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Eat the Rainbow Smoothie!

 

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Nobody loves a creamy, delicious smoothie better than I do.  So when Williams-Sonoma invited me to help kick off their upcoming "Smoothie Week" with a couple of my favorite "Not Your Everyday Smoothies", I was super excited!  

Last week I shared the delectable Chocolate Covered Matcha Smoothie.  This week, I thought I'd jazz things up with a wonderfully colorful concoction we can all wiz up in our with whatever favorite fruits & greens we happen to have on hand.

Fresh smoothies are simple to make and incredible for our body, mind and spirit. I make them daily because they're absolutely delicious, alive and radiant… and they make me feel the same way!  We all know how important it is to eat the rainbow daily and this delicious Eat the Rainbow Smoothie is a lip-smackingly yummy way to do just that.

 

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So grab your favorite juicy berries, sweet bananas and bright colorful mangos &  pineapples galore!  (Feel free to choose frozen fruits. They're frozen at the peak of ripeness and, ironically, are often more nutritionally rich than fresh produce which is picked prior to fully ripening, followed by weeks of transport, store display, and time in our homes before ever being eaten)  Add a handful of powerful, chlorophyll and mineral rich greens to tuck inside all that flavorful goodness… and you're ready to get blending.  Simply layer it up in whatever manner you'd like.  Optionally, top it with your favorite berries or superfood treats such as dried mulberries an goji's as I've done here… or keep it simple and leave it as is.  Voila, you've got a perfectly luscious fireside treat for bundling up with in your favorite chair, all yours to devour 🙂

 

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Recipe for Eat the Rainbow Smoothie (Serves 2)

Ingredients

  • 4-6 frozen super ripe bananas
  • 1 cup frozen or fresh berries (pick your fav!)
  • 1 cup frozen or fresh mango or pineapple (or whatever you have on hand)
  • 2 handfuls of greens such as spinach, romain, chard, parsley
  • 1/2 a fresh lemon (optional)
  • dates, raw honey, stevia or your fav sweetener to taste
  • optional: additional fresh berries &/or superfood toppings such as mulberries and goji berries

Method

  1. Blend the bananas and sweetener to taste in your Vitamix or other high speed blender til smooth and creamy.
  2. Dump 1/3 the mixture into the bottom of your 2 favorite smoothie containers. Dump the other 2/3 into a bowl & set aside.
  3. Add greens & optional lemon to the Vitamix along with 1/3 of the leftover blended bananas. Blend til creamy, taste to adjust sweetness as desired, and divide amongst your 2 smoothie containers. 
  4. Add berries to blender and 1/2 the remaining blended bananas. Blend and dump atop the first two layers in your containers.
  5. Add your mango or pineapple and last portion of blended banana to the Vitamix. Blend and add to your smoothies.
  6. Top with your favorite fresh berries &/or superfoods such as mulberries & goji. Or just leave it plain which is super yummy too!

Enjoy 🙂

 

You may also enjoy these fabulous smoothies:

 Cleansing Quadruple Berry Acai Smoothie
Daily Detox Green Smoothie
Chocolate Covered Strawberry Shake
Chocolate Chip Mint Shake
Epic Baby Thai Coconut Smoothie
Blueberry Coconut Shake
Delicious Green Smoothie
The Happy Shake

 

Do you have a favorite “Not Your Average Smoothie” ?

  

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All Love,

 Juliane

 

Thank you for visiting 🙂  

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Limoncello Cocktails ~ Perfect Any Time of Year!

Includes recipe variations to make Sugar-fee or Virgin Cocktails!

 

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Frosted Sugar Rims on Limoncello Cocktail Glasses


Limoncello Cocktails ~ Perfect Any Time of Year!

A gorgeous, delicious cocktail. Oh so easy to prepare.  (Yes, you can make them in advance!)  You and you're guests will adore!  

This is a great recipe.  We had a great time.  I know you'll enjoy them too!  

 

Limoncello Cocktail Recipe (4 – 6 Servings)

  • 1/3 cup Water
  • 1/3 cup Sugar + 1 tsp. Sugar, separated (*Update- if you're sugar-free like I am now, sub coconut sugar)
  • 1 750 ml bottle Prosecco (*Update- if you want to make this virgin, sub lemon kombucha)
  • 4 tbsp. Limoncello  (*Update- to make virgin, sub lemon kombucha as noted above)
  • 8 oz. Fresh Blueberries (or substitute another berry or fruit currently in season)
  • 3 or 4 slices of thinly sliced Lemon
  1. Pour 1/3 cup water onto a small plate or saucer just larger in size than the circumference of your cocktail glasses.  Pour 1/3 cup Sugar onto another plate of exactly the same size.  Dip rims of each cocktail glass into water filled saucer, then into sugar filled saucer, coating rims evenly.  Set aside.  The sugar will harden, crystalizing beautifully onto the rims after about 15 minutes or so!(This makes refills work beautifully since the rims will remain sugar coated for that second pour!)
  2. Meanwhile, pour the Prosecco into a glass pitcher, add 4 tbsp. of Limoncello and a 1 tsp. Sugar (use more or less to taste depending on tartness of your Limoncello). Mix well to disolve the sugar.
  3. Regfrigerate for an hour or so.  Just before serving add 3 or 4 thin slices of lemon to the pitcher. 
  4. Place 8 or 9 blueberries into each sugar rimmed glass. When your guests arrive, pour the Limoncello mixture into the glasses and enjoy!

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Awaiting that sweet & sour Limoncello Mixture!
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At last! The completed cocktail! Taken by my dear friend, Bick's, cell-phone, no less:) Party time!

Vanishing Blueberry Ginger White Chocolate Cookies

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Vanishing Blueberry Ginger White Chocolate Cookies


This is one of those recipes I've made so many times I've got it memorized by heart!  They're ALWAYS a huge hit! 

(Even the time during a power outage when I accidentally used corn starch instead of baking soda & they baked up into little rocks!  My guests were walking away with napkins full of them saying things like, "Oh no, I LOVE really crunchy cookies…" I just thought to myself – thank goodness!)  

In all seriousness though, Dried Blueberry Ginger White Chocolate Chunk Cookies are easy-peasy to make and take no time at all.  However, consider yourself warned; you'll forever be receiving requests for these after you've made them just once!


Recipe for Blueberry Ginger White Chocolate Cookies

 (Makes 2 Dozen)

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 cup wheat germ
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon fine salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1 large egg
  • 3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
  • 1/3 cup canola oil
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1/2 cup thick, old fashioned oats (NOT instant!)
  • 2 ounces best quality white chocolate, chopped (I like Green & Black's)
  • 1/3 cup dried blueberries (Not the tiny wild kind, they need to be the larger traditional size for the right mouth feel- I buy mine from www.Oh Nuts.com)
  • 1/4 cup Crystalized Ginger, evenly chopped (I buy the kind that comes in 1/2" cubes & quarter the cubes into aproximately 1/4" cubed pieces)

Method:

  1. Preheat oven to 375°F.
  2. Whisk the flour, wheat germ, baking soda, salt and ground ginger together in a medium bowl.  
  3. Whisk egg, brown sugar, oil and vanilla in a larger bowl.  
  4. Gently add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients using a spatula stirring until combined.  
  5. Add oats, chocolate, blueberries and crystallized ginger; stirring just till combined. 
  6. Arrange dough in rounded tablespoonfuls onto 2 ungreased cookie sheets (12 balls per sheet).  
  7. Bake until puffed and golden around the edges, approximately 8 (softer cookies) to 10 (crispier cookies) minutes.
  8. I'd tell you to allow them to cool for a couple minutes on the cookie sheets then transfer to wire racks to cool completely…but by this point everyone will have convened to the kitchen and be eating them HOT! Right out of the oven!

Adapted from recipe created by Anna Ginsberg

How many hours did your cookies last?  Do share!

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Vanishing Blueberry Ginger White Chocolate Cookies ~ this batch of FOUR DOZEN was gone in a weekend!

Blueberry-Coconut-Macadamia Muffins Bathed in Honey

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Blueberry-Coconut-Macadamia Muffins Bathed in Honey

Honey melting over a moist interior of sweet, luscious, berry-laden… Um, perhaps whilst I go get another muffin 'twould be fine to let this one speak for itself :-) 

I make them all the time.

They're very good!


Blueberry-Coconut-Macadamia Muffins

Ingredients

1/3 cup unsweetened coconut

3 tablespoons plus 3/4 cup all-purpose flour, divided

3 tablespoons plus 1/2 cup brown sugar, divided

6 tablespoons chopped macadamia nuts, divided

2 1/2 tablespoons canola oil, divided

1 cup whole-wheat pastry flour (see Source) or whole-wheat flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 large egg

1 large egg white

3/4 cup buttermilk 

2 tablespoons butter, melted

1/2 teaspoon coconut or vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen (don't thaw) blueberries

honey to serve alongside

Method

  1. Preheat oven to 400 F and coat a 12-cup muffin pan with cooking spray.
  2. Combine coconut, 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour, 3 tablespoons brown sugar and 3 tablespoons macadamia nuts in a small bowl. Drizzle with 1 1/2 tablespoons oil, stir to combine and set aside.
  3. Whisk the remaining 3/4 cup all-purpose flour, whole-wheat flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon in a medium bowl. Whisk remaining 1/2 cup brown sugar, the remaining 1 tablespoon oil, egg, egg white, buttermilk, butter and coconut extract in a medium bowl until well combined. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in the wet ingredients; stir until just combined (do not over-mix or you will have a tough muffin). Gently fold in blueberries and the remaining 3 tablespoons nuts just til combined. Divide the batter among the prepared muffin cups. Sprinkle the reserved coconut topping on top, gently pressing into the batter.
  4. Bake until golden brown and a wooden skewer inserted in the center comes out clean, 15 to 20 minutes. Let cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then remove from the pan and let cool on a wire rack at least 5 minutes more before serving. 
  5. Serve your favorite honey alongside.

 PS.  Blueberry-Coconut-Macadamia Muffins freeze beautifully. Just wrap each individually in saran then place in freezer. Reheat in oven or toaster-oven on 350 F until heated through.

Recipe adapted from EatingWell

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Blueberry-Coconut-Macadamia Muffins