Frozen Soygurt

Contents:

Hazelnut milk

Lemon Soy Yogurt

Banana

Frozen Berry blend (blueberries, blackberries, raspberries)

Add soy yogurt, banana, and a little bit of hazelnut milk to vita-mix.

Add the frozen berries, and blend!

So(y) delicious!

Mango-Banana-Strawberry Coconut Frozen Yogurt

Unfortunately, I do not have photos to illustrate how to make this. But, I can tell you. And hopefully in the future, I can show you!

Contents: Banana, Frozen Mangoes and Strawberries, one vanilla coconut milk yogurt, and a scoop of raw hemp seeds.

I was super impressed with how creamy this came out. If you click the photo to enlarge it, you can really see how thick it is! I will have to make this one again. So delicious!

Carrot-fruit Smoothie

A whole bunch of carrots.

And some banana slices.

And some ice.

Blend. The vitamin is so awesome. I loveeee it.

Last minute mind change. I added some frozen fruit (mixture of strawberries, pineapple, mangoes, and papaya). I also added a squirt of agave nectar.

And voila! Two smoothies... for K-man and myself.

Vitamix Addict.

So, my dad purchased a Vitamix a few years back. And every so often, he uses it. But, it generally sits in the cabinet untouched and collecting dust. Recently, I decided that with as many smoothies as I make, I might as well be using the Vitamix rather than a conventional blender. I have been experimenting with all sorts of vitamiX recipes. So, bare with me in the posts to come-- they will be vitamix heavy.

Contents: Vanilla Hemp milk, Banana, Frozen Blueberries, Spinach, and Carrots.

The verdict = Delicious! And let me just say how awesome this blender is. It took a whole thirty seconds to blend this smoothie. And there were no problems with the large pieces (the carrots, frozen blueberries). The Vitamix rules.

Banana Bread

I usually make this bread for special occasions, such as Thanksgiving, birthdays, and events. In celebration of the end of the term, my Spanish class had a mini fiesta after our group presentations (which were HILARIOUS, btw). I will give you the single batch recipe, but the photos represent a double batch.

Preheat oven to 350

1 cup turbinado sugar

1/2 cup earth balance

2 very ripe bananas - the browner, the sweeter, the better

1/2 cup Vanilla soymilk

1 tsp vanilla extract

3 tsp Ener-G Egg Replacer mixed with 4 tbsp warm water

1 cup whole wheat pastry flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

Sugar. I normally don't use sugar. I like my agave nectar for mostly... everything. But for this recipe, it's delicious. I love this bread a lot and I am hesitant to change anything, maybe one of these times I will experiment with other sweeteners.

Earth Balance. I measure it accurately but adding water into a measuring cup and then adding butter until it reaches the amount needed.

Cream sugar and earth balance.

Add bananas. The browner, the sweeter, the better. If you have the time, unlike I did, store your bananas in a brown paper bag to help speed up the browning process.

Mix just enough to incorporate the bananas.

Add soymilk...

...Vanilla extract...

...egg replacer...

...And mix again.

In separate bowl, add flours, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix.

Add dry ingredients to wet.

Mix until everything is incorporated.

Add to greased loaf pan.

Bake for 1 hour to 1 hour and 15 minutes.

Let cool and ENJOY.

Tip: If you let it cool for about 15 minutes and then wrap the bread in plastic wrap or foil, it will lock in the moisture. Yum.

Breakfast.

Not exactly cooking, but delicious and nutritious.

Nancy's soy yogurt, Bob's Red Mill's muesli, one banana, and one apple. Yum.

Smoothie - Nutty Carob and Peach

I decided to experiment a little and came up with a very tasty smoothie! The photos of the fruit were too horrible to upload, sorry.

My rough recipe would be as follows:

1/2 cup hazelnut milk

1/2 cup rice milk

1-2 tbsp almond butter

1 banana

1 cup frozen peaches

(maybe) 1 1/2 - 2 tbsp carob powder

few squirts of agave nectar

a little water (Adjust to blend)

(disclaimer: these measurements may be completely wrong. I experimented without measuring tools)

Smoothie - Green Peach Machine

The makings:

The product:
It was very tasty and kid approved. Kaegan put himself into a smoothie coma after drinking this.

Smoothie - Rainbow

I make a lot of smoothies. Also, I am constantly changing the ingredients. I probably will be posting a lot of different smoothie options on here, so here is smoothie one.

Sometimes I use juice, sometimes I don't. Today, mainly because I had these on hand, I decided to. I used about a cup, half of each for such smoothie. Also, the perk of using juice is you don't have to add agave nectar or any other sweetener.

Fresh fruits are best, but frozen is awesome because you don't have to add ice to make the smoothie cold. Perfecto. In this fruit blend, I have strawberries, mangoes, and pineapple.

Add.

I added some kiwi, or as K would say "e-e". Also, I added a banana, your smoothie's best friend. Tip: The more brown the banana, the sweeter in flavor; and the best it is for the smoothie. Also, I always use some sort of "smoothing" item. Banana, silken tofu, avocado, soy yogurt, etc.

In addition, I add veggies. They are easily masked by the sweetness of the fruit. And a little extra veggie never hurt anyone. Carrots and spinach.

Last, I added wheat germ and flax.

Perfecto.

So delicious!!

Fabulous Granola Bars

[please excuse the poor photo, compliments to my cell phone]


Artistic Madre's Fabulous Granola Bars

3/4 Cup Whole Wheat [you can really use any all-purpose flour]
1/4 Cup Milled Flax Seed
1/2 Cup Soy Flour [again, wheat or other flour works]
1/2 Cup Dry Quinoa
1 1/2 Cup Rolled Oats
1/3 to 1/2 Cup raw pumpkin seeds
1 Teaspoon baking powder
1 Teaspoon salt
1/4 Cup Molasses
2/3 Cup Agave Nectar
1/2 Cup Mashed Ripe Banana
1/2 to 2/3 Cup Almond Pulp (see previous post)
2 Teaspoons Vanilla Extract
1/2 to 2/3 cup Dried Cranberries

You can use peanut butter or almond butter in replacement of the almond pulp, if you choose to do so. Keep in mind that it will change the flavor and density.

Directions:

1. Set oven to about 300 degrees Fahrenheit, put dry quinoa into an ungreased 9 x 13 baking pan to roast. Every few minutes, stir quinoa to ensure even toasting. While it is toasting, mix wet and dry ingredients.

2. In a small mixing bowl, mix all the wet ingredients. Use a fork to mash up the banana.

Turn oven up to 325

3. In a large mixing b owl, mix the dry ingredients together. Go ahead and check the quinoa, it should be golden brown. When it is good and toasted, add it to the dry mix. Then, add the wet mix to the dry.

4. Now that all of the ingredients are mixed, you should have a thick, oatmeal cookie dough-like substance. Grease the 9 x 13 baking pan and spread the granola goodness into the pain, creating an even layer. Place the pan on the center rack (oven should be at 325 now). Bake for 20-22 minutes, rotating the pan at least one time to ensure even baking. Cut the bars (a spatula works well).

I hope you enjoy them as much as I do! Also, these are easy to adapt!