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Purple Goodness in a Glass
Around our house, smoothies make a quick, healthy breakfast, lunch, snack, or dessert. We pick blueberries every summer at MaryMac Farms and then freeze the berries for use year-round. Smoothies are one of our favorite ways to enjoy the berries. This smoothie recipe can be a base for other smoothies – add some extra frozen bananas, peaches, strawberries, or cherries. Yes, we keep all of those in our freezer!
Helpful hint: We also have lots of bags with little cubes of things in the freezer. When we have extra yogurt, fruit juice, wine, pesto, lemon juice, fresh herbs, apple cider, and tomato paste, I freeze it in ice cube trays. Then pop them out and store them in resealable bags.
- Yogurt: I like to buy large containers of organic Greek yogurt, but we never seem to finish it. The cubes are perfect for smoothies. Frozen flavored yogurt cubes make good mini popsicles (just add a toothpick when it is almost frozen).
- Fruit juice: We usually don’t finish a bottle of juice either. Hate to waste it, so it gets frozen. Perfect for smoothies or depending on the juice, great in iced tea!
- Wine: Leftover wine doesn’t happen very often, but when it does, I freeze it. The wine cubes are perfect for finishing up a sauce or gravy.
- Pesto: When the basil in the garden is going crazy, I make pesto and freeze it in ice cube trays. Oil the trays first for easy removal. Just thaw a cube and toss with fresh, hot pasta or mixed vegetables.
- Lemon juice: When I make limoncello, I have almost 4 cups of lemon juice! There’s just so much fresh lemonade we can drink. So, I freeze some in ice cube trays and some in larger containers for making lemon bars.
- Fresh herbs: To freeze fresh herbs (like basil, parsley, chives, and mint), just rinse, snip if they are large, place in an ice cube tray, fill the tray half full with water, freeze, fill trays with water, freeze, and then store them in resealable bags. If you initially fill the trays with water, the herbs tend to float and they might get freezer-burned. This method, though it takes more time, prevents freezer damage to the herbs. Another method is to freeze fresh herbs in olive oil.
- Apple cider: We get local apple cider from Scott’s and then freeze some in cubes for drinking hot in the winter. It is also great with tea (hot and iced). And sometimes I eat the cubes in the summer, another popsicle-like treat.
- Tomato paste: Freezing is great when you need just a little tomato paste and have leftovers from the can. It is much cheaper to buy cans of tomato paste than those little tubes. Oil the trays before filling to hopefully prevent them from staining.
Blueberry Banana Smoothie
1 banana (fresh or frozen)
1 cup frozen blueberries (fresh or frozen)
½ cup juice (I used tangerine, cranberry, apple, orange, etc. juice is fine too)
¾ cup plain yogurt or kefir (any kind works – soy, coconut, regular)
Optional add-ins: protein powder, dash of cinnamon, ground flax seeds, shredded coconut, (ice cubes if you use fresh fruit, I like the cold), flax seed oil, almond butter, ginger, cayenne, etc.
Pour contents into blender container. Cover with the lid (otherwise you might end up with purple goodness all over the place!). Blend until smooth and purple. Enjoy!
Servings: 2 snack-sized servings or 1 meal-sized serving
Hearty Gluten-Free and Vegan Breakfast Cookie Bars
Dr. Michael Moreno is the author of The 17 Day Diet. In the book, he includes a recipe for Dr. Mike’s Power Cookie. My friend Shelli tried the diet and shared the cookie recipe with me. Here is Dr Mike’s original version: http://www.the17daydiet.com/dessert/dr-mike%E2%80%99s-power-cookie/
I didn’t have some of the ingredients so I decided to wing it. My version is gluten-free and vegan. I don’t know anything about the nutritional information for my cookies, but they are tasty and seem like a healthy alternative to a regular cookie or breakfast bar. I would not use my recipe if you are actually following the 17 Day Diet, probably best to stick with Dr. Mike’s original recipe. But if you want a vegan, gluten-free version, here’s one you can try:
Hearty Gluten-Free and Vegan Breakfast Cookie Bars
½ cup unsweetened applesauce
2 tablespoons almond paste (roughly two 3/4” slices of almond paste)
1 tablespoon coconut oil
¼ cup agave nectar
1 egg substitute*
¾ teaspoon vanilla
¼ teaspoon almond extract
¾ cup gluten-free flour blend
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon cayenne or black pepper (or a combination)
¼ cup vanilla rice bran protein powder
2 cups rolled oats (not instant)
1 cup dried fruit (I used a cherry, pomegranate, cranberry blend from Trader Joe’s.)
½ cup slivered almonds
Preheat oven to 350º degrees F. Grease a 9×9” baking pan. Mix the applesauce, almond paste, coconut oil, and agave nectar. Add the egg substitute, vanilla, and almond extract. Mix well. Stir in the gluten-free flour blend, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, pepper, and rice bran protein powder. Add the oats, dried fruit, and almonds. Mix well. Pour batter into the prepared baking pan. Really press the batter into the pan (use the back of a spatula, batter is thick and sticky). Bake for about 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven. Cool on a baking rack. Cut into squares. Store in an airtight container.
*For an egg substitute, I use Ener-G Egg Replacer. One Egg = 1½ teaspoons Ener-G Egg Replacer plus 2 tablespoons water. http://www.ener-g.com/low-protein-1/egg-substitute/egg-replacer.html
The Flaming Pot Holder 