Ode to the smoothie

Oh, my. I love a good smoothie. At first, I'd prepare one blender's worth of smoothie, which was enough for a large glass each for Nathan and I. Then, I discovered the joy of the immersion blender, and now I'm not even sure why our regular blender even gets a spot on the counter anymore. Immersion blenders are vastly superior to regular blenders. 

I like to make things in bulk: soups, cookie dough, muffins, pot stickers, enchiladas... and then freeze large portions for later. There's nothing quite like the thrill of being absolutely tuckered out--so tuckered that all you can imagine cooking for dinner is Annie's mac'n'cheese-- and then remembering that you've got a dish of homemade chicken and sweet potato enchiladas sitting in the freezer, just waiting to be popped in the oven. Hooray! 

Last weekend Nathan and I scored a small chest freezer off of Craigslist, and we've started filling it with casserole-y type dishes, as well as bags and bags of frozen fruit. 

Currently, we buy most of our frozen fruit at Trader Joe's. It's inexpensive, and they have a decent selection of organic fruit. It's important to buy organic strawberries and raspberries rather than conventional, because conventional berries tend to have large amounts of pesticides on them. We can't afford to buy everything organic, so I use the Environmental Working Group's Dirty Dozen/Clean Fifteen list as a guide to prioritize our organic purchases. 

Every few weeks, I dump a couple bags of strawberries, mangoes, blueberries and/or mixed berries in a bowl, add a few scoops of yogurt (the only way I can tolerate the stuff) and some hefty pours of juice. Maybe a big scoop of flaxseeds if I'm feeling fancy. Give it a solid whir with the immersion blender, and I've got smoothies for a week! I pour the smoothie in jars, put them in the freezer, and every night I put a jar in the fridge to defrost. So easy! 

When I wake up in the morning and start my day off with a smoothie, I find that I'm more motivated to eat healthy throughout the day. Why is that? 

And, magical awesome bonus? Luke LOVES smoothies. I should start sneaking other foods into them, like salmon, or oatmeal, or squash. I do add extra yogurt to his to boost the calories.

(The purple detritus is remnants of a perfectly good blueberry pancake that Luke used for a gravity testing experiment.)

Apple Dutch Baby

I have fond memories while growing up of eating Apple Dutch Babies made by my mom. These were a huge treat at my house -often they were a special weekend breakfast, but occasionally they made their way onto our dinner plates, which was fine by me! They seemed so complicated- the batter would puff up to great heights in the oven, only to quickly deflate once it emerged, and my mom would make a sweet and tart mix of apple, lemon, butter and powdered sugar to top the Dutch Baby with. 

This is another one of those meals (like Carrot Cake Pancakes) that you can delude yourself into thinking is an entirely healthy meal- it's got 2 eggs per serving, so it's full of protein and Omega 3's, and plus- it's topped with apple! Fresh apple! Fiber! Plus lemon, so you won't get scurvy.  

(In addition to baking me many an Apple Dutch Baby, my mom also taught me the fine art of justifying your food: Ice Cream? Yes!! It's got calcium- every woman needs more calcium! Wine? Yes- it's so good for the heart! Chocolate? Hello anti-oxidants! Chips? Salt is an essential mineral! Plus, my mother is gorgeous and in great shape, so her food justifications are that much more believable: Eat ice cream and chips, and you can only hope you'll look as fit as she does.) 

But really, Apple Dutch Babies don't need justification beyond this: They're delicious, and they're really easy. They look fancy and pretty, but really only take a couple minutes of hands-on time. 

Preheat oven to 375.

Batter:

combine 4 eggs with 1/2 cup milk and a generous dash of vanilla extract, then add 1/2 cup flour and whisk well.

In a pre-heated oven-proof dish (like a cast iron skillet or glass pie pan) coat the sides and bottom of the dish with 3 T melted butter, then pour the batter in, and place in oven. It should bake about 20 minutes, but check it at 15. When it's a beautiful light golden brown, remove it and watch as it deflates. 

Filling: I sauteed 3 chopped apples in 1 T butter with the juice of one lemon, a pinch of cinnamon and nutmeg, and a spoonful of powdered sugar, plus a little more powdered sugar to make it pretty when you plate it. 

This is the time to eyeball it, though- if you like more lemon- do it! (Vitamin C!)  Want more butter? (Great source of mono-unsaturated fat, AND Vitamin A!) Think a little scoop of vanilla ice cream will round this dish out? (And, oh, it does. Hello, calcium!)

(Happy Mother's Day, mom!)

What Luke will eat.

Luke won't eat much, but he will eat dirt. Weirdo. He loves to watch us garden and get in on the action by grabbing fistfuls of dirt and munching on it before we can get to him. You've seen what I cook- I can't believe this little man would rather eat dirt!

He also loves mango, in all its forms. Last week it was so warm and sunny, he had a little nekkid time in the backyard and I gave him a mango pit to munch on. He was in LOVE. It kept him occupied for at least half an hour. I think he also consumed quite a bit of grass, too, since the pit kept squirting out of his hands and falling on the grass. Oops. 

Big news, though: I made the Carrot Cake Pancakes again this morning for breakfast, and Luke actually ATE a significant quantity! Better than dirt, I guess!