blue sunset smoothie

April 12th, 2010

This week we wanted something a little different for breakfast, and staring at the almond milk in the fridge, I remembered that everyone loved the Blue Sunset smoothie from Raw Food/Real World: 100 Recipes to Get the Glow. We were heading off to our homeschool coop for a day filled with interesting people and classes, so we needed something quick but filling, and Blue Sunset did the trick.

Blue Sunset

  • 2 cups pineapple chunks
  • 1 small ripe banana, or 1 cup frozen banana
  • 1 cup diced mango
  • 1 1/2 cup Brazil nut milk
  • 3 Tbs agave
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • pinch sea salt
  • 1 cup blueberries
  1. In a blender, puree all ingredients except blueberries until smooth.
  2. Pour out about half of the mixture into serving glasses, filling each glass halfway. Add the blueberries to the remaining shake in the blender, and blend until smooth.
  3. Gently pour the remaining blueberry shake over pineapple mango shake. Note Pouring the mixture over the back of a spoon (a bartender’s technique) helps keep the two layers separate).

Since the nut milk was sweetened with honey and this recipe is chock full of sweet fruits, we didn’t add any sweeteners or dates. And I simplified the recipe based on what we had on hand, and what I had time for. So here’s my rush-out-the-door-don’t-have-all-ingredients version  that was absolutely delicious! We poured them into Mason jars so that we could drink them in the car on the way.

Quick n Dirty Blue Sunset

  • 3/4 pineapple, chunked
  • 1 banana, broken into a few pieces
  • 1 cup almond milk
  • 1 Tbsp ground flax
  • 1 1/2 cup blueberries

Blend milk, pineapple, banana and ground flax. Pour half this mixture evenly into serving cups. Pour blueberries into blender with remaining mixture and blend. Pour this on top of the first half and serve (definitely a skill I’m acquiring, but it tastes good even if it pours into the center).  YUM!

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merry tri-greenberry

February 23rd, 2010

Continuing on with our Smoothie Extravaganza, I’m posting one I made this past weekend — hence the full blender. I can’t believe this one came out so purpley. Lots of berries hidden in that blender. Can you spot them? Actually, cherries aren’t berries are they. But I’m going to ignore that and call this glass of goodness

Merry Tri-greenberry

  • tri-green smoothie ingrediets1 apple
  • 3/4 cup blueberries
  • 1/2 cups strawberries
  • 1/2 cup sweet cherries
  • 1 banana
  • 2 beet greens
  • 2 romaine leaves
  • 2 kale leaves
  • 1/2 small container coconut water
  • 2 Tbs hemp seeds
  1. You know the drill. Rinse, chop and blend.

eat your greens!You can see that most of our smoothies are topped with crunchies. Both kids love this aspect of smoothies and we tend to use then nearly every day if we have them. They’re super easy to make and have on-hand, and keep for ages in the cupboard if dehydrated properly. I buy raw buckwheat groats (not kasha, or toasted buckwheat) and soak them for an hour or two in a bowl. The soak water gets very slimy and sometimes you see tiny bubbles form on the surface, almost like when you cook beans but not as foamy. I imagine this happening in my stomach if I ate unsoaked/sprouted buckweat… blech. After soaking, rinse really well until they no longer feel slimy. You can let them sprout for a day or so or pop them straight into the dehydrator for a couple of hours. They don’t take too long to crisp up nicely.

Before I had a dehydrator, I would spread them on clean kitchen towels in the hot summer sun, stirring them up a bit now and then to ensure even drying. I still do this during warmer months, but am glad to have the dehydrator to keep us crunching our smoothies throughout the winter. Last week I made a superyummytastic granola bar with the soaked buckwheat. I only made a bit to try it out, but they were gone in seconds. A hit with everyone in the house, and a perfect on-the-go snack.

sweet crunchy love

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bluebrazzle dazzle

February 22nd, 2010

love, blender styleSince we’re going to be covering smoothies in our raw food class this week, I thought I’d post another. This one is closer to what I drink  most mornings when I start to get hungry. The kids love it, and since the spinach is so mild I can pack a decent number of greens in. Can you see why I choose to plant blueberries and raspberries?

Such a simple, ordinary smoothie begs an ostentatious name, n’est-ce pas? Something along the lines of those at Jera’s Juice, the smoothie shop I remember from our days living in Boston. My favorite was the Razzamatazz, which was basically frozen yogurt with some ice and raspberries in it. With 2 free “enhancers”, of course. These days, my preferred smoothies are more nutrient dense, and with the greens, darker and mauver in color. All those antioxidants and minerals give me the power to make up new words like mauver. What new word have you made up recently?

Without further ado, I give you my tribute to the ghost of smoothies past:

Bluebrazzle Dazzle (extra points if you can say that 10x fast!)
bluebrazzle dazzle ingredients

  • 1 banana
  • 1 cup frozen blueberries
  • 1/2 cup frozen raspberries
  • 1-2 Tbs chia seeds
  • 1-2 Tbs flax seeds
  • several handfuls of spinach
  • less than 1 cup of water to thin
  1. I tend to put the fruit cut into chunks on the bottom, then frozen fruit, then greens. All amounts are an approximation. I just pour into the blender til it looks right or the bag is empty.
  2. Sometimes I add the seeds before the greens, sometimes I pour them in once everything has homogenized.
  3. Once everything is in, I add enough water to nearly cover the fruit.
  4. Blend, baby, blend.
  5. We like to top our smoothies with buckwheat crunchies and goji berries, and eat them with a spoon.

I stopped drinking smoothies in early winter because, well, we keep our house relatively cold, and a nice frosty smoothie was often the LAST thing I wanted to drink. But I didn’t feel as well when I started eating things like sprouted toast or oatmeal and hot tea for breakfast as I have in years past.  So I’m back to smoothies, and I’ve found a couple of things to alleviate the situation: I put on my hat, coat and gloves before I sit at the table. Kidding. Well, almost. I do actually wrap up in my snuggly shawl sometimes when I’m particularly feeling the cold, but that’s only til the heat kicks in. Did I mention that I crank the heat to a balmy 65 when I start to make my smoothie? Yes indeedy, it’s a veritable sweat lodge in the kitchen by the time I start to slurp my frigid beverage. I turn it right back to 60 when I’m done, however, so those of you who wear your coats at my place can continue to plan accordingly. Unless you come for smoothie time.

bluebrazzle dazzle in all its gloryI don’t usually “break the fast”  until I’ve been up for a while, so if I remember, I pour the frozen fruit into a bowl and let it defrost until I’m ready. This alters the texture of the smoothie slightly, but nothing horrible and the not-freezing smoothie is more appetizing for me in winter.  Lucky as I am to have a Vita-Mix, I also leave it running for a little bit. You can make warm soups in a Vita-Mix if you let it run for 5-7 minutes. I’m not looking for warm berry soup, but if I run it for 2-3 minutes it does seem to take a bit of the chill off.

I am still experimenting with adding warming spices to the smoothie — ginger, cayenne, cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, etc — depending on the other ingredients. The carrot cake smoothie would be an excellent winter warmer since it lends itself to inclusion of lots of those spices, and I imagine chocolate-flavored nut milk drinks would also be delicious with those types of spices. Also, those same spices are credited with having a number of health benefits: cinnamon alone is known for its antiseptic, antibacterial and antifungal properties and has been widely used as a diaphoretic (promotes sweating), parasiticide, antispasmodic, aphrodisiac (hubba hubba!), analgesic (painkilling) and diuretic. Ginger has more than 12 types of antioxidants making it useful for many health issues, is anti-inflammatory and — you guessed it — reputed to be an aphrodisiac!  Love is all you need…



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Berry sweet

February 20th, 2010

My honey took the kids to a UCONN hockey game and open skate afterwards today, so I was able to do some final research on growing some fruit in our yard this year.  We had considered planting apple trees, but my research concerning  growing apples organically in CT left me discouraged. Apple trees are prone to damage from several insects and diseases in this area, and while  it is possible to keep them at bay or to a minimum, I’m not willing to divert my limited time and efforts to the required tasks at this point.

Thus, I focused on the more expensive fruits we consume — berries. High in antioxidants and vitamins, frozen organic berries are expensive. Our local Shaws carries 10oz bags of organic raspberries for $4.69.  Sometimes we can find them on sale, but even then they’re more expensive pound for pound than most other fruits we buy. In general, berry bushes are less susceptible to disease and easier to care for than fruit trees.

I was hoping to find a relatively local organic supplier but had no luck. If you know of one in the southern New England area, please let me know! I pored over the Stark Bro’s (fruit tree/bush supplier to Ballek’s Garden Center in East Haddam, a personal favorite) and Fedco Trees catalogs, but both are far enough away to face different climate challenges than mine. In the end, I chose a nursery in Western MA called Nourse Farms in Deerfield, MA. The kids have been asking to revisit Magic Wings and I’ve wanted to explore  Historic Deerfield, which are nearby so I saved the shipping and opted to pick up my order at the farm.  I opted to save an additional 10% and order the combination since I had all 3 varieties of blueberries in my cart already. I did the same with the raspberries, although I confess I had only planned on getting two varieties.

I also rediscovered a nursery I’d found last year while looking into edible landscaping and permaculture.  Tripple Brook Farm, located in Southampton, MA, has a large selection of unusual or native edible landscape plants that are hardy in our area, and am hoping to arrange a tour of their place this spring. Comment below if you’re interested. Like many nurseries, they give a discount if you buy more of a species, so if you aren’t interested in a visit to the farm but want something specific, I would be happy to coordinate a group buy of popular varieties as well, along the lines of the bulk seed buy we did last year.

I found it to be relatively difficult to find detailed information about growing fruits organically online outside of this diverse resource: the ATTRA National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service Master Publication List for organic growing guides. Lots to chew on there. Support for growing organically can be found in the Connecticut chapter of the Northeast Organic Farmer’s Association (CTNOFA) Resources for Gardeners.

Happy growing!

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