Lemon Cream Smoothie--Super Healthy

This super healthy smoothie reminds me of my Grammy's lemon sherbet, a treat for which everyone clamored. The mingling of sweet and tart, creamy, cold, and refreshing, (sigh) I may need another soon.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk
1/2 cup plain, Greek yogurt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon lemon extract or 4-6 drops Young Living Essential Lemon Oil
zest from 1 lemon
juice from 1 lemon (the same one)
pinch of good salt, optional
1/2 tray of ice
1/4 teaspoon glucomannan powder, optional
Stevia or honey to taste
1 scoop vanilla protein powder if it's a meal, 1/2 scoop if it's a snack, or omit it if it is dessert after a protein rich meal
Add everything to the blender container and whirl for 2 minutes.

 This fine young man is my handy, dandy, button pushing assistant. Just be sure to keep the lid on anytime he is close by and it will all go well. Incidentally, he prefers fresh red raspberries in his smoothie to the lemon, same recipe.

 Breakfast, snack, or dessert, can't go wrong!

Maple Sweet Potato Bread

Bread is one of the easiest foods with which to play, once you get a good basic recipe you can hide all kinds of healthy stuff in it. A week ago I was bless with several sweet potatoes, one could more accurately say "an abundance". Now, one member of my household will not eat sweet potatoes, won't touch them with the proverbial "ten foot pole", if he doesn't know they are in the grocery bag then he will carry them in (slight exaggeration, he would carry them in regardless). So what else is there to do but hide these nutritionally dense tubers in a rich bread dough. I also replaced the white sugar with maple syrup which only enhanced the flavor and gentle orange color.

My camera stopped working half way through this recipe so I pulled out the little power shot to finish up, a good camera for tucking in my purse for outings but not what I needed indoors so the last several photos are a bit blurry.
Ingredients:
1 cup warm water
1 envelope dry yeast (1 packet)
1/4 cup maple syrup (only the real stuff)
1/4 cup butter or coconut oil, melted then cooled
1 large egg
2/3 to 3/4 cup mashed sweet potato
3/4 cup oatmeal, quick or old fashioned
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
3/4 teaspoon salt
4 cups (more or less) flour (all purpose or white spelt)
In a large mixer bowl, combine water, yeast and a teaspoon of the maple syrup. Let rest for 10 minutes, it will  be foamy.

Add everything else to the bowl, beginning with the wet ingredients, then the dry adding the flour last.

Mix well, knead for 5 minutes. Form into a ball, place on counter or back in bowl, cover with clean towel and allow to rise for 40 minutes or until double in bulk.

Knead for 5 more minutes, divide in half for 2 loaves or in smaller portions for odd sized pans. I used 1 loaf pan and 2 stoneware crocks. Place dough in well greased pans, cover and let rise another 40 minutes, until double in bulk.

Preheat oven to 350F. Bake 25 minutes for small pans or 35-40 for loaf, until golden, internal temperature will be 190F if you want to be accurate.

This is why I really like my stoneware, look how cleanly this lifted out...

Nice.
This is good as toast, sandwiches, or with soup, it sliced well and had a wonderful aroma. If it lasts long enough it would make great French toast!

Yum!

Cinnamon Muffins with a Kick of Apple Cider

These tender little muffins are good with or without the addition of apple cider syrup but I love to experiment with recipes we have used for a while and this recipe always produces a tender, delicious muffin, so playing around with complimentary flavors just adds to the fun.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups all purpose or white spelt flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon nutmeg, divided

1/3 cup softened butter

1 cup granulated sugar, divided

1 egg

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 tablespoons boiled cider syrup

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup butter, melted

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Mix the flour, baking powder, salt, and 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg together, set aside. 

Lightly grease muffin pan or use paper liners. 

Preheat oven to 350F. 

In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and 1/2 cup granulated sugar, add egg and vanilla. 

Put cider syrup(if you are using it) into a glass measuring cup, add milk to make 1/2 cup.

Add alternately with flour mixture, stirring just until incorporated. 

Spoon into 12 muffin cups. 

Bake for 20 minutes or until the tops are golden. While baking, stir together the remaining 1/2 cup sugar and cinnamon.

While still warm, brush with the melted butter

Roll tops in the cinnamon sugar. 

Serve warm or allow to cool before storing.

 Almost perfect, but wait...

Ahhh, now...

Definitely, with coffee!

Juicing, Micro Nutrient Quick Upload

Years ago a friend started me juicing. I purchased a small, cheap (yes, cheap as in flimsy) juicer and started with carrots and apples. After a while I got brave and added in some spinach and other vegetables. My children and I lovingly referred to it as "Mom's swamp juice", they stuck to fruit with an occasional stray carrot, but only under duress. This is also a good way to get fruit and vegetables into your picky eaters, start them on apple juice and add a small chunk of carrot every day until they ask you why their apple juice is orange.
I upgraded my juicer when my friend purchased a newer model and sold her yellow, Champion Juicer to me. One of the wisest purchases I have ever made, I don't remember how long she had it but I have been using it for more than a dozen years without one problem. Truly a superior product.
Despite knowing all the health benefits and feeling them, I would get tired of cleaning the juicer parts and put it back in the pantry for a while. A few weeks, sometimes months, I would begin to feel tired and run down again so out came the juicer. Sometimes I am a bit slow, G-d promises us abundant life but how can we enjoy it if we are not as fit and healthy as we can be?
There are so many benefits to juicing but the "long and short" of it is this, you get a mass quantity of highly absorbable nutrients in one glass of juice. For instance, this is the amount of veggies I had in my glass this morning.

3 cups of kale and spinach
3 carrots
2 apples
1 cucumber
2 stalks celery
2 cloves garlic
1 small piece ginger
Prior to me putting all the green stuff through the juicer, my son juiced 3 apples and a carrot.
That means that before he ate anything else for breakfast he already had the nutrients in three apples and one carrot absorbing straight into his body. Cleansing, physical and mental energy, healing...and so much more.

 This truly tastes so much better than it looks. Isn't it a pretty color?

 I use a straw because I don't want an orange or green mustache.

 Where is my super cape, I feel so good!

 This goes in the composter so the garden is super charged too.

Now, go conquer the world or at least your little part of it!