My 1st Chia Smoothie

Alright, dudes. I decided to try adding chia seeds to a smoothie. It's supposed to add protein and essential fatty acids, so I thought, "Eh, why not?"

It turned out quite well and way more filling than I would've thought. I read that there are 3 ways to add chia to your smoothies:

• soak the seeds in liquid a few minutes to let it gel up and soften the seeds
• grind the seeds in a coffee grinder
• or add them straight when you start blending in the, well, blender

I took the soaking route. I was not wanting to have crunchy whole seeds in my smoothie. I soaked 1 TB of chia seeds in 1/2 cup of coconut milk for about 6 minutes while I was gathering the other ingredients. According to MyFitnessPal, this smoothie is 203 calories.

Here's what I used in my smoothie:

• 1 TB organic chia seeds
• 1/2 cup Silk coconut milk
• 1/4 cup organic blueberries
• 1/4 cup carrot (1 smallish carrot)
•  1/4 cup fresh pineapple
• 1/2 small banana
• handful of ice
• 1/4 cup water

Here's what I did:

1. Mix the seeds and coconut milk together in a small bowl and let sit at least 5 minutes for the seeds to soften and gel up.
2. Add all of the ingredients into the blender and blend on high until smooth. Leave out the water if you prefer a thick smoothie. 

Pineapple Mango Green Smoothie

Pretty much every smoothie picture I take looks almost identical. I realize this. It's all because I put spinach in every single one. They all seem to just come out one shade of green different than the last. This morning I decided that I hadn't had a green smoothie in a few days, and that I NEEDED one asap. They make a delicious breakfast, especially when you don't really have time to make anything fancy before running out the door. Plus, you can always use fruit that is a tad too ripe for anything else.

I've been trying, as you may know, to eat a rainbow of colors everyday, and it is mostly going pretty well. This smoothie has a few colors:
Orange: Mango, Carrot
Yellow: Pineapple
Green: Spinach
Brown: Ground flax seed   

I wonder over the course of the last 10 months of owning my vitamix how many smoothies I've made? It must be about 100 or more. Crazy, huh? And, using the fresh fruit makes it so I don't have to add any refined sugars.

Here's what I did:
Pack you blender with 1 cup fresh pineapple, 1/2 of a freshly chopped mango, 1/2 of a large carrot, 1 huge handful of baby spinach, 1 TB ground flax, 1/4 cup almond milk and a small scoop of ice. Blend until ultra smooth. If it is too thick, add a little water or more almond milk. Enjoy with a nice, big straw (I absolutely LOVE my Strawesome smoothie straws I bought a few months back).

What an Odd Smoothie...

I decided this morning that I really needed a smoothie. It's actually been a few weeks since I made one, so I thought I'd throw some random stuff together and see how it went. WHOA. Yumm! Dudes, I shocked even myself with this one. It sounds like it would be gross, but it was excellent. And, it was my first time using hemp milk, which my grocery store just started carrying. I think I like it. We'll see though. I haven't tried it in anything else yet. Almond milk is still my favorite, though.

For all the smoothies alone, my Vita-Mix has been amazing. I make other stuff in it, too, like salad dressings and sauces and even made soft-serve style ice cream in it a few times, but it makes the most perfect smoothies. It doesn't have any trouble cutting through pineapple core or carrots or whole apples. You'll never be able to go back to a regular blender. I've heard that Blendtec is super awesome, too. I dunno know, though. I'm a Vita-Mix gal. Well, enough blathering on. Don't freak when you see the ingredients to this smoothie. They sound bizarre together, but they taste so good!

This makes 2 smaller smoothies, or 1 very large one.

Ingredients:

• 1 mango
• 1 cup fresh pineapple
• 1 small carrot
• 1 big handful baby spinach
• 1/3-1/2 cup hemp milk
• 1/2 cup ice (you can add more if you like them super cold. I don't.)

Method:

1. Do I really need to tell you how to make this? Haha.

Green Day...the food, not the band + Dog Blankie

I completely forgot to do my St. Patrick's Day post last month of all the green food I ate that day! I was emptying out the SD card for my camera this morning and stumbled upon my green food photos. So, Better late than never...or whatever. If you don't like it, well, too bad because here they are.

Breakfast: Green Smoothie
Ingredients:

• 1 cup baby spinach
• 1/2 banana
• 1/4 cup fresh pineapple
• 1 clementine orange
• 1 small apple
• 1 medium carrot
• 1/4 cup cranberry juice
• 2 TB flax meal
• ice, if you want some

Method:
Put everything in the blender (I so LOVE my Vita-Mix for smoothies) and blend until well combined.

Lunch: Chickpea Salad SandwichIngredients:

• 1/2 cup (slightly heaping) cooked chickpeas
• 1 TB + 1 tsp Vegenaise mayo
• 2 tsp mustard (yellow, spicy brown or dijon are all tasty here)
• 2-3 TB raw onion
• 1 heaping TB nooch
• 1 TB dill relish
• 1 TB unsalted sunflower seeds
• 1/2 tsp Braggs Aminos
• Green food coloring

Method:
Put all ingredients in a food processor and whir a few times, until combined. I like mine chunky, but you can puree if you want. It's your sandwich, after all.

Dinner: Green Mashed Potatoes, Steamed Broccoli and Chickpea Patties
The chickpea patties are just the chickpea cutlet recipe from Veganomicon, made into thicker patties instead of cutlets. I always add more garlic and some steak sauce to this recipe. The Mashed potatoes are easy:  green food coloring, Earth Balance, almond milk and salt. And, well, if I have to describe how to steam veggies, you may be a hopeless case.

So, there you go. My St. Patrick's Day green meals. Late, but oh well.

As for my Eco-Craft I started a last week, I am almost done! Check it out :)

Pineapple Smoothies & the New Vita-Mix -- Vegan MOFO #17

Alright.  I've been eyeing the Vita-Mix for about 2 years.  I really wanted one, especially for smoothies.  The local shop charges $5.00 for a smoothie, and it can be pretty expensive if you want to customize or add any mix-ins, like nuts.  So, I got a different blender in the meantime, which subsequently can barely chop ice, let alone make a smoothie that's (ahem) smooth.  I started doing more research (read: asking my Twitter pals and watching endless videos online) and finally decided to take the plunge.  I ordered a factory refurbished model through the Vita-Mix website under "online specials."  The refurb still comes with a 7 year manufacturer warranty, which is excellent because my old blender had a 6-month limited warranty.  The mixers are expensive, but I've had mine for a day and a half and I'm already in love and made 2 wonderful smoothies.  Just so you know, Vita-Mix isn't sponsoring me or anything.  I paid for the mixer myself and this mini review is from the heart.

So, here's my first smoothie recipe.  I warn you in advance, it is a bit tart which is how I love them.  But feel free to add some sweetener of your choice.  I you are using frozen fruit, you don't need to add the ice.  I used fresh fruit this time, so I added ice.  This recipe makes 2 medium-large glasses full.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup fresh or frozen pineapple
• 1/2 banana
• 1-2 TB fresh lime juice
• about 8 fresh cranberries
• 1 1/4 cups ice
• 1/2 cup water

Blend on high until nice and smooth.