'Tis the Season to Eat, Be Merry and Drink A Gingerbread Smoothie!

Gingerbread Smoothie

Gingerbread Smoothie

It’s December and the holidays are in full swing!  It’s the most wonderful time of year! It’s also the time of the year and the season when most of us get a little out of control with our eating and drinking habits and binge on all kinds of heavy hors d’oeuvres, confectionary treats, and cocktails because we’re at more social functions whether it be a work party or Christmas or other holiday parties.  People seem to get in the baking mood as well and bring all kinds of goodies to the office.  It’s also MY birthday month (December 12th if you wanna sing to me or send a colorful balloon bouquet) and I have several celebrations throughout the month.

Now, I’m not going to tell you to NOT indulge a little because after all... it IS the holidays and it only comes around once a year.  However, if you don’t want to have to make that typical New Year’s Resolution of “losing weight” and “getting back in shape” it’s a good idea not to get too crazy.  

With my friend Jeffrey at my 12/12/12 birthday dinner
at the Brown Derby at Disney's Hollywood Studios.

As I mentioned, December is my birthday month and I have a lot of friends that I like to celebrate with throughout the month and we usually get together for dinners or lunches so what I usually try to do is balance things out.  For example, the other night my friend Jeffrey took me to dinner at the Brown Derby.  I had a flight of martinis which were three small drinks that probably was equivalent to one VERY large martini drink (delicious). We both ordered the Blue Jumbo Lump Crab Spring Rolls which are fried as an appetizer.  Umm... AHH-MAZING!  We both ordered the appetizer size Cobb Salad as our entree and I ordered mine without the turkey and bacon since I don’t eat meat, but it had LOTS of really yummy blue cheese and fresh avocado!  And of course because it was my birthday we HAD to have dessert!  The server recommended the Banana White Chocolate Toffee Tower, which I ordered and it was as decadent, rich and delicious as it sounds!  

Now because I had such a rich and fattening dinner, the next day I balanced things out: I ate light and worked out.  I had a green smoothie for breakfast, fresh cut veggies (broccoli, zucchini, celery, carrots) for lunch, sweet potato hummus as a snack and miso soup with two veggie spring rolls (made by my mom) for dinner.  Okay, well the veggie spring rolls were fried but I only had two and I ate so light the whole day I didn’t feel bad about it.

Anyway, according to the Book of Donna it’s okay to indulge a little during the holidays... just make sure to balance things out and not go crazy for EVERY meal and continue to exercise. OR... you can try having my delicious Gingerbread Smoothie when you’re craving something sweet!  It’s like having a gingerbread cookie in the form of a delicious, healthy smoothie!  And in case you didn’t know, ginger has many great qualities about it.  It has anti-inflammatory and anti-viral properties and is great for treating nausea.  

Benefits of Ginger - found this on Health & Organic Wellbeing's
Facebook page.  Like their page - they have great info!

Fresh Ginger

What's a Gingerbread Smoothie without a little gingerbread man?

Gingerbread Smoothie - Delicious!

This recipe I created is great and the raw cashews make it nice and thick that it seems like a milkshake and makes you feel like you’re having a dessert!  So if you’re craving something a little sweet, but want to have a “healthy” treat - try my Gingerbread Smoothie!  

The ingredients for Gingerbread Smoothie.

If you don't have a good protein supplement
try adding vanilla yogurt.  I love using
So Delicious Vanilla.

What’s your favorite food or drink to indulge in during the holidays?  Iced sugar cookies? Hot cheesy dips? Festive colorful cocktails?  Tell me!  And I’ll sit back and fantasize about them while I enjoy my healthy, guilt-free Gingerbread Smoothie. Please let me know if you try this recipe and what you think! Hope you have a happy holiday season!  

Gingerbread Smoothie

Ingredients:

1/2” Fresh Ginger, peeled

1/2 tsp Ground Cinnamon

1/4 tsp Ground Ginger

1/4 tsp Ground Nutmeg

1 Banana, frozen *see tip

1 cup Almond milk (or milk of choice)

1-2 Tbsp Black Strap Molasses

8 Raw Cashews

1-2 Scoops Vanilla Protein Powder ***OR***

3oz Vanilla Yogurt (I used So Delicious non-dairy)

4-6 Ice Cubes

Directions:

Place all ingredients in blender (I used my NutriBullet) and mix until blended. Sprinkle with more cinnamon or nutmeg if you wish.

Tips:

*The key to making the “perfect” smoothie is having the right amount of frozen items whether it be the fruit or ice and liquid.  You may need to add more milk or ice depending on how thick you prefer the consistency of your smoothie to be.

*Use EITHER the protein powder OR yogurt, but not both at the same time.  I use a plant-based/vegan protein (brown rice and pea protein) that I buy from my chiropractor who created his own formula and sells it at his practice here in the Central Florida area.  It is the most amazing and best tasting plant-based protein supplement I’ve come across, but is not available on-line yet so I created the yogurt version which is So Delicious!  I always switch up how I make my smoothies so I don’t get bored with them.  I like to use the So Delicious brand because it’s non-dairy, soy free, has no GMOs and taste “so delicious” just like their name!

*I always freeze my bananas ahead of time so they are ready for smoothies.  Check out my Pinterest board for instructions on how to freeze them - this method also works with other fruit (I’ve used it for papaya and pineapple). http://pinterest.com/TheBookofDonna/great-tips/

Sweet Potato Puree

I use frozen sweet potato puree for smoothies and like to have it handy for smoothies and pasta dishes.  It's really easy to make and can be used in other recipes that call for the puree.  Here is my how I make it.

Ingredients:

4 large Sweet Potatoes

1/4 cup Water

Use parchment paper for easy clean up.

Peel away the skin then use spoon to scoop out the flesh.

Add your water a little at a time.

It only takes seconds for the puree to process!

Scoop into ice cube trays and freeze.

Directions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees.
2. Line cookie sheet with parchment paper.  This isn’t necessary, but will save on clean-up since the sweet potatoes sometimes leave a sticky residue on the pan from the juices.
3. Place sweet potatoes on cookie sheet and bake for about 45 minutes or until tender.  Let cool until cool enough to handle - about 30 minutes to an hour.
4. Using your fingers, peel back the skin of the sweet potatoes.  Scoop out the flesh and put into food processor.  (You can also use blender.)
5. Add about 1/4 cup of water.  You may need to add more water depending on how big your sweet potatoes are, but I always start with less water because you can always add more.  
6. Process until sweet potato is the consistency you want.
7. Using spoon, scoop into ice cube trays and freeze for about 6 hours. (I usually just freeze overnight.)
8. Once your sweet puree is frozen, pop the cubes of frozen sweet potato into a zipper storage bag and store in freezer until ready to use.

Pumpkin Granola Buckwheat Pancakes

Like a lot of people during the fall season, I get just a little obsessed with everything pumpkin!  (See my previous post from October 13, 2012 on “Pumpkin Season”)  http://thebookofdonna.blogspot.com/2012/10/pumpkin-season-pumpkin-pie-smoothie.html  Whether it’s at the coffee shop, the Yankee Candle store, or the bakery I want to devour myself in ALL things pumpkin throughout the fall season!

So Delicious Pumpkin Spice Coconut Milk
It's dairy free so its great for those who are
lactose intolerant!

So when my Whole Foods finally started carrying the So Delicious Pumpkin Spice Coconut Milk, you can imagine how excited I was!  I believe I actually started doing the “happy dance” right there in the store!  I know I probably got a few looks from other customers, but it’s no different than when I’m in my car so I just do my dance and go about my business.

I use So Delicious products all the time - I love their  vegan “ice cream” and I use their coffee creamers.  They have a vanilla and hazelnut flavor coffee creamer, but I have missed the seasonal flavors that come out during the holidays.  However, even though I miss the seasonal flavors, I can’t get myself to drink them anymore because of all the nasty ingredients they contain that I try to keep out of my diet.  Sooooo... back to the Pumpkin Spice Coconut Milk.  If you know me, you know I love food and I’m someone who isn’t afraid to experiment with recipes.  The So Delicious carton has a recipe on it for pancakes and while I’m sure it’s very good I wanted to make my own version!  I’m big on texture when eating so I prefer granola pancakes over regular pancakes because I feel like the oats gives it more bite.  And I love buckwheat so I thought I’d try making Pumpkin Granola Buckwheat Pancakes and WHO’DA THUNK???  They were so amazing that I knew I had to share the recipe immediately!

These are the ingredients I used (those aren't real pumpkins - they're actually candles).

I ate my pancakes with just a little bit of (real) organic maple syrup that I heated up so it was nice and warm and I cannot even begin to describe how happy it made my my belly!  Do yourself a favor and get yourself some REAL maple syrup and DON’T waste your money or tastebuds on that fake corn syrup stuff!  It’s nasty and not good for you and is a pain to clean up - plus maple syrup tastes so good!

I used a little ladle to easy pouring for the batter.

You'll know they're ready to flip when
the edges of your pancakes look "dry".

Beautiful golden brown pancakes!

You know you want to make these!

The first time I made these pancakes I used an egg, but I made it the second time using EnerG Egg Replacer to make it was vegan.  Honestly, I couldn’t tell the difference in the taste, but you can make it whichever way you decide and let me know what you think!  According to the Book of Donna, if you like pumpkin - you’ll want to eat these pancakes every morning for breakfast!

So delicious with a little warm maple syrup!

Pumpkin Granola Buckwheat Pancakes

Makes about 9 dollar size (5") pancakes

Ingredients:

1/2 cup Buckwheat Pancake Mix

1/3 cup Rolled Oats

1/3 cup Pumpkin Puree

1/4 tsp Pumpkin Pie Spice

1 cup So Delicious Pumpkin Spice Coconut Milk

2 tsp Safflower Oil *you can also use canola oil

1 Egg, beaten OR 1 serving EnerG Egg Replacer for Vegan Version

Directions:

1. Mix buckwheat, rolled oats together in a medium bowl.  
2. Add Pumpkin puree, pumpkin pie spice, So Delicious Pumpkin Spice Coconut Milk, safflower oil and egg OR egg replacer if making vegan version.  
3. Whisk together until completely combined.  
4. Heat griddle on medium heat and lightly spray it with non-stick cooking spray.
5. Pour about 1/4 cup batter onto griddle - cook for about 2-3 minutes, depending on your stove top.  The way you’ll know your pancakes are ready to flip is the edges will start to look “dry”.  I always use a spatula and carefully peek under the edge before flipping to make sure they’re ready to flip.
6. Flip and cook other side for about 1-2 minutes.  Enjoy with warm maple syrup.

*Tip:  When I’m making a BIG batch of pancakes, I pre-heat my oven to 200-250 degrees and place the pancakes on a pan in the oven to keep them warm until I’m ready to serve them.  This way, they’re all nice and warm when you’re ready to serve!  

*Also, you can make a large batch and freeze the leftover pancakes!  They re-heat really well and taste just as good as the day you originally made them!  Just put them in a plastic zip-loc bag and put them in the freezer - reheat in the toaster oven at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes or in the microwave.

*For a variation, you may want to try adding some chopped walnuts or pecans either directly into the pancake batter, or top off your pancake with the nuts.

Let me know what you make these and what you think - tweet me or comment on my Facebook page.  Have a great day!

Queen of Smoothies

Why I’m the Smoothie Queen

If you know me, you’ll know that I LOVE my smoothies!  I have one pretty much every day.  Being someone who doesn’t eat meat, it’s a great source of protein because I usually add a plant-based protein to them.  However, I actually started making smoothies years ago back in my meat-eating days when I worked out with a personal trainer and he told me I should have a protein drink after my workouts.  

As I’ve learned over the years working with trainers or through articles I’ve read in health magazines, drinking smoothies & juices are great because your body quickly absorbs the nutrients.  I also juice, but I tend to prefer smoothies because I like that you get the fiber from the fruits and vegetables and it just makes me cringe to see all the pulp that gets “wasted” as a by-product of juicing.  

Over the past year I’ve become obsessed with “green” smoothies!  No one can argue that green vegetables aren’t good for you and I’ve found that consuming them in the form of a delicious smoothie has been amazingly easy and tasty!  The first time I tried it though, I wasn’t so sure it was going to taste good because the idea of it just didn’t sound appealing.  I was someone who never ate vegetables growing up as a child (unless you count potatoes and corn, and we all know they don't really count because they're starches).  The fact that I base most of my eating around plants now still amazes me today, but sometimes eating certain things still doesn’t come easy to me believe it or not.  Fast forward to my obsession with green smoothies...

About a year ago I found a green smoothie recipe on Pinterest (follow my boards at:  http://pinterest.com/TheBookofDonna/) and tried it.  The recipe used spinach & banana but I’m telling you, I was blown away that I couldn’t taste the spinach at all!  Once I got past the green color, it really just tasted like a banana smoothie!

Now I experiment all the time with all kinds of greens making up my own recipes.  Here is one of my favorites that I can’t get enough of lately!  If you like avocado, this is like a decadent avocado milkshake!  Now really, if you’re trying to eat more veggies, try to have it in the form of a smoothie.  According to the Book of Donna, it’s the easiest way to do it!  Enjoy!

Avocado-Spinach Smoothie Recipe

1/4 Avocado (frozen)

1/3 Banana (frozen)

2 cups Spinach (fresh)

1/2 cup Almond milk

1 cup Water

1 scoop Vanilla Protein

4 Raw Cashews

1 packet Stevia (optional)

3-4 Ice Cubes

Directions:

Place all items in blender.  Mix and enjoy!

*Tip - I usually freeze bananas ahead of time and put them in a freezer bag so they’re ready for smoothies!  Just cut them (I usually do 1/3 portions), place on a tray, let freeze, then place in freezer bag until ready for use!

*Tip - Did you know you can also freeze avocados?  Check out my Pinterest “Great tips!” board to find out how!  http://pinterest.com/TheBookofDonna/great-tips/