Category: Recipes

I’ve been looking for a healthy and tasty green smoothie recipe for a while now.  Then, about a week ago we were making our regular bi-weekly trip to Costco and came upon a demo for one of those high-powered blenders.  The lady doing the demonstration said, “Go ahead, try the smoothie. Those are my last two.”

Sienna and I gave the green smoothie a taste.  It was delicious!

“What’s in this?” I asked.

“Banana, orange, pineapple, lime juice, spinach,” the woman rattled off.

I proceed to pick up the ingredients we were missing at the grocery store and made the smoothie at home last weekend.   Sienna and I had it for breakfast last week and I made it again for lunch today.  Delicious!

Green Smoothie

• 1 1/4 cup frozen banana
• juice from 1/2 a lime
• 1 large or 2 small navel oranges
• 1/2 cup canned chunk pineapple
• 1/4 – 1/3 cup pineapple juice (from the canned pineapple) or apple juice
• 2 cups fresh spinach

1. Put the frozen banana in the blender first and break it down.

2. Add the rest of the ingredients to the blender and pulse to incorporate.  If it doesn’t blend well, add more liquid.

3. Once everything is mixed, blend for 20 seconds or so.

This made two 8 ounce servings for us.

Enjoy!

Years ago I started making pancakes from scratch using the Basic Pancakes recipe in my trusty Joy of Cooking cookbook.  Since moving into our house a couple of years ago, these pancakes have become a staple of our Saturday morning routine.  I’ve tried variations to make these more diabetic or paleo friendly, with mixed results from my refined flour loving husband and children.

This recipe is the compromise that incorporates enough healthy ingredients to satisfy mommy and enough refined stuff to keep the kids (and our resident food critic, daddy) happy!

I’m calling these “Everyday Pancakes” because my kids eat them practically daily.  The big batch on Saturday leaves us with lots of leftovers that Dennis or I will toast for them for a quick and convenient breakfast on weekday mornings.

Everyday Pancakes

• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter – melted
• 1 1/2 cups milk*
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup ground flax meal
• 1/4 cup finely ground almond or cashew meal
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

* Pancakes will be fluffiest if you use milk that contains fat.  I typically use 1% milk, which works very well; nonfat will produce a flat pancake.  Whole milk will produce the thickest, fluffiest pancake.

1. Melt butter in small microwave proof dish
2. Warm milk in microwave (so the cold milk doesn’t cause the melted butter to solidify)
3. Whisk melted butter, milk, eggs, and vanilla in small bowl
4. Whisk flour, flax meal, nut meal, sugar, baking powder, and salt in large bowl
5. Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and mix until just combined
6. Resist the urge to mix well – (this is much easier said than done for me!)
7. Use a measuring cup to spoon batter onto griddle (1/3 cup makes a good size)
8. Flip when bubbles appear on top
9. Having a six-year-old, in a princess dress, help flip the pancakes is highly encouraged!
10. Top with butter and real maple syrup… enjoy!