Avocado Smoothie Recipe

This is an easy quick snack or meal at home or on the go.

Take one small avocado or 1/2 of a large avocado. Cut the avocado in 1/2 and take the seed out. Then take a spoon and spoon the meat out. Place into a blender.

Add 1/2 C. of Almond milk or milk of choice.

Add 2-3 tsp. sweet of choice

Add 1/2 C. of ice

Add about 1/4 tsp, lime zest. It must be lime. Makes all the difference in flavor.

Put the top on the blender and blend until smooth.

Pour into cup. place in a straw and drink. Yum.

Note: You can make two servings or one large serving with a large avocado or two small avocado's. Then double the rest of the ingredients and blend.

 

Cabbage Apple Sauce Pork Stew Recipe

This was an, "Oh my god" it's time to make dinner again. inspiration. I saw a cartoon one time where there was a woman sitting in a chair with her arms over her head like she was crying and the caption said something like; "I can't believe this. They want dinner every night". I just had to laugh because sometimes I feel that way. No picture for this recipe, because time was flying like the wind. This is a picture of my littlest picking apples from my tree, end of summer.

 Serves 8

1 lb. pork chopped or ground and broken or rolled into small balls will do. (I used chopped boneless pork chops I had on hand).
2 T. Veggie oil
1 large onion chopped
1 head of cabbage
16 oz. apple sauce
6 cloves of garlic chopped
3 tsp. caraway whole
2 T. mustard (any kind will do)
4 medium potatoes, skinned and chopped
4 C. chicken or veggie broth
1/4-1 C. apple cider vinegar (I used 1/4 C.)
salt and pepper to taste

In a large stock pot, saute onions in veggie oil. Add the rest of the ingredients, mix and bring the pot to a boil. Then lower the heat, partly cover pot with lid. So have the lid cracked and venting while you simmer for 30-60 minutes.

Serve with bread or soft pretzels or pretzel bread sticks. I found these wonderful pretzel bread sticks on the discounted bread rack at the Super Walmart, but cannot find it in the bakery. Sometimes I wonder where some of the discounted bakery items even come from at times. It was so good with this. This was surprisingly good soup. I used home made apple sauce from my backyard tree. It was a great new taste adventure. My mother n law said it reminded her of when she lived in Germany and ate food similar to this. The more I grow veggies in my back yard, the more I learn to love eating them many different ways.

 

 

Strawberry and Nutella Burrito Recipe

Chocolate and strawberries what could be better? I love easy quick food.

Take a tortilla, any size will do. I used a large one. Warm your tortilla on a gas stove top,  or in the microwave etc... Spread some Nutella thinly on the warmed tortilla. I love Nutella, if they could only make it sugar free with an alternative sweetener. Ah...You can also use another chocolate hazelnut or chocolate nut spread. Slice a few fresh strawberries into bite size pieces. Place them on top of the Nutella on the warmed tortilla. Wrap any way you like and eat.

This is so easy and super yummy.

French Silk Pie With Pretzel Crust Recipe (low sugar Option)

Here is a sneak peek of my Christmas dessert in the fridge. O.K. the holiday has come and gone. But now that the rain falls in the middle of winter, I have time to reflect on things in my mind and onto my blog. My 5 year old son insisted on a chocolate pie even though I knew he would never eat it. I took his opinion as an idea and inspiration. I had the ingredients for the pie, but did not want to do an old fashioned crust. I found the pretzel crust recipe online and was very pleased with myself. Think I found these recipes at allrecipes.com and or food.com

Low sugar options are listed in ingredients

Pretzel Crust:    (Heat oven to 350F)
1/3 cup butter or like soft or melted (I used Smart Balance)
3 T. Sugar (I used Splenda)
1 1/4 C. crushed pretzels (I think whirling them in a blender or food processor for a finer grind might be better)(I just put them in a bag and crushed them with the side of an old metal ice hammer)

Mix all in a bowl. Press into a 9 inch. pie pan and bake in pre heated oven at 350F for 7-9 minutes. Take out and cool.

French Silk Pie:

4 oz. chocolate chips/or chunks melted in a double broiler or microwave (I used Ghirardelli, you can buy that at amazon.com)(you could make this with white chocolate too.)
1/2 C. butter or like softened (I used Smart balance)
3/4 C. sugar ( I used 6 T. sugar and 6 T. splenda)(you could try all splenda or 4 T. sugar and 8 T. splenda)
1 tsp. vanilla
2 eggs

Use a hand blender to mix sugar and butter in a medium bowl. Then add the melted chocolate and blend well. Now add one egg at a time, blending each egg for 5 minutes at a time. I used the oven timer for this. Blend on medium-high. Pour into a prepared pie crust of choice. Chill in the fridge for 2 hours. Top with whip cream and or chocolate shaving if you like.

The mix will be thick and soft when you pour it into the pie crust. Not to worry. I covered my pie with cling wrap (to keep the pie tasting like chocolate pie and not have unwanted added flavors) and it thickened up to a firm solid.

This pie was good.

Green Tomato Soup/Bisque Recipe

I still have a few Tomatoes sitting on my table slowly turning colors one buy one. When I picked the last of my tomatoes I had many green ones and wanted to try a new recipe including them. So soup it was. I found this recipe online and it need more so like many of my found recipes, I have changed it a bit.

News for today is that I am a grandma. My daughter had a baby boy. She lives far and is not married. I gave my best support long distance and can only wish them happiness on the paths they have chosen. Here is two pics of my daughters new boy.

 

 

So cute...

Yes I strayed, lets get  the Green Tomato Soup Recipe written down.

Ingredients:
2 T. Veggie oil
6 oz. chopped ham
1 small onion chopped
2-3 cloves of garlic chopped
4 C. chicken or veggie broth
10 medium green tomatoes ( a few ripe or repining are fine)
1 Jalapeno chopped or half is fine depending on the size.
1/4 C. chopped celery or 1/4 tsp. celery seed or 4T. fresh or 2 T. dry celery leaves
1-2 sweet peppers like Anaheim, bell or Italian chopped
2 Potatoes, skinned and chopped

Add all the ingredients (except ham) to a stock pot. Cover and bring to a boil then sower heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Use a hand blander to puree in the pot. Add chopped ham and mix. Serve with warm bread and you can dollop with yogurt or sour cream. You can add salt to taste if you like too, but I thought the ham gave it enough saltiness for me.


 

Bella's Greens And More Powder/Mix Recipe

A lot has happened recently. My mother n law has moved in. For only a short time (crossing my fingers). Talk about the life/time being sucked out of you when unwanted responsibility walks in.

I have been cooking and baking up a storm. Trying new things and being a total recipe collecting nerd/hog still. (hearing a crash from down stairs) I am not paying attention to it.

I have been taking Super greens with added probiotics to get my health and energy back and they work, but I thought maybe I could make my own Produce powder with greens from my garden and other foods.  I am still in the perfecting stage and very excited to share my results so far.

 Bella's Greens And More:
Bunch of Cilantro
Collard Greens
Swiss Chard
Kale
Cayenne dried crumbled (about 1 T.)
Mushrooms 1 lb.
Stevia leaves dried (ground about 2 tsp.)
Cherry Acerola Powder 4 T.

So, I dehydrated the fresh produce. Ground them in batches in the blender. Mixed everything together and placed in a glass mason jar with lid. I have used 1 T. added to half juice and half water to mix and drink. It is very filling and I prefer only taking a 1/2 T. at a time.

My detailed observation is that it makes me slightly bloated and gassy for an hour after at 1 T. and less tummy disturbance at 1/2 T. Perhaps to many mushrooms?  Maybe dehydrate the mushrooms on a higher heat before grinding. Or only process 1/2 a pound of mushrooms per batch. I also thought that the flavor was good, yet just slightly to much cayenne. Another tsp. of stevia might be a good idea. I also think that after grinding produce in the blender the batch needs a second grinding in the coffee grinder to make a finer/smoother substance to incorporate into the liquid of choice.

Powder greens can be made anyway you like. I am thinking I could add some kelp granule to grind and mix in a batch, or some dried sliced beets ground too. Lots of options. I used some stevia leaves I had dried from my small wilted plant and think it would be easier to buy some dry green unprocessed stevia powder for these mixes.

I have learned to respect the prices of super green powders, because I dried and ground a lot of produce just to make just a bit over 1/2 a jar. Yet know, I can make my own with out any fillers too. Wish I new how to get probiotic powder and mix it into the greens effectively, but I should probably master the basic green mix first.

Update: I have done a second blend in my new goffee grinder. Bingo. It is the perfect fine powder now. 1 T. goes down so much better. Still agree that there is to much hot pepper in it and it needs more stevia or some sort of sweet fruit powder. Though, still very pleased.