Popeye Protein Packed Spinach Smoothie

I think the title says it all.

Recipe

3 bananas, frozen

2 tbs almond butter

1 tbs hemp protein (maca powder works well too)

1 cup almond milk

1 cup water

1 tbs cacao powder

1 handful of baby spinach leaves

Blend

Perigee-Syzygy Smoothie

What’s a perigee-syzygy you may ask?

Other than an awesome scrabble word, it’s also called a Supermoon.

Perigee is when the moon is the closest to the earth in the moons elliptical orbit and syzygy is the alignment of the Sun-Moon-Earth. The best time to view it will be tonight after the sun sets.

With the help of a few of my coworkers, this is my take on what a Perigee-Syzygy Smoothie should taste like. Something calm, cool and milky-white.

Recipe

3 frozen bananas

1 can lite coconut milk

1/2 cup almond milk

1/4 cup macadamia nut

1 vanilla bean

1 chamomile tea bag (remove the herbs and place into blender)

dash of cardamom

dash of nutmeg

Blend ingredients in blender.

Eggplant Caponata

I’m always looking for different recipes to utilize our over abundance of eggplants. One person can only eat so much Baba Ganoush. This particular dish is our favorite. I hope you enjoy it as  much as we do.

This fabulous recipe was borrowed from the Food Network, courtesy of Mario Batali.

Recipe

1/2 cup olive oil

1 sweet onion, diced

2 tbs pine nuts (we substitute sunflower seeds)

3 tbs currants (we substitute sweetened cranberries)

1 tbs hot chili flakes

4 cups diced eggplant

2 tbs sugar (or any substitute)

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp unsweetened cocoa or cacao  powder

2 tsp fresh thyme leaves

1/3 cup balsamic vinegar

salt and pepper to taste

1/4 cup basic tomato sauce, recipe to follow

****the recipe calls for 1/4 cup, we add the entire batch of tomato sauce to the recipe. We found the Caponata to be too dry with only 1/4 cup of sauce.

Directions

In a large saute pan, over medium heat, heat oil, add onions, pine nuts, currants and chili flakes and saute for 4-5 minutes until softened.

Add eggplant, sugar, cinnamon, and cocoa and continue to cook for 5 more minutes. Add thyme, tomato sauce, and balsamic vinegar. Bring to a boil.

Lower heat and simmer mixture for 5 minutes. Remove from heat, cool to room temperature.

Tomato Sauce Recipe

1/4 cup olive oil

1 onion, diced

4 garlic cloves

3 tbs fresh thyme leaves

1/2 medium carrot, grated

2 (28 oz) cans diced tomatoes, do not drain

salt

Tomato Sauce In a 3 qt pain, heat olive oil, add onion and garlic, and saute, for 8 minutes. Add thyme and carrot and cook for 5 minutes more, until carrot is soft. Add tomatoes and juice, bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer for 30 minutes.

Serve with toasted baguettes.

 

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.

Beet Chia Crackers

While I’m on the discussion of chia crackers….

I know, I know!….for someone who doesn’t like beets, I sure keep bringing up the topic. Anyway…

I thought I would experiment with the last beet in our fridge (good riddance!).

I really wanted to duplicate a red tortilla cracker. The color is really cool. Why not. So I thought I would juice a beet and soak the chia seeds in it.

And Viola! Red chia crackers. Yah!

Well not so much.

Why you ask? Because the CHIA CRACKER now tastes like a BEET! ugh!

My husband really likes it though.

So if anyone else thinks it might be cool….

Recipe

Juicer and dehydrator required

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup chia seeds

1 beet

salt

garlic

Instructions:

Juice the beet, mix the chia seed in the water and add BOTH the beet pulp and beet juice. Add more water if needed. Chia seeds will gel with liquid. Let it soak for approx 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Spread mixture onto Teflex sheet and put in dehydrator on 105 degrees for 15-20 hours till dry and crunchy.

Bon appetit

‘Everything’ Cracker

Thank you Peggy for this inspiration:)

Someone…..was eating my favorite bagel the other day at work. An ‘Everything’ Bagel. Oh gosh, how I miss the smell and the taste of the  poppy seeds crunching between my teeth.

Being I gave up all breads and crackers, well, flour to be more specific, I am always on a continuous search for new chia cracker ideas. It’s not easy finding a substitute for bread, crackers, chips, pancakes, waffles, pasta, couscous, cake, muffins, cookies, biscuits, mac and cheese….Oh, the list goes on and on.

Here’s my take on the Everything Chia Cracker.

Recipe

1 c water

1/2 cup chia seeds

3/4 cup poppy seeds

1/2 cup sesame seeds

1/4 cup garlic, minced

1 onion

1 tsp salt, or more to taste.

Instructions:

First mix the chia seed and water together and let it sit for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. The chia seeds will turn into a gel.

In the meantime, place onion into food processor on shred, discard any excess water.

Add the poppy seeds, sesame seeds, garlic, salt and onions to the chia mixture.

Spread onto Teflex sheet evenly. I like to score the crackers before putting them into the dehydrator so they will break easily when dried.

Dehydrate on 105 degrees for 15 hours.

Crackers are best with any dip such as hummus or guacamole.

 

 

Edible flowers

I was inspired when reading another blog where school children created amazing dishes using local food and tropical flowers. Check out these amazing pictures at the following link. 2012 March « FlipSide Adventures.

We enjoy growing borage in our garden. This edible plant has gorgeous star-shaped blue flowers that taste like cucumber. Honey bees are attracted to the flowers and are crazy for the nectar.

The entire plant is edible, however, the stems and the leaves are covered with numerous tiny hairs making it distasteful. The flowers, on the other hand, do not contain the hairs and can easily be separated from the stem. Just grab the stem and gently pull and separate the stem from the flower.

The leaves work well in stews and the petals can be used in a variety of dishes such as cake and dessert decorations and salads. When used in salads, add the flowers at the last minute or the dressing/vinegar will cause the petals to wilt.

7 Days of Kale- Day 7- Kale Miso Soup

Finally. Day 7. My last day of kale recipes.

A good friend told me 1 day of kale was too much. Ok, so not everyone is a fan of kale. Some people are meat and potato kind of people. That’s ok. But for those of you interested in exploring new tastes, new flavors and new ideas, I hope you enjoyed (survived) the 7 days of kale.

I modified the recipe instructions on the Cold Mountain Mellow White Miso.

Recipe

3 Tbs  Miso

3 cups Water

1/4 cup wakame seaweed

1/2 cup Kale roughly chopped

1/2 cup Shiitake mushrooms

2 scallions, diced

tofu, optional

Instructions:

In a small bowl, cut and soak wakame seaweed as package instruction explains.

In a medium pot, add miso and water on medium heat until miso dissolves.

Add kale and mushrooms, add simmer for 10 minutes.

Add mushrooms, simmer for another 3 minutes.

Add scallions as a garnish.

Serve and enjoy.

A little dose of sunshine

A little dose of simplicity.

Add a little dose of happiness.

Followed by a dose of pure goodness.

This is how I start my mornings…

Recipe

#1. Grab 4 medium oranges from hanging basket in kitchen…

#2. Cut oranges in half.

#3. Juice oranges in the citrus juicer.

I’ve had some people question how I eat and drink so much fruit everyday and not gain weight. They tell me “Fruit is full of sugar, you’re going to get fat”.

Well 8 months of juicing and eating large quantities of fruit has led to a 15 lb weight loss and a maintenance weight of 127 lbs. So, no, eating fruit will not make me fat, but thank you everyone for being so concerned about my butt!

Now, interestingly, when I use to eat the SAD diet (Standard American Diet), I would never, let me repeat….NEVER, drink this much orange juice at once, because I would have been too concerned about the calories. I would have drunk a glass of water instead, and ‘saved’ my calories for something else, something probably processed and loaded with chemicals and food additives. Since I’ve eliminated processed foods from my diet, I’ve been able to eat fruits and nuts and seeds with no problems or concerns about weight gain.

The mail lady seems to be concerned too, but for different reasons. “Who keeps buying you these bushels of oranges and grapefruits?” “Don’t they know you live in Florida?” I don’t have the heart (or the guts?) to tell her its me!

Unfortunately, I moved 50 miles from the city. Routine food shopping now involves Super-Walmart. It’s actually cheaper and more convenient to buy a bushel of oranges and have them delivered to my front door, which, I’m sure, is the mail lady’s main concern….struggling to carry the heavy box of oranges to my front door every month.

Welcome to The Orange Shop – Famous for Fine Fruit since 1936.

7 Days of Kale- Day 6- Kale Pesto and Spaghetti Squash

This was by far my most favorite kale dish.

6 kale leaves, destemmed

3/4 cup Basil leaves, chopped, from your herb garden

1 cup sundried tomatoes

2/3 cup pine nuts

1 cup Macadamia nuts

4 Tbs Olive Oil

2-3 Tbs lemon juice

1 tsp salt

pine nuts to garnish

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Cut spaghetti squash in half, place on cookie sheet face down. Bake for  approx 45 minutes. Let it cool for about 30 minutes before scraping the inside out.

Process kale in food processor. Add kale and basil to medium mixing bowl. Add the remaining ingredients into the food processor. Blend until creamy. Add the sauce to the kale and basil and mix well.

Add pesto to spaghetti sauce, garnish with sundried tomatoes and pine nuts.

Enjoy!