Start your Day Healthy Smoothie

This smoothie is loaded with fruit and spinach. It is a great way to start on your day healthy. I love having smoothies for breakfast.

Ingredients

1 C cashew milk or milk of your choosing
1/2 C cold water
1 to 1/2 C fresh spinach
1/2 C frozen mangoes
1 C mixed berries
1 frozen banana
1 orange peeled
2 T chia
1/2 scoop protein powder optional

Directions  serves 2

1. Pour all the ingredients in the blender starting with the milk and going in order.
2. Blend and pulse until smooth. Serve and enjoy. Enjoy a great start to your day.

Cranberry Orange English Muffins

It is always fun to eat a muffin whether it is for breakfast, lunch, brunch or even a snack. These are a wonderful whole grain muffins that have a fun addition of fruit. These would be easy to freeze in airtight container to have for later. 

Ingredients

3 3/4 C whole grain flour (I used spelt)
1 T +1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 C sugar or sweetener of your choice
5 oz of dried cranberries
2 medium bananas smashed
2 T fresh orange juice
3 tsp orange zest
2 1/2 C almond milk
2 eggs beaten
6 T coconut oil melted
dried oatmeal to sprinkle on top

Directions  makes 2 dozen

1. Heat oven to 400. Mix all the dry ingredients into a mixing bowl. Flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Stir until all combined with whisk or fork.
2. Stir in the cranberries.
3. Make a well in the mixture and pour in bananas, orange juice, zest, milk, eggs and oil. Stir until just combined. Don't over stir.
4. Grease muffin tins or use paper cups.
5. Scoop batter into cups. Sprinkle a little dried oatmeal on to each muffin before cooking.
6. Cook for 25 to 30 min. Take out of oven and cool on cooling rack.
7. Serve with warm with butter, honey, or jam.

Orange Bran Muffins

Love to have some yummy muffins to much on. These were fun to eat with my grandsons today. It was fun to add some orange to the the typical bran muffins. It was a fun addition. It is a good day here having fun with a couple grandsons for  a couple days while their parents are out of town. I love being able to see things through their eyes. They are sweet little boys. 

Ingredients

1/3 C Bob's Red Mill Oat Bran cereal

1 C almond milk

juice from 2 oranges

1/3 C chia seeds *optional

2 T orange zest

2 eggs

2 T coconut oil

1/3 C honey

2 C whole grain flour 

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 C unsweetened coconut shredded

other fun optional add in:

1/2 mini chocolate chips

1/2 C cut up apples

1/2 C dried fruit

Directions    Heat oven to 350 makes 1 dozen.

1. Pour cereal into a mixing bowl. Then pour in milk, juice, and chia seeds. Stir until all moistened. Set aside to let the cereal soften about 5 min.

2. Stir in zest, eggs, oil and honey. Stir until all combined. 

3. Then stir in flour, baking powder, salt. Stir in coconut. 

4. Scoop muffins mixture into greased muffin pans. 

5. Place in heated oven bake about 10-12 min. 

6. Take out of oven take out of oven and take out of pan. Place on cooling rack. 

7. I like eating them nice and hot out of the oven. 

Mango Green Smoothie (Naturally sweetened)

This was so wonderful. It was naturally sweet with all of the fruit that was in it. It was a refreshing delicious afternoon snack. It left me with a very satisfied feeling. You will love it.

The leaves were from a walk up the canyon yesterday. The colors are so amazing right now. Enjoy today. I hope you have a great weekend.

Ingredients

1 C almond milk
1 C frozen mangoes
1 1/2 frozen banana
1 apple core removed peel on
juice from a naval orange
2 T chia
1 handful spinach

Directions   serves 2

1. Put all of the ingredients into the blender and blend until smooth. Serve at once. YUM!

Mixed Fruit Sorbet (no added sugar)

This is a wonderful way to enjoy your Summer. Eating a frozen fruit sorbet. With no added sugar. It has a nice mixture of fruit in it. You don't have to feel guilty while you are enjoying it. :) Great way to refresh yourself for the day.

Ingredients:
1/2 C water
1 C low fat plain yogurt
1/4 C frozen blueberries
1/4 C frozen strawberries or fresh
1/4 C frozen pineapple
1/2 frozen banana
1 C ice
1 peeled orange broken into pieces
sliced fruit for garnish

Directions: serves 2 to 3
1. Put the ingredients into the blender in the order listed. Blend or pulse until creamy. You may have to stop and stir it a couple times.  (Especially if you double it like I did)  Serve at once, or place in the freezer  for 30 min to 1 hour to thicken it up. Scoop into parfait dishes. Top with your choice of fresh fruit! Yum!

Strawberry Banana Orange Sorbet (Sugar Free)

This is one of those healthy treats that tastes so good. I love eating foods that don't have all the additives. This whips up super fast, and is very refreshing. It could be enjoyed anytime of day. It doesn't have to be hot outside to enjoy this.

Ingredients:
2 oranges peeled and divided
1 banana peeled
3 1/4 C frozen strawberries


Directions: 3 servings
* This works best in a high power blender. You could do it in one with less power and do smaller amount at a time.
1. Put in oranges and bananas and blend until smooth.
2. Then put in berries. Blend until smooth. May require some stirring to get it all mixed together. Blend until all combined and smooth. 
3. Pour into glasses drink immediately or store in freezer. Yum!

Sunrise Smoothie

I loved this smoothie. It was sweet with out adding any other sweeteners. The fruit made it the perfect sweetness. It was a nice refreshing drink that would be great any time of the day. If the fruit was frozen it would even be more refreshing. Yum! It is a great way to enjoy summer by enjoying the summer fruit that is available. :)

Ingredients: 2 servings


2 mango's peeled and chopped up
1 C pineapple (I used fresh)
juice from 1 orange
juice from 1 lime
a banana would be wonderful too
1 C of ice

Directions:
1. Pour it all into the blender and blend until smooth!

Enjoy Today!

Citrus Popcorn (healthy)

Citrus Popcorn

Here is the zest combination we used!

This was a fun popcorn. I love citrus smells and flavors, and colors. I love having a bowl of fresh citrus on my counter. It breaths life into me just looking at it. :) It is probably the influence of my California blood. (I am sure you don't need to be from California to enjoy it.) When I went back to Calififornia a couple weeks ago I saw a lot of lemon trees over flowing with lemons. I wanted to go and pick them and bring them home. I know I took them for granted when I lived there. We did make some fresh lemonade while we were there and it was the best lemonade I have ever had. :) I miss having citrus trees in our yard. It is wonderful I can still enjoy buying them, and taking in the smells, flavors, and colors. :)

We found with this popcorn flavor it is best to add a little bit of zest at a time. You can see how you like it you can always add more.

Ingredients:
4 C popped popcorn (We used the air popper)
2 T coconut Oil (melted)
1 T fresh orange juice
1/2 T fresh lime juice
1/2 T lemon juice
1 T of a combination of lemon, lime, and orange zest
1/4 to 1/2 tsp salt

Directions:
1. In a bowl pour in popcorn. In a separate small bowl stir together the juice and the oil.

2. Toss the coconut mixture onto the the popcorn. Then toss on the zest and the salt. You can add more zest according to your taste preference. Enjoy immediately! It is a great way to bring Spring into your day.

Whole Grain Carrot and Orange and Spice Muffins

I love lot of different muffins, especially when they are healthy. :) I got inspired about trying some carrot muffins, after reading this blog. She has some yummy ideas. These are a tasty treat, and healthier than carrot cake. I was pleased how light they were with whole grains in them. :)

Ingredients: Made 35 mini muffins

3 C whole grain flour*
4 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp fresh grated ginger or ground
1/2 C coconut oil
1/3 C honey
2/3 C milk
4 T orange juice unsweetened
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
2 tsp orange zest
1/2 unsweetened shredded coconut * optional
2 C grated carrots

Directions: Heat oven to 375
1. In a medium bowl combine flour, baking powder, baking soda,cinnamon, and ginger.
2. In a separate bowl cream the oil, honey, and eggs. Then add the milk, juice, zest, and vanilla. Stir in carrots. Stir dry ingredients into wet mixture. Don't over stir.
3. Scoop into greased muffin pan. Place pan in preheated oven. Bake 10 to 12 minutes, or till golden. Cooking time will depend on muffin size.
* (I ground up 3 C spelt, 2 C kamut, 1 C buckwheat, 1 C brown rice, 1 C oat groats. I had extra left over to use in other cooking.)

Orange Lime Mahi Mahi

This is another way to cook your fish. I used Mahi Mahi but I would think this would work great with any white fish. I served it with brown rice and a mixed frozen vegetable. I liked it better than the chicken the night before.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 to 2 lbs Mahi Mahi or another white fish
4 T lime juice
1 orange
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Put the fish in a 13x9 greased Pyrex dish. Pour the lime juice on top of the skinless side. I then cut an orange in 1/2 and put the slices on top of the fish. Salt and pepper. Cover with foil.

2. Bake at 375. My fish was frozen so it took about 45 min. You will have to check it and see how long it takes. I could smell when it was done. I took it out of the oven and squeezed the remaining other half of the orange on top of the fish. I served it with Brown rice and green frozen vegetable mix. It was a tasty meal.

Oatmeal Teff Quinoa Pancakes

Ingredients
2 1/2 C. Oat flour
1/2 C Teff flour Bobs Red Mill is a good choice
1/4 C quinoa flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/3 C honey
1/2 tsp salt
2 1/2 C. buttermilk ( I used 1% milk and 2 1/2 T. white vinegar)
2 Large eggs
1/4 C orange juice
1 tsp. vanilla
2 tsp. grated orange zest
1 tsp. cinnamon
2 T coconut oil
Toppings for the pancakes
apple toppings
buttermilk syrup
jam

Directions
1. Blend dry ingredients together in a large bowl until all blended.

2. In another bowl, mix all the wet ingredients together.

3. Combine wet and dry ingredients together. Mix until blended. Don't over mix.

4. Cook on hot Skillet. I loved the orange cinnamon combination. :)