Green Drink

Salads are wonderful. As a gardener and vegetable lover, I love salads. In fact, if I had to write a list of favorite summer things, salads would be on it. (The rest of the year here is just too cold to eat large, fresh salads!) But I have a not-so-secret secret: my favorite way to eat my veggies is to drink them.

This past week has been unseasonably warm. Normally we're approaching fall here, which means cool, crisp September days. Our current highs have been in the upper 80s and 90s, full of humidity. In order to avoid turning on the stove - and to get cool refreshments into our system - we've been enjoying smoothies galore.  Mom doesn't usually measure quantities so gathering recipes can be difficult. (She is a master in the kitchen, an intuitive food genius - a talent that I did not inherit, except, perhaps, for pasta dishes.) But, consider yourselves lucky! I managed to get this homemade recipe off of her.

Since we use a Vitamix, I cannot promise how this drink will come out in a regular blender. Odds are, it will not be as smooth and well-blended. (Hopefully just as delicious. though!)

Ingredients:
3 large leaves of organic kale. (Remove the leafy greens from the spine and stem. Do what you will with the stem and spine of the kale - composting is great! - but you'll want the greens for this).
1 handful of organic baby spinach
1/2 organic pear juice
2 cups water
3 cups of frozen organic mixed fruit (mango, pineapples, and strawberries).

Yield: ~32oz (4 8-ounce glasses)

Additions:
My family and I are used to some pretty green smoothies. We started off with berry smoothies and progressively migrated to green, vegetable-filled ones. For us this is sweet enough as-is; however, others might find it is not what they are used to. Sweetness can be added by putting in organic honey  or increasing the quantity of berries and fruit. 1/2 of a frozen ripe banana (one that was allowed to sugar) can also be used as additional sweetener. Keep in mind with more frozen fruits used, it might become necessary to check the consistency of the drink after blending in order to thin it with more water.

I also do not recommend this drink as a meal. Often we drink this as a side to our meal for our vegetables, or the precursor to our meal, to get the digestive system going in the morning before protein. We never drink our smoothies without following with a protein of some kind. Protein is hugely important in preventing blood sugar spikes, including ones caused by natural sugars in fruits.Another thing we often do is drop in 1/2 an avocado for healthy fat. Healthy fats also decrease blood sugar spikes and help satiate you. Plus healthy fats in a diet help to maintain good nerve health. With a family history of nerve disorders and Alzheimer's, and more...I want to keep myself like a well-oiled machine. (Pun not intended, I swear! ;) ) In case you're interested in trying avocados in the drink, know that avocados will give the drink a smooth consistency and may give it a "greener" taste (although we haven't experienced this). If it is too much, add in more fruit. Eventually you'll accustom to it. My suggestion would be to try the drink without the avocado first, with any other adjustments, and then add in the avocado. It's easier to not-add than to take-away!

Happy drinking!

You're Melon me Jealous

I couldn't help myself.

One of my favorite parts about summer is fresh fruits and veggies. New England does not bode well to either of these 3/4 of the year. Summer is our only season - and a painfully miniscule short one. My family and I always stock up. We flock to farmer's markets, supermarkets, and local farmers to get fresh, in-season fruits and veggies. What we cannot eat, we freeze or bake. (We eat a lot.)

For my mother and I, our go-to summer breakfast starts off with a green drink or juice. Something quick to get a jolt of nutrients into our hungry cells and give our digestive system the ol' kick-in-the-pants start up. To make our juices we use a powerful juicer - Wolfgang Puck Juice Press - so that we squeeze the most out of the greens, veggies, and fruits used. For our smoothies, though, we use our Vitamix. We've had our Vitamix for at least 12 years and it is still kicking - I cannot imagine not having it! We use it for everything. (Homemade almond and cashew milk, homemade flours and nut-meals, soups, smoothies, and more!) It is so powerful that you waste nothing. Mom drops in whole fruits and veggies, giving us the full potency of all of its healthful goodness.

Our beloved drinks include a apple-carrot juice or a green drink (consisting of greens and other veggies, sweetened only with an apple or some berries). Mom has gotten to the point where she does not use a recipe book. She grabs whatever vegetables and fruits are lying around and throws together the perfect combination. I bow to her culinary skills. (The only "fly by the seat of my pants" cooking I do is with grilled cheese and pasta dishes.) Every drink is an entirely new creation.

Next to an amazing cucumber drink she made recently, Mom's latest combo is my new favorite! (Side note: I highly recommend trying any smoothie that includes cucumber - you will rarely find a more refreshing summer drink!)  This time she wrote down the instructions so we can make it again.

Now I'm passing it along to you.

Ingredients
1 cup coconut water *
1 whole small watermelon
1 whole small cantaloupe melon
1 whole small honey dew melon


* While any coconut water can be used, my family and I have a favorite. For years we were forcing - or, uh, trying unsuccessfully to force - ourselves to drink several other brands. They made us gag. The didn't taste like coconut. They all tasted funky, disgusting. They just weren't good.  This one, though! Oh my goodness. Taste Nirvana's Real Coconut Water with pulp (packaged in glass) is amazing. Although it is not organic, the company does attempt to have a more eco-friendly business. Plus, it was refreshing, revitalizing, and incredibly flavorful - just like coconut water should be. My local health food store has me addicted.

Instructions
1. Dice the whole small watermelon, cantaloupe, and honey dew melons.

2. Mix the three together in one huge bowl or storage container, so that they form a mixed melon dish.

3. Place 4 cups of this mixed melon mixture into a blender or Vitamix.

4. Add 1 cup of coconut water

5. Blend until smooth, frothy, and well-combined. When complete, pour into glasses, kick up your feet, grab a good book and sip your way into paradise bliss! Enjoy as summer sweetness dances upon your tongue. You won't regret it!

Serving size: roughly three tall glasses (~12oz each) of juice.

**Drink within 24 hours to maintain nutritional benefit.

Summer Sweetness: Baked Strawberry Shortcake Guest Post

Happy Father’s day!

This past week has been one of the craziest weeks I have had all summer – I have barely slowed down! Between Father's Day shenanigans, exams, weddings, pet sitting, house sitting, and prepping for a fun blogger meet-up next week, I’ve barely been able to keep up. I have a lot of future blog posts in the works, stuck in my back pocket for days where I have a few short hours to spare. This week, though, I knew that getting a post out would be just impossible so I begged and pleaded for help. And it came!

The wonderful Olivia over at LivLoveLaugh is guest posting for me this week as a scramble around, trying to keep my head attached to my body. (Ah!) I’m uber (uberuberuber) grateful for her help. She is a wonderful young woman, a great writer – and I was super excited to see she was a fellow homeschooler! Olivia and I have a lot in common, between that, a lot of writing, photographing every bit of everyday life, being college students, and, of course, the most important: giving our pets adorable nicknames. I love her posts, particularly her Tuesday Loves posts, Blogger University posts, and her lists posts (such as this gem here on five garage sale items you never have to buy retail…this yard-sale gal loved that one!). Please check out her page, I know she’d love the love – and I’d love to give back to her for helping out!

You can find her at her blog as well as on Twitter and Instagram @livlivinglife, and on FB @livlovelaughblog

Since it is a special holiday, it’s only fitting we have a little something sweet! Olivia is about to show as a delicious, simple and quick strawberry shortcake that will satisfy that craving. Keep reading to see it - but, be warned, you might want to make sure you have strawberries on hand! Her pictures will leave you wanting for some of your own. 

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Strawberry shortcake is a dessert that just screams summer to me.

After a long day at my internship, I’m not usually in the mood to cook anything special. That’s where this dessert comes in: it’s easy, quick, and delicious.

First, let’s bake the strawberries. This is a technique that seems to have gotten popular on Pinterest lately, so I looked at a few recipes and decided to try it.

Ingredients:

            Strawberries: however many you’d like! I used one quart.

            Sugar (optional): a couple of tablespoons

            Vanilla extract (optional): two or three teaspoons

This actually couldn’t be easier. Take a carton of strawberries—they were on sale at our grocery store this week for half off!—rinse them, and cut them up. You can slice them, but I decided to go with the quick and dirty quarters.

Strawberries, quick & dirty quarter style - Katie

If you want them to be a little more flavorful and bring out the natural sweetness, put them in a bowl and let them marinate with a little sugar and some vanilla extract for about half an hour. I did this while I cooked the rest of my dinner.

Vanilla & sugar

Giving the strawberries a little soak so that their
personality will make more of a punch ;).
- Katie

Then, spread the berries on a baking sheet and stick them in a 350-degree oven for roughly twenty minutes. They’ll get a deeper red, juicy and extra sweet, even more delicious than fresh berries!

Since it’s probably warm outside (I know it’s warm in my apartment!) making a quick shortcake and baking it at the same time as the strawberries means having the oven on for less time so you can stay cool! You could always buy shortcake, but it tastes so much better homemade and takes only basic ingredients. I used this recipe you pretty much just cut the butter into flour and sugar, add milk, stir and bake.

To assemble:

Layer shortcake, baked strawberries, and whipped cream. Drizzle the strawberry juice on top.

The finished product -- it just makes you want to
eat it up right now. Where's my fork?! - Katie

Voila! An easy, fresh, delicious summer dessert.