Spinach Fruit Smoothie

adapted from 100daysofrealfood.com
http://www.100daysofrealfood.com/2010/05/17/recipe-tasty-smoothies/

I have tried many smoothies, this seems to be my favorite. It is pretty close to the smoothie on 100daysofrealfood.com, but we narrowed down to the strawberries and add a little more milk. Hope you enjoy.

1 1/2 cup plain yogurt (I use organic)
1-2 bananas (if using frozen, let thaw - hard to blend when frozen)
1 cup strawberries (I used 3/4 cup frozen and 1/4 cup fresh)
1/4 cup (or less) milk
Handful of spinach (1/2-1 cup)

Mix all in blender. Add ice to thicken.

Whole Wheat Banana Bread

Courtesy of 100daysofrealfood.com
http://www.100daysofrealfood.com/2011/05/02/recipe-whole-wheat-banana-bread/

Since we've had to make a lot of changes around our house because of health problems, I have began following this blog - and I LOVE IT! This is definitely a favorite around our house. I usually try to make it once a week. You will love it - I promise!

Whole Wheat Banana Bread - Lisa Leake

INGREDIENTS

• 2 ¼ cup whole-wheat flour
• ¾ teaspoon baking soda
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 3 ripe bananas, mashed
• ¼ cup plain yogurt
• ¼ cup honey
• 2 eggs
• ⅓ cup oil (I used coconut oil)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and grease pan.
2. Whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt.
3. In a separate bowl mix mashed bananas with yogurt, honey, eggs, oil, and vanilla.
4. Fold the banana mixture into the flour mixture until blended. Do not overmix.
5. Pour batter into prepared pan.
6. Bake large loaf for 40 – 50 minutes or until it comes clean with a toothpick.

Homemade Granola

Courtesy of Simple Organized Living
http://www.simpleorganizedliving.com/2010/08/04/homemade-granola/

We made this homemade granola this morning, and it was really good. Jack and Bree didn't like the raisins, so I think I'll use craisins next time I make it. We had it with yogurt this morning. It was a nice change from the normal breakfast food. Enjoy!

• INGREDIENTS 
• 4 1/2  c. uncooked oats
• 2 c. chopped nuts (I used one cup each of pecans and almonds)
• 2 c. dried fruit (I used one cup each of raisins and chopped apricots)
• 1/2. c. brown sugar
• 2 T. cinnamon
• 1 T. vanilla
• 1/2 t. salt
• 1  1/2 c. maple syrup (a 12 oz. jar)

• DIRECTIONS
• Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl
• Spread onto 2 large greased baking sheets (mine are 17 x 11 x 1)
• Bake at 325 F. for 45-50 minutes (stirring half way through)

Let it cool completely and store it in airtight containers.
It usually makes 2 1/2 quarts so we store the extras in our freezer. It should stay fresh for several months.

Original content from Simple Organized Living: http://www.simpleorganizedliving.com/2010/08/04/homemade-granola/#ixzz1x9PoCCdE
Under Creative Commons License: Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives

Recipe of the Day - Sweet Cinnamon Scones

Courtesy of The Pioneer Woman
(http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2011/03/sweet-cinnamon-scones/)
Difficulty Level: Easy
Rating: 4 stars
Prep Time: 20 min., Cook Time: 25 min.

Any time I am in a crunch for something to make, I always go to The Pioneer Woman's blog, because everything I make of hers turns out fantastic. This was no exception! I made these for a leadership breakfast yesterday - yum! Hope you enjoy:


Ingredients
■3 cups All-purpose Flour
■⅓ cups Sugar
■5 teaspoons Baking Powder
■½ teaspoons Ground Cinnamon
■2 sticks (1 Cup) Unsalted Butter
■¾ cups Heavy Cream
■1 whole Egg
■1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
■1 cup Cinnamon Chips
■Topping
■½ cups Sugar
■1 teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
■1-½ teaspoon Heavy Cream

Preparation Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, mix together flour, 1/3 cup sugar, 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon, and baking powder. Cut butter into pieces, then cut into dry ingredients with a pastry cutter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in cinnamon chips.

Mix together cream, egg, and vanilla extract. Pour into flour/butter mixture, stirring gently with a fork to combine.

Turn onto work surface (mixture will be very crumbly and falling apart.) Gently press together on the sides as you flatten (or roll, with a rolling pin) the top. Form either into a large circle or a large rectangle. Mix together topping ingredients, stirring with a fork. Sprinkle over the top of the dough, lightly pressing.

Cut into wedges (from a circle) or triangles (from a rectangle.) Transfer to a cookie sheet and bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Allow to cool completely.

Recipe of the Day - Homemade Bagels

Courtesy of Mel's Kitchen Cafe
(http://www.melskitchencafe.com/2011/04/homemade-bagels-step-by-step.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+melskitchencafe%2FNvNP+%28Mel%27s+Kitchen+Cafe%29)

I have been dying to try another bread recipe - and for those that know me, I am in love with bagels. I can't wait to try these tomorrow. This is the same blog that gave me the recipe for the pretzel bites - best thing ever!! Enjoy:



*Note: I never have bread flour on hand, so I always use all-purpose flour, subbing 1 tablespoon of vital wheat gluten in for every cup of flour (or 1 tablespoon gluten for about every 5 ounces of flour if you prefer to weigh your ingredients). For this doubled recipe, I used 16 ounces of whole wheat flour, about 3 ounces of gluten and made up the rest of the 34 ounces with all-purpose flour.

*Makes 8 bagels

Dough
1 tablespoon instant yeast
4 cups (17 ounces) bread flour (see note above for variations)
2 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 1/2 cups (12 ounces) warm water

Water Bath
2 quarts water
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon granulated sugar

Manual/Mixer Method: To make this dough by hand or in a mixer, combine all of the dough ingredients and knead vigorously, by hand for 10 to 15 minutes, or by machine on medium-low speed for about 10 minutes. Since a high-protein bread flour is used here (or a combination of all-purpose flour and gluten), it takes a bit more effort and time to develop the gluten. The dough will be stiffer than other soft yeast doughs but will still be pliable and smooth once it has finished kneading. It should be stiff and floured enough not to leave much residue on your fingers after pinching a piece but not so stiff that you can’t easily pinch off pieces of dough and work with it. Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl and cover with lightly greased plastic wrap. Set it aside to rise for 1 to 1 1/2 hours until it is noticeably puffy.

Bread Machine Method: Place all of the dough ingredients in the pan of the machine, program the machine for Dough or Manual, and press Start. Check the dough after 10 minutes; it should be quite stiff, and won’t have formed a smooth ball. The dough will feel quite firm when you poke your finger into it. Allow the machine to complete its cycle, then complete bagels as instructed below.

Transfer the puffed/risen dough to a work surface and divide the dough into eight equal pieces. Working with one piece at a time, roll it into a smooth, round ball. Place the balls on a lined or lightly greased baking tray and cover lightly. Let them rest for 30 minutes. They’ll puff up very slightly.

Once they have rested, one-by-one, use your thumb to poke a hole through the center of each ball then twirl the dough and use your other fingers to stretch the hole until it is about 1 to 2 inches in diameter. The entire bagel will be around 4 inches across. Place the shaped bagels on a lined baking tray (the same one that you’ll bake them on).

Prepare the water bath by heating the water and sugars to a very gentle boil in a large, wide-diameter pan. You can use a large pot or a deep straight-edged skillet. Preheat your oven to 425°F.

Transfer the bagels, three or four at a time, to the simmering water. Increase the heat under the pan to bring the water back up to a gently simmering boil, if necessary. Cook the bagels for 2 minutes, flip them over using a wide spatula, and cook 1 minute more. Using a wide spatula, carefully remove the bagels from the water and place them back on the baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining bagels.

Top the bagels with your desired ingredients. If you are going to use a dry topping, such as sesame seeds or poppy seeds, whisk together 1 egg white with 1 tablespoon water and brush each bagel with the mixture before topping heavily with sesame seeds, poppy seeds, etc. If using Asiago or another cheese, there is no need to brush the bagels with an egg white glaze, simply place the shredded cheese on the bagels.

Bake the bagels for 20 to 25 minutes, or until they’re as deep brown as you like. Remove the bagels from the oven, and cool completely on a wire rack.

I only bake one sheet of bagels at a time, even though I usually double the batch and have four sheets of bagels ready to be baked. The bagels that have been boiled, placed on the baking pans, topped with cheese and then sat and rested for 20-30 minutes while the other bagels baked – well…they actually turned out more rounded and golden brown than the ones that were baked right away. So there is no harm in boiling all the bagels at once and letting them hang out on the baking sheets while the other bagels bake.

Recipe Source: adapted slightly and expounded upon from King Arthur Flour

Recipe of the Day - Homemade Glazed Doughnuts

Courtesy of The Pioneer Woman
(http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2010/02/homemade-glazed-doughnuts/)

Ok, these look so good. I made homemade doughnuts a while ago (a recipe of a friend of mine) and they were an instant hit. We used cinnamon sugar instead of a glaze, so I am interested in seeing the difference. Here you go:



Ingredients
■Doughnuts
■1-⅛ cup Whole Milk, Warm
■¼ cups Sugar
■2-¼ teaspoons (one Package) Instant Or Active Dry Yeast
■2 whole Large Eggs, Beaten
■1-¼ stick Unsalted Butter, melted
■4 cups All-purpose Flour
■¼ teaspoons Salt
■Canola Oil
■GLAZE
■3 cups Powdered Sugar
■½ teaspoons Salt
■½ teaspoons Vanilla
■½ cups Cold Water Or Milk
Preparation Instructions
To Make the Dough:

1. Make sure milk is nice and warm, but not overly hot.
2. Add sugar to milk. Stir to dissolve.
3. Add yeast into a small bowl.
4. Pour milk/sugar mixture over yeast. Stir gently, then let sit for 10 minutes.
5. Melt butter in separate bowl until butter is almost melted. Stir to finish melting so butter won’t be overly hot.
6. Add beaten eggs to melted butter, stirring constantly to make sure the butter’s not too hot for the eggs.
7. Add the egg/butter mixture to the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the dough hook.
8. With the mixer on 3 or medium-low speed, pour in the yeast mixture.
9. Allow the dough hook to stir this mixture for a couple of minutes, making sure it’s thoroughly combined.
10. With the mixer still going, add helpings of the flour mixture in 1/4 to 1/2 cup increments until all the flour is gone.
11. Stop the mixer, scrape the bowl, then turn the mixer on the same speed for five whole minutes.
12. After five minutes, stop the mixer and scrape the bottom of the bowl.
13. Turn on the mixer for 30 seconds.
14. Turn off the mixer and allow the dough to sit in the bowl undisturbed for 10 minutes.
15. After 10 minutes, transfer dough to a lightly oiled bowl. Toss the dough to coat, then cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place straight in the fridge.
16. Refrigerate dough for at least 8 hours, or overnight.

To Make the Doughnuts:

1. Remove bowl from fridge and turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface.
2. Roll out to 1/4 to 1/3-inch thickness.
3. Using a 3-inch cutter, cut as many rounds as you can, then roll out remaining dough and cut as much as you can, etc.
4. Cut holes out of each round using a 1 1/2-inch cutter.
5. Place both doughnuts and holes on a floured baking sheet.
6. Cover with large tea towel and place in a warm place in your kitchen; my kitchen is very drafty, so I have to briefly warm the griddle, then turn it off and set the sheets on top to keep warm.
7. Allow doughnuts to rise undisturbed for at least 1 hour; 1 hour 15 minutes if necessary. Doughuts should be visibly puffier and appear to be airy.

To Fry the Dougnuts

1. Heat plenty of canola oil in a large pot until the temperature reaches 375 to 380 degrees—do not let it get hotter than 380 degrees! 375 is ideal; keep the thermometer in the pan to continually monitor.
2. One to two at a time, gently grab doughnuts and ease them into the hot oil. Allow them to cook 1 minute on each side; they will brown very quickly.
3. Remove doughnuts from the oil with a slotted spoon, allowing all oil to drip off.
4. Place doughnut immediately on several layers of paper towels. Count to five, then flip it over onto a clean part of the paper towels. Count to five, then flip it over again; the purpose, obviously, is to drain as much grease as possible before it soaks into the doughnut.
5. Repeat with remaining doughnuts and holes. The holes will cook more quickly than the doughnuts; about 30 seconds per side.
6. Allow doughnuts to slightly cool.

To Glaze

1. Mix all glaze ingredients in a bowl until completely smooth.
2. One by one, dip doughnuts into the glaze until halfway submerged. (Note: completely submerge doughnut holes, then remove with slotted spoon.)
4. Remove from glaze, then turn right side up on a cooling rack over a cookie sheet (to catch dripping glaze.)
5. Serve warm if possible, or room temperature.

Recipe of the Day - French Breakfast Puffs

Courtesy of The Pioneer Woman
(http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2007/12/french_breakfast_puffs/)

I'm sorry I didn't get a recipe up yesterday. I have a show that I'm hosting, so it's been a bit crazy at our house. But, I've been looking for something to make for the directors on Saturday and I think I might just have to make these. I know they are Breakfast Puffs, but I'm pretty sure I could eat them anytime. They look delicious! Here you go:

Ingredients
■3 cups Flour
■3 teaspoons Baking Powder
■1 teaspoon Salt
■½ teaspoons Ground Nutmeg
■1 cup Sugar
■⅔ cups Shortening (Crisco)
■2 whole Eggs
■1 cup Milk
■1-½ cup Sugar
■3 teaspoons Cinnamon
■2 sticks Butter

Preparation Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease 12 muffin cups.

In a large bowl stir together flour, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg. Set aside.

In a different bowl, cream together 1 cup sugar and shortening. Then add eggs and mix again. Add flour mixture and milk alternately to creamed mixture, beating well after each addition.

Fill prepared muffin cups 2/3 full. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until golden.

In a bowl, melt 2 sticks butter. In a separate bowl combine remaining sugar and cinnamon. Dip baked muffins in butter, coating thoroughly, then coat with cinnamon-sugar mixture.