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#1 Vegan Smoothie and a secret that I’m keeping from my dentist

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Do you love chocolate? powdered pb

I can take it or leave it.  In the summer time, I do love frozen chocolate (Dr. Collins doesn’t read my blog so I’m safe in sharing this secret–I promised him that I wouldn’t eat frozen chocolate anymore.  He did an awesome job at fixing my tooth).  When I was a little girl my mom would put snickers bars in the freezer so they wouldn’t melt in the cabin–no AC (just hot knotty pine).  After a long day on the boat/beach/fishing–I loved coming into the cabin and eating a frozen snickers.  Frozen chocolate was the end to a perfect summer day.  Now, I love frozen peppermint patties!  

Powdered Peanut Butter? 

What the haywire?  Have you ever heard of such a thing?  I didn’t.  So . . . when I was at Target shopping (because I’m always at Target!) I found this product.  I had to try it!

[Tweet “Why am I always at Target? And why do I always spend $100 no matter what?”]

I instagramed it right away I was so excited.

I use instagram as primarily my vegan/plant based food diary so if you are interested in eating a plant based diet–you may want to follow me here.

Great minds think alike.

The Kitchn is a website that I go to for inspiration.  I was amazed when they posted the powdered protein post on the same day that I bought it.  They show pictures of how it looks when it is reconstituted with water.  The Kitchn has a great review, check out that post is you are interested in learning about using the powder as peanut butter.

My Big Idea!elvis love

If you keep up with the blog you know that I have these BIG ideas.  Everything from making quilts for all the kids to knitting myself a skirt.  (I’m leaving out the idea about having a farm animal sanctuary.) I admit that my excitement begins lots of projects that never get finished.  A character flaw but I’m growing into my own as I get older.  I am multi-passionate . . .   

My big idea is to create a Vegan smoothie that tastes amazing and everyone will eat–so delicious that the “vegan” part won’t even matter.  This time I think I’ve done it!  The only change I would make to this simple recipe would be to add chocolate chips.  Or a bit of leftover coffee.  or hemp seeds if I’m making it for Dana :-)

The Recipe

How simple is this?  You could add ice chips or frozen bananas if you wanted a thicker/frothy drink.  I will say that this was surprisingly filling.  The idea of being a vegan hack is very fun for me, making plant based food fun, easy and delicious is my goal.  My intention was to the powdered peanut butter in smoothies.  I never planned to use it for sandwiches (unless I really needed too).  

Protein

Since everyone always worries about my kids and I getting enough protein, I want everyone to rest easy!  This recipe has 6 grams of protein!  

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Go out right now and make up some awesome PB and B/dark chocolate almond milk smoothie.  Ok, we need a shorter name!

Leave a note in the comments for a name!

I’ll post the winner on Twitter and Facebook!

Be Blessed.  Nourish your family with L.O.V.E.,

Renee

 

 

Fun Food Fact Friday #6

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These are the wonderful blogs, videos, and recipes that I have discovered this week.  Enjoy.

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1.  Popcorn Fun!

Popcorn is one of our favorite snacks–this was a fun look at popcorn.

2.  Mastering French Toast

I love French Toast but I’m not that great at making it . . . my bread is always soggy.  My husband actually found this article for me in hopes that I can “master” French Toast.  I hope you have better luck than I have!

3.  More Benefits of Ginger !

This is a great article about Ginger.

4.  My Lunch Smoothie

I have been trying so hard to find a kale smoothie that I like–I don’t like kale that does through the juicer–I think I just need to give it more time so . .. in the meantime I want to reap the benefits of kale.  I found this recipe and I LOVE it.  (I don’t always have blueberries and I skip the almond milk if I don’t have it.)

5.  Lemon Salad Dressing

I feel Spring in the air!  My backyard still has under 2 feet of snow!  But I’m thinking summer salads!  I created this lemon salad dressing as my first attempt to move from Thousand Island, Ranch and processed dressings in general.  Even though it is my recipe–it is really wonderful and the herbs can be switched out for what you like.

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What was your favorite on this list?  Leave a comment below!

Have a great weekend.

Fun Food Fact Friday #5!

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Fun Food Fact Friday #5

 

1.  Dairy Free?

I am so blessed to be a contributing writer on several blogs–it really is a dream come true and the best part is that I am able to work with so many other writers.  Souliscious Life is part of my Next Level Mama Tribe–a website that writes about motherhood, marriage, parenting all with the premise of being the best Mom you can be.  This particular blog post is about how her family is dairy free and offers lots of great specific and fundamental information on dairy alternatives.  Our family has been adventurous when it comes to trying lots of different “milks”–we love dark chocolate silk, vanilla coconut, and every brand of almond milk!  It is fun to “meet” another mom who shares the same excitement–over being dairy free.  

2.  Sugar Detox?

Dr. Mark Hyman has a new book out–which I have NOT read but I might.  In his detox he suggest not eating sweet potatoes and beets!  “how dare he!” (my kids say this all the time and cracks me up!)  I mean really–I’m already eating a vegan diet and now you want to take away my sweet potatoes and beets.  What The . . . FRUIT?  I seriously will be getting his book soon–maybe from the library, then I will give my humble opinion.  This article was a great peek inside this book.

3.  Do you have a muffin top?

 This is just a screen shot of these muffin lines–too funny!  I first saw them in a Chicago Trib article and knew that I wanted to share them on FFFF!Screen Shot 2014-03-07 at 4.13.30 PM

 

 

#4 Homemade Snickers Bar Recipe

Ok–this is phenomenal–not vegan but so yummy!  I’m putting the ingredients on my shopping list!  Here is the recipe.  David Leite’s blog has amazing photos–like the one below, interesting recipes and is really entertaining–I have spent hours this week soaking in his culinary wisdom.

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I added this to my pinterest board, Desserts.

#5.  Best Pancake Mix EVER!

I’m not sure how or when our family tradition of making pancakes on Sunday morning began.  The kids look forward to gooey chocolate chip pancakes, sliced bananas and sometimes I even cook up crispy bacon.   Our favorite pancake mix is Kodiak Cakes.  I found it by accident while we were on vacation and fell in love with the firm texture–not to fluffy, not to heavy–just perfect.  

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 Did I mention that I am on Instagram now?  I actually have a picture of the pancake box on Insta.  Each day I try to post a picture of my vegan breakfast, lunch or dinner.  I don’t always have recipes of my meals–many of them are just leftovers.  My favorite was long grain rice, roasted onions, sautéed mushrooms and apples with snappy green beans!  So good.

Have a great weekend!