The Love of Smoothies

When I first found out I was pregnant, I eliminated my daily cup of coffee and instead, replaced it with a smoothie. I really wanted the girls to drink it as well, as Analese does not like most fruit and neither one drinks juice.

The girls were not impressed, and refused to drink more then a sip. So I let it go...sort of.

Every morning I offered them a sip of mine. Some mornings was a yes, some a no.

Then, I unknowingly bought the best "bribe" for getting both girls to want to drink a smoothie. A "Blend-n-Go Cup" that comes with a straw.

The straw is the best part. Funny how I had never thought of that before!

Now, the girls each drink an almost full glass of smoothie every morning. Mara, with her smaller glass, will drink 2-3 glassfuls! I am in heaven, it is so exciting to see them drink up , knowing how nutritious these things are.

Because of course, now that they love smoothies, I have begun adding more and more to it! Along with our fruit, yogurt, juice and milk, I also add some probiotics, hemp seed oil, flaxseed, my Juice Plus supplements-both fruits and veggies, and calcium powder.

Oh-and a handful of spinach.

I waited a bit before adding the spinach, hemp seed oil, and flaxseed. I started off with the basics, and each week we added a bit more. The girls "help" me make our smoothies every morning, and really enjoy it. They help me decide what fruits to put it, what new things to try, etc. Yesterday we used our simple orange squeezer to add some freshly squeezed clemantines to our smoothie. The girls loved taking turns squeezing the juice out, and I just enjoyed giving them the experience.

So here our basic smoothie recipe. I have to admit that I was shocked that both girls guzzled down their smoothie the first time I added hemp seed oil to it. I added 1 tablespoon, and could taste it right away (so you may want to start out with a smaller dose for those more finicky tastebuds!) With everything else, I have found that as long as they can taste what appeals to them, they are fine with anything else. In our case its bananas! Also, by letting them help you make it and giving them more control in what goes in it, has helped tremendously in this household!

I should also note that I don't really give "amounts" as it totally depends on what you like, don't like. This is just the basics of what we are drinking every morning. Hope it inspires you!

Basic Smoothie Recipe

• Bananas
• Blueberries (we use frozen)
• raspberries
• blackberries
• mango
  
• 1/2 cup Ricera rice yogurt (we use strawberry)
• orange juice
• vanilla hemp milk (or any other acceptable choice!)
• handful of chopped spinach
• 1 tablespoon hemp seed oil
• 1 tablespoon ground flaxseed

We have also added (and enjoyed):

• kiwi
• strawberries
• cherries
• avocado

Recipe: Creamy Pasta with Mushrooms

I have been so excited to share this recipe, as it is a personal favorite of mine at the moment! One thing I really miss about being off of dairy is the ability to have creamy pasta dishes. I saw this recipe in one my of favorite cookbooks at the moment (which I do highly recommend!) I saw that she used white beans in order to create a creamy texture and I just had to try it!

We modified the recipe a bit. For one, it calls for 3 strips of uncured pork or turkey bacon (cooked and chopped). We could not find any turkey bacon that declares itself "gluten-free" so we skipped this. We also changed the ingredient amounts, adding more beans for an even creamier texture, less garlic (so the girls would eat it) and 1/2 the canola oil mentioned.

We also added 2 cooked skinless chicken breasts, sliced up. This was a wonderful addition! It reminded me of my favorite Italian restaurant's "House special"-with the only difference being that their chicken was breaded. Next time I hope to "bread" the chicken beforehand.

I was very impressed, and absolutely loved it! I have made it a couple times since, in order to have it for lunch. I even made it for my husband's parents, and I don't think they even realized it had beans in it :)

So enjoy!

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup canola oil
• 2-3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 4-5 tablespoons of white beans, pureed (we used some of the canola oil to puree beans in blender)
• 3-4 medium mushrooms, sliced
• 3 fresh basil leaves (or 1 tsp dried)
• 1/2 pound cooked corn spaghetti (or any other acceptable spaghetti noodle)
• 1-2 skinless chicken breasts, cooked and sliced.
  

In a small saucepan, combine the oil, garlic, salt and pepper. Simmer over very low heat for 2 minutes, stirring constantly.
Add the beans, mushroom and basil (if you wish to add bacon, add this as well)
Simmer for another 3-5 minutes, stirring frequently.
Add to the cooked pasta, and toss to distribute the sauce evenly. Add the chicken slices and serve!

If you plan to fee more people and use more pasta, definitely double the sauce!

Recipe: Shepherd's Pie

I have been debating whether or not to post this today, as I have been posting so many recipes with ground turkey. However, we just made this last night so I wanted to post it while it is still fresh in my head! This is my family's favorite meal, so I hope your family enjoys it as well! I just wish I had gotten a photo of Mara eating this dish-she inhales it, and it shows!

I have been playing around with this recipe for quite some time, and I think I have finally gotten it right! The mashed potatoes recipe is from "The Whole Foods Allergy Cookbook"- the only thing I changed is the type of potato-I use sweet potatoes instead of baking potatoes.

I usually double the recipe in order to freeze some for a quick meal later on. The recipe below usually just feeds my small family of four, so you may want to double it if feeding more then that. I really don't add exact measurements, so feel free to play around with it as well! I found that you really cannot go wrong.

*If you can have onions, I would also suggest adding in a small, diced onion to your ground turkey.


Ingredients

Mashed potatoes:

• 3 large sweet potatoes, chopped (we do not peel ours, but peel if you prefer)
  
• 3/4 cup hemp milk (or any other acceptable milk)
• 3 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1/2-1 tsp salt

Filling:

• 4 stalks of celery, chopped
• 2-3 carrots, chopped
• 1/2 cup broccoli, chopped
• 1/2 cup corn
  
• 1 cup of frozen mixed veggies (feel free to add more fresh vegetables-adding the frozen just helps cut down on the chopping time!)
• 1-2 tbsp olive oil
  
• 1 -1 1/2 pounds of ground turkey (again, any ground meat will do!)
• 1- 1 1/2 cups of hot water (I usually save the water I cooked the sweet potatoes in to use for this)
• dash of salt
• 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
• 1 tbsp red wine (I have been using sherry)
• 2-4 tbsp gluten-free ketchup
• 3 whole cloves
• 1 bay leaf

Chop up sweet potatoes and place in pot. Add enough water to completely cover them, and boil until potatoes are really soft. While the potatoes are boiling, chop up carrots, celery, and broccoli and set aside.
Using large, deep skillet, brown turkey in olive oil. Add carrots, celery and broccoli and sauté for a few minutes. Add frozen vegetables and water.
Add the salt, red wine vinegar, and red wine. Add the ketchup, and stir until completely mixed up.
Pour into a baking dish. Add the 3 cloves, and bay leaf

Time to make the potatoes. Place all ingredients into mixing bowl and mix until potatoes are nice and creamy. Spread potatoes on top of meat mixture.

Bake for 30 minutes at 400 degrees, until the potatoes are nice and brown on top. Enjoy!

* When feeding your children, always look for the cloves and bay leaf on their plate before they eat it!