Blueberry, mango, avocado smoothie

Well, I just gave away the ingredients ;)

1/2 cup frozen blueberries
1/2 cup frozen mango chunks
1/2 ripe hass avocado
1 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
1 tbs chia seeds
1 tbs flax seeds
1 cup water (or more almond milk) - more or less for your thickness preference

Blend until smooth :)
For added sweetness you can use a sweetened almond milk, or add honey, agave nectar, or a few chopped dates.

Other possible add ins for a more hearty smoothie "meal" :
Yogurt
Tofu
Quick oats

Green smoothie - revisited

So I made my usual smoothie today with just a few minor changes, but it made for an even more fabulous green smoothie! Here's the revisited recipe:

2 cups kale, chopped
1 cup vanilla almond milk
Heaping 1/2 tbs cinnamon
2 tbs peanut butter
1/2 avocado
1 frozen banana
Tbs chia seeds
Tbs flax seeds
1/2 cup water

Add kale & almond milk to blender until mixed; add other ingredients and blend until smooth. Avocado makes the smoothie super creamy and delicious :)

Berry Delicious Oatmeal

Breakfast for dinner. That's how it went down in our house tonight; Eric made himself some eggs and I had a post-run-carb-craving and decided to make some oatmeal. I took the rolled oats staring at me from the cabinet as a challenge, and pushed the pre-packaged maple and brown sugar packet aside.

What the hell could I add to rolled oats to make it taste decent without tons of maple syrup, honey, or sugar? I experimented with oatmeal, pumpkin, and cinnamon the other day and it may have been the worst thing I've ever eaten.

I opened the freezer and saw my ridiculous collection of frozen fruit I've stocked up on for smoothies, and figured I'd start there. Here's what I came up with, and it was damn good, if I don't say so myself.

1/2 cup old fashioned rolled oats
handful of frozen blueberries
handful of frozen raspberries
tablespoon of coconut oil
water

I added the berries to the oats, added water so everything was just covered, and microwaved for 2 minutes. Once the water was absorbed I gave it a good stir (the whole meal turned purple - bonus) and added in the coconut oil. Between the berries and oil, it was the perfect amount of sweetness and made for a delicious breakfast...er, dinner.

Vegan Green Smoothie

If you follow me on Pinterest, Twitter or Facebook, you'll know that I am currently going through a small smoothie addiction. I think I've spent every nursing session and nap time devoted to my cooking apps, weeding through wild smoothie recipes to try. After trying several, and reading hundreds, I figured something out: peanut butter and banana masque the taste of vegetables like magic. Lots of the recipes I read called for adding juice, maple syrup, or sugar - not for me. Others called for milk, protein powders, and yogurts; all which I currently can't have (I'm sworn off all dairy), so I had to substitute with soy & almond milk products.

So I think I've got the hang of this smoothie thing, and the endless possibilities there are. But, being weirdo healthy me, I can't bring myself to just have a fruit smoothie. I need something veggie in there. And so, my Vegan Green Smoothie was born, and personally, I think it's pretty fabulous. Better than most green smoothie recipes I tried, and with less fruit too.

Here it is:

1 cup almond milk
1 cup chopped kale
1 cup spinach
2 tablespoons peanut butter
1 frozen banana
1/2 tablespoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon flax seeds
1 tablespoon chia seeds
1/5 chunk firm tofu
added water (or more almond milk) for preferred thickness

I add the milk, kale, and spinach to the blender first, and add everything else once the greens are nice and smooth. You could use almond butter instead of peanut butter, and a vanilla or plain yogurt instead of the tofu. The chia seeds give you a natural burst of energy and with their capacity to absorb 10 x's their weight in water, they keep you nice and full until lunch. If you like a sweeter smoothie, a handful of frozen or fresh blueberries does the trick nicely.

Okay, okay

Several people have suggested that I start a food blog, because I'm always posting these strange, healthy things I eat. Aside from some pregnancy-diet blogging, I didn't feel I had much else to say about what I ate; mainly because I ate the same things every day. And now, even with all these new recipes I've been using, they're someone else's recipes - so who am I to blog them as my own? I just chose to pin and post away instead in order to share these new meal ideas.

So what's changed? Well, not much, to be honest. But my newly acquired cooking and recipe-hunting has opened my eyes to all these new foods and ingredients that I had no idea of before, and in turn has inspired me to do a little of my own experimenting.

Keep in mind throughout my posting that I am NO chef. Just a new-B to the cooking world with a unique palate for raw, healthy foods. I always try to eat things in their most natural state; ie, nuts that haven't been roasted or salted, fruits that aren't soaked in syrup or sugar, and vegetables uncooked (for the most part). I trade any whites for wheats, and add things like flax seeds or wheat germ wherever I can. I try and keep the sugar intake low, and balance carbs with proteins.

Nothing too special or fancy.

However, as I become more and more comfortable in the kitchen and expand my experimental cooking horizon, I'll come to this blog from time to time to share my little "creations". If you chose to try any, I'd love the feedback. A few friends and family members have been inspired by my health-nut eating and I love hearing about what they ate and how they felt.

So, here goes nothing, food blog. Enjoy ;):)