Blueberry Mojito Smoothie

“A garden to walk in and immensity to dream in--what more could he ask? A few flowers at his feet and above him the stars.” 
― Victor Hugo, Les Misérables

My garden is my pride and joy.  I love being able to relax in the back yard with a different scene almost daily depending on what is in bloom.  Tucked away in the blooms are edible delights that almost look too pretty to eat.  Chives in the spring and fall, strawberries in early summer, blackberries in late summer, and herbs almost year round.

Not big on rum, a server at my old favorite restaurant (so sad that it is gone) talked me into ordering a blueberry mojito.  I have to say, it was fun summer awesomeness in a glass.  It was this morning's inspiration for our morning smoothie.

Blueberry Mojito Smoothie

Printable Version

He Happy, She Happy, We Happy

The dilemma - we are grilling steaks.  We picked up beautiful bone-in ribeyes, the king of all steaks.  He wants lionized hash browns as a side.  She wants healthy sides. Ahhhhh!  How do we make everyone happy?

I took a stab at making a healthier version of this diner favorite.  It was fantastic.

Baked Lionized Hash Brown

Printable Version

Ingredients

Skin In The Game

At a networking breakfast yesterday, someone mentioned leaving the skin on kiwi when you make

smoothies.  It just didn't sound right to me, but then someone added "my kid eats kiwi with the skin on like an apple".  OK, but kids eat worms too.  I still wasn't 100% sold, but I tried it this morning anyway - you couldn't tell they were in there.  Believe me, if anything was funky our 10 year old would have called us out.

Thanks for the great tip. 

I did some research this morning, there's actually a California Kiwifruit Organization.  I found out that by leaving the skin on the fiber value is tripled and more of the vitamin C is retained.  Hey, I just like that it's a shortcut in the morning.

According to Wikipedia to have "skin in the game" is to have incurred monetary risk by being
invested in achieving a goal.  In my smoothie recipe having skin in the game is to retain more of the vitamins and add fiber.

Hide the Spinach

Sometimes it's not the foods our kids (and husbands) won't eat, it's the way they are prepared.  For instance, most people steam brussel sprouts. Yuck!  You can't get most people to buy in to them this way.  Try roasting them with olive oil, red pepper flakes, salt, pepper, and orange peel. DELICIOUS!  The same goes for asparagus.  Steamed, not so liked.  Grilled or roasted it takes on an entirely different flavor, and texture, that will get more wins and empty plates.

I find that the best way to make sure that my family gets enough vegetables is to hide them in a fruity flavored smoothie.  Sometimes I sneak a few too many veggies in there and I am busted.  Sometimes I hit a home run like with this limey flavored smoothie.

"All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better."
~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Hide the Spinach, An Antioxidant Smoothie

Spicy Pork and Greens Soup

“The only real stumbling block is fear of failure. In cooking you've got to have a what-the-hell attitude.”  ~Julia Child   

I love to experiment in the kitchen.  Some trials are hits and some hit the trash can.   Some are originals and others come from reliable sources like Food Network or Food and Wine Magazine.  Super Bowl Sunday I found another homerun from the January 2014 Bon Appetit magazine, Spicy Pork and Mustard Greens Soup.  I made it as a first course, but it could easily be an entree as well.

Printable Version

Ingredients

• ½ pound ground pork 
• 2 cloves garlic minced
• 2 tsp finely grated peeled ginger
• 1tsp Sichuan peppercorns, crushed
• ¾ tsp crushed red pepper flakes
• ½ tsp cumin seeds, coarsely chopped

Day 4 Losing 6 Pounds in 2 Weeks

One of the best time savers I have found is cooking once to eat many times.  Sometimes this means
making a gigantic pot of spaghetti sauce and portioning it out in tupperware to stow away in the freezer for many pasta nights to come.  Sometimes this means making simple dishes that can be spruced up or combined to make new exciting future meals in a snap.

This week I made polenta and roasted asparagus as

Chicken Thighs with Harissa Chickpeas

 

Usually, when I get my hair done is the only time I allow myself to indulge in tabloids.  They are there.  I am there.  Why not?  At my last appointment the January 2014 edition of Bon Appetit was sitting in the processing room and caught my eye.  I found page after page of tempting recipes that I couldn't wait to try our for my family and since it was the January version most of the recipes were healthy.  This one was at the top of the list.  I love that one pan goes from the stovetop, to the oven, to the table and I couldn't wait to see how tolerable my family would be to the heat of this dish.  They did not disappoint. The entertainment I hoped for was pricesless.  When you try it make sure to make sides that double as extinguishers.

Purple Power - Antioxidant Smoothie

Smoothies are an excellent way for hiding veggies from 9 year old boys who won't eat them any
other way.  The trick is keeping your smoothie recipe from turning sludgie yucky brown and looking like swamp water.  Here's a recipe that stays purple (ish) keeping the mass amounts of spinach in it your secret.

Never Flip an Omelet Again; The Best Omelet Recipe

I brown bag it when it comes to lunch on work days.  I find that I have NO discipline when eating out.  Restaurants may have healthy offerings, but Berta, the 300 pound Italian girl inside me, always wins out when making a selection.

My eat healthy AND stay happy philosophy is not to be good 100% of the time so when asked out to lunch I will occasionally say "yes."  Coworkers and I went to a diner and when the plates arrived at our table there were "oohs" and "ahhs" and "how do they make the omelets look like that"? 

Brown Pow, Antioxidant Smoothie

I am blessed to have an artist for a husband whose creativity carries over into the kitchen.  He whipped up this amazing smoothie for us this morning.  The color was not very attractive, but if you close your eyes it's extremely yummy.  Our 9 year old won't eat most vegetables without a fight.  This recipe is great for kids, like him, who won't eat their veggies.  Even the pickiest eaters won't detect that the spinach is in there.

 Printable Version

Surf and Turf, A Delicious and Nutritious Smoothie Recipe

Our kids in the ocean with a shark, Jamaica

Spring break to Jamaica was one of my family's favorite vacations.  The weather - perfect; the pool -
perfect; the beach - rocky, but perfect; the food - amazing; swimming with the dolphins - unforgettable!  Our all inclusive resort had fresh fruit at every meal.  Dinner had a fruit carving station.

Vampire Venom, An Antioxidant Rich Smoothie

This morning we decided to create a new concoction in our Vitamix mixer.  I had the last bit of a pineapple to use, but I wanted to try something different than Kermit Juice.  I asked my 9 year old what color should it end up.  Begin with the end in mind, right?  He shouted out "red". OK, red it is.

Kermit Juice

This is a recipe for a smoothie so we use our Vitamix blender to make it.  I wanted to call it "Kermit in a Blender", but my family talked me out of it.  Just wait, when I come up with a recipe that comes out of the blender green and red it already has a name.

Pinklicious Power Juice

 

We spend most of our time in the kitchen.  Cooking, hanging out, talking, bonding as a family. I am lucky to have grown up in an Italian family of great cooks and even luckier to have married a man who loves cooking.  Food has a way of bringing us together.

Harry Potter Booger Juice

Mornings at our house are super busy and difficult to manage.  Who am I kidding?  Mornings, afternoons and evenings are tough.  This one will eat this.  This one won't eat that.  Did our daughter eat breakfast before she left?  You can't wear shorts it's 30 below zero!!!  You can't eat cake for breakfast!  Yes, you can eat cake for breakfast - but not JUST cake.

How to Get Rid of Pesky Fruit Flies.

The worst thing you can do with fresh produce from the farmers market is refrigerate it.  Everything about it being fresh picked today is diminished by the process, but what do you do to keep the pesky fruit flies away?

I can't figure out how to keep them out of my house, but I did learn this little trick.

Take a small bowl and put cider vinegar or red wine vinegar in it.
Cover with Saran wrap and poke with very small (fruit fly sized) holes.
Place on your counter.

The pests can get in, but they can't find their way back out.  It's somewhat unpleasant, but beats the alternative.

Farmers Market Delight, Zucchini

So much zucchini, but what to do with it?  Fried zucchini?  Delightful, but fried.  Grilled zuke? Awesome, but I am grilled out.  Zucchini fritters?  My mom makes the best so why even try to top perfection.

Here's a super easy, equally impressive zucchini recipe.
Printable Version