Going Green, Smoothie Style

The whole world is going green. And so am I . . . in my own way. In an effort to increase our daily greens and hopefully our daughter's ability to absorb nutrients, we've been starting our day off with a [green] smoothie. I have felt so good every day that I drink it that I thought I'd share the goodness. So, here's what you'll need if you decide you'd like to try it too:

2ish cups of almond milk (I prefer vanilla - but we accidentally grabbed "original" either works, but if you prefer sweet, vanilla is what you'll want)
2-3 kale leaves (remove the center)
1 handful of spinach
2 Tbsp chopped walnuts (or nut of your choice)
2 cups frozen fruit (I buy the mixed non-sweetened strawberries, mangoes, pineapple and peaches)
1/2 banana (I add this for my girls cause it really sweetens it, but if you're wanting to keep your sugars down and not have a sugar crash after drinking it, leave the banana out).

*Coconut milk is not necessary as pictured. I just happened to buy it and try it. And . . . it's not my favorite (although I do like coconut milk - it just doesn't seem to have the same effect as the almond). I have been adding a small amount to our smoothies every morning just to not waste the whole container. So, here's what you do:

Pour milk into blender and add greens and nuts. Blend thoroughly so as to diminish the "leafy texture."

2. Blend until smooth.
3. Add fruits and blend again until smooth.
Serve. My mother suggests drinking up to a quart for nutrients and says that will get her through with plenty of physical and mental energy until early to mid-afternoon. I drink two cups and a little more each morning and I'm not hungry at all and feel a little emotional boost to confront my challenges daily. The chlorophyll is just what I've needed on blue winter days when I don't see the sun.
And my girls? Well, they love it too. Shhhh, don't tell them that it's weird to drink green. They are totally into being Popeye girls and love all the talk about being strong and smart.

And my favorite, their green mustaches.
Please share if you try it or have other healthy blending concoctions I could try. If you're not as daring, start with baby steps. Make the fruit smoothie and add only 1 kale leaf or half the spinach. These greens really don't have much flavor when mixed with fruit. And if you're even more daring, you can do what I do when the girls aren't drinking with me, I throw in a handful of parsley too and I love the flavor burst that comes with that. Call me weird, but I've always loved parsley.

Happy Blending!

Quick Veggie Skillet

My version of a more healthy mac-n-cheese. Is there such a thing? Well, this one has veggies and my girls devour it, so it's a bit healthier than regular packaged mac-n-cheese.


This is a recipe I found in one of my mom's quick 20-minute meals books I copied down years ago and I love it. So do my girls. When I'm in a rush for dinner, this is an easy go-to meal instead of something like mac-n-cheese.

Ingredients:

6 ounces (2 1/2 cups) uncooked dried pasta (the original recipe calls for bowtie, I use whatever I have on hand and my girls love the colorful veggie pasta so that's usually what I use).
2 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon minced garlic (a clove or two)
2 medium zucchini, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 medium red onion, cut into thin wedges
1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil leaves
4 ounces (1 cup) cheddar cheese (cubed 1/2 inch)

Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain.

Meanwhile, in a 10-inch skillet, melt butter until sizzling; stir in garlic. Stir in all remaining ingredients, except cheese. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are crisply tender (4 to 6 minutes).

Stir in pasta. Continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until heated through (2 to 3 minutes). Stir in cheese. Salt and pepper to taste.

Mantecaditos con Guayaba / Butter Cookies with Guava

The Pioneer Woman pointed me to a site the other day that I have fallen in love with: The Noshery. This girl has a Puerto Rican background and lives in the south. So she's got some great culinary background and I'm dying to try so many of her recipes. The one I found her through were these Mantecaditos con Guayaba (Butter Cookies with Guava) - a latin twist on a quite popular Christmas Cookie. I had just happened to buy a whole tub of guava paste and after we'd eaten a quarter of it with saltine crackers, I was wondering what to do with the rest of it. And plop, this recipe just fell into my blog reader. Perfect.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup shortening
1/2 cup butter
1 egg yolk
1 teaspoon almond extract
2 1/4 cup flour
1/2 cup guava paste, diced

Preheat oven to 350. Cream sugar, shortening, and butter in a large bowl. Mix in egg yolk and almond extract. Blend in flour a little at a time until well combined and chunky. Shape a tablespoon of dough into a ball. Repeat with remaining dough. Place the cookies on a cookie sheet. Using your thumb, press down on the center of the cookie. Fill the dimple with about 1 teaspoon of guava paste.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until light golden brown. Transfer to cooling rack and enjoy a little tropical twist on your Christmas classic.

Orange Cookies

There's something about Christmas that reminds me of oranges. Perhaps it goes back to the visits from Santa Claus at our annual church Christmas party where he would make an appearance and bring a bag of goodies for all of the children. The contents were the same year after year: an orange, a handful of whole peanuts and old fashioned hard candy. The other day I was in a citrusy Christmas mood and decided to whip up a batch of my grandmother Leann's yummy orange cookies.

Cookie Ingredients:

2/3 cup shortening
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup fresh orange juice
2 tablespoons finely grated orange rind
2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

Mix shortening, sugar, and eggs. Stir in orange juice and rind. Stir dry ingredients together and blend in other mixture. Drop by teaspoon 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake at 400 for 8-10 minutes or until delicately brown.

Orange Butter Icing:

2 1/2 tablespoons soft butter
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons orange juice
2 tablespoons finely grated orange rind

Mix all ingredients together and beat until well blended. Frost cookies while still warm.

Makes 4 dozen.

Fresco de Piña / Pineapple Horchata

Remember the very first time I posted on this blog way back in 2007 and I showed you a bag of pineapple skins I was going to freeze to use another day and told you I'd share with you another recipe for it? Well, three and a half years later, here it is. Finally.

This Fresco de Piña is another original of Doña Rina's. She doesn't like to waste any part of the pineapple so instead of throwing away the "pine" she washes it well and makes a delicious rice/pineapple/cinnamon drink with it. I like to call it pineapple horchata. That's just my personal interpretation.

You'll need:

Pineapple skins of one pineapple
2-3 cinnamon sticks
1 cup of uncooked rice
sugar to sweeten

1. So, once you've sliced your pineapple and you're tempted to throw the skins away, instead fill a pot with water and throw the skins in there.
2. Add cinnamon sticks. If using cinnamon sticks from the Mexican food section, be generous.
3. Add 1 cup uncooked rice.

4. Cover and boil until rice opens and is soft and cinnamon sticks are completely open. Mixture will be very watery.
5. Blend entire boiled mixture from the pot (including cinnamon sticks) until there are no major chunks.

6. Strain mixture into a pitcher.

7. Using a spoon, press any extra liquid out of the remaining strained ingredients.

8. Fill pitcher with cool water until drink is at required consistency and sweeten to your desired sweetness. (It takes quite a bit of sugar to get this sweet).

Sometimes she prepares this drink thicker than others. I prefer it a little more watery than thick. Make sure to chill before serving.

Enjoy with any meal or as a delicious refresher after a long days work!

Pupusas de Queso

I can't remember the first time I ever tried a pupusa. It may have been on a trip to California with my friend Christine back in 2002, or was it 2003? Some guy wanted to win her over and so he took us to a restaurant and gave us both gifts and la, la, la. All I remember is that the food was delicious. And pupusas were one of the many things I tried that day.

There are lots of different versions of pupusas. In my own terms, it's like a stuffed corn tortilla topped with a delicious curtido - a lightly fermented cabbage slaw. Lots eat in with their hands folded in half like a street taco. I'm weird and prefer it with a fork with lots of extra curtido on top.

Ingredients

The Dough:
1 bag maseca masa (instant corn masa flour)
water
salt

The rest:
1 lb quesillo or other cheese (mozzarella)
1 head cabbage
1 onion
1-2 or more jalapeños (personal preference)
1-2 carrots
olive oil
vinegar
salt
pepper
oregano

Step 1: Prepare the Cheese / Quesillo

Tear the quesillo into small chunks and set aside in bowl.

Step 2: Prepare the onion and pepper

Olive oil
1 yellow onion
1 jalapeño pepper (or more depending on your "gusto")
Vinegar to taste

Slice the onion and saute with jalapeño in olive oil with a bit of salt and vinegar to taste. Saute the onion just long enough that it still has a crunch to it. Set aside.

Step 3: Prepare the salad/curtido:

Finely slice a head of cabbage.

See how fast that knife moves . . . that's skills!
Place the cabbage in a strainer in the sink and pour boiling water over it to soften it up. Let water drain and place cabbage back in salad bowl.
Shred carrots, and add to the cabbage in a salad bowl.
Mix cabbage and carrots.
Mix and season with salt, a bit of oregano, and a little vinegar between the fingers in one circular motion around the salad. You can also substitute lime juice for the vinegar, but I prefer the vinegar.
Step 4: The Dough (La Masa)

Purchase a bag of Maseca (Instant corn masa flour) in the Mexican food section of your local grocery store. Follow the instructions to prepare the "masa" (dough) depending on how many pupusas you want to make. Two or three feed the average adult. And this dough is simple. You can't go wrong with it.

After preparing the dough, grab a small ball of it and roll it in your hand. Flatten it from the center out while rotating it in your hand to form a circle. After making the circle, form the edges upward and press the center down to form a pocket to place the hold cheese in the middle.

Place a generous amount of cheese in the middle of the dough.
Use the hand the dough is in to enclose the cheese completely in the dough.


Pinch off any excess dough in the center.


Flatten the dough into a thick tortilla, rotating it constantly and you press it to flatten evenly throughout.


Place the tortilla on a piece of plastic to finish flattening and stretching.
Heat pan or electric frying griddle to high and grease. Place the pupusas in pan and brown on each side.
Serve with the salad (curtido) and the onion mixture.

Vintage Aprons Discount

Check out these darling vintage aprons . . . even if you don't like to cook much, you'll still look super sexy taking that frozen pot-pie out of the oven! ;) I can't wait to get mine in the mail this week. If you're looking for a last minute Christmas gift, I know she has a few more in stock . . . email me by 5:00 p.m. Friday 12/17 at reyesdm@gmail.com and you will get 10% off your order.



*Photos courtesy Meghan Crews