Fruity Deliciousness!

I have been on a bit of a smoothie kick lately. A few years back, my mom bought Brett and I a juicer for Christmas, but for some reason, we didn't really take to it until recently. It's a small Black & Decker and we like it well enough, it does the job and we give the pulp to our worms to make compost.

I think the real reason we didn't use it much is because it takes a lot of fruit/veg to juice and I assumed it would be too expensive. What I've found since I've "revived" the juicer is that by using a "base" of carrot and pear juice or carrot and apple juice, the smoothies weren't too expensive at all and the base lends itself to pretty much any fruit additions I have tried as of yet.

I really enjoy having smoothies for breakfast. Not only are they a good way to get in the fruit and veg you need, but I find that I feel all around better after drinking one. Another odd thing I noticed was that when I have a smoothie for breakfast, I don't end up snacking a bunch throughout the day. I don't quite understand this, but it how they effect me, so I'm not going to complain!

I don't exactly know that these would technically be "smoothies" - I don't know the nomenclature of the juicing/puréeing world. I first juice my base ingredients, then I blend in solids using a blender - things like banana, frozen fruit, or ice.

Anyway, I don't think the Juice Nomenclature Police are going to come after me if I use the wrong terminology so let's get to the food! Well, um, drink!


Carrot-Pear-Banana-Peach Smoothie
Makes 3 large drinks.

8 carrots, peeled and juiced
3 d'anjou pears, juiced
2 bananas
1/2 bag of frozen peaches

Pour the prepared juice into a blender and slowly add the remaining ingredients. Blend until very smooth.


Carrot-Pear-Banana-Mixed Berry-Extra Strawberry Smoothie
Makes 3 large drinks

10 carrots, peeled and juiced
3 d'anjou pears, juiced
1 banana
1/2 bag frozen mixed berries
1/2 bag frozen whole strawberries

Pour the prepared juice into a blender and slowly add the remaining ingredients. Blend until very smooth.



I used some of my homegrown wheatgrass for this booger.

Carrot-Apple-Wheatgrass-Banana-Mango Smoothie
Makes about 3 drinks

8 carrots, peeled and juiced
3 pink lady apples, juiced
1 bunch of wheatgrass, juiced
2 bananas
1 bag frozen mangoes

Pour the prepared juice into a blender and slowly add the remaining ingredients. Blend until very smooth.


Carrot-Pear-Banana-Strawberry Smoothie
Makes 3 large drinks

10 carrots, peeled and juiced
3 d'anjou pears (or fuji apples), juiced
1 banana
1 bag frozen whole strawberries

Pour the prepared juice into a blender and slowly add the remaining ingredients. Blend until very smooth.

I know it doesn't seem like too much variation, but I don't need much variety so it works for me. And how else would I ever get Brett to eat that many carrots raw any other way? :-)

Anywho, that's all for now. Enjoy the spring like weather that is hopefully gracing you wherever you are!

'Til next time.

What an Omni Requests for Birthday Food

So yesterday was Brett’s 29th birthday, and I took the day off of work so that we could spend it together. I had gotten him a birthday present, but had already given it to him. You see, I was trying to be sneaky (which I have never been very good at), so I listened carefully over the year, trying to infer something I could get him for his birthday, without having to come right out and ask. Well he loves video games (is this something all men love regardless of age?), and his wireless controller for his Playstation broke. Now I knew what to get him.

I ordered a nice controller off of Amazon, and had it shipped to my office, sneaky right? Well the thing came and it was in a giant box. I mean this little controller was in this huge box. I was trying to figure out a way to get it home and hidden without Brett knowing, since he’s usually home when I get home. So I decided to just take it out of the box and put the controller in my book bag and get it home that way. Well wouldn’t you know that Amazon decided to glue a giant piece of cardboard to the back of the controller box, not really alleviating the size issue, and creating another, the fact that when I put it in my book bag, well, it was noticeable. It gave my book bag a rather triangular shape. In order to get the packaging for the controller separated from the cardboard would have required me to pretty much rip the whole thing apart, which I didn’t want to do in case he didn’t like it. Long story short, when I got home, I just gave it to Brett, ‘cause, well he could tell there was something up with my book bag. But he really liked it, so all was well in the end.

For breakfast I made Brett the Chocolate-Chocolate Chip Pancakes from Vegan with a Vengeance and my modified version of the strawberry sauce recipe in the book. We prefer our fruit sauces, at least for use in this type of situation, to be pretty pulverized and thick, so, as usual, I had to go a different way with this. I just noticed that I was still in keeping with my pink pancake motif, so I guess I really do have a thing for pink breakfast foods. :-)

And you know, he was sweet enough to play guitar for me while I cooked, on his birthday. I know he enjoys it, but I think I enjoy it more. I even snapped a couple of pics of him jamming.

Back to the food.

You know, I like these plates more now that I have this blog. I think I am finally starting to appreciate the full breadth of their ugliness and novelty. :-)

J’s VwaV Inspired Strawberry Sauce
½ bag frozen strawberries
1 tsp. pure maple syrup
¼ tsp. pure vanilla extract
1/8-1/4 cup organic sugar
¼ cup water
1-2 tsp. arrowroot starch/flour mixed with a tbsp or so water

In a sauce pan mix all ingredients and warm at medium heat. Once fruit mixture has gotten warm, use the side of a kitchen utensil or potato smasher to pulverize the fruit. Bring to a boil and add the arrowroot mixture, stirring frequently until desired consistency.

These pancakes are good. I mean they are chocolate and more chocolate and if you like that – well, I think you’d be in love. These are also VERY sweet, so I would recommend this as more of a dessert unless you can handle really sweet food in the morning. Both of us tend to prefer nothing really much sweeter than a granola bar, so we’ll save these for dessert next time.

When I had asked Brett what he wanted me to make him for his birthday food wise, he said he wanted the Vegan Chocolate Chip Fudgy Brownies I make as well as a Black Bean Quesadilla, he didn’t really care about breakfast. So thats what he got.

Vegan Chocolate Chip Fudgy Brownies
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup cocoa powder (I use Green & Black's Organic Cocoa Powder)
2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups organic sugar
2 tablespoons ground flax seeds (optional)
3/4 cup unsweetened applesauce (or 1 cup canola oil for higher fat baking, or 1/2 cup canola oil and 1/2 cup applesauce for somewhere in the middle)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup water
1 cup dairy-free chocolate chips (we like Tropical Source)(optional)
confectioner's sugar (optional)

Preheat the oven to 350.

Combine the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl. Stir in the wet ingredients. If desired, add chocolate chips.

Pour mixture into a greased 9"- x 13"-inch baking pan, and bake for 20 to 30 minutes.

Sprinkle with confectioner's sugar when it comes out of the oven.

Let the brownies cool slightly before serving.

Brett and I ended up with slightly different things for dinner as quesadillas and burritos can be very ‘mix-and-match’ and I had some pinto beans in the fridge that needed to be eaten, so I made a burrito for myself and a Black Bean Quesadilla for Brett. We usually use plain old Spanish rice in this recipe, but both of us thought it would be good to try subbing in Veganomicon’s Mexican Millet to see how that worked. Well of course, when I looked at the recipe, there were things I didn’t have or we don’t like and things I had that I usually add to my Spanish Rice that I thought would make good additions, so I ended up doing it a bit differently. I left the fresh tomato and cilantro out, and I didn’t have any tomato paste. So instead of using 2 cups of veggie broth, I used a cup and a half of veggie broth and a half cup of tomato juice. I also cut down on the onion called for and added sautéed red bell pepper. It was so good! Brett said he thought our Mexican food might be better with millet than rice. This stuff is really good so we highly recommend it to anyone who loves Mexican food like we do.

If you were curious here is a rough run-down of what went in Brett’s Quesadilla: Lots of black beans tossed with a bit of Simply Organics Southwest Taco Seasoning, some sweet corn, our variation of Mexican Millet, and cheese, real cheese, but it was his birthday, and this is what he wanted. It was topped with guacamole, tofu sour cream and salsa (not pictured here).

For my burrito I layered some Mexican Millet, and took a mixture of black and pinto beans, tossed them with a bit of the Southwest Taco Seasoning, then added a bit of sweet corn and some Follow Your Heart vegan Monterey Jack. I also topped mine with guacamole, tofu sour cream and salsa (again, not pictured). I had a bit of Mexican Millet on the side as my burrito ‘seemed’ small, but I didn’t end up eating it. The burrito was too filling.

You know, I don’t think I’ve had enough spicy food and guacamole yet :-), so I think I will concoct a breakfast around that. (Maybe I should turn off the Spanish guitar music.) Tonight I am also planning on making a more ‘Jen-Style’ meal, meaning more veggies, far more veggies than the types of things Brett picks out, but I think I have ways of dressing them up that will be pleasing even to the omni.

‘Til next time.