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.

Instant Breakfast

I'm not huge on instant meal- type mixes, however, I have found that in a pinch, Vega brand isn't too bad.  The mixes are not cheap.  I usually only have 2 or 3 around just in case.  As much ad I love chocolate, in this case I do prefer the vanilla almond.  I blend it per the package directions but I also add 1 banana, 1 heaping teaspoon of mesquite powder, and 1 teaspoon of lucuma powder.  The flavor and smell of the shake reminds me of almond paste cookies!

Recovery Monster

I started making this after my workouts. I wanted to give my body a huge dose of protien.

2 cups of water (more if needed at the end)
1 tablespoon of organic, extra-virgin coconut oil
1 banana
1/2 of a Hass avocado
1/2 cup of blueberries
1 scoop of Garden of Life's Super Seed Beyond Fiber
1 level tablespoon of hemp powder (I use Bob’s Red Mill)
1 level tablespoon of ground flax or flax meal (I use Bob’s Red Mill)
1 level tablespoon of ground chia
1 level tablespoon of spirulina
1 level teaspoon of maca powder
1 level tablespoon of cacao nibs
1 tablespoon (about 5 full-sized halves) of walnuts
1 tablespoon (10 whole pieces) of raw almonds
1 tablespon of raw cashews
1 level tablespoon of raw hulled pumpkin seeds
1 level tablespoon of raw hulled sunflower seeds

Put everything in the blender and mix thoroughly. I will admit, this doesn’t taste fantastic but it wasn’t disgusting either. If you want to sweeten it, you can add a bit of raw honey.  This recipe makes enough for 2.  You can either share it with someone or you can store half for the next day.  The best way to store it would be to put half in the freezer in ice cube trays.  When they freeze, pop them out and put them in a freezer bag.  Lable it as one serving.  When you want to use it, throw them in the blender with some water!

PURPLE PLEASURE Smoothie **Green Monster**

You can just see the antioxidents swimming in this yummy smoothie! 

1 cup of water
1 heaping teaspoon of Spirulina
15 pitted cherries
1/2 cup blueberries
1/2 cup black raspberries or blackberries
1 banana

Put the water, spirulina, and banana in the blender and get it whirling.  If your fruit is frozen, add the rest of the fruit a little at a a time.  If it's all fresh, you can put everything in the blender at once and let 'er rip!

**The term Green Monster is a trademark of Oh She Glows

WALKING ON SUNSHINE Smoothie

I had some extra fruits that I had to use today so I threw them all into the Vitamix with a little flax milk and this is what I got. Wasn't too bad for a throw-together.


2 bananas
1 mango, peeled
1-inch thick slice of pineapple, peeled
5 medjool dates, pitted
1 orange, peeled
1/4 - 1/2 cup of flax, hemp, or almond milk
ice (optional)

Put all the fruit in the blender. Let it mix until all the fruit is incorporated. Add some milk just to thin it out. Once it's the consistency that you want, you some ice to the running blender to chill it a bit.

BEETRICE POTTER'S MONKEY Smoothie

1 cup of almond, flax, or hemp milk
2 bananas
1 packet of Sambazon frozen acai berries
All the tops (stems and leaves) from one raw beet
1 heaping teaspoon of maqui powder
1 heaping teaspoon of maca powder

Blend thoroughly.  You can add ice to make it colder if you like.  It has a light chocolate flavor.

PINKALICIOUS Succo-Frullato

 SUCCO-FRULLATO.  It is the combination of succo which means juice in Italian and frullato which means smoothie in Italian.  It will encompass anything I make that uses both the juicer and blender.  Yes, I can buy bottled juice but I don't because I have no idea where it's coming from.  I'd rather take the extra few minutes and use both machines.  And lets be honest....I just rinse everythig in scalding hot water right away.  I throw stuff in the dishwasher maybe once every other week.

1 apple
2 blood oragnges, zest removed
3 stalks of celery

Juice all of these in your juicer then pour into the blender.  Add to it 1 banana and 6 strawberries.  Blend well!

Fruit Prep

People ask me how I prep my fruit for smoothies.  I try to do as much prep as possible when I get my fruit so when it's time to make a smoothie, its quick and easy.  I shop at our local public market every Saturday.  I buy as much of my produce there as I can.  It's cheaper and most of it is local to the area and/or state.  I freeze most of it, much to my husband's dismay.  My freezer is jam packed! 

Below is listed how I prep my fruit for smoothies.  Some of it, like citrus, I leave on the counter.  Any fruit I use for the juicer, I keep fresh on my counter.  I usually go through it pretty quick but if something starts to get soft, then into the freezer it will go. 

Make sure you wash all of your produce well.  There are several products you can buy such as Veggie Wash, Vermont Soap Organics, Biokleen or you can make your own.  I typically use Veggie Wash but if I don't have any then I use fresh lemons.  I just throw one in my juicer and them pour the juice into a sink filled with cold water.  You can also use distilled or apple cider vinegar.  Use about 1/4 of a cup in a sinkful of cold water.  I soak my produce for about 10 minutes then rinse and dry.  The only produce I don't soak are berries.  They are too delicate.  I just rinse them briefly.

BERRIES
This includes blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, strawberries, gooseberries, boysenberries, cranberries, and grapes.

Gently rinse your berries.  Use the pointed end of a veggie peeler to pluck out the green part of the strawberries and cut them in half.  All others, including grapes you can leave whole. Lay your berries flat on a cookie sheet and freeze.  Once they are frozen, put them in bags quickly and refreeze util needed.  Grapes, cranberries and gooseberries can be put directly into a bag and frozen. 

You can store your berries by kind or you can make a mix of several kinds.

POMAGRANATES
Remove the seeds from the fruit and store them in the freezer.  These will not work in your juicer so save them for the blender.

CHERRIES
De-stone them and bag them and freeze them.  If you don't have a cherry stoner, invest in one.

APPLES & PEARS, PEACHES & NECTARINES
Leave the skins on your apples, pears, peaches, & nectarines!  There is a lot of nutrients in those thin skins!  Chop them into 1" cubes and take the seeds out.  Lay on a cookie sheet in a single layer and freeze.  Store in freezer bags and store in the freezer.

BANANAS
Peel bananas and cut into 1" chunks.  Place on a cookie sheet in a single layer and freeze.  Store in freezer bags.

MANGOS, PAPAYA, PINEAPPLE, MELONS
Peel skins off, cut into 1" chunks, layer on cookie sheets and freeze.  Store in freezer bags.  A note on the papayas, you can eat the seeds!  Store them separately in the freezer.  Add some to your smoothies for a burst of protien.

CITRUS
I keep all my citrus on the counter.  Use a carrot peeler to gently peel the zest off of your citrus.  The white pithy part has a lot of vitamins in it so leave it on.  (Juicer note....you don't have to peel the zest off of lemons and limes when you juice them.)

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.

JUNGLE BOOGIE Smoothie

1 cup of almond or hemp milk
2 bananas
1/4 cup of cacao nibs
1/4 cup of walnuts
1 heaping tablespoon of maca powder
the green tops of one beet
ice

Blend everything really good in the blender.  Once it's all blended, add ice cubes one at a time to slush it up.

GRAPE APE Smoothie

1 cup of almond or hemp milk
2 bananas
2 cups of grapes (I freeze mine)

Process in the blender until smooth!

APPLE BROWN BETTY Smoothie**Green Monster**

1 cup of almond or hemp milk
2 cored apples with the skin on
1/2 an avacado
1 banana
1/4 cup walnuts
2 tablespoons of chia seeds
1 big handful of fresh baby spinach
2-4 tablespoons of raw honey or agave nectar
ice
Blend all ingredients well. Add ice cubes one at a time.


**The term Green Monster was created by Oh She Glows

CHOCO-BERRY BANANA Smoothie

1 cup of hemp milk or almond milk
1 banana
1-2 sambazon acai berry smoothie packs
small handfull of sliced almonds
6 medjool dates pitted

Blend this one good to really chop up the dates.

TROPICAL TWISTER Smoothie

1 cup of water
2 bananas
1 sambazon acai berry smoothy packet
2 oranges peeled (leave some of the pith if you can)
2 kiwi peeled
1 nectarine (skin too!)

Blend everything together until smooth.

CHOCOLATE CHERRY MADDNESS Smoothie

1 cup hemp milk or almond milk
1 banana
1 tsp spirulina powder
1 cup cherries
1 acai berry smoothie packet

The combination of cherries and the choco-berry flavor of acai makes this really yummy!

PRETTY IN PEACH Smoothie

1 cup hemp milk
1 banana
1 cup of chopped watermelon
1 cup of chopped cantelope
1 cup of chopped papaya (you can throw in some of the pips too for some added protein)
1 cup of choped mango

Throw it all in the blender a little at a time. Add some ice to make it frothy if you want. This is also really good as a summer drink. Just use seltzer water instead of the milk.

You can also turn the seltzer version of this into a great adult beverage by adding some rum or vodka!

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.

BERRY BERRY GOOD Smoothie

1 cup of hemp milk
1 banana
1/2 of an avacado
1 acai smoothie pack
1/4 cup each of blueberries, cranberries, raspberries, blackberries

Put the avacado in last. It can make the smoothie a bit thick so you may have to add some water.

DRINKING UP SOME SUN Smoothie

1 cup OJ juiced fresh
2 peaches or 2 nectarines or 1 of each pited & diced
1/2 a mango chopped
4 apricots pitted & chopped chopped
1 banana
a 1-inch pineapple slice
a handfull of sliced almods
2 tablespoons each of hemp and flax seeds

Juice the orange and put the juice in the blender with the rest of the ingredients.  If you don't have a juicer then just put the orange in the blender with everything else.

CHOCO BLAST Smoothie

1 cup of chocolate hemp milk or chocolate almond milk(yes kids! they make it in chocolate too!)
6 medjool dates pitted
1 banana
1 acai berry smoothie pack
1/4 cup sliced almonds
ice

The milk and acai should go in first. Once the acai is broken up, add the rest of the ingredients. Add ice to the glass to chill smoothie.