Green Smoothies and Thoughts on Them

Monique, one of my best friends, has for a long time been telling me about Green Smoothies. She loves them, raves about them, praises them. A few months ago I was at her house to watch the LDS General Conference, and we were putting together a haphazard lunch between sessions, and she made us each a green smoothie [see pictures here]. I was surprised how unlike a salad it tasted.

Then, a few weeks ago, I was in the store looking for breakfast foods. I feel like breakfast, more than any other meal, has been taken over by the mass production and sugar culture, (Who has time in the morning to cook any more?) and so I find it hard to find satisfying breakfast foods. I'd been making a lot of omelettes, which were great, but I was getting tired of having eggs for breakfast every day. I love pancakes, but those take me too long to make, so are more of a weekend thing. French toast is actually pretty quick, too, but I feel like I can't make it delicious with out also making it super sugary, thus not the ideal choice for everyday breakfasts.  As I mused on theses things, I found that I'd wandered to the frozen fruits and I remembered Monique's green smoothies. So, I called her up, asked her for the recipe, and started making some smoothies for breakfast.

I'll be honest...sometimes they do taste like salad if you're not careful. But, most of the time they are delicious.



Random memory: Many, many years ago, I was talking with a friend who was describing his in-laws to me. He told me about how his father-in-law made "shakes out of lettuce and spinach and stuff." [I like how I use quotes there, as though I could actually remember verbatim what he said all those years ago...] For a long time I thought that Mr. In-Law must have been a strange dude... Spinach Shakes? Gross.

It was only a few days ago, as I was preparing the pictures for this post, that I remembered what my friend had told me and realized that the in-law must have been making what we now, perhaps he then, called green smoothies. Of course, maybe it was "green smoothies" in the story I was told, I don't know, I wouldn't have known what that meant without the description anyways. I know that I am more food savvy now, but I also think that the popularity of the smoothies are on the rise. In fact, they're all the rage now, almost trendy. When I brought up green smoothies with my friends at work everyone knew what they were and one girl said that she also has been making them for over a month, and also likes them. She said she had heard about them for a while, but didn't want to try them, just cause they seemed too popular. They have the same stigma as yoga: once for hippies, but now for trendy health nuts.

Well, trendy or crazy as they are, I like them, so I am going to keep at it. The recipe below.



Green smoothies have a lot of room for variation, which is one of the reasons I like them. Thus, the description below is probably better called a Guideline then a Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 C Water (or a fruit juice! I've recently been doing 1/2 C natural Lemonade and 1/2 C water)
• 2 generous handfulls of spinach, kale, dark green lettuce, etc.
• 1 Carrot
• 1 Banana (The banana is a must. Nothing hides the salad flavor better than a banana!)
• 1 C frozen fruit (I've been using mixed berries of late)

Other ingredients:

• Really any fruit will taste good in this. I've sometimes been adding a pear butter that we made last summer, and that gives a nice mellow flavor. Apples would be good.
• Honey or agave. Sometimes I add a bit of honey to sweeten it. Though, with the fruit juice this has never been necessary. 
• Dairy. My friend at work said that she sometimes put milk, yogurt, or even cottage cheese in hers. I had recently made some chocolate ice cream and still had the unfrozen base left, so I put some chocolate cream in, and that was good too.

I don't have a very good blender yet, so I've been using a food processor, and I found that the following process works best for me:

1. Put the water/juice in first.
2. Add the carrot. Let this blend for a bit so that the carrot gets as liquidated as possible.
3. Add the greens slowly, in about three batches, and blend until they are liquefied as well.
4. Add the banana and any other fresh fruit.
5. Add the frozen fruit.
6. Blend it all until it is at smoothie consistency.

The following picture is from before I developed the perfect step by step process, so that's why they're all in the blender together. If I had a Blendtec blender I would just put it all in. But alas...they are expensive.



So, there you have it, green smoothies. Once I thought they would be gross, now I enjoy them frequently. They are not as fast as cereal or toast, but they are about as quick as eggs or French toast, quicker still then pancakes or waffles. They are filling, and will keep my satisfied until lunch on most days.

Ever since I was a kid I thought that it'd be great to have smoothies for breakfast everyday, but never did. Now I get to live my childhood dream. Also, I am getting a lot more greens in my diet. So my kid self and my responsible self both get what they want. Besides, it is the only time I have ever been trendy. Win-win-win.



I thought it was essential to make one that was actually green. This one is made without the berries, but extra pear and banana.

Homemade Marshmallows

It was during the holidays I got the idea to make homemade marshmallows. I was searching for a great candy recipe and found it. Life being what it is, it wasn't until February that I finally got around to trying my hand at this simple treat. It really is simple, having a kitchen aid stand mixer made it all the easier. The hardest and messiest part was putting the corn starch and powdered sugar coating around each piece so they wouldn't stick to each other. Next time I think I'll need to add more flavoring.

I made them on Valentine's Day, so dyed them pink and cut out heart shapes for my kids. Growing up, my mom always gave us a valentine from her and Dad. She never put any additional words, but would get one of the standard valentines we handed out to our classmates and write, "love mom and dad". She would be sure to put in a little bit of candy, usually conversation hearts. When my older siblings moved out, I saw she would make a little care package for Valentine's day. I was still living at home when she died, so I never got one. I've always wished I had.
I really wanted to make the marshmallows for this cookie recipe. Chocolate with soft marshmallow with sour cream chocolate frosting is a definite hit! Even though the cookies were a little weird on account of me adding wheat flour (bad habit of trying to make treats healthy), every time I bit into a cookie and meet the soft marshmallow I was happy.

The cool triple layer look helps a lot, too.

Chocolate Suprises From Family Fun Dec/Jan 2011

Ingredients:

For the cookies:

2 cups flour

1 cup cocoa powder

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

1 cup light brown sugar, packed

1 large egg

1/2 cup whole milk

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

10 strawberry or other flavored marshmallows, cut in half

For the icing:

3 cups confectioners' sugar

1/3 cup cocoa powder

1/2 cup sour cream

Heat oven to 350. In a medium bowl, sift together flour, cocoa powder, salt, cinnamon, and baking powder and set aside.
Using an electric mixer on medium-high speed, cream all the butter and the brown sugar until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the egg and beat until mixed, about 1 minute. Combine the milk and vanilla. Turn the mixer to low speed and add half the milk mixture. Slowly add half the flour mixture, then the remaiing milk mixture, then the remaining flour mixture. Mix until well blended, about 1 minute.
Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Using a 2 tablespoon scoop, drop balls of the dough onto the sheet, leaving about 3 inches between them. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove the cookies from the oven and top each with a halved marshmallow, cut side down, pressing it into the dough. Bake for an additional 4 minutes then cool the cookies on a rack. (I think you need to press the balls of dough before they start cooking, when I made them they didn't spread out at all)
Make the icing; sift the confectioners' sugar and cocoa powder in a large bowl. Stir in the sour cream until it's smooth. Top the cookies with the icing so that the marshmallow is completely covered. Allow the icing to set, about 1 hour, before serving.

Let's Marinade in Fun - by Amy

I threw a party recently for my best friend Lara before she and her husband moved to Montenegro. Giving the couple a chance to say goodbye to their friends and the friends a chance to wish them well was, of course, the goal. But could this, or any gathering, be accomplished without the help of snacks and drinks? It would have been a shorter, less festive gathering, thats for sure! So, let's talk about food...

My perspective? I could spout the usual: food is sensual, food is communal, food is about tradition, family, ritual. Eh - I don't know that we need to wade in those waters too much.

I eat because it is entertaining, while sitting down to a fresh plate of arugala with apples and gorgonzola with Lara at our party, we talk about what they will eat in Montenegro, what our favorite foods are here in San Diego (fresh avocados are our favorite!!) Because talking about food is almost as fun as the consuming and cooking of it. Well, definately more fun than cooking it, even though I like cooking. I like it more for the final product, you feel me here, don't ya?

With festivities in mind, I want to share ideas for entertaining:

1. Let your guests bring something if they offer - this lets them feel like they are really part of the part-y, get it?

2. A few really great savory dishes and two sweet ones are better than an over abundance of choices, this way you can stick to a theme and people will have an idea of what to bring .

3. Present your food purposefully, use platters, either matching or artfully mismatched. Paper plates, or tubberware don't make guests feel like the food is all that special. Also, you do double duty - you've decorated for the soiree at the same time. A well dressed table with a vase of flowers is all you need.

4. Enjoy yourself - this is basically my rule all the time, anytime.

Here's a coloful drink for any occasion:

Hibiscus Flower Mocktail

1 - hibiscus flower in syrup (check out your local gormet shop or http://www.wildhibiscus.com/ to order)

5 oz - sparkling clear soda ( I like diet sprite)

1 oz - cranberry juice

Hibiscus Flower Cocktail

Substitute your favorite sparkling wine for the soda.

The Power of Food/Writing

I just applied to teach a food writing class, and so have spent the last days or so thinking about what I needed to put in the application. I already teach a freshman-level writing class at Brigham Young University, and this application was to teach an "experimental" section of that freshman class. It is experimental because we suggest a deviation from the normal course of study and do something different than the standardized program provided by the University. So, I applied to teach a class that focuses on food writing, and in the course we will explore writing about food, but also the importance of food and food traditions in our culture and personal lives. The application was naturally bland and clinical (I hate that aspect of proposals; they always take fun, creative ideas and reduce them to useful standards). I had to include how my assignments and proposed course of study would help the students become better writers. While I understand that that is the ultimate goal of the class, still, I wanted to put in there why I love food so much.

Grilled Cheese and Orange, made from ciabatta bread made by Little Brother

Food is an inseparable part of my life. I am always making the joke that I am addicted to food, that "I couldn't live without it." But, more than that, I am fascinated by the power that food has. Our meetings do not feel complete without it. Even if all that are provided are chain-store donuts, we still feel like a gathering has been more effective and captivating if we have something to chew on. When someone is sad, we make them food. When we are sad we indulge in junk food or comfort foods. When we are celebrating, we eat. We eat when we are nervous, bored, irritated. Even when we have just eaten a large dinner, it is hard to pass up the veggie platter at the party we're attending. Despite knowing that the birthday cake in the office break room has more in common with plastic than pastry, we're still tempted by the festive frosting. Food has a magical sway over us. Food solves problems, is the impetus for family fights. When we eat family favorites we connect ourselves with a deep-rooted tradition that sometimes stretches to great-great-grandparents we don't know, and when we try something new we feel that we are exploring a rich wilderness that may, or may not, lead to El Dorado. This is what I wanted to express in my application.

Little Brother's ciabatta bread, sliced

Also, partly because the application didn't call for it and partly because I finished the application less than five minutes before it was due, I wanted to say how eating and reading have always been closely related, if not in reality, then at least metaphorically. We consume books, we eat up words, we are fed lines. And if eating and reading are synonymous, then it isn't a stretch to assume that cooking and writing are about the same process, too. There are is always a form to follow, a genre to fit in, and an audience to please. In the end, the situation and the audience determine what you write in the same way that where and to whom the dish will be served influences what you cook.

Grilled cheese and oil and vinegar

I suppose what I am trying to get at with all of this is that I love food and I love writing. And, while I know that I have my biases on both issues, I think that learning to write well and learning to eat well are both important life skills. There are times when a carefully written letter can move a nation, and there are times when only a thoughtfully prepared dinner will really express what you need to say.

Ciabatta bread, uncut, and in a golden light

Welcome to my Kitchen

In order to get to my kitchen, there are 3 entrances, the back glass sliding door, the garage door, or the family room. Regardless of which entrance you use, you will see my kitchen table first. Standard light pine oval table with 6 chairs, two currently connected to booster seats for my youngest. That kitchen table is the first real purchase my husband and I made for our home. We lived in a small townhouse when we first got married. That townhouse was great, except for the lack of eating space. We had taken an old goodwill wobbly table, stuck it against a wall, and squeezed past it everyday to go into that small kitchen. When we finally bought our first real house, my husband swore he wasn't going to take that old table, so to the furniture warehouse we went. I thought the fold-in table leaf was the greatest thing since sliced bread, remembering family dinners as a child and trying to not hit the wall as I had to bring the big table leaf into the dining room. This table we bought came with 4 chairs, my husband said we needed 6, for visitors. Looking at my family at the dinner table each night, I'm surprised at how fast those 6 chairs filled up. Now we bring in folding chairs from the basement when we have visitors and our table leaf is always out.




In my kitchen the fruit bowl is on the counter. If that bowl goes empty I will make a trip to the grocery store that day, because there has to be fresh fruit in my kids school lunches everyday. Also in their lunches is a treat, so I turned a pretzel jar into our snack jar, where the kids can choose a treat to put in their lunch. It's great for portioning out those cookies into snack bags to slow down my temptation to eat all of them at once. If the jar goes empty I don't run to the store, but I'll let my kids pick a bag of chips from the basement if there are any there.



In the corner behind my sink are my plants. Some of them are dead, others are taking over the whole area. I have 3 African violets, they seem impossible to kill. When I'm doing the dishes and a drinking cup with water needs to be put in the dishwasher, I pour the water into the plants instead of down the sink. Once I noticed my violet pot seemed to be bobbing. I took the plastic pot out of the ceramic pot and saw a full cup of water. The violet did not drown. More often than not, the violet soil is dried out. They still don't die, and I get cute flowers 3-4 times a year. There is a terrific plant with striped leaves I really like, but don't know the name of. It has been growing and stretching out of it's small pot and through the other plants. The plant leaves looks great at it's tips, but for some reason the leaves closest to the soil don't look so good. I would have thought it would be the other way around. I'm not sure what to do with that plant, so it continues growing outside it's bounds and looking almost-dead near it's roots.



On my stove is a red teapot. My husband bought it for me after years of asking why we had a discolored stained one. My answer was 'because it was my mom's and it works'. Most husbands would leave it well enough alone as sentimentality for the dead, but my was more practical. He was right, this one looks much better, I like red more than faded flowers.



My fridge is covered with alphabet and word magnets. My floor usually has it's fair share of them, too. When I sweep I always pick up the letters, but sometimes not the words. They don't seem to be used very much, and it seems to take so much effort to find the other words needed to turn your feelings into verse on the fridge that throwing away one or two at a time don't seem like that big of a deal. But now I don't know if I would have the words necessary for my children to become poets in the kitchen.

When my kitchen is clean, I get a terrific urge to bake. Cookies, cake, rolls, maybe even a pie. A clean kitchen will do that to me. There's something about a wiped of stove, an empty sink and cleared off counters that seem to be calling out, "use me, use me, what can we create today?"