SOTD: Pumpkin Pie

It's time for Smoothie of the Day! Do I even need to explain this one to you? It's fall. Obviously I'm hitting the pumpkin pretty hard already. Here's some proof:

First attempt at a Pumpkin Pie Smoothie.

That's the one I made yesterday. It was pretty good, but not quite good enough. So I made some changes this morning, and that's the recipe we're going to run with. Freezing the banana is always better, and the canned coconut milk adds some nice texture too. I'm not going to say it tastes just like pumpkin pie, because I don't generally drink pie. But it's pretty good and if you're like me and fall = PUMPKIN ALL THE THINGS, then it's probably worth your time. Obviously it's not as sweet since we're trying to be all healthy and crap, but you could always add some honey if you like. Or adding vanilla ice cream would probably turn this into a pretty great milkshake.

Take two, now with more ingredients!

Pumpkin Pie Smoothie (paleo, vegan)
(I didn't do much measuring other than the spices, so the amounts are -ish.)

1/2 c. pumpkin purée
2 T. canned coconut milk
1 T. almond butter (mine is maple/almond)
1 frozen banana
1/4 t. cinnamon
1/4 t. vanilla extract
1/8 t. ground ginger
1/8 t. ground nutmeg
1/2 - 1 c. of your smoothie-thinner of choice (I used boxed coconut milk.)

Put everything into your blending device. The amount of smoothie-thinner is up to you. I maybe ended up using 1/2-3/4 of a cup. You can always add more if needed. All the other ingredients are pretty thick though, so might use more, especially if you prefer you smoothies thinner than I do. Blend away, captain. I also added a couple big chunks of ice to mine afterwards to keep it cold on my way to work. And I am slurping it as we speak.

Let me know in the comments if you try it! I'm also considering adding espresso powder or using cold coffee as thinner next time to PSL this business. I don't know how that will work with the banana, but we'll find out. Happy fall to you!

SOTD - 01.24.13

Are you up to the challenge of making today's Smoothie of the Day?!
Fun Fact: it's not really a challenge. I just want to remember how to make this again sometime.

1 small banana
1/2 (ish) c. frozen blueberries
2 kale ice cubes (method found here)
spoonful (virgin) coconut oil
almond milk

You know your smoothie? It's all bluuue.

Aside from being tasty, this smoothie was a success because:
1. Those kale cubes blended in better than straight up, raw kale.
2. It is dairy free, if you like that sort of thing.
3. I bought a giant bucket of frozen blueberries last fall, so anything with blueberries wins.

So there you have it! What are you drinking this snowy Thursday morning? Yes, it's 11 degrees outside, I brushed an inch of snow off my car, and I had a smoothie for breakfast. Don't worry though, I've now moved on to one of my favorite teas.

SOTD: Chocolate Banana

I have decided this is the best protein shake/smoothie. So, you're welcome. It made my jelloy arms and legs happy post-workout this morning. Sorry there's no picture, I was running late and drank it in the car on the way to work.

Chocolate Banana Smoothie
Put these things in a blender and blend:
1 banana, chunked up and frozen
1 scoop vanilla protein shake powder
Whole milk
1 spoonful of unsweetened cocoa powder

Yes, I said unsweetened. Stay with me here.

Cocoa is good for you (antioxidants and all that crap) and with the banana and the shake mix, there's more than enough sweetness in there already, so the cocoa does a nice job of cutting through some of that. It could only have been better if it had hidden kale in it, and I might try it with coconut milk next time to cut out the dairy. The fact the banana is frozen gives it the perfect smoothie consistency, and everyone loves chocolate + banana (except my mom), so dessert-like smoothie for breakfast? Win win winny win win.

SOTD, now with yogurt

1 container Vanilla yogurt (I used Activia, because I got it for free from Kroger)
4 chunks frozen banana
5 frozen strawberries
1/4 c. frozen blueberries
orange juice

Blend. Enjoy.*

*Except the part where you have to drink it with two coffee stirrers instead of a straw because your straw broke in your purse on the way to work.

Food: SOTD* Dole-Whip Style

6-8** chunks frozen pineapple
3 frozen strawberries
1-2*** coconut milk ice cubes
orange juice

This one makes the best-ever list. If you know anything about my unmitigated love for Dole Whip, telling you this smoothie reminds me of it is saying something. I don't have any kale today *gasp!* because I couldn't find it at Giant Eagle, but I bet there's enough fruit power in this to make a green smoothie too, if you so desired. I couldn't even take a picture of it, because I was too busy nomming, but it would also make the prettiest-ever list, coming out the perfect shade of pink. (Aww. Now get in my belly!)

* Smoothie of the day
** I didn't count. I'm just trying to remember how many fell out of the bag.
*** I had one regular and two tiny ones. So it was probably like 1.25, but more wouldn't have hurt it.

Food: Smoothies

This post written by popular demand.*

Today we break down the smoothies I've been making into more of a "recipe" format. Now, as you may or may not know, I don't generally cook with recipes. If it's something new, sure, but even then I will usually have different ideas about it, or not measure things, or forget to buy something at the store. So recipes from me personally are usually more like this: me rambling and you doing your best to figure it out. Got it? Good. Let's go.

1. Choose your hardware. Justin uses his Magic Bullet. I use my blender base + a mason jar because I am the coolest person ever that constantly trolls the interwebs. You might use a regular blender. I'm not here to judge.
2. Choose your frozen things. My standbys are: 4-5 frozen strawberries, and 2 coconut milk ice cubes.
3. Choose your other ingredients. I like: a small-medium banana (sometimes this is in the frozen category), a good-sized handful of kale (stems removed), a scoop of protein shake mix, some cinnamon.
4. Choose your liquid. My go-to has been whole milk, but sometimes I also like orange juice. I prefer thick smoothies, so I err on the side of less liquid. (you can always add more, you can't add less! {thanks mom!})
5. Put all those things in your blending thingy. I don't know if the order matters. Probably not.
6. Blend! Blend like there's no tomorrow! Blend like no one is watching! Blend the night away! Okay, not really, because you'll be late for work or whatever. But that kale does take quite a bit of blending to work in.
7. Adjust if needed. More liquid, another strawberry, etc.
8. Drink! Love! Dance about!

Note to self: Dear Self, This is how most people write recipes:

Ingredients
4-5 frozen strawberries
2 cubes frozen coconut milk
1 smallish banana, broken into pieces (optional: frozen)
1/2 c. kale (stems removed)
Optional: Protein shake mix
Optional: Cinnamon
1/4 - 1/2 c.Whole milk, coconut milk or orange juice

Put all ingredients in blender. Blend until kale is very tiny.
Warning: Smoothie will be gross-colored. Drink it anyway.


*Not really, it was just Karla.