Mocha Frappuccino Green Smoothie

Okay, so yes it's green.  In fact it's VERY green :)  I'm sure it's not what most people would expect a mocha frappuccino to look like, but it's MUCH better for you than one of those admittedly delicious, but sugar-laden concoctions and it honestly does taste yummy.  

I have green smoothies 3-4 mornings per week, always after boot camp classes and sometimes just because I can't think of what else to have for breakfast.  They're a quick and easy way to get a good protein punch and fit in some veggies at the same time.  I'm not really one for fruity smoothies, in fact I rarely add fruit at all anymore.  So this is pretty much the way I usually make my morning smoothie, but I decided to add some coffee substitute today to change it from chocolate to mocha.  

I like to use quite a few frozen ingredients as it keeps the drink nice and cold and gives it more of a frappuccino texture.

Here's what I did...

 

 Added about 3 cups frozen organic spinach to the Vitamix container

 

Added 1 scoop of protein powder

 

  This is my favourite protein powder (chocolate)

 This is prepared Irish moss (the always lovely Meghan will show you how to make it here.

 I added one heaping tablespoon of the Irish moss

 and about 1/2 cup flax mylk

 I cube of frozen coconut milk (I freeze coconut milk in ice cube trays for just this purpose)

 and a few ice cubes to make it frosty

 raw cacao nibs (oh so delicious and oh so good for you)

 I added 2 tablespoons of the cacao nibs

 and a couple of teaspoons (all I had left) of this coffee sub. (made from roasted barley, rye, chicory and beet)

Blitzed it all up in my trusty Vitamix and gobbled it up.  Of course no green smoothie (or other delicious beverage) should ever be enjoyed through anything but a beautiful Strawsome glass straw!

Homemade Mayonnaise 

I made some homemade mayo a few weeks ago and although I loved it, Perry and Krestan both thought it was too 'coconutty'.  I used a mixture of melted coconut oil and extra-virgin olive oil.  The coconut flavour really did rather take over and it was detectable in everything I added it to.  So today I decided to try using half extra-virgin olive oil and half avocado oil.  I think this is definitely a better combination as the flavour isn't anywhere near as strong.  I also do not worry about the eggs being raw, although I know some people are squeamish about this.  The eggs we use are pastured and are very fresh, so I don't concern myself about it.  I'm so thankful that I have a Vitamix.  It makes life so much easier when it comes to things like making homemade mayo :-)

Here's what I did...

I put 3 pastured eggs into the Vitamix.

Then I added 1 1/4 teaspoons mustard powder, 1 1/2 teaspoons Celtic sea salt and 1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice.

I turned the Vitamix on and quickly turned the speed up to #10 and then on to high.  Next, I slowly streamed in 4/5 cup of avocado oil and 4/5 cup extra-virgin olive oil.

And in about 1 minute, I had this lovely, creamy homemade mayonnaise.  YUM!

Quinoa Flatbread with Flax and Chia

I found this flatbread recipe on Pinterest the other day and thought it would be a nice option for us since we've completely cut out wheat and most grains.

It turned out pretty well, although I think I'd do a little tweaking next time.  Even though it's a flatbread, I think I'd like it a little bit lighter, so I plan to use some baking soda next time.  It really is a great recipe though and came together in next to no time.  We ate it for dinner with mussels in a spicy garlic sauce.

Here's what I did...

 

 Put 2 cups of quinoa flour in a large bowl.

 Added 1 teaspoon Celtic sea salt, 2 tablespoons psyllium husk and 1 teaspoon garlic powder.

 Then I added 2 tablespoons of flax seeds and 2 tablespoons of chia seeds.

 Next I stirred in 1 1/2 cups water and let the batter sit for about 5 mins. while the oven heated to 400F.

 Then I dolloped the dough in circles onto a parchment-lined baking sheet and used wet hands to form it into small patties (about 4" across).  My dough made 10 in total.

 I sprinkled sesame seeds on top and gently pressed them down so they'd stick.

Baked them for 20 minutes, rotating pans after 10.  Then cooled them on wire racks.

Protein Bars for my Valentine

 

I decided to make some protein bars for Perry to take to work for breakfast on Tuesday.  I figured since it was going to be Valentine's Day, I'd make a few of them heart-shaped.  The shape wasn't quite as perfect as I'd hoped, but I was very happy with the flavour and texture.  

I found this recipe and thought it sounded like a winner.
It had just about everything I was looking for, so I only had to change a couple of things.

Here's what I did...

 I put 2 cups of almonds and 1/4 cup ground flax seed into my food processor.  Didn't worry too much about the flax being completely ground up.

I added 1/2 cup raisins and 1/2 cup unsweetened coconut to the food processor

plus 1 teaspoon Celtic sea salt, 1/2 cup hemp hearts and 1/4 cup chia seeds.

 Then I processed it, but left it a bit chunky.

Next, I added 1/4 cup vanilla protein powder (sweetened with stevia)

and 1/3 cup raw cacao powder and processed the whole lot.

Then, in a medium saucepan, I gently melted 1/4 cup virgin coconut oil then added the contents of the food processor as well as 1/2 cup almond butter.

I mixed it all together and scooped it into silicone heart-shaped molds.  Then I topped them with melted 70% cocoa chocolate.

I popped them into the freezer for an hour and voila!

Blueberry Butternut Squash Muffins

 

  

This is a recipe I've been playing around with for some time.  The  original idea came from this recipe.

If you read my blog regularly, you know that I love Meghan Telpner and often use her recipes, or bits and pieces thereof :-)  This one actually came from one of her assistants.  I started off using 2 kinds of sweeteners, as the original called for, but found we didn't think it needed that much.  So I've made it with maple syrup, or coconut palm sugar (my fav. low GI sweetener) and this time I tried it with raw honey.  I've also used various kinds of flour in this recipe, including oat, brown rice, premade gluten-free blends, arrowroot, tapioca, etc...  This time I used a mix of besan (ground chickpeas), oat and brown rice flours.  I think this might be the one that's baked up lightest and fluffiest so far.  This is also the first time I've used blueberries in this particular recipe.  I usually use dates or raisins.

Here's what I did...

 Cut in half a beautiful butternut squash I bought at our favourite organic farm (Simpler Thyme in Waterdown, On.)

 Roasted it for 45 minutes in a 400F oven (on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper)

 Cooled, then mashed the squash

 Put it into the bowl of my stand mixer with 2 organic eggs

 And 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil (I usually use coconut oil for this, but thought it would make a change) and 1/2 cup raw honey

 Mixed it all together 

 Then added 1/2 cup oat flour (I just ground the oats myself), 1/2 cup chickpea flour and 1/2 cup brown rice flour

 Added 3 tablespoons lucuma, 2 tablespoons chia seeds, 2 teaspoons baking soda, 2/3 tsp. Celtic sea salt, 1 tablespoon ground ginger, 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon & 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

This is lucuma.  Some info. on it can be found here.

 Then I added 2/3 cup chopped, raw walnuts

 And one and a half cups frozen blueberries

 Folded them in gently and then dolloped the mixture into large muffin liners

 I baked them for 28 minutes at 350F (rotating trays halfway through cooking time)

Finished!!