Jesse had his wisdom teeth out this past weekend which means projects around here have been limited to a) baby care b) husband care and c) finding tasty pureed foods for both of them. Here's a peanut butter banana smoothie that we can't get enough of:
Jesse has been living on these since Friday because he needs sustenance. I have been living on these on Friday since they are so delicious. Baby Will can't eat peanut butter yet, but when he can, I'm sure he'll be all about these smoothies as well. They're filling and taste creamy without any dairy. If you don't add the honey, this smoothie is vegan (side note: did you know that serious vegans don't eat honey? I guess it makes sense but I'd never thought about it).
To make this smoothie, I used:
2 bananas handful of ice cubes (4 or so) 1 cup water 2 tablespoons of peanut butter teaspoon of honey (optional)
Blend until smooth. Feed to your newly toothless husband or enjoy on your own!
Mix it up with a few different flavors by adding chocolate syrup, berries, or a handful of spinach. We had a spinach one this morning and it's super tasty.
After I ate about 19 dough balls on Sunday, I decided I needed a little detox. I was chatting about kale recipes a few weeks ago with my manager, Ross, and he shared a smoothie he makes with avocado, kale and mango. I decided to do something similar, minus the avocado. I LOVE the smoothie with avocado, but this is my favorite way of making it - it's so refreshing.
Enter kale, mango, and pineapple smoothie. This is delicious. If you are craving something that will make you feel healthy from the inside out, this is the way to go. If your fruit is very ripe, you won't need to sweeten it. If you do, add a half a teaspoon or so of agave nectar. A little goes a long way. Seriously - I crave these and can totally tell when I haven't had one in awhile.
Super Green Smoothie Recipe
2 Big Handfuls of Raw, Roughly Chopped Kale
1/4 Cup of Fresh Mango
1/4 Cup of Fresh Pineapple
1/4 Cup of Water
Handful of Ice
Blend all of the ingredients together until smooth. Serve immediately and enjoy.
So remember that blueberry kale smoothie Caitlin made, way back when? This was inspired by that. I make this ALL the time. At least 3-4 times a week. I think it's absolutely delicious and totally refreshing.
Anytime, literally anytime, I mention blueberries (which is like every day), my husband screams "BLUEBERRIES BLUEBERRIES" from the youtube video, "you forgot the blueberries." If you haven't seen this video...it's an absolute must. I've seen it maybe 300 times and I still laugh so hard, I cry.
Ok, onto the smoothie.
Here are the ingredients:
2 Cups Chopped Kale
1 Cup Frozen Blueberries
1 Cup Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk
1 Tbs of Agave Nectar
2 Tsp of Peanut Butter
1 Pinch of Sea Salt
Put the kale in the blender first. Add the blueberries on top and then the rest of the ingredients. Blend until smooth.
Kale - a fiber, mineral, and vitamin C, A, and K rich vegetable, kale is the earth's perfect food. Move over spinach, kale is what is UP. Blueberries - very high in antioxidants and a great source of vitamin C. Plus they taste amazing. Almond Milk - super high in protein and low in calories. A great alternative to regular milk. Agave Nectar - a low glycemic sweeter, agave is great for people on low carb diets. For example, white sugar's average glycemic index is in the 60s, where agave is under 30. Peanut Butter - fat helps keep us full longer and peanut butter has the good fat. It also has lots of other healthy properties like vitamin E, potassium, magnesium, and vitamin B6.
Why do I add salt? A little salt helps bring out the rich flavors in the kale and blueberries and also helps balance the sweetness. It's totally optional, but give it a try. You know I wouldn't post this unless it tasted DELISH. So yummy. Stay hungry!
