Friday 29 June 2012

An apology and a Sneak-Attack Breakfast Smoothie

It's been almost a full year since I've made this blog...and I've done absolutely nothing with it. You know that saying, "When life gives you lemons make lemonade"? Well that is exactly what I've been doing, minus the posting-about-making-my-lemonade bit. I've been studying, working, spending time with friends..and cooking. A lot. And not posting about it.
When I first made this blog, I thought it would give me a good kick in the butt to actually catalogue what I've been making, even on a once-a-week basis or something small. Well, when you let life in the way, even that once a week seems like too long to put energy into. But I've made a goal to actually start taking photos, and writing down recipes and finally putting them put. So, starting next week, I will be trying to upload on a once-a-week basis, if not more.

A short recipe to start us off-my breakfast smoothies.

Let it just be said that I love my veggies. Except my leafy greens. They don't feel substantial enough to constitue a serving, and yet I continually buy them. Why? To put into breakfast of course Blending up a cup or two of leafy greens like kale, spinach and swiss chard ensures that I get at least SOME nutritional value during breakfast that doesn't come in my multivitamin. Throw in some soy milk, half an avocado, some cocoa powder (because everything is better with chocolate, right?) and some honey, agave or palm sugar, and you've got a sneak-attack of healthy fats, fibre, and protein in a delicious avocado smoothie! My friends who I tell this to all turn up their noses is disgust, but avocado smoothies are actually quite popular in many places. I just upped the ante by making it a bit healthier than usual.

Sneak-Attack Breakfast Smoothie (makes 1 big Magic Bullet mug full or two small servings)

(*note that I currently use a Magic Bullet for my smoothies, which doesn't get the job done as well as I'd like. If you have a proper blender or a Vitamix, this would be perfect to use it. This is also an easy recipe to double, and if you don't have all of the ingredients, it's really easy to switch them up! I sometimes throw in berries or a banana as well, whatever happens to be in season)

1-2 cups of leafy greens ( I use the boxed mixes that have at least some spinach, you can sub in whatever you like best)
1 cup of soy milk, divided
1/2 a Hass avocado, pitted and cut into chunks
1-2 Tbs of cocoa powder (optional)
1-2 tsp of honey, agave, palm sugar or sweetener of choice (optional)

-In your blender, blend the greens with 1/2 of the soy milk for about 30 seconds or so, or until you see a nice thin green paste being formed. Sometimes you may have to divide up the leafy greens into batches to get the optimal blend.
-Add the remaining ingredients and blend to your desired consistency.
-Drink!