Wannabe Frosty

We agreed that on this blog we would try to stick to non-dessert foods. But let's be honest - a LOT of what I make and eat is dessert. :) And my sweet tooth is definitely genetic, so I'm sure everyone else will enjoy this "recipe."

I know you've all heard of one-ingredient ice cream. If you haven't, then welcome to the world; click on the link, and make it. It's magical. We often (and I mean OFTEN) make banana ice cream and top it with strawberries, coconut flakes, slivered almonds, and chocolate sauce and call it banana splits. Because it tastes JUST like it, for a fraction of the calories.

But the other day, my husband, who is the blender king around here, decided to try something new. He made banana ice cream with milk and then threw in some Nutella with it. (I know, Nutella is NOT vegan. But it is sinfully delicious.) The result was surprisingly like a Wendy's frosty, albeit a little more banana-y. It was awesome. This would probably also work with chocolate syrup - anything to add some chocolate flavor in with the banana. And the milk just makes it more melty and soft-serve-ish. Yum. A perfect spring/summer healthy (ish)treat!

And there are no measurements because...you don't need any. That's the beauty of it. I would average at least a banana per serving you want, and just add in until it looks right!

Wannabe Frosty

Frozen bananas
Almond milk, start with 1/4 c. and add to your desired consistency (obviously you could use whatever kind of milk you want!)
Nutella or chocolate syrup

Combine all ingredients in food processor or blender and blend. Serve.

Magically Delicious Potato Soup

Since I missed my day to post due to being out of town, I'm making up for it today with a little extra Friday post.

Picture from Mel's Kitchen Cafe, one of my favorite food blogs

A couple years ago, our whole family together - it was probably Christmas. I was in charge of cooking one of the dinners, and I made a recipe I loved from a cookbook called Essential Mormon Celebrations: Secret Combinations for Holidays, Homecomings, Potluck Dinners, and More. It was called Creamy Potato Soup, and the description under the title said, "This savory soup warms the winter night."

Little did the cookbook authors know how much it warmed the winter night. In fact, it warmed everyone's winter LIFE. Everyone LOVED this soup. That was probably 4 years ago, but I still get phone calls every couple months from one sister or another asking for the recipe. It was so delicious, nobody has ever forgotten it. My only regret is that it's not vegan so I can't eat it anymore. But don't worry, I am planning a veganization of Creamy Potato Soup and then it will be the soup that takes over the world. Or something.

I know it's summer and most people are out of soup season, but when my phone rang at 6:15 this morning with another request for the recipe, I knew today would be the day I would share it with the world. Enjoy!

Magically Delicious Potato Soup

adapted from Essential Mormon Celebrations' Creamy Potato Soup

12 medium potatoes (I use russet, but whatever kind is fine)
1 c. chopped onion
1/4 c. butter or margarine
2 c. cream (THAT'S why everyone loves this soup!!)
3 c. milk
1 Tbsp. salt
grated cheddar cheese
sliced green onions (lots!)
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Peel and quarter potatoes and place in large pot. Fill pot with cold water just to cover potatoes. Put on lid; bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium and cook for 30 minutes or until tender.

Place chopped onions and butter/margarine in microwave-safe glass bowl and heat on high power for 2 minutes. (This is a lazy-man's saute - if you would rather, just do the normal thing and saute the chopped onions in melted butter on the stovetop until soft and transluscent. But the microwave method, surprisingly, does work just fine.) Set aside.

Remove potatoes from heat and drain. Add cream; stir together. Mash potatoes until mixture is smooth. I, like Linds, have been known to pull out my hand mixer to whip those babies lump-free, and it's a good idea with this soup.

Stir in milk, salt, and onion-butter mixture. Return pot to stove and simmer over low heat for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Watch carefully to avoid scorching on the bottom. Turn down heat if necessary. Salt and pepper to taste. (You'll definitely need at least a little salt - start with about a tsp. I do a few cracks of fresh-ground pepper.)

Pass cheese and green onions for topping individual servings. *

*We also served crispy crumbled bacon pieces on the soup, but I can't bring myself to actually put bacon in the recipe since am wholeheartedly anti-bacon. If you must, top individual bowls with bacon, but feel very very guilty about it.

Chili's {copycat} Salsa

My husband and I both LOVE chips and salsa. But that doesn't even begin to cover it. We have found that our marriage is happier when we have separate salsa bowls so no one can claim that the other is eating too much, and we buy more bags of tortilla chips per week than I care to admit. So when I say this is our favorite salsa, that really means something!! This is a recipe I found on Six Sisters' Stuff (ironic), but it was a little too spicy for me, as I'm nursing and spicy stuff makes my baby spit up. Plus, the tomato was a little too strong. So here is my less tomato-y (that's totally a word), milder version. It reminds me of Chili's restaurant, which I think is pretty yummy! And there's no chopping or bottling or anything hard or time-consuming. Just pour, blend, and eat! 

Chili's Copycat Salsa

Ingredients:

1 (28 oz.) can tomatoes (whole or diced work), drained well

5-6 jalapeno slices 

1/2 tsp. cumin

1/2-1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. garlic salt

1/2 tsp. sugar 

2 tsp. lime juice

1/4 cup minced onions (to be honest, I just shake some in there. I don't measure them)

*A note about the jalapenos: The first few times I made this, I bought new cans of jalapenos and ended up throwing some away when I didn't make another batch soon enough. But then I came across these babies.

They're much better because I can use less and not worry about storing them in another container. One less dirty dish? I'll take it. It's also easier to increase the spice by just a little bit instead of a whole jalapeno.

Directions:

A peek down my blender before mixing.

Combine all ingredients into blender. Blend until smooth. What's great about this is that it's so easy and you can add more/use less of anything to fit your preference! I would also suggest that you let the salsa sit in the fridge for a couple of hours after mixing. The flavors will blend, and who likes warm salsa, anyway?

I am going to start doubling this... we seriously eat one batch in a few days!! But that's okay, because it's cheaper than bottled salsa and more tasty, if I may say so. Enjoy!

Homemade Soft Pretzels

Sundays are "treat days" at our house. We love to make dessert on Sunday. This past week, my 5 year old had seen a picture of homemade "CTR" (stands for Choose The Right) pretzels in The Friend magazine and had been bugging me for days on end to make them. So we made some soft pretzels for the first time and they turned out delicious!  I took the recipe from the Food Network so I can't take any credit for it, but we sure enjoyed them. Note: these are not nearly as good the next day. So either invite people over or eat a lot, because they're best eaten fresh. It makes 8 pretzels.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups warm (110 to 115 degrees F) water
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1 package active dry yeast
• 22 ounces all-purpose flour, approximately 4 1/2 cups
• 2 ounces unsalted butter, melted
• Vegetable oil, for pan
• 10 cups water
• 2/3 cup baking soda
• 1 large egg yolk beaten with 1 tablespoon water
• Pretzel salt (kosher salt again)

Directions

Combine the water, sugar and kosher salt in the bowl of a stand mixer and sprinkle the yeast on top. Allow to sit for 5 minutes or until the mixture begins to foam. Add the flour and butter and, using the dough hook attachment, mix on low speed until well combined. Change to medium speed and knead until the dough is smooth and pulls away from the side of the bowl, approximately 4 to 5 minutes. Remove the dough from the bowl, clean the bowl and then oil it well with vegetable oil. Return the dough to the bowl, cover with plastic wrap and sit in a warm place for approximately 50 to 55 minutes or until the dough has doubled in size.

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Line 2 half-sheet pans with parchment paper and lightly brush with the vegetable oil. Set aside.
Bring the 10 cups of water and the baking soda to a rolling boil in an 8-quart saucepan or roasting pan.
In the meantime, turn the dough out onto a slightly oiled work surface and divide into 8 equal pieces. Roll out each piece of dough into a 24-inch rope. Make a U-shape with the rope, holding the ends of the rope, cross them over each other and press onto the bottom of the U in order to form the shape of a pretzel. Place onto the parchment-lined half sheet pan.
Place the pretzels into the boiling water, 1 by 1, for 30 seconds. Remove them from the water using a large flat spatula. Return to the half sheet pan, brush the top of each pretzel with the beaten egg yolk and water mixture and sprinkle with the pretzel salt. Bake until dark golden brown in color, approximately 12 to 14 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack for at least 5 minutes before serving.

French Toast at a new level

I'm serious. This french toast is to die for. When we went to Steph's house for her son's baby blessing almost two years ago she served this for breakfast. I decided we should make it a blessing breakfast tradition so we had it this past Sunday morning before Eliza's blessing. We had some family in town and everyone LOVED it. I heard "mmm"s and "WOW"s and "can I have this recipe?" and there was even a "I can barely come up for air" comment (Cami!! :)). Yes we like food in our family! Use store bought french bread for best results. This recipe ironically comes from another great sisters cooking blog found here. (that was my first hyperlink ever. I'm pretty proud of myself for figuring it out!)

IHOP French Toast

2 eggs
½ c. milk
1/8 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
3 T. flour


Beat eggs then add the other ingredients. Use hand mixer or whisk. It'll be a little lumpy.
I doubled it for a whole loaf of french bread and it was just right.

Serve with coconut syrup and fresh berries!

Coconut Syrup

7-8 T. butter
¾ c. buttermilk
1 c. sugar
½ tsp baking soda
1 tsp coconut extract

Combine butter, buttermilk and sugar in a pot. Bring to a boil on medium heat (stirring pretty consistently) and boil one minute. Remove from heat and add soda and flavoring.

If you don't have buttermilk like I didn't just use the 'ol lemon juice and milk trick. Put 3/4 tsp. lemon juice in a 3/4 c. measuring cup (works for whatever amount a recipe calls for, just always use the 1 tsp. to 1 c. ratio). Fill the rest of the cup up with milk and let sit about 10 minutes.

You can use this syrup for pancakes, waffles, crepes, etc. My friend even told me she drizzled it over popcorn one time and it was delicious!!

This obviously isn't the healthiest breakfast but believe me it's worth it, and plus that's why we save it for special occasions!

Yogurt Parfaits

Okay so I'm a little bit of a slacker, and I don't have pictures for this, and I definitely stole it from Kerri. She and I decided that since she'll be a part of our sister group soon, we can combine on our day.

Kerri made these for us for breakfast and they were delicious, fast, and nutritious - 3 of my favorite things!

Ingredients:
Plain yogurt (to taste)
1 crunchy granola bar (we used Nature Valley)
1 chewy granola bar (I now use the Great value chewy bar)
Assorted berries (as desired)

All you need to do is crunch/crush up the granola bars, and add all the ingredients. That's it! It's the perfect breakfast for a college student on the go, or for you Mom's who don't always have time to whip up a culinary masterpiece first thing in the morning.

Bon appetite!

Black bean quesadillas

We are kind of in love with this meal!! It's filling, healthy, and fast. What more could you want from dinner? I've made it way more than once in the last three weeks since coming upon the recipe. That says a lot, coming from someone who hates repeating meals and avoids it like the plague. Next time I will have to try them with Lindsay's quesadillas!

Black bean quesadillas

adapted from Budget Bytes

Ingredients:

-1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

-1 cup frozen corn (I thaw the corn for 10ish minutes)

-1/2 small red onion, finely diced

-1/4 bunch fresh cilantro, chopped

-1 clove garlic/ 1 tsp. garlic salt

-2 Tbsp. taco seasoning

-2 tsp. lime juice

-1 1/2 cups cheese

-8-10 tortillas

Directions:

-Mix all ingredients (except the tortillas, of course) in a bowl til everything's coated and mixed well. 

-Spoon mixture onto half of a tortilla.

-Cook quesadillas on a skillet on medium-low heat til both sides of the tortilla are crispy and the cheese has melted.

-Enjoy! We cut ours in half for easier dipping in salsa (I will share my favorite salsa next week) and serve with tortilla chips. Last time I made this my sister-in-law said the mixture is really yummy cold on a chip too!

This typically makes enough to fill about 7-8 tortillas, but I like mine pretty thick. You could probably fill them less full and use more tortillas. This meal takes about 10 minutes to prepare, and 20 minutes to get all the quesadillas cooked. Yum!

Mashed Red Potatoes

I used to be a strictly russett potatoes kind of gal. I just didn't really think about any other kind. But the last few months I've been mixing up our diet with sweet potatoes and red potatoes and boy isn't it nice to have variety! Potatoes are a good source of potassium, fiber, and vitamin C. Leaving the skins on helps you get even more of those nutrients, so that's what the red pieces are in the picture above.

I hesitated to do this because it might seem really simple to some. However, if you are just learning to cook, then hopefully this will be helpful. We've all got to learn how to make yummy mashed potatoes at some point or another, don't we?

The good news is they're super easy to make. Just get out however many red potatoes you need, and scrub them clean, because you're leaving the skins on. Chop them up in quarters, or sixths, depending on how big your potato is. It doesn't really matter; the smaller they are the faster they will cook. Throw them in a pot and cover with water. A lot of people will get a huge pot and fill the water up to the top. Unlike noodles, you only need to just cover them. Boil them until the potatoes are soft. You can test this by sticking a fork in one of them. Drain the water and put the potatoes into a mixing bowl. Throw in a few Tbsp. of unsalted butter, sprinkle on some kosher salt, and add some milk. Don't do too much milk at the beginning, we're talking a couple Tbsp. The amount of all of these (salt, butter, and milk) will depend on how many potatoes you are making. You can use a potato masher if you like them clumpy, but we use a electric hand mixer around here. My kids go for the smooth texture. Mix them up and you're done!

GRANOLA

I got this recipe at a ward recipe exchange. Lately it's a favorite snack of mine and I'll tell you why. Lately I feel like I'm constantly eating and yet since giving birth 6 1/2 weeks ago I think there's only been one time that I wasn't hungry and it lasted all of about 20 minutes! I guess that's what happens when you're nursing every two hours on the dot! This granola is filling, somewhat healthy, and SO good.

Lynette's Granola

3 1/2 c. oats
1 1/2 c. coconut
1/2 c. wheat germ
1 1/4 c. nuts (slivered almonds preferred)
Mix together in large bowl.
In separate bowl mix:
1 tsp. salt
1/2 c. oil
2 tsp. vanilla
1 can sweetened condensed milk
Mix and pour over oats mixture.
Bake at 325F for 10 min. Flip and cook til all brown (about 20 min. for me).
Scrape off pan immediately into bowl and add 1 c. craisins.

I'm sure this would be great with other typical granola ingredients (sunflower seeds, etc) but I haven't experimented yet. It's great by itself or with milk or yogurt.
Although the nuts are kinda pricy, this is still way cheaper than buying granola or than buying other cereals/snacks. Especially if you buy the oats in a 50 lb. bag like I do. And of course the sweet milk isn't the healthiest but I figure I'm still getting lots of good protein and fiber from the other ingredients. Just a warning, this may not be the last granola recipe I post. Enjoy!!

Picture to come later...

Vegan Alfredo Sauce

Historically, I've always been pretty much a rule-follower when it comes to the kitchen. When I got married almost 6 years ago, I knew almost nothing about food. After a year of frozen pizza and chicken cordon-bleu, along with 60+ lbs. of pregnancy weight-gain, I started to gradually learn to cook.

I learned that I LOVED to read cookbooks. We would go to Barnes and Noble for date-night and I would sit there reading recipes. Before the birth of my second child, I bought a cookbook called "The Domestic Goddess" by Nigella Lawson. I can say that is probably my official turning point. (Although my neighbors Amanda and Chrissy in FL were huge influences in the right direction too.)
I started cooking like crazy. I followed cooking blogs. I tried new recipes pretty much every night, carefully studying the pictures and ingredients. We had our health food kicks and our not-so-health-food-kicks (McDonald's, anyone?), but I was in love with cooking.

I still am. After going vegan last September (more on that later) and committing permanently to a more difficult, healthy, and rewarding food lifestyle, I am in the kitchen more than ever. With that has come lots of experience and lots more confidence.

So I am proud to introduce my first ever recipe that I came up with on my own. I took inspiration from Chloe's Kitchen's alfredo sauce and Cupcakes and Kale's high-protein alfredo sauce, but I can truly say this is MY recipe. It's my first food-child, and I am oh so proud. I hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

Steph's Vegan Alfredo Sauce

Ingredients:
2/3 c. raw cashews
1/2 head cauliflower
1 large onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced, or 2 tsp. jarred minced garlic
1 tsp. white miso paste
1 tsp. nutritional yeast
1 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice (juice from 1/2 lemon)
1/2 c. water
1/2 c. almond milk
dash pepper
1 tsp. sea salt, or to taste
1 lb. fettucine or other pasta

First, put RAW cashews into a small bowl. Do NOT use roasted or salted cashews. Raw cashews are the absolute best vegan substitute for heavy cream, and you won't be able to tell the difference at ALL. Roasted cashews will not work. You can find raw ones most decent grocery stores - I get them in my bulk bin section at Smith's or at Whole Foods. (If you have a super high-power blender, like a Vitamix, this step isn't totally necessary, but still recommended.) Cover them completely with water and let soak at least one hour or up to overnight. It will soften them up and make them blend into a smooth, creamy consistency with no little nut chunks in your sauce!

Bring large pot of heavily salted (I put in a good Tbsp or more) water to boil. Add pasta and cook according to package directions. Drain and return to pot.

Chop cauliflower into large florets and bring a small-ish pot of water to a boil.

Add cauliflower florets and cook 15-20 minutes, until soft. Drain. Meanwhile, heat skillet over med-high heat. Add chopped onion and let cook until soft. Add garlic and let cook a few more minutes, until onions are transluscent. Remove from heat.

A word about white miso paste: this sounds like a strange ingredient but is widely available - I find mine in the refrigerated produce section at Smith's near the tofu and mushrooms. It's kind of like chicken base of the Japanese world, I think, and adds a bit of a salty/cheesy flavor when combined with the nutritional yeast. It's high in protein and has lots of vitamins and minerals.

A word about nutritional yeast: this is NOT normal baking/leavening yeast. It comes in flake form, usually, and is a yellowish-brown color. It smells a little bad and I don't like it in large quantities (vegan mac'n'cheese is usually full of it and I don't love it) but when combined with miso it's JUST right. (I also use that same combo to make tofu ricotta chese for my lasagna, which will be coming soon on this blog.) Again, it's not too hard to find - it's just not a common ingredient. Don't let it put you off though - it's fun to experiment with new, strange ingredients! I promise, it will be worth it.

Okay, so in your blender dump everything but the pasta. Soaked and soft raw cashews, cooked cauliflower, sauteed onion and garlic, white miso paste, nutritional yeast, juice of 1/2 lemon (about 1 Tbsp, give or take), sea salt, pepper, water, and almond milk. (If you are not vegan - like all the other sisters here but me - you could use regular cow's milk. I haven't tried it so I can't vouch for any difference it might make in the flavor, but please don't forgo this recipe just because you don't have almond milk!) Blend on high about 2 minutes until silky smooth. Taste for salt - you might want to add more.

Toss hot pasta with sauce until every noodle is coated with deliciousness. (Add sauce to your liking - it made more than enough for about a pound cooked pasta, so you may have some leftover sauce.) Serve immediately.

We had this with garlic bread and roasted broccoli. Delicious, and just as good the next day as leftovers!

Mini Chicken Pot Pies

This was not what I had planned to make/share for my first post on this lovely blog! But it kind of just fell into my lap and I had to post it instead. It's the end of the semester for my husband, so he is on campus studying late every night, barely coming home to eat and sleep. Typically when he gets in this mode I make sure I know when he'll be home so I can have dinner ready. He eats quickly, then hurries back to studying. The other day, however, he came home earlier than normal and I had no idea he was coming! So of course I had nothing ready. But then this recipe popped into my head- perfect!! It's quick and healthy, and it has become comfort food in our house. I had to cook the chicken first, so this meal took 40 minutes total for me to prepare from frozen to finish. Not bad!

Mini Chicken Pot Pies

adapted from "Call Me Mrs. Rapp" found HERE

Ingredients:

8-count refrigerated biscuits (I used Grands Homestyle)

1 cooked chicken breast, finely diced (optional)

1 can Cream of Chicken Soup

1/2 cup cheese (I used Monterey Jack and Cheddar)

1/4 cup frozen corn, thawed

1/2 cup frozen peas, thawed

1/4 cup frozen broccoli florets, thawed

1/2 tsp. parsley flakes

1 tsp. lemon pepper

1/2 tsp. pepper

1/2 tsp. salt

Directions:

-Preheat oven to 350 degrees (the referenced recipe says 400, but the biscuits say 350. I accidentally went with the biscuits and was glad I did). Take frozen veggies out to thaw for 5 or so minutes.

-Combine veggies, chicken, soup, cheese, parsley, lemon pepper, pepper, and salt in a medium-sized bowl. The chicken may be omitted for a meatless version of this recipe.

-Press each biscuit into a lightly-greased muffin cup. Be careful of air holes in the bottom and make sure the dough goes all the way up the sides of the cup!

-Spoon chicken mixture into the biscuit cups (to almost full). Bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. Mine took about 20.

-Serve with rice and enjoy!

Some of mine overflowed

Quesadillas

Have you ever made homemade tortillas? You will love them! They're super easy, and super cheap. I took the tortilla recipe from the Our Best Bites Cookbook.

You'll need:

2 1/2 cups flour

3/4 tsp. kosher salt

1/4 cup plus 2 T. shortening

3/4 - 1 c. hot water

Combine flour and salt in mixer. Add shortening and combine until crumbly. While mixer is still running, add the hot water (start with 3/4 and add more if you need to).

Divide the dough into 8-10 balls and roll them out as thinly as possible. My kids love to help out with this part. Mine obviously don't resemble circles very well, but that's the shape you're going for.

Cook on a nonstick skillet over medium heat. Bubbles will pop up in your tortilla and you'll only need to do it about one minute on the first side and 30 seconds on the other side. Keep between paper towels or kitchen towels until they're all finished. Best served warm!

For the quesadillas, put one tortilla back on the skillet and add cheese and whatever else you like, then put another tortilla on top of that. Flip over halfway through and voila!

My husband and I really like to add Mexican rice (I just buy the boxes of mexican rice at the store), cheese, black beans and corn in our quesadillas. You can dip them in salsa or ranch, and even throw some chicken in there and it tastes wonderful! It makes a really yummy meal, especially if you've run out of bread and it's lunch time!

Wheat Bread

We eat a LOT of bread in our house. That is why I feel that making homemade wheat bread is one of the main ways I can cut our grocery bill and help us eat healthier. However it’ll take several years of making bread before it actually becomes profitable since we spent somewhere around $350 on a wheat grinder last year (we went with the Nutrimill and are very pleased with it). But eventually it will save us money! And in the mean time we definitely have the health benefits. I hope this recipe isn't too complicated for my first ever post on this blog. It may seem like it at first, but it's really pretty simple.
I got this recipe from my mother in law. I had to change the rising time and play with the amount of yeast a bit (because I live at a different altitude) but now it's fool proof, until we move again that is! I use a bosch mixer. Use the bars the whole time.

Wheat Bread

Mix:
9 c. flour (I do 8 c. wheat, 1 c. white)
2 heaping Tbsp. yeast
Vitamin C (crushed - I use the non chewable kind. I've also been adding a crushed Vit. D tablet)
Add:
7 c. warm water
Mix for 1 min.
Let sit 10 min.
Add:
1/2 c. oil (I use olive)
1/2 c. honey
1 1/2 Tbsp. salt
then add enough flour until the dough cleans the sides of the bowl, usually 7 – 8 c. for me. I usually do a cup or so of white flour here also and the rest wheat.

Let knead 10 min.

Grease pans with Crisco.

Preheat oven to its lowest setting (170F on my oven) while you put dough in pans. Turn off the oven and put bread in to rise. Let rise until double in size (recipe said 25 min. but it’s about 20 min. for me). Turn oven on to 350F (or 325F for glass) and set the timer for 32 – 35 min.

To clarify, yes you will start the timer right away, before the oven is preheated. And try not to open the oven while the bread’s rising or in the early stages of baking. One time mine flattened when I opened the oven. Just use the oven light!

When done put loaves onto cooling racks and grease with Crisco (optional). I bought a huge roll of produce bags from Albertsons and I use those to bag my bread.

I love filling my house with the smell of fresh bread and seeing this on my kitchen counter! Makes me feel much more domestic than I really am. :)

Makes 5 to 5 ½ loaves depending on how big you make your loaves. You may need to freeze some like I do, since homemade wheat bread goes moldy much more quickly than store bought bread!

This dough also makes delicious scones and rolls! For the rolls let rise until double just like the bread then bake for 22 – 25 min.

Best Green Smoothie EVER

One of the advantages of being the first one to post one our brand spankin' new blog is that I know my post will soon be overshadowed by others. Others not showcasing a dirty window AND a filthy windowsill. Yikes - that's not something I focus in on very often. Clearly.

But let me tell you that, despite the pathetic photography, this is one of the most delicious and frequently-made things in my kitchen. I can't take credit for the recipe - it's from one of my favorite vegan blogs Oh She Glows - but I can take credit for making it several times a week and thanking my lucky stars there's such a great way to up my greens intake. Painlessly.

Green Monster

(Makes 1 serving)

Ingredients:
1 c. almond milk (or milk of your choice)
1 Tbsp. chia seeds (omit these if you must, but they're a great energy boost - or use flax seeds)
1 Tbsp. peanut butter
2 large handfuls spinach
1 very ripe, frozen banana
ice cubes

Directions:
Put in blender in order listed, minus the ice. Blend well. Add ice (I use about 10 ice cubes), blend again, and serve. Makes about 2 cups.