The Easter Gift

Easter time again--hard to believe!  We spent the day participating in a walk-though SonRise service, complete with the Jerusalem market place, the Last Supper, the Garden, the Trial, the Crucifiction, and finally the Resurrection.  Our family, and around 10,000 other people, that is.  Even though I have participated many times before, every year it still touches my heart to see acted out just a small part of what Jesus did, who He was, how He died for me. How He died for you.  It leaves me speechless.  Words are not enough to describe the beautiful Gift He gave.

~Susan

Green Mint Smoothies!

Hi Everyone!

Well, I DID warn you in the title that these smoothies WERE green!  As in VERY green!  Green like grass.  Or in this case, green like spinach leaves!

I have heard different friends of mine raving about green smoothies before, so the concept wasn't new for me.  I have even had one dear soul make me a green smoothie to try at a church function we were both at.  Now I consider myself pretty open about foods, especially if it is a healthy food.  I'm just not all that picky, but I have to say--her green smoothie was yucky!!!!!    Or at least "I" thought so, though I DID really appreciate her making one for me to sample--I thought THAT was very very sweet.  I just didn't like it, and the main reason was not the taste, it was the grittiness.  I cannot even remember all that she put in her smoothie--it WAS all healthy, that's for sure.  I know she had some fruit, and as far as green stuff I do remember celery and kale being in there.  I like celery and I like kale, I really do, but I did NOT like them in this smoothie I tried.  So at that point, I decided that I would just MUCH rather eat my "green" not in my "smoothie," if you know what I mean.

Wellllllllll, that was my firm opinion for a long while, but I have to confess that today my opinion changed.  This past week I saw a recipe for a green smoothie floating around on Facebook, and thought it looked like it MIGHT have some potential.  It didn't have any kale in it, and the green was made up primarily from spinach leaves.  I would have made it right then, except that I didn't have any fresh spinach at the time, a rather important ingredient.

So when I was at the grocery store yesterday purchasing kale (NOT to go in a smoothie!!!) I saw the spinach leaves next to it in the fridge section and remembered that I had wanted to try that recipe.  So both kale and spinach came home with me, and after lunch today I thought I would whiz up that green smoothie for dessert for whoever was brave enough to try it.  :)  Only one problem.  When I got out the recipe, I saw that it also called for 1/4th of an avocado  and  I didn't have any avocados in the house!  Well, that's all right.  I decided to try the recipe anyway, even if I didn't have everything.  After all, avocado, while healthy, is still rather high fat, and I like to keep my cooking as low fat as possible.  I DO eat avocados, but if I am going to eat something high fat I want to really be able to taste it, not have it blended up in something else where I don't even know it's in there. . .

With this reasoning, I decided to be brave and try it.  The original recipe also called for a "handful of spinach leaves."  Well, I guess my "handful" must have been quite a bit larger than their "handful," because the picture that accompanied the original recipe showed a beautiful slightly green colored smoothie.  Mine ended up being a green-crayon-from-the-crayon-box colored smoothie!  But I REALLY liked the flavor, and my daughter did too, so I guess that is what counts, right?

As we were eating it, I commented that it really reminded me of mint chocolate chip ice cream, and as soon as she heard me say THAT my daughter begged for me to put some of my vegan chocolate chips in it!  So I sprinkled just a few on top.  Yum!  Now keep in mind, I did NOT say that it TASTES exactly like mint chocolate chip ice cream.  I said it REMINDED me of it.  So don't leave me a comment and tell me that it is no where near ice cream in flavor.  We ARE talking something healthy with spinach here, after all!  If you want something that tastes exactly like mint chocolate chip ice cream, you better just go buy yourself some mint chocolate chip ice cream.  But I think your body will like this dessert better!

Green Mint Smoothie
Susan's version :)

1/2 c. rice milk
small handful fresh spinach leaves
1/8-1/4 tsp. peppermint flavoring
1/4 tsp. vanilla flavoring
1 Tablespoon agave nector
2 frozen bananas, peeled and broken into chunks

Place ingredients in blender in the order listed.  You want your spinach leaves to be closest to the cutting blades so they will be well blended.  Turn blender on high, and blend until VERY well blended.  You do not want little pieces of spinach leaves to be floating around in there but rather a consistent green color.  Add a tiny bit more rice milk if necessary--I did not do this but did stop the blender several times and mix things around scraping down the sides.

Pour into your cup and enjoy!

Makes one tall glass or two smaller cups.

Nutty Butter

Hi Everyone!

Wanted to share a very simple recipe that is quick and healthy--and has the added advantage of being money-saving as well! This is sort of a peanut butter substitute.  It tastes a LOT like peanut butter, but not exactly like it.  My 19 year old son actually tells me that he thinks it is better than peanut butter.  I like it for four reasons:

1.  It cuts the fat and gives you a MUCH lower fat product that still gives you that peanut butter flavor.  Yes, I know that peanut butter and other natural fats found in things like nuts and avocados are "healthy" fats.  But they are STILL fats.  And if you are not trying to gain weight, it is best to keep even healthy fats to a minimum.

2.  It is cheap.  Peanut butter overall is an expensive product, going higher all the time.  Canned beans overall are an inexpensive product.  Mixing the two together extends the more expensive product with the lesser expensive product.

3.  It significantly increases fiber.  While the peanuts themselves do have some fiber, almost no food has as much fiber as the powerhouse of beans.  In this recipe, you can use any type of canned white bean, but navy beans are the highest fiber-wise.

4.  It tastes GREAT!!!!  :)  

Interested?

Alright!  Here is the very simple recipe:

Nutty Butter

1 can any type white bean, rinsed and drained

3 Tablespoons agave nector

1/2 teaspoon coriander or cinnamon

Blend mixture together VERY well using a food processor.  Spoon into a container and store in fridge.  Use any where you would normally use peanut butter.

That's it!  Simple!

I have used this in celery sticks, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and in cookie dough.  I have NOT used it yet in any type of a savory loaf recipe, but I would--you would just need to leave out the sweetening, because the above recipe makes for a sweet spread.  Sweeter than peanut butter, which I personally like because I like sweet things--but NOT what you would want to put into a veggie loaf recipe!

Hope you enjoy!

~Susan