Spinach Smoothie

This is a scary thing to me. Spinach in a smoothie? That sounds, well....disgusting to me. The more I read about it, the more it sounded like maybe something that I would like try. I have read that it didn't taste spinach-y or taste off and it was even sweet. I have decided to go with your basic smoothie with a bit of spinach. Most recipes call for more spinach than this and this may be a good way to get your kiddos to eat their veggies, milk and fruit. Yes, we are Kroger shoppers XD.

Spinach Smoothie
1/2 frozen banana
6-8 small strawberries (frozen)
1/2 cup frozen spinach
1/2 cup plain non-fat yogurt
sweetener to taste
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp. vanilla (optional)
1 tbsp. ground flaxseed (optional)

Blend all until very smooth. Serve immediately.
You can't taste the spinach. I used Splenda this time, next time I will use honey.

Orange Strawberry Smoothie

I wanted to use up some oranges I have, and some of the strawberries I bought. I came up with the following recipe.

Orange Strawberry Smoothie
3 oranges, juiced or 1 cup OJ
1/2-1 cup frozen strawberries
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tbsp. honey or Splenda

Puree in blender until smooth, serve immediately. As you can see, I only had 2 oranges so I used a bit of milk for the rest of the liquid. Still delicious!

Strawberry Banana Apple Smoothie

Um, yum. I just happen to have all of these ingredients and you would think I have leftovers or something to eat for lunch and everyday, which I don't and I end up eating knock-off Lucky Charms, LOL. Which don't get me wrong, they are really good but I am getting rather tired of the same old. Here is the recipe, I hope that you enjoy it as much as I did. Cut the recipe in half for one serving as shown.

Buttermilk Blueberry Pancakes (whole grain)

When I found this recipe from Pinch My Salt, I knew I had to try it. Yummy pancakes with buttermilk, blueberries and whole grains.....mmmm! I didn't have the oat bran so I am replacing it with oat flour, to make this place oats in a blender or a coffee grinder and pulverize into a fine powder. Store what you don't use for another recipe. I am replacing the brown sugar with honey and I am adding a bit of cinnamon to the recipe. Here is the recipe as I make it. If you have buttermilk, you can use that instead of the milk and sour cream (1 cup buttermilk). Today when I went to the Dollar Tree alas, they did not have blueberries :*( so I am making them plain, but with strawberry sauce.....(from Good Life Eats).

This is not my photo.

Blueberry Buttermilk Pancakes


3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/8 cup wheat germ
1/4 cup oat flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2-1 tsp. cinnamon (leave out for plain)
1/4 tsp. salt

3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup sour cream or yogurt
1 egg or 1/4 cup egg beaters
1 tbsp. honey
1 tbsp. melted butter, cooled
1/2 cup blueberries (leave out for plain)

Heat up your griddle. Combine dry ingredients in a medium sized bowl, stirring to mix. Toss the blueberries, if frozen with a bit of your flour. Then add wet ingredients to dry ingredients. Fold in blueberries carefully. Drop the batter by 1/4 cupfuls onto your griddle. The pancakes are ready to turn when the bubbles break. Turn and cook about 1-2 minutes or until lightly brown. Serve with real maple syrup or as desired.

Banana Pancakes

I always end up with really ripe bananas and even though I know that I can freeze them for later use, I hate doing that. Why? Because I forget about them and they get freezer-burnt, even though I have good intentions of making smoothies, ice cream pops or banana bread with them, so they still end up getting tossed. I was looking through Isabelle's Blog and I came across this recipe for banana pancakes and I had a "Eureka!" moment. These look fluffy and delicious.....Chris loves banana pancakes and I am sure getting tired of the egg sandwich we have almost every morning.

Who ate the banana? It wasn't me, and it certainly couldn't be Christopher as he knows I was saving them for pancakes......As I sat down and asked him about the banana he was eating he said it was the ripe ones and he thought that I would make fun of him for eating one of the unripened bananas and even said he hoped it didn't have "brown" inside. I smiled in disbelief and told him that he knew I was saving those for pancakes...."Ooops", said Christopher. XD.........

Anyways, these banana pancakes were delicious and half the recipe made just enough for us. 

Whole Wheat Panckes with Blueberry Sauce

I can't believe that I haven't posted these recipes yet since Chris and I have these almost every weekend. The pancakes are delicious and fluffy and not dense like most whole wheat pancakes that I have tried. I usually add some pecans or walnuts to the 'cakes, and sometimes sliced bananas. The recipes are so simple to prepare, I have subbed out the eggs for applesauce (1/2 cup) or 2 Ener-G egg replacers, prepared and it always comes out delicious and fluffy, as as always use whatever milk that you prefer. I usually replace the honey with King Syrup. Today I made the blueberry sauce with a mixed berry blend. I want to mention that I usually use 1/4 cup or more of sugar to my sauce because I prefer it to be sweeter, and the OJ in the blueberry sauce can be subbed for Triple Sec or Grand Mariner or just plain water.

Avocado Spring Rolls and Green (Tea) Bubble Tea

I bought two avocados from Tan-A-Supermarket ( the local Asian grocer) thinking that I would use them up in TLAT'S but the boy says that he is tired of them (I know, GASP!) so what to do...We came up with this recipe and I realize that this is not a new idea, so here is our version of it.

Avocado Spring Rolls

1/2-1 avocado cut in half, then into thin strips
6-12 rice paper wrappers (however many you want to make)
one mango, cored and peeled, cut into thin strips or pineapple chunks or mandarin oranges
1 "flat" rice vermicelli, cooked for 3 minutes in boiling water (don't cook any longer than this or they will be overdone)
spring onion tops
bean sprouts
shredded Napa cabbage (I forgot to use this)
cilantro or mint
sesame seeds
honey or agave nectar
ground ginger
Sriracha

Mix the honey, ginger and Sriracha to make a sauce to your tastes. Soak the rice paper one or two at a time and place on cutting board. Start with avocado, adding fruit of choice, spring onion, mint or cilantro, bean sprouts, Napa cabbage then rice vermicelli. Roll up bean burrito style. Repeat. I get my husband to do this ;) When the rolls have all been "packaged" drizzle with the honey mixture and sprinkle with seeds.

 

I think that I remember saying in a previous post that I had happened upon some Green Tea Boba Milk Powder (Greenmax brand) and Green Tea Pearls at Tan-A. I boiled up the pearls and made some sugar syrup today. BTW, watch what links you click when (or if) you look up Greenmax, I got a terrible spyware attack on this computer because of a link I clicked in connection to that search.

Here is the recipe that I used for the sugar syrup

Sugar Syrup

1 cup EACH brown sugar and white sugar
2 cups water
Mix sugars and the water in a medium saucepan. Cook at medium to high heat. Once the sugar water boils remove from heat immediately. Let cool and refrigerate leftovers.

How to cook green tea

4 regular bags per quart of tea
Place tea bags in water, bring to the point that small bubbles are coming to the surface over medium to medium high heat. Let cook 2 minutes. Remove from heat immediately. Place a layer of ice at the bottom of a heat proof storage container, pour tea over this. Rinse out tea bags with additional cold water. Chill.

How to cook the Pearls

I thought that I would mention this because my bag of pearls actually says that it cooks in 5 minutes. Well that is and isn't true at the same time. What I did was place 8 cups water and 1 cup pearls in a large stock pot. Bring to a boil. Once the pearls float to the top (and this may take a bit of time) turn heat to medium and cook for 5 minutes. Then take the pearls off the heat. They are not done yet. Cover your pot with the lid for about 20 minutes. They should be chewy but not hard. Cover with sugar syrup or sweetener of choice.

Green Tea Bubble Tea
2 tbsp. Green Tea Boba Milk Tea Mix
2 tbsp. cooked pearls
sugar syrup to taste
2 tbsp. Non-Dairy Creamer
1&1/2 cups chilled green tea

Blend the creamer and milk powder together in a small bowl to combine. Place all into your blender (except pearls, add those to  your finished drink). Blend until smooth. I tried to make an icy version but my dying blender BROKE. Sadness..... :*( 
I made mine with a stick blender. In any case, the above drink is awesome. Highly recommended. If you can find the Green Tea Pearls, get them. You can really taste a faint green tea taste and I like them better than the plain ones. Chris actually thought that they were peas, LOL.