Coconut Carrot Mango Smoothie {Two Ways}

   I know, what you're thinking... Smoothie? Again? Well, yes, because this is the most amazing smoothie I have ever made! Okay, I say that about all of the smoothies and juices I blog but I mean it this time, at least until I make another one tomorrow.

    This was another attempt to teach C to drink his way through the color spectrum. He liked this one, orange is his favorite color so that was to be expected. Poor guy bit the inside of his cheek the other day and it is painful so the acidity of this smoothie hurt him to drink too much. I promised him I'd make it again one day after he mouth heals. He is finally get a bit more adventurous with trying new things, so maybe my experiment is working.

   L on the other hand will eat anything we give him and then finish what is on our plates if we aren't careful. He particularly loves smoothies or "moo-bees" as he calls them. As soon as I reach for the blender her gets excited and if I start making one without him he comes busting in the kitchen as soon as he hears it. He jump, claps his hands and chants MOO-BEE MOO-BEE MOO-BEE and MINE MINE MINE until I hand him his own little glass.

 (Normally I use 8 oz jelly jars with these lids for the kiddos) 

   I actually have two recipes for you today. My husband is allergic to peaches so I made him one first then added the peaches and almond milk to mine and the boys' smoothies. I added the milk to add to the creaminess to the texture because that is the way that C likes his and I can always use the extra protein and calcium from the almonds. 

Coconut Carrot Mango Smoothie

Serves 2-3 people

1 large or 2 medium carrots

2-3 tablespoons flaxseeds

1 1/2 cups coconut water

2 cups frozen mango

1 cup orange juice 

1 tablespoon honey

In a blender, combine carrot and flax seed and pulse until chopped up. Add coconut water and blend until carrot has liquefied and flax seed is chopped up finely. Add mango, juice, and honey. Blend there are no longer chunks and is like a thick milkshake. Don't forget to taste it before drinking to make sure it doesn't need more honey.

Coconut Carrot Mango Peach Smoothie

serves 4-6 people

1 large or 2 medium carrots

2-3 tablespoons flaxseeds

1 1/2 cups coconut water

2 cups frozen mango

2 cups frozen peaches

1 cup orange juice

1/2 cup almond milk 

1 tablespoon honey

In a blender, combine carrot and flax seed and pulse until chopped up. Add coconut water and blend until carrot has liquefied and flax seed is chopped up finely. Add mango, peaches, juice, milk and honey. Blend there are no longer chunks and is like a thick milkshake. Don't forget to taste it before drinking to make sure it doesn't need more honey.

Cheers!

Spinach Mango Flax Seed Smoothie aka Mommy's Magic Super Power Boosting Milk Shake Smoothie

   I finally gave up and re-shot the smoothie pictures that I complained about Tuesday. So here is my post I wrote on Monday for Tuesday but had to postpone until Wednesday but then forgot so now I'm posting on Thursday. Make sense? No? Yeah, I don't understand either. Just pretend you're reading this on Monday or Tuesday and it will all make sense.  

   This weekend I ignored my Doctor's recommendation to only eat small meals and stay away from raw fruits and veggies, hard to digest proteins, anything that is highly processed or has a lot of preservatives, basically anything other than carbs and liquids. (I know that a high carb diet does not sound like a healthy thing but it is what I have to do until we can figure out why my stomach no longer wants to digest anything these days) Fast food, lemon curd, cupcakes, rice krispie treats, bacon, brownies, olives, cheese, carrots, strawberries, chocolate cake, a chicken burger, a meatball sub, are just some of the things I devoured. To say that I was/am sick is an understatement! Since I refused to act like a responsible adult this weekend, and chose to eat like a crazed lunatic, I am on a liquid diet today. Therefore it's SMOOTHIE TIME!!!!!

   This smoothie is also the one way I can get more than a couple of bites of anything green into C. He swears aliens use green veggies to control minds. Yes, my 4 year old believes that if he eats broccoli an alien with take control of him. He makes life interesting, to say the least. This is my answer to it. He will also drink it with strawberry instead of mango. He believes that it will give his super powers a boost. He will tell me his Hulk strength is stronger, his Iron Man Blasters go boom better and he's as fast as the Flash almost immediately after drinking it! Don't judge me for lying to my kid! I'm desperate. He has gone multiple days skipping one or more meals because I implemented the, “You eat what I give you or you don't eat” rule, thinking that he was just being a kid who wanted to be picky, I now believe he honestly has a hard time with certain tastes and textures. I never let him go to the point it would be harmful, but this kids has will power like nothing I've seen before. Now, he will try three bites of anything I give him, often it is still a battle but he does try new things now, but he is simply not a fan of certain textures. I'm the same way when it comes to certain foods. I cannot even look at beans without feeling nauseated. I'll eat peas or chickpeas but they have to be pureed. I cannot bite into a whole, raw blueberry or a grape without gagging. So, I know he is trying and he really does want to like vegetables but right now it is a slow process. So I make him a glass of this smoothie a couple of times a week now. He thinks it takes like a milk shake and frankly so do I.

Serves 1-2 people

1 large handful of spinach

1 handful of frozen mango*

6 oz greek yogurt *optional*

2-3 tablespoons flax seeds

approximately 1/3 cup coconut water

approximately 1/3 cup orange juice

approximately 1/3 cup almond milk

Combine everything in a blender and blend until all produce is broken up, seeds are no longer visible and has a milkshake like consistency. Drink immediately.

*Just about any fruit would be good in this smoothie so feel free to swap things out. And, if you want to use fresh but still want the texture of the frozen fruit pre-freeze bananas and add one to each smoothie.

The smoothie pictured above does not have yogurt but I always add it when my son is going to be drinking it. The texture seems more “milkshakey” with the yogurt and he is more likely to drink anything if he thinks I added ice cream.

Strawberry Mango Coconut Smoothie

   I love smoothies. I mean I LOVE smoothies and so do my boys. We drink them fairly often and now that I'm under doctors orders to stay away from raw fruits and vegetables, unless they are pureed, we will be eating having them on a even more often. 

   Which, can I whine to you a little? I am craving a spinach salad like CRAZYYYY!!!!! The lack of raw veg in my life is making me cranky! And of course the other thing that I can't eat is junk food. Basically I need to eat as little preservatives as possible but I can't eat too many fruits, veg, or meat. Basically I can eat carbs. I know sounds like a dream right? Well, I'm less than thrilled. I always want what I can't have, at least when it comes to food. 

   Now, that is out of my system, let me tell you about this smoothie. I originally planned on adding carrot juice or spinach and flax seed but I am out of all of the above. I need to restock my refrigerator. But this smoothie is perfect for getting kids who are normally picky eaters to feel like they are drinking a milk shake. The Greek yogurt and coconut milk make it creamy enough to trick a picky eater into thinking, it is in fact, a treat. Like with any other smoothie, I wouldn't look at these portions as set in stone, just a guide. I added honey this time but if my fruit was a bit sweeter I wouldn't have added any this time. I would also rather use fresh produce but I often go to frozen for convenience. If you do the same, make sure you not using fruit that has been packed in syrup. You want fruit that has be cleaned cut and frozen. 

Strawberry Mango Coconut Smoothie

serves approximately 4 people

6 oz (3/4 cup) Greek yogurt (I used strawberry)

7 oz (1/2 can) coconut milk

6 oz (3/4 cup) coconut water

4 oz (1/2 cup) orange juice (I used fresh squeezed)

3 tablespoons oats

2 handfuls frozen mango

2 handfuls frozen strawberries

*honey* optional

Combine everything in a blender and blend until smooth. Drink immediately. 

Mango Cardamom Oatmeal

Normally breakfast around here is greek yogurt because its easy and since I don't eat much throughout the day I know I'm getting protein and calcium that I desperately need. Luckily my hubby and boys love yogurt almost as much as I do but, every once in awhile I like to have something of substance for breakfast. Oatmeal is a quick and filling meal that will stay with me until lunch and can be thrown together in the morning or even the night before, so I can fix it while still half asleep. This version has some exotic flavors that I love love love! It can also be made vegan and gluten free. Combine this with an iced coffee (yes, I drink them all year long) and I am ready to go, nice and full, albeit still half awake but ready to start my day.

Serves 4:

1 14 oz can coconut milk
1 cup almond milk
1 tsp cardamom
1 tsp cinnamon

1/4-1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg 

zest and juice of an orange

1/3 cup agave nectar, turbinado (raw) sugar or honey

2 cups rolled oats

2 cups mango (I used frozen but fresh would be best if in season)

honey and almond milk for topping or greek yogurt

In a medium saucepan whisk together milks, spices, orange juice and zest and sweetener. Bring mixture to a boil and stir in mango and oats, reduce to simmer. Simmer until thickened, about 5-8 minutes. Eat warm top with a splash of milk and/or honey (or agave or raw sugar if vegan.)

Tropical Green Juice

I have created, okay, well I picked the stuff but the hubs actually made, the BEST JUICE EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!  True story y'all! I could drink this everyday. Not too tart, not too sweet with a hint of peppery spice in the background. I  LOVE IT! I want to drink this everyday, forever! It totally rocked my socks off, well not technically since I wasn't wearing socks when I drank it, but it totally would have. For reals! It is a bit tart, of course the tartness/sweetness can vary depending on the ripeness of your fruit. I prefer it tart, but if it is too tart for you, add more kiwi or cut back on the pineapple. You could also stir in some agave nectar if you prefer.

This recipe should serve two people one 12 oz juice each or one person two portions as meal replacement. If you are juicing along with eating healthy then 4 portions are easy what I would expect to get out of this recipe. It was my breakfast and lunch today. Of course there is no way to predict the exact amount of juice you will get from your fruit but this make quite a lot.

Juice
1/2 of a pineapple
1 mango
2 kiwi
2-3 cups of spinach arugula mix
2 stalks of celery
1/2 inch knob of ginger
Refrigerate and enjoy. :-)

Sunshine Smoothie

 We started today with another yummy concoction. It looks like a lot of ingredients but in all actually it isn't. Lee came home with a gigantic bag of frozen fruit mix from the grocery store because it is perfect for my smoothie addiction. It is a mix of pineapple, strawberry, mango and peach. I made a  huge smoothie, as you can tell from the picture, for my breakfast and lunch today plus I had enough for Caleb to have a small smoothie with his breakfast.

 I find that carrots are a fairly strong flavor so I like to combine them with orange. They compliment each other in flavor and color which matters when getting kids to drink it. I know that Caleb refuses to drink anything that has muddy colors but he will drink anything with bright vibrant colors. 

Sunshine Smoothie

makes 2.5 servings

2-3 Blood  oranges, juiced

2 carrots, juiced

1 cup of frozen fruit mix

1/2 frozen banana  

Blend all ingredients and enjoy!

Robot Birthday Party Part 3... The FOOD

The recipes I used for the party are...

Cosmic Cookies via Bakerella. 

I ♥ her so much!!! They were very butterscotchy! I loved them that way though. A few people thought we should cut back on the butterscotch chips next time. But honestly I loved them that way so I will probably leave them just the way they are.

Gear Gumdrops also from Bakerella. 

Told you I love her. These are a lot  of work but very much worth it. The orange were root beer flavored and the blue were bubblegum flavored. I did two recipes and wound up with left overs. Next time I think I will do a fruit flavor and cut down to one recipe. Maybe next time I will remember to put out the treat bags so guest can take them home too.

Gadget Gellies from Food Librarian. 

I used berry blue and orange flavors. I now have a major obsession with gelatin related recipes. I bought the tiny spoons from Bake It Pretty but now they have these spoons that I think I like better. They have everything you need and more! I bought the shot glasses from Oriental Trading.

Mechanical Marshmallows

These are pretty self explanatory. Just put lollipop stick in marshmallows then dip in melted chocolate and shake on the sprinkles let set until chocolate hardens. Easy!

Contraption Cupcakes

(mango lemonade cupcakes)

I'm not going to give you the recipe I used for the cupcakes. It was a new recipe and it was dry and had a weird texture. So I recommend using this cake just add lemon zest and reduce the milk but the amount of lemon juice you add. I would add 1/4 cup of lemon juice and zest of at least 3 lemons.

For the butter cream we still haven't perefected that either. It had an amzing flavor but the textuer was odd. We used...

2-3 cup powered sugar

1/2 cup butter

1 cup fresh mango puree

but next time I think we will strain the puree and maybe cook it down until it has thickened and let it cool. Then add it to a cream cheese frosting. Maybe! Who know what I will do.

Bionic Brownies

1 cup butter
2 cups cugar
1/2 cup cocoa
4 eggs beaten
2/3 cup AP flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 cups chocolate chips
1/2 cup nut optional

Heat oven to 350 F. Grease 13x9 pan. Melt butter in medium saucepan over low heat. Add sugar and cocoa; stir to blend. Remove from heat, stir in eggs. Stir together flour, salt and baking soda; stir into chocolate mixture. Stir in vanilla, chocolate and nuts. Bake 30-35 minutes or until brownies begin to pull away from pan.

Birthday Bot Cake

(chocolate cake with cookies and cream filling)
For the cake we used Hershey's Black Magic Cake. It is our most used chocolate cake.
 For the filling...
1/4 cup flour
1 cup milk
1/2 cup shortening
1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 package of chocolate  cream sandwich cookies
Cook flour and milk together in small saucepan until thick and bubbly. Cool. In separate bowl cream shortening and butter. Beat in sugar. Beat in flour mixture and vanilla. Stir in cookies.   
 The filling for this cake can be used to make a wonderful chocolate filling, an amazing mint, coffee, caramel or peanut butter filling. Just omit cookies and add flavoring of choice.