the Mason-re team recently turned 90 years old! To celebrate, family flew in from as far away as Alaska and New York. I love a good DIY project, so to adorn the tables for her birthday dinner, I made some custom centerpieces.
Step 1: Gather materials
I got most of my materials at a local craft store, or found them in my craft bin. Our grandma loves the color purple and music, but these centerpieces could be customized for any age and interests.
- 16oz Mason jars
- Mason-re koozies
- Wooden numbers
- Cardboard musical notes
- Narrow wooden dowels
- Glue (I used E6000 and hot glue)
- Paint, glitter
- Styrofoam balls
- Balloons
- Ribbon
- Tape
- Knife
Step 2: Glue the numbers and musical notes to the wooden dowels
Before gluing, use the knife to cut the dowels to the desired height. Now for the gluing- the E6000 is my favorite craft glue because it is so strong, but the downside is that it takes up to 72 hours to cure. So, glue the decorations to the dowels and set aside. Wait patiently until they dry. (Thank you to my friend and owner of Pete's Papercrafts for laser cutting the musical notes!)
Step 3: Paint!
Paint the decorations and their attached dowels whatever color you like. And add some glitter, because who doesn't like glitter?!
Step 4: Assemble
- Tape the ribbon of the balloons to the inside of the mason jar (with the koozie already on it) so the balloons rise to the desired height.
- Put the Styrofoam ball into the bottom of the jar, so that the ribbon of the balloons is spread out around it.
- Place the wooden numbers on dowels into the center Styrofoam ball. (I hot glued the numbers together in the middle so they they didn't separate).
- Strategically place the remaining decorations and dowels into the Styrofoam ball.
-
Voilà!
Mimosas are one of my favorite drinks, all year round. This refreshing watermelon twist on the classic cocktail is perfect for hot summer days.
Prep time: 15 mins
Yield: 4 servings
Serving size: 1 8oz mason jar
Ingredients
- Watermelon (1 quarter, peeled and cut into small pieces- 5 cups of fruit)
- Oranges (Juice from 6 large oranges- 2 cups of juice)
- 1 Bottle of Champagne
- Optional: sugar
Directions
- Cut the watermelon and juice the oranges. Blend together and add sugar as needed.
- Strain the mixture.
- Chill the mixture in the fridge until you're ready to prepare the drinks.
- Poor the mixture into the mason jars, filling about half way.
- Add the champagne to the jars.
- Stir and garnish with fruit.
- Enjoy!
Ch-Ch-Ch-Chia!
Yes, the chia seeds I'm referring to are the same as those in the iconic Chia Pet. Chia seeds are considered a 'super food' because they're packed with protein and fiber. They also contain healthy antioxidants, fatty acids and Omega-3.
I'm a huge fan of chia seeds and have been making this recipe for breakfast on Sunday evenings to prepare for the workweek as long as I can remember, so I figured I should share it.
Prep time: 30 mins (not counting storing the pudding in the fridge overnight)
Yield: 5 servings
Serving size: 1 8oz mason jar
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup chia seeds
- 2 cups almond milk
- 1.5 cups strawberries
- 1 cup granola
Directions
- Combine the chia seeds and almond milk in a bowl and stir (I use vanilla almond milk to make the pudding sweeter, but you could also sweeten with some honey). Place the bowl in the fridge overnight. I'd recommend string the mixture again at some point in the first few hours to get rid of the clumps that seem to form at the top.
- Once the pudding is ready (should be the consistency of tapioca), slice the berries and distribute among 5 8oz mason jars. Next, fill the jars with the chia pudding until about half an inch from the top of the jar.
- Store in the fridge for healthy breakfasts all week.
- I usually wait to put the granola on the top of each jar until I am about to leave, so that it remains crisp.
Thanks to Morgan for some expert makeshift muddling! 
