Berry-Coconut Green Smoothie

My kids have been asking for this smoothie ALOT lately.  I must admit, it's pretty tasty.  I don't really like it for breakfast, it can be a bit sweet for me, but I do like it for a snack in the afternoon.  Miss Pink wanted me to make her one for lunch (how could I say no??)

I must say that I was pretty shocked when Miss Pink started to eat the strawberries BEFORE they went in the smoothie.  The girl thinks that she is allergic to fruits and veggies and will only eat them in a smoothie.  Hmmm, maybe she is remembering that she actually likes strawberries???  Maybe.

 For your slurping pleasure, here is the recipe.  It was inspired by a recipe I found in this book.  I highly recommend it.

Berry-Coconut Green Smoothie

1 cup coconut milk (the kind in a carton, NOT a can)

1-2 generous handfuls of spinach

1 ripe banana

3-5 strawberries, with leaves on

1 cup frozen blueberries

Place all ingredients in blender and blend until smooth.  If smoothie is too thick, add more milk until desired consistency is reached.

(Note:  If you are using a standard blender, blend the spinach and milk first until smooth, then add the fruit.)

Parsley Berry Smoothie

image from web

It's been awhile since I have posted a smoothie recipe, so for your blending and slurping pleasure, here's another one of my favorites.  You might be a little nervous when you see the ingredients, but I promise it's delicious.  It tastes so fresh and is a great way to start the day.  I will warn you to put on a sweater
when you drink it.  Parsley has a cooling effect and my teeth are usually chattering away by the time I finish my quart of it.

Parsley Berry Smoothie
{printable recipe}

1-2 cups water (less if using fresh ingredients, more if using frozen)
2-3 ripe bananas
1 cup frozen blueberries
1 BIG handful parsely
3-4 leaves of kale
1 tbsp sprouted flax seed (optional)

Blend water and greens together then add the rest of the ingredients.  Makes about a quart of green smoothie.

Note:  I grew Lacinato kale and flat and curly leaf parsley in my garden this year.  At the end of the summer I washed the kale, cut it up and put it in gallon freezer bags.  I put about 1-1 1/2 cups of it in my smoothie.  I cut down the parsley at the end of the summer as well and mixed types together in gallon bags.  I break a nice-sized chunk of it off to put in my smoothie.  If you have a nice ripe banana (yellow with a few small brown spots) you can get away with less banana and it will still be sweet.

Enjoy!!

For more information on why I drink green smoothies go here.

"ice cream" smoothie

For the past several months weeks Mr. Orange has refused to drink his green smoothie in the morning.  We've tried all sorts of stuff to get him to drink it, but then I decided to give him some time.  He still had to have a huge bowl of fruit with his breakfast and I figured that since he snacks on fruits and will eat his salad at dinner, that not having a smoothie in the morning wasn't going to kill him.

The other day I came home from a run and both kids were so excited.  Dad had made them an "ICE CREAM" smoothie!  I thought that it actually contained ice cream because Mr. Blue will put a huge squirt of whipped cream on top of their smoothies to get them to drink it (yes, I just about pass out on the floor when he does that!!!).  They all promised me that there wasn't any ice cream or whipped cream in it.

That night they begged me to make one for their dinner.  They told me everything that went in it.  Then they both guzzled down a few cups of it.  The next day they ate them for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  I had a taste of it and it is delicious.

Ice Cream Smoothie

{printable recipe}

1 cup water

1 banana

1 orange

7-8 strawberries (use more if they are small, ours are really big right now)

1 - 1 1/2 cup mixed berries

1 cup blueberries

1-2 handfuls spinach (you could add more for sure!)

Blend and enjoy.  

This smoothie should be thick.  It's ice cream!

To find out more about green smoothies go here.

mango peach smoothie

Today is Day 16 of the Green Smoothie Detox.

I am supposed to drink green smoothies for every meal for 7 days.

Last week I didn't follow the menu plan very well.

Several of my smoothies were disgusting not the best.

It's hard not to eat the dinner you are making for your family when the meal you are supposed to be eating makes your stomach turn.

Needless to say, I ate several meals with my family, including a Pei Wei salad with chicken on it Saturday night.  Oh and pizza Friday night, cookies and lots of cookie dough on Thursday, on and on and on.

I should have at least taken the chicken off, and I did pick most of it off, but boy did it taste good.

The lettuce wraps I scarfed down tasted even better.

I even shared a candy bar with Mr. Blue while we watched a movie.

Ten days ago I said I had not completely fallen out of the wagon, this week I got pretty beat up trying to get back IN the wagon.

I was bound and determined to finish this detox off strong and to shrug off my bad habits for ONE WEEK!

Yesterday the smoothies sounded pretty good, much better than what I had been drinking, so I had some hope.

(I looked ahead and they all look pretty good this week.  Yeah!)

I asked Mr. Blue to pick up some bananas on his way home Saturday night and said, "Will you please get me some that ARE NOT green?  They need to be ripe."

What did he bring home?

GREEN BANANAS!!!

So I had to improvise a bit.

I have to say improvisation can be a great thing, and yesterday was no exception.

So here you go, another scrumptious green smoothie.

(By the way, you should really be letting me know if you like them or not!)

I will be strong this week.

So far, so good.

Mango Peach Smoothie

2 (ripe) bananas

1 mango

1 cup frozen peaches, or 1 fresh peach

1 cup mixed berries

3-4 handfuls (don't be a sissy about your handfuls!) spinach

1 cup water

Blend and enjoy.

PS - do you like my new blender cup???  Mr. Blue gave it to me for Mother's Day.  I love, love, love it!!!  I think I have used it 35 times since Mother's Day.

For more green smoothie goodness click here.

orange berry smoothie

Detox Day 14.  I have been struggling this past week with my willpower and last night I lost.  I ate pizza.  I blame it partly on having gross smoothies for breakfast and lunch yesterday.  My breakfast smoothie turned to cement before I could drink and lunch just didn't taste right.  I was determined to have a good smoothie this morning.  I don't crave anything when I actually have a good smoothie and I am rarely hungry.

So here's what I came up with.

Orange Berry Smoothie
{printable recipe}

1 1/2 cups orange juice
3-4 cups spinach
3 strawberries
1 ripe banana
1 cup mixed berries

Blend and enjoy.

More Green Smoothie Goodness click HERE.

Quinoa and Black-eyed Pea Salad

The other day I realized that I still had not gone grocery shopping.  (So hard to do when there are things in the fridge, freezer and pantry.)  I looked at several recipes and I was missing at least one essential ingredient for each one.  What did I do?  I winged it, and dinner turned out pretty well - Mr. Blue had seconds and the kids ate their servings with a promise of crackers if they would finish it.  I'm sure that someday they will appreciate the wacky foods I make them eat.  Someday.....Until then, here's the recipe for your enjoyment.

Quinoa and Black-eyed Pea Salad
{printable recipe}

1/4 cup uncooked quinoa
1 15 ounce can black-eyed peas, drained and rinsed
1 avocado, diced
1 mango, diced
1/4 -1/2 cup everyday dressing (could use olive oil and lemon juice instead)

Rinse quinoa then combine with 1/2 cup water in saucepan.  Bring to a boil.  Cover, reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes.  Turn the heat off.  Keep the pan covered and on the burner.  Let sit for 4-7 minutes, or until water has been absorbed.

In bowl combine cooked quinoa, black-eyed peas, avocado, and mango.  Add dressing.  Stir till combined. Serve with salad.

apple salad

Yum.  That's all I have to say.  Lunch today was delicious.  Thought I'd share with ya'.  One of these days I'll take pictures of the food I eat.  Promise.  It might be in three years, but I'll do it.  :)

Apple Salad
Spring Salad Mix (from Costco)
1/4 - 1/2 Apple, diced
1/4 - 1/2 Avocado, diced
1/2 - 1 tablespoon Sunflower Seeds
1/2 - 1 tablespoon Feta Cheese (optional)

In a bowl, or on a plate, place a large handful or two of salad mix.  Add other toppings.  Drizzle with this dressing.  Enjoy!

salad

Miss Pink eating her salad last summer.
She won't touch it now.
Yes, she has gone to bed hungry.
That's another post for another day.

Could the title of this post be any more boring?  I mean really, who titles a post "Salad"?  I guess I do.  Maybe that's because I'm in love with the stuff right now.  I eat it for lunch and have a huge mound of it on my plate at dinner time too.  Since I'm loving it so much, here's a recipe for my very favorite salad and dressing.  (We only use homemade dressing here.  Saves money and I know be-zactly what's in it.)

Everyday Salad
Spring Mix (from Costco)
Carrots, sliced
Avocado, diced
Dried Cranberries
Cucumber, sliced
Feta Cheese (optional)
Sunflower Seeds

In a bowl, or on a plate, place a large handful of salad.  Add as much as you want of the remaining ingredients (go easy on the cheese, please!).

Everyday Dressing
1/2 cup Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
1/2 cup Apple Cider Vinegar or Red Wine Vinegar
4 tablespoons Maple Syrup (grade B)
1 Shallot or 1/4 onion
pinch of salt

Place all ingredients in blender.  Blend well.  Drizzle over salad.

Mmm.  I would go make myself some salad right now, but I just had some for lunch.  I feel bad just calling it "everyday salad".  Makes it sound so boring.  Maybe I'll think up a name with more pizazz.  Maybe.  Until then, just enjoy it.

Hot Pink Smoothie

I am soooo love with this smoothie.  My kids like it too.  In fact, last week Mr. Blue had to work late almost every night.  I had planned out our menu, but sometimes it's hard to try new things when it's you and two kids who "hate everything".  One night we were trying to figure out what to eat and I was ready to try the third meal of the week that I would eat by myself with two sulky kids at the table because I won't let them eat anything that is not on the table, and Mr. Orange said, "I just want a smoothie for dinner".  I was floored.  My jaw hit the floor.  I scooped it back up, smiled, and said, "What kind of smoothie do you want?"  Mr. Orange, "One of the pink ones.  I love them.  They are so good they taste like a chocolate smoothie."  (Of course they don't really taste like chocolate, but he does love chocolate smoothies.)  We had pink smoothies and toast for dinner.  It was perfect.  Both kids slurped theirs down and asked for seconds.

So what is this great smoothie that I am telling you about?  Well, it's basically the tastiest treat you can eat for breakfast.  I'll share it with you, but you must go to the links that I am providing you with.  Robyn Openshaw, www.greensmoothiegirl.com, has this recipe, along with many, many, many other delicious recipes in her 12 Steps to Whole Foods program.  The recipe is also included in this recipe book too.  I have the program, and the recipe book, and have tried many of her recipes.  So far, I have only made one recipe that I would never make again and that is only because I can't stand curry.  Mr. Blue loved that dinner.

For her original recipe go here.   To watch a video of Robyn making the Hot Pink Smoothie, go here.

Have you looked at the other links yet?  Good.  Now you can have the recipe.  Mine is a bit different, but not really.

Hot Pink Smoothie
(by Robyn Openshaw)

6 ounces coconut water (can be purchased at Costco)
6 ounces water
1 big handful of carrots, plus a couple more (carrots, not handfuls) for good measure
1/4-1/2 medium raw beet, peeled (I buy a bunch at the store, peel and quarter them, then throw them in the freezer)
1/4 cup raw cashews (can be found at the health food store in the bulk section.  I found cashew pieces at Good Earth today that were cheaper than the whole cashews.)
1/4 cup chopped dates (also found in the bulk section at the health food store.  get the pieces, they're cheaper)
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 tablespoons fresh kefir, or yogurt
1 tablespoon flaxseed oil
6-7 fresh strawberries
1 cup frozen mixed berries from Costco

In a blender, blend everything except the strawberries and mixed berries.  (In my Blendtec I usually run it for a smoothie cycle.)  Then add the berries and blend again.  (I will blend it the second time on the xl smoothie cycle.)

I love this smoothie.  It gives me a ton of energy each morning.  It's so yummy that I crave it.  I was even tempted to make it for my book club ladies, but chickened out and made chocolate zucchini cake instead.  Maybe next time.  :)

Make this smoothie.  I promise you will love it.  It makes about a quart, so if that's too much for you, put half of it in the fridge for later and enjoy it the next day.

GreenSmoothieGirl.com

Chocolate Zucchini Cake

I hosted book club at my house last night which meant I needed to come up with a dessert.  I decided to experiment with a recipe that I really love.  It looked sort of funny when I pulled it out of the oven and I almost grabbed the boxed brownies from the basement (I have one random box still down there - not sure how it survived the purge a few months ago...), but I decided to serve it anyway.  The ladies loved it, so since it passed their test, I thought I would pass the recipe onto you.

Chocolate Zucchini Cake

(Inspired by a recipe from the Davies)

1/2 cup coconut oil, melted*
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup organic sugar
1/2 cup brown rice syrup
1/4 cup Sucanat
2 eggs, organic cage-free
1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup fresh kefir

2 cups grated zucchini
2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour (pastry or finely ground)
4 tablespoons cocoa

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

3/4 cup chocolate chips  (I used these chocolate chips, but these would work as well)

Place oil, butter, sugar, brown rice syrup, and Sucanat in large bowl and mix until well combined.  Add eggs and vanilla, mix until just combined.  Stir in zucchini.  In another bowl whisk together dry ingredients, except for chocolate chips.  Add dry to wet, mix well.  Pour into greased 9x13 inch pan.  Sprinkle with chocolate chips.  Bake in 350 degree oven for 40 minutes.  Cool before cutting.

* I have made these with 1 cup of coconut oil and NO butter and they turned out great.

No Bake Cookies

 I went to a retreat a few months ago where I was able to learn how to "cook" raw food.  Three amazing women shared some of their recipes:  Raw Melissa, Green Smoothie Girl, and Gluten-Free Desi.  I ended up buying some of their cookbooks and am soooo glad that I did.  The recipes I have made have been delicious.  I was desperately in need of chocolate yesterday, so I whipped up some of these No Bake No Bakes from Raw Melissa's cookbook "FAVES".  They are so yummy, and taste so much like regular "cooked" no bake cookies.

Raw Melissa's No Bake No Bakes

makes 15-20 cookies

4 cups rolled oatmeal

1/2 cup almond butter (I used Kirkland organic peanut butter)

1/2 cup coconut oil

1 tablespoon vanilla

6 tablespoons cocoa powder

3/4 cup agave

1/2 - 3/4 teaspoon salt

Mix by hand in a bowl.  Drop by spoonfuls on a wax paper lined cookie sheet.  Put in freezer until hardened.  Eat and enjoy.

**Once mine were hard, I put them in a ziploc bag in the fridge.  Next time I might try mixing the dry ingredients together first and then adding the wet.

The kids like them too.  I have a hard time finding "healthy" snacks that they will eat.  Especially since we have eaten so much candy the past few weeks.  Hello!  Comfort food!  I think these will become a staple.

I hope you enjoy!!

strawberry smoothie

 Miss Pink requested a smoothie for lunch.  She gulped her green smoothie down at breakfast so I decided to make her a strawberry smoothie.  Of course she didn't touch the smoothie, but I enjoyed it.  I think I'll have to make it again for an afternoon pick-me-up.

Strawberry Smoothie

4 ounces water

1 orange, peeled

1 cup fresh strawberries, with stems

1/2 cup frozen blueberries

Put everything in blender, blend and enjoy.

To make it "green" you could always throw in a handful of spinach or chard.

marinara

We love to eat pasta at our house.  It's definitely a staple.  One of my favorite ways to top our pasta is with fresh tomatoes, however, the tomatoes right now are super gross, so I need to wait until summer again...In the meantime, I think I have found my favorite marinara sauce.  I have tried every store bought marinara sauce there is but I can never find quite the right flavor - too oniony, too garlic-y, too gross, too sweet, etc, etc.  A few days ago the kids and I were watching the Kitchen Boss and he made the most delicious looking marinara sauce.  I decided to give it a go, and you know what?  I love Buddy's recipe.  It was totally easy, totally delicious, and totally took me back to Italy.  I can't wait to eat it again, and again, and again...

So here it is (I changed it just a titch, but you can go to Buddy's recipe by following the link above).

Marinara Sauce

1 28 ounce can crushed tomatoes
1 14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes in juice
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1-2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons fresh basil, chopped*

In a large pan heat the oil and garlic together.  When the garlic becomes pale gold and fragrant, add the tomatoes, salt, and 1 tablespoon basil.  Stir well to combine and bring sauce to a boil, then reduce to a simmer.  Simmer sauce, 20-30 minutes, stirring occasionally until sauce has thickened and is richly flavored.  Remove from heat and stir in remaining basil.

This made a lot of sauce, at least for my family since my kids won't eat the sauce, so I froze the rest of it for another night.

*  Instead of using fresh basil, I used basil that I had frozen in ice cube trays at the end of last summer.  I stirred in one cube at the beginning of cooking and one at the end.  (I measured the ground up basil into tablespoons and put one tablespoon in each section of ice cube trays.)

"joyous" pancakes

We have really been enjoying pancakes at our house lately.  My kids really love the pancakes fro The Joy of Cooking, but I just can't bring myself to put white flour or other refined ingredients in our pancakes.  (We will totally eat it that way at other people's homes though.)  So, here it is, our version of The Joy of Cooking Basic Pancakes.

"Joyous" Pancakes

Whisk together in a large bowl:
1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour (I have been grinding my own on the finest setting - so yummy!)
1 1/2 teaspoons aluminum free baking powder
1/2 teaspoon OHCS salt

In another bowl, whisk together:
1 1/2 cups almond milk (or other non-dairy, non-soy milk)
3 tablespoons coconut oil, melted
2 1/2 tablespoons agave
2 large organic, cage-free eggs**
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

**I have made them with chia seeds instead of eggs before.  They have turned out quite tasty, but a little crunchy.  If you want to use chia instead of eggs, mix together 1 tablespoon chia with 3 tablespoons water and let sit for 15 or 20 minutes.

Pour the wet ingredients over the dry ingredients and gently  whisk them together, mixing just until combined.

Heat griddle to 375.  (I like to let the batter sit a little while while the griddle heats up.)  When the griddle is ready, spoon about 1/4 cup of batter onto griddle for each pancake. I usually use a little less.  I like to make smaller pancakes.  Cook until the top of each pancake is speckled with bubbles and some bubbles have popped open, then turn and cook until the underside is lightly browned.  Serve immediately or keep warm in a 200 degree oven while you finish cooking the rest.

Hope you enjoy!!

perfectly delicious popcorn

Coconut Oil

+

 Popcorn

+

Salt

=

 A Perfect Afternoon Snack

My kids favorite afternoon snack right now has to be this popcorn.  The original recipe suggests using canola, peanut, or grapeseed oils because of their high smoke points.  We no longer use any oil in our house unless it is coconut oil, extra virgin olive oil, flax oil, or small amounts of butter.  So, I made some adjustments to the original recipe.  I hope you enjoy it as much as we do.  (Microwave and movie theater popcorn don't even come close!)

Perfectly Delicious Popcorn

3 tbsp coconut oil*
1/3 cup popcorn kernels
1 tsp original Himalayan crystal salt (OHCS)**

Heat the oil in a 3 quart saucepan on medium high heat.

Put 3 or 4 popcorn kernels into the oil and cover the pan.

When the kernels pop, add the rest of the popcorn kernels and the salt.  Shake the pan to evenly distribute the salt and oil over the popcorn.  Cover, remove from heat and count to 30.  Doing this heats the oil to the right temperature, then waiting 30 seconds brings all of the kernels to a near-popping temperature so that when they are put back on the heat, they all pop at about the same time.

Return the pan to heat.  Once the kernels start to go crazy popping, gently shake the pan by sliding it back and forth  over the burner.  Try to keep the lid slightly ajar so that the steam can escape.  Once the popping slows to several seconds between pops, remove from heat and dump popcorn into a bowl.

Using this technique, we rarely have old maids.

*If you would like to learn more about why we use coconut oil versus other oils go here.
**We have been using this salt for a year now.  I can eat an entire bowl of popcorn by myself and my fingers don't get puffy like they do when I eat regular salt.  To find out more check this out.

pumpkin muffins

Mr. Orange was sneaking muffins right out from under me!

The kids have been asking to have something besides green smoothies and toast for breakfast.  We agreed on pumpkin muffins (they still have to have their smoothie gone before lunch).  I found this recipe last year and we all loved it.  This year we have changed some of our eating habits and have cut out refined sugars and flours.  I tweaked the recipe today and this is what we came up with.  They must have turned out pretty well because the kids and I ate 12 of them in 45 minutes!  I hope you like them as much as we do!!!

Pumpkin Muffins

1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1 tsp aluminum free baking powder
1 - 15 oz can pumpkin (NOT pumpkin pie filling!!!)
1/3 cup olive oil*
2 large eggs*
2 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/4 cup sucanat*
1/2 cup (a little less than...) agave
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp himalayan salt or sea salt

Preheat oven to 350 F. Line mini-muffin pan with muffin cups or spray with cooking spray.

Mix together pumpkin, oil, eggs, pumpkin pie spice, sucanat, agave, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl until smooth.  Mix together flour and baking powder and add to pumpkin mixture.  Mix until just combined.

Add about a tablespoon of batter to each muffin cup so that each cup is about 3/4 full.  Bake until puffed and golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the middle of the muffin comes out clean, 18 minutes.  Makes about 3 dozen muffins

I would really like to make these free of animal products, so next time I am going to try making them with chia seeds instead of the eggs.  I'm also going to try making them with agave (to replace all of the sugar) and coconut oil in place of the olive oil.  I'll let you know how that goes.  Enjoy!!!