the craziest smoothie i've ever made

I'm what some might call a "conservative" smoothie maker. I find my perfect blend and then stick to it. If I know the ratio of milk/juice to frozen berries that results in an almost flawless smoothie, why tamper with that power?!

Especially since I've had my fair share of smoothie flops to know that you don't mess with something when you finally get it right.

I've tried adding the gross-tasting protein powder, hoping to mask it by fruit flavours, only for the protein powder to come out more pronounced.

I've made smoothies that more resemble a juice than a thick cold iced beverage. If I wanted juice, I'd drink juice!

I've done overkill on the fruits - sometimes simple is better.

As you can see, I don't take smoothie flops lightly. Waste of my precious frozen fruits and liquids! Which is more reason to keep a good thing going, if you got it!

Truth be told, this normally is my mentality, but I slightly strayed from my conservative smoothing-making self today. She would be so proud of herself for being brave, trying something new and not having it flop...yes, she being me.

Blackberry-Orange Splendid Smoothie

by Char

Prep Time: 5 mins

Cook Time: Zippo!

Ingredients (1 serving)

• 3/4 cup mandarin orange kiju juice
• 1/2 cup frozen marion blackberries
• 2 tsp vanilla coconut milk yogurt
• 3/4 tsp maca powder
• 1 tsp ground flaxseed
• 1 30g scoop vega smoothie infusion
• handful of spinach

Instructions

Combine all ingredients in your blender/vitamix/magic bullet and blend until smooth!

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I'm just so daring today that I even used my Starbucks mug that I purchased right after Christmas, and have not used once! I'm breaking old habits, one two at a time!

The thing I loved about this smoothie was you couldn't taste the protein powder, it wasn't overly watery, and it had the right amount of fruit in it! PLUS, it has the added bonus of greens in it from the spinach that you cannot even taste (not that I mind tasting the spinach, but the vegetables in smoothie skeptics!) I guess I have to be less conservative more often.

*****

Side note: here's the protein powder and berries I used in this smoothie.

*****

I pretty much inhaled this thing like I hadn't eaten in 5 years. This is rare for me with any smoothie, let alone a smoothie that I had just created on a whim. Just don't choke on the pieces of berries that did not get blended up, unless you have a Vitamix (hint hint, husband).

It's now time to make some much needed rutabaga fries and a try out a new quinoa dish. Hey, I didn't say I was conservative in all food areas!

Have a great Thursday wherever you are today!

PS - Stay tuned this weekend for a little treat coming your way!!!!

artichoke hummus

There was once a time where I was an avid hummus buyer. I would buy my overpriced tub of hummus because it tasted so good.

Sometimes, I would hold off on buying it just in case it went on sale. And then when it never did, I would buy it anyways. After all, good hummus deserves to be in my belly.

Besides, if I never bought the overpriced, delicious hummus, then what other hummus would I eat? I couldn't just go without hummus...what kind of world would that be?! That's until I discovered making your own hummus (read: I finally realized that it really is that easy to make your own).

It's actually the overpriced hummus's fault for being so overpriced that lead to my hummus-making abilities. I bet it wishes it would have lowered its price a little because, unfortunately, we probably won't be seeing each other for a while now. Unless it vows to drop its price to 1/2 off.

Artichoke Hummus

by Char

Prep Time: 10 mins

Cook Time: 0 mins

Ingredients

• 1.5 cups precooked chickpeas
• 3/4 of 14oz can artichokes in water, reserving the water and a few artichokes for garnish
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• juice from 3/4 lemon
• 2 small garlic cloves
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder (if you run out of garlic cloves like me)
• 1/4 tsp paprika
• 2 tbsp tahini

Instructions

Place all ingredients in a food processor (this includes the water from the artichokes) and blend until well-combined.

Drizzle with high quality olive oil and garnish with fresh or dried parsley.

Serve with fresh vegetables or tortilla chips or even quinoa socca (since it's not chickpea related).

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For a hummus newbie, I think I did pretty good. I half expected that it would have actually been:

a) a waste of my chickpeas

b) something I would gag over but try to eat anyways for the sake of not wasting.

Obviously you can see my expectations are fairly low when trying something new! But, a life lesson I learned from this experience: don't be afraid to try new things...you might just surprise yourself!

Making my own hummus has actually fueled the fire. My next attempt will probably involve a lot of heat - that way if it doesn't turn out, my mouth will be half-paralyzed by peppers!

QUESTION: Any other hummus newbies out there? Or if you make it quite often, what are your favourite flavour combos?!

quick quinoa socca

What's a life lesson that you probably use everyday with or without realizing it? To make do with what you have.

No tape to hang the picture? Use gum.
No bowl for your cereal? Use a mug.
No scissors to cut the tag off your new shirt? Use your teeth.
No toothbrush? Use your finger.

Ok, just don't tell my mom about the last two.

This is where socca comes in. Since I had used up the rest of the rice from my previous lunch, I knew I wouldn't have any to use for dinner. But, I knew with the dish I was making, I would definitely need something to soak up the sauciness of it. Rice is normally my companion, but life lesson told me that I needed to make do with what I had, and that wasn't rice.

What do I have? Why couldn't I have just decided to have cereal for dinner instead...in a mug.

From my internal dialogue, it went from rice to bread to flatbread to socca. Only problem was I didn't have chickpea flour, either (aka socca's main ingredient). Life lesson almost told me to just suck it up, scrap sauce's soak-me-up partner and eat the dish as a stew, until I remembered something.

What about quinoa flour? I know I have some of that I-bought-it-because-it-sounded-cool-but-now-I-don't-know-what-to-do-with-it stuff. It could easily replace chickpea flour...right?

Lets just say it worked...like teeth through a price tag!

Quinoa Socca

by Char

Prep Time: 5 mins

Cook Time: 5 mins

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Ingredients (10 -15 (depending on size))

• 1 cup + 2 tbsp quinoa flour
• 1 cup water
• 1.5 tbsp canola oil
• 1/2 tbsp cumin

Instructions

Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl and whisk until smooth consistency.

In a large frying pan over medium-high heat, add some more oil and pour the batter into pan. Watch closely as it doesn't take long for one side to firm up. Keep flipping until desired texture and done-ness (I liked some a little crispy!).

Sprinkle with sea salt when socca is done.

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Ready in 5 minutes flat and delicious. That's what life lessons are all about.

And this, my friends, is how you make do while working out at home when you have none of the equipment (ie: equalizers, large box/steps) required to do the workout:

I call this one TV stand step-up.

Chair and mop bar pull-ups.

Equalizing abs without the equalizer.

I suppose it's better than using your finger to brush your teeth. ;)

Side note: this marks day 5 of working out in a row while off school!!!


QUESTION: What are some of the ways you "make do" with what you have??