Orange Creamsicle Smoothie

Tastes just like an Orange Creamsicle….mmmmmmm:)

Recipe

blender required

6 medium oranges

2 tsp orange zest

3 bananas, frozen

2 dates (optional)

3 cups ice

3/4 cup almond milk

2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 macadamia nuts

Instructions:

Grate the orange zest first. Then juice the oranges in a citrus juicer or peel the oranges, deseed, and throw it into the blender. Add the remaining ingredients and blend the heck out of it. Add more ice if needed.

The macadamia nuts help give this smoothie a creamy, buttery taste.

kids WILL eat HEALTHY…..just starve them first:)

My little niece (she’s 16 now) came over for a sleepover last night. She throws her overnight bag onto the floor and heads straight for the pantry cabinet. She opens the door and stares inside for a few seconds.

“Where’s the spaghetti? I want spaghetti for dinner.”

“We don’t have spaghetti.”

“Well, where’s the cookies?”

“We don’t have cookies.”

“Do you have any ice cream?”

“No”

“Chips and salsa?”

“No”

Exasperated, “Oh my god, I’m going to starve to death!”

Well, we’re off to a great start!

45 minutes later….”Can I have some green juice?”

What?  Did I hear that correctly? My 16 year old niece who ate Subway and McDonalds earlier that day, just asked me for GREEN JUICE? Let me repeat that. She, asked us, for green juice.

Shut. Up.

Later that evening, she walked over to the fridge and stared inside for a full minute. Just as I was getting ready to say something about the open door, she grabbed the kale soup and threw it in the microwave. She scarfed it down and promptly went back for a second helping.

Over the next 24 hours, my niece proceeded to eat a Berry/Banana/Kale Smoothie. She also ate salmon for dinner (after vehemently explaining to me how she ONLY eats shrimp). I also gave her a caper to try. She didn’t like it. That’s ok she at least tried it. I chopped up a small piece of nopalito for her. She didn’t like that either. But she ate it! “Ewwwwww, is that a beet?” With a healthy dose of light Ranch dressing, she finished eating the watercress, beet, gorgonzola and walnut salad.

The next day, my husband and I felt like exercising so we grabbed the three off-road bikes and told my niece, who was laying on the couch all afternoon, she was coming with us. “I don’t feel like it” she says. ‘I have a headache, I don’t feel good, besides I don’t have any shoes to wear”. I turned off the tv, confiscated the remote and threw a pair of tennis shoes in her direction. She came outside a few minutes later with her unbrushed hair pulled back in a ponytail. “You guys are dorks, only dorks wear gloves when biking!” After biking for a few miles, we stopped to take a break. She quietly got off her bike and started picking at her hands. My husband asked her if she had a blister. She nodded her head yes. He took off his gloves, handed them to her and she immediately put them on her hands. Ok dork! We rode only 8 miles that day and she did really great. Off-road biking is a lot more difficult than on-road. We had great time:)

That evening, I was gathering a few of her things to take her back to her mom’s house and I noticed her box of Nerds candy sitting there. I shook the box assuming she left the empty carton laying around, but instead, I heard the hard little candies rattling around. Interesting, my niece never ate the candy she brought with her.

My niece was extremely resistant to a lot of things we did and ate during her brief stay with up, but ultimately she gave in.  We just stood our ground with her this time. In the past, I felt guilty for not having ‘junk food’ in my house for her. I would always take her to the store and let her pick out whatever she wanted to eat. And, of course, she would always choose the frozen pizzas and ice cream and candy. This time, we didn’t buy her any junk food, and ultimately, she ate what we ate.

I hear parents all the time saying “my kids are picky eaters, little Suzie won’t eat (fill in the blank), and then you see the kid eating a cheeseburger and fries from McD’s.  Stop feeding them snacks. Stop feeding them Goldfish crackers an hour before dinner. If you feed them snacks, they won’t be hungry. They won’t eat the peas and carrots on their plate. Why would they, they are already full. They ate Doritos for dinner. Why would they eat peas and carrots for dessert?

But what do I know. I’m not a parent. One day yes, but not right now. Some things just seems like logic. We tried something different with my niece and it worked. We’ll try it again next time she visits. If she visits. Maybe we scared her away! I hope not. I had a great time hanging out with her this weekend.

Horchata Recipe

My husband and I ate at a local mom and pop Mexican restaurant while visiting in Arizona. They made their own Horchata fresh everyday and it was super delicious.

After returning home, we searched the internet to find traditional Horchata recipes (made from rice only, with no added milk, coconut milk or condensed milk). After studying quite a few recipes, we decided to make our own version, without the premade ‘milk’ added and without the granulated sugar.

Horchata Recipe

1 cup long grain white rice

1 cup almonds

2 cinnamon sticks

8 cups water

2 Tbs honey

4 Tbs Splenda (we ran out of Stevia)

2 vanilla beans, innards removed

Directions:

Blend rice and almonds in blender, add 5 cups hot/near boiling water to blender, add the cinnamon sticks.

Leave sitting in the blender for 5 hours.

Add stevia, honey, vanilla, (and ground cinnamon if needed) and reblend the mixture.

Strain mixture through nut milk bag (or double layer cheesecloth).

Serve over ice.

Ground cinnamon on top for garnish.

Most reciped called for 1/2 cup to 1 cup of sugar. Personally, I felt this was ridicuously sweet. To each his/her own!

My house guest added rum to his horchata and seemed quite pleased with the result!

Chocolate Coconut Smoothie

mmmm……chocolate and coconut. Need I say more?

Blender required

Recipe

3 Bananas, frozen

2 cups Kale

2 Tbs Cacao powder

2 Tbs coconut oil

1 cup almond milk

2 cup water, add more if needed.

Blend until smooth.

Serves 2

Beet n’ Berry Smoothie

Another one of my husbands creations. I haven’t been feeling my best for the past few days so my husband has been in the kitchen preparing our meals. This was another simple terrific creation. I’m personally not a big fan of raw beets. I think they taste like dirt or ‘earth’ to be kind. But, when mixed with berries, it’s definitely tolerable to my palate. And the color of this smoothie was absolutely gorgeous.

Blender required

Recipe

1 large beet

2 cups mixed berries

3-5 dates (needed for  a little sweetness)

2 cups water

Blend until smooth.

Raspberry Mint Smoothie

This smoothie was my husband’s creation.

Blender required.

2  1/2 cups frozen raspberries

1/2 cup milk

2 cups orange juice, freshly squeezed

1 banana, frozen

2 sprigs mint

1-2 cups spinach

honey optional

Blend until smooth

 

Kitchen Sink Smoothie

Here I go again.

Blender required

Recipe

1 frozen banana

1 cup frozen pineapple

1/2 can low-fat coconut milk

8 macadamia nuts

1 tbsp cacao nibs

1 tbsp chia seeds

1/4 tsp cardamom ground (anyone seeing a theme yet)

1/4 tsp cinnamon

5 Napa cabbage leaves

 

Bend (no, please don’t do that) Blend until smooth. Thank god for my Vitamix. I couldn’t imagine how the texture of some of these ingredients would taste in a regular blender.

Leftover Smoothie #1

I really do not have a name or theme for this smoothie but it sure as heck tasted delicious. We are going on vacation soon so I haven’t been grocery shopping. These were some of various things I just threw into the blender. A little bit of this and a little bit of that.

blender required

Recipe

1 cup frozen cherries

1 frozen banana

6-7 dried apricots

1 1/2 cup almond milk or water

1/4 tsp cardamom spice (yep, I found another excuse to use cardamom)

4-5 leaves Napa cabbage (from our garden)

Blend until smooth.

I started adding unsweetened almond milk to most of my recipes to increase calcium and vitamin B12. Its only 35 calories per cup. Not too shabby.

 

Blueberry Cardamom Smoothie

Cardamom is an interesting spice I have only recently discovered. It is an Indian spice commonly used in chai tea. I’m still working on different flavor combinations, maybe with chocolate or cinnamon.

blender required

Recipe

2 cups frozen blueberries

1 banana frozen

1 1/2 cups almond milk or water

2 cups fresh spinach (or any leafy green)

1/4 tsp cardamom spice

Blender together until smooth, add water as needed.

Ginger Miso Dressing

Great on salads, vegetable dip, seaweed salad

Blender required.

Recipe

1/2 c White miso

1/4 c Raw honey

1/3 c Apple cider vinegar

1/4 c Sesame Oil

1/4 c Lemon Juice

1/8 c Rice Vinegar

1/4 c Coconut Aminos

1 1/4 c Chopped Ginger, fresh

1 tbs Sesame seeds

Blend all ingredients except sesame seeds in blender until smooth and creamy, add sesame seeds, pulse briefly.

Will hold in fridge for one week