Friday 31 October 2014

Franken-Smoothie

I think the NAME says it all...
It's GREEN...
It's kinda MESSY...
Maybe even a little SCARY...
 
But...no worries....
It's all GOOD...
I know it's not BROWN...
But it's GOOD!
And it's HALLOWEENY....
 
I didn't realize how MUCH this recipe was going to yield...
I guess I poured a little too QUICKLY....
It all started SLOSHING over the edge of the glass...
And I thought to myself...
"This is GREAT!"
"This looks totally GROSS!"
"GRAB CAMERA FAST!!"
 
 
MEGA drips = Total INSPIRATION
 
Are you gettin' the FRANKENSTEIN vibe?? 

 
Dive on in......
Franken-Smoothie
(1 really big serving)
 
1 cup pineapple juice
1 big orange
1 cup frozen strawberries
LOTS of spinach (3 handfuls?)

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!!

Best Juice EVER!!


HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!

In honour of the colour ORANGE... which is highly associated with HALLOWEEN...
I bring to you one of my favourite JUICE recipes...

I haven't been using my juicer much since I started BLENDING....but I got the craving for my absolutely FAVORITE homemade juice the other day...
It really IS the BEST juice!
I have tried a juicing a variety of things.....BUT
ALWAYS go back to THIS one.

So of course I documented my experience and what do you know...The juice is ORANGE and it's HALLOWEEN today so here it is.....


 Peeled and Prepared Fruit & Veg: 

 Sooo BEAUTIFUL to meI had to do a ...........


CLOSE UP:


The FROTH:
  

 
The PULP SCULPTING:
(That's a whole other post.....)


 
The JUICE:
Best Juice EVER!!
 
5 giant carrots
3 apples
4 oranges
chunk of ginger
1 lemon or lime

(You can use whatever ratio you like but I like to go a bit heavy on the carrots... A batch and a half will last a couple of days)

Wednesday 22 October 2014

Fruit and Veggie Kick-Starter

This one is GREAT!
Not that my other ones aren't great...but this one is kinda COMPLEX in its taste...and I like that sometimes...
COMPLEXITY...
And...for you NON-banana fans.....this one is RIGHT up your alley!
(I AM a fan of the banana however...just sayin')
 
Sometimes my smoothies are created due to the availability of ingredients in the house...
Sometimes due to particular cravings...
Sometimes I just grab whatever without even thinking much about it...and
SOMETIMES.... my smoothies are created due to a LACK of COLOR in my photographs...
 
And this was such a time...
 
For some reason.... I felt this photo (see below) was just NOT COMPLETE...
It's a LOVELY photo. I took it myself...
But on this particular day... I was in need of something MORE.
More of a VARIED color scheme...
I always look at the pre-blend shots before I actually blend, to make sure I like the set up...
When I looked at this picture... I thought to myself....NOPE...something is missing...
BLUEBERRIES!!!
Blueberries would really make this photo POP!
(Not to mention... they would also taste REALLY good in this combo...)
 

Lovely Photo: 
 
 
Even Lovelier: 

 
And....IT'S BROWN!!!
 
Fruit and Veggie Kick-Starter
(1 large serving)
 
1 cup pineapple juice
1/4 cup frozen strawberries
1/4 cup frozen blueberries
1/3 cup frozen mango
1/4 cup cucumber
1/3 of a red pepper
big handful of spinach
1 Tbsp Hempseed
(you can add a bit of water if it's too thick for you)
 
 
One more thing.....
I'm curious to know what you think of the taste.
In a way...
In a STRANGE way...
It kinda tastes like SWEET and SOUR sauce to me...
In a GOOD strange way...

Friday 17 October 2014

Green Genie

This one made a LOT...
...so you can always SHARE it with someone...
OR...
you can pour yourself a BIG glass
...and then drink the leftovers DIRECTLY from the blender as I did...

Oh...and the colour for October is...GREEN...


 
 
Green Genie
(1 really big serving)
 
1 cup pineapple juice
1/2 banana
1/2 cup frozen mango
3/4 cup frozen strawberries
2 BIG handfuls spinach
1/4 cup water

Saturday 11 October 2014

Pumpkin Pie Chocolate Milk

I LOVE the Fall.
It's my favourite season.
LEAVES turning colour...
The CRISPNESS in the air...
Being COZY...
Making PIES...
..and all that JAZZ...
 
Anyway... I found the best pumpkin pie recipe from Martha Stewart. Here it is:
 
Triple Chocolate Pumpkin Pie

You know...I never really liked pumpkin pie much cause it was always a bit too EGGY for me...
I have a "THING" with eggs...
I'll save that story for another time..
 
I actually manage to make TWO pies from the above recipe, so the pie is quite firm and not so GOOEY as some pumpkin pies are.....
 
The thing with pumpkin pies is.....you are always left with EXTRA pumpkin in the can....
And WHAT are you supposed to do with it?
For years I have been saving it in the fridge thinking I will use it somehow....
But HAVE I?
NO, I haven't...
Until NOW!!!
NOW that my KITCHEN CONCOCTING is such a prominent part of my life!
 
So...I am not a big milk drinker...
NEVER have been.
I'm probably a BIT lactose intolerant...
Even as a child...I remember when they came around at recess passing out the little red and white milk cartons...
I would CRINGE...
I would take one initial sip to be social and BLECH...they feeling I got from it...
YUCKO!!!!
Just couldn't do it....
Can you say: "MAJOR STOMACH CHURN!"
We didn't know about that stuff back then....
Needless to say, I wasn't a huge cereal consumer... although I did have the ODD bowl of rice krispies with sliced banana and strawberry jam on top.
 
So... in recent years I was thrilled to latch onto Almond Milk.
Rice Milk and Hemp Milk are in my GOOD books too.
 
Well...I made THE most delicious chocolate milk!!!
GOBBLED it right up!
It was SOOOO good!
 
I USED THE EXTRA PUMPKIN FROM THE CAN!!!
 
Here it is my friends....
Chocolate milk that tastes like pumpkin pie and has an added BOOST of vitamin A!!!!
 
 
 
Pumpkin Pie Chocolate Milk
(1 medium serving)
 
3/4 cup milk (I used almond milk)
1/4 cup canned pumpkin
2 tsp semi sweet mini chocolate chips
1 Tbsp maple syrup
dash of cinnamon
little dash of ground ginger
(grated chocolate for garnish)
 
Note: If you want it colder you can add a couple of ice cubes

Thursday 9 October 2014

Succulent Sepia Sipper

So many DELISH combos to try.
You can NEVER get bored making smoothies.
I have a GINORMOUS list of recipes I want to try....
So stay tuned....
In the MEANTIME...


 
KEEP
CALM
and
GARNISH
ON


 
Succulent Sepia Sipper
 
1 cup pineapple juice
1/2 banana
1/3 frozen mango
1/4 frozen blueberry
Handful of Spinach
 
(you can always add some Hemp seed if you want)

Wednesday 8 October 2014

Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Potato Chip Crunch Cookies

So...somedays, I DON'T have a smoothie..
I know. CRAZY... right?
 
Anyway...on one of these SMOOTHIE-LESS days I usually feel the need to experiment in the kitchen....
Usually with a baked good of some sort....
 
And such is the result below....

FYI: 
I've baked oatmeal cookies
I've baked chocolate chip cookies
I've baked oatmeal chocolate chip cookies
I've baked tuna caserole with potato chips on top.....
But I've never baked CHOCOLATE CHIP OATMEAL POTATO CHIP COOKIES
(Don't worry...this recipe is SANS tuna...)
 
 

 
 
Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Potato Chip Crunch Cookies

1 cup salted butter softened       
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
2 1/4 cups flour (I use 1 cup "light spelt", 1 cup all purpose)
1 tsp baking soda
dashes of salt
4 cups crushed salted potato chips (I used kettle cooked)
                                       1 cup chocolate chips                          
 
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Beat butter and sugars on medium speed with mixer until fluffy. Add vanilla and eggs. Beat on medium speed until combined.
 
2. Add flour, baking soda, and salt. Beat on low speed until combined. (Sometimes I just use a wooden spoon to mix...) Stir in 2 cups of the potato chips and the chocolate chips
 
3. Roll dough into small balls. I usually use about 2 Tbsp per ball..., then roll balls in remaining potato chips. Place cookies 2 inches apart on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake until golden, 16 - 18 minutes. Let cool completely on baking sheet.