Fruit and Veggie Smoothie

My oldest daughter is just getting over strep throat and my husband and I have been doing the best we can to stay healthy.  I mentioned the other day that we really try to boost our fruit and vegetable intake when we are fighting off a bug.  I've also been reading Eat to Live by Joel Fuhrman, and it has really been making me think that I need to do even more to increase my leafy green vegetable intake.  Fuhrman ranks foods using a scoring system he devised called ANDI (aggregate nutritional density index), running from a low of 1 to a perfect score of 1000.  He looks at both the amount of nutrients a food has as well as the amount of calories in that food.  Guess which food scores a perfect 1000?  Kale.  Spinach has a high score of 707, while foods like cola and fries score only 1 and 12 respectively.  A fact that has been in my head as I plan meals this week:  Fuhrman suggests that every person should be eating about one pound of raw vegetables and one pound of cooked vegetables each day.  As I increase my veggie intake (nowhere near two pounds daily), I notice that I don't have room for other stuff that is less nutrient dense.

We juice fruits and vegetables occasionally, but I really like to make this fruit and veggie smoothie to boost my intake.  I prefer it over the juice because it retains all of the fibre from the produce and fills me up.  When I have a smoothie, I usually have it for breakfast.  My husband prefers a smoothie as an evening snack. The key to this smoothie is the banana.  You MUST use a banana or you will taste the spinach or kale. The spinach offers a smoother consistency and you will really not taste it at all.  It is a good place to start with a veggie smoothie.  Once you have tried the spinach, I really suggest you try the kale!  It requires more blending and makes for a slightly rougher texture.  You will taste a bit of "green" flavour, but my daughter has been drinking these smoothies since she was a toddler and has never turned her nose up at it.  I have an old, cheap blender and it does a fine job on this smoothie.  I'm sure if you had a Blendtec or Vitamix it would be even better!

Fruit and Veggie Smoothie

• one very ripe banana, fresh or frozen
• a giant handful (about 2 cups loosely packed) of baby spinach, OR 1 cup of loosely packed kale leaves, stems and any tough bits removed
• 1 to 2 cups of other fruit - fresh or frozen.  If using frozen, I prefer to thaw the fruit partially first to allow more flavour to shine through.  Good choices are any berries, mango, peaches, and kiwi.
• at least 1/2 cup milk or non-dairy milk
• other add-ins of your choice.  I always use 2 tablespoons of ground flax, but have also used matcha powder, probiotic powder, and protein powder.  You can also add up to 1 cup of yogurt if you eat dairy.

Place banana in the blender, followed by the spinach and fruit.  Top with your add-ins and pour milk over top.  Blend for ten seconds.  Then you will need to push down on the contents with a spoon and blend again. Add more milk if needed to get things really going.  Once the contents are blending well, blend for another minute or so, especially if you are using kale.  Serves 2 (or one for a huge breakfast if you're me....)

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Gluten Free and Paleo Banana Muffins

I have always been a baker since I was a teenager.  The first things I remember baking on my own were brownies and pineapple upside down cake from an old, thick cookbook of my mother's.  In my late teens I was on the quest for the perfect chocolate chip cookie recipe, one that was soft and chewy that flattened as it baked.  The quest finally ended with a recipe found in a Canadian Living magazine. It is still the "go to" chocolate chip cookie recipe for my mother and sister.

In my adult years, I baked various kinds of breads and perfected baked cheesecakes with smooth, uncracked tops.  I loved to bake, and rarely bought baked items from the store.  Then, about six years ago, my daughter was diagnosed with Celiac Disease and I had to relearn everything I knew about baking.  All of my "go to" recipes were useless to me.  I tried many gluten free recipes that went straight into the garbage after trying one bite.  Many of these recipes had been published in cookbooks and I had followed the recipe with perfect precision.  I wonder if the cookbook editors even tried the recipes.  After three or four years, I had some decent, new gluten free "go to" recipes.  I knew a lot about gluten free ingredients and different baking techniques.  Still, one limitation of most gluten free recipes was that they went stale very quickly, and had to be frozen within 12 or 18 hours of baking to retain any freshness.  Even then, many items were crumbly once thawed.

Lately, this downfall of gluten free baking has changed for me - mostly thanks to the Paleo food movement. I am interested in Paleo cooking, in that - it's grain free, which is great for our gluten free family - and my husband is very much a carnivore.  So many of the recipes will appeal to him.  (I am mostly a vegetarian, not necessarily for compassionate reasons, but more for the environmental and health benefits.)  Reading Paleo cookbooks introduced me to coconut oil and flour.  These ingredients have helped me to create some pretty amazing muffins that stay fresh and moist - for days on end!

I slowly developed these muffins after making the muffins in Practical Paleo.  While the muffins in Practical Paleo are absolutely amazing, they didn't appeal too much to a child's taste buds.  After a few months of switching this and that, this is what I came up with.

Gluten Free and Paleo Banana Muffins

Makes 12.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees Farenheit.

• 6 eggs
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 cup melted coconut oil
• 1/2 cup coconut flour, preferably sifted
• 1 large ripe banana, diced
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips (optional)

Mix first six ingredients in a bowl.  Whisk well.  Add in melted oil while whisking.  Otherwise the oil may solidify in a chunk within the batter.  Not good.  Add in coconut flour and whisk well until there are no lumps.  Fold in bananas and chocolate chips (if using).  Scoop into a muffin tin lined with muffin papers. Bake for 20 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.  Cool on a baking rack.  Once cooled, store up to four days on the counter in a sealed container.  May also be frozen.

You could also try maple syrup or agave syrup in place of the honey, although I have never tried this. To be honest, I never sift the coconut flour, but instead whisk and whisk and whisk until the lumps are gone.  The coconut flour is amazing - after a minute or so, it kind of slurps up all of the liquids, creating a thick batter.  I get mine at Costco (only 7.99 for 2 Kg!) or at Bulk Barn (a bulk food store in Canada).

These muffins don't last long in our house, and I have been baking about three batches a week!

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Slow Cooker Fall Morning Pumpkin Oatmeal

I recently bought a large bag of organic locally grown rolled oats.  We are trying to spend more of our food dollars locally to support farmers as well as reducing the transportation emissions associated with our food.  Eating locally is not always easy in Canada, unless you live in more southern regions.  Where we live, I am grateful for any and all locally grown foods that I can access.  So although I am accustomed to using quick cooking oats in the kitchen, I decided it was worth it to make these oats work for us.

I know that I could have processed the oats in the food processor for a few seconds to make them "quicker cooking", but I decided to branch out and try out some new ideas.  The first day that I cooked the rolled oats, I was pretty annoyed at how long they took to cook.  Having cooked steel cut oats in the slow cooker before, I thought I would give it a try with my new bag of oats.  Also, since it is fall, I had to put a pumpkin-y twist on my breakfast oatmeal.

Fall Morning Pumpkin Oatmeal

2 large apples, peeled and sliced (about 2 cups)

2 cups pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)

1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice or cinnamon

1/4 cup maple syrup (or brown sugar, brown rice syrup, etc.)

1/2 cup raisins

2 cups rolled oats

2 1/2 cups water

Beginning with the apples, layer the first 6 ingredients in the slow cooker.  Pour water over the ingredients.  Do not stir.  Cook on low overnight for 8 to 9 hours.  Serves 6.  Breakfast will be waiting for you when you wake up!

I used my smaller sized slow cooker, and so the ingredients filled it about 3/4 full.  If using a large slow cooker, you may need to reduce cooking times to prevent the edges from becoming too dark or crispy.  Keep leftovers in the refrigerator and microwave before eating.  I found this better the second day!

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