Sweet Saturday #27: Apple Pie Smoothie

First we had Hurricane Sandy, and now Athena the Nor'easter snow storm! NY/NJ can't get a break! The funniest thing is, today it feels like 60 degrees out and the snow is almost completely melted! Less than 2 days ago it was pouring down on us and causing closings and delays. Those who believe that global warming is bunk are probably having second thoughts right now...

Anyway, let's talk sweet stuff instead. I keep seeing all these yummy recipes for variations on the apple smoothie, and decided it was time I made one myself. Using ingredients I had handy, here is what I came up with, and it turned out really good!

 

Apple Pie Smoothie
(serves 2 large or 4 small)

Ingredients:

1 apple, cored and chopped up (I used Red Delicious)
1 banana
1 cup milk of choice (I used almond-coconut)
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1 tsp flax powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp cinnamon + extra for topping

Puree all ingredients in blender. Pour into glass(es). Sprinkle extra cinnamon on top and garnish with apple slice if desired.

What you'll need, plus ground flax seed

Everything about to get blended up!

Alternatively, you could just use vanilla yogurt instead of plain, and don't bother to add the extract. You could also easily substitute the apple for pumpkin and make it a pumpkin pie smoothie! Ooo...I know what I'm trying next..!

 
This is a new favorite for sure. A treat your entire family will love. Apples are so good for you, they're full of so many nutrients like vitamin C, fiber, antioxidants, healthy sugars, and so much more. We are all familiar with the old saying: "an apple a day, keeps the doctor away"- it's probably true! They're so versatile and easy to cook/bake/create with! Make a batch of this smoothie for visiting guests that you don't have time to bake for!


Now, as I said before, Hurricane Sandy totally knocked me off my A game for a bit (and also knocked out my internet for about a week!), so forgive me if I didn't get to thank you for joining our last Sweet Saturday, or if I responded very tardily. I do my best to visit every link posted, but sometimes work and being a mommy/homemaker catches up with me, and my time runs out. I don't know how people who get over 200 links posted to their blog hop parties manage to get through it all! I wonder if they even do...?


And although I didn't make time this week to arrange for a guest hostess, I did check to see whose links had the most visits, in continuance with our fall theme. Here they are!

Earning My Cape's scrumptious-looking Pumpkin Roll recipe was our most-clicked overall! I think you can see why! Thanks, Susie!

Wow, just wow. Look at that slice of pie! Jazzy Gourmet's Chocolate Pumpkin Mousse Pie looks too good to be true! Thanks, Sherry!

Yet another delicious pumpkin-inspired recipe took third place in most-visited links. Jen's Favorite Cookies' recipe inspired my Pumpkin S'mores Cookies from 2 weeks ago, and now she is sharing these tasty looking no-bake treats. Thanks, Jen!

Most clicked-on honorable mentions:

Mary's Breakfast Sammies from Mary's Kitchen

Texas Chili and Non-GMO Blue Cornchips also from Mary's Kitchen

Rich Chocolate Cake from Something Sweet

I'm doing something a little different and placing my featured button right on the post instead of emailing it, so grab a button if you were featured today!
 

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Thanks to everyone who joined last time! Welcome all new party-goers! I can't wait to finally go through all the links from our last party and get a closer look- everything looks really amazing! Now, on to the party!

Just follow these simple rules:

1. Link up something sweet to really WOW us all- your blog, Etsy store, Pinterest, Facebook, whatever you want! 

2. Link-up as much as you want and please follow me and if you are not already. Leave me a comment if you are a new follower so I can follow you back!

3. Don't forget to hop around and say hi!

4. Share my button to get more people to join us (not required, but it would be nice!)

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Thanks for stopping by, this little get together really makes the weekend even more enjoyable for me, and gives me the encouragement to keep my little blog going :) 
 

NEW Family Favorite: Black Bean, Sweet Potato and Garlic Sausage Skillet

So, after having all these leftover black beans from the soup I made last weekend, I decided to use them up yesterday. I also had some garlic chicken sausage leftover from the sauerkraut skillet I made on Saturday (I can post a recipe for that next week if anyone's interested), plus some sweet potatoes. That was when inspiration struck and I recalled how nicely the Cuban-style Black Bean Soup went with a baked yam. Then I thought, How 'bout I just throw this altogether in a pan and see what happens? And that's what I did :)

Black Bean, Sweet Potato and Garlic Sausage Skillet

makes 4-6 servings

Ingredients

2 cups cooked black beans, undrained

1 large or 2 medium/small sweet potatoes, cubed

2 links sliced garlic chicken sausage (I used Al Fresco Roasted Garlic)

3 cloves garlic, diced

1 small onion, diced

1 cup tomato sauce

2 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp hot sauce

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

Shredded cheddar cheese and/or sour cream for topping

In a large pot, boil some water then put the cubed sweet potato in and cook until slightly tender, but do not overcook as they will be added to the skillet and you don't want them to get mushy. Drain and set aside. If you have not already sliced the sausage, do so now; I sliced mine into little half moon-shaped slices as you can see in the picture below. I also removed the casing, but that is optional and up to you (my pup, Ogum, was happy to have them). Heat olive oil in medium/large skillet over low heat, and then add the onion and garlic, and saute for about 5-7 minutes, or until soft and fragrant. Add the sausage slices and stir with the onion and garlic for about a minute. Add the beans and tomato sauce and bring to a low simmer. Stir in all the seasonings, and add more to taste if desired. Lastly, add in the cubed yams and mix well, cooking for about another minute or two, then remove from heat and serve with a dollop of sour cream and/or shredded cheddar on top.

The red bell peppers were a nice touch that you could even throw into the skillet along with the onions and garlic

I discovered I was all out of sour cream when I made this, but I am guessing it will go well with this recipe for sure. Some fresh chopped cilantro would be a nice touch too! Alternatively, you could make everything separate from the yams and instead bake the yams whole, then cut open with the black beans and sausage served on top. Yummmm. The main reason I did not do that myself was because I didn't feel like waiting for the yams to bake. Some other add-ins could be:

• sliced jalapenos
• bell peppers
• diced fresh tomato

I will be honest: Lily turned her nose up at this when I put some in front of her, but once I got her try it, she gobbled it all up. So, if you face a similar issue with your kid(s), just try to convince them to take one bite, and hopefully they will be as pleasantly surprised as Lily was. The flavor combination of garlic, cheese, sweetness, and a light spiciness made this an interesting dish, like a Southwestern-style party in your mouth (insert dirty joke here). I hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

Sweet potatoes are usually a big favorite for kids, but Lily is not very into them. I recently had a Facebook convo with my sister-in-law and some of her friends about how weird it was that we all have kids who seem to prefer broccoli to yams! Not that we're complaining, just pleasantly surprised!

But, don't let the yam's sweet deliciousness fool you into thinking it's anything less than good for you. Sweet potatoes contain a high amount of vitamin c, as well as fiber, potassium and manganese. They also provide cardiovascular support, and blood sugar and weight controlling capabilities due to their high amounts of dietary fiber and complex carbs. Wild yams are even used in traditional Chinese herbal medicine to help clean the kidneys, support the digestive system, and even help balance your hormones during menopause. It's a pretty incredible little root! Read more about it here.

Yams are a perfect first food for baby. It's soft texture and subtle sweetness is ideal for easing your little bundle into the world of solid foods. It's popularly sold by companies like Gerber and Earth's Best in ready-to-eat containers, but why bother when it's so simple to just bake or boil one yourself and mash it up with some breast milk or formula? 

For baby, simply mash up 1-2 tbsps of cold well-cooked sweet potato with a tbsp of breast milk or formula and serve. Baby will love it! For babies over 9 months:

1 tbsp cooked black beans

1 tbsp mashed or cubed cooked yam

1 tbsp plain yogurt

Mix together and serve it up, they will love it! Top with some cheddar cheese, too, if they like that. 

Well, that's all for today. Have a wonderful weekend and please stop by next week for the second Meatless Monday blog hop and a new meat-free recipe!

Guaranteed Life-Saving Breakfast

This morning I was rudely awakened by a screaming toddler and Paul lying said screaming toddler onto the bed next to me, while stating, “I can’t deal with her right now, I have to get ready for work.” To which I may or may not have replied with a squinty-eyed look of confusion with a dash of anger at having been awoken this way; I went to get a bottle and then I changed her diaper and tried to get her back to sleep, seeing as how it was 6:30 in the morning and I usually sleep until at least 8. The bottle soothed her, but did not put her back to sleep, and alas, I was forced to get up, cussing under my breath (or not so much under my breath) all the way to the bathroom then kitchen.

You’d think I was used to being woken by a screaming baby by now, but I was just particularly tired this morning since I’d been dealing with Lily being sick the last three days, plus all the excitement of Hurricane Irene. Luckily we were barely affected by the stormy weekend weather, but Hurricane Lily had made her mark for sure. Anyway, I’d been hoping to get a little more sleep than I had been, but I quickly got over all my feelings of bitterness and exhaustion after I had this tasty energy-packed, life-saving (and husband-saving) breakfast!

Yogurt and granola with raspberries, banana and blueberries topped with flax seed, coconut and honey, plus a few Berry Blossoms courtesy of Lily :)

Fully Loaded Yogurt Bowl

½ cup plain organic yogurt

½ cup granola

½ or 1 banana, sliced

¼ cup raisins

Handful of blueberries and raspberries

1 tbsp flax seed

1 tsp honey

1 tsp shredded coconut

Scoop yogurt into bowl then top with granola, followed by fruit, honey, flax seeds, and coconut. Mix well if desired or go ahead and eat as is! You can use any combination of fruit that you like and other add-ins like nuts. I typically just use whatever fruit I have available; banana with mixed berries is always good, but peaches and apples are great too. The base of any good yogurt bowl is the yogurt (duh), granola, and fruit; after that, you can just toss in whatever you desire.

The breakfast Lily and I enjoyed the other day. I add coconut milk to my coffee instead of cream for it's natural sweetness and extra calcium. Try it next time and you'll see a pleasant difference!

It’s as simple as that! Add a green smoothie or cup of coffee to the mix and you’re good to go! All clouds of sleepiness will be lifted and you’ll be ready to start you’re day. And it only takes about 3 minutes to make!

I’d like to say many people eat this kind of breakfast in the morning, but it’s more likely that pastries and cold cereal are devoured along with sugared coffee, if anything is devoured at all since statistics say that many Americans skip breakfast. I know my husband often does, as much as I’ve begged him to eat something before heading to work in the past (I have since given up), although from what he’s told me sometimes he does get an egg sandwich from the deli or a donut from the office (hence my prior complaint). He is not alone in this world of 9-5ers who barely have time for a cup of Joe, let alone a bowl of granola and fruit.

I’ve always made it a priority to eat in the morning, even if it does have to be cold cereal (there isn’t anything wrong with that, but it won’t get you through the morning like a fuller meal will). The fact of the matter is I will be very cranky if I don’t eat since I get that way when my blood sugar is low. But, if you are someone who normally doesn’t eat in the morning and doesn't even have 3 minutes to spare on putting something like this together, you can make this yogurt bowl to-go the night before by placing it in a travel-ready container. I wouldn’t recommend eating and driving, but while waiting for the train during your commute, you could probably eat most of it then finish the rest at your desk!

Lily is big on this type of meal too, although this morning she was a little picky, I guess due to still feeling a little under-the-weather, but I did get her to eat some blueberries and cereal even though she passed up the yogurt and banana. Your little one will definitely enjoy this breakfast in any combination and at any age, and can be blended for babies ready for solids. Please note that babies younger than 9 months shouldn’t eat berries due to possible allergic reactions, and yogurt should wait until they’re at least 6 months unless otherwise stated by your child's doctor.

Adding the flax to your yogurt bowl- or just about anything you eat for that matter –is a sure way to get a boost of omega-3s and fiber, and they're particularly great for bone and heart health (and brain, of course, with the omegas). Studies havealso shown flax to help in preventing cancer, diabetes and inflammation, and also in lowering blood pressure. Flax seeds are wonderful and a little bit goes a long way. They can be added to just about any baked good or cereal, topped on veggies, ground for breading on meats and tofu, topped on salads…the possibilities are endless!

I use flax quite often, although I don’t think I’ve mentioned that here before. When Lily started eating solids, it was recommended by my mother-in-law and sister-in-law that I add ground flax meal to her cereal and breast milk, and I’m glad I heeded their advice. Omegas are especially vital to helping a baby’s brain development as you have probably read or been told by your child's pediatrician if you have a good one, so go ahead and pick up a bag and just sprinkle it right on your baby’s or child’s cereal- they probably won’t even notice a difference in taste or texture, but if they do, they will get over it eventually. 

Save this recipe for your own "too early" mornings, and hopefully it will rescue your husband or screaming child from getting his/her head chopped off ;)