Mojito Smoothy

I ordered a great cook book, Everyday Happy Herbivore by Lindsay Nixon... one of the first recipes I tried was her Mojito Smoothy... sounded like a fun way to jazz up a summer morning breakfast or snack! So easy and simple.

Throw into the blender the following ingredients:

• 3-4 icecubes
• 1/2 cup of milk or milk substitute
• 1 tsp of vanilla
• 1 banana (fresh or frozen)
• 1 cup of raw spinach
• handful of fresh mint leaves
• juice from 1/2 lime
• Agave (sweeten to taste)

Blend and enjoy.  It is so yummy! I love the addition of the lime, vanilla and mint! (Add more as desired.)  I promise, you cannot even taste a hint of spinach. It's like it is not even there and you are filling your body with green goodness!

By the way, I like to buy a big bundle of bananas and when ripe, I peel and break them into chunks, and then throw them in a freezer bag and freeze. Frozen bananas add a great texture to shakes.

and now I'm a..........VEGAN

Or at least trying to be.  Can you believe it?  Over the past few years, I have been transitioning back in to the world of vegetarianism and I couldn't feel better.  Recently, I came upon some new information that opened me up to the possibilities of cutting out one of my very favorite food groups.... dairy.  Here are a couple you may wish to check out:

http://drhyman.com/blog/conditions/dairy-6-reasons-you-should-avoid-it-at-all-costs/
http://www.forksoverknives.com/

Now this is pretty big step considering I could live off of cheese!  I cut out milk over 12 years ago, so I was hoping the transition wouldn't be too difficult and you know what?  For the past two months, it hasn't been. I was a little concerned with cutting out dairy, as I really relied on cheese and eggs for small doses of protein and fat.  But I found that Todd and I were already doing a pretty good job of integrating beans, quinoa, amaranth, nuts and seeds to our plant-based diet.  I thought I would be more hungry, grouchy and filled with a longing for cheese - but that is not the case. Both Todd and I have noticed big changes...less allergies, better/clear skin, and more energy.  I will keep you updated as whether or not I can stay the course.

If you are a meat/dairy lover, don't worry.  The great thing about this blog is that my sister, who is also a contributor, is not a vegetarian, and so hopefully there is something for everyone here! My recipes can include both meat and dairy. 

Yummy Mummy Cookies

Hi there. As most of you know, I have two little ones at home. A two year old daughter who I nursed until she was about 13 months old, and a 7 month old son who I'm currently nursing. I try everything I can to keep my milk supply up for my chunky monkey. He's an eater! I'm not sure how many ounces he eats in an entire day, but I would guess it's over 30. I have to leave at least 15 ounces for him at daycare during an 8 hour period, and he's eating solids on top of that. I'll have to do a post later about some of my favorite pureed foods to make for him. I've been meaning to write this post for a while now, but it's been really hectic at work and at home. I feel like I'm finally starting to get into the groove of balancing my home and work lives.


Any way, on to the cookies. One of my friend's told me about some cookies she made while nursing her daughter that were supposed to help with your milk supply, and she dubbed them "lactation cookies." As soon as I heard eating these cookies would be good for my supply - I was in! The cookies are basically your normal chocolate chip cookie recipe with brewer's yeast and flax seed meal incorporated into them (I found both ingredients at Whole Foods). Brewer's yeast is well known for helping milk supply hence why some people say drink a beer when your nursing. The flax seed meal is a galactagogue which means it improves lactation. And the oats in there help with lactation as well. 


Here's the recipe for "lactation cookies"
Preheat oven to 375 degrees

1 C butter
1 C sugar
1 C brown sugar
4 T water
2 T flaxseed meal (no subs)
2 Lg eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 C flour (I used whole wheat)
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt

2-4 T Brewers Yeast (no substitutions and I used 4 tablespoons to get the max effect)
3 C Thick cut oats
1 C Chocolate chips (I used dark chocolate chunks) 

Mix 2 T of flaxseed meal and water, set aside 3-5 minutes.
Cream butter and sugar and brown sugar.
Add eggs.
Stir flaxseed mix into butter mix and add vanilla.
Beat until well blended.
Sift: dry ingredients, except oats and choc chips.
Add butter mix to dry
Stir in the oats and then the choc chips.

Drop on parchmant paper or baking sheet.
Bake 8-12 minutes.

Ok so 1 cup of butter, 1 cup of sugar, 1 cup of brown sugar scared me so I made some tweaks.  

Here are my substitutions:

1/2 C Sugar

1/2 C Brown Sugar

1/2 C Applesauce

1/2 C Canola Oil (omitted butter entirely) 

Also, something that I noticed about the cookie dough is that the longer it sat without being used, the more beer-ish taste it got. So as soon as I mixed it I popped them into the oven. The cookies turned out well with my substitutions, but I definitely think they would have tasted better with butter. Mine were almost a cakey constituency, and I think the butter would have made them a little more crisp. I thought they were pretty good overall though. 

It makes a ton of cookies so I froze them and would defrost one each night as my dessert.

I'm not sure if it helped my milk supply, but I can say I've been able to keep up with my chunkster's milk demands. 

Let me know if you try them! There are endless flavor combinations you can make. I think I might try white chocolate and dried cranberries next! 

Katie's Black Bean Burgers

Hi all! Todd and I love to eat a lot Mexican inspired dishes. One of our favorites is homemade black bean burgers that are very easy to make. Each time I make them, I tend to improvise, as I'm missing an ingredient, or want to add a little something extra. :) I think the key to helping the patties hold their shape is to finely chop all of the ingredients and to avoid flipping them in the pan too soon.

*On a side note: At home, we only eat sprouted wheat bread, (Ezekiel or Genesis Bread), wraps (Ezekiel or Alvarado Street Bakery), and English muffins, so when a recipe calls for bread crumbs, I toast the Genesis bread until its crunchy and then toss it in the food processor. We also eat a lot of salsa and sour cream, and sometimes to jazz up the sour cream, I'll add some chili powder seasoning and little cumin.

Black Bean Burgers

• 1 can of black beans rinsed and drained
• 2 portobello mushrooms diced
• 1/2 green, red, or yellow pepper diced
• 2 stalks of celery diced
• 1/2 to 3/4 of an onion diced
• about 6 tbsp of bread crumbs (If you are making your own, I use two slices of bread)
• 1 egg
• 1 tbsp of worcestershire sauce
• 1 tbsp of honey mustard
• dash of chili seasoning (optional)
• garlic powder

1. Saute mushrooms, peppers, celery and onion until soft and translucent and then transfer to bowl and let cool for a few minutes.
2. Add worcestershire and honey mustard to the ingredients
3. Add black beans and mash the ingredients together
4. Add the seasonings and egg
5. Finally add the bread crumbs and form into patties
6. Add oil to the pan and cook on medium heat for about 5 min on each side

I garnish with sour cream, salsa, chopped tomatoes, scallions, and cilantro. I often serve them on a handful of fresh spinach and a scoop of brown rice. Enjoy!