Summer is Smoothie Time!

Cappuccino Banana Smoothie

I first learned about smoothies as a student at Florida State University (Nature’s Way Restaurant…ah, how I miss you and your menu!) They’re quick, easy, as nutritious as you want to make them and (most importantly for kids) yummy!

There are a gazillion smoothie recipes on the Web (here’s a good place to start: ), but my basic recipe is:

Fruit Smoothie

Ingredients:

1 cup milk
1 frozen banana
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

Put all ingredients in a blender. Blend until smooth. Serve. Done!

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You can substitute any liquid you want for the milk (almond milk, soy milk, apple juice, pineapple juice, etc.) and replace the banana with any combination of frozen fruit. In the Cappuccino Banana Smoothie pictured above, I used 1/2 cup coffee, 1/2 cup milk and 1 frozen banana. Oh! And 1/4 cup ground oats. Really, a smoothie’s ingredient list is only limited by your imagination.

For a more ice cream like consistency, decrease the amount of milk. Other ingredients to try are cocoa powder, cinnamon, honey, plain yogurt. And, of course, the current craze is to add spinach or kale to smoothies. (Personally, I prefer those greens sauteed with a bit of garlic, so I don't need to drink them...)

A note about the frozen banana---I peel my over-ripe bananas and put them in the freezer for smoothies. Some people leave them in their skins, but I think that's a pain...perhaps that works best for banana bread when it has to be defrosted anyway, but I prefer to freeze my bananas peeled. I also slice the frozen bananas before putting them in the blender. I recognize that there are inherent dangers to this approach, but I've got a method that's fairly safe. You, being wiser than I, may choose to slice the bananas and then freeze them. Totally up to you!

Hmmm...I wonder what smoothie combination I shall try tomorrow...

Our house smelled heavenly

Image from OurBestBites.com

Last Sunday a mystery neighbor gifted us with a dozen homegrown tomatoes. That very day, I followed this recipe and popped them in the oven for a couple of hours. They were absolutely divine.

Basically, you just quarter some tomatoes and chop some garlic. Then coat everything in olive oil, salt and pepper, arrange it all on a cookie sheet, and roast for a couple of hours. It is unbelievably yummy and easy. A perfect combination for this busy mom.

After figuring out who our benefactor was, I thanked him profusely. I was so obviously pleased with the tomatoes that he promised me more later this summer. I plan on adding minced, fresh basil to that batch!

Best pumpkin cake ever

Really. It turns out the secret to extra-moist cake is vegetable oil!?

My recipe is based on this one. Despite having lots of oil and sugar it is AMAZING. So far my adjustments to the ingredients have not disrupted the integrity of its flavor or moistness. Once I've got the recipe down, I'll try making cupcakes with it. I can't imagine the format would make a difference to the final output, but better safe than sorry.

I first concentrated on replacing the white flour with as much wheat flour as possible. (I've got it to 1 cup white flour and 1 cup wheat flour.) Next was to reduce the sugar...so far I've brought it down from 2 cups to 1 1/4 cup. Of course, the sugar reduction was negated by the 3/4 cup of chocolate chips I added, but it's still better than the chocolate plus the original amount of sugar.

Right?

I tried reducing the oil and adding applesauce. I found that the interior moistness remained, but it gave the exterior a slight crunchiness that I didn't like. I'd rather just keep all the oil and not eat the cake like it's a main dish.

Just in case the link becomes unavailable, here's my modified version of the recipe:

PUMPKIN CHOCOLATE CHIP CAKE

Ingredients

1 ¼ cups white sugar
1 1/4 cups vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups canned pumpkin
4 eggs

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 cup chocolate chips (optional)

Directions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 12x18 inch pan. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Set aside.
• In a large bowl combine sugar and oil. Blend in vanilla and pumpkin, then beat in eggs one at a time. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in chocolate chips. Spread batter into prepared 12x18 inch pan.
• Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Allow to cool.