Friday Recipe: Vitamin Smoothie

I was looking for different smoothie recipes for the summer. Though I really like mine, I wanted a change. My recipe is simple: bunch of fruit (including but not always: strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, grapes (red or green), apple, and cherries) , 1 full beet (cleaned and baked, then frozen), 2 pinches kale (cleaned, chopped, then frozen), 1 banana, 1 cup plain organic yogurt, 2 tablespoons flaxseed, 2 tablespoons wheat germ, 1 cup green tea mixed with avocado, 1 cup V8 Fusion juice. Blended well.

Most of my berries I freeze. Either I buy them frozen during the winter months or I wash (using a vinegar and water rinse), dry, and tray freeze them for future use. But I was looking online for a couple new ones and found this I thought I'd share. It's from Dr. Oz's site. He had a few, and while I think I'll stick to my recipe for now, it never hurts to have options!

Ingredients

• 1 cup papaya
• 1/2 cup kale
• 1/2 cup spinach
• 1/2 banana
• 1/2 green apple

Directions

Put all ingredients into blender. Blend until smooth. Enjoy!

Friday Recipe: Mixed Drink-Coconut Water with Whiskey

I've found a new favorite drinks website. I can't believe I've never seen The Bar before! Where or where have I been? So, this week it's Coconut Water and Whiskey. Or Whisky if you prefer. I've never had Buchanan's Scotch Whisky and am not sure how it'll mix with coconut water, but this weekend I definitely aim to try!

Ingredients

• 1.5 oz.Buchanan's® Deluxe Blended Scotch Whisky
• 5 oz.coconut water

How to Mix

Glass: Pint Glass

1. Add Buchanan’s Deluxe and coconut water
2. Serve over ice

Friday Recipe: Strawberry-Hard Lemonade Slush

So it's summer and the holiday is behind us. What do you make that isn't themed for your next weekend cookout? Alcoholic lemonade of course! Strawberry-Hard Lemonade Slush is from Betty Crocker. Enjoy! I did.

Ingredients:
1 box (4-serving size) strawberry-flavored gelatin
1 cup boiling water
2 boxes (10 oz each) frozen strawberries in light syrup, partially thawed
1 quart (4 cups) fresh strawberries, hulled
1 can (12 oz) frozen lemonade concentrate, partially thawed
1/2 cup sugar (I used Raw, the not processed stuff)
1 bottle (11.2 oz) hard lemonade 5% alcohol beverage or 1 can (12 oz) lemon-lime carbonated beverage
6 additional bottles (11.2 oz each) hard lemonade 5% alcohol beverage or 1 bottle (2 liters) lemon-lime carbonated beverage or ginger ale, chilled

Friday Recipe: Ice Cream Sundae Pie

Because it's hot. Damned hot out there! My pie (cake) didn't come out quite as picturesque as the one in the All Recipes picture. I think they photoshopped that one...or had more patience or less humidity than I did. Hard to tell. But that picture, and the coolness it offered, was the reason I tried this!

Ingredients:

1 cup finely crushed chocolate wafers 1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts 1/4 cup butter, softened 1 cup heavy cream

2 tablespoons confectioners' sugar 1 quart vanilla ice cream, softened 1 (10 ounce) package frozen sweetened strawberries, thawed 1/4 cup walnut halves

Directions:

1.	Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
2.	In a medium bowl, mix together chocolate wafer crumbs, chopped walnuts, and softened butter until thoroughly combined. Press mixture firmly into bottom and sides of a 9 inch pie pan. Bake in preheated oven for 7 minutes. Refrigerate until well chilled.
3.	In a medium bowl, whip together whipping cream and confectioners' sugar until soft peaks form. Spread half of ice cream into bottom of crust. Cover with strawberries, then cover strawberries with remaining ice cream. Spread whipped cream over ice cream, and garnish with walnut halves. Freeze for 2 hours before serving. Allow to stand at room temperature for 10 minutes before slicing.

Friday Recipe:Tex-Mex Gazpacho

I admit--I have trouble pronouncing the name of the soup. I want to add extra letters in there even when I'm looking right at the word. All that aside, the soup itself is hot, spicy, and utterly worth it. I found the recipe while looking for easy summer recipes, a search I use often. Need to keep the palate pleased and the cooking boredom at bay.

Tex-Mex Gazpacho from Real Simple Magazine's website. The photo is theirs as well. Mine didn't come out quite like theirs.

Serves 4| Hands-On Time: 10m| Total Time: 30m

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 pounds tomatoes, chopped
• 2 Kirby cucumbers (about 1/2 pound), peeled and chopped (in my world, cucumbers don't have names, so I have no idea if I used a Kirby one or not!)
• 1 red bell pepper, chopped
• 1 small poblano pepper, chopped
• 1/2 small red onion, chopped
• 3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• kosher salt and black pepper
• 1/3 cup sour cream
• 1/4 cup pepitas (roasted, hulled pumpkin seeds) (Which I bought. I'm sure there's a way to do it yourself but this girl wasn't going to try!)
• cilantro sprigs
• warm flour tortillas, for serving (optional) (I didn't, the soup was delicious as was)

Directions

1. In a blender, working in batches, puree the tomatoes, cucumbers, bell and poblano peppers, and onion, transferring the pureed mixture to a bowl.
2. Stir in the lime juice, oil, 1 ¼ teaspoons salt, and ½ teaspoon pepper. Refrigerate until chilled, 15 to 20 minutes.
3. Divide the soup among bowls and top with the sour cream, pepitas, and cilantro. Serve with the tortillas (if desired).

Friday Recipe: Raspberry Coconut Cream Tart

I was looking for easy summer recipes that are refreshing and fruity. Fresh fruits in the summer are part of what makes summer so fantastic! That and the lack of snow and ice, the warm weather, the outdoor meals, and the knowledge that it's short enough and you should enjoy every single second of summertime!

I stumbled on this new diet called the 80/10/10 diet: 80% fruits and vegetables, 10% protein, and 10% fat. Apparently it's popular with athletes, especially Olympians. I'm not that athletic, and I'll probably never be disciplined enough to do 80/10/10 of anything, but I love the idea of Fruit Meals!

Highlights:
The 80/10/10 Diet: Balancing Your Health, Your Weight, And Your Life, One Luscious Bite At A Time,  'If you eat a relatively typical American diet, 80/10/10 is a program that allows you to continue eating the foods you are used to, while beginning to introduce the new foods that will lead you toward your goal.'
'If you adopt a diet of raw foods, your body can easily cope with cleansing itself of past toxic accumulations and normalise its weight.Common sense does not support cooking,.'
...Further health benefits include maximum nutrition, quick digestion, overall improved health and energy, oxygenated cells and ultimate well-being and vitality.
...Although many diets aim to eliminate carbohydrates all together, they are a necessity in anybody's diet.

This is from the Daily Mail article, which took the recipe from 80/10/10:
Raspberry coconut cream tart

Crust:

• 1 cup shredded coconut
• 1 1/2 tablespoons young coconut
• 3/4 cup dates, chopped
• 1 inch vanilla bean, seeds scraped out

Raspberry filling:

• 1/2 cup dates
• 1/8 cup water
• 3/4 cup raspberries
• 1/4 cup raspberries, frozen

Coconut Cream: 1 cup young coconut meat

Add 1 cup shredded coconut, young coconut meat, vanilla and 3/4 cup dates to food processor, process until a firm dough. Press the dough firmly into an 8" tart pan, making a rim about 1/4" high. Place in freezer to set.

Blend 1/2 cup dates and 1/8 cup of water until smooth paste. Add fresh and frozen raspberries and pulse until mixed well. Do not overblend. Place in a bowl in freezer for 1/2 hour minimum. Clean out blender, add 1 cup young coconut meat and blend till smooth, add 1 tablespoon coconut butter and continue blending until light and fluffy.

Remove crust and raspberry filling from freezer, layer raspberry filling onto crust, then top with coconut cream. Use spatula to create smooth surface, garnish with fresh raspberries and mint.

Friday Recipe: Sparkling Raspberry Parfaits

Sparkling Raspberry Parfaits. Just sounds great doesn't it?! And super easy to make. Plus it was nice and cold on my throat which I needed this week while I was laid low with a vicious spring cold and terrible cough.

 Picture is theirs. I need to start taking my own, but never remember. Plus, my garnishes don't look like theirs.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups raspberry sorbet
• 1 cup chilled raspberry sparkling wine (such as Verdi Raspberry Sparkletini) or unflavored sparkling wine
• 2 tablespoons shaved bittersweet chocolate

Preparation:

1. 1. Scoop 1/2 cup sorbet into each of 4 wineglasses or small bowls, and drizzle each serving with 1/4 cup wine. Top each serving with 1 1/2 teaspoons chocolate. Serve immediately.

 

Friday Recipe: Indian-Spiced Grilled Baby Squash

I planted my squash this week along with all my other veggies. I had started them in old, abandoned dresser drawers and waited about 2 weeks for them to sprout little tops. Then I transplanted them into the ground, watered, put up a fence to keep out wandering humans, curious puppies, and the ever-present bunnies that seem to congregate in my backyard.

But my garden had me wondering...with all these veggies, what will I make? Sure, the tomatoes will make delicious sauce (gravy) and soup, but what else? Seems everything can freeze (yeah!) but I found this yummy sounding recipe when I searched for healthy squash recipes. Which in hindsight seems redundant since squash is healthy.

Mind you, I haven't tried it, since my squash are but tiny bits of leaf poking from the ground. But it's first on my list of things to make once they (grow) ripen! 

Photo is theirs.

Indian-Spiced Grilled Baby Squash

 Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 teaspoon grated peeled fresh ginger (I've mentioned, right, about being careful with the ginger? Strong!)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander (which I now have thanks to last week!)
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 pound baby pattypan squash, cut in half crosswise
• 1 medium red onion, cut into 1-inch pieces
• Cooking spray
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon thinly sliced fresh mint leaves

Preparation

1. Preheat grill.
2. Combine first 7 ingredients in a large bowl; toss well. Thread squash and onion alternately onto each of 8 (10-inch) skewers. Place skewers on grill rack coated with cooking spray; grill 10 minutes or until tender, turning frequently. Drizzle with juice. Sprinkle with mint.

Nutritional Information

Amount per serving

• Calories: 61
• Calories from fat: 53%
• Fat: 3.6g
• Saturated fat: 0.5g
• Monounsaturated fat: 2.5g
• Polyunsaturated fat: 0.5g
• Protein: 1.7g
• Carbohydrate: 6.9g
• Fiber: 1.8g
• Cholesterol: 0.0mg
• Iron: 0.6mg
• Sodium: 299mg
• Calcium: 26mg