smoothies

frozen pineapple, apple, mint, water

I have had a lot of inspiration lately from various people in my life.


My sister-in-law came to visit and I got to witness her daily routine at almost 70 years - which includes yoga every day and eating an organic raw vegan diet. She looks amazing. I was impressed.


As a result, and the crazy hot weather we've been having, I have not been making food all that much lately. But one thing I have been making an awful lot of is smoothies.

cucumber, blueberries, green apple, soy milk, frozen pineapple

Ever since my doctor told me one good way to loose weight was to stop drinking juice, that if you want a fruit eat a fruit, and if you're thirsty drink water, I've eliminated it from my diet. I don't have it in house unless as a sweet treat for special occasions. This goes for my son too. We try to stay away from juice boxes as a convenience, and opt for plain old water.

Cherries, soy milk, banana

Even so, I have witnessed major changes in a number of my friends and family members health. Therefore I've brought the smoothie into my diet. Every morning I am making one for breakfast. Different than juice since the fiber remains from the fruit and veggies you use, but super convenient. Just whirr it in the blender and go.


I've been using frozen fruit and adding bits of fresh fruit, or cucumber and a few leaves of mint, plus almond butter or even cacao powder upon occasion and some sort of liquid, either water or soy milk, but sometimes coconut milk too. There is no rule. It varies every time.

So check out what's in your fridge and whip up a frothy cool breakfast drink. Totally satisfying and healthy. Who can beat that??

frozen blueberries, frozen mango, mint leaves, soy milk

breakfast cleanse smoothie

I am not a fan of fruit juices.

I mean, I like them well enough, but I feel like if you want to eat a fruit, eat a fruit. The fiber is half the benefit of them.

But lately, and I am guessing you too, have been feeling the winter dull drums.

In need of a pick me up, I tried out a juice cleanse a colleague of mine is on.

I only did one full day of the 3 day cleanse. Not because I wasn't liking it, or starving, but because it was my birthday and I had dinner plans - more on that later.

One day on the Dr. Oz Cleanse is not all that different than my usual diet, only it is in liquid form. Never-the-less I feel great after just one day. My lingering congestion is gone. My skin has cleared up. I feel more energetic. Not sure if this psychosomatic (the green tea did wonders for me and the prescribed Epsom Salt/Lavender oil bath was heavenly), but don't really care.

Here is the breakfast one. I adapted it a bit to suit what I had in the house.

Breakfast Cleanse Smoothie
Makes one smoothie, adapted from Dr. Oz

Ingredients

• 1 cup water
• 1 cup blueberries
• 1 tablespoon ground flax seed
• 1 banana
• 1/4 cup kale
• 1 tablespoon chunky peanut butter

Instructions

1. Blend all ingredients together. Drink.

apple, lettuce and basil smoothies {#reciperedux}

Don't expect thunder and lightening. This is not an innovation. It's been around for quite a while: the ball jar turned drinking glass.

Some canning jars are super decorative and make wonderful holders for frosty quaffs. I bought these pretty jars specifically for drinks. This is the only way I have even use them, not having learned how to can fruit and veggies, and I think it is a good use for these lovely jars, don't you?

This month's Recipe ReDux, Raising the Bar on Food in a Jar, challenges you to think of new ways to use canning jars. I chose the smoothie. Tremendously versatile, the smoothie. You can use any veggies and fruit you have on hand. Adding apple juice to the mix makes it nicely sweet. Kale-apple is a popular combination. Even with lettuce and basil in the mix my almost-four-year-old proclaimed, It's Good!

Green Smoothie - Apple, Lettuce and Basil
Makes one glass
1 green apple, chopped, with seeds removed
2 lettuce leaves
5-6 basil leaves
1/2 cup apple juice
5 ice cubes

Mix everything in your blender until incorporated. Enjoy.

homemade ginger ale

It is kind of spectacular, the alchemy of the kitchen. I went into this challenge, posed by Lindsay and Taylor of Love and Olive Oil with reservations. To be honest, I didn't think I would end up with anything but some sweet tasting water. Boy was I wrong!

I used the simple Alton Brown recipe that they posted, and it worked like a charm... in one bottle. You see, I had two one liter plastic bottles so I ended up splitting the ingredients between the two bottles. One bottle ended up the perfect bubbly spicy goodness I demand of a ginger ale. The other ended up flat and sweet, kind of what I'd expected from the whole exercise. I am going to leave the second bottle out of the fridge another day and hopefully it will come around. If not, no worries. I plan to make this again. I love me some spicy ginger ale!

vegan almond milkshake

Popsicles.

Need I say more?

I recently found a blog, Vegan Everything Vegan Anything, by the mother of one my son's playmates, and her post on popsicles really got my attention.

I have no molds so I made the next best thing. Milkshakes, using her popsicle recipe as a jumping off point.
This was a friend of mine's idea. She said she was making the best milkshakes lately and described something similar to the recipe. I knew I had to make it, and soon.

Vegan Almond Milkshake
1 cup almond milk
1 banana
2 tablespoons honey (not technically vegan, but you can use maple syrup or agave)
2 tablespoons almond butter
1/2 cup ice

Mix everything in the blender and enjoy.

vegan eggnog

After tasting gulping the homemade eggnog offered to me during our Christmas festivities, I thought I'd make a guilt free eggnog this year. Just for the heck of it.

I wanted a frothy, creamy, sweet concoction. This one is close to what I had in mind, but didn't quite hit the mark. I suggest you blend the cashews first before you add the water {mine came out a bit gritty}. I did add extra agave syrup and used two bananas instead of one. I might do some more experimenting with it since it was so close to what I was after. My son and husband both drank it up, so no complaints.

{recipe}