Well Lick my Beaters, it's a Cake Batter Smoothie!

And now, in the midst of birthday hullabaloo, we bring you a mostly unrelated post.  Well, except for the sprinkles.  This smoothie tastes like cake batter, if you like that sort of thing.  Only there is no cake batter, mixes, refined sugar, flour, etc. to be found anywhere.  And it is ever so slightly green, not yellow.  But this recipe has led me to the discovery that, even though DD will drink her smoothie 99% of the time without complaining, the way to get her to ask for MORE smoothie is to add sprinkles.

Cake Batter Smoothie - serves 4

blend:
flesh of 1 ripe avocado
flesh of 2 small frozen bananas
heaping cup of frozen cauliflower
2 cups unsweetened almond milk, plus more to keep the blender moving
1 t. vanilla extract

Pour into glasses and add:
sprinkles, for serving (optional)

White is a Color on the Veggie Rainbow (and here's another smoothie recipe)

At our house, children eat cauliflower like it is some kind of tasty snack food.  I'm not even kidding.  I think DS would name it as his favorite veggie.  Many of us are not so lucky.  I admit, it took me until I was about 32 to even consider enjoying serving it to myself.  It looks like brains, and it tastes vaguely like broccoli, but not enough so.  It's just weird.  I do like it now, but, goodness, what a long road for cauliflower and I to become friends!

And, on an heretofore unrelated note, we also like green smoothies.  Yummy, and a pleasing color that is referred to in my house as "monster." (See last post for a quick recipe for my fave green monster smoothie.)  They are good.  But they are green.  Not that I don't like green, because I do.  But there are only a select number of things that you can put in a green smoothie that won't turn it an unappetizing shade of purplish-brown.  Kind of like when you make a smoothie with roasted beets and then you have to make it berry flavor because it is a crazy, crazy color of red.  You are locked in.

And when your 5-year-old specifically asks for a mango smoothie, you can't hand her a green one and expect her to be satisfied.  "But mangoes are orange, Mommy!"  And not as orange as carrots, either, because I've tried to put those in there, and, although said 5-year-old admits it is delicious, it is still not a mango smoothie.  It is a mango AND CARROT smoothie.

Then it hit me, somewhere in between sleep and wakefulness as my alarm clock was about 5 minutes from sounding and I was trying to figure out what we had in the house for breakfast:  all the bags of frozen cauliflower!!!!  Like a blank smoothie canvas, awaiting a veritable rainbow of fruits to blend with and make... MAGIC!

Orange and White Smoothie - serves 2

Combine in a blender:
1 medium banana
Juice of 2 oranges
1 c. coconut milk
1 heaping cup frozen cauliflower florets
1 heaping cup frozen mango chunks

Enjoy!

Metabolize and Antioxidize - the Dark Magic Smoothie

It's no secret that the kids and I drink a smoothie for breakfast at least three times a week.  There is really nothing else that has made as huge an impact on my health as the green smoothie.  (BTW, my favorite green smoothie consists of banana, fresh organic baby spinach, almond milk, and frozen pineapple.)  But there are a zillion green smoothie recipes on the web.  So, I present something slightly different:  the Dark Magic Smoothie.  All that is good in the universe in a glass.

Dark Magic Smoothie - Serves 2-3

Combine in a blender:
flesh of 1 small banana
flesh of 1 small avocado
1/2 c. tart cherry juice
1/2 c. dark brewed coffee, cooled
1/2 c. coconut milk
1/2 c. frozen blueberries (a heaping 1/2 cup!)
1 oz. dark chocolate
a couple handfuls of ice

Delish!!!

P.S. Sorry it's been a couple weeks since I posted last... I do have some projects in the works, but I haven't finished anything, and I haven't made any other original recipes.  (I'm going through a bunch of pinterest recipes now.)  Coming soon:  Flower Pillow Tutorial!!!!