Slacker

I'm slacking right now with the blog.  I have two things to blame
1) exam time...
2) Pinterest

I will write this weekend... maybe....

Spinach Smoothies

Yup, you read that correctly. Spinach smoothies. Sounds disgusting, right? Well it ain't. I tried a spinach smoothie not once, but twice today!  As previously mentioned, I am fighting yet another head cold and I'm always searching for non-medicated ways of overcoming nasty germs, quickly.  A friend of mine mentioned that she found an interesting recipe on 'Pinterest' called the Green Monster, found here. (Sidenote: Props to anyone who has the patience to use Pinterest...WAY too overwhelming for this girl).

Green Monster Ingredients
1 banana, peeled, sliced & frozen
1 cup milk
1/2 cup fat free Greek yogurt (super duper high in protein!)
1 tablespoon peanut butter
4 cups fresh baby spinach

Method
Chuck everything into a blender and blend until smooth.

This morning I followed the recipe exactly and 'Iowa Girl Eats' didn't lie -  you cannot taste the spinach at all!  I found it to be far too filling and couldn't finish it so I decreased ingredient amounts for my round two smoothie after work today when I decided to create my own monster. It turned out ahhhh-maze-in' if I do say so myself! I would HIGHLY recommend adding two huge handfuls of fresh baby spinach to any smoothie you are making.  Doesn't smell, taste or have the texture of spinach at all. Trust me, you will love it! The great thing about smoothies is you can chuck in whatever you have hanging around.  This one is a little tart, but I love sour stuff.  Enjoy!

Berry Monster Ingredients
1 small handful of frozen raspberries
1/2 cup fat free honey Greek yogurt (PC brand)
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup POM juice
4 cups of fresh baby spinach

Method
Chuck everything into a blender and blend until smooth.

*for the record, I didn't ingest 8 cups of spinach today.  I didn't finish my first one and I halved the recipe for my 2nd one.  I should also mention that my morning shake stuck with me four 4.5 hours and I didn't feel hungry at all.

SPINACH IS THE NEW BLACK. just saying....

Poop in my Cold FX

Whhhhhhat?! There might be poop in my bottle of Cold FX?! Maybe this is why I keep getting colds...ha!

Check out the deets here.

Scalloped Potatoes...again.

I know I've posted a few different recipes for scalloped potatoes but I have to say this one was the quickest and the most tasty! Prep time was about 10 minutes and about an hour for cooking time. I'm fighting yet another flippin' cold so I wanted some comfort food.  This did the trick!  Enjoy...

Ingredients
4 medium potatoes, sliced thinly
1/2 onion, sliced thinly
1/2 cup cheese, grated
1 can low fat mushroom soup
1/4 cup cream (or milk!)
pinch of garlic powder
salt & pepper to taste

Method
Mix all ingredients together except cheese. Spread in an oven proof casserole dish that has been sprayed with cooking spray.  Sprinkle cheese on top.  Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour. (cover for first half hour and uncover for remainder of time).

Sweet Potato Soup

You've probably noticed by now that I think soup is the shiznit*. When my husband and I first got married he claimed that 'soup is just a drink, not a meal'. True story. Oh jeez, was this marriage going to work with our soup differences? I'm happy to say that this girl converted him.

This morning I made sweet potato soup. I've actually never tried this kind of soup before which is strange because sweet potatoes are ma thang. My husband claims he hates 'em. Pfffff! That's what he said about soup...
We'll see if he likes this soup (I'll tell him it's carrot....)

*For the older folk: Shiznit; shortened term for "that is the shit, isn't it?", the best, the greatest, goddam' phenomenal bi-atch.
Definitions found at Urban Dictionary 

Ingredients
2 sweet potatoes, peeled, chopped
1 large carrot, peeled, chopped
1 white potato, peeled, chopped
2 celery stalks chopped
1 med-large onion, chopped
4 cups chicken or veggie stock (don't use beef as it's too rich for this recipe)
1 1/4 teaspoons nutmeg
Salt & pepper to taste

Method
Throw all washed veggies into a food processor to chop. Throw everything into a large soup pot, cover and simmer for 45 minutes.  Transfer in batches to food processor to puree & serve! Easy. Just like me.

Goods in a Jar

It's a sad day. Christmas tree is gone, decorations are packed up and all of our gifts have been put away in their new home. Holy smokes, were we ever spoiled!  Our families were ridiculously generous and thoughtful yet again this year. THANK YOU FAM! 

This year I decided to make a useful, homemade gift for our Grandmother's.  Attempt #1: Soup mix in a jar. It looked cute and was inexpensive however I was nervous to give it as a gift because I never sampled it. Onto plan B. Chocolate chip cookies in a jar. Done. They looked equally as cute as the soup but this time I was confident that the would turn out great when baked.  The bonus, I had all the ingredients in my cupboard already. Cha-ching! Last weekend I cooked up a batch of the soup and it tasted great. Dang! I should have given both out as gifts! ah well, next time.  All of the ingredients used can be purchased at the Bulk Barn.

Minestrone Soup Mix in a Jar
1/4 cup red lentils
1/4 cup green split peas
1/4 cup barley
1/3 cup beef bouillon powder
2 tbsp. parsley flakes
3 tbsp. onion flakes
1/3 tsp. thyme
1/3 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. basil
1/4 cup shell macaroni
Yield: 2 jars (pint sized)

I decided not to layer the soup because most people don't want to make a ridiculously large pot of soup.  This way you can make a few servings at a time. Mix all ingredients in a bowl thoroughly. Pour into a pint sized mason jar (I purchased jars from Dollarama) and attach a tag that says:

"For 6 servings combine 1/4 cup of soup mix and 4 cups of water in a large sauce pan over medium-high heat  Add a sliced carrot, 1/2 can of diced tomatoes and 1 cubed potato. Bring to a boil, reduce to low temperature and simmer for 40 minutes."  

Chocolate Chip Cookie Mix in a Jar
1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 cup white sugar

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

 Yield: 1 jar (pint sized)

Layer all of the above ingredients in a pint sized mason jar (I purchased jars from Dollarama) and attach a tag that says:

"Empty contents of jar into a large bowl. In separate bowl combine 3/4 cup of butter, 1 egg, and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Beat until creamy. Add to dry mixture. Drop by tablespoonful onto an ungreased cookie sheet, and bake in a preheated 375 degrees F oven for 8 to 10 minutes."               

Bring on 2012!

2012 is going to be AMAZING, I feel it in my gut (or is that my hangover...?).

May this be a year full of love, silver linings, dreams coming true, happiness, smiles, laughing, positivity, changes, adventures and peace.

To all of you, Happy 2012!

 

J-E-L-L-O

My husband and I feel very fortunate to have family to celebrate the holidays with. This year we  had 4 full out family Christmas celebrations - - that's a whole lot of turkey! At one of our get togethers my sister-in-law brought these festive jello shooters! How cute are they?! She made four different flavours of jello and layered them, giving each layer time to set. She decreased the amount liquid a bit to make them firmer, added some vodka and a cherry in the middle which made it super easy to distribute and to clean up.  She used small dixie cups for the form and discarded them before serving. They were a huge hit!