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Coconut Pineapple Orange Smoothie

March 17, 2011

Coconut Pineapple Orange Smoothie

This smoothie is going to take you places. If you’re like me, after just one taste, you’ll feel like you’ve been magically transported from here…

Snow Storm

to here.

Paradise

Oh, wait. Pinch me, because I might already be there.

But I don’t want to leave anybody out, so I’m sharing this tropical smoothie so you can feel like you’re in the tropics enjoying Spring Break with me!

Orange

Oranges become my fruit obsession every winter. They are cheaper, juicer, oranger… it may be cold and snowy outside, but it seems to be primo orange season. I eat one every single day for lunch in the winter. Creature of habit? Let’s just say I enjoy predictable routines.

As I started to snap a few shots of this smoothie, I thought it would be nice to have two glasses to work with. As you’ll notice, only one made it to the photo shoot. That’s because after having just one sip, I couldn’t resist drinking all of Glass #1. I didn’t really need both for a good picture anyway, right?

Coconut Pineapple Orange Smoothie

I should mention: if you are bothered by texture, you may want to choose a different smoothie. I don’t mind foods that are a teeny little bit textured, so this smoothie was perfect for me. But because of the oranges, you might not get a perfectly smooth blend unless you have an amazing blender.

Speaking of which, maybe the (less smooth) texture of mine was due to my blender quality. I had to do a double take to find out if my eyes were tricking me or if it truly let out a puff of smoke when I turned it on.

Coconut Pineapple Orange Smoothie

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Coconut Pineapple Orange Smoothie

Author: Pinch of Yum, inspired by Oh She Glows

Serves: 1

Ingredients

2 oranges
1 banana
⅓ cup pineapple (fresh is best, but canned works)
¼ cup yogurt
⅓ cup milk (this would be amazing with coconut milk!)

Instructions

Blend until smooth. Sprinkle with coconut and/or orange zest.

Coconut Pineapple Orange Smoothie

So you go ahead and get some Vitamin C, and (since I already had two smoothies) I’ll take advantage of my vacation and stock up on the Vitamin D.

(Any great blender recommendations? I think I might be in the market for a new one.)

posted in: Breakfast, Everyday, Gluten Free, Healthy, Lightened Up, Snacks, Superfoods 4 Comments

Banana Monkey Bread

March 4, 2011

Banana Monkey Bread I think we can all agree that, in life, smells are everything. And in my experience, smells are either really good or really, really bad.

For example, the smell of stew while I’m making it – good.

The smell of stew that lingers on my jacket (and wafts around the room during my 8am meeting) – bad. [Read more...]

posted in: Breakfast, Muffins and Baking, Snacks 15 Comments

Chocolate Checkered Banana Bread

January 27, 2011

Chocolate Checkered Banana Bread

Everyone has a soft spot in their hearts for banana bread.

Chocolate Checkered Banana Bread

Including myself. Nevermind the fact that I’d already baked cookies and muffins in the same weekend. We all know that banana bread doesn’t count as a sugary baked dessert because, obviously, it’s bread. I know I’m not the only one with this type of logic.

Chocolate Checkered Banana Bread

When making the decision about whether or not to attempt this culinary feat, I did what most normal people would do. I listed the pros and cons.

PROS of Chocolate Checkered Banana Bread:

tastes great
looks cool
goes perfectly with peanut butter
goes perfectly with Nutella
goes perfectly with butter

CONS of Chocolate Checkered Banana Bread:

disappears quickly

I think the choice is obvious.

Chocolate Checkered Banana Bread

4.0 from 1 reviews

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Chocolate Checkered Banana Bread

Author: Pinch of Yum

Serves: makes 3 mini loafs

Ingredients

3 large overripe bananas, mashed
¼ cup buttermilk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
¾ teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
3-5 tablespoons boiling water
9 tablespoons butter
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a loaf pan (or mini loaf pans, like me)! In a small bowl, combine the mashed bananas, buttermilk, and vanilla. Set aside.
Sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and cinnamon into a medium bowl. Whisk together. Set aside.
Beat the butter and sugar on medium high until the mixture is light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each egg. Turn the mixer on low and combine the ingredient mixtures in thirds (a third of the banana mixture with a third of the flour, and so on).
In a small bowl, stir together the cocoa powder and 3 tablespoons boiling water. Add more water until the desired texture is reached. Transfer half of the batter to another mixing bowl and mix in the cocoa paste.
Drop alternating spoonfuls of the light and dark batters into the pan. Swirl the batters to make a more “marbelized” look (I kept mine like a checkerboard). Bake for 20 minutes, checking every 5 minutes afterwards, looking for a puffy and springy top. Mini loaf pans should bake for about 20 minutes, and full loaf pans should bake for 40-50 minutes.

Chocolate Checkered Banana Bread

So there you have it.

Do you have a favorite variety of banana bread? It’s only a matter of days before I attempt my next banana bread spinoff…

posted in: Breakfast, Cake, Dessert, Muffins and Baking, Snacks 3 Comments

Pomegranate Orange Muffins

December 11, 2010

I find that the best thing for me to do during a blizzard is bake.

Shovel? Rescue my car? Nah.

Bake tasty muffins? Wrap presents? Listen to Christmas music? That’s more my style.

We woke up to a blanket of white. Or, several thick blankets. We are expecting up to 16 inches here in Minnesota. Take a peek.

Because I like to bake on Saturdays, and because we were pretty much stuck in the house, and because we had an unexpected overnight guest as a result of the weather… I searched the kitchen high and low for anything that could be used to create a last-minute breakfast. When I came across a lonely pomegranate, the light bulb came on.

I grabbed an orange and started zesting. The pomegranate was seeded, leaving its usual stains around the kitchen and on my clothing. Out came the sugar, flour (I barely had enough), eggs, and the butter. Wait… no butter.

Oil? Wait… no oil, either.

Bad luck. I was stranded with no chance to get to the store (not like I really wanted to) and the fate of our breakfast was on the line. So I once again started scavenging for any kind of butter replacement.

And, to my great joy, what did I find in the fridge but one little snack pack of applesauce. Hallelujah!

I didn’t plan on these being low fat, but I’m not complaining. They were dense, sweet little nuggets of bright color. A dusting of powdered sugar on top, and that was that.

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Pomegranate Orange Muffins

Author: Pinch of Yum

Serves: 14

Ingredients

1 cup rolled oats
½ cup apple/orange juice
½ cup boiling water
½ cup applesauce (or typically, butter)
½ cup packed brown sugar
⅓ cup white sugar
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
¾ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 pomegranate (seeds only)
1-2 tablespoons orange zest

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease muffin pans.
In a small bowl soak oats in orange juice and water for 15 minutes.
In a large bowl cream together butter and sugars. Beat in eggs and oat mixture.
In a separate bowl, blend flour, baking powder, soda, salt, and nutmeg. Stir into batter. Stir in pomegranate seeds and orange zest. Spoon batter into prepared muffin pans, filling almost to the top.
Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) until golden brown, about 20 minutes. 1 muffin has 140 calories and 3g fat.

I think we all felt an obligation to eat several muffins, to store up our carb and sugar reserves. This blizzard could last for days, you know…

Speaking of blizzard, WOW.

This is what the tops of our bushes look like… and there’s no bush in that mountain of white. That’s all snow!

And this… This would be our road.

Can’t see it? Now you know why we have an unexpected overnight guest.

I’m seriously putting off addressing this issue.

As for the boys, they have braved the blizzard – on foot – to get some burritos. Desperate times call for desperate measures.

posted in: Breakfast, Lightened Up, Muffins and Baking, Snacks, Superfoods Leave a Comment

Pumpkin Pecan Cheesecake Parfaits

November 8, 2010

Pumpkin Pecan Cheesecake Parfaits

The bad news is that it’s not exactly health food.

The good news is that it’s tasty. Like, go ahead and lick the side of the glass tasty.

Pumpkin Pecan Cheesecake Parfaits in a glass

I’ll be honest here. I am eating my words from a previous post stating that I was bidding farewell to the flavors of fall. That phase didn’t last. Thankfully.

Also – a brief word to the wise on the crumbs here. Don’t over-toast them. In my imagination, I know instinctively when to take something out of the oven. In real life, I burn things.

Note to self: swallow your pride and use a timer.

Pumpkin Pecan Cheesecake Parfaits whip cream

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Pumpkin Pecan Cheesecake Parfaits

Author: inspired by Good Life Eats

Serves: 4

Ingredients

1 cup gingersnap cookie crumbs
1 T. butter, melted
8 oz. cream cheese (I used 4 oz. low fat, 4 oz. whipped)
¼ cup granulated sugar
½ cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons whipping cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
14 ounces pumpkin puree
½ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon allspice
¼ teaspoon cloves
¼ cup chopped pecans
4 whole pecan halves
sweetened whipped cream for garnish

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350º. Crush the gingersnaps to create crumbs. Add melted butter, stir well to combined. Spread on baking sheet. Toast in the oven 3 – 5 minutes until crumbs start to brown. Cool.
Process the cream cheese, sugars, cream and vanilla in a food processor until smooth. Add the pumpkin puree, cinnamon, allspice, and cloves. Process until smooth.
Spoon a half of the graham cracker crumbs into four ½ cup-capacity dishes, layer on a few chopped pecans. Divide half of the cheesecake mixture evenly between the dishes and top with the remaining graham cracker or gingersnap crumbs and then more pecans. Divide the remaining cheesecake mixture between the dishes.
Garnish with whipped cream and pecans. Refrigerate for 1 hour or until firm.

I can’t think of a better way to have spent my extra hour today.

How did you use your daylight savings hour?

posted in: Dessert, Snacks, Superfoods, Sweet Things Leave a Comment

Zucchini Fritters & Goat Cheese Sauce

August 10, 2010

Apron

This is the apron that my husband wore last night.

It was a logical choice; it’s clearly the most masculine apron that I own. I knew he would enjoy the burlap style fabric. And Italia? That’s kewl. He’s kewl.

He went to go put the apron on. He stopped. Set down the apron. Walked to the window and closed the shades. I reconsidered asking for a picture.

Now, to the ultimate question: Why?

Someone needed to bravely confront the hot, splattering oil that was far too intimidating dangerous for this girl. Yes, indeed. He’s a hero like that.

And because of his heroism, we were able to enjoy these golden, crispy zucchini fritters.

Zucchini Fritters & Goat Cheese Sauce

I think Bjork would even say that these fritters were worth his short stint with Italia.

Zucchini Fritters & Goat Cheese Sauce

These little crispers were delicious! And dipped in creamy goat cheese sauce… ahhh. Perfection.

Now, if you are thinking to yourself, Those look yummy, but it sounds too hard. STOP! It only sounds hard. It is so easy! If my pictures aren’t inspiring you, click on the blog link below and be inspired.

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Zucchini Fritters & Goat Cheese Sauce

Author: inspired by I’ll Have What She’s Having

Ingredients

Zucchini Fritters

1 medium zucchini, grated
½ tsp salt
zest of 1 lemon
a handful of parsley, chopped
chives, chopped
1 egg
pepper
½ cup flour
oil for frying

Goat Cheese Sauce

Goat Cheese, 100 grams
Plain yogurt, ⅔ cup
Salt, pepper, and chives (to taste)

Instructions

Zucchini Fritters

Mix all but the oil together until it’s no longer lumpy.
Heat oil in a large skillet, medium-high.
Using a tablespoon, make small balls and drop them into the oil (I’d recommend about 4-5 at a time).
Fry on each side, flipping after a few minutes when they are golden brown.
Drain on paper towel-lined plates.

Goat Cheese Sauce