Skinny Cherry Almond Milkshake

Surprise! 

No one fall over from shock or anything, but I've got a recipe of sorts.  Also, don't get too excited, because I'll be the first to admit that I'm likely going to post and then disappear for months again.  Life has taken a busy busy, but joyous turn, these days.

Anyway, this takes a little bit of planning and preparation, but it couldn't possibly be easier, and it's certainly worth it.  You're going to need to freeze some cherries and some milk cubes.  I suppose you could use whatever milk you'd like, but I suggest unsweetened almond, since that's part of what makes this milkshake skinny.  It doesn't take long to get the cherries frozen enough.  I pitted a cup while feeding the babies dinner, and popped them into the freezer for about three hours.  You're going to have to plan ahead for the milk cubes though.  I generally always have some on hand, because I've got a huge passion for frozen coffee drinks, but less of a passion for the price and the calories.

Horchata

I make it a practice to NOT drink my calories, unless the drink is an actual meal, like a smoothie for breakfast. I generally require my liquid calories to provide me with a pretty big amount of nutrition in order to make drinking calories worth it in the first place.  Note that I said generally.  From time to time I'll have a cocktail or a glass of wine, and every now and then, I get hit by a stray, random, and really rather strange craving.  I swear I have more cravings now than I ever did when I was pregnant!  Anyway, yesterday was one of those times.

I woke up really wanting some horchata.  My ex-mother-in-law used to make a mean horchata, and they sell a decent enough version at a local Mexican hole in the wall restaurant.  Since I don't have access to the ex-MIL, and I'm pretty sure Allende isn't open at 6:30 in the morning, I decided to see if I could make it myself, so I turned to Doctor Google for help.  I found a plethora of recipes, and the grand majority of them included milk as a main ingredient.  In my experience authentic horchata is an agua fresca, and milk totally defeats the purpose of drinking it in the first place, so I did what I always do.  I pieced together several different recipes and made my own.

The Medicinal Smoothie

I've got stage IV endometriosis.  I do my best not to let this disease run my life, but some days it manages to land some really good punches.  Aside from the pain, those days also generally involve lots of nausea and  the need for some heavy duty prescription medications as well.  This creates something of a catch 22 type of situation.  When I'm that nauseated, the last thing in the world I want to do is eat.  However, I've got to get something into my stomach so that I can take my medication.  Medication of that caliber on an empty stomach only makes me sicker, and it generally doesn't stay there long enough to do any good anyway.  On days like this, I make what I call the Soothie Smoothie.  Yes, I do know that it's corny!

For this smoothie, you've got to get rid of the conventional ideas of what a smoothie is.  Nothing goes into the blender that isn't totally bland or specifically engineered to help with nausea.  No citrus, no dairy (if you use it), nothing that the stomach actually has to work at digesting.  Also, make sure that the ingredients aren't cold.  This is the one instance when I don't freeze my bananas first.  Room temperature is far easier on your flip-flopping stomach.

Soothie Smoothie

Ingredients:

• 1 banana
• Large handful fresh mint leaves
• Medium to large knuckle fresh ginger, peeled
• 1 1/2 -2 cups water

Directions:

1. As always, blend the green stuff first.  So blend the mint and water until well mixed.
2. Add ginger and blend well.  In fact, after you think it's well blended, blend it for a minute or so more!
3. The banana goes in last.  Blend until incorporated.

This usually helps my stomach quite a bit.  Then I can get the meds in me and get on with living me life.  This smoothie is a real life saver sometimes!

Non-Dairy (Cashew) Coffee Creamer

I am doing pretty well in my endeavor to eliminate all dairy from my life.  However, I don't want to simply replace all of it with soy either.  I drink soy milk, and I eat soy yogurt, so I needed another solution for coffee creamer.  With a bit of research, the cashew coffee creamer was born.

They will tell you that you must use whole cashews for this, that pieces won't work, blahblah.  They are also wrong.  I buy raw cashew pieces in bulk, and they work just fine for this purpose.  The soaking part is essential.  You must soak them so that they plump up and blend nice and creamy.

You will note, from my pictures, that while my blender is quite good enough, it's also not a Vitamix.  It's almost sacrilege to be a vegetarian and not own a Vitamix.  So if anyone sees the Vitamix fairy, send her my way, because there's just no way we can pay $650.00 for a blender.

Speaking of my pictures, please excuse the crappiness of them today.  I don't know what went wrong, but I obviously should have turned on the flash.  It's pretty cloudy outside.

Cashew Coffee Creamer

Ingredients:

• 1/4 to 1/2 cup raw cashews (I use 1/4 cup.  I'm the only one in the house who drinks coffee, and I don't drink it every day.)
• Water
• Vanilla
• Dash Cinnamon
• Dash Cloves

Directions:

1. Soak cashews AT LEAST eight hours, preferably over night
2. Rinse cashews and put into blender with fresh water to cover.  How much water depends on personal taste.  The more water the thinner it will be.  I use enough to cover the nuts by about an inch.
3. Add cap full vanilla
4. Add dash of cinnamon
5. Add dash of cloves
6. Blend until liquefied and smooth
7. If you don't have a Vitamix, you may want to strain it through a fine mesh strainer

The flavoring is obviously up to personal interpretation.  You can use vanilla extract, almond extract, allspice, nutmeg, chocolate shavings or cocoa powder--whatever you like.

I'm a real fan of my little bottle of perpetual vanilla.  I got that for Yule two years ago at a grab bag gift exchange kind of thing.  The people who brought it were amused at my delight and joked that they were trying to be cheap.  It remains, however, one of the best gifts I've ever received.

Enjoy!

Green Smoothie

Today's green smoothie is actually an official green smoothie, as I went to the store to get some leafy greens.  The semi-green smoothie was pretty healthy, but not nearly as healthy as having a nice large dose of those dark leafy greens!

Green Smoothie:

 Ingredients:

• 2 cups spinach, tightly packed
• 1/4 large zucchini, roughtly chopped
• 1 cup water
• 1/4 frozen banana
• Mediumish sized chunk of frozen passion fruit pulp
• Pineapple chunks
• Orange segments
• 1 TBSP wheat germ
• 1/4 cup whole grain oats
• Sweetener of choice, if desired

Directions:

1. Place zucchini, spinach, wheat germ, and water in blender and blend until liquefied, stopping to push down spinach with spatula if needed (or you can be a big dork like me and push it down with your fingers. Whatever).
2. Add banana, pineapple, oranges, passion fruit pulp, and oats to blender, and blend again until smooth, adding water to reach desired consistency.

Enjoy!

Semi-Green Smoothie

I'm a huge fan of the green smoothie.  It's my standard breakfast fare.  I had never been much of a breakfast eater, really, but when I started on my journey toward health, I learned that I really do have to eat breakfast.  Every day.  A smoothie is the perfect thing for me.  It almost seems like a cheat.  I'm getting a TON of good stuff in my body, and it's like I'm not really eating anything at all.  It also seems like a cheat in that I don't drink my calories, unless they come in meal form.  So yay for the breakfast that doesn't really require "eating" and for liquid calories to boot!

Most people don't get enough vegetables, especially greens, in their diet.  The green smoothie is the perfect way to sneak them in there.  Blending them also breaks down the cellulose and makes the greens far easier to digest.  You can take it wherever your imagination takes you, adding kale, spinach, Romain, any number of fresh herbs, etc. to your fruit(s) of choice.  I also always add wheat germ and rolled oats to my smoothies, no matter what else goes into them.  Wheat germ is fantastically healthy.  It has more nutrients per ounce than any other vegetable or grain.  Oats also have a huge amount of health benefits, and the fiber helps make you feel fuller longer.


The general rule of thumb is the 60/40 rule.  As long as you keep you use 60% fruits and 40% vegetables, you can barely taste the vegetables, making it a perfect way to get the kids to eat their veggies, as well.  I've been doing the green smoothie thing for so long that I've reversed the equation and use 60% veggies to my 40% fruit.  My go-to greens of choice are spinach, sprouts, and fresh mint.  Yesterday morning, I somehow didn't have any of these, so I improvised.

The Semi-Green Smoothie

Ingredients:

• 1/4 large zucchini, roughly chopped
• 2 large leaves Romain
• 1 cup water
• 1/4 frozen banana
• Mediumish sized chunk of frozen passion fruit pulp
• Pineapple chunks
• Orange segments
• 1 TBSP wheat germ
• 1/4 cup whole grain oats
• Sweetener of choice, if desired (I find that the fruit makes it plenty sweet enough)

Directions:

1. Place zucchini, Romain, wheat germ, and water in blender and blend until liquefied.
2. Add banana, pineapple, oranges, passion fruit pulp, and oats to blender, and blend again until smooth, adding water to reach desired consistency.

Enjoy!