Fruit Smoothie, deliciously simple

My friend, Manda, shared what she's been making in her smoothies; so, I thought I'd take part in this show-and-tell. We're not brave enough or healthy enough to add in veggies, like Manda does.

Fruit Smoothie

The girls, for the most part, determine what goes into the smoothies, from day to day. That's right, my five year old and four year old have say in what they eat (or, uh, drink), at least where smoothies are concerned. Other than that, I'm pretty sure I have a better idea of what's healthy and conducive towards growth and development.

2012-7-27

The ingredients:

The fruit varies from time to time, from day to day, according to what the girls choose, but here's the basic idea:

• whole milk yogurt - we use half to two-thirds of one of those big containers.
• bananas - two of them.
• coconut oil - one teaspoon.
• fruit - in today's version, we included a frozen package of organic strawberries and some fresh blueberries.

Ready to blend? Set?

GO!

I thought I'd use a fancy schmancy glass (on the left side, in the glass with a stem) for photographing. Normally I store leftover smoothies in glass (what used

FYI, no ice is needed, especially if frozen fruit is used. One can buy fruit frozen. Or one can freeze fresh fruit. Also, no added sugar is needed. Bananas, especially ripe ones, are naturally sweet and will balance out the tartness of certain fruits, such as strawberries.

Stuffed Red Bell Peppers

 2012-7-30

Stuffed Red Peppers

Ingredients:

• grass fed ground beef - I got approximately 1 1/2 lbs, but I ended up have loads leftover (which was fine; I used it as a spaghetti sauce)
• 1 medium onion, sliced thin
• medium white rice, cooked, 2 cups, I think
• 4 red bell peppers
• 1 jar, 26 oz Spinelli's classic marinara sauce
• Worcestershire sauce, a few dabs here and there
• red miso glaze - a squeeze here, a squeeze there
• fresh basil - 6-10 leaves, sliced in chunks
• sea salt
• garlic & salt from a grinder

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Cook the medium grain rice. I used my rice cooker to do the job.
3. Rinse and wash the red bell peppers. Remove and discard the tops, seeds, and membranes. Then cut a bit more off the top and dice. Set aside both, the peppers (with the tops cut off) and the diced peppers.
4. Cook the diced onion on low to medium heat, with olive oil, until the onion is transparent. Put out the onion (and set it aside) while leaving behind the olive oil and onion juices. Using the same pan, on medium heat, brown the ground beef. Add Worcestershire sauce and red miso glaze. Then, add in the diced bell peppers and the onion. Cook for a few minutes with a lid on. Add sea salt, garlic, and 80% of the marinara sauce. Stir and let it boil softly for a few minutes. Add the basil and stir gently.
5. Stuff the peppers!
6. Set the peppers in a baking pan.
7. Drizzle tops of the peppers with remaining marinara sauce and some freshly grated Parmesan cheese.
8. Cover baking pan with aluminum foil and cook in the oven for 1 hour.