Peach Almond Green Smoothie (with Swiss Chard) & other Green Smoothie recipes

Back in October my sister came to visit. She was reading a book about Beauty Detox when she came and although we didn't agree with everything in the book, we both decided that we would incorporate green smoothies into our diet. I had had them before, but not consistently, because I always felt that I was getting enough greens in my normal diet. Swiss Chard is my all-time favorite food. We eat tons of kale, spinach, swiss chard, beet greens, turnip greens, collards, etc., and even had a very successful first summer/fall of growing swiss chard in the garden. (I still have some sprouting up out there!)

Taking all of this into account, my sister and I started having a green smoothie almost daily. She went back to Utah and we would email or text our different recipes and ideas. I experimented with some of my own concoctions, some were delicious, some not so good-(which I still got drank, somehow). I also tried a bunch of different recipes that used different greens besides spinach, which I am going to share. I haven't taken a picture of every single one of these recipes, but I have enjoyed each of them 5+ times in the past few months. My go-to, on hand, I-don't-want-to-think green smoothie is banana, frozen mixed berries, spinach and cold water. I don't like using yogurt/milk or juice because it adds unnecessary calories, in my opinion.

Now I have some sort of green smoothie 3-4 days a week. I find they are very refreshing as an after workout snack/meal, but also are great as a breakfast or snack anytime of day. I don't add any honey/agave/sweetener because I think the fruit makes them sweet enough. My kids drink them with me and really like them. I know many people try to eat healthier as the New Year rolls around and green smoothies are a great and easy way to up the number of veggies/fruits you consume.

I have made and enjoyed each of the following Green Smoothie recipes at least 5 or more times. My kids love them too.

Peach Almond Green Smoothie (pictured above)

1 cup frozen peaches

1 sliced banana

2 cups chopped (torn) swiss chard

1 T raw almond butter

2 cups water+ a few ice cubes

Optional: 1 T ground flax seed

Blend all ingredients in blender until smooth

Blueberry Kale Smoothie

1 cup frozen blueberries

1 1/2 sliced bananas

2 handfuls (1 1/2 cups) chopped kale (I like to use red russian kale, it has a better raw taste)

2 cups water

handful of ice

Optional: 1 T ground flax seed

Blend all ingredients in blender until smooth

Grape Fig Cleanser

3 cups grapes (purple or green)

3-4 black mission figs

2 cups chopped spinach

2 cups water

1 cup ice

Optional: 1 T ground flax seed

Oat Berry Green Smoothie

1/4 cup oats (ground up in blender before other ingredients are added)
1 sliced banana
1/2 cup chopped fresh or frozen mango
1 cup frozen blackberries or blueberries (or mixed frozen berries)
2 cups spinach
2 cups ice cold water

Glowing Green Smoothie by Kimberly Snyder

1 1/2 cups water

1 head organic romaine lettuce, chopped

1/2 of large bunch of organic spinach (or 3/4 of small bunch)

3-4 stalks organic celery

1 organic apple, cored and chopped

1 organic pear, cored and chopped

1 organic banana

Juice of 1/2 organic lemon

Optional: 1/3 bunch organic cilantro (stems okay), 1/3 bunch organic parsley (stems okay)

Directions:

1. Add the water and chopped head of romaine and spinach to the blender.

2. Starting the blender on a low speed, mix until smooth.

3. Gradually moving to higher speeds, add the celery, apple, and pear.

4. Add the cilantro and parsley if you choose. Fresh herbs, like cilantro and parsley, have cleansing properties that help extract heavy metals and other toxins from the body.

5. Add the banana and lemon juice last.

Here is a link for Green Smoothie Cups that I plan to try really soon since I located coconut water at Trader Joe's last week

Green Cranberry Smoothie

I don't know about everyone else, but I don't really want to look at sugar for awhile. I have been posting so many sweet recipes lately, but the holidays are over- so that means no more sugar or baked goods for a couple of weeks.

I am not a person that drinks a green smoothie everyday. We eat enough dark greens here- kale, spinach, swiss chard, turnip greens- almost daily, that I don't feel the need to sneak them into a morning drink. It is a nice healthy way to start the day every so often, though.

I was curious about using fresh cranberries in a smoothie, so one morning, I whipped this up.
It was pretty good. The pear added some interesting texture, which didn't bother me, but I could imagine it might bother someone else. You could sub in berries or some other fruit. I have to say I love the color of this smoothie, as well as the taste.



Green Cranberry Smoothie by Mary Ann
1 banana, peeled and sliced
1 pear, chopped (you could use berries or citrus or apple here instead)
1/3 cup fresh cranberries
2 Tbls flaxseed meal
1 1/2 cups skim, almond or soy milk
1 cup spinach leaves, packed
1-2 tsp honey

Combine all ingredients in a blender and puree until smooth. Enjoy immediately

Recipes from Gale Gand's Brunch

Have you seen this book, Brunch by Gale Gand? Well, it is a really good one, full of delicious pictures and great recipes.

It has been sitting on my book shelf for quite a while and I decided it was time to give some of the recipes a try.

The other day we had Backwards Day at our house. We ate brownies for breakfast, read our bedtime story after that, went to the library in our pajamas, etc. and we finished off the day by eating brunch instead of dinner.
I chose 4 recipes from this book for our menu- Pineapple-Blueberry Smoothie, Roasted Pears & Rhubarb w/ orange, Bacon Waffles, and a variation of the cover recipe- Egg Cups.
I don't like cooking with bacon and usually don't, but my kids love it when they get the chance to have some and I figured this was a fun way to use it.
We spent the afternoon swimming, so when I started making all these recipes, everyone was starving. I was almost out of eggs, so I used egg substitute in the waffles. (not by choice, I couldn't run to the store at that point)
The batter was light and airy, which made delicious waffles.

The smoothie was one of the best I have ever had. I don't know if it was simply because we had been out in the hot sun for hours and I was overly thirsty or just the wonderful combination (I am leaning towards this explanation) but it was great. The frozen pineapple and mint just added a delicious zing to the smoothie. My girls always like having their smoothies in "fancy" cups.

The egg cups were delicious. I didn't really use her recipe, but it was the same idea. I added some spinach to get some sort of vegetable in there.

The roasted fruit was really good. I liked the rhubarb part better because the sweet roasting liquid really went well with the tartness of it. The pears were a little too sweet. I would reduce the sugar in that one next time. The roasted fruit would be a great topping for vanilla ice cream or filling for a crumble/cobbler.

Overall, this was a really fun brunch, even if it was for dinner and we loved it.

Bacon Waffles (* I used 1/2 cup egg white substitute and low fat buttermilk)
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
2 Tablespoons sugar
2 large eggs
3/4 cup buttermilk
3/4 cup whole milk
4 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
6 strips bacon, cooked and crumbled
maple syrup, for serving

Heat a waffle iron.
In a medium bowl, stir together flour and next 3 ingredients.
In another bowl, whisk together the eggs and next 3 ingredients.
Stir crumbled bacon into the wet ingredients.
Mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients all at once, just until combined.
Don't overmix- it should be lumpy.
Make waffles according to manufacturer's directions; serve with maple syrup.


Egg Cups
I kinda did my own thing here.
I combined 3 eggs, 4 egg whites and 1/3 -1/2 cup skim milk in a bowl, then seasoned it with salt and pepper.
I sprayed a jumbo muffin tin with cooking spray and press a ham slice in each of the muffin cups.
I steamed some spinach and placed that at the bottom of the ham cup.
I poured the egg mixture into the ham cups and then added cubes of mozzarella and halved cherry tomatoes to the egg mixture.
I baked them at 375 degrees F, until the egg was completely cooked, about 17-20 minutes.

Pineapple-Blueberry Smoothie * I used Apple Passion-Mango juice concentrate and Stonyfield Blueberry Low-fat Yogurt
2 cups frozen pineapple chunks
1 cup frozen blueberries
1/2 cup frozen apple juice concentrate
1/2 cup plain yogurt
2 fresh mint leaves

Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Serve immediately.

Roasted Pears & Rhubarb with Orange (I halved this recipe)
4 medium pears, ripe but firm
4 stalks rhubarb, trimmed and washed
1/4 cup orange juice
2 Tbls honey
2 Tbls red wine ( I used cranberry juice)
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1 vanilla bean, split open
2 tsp cornstarch
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

Heat the oven to 400 degrees F.
Quarter and core the pears (do not peel them). Cut the rhubarb into 1-inch pieces.
In a large bowl, combine orange juice and remaining 6 ingredients. Add the pears and rhubarb, and toss to coat.
Pour into a casserole or gratin dish and bake until tender, 35 to 40 minutes.

B-day stuff: Chocolate Cake with Whipped Frosting and brunch from The Pink Princess Book

Here is my little Ry-Bear. She turned 5 on October 25th. She loves the carousel, animals and dinosaurs, but sometimes has a thing for pink and princesses, too.
When we discussed her b-day cake, her first choice involved pink and princess, but she quickly changed her mind to dinosaurs and green frosting. I asked her multiple times and the dinosaur/green frosting combo was the winner.
She wanted to decorate it, so I let her put the little plastic dinos on top and then all the kids help throw the dinosaur eggs (candy-coated chocolate covered sunflower seeds) on top. Kind of relaxing to let the kids do all the work.
I had no problem getting rid of the extra frosting. The recipe for cake and frosting are below. Nothing too spectacular, but good enough for a birthday.
For her birthday brunch, the birthday girl flipped through the pages of Pink Princess Cookbook and chose a menu. The kids helped me prepare all of the food for our brunch.

I was not planning on taking pictures of this brunch, but my mom and husband both protested when I told them I was just going to have a relaxing time with no pics. They insisted. So, I grabbed the camera when everything was on the table (not the usual place for taking pics of food in my house) and I tried to get a decent shot of the brunch. Bear with me on these :-)
Ry chose Mini-Marshmallow Smoothies to start us off. I adapted the recipe from the book and placed 1 sliced banana, 1 cup sliced strawberries, 1/2 cup frozen blueberries, 1 cup vanilla yogurt, and 1 1/2 cups skim milk in the blender. I blended it well, then poured it into glasses and added the colored mini-marshmallows. (The adults enjoyed smoothies w/out marshmallows).
Next up
Blackberry Biscuits
1 can large-size refrigerator biscuits
1 cup canned blackberry pie filling
1 tsp ground cinnamon mixed w/ 1/4 cup sugar

Spray a muffin tin with cooking spray. Slice or divide each biscuit in half. Press one half in the bottom of 8 of the muffin cups, covering bottom completely. Leave 4 of the muffin cups empty.
Spoon 1 Tbls pie filling on top of each biscuit half.
Cover pie filling w/ remaining biscuits halves.
Sprinkle tops w/ cinnamon-sugar mixture. I used decorating sugar too
Bake for 15 minutes.
Serve warm.
Fairy Tale Fondue
3/4 cup heavy cream
12 oz white chocolate, chopped
1 tsp vanilla

Heat the cream in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat until hot, about 2-3 minutes.
When hot, add the chocolate and stir until it is just melted and smooth. Stir in vanilla.
Serve with your choice or fresh strawberries, banana slices, pound cake, pretzels, grapes, etc. for dipping
This was Ry's fave thing to help make for the brunch.

Little Ladybugs
12 seedless red grapes
12 toothpicks
12 whole strawberries w/ stems
1 package mini chocolate chips

Place a grape on a toothpick, sliding it all the way to the end of the stick. This is the ladybugs head.
Place a strawberry on the toothpick, stem end first, and slide it down to touch the grape. This is the body.
Lay the ladybug down and carefully push the pointed ends of several chocolate chips into the strawberry to make the spots.
Raspberry Tea Sandwiches
8 slices white bread
1/2 cup soft spread cream cheese
1 Tbls raspberry preserves
1 pint fresh raspberries

Cut bread into desired shapes with a cookie cutter. In a bowl combine cream cheese and raspberry preserves. Spread a thin layer of the mixture on each bread cut-out and place raspberries on top.

Classic Cucumber Sandwiches
1 English cucumber, sliced
8 slices whole wheat bread
2 Tbls softened butter
salt and pepper
cherry tomatoes for garnish

Cut crust off bread and cut into shapes with cookie cutter.
Spread butter on each cut-out. Lay cucumber slices on top.
Season with salt and pepper.
Garnish with cherry tomatoes


The whole brunch was really fun to prepare and even more fun to share. It was a great birthday!

Recipe for Chocolate Cake

Recipe for Whipped Frosting

Weekend Brunch- Monkey Bread Minis, Canteloupe-Peach Salad with Honey-Lime Drizzle, Scrambled Eggs with Fresh Thyme, and Berry Smoothie

One of my favorite things about the weekend is how things slow down a little bit in the morning. Unfortunately, my kids don't sleep in, they get up early, but I don't feel as rushed as I do during the week. I can send them downstairs to watch some cartoons and spend a little time on a great breakfast. Some prefer to stay in the kitchen and help me and that is fine too.

I saw these Monkey Bread Minis in the last issue of Everyday with Rachael Ray and knew they were a must try. I just had to fit them in somewhere. I thought maybe for an afterschool treat, but decided they would be better as a breakfast item. They were devoured. I almost didn't get to try one because they disappeared so fast. Yum-O, as she would say. Definitely worth the time, but if you want to make something similar without making the dough from scratch, check out Picky Palates recipe- I plan to make those on a weekday morning because these monkey bread minis are just too fun and cute, not to mention tasty, to make again!
The smoothie was thrown in because I had a bit of frozen yogurt and a small amount of frozen berries, so I blended them up.
Canteloupe is cheap right now and we have been eating it everyday. Plus there are all those fresh peaches from the tree outside, so I livened it up a little with a bit of honey and some lime.

Had to have some protein in there and ever since I made the Barefoot Contessa's Herbed Baked Eggs, I throw in fresh thyme everytime I make eggs for breakfast. It makes them so scrumptious!
So, if you have the time, have a nice laid back brunch. This one will fill you up for quite awhile and if you don't have time, make some, you won't be sorry!




Monkey Bread Mini's from Everyday with Rachael Ray Magazine
For muffins
1-1/2 sticks unsalted butter, chilled
3 tbsp maple syrup
1/3 cup + 2 tbsp granulated sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 tbsp ground cinnamon
2 cups flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 buttermilk, chilled
For icing
1 cup powder sugar
2 tbsp whole milk

To make muffins—
Preheat oven to 425F.
In a small bowl microwave 4 tbsp butter and maple syrup at high power until melted, about 30 secs; stir. Set aside.
In another small bowl combine 1/3 granulated sugar, brown sugar and cinnamon. Set aside.
In a food processor, combine flour, baking powder, the remaining 2 tbsp granulated sugar and salt; pulse to combine. Cut the remaining 1 stick of butter into smaller pieces and pulse with flour mixture until course crumbs form. Pulse in the buttermilk until the dough just comes together. Transfer to a lightly floured surface; pat into a 10 inch square. Quarter the dough, then cut each quarter into 16 equal pieces; roll into balls. Dip each ball into the maple butter then dip in the sugar mixture. Place about 5 to 6 maple-sugar balls into the muffin cup and press to compact.Bake until cooked through and golden, about 15-17 minutes. (Tent with foil if the tops darken too quickly.) Transfer muffin pan to rack and cool for 10 minutes. Using a knife; loosen the sides of the monkey bread; invert and serve warm.
To make icing— Mix powder sugar and milk. Drizzle over the bread as it cools

Canteloupe-Peach Salad with Honey-Lime Drizzle by Mary Ann
1 canteloupe, cubed and refrigerated overnight
3 peaches, peeled or not, cut into bite size pieces
2-3 Tbls honey
juice of 1 lime
zest of 1/4 or 1/2 lime (as much as you like)

Combine refrigerated canteloupe and fresh cut peaches in a bowl.
In another small bowl, stir together honey and lime juice, until well mixed. Stir in zest.
Spoon canteloupe-peach mixture into bowls and drizzle honey-lime mixture over top.

Scrambled Eggs with Fresh Thyme by Mary Ann
8 eggs
splash of skim milk
salt and pepper
1/2 cup any shredded cheese
fresh thyme

Whisk together eggs and milk. Heat a skillet and spray with cooking spray. Pour in egg mixture and season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle shredded cheese over top. Scramble, and just before they are cooked the way you prefer, sprinkle in some fresh thyme, or when you plate the eggs, sprinkle fresh thyme on top.

Berry Smoothie by Mary Ann
1 1/2 cups Dreyer's/Edy's Slow Churned Rich and Creamy Yogurt Blends Berry Granola Crunch
1 1/2 cups skim milk
1/2 cup frozen blueberries
1/2 cup frozen raspberries

Combine all ingredients and blend until smooth. This will be thick, so you might have to use a spoon!

Elephant Monkey Choco-Delight and Panzanella

This milkshake/smoothie might not look too tasty, but it is my son's most requested drink. It goes well with meals, or can be an after-school snack. I always use Dreyer's/Edy's Slow Churned Rich and Creamy Chocolate Ice Cream when I make this smoothie. It makes me feel a little bit better about the fat content. This pleases kids and adults, alike. We had it along with The Barefoot Contessa's Panzanella, because some things are so good, you just have to make them again. I made the panzanella a few weeks ago for Barefoot Bloggers, but repeated it because it has also become a new family favorite.

Monkey Elephant Choco-Monkey Delight
1 medium banana, sliced and frozen for at least 2 hours
1 cup skim milk
1 cup chocolate ice cream (I use Dreyer's/Edy's Slow Churned 1/2 less fat)

1/4 cup peanut butter

Place all ingredients in blender and puree until smooth. Serve immediately!

TWD-Chunky Peanut Butter and Oatmeal Chocolate Chipsters

This week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe was chosen by Stefany over at Proceed with Caution , so go to her blog for the recipe of click HERE to get it from an earlier post. These cookies were a great choice. Chock full of tasty ingredients, everyone loved them. I was able to take them as a dessert to a small gathering and luckily we all tried them before I took them, because they were gone quickly. I really liked the combination of chunky peanut butter with the oatmeal and the chocolate chips just made them that much better. Go to the Tuesdays with Dorie Blogroll to see all the other delicious cookies!

Blackberry, Strawberry and Peach Smoothie

I had some leftover blackberries from one of the galettes and felt like making a smoothie, so this is what I came up with. I don't like my smoothies very sweet, so I didn't add any sugar or honey.

Blackberry, Strawberry, and Peach Smoothie by Mary Ann
1 cup fresh blackberries
1 cup halved strawberries
1- 6oz container blackberry yogurt (I used Yoplait Light, because it was in the fridge)
1 cup skim milk
1 1/2 cups frozen sliced peaches

Place all ingredients in blender and puree until smooth. Add more peaches if you want it thicker or some sugar/honey if it is not sweet enough for your buds. Drink up!