Garden Beet Juice

During a recent lunch Aunt MRM and I enjoyed a juice sampler.  I fell in love with the beet ginger juice.  It was absolutely delicious and I knew immediately I would be trying to replicate it at home.  While it takes a lot of veggies for a bit of juice, it's so yummy it's worth it.

Garden Beet Juice

Ingredients:

• 1-2 beets (Fresh Thyme has cooked beets in the refrigerated section, so easy!!)
• 1 carrot, peeled
• 1 stalk celery
• 3-4 leaves kale
• 1 apple, cored
• 1 inch fresh ginger root, peeled
• 1 lemon, juiced
• water as needed

Directions:

• Put all ingredients in blender, with kale on the top. 
• Blend until all ingredients are well combined and "juiced".  Be sure to add a little water as needed to keep things "moving".  We use the liquify setting.
• Strain using a fine mesh strainer.  
• Serve cold.  (I even like over ice.)

Notes:

• While it might look like a smoothie fresh from the blender, don't make the same mistake I did and take a sip.  Be sure not to skip the straining step!
• Be careful with the beet, they have the ability to stain!  I use parchment paper to cover cutting boards, etc.

Happy Juicing!

Citrus Kale, Pineapple, and Mixed Berry Smoothie

My sweet Aunt MRM and I spent an absolutely lovely day together last weekend.  She fixed an utterly delicious (more to come on that later), we floated while basking in the abundant sunshine (that's literally what the forecast said - abundant sunshine), and tried out her new Nutribullet.  We threw in a little of this and a little of that and ended up with something quite delicous, filling, and healthy.  It was, without a doubt, a win!

Citrus Kale, Pineapple, and Mixed Berry Smoothie

Ingredients:

• 1 cup kale, thick stems removed
• 1/4 - 1/2 cup spinach, stems removed
• 1 cup fresh pineapple, diced
• 1 cup mixed berrried (we used strawberries and blackberries)
• 1/2 lemon, peeled
• 1/2 lime, peeled
• 1/2 - 1 cup water
• Ice

Directions:

• Layer the ingredients in the Nutribullet or blender (berries, pineapple, citrus, and finally greens on top.  Add water.
• Blend until smooth.

Notes:

• We loved the convenience of the Nutribullet.  It's small, compact, and easy to clean.  You could even pack the ingredients in the cup the night before and be all set for breakfast the next day.  That being said, I've tried the recipe since then in my blender, and it turned out beautifully.  
• It's best cold.  You can add ice, or use frozen berries.
• Hubby is picky, so I sometimes strain to remove the berry seeds, although they don't bother me a bit.  

Happy Blending!

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Peanut Butter and Banana Energy Bites

Sweet friend KB has recently been raving about her new power ball breakfasts consisting of oats, bananas, and all sorts of other yummies she throws in there.  So when Hubby and I had a bunch of bananas that were on their last legs we thought we'd go for it.  I eat breakfast every day, but have a habit of running late so thought these would fit the bill nicely.

After scouring the internet I decided just to go for it without a real recipe.  We don't have flax seed and don't really care for chia seeds so we kept to what we could find in the pantry.  The end result was pretty yummy and they're so easy to keep on hand!  

Peanut Butter and Banana Energy Bites

Ingredients:

• 2 large bananas, mashed (it ended up being about a cup)
• 2 cups oats, uncooked
• 1/4 cup peanut butter
• couple squeezes honey
• 1/4-1/2 t cinnamon
• small handful mini chocolate chips (we used semisweet because that's what we had)

Directions:

• Mash bananas in a bowl large enough to hold all the ingredients.
• Add remaining ingredients and mix well.
• Refrigerate mixture for about 30 minutes or until you're able to roll into balls.
• Roll into 1 inch balls.
• Refrigerate to store.

Notes:

• Throw in whatever sounds good to you!  We've made them a few times and found that in this hive we like the cinnamon on the lighter side.  Sometimes we add more banana, sometimes we leave out the chocolate, it all really just depends on what's on hand.
• You can make a large batch to keep in the freezer and just pull out a few at a time.  Freeze individually on a cookie sheet before putting into a giant Ziploc.  They defrost quickly.
• Use a scoop to form the balls quickly and uniformly!

DIY Greek Yogurt

Growing up my dad and grandmother made yogurt all the time.  I was completely intrigued that we went to bed with a pot of milk and woke to a pot of yogurt.  This morning I was pretty tickled to find my own pot of milk had turned to yogurt overnight....so was Hubby.  If I'm being honest, he was pretty doubtful about the whole thing.

When a friend from school mentioned that he uses a starter that is over 1,000 years old and does it in the crock pot I knew I'd have to try it for myself.  Usually I use a thermometer, but this time I just went with the timing he suggested instead.  This will definitely become part of the Sunday routine at our happy little hive.

What''s for Dinner [Green Eggs and Ham]

Last night Hubby and I had a little celebration in honor of Dr. Seuss's birthday.  Growing up I read a  three books in rotation, Make Way for Ducklings (my ultimate favorite), Madeline, and Green Eggs and Ham. 

I decorated the table with Seussicalesque wrapping paper from my stash, a couple copies of his classic work, and our chalkboard menu which listed our menu consisting of green eggs (baked eggs with fresh herbs) and ham, truffula fruit (blueberries), and pink ink drink (strawberry milk). 

Let's just be clear here....I'd eat these eggs in a box, with a fox, on a boat, with a goat, I'd eat them here or there, I'd eat them anywhere!  They are so yummy and actually make the yummiest lazy weekend morning breakfast.  Toss some ingredients in a ramekin, throw them in the oven, and in 5-7 minutes you're treated to some yumminess.  We love them served with baguette or ciabatta toast.

Baked Eggs with Fresh Herbs
Ingredients (per ramekin):

• 2 eggs
• 1 T milk
• Parmesan cheese
• fresh parsley, chopped
• fresh thyme, chopped
• fresh ground pepper
• butter

 Directions:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Into each ramekin:

• Place a pat of butter in each ramekin.  Put in warm oven just until butter melts.
• Add 1 T milk.
• Break 2 eggs, careful not to break yolks.
• Add generous pinch / smidge Parmesan cheese.
• Top with generous sprinkle of fresh herbs.
• Pepper to taste.
• Bake for 5-7 minutes. Tip: Whites shouldn't be completely set, but almost, so that the white will set while resting, but yolks will still be runny.
• Remove from oven and allow to set for 2 minutes before serving. 

Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss and 

Happy Cooking!

Omelette Muffins

I have a confession....it's taken me twice as long to write this post because I've had an ongoing internal debate about just how one correctly spells omelette.  Finally I googled and came up with the cause of my confusion: it can be spelled either way.  The French speaker in me has always spelled it omelette and I'm sticking with it.  All that to say I whipped up some yummy omelette muffins over the weekend.  Hubby is supposed to eat more eggs and this seemed like the perfect way to add them to our menu.