What’s a girl to do?

I decided to whip up a quick smoothie with what I had on hand. The result was DELICIOUS! So simple and such a perfectly light protein filled breakfast.

• About 1/2 cup fresh blueberries
• 5 frozen strawberries
• 1/2 cup (4oz) chocolate almond milk
• 1 scoop of protein powder (I used Any Whey)

Blend and serve!

You could totally use fresh strawberries I just didn’t have any. If you do through a couple of ice cubes in there to get the smoothie/shake texture.

I love the combo of cinnamon, chocolate and strawberries. I also love that the soy milk provides all the sweetness. It makes it super simple!

Unfortunately I made this one after the little guy was in bed so no other taste testers then me. The husband is NOT a smoothie guy, of course. ;)

Here’s what I did. . .

• 1 cup light chocolate Soy Milk
• 1 cup frozen strawberries (134g)
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

Blend all ingredients. I used my bullet and had to shake a bit, it was nice and thick. :)

Nutritonal Infomration may vary based on your soy milk brand but overall it’s going to be a 3 WWP.

I also remember asking her why in the world they were called egg creams when we didn’t use any eggs or cream to make them. I’m not quite sure she knew and after a little research I’m not sure anyone really does.

Tonight I just had a craving for one and while making it I realized… what a fun lite treat! Especially with a few simple substitutions.

• 1 tbsp lite chocolate syrup (35g)
• 4 oz Skim milk
• 6 oz of unflavored seltzer (although cherry would be good!) :)

Put all ingredients in a glass and mix well until you get a frothy top.

Unfortunately my seltzer wasn’t to fresh so I didn’t get many bubbles but it tasted just like I remembered and it’s been at least 20 years since I had one.

By the way I have gotten a new camera, Canon EOS Rebel T1i. I’m still learning how to use it so bear with my as my pictures may not be up to snuff for a few weeks. :)

Oh! and I have to say… the kid was NOT a fan. I think he was expecting regular chocolate milk so the “fuzziness” through him off. lol

Click here to see my original party punch idea. Adding a bit if Pomegranate juice and melon balls can be a fun take for halloween. Think eyeballs floating in a bowl of blood, or something. :)

Oh! and here’s that pomegranate trip I was talking about.

Blueberry Banana Smoothie

• 1/2 cup of frozen blueberries (75g)
• 1 medium banana
• 1/2 cup light vanilla soy milk (4oz)
• about 6 ice cubes

Blend all ingredients until smooth!

You can’t go wrong! :)

I should add I wasn’t hungry, just looking for something to snack on. Honestly, I think I was more thirsty then hungry but plain old water wasn’t going to cut it. Did you ever have one of those days?

• 1 lemon (peel and juice)
• 3 packets sweetener (I used truvia)
• 1/2 cup non-fat plain yogurt (114g)
• about 8-10 ice cubes.

In the blender (I used my bullet) add the yogurt, sweetener, peel of one lemon, lemon juice and ice. Blend for at least 2 minutes until an icee consistency forms. Stopping and adding another cube or two may help.

I poured mine in a coffee mug, topped with some of the saved peel and ate with a spoon. It was exactly what I needed tonight.

My version doesn’t follow the traditional recipe for margaritas, at least I don’t think it does. I know there’s something about a 3:2:1 ration or something.Honestly, I don’t really care, I used what I had on hand and as I sip and write this, I couldn’t be happier with the result. :)

• 1 oz lemon juice
• 1 oz lime juice
• 1 oz tequila
• 1/2 oz triple sec
• 1-2 packets of sweetener (I used truvia)
• ice cubes

Place all the ingredients in a blender or Magic Bullet. Blend. Can’t get much easier then that!

A first I used 1 packet of truvia which made a real sour drink so I added another and it was a bit too sweet. Start with 1 and add based on your taste. I was even thinking agave would be tasty in this.

Now, if you don’t have triple sec don’t fret. It works without it. You may want to add a dash of orange juice just to get the citrus flavor. You may be better off too. Triple sec is the biggest calorie add to this recipe. Without it you save over 50 cals and 5g of sugar. Here’s the nutritional information as I made it above.

I made a shake after my workout tonight and I have no problem declaring it my favorite immediately. That is how GOOD it was. However, the toddler did not agree. His exact quote was "it’s yucky." Wonder where he learned that word from. ;~)

Let me start at the beginning. If you’ve been following along I took my hand at some homemade almond milk after trying some store bought and falling in love. Then I tried it again, this time changing up my straining procedure and making some cookies in the process. Well, today, I made the milk the same exact way just adding a little bit of flavoring. Before blending the almonds I added a 1/2 tsp vanilla extract, 1/2 tsp almond extract and 1/2 tbsp of agave nectar (you could use honey). I was pleasantly surprised! The hint of flavor added was awesome! At least I thought so. The toddler didn’t agree. He prefers his almond milk straight up. That’s cool with me, next time I’ll keep it simple. :)

Ok, back to this shake! When I got home from the gym, I decided to make a quick protein shake. Here’s what I did…

• 4 oz of vanilla almond milk
• 1/2 banana
• 1 tbsp agave nectar (21g)
• 1 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder (5g)
• 1 scoop unflavored protein powder (I used Any Whey)
• 4-5 ice cubes

Blend everything until smooth! I used my bullet. Can’t get much simpler then that!

For me the hint of vanilla, almond, banana and chocolate was an amazing combo! The nutritional information is a little shaky as I’m not quite sure how to calculate for homemade almond milk. In my rough estimates I’m getting about 200 calories for the whole recipe, 4 WWPs.

Update 2: Homemade Almond Milk the Video!

Update 2: Homemade Almond Milk the Video!

We got cow’s, we got soy and now we almond. Milk that is! Now I’m not going to get all preachy or tell you I’m going dairy free. Although I’ve been thinking about it. There has always been something the creeps me out about drinking milk that’s made made for baby cows. And I never understood the stigma against breast-feeding when we freely drink the "breast milk" of another species. It just seems illogical to me.

Either way, The toddler and I have recently hoped on the chocolate soy bandwagon and we like it very much. The key to trying a milk substitute is not thinking of it as a milk. When I first took a sip I thought, "meh. it’s not chocolate MILK." Then I thought, ummm yeah.. it’s not, it’s chocolate SOY MILK. Then I tried to taste is again without expecting milk and I was able to appreciate it’s flavor for what it is. And it’s YUMMY! We now buy a half gallon of Light Chocolate Soy about twice a month.

However, just like there are those that will tell you cow’s milk is evil, soy milk has it’s haters as well. But almond? I haven’t been able to find any groups that hate almond milk. Well, except for maybe these guys. It will be always something, right?

So a few weeks ago I bought my first container or Almond milk. I poured a glass and took the same approach I did with the soy. Before drinking it I reminded myself it wasn’t MILK it was "Almond beverage" and to my surprise it was delicious! It has a really smooth, sweet, almond taste (duh!). Nothing really like milk except for maybe consistency and color. Then I tried it with my morning cereal and I was blown away! It added a whole new dimension. Nothing beats a bowl of Grape-Nuts with almond milk and some sliced bananas! Make it chocolate almond milk and I’m in heaven!

The only problem. Almond milk is sometimes hard to find, it’s expensive and there are some who say the store bought kind is not all it’s chocked up to be. Man! It IS always something, isn’t it??

So I set out to make my own. I found more then a few sites that showed you how and they all had the same basic recipe. 1 cup of raw almond blended with 3 cups of water plus any other flavors you may want to add (vanilla, dates, etc.) It didn’t seem so hard and you know me, I’ll try anything once. Plus I like the idea of making my own. That way I know exactly what’s in it.

So let me tell you what a did and then what I will do different next time.

• 1 cup raw almonds
• 3 cups water

Measure out the almonds and place in a bowl of water overnight.

When you are ready to make the milk. Drain and rinse the almonds. Place the them in the blender with 3 cups of water.

Blend! I mean what could really be easier? I just cranked it on high for about a minute.

Now here’s where I hit a snag. I searched high and low for cheesecloth ad came up empty handed. I may just have to buy it online. So instead I made my own little filter system with my sifter/strainer and a bowl placed in my sink.

I really had no idea if it would work. I just poured the almond milk in and to my surprise it started to filter and I saw "milk" in my bowl and almond grinds in my strainer!

I poured my almond milk in one of my decorative pitchers (translation: an old vase I use for water) and I took a sip. It was mildly sweet, tasty and… ummmmm… GRITTY! Apparently my filtration system had some flaws. I figured it would. So I strained it again and got a little more grinds out. I’m sure I could have done it a few more time but I accepted the grittiness and vowed to find cheesecloth!

The toddler? Well he just didn’t seem to mind at all! I gave him and glass and he downed it like a frat boy at a kegger party. I was shocked! he drank it so fast I didn’t even have time to snap an acceptable picture!

He said it was good and continued with his dinner. That’s a win in my book!

This morning we had it with our grapenuts. I figured the grittiness wouldn’t matter, I mean we are eating grapenuts! We added a few frozen berries and had a delicious breakfast! It’s so satisfying to make something and then sit down with the toddler to enjoy it. It was nice.

So, I’m looking for all almond milk experts out there. Any advice? Tips? Techniques? What do you use the almond grinds for?

For the Almond milk newbies. I urge you to give it a try. You may not like almond milk straight up the way you enjoy a glass of cow’s milk but almond milk in cereal and recipes can add a whole new dimension to your dishes!

(note: there is little info out there on nutritional information about homemade almond milk. Most commercially bought brands are 70 calories a cup with 2.5g of fat and 2g of protein.)

Update: Click here to heck out Homemade Almond Milk Take II with cookies!!!

Links mentioned in the video.

• How much the toddler likes Mango/cutting technique
• The dinner I made last night
• The smoothies I’m getting sick of

I always knew the pineapple core was editable but it’s way to hard/chewy for me. I always just threw it away. Which I was never a fan of doing because it seemed like such a waste. It just never occured to me to think of a way to use it until reading about the Bromelain.

Alright this is becoming a very wordy introduction to a very simple idea. Instead of ditching the pineapple core of your next fresh pineapple try this idea to make it into a simple tasty smoothie! The core has an awesome pineapple flavor and a thick almost gritty texture when blended.

You don’t buy fresh pineapple cause you don’t know how to cut it, you say. Ahhh I have a video for you! ;~P

Here’s what the toddler and I did this morning. As you can see.. he liked it! :)

• 1 small-medium naval orange peeled
• 1/2 medium banana
• 1/2 of a pineapple core sliced
• 2 ice cubes

Separate the orange into sections and pulverize in the blender alone. This will give you a liquid base.

Slice the pineapple core to help it blend easier.

Add the banana and pineapple core to the blender . Blend until smooth. Add the ice cubes and blend again.

Drink away! :)

Here’s the toddler waiting patiently and then enjoying (my favorite picture of all time!) :)

Way back when I did a produce pick for fresh pumpkin but for the most part I stick to the canned pureed stuff. It’s just so darn convenient!

Now yesterday the toddler LOVED it. He actually drank most of mine. But this morning he declared he didn’t like it. I think it was because he first had a strawberry one and this just isn’t as sweet. Either way I’m declaring it toddler approved! :)

• 1/2 cup canned pumpkin (120g)
• 1/2 cup vanilla fat free yogurt (I used a 4oz Activia- it was all I had)
• 1/2 cup soy milk (I used light chocolate… again all I had! I think vanilla would be better)
• 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
• 2-3 ice cubes

Place all ingredients in the blender until smooth!

Can’t get much easier then that!