Fruit Salsa with Triscuits and Cream Cheese

{printable recipe here}
Oh it's so hot. It's not as bad as last summer (when I was super pregnant) but it's really, really hot. To compensate, we've been spending all of our time in the pool. Baby Strawberry, Ms. Happy herself, loves it of course and my Little Man is getting used to the idea. I think three is the age of irrational fears but hey, we're all afraid of things (me? Mayonaise. SUPER creepy.) Well last weekend was no exception and we were in the water almost all day Saturday. We had a Church swim party and there was also a Salsa contest. While it seems contradictory I love super hot food in the summer and I think everyone else agreed, practically drinking up the hot salsas. I brought this fruit salsa for something different and even though it didn't win, when I took it home and tried it on top of triscuits I couldn't believe how great the combo was. Then I got thinking, "This just needs some cream cheese" (not a rare thought for me, I'll admit) and so I spread a little on and it was perfect. Creamy, crunchy, sweet, salty, everything. It even distracted me from the heat so I think this is a winner!

Have you heard about the home farming movement from Triscuit? They sent me a couple of boxes of Triscuits that include seed packets to start an herb garden. I have a pretty good little one growing on my front patio and love the smell of the fresh basil as I walk outside. They also included a giftcard to buy supplies to grow the herbs (basil and dill) and I have a new little pot sitting on my counter waiting to sprout. I've never grown anything from a seed before so we'll see. It was a really fun little project for my Little Man and I and Baby Strawberry loves Triscuits (I love that they don't make an enormous mess!) Try the reduced fat Triscuits with this salsa (and my favorite- Neufchatel reduced fat cream cheese) and let me know what you think.

Anne Strawberry's Fruit Salsa
{printable recipe here}
Note: This recipe easily accomodates whatever fruit you have on hand- try to chop everything to the same size for better presentation. A food processor makes nice work of this (particularly with the copious strawberries) but make sure to pulse, not puree, to end up with perfectly chopped fruit.

2 pounds of strawberries, chopped
2 peaches, peeled and diced
2 apples, peeled, cored, and chopped
1 pint of blueberries, roughly chopped
1 mango, peeled and diced
2 tablespoons fruit jam (I used raspberry)
2 tablespoons brown sugar
zest and juice of two limes
3 ounces neufchatel cheese, softened
1 box of reduced fat triscuits

Prepare all of the fruit and stir together into a large bowl. Stir in the jam, brown sugar, zest, and lime juice until nicely combined. Refrigerate for an hour and serve with Triscuits spread with cream cheese.