We recently did a 3-day Raw Food diet (not a lose-weight diet, just to change things up and try to cleanse). One of the things we LOVED from it was the first day’s smoothie – a peanut butter-banana smoothie. While I won’t recommend this particular raw diet (we actually gained weight on it), we really enjoyed several of the recipes and plan to use some of them in the future. As usual, I ended up changing the smoothie recipe a bit to suit our taste. Yesterday morning, I decided to try something new – which turned out to be a huge hit! So, I thought I would share these two smoothie recipes with you. Enjoy!

I recently bought a juicer and was so excited to get juicing! When I went to empty the pulp bin, I realized how much was being wasted! Couldn’t I use that for …. well, something? Thought it would be good to start with something easy – carrot pulp into carrot muffins. I found a few recipes – one that used pulp but sounded disgusting and most that were GF but sounded disgusting –  so I compiled bits and pieces, my pulp, and came up with what turned out to be a HUGE hit with my kids (who devoured ALL of them in just a couple short days).

February is the month the highest rate of the flu! I have a great recipe we call “Immunity Soup”. It can easily be made as a vegetarian soup, as well. Here is the best soup to help combat sniffly, sneezy, icky-ness:

1 rotisserie chicken [or block of tofu] cut into bite-size chunks
1 sweet potato [or butternut squash] cut into bite-size chunks
1/2 – 1 onion, diced
1 bunch kale, de-ribbed and sliced into think strips
2 large shitake mushrooms, sliced or diced
1 can coconut milk
32oz chicken/vegetable broth
1 heaping tsp Turmeric
1 tsp grated fresh ginger
1 tsp Cayenne pepper
1 tbsp crushed garlic

Combine all ingredients in stockpot. Bring to a boil over med-high heat for about 3 minutes. Turn down heat to low. Simmer soup about 20-30 minutes. Serve with rolls.

Enjoy and stay well!

Last night I grilled a flank steak to serve over salad. I was in an Asian-mood, but could not find a recipe that I really liked for a good salad dressing. I made this one up and it turned out delicious! (Use the Cuisinart I mentioned here to make it really easy!)

Note: I usually keep pickled and powdered ginger on hand since I do not buy fresh every week.

The kiddo had asked for Peppermint Ice Cream last week, which I was happy to oblige.  But I felt that the minty flavor needed a little chocolate to go with it … doesn’t everything taste better with a little chocolate?  So, I whipped up these easy cookies, thanks to my trusty epicurious app on my iPhone (you can also find the recipe here).

YUMMY CHOCOLATE COOKIES

Recipe courtesy of PARADE, August 2009 (by Sheila Lukins)

INGREDIENTS
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon espresso
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease 2 baking sheets. Sift the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, espresso, and salt into a bowl. Reserve. In another bowl, cream the butter and sugar with an electric mixer until it is light and fluffy. Add the egg and the vanilla, then mix well. Add the reserved dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Form 1/4-cup portions of dough into 8 balls. Arrange 4 balls on each cookie sheet and flatten with a spatula. Bake in the center of the oven until set, about 10 minutes. Let stand on the baking sheet for 2 minutes before removing with a spatula to a wire rack to cool completely.

Enjoy!