Healthy Smoothies and Salad

Hey all!  So classes started right after Labor Day and since I'm a full time student I've been doing a lot of homework and studying and less baking. :-( I also just recently started a part time job, so my social life and personal time will be extremely limited.  I'll bake and cook whenever I can find the time, and I will find time because this is the best season for baking!  Pumpkins, apples, and holidays galore!

So for this post, I have three smoothies to share and my go-to salad recipe.  The next few posts will be baking because I did manage to get some time in a few weeks ago.  So expect to see a granola recipe, a coffee cake, and pound cake.  :-)

The first smoothie is a berry one, here's what you'll need:

• 1 cup water
• 1 container of Fage fat-Free Greek Yogurt, or 3/4 cup of your favorite yogurt
• 1 cup frozen or fresh berries
• 1 tablespoon chia seeds
• 1 packet of Stevia in the Raw

Blend until smooth.

The second smoothie is a green smoothie, here's what you'll need:

• 1 cup milk, I used non-sweetened vanilla almond milk
• 1 handful of spinach
• 1 banana
• 1/2 cup strawberries (frozen or fresh)

Blend until smooth.

And lastly, another green smoothie, you'll need:

• 1 cup water
• 1 handful spinach
• 1/2-1 cup raspberries (fresh or frozen)
• 1 banana
• 1 tablespoon chia seeds

Blend until smooth.

For the salad, I got the idea from those Eat This Not That! books as well as a local restaurant's menu. You will need:

• Spinach or Romaine lettuce 
• Strips of cooked chicken
• 1 apple cut into small pieces
• 1/2 cup walnuts
• 1/2 cup crumbled cheese, feta or goat works well

Enjoy! 

Strawberry Power Pina Colada Smoothie

This was my breakfast this morning, and it was delicious, I didn't even need to add agave nectar, honey, or stevia to make it sweet.  My husband bought me Paleo Cooking from Elana's Pantry by Elana Amsterdam about a month ago.  She's also the author of the Gluten-Free Cupcakes and Gluten-Free Almond Flour Cookbook, as well as a food blogger of www.elanaspantry.com. 

At first I wasn't sure what the paleo diet was, but apparently it is a gluten-free, grain-free, dairy-free, and legume-free diet.  The diet also avoids processed food, but we all should avoid those type of foods.  Anyway, this recipe has a lot of coconut ingredients, but I honestly didn't taste any of it.  It wasn't an overwhelming flavor, you taste the pineapple and strawberries more.  It also called for egg white protein powder, but I just used my rice protein powder instead. 

Here's what you'll need:

• 3/4 cup bottled coconut water
• 1/2 cup coconut milk
• 1 cup frozen pineapple chunks
• 1 cup frozen or fresh strawberries ( I used fresh to avoid brain freeze.)
• 1 tablespoon coconut oil, at room temperature
• 1/4 cup or 1 serving of rice protein powder (I used the vanilla flavored one by NutriBiotic.)

Puree in a blender and enjoy! Serves two just in case you wanted to know.  ;-)

Strawberry Cupcakes with Strawberry Meringue Frosting

Okay, again, it's been too long since I last updated my blog.  A lot has been going on in my life, but I'm not going to bore you with the details.  I'm finished with classes for the summer, well, I have one, it's on-line though.  I don't have a summer job (yet, but I'm hoping somebody will get back to me), so I will probably be updating this blog a lot. 

I made these cupcakes yesterday since I had a lot of strawberries that were probably going to go bad soon, so I wanted to use them for something.  This recipe comes from Gluten-Free Cupcakes by Elana Amsterdam.  It's the first recipe I've made from this book and they turned out great.  The frosting was a little too sweet for my taste, but the cupcakes weren't overly sweet at all, so it was balanced out.  The only bad thing about this recipe was it only makes 8 cupcakes, so if you're making them for an event, you might want to double or triple the recipe, same goes for the frosting.

Here's what you'll need:

• 1/2 cup coconut flour
• 1 tablespoon arrowroot powder
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 4 large eggs
• 1/2 cup agave nectar
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup finely chopped fresh strawberries

Here's what you'll need for the frosting:

•  1/4 cup agave nectar
• 2 egg whites
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh stawberries

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Line 8 muffin cups with paper liners.

In a large bowl, combine the coconut flour, arrowroot, salt, and baking soda.  In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, agave, and vanilla.

 Blend the wet ingredients into the coconut flour mixture with a handheld mixer until thoroughly combined, then fold in the strawberries.

Scoop a few tablespoons of batter into each prepared muffin cup.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out with just a few moist crumbs attached.  Let the cupcakes cool in the pan for 1 hour, then frost and serve.

Now onto the frosting:  In a small saucepan over medium heat, bring the agave to a boil, stirring constantly.  Decrease the heat to low and simmer for 6 to 10 minutes, stirring on occasion, until the agave darkens slightly from its original amber color.  Remove from heat and set aside.

In a deep bowl, whip the egg whites to stiff peaks using a handheld mixer.  Stop whipping as soon as the egg whites are stiff.

Could have been stiffer.

Drizzle the warm agave very slowly into the egg whites, while whipping with a handheld mixer, to keep the peaks stiff.  Allow to cool to room temperature, then fold the strawberries into the meringue.  Use right away.

Enjoy!