BellaOnline Forums Money Frugal Living Uses for prickly pear plants and fruit

Prickly pear juice is often used to make jam or candy, but works wonders in cocktails and used in vinaigrettes for salads. I've used the juice to flavor cream cheese frosting for a lime flavored cupcake, and have seen others boil it down with a bit of orange and lemon juice to make a sauce for fruit salads and cheesecakes.

eranga, agreed on the fantastic uses! She has a big pitcher of the juice in her fridge and it is really yummy in cocktails. It tastes like a sweet wheatgrass.

And ooo i love the idea for flavoring a cream cheese!!!

It's almost time for this year's prickly pears! The flowers are going and gone, and the fruits are getting underway.

I need to think about what to do with the desert's bounty this year. I've done the juice, wine and vodka. I am not good at canning or making jam. Liking the idea of boiling it down to a syrup for flavoring things like cream cheese, yogurt, cocktails, cheesecake.

Also, my prickly pear pad that I planted last year finally gave up the ghost. I should look into this and try again in the fall.