SMOOTHIES!!! (I love my new bullet blender!)

According to Dr. Joel Furham, in his book Eat to Live, you should eat 4 servings of fruit each day. A serving is a whole piece of fruit such as apple or orange, or pint of berries, etc. So you really do need to eat quite a bit. And of course the more variety you consume, the more nutrients you will get.

Thanks to my friend Cheryl, who told me about bullet blenders, I have recently become addicted to fruit smoothies for breakfast. Drinking fruit smoothies turns out to be a great way to get about 3-4 servings of fruit, with plenty of variety, in one fell swoop! And to top it off, it's really, really delicious!!!

I have found one of the keys to making fruit smoothies is to have a good supply of both fresh and frozen fruit on hand.

I try to always have a good supply of the following:

Fresh strawberries

Fresh bananas

Frozen or fresh blueberries

Frozen raspberries

Frozen tropical mix (includes peach, strawberry, pineapple, and mango)

Vanilla almond milk

Of course sometimes I add different fruits depending on what I happen to have on hand such as melon, apples, or kiwis, and even some veggies, such as cucumbers, read leaf letuce, or spinach. Once you get the basic recipe down, experiment to see what combination you like the best!

IMPORTANT NOTE: I have found with my blender that if I use too many frozen ingredients, the blender just can't quite handle it.

I try to use approximately a 1/4 frozen to 3/4 fresh fruit ratio. I usually put fresh strawberries and some of the frozen tropical mix in the cup and into the fridge the night before. Then in the morning I add the frozen berries, the banana and the almond milk. Doing the prep work the night before, means the morning routine only takes just a few minutes--much quicker and healthier than going through the fast food drive through!!!!

Quinoa with Spinach, Tomato and Feta

I've just started experimenting with quinoa. I love it! The first experiment turned out only so-so, so I won't be posting about that one. But this one turned out great! I will definitely make it again. It's perfect for summer, and you could probably get creative with different combinations of veggies.

All ingredients can be adjusted to suite your taste.

1/2 cup uncooked quinoa

1 medium onion, chopped

1 teaspoon bottled, mince garlic (or fresh equivelant)

2 medium ripe tomatoes, chopped

1/3 carton (small) of baby spinach leaves

1/3 carton of feta cheese (I used the reduced fat chunk), crumbled

1-2 teaspoons olive oil

Cook quinoa according to directions on package. (While it's cooking, you can chop the veggies.)

When the quinoa has about 5 minutes to go, heat a large non-stick skillet on medium-high heat. Add onion and saute for about 3-4 minutes till transluscent. Add garlic and cook another minute or two. Add the tomatoes and continue cooking until heated through. Add the spinach leaves and cook until wilted but still bright green.

Don't forget to remove the quinoa from the burner when all the water is absorbed during this process. :)

Add the cooked quinoa to the tomato mixture. Then add the crumbeld feta cheese. Stir it all up until the feta is evenly distributed and starts to melt. That's it, it's ready to serve!!!

Crunchy Spicy Roasted Chick Peas

If you're looking for a tasty little snack with a kick of protein and a kick of flavor, try these out. It took me a few tries to get these little guys roasted to a crisp. The trick is to dry roast them. Some recipes I found call for adding oil before roasting, but after a little reseach and experimentation, I discovered that the dry roasting method gave me the most sucess.

2 Cans of chick peas

(Or you can cook your own from dried beans)

Olive oil cooking spray

Garlic salt

Ground cyanne pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Drain and rinse the chick peas. Then lay them out on a clean dish towel. Use a paper towel to gently blot them dry. Put them in a single layer a non-stick cookie sheet.

Bake for 40-50 minutes. Keep an eye on them and take them out when they look nicely browned. Taste one to see if it's nice and crunchy. If not, put them in for a few more minutes. Keep checking every 5 to 10 minutes until they are nice and crispy.

Remove from over and cool slightly. Transfer them into a large bowl. Spray lightly with olive oil cooking spray, stirring and spraying a couple of times to coat evenly. Then sprinkle lightly with garlic salt and cyanne pepper. Stir to distribute the seasonings evenly. Taste and adjust seasonings. Store these in an air tight container once they are cool. Enjoy!!!

Colleen

Butternut Squash and Apple Soup

I just finished a pot of butternut squash and apple soup and it turned out great! It's based on a recipe from an old cookbook, but I modified the recipe to make it healthier (the original recipe called for heavy cream and egg yolks). Honestly, it's still just as delicous.

1 32-oz package butternut squash from the produce section, already peeled and cut

2 tart apples, peeled and chopped

1 medium onion, peeled and chopped

1 28-oz carton chicken broth (you could use veggie broth)

3 slices white whole wheat bread, crusts removed, cubed

1/2 tsp dried crushed rosemary

1/2 tsp dried marjoram

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp herbs de province

1/8 tsp black pepper

Put everything in a big pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 35 minutes. Remove from heat and cool slightly. Use a hand blender to blend soup until smooth. That's it. YUM!

Easy Homemade Guacamole and Chips

Guacamole is one of my favorite dips! This recipe is a little different than what I have found when searching for recipes, but it's super easy and delicious!

2 ripe avacodes

Jar of your favorite salsa

Juice of half a small lemon

Garlic (one clove pressed or 1/4-1/2 tsp bottled minced)

Dash of cumin powder

Mash avacados, leaving a few small chunks. Ad 3-4 spoonfuls of the salsa, the lemon juice, garlic, and cumin powder. Mix well. Taste and add more of any of the ingredients to tatse. That's it!! To make this a healthy snack you can make homemade corn chips to go with it. Recipe is below:

5 Small corn tortillas

Olive oil cooking spray

Salt

Spray the tops of the corn tortillas lightly with cooking spray. Sprinkle lightly with salt. Stack the tortillas and use a pizza cutter to cut them into triangles. Place tortilla triangles in a single layer on non-stick baking sheet. Bake at 425 for 8-12 minutes until golden brown. Keep an eye on them! They must be browned to be nice and crispy, but once they start browning they can burn quickly, so watch them closely. This technique can also be done with regular flour tortillas.

Also, you can experiment with other seasonings besides salt. Try cumin, chili powder, cyanne pepper, or whatever you think might be tasty!

Colleen