Banana Cream Pie Smoothie

I did something for the first time...I put cottage cheese in a smoothie.  I knew it would all taste fine in the end, but just scooping it in for the first time freaked me out just a bit, I'm no afraid to admit it!  It yielded a different texture than I could have gotten with lets say, yogurt.  So I will be using it more and more in my smoothies, hopefully not cringing next time :)

This smoothie turned out super good, perfect consistency and fulfilled my craving for something sweet that was pretty darn healthy as well.  

Banana Cream Pie Smoothie

One ripe banana, quartered
⅓ cup lowfat cottage cheese
⅓ cup lowfat milk
1 packet sweetner (optional...I like Stevia)
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup ice
Graham crackers (I just threw one whole cracker in)

Add all of your ingredients to a blender and blend until smooth.  Pour into glass and enjoy!

Recipe Source:  A Night Owl Blog

Berry Mint Chocolate Bliss Smoothie

Well, after having my FANTASTIC Mint Juleps a few days ago for the Kentucky Derby, I had some mint left over.  And I just happened to see this recipe on my Ibotta App (do you Ibotta?  You should!  It is such an easy way to get cash back on groceries!).  Not to mention I am trying to clear out my freezer for fruit season coming up, so this was perfect :)  I love almond milk for smoothies, and it packs a whole lot less calories than milk.  So this is basically a win-win-win smoothie for me!!

Berry Mint Chocolate Bliss Smoothie

makes 1 serving

3/4 c. Almond Milk, any flavor

1 mint leaf

1 Tbsp maple syrup

1/2 c. frozen raspberries

1/2 Tbsp chocolate chips

1/2 Tbsp almonds

Mix all in blender and pour into glass. Garnish with mint leaf.

Recipe Source:  my Ibotta App

Mint Julep (Non-Alcoholic)

My hubs served a 2-year mission in Kentucky for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  While there, he learned of the craziness that comes in May during the Kentucky Derby (Kentucky's claim to fame...well that and the fried chicken!)  While we were living in Ohio, we got to travel down to Louisville and visit some of his old stomping grounds, and we got to visit Louisville hotspots.  We went and ate at the Claudia Saunders Dinner House, went through the Louisville Slugger Museum, and went to Churchill Downs.  It was a FANTASTIC experience!  

So during Derby time, the drink of choice is the mint julep.  Being as we don't drink alcohol, I went searching for an alternative and came across this lovely recipe.  It is very refreshing and the mint...WOW!  I need to start putting it in all my summertime drinks!

Mint Julep (Non-Alcoholic)


6 mint leaves, rinsed
1 1/2 c. sugar
2 c. cold water
3/4 c. lemon juice
4 c. fresca (or any flavor of lemon-lime soda pop)
2 c. ginger ale

Place sugar, water and lemon juice in large bowl.  Mix until sugar dissolves and add mint leaves.  Let sit for 1 hour.  Fill a large pitcher with ice and pour sugar, lemon juice mixture over ice.  You can discard the mint leaves at this time.  We left them in because we wanted a stronger mint flavor.  Add fresca and ginger ale.  Serve and enjoy!

Recipe Source:  The Farm Girl Recipes

Cherry Chocolate Spinach Smoothie

Being an adult means getting excited about things like....GRASS!  We are so happy to finally have a yard in!  We are the only family on our block right now, and therefore are just surrounded by lots and lots of dirt.  To make matters worse, we live in a crazy windy area.  Every window/sliding glass door in this house always has plenty of dirt in it that has blown in from the crazy daily winds.  It makes me sad living in a windy area, because I love the look of fresh mulch in planter beds, but instead we have to have rock or all that pretty mulch would blow away :(  But nonetheless, the yard basics are in and we couldn't be more thrilled!  

Today I am going to share with you one of my favorite smoothies that I have a few times a week and have just been neglecting to post it for a long while.  We stock up BIG TIME in the summer months on fresh fruit and use it all year.  The frozen cherries have grown to be my fav.  They are my fav probably because of this one smoothie, which depletes our year's worth of cherries in itself.  Smoothies are one of the ways I can actually get the hubby to eat fruit on a normal basis...he's not big into grabbing a piece of fruit for a snack by any means!  So this is perfect :)  One serving if made as written below packs in about 345 calories...not bad for breakfast.  Enjoy :)

Cherry Chocolate Spinach Smoothie

1 c. pitted, frozen Bing cherries (sometimes I do half frozen blueberries)
3/4-1c. fresh spinach leaves
1 c. milk (I used 1%, use more or less to get desired consistency)
1 Tbsp. hershey's chocolate syrup
1 Tbsp. chia seeds
  

Blend all ingredients together until smooth.

Recipe: Me :)

Strawberry Agua Fresca

I tell you what...ever since moving to Washington, I have been immersed in Mexican culture.  We live in a predominantly agricultural area, and as that goes there are many migrant workers here.  We have had some of the best food around here I have ever had. One of the farming communities around  has a huge Cinco de Mayo festival every year which we have loved attending.  There, we have had some legit enchiladas, churros, tamarindo apples, and some amazing tacos.  One of my favorite things I discovered in going to this festival is fantastic agua fresca.  Basically this is infused fruit water with a little sugar.  So, so good!  I'd rather have this than a soda any day.  This was my first attempt at this, and I am so excited to try some other varieties!

Strawberry Agua Fresca


2 cups ripe strawberries, hulled and sliced
½ cup granulated sugar
4 cups water
Sliced strawberries for garnish, optional

In a medium sized bowl, mash your strawberries, sugar and about a half cup of water, cover and place in your refrigerator.

After a couple of hours, take the strawberry mixture out of the refrigerator and blend.

Run the mixture through a fine mesh strainer, keeping the resulting strawberry juice and discarding the pulp and seeds.

Add the remaining water to the strawberry juice, chill and serve with ice and sliced strawberries for garnish!

Recipe Source:  A Night Owl Blog

Mango Lassi

I have never had a pregnancy like this one...I am out of the "sicky" phase, but I still can't think of anything that ever sounds good.  Therefore, I have been trying to make myself eat a few healthy things at least since nothing sounds good.  This was my lunch today.  I've had it saved in my files for a very long time, and am glad I finally gave it a try!  I gulped down this entire 32 ounce smoothie by my lonesome, and it's probably all I will eat all day...but hey, at least I got in my daily fruit intake :)

It was very tasty, and now I am excited to keep the smoothie thing going and hopefully it will continue to taste good!  I had to improvise on a few things that I was out of, but it turned out well in the end.  Enjoy!

Mango Lassi

2 ripe mangoes, peeled, seeded and cut into chunks

1 1/2 cups plain yogurt (didn't have enough, so I used half peach)

1/3 cup sugar

1/2 cup milk (ooops...ran out of milk this morning, water worked well in it's place)

6-8 frozen (or fresh) strawberries

handful of ice (or to taste)

Blend all the ingredients until smooth.

Recipe Source:  Mel's Kitchen Cafe

Banana Smoothie

I have been without a blender for 6 months...I'm not sure how  managed that!  I was so excited when we finally got one and I could start making my fruit smoothies again...they are always my favorite for breakfast.  This one was pretty good, although I love this smoothie recipe the best!  This one comes from Real Mom Kitchen.  It is a great (and healthy) way to get rid of some of those bananas browning on your counter :)

1 cup milk (I used skim)
1 cup ice (I used less because my banana was frozen and I didn't need this much)
1 banana (I used frozen)
1/2 tsp almond extract (I thought this was too strong...I'll use half this amount next time)
1 tsp. sugar (you may need a little more if the banana isn’t sweet enough)

Combine ingredient in blender and blend until smooth.

Peach (or other fruit) Smoothie

Mixed Berry (also good with a banana thrown in)

I don't know what it is about Spring/Summer that makes me want fruit!  I was looking for something new/healthy and came across this yummy smoothie that really is good for you!  If you use lowfat milk, it is a great low-cal breakfast!  The website I found says this makes 7 servings, I basically halved it twice and used it for my breakfast...perfect size for me!  As you can see, I've also made it with mixed berries, just switch up the Crystal Light flavor.  I'm sure any frozen fruit would be tasty!  The original was found on Jamie Cooks It Up!

2-3 C frozen peaches (I like a little bit more to make it thicker)
1 package Crystal Light peach flavor (I used a strawberry flavor since I couldn't find any regular peach, only peach tea)
4 1/2 C milk
1/3 C sugar

Put the frozen fruit in your blender. Add the milk crystal light and sugar. Mix until blended and frothy.

Frozen Hot Chocolate

Thank you again Paula Deen! This sounds absolutely serendipitous! There is nothing better than chocolate!

3 ounces best-quality chocolate (or a variety of your favorites)
2 teaspoons store bought hot chocolate mix
1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 cups milk
3 cups ice
Whipped cream, for garnish
Chocolate shavings, for garnish
Directions
Chop the chocolate into small pieces and melt in a small heavy saucepan or in the top of a double boiler over simmering water. Stir occasionally until melted. Add the hot chocolate mix and sugar, stirring constantly until blended.

Remove from heat and slowly add 1/2 cup of the milk, stirring until smooth. Cool to room temperature.

In a blender, place the remaining 1 cup of milk, the chocolate mixture, and the ice. Blend on high speed until smooth and the consistency of a frozen daiquiri. Pour into a giant goblet and top with whipped cram and chocolate shavings.

Orange Julius

Just and old favorite.  Sometimes, I like to use the peach/banana/orange concentrate rather than just the orange.  It's a good twist and turns out just as yummy!

1 - 6 oz. can frozen orange juice
1 cup milk
1 cup water
1/4 cup sugar (or less to taste)
1 tsp. vanilla
5 - 6 ice cubes

Place all ingredients in blender. Blend about 30 seconds. Serve.

Pink Flamingo

Jared’s specialty. It is really good and has just natural sugar

1 banana frozen
1/2 cup strawberries frozen or fresh
3/4 cup pineapple juice

Blend and serve. Makes one

Jared Hall