Blendstock~Strawberry Banana Frozen Yogurt

My experiments with the blender have been...interesting. The only things I have made thus far that have been edible have been from other's recipes, and I really wanted to bring you lovelies something original.

Apparently original recipes and I don't blend.

Today, however I made something really yummy by modifying Vitamix's Strawberry Yogurt Freeze. Basically it only calls for a cup of lowfat vanilla yogurt and a pound of strawberries. I subbed plain whole milk organic Stonyfield farms yogurt, as the hubs can't eat lowfat dairy. Also switched out half of the strawberries for frozen banana, and added a squirt of agave nectar to account for using plain yogurt.

Not a great picture, but it is SO tasty, rich and creamy.

A couple of pro tips-

1.)Don't halve recipes which call for a majority of frozen ingredients and which make 4 or fewer cups total. Your blender won't thank you for it.

2.)Peel bananas BEFORE freezing. It isn't impossible to peel a frozen banana, but it isn't pleasant, and thawing and refreezing is not really an option.

I hope you guys are doing well today! <3

Blendstock~Cherry Berry Sunshine Smoothie Recipe

The hubs and I just got a blender. This may not sound all that news worthy, but it's an *investment* blender, so I've been tasked with proving the investment is worth it. 45 days to make epic use of this thing, or it goes back, lol.

The thing is, I've been dealing with a LOT of pain the last few weeks. First, I had an abscessed tooth which needed two rounds of antibiotics before being pulled. Then, I had the extraction, which was itself traumatic and awful. Then, two days later, I developed DRY SOCKET. If you've ever had it, you know why it's in all caps. The worst pain I have ever felt. EVER.

That was 11 days ago (and will be a separate post probably). Today, I am on 15mg of Mobic daily, and doing much better. However, I have to eat when I take my medicine, and that can be tricky with a jaw that won't open all the way, and which causes me to scream in pain whenever I bite down on anything hard.

So this morning when I awoke, I took my medicine and thought "WOOT! I get to make a smoothie!" I just threw this together with ingredients from my fridge, but I thought it was yummy enough to share with you lovelies.

Cherry Berry Sunshine Smoothie

To a high powered blender add-

• 2-3 oz of limeade or lime juice
• 2 tbsp honey or agave (optional)
• 6 oz vanilla yogurt
• 5 large strawberries, stem ends trimmed
• about a half cup of blueberries
• 7 large sweet cherries, pitted
• about a half of a cup of mango chunks
• a handful of dark leafy greens (I used spinach)
• 1 cup of ice

Blend at top speed for about 20-30 seconds, or until smooth. Mine requires you to start at low, and gradually increase speed to maximum. If this is the case for you, the 20-30 seconds are once you've hit maximum. Makes one very large, or two smaller smoothies.

And it is delicious! The thing next to it in the picture is my easy, decadent tasting, but actually not terrible chocolate nut bark with mixed nuts (recipe some other day). Hope you guys are doing better than I am. Enjoy your day. :)

Cook ALL the Pumpkin: Raviolis and Pie

Aaaaaaannnnnnddd...not from Better Homes and Gardens. Oh well. :)

The hubs and I decided tonight around 10pm that we NEEDED fresh pumpkin raviolis. Like REQUIRED. Then we decided we didn't want to wait until 2am to eat. So we compromised, and I found this recipe: Creamy Pumpkin Penne, but we wanted raviolis, so I just pulled a bag of cheese ones from the freezer. It called for fresh sage and pecans which we didn't have on hand, so I omitted those, as well as subbing in real milk for the non-dairy stuff. I whipped it up in less time than it took the raviolis to cook. It was nice. However, I was so tired and hungry that I spaced on picture taking until I was half done eating.

 

Still looks tasty, though, doesn't it? The recipe says to toss the cold sauce with the hot pasta, but that didn't seem like it would work all that well, so I gently warmed it in a saucepan first. Serve with parmesan, and VOILA! 

The hubs cut his half with regular old tomato sauce, but I ate it as-is. I assure you, both ways are very good. ("Wasn't bad," says the hubs.) Probably give it 4.5 out of 5 stars. The called for sage might have been a nice addition, but I can't see the pecans being much help.

Next is :Alton Brown's Pumpkin Pie. In tonight's grand tradition of cutting corners, I didn't make the crust. However it made a few of these custardy beauties.

Which each serve two.

That's just a little whipped cream up on top, cream sugar vanilla, nothing special.





The pie was pretty good. Made with fresh instead of canned has a very different texture and a subtly different flavor, but not in a bad way. However, his recipe doesn't call for cinnamon which it could have used. Also, the gingersnap crust sounds like a perfect substitute for graham cracker in this dish, especially if you aren't a big fan of traditional crust (I'm not). 4 out of 5 stars, though neither rating is REALLY fair as I cut corners in both.







There's my pumpkin stuff for today. What will I do tomorrow? I'm not sure, but it will have to go with ribs!

Cook ALL the Pumpkin!

We have purchased a 30# plus pumpkin recently from a wonderful pick your own place near us. (www.freconfarms.com) I spent HOURS the next day cutting this thing up, then boiling it down and mashing it. I now have over a gallon of pumpkiny goodness to cook NOW or else. SO in the course of trolling the internets, I have found a source of recipes- Better Homes and Gardens. I have many to try, and will be linking the pages. I will post pictures, and opinions, both mine and friends and family. They run the gammut from sweet to savory, soups and stews and desserts and breakfasts...it all sounds good, and the hubs is slavering for them, the pumpkin fiend. So...expect an update a day until I use it all up.

Here goes nothing (but pumpkin).

OmNomNom: Scotch Eggs

You know what I love about scotch eggs? (Besides their ease, simplicity, convenience and delicious flavor?) Even hard boiled eggs this ugly:

End up this pretty:

And it's way, way, ridiculously simple.

We own a Butterball electric turkey fryer. If you've ever wanted to try frying a turkey, but were scared of oil fires, this is the unit to buy. Really. Every so often, we like to fry up something other than a turkey though. And when it's out, I do many things, because it's just easier that way. Tonight, I made a deep fried chicken, with sweet potato fries, and I experimented with frying some brussels sprouts (I broiled the rest, as usual). While it was out, I made these breakfast balls of awesome, too.

First, you need the boiled eggs. I use this recipe by Alton Brown, Because Alton Brown is amazing (I don't care if you disagree). But any method works.

Then, you need loose sausage. You can be lame and use a roll from the grocery store, but we like the good stuff from the farmer's market, which we season simply with salt, pepper, and paprika. You can use anything you want, really: sage, oregano, garlic, whatever you like.

Finally, you need breadcrumbs. Seasoned or not, your choice, style doesn't matter. I like the crunch of panko.

Now take a small ball of sausage, and sort of make a dip in it.

Then, place the egg in the middle and try to ease the sausage around it in a more or less even layer.

Roll it around in the bread crumbs until coated.

Repeat until sausage is gone, or you run out of eggs. I ran out of sausage first.

Drop them in your briskly rolling oil (I heat my machine to 375 Fahrenheit).

Fry for about 5 min or so.

They should look like this:

If the sausage has pulled away from the egg in places? Oh well!

Let cool for a bit, then tuck in! They're great the next day, too. Reheat in the toaster oven, or eat cold.

OmNomNom.