Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Sniffles, Smoothies, and Cereal


As the 2010 portion of the school year kicked into gear, our weather celebrated by dumping slush, snow, and even a little ice on us. Today, it's sunny and gorgeous, but chilly. At least, I think it's cold out. I wouldn't know whether it actually is because I'm at home, camping on the couch, battling some sort of cold/flu fun that's trying to travel south into my chest. Happy new year . . . or not.

In between languishing on the couch and cuddling with our chihuahua, I decided to fuel my immune system with a series of green smoothies. Yep -- even though it's full-blown winter outside, I went green monster on ya! To tell the truth, the icy smoothies felt so good traveling down to my belly because I felt rather feverish. Of course, by the time I finished each smoothie I was shivery, but that's being sick for you.

My breakfast green monster was extra good. It is a new concoction that makes me think of springtime. I believe the inspiration for this smoothie came from a reader's comment, although I can't quite remember. Anyhoo, at some point somebody told me that they included cucumbers in their green smoothies. I decided that I needed to try it.

To make this cucumber-licious smoothie, into my blender went:
  • 2 mini cucumbers
  • 3/4 cup water
  • 1/4 cup skim
  • 1 packet stevia OR 2 packets of sweetener of your choice
  • 1 scoop vanilla protein powder
  • drizzle vanilla extract OR vanilla-flavored syrup
  • 1/4 tsp guar gum (for smoothness)
  • 1/2 tsp xantham gum (for thickness)
  • a couple handfuls of spinach
  • 2-3 big handfuls of ice
I blended everything up to the spinach, then added the greens. Once all of that was combined, I added the ice one handful at a time. I'd love to be able to say that I tossed everything into my VitaMix and 0.193 seconds later I had a perfect green smoothie, but that is not the case. I make do with my Wal-Mart-purchased blender and try not to stress it out too much, which is why I add the ice incrementally.

This new smoothie blend is delicious! It is very refreshing and reminds me of honeydew melons and sunshine. I topped this thick and creamy smoothie with blueberries and a new cereal that I recently discovered, Kashi GoLean Crisp.

Here in Montana we're usually one of the last places in the United States to have newer products show up on our shelves. That's what it feels like, anyway. With this one, though, I think we might be on the front end of distribution because I can't even find this cereal on Kashi's website! I hope that other places get it soon if they haven't already, though, because it tastes so very good. This cereal is like a lighter granola with a smattering of dried cranberries and blueberries thrown in. And the texture and consistency are just what I like in a granola-ish cereal. Kashi's GoLean Crisp has big chunks, and that makes this girl happy.

See what I mean?


Those are pretty good-sized chunks, but not the biggest I found in the box because, well, I already ate those! My favorite granola cereals form nice clusters, which I find very satisfying to chomp on. I know I'm not alone in this . . . right?

Cereal predilections and food fetishes aside, the cucumber smoothie and Kashi cereal joined forces to make a lovely and easy lunch. The texture and sweetness of the cereal was like frosting on the cake of my vividly green smoothie. Perfect for a snowy, shivery, sniffle-y sick day, don't you think?

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Don't forget to submit your roasted pumpkin (or squash) recipe ideas! Deadline is Friday, January 8th, which is only a few days away. Sophia of Burp and Slurp already submitted an amazing-sounding idea (cheesy pumpkin and black bean croquettes -- yum!), and I am so excited to see what other ideas are emerging from your kitchens.

1 comment:

  1. Awww you've got the bug, booo! I'm still getting over mine. For me it was just the head and throat though, no chest or fever. Hope you can "green smoothie" it away. :)I think I'm the last blogger on earth without a vitamix, lol!

    ReplyDelete

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― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King