Magnificent Mayan Protein Smoothie

The Mayans definitely had some culinary creative skills.  Chocolate and spicy heat are one of my favorite combinations!  I'm not too picky on what the heat profile is but I do love smoky heat with chocolate. This smoothie has a perfect choco-spice flavor that hits you in the back of your throat with every swallow!

1 cup of nut milk

1 banana

3 tblsps of Irish oats

1 scoop of your fav protein powder

3 tblsps of hemp powder

2 tblsps of raw cacao nibs or powder

1 tblsp of Maca powder

1 tblsp of cinnamon

2 tblsps of raw honey or 4 medjool dates

1/2 tblsp of cayenne pepper

1 tsp of ancho chili powder

1 tsp of chipotle chili powder

4-6 ice cubes

Throw it all in the blender, except ice,on high.  Add ice a cube at a time until the ice is crushed.  If you have a vitamix or other high powered blender, you can put all the ice in at once.

Spicy Chocolate Pudding

I love using avocados for a pudding base.  They carry flavors well, especially chocolate.  While I'm sharing the amounts I added, the flavors in this recipe can be tweaked to your liking.  

2 Haas avocados

1 banana

1/4 cup of whole chia seeds

1/3 cup of raw honey

1/8  cup of cacao powder

2 tablespoons of cinnamon 

Ground chipotle powder to taste

Cream avocados,banana, and honey in a food processor.  While the processor is on, add spices and cacao.  Mix for about 3 minutes or until creamy.  Taste pudding and adjust flavoring as desired.  You can add more honey if needed.  Once flavor is to your liking, put pudding in a bowl and stir in the chia seeds.  Store in the fridge in a non-reactive bowl.

Summer Berry Pie

I had lots of berries and tart cherries from my CSA pick-up and we weren't able to eat them fast enough so I decided to make a pie.  I didn't want to have to worry about processed sweetness to off-set the tart was of the cherries and berries so I used turbanado sugar.  I also had to make sure the crust was gluten and dairy free and not full of transfats.

CRUST: 

Makes enough dough for one 9" bottom crust and a floating top.

1 & 1/2 cups of gluten free flour

1/2 cup of solid coconut oil

1 teaspoon of sea salt

1 tablespoon of turbanado sugar

5-8 tablespoons of cold water

Mix the flour, sugar, and salt.  Cut in the coconut oil.  When combined. Add the water 1 tablespoon at a time.  Fork stir after each tablespoon until you have a soft ball of dough.  Wrap in Saran Wrap and refrigerate for about an hour.

FILLING:

6 cups of whole fresh berries.  You can use a single type of berry or a mixture.  

1/2 to 1 cup of turbanado sugar, based on your tastes

1 tablespoon of ground cinnamon 

1/4 cup of tapioca starch or arrowroot starch

Mix sugar, cinnamon, and starch.  Add to berries and mix carefully but well.

ASSEMBLY & BAKING:

Lightly oil a 9" glass pie plate with coconut oil.

Remove dough from fridge and roll out to 1/4-1/8 " thick.  Line bottom of pie plate with dough and press in.  Trim off the edges and set aside.

Pour filling into crust.  Roll out the remaining dough and lay it on the top of the pie.  Do not seal it.  It should look like its floating on top of the pie.

Bake at 375 for about an hour.

COCONUT CREME TOPPING:

Several hours prior, place a steel bowl and beaters in the freezer to chill.

1 can of full fat coconut milk refrigerated for several hours.  The longer in the fridge the better.  This will allow the cream to solidify and cone to the top.  You will use the cream for this topping.  Reserve the oil for another use.

1 tablespoon of turbanado sugar.

1 whole vanilla bean or 1 tablespoon of pure vanilla extract.

Carefully scoop out the white cream from the top of the coconut milk and put it in the chilled bowl. Add the sugar and vanilla.  Beat on high until a smooth creme forms.

CASHEW CREME TOPPING:

In a high-powered blender or food processor place:

1/2 cup of water

2 large handfuls of raw cashews

4 pitted medjool dates

1 tablespoon of pure vanilla

Blend on high until a smooth creme forms, adding more liquid if necessary.  You can use some of the left over coconut oil.

Raw Almond Milk

I made this today in the blender.  It's super easy!  And it tastes better than the store bought stuff.  You have the ability to make it thicker or thinner by altering the amount of water.

Soak 1 cup of whole, raw almonds in about 6 cups of water for a couple of hours.  Strain and rinse well.  Put almonds in the blender with 4 cups of water and blend for about 5 minutes.  Taste to see if you need it sweeter.  If you do, add a little raw honey or agave or a couple of medjool dates (be sure to take the pits out!)  Reblend.  Strain using a fine mesh sieve or you can use nut milk bags if you have them.  If you want to make more, you can but for the best results, make it in batches of the above recipe so you don't over-fill the blender.  You can also add cinnamon or nutmeg for flavor if you like.

You'll have some left over pulp when you finish. You can do a few things with it.  You can dehydrate it either in the oven or in qa dyhydrator if you have one.  Youc an use it in place of flour in baked goods.  You can also do what I did and put it back in the blender, add about 3-4 cups of cold water, 1/4 cup of cacao nibs, and some agave nectar and make chocolate milk!  I dehydrated the rest of the pulp in the oven after that.

Store in the refrigerator in a glass container.  Canning jars work well.

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MAYAN JUNGLE Smoothie

1 cup of hemp or almond milk

2 bananas

1/4 cup of cacao nibs

1/4 cup of walnuts

1/8 cup of cinnamon

1 heaping tablespoon of maca powder

the greens from one beet

ice

Blend everything together.  Add some ice while the blender is moving.

FALL FANTASY Smoothie

1 cup of hemp milk
1 banana
1/2 of an avacado
1 apple chopped and cored
1 pear chopped and cored
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg

Put the milk in the blender and get it spinnng. Add the apple and pear first then the banana and avacado last. You may have to add some water. Ice works well also.

CINNAMON SPICE SLUSH Smoothie

I bought some fresh peaches at the market last Saturday and decided to throw them in a smoothie. I made it very simple to keep the sweetness of the peaches.

1 cup of hemp milk or almond milk
1 small banana
1 & 1/2-2 fresh peaches (use the skin too!)
1 teaspoon of cinnamon (or more to taste
6-12 ice cubes

Get the milk spinning on a medium speed. Add the banana and peaches and cinnimon. Turn theblender up to an ice-chopping speed and add the ice one cube at a time. Watch out for brain freeze!