newest favorite smoothie recipe

Chocolate Banana Peanut Butter Green Smoothie

1 banana

1 1/2 cups soy or almond milk

2 heaping tablespoons dark chocolate cocoa powder

1 tablespoon agave nectar

1 teaspoon natural peanut butter

1 big handful of organic spinach

2 cups ice

Put it all in the blender and blend!

Enjoy!

Peace, Love, Lipstick, & Namaste

Leslie

my breakfast & smoothie recipe

I love home-made fruit smoothies! This one is probably my all-time favorite. I usually just eyeball the ingredients, but here's my estimate of everything that goes into this smoothie. Delish!

Blueberry Mango Green Smoothie
1 cup mango
1 1/2 cups frozen blueberries
2 cups organic spinach
1 1/2 cups vanilla soy milk
1 cup crushed ice
1 tablespoon agave nectar

(I buy a big bag of frozen mango at Sam's Club; however, I find it becomes really hard to blend if I leave it frozen, so I usually thaw the mango out. I do leave the blueberries frozen. Sometimes I also add 1/2 an avocado if I want it extra smooth. I also just use a cheap blender I bought at Wal-Mart. It's a Hamilton Beach one that has a spout which can dispense the smoothie, as long as it's not too thick. We used to have a nice Cuisinart blender, but it actually broke while I was making one of these. The Hamilton Beach one works wonderfully and the price is definitely right.)

Hope you have a great day! And, if you have smoothie recipes you love, please share!

Peace, Love, Lipstick,
& Namaste'

yummy & healthy soup recipe

Winter continues to linger, and one thing I find helps make the long, cold winter months a little more enjoyable is a yummy, healthy, home-made soup! Here is a soup recipe (I highly recommend) that we tried out last week for a dinner party (and I am in the process of making right now!):

Corn & Sweet Potato Soup

serves 6 (although we actually doubled this recipe and 6 of us ended up finishing it off!)

Ingreditents:
1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 small red chilli, seeded and finely chopped
7 1/2 cups vegetable stock
2 tsp ground cummin
1 medium sweet potato
1/2 red bell pepper, finely chopped
1 lb corn kernels
salt and ground back pepper and lime wedges to serve

1. Heat the oil and fry the onion for 5 minutes until softened. Add the garlic and chilli and fry another 2 minutes.

2. In the same pan, add 1 1/4 cups of the vegatable stock. Bring to the boil and simmer 10 minutes.

3. Mix in the cumin, diced sweet potato, and simmer for 10 minutes.

4. Add the pepper & corn and simmer for 10 minutes. Process half of the soup until smooth and then stir into the chunky soup. Season and serve with lime wedges for squeezing over.

It's easy and delish! The recipe came from a book I love: The Complete Book of 400 Soups by Anne Sheasby. We purchased a Cuisinart hand blender with some of our Christmas cash, and we love it! It makes pureeing soups so much easier than using a regular blender. After step 3, I add half the soup to a crock pot, and puree it in there. Then, I just poured the rest of the soup in the crock pot, and it stayed warm until the dinner guests arrived and were ready to eat.

Hope you enjoy!

Namaste'
Leslie

p.s. I'm not a huge fan of sweet potatos (even though I know they are very healthly), but I love this soup!

yummy soup recipe

I am not a cook. I can cook, but it is not something I find particularly relaxing or enjoyable. I do, however, like to cook soups. There is nothing like a hot, home-made soup on a cold, cloudy day. I recently made corn and potato chowder, and thought I'd share the recipe for those who may be interested:

Serves 4

Ingredients:
1 onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 medium baking potato, chopped
2 celery sticks, sliced
1 small green bell pepper, seeded, halved and sliced (I used a red pepper as I prefer that flavor)
2 tbsp sunflower oil
2 tbsp butter
2 1/2 cups water or chicken stock
1 1/4 cups milk (I used soy milk)
7 oz can flageolet beans (I didn't use this ingredient)
11 oz can corn kernels
good pinch dried sage
salt and ground back pepper
cheddar cheese, grated, to serve

1. Put the onion, garlic, potato, celery and pepper into a large heavy based pan with the oil and butter.
2. Heat the ingredients until sizzling then reduce the heat to low. Cover and cook gently for about 10 minutes, shaking the pan occasionally to prevent the ingredients sticking.
3. Pour in the stock or water, season with salf and pepper to tase and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat, cover again and simmer gently for about 15 minutes until the vegetables are tender.
4. Add the milk, beans and corn including their liquids--and the sage. Simmer, uncoverd, for 5 minutes. Check the seasoning and serve hot, sprinkled with grated cheese.

This recipe is from my all time favorite cook book: The complete book of 400 Soups. Edited by Anne Sheasby. Other soups I've cooked from this book include Garlicky Lentil soup, Peanut & Potato soup , Butter Bean, tomato & pesto soup , Mushroom, celery & garlic soup.

Bon appetit!

Namaste'
Leslie