Blueberry Cream Dream (No added sugar)

Blueberries are wonderful because they have a natural sweetness. When you add them to recipes they add a natural sweetness so you usually don't need much sweetener at all. I love to be able to enjoy the natural sweet flavor of the foods when possible. I achieved it with this recipe. This is a refreshing drink and a great way to start your day.

Ingredients

1 C almond milk (vanilla unsweetened)
1 frozen banana chopped up
1C frozen blueberries
1 T chia

Directions  serves 1

1. Pour all the ingredients into the blender and blend until smooth.
2. Enjoy!

Blueberry Banana Quinoa Oatmeal Muffins (gluten free)

I hope you had a wonderful Mother Day weekend. There are lots of wonderful ways to be mothers to children. I am so grateful to have a wonderful Mother that teaches me so very much.  I am grateful to be a Mother. It is what I always wanted to be when I grew up and I have not been disappointed with my choice. My husband and children made a terrific meal yesterday. I felt their love for me. 

These muffins got the thumbs up from those who ate them today. My grandson Jacob was going for 2nds or 3rds and he said "These are delicious." So that is a winner in my book. 

Ingredients:

2 ripe banana mashed equal to 1 C 

 3/4  plain yogurt
1/2 C honey
2/3 C coconut oil
4 tsp vanilla
2 C quinoa flour or  oat, kamut, wheat, or spelt flour

1 1/2 C old fashioned oatmeal
4 tsp baking powder
2 tsp cinnamon (heaping)
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 C Blueberries

Directions:
1. Heat oven to 375 bakes in 8-9 min

2. Mix banana, yogurt, honey, oil and vanilla together.

3. In a separate bowl mix all the dry ingredients together. Then combine with the wet ingredients. Fold in the blueberries gently.

4. Scoop into greased muffin pans. Place muffin pans in preheated oven. 

5. Remove from muffin pan and cool on cooling rack. Enjoy! 

6. Store leftovers in airtight container in the fridge. You could also make extras and freeze them.

Blueberry Mango Swirl

There are some many fun drinks that you can create with fruit. Here is another swirl I made recently and I thought it would be fun to make another one today. I like the designs that you can can as you mix it together. It is a chance to feel like an artist and get those creative juices flowing. I love it. I have been used to just having my drinks just mixed up to make one color. I am enjoying this variation.

This drink is a great powerhouse, mixing together mangoes and blueberries. The fruit gives it a nice sweetness so no added sugar required.  It is a wonderful way to refresh yourself anytime of the day.

Ingredients
1 1/2 C almond milk
1 frozen chopped up banana
1 C frozen mangoes chopped up
1 C frozen blueberries
1/2 C water

Directions serves 2
1. Pour into the blender milk, banana, mangoes. Blend until smooth.
2. Pour into glasses dividing it evenly.  
3. Then you can wash out the blender so the blueberry mixture will be brighter.
4. Pour in the blueberries and water into the blender. Blend until smooth. 
5. I poured the thick mixture on top of the mango mixture dividing it evenly.
6. Then use a wooden or medal skewer and gently swirl the stick through the drink. It is your turn to create your on design. Have fun with it. :) Enjoy! Serve right away.

Here is some other yummy drinks. Mango Strawberry Smoothie  
Raspberry Orange Ginger Swirl

Morning Berry Smoothie in a Jar

This Recipe Redux theme is Raising the Bar on Food in a Jar. Nowadays canning jars are just as likely to be used for something completely different than canning. You know what we use canning jars for the most?

Yep, that's right. Water. We love using them for that because it is an easy way to not only drink a lot of water (instead of making multiple trips to the sink to refill a smaller cup), but it is also a way to measure your water intake.

But don't worry, that's not our recipe. (Side note--I did see Martha Stewart once do a how to on the perfect glass of ice water . . . then realized it was for April Fools Day. Haha!)

Instead, we made a beautiful purple smoothie, just the kind that is great for starting your day off right. We like using the canning jars for serving smoothies because they are usually bigger than the typical cup, and they hold just that much more fruit and veggie goodness! And you can screw on a lid to take it with you.

Ingredients
1 1/2 C almond milk
1/2 C frozen blue berries
1/2 C frozen strawberries
1 frozen banana
1/3 C old-fashioned oatmeal
optional items to add:
1 C spinach
1 scoop of whey protein powder
1 peeled cucumber

Directions
1. Put all the ingredients into the blender and blend until smooth. Serve immediately.

Serves 2.

Mango Strawberry Smoothie

So we went and joined the Recipe Redux club, and we are so excited about it! Recipe Redux is a once-a-month recipe share where all of the participants share healthy recipes based on a monthly theme. And since healthy is our middle name (well, not really), we decided that it would be lots of fun.

From now on, once a month on the 21st, we will be sharing a recipe for Recipe Redux and also linking to the other healthy blogs that participate. That way you can find some other wonderful resources for eating healthy!

This month's theme is Summer Beverage, which is awesome because this is a perfect time of year for a cool, fruity drink. This Mango Strawberry Smoothie is just what the doctor ordered. Mmmmmm . . . fresh mangoes. . . .

Serves 2-3

Ingredients:

1 fresh mango peeled and pit removed
1 C frozen blueberries
1 C fresh or frozen strawberries
1 frozen banana
1 C almond milk
1-2 tsp fresh lime juice (optional)
Fruit for garnish

Directions:

1. In the blender pour in the milk and then the remaining ingredients. Let pulse until completely blended. Pour into glasses and serve.

Here are the other Recipe Redux member's contributions:

• Gretchen, kumquat Ginger Ale
• Dr. Barb, Nutrition Budgeteer Triple Cherry Chiller
• Carlene Helble, Carlene's Figments Mint Berry Seltzer
• Kara Lydon, Peace, Love, and Food Blueberry Basil Lemonade Fizz
• Deanna Segrave-Daly, Teaspoon of Spice Cantaloupe Basil Aqua Fresca Fizz
• Jessica Fishman Levinson, Nutritioulicious Blueberry Basil Cooler
• Marie Spano, Performance Nutrition Post-Workout Power Smoothie
• Elizabeth Jarrard, Don't White Sugar-Coat It Southern Blackberry Smash
• Emily Greenfield, The Nutriscientist Apple, pear and strawberry smoothie with Chia
• Kristen Bourque- Swanky Dietitian Fresh Fruit and Club Soda Cooler
• Regan Jones - The Professional Palate Berry-Lime Bubbly
• Kat Lynch - Eating the Week Sparkling melon fizz - nice & naughty
• Lisa @ Healthful Sense Berry Refreshing Chia Seed Smoothie
• EA Stewart-The Spicy RD Gingery Peach Float
• Alysa Bajenaru - Inspired RD Blackberry Banana Swirl
• Ann Dunaway Teh, Eat to Nourish, Energize & Flourish Pregnancy Mocktails
• Yuri - Chef Pandita Green Tea Ginger Limeade with Chia Seeds
• Karman Meyer-Nutrition Adventures Orange-Mint Iced Green Tea
• Cherie Schetselaar-Grain Crazy Mango Strawberry Smoothie
• Emma Stirling - The Scoop on Nutrition Recipe Redux Tangelo-ad